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User: EVil+Lawyer

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Comments · 190

  1. Re:FiOS more real than many of those broken promis on Verizon To Pump $18B Into FiOS · · Score: 1

    My "happily" statement was in reference to the fact that in most non-New York locales, the lowest tier is 5 Mbits/sec down and 2 Mbits/sec up -- at the same price I'm paying for 10/2. So I'm happy to be getting twice the downstream rate for the same price.

  2. Re:FiOS more real than many of those broken promis on Verizon To Pump $18B Into FiOS · · Score: 1
    In legal circles, I believe that they call this 'fraud'.

    Not necessarily. Fraud requires that an individual or an organization makes a false representation about a fact or event, and does so intentionally. I would say that any losses are due to ill-advised initial agreements between the government and the telcos, that let the telcos tack on the extra charges without having to promise (in the legal sense) anything in return.

  3. Re:The difference is it's already here on Verizon To Pump $18B Into FiOS · · Score: 1

    Not just the northeast. FiOS is currently available in parts of California, Florida, Maryland, Indiana, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

  4. FiOS more real than many of those broken promises on Verizon To Pump $18B Into FiOS · · Score: 5, Interesting
    For perspective, have a look at Bruce Kushnick's book $200 Billion Broadband Scandal. His site has a page detailing phone company promises of fiber since 1993. We have been paying for these undelivered promises for years. By now we should have 86 million homes wired with FTTH at 100 Mbits/sec.

    Fine, there have been plenty of broken promises from phone companies (and, I believe, cable providers, satellite providers, and others) over the years. 7 million homes also might be a little optimistic. But FiOS is really, exists in plenty of homes already, and is much more real than many of those other technologies were at the times the promises were made.

    I'm in New York and have FiOS. It's a very nice service. Happily, in New York, the slowest speed tier is 10 down / 2 up, and it's quite affordable compared to cable modem service. I'm looking forward to the FiOS TV service, and the day I'll be completely rid of Time Warner (not that Verizon itself is such a wonderful company).

  5. Experiences != memories on Your Life On a Hard Drive · · Score: 3, Interesting
    "If humans may be viewed as the sum total of their memories..."

    "Humans" clearly aren't properly viewed as the sum total of their memories. First, there's an incongruity between the concept "human" and the concept "memory." Second, even if we ignore this incongruity, shouldn't it be "total of their experiences", not memories?

  6. Re:"Gem" on Optimus Mini Three OLED keyboard reviewed · · Score: 1

    What makes his use of "gem" (the term appears four times in the article) a little less annoying is that the English-language article we're reading is actually a translation of the original article which was written in German. I hope and assume "gem" is a poor translation for a much less annoying German word.

  7. English / German forum for Optimus Mini Three dev on Optimus Mini Three OLED keyboard reviewed · · Score: 1

    The Optimus Mini Three Support Forum is in both English and German. Perhaps not surprisingly, the forum with by far the most activity is "English - Bugs." There is also a tiny bit of discussion from plugin developers.

  8. Wildcat! still living on Tales from a BBS Junkie · · Score: 1
    Can you believe that the Wildcat! brand still exists, and is still under development? Granted, it's now Wildcat! Interactive NET Server - "More than just a Web Server...More than just a BBS... ", but still...

    I find it funny that the developer's motto is "Providing Tomorrow's Ideas...Today."

  9. Re:Just etching my number in the post... on Tales from a BBS Junkie · · Score: 1

    shoot... Renegade... that wasn't an "elite" BBS, now was it? I don't remember very many boards running Renegade that didn't have some nice illegal softwarez. Then again, Renegade was no Obv/2, Vision-2 or Vision-X.

  10. Re:My head asplode on Free PC With French Broadband Connection · · Score: 1

    FYI, in France, it was always marketed/branded as "AOL France" -- never as "America Online France".

  11. Re:Strange on Buy a PlayStation 3 and Sink Sony · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's a dumb theory, but not for the reason you suggest. Sony won't produce 6 million units if it doesn't sell the first x-million. Their theory requires Sony manufacturing marginally more units for every unit sold.

  12. Microsoft theory tenuous at best on Buy a PlayStation 3 and Sink Sony · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The only argument supporting their assertion that Microsoft might want to buy a beleaugured Sony is:

    "And who could be the potential buyer?

    Microsoft.

    That's right. I said it. Just think about it."

    Okay. I've thought about it. And it doesn't make very much sense. Neither does the rest of the article -- but at least they tried to support their main thesis.

  13. Re:Ahem... on Microsoft DRM To Get Even Tighter · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It's not a moot issue because there are scores of PC users who wouldn't know how else to rip a CD. No one has to eat spinach, but when there was an e. coli outbreak linked to spinach, it was still newsworthy.

    Also, it would be nice if one could use WMP to rip CDs without crippling DRM. When the news is about a piece of software that's installed on massive numbers of computers worldwide, it's newsworthy even if you don't have to use it.

  14. Re:Free as in IE on Wal-Mart Leaks Zune Price · · Score: 1

    Because Apple makes a significant profit on the hardware they sell. Microsoft isn't in the PC manufacturing/retailing game.

  15. Re:Now possible to "turntable" CDs just like recor on Analog Revival Means Vinyl Will Outlive CD · · Score: 1
    Um, it's possible to turn all of those features off, so it's just your physical manipulaion of the turntable that is controlling the CDs. Maybe you missed the point that these aren't just CD players that hook up to a a mixer -- they have actual turntables so you're spinning in exactly the same way you would be with an analog turntable that doesn't have any digital controls.

    Also, I never said anyone "should" use these. The post I replied to said that there was no way to physically manipulate a turntable for anything but vinyl. I was just pointing out another choice.

  16. Now possible to "turntable" CDs just like records on Analog Revival Means Vinyl Will Outlive CD · · Score: 1

    The Pioneer CMX-3000, among other makes and models, allows for effective synchronization of songs on CDs in real-time. Pop a CD in both sides, and work the turn-tables to your heart's content. You literally spin the controls as you would spin a record, and the software makes sure the output corresponds. A whole new meaning to "scratching" a CD.

  17. Napster brand associations on Napster On the Block · · Score: 3, Funny

    At one point the Napster brand might have had all the gravitas of a Che Guevara shirt. At this point it has all the gravitas of a Jar Jar Binks shirt.

  18. Re:Who cares? on What Is Real On YouTube? · · Score: 1

    "If it was completely made up, it wouldn't rise in popularity" Right. Because no sensational conspiracy theories are popular unless they are based in fact.

  19. Re:Is this a real story? on What Is Real On YouTube? · · Score: 1

    Right! I assume that you, actually, are a YouTube competitor. You want us to think that, pathetically, YouTube made a post suggesting that the anti-YouTube story was posted by a YouTube competitor. I'm one step ahead of you...

  20. Re:Really lame interview on An Interview with a Cheater · · Score: 1
    "...this interview gave us insight into why a person would cheat in the first place."

    Did it really? Where, exactly? None of the responses came even close to this.

    "He's doing it because he's not very good at the games he likes to play and he wants to win..."

    From where in the interview did you glean this? The subject specificially says that he is good at the games at which he cheats, without cheating. Whether or not this is true, the interview never gave us reason to believe your claim.

  21. They are my only alternative to Time Warner on Earthlink Offers Alternate DNS Without "Dead DNS" · · Score: 1

    In the part of Manhattan where I live, they are the only alternative to Time Warner for cable modem service. They are a bit cheaper than TW. Unfortunately TW still does all of the "last mile" stuff. I have to go through TW for the installation, billing, equipment, etc. Basically I am just paying for the Earthlink bandwidth. I assume part of my monthly fee goes to TW.

  22. Really lame interview on An Interview with a Cheater · · Score: 5, Informative
    FTFA: "Aeropause: Do you have a girlfriend?"

    Boh the interviewer and interviewee appear to be relatively idiotic. This interview might have been marginally interesting if they had interviewed someone more on the cutting edge of cheating -- someone who actually creates the mods, or develops new cheating modalities.

  23. Re:High Inelasticity of Demand on Much Ado About Gas Prices · · Score: 1

    also (and properly) known as "low elasticity of demand".

  24. Re:The listening right? on Answers From Lawyers Who Defend Against RIAA Suits · · Score: 1

    by "law on the books" I of course mean to include any case law.

  25. Re:Legality of downloading not relevant to the RIA on Answers From Lawyers Who Defend Against RIAA Suits · · Score: 1
    "But what is the definition of a file-sharing program? I am a Software Architect and I may have written a "file-sharing" program to make it easier to access my own files. Can anyone claim the internet is secure that no one else could see my shared files?"

    The definition of "file-sharing program" is not relevant. Assuming your mp3s are legal, the RIAA is not going to go after you if use a file-sharing program to make the files accessible to yourself only. If you make the files available to others, you're in trouble -- whether or not you're technically using a file-sharing program.

    Further, it's not relevant whether anyone can claim that the internet is secure so that no one else could see your shared files -- the relevant issue is whether anyone could access your shared files. To anticipate the follow-up question "what if I password-protect my shared mp3s but an able-bodied haxx0r could break in and download them?", I would imagine that if you made reasonable efforts to encrypt/secure the files so that only you could access them, (assuming those files were legally obtained in the first place), you would be okay (but I would not give you anything close to a guarantee on this-- this is just the argument I'd make and expect to win with). What kind of measures constitute "reasonable efforts" will depend on the judge.