Although technical issues such as touch-screen alignment are certainly possibilities, and dirty tricks/malice on the part of political organizations are popular scapegoats, this seems to be more a case of people refusing to take personal responsibility for their own actions. I voted early last weekend in NC, and the electronic touch screens were well-spaced and crisply clear, with large font type. Pressing the wrong button would have required more than a bit of effort for any responsible individual. Additionally, there were voting registrars (local volunteers) overseeing everything, and offering very helpful and thoughtful assistance to anyone who asked. I'd guess this is more about wanting to blame someone else for their carelessness than it is about dirty tricks, political skullduggery, corporate foul play, or technology.
I've been reading this court document describing the recent decision this evening. IANAL, but it seems Buffalo has presented entirely reasonable and valid evidence for prior art. Additionally, CSIRO's '069 patent as originally filed specified the 10 GHz frequency range while 802.11 A/B/G/N transmissions occur in the 2.5 and 5 GHz ranges. It seems CSIRO in 1995 amended/revised their patent to remove the very specific 10 GHz reference and instead cited the more general term 'radio frequencies'. They also added new claims specifically cited in the Buffalo case. I've only read the first 25 of 40 pages, but IMHO Buffalo has presented a strong case to be reviewed more carefully than any summary judgment ever oculd.
In other words, it's not so much "they aren't paying the inventors for their work" or stealing Intellectual Property. It's more like, "Buffalo presented a case the court summarily ruled against, and CSIRO is trying to enforce a possibly invalid patent." Read the document, and make your own decision. Then come back and post some more.
Indeed, the one Buffalo router I purchased before they got shut down has outperformed Linksys, Motorola, and anything else. It's never failed to operate perfectly and cost a lot less than other highly-publicized and eventually dumbed-down, cut down equipment. You make a good product and sell it at a good price, so people buy it. Then some court tells you "no". WTF? If they were illegally dumping them into the US market, charge them with that offense. But since when can someone not legally market a device based on the same principles as others allowed to continue?
My DV9000 series (GA355UA) failed and I was only able to get a repair after dealing with Level 1 HP support who expected me to reload Vista, reset the BIOS, and change Vista networking options before accepting it as a hardware problem. Let's see, failure to recover from sleep states is either a BIOS or motherboard/chipset issue. How the hell is reloading Vista supposed to fix it? Now that I have the replacement, it recovers from sleep mode quickly, but always fails to re-initialize the nVidia LAN unless I reboot. It's still either a BIOS or motherboard/chipset issue. Since I have another 1.5 years warranty on this slug, I'll probably be returning it at least once more, if not permanently. Where's the class action suit?
I used MULTICS at the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1975 to 1979. Our MULTICS ran on Honeywell 68/80 series hardware, and was a helluva machine for its time. Our favorite early hack was re-writing the 'get_group_id' system function and making the new segment known to our process. Then we'd send mail to another user and our function put up whatever spoofed username we wanted. The orignal 'cookie' program was also hilarious.
If the simple act of making files available for download constitutes sufficient evidence for a guilty verdict against the common man, it should be more than enough to rip EMI a new arsehole.
It sets a really good example for others to follow. Now, when are we going to get AMD/ATI to publicly post their Linux work for the ATI Xilleon MIPS processors?
Then when you call, they spin the wheel of excuses (BOFH, where are you?) to tell you any of: -- You didn't submit the UPC code -- You didn't mail it soon enough -- You didn't include the original receipt -- You didn't sign your name -- You didn't provide your e-mail address
In reality, they know, they don't care, and they will quickly agree to send you the rebate just to shut you up. If you think the percentage of customers who correctly complete and successfully submit the rebate forms is low, you need a microscope or jeweler's loupe to see the number of people who call in asking, then threatening. It's a numbers game, and they're drawing the numbers.
Which reminds me, I checked the $200 in two rebates before purchasing a new HP laptop from OfficeDepot last week. One went to Young America, MN, a reasonably reputable and well-known rebate processor. The other went to HP directly. I told the sales drone if either one of those had ridiculous terms or conditions, I wasn't going to purchase it. He courteously brought up both forms from their website, allowed me to review them, and printed them for me on the spot. He got the sale. Extra copies of everything are kept, original documents are taped and/or stapled to 8.5x11 letter-size paper, and every last detail on the form is highlighted, checked, and circled as specified. Now I just gotta wait two months.
I hear this jokingly asked by plenty of friends. Of course, most people still can't handle earth-bound vehicles. Then again, we've still got Tang, mercury switches, and Teflon. It's not been a total loss.
This is one of those posts where I wish mod points didn't expire. I'd save 'em for posts like this, with which I completely and totally agree. I have a similar wife. She can't deal with the thermostat in the hallway, but she can use Tivo. And that's a fsck'ing amazing testament to the usability of their interface. Ownership rules, idiots lease until the next so-called "great" thing comes out and they just gotta have it.
Yeah, Linksys has no name recognition - RIGHHHHHHTTTTT. So all those hackers around the world who forked the original Broadcom sources don't count for anything?
Don't they realize that by establishing a Canadian foundation, they're aligning themselves with the greatest piracy threat against the MAFIAA members' intellectual property? Everyone knows OSS is all about piracy and cracking, and basing it in Canada increases that threat!
I'm just a bill. Yes, I'm only a bill. And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill. Well, it's a long, long journey To the capital city. It's a long, long wait While I'm sitting in committee, But I know I'll be a law some day At least I hope and pray that I will But today I am still just a bill.
... are the fracking idiots who jump to DefCon 5 every damned time someone sneezes, farts, or puts some blinkenlights beside the road. Not to mention the 700-dollar hammer, the 2200-dollar toilet seat, and the chocolate chip cookie recipe that required hundreds of pages of military specifications.
Talk about a state of continuous fear. The fear-mongers really are starting to win.
Long (like anti-trust old AT&T breakup) time Southern Bell / Bell South customer here. This is precisely the reason why I'm sad to see BellSouth leave and the new AT&T arrive. More CC (corporately correct) behavior than ever and fewer customer services. Everyone can look forward to more crap and less service as the new AT&T tightens its grip.
It's about damned time. Now how and when can we get Sony, Macrovision, and the MPAA to back off? They just killed the open-source FixVTS website, and gagged everyone involved. Just like they did with RipIt4Me a month ago. Way too much open-source innovation is being squashed, and it's a crime they're quashing any discussion of it, too.
They couldn't maintain a cable internet connection at my house much longer than 30 to 45 days before some contractor screwed up the line amplifiers in the neighborhood, or a squirrel gnawed through their cables. Then, after waiting twenty minutes on hold listening to sales pitches for their digital phone and security monitoring, I get told it will be two to three days before someone can come out to look at the problem. Good freakin' luck.
Slashdot Mirror
Although technical issues such as touch-screen alignment are certainly possibilities, and dirty tricks/malice on the part of political organizations are popular scapegoats, this seems to be more a case of people refusing to take personal responsibility for their own actions. I voted early last weekend in NC, and the electronic touch screens were well-spaced and crisply clear, with large font type. Pressing the wrong button would have required more than a bit of effort for any responsible individual. Additionally, there were voting registrars (local volunteers) overseeing everything, and offering very helpful and thoughtful assistance to anyone who asked. I'd guess this is more about wanting to blame someone else for their carelessness than it is about dirty tricks, political skullduggery, corporate foul play, or technology.
I've been reading this court document describing the recent decision this evening. IANAL, but it seems Buffalo has presented entirely reasonable and valid evidence for prior art. Additionally, CSIRO's '069 patent as originally filed specified the 10 GHz frequency range while 802.11 A/B/G/N transmissions occur in the 2.5 and 5 GHz ranges. It seems CSIRO in 1995 amended/revised their patent to remove the very specific 10 GHz reference and instead cited the more general term 'radio frequencies'. They also added new claims specifically cited in the Buffalo case. I've only read the first 25 of 40 pages, but IMHO Buffalo has presented a strong case to be reviewed more carefully than any summary judgment ever oculd. In other words, it's not so much "they aren't paying the inventors for their work" or stealing Intellectual Property. It's more like, "Buffalo presented a case the court summarily ruled against, and CSIRO is trying to enforce a possibly invalid patent." Read the document, and make your own decision. Then come back and post some more.
Indeed, the one Buffalo router I purchased before they got shut down has outperformed Linksys, Motorola, and anything else. It's never failed to operate perfectly and cost a lot less than other highly-publicized and eventually dumbed-down, cut down equipment. You make a good product and sell it at a good price, so people buy it. Then some court tells you "no". WTF? If they were illegally dumping them into the US market, charge them with that offense. But since when can someone not legally market a device based on the same principles as others allowed to continue?
My DV9000 series (GA355UA) failed and I was only able to get a repair after dealing with Level 1 HP support who expected me to reload Vista, reset the BIOS, and change Vista networking options before accepting it as a hardware problem. Let's see, failure to recover from sleep states is either a BIOS or motherboard/chipset issue. How the hell is reloading Vista supposed to fix it? Now that I have the replacement, it recovers from sleep mode quickly, but always fails to re-initialize the nVidia LAN unless I reboot. It's still either a BIOS or motherboard/chipset issue. Since I have another 1.5 years warranty on this slug, I'll probably be returning it at least once more, if not permanently. Where's the class action suit?
In a related story, Apple announced litigation regarding the use of Darwin as a name...
Now we can pay down that TRILLION dollar budget they're proposing.
Fucking idiots.
I used MULTICS at the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1975 to 1979. Our MULTICS ran on Honeywell 68/80 series hardware, and was a helluva machine for its time. Our favorite early hack was re-writing the 'get_group_id' system function and making the new segment known to our process. Then we'd send mail to another user and our function put up whatever spoofed username we wanted. The orignal 'cookie' program was also hilarious.
Considering I picked up two full-feature Acer laptops at Wally World two Fridays ago for under $350 each.
If the simple act of making files available for download constitutes sufficient evidence for a guilty verdict against the common man, it should be more than enough to rip EMI a new arsehole.
Not Saying Anything
It sets a really good example for others to follow. Now, when are we going to get AMD/ATI to publicly post their Linux work for the ATI Xilleon MIPS processors?
Then when you call, they spin the wheel of excuses (BOFH, where are you?) to tell you any of:
-- You didn't submit the UPC code
-- You didn't mail it soon enough
-- You didn't include the original receipt
-- You didn't sign your name
-- You didn't provide your e-mail address
In reality, they know, they don't care, and they will quickly agree to send you the rebate just to shut you up. If you think the percentage of customers who correctly complete and successfully submit the rebate forms is low, you need a microscope or jeweler's loupe to see the number of people who call in asking, then threatening. It's a numbers game, and they're drawing the numbers.
Which reminds me, I checked the $200 in two rebates before purchasing a new HP laptop from OfficeDepot last week. One went to Young America, MN, a reasonably reputable and well-known rebate processor. The other went to HP directly. I told the sales drone if either one of those had ridiculous terms or conditions, I wasn't going to purchase it. He courteously brought up both forms from their website, allowed me to review them, and printed them for me on the spot. He got the sale. Extra copies of everything are kept, original documents are taped and/or stapled to 8.5x11 letter-size paper, and every last detail on the form is highlighted, checked, and circled as specified. Now I just gotta wait two months.
I hear this jokingly asked by plenty of friends. Of course, most people still can't handle earth-bound vehicles. Then again, we've still got Tang, mercury switches, and Teflon. It's not been a total loss.
This is one of those posts where I wish mod points didn't expire. I'd save 'em for posts like this, with which I completely and totally agree. I have a similar wife. She can't deal with the thermostat in the hallway, but she can use Tivo. And that's a fsck'ing amazing testament to the usability of their interface. Ownership rules, idiots lease until the next so-called "great" thing comes out and they just gotta have it.
Yeah, Linksys has no name recognition - RIGHHHHHHTTTTT. So all those hackers around the world who forked the original Broadcom sources don't count for anything?
Don't they realize that by establishing a Canadian foundation, they're aligning themselves with the greatest piracy threat against the MAFIAA members' intellectual property? Everyone knows OSS is all about piracy and cracking, and basing it in Canada increases that threat!
I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law some day
At least I hope and pray that I will
But today I am still just a bill.
Courtesy of http://www.jacksheldon.com/school.htm
... are the fracking idiots who jump to DefCon 5 every damned time someone sneezes, farts, or puts some blinkenlights beside the road. Not to mention the 700-dollar hammer, the 2200-dollar toilet seat, and the chocolate chip cookie recipe that required hundreds of pages of military specifications.
Talk about a state of continuous fear. The fear-mongers really are starting to win.
IANAL, but IMHO the Bill of Rights applies to individual citizens, and not to public corporations.
at the end of his article where he said:
Or perhaps some executives should think for themselves.
New larger road-side displays of the Mooninites giving the finger will be distributed very, very soon.
Long (like anti-trust old AT&T breakup) time Southern Bell / Bell South customer here. This is precisely the reason why I'm sad to see BellSouth leave and the new AT&T arrive. More CC (corporately correct) behavior than ever and fewer customer services. Everyone can look forward to more crap and less service as the new AT&T tightens its grip.
It's about damned time. Now how and when can we get Sony, Macrovision, and the MPAA to back off? They just killed the open-source FixVTS website, and gagged everyone involved. Just like they did with RipIt4Me a month ago. Way too much open-source innovation is being squashed, and it's a crime they're quashing any discussion of it, too.
They couldn't maintain a cable internet connection at my house much longer than 30 to 45 days before some contractor screwed up the line amplifiers in the neighborhood, or a squirrel gnawed through their cables. Then, after waiting twenty minutes on hold listening to sales pitches for their digital phone and security monitoring, I get told it will be two to three days before someone can come out to look at the problem. Good freakin' luck.