I sort of agree, but...
It is still a matter of very fuzzy principles.
So according to you, it is wrong to sell a database over traceroutes. How about a site that traces you at runtime? You have stated who you are (your IP) so how can you object to the site using it?
The article was about how Netscape failed to support web standards! *that* is why NS is losing.!
I still use NS as my primary browser, in spite of writing this on an NT machine, but more and more often I *have* to switch to IE cause NS simply doesn't work.
Yes I'm aware of how this is often caused by crappy html, but all too often because Netscape bugs up.
C'mon. a browser that can be crashed by a Javascript? How confident does that make you?
We are almost at the point where noone cares about supporting anything but IE on their webs.
We are almost at the point where MS can add their proprietary tags at will, since everyone is using their product.
Yes "everyone" Last time I checked some browser/platform statistics, 96.3% used some form of windows, 2.6% Macintosh and (insert drum roll) 1.1% "other" Other that means Linux, BSD, Solaris etc *combined*
That means Micorsoft can turn IE into an extension of windows, rather than a webbrowser. Skip html, use XML and hide the layout and code from the user. (We don't want open source on our webpages).
IE has not won because Microsoft has made an incredibly good product, IE won because Netscape has not had a stable release >= ver 4
It is true I'm afraid.
It was even on slashdot at the time (not that it proves anything, but...)
"The law" in this case was Co$ interpretation of copyright law, which they perverted to use against any unauthorized (read, outside) reading of their books
It's the same argument that is used against Napster (and other "pirate" sites)
Something that is legal/ethical/ortherwise OK when done once (like borrowing a CD, pinging a server) is suddenly illegal/unethical/a threat to the world as we know it, when done on a larger scale?
As said YMMV.
Anything in the office is probably 100% tax free. Anything that goes to the individual is in the grey area.
I can't speak for US laws but here (sweden) where taxes are really high, "is it deductable" is a more important question then "what does it cost"
My cell phone is paid for by my employer. It is classified as a work tool, so it's only a problem if I use it too much for personal calls and my boss doesn't like me. (and, hey, this is sweden everyone has a cell phone, and usually it's not their first one)
A car would not be a good deal for me unless I drive a lot "in the line of duty"
A computer at home could be a work tool or for study. No problem.
Gym fees is deductable up to a certain amount, so most employers will sponsor it with the same amount (roughly 100-150$)
Re:Trial by money as bad as patent idiocy
on
Patent Warfare
·
· Score: 2
Yup that is the really scary part.
A company with deep pockets can usually safely infringe even on "valid" patents, unless the patent holder has deep enough pockets himself.
Say you invent something truly novel, spending years and multi-$ of your own on it.
Now assume that you actually get a wordwide patent for your invention (they don't come cheap)
If it is truly valuable, you can bet that the big guys will happily infringe on your patent, since you will never be able to affort the legal costs of defending it.
Your only chance is probably to sell your rights to some megacorp (hoping they don't screw you completely)
And as long as there are corporations, there will be corporate involvement in technology.
And as long as there are humans, there will be human involvement in technology.
No government, corporation or human (alone or organized) has the power to dictate the rules alone. The result will always be some form of compromize. Optimal to none, but workable for all.
Perhaps the update shoud have written, "We have been informed that direct linking screws up load balancing, please go here instead" and not "Sadly, we've been asked to take down the direct link to the file." which really sounds like legal bullying.
You want to solve every problem that is called in (cause that keeps your customers happy, so they remain your customers, duh!)
You want to spend as little as possible on tech support.
Here is what you have to do:
Have enough first level support to handle the sheer load of calls.
Have "cuecards" for those first level guys to weed out the obvious. Their job is to make sure that the customer does a routine check. (any support guy will tell you stories about arrogant computer experts who forgot to check the power cord. Just because I know that the cord must be in doesn't mean that I remembered to check it this time.)
Hire some more experienced folks who can solve problems without the cuecards. Instruct the first level folks to redirect anything that doesn't match the standard scenarios to them.
Make sure that these second level folks has a good "known problems list" to use. Also keep a log on how often they have to answer a certain question. If it is too often, it is time to move it into the standard procedures of first level support.
Hire a few real wizards for last defence. Their job is not primarily to help customers. It is to update the list of the first and second level folks. They should *never* have to solve the same problem twice!
There you have it. You handle the bulk of calls with relatively inexperienced (= cheap) employees *and* you handle any problem up to the skill of your wizards. Everybody learns something (so people will stay longer) and your wizards are kept from routine (so *they* will not get bored)
Ah, I remember that one.
Not from a film, though but from a short story. It ended with a note to the parents "Your daughter exeeded the maximum intelligence allowed. How would you like the funeral?"
If only we can keep everybody uninformed about possible exploits we will have no more unauthorized entrances, no siree!
But wait, soon we will be ready for the next step: "security through stupidity" That's when nobody has the brains to behave in any other manner than our market research indicated. Yes, people it's true!
Actually a recent study by bullshit resarch inc suggested that an average IQ lowered by 20% would benefit our economy. How high IQ do you need to shop and wiew our approved movies anyway? Then some people may upgrade their childrens brains with our groundbreaking brain# (brain-sharp) treatment, giving them the skills neccessary to keep control of the sheep^H^H^H^H^Hpopulation.
Some major cities? Here (sweden) they no longer install anything *but* LED traffic lights and the old ones are getting replaced as quickly as the funding allows.
The best thing about them is not the power consumtion or their life span. Old style traffic lights have a large reflector behind the light bulb. That reflector does a very nice job reflecting, not only light from the bulb, but from a low sun during morning rush.
If you have a low sun behind you it is almost impossible to see if the light is red or green. With a LED traffic light there may be reflections from the green light when the light is red, but the reflections are white/clear not green.
Does a thing or two for road safety, don't you agree?
So which European country are you from? Because it would be really ironic if you were from France.
Wow I didn't read slashdot during the weekend, and now I have 14 replies.
For the record: I'm Swedish and No I'm not too proud of every aspect of our history either.
US foreign policy is just that *US* foreign policy. If I don't like it, tough shit. What gets to me is the attitude of many american politicians and corporate giants that the *net* is somehow under US jurisdiction.
OK, to raise this from the common internet != USA yadayada post:
What does scare me (being european) is the influence on *my* life the US president has. I don't get to vote in your election, still I'm affected by your DMCA, carnivore, lawyerism shit (granted, you guys have done a good thing or two too)
The "tech world" or the "internet community" or whatever Katzism you use is international. Any attempt by the US (or any other nation) to force it's views onto a non-national site is colonialism, pure and simple.
When the land of the free tries to enforce american laws here thei are nothing but red coats.
I like it!
Since this is a war of memes and soundbytes, it's about time we develop and spread some of our own.
Children must be allowed to hurt themselves sometimes. Not *injure* themselves, but learn firsthand that there is a consequence to every action.
Kids are human beings! Humans are not designed to live in a perfect disney world. Humans (like every other living being) are designed to face problems, solve them and evolve.
A parent should protect the child, not by keeping it from getting hurt, but by saving it from getting injured. You tell them that they will hurt themselves if they cut themselves on a knife. THey will still get cut, because they *will* play with a knife. But if you did your job, they will be careful enough not to get seriuously injured. A band-aid will do and next time they know better.
I want my kids (the day I have them) to stay away from on/offline porn, not because I've filtered it, but because I tell them that it hurts others and eventually them.
Does porn hurt? Damn sure. It's a dirty business and it makes its money from sexually exploiting women.
Does a person get hurt by looking at porn?
A girl, yes. She will get a wery sick notion of men and their expectations.
A boy? hell yes! For one thing, a guy who watches too much porn will grow up to find that most women will think he's a complete jerk.
Does sex hurt? No way. Nudity is natural. Sex is a good thing. Porn is not. I just wish that the censorship mob would one day see the difference.
Slashdot Mirror
Swedish Court Clears Teen for Linking to MP3s
Swedish Supreme Court MP3 Ruling
It is still a matter of very fuzzy principles.
So according to you, it is wrong to sell a database over traceroutes. How about a site that traces you at runtime? You have stated who you are (your IP) so how can you object to the site using it?
The article was about how Netscape failed to support web standards! *that* is why NS is losing.!
I still use NS as my primary browser, in spite of writing this on an NT machine, but more and more often I *have* to switch to IE cause NS simply doesn't work.
Yes I'm aware of how this is often caused by crappy html, but all too often because Netscape bugs up.
C'mon. a browser that can be crashed by a Javascript? How confident does that make you?
We are almost at the point where noone cares about supporting anything but IE on their webs.
We are almost at the point where MS can add their proprietary tags at will, since everyone is using their product.
Yes "everyone" Last time I checked some browser/platform statistics, 96.3% used some form of windows, 2.6% Macintosh and (insert drum roll) 1.1% "other" Other that means Linux, BSD, Solaris etc *combined*
That means Micorsoft can turn IE into an extension of windows, rather than a webbrowser. Skip html, use XML and hide the layout and code from the user. (We don't want open source on our webpages).
IE has not won because Microsoft has made an incredibly good product, IE won because Netscape has not had a stable release >= ver 4
It was even on slashdot at the time (not that it proves anything, but...)
"The law" in this case was Co$ interpretation of copyright law, which they perverted to use against any unauthorized (read, outside) reading of their books
It's the same argument that is used against Napster (and other "pirate" sites)
Something that is legal/ethical/ortherwise OK when done once (like borrowing a CD, pinging a server) is suddenly illegal/unethical/a threat to the world as we know it, when done on a larger scale?
Don't like the sound of that.
Better not. The reversal of such phrases are now covered by the DMCA.
;-)
Anything in the office is probably 100% tax free. Anything that goes to the individual is in the grey area.
I can't speak for US laws but here (sweden) where taxes are really high, "is it deductable" is a more important question then "what does it cost"
My cell phone is paid for by my employer. It is classified as a work tool, so it's only a problem if I use it too much for personal calls and my boss doesn't like me. (and, hey, this is sweden everyone has a cell phone, and usually it's not their first one)
A car would not be a good deal for me unless I drive a lot "in the line of duty"
A computer at home could be a work tool or for study. No problem.
Gym fees is deductable up to a certain amount, so most employers will sponsor it with the same amount (roughly 100-150$)
A company with deep pockets can usually safely infringe even on "valid" patents, unless the patent holder has deep enough pockets himself.
Say you invent something truly novel, spending years and multi-$ of your own on it.
Now assume that you actually get a wordwide patent for your invention (they don't come cheap)
If it is truly valuable, you can bet that the big guys will happily infringe on your patent, since you will never be able to affort the legal costs of defending it.
Your only chance is probably to sell your rights to some megacorp (hoping they don't screw you completely)
And as long as there are corporations, there will be corporate involvement in technology.
And as long as there are humans, there will be human involvement in technology.
No government, corporation or human (alone or organized) has the power to dictate the rules alone. The result will always be some form of compromize. Optimal to none, but workable for all.
The gun is also the only tool to take it away...
(actually sticks rocks and torches does the job too)
The only technologies that can save you from overzealous local governments are your neighbor's video camera.
And what saves me from my neighbors video cameras and guns when I want neither of them pointing in my direction?
Plain and simple.
Perhaps the update shoud have written, "We have been informed that direct linking screws up load balancing, please go here instead" and not "Sadly, we've been asked to take down the direct link to the file." which really sounds like legal bullying.
You want to spend as little as possible on tech support.
Here is what you have to do:
Have enough first level support to handle the sheer load of calls.
Have "cuecards" for those first level guys to weed out the obvious. Their job is to make sure that the customer does a routine check. (any support guy will tell you stories about arrogant computer experts who forgot to check the power cord. Just because I know that the cord must be in doesn't mean that I remembered to check it this time.)
Hire some more experienced folks who can solve problems without the cuecards. Instruct the first level folks to redirect anything that doesn't match the standard scenarios to them.
Make sure that these second level folks has a good "known problems list" to use. Also keep a log on how often they have to answer a certain question. If it is too often, it is time to move it into the standard procedures of first level support.
Hire a few real wizards for last defence. Their job is not primarily to help customers. It is to update the list of the first and second level folks. They should *never* have to solve the same problem twice!
There you have it. You handle the bulk of calls with relatively inexperienced (= cheap) employees *and* you handle any problem up to the skill of your wizards. Everybody learns something (so people will stay longer) and your wizards are kept from routine (so *they* will not get bored)
Where are my mod points?
Not that I feel like downloading the trailer, but why the heck does /. give in to lame requests like that? When did linking become illegal?
Not from a film, though but from a short story. It ended with a note to the parents "Your daughter exeeded the maximum intelligence allowed. How would you like the funeral?"
It was rather creepy indeed.
If only we can keep everybody uninformed about possible exploits we will have no more unauthorized entrances, no siree!
But wait, soon we will be ready for the next step: "security through stupidity" That's when nobody has the brains to behave in any other manner than our market research indicated. Yes, people it's true!
Actually a recent study by bullshit resarch inc suggested that an average IQ lowered by 20% would benefit our economy. How high IQ do you need to shop and wiew our approved movies anyway? Then some people may upgrade their childrens brains with our groundbreaking brain# (brain-sharp) treatment, giving them the skills neccessary to keep control of the sheep^H^H^H^H^Hpopulation.
The best thing about them is not the power consumtion or their life span. Old style traffic lights have a large reflector behind the light bulb. That reflector does a very nice job reflecting, not only light from the bulb, but from a low sun during morning rush.
If you have a low sun behind you it is almost impossible to see if the light is red or green. With a LED traffic light there may be reflections from the green light when the light is red, but the reflections are white/clear not green.
Does a thing or two for road safety, don't you agree?
You mean 24/7/365.2425 don't you? .9925 days/year?
Or is your downtime exactly
So, of course I asked the 8-ball "Will you cease and desist?"
It promtly answered "It is likely"
Regardless of protection
It can be copied
Every old comment
Stating the obvious
Can also be copied
You encrypted your comment
Using bold letters
I copied them too
spreading the doorhandles all over the place?
Wow I didn't read slashdot during the weekend, and now I have 14 replies.
For the record: I'm Swedish and No I'm not too proud of every aspect of our history either.
US foreign policy is just that *US* foreign policy. If I don't like it, tough shit. What gets to me is the attitude of many american politicians and corporate giants that the *net* is somehow under US jurisdiction.
No I'm not ;-)
OK, to raise this from the common internet != USA yadayada post:
What does scare me (being european) is the influence on *my* life the US president has. I don't get to vote in your election, still I'm affected by your DMCA, carnivore, lawyerism shit (granted, you guys have done a good thing or two too)
The "tech world" or the "internet community" or whatever Katzism you use is international. Any attempt by the US (or any other nation) to force it's views onto a non-national site is colonialism, pure and simple.
When the land of the free tries to enforce american laws here thei are nothing but red coats.
"she" has
I like it!
Since this is a war of memes and soundbytes, it's about time we develop and spread some of our own.
Children must be allowed to hurt themselves sometimes. Not *injure* themselves, but learn firsthand that there is a consequence to every action.
Kids are human beings! Humans are not designed to live in a perfect disney world. Humans (like every other living being) are designed to face problems, solve them and evolve.
A parent should protect the child, not by keeping it from getting hurt, but by saving it from getting injured. You tell them that they will hurt themselves if they cut themselves on a knife. THey will still get cut, because they *will* play with a knife. But if you did your job, they will be careful enough not to get seriuously injured. A band-aid will do and next time they know better.
I want my kids (the day I have them) to stay away from on/offline porn, not because I've filtered it, but because I tell them that it hurts others and eventually them.
Does porn hurt? Damn sure. It's a dirty business and it makes its money from sexually exploiting women.
Does a person get hurt by looking at porn?
A girl, yes. She will get a wery sick notion of men and their expectations.
A boy? hell yes! For one thing, a guy who watches too much porn will grow up to find that most women will think he's a complete jerk.
Does sex hurt? No way. Nudity is natural. Sex is a good thing. Porn is not. I just wish that the censorship mob would one day see the difference.