You're right, but all the American businesses are salivating over the prospect of selling their products to 1.3 billion people. Of course we don't ignore China even though we should. It's all dictated by the money!
According to my rep, RIM was ready to roll out a firmware upgrade to all its customers at a moment's notice to work around the patent issue. I was ready to see this happen, and quite surprised that they settled, becuase if they really did have this update, they could have saved themselves a lot of money by just applying the patch anyway and getting around the patent infringement suit. This leads me to believe that either the patch was just a tactic to keep their customers, or something else is going on that I don't understand. Perhaps they'd still have to pay NTP even if they rolled out this patch to prevent an injunction?
I'm seeing a lot of these comments side with Microsoft here, stating that Eolas is patent trolling. But, if Linux were to really take off, don't you think Microsoft would start filing a bunch of infringement lawsuits against Linux (or other F-OSS), in the same way Eolas did to Microsoft?
Yes, probably, but clearly the high ground is to side with the company that is fighting against patent-trolling lawsuits. In this case, ironically, it's Microsoft.
Because it seems to me that essential liberty includes freedom from government requirements like mandatory ID cards. I don't consider it to be liberty if one can force another to comply to something like this.
On the other hand, I guess it's the same here in the US. We aren't forced to carry our drivers' licenses unless we're driving, but being without it can cause problems if we want to go anywhere.
I'm not an expert but I've used Trustix a lot in the past. What I like about it is that trustix leaves all but the most important services off by default, and then allows the administrator to start and install only what is needed. Rather than a server built for dumb administrators, it is built for administrators who don't want to have to go through the tedious task of disabling everything he/she doesn't use just to harden a server for production.
What i've used it for most in the past is running a simple php/http/ftp server when i don't want to use up a lot of hard drive space, and i don't want to spend the time to go through and turn off all the services i don't need. It can also be used for many other things, like firewall, dns server, blah blah. just like any other linux distribution. What i like best is the command-line only interface. I did move to debian recently though, it's more widely supported than Trustix, although Trustix does have a fairly good following.
OK, I've already got your postal address, what I need is an electronic mail address that can recieve electronic mail from the Internet. If your company doesn't have an e-mail system that connects to the Internet, we're going to have to engineer a solution that will connect to your internal mail system, or set up webmail accounts for you that can be checked with a web browser
If I had never heard of email before and you said this to me, I would be completely lost. engineer a solution? webmail accounts?
or.. Buy It On Next Page
If you want to be really picky... those buttons lie anyway! It's at least 5 seconds after I click "Buy It Now" that the transaction is complete. And then, you have to wait for the package to actually arrive. UGHHHHHH....
I think you just figured out their point. They don't WANT you using dial-up anymore. AOL probably has a lot more to gain by selling broadband than by selling dial-up service. I'm not sure how they do their broadband, but it must be much less expensive than maintaining massive analog dial-up pools.
Sorry, but, Child Porno is a lot less legal than spamming, junk mail, ads and lawyers, and doesn't need to be tolerated in society.
Then again, I would argue that spamming doesn't belong in society either, but I'd be in the minority--how anyone can uphold spamming and invasive advertising in general as freedom of speech is beyond me.
Well, sure you're going to see all of those as newsworthy, but most of the news is focused on the biggest market--actually I think Windows gets less coverage than its market share would dictate by itself (thank God).
At work, the only HP server we have is running Exchange with windows.. I wouldn't trust granny with that much power.
support the development of applications for their own, very secure operating system: HP OpenVMS? Why does this industry focus so much on Microsoft Windows and totally ignore alternatives?
Maybe the question you should be asking is: Why does everyone USE windows instead of HP OpenVMS? And the answer is usually, because being able to use it is primary and being able to use it securely is secondary. Most people can't just pick up an OpenVMS server and use it in 5 minutes--ok so most can't pick it up at all. And that's why the industry focuses on Windows--because everyone and their grandma is using it.
Because of its underlying purpose, I was automatically opposed to this legislation idea until reading your comment. You're right, though. Getting the information out in a forum such as school, where the real issues are often discussed by teachers who are more interested in discussing ideas than in indoctrinating students on what to do and not to do, might be the best thing to happen for reforming copyright law.
Maybe they should throw in a bit of information about fair use too?
We have a very similar past. I had a 486 dx-40 or something and used to be on the modem all the time. My parents got 'concerned' about it and took away my computer, but then I found it hidden in the garage and set it up in my closet, and would use it at 3 in the morning. I learned how to use AT M0 to deaden the connection noise;)
Those were magical times... Of course, after they took that away, I had no recourse so I would go to school half an hour early and hop on their PC-XT with 2400 baud modem to play L.O.R.D. good times....
I always hope beyond hope that when I click the comments section I don't see any cliches... but at least this way I'm let down quickly on the first post, rather than slowly and painfully through a string of them.
But wait, they post their cliches anyway! Crap...!
Science often uses what is knowable as evidence to explain what is not knowable by observation and fact alone. That is its purpose. For example, forensic anthropologists start with bones, and collect evidence to try and explain what happened to a dead person. Often this evidence is then used in court cases as proof to convict a criminal. If all science did was bring to light what's already obviously true or false, then it wouldn't be very useful, and the scientific community wouldn't have any arguments over various findings and research. Instead, science says some very strong things about the world we live in that cannot be directly observed or known.
I will say that as a contrast to religion, science has the ability to bend and change by nature, because scientists often go back and attempt to prove or disprove what we already know. My understanding of religion's purpose is that it isn't to explain why things are the way they are, but to provide an explanation for who we are and how we fit into the world.
That said, I see no reason why we should deny people from exploring the scientific possibilities that intelligent design has to offer, as long as we let go of our predispositions and biases that prevent us from seeing things as they really are. This slashdot article is an example of the biases that cloud the minds of people who feel threatened by those whose ideas conflict with their world view, even when it is constructive conflict. The nature of this slashdot post is therefore religious, not scientific--calling people to arms over an evolutionists' holy war.
People don't seem to realize that science is only half observation and collection of facts. The other half is interpretation of facts, and many people seem to forget that scientists argue over what the same set of data means on a regular basis.
Hear me out before you mod me down for disagreeing with your viewpoint:
I'm not trolling, but it's important to know how easy it is for people to jump on the "I hate ID" bandwagon because all you're doing is burning straw men. The real proponents of ID never believed that if scientists could figure out how bees fly then their theory was bunk. Maybe your school teacher said that, but in my (public) school we still had textbooks that mentioned the theory of recapitulation as fact, so I wouldn't take your teacher as a reliable proponent of ID.
Researchers at CalTech have discovered how bees fly, putting one more nail in the coffin of Intelligent Design.
Gimme a break/. Definitely -1 Flamebait.
I've never seen the "scientists can't explain how bees fly" argument before. I do however seem to have seen an argument like yours before, somewhere: "give us enough time, and we can explain anything"
There is a really simple solution to the supposed problem of CD degradation.. and it's not magnetic tapes.
First of all, let me list the problems with magnetic tapes:
1) if it's analog data, and you copy it, you lose quality
2) if it's digital data, and you accidentally put it somewhere magnetic, you lose your data.
3) seek time SUCKS
4) as mentioned above, magnetic tapes do not last forever
But so what if cds don't last more than 5 years? If they last 5 years, why not spend the $0.02 and buy another cd and copy it on, or better yet, store a bunch of your cds on a $0.20 DVD and it will last you another 5 years and you won't lose any quality. Plus, no problems with magnets to worry about. Just don't store your cds in your car on your dashboard and you'll probably be okay.
In my experience, cds and dvds last way longer than any other cheap accessible format, and if you're running windows like I am, your software will be obsolete in half that time anyway so only your data matters.
Slashdot Mirror
The Earth is more of an oblate spheroid so technically by your definition it's not a planet. ;)
Arguing about whether something is a planet or not is a little like arguing whether something is a chair or not. It only matters based upon useage.
So I guess the more important question is, how do you use a planet?
You're right, but all the American businesses are salivating over the prospect of selling their products to 1.3 billion people. Of course we don't ignore China even though we should. It's all dictated by the money!
According to my rep, RIM was ready to roll out a firmware upgrade to all its customers at a moment's notice to work around the patent issue. I was ready to see this happen, and quite surprised that they settled, becuase if they really did have this update, they could have saved themselves a lot of money by just applying the patch anyway and getting around the patent infringement suit. This leads me to believe that either the patch was just a tactic to keep their customers, or something else is going on that I don't understand. Perhaps they'd still have to pay NTP even if they rolled out this patch to prevent an injunction?
I'm seeing a lot of these comments side with Microsoft here, stating that Eolas is patent trolling. But, if Linux were to really take off, don't you think Microsoft would start filing a bunch of infringement lawsuits against Linux (or other F-OSS), in the same way Eolas did to Microsoft?
Yes, probably, but clearly the high ground is to side with the company that is fighting against patent-trolling lawsuits. In this case, ironically, it's Microsoft.
Yeah, and what if I don't wear glasses?
Because it seems to me that essential liberty includes freedom from government requirements like mandatory ID cards. I don't consider it to be liberty if one can force another to comply to something like this.
On the other hand, I guess it's the same here in the US. We aren't forced to carry our drivers' licenses unless we're driving, but being without it can cause problems if we want to go anywhere.
I'm not an expert but I've used Trustix a lot in the past. What I like about it is that trustix leaves all but the most important services off by default, and then allows the administrator to start and install only what is needed. Rather than a server built for dumb administrators, it is built for administrators who don't want to have to go through the tedious task of disabling everything he/she doesn't use just to harden a server for production.
What i've used it for most in the past is running a simple php/http/ftp server when i don't want to use up a lot of hard drive space, and i don't want to spend the time to go through and turn off all the services i don't need. It can also be used for many other things, like firewall, dns server, blah blah. just like any other linux distribution. What i like best is the command-line only interface. I did move to debian recently though, it's more widely supported than Trustix, although Trustix does have a fairly good following.
OK, I've already got your postal address, what I need is an electronic mail address that can recieve electronic mail from the Internet. If your company doesn't have an e-mail system that connects to the Internet, we're going to have to engineer a solution that will connect to your internal mail system, or set up webmail accounts for you that can be checked with a web browser
If I had never heard of email before and you said this to me, I would be completely lost. engineer a solution? webmail accounts?
Nobody uses Windows 2000 anymore, Grandpa... gosh!
It would be much more effective if all gamers moved to one state. ;)
or.. Buy It On Next Page If you want to be really picky... those buttons lie anyway! It's at least 5 seconds after I click "Buy It Now" that the transaction is complete. And then, you have to wait for the package to actually arrive. UGHHHHHH....
I think you just figured out their point. They don't WANT you using dial-up anymore. AOL probably has a lot more to gain by selling broadband than by selling dial-up service. I'm not sure how they do their broadband, but it must be much less expensive than maintaining massive analog dial-up pools.
Sorry, but, Child Porno is a lot less legal than spamming, junk mail, ads and lawyers, and doesn't need to be tolerated in society.
Then again, I would argue that spamming doesn't belong in society either, but I'd be in the minority--how anyone can uphold spamming and invasive advertising in general as freedom of speech is beyond me.
Well, sure you're going to see all of those as newsworthy, but most of the news is focused on the biggest market--actually I think Windows gets less coverage than its market share would dictate by itself (thank God).
At work, the only HP server we have is running Exchange with windows.. I wouldn't trust granny with that much power.
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-1-8-stereo-jack-to-1- 4-stereo-plug-headphone--pi-2062468.html
You don't know what you're talking about... unless you're from one of those 'metric countries' in which case I apologize.
support the development of applications for their own, very secure operating system: HP OpenVMS? Why does this industry focus so much on Microsoft Windows and totally ignore alternatives?
Maybe the question you should be asking is: Why does everyone USE windows instead of HP OpenVMS? And the answer is usually, because being able to use it is primary and being able to use it securely is secondary. Most people can't just pick up an OpenVMS server and use it in 5 minutes--ok so most can't pick it up at all. And that's why the industry focuses on Windows--because everyone and their grandma is using it.
Because of its underlying purpose, I was automatically opposed to this legislation idea until reading your comment. You're right, though. Getting the information out in a forum such as school, where the real issues are often discussed by teachers who are more interested in discussing ideas than in indoctrinating students on what to do and not to do, might be the best thing to happen for reforming copyright law.
Maybe they should throw in a bit of information about fair use too?
We have a very similar past. I had a 486 dx-40 or something and used to be on the modem all the time. My parents got 'concerned' about it and took away my computer, but then I found it hidden in the garage and set it up in my closet, and would use it at 3 in the morning. I learned how to use AT M0 to deaden the connection noise ;)
Those were magical times... Of course, after they took that away, I had no recourse so I would go to school half an hour early and hop on their PC-XT with 2400 baud modem to play L.O.R.D. good times....
I always hope beyond hope that when I click the comments section I don't see any cliches... but at least this way I'm let down quickly on the first post, rather than slowly and painfully through a string of them.
But wait, they post their cliches anyway! Crap...!
Science often uses what is knowable as evidence to explain what is not knowable by observation and fact alone. That is its purpose. For example, forensic anthropologists start with bones, and collect evidence to try and explain what happened to a dead person. Often this evidence is then used in court cases as proof to convict a criminal. If all science did was bring to light what's already obviously true or false, then it wouldn't be very useful, and the scientific community wouldn't have any arguments over various findings and research. Instead, science says some very strong things about the world we live in that cannot be directly observed or known.
I will say that as a contrast to religion, science has the ability to bend and change by nature, because scientists often go back and attempt to prove or disprove what we already know. My understanding of religion's purpose is that it isn't to explain why things are the way they are, but to provide an explanation for who we are and how we fit into the world.
That said, I see no reason why we should deny people from exploring the scientific possibilities that intelligent design has to offer, as long as we let go of our predispositions and biases that prevent us from seeing things as they really are. This slashdot article is an example of the biases that cloud the minds of people who feel threatened by those whose ideas conflict with their world view, even when it is constructive conflict. The nature of this slashdot post is therefore religious, not scientific--calling people to arms over an evolutionists' holy war.
People don't seem to realize that science is only half observation and collection of facts. The other half is interpretation of facts, and many people seem to forget that scientists argue over what the same set of data means on a regular basis.
Hear me out before you mod me down for disagreeing with your viewpoint:
I'm not trolling, but it's important to know how easy it is for people to jump on the "I hate ID" bandwagon because all you're doing is burning straw men. The real proponents of ID never believed that if scientists could figure out how bees fly then their theory was bunk. Maybe your school teacher said that, but in my (public) school we still had textbooks that mentioned the theory of recapitulation as fact, so I wouldn't take your teacher as a reliable proponent of ID.
Researchers at CalTech have discovered how bees fly, putting one more nail in the coffin of Intelligent Design.
Gimme a break /. Definitely -1 Flamebait.
I've never seen the "scientists can't explain how bees fly" argument before. I do however seem to have seen an argument like yours before, somewhere: "give us enough time, and we can explain anything"
I have some cheap no-brand CD-Rs with no label on the top and they still work after 5 years. So I don't know, maybe don't buy any IBM branded CD-Rs? ;)
There is a really simple solution to the supposed problem of CD degradation.. and it's not magnetic tapes.
First of all, let me list the problems with magnetic tapes:
1) if it's analog data, and you copy it, you lose quality
2) if it's digital data, and you accidentally put it somewhere magnetic, you lose your data.
3) seek time SUCKS
4) as mentioned above, magnetic tapes do not last forever
But so what if cds don't last more than 5 years? If they last 5 years, why not spend the $0.02 and buy another cd and copy it on, or better yet, store a bunch of your cds on a $0.20 DVD and it will last you another 5 years and you won't lose any quality. Plus, no problems with magnets to worry about. Just don't store your cds in your car on your dashboard and you'll probably be okay.
In my experience, cds and dvds last way longer than any other cheap accessible format, and if you're running windows like I am, your software will be obsolete in half that time anyway so only your data matters.