The rights to the content still belong to the publishing party, but the right to listen has been passed from you, the original purchaser, to me, as a gift.
But contractually, the right is granted from the owner of the music to me as purchaser of said CD. But as you are not the purchaser, no contract exists between you and the IP owner, and as those rights are the music company's to give and take, not mine, I can not pass said right on to anyone... only the music company can.
I have a right to vote. I can not pass my right to vote on to you so you can vote in my place. (isnt this whole thing just a nasty, wriggling, can of worms??)
That doesn't mean you don't have to pay for the right to convert it. If nothing else, there's the contractual obligation with DirecTV. When you buy a DTV system, you sign a usage agreement before you leave the store that says that you'll pay for the service and not modify the hardware to circumvent that. This means that anyone who gets busted with a hacked card is a bald-faced liar on top of being a thief. Ok, but point still being, I and every other consumer of goods and services has already paid for said programming. I and all other consumers buy products and services. That money is then, in part, used by the producers of said products and services to pay the network for advertising time. The network then uses that income to bankroll programming, which we consumers watch, are exposed to commercial advertising, and buy products we see advertised on television.
That was an entirely self sustaining system well before cable and satellite, and could be again. As for buying a DTV system, if I buy one from some guy at a yard sale or flea market, then no agreement exists between myself and DTV, AFAIK. I have never seen a written contract (used to have Dish network) that specified any responsibilities transferred to any new owner of the equipment that I originally purchased. The only agreement is between the seller of said used DTV equipment and myself, and that is only an agreement that I will give him/her X amount of dollars, and he/she sells me the equipment as is or with warranty.
If I then hack or modify that equipment, who is obligated? I didnt once agree verbally or in writing to anything at all between DTV and myself (all hypothetically of course, I hardly watch TV as it is, and certainly dont waste my money on sat.)
Hrmmm... dunno about that. considering that to keep any realtive atmosphere inside that humans would comfortably endure, they would need a decent bit of pressure. And then considering that space is a vacuum, I would have thought that such a collision, which is the first thought that popped into my mind upon reading thiat, would cause explosive decompression of the inflatable habitat... especially if the object went all the way through causing holes on each side.
this is one of the most hair-splitting arguments I've ever gotten myself into, but I'll play: Heh... why not;) and it is... but that is what the law is. Hair splitting. Any legal definition is splitting hairs. Its illegal to kill someone. But it is not illegal to kill someone if they break into your house. Unless you live in a state where that person also has to have a visible weapon. Sadly, while lawyers and politicians are so good at splitting hairs and coming up with arcane legistlation, they also leave a lot of questionable area. What comprises media? And what comprises ownership? Before anyone makes the arguement about buying a tangible like a CD or DVD, please remember that it was only recently (i.e. in the last 3 - 5 years) that companies began insisting that they held absolute control over a work, regardless of whether or not someone paid for the disk it resides on. Sure they did the same in the past, but to a much lesser degree.
Just like a CD. If someone throws a CD in your yard, and you don't own a CD player, do you own the music on the CD? No. Legally you may not even have the right to listen to it since you didn't pay for it. Someone did, at some point, but not the actual user of the media (you). Maybe, but then again, same could be said of a gift. Using your arguements, if I bought you a CD for your birthday, and gave said CD to you as a gift, YOU would not have the right to listen to it, since the rights all belong to the company that made the disk, and therefore are not my rights to give to you.
And if someone were to throw a CD into my yard, and leave it, it is considered abandoned property, at which point I DO exert some control over it.
But again, the difference between the CD/DVD model and the satellite model is that I HAVE TO GO AND PHYSICALLY OBTAIN A CD/DVD. I do NOT have to go anywhere to recieve an RF signal. All I need is an antenna, and some parts to convert the signal.
Let's say I were to stand outside your house, and using a large airgun, I started shooting stacks fo 20 dollar bills over your property to the guy next to you. Since those bills were actually intended to go to your neighbors house and not yours, but I inadvertantly inundated your property with 20's, do you not have at least some rights regarding the disposal of said 20's?
I certainly could not venture onto your property to re-collect them without your express permission, as that would constitute criminal trespass.
Sorry, but this is somewhat silly, I know, but a lot more fun than work... and considering that its nearly midnight, I guess this is also a lot more fun than sleep...;)
You own the hardware, but the signal still belongs to DirecTV, unless you know some way to claim ownership of a band in the EM spectrum.
Which is part of the point. I can not lay claim to portions of the EM spectrum any more than anyone else can, be it government, corporation, or citizen. The spectrum just is. Its not a parcel of land to be sold piecemeal... NBC can transmit on 56.485MHz (random number for example sake, NOT actual allocation) and BBC2 cand likewise transmit on same freqency, as can any station in Canada, or in Mexico, or in any other state.
An FCC licence to use a particular frequency in the spectrum is not much more than a federal protection from interference. The chief and probably sole reason for licensing broadcasters AND for putting certain modes of transmission into particular segments of spectrum, is to keep people from stepping on each others toes... which is why NBC is on Channel 9, ABC on 13, etc. And why DirecTV is on one gigahertz freq, Dish network is on a different one, Amsat is on a third, etc etc.
The arguement that they own the signal is spurious at best. To argue that an RF signal is a tangible or intellectual property that is "owned" also gives creedence to tresspass or abandoned property.
I dont have DirecTV service, nor equipment, yet they are constantly dumping their "property" all over my yard, house, and body. And since I didnt A: ask them to place it there, B: authorize them to place it there, and C: they didnt come to remove it, it could be considered abandoned property.
If you really want to consider an RF signal as tangible property, then we should be paying usage feels to Phillips for the signal translated by their lightbulbs.
Here is the problem. You already are paying for TV, even if you get it for free. You buy products that are sold by advertisers who pay the television stations/cable stations.
The movie channels are all owned by media conglomerates that make money by selling advertising, and by selling goods and services, again, to people like you and I.
What is the difference between recieving NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, WB, etc onto a TV using a simple RF antenna, and doing same with a more complicated parabolic antenna? You are doing the same thing: receiving RF signals. If you stole the reciever and dish from someone else, thats one thing, but if you already BOUGHT the dish/reciever, then its yours.
And besides, you have already paid once for what you watch by buying advertised products.
I personally find it difficult to draw any real compairson between DirecTV and RIAA, other than the fact they sue their users.
There is a BIG difference here between the two. Stealing music is one thing. You actively go to a website or P2P network specifically to find a particular song/album, and then actively download it. In other words, its a pull.
Getting DirecTV is, ultimately no different than getting your local channels via the old rabbit ears. DirecTV beams that signal with a VERY wide footprint to the earth, using RF. Its really silly to tell someone that they are not allowd to recieve a RF signal that is being sent directly to your house.
They are using regulations that were put up to prevent cable theft (again, not the same thing as simply recieving RF signals from an orbiting satellite) to ensure a revenue stream. Satellite is a push, not a pull. That data is pushed directly to your property, you dont pull it to you.
Cable theft is again different as well, as you plug a device directly to the cable company's property (the cable line) and actively pull data from their equipment to your television.
Now, if the wanted to sue someone, they could base it on a breech of contract for using a non-directTV provided card, or for opening the case of the reciever, or something of that nature (which would require writing such language into the contract, but suing somenone for using equipment that they purchased, not leased, to recieve a signal that is already being pushed to their house is ludicrous.
Actually, propulsion does = lift. ever see an aircraft fly with no propulsion (with the exeption of hot air balloons...).
Now, it gets its lift from helium, hence the term "Lighter than air ships". Lift in a conventional (read airplane) aircraft is created by the vehicle being propelled fast enough so that the shape of the wing surfaces cause low pressure areas above, and high pressure below, thus lifting the craft into the air. Propulsion is (at least in the sense of propeller driven aircraft and helicopters) the same principle. The propellers generate an area of low pressure directly ahead of the props, and high pressure behind, thus pulling the vehicle forward (or pushing it in the case of aft facing engine systems).
Now that you have a brief intro on aerodynamics and the theory of propulsion, go back and think about what I said.
The zeppling gets its lift from bags full of helium. Helium is lighter than air, and has the ability to life 1kg of mass per 1 cubic meter of helium. THAT is how it gets its lift. The helium generates the lift. Bouyancy is controlled by some other means. In the golden age of zepplins, it was done by using bags of water as counterweights.
I said that it NEEDS MINIMAL ENERGY FOR PROPULSION. An airship such as a zepplin does NOT NEED PROPULSION TO ATTAIN LIFT. Lift is provided by the helium. Propulsion in this case is used to move it around in the sky, so it doesnt just go up and down and blow around in the wind. BUT IN A CONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT PROPULSION + WING AERODYNAMICS == LIFT.
And yes, I am being purposly redundant, AND yes I do know that that is a very simplified explanation of how things fly. So no, you fail it.
That depends... Think about this: The Hindenburg was 804 feet long and 135 feet in diameter at its point of maximum width. Hydrogen has higher lifting power then helium, but helium is safer...
According to their site's FAQ, the lifting capacity of 1 cubic meter is 1kg mass... and theirs is only 75m by 15m... Hindenburg was 804 by 135, thats roughly 254m by 46m with a VERY VERY rough volume of 422,000 cubic meters vs the new zepplin NTs volume of again very roughly 13,000 cubic meters.
So it all depends on the size of the balloon. given my very very rough quick and dirty math, the NT would have a total lifting capacity of 13000 kg vs one the size of the hindenberg having 422000 kg lifting capability. After you factor in the weight of the airframe, powerplants, gondola, and any other ancillary weight, you can probably get a decent load lifted with a big enough zeppelin.
The passenger compliment wasnt much by todays standards, but Germany was flying around the world using zepplins as a very popular mode of air travel. The Hindenburg had a passenger cap of 72, so it was fairly small, but then again, at that time the materials were heavier... I imagine you could build a very lightweight and sturdy airframe now out of kevlar, polymers, carbon, or some other modern light material and have the same dimensions of the Hindenburg with only a fraction of its dry weight.
Uh... No. You put the comma in the wrong place. Take a look at the currency selections in Word or Open Office sometime. You will find that not everone in the world uses "." to denote cents or percentages of units of monetary measure. Europeans tend to use "," where Americans and other countries use ".".
How much will I have to pay for a flight of one hour? Fare per Person: EUR 335,00 Monday to Friday; EUR 370,00 on weekends and holidays. More information: www.zeppelinflug.de
So not terribly much, but then again, that is just for an hour of flight time... From what I gather, they are doing actual air travel via Zepplin, but I agree the operation cost couldnt be that much...
Once you have the zepplin and the helium, you need a few guys to anchor it on touchdow and provide mechanic labor and one licensed pilot and a co-pilot to fly the thing, and thats about it...
Unless you want to serve snacks/dinners onboard. But since it generates its own lift via the Helium bags, it needs minimal energy for propulsion. I am honestly surpised that no one has built a zepplin with the new ultralight solar panels all over the skin, and propulsion provided by electric motors turning the props. Then a bit of electricity for instruments, lights, and to power hydrolic pumps for the control surfaces, and you could have a mode of air travel that is pretty much 100% clean, and never needs refueling... of course, you could also put a few kW worth of generator onboard also to provide extra juice incase of cloud cover, or for night time operation.
What happen? Someone set up us the Slashdot Story! We get packets! Main LED turn on! How are you gentlement? All your bandwidth are belong to us. Your server is on the way to destruction! What you say? You have no chance to throttle bandwidth, make your time! HAHAHAHAHAHAAH
This is a pretty cool gadget, and given the extra cash, I will probably pick one up when it is available, if for nothing other than the gadget factor.
I wonder tho, what they will do when the US markets, at least, go from analog tv broadcast to digital broadcast. Since the FCC mandated that TV stations switch from Analog RF to Digital RF, will that affect the usabliltiy in the long run?
Also, wouldnt it be neat if they could add a small port and start selling it with walkman sized portable DVD players??
back in my day, we had to offer up our first born child, one appendage, and sign contracts in blood just to get a dial up account and access to the campus modem pool. A bank of 1200 and 2400 baud modems!
And our packets had to travel uphill, both ways, in the snow!
Hrmmm, this is rather nice tho. Even with the mentioned fragility of fiber (which I know all too well, having destroyed several fiber cables by pinching them in rack doors, raised floor tiles, etc..), it is still a neat idea.
Wonder if the RIAA and MPAA will insist on sniffers and monitoring on thier network, because we all know that the only thing anyone needs a gigabit connection for is to pirate movies and hack other peoples computers and bank accounts!
The SCO group announced today that it will be unleashing an army of lawsuits against SUN for distributing SCO's property to a large groups of code sharing hippies who are completely against the American ideals of profit and litigation as a means to profit.
First, it says: "# Operating lifetime exceed 1000 hours"
So does that mean that I will have to replace my new cheap OLED TV after 1000 hours? or that my current LCD will only last 1000 hours, or what? Thats a 24x7 lifespan of a shade less than 42 days.
Other than that, seems like a good idea, and lots of good cheap applications as well. And considering how the devices are made, could this be a step below cloth displays, or moving posters, etc??
Re:RICO, RICO, RICO
on
NYT on Spam Cops
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· Score: 2, Interesting
That's a brilliant idea. And while we are at it, lets charge the people who work for minimum wage in the factories that make said pills as well. After all, if you can charge the isp (who most likely is in no way responsible for the spam other than having end users with compromized boxen) why not them as well.
Lets take it one step further and prosecute mom and pop and grandma with the compromised boxen for facilitating spam! Oh, and lets prosecute IRCops because IRC is an evil spammer and hacker wonderland, so we all KNOW that they must be somewhat responsible!!
Oh, and while we are prosecuting the banks, lets put a freeze on the nations economy as well! If those damned users cant pay for this crap, then spam will certainly end!!!
This is almost as good as the other post about hiring a special spam chasing branch of the government.
and Don't you know that this is in the UK, which is not under the jurisdiction of the US Legal system?
Also, do you have the reg number to back that up? I ask that out of curiosity, because I have never heard of any federal law banning the ownership of night vision, esp when every wal-mart in the country can sell them in the sporting goods dept, not to mention several other sporting goods outlets, etc. etc. etc.
Oh, and as a demo on GM vehicles, night vision is available on concept cars as well...
so I would like to see the federal statute that makes it blanketly illegal to own night vision.
Otherwise, read the article more closely.
NOW, knowing what little I do about law in Britain, I would also love to know from anyone over on the other side of the pond of such a law exists there.
I second that. I first got into Linux back in the day with an old Slackware version that I found one nite on a BBS I used to frequent.
I seem to recall it taking me nearly three weeks of downloading, RTFMing, asking questions and other such things before I could get it installed. And then it was only moderately useful at that point.
My next foray into Linux wasnt until the Red Hat 5.x group (5.2 being my first return to Linux). That was only marginally better, but at least it had the benefit of a decent Xwinows system. I have been running Linux in one form or another since then.
Honestly, I can only see where this thing can help us out. I mean, it is so very BLATANTLY wrong, in both its science and its message that it just SCREAMS FUD. Everyone involved outside of the AdTI has so far come forward to point out this or another incorrect assumption, statement, innuendo, etc about this pseudo-research.
Sure there are enough PHBs in the world to get warm fuzzies about all this (and most of them probably get a paycheck from Uncle Billy) but there are enought legit sources that point out the shortcommings to well outweigh any weight this thing may or may not have carried to begin with.
I am in complete agreement, however, that Linux, Tannenbaum, et al, should get together, and file suit for libel (or is slander the printed version and libel the spoken version??)
Yes, that one. But as was stated earlier, not everyone lives in the US, and a good number of those pay far more in taxes than I do a year.
What is it that Sweden is up to now? something like 40% on average? UK is close, yes?
Every government has its good points and its bad points. One of the good points to the US government is a history of technological innovation, as well as a LOT of innovation from the private sector.
This by no means exhonerates the current administration for its actions, BUT, taken as a while, the US gov't has done quite a bit for the world, and often for little to no thanks.
And before you bring up the whole imperialist thing that seems so popular, it was not too long ago that the Soviet Union was the largest country in the world, Japan was increasing its borders via military conquest, and a good portion of the world was part of the British Empire.
and of course Art Bell is the paragon of investigative journalism...
After all, if it werent for Art Bell, I woudnt know about the mothership orbiting around Jupiter, waiting for the coming age when they can come to earth and save us from ourselves.
Lob all you want, but dont forget that that same inept government developed the internet or at least what became the internet, and without it, you would still be posting comments like yours on dial up BBS's...
Honestly -- people have been attempting to do this "on-the-sly" since the birth of portable cassette recorders -- and getting arrested for it too.
And honestly, people have been doing it legally for years as well at venues that allow such things. Hell, concerts by less main stream groups like the Grateful Dead, Rusted Root, Phish, and such from that genre have vocally encouraged people to record their shows and then trade them with other fans, all legal, and all with the band's consent.
I have even been to several shows where recorders with high quality digital equipment were even allowed to tap in to the sound board itself to get pristine audio from the band without the majority of the audience cheers and such.
If you want prior art, just look up anyone who trades live Dead shows. Unless the patent specifically states CD recordable media and availability immediately after the show, there is no case. And even then, there is still no case, as such has been going on in the same venues I mentioned earlier for years and years via DAT (digital signal on tape), analog tape, and even CD as CD burners first became publically available.
If they really need the help, I have some old Dead shows on tape that are second gen from DAT originals I would be more than happy to let them listen to. Even have some first gen analogs that were pulled from the soundboard at a couple shows.
Either way, its all been done before, and this really looks more like a case of Clear Channel being their usual monoploistic selves. They already own the vast majority of radio stations in Amercia, and the FCC has told them that they cant buy any more, so they have to expand somewhere.
Wonder if I could buy some patents and start suing too! The new Americal dream:
Hayabusa, which is Japanese for "falcon", will act much like its namesake, descending to the asteroid's surface, capturing its prey and returning it to Earth.
Yes, but will it make the trip in under 12 parces??
Why is that so outrageous? Think about it. Earth sends off millions of watts of RF signal every second of every day. We inadvertantly beam out radio stations, television stations, communications, radar, etc etc etc.
Now, since you assume that aliens, if there are any (personally I think there probably are) are not "stupid fucking idiots" then you would also have to assume that they have means of intercepting signals on one of the most simple forms of transmission available.
Which means, for as long as the waves make it through space, anyone who gets the signal, decodes it, watches it, or listens to it and eventually understands it will hear Howard Stearn, Talk radio, really bad music, some really good music, several episodes of law and order a day, war movies, disaster movies, murder mysteries, violence in all formes of transmitted media, news feeds from war zones, news feeds from disaster zones, crime scenes, etc etc etc.
How could they NOT get a very bad picture of earth, just by observing our inadvertant transmissions?
And again, we ARE talking about a completely alien culture. For all they know, Independence Day was a documentary, showing that Earth will destroy anyone who attacks it from space. Or perhaps the War of the Worlds film will show them that if they land here, they will die of disease. Or worse.
Maybe they will see "Day after Tomorrow" and decide that since the earth is now under hundreds of feet of ice and snow, we will be easy pickings.
Then again, they may get wireless or satellite internet access, read slashdot, and fear the/. effect.
They could always give SCO every scrap or paper and email that they ask for... but put every piece of electronic communication into a single document in openoffice writer, and then print out every single page, using all caps and 32 or 48pt fonts.
Just for kicks, vary the font every couple pages or so. Then truck the entire thing over. And since they are being reimbursed by SCO for the cost of duplication, and it didnt say what format to turn the emails over in, FSF should print every page from a color inkjet, using both color and B/W ink, then charge them for time, paper, and the refil cartriges (which are already sold an unholy high prices).
I agree with your first point...
;)
The rights to the content still belong to the publishing party, but the right to listen has been passed from you, the original purchaser, to me, as a gift.
But contractually, the right is granted from the owner of the music to me as purchaser of said CD. But as you are not the purchaser, no contract exists between you and the IP owner, and as those rights are the music company's to give and take, not mine, I can not pass said right on to anyone... only the music company can.
I have a right to vote. I can not pass my right to vote on to you so you can vote in my place. (isnt this whole thing just a nasty, wriggling, can of worms??)
That doesn't mean you don't have to pay for the right to convert it. If nothing else, there's the contractual obligation with DirecTV. When you buy a DTV system, you sign a usage agreement before you leave the store that says that you'll pay for the service and not modify the hardware to circumvent that. This means that anyone who gets busted with a hacked card is a bald-faced liar on top of being a thief.
Ok, but point still being, I and every other consumer of goods and services has already paid for said programming. I and all other consumers buy products and services. That money is then, in part, used by the producers of said products and services to pay the network for advertising time. The network then uses that income to bankroll programming, which we consumers watch, are exposed to commercial advertising, and buy products we see advertised on television.
That was an entirely self sustaining system well before cable and satellite, and could be again. As for buying a DTV system, if I buy one from some guy at a yard sale or flea market, then no agreement exists between myself and DTV, AFAIK. I have never seen a written contract (used to have Dish network) that specified any responsibilities transferred to any new owner of the equipment that I originally purchased. The only agreement is between the seller of said used DTV equipment and myself, and that is only an agreement that I will give him/her X amount of dollars, and he/she sells me the equipment as is or with warranty.
If I then hack or modify that equipment, who is obligated? I didnt once agree verbally or in writing to anything at all between DTV and myself (all hypothetically of course, I hardly watch TV as it is, and certainly dont waste my money on sat.)
Well, seems to make sense to me at least...
Hrmmm... dunno about that. considering that to keep any realtive atmosphere inside that humans would comfortably endure, they would need a decent bit of pressure. And then considering that space is a vacuum, I would have thought that such a collision, which is the first thought that popped into my mind upon reading thiat, would cause explosive decompression of the inflatable habitat... especially if the object went all the way through causing holes on each side.
this is one of the most hair-splitting arguments I've ever gotten myself into, but I'll play: ;) and it is... but that is what the law is. Hair splitting. Any legal definition is splitting hairs. Its illegal to kill someone. But it is not illegal to kill someone if they break into your house. Unless you live in a state where that person also has to have a visible weapon. Sadly, while lawyers and politicians are so good at splitting hairs and coming up with arcane legistlation, they also leave a lot of questionable area. What comprises media? And what comprises ownership? Before anyone makes the arguement about buying a tangible like a CD or DVD, please remember that it was only recently (i.e. in the last 3 - 5 years) that companies began insisting that they held absolute control over a work, regardless of whether or not someone paid for the disk it resides on. Sure they did the same in the past, but to a much lesser degree.
;)
Heh... why not
Just like a CD. If someone throws a CD in your yard, and you don't own a CD player, do you own the music on the CD? No. Legally you may not even have the right to listen to it since you didn't pay for it. Someone did, at some point, but not the actual user of the media (you).
Maybe, but then again, same could be said of a gift. Using your arguements, if I bought you a CD for your birthday, and gave said CD to you as a gift, YOU would not have the right to listen to it, since the rights all belong to the company that made the disk, and therefore are not my rights to give to you.
And if someone were to throw a CD into my yard, and leave it, it is considered abandoned property, at which point I DO exert some control over it.
But again, the difference between the CD/DVD model and the satellite model is that I HAVE TO GO AND PHYSICALLY OBTAIN A CD/DVD. I do NOT have to go anywhere to recieve an RF signal. All I need is an antenna, and some parts to convert the signal.
Let's say I were to stand outside your house, and using a large airgun, I started shooting stacks fo 20 dollar bills over your property to the guy next to you. Since those bills were actually intended to go to your neighbors house and not yours, but I inadvertantly inundated your property with 20's, do you not have at least some rights regarding the disposal of said 20's?
I certainly could not venture onto your property to re-collect them without your express permission, as that would constitute criminal trespass.
Sorry, but this is somewhat silly, I know, but a lot more fun than work... and considering that its nearly midnight, I guess this is also a lot more fun than sleep...
You own the hardware, but the signal still belongs to DirecTV, unless you know some way to claim ownership of a band in the EM spectrum.
Which is part of the point. I can not lay claim to portions of the EM spectrum any more than anyone else can, be it government, corporation, or citizen. The spectrum just is. Its not a parcel of land to be sold piecemeal... NBC can transmit on 56.485MHz (random number for example sake, NOT actual allocation) and BBC2 cand likewise transmit on same freqency, as can any station in Canada, or in Mexico, or in any other state.
An FCC licence to use a particular frequency in the spectrum is not much more than a federal protection from interference. The chief and probably sole reason for licensing broadcasters AND for putting certain modes of transmission into particular segments of spectrum, is to keep people from stepping on each others toes... which is why NBC is on Channel 9, ABC on 13, etc. And why DirecTV is on one gigahertz freq, Dish network is on a different one, Amsat is on a third, etc etc.
The arguement that they own the signal is spurious at best. To argue that an RF signal is a tangible or intellectual property that is "owned" also gives creedence to tresspass or abandoned property.
I dont have DirecTV service, nor equipment, yet they are constantly dumping their "property" all over my yard, house, and body. And since I didnt A: ask them to place it there, B: authorize them to place it there, and C: they didnt come to remove it, it could be considered abandoned property.
If you really want to consider an RF signal as tangible property, then we should be paying usage feels to Phillips for the signal translated by their lightbulbs.
Here is the problem. You already are paying for TV, even if you get it for free. You buy products that are sold by advertisers who pay the television stations/cable stations.
The movie channels are all owned by media conglomerates that make money by selling advertising, and by selling goods and services, again, to people like you and I.
What is the difference between recieving NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, WB, etc onto a TV using a simple RF antenna, and doing same with a more complicated parabolic antenna? You are doing the same thing: receiving RF signals. If you stole the reciever and dish from someone else, thats one thing, but if you already BOUGHT the dish/reciever, then its yours.
And besides, you have already paid once for what you watch by buying advertised products.
I personally find it difficult to draw any real compairson between DirecTV and RIAA, other than the fact they sue their users.
There is a BIG difference here between the two. Stealing music is one thing. You actively go to a website or P2P network specifically to find a particular song/album, and then actively download it. In other words, its a pull.
Getting DirecTV is, ultimately no different than getting your local channels via the old rabbit ears. DirecTV beams that signal with a VERY wide footprint to the earth, using RF. Its really silly to tell someone that they are not allowd to recieve a RF signal that is being sent directly to your house.
They are using regulations that were put up to prevent cable theft (again, not the same thing as simply recieving RF signals from an orbiting satellite) to ensure a revenue stream. Satellite is a push, not a pull. That data is pushed directly to your property, you dont pull it to you.
Cable theft is again different as well, as you plug a device directly to the cable company's property (the cable line) and actively pull data from their equipment to your television.
Now, if the wanted to sue someone, they could base it on a breech of contract for using a non-directTV provided card, or for opening the case of the reciever, or something of that nature (which would require writing such language into the contract, but suing somenone for using equipment that they purchased, not leased, to recieve a signal that is already being pushed to their house is ludicrous.
God bless the EFF.
Actually, propulsion does = lift. ever see an aircraft fly with no propulsion (with the exeption of hot air balloons...).
Now, it gets its lift from helium, hence the term "Lighter than air ships". Lift in a conventional (read airplane) aircraft is created by the vehicle being propelled fast enough so that the shape of the wing surfaces cause low pressure areas above, and high pressure below, thus lifting the craft into the air. Propulsion is (at least in the sense of propeller driven aircraft and helicopters) the same principle. The propellers generate an area of low pressure directly ahead of the props, and high pressure behind, thus pulling the vehicle forward (or pushing it in the case of aft facing engine systems).
Now that you have a brief intro on aerodynamics and the theory of propulsion, go back and think about what I said.
The zeppling gets its lift from bags full of helium. Helium is lighter than air, and has the ability to life 1kg of mass per 1 cubic meter of helium. THAT is how it gets its lift. The helium generates the lift. Bouyancy is controlled by some other means. In the golden age of zepplins, it was done by using bags of water as counterweights.
I said that it NEEDS MINIMAL ENERGY FOR PROPULSION. An airship such as a zepplin does NOT NEED PROPULSION TO ATTAIN LIFT. Lift is provided by the helium. Propulsion in this case is used to move it around in the sky, so it doesnt just go up and down and blow around in the wind. BUT IN A CONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT PROPULSION + WING AERODYNAMICS == LIFT.
And yes, I am being purposly redundant, AND yes I do know that that is a very simplified explanation of how things fly. So no, you fail it.
That depends... Think about this: The Hindenburg was 804 feet long and 135 feet in diameter at its point of maximum width. Hydrogen has higher lifting power then helium, but helium is safer...
According to their site's FAQ, the lifting capacity of 1 cubic meter is 1kg mass... and theirs is only 75m by 15m... Hindenburg was 804 by 135, thats roughly 254m by 46m with a VERY VERY rough volume of 422,000 cubic meters vs the new zepplin NTs volume of again very roughly 13,000 cubic meters.
So it all depends on the size of the balloon. given my very very rough quick and dirty math, the NT would have a total lifting capacity of 13000 kg vs one the size of the hindenberg having 422000 kg lifting capability. After you factor in the weight of the airframe, powerplants, gondola, and any other ancillary weight, you can probably get a decent load lifted with a big enough zeppelin.
The passenger compliment wasnt much by todays standards, but Germany was flying around the world using zepplins as a very popular mode of air travel. The Hindenburg had a passenger cap of 72, so it was fairly small, but then again, at that time the materials were heavier... I imagine you could build a very lightweight and sturdy airframe now out of kevlar, polymers, carbon, or some other modern light material and have the same dimensions of the Hindenburg with only a fraction of its dry weight.
You put the coma in the wrong place.
;)
33,500 and 37,000
stupid.
Uh... No. You put the comma in the wrong place. Take a look at the currency selections in Word or Open Office sometime. You will find that not everone in the world uses "." to denote cents or percentages of units of monetary measure. Europeans tend to use "," where Americans and other countries use ".".
stupid.
From their FAQ:
How much will I have to pay for a flight of one hour?
Fare per Person: EUR 335,00 Monday to Friday; EUR 370,00 on weekends and holidays.
More information: www.zeppelinflug.de
So not terribly much, but then again, that is just for an hour of flight time... From what I gather, they are doing actual air travel via Zepplin, but I agree the operation cost couldnt be that much...
Once you have the zepplin and the helium, you need a few guys to anchor it on touchdow and provide mechanic labor and one licensed pilot and a co-pilot to fly the thing, and thats about it...
Unless you want to serve snacks/dinners onboard. But since it generates its own lift via the Helium bags, it needs minimal energy for propulsion. I am honestly surpised that no one has built a zepplin with the new ultralight solar panels all over the skin, and propulsion provided by electric motors turning the props. Then a bit of electricity for instruments, lights, and to power hydrolic pumps for the control surfaces, and you could have a mode of air travel that is pretty much 100% clean, and never needs refueling... of course, you could also put a few kW worth of generator onboard also to provide extra juice incase of cloud cover, or for night time operation.
It should be:
What happen?
Someone set up us the Slashdot Story!
We get packets!
Main LED turn on!
How are you gentlement? All your bandwidth are belong to us. Your server is on the way to destruction!
What you say?
You have no chance to throttle bandwidth, make your time! HAHAHAHAHAHAAH
Launch all 403.9 for great justice!
This is a pretty cool gadget, and given the extra cash, I will probably pick one up when it is available, if for nothing other than the gadget factor.
I wonder tho, what they will do when the US markets, at least, go from analog tv broadcast to digital broadcast. Since the FCC mandated that TV stations switch from Analog RF to Digital RF, will that affect the usabliltiy in the long run?
Also, wouldnt it be neat if they could add a small port and start selling it with walkman sized portable DVD players??
back in my day, we had to offer up our first born child, one appendage, and sign contracts in blood just to get a dial up account and access to the campus modem pool. A bank of 1200 and 2400 baud modems!
And our packets had to travel uphill, both ways, in the snow!
Hrmmm, this is rather nice tho. Even with the mentioned fragility of fiber (which I know all too well, having destroyed several fiber cables by pinching them in rack doors, raised floor tiles, etc..), it is still a neat idea.
Wonder if the RIAA and MPAA will insist on sniffers and monitoring on thier network, because we all know that the only thing anyone needs a gigabit connection for is to pirate movies and hack other peoples computers and bank accounts!
The SCO group announced today that it will be unleashing an army of lawsuits against SUN for distributing SCO's property to a large groups of code sharing hippies who are completely against the American ideals of profit and litigation as a means to profit.
Also, I'm not wearing any pants. Film at 11.
First, it says:
"# Operating lifetime exceed 1000 hours"
So does that mean that I will have to replace my new cheap OLED TV after 1000 hours? or that my current LCD will only last 1000 hours, or what? Thats a 24x7 lifespan of a shade less than 42 days.
Other than that, seems like a good idea, and lots of good cheap applications as well. And considering how the devices are made, could this be a step below cloth displays, or moving posters, etc??
That's a brilliant idea. And while we are at it, lets charge the people who work for minimum wage in the factories that make said pills as well. After all, if you can charge the isp (who most likely is in no way responsible for the spam other than having end users with compromized boxen) why not them as well.
Lets take it one step further and prosecute mom and pop and grandma with the compromised boxen for facilitating spam! Oh, and lets prosecute IRCops because IRC is an evil spammer and hacker wonderland, so we all KNOW that they must be somewhat responsible!!
Oh, and while we are prosecuting the banks, lets put a freeze on the nations economy as well! If those damned users cant pay for this crap, then spam will certainly end!!!
This is almost as good as the other post about hiring a special spam chasing branch of the government.
and Don't you know that this is in the UK, which is not under the jurisdiction of the US Legal system?
Also, do you have the reg number to back that up? I ask that out of curiosity, because I have never heard of any federal law banning the ownership of night vision, esp when every wal-mart in the country can sell them in the sporting goods dept, not to mention several other sporting goods outlets, etc. etc. etc.
Oh, and as a demo on GM vehicles, night vision is available on concept cars as well...
so I would like to see the federal statute that makes it blanketly illegal to own night vision.
Otherwise, read the article more closely.
NOW, knowing what little I do about law in Britain, I would also love to know from anyone over on the other side of the pond of such a law exists there.
I second that. I first got into Linux back in the day with an old Slackware version that I found one nite on a BBS I used to frequent.
I seem to recall it taking me nearly three weeks of downloading, RTFMing, asking questions and other such things before I could get it installed. And then it was only moderately useful at that point.
My next foray into Linux wasnt until the Red Hat 5.x group (5.2 being my first return to Linux). That was only marginally better, but at least it had the benefit of a decent Xwinows system. I have been running Linux in one form or another since then.
Honestly, I can only see where this thing can help us out. I mean, it is so very BLATANTLY wrong, in both its science and its message that it just SCREAMS FUD. Everyone involved outside of the AdTI has so far come forward to point out this or another incorrect assumption, statement, innuendo, etc about this pseudo-research.
Sure there are enough PHBs in the world to get warm fuzzies about all this (and most of them probably get a paycheck from Uncle Billy) but there are enought legit sources that point out the shortcommings to well outweigh any weight this thing may or may not have carried to begin with.
I am in complete agreement, however, that Linux, Tannenbaum, et al, should get together, and file suit for libel (or is slander the printed version and libel the spoken version??)
Yes, that one. But as was stated earlier, not everyone lives in the US, and a good number of those pay far more in taxes than I do a year.
What is it that Sweden is up to now? something like 40% on average?
UK is close, yes?
Every government has its good points and its bad points. One of the good points to the US government is a history of technological innovation, as well as a LOT of innovation from the private sector.
This by no means exhonerates the current administration for its actions, BUT, taken as a while, the US gov't has done quite a bit for the world, and often for little to no thanks.
And before you bring up the whole imperialist thing that seems so popular, it was not too long ago that the Soviet Union was the largest country in the world, Japan was increasing its borders via military conquest, and a good portion of the world was part of the British Empire.
and of course Art Bell is the paragon of investigative journalism...
After all, if it werent for Art Bell, I woudnt know about the mothership orbiting around Jupiter, waiting for the coming age when they can come to earth and save us from ourselves.
"ITS A COOKBOOK!!!"
Lob all you want, but dont forget that that same inept government developed the internet or at least what became the internet, and without it, you would still be posting comments like yours on dial up BBS's...
Oh those were the days!
Honestly -- people have been attempting to do this "on-the-sly" since the birth of portable cassette recorders -- and getting arrested for it too.
And honestly, people have been doing it legally for years as well at venues that allow such things. Hell, concerts by less main stream groups like the Grateful Dead, Rusted Root, Phish, and such from that genre have vocally encouraged people to record their shows and then trade them with other fans, all legal, and all with the band's consent.
I have even been to several shows where recorders with high quality digital equipment were even allowed to tap in to the sound board itself to get pristine audio from the band without the majority of the audience cheers and such.
If you want prior art, just look up anyone who trades live Dead shows. Unless the patent specifically states CD recordable media and availability immediately after the show, there is no case. And even then, there is still no case, as such has been going on in the same venues I mentioned earlier for years and years via DAT (digital signal on tape), analog tape, and even CD as CD burners first became publically available.
If they really need the help, I have some old Dead shows on tape that are second gen from DAT originals I would be more than happy to let them listen to. Even have some first gen analogs that were pulled from the soundboard at a couple shows.
Either way, its all been done before, and this really looks more like a case of Clear Channel being their usual monoploistic selves. They already own the vast majority of radio stations in Amercia, and the FCC has told them that they cant buy any more, so they have to expand somewhere.
Wonder if I could buy some patents and start suing too! The new Americal dream:
Buy IP
?????
Litigate for fun and profit!!!!!
Jeff
Hayabusa, which is Japanese for "falcon", will act much like its namesake, descending to the asteroid's surface, capturing its prey and returning it to Earth.
Yes, but will it make the trip in under 12 parces??
Why is that so outrageous? Think about it. Earth sends off millions of watts of RF signal every second of every day. We inadvertantly beam out radio stations, television stations, communications, radar, etc etc etc.
/. effect.
Now, since you assume that aliens, if there are any (personally I think there probably are) are not "stupid fucking idiots" then you would also have to assume that they have means of intercepting signals on one of the most simple forms of transmission available.
Which means, for as long as the waves make it through space, anyone who gets the signal, decodes it, watches it, or listens to it and eventually understands it will hear Howard Stearn, Talk radio, really bad music, some really good music, several episodes of law and order a day, war movies, disaster movies, murder mysteries, violence in all formes of transmitted media, news feeds from war zones, news feeds from disaster zones, crime scenes, etc etc etc.
How could they NOT get a very bad picture of earth, just by observing our inadvertant transmissions?
And again, we ARE talking about a completely alien culture. For all they know, Independence Day was a documentary, showing that Earth will destroy anyone who attacks it from space. Or perhaps the War of the Worlds film will show them that if they land here, they will die of disease. Or worse.
Maybe they will see "Day after Tomorrow" and decide that since the earth is now under hundreds of feet of ice and snow, we will be easy pickings.
Then again, they may get wireless or satellite internet access, read slashdot, and fear the
They could always give SCO every scrap or paper and email that they ask for... but put every piece of electronic communication into a single document in openoffice writer, and then print out every single page, using all caps and 32 or 48pt fonts.
Just for kicks, vary the font every couple pages or so. Then truck the entire thing over. And since they are being reimbursed by SCO for the cost of duplication, and it didnt say what format to turn the emails over in, FSF should print every page from a color inkjet, using both color and B/W ink, then charge them for time, paper, and the refil cartriges (which are already sold an unholy high prices).