After searching a bit, I think you're right. Apparently, if you use a retail/upgrade version, you can install on new machines, but you're still restricted to using the license only on one machine at a time. If you got an OEM version, it's tied to your motherboard, so you can't transfer the license to a new computer.
I've read a few places saying that this wasn't true for Windows 8/8.1, but the information out there seems a bit confused, so I'm not certain of that.
I was under the impression that this was true of all copies of Windows, but that clearly seems to be not the case.
That's a nice way of saying, "anytime they wait on hold for 15-45 minutes to ask a question that's answered on page 1 of the documentation, the help file, the FAQ, and a ten-second Google search, they should be rounded up, forcibly surgically sterilized, publically flogged, and informed that we are merciful people who gave stupidity a lighter punishment than it actually deserves".
Have you considered that perhaps you're just not a people person? Maybe a job dealing with the public just isn't for you.
I'd rather go on welfare than work another tech support job.
I'd rather you work for a living than sucking off the government teat, which happens to be paid for by your fellow citizens, most of whom are also working at shitty jobs.
It's not "reasons unknown". You don't buy lifetime licenses from MS. Windows licenses are tied to the computer itself - or most specifically, the motherboard. New computer, new license required.
Of course it is. Just look at that list and tell me they're not involved in business licensing. You still seem to have a problem understanding that the exact same activity is considered very differently depending on whether it's used for commercial or non-commercial purposes. It's no different than how anyone can cook for their family, but it's illegal to serve that same food to strangers and charge for it without a proper license.
You should also note that these are experimental certificates. The summary should really have pointed to the actual proposed rules for commercial drones. Here's an especially relevant paragraph:
Under the proposed rule, the person actually flying a small UAS would be an “operator.” An operator would have to be at least 17 years old, pass an aeronautical knowledge test and obtain an FAA UAS operator certificate. To maintain certification, the operator would have to pass the FAA knowledge tests every 24 months. A small UAS operator would not need any further private pilot certifications (i.e., a private pilot license or medical rating)
In other words, a commercial drone operator is not going to need a regular pilot's license in the future. It's just that these rules and regulations are all still being developed, so in the meantime, a pilot's license is the next best thing to nothing, since at least pilots are guaranteed to know the basic rules of air safety. The FAA is just erring on the conservative side, which shouldn't be all that much of a shock.
When you start engaging in commerce, everything is different. Drone operators are not special in this regard.
It's not just the FAA, incidentally. If you're engaged in business of any sort and you don't have a business license, you're going to be in trouble. Most people don't run their own business so they don't have a clue how much businesses are currently regulated, licensed, taxed, and inspected by the government.
If the computer came with a legitimate copy of Windows, the license should be stuck on the back of the box, as required by Microsoft of OEMs. You can install Windows fresh from your own disc and just re-enter the license code from that sticker. Microsoft recently started allowing ISO downloads of supported versions of Windows, so a tech should always have their own copy of Windows to use if needed.
New hardware won't generally cause problems with license activation unless you change the motherboard, and then only if you use a different motherboard than the original. At that point, MS considers it a new machine and therefore probably won't transfer the license, although you could always call MS support and make your case. Replacing a drive or any other single component should not cause issues with the license activation. If the customer doesn't have an activation code or you replace the motherboard with a new model, then yes, your customers would have to buy another license. Or switch to Linux.
It's been like this since the Windows XP days, so I think it's fair to assume that Windows 10 will work in a similar fashion, with the exceptions listed by MS. And that actually make things more lenient, not more strict.
The US doesn't have a mandatorynational ID. As for national ID, you can use a passport, military ID, or birth certificate. Every legal citizen is nationally registered, of course, and the vast majority are given a national social security number. However, it's not 100% universal, as groups are allowed to opt out for religious reasons, such as the Amish and similar groups.
The vast majority of people have a state-issued driver's license, and as far as I know, every state also offers a non-drivers ID card as well, and these are all accepted nationally as proof of identity.
The government also knows how many people are in the country and their demographics because a national census is taken every ten years, as required by the constitution.
How many news articles have you read about Uber drivers raping or otherwise assaulting riders -- I can think of several off hand in the last year. How many news articles have you read about legally licensed cabbies doing the same?
Just take your pick. I'm not necessarily defending Uber, as they're not exactly a white knight in this story, but the notion that a government-issued license is going to somehow prevent sickos from assaulting women is naive.
The popularity of Uber and the dissatisfaction of traditional taxi's customers clearly show that a better solution can and should be found, so that services like Uber can legitimately compete for services, while at the same time not eschewing reasonable safety regulations that other taxi services must comply with.
The protection of dealerships was originally created for good reasons.
And my gosh, has it been an amazing success story! I mean, is there anyone who doesn't absolutely love the new car buying experience from our independent dealers?
Everyone can afford to fail if they understand their own situation well enough. Google is not ignoring profitability. Note that they're not stupid enough to radically experiment with and risk their core search and advertisement business. Instead, they take small, careful, incremental steps in order to continue improving them over time, just like any other reasonable company does with their core products.
All their moonshots are high-risk, high-return gambles that they invest a *portion* of their profits in. Any business, assuming they're profitable to begin with, can do the same. It's just that those moonshots will need to be scaled down in proportion with their business' revenue. Of course, at hat point, it's not really appropriate to call them "moonshots" anymore, but we've always had plenty of names for those: R&D, incubator projects, pilot programs, etc.
I've heard about protecting your SSN nearly my entire life. Can anyone actually steal your identity with just your SSN? Given the world we live in nowadays, what sort of half-wit organization would consider your SSN some personal passcode that no one else should know? Frankly, I think we should just make them all public records, and then get over the asinine notion that we can use them as some sort of damned security code. As has been aptly demonstrated, it's not like we can really keep them secret for long anyhow. You're constantly forced to give it to strangers. What sort of "secret number" is that?
Sorry, I'm not ranting at you. The inability of major corporations to keep customer data secret is really getting on my nerves. It's just ridiculous.
Didn't SCO already file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy? If I'm not mistake, unlike Chapter 11, it pretty much means "I give up" as a company, right? How do you file Chapter 7 and still exist as a company in order to press on with lawsuits?
I'd love for someone to explain this one to me, because that sounds like a hell of a deal: erase all your debts, continue with the lawsuit (no doubt on contingency), and if you just win big: jackpot! You won't even have to pay back your original debtors!
An "agrarian society" generally means at least half the population is engaged in agriculture. By that definition, all first-world nations are most assuredly "technological" or "industrial" as opposed to "agrarian", and have been for quite some time. That's not discounting the importance of agriculture... it's just an acknowledgement of how mechanization and agricultural science allows farmers to be hundreds of times as productive as they used to be.
I just did a bit of digging, and found this article, which indicates that post-2004 models of the 4000 retain their F-Lock state during a reboot. I just tested mine out by unplugging and replugging mine, and it does indeed seem to remember the state.
So, it seems you may have a earlier model than mine, which I think is perhaps five years old. The next time you buy one, it should theoretically work like mine does.
Keep in mind you always have the option of NOT using this feature if you're that paranoid, or are legitimately in danger of some goon cutting off your finger and using it to unlock your phone or computer. Also, if you're worried about your spouse secretly unlocking your phone while you're asleep and snooping on you, then you both have some bigger issues to work out.
In the case of AppleID, all you have to do is reset the device or leave it unlocked for 48 hours, and you'll be required to use a password instead of the fingerprint.
Heh, I think a more common scenario would be "the touch sensor isn't working because it's very cold out, or my hands are too dry to get a reading". No need for such dramatic examples. Search for "touchID cold weather" to see what I mean. Systems (like TouchID) generally let you try a few times with biometrics, and if that doesn't work, then you need to enter your passcode as a fallback.
Meh, it's already starting to level off. As it turns out, raising and educating kids in a non-agrarian society is really expensive. Plus, when women have career options, most choose not to become baby factories.
I'd also love to know how you'd propose to pass a law outlawing non-SSL sites worldwide.
No, a far saner better approach is to make using SSL certificates both easy and inexpensive, so that it's a no-brainer for anyone administering a site to do. In fact, this is already starting to happen, but it's definitely not there yet.
We're not still trying to figure this out. It's that we *can't* use it.
HRTF is a patent minefield, thanks to Creative Labs and a few others. It's extremely difficult to develop decent software HRTF functions without stepping on someone's patent. No one in the videogame industry bothers with hardware acceleration anymore as it's not supported, and even if it were, is far too limiting (think fixed-pipeline versus shader-based rendering). As such, we're pretty much stuck with basic pan/volume simulation of 3D sound, perhaps with a bit of low-pass filtering if you're lucky.
Fortunately, many of those patents should be expiring soon, and CPUs are now plenty powerful enough to perform those calculations in software. So, we may see high-quality HRTF functions make a comeback in the next five years or so. Kind of sad, really.
Don't misunderstand... I'm not trying to justify the current stingray use. I was just showing an example of how an organization can use secret information without revealing the origin of that secret information.
I'm not actually opposed to the technology in general... just the warrant-less and secretive nature of it, which seems like an obvious breach of current wiretapping laws and precedents to me. If there are criminal or terrorist elements that need monitoring, then the police should be able to get a warrant for the use of this technology.
I found it relatively easy to use an MS ergonomic keyboard, but I could never get used to the "reverse slope". I always set mine up with a forward facing slope, and it feels much more natural to me. Of course, as you said, frequent breaks are still a must.
I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say it's impossible to touch-type on reverse sloping keyboards, though, since there are obviously people who manage it. And I'm not sure I'd go holding up old manual typewriters as a paragon of ergonomic design.
You mean the "Elite" line, which were absolutely atrocious. I just checked, and I can't believe they're still selling those. Someone apparently had the idea that they needed to scrunch the size down to fit in standard keyboard drawers or some nonsense. It was also terribly lightweight and flimsy. My experience at work was similar to yours. I asked for a Microsoft Natural keyboard and they got me one of those instead of the older model I was used to. I had a hard time saying "no, this one is terrible, and I can't use it," since I didn't want to look like a prima dona. After a while, it drove me nuts, and I just bought one myself.
Microsoft then screwed up their next natural keyboard called the Microsoft Natural Multimedia. It defaulted to using the specialized keyset MS had introduced (help, undo, redo, new, open, etc) rather than the standard function keys, which were on the same physical keys. Brilliant and forward thinking, right? Because soon everyone will be using those instead of the stodgy old F1-F12 keys. *bzzzt* Wrong! And of course, there was no way to change the default in software, so every time you turn it on or reset the computer, you had to remember to turn on your damned function keys. That keyboard sits on my audio workstation, because apparently I'm too cheap to replace an otherwise perfectly good keyboard that has just one irritating flaw.
I currently use the MS Natural 4000 model on my main workstation, and really love it. Hopefully they'll continue selling it for a long time to come. If not, I'll probably buy a dozen of them and hoard them for the rest of my life.
Parallels could perhaps also be drawn with the Enigma codebreaking project in WWII. The allies had to be very careful to ensure that some "other" method of discovering German state secrets was plausible to avoid giving the game away. For instance, they'd direct spotting planes over U-boat positions before attacking even though they already knew exactly where they were.
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It depends on the company, I suppose. Lenovo sold theirs out for a rather inconsequential amount.
After searching a bit, I think you're right. Apparently, if you use a retail/upgrade version, you can install on new machines, but you're still restricted to using the license only on one machine at a time. If you got an OEM version, it's tied to your motherboard, so you can't transfer the license to a new computer.
I've read a few places saying that this wasn't true for Windows 8/8.1, but the information out there seems a bit confused, so I'm not certain of that.
I was under the impression that this was true of all copies of Windows, but that clearly seems to be not the case.
That's a nice way of saying, "anytime they wait on hold for 15-45 minutes to ask a question that's answered on page 1 of the documentation, the help file, the FAQ, and a ten-second Google search, they should be rounded up, forcibly surgically sterilized, publically flogged, and informed that we are merciful people who gave stupidity a lighter punishment than it actually deserves".
Have you considered that perhaps you're just not a people person? Maybe a job dealing with the public just isn't for you.
I'd rather go on welfare than work another tech support job.
I'd rather you work for a living than sucking off the government teat, which happens to be paid for by your fellow citizens, most of whom are also working at shitty jobs.
It's not "reasons unknown". You don't buy lifetime licenses from MS. Windows licenses are tied to the computer itself - or most specifically, the motherboard. New computer, new license required.
But the FAA isn't a business licensing entity.
Of course it is. Just look at that list and tell me they're not involved in business licensing. You still seem to have a problem understanding that the exact same activity is considered very differently depending on whether it's used for commercial or non-commercial purposes. It's no different than how anyone can cook for their family, but it's illegal to serve that same food to strangers and charge for it without a proper license.
You should also note that these are experimental certificates. The summary should really have pointed to the actual proposed rules for commercial drones. Here's an especially relevant paragraph:
Under the proposed rule, the person actually flying a small UAS would be an “operator.” An operator would have to be at least 17 years old, pass an aeronautical knowledge test and obtain an FAA UAS operator certificate. To maintain certification, the operator would have to pass the FAA knowledge tests every 24 months. A small UAS operator would not need any further private pilot certifications (i.e., a private pilot license or medical rating)
In other words, a commercial drone operator is not going to need a regular pilot's license in the future. It's just that these rules and regulations are all still being developed, so in the meantime, a pilot's license is the next best thing to nothing, since at least pilots are guaranteed to know the basic rules of air safety. The FAA is just erring on the conservative side, which shouldn't be all that much of a shock.
If you feel strongly enough about this, you can read the actual proposals and comment on them here. That undoubtedly have more of an effect than arguing about it here on Slashdot. :)
When you start engaging in commerce, everything is different. Drone operators are not special in this regard.
It's not just the FAA, incidentally. If you're engaged in business of any sort and you don't have a business license, you're going to be in trouble. Most people don't run their own business so they don't have a clue how much businesses are currently regulated, licensed, taxed, and inspected by the government.
If the computer came with a legitimate copy of Windows, the license should be stuck on the back of the box, as required by Microsoft of OEMs. You can install Windows fresh from your own disc and just re-enter the license code from that sticker. Microsoft recently started allowing ISO downloads of supported versions of Windows, so a tech should always have their own copy of Windows to use if needed.
New hardware won't generally cause problems with license activation unless you change the motherboard, and then only if you use a different motherboard than the original. At that point, MS considers it a new machine and therefore probably won't transfer the license, although you could always call MS support and make your case. Replacing a drive or any other single component should not cause issues with the license activation. If the customer doesn't have an activation code or you replace the motherboard with a new model, then yes, your customers would have to buy another license. Or switch to Linux.
It's been like this since the Windows XP days, so I think it's fair to assume that Windows 10 will work in a similar fashion, with the exceptions listed by MS. And that actually make things more lenient, not more strict.
I see nothing "socialistic" about a government imposing rules and regulations on businesses. Free markets have been regulated by government since the dawn of civilization. You can actually find examples of building codes going back to the Code of Hammurabi in 1792 BC, as well as the Old Testament.
The US doesn't have a mandatory national ID. As for national ID, you can use a passport, military ID, or birth certificate. Every legal citizen is nationally registered, of course, and the vast majority are given a national social security number. However, it's not 100% universal, as groups are allowed to opt out for religious reasons, such as the Amish and similar groups.
The vast majority of people have a state-issued driver's license, and as far as I know, every state also offers a non-drivers ID card as well, and these are all accepted nationally as proof of identity.
The government also knows how many people are in the country and their demographics because a national census is taken every ten years, as required by the constitution.
How many news articles have you read about Uber drivers raping or otherwise assaulting riders -- I can think of several off hand in the last year.
How many news articles have you read about legally licensed cabbies doing the same?
Just take your pick. I'm not necessarily defending Uber, as they're not exactly a white knight in this story, but the notion that a government-issued license is going to somehow prevent sickos from assaulting women is naive.
The popularity of Uber and the dissatisfaction of traditional taxi's customers clearly show that a better solution can and should be found, so that services like Uber can legitimately compete for services, while at the same time not eschewing reasonable safety regulations that other taxi services must comply with.
The protection of dealerships was originally created for good reasons.
And my gosh, has it been an amazing success story! I mean, is there anyone who doesn't absolutely love the new car buying experience from our independent dealers?
Everyone can afford to fail if they understand their own situation well enough. Google is not ignoring profitability. Note that they're not stupid enough to radically experiment with and risk their core search and advertisement business. Instead, they take small, careful, incremental steps in order to continue improving them over time, just like any other reasonable company does with their core products.
All their moonshots are high-risk, high-return gambles that they invest a *portion* of their profits in. Any business, assuming they're profitable to begin with, can do the same. It's just that those moonshots will need to be scaled down in proportion with their business' revenue. Of course, at hat point, it's not really appropriate to call them "moonshots" anymore, but we've always had plenty of names for those: R&D, incubator projects, pilot programs, etc.
I've heard about protecting your SSN nearly my entire life. Can anyone actually steal your identity with just your SSN? Given the world we live in nowadays, what sort of half-wit organization would consider your SSN some personal passcode that no one else should know? Frankly, I think we should just make them all public records, and then get over the asinine notion that we can use them as some sort of damned security code. As has been aptly demonstrated, it's not like we can really keep them secret for long anyhow. You're constantly forced to give it to strangers. What sort of "secret number" is that?
Sorry, I'm not ranting at you. The inability of major corporations to keep customer data secret is really getting on my nerves. It's just ridiculous.
Didn't SCO already file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy? If I'm not mistake, unlike Chapter 11, it pretty much means "I give up" as a company, right? How do you file Chapter 7 and still exist as a company in order to press on with lawsuits?
I'd love for someone to explain this one to me, because that sounds like a hell of a deal: erase all your debts, continue with the lawsuit (no doubt on contingency), and if you just win big: jackpot! You won't even have to pay back your original debtors!
An "agrarian society" generally means at least half the population is engaged in agriculture. By that definition, all first-world nations are most assuredly "technological" or "industrial" as opposed to "agrarian", and have been for quite some time. That's not discounting the importance of agriculture... it's just an acknowledgement of how mechanization and agricultural science allows farmers to be hundreds of times as productive as they used to be.
Sheesh, this is veering way off-topic.
I just did a bit of digging, and found this article, which indicates that post-2004 models of the 4000 retain their F-Lock state during a reboot. I just tested mine out by unplugging and replugging mine, and it does indeed seem to remember the state.
So, it seems you may have a earlier model than mine, which I think is perhaps five years old. The next time you buy one, it should theoretically work like mine does.
Keep in mind you always have the option of NOT using this feature if you're that paranoid, or are legitimately in danger of some goon cutting off your finger and using it to unlock your phone or computer. Also, if you're worried about your spouse secretly unlocking your phone while you're asleep and snooping on you, then you both have some bigger issues to work out.
In the case of AppleID, all you have to do is reset the device or leave it unlocked for 48 hours, and you'll be required to use a password instead of the fingerprint.
Heh, I think a more common scenario would be "the touch sensor isn't working because it's very cold out, or my hands are too dry to get a reading". No need for such dramatic examples. Search for "touchID cold weather" to see what I mean. Systems (like TouchID) generally let you try a few times with biometrics, and if that doesn't work, then you need to enter your passcode as a fallback.
cull the human population explosion.
Meh, it's already starting to level off. As it turns out, raising and educating kids in a non-agrarian society is really expensive. Plus, when women have career options, most choose not to become baby factories.
I'd also love to know how you'd propose to pass a law outlawing non-SSL sites worldwide.
No, a far saner better approach is to make using SSL certificates both easy and inexpensive, so that it's a no-brainer for anyone administering a site to do. In fact, this is already starting to happen, but it's definitely not there yet.
We're not still trying to figure this out. It's that we *can't* use it.
HRTF is a patent minefield, thanks to Creative Labs and a few others. It's extremely difficult to develop decent software HRTF functions without stepping on someone's patent. No one in the videogame industry bothers with hardware acceleration anymore as it's not supported, and even if it were, is far too limiting (think fixed-pipeline versus shader-based rendering). As such, we're pretty much stuck with basic pan/volume simulation of 3D sound, perhaps with a bit of low-pass filtering if you're lucky.
Fortunately, many of those patents should be expiring soon, and CPUs are now plenty powerful enough to perform those calculations in software. So, we may see high-quality HRTF functions make a comeback in the next five years or so. Kind of sad, really.
Don't misunderstand... I'm not trying to justify the current stingray use. I was just showing an example of how an organization can use secret information without revealing the origin of that secret information.
I'm not actually opposed to the technology in general... just the warrant-less and secretive nature of it, which seems like an obvious breach of current wiretapping laws and precedents to me. If there are criminal or terrorist elements that need monitoring, then the police should be able to get a warrant for the use of this technology.
I found it relatively easy to use an MS ergonomic keyboard, but I could never get used to the "reverse slope". I always set mine up with a forward facing slope, and it feels much more natural to me. Of course, as you said, frequent breaks are still a must.
I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say it's impossible to touch-type on reverse sloping keyboards, though, since there are obviously people who manage it. And I'm not sure I'd go holding up old manual typewriters as a paragon of ergonomic design.
You mean the "Elite" line, which were absolutely atrocious. I just checked, and I can't believe they're still selling those. Someone apparently had the idea that they needed to scrunch the size down to fit in standard keyboard drawers or some nonsense. It was also terribly lightweight and flimsy. My experience at work was similar to yours. I asked for a Microsoft Natural keyboard and they got me one of those instead of the older model I was used to. I had a hard time saying "no, this one is terrible, and I can't use it," since I didn't want to look like a prima dona. After a while, it drove me nuts, and I just bought one myself.
Microsoft then screwed up their next natural keyboard called the Microsoft Natural Multimedia. It defaulted to using the specialized keyset MS had introduced (help, undo, redo, new, open, etc) rather than the standard function keys, which were on the same physical keys. Brilliant and forward thinking, right? Because soon everyone will be using those instead of the stodgy old F1-F12 keys. *bzzzt* Wrong! And of course, there was no way to change the default in software, so every time you turn it on or reset the computer, you had to remember to turn on your damned function keys. That keyboard sits on my audio workstation, because apparently I'm too cheap to replace an otherwise perfectly good keyboard that has just one irritating flaw.
I currently use the MS Natural 4000 model on my main workstation, and really love it. Hopefully they'll continue selling it for a long time to come. If not, I'll probably buy a dozen of them and hoard them for the rest of my life.
Parallels could perhaps also be drawn with the Enigma codebreaking project in WWII. The allies had to be very careful to ensure that some "other" method of discovering German state secrets was plausible to avoid giving the game away. For instance, they'd direct spotting planes over U-boat positions before attacking even though they already knew exactly where they were.