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18 January, 2003
Free Speech 1, Network Associates 0
From CNET: Network Associates can't gag users
In a victory for free-speech advocates and product reviewers, a New York state judge has ruled that Network Associates can't prevent people from talking about its products.
At issue was the following phrase, which appears in the EULA and on the company's Web site:
"The customer will not publish reviews of this product without prior consent from Network Associates Inc."
Frankly, I find it astounding that anyone would even take this seriously!
Maybe this decision will stir the pot a bit, and force people to take a closer look at some of the absurd language in software licenses -- especially those from Microsoft.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
Hilary Rosen Has Lost Her Mind
From CNET: RIAA: ISPs should pay for music swapping:
CANNES,
France--A top music industry representative [Hilary Rosen, RIAA] said Saturday
that telecommunications companies and Internet service providers will be asked
to pay up for giving their customers access to free song-swapping sites.
"Let's face it. They [the ISPs] know there's a lot of demand for broadband simply because of the availability (of file-sharing)," Rosen said. Rosen suggested one possible scenario for recouping lost sales from online piracy would be to impose a type of fee on ISPs that could be passed on to their customers who frequent these file-swapping services.
Yeah, right Hilary. The entire world revolves around your dying industry.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
Microsoft Develops a New Way to Cripple CDs
From CNET: Microsoft unveils new CD copy protection:
CANNES, France--Microsoft announced on Saturday new digital rights software aimed at helping music labels control unauthorized copying of CDs, one of the biggest thorns in the ailing industry's side.
The new software is called the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit. It enables music labels to lay songs onto a copy-controlled CD in multiple layers, one that would permit normal playback on a stereo and a PC. The PC layer, laid digitally on the same disc, can be modified by the content provider, so that they could prevent, for example, burning songs onto another CD, said David Fester, general manager, digital media entertainment for Microsoft.
Universal Music and EMI, two of the biggest record labels in the world, "are very excited about this because it enables the industry to build a CD with their own protections built in."
Well, if the two biggest record labels are very excited about it, it must be bad news for consumers. That whooshing sound you hear is basic consumer rights going out the window.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
Microsoft's Support Glossary
Microsoft's support site has a glossary of terms. Presumably, this is where users go when they don't understand a particular computer-related term. The glossary appears to be about 7-8 years out of date. In fact, reading through the glossary is almost like stepping back in time.
Here are a few examples, which are amusing for a variety of reasons:
- bells and whistles
n. Attractive features added to hardware or software beyond basic functionality, comparable to accessories, such as electric door locks and air conditioning, added to an automobile. Products, especially computer systems, without such adornments are sometimes called "plain vanilla." - bomb
vb. To fail abruptly and completely, without giving the user a chance to recover from the problem short of restarting the program or system. See also abend, bug (definition 1), crash3 (definition 1), hang. - brain dump
n. A large, unorganized mass of information, presented in response to a query via e-mail or a newsgroup article, that is difficult to digest or interpret - face time
n. Time spent dealing face-to-face with another person, rather than communicating electronically. - fan
vb. To flip through a stack of printer paper to ensure that the pages are loose and will not stick together or jam the printer. - friendly
adj. Referring to features built into hardware or software that make a computer or computer program easy to learn and easy to use. Friendliness is emphasized by most developers and sought after by most users - fringeware
n. Freeware whose reliability and value are questionable. - Good Times virus
n. A purported e-mail virus alluded to in a warning that has been propagated widely across the Internet, as well as by fax and standard mail. The letter claims that reading an e-mail message with the subject "Good Times" will cause damage to the user's system. In fact, it is currently impossible to harm a system by reading an e-mail message, although it is possible to include a virus in a file that is attached to an e-mail message. Some consider the chain letter itself to be the "virus" that wastes Internet bandwidth and the reader's time. Information on such hoaxes and on real viruses can be obtained from CERT (http://www.cert.org/). See also urban legend, virus. - help
n. 1. The capability of many application programs to display advice or instructions for using their features when so requested by the user, as by a screen button or menu item or a function key. The user can access help without interrupting work in progress or leafing through a manual. Some help facilities are context-sensitive, meaning that the user receives information specific to the task or command being attempted. Although help facilities are not usually as extensive as manuals, they give the user a means of refreshing the memory and may also offer the more advanced user quick access to details on little-used program features. - killer app
n. 1. An application of such popularity and widespread standardization that it fuels sales of the hardware platform or operating system for which it was written. See also application. 2. An application that supplants its competition. - net.god
n. A highly respected person within the Internet community. - nethead
n. 1. A person who uses the Internet as if addicted to it. 2. A Grateful Dead fan who participates in the rec.music.gdead newsgroup or some other forum dedicated to that band. - netizen
n. A person who participates in online communication through the Internet and other networks, especially conference and chat services, such as Internet news or Fidonet. Compare lurker. - Netscape Navigator
n. The most widely used family of Web browser programs, made by Netscape Corporation. Versions of Netscape Navigator are available for the Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, and Macintosh platforms, and for many varieties of UNIX. Netscape Navigator, which is based on NCSA's Mosaic Web browser, was one of the first commercially available Web browsers. See also Mosaic, Web browser. - nuke
vb. 1. To erase a file, directory, or entire hard disk. 2. To stop a process in an operating system, an application, or a program. Also called kill. - number crunching
vb. The calculation of large amounts of numeric data. Number crunching can be repetitive, mathematically complex, or both, and it generally involves far more internal processing than input or output functions. Numeric coprocessors greatly enhance the ability of computers to perform these tasks. - RTM
Acronym for read the manual. See RTFM. - TANSTAAFL
Acronym for "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." An expression used on the Internet in e-mail, chat sessions, mailing lists, newsgroups, and other online forums. - technology
n. The application of science and engineering to the development of machines and procedures in order to enhance or improve human conditions, or at least to improve human efficiency in some respect. - tower
n. A microcomputer system in which the cabinet for the central processing unit (CPU) is tall, narrow, and deep rather than short, wide, and deep. The motherboard is usually vertical, and the disk drives are often perpendicular to the motherboard. A tower cabinet is at least 24 inches tall. - vaporware
n. Software that has been announced but not released to customers. The term implies sarcastically that the product exists only in the minds of the marketing staff.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
The Condiment Packet Museum
Condiment Packets -- lots of 'em.
Further proof that there is a web site for everything you can think of.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
Petco Park?
The San Diego Padres
will begin playing in their new ballpark in 2004. It's looking like the park
will be named Petco Park. Apparently the pet supply company is willing to pay a
$1-2 million for the naming rights.
Sure, Petco Park is a very dumb-sounding name for a baseball field. But it t could be worse. How about Minute Maid Park in Houston (formerly Enron Field)? I guess being associated with a pet store is better than being associated with orange juice.
Daniel Kraker wrote an interesting article about naming rights: Private Names, Public Spaces.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
The Weeping Statues and Icons Collection
Here they are
folks, gathered together for your convenience. A nice collection of
religious stuff: chipped paint, water damage, and probably a bit of fakery
tossed in for good measure.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
Mickey Mouse Release Day
I like this idea: peaceful resistance to free Mickey Mouse. The plan is for all web sites to display (illegally) a picture of Mickey Mouse on April 15.
So they upheld a law that protects Mickey until 2023. Some of us do not agree with that law. What did people do in the past when they did not agree with a law? They peacefully broke the law, en masse, until the enforcers gave up.
In a related topic, read an interview with Mickey Mouse.
Posted on 18 January, 2003
Billions and Billions of Online Calculators
David McRitchie turned me on to the Calculators On-Line Center. It has links to online calculators of every persuasion. Not quite a billion, but it seems like it.
Posted on 18 January, 2003