Recent Posts

6401

Living Room / Re: NBA vetoes a trade: exposes the protection in place for large corporations

« Last post by Renegade on December 11, 2011, 09:46 PM »

So, the NBA and professional sports teams in general are a special case that deserve (somehow) to operate outside of the rule of law? Or should I just drop the rule of law thing? (Just asking.)

I can see how building super teams destroys the game, and how it's desirable to avoid that for the sake of better entertainment.

It sounds like an anti-trust issue or monopolizing all the good players.

Still, at the end of the day, it's just a game. There is nothing of importance that hangs in the balance. (Well, no more important than if all the top porn stars suddenly moved to Vivid, leaving the other studios with 2nd tier porn stars.)

Meh... Dunno. I suppose that I just have a hard time having any respect for professional sports. To me, it's no different than professional wrestling - it's just entertainment. So I have a hard time when people start talking about "fairness" or "ethics" in relation to professional sports. I suppose that at one time in the distant past, it used to be about sport, but now... I can't see past the commercialism of it all. It's simply blinding for me.


I'm still not really clear on why it's ok for an organization to restrict employment opportunities for someone with another business though. Sure, they aren't "victims", but still... Something about it just doesn't sit right with me. Dunno. I can see why it makes it better entertainment, but that just seems like equally rigging the game from the other end of the spectrum. Either way, you're rigging the game and altering the odds.

6402

Living Room / Patent Wars: Motorola Hits Apple in EU

« Last post by Renegade on December 11, 2011, 08:58 AM »

Well, this is a funny turn of events:

http://www.zdnet.com...pad/1435?tag=nl.e589

Summary: A German court has imposed a preliminary injunction on Apple’s 3G-enabled iOS devices across Europe for infringing a Motorola-held patent.

Motorola Mobility has won a patent dispute with Apple in Germany this morning that could spell a sales injunction against its products across Europe.

A regional court in Mannheim, Germany ruled that Apple’s devices with cellular networking infringe Motorola-owned patent 1010336. This is the equivalent networking patent has detailed by U.S. Patent No. 6,359,898.

Such devices include the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and the iPhone 4. It also includes the 3G-enabled original iPad and iPad 2. While Motorola did not specifically name the iPhone 4S in its case, it is likely that the latest Apple smartphone is also affected by the ruling.

While I can't help but laugh at Apple, this patent insanity is, well, patently insane.

6403

Living Room / Re: NBA vetoes a trade: exposes the protection in place for large corporations

« Last post by Renegade on December 11, 2011, 03:56 AM »

Ok, here's the thing that I still have trouble with... to clarify...

Suppose McDonald's decides to create a McDonald's organization and people can join. Now, those are the only people that can enjoy the wonderful privilege of flipping burgers. And they can be compensated for their time at the wonderful rate of $1.00 per day. (Or whatever --- I chose an insane number because it's essentially irrelevant.)

Now, since it's an organization like the NBA or a church or whatever, don't they get the same leeway?

Seems like too much of a scam and way far outside the spirit of labour laws.

But at the core, they are the same thing...

I just can't get past the rule of law.

6404

Living Room / Re: NBA vetoes a trade: exposes the protection in place for large corporations

« Last post by Renegade on December 11, 2011, 01:45 AM »

I'm not sure if I'm clear about what's going on now...

3 teams organize a trade and agree on it.

The league steps in and vetoes it.

Is that right?

If it is right, then it seems like the league is clearly overstepping their bounds as an officiating organization.

It seems to me like Dolby and Fraunhofer want to trade a couple employees, then MPEG-LA comes out and says no. Well, not quite exactly like that, but close enough.

Am I missing something? Do teams not have the right to hire their own employees?


FYI - I don't follow professional sports at all. I am relatively ignorant about whatever is going on in that world. To me, teams seem to be companies, while the "league" itself is also another company that acts basically to administer the season, etc. etc.

6405

Living Room / Re: NBA vetoes a trade: exposes the protection in place for large corporations

« Last post by Renegade on December 11, 2011, 12:05 AM »

Despite being businesses, professional sports are still considered "private associations" which is why they're also sometimes referred to as "sports clubs."

The rules and laws governing such associations have a few quirks and wrinkles in them that don't make them work quite the same way as what would be considered a simple business.

-40hz (December 10, 2011, 07:01 PM)

Ahem...

All animals are equal, except that some animals are more equal than others...

Like I said... So much for the rule of law.

6406

Living Room / Re: NBA vetoes a trade: exposes the protection in place for large corporations

« Last post by Renegade on December 10, 2011, 06:35 PM »

Here's the thing... Professional sports operate outside of the law in many ways.

Suppose Stephen and I both work for IBM. We then decide to bet on whether IBM or HP will have a better fiscal 2011 EBIT. This is not illegal. If we were in the NBA or NFL, it would be. How the hell is that "rule of law"?

Now, suppose Stephen decides to go work for Oracle and I decide to go work for HP. And some other organization blocks me from working for HP when HP clearly wants to hire me. WTF? Seriously?

Stephen has a point there.

6407

Living Room / Re: The plot thickens - iPhone and iPad sales banned in Europe ...

« Last post by Renegade on December 10, 2011, 05:29 PM »

Coupled with the recent losses against Samsung, this is indeed hilarious news!

Apple - I hope you get all you deserve... 

6408

General Software Discussion / Re: font/raster/vector/icons/logos/stockphotos/etc and generally design repositories

« Last post by Renegade on December 10, 2011, 10:53 AM »

Not sure what you need it for, but I posted an article on cheaply buying art for commercial use:

http://cynic.me/2011...mercial-use-cheaply/

It mentions a few places and where you can get the same art for much cheaper.

6409

Living Room / Re: Anyone got an iPad and like it?

« Last post by Renegade on December 10, 2011, 09:57 AM »

Here's another take on this topic.

-xtabber (December 10, 2011, 09:40 AM)

Very cute~!

6410

Living Room / Re: NBA vetoes a trade: exposes the protection in place for large corporations

« Last post by Renegade on December 10, 2011, 08:28 AM »

So all these rules, copyrights, marketing techniques, media hype, etc...it's all put in place by the people who can pay for them (the rich corporations) to make sure their profits are guaranteed.  And can anyone else do the same?  Nope.

-superboyac (December 09, 2011, 02:06 PM)

It's refreshing to see that people are waking up to the fact that intellectual property rights are just a means to keep means of production under the capital's control. Though Marx did not see that coming, the idea resembles what marxism would stand out against in the 21st century.

-eleman (December 10, 2011, 03:08 AM)

+1

The current legal system is horribly biased in favour of concentrated capital as well.

Here's an example:

http://www.google.co...rs+cross+pollination

In what reality is that fair? If anything, Monsanto should be sued, or better yet, charged with war crimes for waging bio-warfare.

But farmers simply can't afford the legal fees to protect against bogus IP lawsuits. So, rather than lose everything as a vampiric legal system sucks them dry, they settle out of court.

Hungary didn't take a very good view of Monsanto infecting their country: http://naturalsociet...nto-gmo-corn-fields/

6411

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 12:25 PM »

Ooops. Sorry if I mistook you there. It happens.

6412

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 08:45 AM »

Well, nothing like pissing on everyone's parade with a dose of reality...

+1 app. I hate to say it...

6413

Living Room / Re: Can't buy a mobile hotspot in a store. Need to go through carrier. Stupid.

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 08:35 AM »

Not when it comes to coverage or cell connections, or even high speed internet connections. The UK is 20 steps ahead

Most households can get 30mb/s cable, a lot of those can get 50mb/s and quite a lot can even get 100mb/s

Very few landline broadband providers (Be it cable ot otherwise) have fair usage policies, and those that do, simply ask you to pay an extra fee (usually around £5/month) to remove it. 

-Stephen66515 (December 09, 2011, 08:04 AM)

I wanted to comment, but I'm going to be offensive if I do. Nothing you said, but I just can't comment on national infrastructure without being blatantly offensive.

I'd not meant that comment to be about infrastructure. I'd meant products. Sorry for the confusion.

6414

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 07:57 AM »

Presumably where he might have been when he infringed the law was irrelevant to the Thai authorities, so that when he stepped into their territory, he was now in their jurisdiction and they took advantage of that fact and simply nabbed him at that point.

That would presumably make sense to the Thai authorities, though you might not like it.

-IainB (December 09, 2011, 05:10 AM)

One small step from that to making a justification for rendition and allowing extraterritorial enforcement of local laws  - as the United States has unilaterally declared for certain offenses.

Not a good idea. It was the same reasoning that led Norwegian police to arrest DeCSS developer Jon Johansen at the behest of U.S. authorities acting on a complaint from the MPAA that the simple act of creating DeCSS violated US law and was a criminal offense.

So why feel the need to bend over backwards to accommodate Thailand's paranoia and self-righteousness? If a western country were to do the same - say arresting an French blogger for criticizing the British Royal Family or the Swedish King - the denunciations would be immediate - and global.

-40hz (December 09, 2011, 07:32 AM)

Thank you for that moment of clarity. I think you've hit on something very important. I had not thought of governments kidnapping people like that. But you're right there.

I suppose I was clinging to some semblance of civility... My bad.

6415

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 07:53 AM »

@40hz - Thanks for the clarification there.

I likely will give more money to Apple as I plan on expanding my software there. It's not by choice. Many of my users are on macs now. What to do? Sigh... 

6416

Living Room / Re: Can't buy a mobile hotspot in a store. Need to go through carrier. Stupid.

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 07:49 AM »

Not so much stupid as it is predictable, I'm afraid.

-40hz (December 09, 2011, 07:36 AM)

Ah, 40hz! Ever the optimist~!

(Not that I can point fingers or anything!)

6417

Living Room / Re: Can't buy a mobile hotspot in a store. Need to go through carrier. Stupid.

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 06:28 AM »

Hehehe...

+1

The only error there was:

What is happening to this country?

Should have said "planet"~!

Just poking fun there. But it's true. The whole world is like that.

Here's the thing...

The US is the PREMIERE market for everything. That means that if shit is going to happen, shit happens there first. (Mostly.) Then that shit gets pushed out to the rest of the world.

Everyone copies the US. The US has some of the worst legislation in the world that allows corporate psychopathy to run rampant and rape indiscriminately.

Carbon copy that everywhere else... The world is a mess. Thank you Uncle Sam.

You probably already know that the mobile industry has been good for me and paid many of my bills. I'm certainly thankful for that.

I've seen fairly deep into that world, including the part where manufacturers and carriers collaborate for maximum profit.

Metaphor - NSFW

If you think the cock in your ass hurts, it's only because the cock in your mouth hurts slightly less.

Your frustration isn't yours alone. I hear ya!

6418

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 06:10 AM »

It's all a matter of credibility and trust.  And in this area, it seems that Apple actually has been more responsible than Google, i.e. Google has used their kill switch *multiple* times, and Apple has *never* used theirs.  If you have it for security concerns and manage it well, i.e. you have a pretty solid vetting system in your store, and you only use it if its a clear and present danger to the users, I can see this as useful.

-wraith808 (December 08, 2011, 10:26 PM)

Though to be fair Apple blocks apps they see as a threat at the source (both for security and for market dominance).

-capitalH (December 09, 2011, 05:34 AM)

Good point. (Apple has pulled many apps from their store after the fact - as for wiping, not sure...)

6419

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 06:07 AM »

But I just can't...

I just cannot get past that what one does in one country is done in that country, and for another country to prosecute you for that is overstepping its jurisdiction.

-Renegade (December 08, 2011, 09:17 PM)

Oh, sorry, I missed that.
If a US citizen goes over to Thailand on a sex tour and has sex with children, and then goes back home to the US, will he be liable for prosecution in the US for paedophilia and/or sex with a minor?
Certainly, that is the case for Australian and New Zealand citizens.
That is an example of "...what (crime) one does in one country is done in that country, and prosecuted for in another country." That would not seem to be overstepping any jurisdiction.

-IainB (December 09, 2011, 05:10 AM)

I've ranted about this before:

On Sovereignty and States (Wikileaks and Child Sex Tourism)

Quick Summary: It's a slippery slope. Best not to go there.

A line needs to be drawn. <rant>Screaming and pleading and crying about "oh, it's for the children!" is a weak and pathetic plea meant to bend weak minds that aren't capable of reasoning properly. (It's a fallacious argument.)</rant> If it were really about the children, then it's better to step in and actually address the problem and not the symptom. <cynicism>However, there's no profit in that. Like who would want to do research on what makes paedophiles the way they are? How much money can you make? None.</cynicism>

Perhaps I'm a bit cynical there. However, you KNOW that will lead into a downward spiral. e.g. "Oh, but we already do that for child sex offenses. How about these terrorist intellectuals? They're a REAL threat to security! Better arrest them!"

The Julian Assange issue is the same issue. You can't prosecute people for what may be a crime in YOUR country, but isn't in another. Or at least not in a free and open society.


Now, for Thailand, like I said... Laws need to be in a cultural perspective. I'm not qualified to speak on Thailand, so I leave it at that.

The difference in this Thai case would seem to be in the nature of the adjudged crime. The law of lèse majesté only exists in Thailand, but in this case it was breached by an American Citizen publishing something on an internationally accessible medium - the Internet - so it was accessible from Thailand. The Thais do not run a totalitarian state and would not want to have to resort to censoring access to the Internet for all Thai citizens. The offence was not an offence in the US, so the US authorities could be of no help.

What to do?
Presumably where he might have been when he infringed the law was irrelevant to the Thai authorities, so that when he stepped into their territory, he was now in their jurisdiction and they took advantage of that fact and simply nabbed him at that point.

That would presumably make sense to the Thai authorities, though you might not like it.

-IainB (December 09, 2011, 05:10 AM)

Yeah... I just don't know. Thailand is Thailand. I'm not qualified to make any judgement there.

Sure, I'm all in favour of free speech, but...

6420

General Software Discussion / Re: CNET Download Installer Changes

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 05:28 AM »

@Renegade: Ah, thanks for all the notes and the links. I am better-informed now. I think I understand what you are saying:

• It is the OpenCandy model.
• It is not a parasitic model, if it is used in the way that CNET are apparently now suggesting they use it for genuine revenue-sharing.
• As such, it does make commercial/business sense and is a 4 x win approach (all players stand to benefit - Developer, 3rd party developer advertiser, CNET (distributor), User) through the incentive mechanism of revenue-sharing.
• The proportionate revenue shares are not yet defined, due to a current lack of transparency by CNET, who will be collecting the revenue and determining the shares.
• Developers will have to trust CNET to be fair with the revenue-sharing.
• Some developers abhor the OpenCandy model and feel very strongly that it is wrong/unethical, others (such as yourself, for example) feel very strongly that it could be a workable, fair and decent approach to revenue-sharing.
• CNET had made a mistake in the way they initially started to implement this idea, but they now seem to have adopted a more "sensible" approach.

Is that about right?

Seems reasonable to me, except that I wouldn't trust CNET further than I could throw them, after their antics that led up to their well-earned dissing by the the press and others, and their subsequent slimeball BS email to developers. But hey, that's just my opinion.

-IainB (December 09, 2011, 04:20 AM)

Almost perfect.

I wouldn't say that the models are the same between OC and CNET, though really, there's not much of a difference. The differences are mostly technical. Now, I don't know the inner workings of the CNET stuff there, and haven't analyzed it, so I can only say that as far as I can see there is no important non-technical difference.

Now, if someone wants to get nit-picky about things, then sure, I'd be willing to point out differences that are important for nit-picky purposes... I just don't see that as very much of a valuable discussion though.


For your distrust, I can't say as I'd blame you.

I like to believe in forgiveness and redemption though. They've come clean and have revised things, so I think I can find it in my heart to forgive. I think they want to work with the developer community, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. For now.

For the revenue sharing... I really don't know what it will be. I hope that they do share with fairness in mind/heart.

Dunno... Just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best. I suppose that's about all I can do.

A coincidence: I was reading some of Aesop's fables to my daughter last night. One of them was about a court held to determine the true ownership of a honeycomb that the bees claimed was theirs (and that they had made it) and the drones, who claimed likewise.
(The bees had made it and the drones were just lying about having made it.)
The presiding judge was a wasp, who said he couldn't tell whose it was and suggested that the bees go off and build a honeycomb and the drones do likewise, and then he (the judge) would compare the manner of construction of the new honeycombs with the disputed comb, and whichever of the new combs was most like the disputed comb would determine its maker as the rightful owner.

The bees happily agreed to do this, but the drones said they couldn't be bothered (because they actually couldn't make a honeycomb), so the judge decided in favour of the bees by default with the words: "It is clear now who made the comb, and who cannot make it; the court gives judgement in favour of the bees."

MORAL: We may know a tree by its fruit.

-IainB (December 09, 2011, 04:20 AM)

I love Aesop!

If you ever have a chance, get or read "Aesop Without Morals" (Daly, Lloyd W. Aesop Without Morals. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961). It's an EXCELLENT read!

Also, "The Lives of Eminent Philosophers" is a brilliant book by Diogenes Laertius. There's some in there on Aesop, though my favourite parts are the sections on Diogenes of Sinope, which are hilarious! Like who else could tell Alexandar the Great to f*** *ff!

6421

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 05:02 AM »

OK here is an extreme, and deliberately silly, for instance a UK citizen writes extensively about the need for uprising, rebellion and civil war in the US. Their writing is particularly effective at increasing tensions in the US and riots break out. The author being very pleased with themselves visits the US to view their handiwork - they don't actually get involved with any of the action but would the US government not be interested in their presence.

-Carol Haynes (December 09, 2011, 04:30 AM)

Well, I think I disagree with you on how silly that is.

But seriously... We all know that would end very badly for the poor fellow.

There is no US law to handle that situation. That's why everyone they don't like is a "terrorist".

Speaking of...

It's related if you know the issues there. Point being, they don't need a reason to do anything they want.

It wasn't that long ago that a UK representative at the UN was denied entry to the US simply because he was muslim - they let his white wife and children through before he realised what was going on.

-Carol Haynes (December 09, 2011, 04:30 AM)

You'd kind of think that... oh... wait... thought doesn't apply here.

Don't forget the US go one further - they go into other countries and snatch people that they consider a threat to US security, imprison them indefinitely without due process or access to lawyers.

-Carol Haynes (December 09, 2011, 04:30 AM)

Yep. It's kind of hard to expect any other country to treate US citizens nicely when the US certainly won't be so kind themselves. What can you do?

You can't really expect other countries to give US citizens special exemption from their laws - no one is denying freedom to write or discuss opinions of a Royal family in the US but if you visit that country afterwards that was also his choice. Even in the US freedom of speech often has consequences!

-Carol Haynes (December 09, 2011, 04:30 AM)

Actually, now that you mention it, the US DOES have a law similar to Thailand -- You can't talk about assassinating the US President. Someone here I'm sure knows that law better than I do.


When I think about this issue more, I can't see how/why any topic should be disallowed in an open society like what the US is supposed to be. I can understand it for Thailand, but not being an expert on Thailand, I really have no opinion one way or the other. I think that's up to the Thai people entirely. I'm all for free speech, and, well... just don't know in that case...

6422

Official Announcements / Re: Cody got into the electrical cables again .. Server went down on 12/8/11

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 02:44 AM »

It's a very good idea.  We need to have another small forum somewhere so we can meet when donationcoder main site goes offline, to provide information, etc.

Meanwhile if you install an irc chat program (lots of free ones), you can always find us chatting any hour of the night on the efnet network, on channel #donationcoder (that's where you go if you hit the chat button at the top of the page).

-mouser (December 09, 2011, 02:39 AM)

Is the cloud actually at the point where you can run a real application in the cloud? Like a forum? A data driven application? I mean like a decentralized solution that you can still run off of traditional DNS, and not a uber-massive DDNS redundant server beast. Just a simple little solution that's decentralized and will let small sites (e.g. 1 server) run?

6423

Official Announcements / Re: Cody got into the electrical cables again .. Server went down on 12/8/11

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 02:41 AM »

mouser, isn't this the second time that has happened?

(I'm with Softlayer as well, but in the Texas data centers, and I've NEVER had any problems.)

6424

General Software Discussion / Re: Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 02:38 AM »

It's all a matter of credibility and trust.

-wraith808 (December 08, 2011, 10:26 PM)

I agree.
I'm not that credulous though.

-IainB (December 08, 2011, 10:33 PM)

Hahaha~!

Isn't this basically what AV software is for?

I don't like the idea of being able to delete *anything*. Virus? Sure. Anything else? Hardly.

I suppose that I would feel more comfortable if there were a user mechanism to activate/deactivate it that couldn't be accessed except by a human, and preferably at the machine. Then again, that might just be a pipe dream...

6425

Living Room / Re: Huh? Thailand can put an American in jail for posting internet content??

« Last post by Renegade on December 09, 2011, 01:34 AM »

I'm feeling an almost +1 for IainB's comments above...

What happened to this guy...

-IainB (December 08, 2011, 03:29 PM)

But I just can't...
...
So, as I do plan on getting back to Thailand at some point, LONG LIVE THE KING~!

-Renegade (December 08, 2011, 09:17 PM)

Yes, I quite understand.
I'm hoping to be able return to Thailand at some point too, so...

LONG LIVE THE KING!

I think if the UK had a similar lèse majesté law, then it would have been a good thing. Then we would not have had to have been subjected to all those awful Daily Mirror and News of the World and other media reports and exposés of the royal family's goings-on over the last umpteen years - including extra-marital affairs, bonking, toe-sucking, drunkenness, mistresses and lovers, divorces, bulimia, blatant and unethical deception for financial gain trading on the royal name, profiteering, financial profligacy and squandering, misguided proselytising, tree-hugging and general daftness, all performed ultimately at the State's cost.
I would most definitely exclude the Queen and the Duke from that list - she is simply superb at what she does and is a truly beautiful person, and he is magnificently forthright and honest. It's their family that seems to be mostly a waste of space.

Small wonder the Queen looks so much older than her 45 years.

-IainB (December 08, 2011, 11:26 PM)

Now THAT is a +1 for sure~!

I utterly abhor celebrity gossip and all the trash that goes along with it.

Like seriously, who cares?

It's one thing to have a side-note something along the lines of, oh, say, Rob Halford just came out of the closet, or Steve Balmer had a car accident and broke his leg, or Joe Spolsky got engaged, or Kerry King came down with the flu and the concert got canceled... But the way it's all dragged out... god... Do I really need to hear about every move these people make? Can't we just leave them alone?

As for the Queen and Duke - I really don't know. She really doesn't make many public addresses that get broadcast, and as far as I can see, there's not much going on there. But like I said, I just don't know. I don't follow gossip or news about the Queen. My questions would be about what she does as queen, which again, I just don't know. But then again, I suppose that says a good thing about her or rather a good thing about her lack of bad behaviour~! It's too bad that news doesn't report positive and uplifting things. Sigh...

Which reminds me... I believe that Tool summed this all up very nicely and very accurately in Vicarious:

It's a horrific statement on just how sick we as a society are, in that we need to see death and misery.