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Comment Just Sue Them (Score 1) 665

This controversy has been settled in law for a long time.

"The first-sale doctrine is a limitation on copyright that was recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908 and subsequently codified in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. Â 109. The doctrine allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e., sell or give away) a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission once it has been obtained. This means that the copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a particular copy end once that copy is sold, as long as no additional copies are made. This doctrine is also referred to as the "first sale rule" or "exhaustion rule."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine

Get a lawyer.

Comment Why doesn't someone write (Score 2) 936

Why doesn't someone write a story about being a long time Linux/Unix user and going back to Windows for 2 weeks? I doubt I'd last the week without grep, bash or ssh. Doesn't it seem rather one-sided that Windows-centric people are evaluating Linux? Why not some Linux people evaluating Windows?

As for me, you can have my Linux when you pry it from my dead cold hands.

Comment FS choices in the Datacenter (Score 4, Interesting) 161

One of my biggest beefs with ext3 in the data center is the required fsck periodically. Redhat won't support jfs or xfs (which I can get from CentOs) but some vendors won't support anything that isn't on their supported platform list (IBM Clearcase for one).

So is ext4 going to force a fsck at boot, which takes 1/2 a day with ext3 on some of my multi-Tb systems? Will Redhat finally adopt a better server filesystem? These are the questions that some of us doing professional Redhat support are asking.

Comment Re:What about DX? (Score 3, Informative) 215

Actually they have found underground copper piping used by the Egyptians thousands of years old. If copper was so fragile, there would be no copper to be found there.

Copper can be used underground and was used for many years for water supplies.

http://www.masterplumbers.com/plumbviews/1999/copper.asp

http://www.copper.com.au/cdc/article.asp?CID=58&AID=264

As noted in the articles, very few Ph and ground conditions can corrode copper, hence I object to the absolute ban of copper in the previous reply.

And yes copper is more expensive. But most plastics (PVC) cannot be used with refrigerants, so given a choice of metal pipes, copper makes sense in certain soil conditions.

With certain precautions, copper is the way to go in DX systems. I do agree with most of the above replies that closed loop is good too. I think that you have to weigh the intended use against the pros and cons, then select the best system for that application.

Comment What about DX? (Score 5, Interesting) 215

This technology has been around for some time, but it fails to generate much PR. You can get a measley $8000 US federal tax credit for installing one. A few enlightened states (not mine) will give you some additional tax credits for installing one.

The expensive part seems to be drilling the earth and laying the hose. However, what they fail to mention is that once its installed, it will last 50+ years.

The parent also mentions open and closed loop, but fail to talk about direct exchange aka DX, which would make more sense for a lot of people.

From http://www.geoenergyusa.com/technology.htm

"The direct exchange (DX) system is a series of copper tubes buried 4 to 6 feet below ground level. Refrigerant gas is then fed through these tubes creating a direct heat exchange between the temperature of the ground and the heat transfer medium, which in this case is the refrigerant gas. Because of this direct exchange feature these systems operate at considerably less operating cost than water source systems and because they do not require the additional water pumping cost and, DX does not suffer the heating or cooling loss associated with transferring the water temperature to the refrigerant as is common with these systems. DX is also cheaper and easier to install as it requires no well drilling or plumbing costs. As copper is a more efficient heat transfer medium than PVC pipe as found in water source, trenching costs are less due to less ground mass being required by DX."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CO_xM5gV48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P0Z1Pa_Vvc

Comment Re:Cut taxes, then (Score 5, Informative) 870

What most people, including the parent of this thread, don't understand is that NASA and other federal R&D facilities do is fuel our economy.


Many people here on /. work in the IT field. Well you can thank NASA for the Beowulf Cluster. NASA also worked with industry to make cordless drills, CAT Scans, digital thermometers, welder's goggles and thousands of other products.

Don't take my word for it.
http://www.beowulf.org/overview/history.html
http://space.about.com/od/toolsequipment/ss/apollospinoffs.htm
http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/spinoff.html

Engage brain before moving mouth.
Image

Age of Conan GM Fired For Cybering Screenshot-sm 11

It's common knowledge that the best things in life are to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women. An Age of Conan GM decided to try and add cybering to the list and was fired for his trouble. Funcom, the company behind Age of Conan states, "If the guidelines are broken there are consequences." While I will concede that cybering with players when you're a GM is a breach of etiquette, it's not as serious as a charging Rhinoceros; it doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinoceros about to charge your ass. I put on my robe and wizard hat.
Censorship

Blogger Successfully Quashes Subpoena 172

Ares writes "In a follow-up to Blogger Subpoenaed for Criticizing Trial Lawyers, Katherine Seidel's blog indicates that not only has she successfully quashed her subpoena, but the lawyer issuing said subpoena is now under orders to appear and explain why the courts shouldn't sanction him for it. This should be interesting, because in addition to Ms. Seidel's subpoena in New Hampshire, the lawyer issued a similar subpoena to a doctor and a Harvard professor under similar circumstances."

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