The subject line here caught my attention, but it was really hard to find
the article since:
"Outlook blocked access to the following potentially unsafe attachments:
25227.url."
Then, I had forgotten that TheRegister was ".co.uk" and not ".com".
Almost looks like a conspiracy :-)
But is an interesting article with a familiar pattern.
It looks like M$ thought that that they had gotten away with their piracy
when they bankrupted
the company -- only to see the software's individual authors continue the
court battle.
I wonder if this was included in the long list of companies ruined by M$ in
the US anti-trust case.
BTW: the text form URL is:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/25227.html
(hopefully that did not get blocked :-)
-Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Charles E. Fox
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 5:59 AM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Emailing: 25227(Microsoft fined for piracy)
Your files are attached and ready to send with this message.
Microsoft bashers might like to read this from The Register.
Regards
Charlie Fox
Charles E. Fox Video Production
793 Argyle Rd.
Windsor Ontario Canada N8Y 3J8
519-254-4991 foxvideo(a)wincom.net
Check out the "Camcorder Kindergarten"
at http://chasfoxvideo.com
>> I get the impression that two-node 10Bt networking can be done with
>> nothing but a crossover cable. (IE the chaining connection on hubs is
>> just a crossover) Is this possibly true, using just the cable?
>
>I beleive that one is possible. In fact I've seen crossover cables on
>sale for this purpose (this doesn't mean they _work_ of course :-)).
I think they do; the one I built (matching instructions given
previously) does, with a caveat: I've used it to connect two (OT, sorry!)
Mac Powerbook 3400's. The two machines in question have to have Appletalk
changed to use ethernet within a few seconds of one another - otherwise
they each assume they are on a "dead" network and will not recognize the
other machine when it comes up. This may be a unique feature of the
Powerbooks. It is *not* a problem when the two machines are successively
hooked into a hub - even minutes apart - so I don't think it's a problem
with the Appletalk implementation, but I don't know.
Anyone else with more experience on this? Do hubs do any
keep-aliving for their ports, or recheck periodically for connections? Do
other two-node networks need "pinging" from both ends simultaneously to
bring up?
- Mark
>FROM THE DESK OF IBRAHIM YAKUBU
Dear Sir,
This is important, and requires your immediate attention! First, I must solicit your strictest confidence in the transaction.
To intimate you further, we are top officials of the new civilian administration Committee on Foreign
and Local Contract Payment, who are interested in the importation of goods into our country with funds which are presently trapped in Nigeria. In order to actualize this dream, we seek your assistance to transfer the said-trapped fund into an interest bearing account which you have absolute control over in your country or a third country other than Nigeria.
The new civilian administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) set-up this committee specifically to review all contracts/oil licenses to determine their propriety and relevance in the light of the country's current economic and political realities. We have identified a lot of inflated contract fund which are currently floating in our Apex Bank. At this moment we have worked out modalities within ourselves and some acquaintances at the Apex Bank to divert the sum of US$33,700,000.00 (Thirty three million,seven hundred thousand United States Dollars) only, for our personal use.
However, by virtue of our positions as Civil Servants and members of the Contract Review Panel,we cannot acquire this money in our names, consequently, I was delegated by my colleagues as a matter of trust to look for an overseas partner into whose account we can transfer this sum of money,hence this letter to you.
Furthermore, my colleagues and I are willing to transfer the total sum of US$33,700,000.00 (Thirty three million, seven hundred thousand United States Dollars) into your account for disbursement. Your areas of specialization is not a hindrance to the successful execution of this transaction and the account required for this project can either be PERSONAL, COMPANY or an OFFSHORE account you have total control over. Needless to say, the trust reposed on you at this juncture is enormous. In return, we have agreed to offer you 20% of this sum while 10% shall be set as! ide for incidental expenses between the parties in the course of this transaction. You must however note that this transaction
is subject to the following terms and conditions: -
(a) Our conviction of your transparent honesty and diligence
(b) That you would treat this transaction with utmost secrecy and confidentiality.
(c) That the funds would be transferred to an account where you have absolute control over.
(d) That one of our representatives will be with you in your country to represent our interest. This however depends on your response to conditions A and C above.
Modalities have been worked out to the highest level for the immediate transfer of the funds within 14 working days subject to your satisfaction of the above stated terms. Our assurance is that your role is RISK FREE. To accord this transaction the legality it deserves and for mutual security of the funds, the whole approval procedures will be
officially and legally processed with your name or the name of any company you may nominates as the bonafide beneficiary.
Once more, I want you to understand that having put over 23 years in the civil service of my country, I am averse to having my image and career dented.
This matter should be treated with utmost secrecy and urgency.
Kindly expedite action as we are behind schedule to enable us include this transfer in this batch as payments to foreign contractors is usually carried out on quarterly basis. Contact me on my e-mail address or my phone number is 234 1 4719568
IBRAHIM YAKUBU
I asked a friend of mine at NASA about this and here's his reply. As Dick said, the whole thing is "Greatly Exaggerated."
For the ones of you that may not be aware of it, NASA, military contractors, universities and many businesses are ALWAYS looking for old hardware to keep their specailized systems going. I've sold a ton of HP equipment to many of them for spares. I even sold one HP 9000 that is now in Antarctica. Their old one died suddenly and they flew someone from South Africa to the US to pick this one up and then flew with it to Antarctica. In many cases the users would have to go through a lengthy and costly process to certify new systems so it's better to buy replacement parts for the old system instead of upgrading. For example, last year I repaired two HP-41 calculators for Air France and I was WELL paid for it. I asked them why they didn't upgrade to HP-42s that are SW compatible with the HP-41 or to a newer calculator with rewritten SW. They said that since they were using them INSIDE the Concorde it was considered flight hardware and that it would take at least three years and !
cost in excess of $20,000 to certify a replacement.
Joe
>> Ray,
>>
>> Have you heard anything about this? It sounds pretty wild to me.
>>
>
>Very possible. The old Launch Processing System (LPS) uses "Micomp"
>floppies. NASA is using the Shuttle way beyond the life expectancy. Many
>of the old instruments are breaking down. NASA goes looking for an exact
>replacement because it would cost too much to re-qualify new hardware. This
>probably goes for firmand software too.
>
Specifically the 29th, 30th, and 31? I'll be there for a training seminar,
but I _really_ don't want to spend the whole time hanging out with my boss!
Bob
> > But among 8-inch floppy drives and other unspecified
> > items, NASA is buying up all the 8086 microprocessors
> > they can lay their hands on, specifically, to keep the
> > Space Shuttle flying. Not the more common 8088, of
> > course, but its 16-bit big brother.
>
> That explains why NASA can't get a real space program
> going ... Intel is behind it!
> Anyway they would need space/radiation rated chips,
> not the garden variety stuff.
The stated use is for ground testing equipment, not
near-earth deployment.
Regards,
-dq
> Is it just me, or have the previously done a better job at covering
> concepts and ideas in a way that didn't tie their examples to a
> single platform? Maybe I'm just bitter.
Agreed, but...
Previously (and let's not start another round), the market
was not dominated by a single large player of the scale that
Microsoft enjoys. I'd posit that they put in the journal what
the market wants.
So I think you're just seeing the invisible hand at work. Please
reply privately if you want to comment regarding lassie-faire...
Regards,
-dq
> At 07:52 AM 5/13/02 -0400, Doug wrote:
> >Good Morning,
> >
> >I think this may have come up some weeks back...
>
> Where did you hear this? I deal with NASA frequently (as
> recently as last Wednesday) and I've nver heard remotely like
> this. I did supply two boxs of 8" floppy disks to NASA a
> couple of months ago but that was all thye wanted. I could
> supplied close to 100 boxs of new disks but they only wanted
> two boxs in order to keep one system running. That certainly
> doesn't qualify as "buying up all they can lay their hands on".
The local Gannett-rag-that-used-to-be-a-Pulitzer-Prize-winning
newspaper.
> >Anyone else here ticked of that not only are they
> >trying to keep that questionable pig flying, but
> >they are doing it by reducing further the quantity
> >of collectable stuff? Screw the boost in value...
>
> 8086s collectable? Yeah right! Only if you believe the
> rants of the E-bay sellers!
I would say that if you had a Seattle Computer Products
S-100 based CPU card, that you'd indeed have a collectable
item. Worth megabucks, no. Collectable, yes. Why? It's
probably not the best x86 CPU card for an S-100 frame, but
it was the first to run Microsoft DOS (QDOS).
So it should be at least as collectable as issues #2 & #3
of Dr. Dobb's Journal, for example. If you don't think so
and have one you'll send me for postage, the collection
would be most grateful.
Regards,
-dq
