Actually, A scientific theory is a flasifiable, testable, measurable scenario that is actually STRONGER than fact. The use of the word "theory" by non-scientists is incorrect. The word they're supposed to use is "Hypoithesis" A theory is a system of facts that can not be otherwise disproven, a completely documented and testable model of an idea to which no contraditory evidence exists. We can not find any evidence to prove it false, aside from conjecture or faith in something else, which is unmeasurable, and thus non-falsifiable.
Eveolution is a collection of facts, and new facts are added to it continually, giving the theory a higher resolution, but fundamentally, it's core has never changed. It is still the same theory we formed in Darwin's days, we just have more facts confirming it over and over today, and a better understanding of the underlying facts controlling it. (we have better measurements)
Evolution IS proven. It has been measured within RECORDED history, not just within evidenciary history we've dug up. There is more fact avaialble than simply looking back in history. We've been measuring, seeing, and documenting evolution for 100 years actively, and hundreds of years of evidence exists in WRITTEN record, but just stuff in the ground. We have proved the fundamental rules governing it, and replicated it in the physical world. We have even created self replicating, self mutating, self evolving RNA strands!
When we theorized quantum mechanics, we didn't say "this is how we think it works" we built a theory, over more than 50 years of research and study, and we KNEW how it worked before we could actually prove it. Prior to its proof, it was a hypothesis. Now, it's called a THEORY, and we're working with quantum dots, quantum gates, and building quantum conputers today. They don't call it Quantum fact, they still call it Quantum theory.
Within the scientific community, "String Theory" is a hypothesis. An unproved, untested explanation that seems to fit on some levels, but can be contradicted on others. It IS NOT a Theory of science, even though "String THEORY" is it's popular name, made so by the press and non-scientific media. The scientific community does NOT formally recognize it as a THEORY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory "Although string theory, like any other scientific theory, is falsifiable in principle, critics maintain that it is unfalsifiable for the foreseeable future, and so should not be called science." AKA, in common discussion it qualifies as theory only because we don't have the resources to disprove it, currently, but we know we can, and we know how, it will simply cost 10s of TRIllions to get a craft and science lab far enough away from a gravity well to test it. "String theorists have not yet completely described these theories, nor have they determined if these theories relate to the physical universe or how." aka, there's no MATH, no testable hypothesis. Yes, combining several other theories, we can build a basic model of string theory, but it is yet incomplete, so it's a speculative theory, not a scientific theory. Keep these 2 meaning seperated, and you break every argument against evolution.
So when god said "let their be light" and created the stars, exactly what "light" was he refering to, because we see only about 1% of the "light" that there is in the spectrum. Prior to the stars forming, and even as physics tells us, there also had to be prior to the big bang, there was still much of this radiation around, and could have been interpreted as light. Does this mean God was blind to it, aka, that it has limits? That notion by itself precludes it didn't know enough about physics to make it all happen.
I saw a wierd glitch in both programs on My DVR from Time Warner. Every 8-10 secconds the show had a "blip" in the audio represented by no sound at all, and the image seemed to skip 2 frames of video (paused for a microseccond).
This also happened during a law and order SVU episode I recorded a few weeks ago, (the Robin Williams one), and during an episode of the regular Law and ORder series.
None of the other programs I recorded on any other channels have shown this behavior, but neither have these same shows on other occasions. I think I may just have a bad HDD or RAM chip in the DVR (I already know I have to reboot it every few weeks to keep it happy) Thes eprograms were not recorded on the same night, and the medium episode that had the issue was not the one that was aparently flagged, that one played fine acording to my wife. (I hate that show, so I game when she's watching it...)
Yup, looked at their program list. Excluding the whows I did like that are canceled, Heroes is the only one I'd miss... My wife likes ER and Medium, but soon we'll be able to get those as downloads anyway since I hear thet're in talks again with Apple.
1st, ghost is system image software, not migration software. Its expectation is you're restoring a backup image to the original machine, or to a new HDD in the same machine. It also facilitates partition remapping. It's licence has no impact on what's contained in the image itself, they each have theior own geverning licences.
2nd, While working for a consulting IT firm in Connecticut, one of the architect clients I was working for was fined when AutoDesk reported them trying to licence an upgrade version on 32 PCs that were not the systems the previous version had been licensed on. They had moved the dongle to new machines they bought from my firm and installed the old version, then tried to upgrade. That client sued US for not following that license term and correctly informing them of the limitation (we won since we were only contracted to do the system sale, not the integration). They paid AutoDesk full price for the licences and got no refund on the upgrades they bought to avoid a formal court case and risk piracy charges. I can't name the company because my firm was named in the case. This was back in 1998, so I doubt there's much linked to it on the net...
BestBuy paid fines for using student teacher versions of Office on Manager workstations in stores. Cost them a couple million back in 2002-2003. I can't find the link, but I know it happened, one of my good friends got fired for it.
BestBuy also got burned for using retail copies of a data migration software package without having a corporate licence back in 2003, and are currently being sued for using Winternals software. They "store used" (aka, paid for internally) legal copies of the software, thinking that was OK, but unfortunately, it's all non-commercial use retain licences. Here's a link to the winternals article http://www.iampowered.com/archives/2006/04/12/best_buy_being_sued_for_illega_1.php
Circuit City's geek squad equivolent got burned for much the same thing recently.
GoDaddy doesn't sue people for violating their EULA, they simply close down the web page and back bill the customer for the commercial rate from the time the site went up. If that goes unpaid, there's no lawsuit so to say, but there's a legal collections action. Either way, the illegal users have paid millions in fees and fines and interest.
People are sueime AutoDesk, but I can't find reference to a case they have won. The licnece that was agreed to indicates the software is "non-trasferable" This is no legally different that trying to resell a membership card or concert ticket that bears the same "non-transferable" indication. They can't sue you for selling it, but they can refuse to accept it, support it, activate it, etc, and insist you pay if you want to use it. Using it by hacking it beyond that point is piracy.
It does happen. People like you who don;t want to believe it, and violate the licence, likely will never be sued. Spending 10K in legal fees to go after a single person of small company that a) doesn't have that much to take and b) is only a coupld hundred dollar missed sale, if you ever would have paid for it in the first place, is not worth their effort. As for big firms, school districts, and opther public targets, yes, they DO get sued, regularly, and they all pay.
The cheapest pro is $2249. A refurb is $1900. (Refurb does not mean used). Refurbs come with the same warranty, and actually, since they have all been hand scrutinized, typically have higher reliability than new systems. I have not bought anything but a refurb for years.
Why not lease it? You can't afford that much now, but over 2 years, if you bought a Pro, all you'd have to add is a better graphics card, maybe some RAM. No CPU upgrades for you for YEARS with a 8 core Xeon...
If you're into swapping graphics cars anyway, then you're a gamer, and need a PC to go side by side with your mac like I have... Until at least 75% of the top 50 games are released for mac at the same time as windows, I'll have a PC around... Others into high detail rendering, audio production, high res photoshop, etc, you need a different type of vid card, one for CAD, that can't play most games anyway... All of those people need the power of the Pro.
Find me someone willing to spend an extra $400 premium on a iMac, just to be able to play games and I'll show you someone who could buy a $600 cheaper mac and get a $1000 gaming PC for the same price...
Also, the vid card in the iMac is changeable. There have been 4 different graphics cards relesed so far for the current generation. All you have to do is buy the part and swap it in. No you can't use a retial card, you have to buy one specifically for the iMac, but it's better than nothing. We expect the 3000 series to make a showing in June.
Uh, a full Korn implementatin is in OS X. They hide the link to the shell since 98% of users never need it, but it's there in the system applications folder. Put it on your launch bar.... Apple not only supports traditional scripting, but also Applescript, which is a far more powerful language.
You can control most things in mac with the keyboard, either through the shell directly, or through keystrokes and shortcuts. Just because you don;t know the comands does not mean they're not there.
Mame was avaialble on Mac way back when I had OS 7.4... We can play every MAME game as well, and a whole bunch, you CAN'T play under Linux.
I wasn't talking about communication collaboration, I was talking about group document or project collaboration, through servers. It can be done in Linux, but requires everyone else to have Linux. On a Mac you can collaborate with other mac and windows users through Office. Greanted, not the BEST productivity application, but it's integration into servers and desktops to tie together a large group working on a single project is unmatched by any other app my company has ever researched.
90% of users have NO IDEA how to set up a Linux box, let alone how to find half of what you mentioned. If you're talking about interface superiority, you're talking about productivity and ease of use. Having to teach someone how to open a shell and compile a kernel to add a driver is NOT acceptable.
Well, it would be kinda hard to drive it off the lot without seeing that, and since the vehicle had not left the lot yet, you have the right to destroy the sale documents and return the car for a 100% refund.
Of course, since there WAS a contract SIGNED when you bougth the car, you're protected for additional clauses and costs.
I do not buy these systems, but unfortunately my clients (and if I don;t catch them sometimes family members) often do.
Under XP, youtube shouldn't stutter, even with moderate load on slow hardware. Old desktops like that do a lot better than cheap notebooks with 2400RPM single or dual drives with low cache and undersize RAM... get enough going to kick paging in, like opening a large image, working with a large video cache becuase of a slow internet connection, and trying to pass that through acive virus, spyware, and phishing scans?
It's better today than it was 2 years ago, and many of these systems, out of the box, can handle it as I said, but give them a year and see how their doing...
To put it this way, I have an XP box with AMD64 2.0GBz, 1GB or Ram, fast hard drives, and pretty stock software as a generic PC i let guests use. Its a good older gaming rig. My HP scanner REFUSES to scan an image over 300dpi. "Out of Resources" is the reason. I've tweaked everything and have 540MB of free Ram. 300dpi is OK, 600 is not. On a G4 iMac w/ only 512MB of Ram, a 5400RPM drive, and no dedicated video, I can scan at 2400DPI. PCs have MAJOR issues with low resource configurations. Placing that on top of a slow subsystem and you're going to get bad performance. Add vista and you're probably looking at 15 minute boot times.
Again, trust me, I have hundreds of clients in this city, mostly Small business. Every time I see a sub-$600 notebook, it never lasts 2 years before being replaced.
Not necesarilly so. It depends on how many platters and heads the disk has. Also, wether or not the device supprots SATA II and NCQ has a much bigger impact. Cache as well impacts performance (beyond 16MB doesn't seem to matter though). It;s not drive surface, but there are more bits going under the head in that amount of time though, you're right. In this case, even though the read speed might be higher in the Dell, the spin speed in the Mac should equalize the difference, combined with SATA 300 support.
They changed parts recently it appears. A couple of weeks ago I could do that. I simply changed the CPU to the single instead of the double now and it was $2299, not $2400.
You can get a refurb of the exact same machine for 1900. Refurn does NOT mean used, it means typically it had a ding or scratch, or maybe a bad HDD when it was tested, and it passed through manufacturing by hand to correct that. No big deal since 5% of all shipped systems have a DoA component, and since a refurb has the same exact warranty as a new machine, I have not BOUGHT a NEW mac in 6 years... it;s never done me wrong. They allways come in shiny new boxes and look perfect, except for the slightly different sticker on the box indicating b-stock.
Just change the processor to the single mode and it's $2299. I did this a few weeks ago and I configged one for $1900. Looks like some options changed, possibly pending some big announcements coming in a few weeks?
Allways buy a 3 year warranty... If firewire was mission critical, and it was a 3 year old machine, i'd replace the whole machine if replacing the mainboard cost more than $100.
Amzon might not give you the EULA, but is is considered by the courts that it is in fact common knowledge that software is licensed, and that licensces have terms. You should know there is a licence, and should you go looking, it's on Apple's website in it's complete text, and by phone if you don't have a computer yet or access to one, you can request a printed copy be mailed to you. Failure to read it is not their fault, due dillegence of publication has been met.
Of cource common law protects you, bet even more so, the code of commerce does as well. The idea is that if you have not broken the seal, you can get your money back. If you have, you can't. Simple enough. You have 3 opportunities to read said license: 1) because of common knowledge you should seek it out where is is easily found and free to review. 2) when you read the bottom of the box and the product statement, before opening the box, there's information about where to find the EULA, and 3) on the DVD seal inside the box.
If you missed all 3, you'r ignorant, and deserve to be denied a refund.
Actually, many cases of AutoDesk suing companies for violating their donge and using software on a system not serialized for it (not by hacking the dongle, just by plugging it into a different machine that's not licensed when the first died).
MANY MANY firms have been sued for using "for non-commercial use only" licences as well. I can't tell you how many medium businesses got burned using student/teacher versions of office for business purposes. or for using demo versions to produce commercial materials. same goes for a bunch of people who tried to use GoDaddy and other cheap web hosting to host business web sites. All of these are managed by EULAs.
Symantec successfully sued a computer migration software vendor for allowing their Norton programs to be automatically moved from one computer to another, like you can with Office and other apps. NAV is licensed for a single machine, not a single user, and they won enough money to bankrupt the vendor.
The list goes on and on. You don't hear about it because unlike the RIAA, these vendors don't sue their users, they sue large firms that would rather pay then get the public attention...
Um, that's because it's NOT a Dell Printer, but a Samsung printer in a Dell chassis. The Samsung ML 1210 drivers work flawlessly with that printer. Compaq did the same thing with their laser line 10 years ago, they were all Cannon printers, part for part, except the sticker on the front. They were also the exact same unit as the Apple LaswerWriters...
The PCL and PS languages shared by these printers are very similar. CUPS Linux drivers can also drive this printer. Laser printers use very generic driver subsystems, and don't have complicated options like all-in-ones do. Dell releases Mac drivers for most of their stuff, the rest either works on built in Mac drivers, Samsung, Cannon, HP, or Xerox drivers. Functionality is 100%. If Dell actually made their OWN printers instead of shoveling someone elses technology but substituting their own weaker warranty process and sub-standard support helpdesk, then they would have more drivers available. Some of "Dell's" printers have either only a XP or only a Vista driver as well, so even windows folks have to "hack" their driver to make it work...
You can get a MAc Pro with 1 processor instead of 2 for $2000, less if you adjust other components, and even less if you buy from retailers other than Apple.com.
If you're worried about slots for adding replacement parts, that's what the warranty is for... I've had 27 different macs, and all I've ever needed to replace (short of electrical damage or a dropped laptop, or the occasional yanked power cord which apple has forever fixed) are HDDs, optical drives, and peripherals.
You can use an expresscard slot for firewire on most new macs now too. If you really want expandability, RAID, and other advanced features, if you can't do it externally, a Map Pro is likely cheaper. Don't be fooled by the $2400 sticker, you can configure one for as little as $1900...
Negotiate may have been the wrong term there. impose is more correct. Either way, you can still refuse the license and send it back for a full refund, even if you didn't take the time to go online and read the EULA before making your purchase. The "argument" is called supply and demand. If you don't like their terms, don't buy it... If they don't sell enoguh, they'll change terms or lower the price. Seems like right now, not a lot of that happening...
Actually, the website listing the EULA is printed on the outside of the box. Also, it's on their website. It's common knowledge that software is licensed, and every license has terms. Your failure to read before purchase is your own fault, not theirs. Your right to refuse the license and get your money back is protected, at least until you break the internal seal or click accept.
Per Toms Hardware, The 8800GT OC (better version than is in the Dell) scored ~1950 on a normalized gaming score across multiple games. The 2600 Pro scored just under 1100. It's more than a few frames, but not nearly 4X. They're both mid-range components.
I think if you lokk reasonably at this, you'll think differently:
- cost of hybrid flyer - cost of license fees - cost of STRICT routine inspections and certification - cost of flight prep and flight plan - airport fees for tower services, runway access, etc - you stil have to wait in line to take off, no different than a chartered flight - very limited flying distance (I'm guessing 2-300 miles, tops?)
vs - standard car - no routine hassles - cost of charter or private flight from small airfield or larger commercial flight
A big deal will be the flight distance. If you're limited to 300 miles, unless you're in one of the wierd parts of america where a 300 mile flight could equal a 5-600 mile drive, then at best you could be saving 2-3 hours, give or take holdups at the airport? Not worth it for all the time you'll loose simply getting and maintaining certification and inspoction.
I see a few hobyists might get one, but more likely you'll see small airfields all over america get 4 passenger version of use as air taxis, pick you up at home, drive to airport, fly to destination, drop off at final depo or car rnetal station. Door to door service for pre-screened professionals who do this day-in day-out....a quicker, cheaper long sitance taxi, or a simpler process for chartering a small flight.
It is legally enforcable under the Uniform Code of Commerce (mentioned in the Constitution itself) as a contract UNLESS some law excludes a particular statement or term of that contract, and via seperation clause, the entire contract would not be void, only that caluse or subsection or statement.
Unless there is a specific law outlawing that conract term, by opening the seal on the DVD saying "by opening this you agree to the EULA" or by clicking accept the first time you power a machine on, you ARE legally bound to it. This HAS been held up in court, and you can get the SAME punishment as piracy for illegal USE of software you legally own. This is most commonly challenged when companies use "not for commercial use" software releases for profiet generating business, but it has held in other aspects as well, including Adobe and AutoDesk which both successfully sued to forbid you from using their software dongle on any PC other than the one serielised and registered. (if that PC died, you had to relicence their software on a new one) This also applies to antivirus software, which can legaly be used ONLY on the first PC it's installed on.
Actually, that seal you broke on the DVD case, inside the box? breaking that seal legally bound you to the EULA, which was not printed and availible in the box itself, but both on the outside of the box and on that sticker was information about how to get a copy and insistance that you read it.
It HAS been held up in court that breaking a seal constitutes the inception and agreement to a contract. You can not take the Mac out of the box without either breaking this seal to install the software, or if you got a new machine, you can decline the EULA and return the priduct for a full refund to Apple directly.
It;s not only worth the sticker it;s printed on, but it has already cost companies several hundred million dollars in fines for thinking like you do.
The use of, or opening of software IS legally binding. The ONLY exception is that some portions of that EULA may violate a particular state's laws, but since there's a seperation clause in every EULA, the law simply renders that line, statement, or section of the contract void, but the remainder is still legally enforceable.
Apple's hardware is quite often released AHEAD of other vendors. They are intel's best customer after all. They may not use the super high performance Core Quad Extremes, but if you're into that price class, they just decided "fuck it" and use only Xeons, which blow away the quads in performance and compete with them in price.
Almost every single peripheral sold on the market can be used with a Mac. The only limitation the mid-range systems have is a lack of being able to replace the 3D controller card, but since other than a few games available like WoW, Mac's are not intended for them. Case and point, I have a high performance gaming rig sitting under my desk, about $2000 in custom parts and overclocking, and it has an AWESOME framerate. To use it that way and keep it stable, it's stipped down to do nothing BUT run games. I do all my other work on the Mac, which by the way using Synergy uses the same keyboard and mouse without KVM or remote desktop. I like the OS on the mac better (not to mention I trust its security more).
If you think using Debian, Ubontu, or some other linux vaiant is "more pleasant" than using OS X and it's software, then frind, we need to have an intervention, and seriously discuss your over-use of narcotics... I'm not only a Windows admin and Mac user, but I also maintain 6 flavors of unix, linux, and novel. Little in Linux impresses me other than it's security and it's reliabiltiy as a server platform. It's good enough for web and e-mail, or as a database portal if your software is compatible, but for music, video, games, colloaboration, even productivity? no... Linux is beklow Windows in my expert opinion.
Apple may be proprietary, but if you read up, check the specs, actually look at price/performance/component comparrisons, Apple costs LESS every time than Dell. Apple supports almost every device on the market. In fact, there are netire lines of cameras and camcorders that ONLY support OS X. There are Music devices that only support OS X. Sure, every tiny little cheap shit, knock off clone nitch device doens't work on a mac, but most of those devices are already built in, and we don't need em. Find me a printer, camera, hard disk, USB drive, cell phone, PDA, or other common device on the market that doesn't work with a mac and I'll be impressed. in fact, on a Mac, a VERY large portion of those devices DON'T EVEN NEED A DRIVER!!! their OS is proprietary, but their platform is open source, and if it works in Linux or Windows, it's VERY easy to compile a driver for Mac, if one is even needed. The only device I've seen recently that didn't have Mac software was a USB remote control rocket launcher desk toy. (I found a shell script hack that makes it work online though).
or I could argue you could get 2 iMacs in the same time instead of 1 Pro, and in that case the HDD is user replaceable as well as supporting dedicated video. I hate to say it, but even if the screen didn't meet your needs in the future, you can use an external via DVI port and disable the internal screen (or better yet use 2 side by side)
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Actually, A scientific theory is a flasifiable, testable, measurable scenario that is actually STRONGER than fact. The use of the word "theory" by non-scientists is incorrect. The word they're supposed to use is "Hypoithesis" A theory is a system of facts that can not be otherwise disproven, a completely documented and testable model of an idea to which no contraditory evidence exists. We can not find any evidence to prove it false, aside from conjecture or faith in something else, which is unmeasurable, and thus non-falsifiable.
Eveolution is a collection of facts, and new facts are added to it continually, giving the theory a higher resolution, but fundamentally, it's core has never changed. It is still the same theory we formed in Darwin's days, we just have more facts confirming it over and over today, and a better understanding of the underlying facts controlling it. (we have better measurements)
Evolution IS proven. It has been measured within RECORDED history, not just within evidenciary history we've dug up. There is more fact avaialble than simply looking back in history. We've been measuring, seeing, and documenting evolution for 100 years actively, and hundreds of years of evidence exists in WRITTEN record, but just stuff in the ground. We have proved the fundamental rules governing it, and replicated it in the physical world. We have even created self replicating, self mutating, self evolving RNA strands!
When we theorized quantum mechanics, we didn't say "this is how we think it works" we built a theory, over more than 50 years of research and study, and we KNEW how it worked before we could actually prove it. Prior to its proof, it was a hypothesis. Now, it's called a THEORY, and we're working with quantum dots, quantum gates, and building quantum conputers today. They don't call it Quantum fact, they still call it Quantum theory.
Within the scientific community, "String Theory" is a hypothesis. An unproved, untested explanation that seems to fit on some levels, but can be contradicted on others. It IS NOT a Theory of science, even though "String THEORY" is it's popular name, made so by the press and non-scientific media. The scientific community does NOT formally recognize it as a THEORY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
"Although string theory, like any other scientific theory, is falsifiable in principle, critics maintain that it is unfalsifiable for the foreseeable future, and so should not be called science." AKA, in common discussion it qualifies as theory only because we don't have the resources to disprove it, currently, but we know we can, and we know how, it will simply cost 10s of TRIllions to get a craft and science lab far enough away from a gravity well to test it. "String theorists have not yet completely described these theories, nor have they determined if these theories relate to the physical universe or how." aka, there's no MATH, no testable hypothesis. Yes, combining several other theories, we can build a basic model of string theory, but it is yet incomplete, so it's a speculative theory, not a scientific theory. Keep these 2 meaning seperated, and you break every argument against evolution.
So when god said "let their be light" and created the stars, exactly what "light" was he refering to, because we see only about 1% of the "light" that there is in the spectrum. Prior to the stars forming, and even as physics tells us, there also had to be prior to the big bang, there was still much of this radiation around, and could have been interpreted as light. Does this mean God was blind to it, aka, that it has limits? That notion by itself precludes it didn't know enough about physics to make it all happen.
I saw a wierd glitch in both programs on My DVR from Time Warner. Every 8-10 secconds the show had a "blip" in the audio represented by no sound at all, and the image seemed to skip 2 frames of video (paused for a microseccond).
This also happened during a law and order SVU episode I recorded a few weeks ago, (the Robin Williams one), and during an episode of the regular Law and ORder series.
None of the other programs I recorded on any other channels have shown this behavior, but neither have these same shows on other occasions. I think I may just have a bad HDD or RAM chip in the DVR (I already know I have to reboot it every few weeks to keep it happy) Thes eprograms were not recorded on the same night, and the medium episode that had the issue was not the one that was aparently flagged, that one played fine acording to my wife. (I hate that show, so I game when she's watching it...)
Yup, looked at their program list. Excluding the whows I did like that are canceled, Heroes is the only one I'd miss... My wife likes ER and Medium, but soon we'll be able to get those as downloads anyway since I hear thet're in talks again with Apple.
1st, ghost is system image software, not migration software. Its expectation is you're restoring a backup image to the original machine, or to a new HDD in the same machine. It also facilitates partition remapping. It's licence has no impact on what's contained in the image itself, they each have theior own geverning licences.
2nd, While working for a consulting IT firm in Connecticut, one of the architect clients I was working for was fined when AutoDesk reported them trying to licence an upgrade version on 32 PCs that were not the systems the previous version had been licensed on. They had moved the dongle to new machines they bought from my firm and installed the old version, then tried to upgrade. That client sued US for not following that license term and correctly informing them of the limitation (we won since we were only contracted to do the system sale, not the integration). They paid AutoDesk full price for the licences and got no refund on the upgrades they bought to avoid a formal court case and risk piracy charges. I can't name the company because my firm was named in the case. This was back in 1998, so I doubt there's much linked to it on the net...
BestBuy paid fines for using student teacher versions of Office on Manager workstations in stores. Cost them a couple million back in 2002-2003. I can't find the link, but I know it happened, one of my good friends got fired for it.
BestBuy also got burned for using retail copies of a data migration software package without having a corporate licence back in 2003, and are currently being sued for using Winternals software. They "store used" (aka, paid for internally) legal copies of the software, thinking that was OK, but unfortunately, it's all non-commercial use retain licences. Here's a link to the winternals article http://www.iampowered.com/archives/2006/04/12/best_buy_being_sued_for_illega_1.php
Circuit City's geek squad equivolent got burned for much the same thing recently.
GoDaddy doesn't sue people for violating their EULA, they simply close down the web page and back bill the customer for the commercial rate from the time the site went up. If that goes unpaid, there's no lawsuit so to say, but there's a legal collections action. Either way, the illegal users have paid millions in fees and fines and interest.
People are sueime AutoDesk, but I can't find reference to a case they have won. The licnece that was agreed to indicates the software is "non-trasferable" This is no legally different that trying to resell a membership card or concert ticket that bears the same "non-transferable" indication. They can't sue you for selling it, but they can refuse to accept it, support it, activate it, etc, and insist you pay if you want to use it. Using it by hacking it beyond that point is piracy.
It does happen. People like you who don;t want to believe it, and violate the licence, likely will never be sued. Spending 10K in legal fees to go after a single person of small company that a) doesn't have that much to take and b) is only a coupld hundred dollar missed sale, if you ever would have paid for it in the first place, is not worth their effort. As for big firms, school districts, and opther public targets, yes, they DO get sued, regularly, and they all pay.
The cheapest pro is $2249. A refurb is $1900. (Refurb does not mean used). Refurbs come with the same warranty, and actually, since they have all been hand scrutinized, typically have higher reliability than new systems. I have not bought anything but a refurb for years.
Why not lease it? You can't afford that much now, but over 2 years, if you bought a Pro, all you'd have to add is a better graphics card, maybe some RAM. No CPU upgrades for you for YEARS with a 8 core Xeon...
If you're into swapping graphics cars anyway, then you're a gamer, and need a PC to go side by side with your mac like I have... Until at least 75% of the top 50 games are released for mac at the same time as windows, I'll have a PC around... Others into high detail rendering, audio production, high res photoshop, etc, you need a different type of vid card, one for CAD, that can't play most games anyway... All of those people need the power of the Pro.
Find me someone willing to spend an extra $400 premium on a iMac, just to be able to play games and I'll show you someone who could buy a $600 cheaper mac and get a $1000 gaming PC for the same price...
Also, the vid card in the iMac is changeable. There have been 4 different graphics cards relesed so far for the current generation. All you have to do is buy the part and swap it in. No you can't use a retial card, you have to buy one specifically for the iMac, but it's better than nothing. We expect the 3000 series to make a showing in June.
Uh, a full Korn implementatin is in OS X. They hide the link to the shell since 98% of users never need it, but it's there in the system applications folder. Put it on your launch bar.... Apple not only supports traditional scripting, but also Applescript, which is a far more powerful language.
You can control most things in mac with the keyboard, either through the shell directly, or through keystrokes and shortcuts. Just because you don;t know the comands does not mean they're not there.
Mame was avaialble on Mac way back when I had OS 7.4... We can play every MAME game as well, and a whole bunch, you CAN'T play under Linux.
I wasn't talking about communication collaboration, I was talking about group document or project collaboration, through servers. It can be done in Linux, but requires everyone else to have Linux. On a Mac you can collaborate with other mac and windows users through Office. Greanted, not the BEST productivity application, but it's integration into servers and desktops to tie together a large group working on a single project is unmatched by any other app my company has ever researched.
90% of users have NO IDEA how to set up a Linux box, let alone how to find half of what you mentioned. If you're talking about interface superiority, you're talking about productivity and ease of use. Having to teach someone how to open a shell and compile a kernel to add a driver is NOT acceptable.
Well, it would be kinda hard to drive it off the lot without seeing that, and since the vehicle had not left the lot yet, you have the right to destroy the sale documents and return the car for a 100% refund.
Of course, since there WAS a contract SIGNED when you bougth the car, you're protected for additional clauses and costs.
Not the best analogy.
I do not buy these systems, but unfortunately my clients (and if I don;t catch them sometimes family members) often do.
Under XP, youtube shouldn't stutter, even with moderate load on slow hardware. Old desktops like that do a lot better than cheap notebooks with 2400RPM single or dual drives with low cache and undersize RAM... get enough going to kick paging in, like opening a large image, working with a large video cache becuase of a slow internet connection, and trying to pass that through acive virus, spyware, and phishing scans?
It's better today than it was 2 years ago, and many of these systems, out of the box, can handle it as I said, but give them a year and see how their doing...
To put it this way, I have an XP box with AMD64 2.0GBz, 1GB or Ram, fast hard drives, and pretty stock software as a generic PC i let guests use. Its a good older gaming rig. My HP scanner REFUSES to scan an image over 300dpi. "Out of Resources" is the reason. I've tweaked everything and have 540MB of free Ram. 300dpi is OK, 600 is not. On a G4 iMac w/ only 512MB of Ram, a 5400RPM drive, and no dedicated video, I can scan at 2400DPI. PCs have MAJOR issues with low resource configurations. Placing that on top of a slow subsystem and you're going to get bad performance. Add vista and you're probably looking at 15 minute boot times.
Again, trust me, I have hundreds of clients in this city, mostly Small business. Every time I see a sub-$600 notebook, it never lasts 2 years before being replaced.
Not necesarilly so. It depends on how many platters and heads the disk has. Also, wether or not the device supprots SATA II and NCQ has a much bigger impact. Cache as well impacts performance (beyond 16MB doesn't seem to matter though). It;s not drive surface, but there are more bits going under the head in that amount of time though, you're right. In this case, even though the read speed might be higher in the Dell, the spin speed in the Mac should equalize the difference, combined with SATA 300 support.
They changed parts recently it appears. A couple of weeks ago I could do that. I simply changed the CPU to the single instead of the double now and it was $2299, not $2400.
You can get a refurb of the exact same machine for 1900. Refurn does NOT mean used, it means typically it had a ding or scratch, or maybe a bad HDD when it was tested, and it passed through manufacturing by hand to correct that. No big deal since 5% of all shipped systems have a DoA component, and since a refurb has the same exact warranty as a new machine, I have not BOUGHT a NEW mac in 6 years... it;s never done me wrong. They allways come in shiny new boxes and look perfect, except for the slightly different sticker on the box indicating b-stock.
Just change the processor to the single mode and it's $2299. I did this a few weeks ago and I configged one for $1900. Looks like some options changed, possibly pending some big announcements coming in a few weeks?
Allways buy a 3 year warranty... If firewire was mission critical, and it was a 3 year old machine, i'd replace the whole machine if replacing the mainboard cost more than $100.
Amzon might not give you the EULA, but is is considered by the courts that it is in fact common knowledge that software is licensed, and that licensces have terms. You should know there is a licence, and should you go looking, it's on Apple's website in it's complete text, and by phone if you don't have a computer yet or access to one, you can request a printed copy be mailed to you. Failure to read it is not their fault, due dillegence of publication has been met.
Of cource common law protects you, bet even more so, the code of commerce does as well. The idea is that if you have not broken the seal, you can get your money back. If you have, you can't. Simple enough. You have 3 opportunities to read said license: 1) because of common knowledge you should seek it out where is is easily found and free to review. 2) when you read the bottom of the box and the product statement, before opening the box, there's information about where to find the EULA, and 3) on the DVD seal inside the box.
If you missed all 3, you'r ignorant, and deserve to be denied a refund.
Actually, many cases of AutoDesk suing companies for violating their donge and using software on a system not serialized for it (not by hacking the dongle, just by plugging it into a different machine that's not licensed when the first died).
MANY MANY firms have been sued for using "for non-commercial use only" licences as well. I can't tell you how many medium businesses got burned using student/teacher versions of office for business purposes. or for using demo versions to produce commercial materials. same goes for a bunch of people who tried to use GoDaddy and other cheap web hosting to host business web sites. All of these are managed by EULAs.
Symantec successfully sued a computer migration software vendor for allowing their Norton programs to be automatically moved from one computer to another, like you can with Office and other apps. NAV is licensed for a single machine, not a single user, and they won enough money to bankrupt the vendor.
The list goes on and on. You don't hear about it because unlike the RIAA, these vendors don't sue their users, they sue large firms that would rather pay then get the public attention...
Um, that's because it's NOT a Dell Printer, but a Samsung printer in a Dell chassis. The Samsung ML 1210 drivers work flawlessly with that printer. Compaq did the same thing with their laser line 10 years ago, they were all Cannon printers, part for part, except the sticker on the front. They were also the exact same unit as the Apple LaswerWriters...
The PCL and PS languages shared by these printers are very similar. CUPS Linux drivers can also drive this printer. Laser printers use very generic driver subsystems, and don't have complicated options like all-in-ones do. Dell releases Mac drivers for most of their stuff, the rest either works on built in Mac drivers, Samsung, Cannon, HP, or Xerox drivers. Functionality is 100%. If Dell actually made their OWN printers instead of shoveling someone elses technology but substituting their own weaker warranty process and sub-standard support helpdesk, then they would have more drivers available. Some of "Dell's" printers have either only a XP or only a Vista driver as well, so even windows folks have to "hack" their driver to make it work...
You can get a MAc Pro with 1 processor instead of 2 for $2000, less if you adjust other components, and even less if you buy from retailers other than Apple.com.
You still CAN get your $1800 pro configurable...
If you're worried about slots for adding replacement parts, that's what the warranty is for... I've had 27 different macs, and all I've ever needed to replace (short of electrical damage or a dropped laptop, or the occasional yanked power cord which apple has forever fixed) are HDDs, optical drives, and peripherals.
You can use an expresscard slot for firewire on most new macs now too. If you really want expandability, RAID, and other advanced features, if you can't do it externally, a Map Pro is likely cheaper. Don't be fooled by the $2400 sticker, you can configure one for as little as $1900...
Negotiate may have been the wrong term there. impose is more correct. Either way, you can still refuse the license and send it back for a full refund, even if you didn't take the time to go online and read the EULA before making your purchase. The "argument" is called supply and demand. If you don't like their terms, don't buy it... If they don't sell enoguh, they'll change terms or lower the price. Seems like right now, not a lot of that happening...
Actually, the website listing the EULA is printed on the outside of the box. Also, it's on their website. It's common knowledge that software is licensed, and every license has terms. Your failure to read before purchase is your own fault, not theirs. Your right to refuse the license and get your money back is protected, at least until you break the internal seal or click accept.
Per Toms Hardware, The 8800GT OC (better version than is in the Dell) scored ~1950 on a normalized gaming score across multiple games. The 2600 Pro scored just under 1100. It's more than a few frames, but not nearly 4X. They're both mid-range components.
I think if you lokk reasonably at this, you'll think differently:
...a quicker, cheaper long sitance taxi, or a simpler process for chartering a small flight.
- cost of hybrid flyer
- cost of license fees
- cost of STRICT routine inspections and certification
- cost of flight prep and flight plan
- airport fees for tower services, runway access, etc
- you stil have to wait in line to take off, no different than a chartered flight
- very limited flying distance (I'm guessing 2-300 miles, tops?)
vs
- standard car
- no routine hassles
- cost of charter or private flight from small airfield or larger commercial flight
A big deal will be the flight distance. If you're limited to 300 miles, unless you're in one of the wierd parts of america where a 300 mile flight could equal a 5-600 mile drive, then at best you could be saving 2-3 hours, give or take holdups at the airport? Not worth it for all the time you'll loose simply getting and maintaining certification and inspoction.
I see a few hobyists might get one, but more likely you'll see small airfields all over america get 4 passenger version of use as air taxis, pick you up at home, drive to airport, fly to destination, drop off at final depo or car rnetal station. Door to door service for pre-screened professionals who do this day-in day-out.
It is legally enforcable under the Uniform Code of Commerce (mentioned in the Constitution itself) as a contract UNLESS some law excludes a particular statement or term of that contract, and via seperation clause, the entire contract would not be void, only that caluse or subsection or statement.
Unless there is a specific law outlawing that conract term, by opening the seal on the DVD saying "by opening this you agree to the EULA" or by clicking accept the first time you power a machine on, you ARE legally bound to it. This HAS been held up in court, and you can get the SAME punishment as piracy for illegal USE of software you legally own. This is most commonly challenged when companies use "not for commercial use" software releases for profiet generating business, but it has held in other aspects as well, including Adobe and AutoDesk which both successfully sued to forbid you from using their software dongle on any PC other than the one serielised and registered. (if that PC died, you had to relicence their software on a new one) This also applies to antivirus software, which can legaly be used ONLY on the first PC it's installed on.
Actually, that seal you broke on the DVD case, inside the box? breaking that seal legally bound you to the EULA, which was not printed and availible in the box itself, but both on the outside of the box and on that sticker was information about how to get a copy and insistance that you read it.
It HAS been held up in court that breaking a seal constitutes the inception and agreement to a contract. You can not take the Mac out of the box without either breaking this seal to install the software, or if you got a new machine, you can decline the EULA and return the priduct for a full refund to Apple directly.
It;s not only worth the sticker it;s printed on, but it has already cost companies several hundred million dollars in fines for thinking like you do.
The use of, or opening of software IS legally binding. The ONLY exception is that some portions of that EULA may violate a particular state's laws, but since there's a seperation clause in every EULA, the law simply renders that line, statement, or section of the contract void, but the remainder is still legally enforceable.
Apple's hardware is quite often released AHEAD of other vendors. They are intel's best customer after all. They may not use the super high performance Core Quad Extremes, but if you're into that price class, they just decided "fuck it" and use only Xeons, which blow away the quads in performance and compete with them in price.
Almost every single peripheral sold on the market can be used with a Mac. The only limitation the mid-range systems have is a lack of being able to replace the 3D controller card, but since other than a few games available like WoW, Mac's are not intended for them. Case and point, I have a high performance gaming rig sitting under my desk, about $2000 in custom parts and overclocking, and it has an AWESOME framerate. To use it that way and keep it stable, it's stipped down to do nothing BUT run games. I do all my other work on the Mac, which by the way using Synergy uses the same keyboard and mouse without KVM or remote desktop. I like the OS on the mac better (not to mention I trust its security more).
If you think using Debian, Ubontu, or some other linux vaiant is "more pleasant" than using OS X and it's software, then frind, we need to have an intervention, and seriously discuss your over-use of narcotics... I'm not only a Windows admin and Mac user, but I also maintain 6 flavors of unix, linux, and novel. Little in Linux impresses me other than it's security and it's reliabiltiy as a server platform. It's good enough for web and e-mail, or as a database portal if your software is compatible, but for music, video, games, colloaboration, even productivity? no... Linux is beklow Windows in my expert opinion.
Apple may be proprietary, but if you read up, check the specs, actually look at price/performance/component comparrisons, Apple costs LESS every time than Dell. Apple supports almost every device on the market. In fact, there are netire lines of cameras and camcorders that ONLY support OS X. There are Music devices that only support OS X. Sure, every tiny little cheap shit, knock off clone nitch device doens't work on a mac, but most of those devices are already built in, and we don't need em. Find me a printer, camera, hard disk, USB drive, cell phone, PDA, or other common device on the market that doesn't work with a mac and I'll be impressed. in fact, on a Mac, a VERY large portion of those devices DON'T EVEN NEED A DRIVER!!! their OS is proprietary, but their platform is open source, and if it works in Linux or Windows, it's VERY easy to compile a driver for Mac, if one is even needed. The only device I've seen recently that didn't have Mac software was a USB remote control rocket launcher desk toy. (I found a shell script hack that makes it work online though).
or I could argue you could get 2 iMacs in the same time instead of 1 Pro, and in that case the HDD is user replaceable as well as supporting dedicated video. I hate to say it, but even if the screen didn't meet your needs in the future, you can use an external via DVI port and disable the internal screen (or better yet use 2 side by side)