I believe noise-cancelling headphones are now banned on US Airline flights under the "nothing with a battery" rule. At least during takeoff when things are noisiest. Maybe someone knows the rule in greater detail.
Google's CEO Eric Schmidt was asked if Docs and Spreadsheets will compete with MS Office, and he said, "We don't think so. It doesn't have all the functionality, nor is it intended to have the functionality of products like Microsoft Office."
I like this kind of modest understatement. It understates the threat Google poses to Microsoft. Smart PR move IMHO.
I think I see what you mean? That consciousness is a phenomenon that does not inhere in chemical or physical processes other than quantum effects? But it is much more likely that consciousness does not inhere in ANY physical process we understand or can measure (by definition, or we could measure something distinctive about conscious vs. non-conscious entities).
Honestly, though, this speculation is pretty far out.
Yakov Smirnoff also said:
"I went to American supermarket for first time. So many things! I have money for only one. I buy product called Tampax. It say on box, "You can go swimming! You can go dancing!"
...ducking as the negative mod points whistle in like mortar rounds...
I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things. The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
..that one day, our Congress will rise up and force the **AAs to give back the money they extorted from every single file sharer, all 50,000 or so who were ever sued.
Nobody buys a company in SCO's position. Anyone interested will make SCO an offer for its ASSETS, if any, leaving the liabilities behind in a shell. Even then the buyer of the assets would have to give them up if the purchase came too close to SCO's filing for bankruptcy.
Let me tell you about a guy named Mike Rowe who registered MikeRoweSoft.com. He was just a kid and M$ went after them in all of its awful majesty and by the time the dust cleared, M$ had the domain and the kid, I think, had a new Xbox and some educational packages "to help his career along". Hm, wonder whether he asked to learn about the Linux kernel.
Microsoft's user base is indeed its best asset. (Which is not exactly to say Goodwill.) That user base is so large not just because M$ software can be so easily pirated, but because just about every useful high- or low- end app is available cracked. Not so for Mac to anywhere near the extent. And let's face it, there are about 64 gazillion more apps for Windows. The fact is a Windows user can run anything he needs to to do whatever he wants. And he can do it with a nondemo version of the application that really allows an informed purchase decision. There is no way Mac can compete with this, and it may (here come the negative mod points) even be an advantage over Linux, if you need an esoteric kind of app and aren't up to coding it solo. I think people often fail to consider this.
There is always a Windows tax, even on Linux PCs. M$ even used to charge PC manufacturers for Windows based on the number of PCs they SHIPPED, because "all of them would be running Windows eventually". Just try and find a Linux PC cheaper than a Windows PC with the same hardware specs.
If MS shows the code, they limit themselves to just that code instead of the 100,000 possible litigable issues they could try on for size againstany particular victim they sought to punish. I sure wish OSS had the bux to seek a declaratory judgment that there is no infringing code. By God they'd have to show what they claim infringes then.
What happened for MacroVision will probably happen for all new content-protection systems: Protection will be widely used, but inexpensive or not-too-technically-difficult workarounds will exist. This will keep 80% or more of the public from defeating the protections, but let the technorati romp as before. Just my two cents.
Slashdot Mirror
half the folks head to one or the other. :)
That would be the confused half, I'm guessing?
Gee, with a name like "Inviolet" for a female geek, you can see how easy it is to understand why male geeks almost never get laid.
I believe noise-cancelling headphones are now banned on US Airline flights under the "nothing with a battery" rule. At least during takeoff when things are noisiest. Maybe someone knows the rule in greater detail.
Why does this remind me of this from The Blues Brothers?:
Belushi: What kind of music do you have here?
Bar Owner's Wife: Oh, we have BOTH kinds, Country AND Western!
(I know this is offtopic but darn it it's funny...)
I like this kind of modest understatement. It understates the threat Google poses to Microsoft. Smart PR move IMHO.
It is often, however, too late for panic to do you any good.
I think I see what you mean? That consciousness is a phenomenon that does not inhere in chemical or physical processes other than quantum effects? But it is much more likely that consciousness does not inhere in ANY physical process we understand or can measure (by definition, or we could measure something distinctive about conscious vs. non-conscious entities). Honestly, though, this speculation is pretty far out.
And if they try to take THAT away from you, you can hole up in The Alamo...
The reference is a to a poem by Shelley.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things.
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Kind of emblematic of the problem, n'est-ce pas?
Sigh. Why do I even *look* at Slashdot on April 1?
May I take a guess at the name of your employer?
Well, chances are they have a computer....
How much do they get (and how much do Defendants pay) on default judgments?
..that one day, our Congress will rise up and force the **AAs to give back the money they extorted from every single file sharer, all 50,000 or so who were ever sued.
Having the right to do something is not the same as being right in doing it.
Nobody buys a company in SCO's position. Anyone interested will make SCO an offer for its ASSETS, if any, leaving the liabilities behind in a shell. Even then the buyer of the assets would have to give them up if the purchase came too close to SCO's filing for bankruptcy.
All politicians know better than to fsck with peoples' TVs. Wow, would that get them out to vote.
Let me tell you about a guy named Mike Rowe who registered MikeRoweSoft.com. He was just a kid and M$ went after them in all of its awful majesty and by the time the dust cleared, M$ had the domain and the kid, I think, had a new Xbox and some educational packages "to help his career along". Hm, wonder whether he asked to learn about the Linux kernel.
Microsoft's user base is indeed its best asset. (Which is not exactly to say Goodwill.) That user base is so large not just because M$ software can be so easily pirated, but because just about every useful high- or low- end app is available cracked. Not so for Mac to anywhere near the extent. And let's face it, there are about 64 gazillion more apps for Windows. The fact is a Windows user can run anything he needs to to do whatever he wants. And he can do it with a nondemo version of the application that really allows an informed purchase decision. There is no way Mac can compete with this, and it may (here come the negative mod points) even be an advantage over Linux, if you need an esoteric kind of app and aren't up to coding it solo. I think people often fail to consider this.
There is always a Windows tax, even on Linux PCs. M$ even used to charge PC manufacturers for Windows based on the number of PCs they SHIPPED, because "all of them would be running Windows eventually". Just try and find a Linux PC cheaper than a Windows PC with the same hardware specs.
Bigger company behind ReactOS would just make a bigger, juicier target. Not gonna happen.
Joint and several liability. Anyone they find can be sued for the whole weight of damages.
If MS shows the code, they limit themselves to just that code instead of the 100,000 possible litigable issues they could try on for size againstany particular victim they sought to punish. I sure wish OSS had the bux to seek a declaratory judgment that there is no infringing code. By God they'd have to show what they claim infringes then.
What happened for MacroVision will probably happen for all new content-protection systems: Protection will be widely used, but inexpensive or not-too-technically-difficult workarounds will exist. This will keep 80% or more of the public from defeating the protections, but let the technorati romp as before. Just my two cents.