Isn't it be possible to get some sort of declaratory judgement from a court? Say you're RedHat (or any other Linux distributor), who happens to sell Linux and related services - in light of MS's statements, wouldn't you be entitled to know which patents are involved? MS's statements have a direct impact on your business.
And if MS refused to tell you then couldn't you get a declaration from a court that your product doesn't infringe? IIRC, this is similar to what RedHat is pursuing in its case against SCO (which is on hold while SCO v IBM drags on).
Maybe a small Linux distributor with no assets and not much to lose could pursue a case like this against MS.
I used one of their original TVIX boxes and it was great. As well as the usual mp3 and photo playback options, it allows you to rip a DVD to it and play it back with all menus and original features functioning just like you were using a regular DVD player. It really does function like a DVD jukebox (but it's limited to the capacity of the drive you put in it).
I'm not sure but it looks like their new mini TVIX gadget might have similar functionality to the original.
I'm actually waiting for the version with network connectivity to be released. If it allows DVD image playback over the network as good as the original then I'll finally be able to set up a media server with all my DVD images, music, etc etc.
I take your point (but I think you missed the point). The "clean room" concept (used by the article author) is all about copyright infringement. So it was the article author who appeared to be suggesting that there was some copyright infringement to be worried about.
If all you're talking about is protection of ideas, then the "clean room" development isn't relevant. Adopting a clean room development model won't protect you against claims that you used ideas - it's a completely different doctrine.
I don't doubt that deas can be protected through a contract. I haven't seen a convincing argument that any "ideas" in UNIX code are protectible. Most of them are embodied in published standards.
Exactly. The article author has it assbackwards. First you show *actual* copied lines of code (to establish, prima facie, copyright infringement). Then, if the alleged infringer can show that it was a clean room development then they can legitimately argue that the code wasn't copied but was developed independently (which isn't copyright infringement even if the code is identical). If you don't have the clean room development then it's going to look a lot more like all you did was copy it.
The point is that it's a *defence* which an alleged infringer can bring up *after* the complainant shows the copied code. You don't argue from lack of clean room to copyright infringement - it's absurd without first showing the copied code.
As the parent post says; when your reimplementing something, chances are you will create identical code because there are only so many ways to implement various functions.
Koutarou, are you able to tell us whether it will play ripped DVDs (on a hard drive) perfectly? By "perfectly", I mean with all the menus and subtitles/audio tracks etc.
The only device I've found that does is the TViX (www.tvix.co.kr). With the TViX, you simply dump a DVD onto its hard drive, and then play the video_ts.ifo file and it's indistinguishable from playing the disc on regular player (eg. you get the menus). It even has optical audio out and component video out. Unfortunately the TViX doesn't have network capability.
I know XBox media center and other 'media center'-type devices can play ripped DVDs but I'm yet to find one that does it as well as the TViX does. It seems that they generally just allow playback of the main feature from the disc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but MythTV, XBMC and Freevo use Mplayer as the default video playback software. Mplayer doesn't support menus.
I hadn't either - until I just read about them and tried them out.
Go to a site that has an input box for doing a search (eg. dictionary.com). Right click in the input box and select "Add a keyword for this search...". Then give it a name and a keyword (eg. dic). Now all you have to do is type 'dic anthropomorphic' in the URL box and Firefox will go to dictionary.com and look up the word for you.
I've been using it for 1/2 hour and I'm hooked. This will save heaps of time here at work. Eg 'pb joe' to look up joe in the phonebook on the intranet - no need to go to the page.
I've tried converting some people to Firefox before. I haven't had much luck (tabbed browsing etc didn't do it for them - go figure.) But it seems like this feature might just do it for one of my colleagues.
Also note, there should be a bookmark in you 'Quick Searches' bookmark folder that will give more info.
What's more, it probably has their competitors guessing too:
MS Hotmail PHB1: "Gee Bob, I dunno, should we recommend to the executive that we're gonna have to match Google and offer a Gig per user?"
MS Hotmail PHB2: "Are you nuts!? It was just an April Fool's joke."
MS Hotmail PHB1: "No, it wasn't"
MS Hotmail PHB2: "Are you sure?"
MS Hotmail PHB1: "I dunno".
Hmm, maybe I'll move in and turn the country into a Kingdom. King Me of Niue. Hoorah! Of course, I'll need to have a referendum first. I should get at least 1 out of 1 votes. Whatever will I do with all the taxes?
SCO says it won't identify all the infringing code in Linux because Linux developers would quickly replace it.
But isn't that exactly what someone alleging a legal injury should, for starters, want -- to stop being injured? Damages for past injuries can always come later.
Or maybe SCO knows that if it laid out its cards, people would just walk away from the table laughing at its hand -- rather than pay a license fee.
The whole idea of copyright in the first place was to encourage creativity. Even if "big music" goes belly up, there would still be plenty of music being created and distributed by people: many would do it purely for the love of it. Ask yourself why copyright exists in the first place. Should it exist to support the big record companies? Does society really need "big music"?
Even though people would create music for the love of it, that's not to say that there wouldn't be any $$ in music production any more. When copyright was introduced, the world didn't have the mega-marketing-advertising industry that we have today. How often do you see music used in some way to push products? The advertising industry is one of many factors that overcomes the market failure that existed when copyright was introduced. (Music created for procucts can be protected by trademark law.)
Also, the technology we have today to create and mass-distribute music is another factor that mitigates the market failure that may have prevented creativity centuries ago.
I think i found this article in an earlier/. post. It discusses how and where the money is shifting in the Asian music market in response to high levels of piracy.
That's the same here in Australia where, I believe, we have the highest number of of pokies (slot machines) per capita.
Where I live, the machines actually have little stickers on them that state the percentage return of the machine (usu. about 85% i think). The stickers must be compulsory - otherwise I don't see why the manufacturers would put them on.
I don't get it either. But as some of the other posts have mentioned, it wouldn't be orbiting, it would be getting 'swung' around by the earth.
Would a physicist please correct the following?!
I picture a tether at the equator going out at 90 degrees. If you move down to Perth, the tether will still go out at 90 degrees to the axis of rotation wouldn't it? That is, it would go out parallel to the tether at the equator. See diagram.
X XX XXX XXXX XXXX---------O equator XXX XX---------O perth X
So, does that mean that it wouldn't be vertical at perth but would go out at an apparent 31 degrees?
Also, does that mean that the thing actually goes over all of the airspace between 31 degrees and just south of the equator? That is, because of the angle, would it actually go over, say, Indonesia's airspace.
Parts of Indonesia are nearly 10 degrees south. Does a line drawn vertically from Indonesia intersect with the ribbon?
Can't hotmail be set up to use a custom "From" or "reply-to" address? I haven't actually used hotmail for years, i use the above scheme with my ISP's mailbox. The only way the above scheme works is if the _actual_ mailbox name always remains hidden.
Heres how:
1. Spend 10 bucks, buy a domain name (eg xyz.com).
2. Set up a few email aliases to point to your real email. eg:
joe@xyz.com ---> you@hotmail.com
temp123@xyz.com ---> you@hotmail.com
spam123@xyz.com ---> you@hotmail.com
3. Never give out 'joe@xyz.com' to anyone except friends/family.
4. Use the other emails for signing up for things on the web or in usenet.
5. When you get your first spam addressed to 'temporary21@xyz.com', delete the email address (no more spam from that source!).
I find this method works extremely well. By using aliases in this way you effectively hide your real mailbox. Even if your hotmail account starts receiving spam you can just get a new one and point your aliases at it. Also, if you change ISP you don't need to change your email address.
If you use it to forward to a hotmail account it might be better if the hotmail account name isn't a dictionary word or name (ie. use a random string for an account name that the 'bots won't guess.
You're screwed if your 'trusted' address gets out there but if you're careful you'll at least get much more use out of it before needing to kill it.
Now have a look at this page of his. He appears to think that looking at the colour pink can be dangerous too. How did this stuff manage to get posted? In the pink article he claims to be a "researcher of neuronomy(science about the improvement of the usage of brain and nervous system)". Neuronomy? That's gotta be bogus. Anyone?
Funny, I was just thinking today how *OpenOffice* might be a PDF competitor.
I'm sure some people distribute documents as PDFs because they can just refer people to Adobe for a free PDF reader. It occurred to me that OpenOffice fulfils a similar role. Now, if people wanted to start distributing SXW documents they could just refer their audience to OpenOffice.org for the free reader *and editor*.
(Taken from original link.) "If you enjoy this, you might also enjoy reading about the Social Text Affair, where NYU Physics Professor Alan Sokal's brilliant(ly meaningless) hoax article was accepted by a cultural criticism publication."
Slashdot Mirror
Check this out:
http://members.cox.net/tfangrow/hissdrive.html
Otherwise, barn door mounts:
http://www.mikeoates.org/mas/projects/scotch/
http://www.astunit.com/tonkinsastro/atm/projects/scotch.htm
http://www.davetrott.com/DoubleArmBarnDoor.html
Equatorial platforms:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/eqplatforms/
Lots of other links:
http://members.ziggo.nl/jhm.vangastel/Astronomy/links.htm
Check out some of the themes Rockbox supports:l ery
http://www.rockbox-themes.org/
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WpsGal
Rockbox really has some great features. (I wish they'd redesign the website though.)
Isn't it be possible to get some sort of declaratory judgement from a court? Say you're RedHat (or any other Linux distributor), who happens to sell Linux and related services - in light of MS's statements, wouldn't you be entitled to know which patents are involved? MS's statements have a direct impact on your business.
And if MS refused to tell you then couldn't you get a declaration from a court that your product doesn't infringe? IIRC, this is similar to what RedHat is pursuing in its case against SCO (which is on hold while SCO v IBM drags on).
Maybe a small Linux distributor with no assets and not much to lose could pursue a case like this against MS.
DVICO is about to release a new gadget with video out:
http://www.tvix.co.kr/eng/
I used one of their original TVIX boxes and it was great. As well as the usual mp3 and photo playback options, it allows you to rip a DVD to it and play it back with all menus and original features functioning just like you were using a regular DVD player. It really does function like a DVD jukebox (but it's limited to the capacity of the drive you put in it).
I'm not sure but it looks like their new mini TVIX gadget might have similar functionality to the original.
I'm actually waiting for the version with network connectivity to be released. If it allows DVD image playback over the network as good as the original then I'll finally be able to set up a media server with all my DVD images, music, etc etc.
grep -i duff logfile
I take your point (but I think you missed the point). The "clean room" concept (used by the article author) is all about copyright infringement. So it was the article author who appeared to be suggesting that there was some copyright infringement to be worried about.
If all you're talking about is protection of ideas, then the "clean room" development isn't relevant. Adopting a clean room development model won't protect you against claims that you used ideas - it's a completely different doctrine.
I don't doubt that deas can be protected through a contract. I haven't seen a convincing argument that any "ideas" in UNIX code are protectible. Most of them are embodied in published standards.
Exactly. The article author has it assbackwards. First you show *actual* copied lines of code (to establish, prima facie, copyright infringement). Then, if the alleged infringer can show that it was a clean room development then they can legitimately argue that the code wasn't copied but was developed independently (which isn't copyright infringement even if the code is identical). If you don't have the clean room development then it's going to look a lot more like all you did was copy it.
The point is that it's a *defence* which an alleged infringer can bring up *after* the complainant shows the copied code. You don't argue from lack of clean room to copyright infringement - it's absurd without first showing the copied code.
As the parent post says; when your reimplementing something, chances are you will create identical code because there are only so many ways to implement various functions.
Koutarou, are you able to tell us whether it will play ripped DVDs (on a hard drive) perfectly? By "perfectly", I mean with all the menus and subtitles/audio tracks etc.
The only device I've found that does is the TViX (www.tvix.co.kr). With the TViX, you simply dump a DVD onto its hard drive, and then play the video_ts.ifo file and it's indistinguishable from playing the disc on regular player (eg. you get the menus). It even has optical audio out and component video out. Unfortunately the TViX doesn't have network capability.
I know XBox media center and other 'media center'-type devices can play ripped DVDs but I'm yet to find one that does it as well as the TViX does. It seems that they generally just allow playback of the main feature from the disc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but MythTV, XBMC and Freevo use Mplayer as the default video playback software. Mplayer doesn't support menus.
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/ It looks pretty grim. (Is it dark @ 6:30am @ MSH?)
I hadn't either - until I just read about them and tried them out.
...". Then give it a name and a keyword (eg. dic). Now all you have to do is type 'dic anthropomorphic' in the URL box and Firefox will go to dictionary.com and look up the word for you.
Go to a site that has an input box for doing a search (eg. dictionary.com). Right click in the input box and select "Add a keyword for this search
I've been using it for 1/2 hour and I'm hooked. This will save heaps of time here at work. Eg 'pb joe' to look up joe in the phonebook on the intranet - no need to go to the page.
I've tried converting some people to Firefox before. I haven't had much luck (tabbed browsing etc didn't do it for them - go figure.) But it seems like this feature might just do it for one of my colleagues.
Also note, there should be a bookmark in you 'Quick Searches' bookmark folder that will give more info.
heh, banks don't want your money, they want your debt.
What's more, it probably has their competitors guessing too: MS Hotmail PHB1: "Gee Bob, I dunno, should we recommend to the executive that we're gonna have to match Google and offer a Gig per user?" MS Hotmail PHB2: "Are you nuts!? It was just an April Fool's joke." MS Hotmail PHB1: "No, it wasn't" MS Hotmail PHB2: "Are you sure?" MS Hotmail PHB1: "I dunno".
Hmm, maybe I'll move in and turn the country into a Kingdom. King Me of Niue. Hoorah! Of course, I'll need to have a referendum first. I should get at least 1 out of 1 votes. Whatever will I do with all the taxes?
Nasty stinky software. Keep it away from us!
The whole idea of copyright in the first place was to encourage creativity. Even if "big music" goes belly up, there would still be plenty of music being created and distributed by people: many would do it purely for the love of it. Ask yourself why copyright exists in the first place. Should it exist to support the big record companies? Does society really need "big music"?
Even though people would create music for the love of it, that's not to say that there wouldn't be any $$ in music production any more. When copyright was introduced, the world didn't have the mega-marketing-advertising industry that we have today. How often do you see music used in some way to push products? The advertising industry is one of many factors that overcomes the market failure that existed when copyright was introduced. (Music created for procucts can be protected by trademark law.)
Also, the technology we have today to create and mass-distribute music is another factor that mitigates the market failure that may have prevented creativity centuries ago.
I think i found this article in an earlier /. post. It discusses how and where the money is shifting in the Asian music market in response to high levels of piracy.
That's the same here in Australia where, I believe, we have the highest number of of pokies (slot machines) per capita.
Where I live, the machines actually have little stickers on them that state the percentage return of the machine (usu. about 85% i think). The stickers must be compulsory - otherwise I don't see why the manufacturers would put them on.
I don't get it either. But as some of the other posts have mentioned, it wouldn't be orbiting, it would be getting 'swung' around by the earth.
Would a physicist please correct the following?!
I picture a tether at the equator going out at 90 degrees. If you move down to Perth, the tether will still go out at 90 degrees to the axis of rotation wouldn't it? That is, it would go out parallel to the tether at the equator. See diagram.
X
XX
XXX
XXXX
XXXX---------O equator
XXX
XX---------O perth
X
So, does that mean that it wouldn't be vertical at perth but would go out at an apparent 31 degrees?
Also, does that mean that the thing actually goes over all of the airspace between 31 degrees and just south of the equator? That is, because of the angle, would it actually go over, say, Indonesia's airspace.
Parts of Indonesia are nearly 10 degrees south. Does a line drawn vertically from Indonesia intersect with the ribbon?
Instead copyright lasting life of author plus 70 years (or whatever it is); make it 5 years. Instead of patents lasting 20 years; make them 3 years.
Can't hotmail be set up to use a custom "From" or "reply-to" address? I haven't actually used hotmail for years, i use the above scheme with my ISP's mailbox. The only way the above scheme works is if the _actual_ mailbox name always remains hidden.
1. Spend 10 bucks, buy a domain name (eg xyz.com).
2. Set up a few email aliases to point to your real email. eg:
joe@xyz.com ---> you@hotmail.com
temp123@xyz.com ---> you@hotmail.com
spam123@xyz.com ---> you@hotmail.com 3. Never give out 'joe@xyz.com' to anyone except friends/family.
4. Use the other emails for signing up for things on the web or in usenet.
5. When you get your first spam addressed to 'temporary21@xyz.com', delete the email address (no more spam from that source!).
I find this method works extremely well. By using aliases in this way you effectively hide your real mailbox. Even if your hotmail account starts receiving spam you can just get a new one and point your aliases at it. Also, if you change ISP you don't need to change your email address.
If you use it to forward to a hotmail account it might be better if the hotmail account name isn't a dictionary word or name (ie. use a random string for an account name that the 'bots won't guess.
You're screwed if your 'trusted' address gets out there but if you're careful you'll at least get much more use out of it before needing to kill it.
Now have a look at this page of his. He appears to think that looking at the colour pink can be dangerous too. How did this stuff manage to get posted? In the pink article he claims to be a "researcher of neuronomy(science about the improvement of the usage of brain and nervous system)". Neuronomy? That's gotta be bogus. Anyone?
I'm sure some people distribute documents as PDFs because they can just refer people to Adobe for a free PDF reader. It occurred to me that OpenOffice fulfils a similar role. Now, if people wanted to start distributing SXW documents they could just refer their audience to OpenOffice.org for the free reader *and editor*.
Good summary here.