"we invade China, fool."
Name calling, the last resort to win an argument?
". If it isn't moral, I don't suggest doing it"
Morals, something that is HIGHLY subjective.
"I don't get why people are so offended when others provide a tool that people can use to bypass censorship. "
Because those tools violate the laws of another sovereign nation. If they built the tools it would be one thing, but this is an attempt to subvert them.
If china implements a death penalty for being caught with such tools would you still be happy?
"Such censorship is horrible, and I think providing tools that people can choose to use to get around it is perfectly okay."
It is good when a few people band together and express how their view is correct at the expense of others. Lets look up the "Temperance movement" shall we?
A few thought it would be a good idea to ban alcohol, after all it is bad for you. How did that work out? Was it the "right" thing to do?
Here is a thought, perhaps some level of censorship is a good thing, especially when you are trying to manage a country of 1.3BLN. Given the crime rates and such in the US with 300 million i am not sure the "US" model can easily be applied to other nations. You have to look at the history and context of those nations before trying to apply a "one size fits all" model. Can you picture the size of the Chinese prison system if China had incarceration rates the same as what can be found in the US? Clearly the Chinese can not adopt "western" models for some aspects of its society.
Please explain the "war on drugs".
Censorship is "horrible" but putting people in jail because they chose to smoke a plant is totally OK right? After all the law says that plant is against the law but tobacco (another plant) is not?
Your government (assuming you are American) has a rich history of not sharing things with you, being dishonest with you, etc. All governments do, so is it OK?
" China *choose* to use this software of their own fucking volition"
Lets say that "fully automatic MP5's" are not against the law in my country, can i sell them to you? You should be free to choose to buy them on your own right?
If Coke is not against the law in my country, why are you arrested for buying it in yours?
Lastly, food for thought. Why does it matter what the Chinese government does so much to its people?
Prostitution and pornography are also illigial in China, should you push your views on those and encourage them to change their rules because you disagree with them?
Are other nations free to create tools to violate US laws or is this a one-way street thing?
How many Chinese VISA's do you have stamped on your passport?
Let me guess, you don't even have a passport, let alone been there?
Let me give you a quick hint of life in China. They are more concerned with making some money and improving their life then worrying about "the great firewall".
Is China a perfect place? Far from it.
Do the Chinese have bigger concerns then "the great firewall" going on in, you bet.
You do realize the state controls both the TV and newspapers right? This is something that impacts far more then the few that can afford computers and internet access.
Re:And this is the same for copyrights.
on
Patents That Kill
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· Score: 1
Here is a citation:
"
In the article Patent Protection Strategies (J Pharm Bioallied Sci), Gupta et al., discuss several of these strategies and examples of companies using them. Creating new, more efficacious formulations of drugs is a very common strategy to extend pharmaceutical patent life. Lilly created a new once weekly formulation of Prozac when it faced pharmaceutical patent expiration. BMS redesigned a once daily long acting version of metformin known as Glucophage XR when it faced pharmaceutical patent expiration.
"
I don't believe the old patent just "expires" since it is the base for the new one.
Re:And this is the same for copyrights.
on
Patents That Kill
·
· Score: 1
Dont forget the magical "reformulation" trick to extend the terms as well. "this is not the same drug, this is the super-time-release formula model 29" and should be treated as a new drug with a new term.
Re:And this is the same for copyrights.
on
Patents That Kill
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· Score: 0
Food for thought: What makes you think they want to sell them to the west, or that they even can? Anything you have ever purchased from China was most likely via a "middle man" (made in China, sold to you by a non-Chinese company under their label). Go ahead, list off a few Chinese manufacturing firms you purchased products from.
In china, there are two markets. Made in China for sale in China, and Made in China but for export. If this is some "made in china for sale in china" why do they care what the west says? Why does the west care to "catch them"?
Lastly, perhaps "the west" should focus on catching the data theft and other crimes occurring locally and focus on others less?
They can also do what Toronto, Ontario did with its skydome.
Taxpayer funded cost of construction: $570 million
Sale price to private corporations: $151 million
So yeah, i can see how the taxpayers might want something after taking a $400 million dollar loss. The kicker is this is not the only "stadium" for such a small city.
A lot of sports is all about taxpayer subsidies and huge player salaries.
Answering your linux question, yes my linux computer is safe if i give someone my root password because many linux distro's dont allow direct root login.
"By default, the Root account password is locked in Ubuntu. This means that you cannot login as Root directly or use the su command to become the Root user. "
Perhaps you can define exactly what it means to "jailbreak" an iDevice? Seems you do something to gain "root" access? Remember when simply going to a website would root your phone?
It is not uncommon for Apple fans to think that everyone else got their idea from Apple, but it is often very far from the truth.
Case in point, you state MS got the idea from OS X back in 2001. How do you explain MS offering beta versions of "windows 95" in 1994?
"
Prior to the official release, the American public was given a chance to preview Windows 95 in the Windows 95 Preview Program. For US$19.95, users were sent a set of 3.5-inch floppy diskettes that would install Windows 95 either as an upgrade to Windows 3.1x or as a fresh install on a clean computer. Users who bought into the program were also given a free preview of The Microsoft Network (MSN), the online service that Microsoft launched with Windows 95.
"
PS, the public beta of OS X was "Cheetah" released September 13, 2000 for US$29.95 So 6 years later and $10 more then MS win 95.
I have 5 android tablets in my house (two for myself, and one for each of my kids).
Two things I'd like to share:
1) The kids have NEVER liked reading off any tablet (not the kindle, not the nook and not the samsung galaxy's). They are avid readers, but physical books only and I can't convince them otherwise.
2) Speaking about posting without having a clue at all... Your "tethered to Google" seems to fit the bill for posting without any idea what you are talking about.
Bonus: the kids did create accounts in google play without a credit card with ease as they wanted to grab a few apps.
Extra points for your use of "dead trees" to describe physical books. It was just as cool in 2004 as it is now.
Didn't apple just recently agree to pay like $400 million as a settlement for price fixing ebook prices?
So on top of the price of the device, there is also the artificial ebook prices?
Care to cite some examples of people actually creating content on the iPad in the real world? Most of the people i see with them are playing games or watching video's (consumption).
how are any of these quality apps tracking, selling my data or any of the other nonsense you posted?
They say they are "free" and they don't beg for money every time you use them.
They do have a donate page on them, but you are free click "not now" and contniue to download it.
How hard is it to post something that is not free as "freemium" or "in app purchases" instead of free?
"As I said, levels of ignorance."
What does this even mean? people are ignorant when "free" games beg for money and this is not 'false advertising'?
Normally i have a bias towards China as a lot of people post things which are just factually inaccurate.
For your post, clearly you are not being serious?
China - Fantastic history going back a very long time, but unfortunately does not contain many successful "conquests".
They are far more likely to stay within their own nation.
OMG, please list some examples of my "lack of parenting"?
You seem to be on a crusade to slander every parent on here, despite you clearly knowing NOTHING about them to protect corporate profits at the expense of vulnerable members of society. This makes zero sense. Long ago they removed child labor laws, and changed the rules to protect children from being taken advantage of.
Kids are not adults, they can not be expected to make sound decisions which is specifically why they have different rules around them.
Before you respond back with an additional attack, please clearly state how i "lack parenting" and be precise, no vague ambiguities.
Let me help you. I have three kids, one has an android based phone with NO CC attached. She comments from time to time that some of the games "constantly beg" for money even they they stated they were free.
Said daughter's lowest grade is B+ and if she wants to play some android game for 15 minutes on the bus i dont see any issues.
What was the point of the "age appropriate" system if companies sneak in grubbing for money which isn't age appropriate?
Please learn to read before posting, lest you look silly.
See where i said "As i have stated before, my kids have never had this issue as i made them create their own google play accounts and they dont have CC numbers. Flip side it is clear the companies involved shoulder some responsibility as well."
Now outline the part where I am not being a dad to my child?
Nothing like flying off the handle and making wild accusations (i am not a god father) with ZERO facts is there?
Unfortunately the courts don't agree with you when it comes to children and money in past cases like this.
Why does the device which has the ability to spend real money not simply ask for the credit card number back to confirm the purchase? THis is the exact same mechanism amazon uses online to prevent fraud.
instead of "smurfberries" why doesn't the in-game purchase simply say you are going to spend [whatever unit of your currency] REAL money?
Your argument seems to fail logic 101. The people in question used Amazons tools to protect them from this problem. Had amazon simply used the same rules for in app purchases as they do for their own online site this wouldn't have happened.
Regardless, the law is often based on previous cases and each time this comes to the courts the company in question has lost and given refunds.
Let me guess, you develop games with in-app purchase and so you naturally want to exploit this loophole?
As i have stated before, my kids have never had this issue as i made them create their own google play accounts and they dont have CC numbers. Flip side it is clear the companies involved shoulder some responsiblity as well.
It is hard to debate that when a company targets children with in-app purchases they are attempting to exploit them.
When i purchase something online using Amazon it asks me to re-enter my credit card number. I dont use amazon to do in-app purchase, but i suspect this "anti-fraud" requirement is not present?
If they required you to re-enter the credit-card at purchase time it would address a lot of this.
Are you serious? They used Amazons own controls to reduce the risk, and you still claim "lazy bad parent reasons"?
Perhaps you can explain why a game rated at age 8 allows in-app purchases? DO a lot of adults play Smurf world or such? So the app developers target children intentionally for in-app purchases?
As i posted elsewhere here, you know a child can invalidate any contract they have entered into right?
Read that again, children have a LEGAL RIGHT to void any contract they enter into. So asking for a refund for in-app purchases made by a minor should be legal, they are simply voiding their purchase.
So, they were raised to know the difference between right and wrong and also can think on their own?
What if they think that something you told them was "wrong" is in fact "right"?
I have three kids, and for reference i am strongly against these "in app" purchases which target kids because of this exact problem. My kids have androids and use their own account which doesnt have a CC card so they cant buy anything. Flip side, it is somewhat annoying when they get a game advertised as "free" only to be constantly hounded for "in app" purchases. More annoying when said "in app" purchase bait-n-switch game stated it was age appropriate when clearly it is not.
Not sure about your country, but this probably holds true in yours as well....
"Generally, minors cannot be bound to contracts because they are not old enough to enter them. In many cases, if someone does enter a contract with a minor, the minor has the ability to have the contract deemed void. On the other hand, if an adult breaches a contract with a minor, the minor can hold him liable."
How does a child agree to make an in-app purchase when they have a legal right to have it become void? Heck, even the "agreement" they "signed" to use the device is probably not legally binding in the first place. (NOTE: IANAL)
This smells of false advertising, and i suspect if a bricks and mortar company did this they would be in court facing "bait and switch" charges.
"Not only do you grossly overestimate your intelligence, you don't even pass the self-awareness test."
Well put.
the part where they write "I'm right. Period...." seemed pretty arrogant.
Slashdot Mirror
"we invade China, fool."
Name calling, the last resort to win an argument?
". If it isn't moral, I don't suggest doing it"
Morals, something that is HIGHLY subjective.
"I don't get why people are so offended when others provide a tool that people can use to bypass censorship. "
Because those tools violate the laws of another sovereign nation. If they built the tools it would be one thing, but this is an attempt to subvert them.
If china implements a death penalty for being caught with such tools would you still be happy?
"Such censorship is horrible, and I think providing tools that people can choose to use to get around it is perfectly okay."
It is good when a few people band together and express how their view is correct at the expense of others. Lets look up the "Temperance movement" shall we?
A few thought it would be a good idea to ban alcohol, after all it is bad for you. How did that work out? Was it the "right" thing to do?
Here is a thought, perhaps some level of censorship is a good thing, especially when you are trying to manage a country of 1.3BLN. Given the crime rates and such in the US with 300 million i am not sure the "US" model can easily be applied to other nations. You have to look at the history and context of those nations before trying to apply a "one size fits all" model. Can you picture the size of the Chinese prison system if China had incarceration rates the same as what can be found in the US? Clearly the Chinese can not adopt "western" models for some aspects of its society.
Please explain the "war on drugs".
Censorship is "horrible" but putting people in jail because they chose to smoke a plant is totally OK right? After all the law says that plant is against the law but tobacco (another plant) is not? Your government (assuming you are American) has a rich history of not sharing things with you, being dishonest with you, etc. All governments do, so is it OK?
" China *choose* to use this software of their own fucking volition"
Lets say that "fully automatic MP5's" are not against the law in my country, can i sell them to you? You should be free to choose to buy them on your own right?
If Coke is not against the law in my country, why are you arrested for buying it in yours?
Lastly, food for thought. Why does it matter what the Chinese government does so much to its people?
Prostitution and pornography are also illigial in China, should you push your views on those and encourage them to change their rules because you disagree with them?
Are other nations free to create tools to violate US laws or is this a one-way street thing?
How many Chinese VISA's do you have stamped on your passport?
Let me guess, you don't even have a passport, let alone been there?
Let me give you a quick hint of life in China. They are more concerned with making some money and improving their life then worrying about "the great firewall".
Is China a perfect place? Far from it.
Do the Chinese have bigger concerns then "the great firewall" going on in, you bet.
You do realize the state controls both the TV and newspapers right? This is something that impacts far more then the few that can afford computers and internet access.
Here is a citation:
"
In the article Patent Protection Strategies (J Pharm Bioallied Sci), Gupta et al., discuss several of these strategies and examples of companies using them. Creating new, more efficacious formulations of drugs is a very common strategy to extend pharmaceutical patent life. Lilly created a new once weekly formulation of Prozac when it faced pharmaceutical patent expiration. BMS redesigned a once daily long acting version of metformin known as Glucophage XR when it faced pharmaceutical patent expiration.
"
I don't believe the old patent just "expires" since it is the base for the new one.
Dont forget the magical "reformulation" trick to extend the terms as well. "this is not the same drug, this is the super-time-release formula model 29" and should be treated as a new drug with a new term.
Where are my mod points when i need them?
If it is blocked, how did he use it to apologize?
Food for thought: What makes you think they want to sell them to the west, or that they even can? Anything you have ever purchased from China was most likely via a "middle man" (made in China, sold to you by a non-Chinese company under their label). Go ahead, list off a few Chinese manufacturing firms you purchased products from.
In china, there are two markets. Made in China for sale in China, and Made in China but for export. If this is some "made in china for sale in china" why do they care what the west says? Why does the west care to "catch them"?
Lastly, perhaps "the west" should focus on catching the data theft and other crimes occurring locally and focus on others less?
Small in the sense that how do you justify so many sports stadiums for that population?
Just a boondogle, the leafs wont play in the old stadium, nor will they build a new one when they can just get the taxpayers to do it.
They can also do what Toronto, Ontario did with its skydome.
Taxpayer funded cost of construction: $570 million
Sale price to private corporations: $151 million
So yeah, i can see how the taxpayers might want something after taking a $400 million dollar loss. The kicker is this is not the only "stadium" for such a small city.
A lot of sports is all about taxpayer subsidies and huge player salaries.
If a robot does it, who gets to claim the credit?
Answering your linux question, yes my linux computer is safe if i give someone my root password because many linux distro's dont allow direct root login.
"By default, the Root account password is locked in Ubuntu. This means that you cannot login as Root directly or use the su command to become the Root user. "
Perhaps you can define exactly what it means to "jailbreak" an iDevice? Seems you do something to gain "root" access? Remember when simply going to a website would root your phone?
It is not uncommon for Apple fans to think that everyone else got their idea from Apple, but it is often very far from the truth.
Case in point, you state MS got the idea from OS X back in 2001. How do you explain MS offering beta versions of "windows 95" in 1994?
" Prior to the official release, the American public was given a chance to preview Windows 95 in the Windows 95 Preview Program. For US$19.95, users were sent a set of 3.5-inch floppy diskettes that would install Windows 95 either as an upgrade to Windows 3.1x or as a fresh install on a clean computer. Users who bought into the program were also given a free preview of The Microsoft Network (MSN), the online service that Microsoft launched with Windows 95. "
PS, the public beta of OS X was "Cheetah" released September 13, 2000 for US$29.95
So 6 years later and $10 more then MS win 95.
I have 5 android tablets in my house (two for myself, and one for each of my kids).
Two things I'd like to share:
1) The kids have NEVER liked reading off any tablet (not the kindle, not the nook and not the samsung galaxy's). They are avid readers, but physical books only and I can't convince them otherwise.
2) Speaking about posting without having a clue at all... Your "tethered to Google" seems to fit the bill for posting without any idea what you are talking about.
Bonus: the kids did create accounts in google play without a credit card with ease as they wanted to grab a few apps.
Extra points for your use of "dead trees" to describe physical books. It was just as cool in 2004 as it is now.
It is my (limited) understanding that Teachers in China are not unionized and can be fired fairly easily for poor performance.
Didn't apple just recently agree to pay like $400 million as a settlement for price fixing ebook prices?
So on top of the price of the device, there is also the artificial ebook prices?
Care to cite some examples of people actually creating content on the iPad in the real world? Most of the people i see with them are playing games or watching video's (consumption).
So, using the post right above yours...
https://www.libreoffice.org/
http://www.linuxmint.com/
http://www.gimp.org/
how are any of these quality apps tracking, selling my data or any of the other nonsense you posted?
They say they are "free" and they don't beg for money every time you use them.
They do have a donate page on them, but you are free click "not now" and contniue to download it.
How hard is it to post something that is not free as "freemium" or "in app purchases" instead of free?
"As I said, levels of ignorance."
What does this even mean? people are ignorant when "free" games beg for money and this is not 'false advertising'?
Normally i have a bias towards China as a lot of people post things which are just factually inaccurate.
For your post, clearly you are not being serious?
China - Fantastic history going back a very long time, but unfortunately does not contain many successful "conquests".
They are far more likely to stay within their own nation.
OMG, please list some examples of my "lack of parenting"?
You seem to be on a crusade to slander every parent on here, despite you clearly knowing NOTHING about them to protect corporate profits at the expense of vulnerable members of society. This makes zero sense. Long ago they removed child labor laws, and changed the rules to protect children from being taken advantage of.
Kids are not adults, they can not be expected to make sound decisions which is specifically why they have different rules around them.
Before you respond back with an additional attack, please clearly state how i "lack parenting" and be precise, no vague ambiguities.
Let me help you. I have three kids, one has an android based phone with NO CC attached. She comments from time to time that some of the games "constantly beg" for money even they they stated they were free.
Said daughter's lowest grade is B+ and if she wants to play some android game for 15 minutes on the bus i dont see any issues.
What was the point of the "age appropriate" system if companies sneak in grubbing for money which isn't age appropriate?
Please learn to read before posting, lest you look silly.
See where i said "As i have stated before, my kids have never had this issue as i made them create their own google play accounts and they dont have CC numbers. Flip side it is clear the companies involved shoulder some responsibility as well."
Now outline the part where I am not being a dad to my child?
Nothing like flying off the handle and making wild accusations (i am not a god father) with ZERO facts is there?
Unfortunately the courts don't agree with you when it comes to children and money in past cases like this.
Why does the device which has the ability to spend real money not simply ask for the credit card number back to confirm the purchase? THis is the exact same mechanism amazon uses online to prevent fraud.
instead of "smurfberries" why doesn't the in-game purchase simply say you are going to spend [whatever unit of your currency] REAL money?
The abstraction is intentional.
Your argument seems to fail logic 101. The people in question used Amazons tools to protect them from this problem. Had amazon simply used the same rules for in app purchases as they do for their own online site this wouldn't have happened.
Regardless, the law is often based on previous cases and each time this comes to the courts the company in question has lost and given refunds.
Let me guess, you develop games with in-app purchase and so you naturally want to exploit this loophole?
As i have stated before, my kids have never had this issue as i made them create their own google play accounts and they dont have CC numbers. Flip side it is clear the companies involved shoulder some responsiblity as well.
It is hard to debate that when a company targets children with in-app purchases they are attempting to exploit them.
When i purchase something online using Amazon it asks me to re-enter my credit card number. I dont use amazon to do in-app purchase, but i suspect this "anti-fraud" requirement is not present?
If they required you to re-enter the credit-card at purchase time it would address a lot of this.
Are you serious? They used Amazons own controls to reduce the risk, and you still claim "lazy bad parent reasons"?
Perhaps you can explain why a game rated at age 8 allows in-app purchases? DO a lot of adults play Smurf world or such? So the app developers target children intentionally for in-app purchases?
As i posted elsewhere here, you know a child can invalidate any contract they have entered into right?
Read that again, children have a LEGAL RIGHT to void any contract they enter into. So asking for a refund for in-app purchases made by a minor should be legal, they are simply voiding their purchase.
And when should the company take responsibility for entering into a contract with a minor which can not be enforced?
So, they were raised to know the difference between right and wrong and also can think on their own?
What if they think that something you told them was "wrong" is in fact "right"?
I have three kids, and for reference i am strongly against these "in app" purchases which target kids because of this exact problem. My kids have androids and use their own account which doesnt have a CC card so they cant buy anything. Flip side, it is somewhat annoying when they get a game advertised as "free" only to be constantly hounded for "in app" purchases. More annoying when said "in app" purchase bait-n-switch game stated it was age appropriate when clearly it is not.
Not sure about your country, but this probably holds true in yours as well....
"Generally, minors cannot be bound to contracts because they are not old enough to enter them. In many cases, if someone does enter a contract with a minor, the minor has the ability to have the contract deemed void. On the other hand, if an adult breaches a contract with a minor, the minor can hold him liable."
How does a child agree to make an in-app purchase when they have a legal right to have it become void? Heck, even the "agreement" they "signed" to use the device is probably not legally binding in the first place. (NOTE: IANAL)
This smells of false advertising, and i suspect if a bricks and mortar company did this they would be in court facing "bait and switch" charges.
"Not only do you grossly overestimate your intelligence, you don't even pass the self-awareness test."
Well put.
the part where they write "I'm right. Period...." seemed pretty arrogant.