Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 1st Sep 2010 20:24 UTC
Well, this was rather unexpected. As it turns out, Commodore USA's CEO Barry Altman isn't particularly pleased about the article I wrote earlier today in which I placed a considerable amount of scepticism with regards to Commodore USA and its business (and website). He (not his lawyer) sent us a threatening email demanding we take down the article, post a new correction article, the whole shebang. The entire email - as an image, you'll want the original formatting - after the break. Our reply? We refer you to the reply given in the case of Arkell v. Pressdram.
Thread beginning with comment 439094
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: Comment by alexandru_lz
by vodoomoth on Thu 2nd Sep 2010 22:33
in reply to "Comment by alexandru_lz"
Member since:2010-03-30
RE[2]: Comment by alexandru_lz
by alexandru_lz on Fri 3rd Sep 2010 03:35
in reply to "RE: Comment by alexandru_lz"
Member since:2007-02-11
Well, thanks :-) -- though I hope you will not be borrowing my incorrect grammar in the post ("had sent", not "had send"... meh, it was early in the morning).
There is one thing that has been going through my head, and now that I think of it, I think Thom is right in saying that at this moment, every Amiga business looks shoddy.
If a company came out with a great product that runs Amiga OS and can actually market it (i.e. send it to my corner of the world -- if they can send it here, chances are they can send some to the Klingons as well), that would be awesome even if it's not called Amiga <something>. Seriously, does anyone here actually care? If it looks like an Amiga, runs Amiga OS, but they can't call it Amiga because of the licensing -- well, as far as anyone is concerned, it's a new Amiga. Just go redneck-style, print a paper of the Amiga logo and stick it on it. If it worked on my coffee cup, it's going to work on my computer, too.
I'll be adding Rule #133 to my list of rules to follow in life: if a company begins by acquiring patents, trademarks and legal decisions before they actually have a damn office, they will hardly be able to screw a lightbulb, let alone build a computer. It's right after Rule #132, which says "our grandparents have been designing CPUs and computers for 60 years and all we got were these lousy x86_64 Dells."
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/20/13 6:17 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2007-02-11
Being rather antisocial I don't post comments here too often, though I read OSnews every day.
But this is one particular case when I am finding it unable to meaningfully convey into words the copious amount of laughter I've had. This shit is incredible. If Microsoft had send a letter to every magazine or tech site that has ever had something negative about their software (or hell, even only about their business practices, or double hell, even only about their trials), the mere cost of printer ink and paper, or the medical insurance costs for the typists who would have developed severe arthritis from typing that much, would have driven them to bankruptcy.
Initially, I disagreed with Thom's assessment that Commodore USA looks like a con (sketchy website... meh, better sketchy than HP's mess). Now I agree; at best, they're probably a bunch of trolling lawyers who heard that there's money to be made from the Amiga trademark.
Edit: BTW, one thing is to be said in their defense -- the CEO, Barry Altman, is not entirely stranger to the electronics industry, so there is at least one member of the staff who doesn't only deal with paper pushing. But if it's one thing Commodore was good at (and we all know it wasn't marketing), that was their attitude towards hobbyists. Perhaps they should borrow it along with whatever trademarks they have.
Edited 2010-09-02 03:36 UTC