Best of the Rest more than you could shake a stick at

[Only uneducated Yanks respect copyrights - study]

I believe you were slightly off the mark in your conclusion that US education corrupts morals. This is merely a reflection that only overly educated aspire to be moral. One can assume that the entire US population steals copyrighted material. Those in the upper echelon however are far less likely to fess up and thus put their heist in the "fair use" category and not the "shoplifting" category.

As one might imagine, the realization that you are a shifty malcontent hits harder as one climbs the ivory towers of education or the golden tower of income. Perhaps the best example might be a certain US Billionaire who has been shafting everyone in sight with his software monopoly but feels he's a really good guy.

As a vastly overeducated colonist myself, I believe I have registered every piece of shareware I use, but will jump through hoops and climb mountains to avoid sending any money to Seattle. I'm sure you agree as that is standard policy of the British education system, correct?

S. Derek Seabury

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I find it amazing that you would have anything bad to say about Intel introducing a 66MHz bus into microprocessors in the 19th century. Sure by today's standards it is slow, and it is past time for an upgrade, but when you consider that the solid state transistor was not even invented until the mid 20th century, you must admit that Intel was way before it's time. Just Think about it, at the same time (~189X ) the last royal joust was taking place in Scotland; Steam trains where all the rage; The world's first analog fax machine was invented, and electric power was an odity.

Yet you still spurn Intel for ONLY using a 66 MHz bus in their .25 micron microprocessors during 1890s? How about some credit where credits due er?

Mike

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Apple denies Cube is cracking

In the article "Apple Cube Cracking" - Mold lines are an incorrect designation. Mold Lines are what are sometimes called Drag lines which come from too shallow draft angles and sharp mold edges.

Knit Lines however, refers to the fact that the plastic flows around a piece of the mold and meets up with the flowing plastic from the other side. The leading edge of the flowing plastic has a skin which is at a lower temperature and when the plastic melds together and a visible knit line results.

Amorphous plastics like Poly-Carbonate are free machine plastics. Machining a hole would be a way Apple could get around the Knit Line problem.

Regards,
Ron Davis,

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Are 0808 numbers really free? I certainly hope so. At last count I was connected for 62 hours to the supposedly disconnected Line One free internet line.

The end came during the night. Later than I'd expected, but sooner than I'd hoped. Looking back it was the obvious time for it to happen. I shouldn't have let my guard down. I should have stayed awake. It's the first law of survival.

What started as little more than a joke, after I realised the usual 2-hour cut-off had been removed, had become more, much more. I was facing the prospect of going back to phone bills that would cause concern in Redmond, and here I was, connected to the internet, for free.

Like Joey and Chandler in Friends, with their free porn access, I had everything I wanted. A good, solid, 49k connection to the internet. I didn't need my line for calls, I've got my mobile for that and, to be honest, in this day and age if you haven't got email I don't want to know you.

My main concern was that I'd never got round, as I'd promised, to moving my modem over to my linux box. Windows can't last forever without a reboot.

Sooner or later it would run out of resources and crash. The Resource Meter sat in my task bar, occasionally dipping to yellow, a permanent reminder of my folly, and of what was to come. If they didn't get me off, I would inadvertently do it myself. Second law of survival, be prepared.

At the end of the offer, Quip, who ran the offer in conjunction with LineOne, were adding £20 of call credit to user's accounts. I'd never even plugged my Quip box in, I didn't see the point, I was quite happy to pay the minimum £5 per month for 24/7 access.

On Monday afternoon I received an email from Quip saying they couldn't add the credit to my account as it was temporarily blocked. Would I be kind enough to give them a call to find out why? But, hang on, that'd mean disconnecting from the internet wouldn't it? Nice try, but I didn't fall for it. I could have called them on my mobile but then I'd risk being told to disconnect, and I'd already decided that was one rule in this game, once told to, I had to disconnect. Third law of survival, and probably the only one I didn't break, never surrender.

When I woke on Tuesday morning I was pleased to still be connected, but less so perhaps than the day before. Like Joey and Chandler, I'd started to become complacent and weary. Too much of a good thing, and all that.

After a hard days work which, incidentally, is done from home and involves a lot of internet use, I left for some liquid refreshment and made plans with a colleague for my imminent move to ADSL. Being an NTL customer (ex-cwc), ADSL meant having to reconnect to BT, which I'd ordered last week. It's due to happen on Friday. Then I'm placing an order for 512K Ethernet ADSL with Easynet. It can't happen soon enough.

The plan was to stay connected to Line One until the ADSL was installed. Possibly for up to three weeks. Would it happen? Could it happen? It was certainly worth a try.

I went to bed, having checked the dial-up monitor, 62 hours and counting. On waking, as had become the norm, my first check was the modem lights. Were they still on? They weren't. It was over.

I'll never know exactly how long I was connected for, somewhere between 62 hours and 70 hours. Just short of my required 500 hours or so. I now face three weeks of paid for access. NTL will be pleased.

Now I just have to wait for my next phone bill. Getting back to my original question - 0808 numbers are free, aren't they?

John

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I just wanted to let you know that this course will probably be hard to promote in Sweden since Hoora in Swedish is pronounced the same way as "Hora" which is Swedish for Whore or Hooker.

Just wanted to let you know.

Br

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Dear Maam,

I really felt that your comparsion on Oprah in your article was uneeded. I understand your statement, because she is a household name; however, she is not in IT industry and this comparison was really not helpful at all in making your point. I Really feel that this article is also negative in the essence of your comment about white men in the IT industry, this comment very degrading and should have been vanquished from the article. However you are a at journalist and I cannot condone you from stuff I don't like in your articles, I am merely stating my opinions,

Manasia Thorn

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You know, I've read many articles written by the Register staff on Kevin Warwick. I must say I'm horribly disappointed in your narrow minded views of this man. Over and over again you people put him down and say how stupid his experiments are. Never once have I seen any thought as to what these experiments could mean in the future. Never has the Register said "Well, once he's done this one maybe the next one could involve this."

It's sad and pathetic to see such a narrow minded view. Why, it's not even a logical leap to see what potential there are in these things. If you people would only ENCOURAGE Mr. Warwick the world could be made a better place. Given the right amount of encouragement Kevin Warwick may be willing to plant a number of chips in his body.

Then through only a minor accident he could be introduced to an ESD chamber. This would either kill him or at the very least cause him a great deal of pain. Either result would probably provide a great deal of income if aired on a "Pay per View" TV special.

I urge the Register staff to open their collective eyes and just think of the wonderful things that Mr. Warwick could provide us with. Just think of how much fun it would be to tease him with powerful magnets. Think of how he would react when he finds out that the special sound proof room is actually a static discharge test chamber. The "tests" that could be run in the name of science and profiteering are just amazing.

Please people, don't spoil our fun before we've had a chance at it. Let's all say it together: "Kevin Warwick is a wonderful man. Kevin Warwick is our hero. Kevin Warwick should implant little things that will shock his spinal chord at the push of a button. We should be in control of that button."

Thanks,
Dave