Comment Nothing from Hams? (Score 5, Insightful) 436
So, I guess amateur radio operators have been infringing since, what... the early 1900's? Voice is just data, right..?
Comment Re:Heresy (Score 4, Insightful) 689
There's actually much more to it than the tax benefits. Married couples have the legal right to speak for their spouses in things medically related. There are issues surrounding inheritance when a spouse passes, joint ownership of property...
Imagine owning a house for years with your spouse, making it a home, growing old in that home... Your spouse passes, then your brother in-law files suit because as the closest-living relative, he should inherit.
It's not just taxes, and it's not to stick the proverbial thumb in the church's eye. It's about fair treatment in how you live your life.
Comment Re:Taxes ARE a bad thing (Score 2) 73
Taxes, when spent appropriately and for a good goal are not a bad thing. And no, I don't mean in the "let's cure the world from stupidity" way.
And, as just one small part of what that background science didn't help with, think on that the next time you use your microwave to reheat leftovers, or your GPS gear without having to pay subscription rates for the satelite signal...
just sayin'
Comment Re:Bait and Switch (Score 1) 225
Not really... At least not on the part of Time Warner, or not intentionally anyway.
Once the broadcasters got word of what they were offering, they told TW to pull it as they do not believe that this is covered under their current carriage agreement (the contract that lets a cable operator show content from a broadcaster http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/cblbdcst.html).
Comment Re:HTML (Score 1) 138
oh, but to bring back the original Hampster Dance!!!
*nostalgic swoon*
Comment Re:AT&T's Fault? (Score 4, Insightful) 265
Agreed. It would be interesting to know if they ran the same test with the data service actually turned off on the phone. Then I'd start to see fault with the carrier.
Comment Re:Next movie you go to, thank your projectionist. (Score 1) 187
meh... making it look easy only means that they were doing their job well, thus worth the money... Yeah, put the popcorn kid up there... he'd do it for less.
managers *sigh*
Comment Powershell (Score 1) 426
Assuming that you're trying this out on OSes newer than Win2k, powershell may make a nice alternative. You can use the same structures that you're familiar with in command and the ability to add more complex components when/if needed.
The State of Ruby VMs — Ruby Renaissance 89
igrigorik writes "In the short span of just a couple of years, the Ruby VM space has evolved to more than just a handful of choices: MRI, JRuby, IronRuby, MacRuby, Rubinius, MagLev, REE and BlueRuby. Four of these VMs will hit 1.0 status in the upcoming year and will open up entirely new possibilities for the language — Mac apps via MacRuby, Ruby in the browser via Silverlight, object persistence via Smalltalk VM, and so forth. This article takes a detailed look at the past year, the progress of each project, and where the community is heading. It's an exciting time to be a Rubyist."
Comment Quick! (Score 5, Funny) 419
Someone find the house full of Popped Corn!!!
Biotech Company To Patent Pigs 285
Anonymous Swine writes "Monsanto, a US based multinational biotech company, is causing a stir by its plan to patent pig-breeding techniques including the claim on animals born by the techniques. 'Agricultural experts are scrambling to assess how these patents might affect the market, while consumer activists warn that if the company is granted pig-related patents, on top of its tight rein on key feed and food crops, its control over agriculture could be unprecedented. "We're afraid that Monsanto and other big companies are getting control of the world's genetic resources," said Christoph Then, a patent expert with Greenpeace in Germany. The patent applications, filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization, are broad in scope, and are expected to take several years and numerous rewrites before approval.'"
12 Small Windmills Put To the Test In Holland 510
tuna writes "A real-world test by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place) demonstrates that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology (PDF of tests results in Dutch, English summary). Twelve much-hyped micro wind turbines were placed in a row on an open plain. Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year (April 1, 2008 — March 31, 2009), the average wind velocity during these 12 months was 3.8 meters per second, slightly higher than average. Three windmills broke. The others recorded ridiculously low yields, in spite of the optimal conditions. It would take up to 141 small windmills to power an average American household entirely using wind energy, for a total cost of 780,000 dollars. The test results show clearly that energy return is closely tied to rotor diameter, and that the design of the windmill hardly matters."
Comment Re:just silly (Score 1) 479
The Monopolistic abuse was the inclusion of IE and the mandating of its sole inclusion with every shipped computer/os combo. That has been enforced, and now manufacturers can in fact ship with Mozilla, Opera, or even Safari pre-loaded. How many do?
Comment Re:just silly (Score 1) 479
The analogy is poor, I'll grant you, but in no means meaningless. It's simply that you cannot expect to be able to buy a piece of modern hardware ~and~ have it pre-installed with an OS that is not the lastest offering. If Dell still had stacks of Latitudes from 2005, already OEM imaged, she could probably buy one and they'd happily ship to get it out of a warehouse...
As for monopolistic powers and enforcement; your whine privilege has been revoked. Go buy a Mac and tell them that you want it shipped with Jaguar. Or try Emperor Linux and ask them to load RedHat version 4.2 (and not RHEL, btw). How much would either charge if they'd do it at all?
Comment Re:just silly (Score 1) 479
Not at all: you can choose vista home basic, vista home premium, vista professional, etc etc etc...
Just 'cause it's a poor and/or overused analogy doesn't mean that it's entirely false.
