The recall was made voluntarily by Toyota. The U.S. Government is involved only in that Toyota had to submit its proposed fix to the NHTSA which has the authority reject the fix if they deem it insufficient to remedy the problem. Which they did not.
The court case is going over which type of amendment prop-8 was and thus was the method used to pass it valid.
Prop 8 was introduced as an amendment: it added language to the California state constitution. Amendments require only a simple majority vote to pass.
The other type of constitutional change is a revision: striking language or significantly changing the language in the state constitution. A revision requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass.
Because the California state constitution already has an equal protection clause (the clause which the California Supreme Court used to declare gay marriage legal), the addition of Prop 8 to the constitution would seem to place it at contradiction with itself.
What the opponents are arguing is that for Prop 8 to be valid it would have to be a revision: striking the language in the equal protection clause and adding the language that the banners of gay marriage want.
Convincing 2/3 of Californians to strike the equal protection clause from their constitution is a much more daunting task than getting 50% of them to say, ick, we don't like gay marriage. Ban it please.
Would any bright egg here care to explain what the hell a 'fuzzer' is?
Yes I could google it, but so will 100,000 other slashdotters, so let's just post the answer here and be done with it.
So let me get this straight: slashdotters don't RTFA, instead they Google every word in the summary hoping they can figure it out that way?
It's instructive to actually visit Rhino's site. On the page where you can select songs and add them to your cart, there is this small notice at the bottom:
Please Note:
These tracks are available as WMA downloads for Windows users only (at 192kbps). However, these songs and albums may be available from the iTunes Music Store.
On the checkout page, you're presented with this warning at the bottom of the page:
Important Note: WMA files are NOT compatible with your iPod.
Click here to read the Terms and Conditions and check your Media Player compatibility.
I'm not sure why they wait until you're on the checkout page to provide that important caveat. Perhaps in hopes that people won't notice it and simply continue with their purchase?
You really have to read their FAQ to find out how truly crazy their DRM scheme is: http://www.rhino.com/help/digital_faq.lasso. It's also chock full of condescending "humor":
How do I download my song licenses?
There are different ways that the licenses are acquired for your music files.
o Upon completing a new order and you click the 'Download button', you will see the license delivery take place within a popup window. You will know it has happened, when your heart opens up and the power of love enters your being.
They are surely not too worried about being sued, so long as the amount is less than the benefit (more viewership == more dollars). If the benefit to them is greater than expected legal costs then they will run it.
The calculation isn't quite so simple for HBO. They're a subscription service. They only get more dollars if more people subscribe. So the question for an HBO executive isn't, "Will this program attract more viewers than Dancing With the Stars?", but rather, "Will this program generate so much interest that it might actually motivate someonen to subcribe to our channel?".
You're correct and, as Dargoth_Rejuv pointed out, the aspect ratio of the screen is 4:3, just like the iPod. But MS oriented the longer side of the screen with the longer side of the device (landscape mode?) which may lead people to believe that they are getting something "capable of playing wide format movies".
Reference
Hansen, J., Mki. Sato, R. Ruedy, K. Lo, D.W. Lea, and M. Medina-Elizade 2006. Global temperature change. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103, 14288-14293, doi:10.1073/pnas.0606291103.
These are scientists from NASA and the University of California at Santa Barbara. It doesn't look like they were funded by Exxon or Greenpeace. If you've got the climatological cojones to criticize their findings, please do so. But don't whine and denigrate the report as "quote-scientific-unquote" just because some groups do choose to politicize the study of climate change.
I use Firefox running under Linux at work and at home I'm using an OS X Mac so I tend to use Safari and occasionally Firefox there. And you know what? Every day, every single freaking day, I will run across a web page that has wonky formatting, some control that doesn't work or some annoying mix of really tiny fonts with properly sized, readable fonts. And you know what else? If I fire up IE on a Windows machine and visit that same page it'll format correctly and everything will work.
I hate it that that's the current situation, but it is. It doesn't matter that IE doesn't render the "Hello World!" smiley face over at the Acid2 test page properly, because no one visits that page. If you're using the internet for the reason most people use it (to read news, shop, socialize, check out the latest viral video) a standards compliant browser is meaningless. There are too many pages that look shiny under IE but musty in Firefox.
I avoid IE as much as possible on principle, but I can't fault anyone who uses it exclusively.
Netflix already stocks HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs. You just tell them which format your system supports, and if a movie in your queue is available in that format, that's the disc that will be shipped to you. (Go the the Help Center and search on the keyword "blu-ray".)
From the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3):
In the United States, many supporters of AllOfMP3 have pointed to limited exceptions in US copyright law, most notably 17 U.S.C. 602(a)(2), which provides a personal use exception to the rule that importation of copyrighted items constitutes infringement. A corresponding exception does not exist in 602(b), however, which governs whether importation is prohibited. Under 603, where importation is prohibited, the federal government may seize or forfeit prohibited items "in the same manner as property imported in violation of the customs revenue laws." Thus, it appears possible that "importing" digital files from AllOfMP3.com does not constitute copyright infringement but does constitute a violation of customs law. There is no private right of action for violations of customs law, as there is for copyright law.
Whether downloading can be construed as importation is open to question. Importation is defined as a form of distribution of copies and phonorecords (17 U.S.C. 602(a)), which are defined as tangible objects (17 U.S.C. 101), which of course can no more be downloaded than a brick can be. Federal courts in the United States have settled the question of whether unpaid downloading can constitute infringement on the part of the downloader in cases as diverse as Napster, Grokster, Marobie-FL, and Intellectual Reserve: it is infringing on the part of the downloader. However, there have been no rulings in U.S. courts to date regarding the specific legality of purchasing music from AllofMP3.com.
Let's do some actual 3rd grade math here: two meters is 78.72 inches or almost 6'7". Most males don't really "approach" that height at all. (I should know, I'm about 1.98 meters tall myself.)
Slashdot Mirror
This is pretty much a cut-and-paste of the Product Description from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/SketchUp-7-1-Architectural-Visualization-Beginners/dp/1847199461/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277316764&sr=8-1
The recall was made voluntarily by Toyota. The U.S. Government is involved only in that Toyota had to submit its proposed fix to the NHTSA which has the authority reject the fix if they deem it insufficient to remedy the problem. Which they did not.
The court case is going over which type of amendment prop-8 was and thus was the method used to pass it valid.
Prop 8 was introduced as an amendment: it added language to the California state constitution. Amendments require only a simple majority vote to pass.
The other type of constitutional change is a revision: striking language or significantly changing the language in the state constitution. A revision requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass.
Because the California state constitution already has an equal protection clause (the clause which the California Supreme Court used to declare gay marriage legal), the addition of Prop 8 to the constitution would seem to place it at contradiction with itself.
What the opponents are arguing is that for Prop 8 to be valid it would have to be a revision: striking the language in the equal protection clause and adding the language that the banners of gay marriage want.
Convincing 2/3 of Californians to strike the equal protection clause from their constitution is a much more daunting task than getting 50% of them to say, ick, we don't like gay marriage. Ban it please.
So let me get this straight: slashdotters don't RTFA, instead they Google every word in the summary hoping they can figure it out that way?
You really have to read their FAQ to find out how truly crazy their DRM scheme is: http://www.rhino.com/help/digital_faq.lasso. It's also chock full of condescending "humor":
Maybe they'll go with ADEQUITE.
You neglected to take a glance at eBay before you posted this, didn't you?
You're correct and, as Dargoth_Rejuv pointed out, the aspect ratio of the screen is 4:3, just like the iPod. But MS oriented the longer side of the screen with the longer side of the device (landscape mode?) which may lead people to believe that they are getting something "capable of playing wide format movies".
I miss my Heathkit television. It displayed the channel you were tuned to right there in the upper right hand corner of the screen! Awesome.
I use Firefox running under Linux at work and at home I'm using an OS X Mac so I tend to use Safari and occasionally Firefox there. And you know what? Every day, every single freaking day, I will run across a web page that has wonky formatting, some control that doesn't work or some annoying mix of really tiny fonts with properly sized, readable fonts. And you know what else? If I fire up IE on a Windows machine and visit that same page it'll format correctly and everything will work.
I hate it that that's the current situation, but it is. It doesn't matter that IE doesn't render the "Hello World!" smiley face over at the Acid2 test page properly, because no one visits that page. If you're using the internet for the reason most people use it (to read news, shop, socialize, check out the latest viral video) a standards compliant browser is meaningless. There are too many pages that look shiny under IE but musty in Firefox.
I avoid IE as much as possible on principle, but I can't fault anyone who uses it exclusively.
Netflix already stocks HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs. You just tell them which format your system supports, and if a movie in your queue is available in that format, that's the disc that will be shipped to you. (Go the the Help Center and search on the keyword "blu-ray".)
From the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3):
In the United States, many supporters of AllOfMP3 have pointed to limited exceptions in US copyright law, most notably 17 U.S.C. 602(a)(2), which provides a personal use exception to the rule that importation of copyrighted items constitutes infringement. A corresponding exception does not exist in 602(b), however, which governs whether importation is prohibited. Under 603, where importation is prohibited, the federal government may seize or forfeit prohibited items "in the same manner as property imported in violation of the customs revenue laws." Thus, it appears possible that "importing" digital files from AllOfMP3.com does not constitute copyright infringement but does constitute a violation of customs law. There is no private right of action for violations of customs law, as there is for copyright law.
Whether downloading can be construed as importation is open to question. Importation is defined as a form of distribution of copies and phonorecords (17 U.S.C. 602(a)), which are defined as tangible objects (17 U.S.C. 101), which of course can no more be downloaded than a brick can be. Federal courts in the United States have settled the question of whether unpaid downloading can constitute infringement on the part of the downloader in cases as diverse as Napster, Grokster, Marobie-FL, and Intellectual Reserve: it is infringing on the part of the downloader. However, there have been no rulings in U.S. courts to date regarding the specific legality of purchasing music from AllofMP3.com.
Let's do some actual 3rd grade math here: two meters is 78.72 inches or almost 6'7". Most males don't really "approach" that height at all. (I should know, I'm about 1.98 meters tall myself.)
Ah, you know someone is a techie when they misspell "underwear" as "underware".