8. Finland
14. Israel
17. Korea, South
18. Kuwait
28. Oman
31. Poland
32. Russian Federation
33. Saudi Arabia
34. Singapore
40. United Arab Emirates
41. United States
reads like a whos who of third world countries and banana republics...
[A few words to prevent this reply from being all quoted text because, really, what else needs to be said?]
I hope you're right. But I'm always wary of claims that new weapons will reduce human misery.
Case in point: A century ago, there were those who thought the airplane would make war obsolete because neither side would be able to plan attacks without the other side knowing. Then someone put a gun on a defensive plane to shoot down the reconnaisance planes. Then someone else put a gun on an offensive plane to shoot down the defensive planes. Then someone else said "To hell with reconnaisance; let's drop bombs on the enemy."...and so on.
This strategy, while it means well, will probably lead to the development of anti-personnel land mines that attack approaching soldiers by homing in on the magnetic signature of their weapons... or the farm implement some poor soul is toting across the field after the war.
Perhaps the "limited time" should be proportional to the artistic or scientific merit of the work. So Bach's works would still be copyrightable by the Bach family(1), whereas a Rob Schneider movie would be copyrightable just long enough for the opening night audience to say "I paid $12 to see this?
(1) This is a separate issue. It is possible for an artist, scientist, or other creative individual to lose control of his idea or work completely if, desperate for cash, he sells it outright. A reformed copyright system would allow the sale of distribution rights, but would impose certain limits to ensure that the original creator retained control of the creative work. Unfortunately, this will never happen in a society where the rights of the rich corporate entities always trump the rights of the individual.
What needs to made clear(er) in the Constitution is that Copyright laws that demonstrably do *not "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" are not valid.
So every movie Rob Schneider has ever made should be public domain the moment it's released. But that would mean Rob Schneider movies would never show a profit... and no more of them would never be made...
Good point. But to make this a fair comparison, we need to compare the shuttle to high-end race cars, which are completely re-built between every 'mission'. Otherwise, if you count miles per fatality, under power, between complete overhauls, the average car kicks the shuttle's butt.
Which goes to show how meaningless such statistical comparisons are.
That depends: per mile under power, or per mile coasting?
the shuttle is only under power for a few thousand miles, until it achieves orbit, then for a much shorter distance when it de-orbits. My car has ptobably made 85-90% of its 245,000 km with the engine actively delivering power to the wheels.
Anyone have any stats as to the powered mileage of the average shuttle?
So you're implying that the beast of Redmond may be a supporter of this bill?
This could be yet another legal tie to drain the resources of a competitor.
I realize this was a tongue-in-cheek comment, but consider: What other huge company, based in Washington, runs a pretty big search engine that has sponsored results?
I think this pretty much guarantees that this law will never be used against a large search provider. You don't bite the hand that lays the big blue 'e'... or something like that.
Which is the philosophy of most IBM PC users. If it works, it doesn't need to be pretty.
...which is why Alienware got so huge. And why PC stores are filled with so many LED case fans, light tubes, and other "bling" that you can't find simple accessories anymore.
The "look at my expensive toy!" syndrome is not limited to Mac users.
However most Mac users are, by definition, more concerned about appearance than their PC counterparts.
Tell me more about this "definition." It doesn't seem to appear anywhere I've looked (not that I've looked very far). Most of the Mac users I know made their choice based on multimedia editing functionality.
Shareware is a limited or expiring version of an application made available for free with the idea that you should be able to try the software before purchasing it.
That's what the term has come to mean today, but that's really a demo, not Shareware. In the old days, when software was distributed on BBSes, Shareware was fully functional, and included a notice something like "If you find this useful, please send $X to the creator."
With Shareware becoming Demoware, today that model is sometimes called Donationware, or worse, Freeware. It gets even muddier when apps distributed as Freeware are actually a limited version with a beg notice to buy the "full version".
That is total BS. The original distinction between Shareware and Freeware (before Shareware degenerated into Demoware) was that Freeware had no strings attached, period.
Unfortunately, there is little enforcement of these terms. I've contacted Tucows a couple of times about demos masquerading as freeware, and they have moved them, but how many people do that? How many thousands of crippled demos lurk in the Freeware sections of various download sites?
In contrast, the term Free Software has a very precise meaning and really should be trade-marked by the FSF.
Actually, "Free Software" is just as misleading in the vernacular. Just as anyone who doesn't know the technicalities of "Open Source" might assume that they have unrestricted public access to any source code with that label, many people assume that "Free Software" means free as in beer.
"Rights Free" might be a clearer term, or "Freedom Software"... nah, that opens up another can of semantic worms*. "Clear Software" might be better.
This is so going to happen to my sister, and I am so not going to fix her computer this time.
Place your bets everyone. Starting odds are two-to-one that Kenshin does fix his sister's computer this time.;) Unfortunately, once you start being someone's computer bitch, they always seem to convince you to come back for more abuse.:(
Just make sure you up the amount of beer you charge for service.
Microsoft and Yahoo have announced that they are building big data centers upstream in Wenatchee and Quincy, Wash., 130 miles to the north...
It seems strange that the battle for Internet supremacy is taking place in the Northwestern United States.
I think the real question is, will the MS and Yahoo! datacenters divert the river, cutting the GooglePlex's cooling capacity before the GooglePlex uses its weather control system to create a pair of very powerful, very focused electrical storms 130 miles upstream, in a titanic clash that will determine the fate of the entire...
Oops, you weren't supposed to know about the weather control device, which was created at the castle of AAAAAaaaaaauuughhh......
After your 3rd coffee you realised that sound won't travel too well in the vacuum of space.
"...but our theory is simply that that no one has created a loud enough sound. And that's where we come in, because our band is truly, pofoundly loud!"
--Obscure reference (a virtual beer to anyone who gets it)
TMS - Typical Movie Scientist
TMG - Typical Movie General
TMG: Doc, what's the status of the plague?
TMS: As of an hour ago, the virus has infected every living thing on Earth.
TMG: But it hasn't spread since then?
TMS: Well, no, but--
TMG: Then it's been contained! Victory is ours!
Slashdot Mirror
[A few words to prevent this reply from being all quoted text because, really, what else needs to be said?]
Case in point: A century ago, there were those who thought the airplane would make war obsolete because neither side would be able to plan attacks without the other side knowing. Then someone put a gun on a defensive plane to shoot down the reconnaisance planes. Then someone else put a gun on an offensive plane to shoot down the defensive planes. Then someone else said "To hell with reconnaisance; let's drop bombs on the enemy." ...and so on.
This strategy, while it means well, will probably lead to the development of anti-personnel land mines that attack approaching soldiers by homing in on the magnetic signature of their weapons... or the farm implement some poor soul is toting across the field after the war.
Hey, might as well. It will be as successful as any of the other "war on [concept]"s conceived in the last couple of decades.
I'm sure Thor is chuckling and polishing his hammer in anticipation!
I don't know about you, but my "old wife" doesn't have a tail. :P
Train them to use the blackout method, but to replace the redacted text with "If you can read this, you're under arrest!"
Perhaps the "limited time" should be proportional to the artistic or scientific merit of the work. So Bach's works would still be copyrightable by the Bach family(1), whereas a Rob Schneider movie would be copyrightable just long enough for the opening night audience to say "I paid $12 to see this?
(1) This is a separate issue. It is possible for an artist, scientist, or other creative individual to lose control of his idea or work completely if, desperate for cash, he sells it outright. A reformed copyright system would allow the sale of distribution rights, but would impose certain limits to ensure that the original creator retained control of the creative work. Unfortunately, this will never happen in a society where the rights of the rich corporate entities always trump the rights of the individual.
So every movie Rob Schneider has ever made should be public domain the moment it's released. But that would mean Rob Schneider movies would never show a profit... and no more of them would never be made...
Let's get this amendment approved ASAP!
Good point. It's hard to pull over at the nearest service station when it's 600 miles below you, whizzing past at a few thousand miles per hour.
Good point. But to make this a fair comparison, we need to compare the shuttle to high-end race cars, which are completely re-built between every 'mission'. Otherwise, if you count miles per fatality, under power, between complete overhauls, the average car kicks the shuttle's butt.
Which goes to show how meaningless such statistical comparisons are.
That depends: per mile under power, or per mile coasting?
the shuttle is only under power for a few thousand miles, until it achieves orbit, then for a much shorter distance when it de-orbits. My car has ptobably made 85-90% of its 245,000 km with the engine actively delivering power to the wheels.
Anyone have any stats as to the powered mileage of the average shuttle?
And, by the way, no one has ever died in my car.
Jessica Alba's bikini isn't intellectual news? Damn, there goes my research grant.
I realize this was a tongue-in-cheek comment, but consider: What other huge company, based in Washington, runs a pretty big search engine that has sponsored results?
I think this pretty much guarantees that this law will never be used against a large search provider. You don't bite the hand that lays the big blue 'e'... or something like that.
I was going to aplogize for that typo, but somehow, it fits better than "made".
Not wanting to slog through the bill, can someone confirm the impression I get from the summary...
After a judge rules that a game is not suitable for minors, a store can be fined for carrying it before the judge mad that decision?
This sounds like a clear case of "Not convicting enough criminals? Just make some more!"
Actually, playing Duke Nukem 3D made me want to rampage around a movie theater with a flame thrower.
Oh wait, it wasn't caused by the game; it was caused by thinking "I paid $16 to see this turkey?!"
...which is why Alienware got so huge. And why PC stores are filled with so many LED case fans, light tubes, and other "bling" that you can't find simple accessories anymore.
The "look at my expensive toy!" syndrome is not limited to Mac users.
Tell me more about this "definition." It doesn't seem to appear anywhere I've looked (not that I've looked very far). Most of the Mac users I know made their choice based on multimedia editing functionality.
All of them? Or is this just a Nanoprobe?
Bah! Creative should know that resistance is futile!
That's what the term has come to mean today, but that's really a demo, not Shareware. In the old days, when software was distributed on BBSes, Shareware was fully functional, and included a notice something like "If you find this useful, please send $X to the creator."
With Shareware becoming Demoware, today that model is sometimes called Donationware, or worse, Freeware. It gets even muddier when apps distributed as Freeware are actually a limited version with a beg notice to buy the "full version".
That is total BS. The original distinction between Shareware and Freeware (before Shareware degenerated into Demoware) was that Freeware had no strings attached, period.
Unfortunately, there is little enforcement of these terms. I've contacted Tucows a couple of times about demos masquerading as freeware, and they have moved them, but how many people do that? How many thousands of crippled demos lurk in the Freeware sections of various download sites?
Oh, I'm sorry, what was the question? (/rambling)
Actually, "Free Software" is just as misleading in the vernacular. Just as anyone who doesn't know the technicalities of "Open Source" might assume that they have unrestricted public access to any source code with that label, many people assume that "Free Software" means free as in beer.
"Rights Free" might be a clearer term, or "Freedom Software"... nah, that opens up another can of semantic worms*. "Clear Software" might be better.
*as opposed to Symantec worms.
Place your bets everyone. Starting odds are two-to-one that Kenshin does fix his sister's computer this time. ;) Unfortunately, once you start being someone's computer bitch, they always seem to convince you to come back for more abuse. :(
Just make sure you up the amount of beer you charge for service.
+++Out of cheese error+++
+++Please reboot universe+++
+++Redo from start+++
/TP's DW reference
I think the real question is, will the MS and Yahoo! datacenters divert the river, cutting the GooglePlex's cooling capacity before the GooglePlex uses its weather control system to create a pair of very powerful, very focused electrical storms 130 miles upstream, in a titanic clash that will determine the fate of the entire...
Oops, you weren't supposed to know about the weather control device, which was created at the castle of AAAAAaaaaaauuughhh......
Unfortunately, the economic boom caused by the GooglePlex will encourage WalMart to set up shop, and there goes the neighborhood.
"...but our theory is simply that that no one has created a loud enough sound. And that's where we come in, because our band is truly, pofoundly loud!"
--Obscure reference (a virtual beer to anyone who gets it)
TMS - Typical Movie Scientist
TMG - Typical Movie General
TMG: Doc, what's the status of the plague?
TMS: As of an hour ago, the virus has infected every living thing on Earth.
TMG: But it hasn't spread since then?
TMS: Well, no, but--
TMG: Then it's been contained! Victory is ours!