Editing Antifeatures
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The flexlm license file controls with fine granularity which features of a full fledged installation you are allowed to use. | The flexlm license file controls with fine granularity which features of a full fledged installation you are allowed to use. | ||
Fortunately, flexlm holds to hw-ids like the host-id of a solaris machine (is an nv-ram and can be changed) or mac-address of pc-computer (is in eeprom and can be changed) | Fortunately, flexlm holds to hw-ids like the host-id of a solaris machine (is an nv-ram and can be changed) or mac-address of pc-computer (is in eeprom and can be changed) | ||
So one can fight against flexible lies manager on this and other fronts, but this is mostly illegal, exept you hold a license and only want | So one can fight against flexible lies manager on this and other fronts, but this is mostly illegal, exept you hold a license and only want toexchange a broken machine with a new one without having to beg the ventor to kindly provide new license files... | ||
=== Fridges === | === Fridges === | ||
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=== Cameras === | === Cameras === | ||
==== | ==== Panasonic Camera Batteries ==== | ||
[http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/1851238/Panasonic-Begins-To-Lock-Out-3d-Party-Camera-Batteries Panasonic] issued a firmware update with an antifeature which disabled any third party batteries. | |||
==== | ==== Onetime Use Cameras ==== | ||
[http:// | [http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2005/08/how_to_cvs_video_camera_h.html Disposable video cameras] have a USB port which is standards compliant in terms of protocol but which is obscured to make it so that normal users can't just connect over USB. | ||
==== Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 vs. S300M ==== | ==== Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 vs. S300M ==== | ||
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=== Printers === | === Printers === | ||
==== Printer Cartridges ==== | ==== Printer Cartridges ==== | ||
[http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050222/1220232.shtml HP printers] | [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050222/1220232.shtml HP printers] have been supplied with cartridges that both report 'empty' when they have 25% ink still remaining, but also have a 'use by date' encoded into the chip, which disables the printer cartridge if it is used after that date (no HP printer will use it). | ||
have been supplied with cartridges that both report 'empty' when they | |||
have 25% ink still remaining, but also have a 'use by date' encoded into | |||
the chip, which disables the printer cartridge if it is used after that | |||
date (no HP printer will use it). | |||
In general the | In general the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printer#Underlying_business_model business model] of printer manufacturers has been to lose money on the printer and make it on the printer cartridges. This has caused such antifeatures as: | ||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printer#Underlying_business_model business model] of printer manufacturers has been to lose money on the | |||
printer and make it on the printer cartridges. This has caused such | |||
antifeatures as: | |||
* Reporting the cartridge as empty when (often substantial) ink remains. | * Reporting the cartridge as empty when (often substantial) ink remains. | ||
* Microchips that will report the cartridge size by number of uses | * Microchips that will report the cartridge size by number of uses rather than by amount of ink remaining. These will ignore any refilling of the cartridge. | ||
rather than by amount of ink remaining. These will ignore any refilling | |||
of the cartridge | |||
There are other features of the printer cartridge industry that are | There are other features of the printer cartridge industry that are anticompetitive (e.g. use of DMCA and patents to protect antifeature code) but do not involve specific software or hardware - i.e. they aren't 'antifeatures' per se. | ||
anticompetitive (e.g. use of DMCA and patents to protect antifeature | |||
code) but do not involve specific software or hardware - i.e. they | |||
aren't 'antifeatures' per se | |||
==== Printer Yellow Dots ==== | ==== Printer Yellow Dots ==== | ||
Many printers produce a background of hard to see yellow dots on every | Many printers produce a background of hard to see yellow dots on every page. This pattern is unique to the printer and can be used to identify the printer that produced a page. | ||
page. This pattern is unique to the printer and can be used to identify | |||
the printer that produced a page. | |||
This is not officially acknowledged by printer manufacturers, but | This is not officially acknowledged by printer manufacturers, but appears to be as a result of a shady deal between government and the manufacturers. | ||
appears to be as a result of a shady deal between government and the | |||
manufacturers. | |||
See: [http://seeingyellow.com/ http://seeingyellow.com/] | See: [http://seeingyellow.com/ http://seeingyellow.com/] | ||
=== Media === | === Media === | ||
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==== DVDs ==== | ==== DVDs ==== | ||
DVDs include a whole collection of different antifeatures. These include things like region coding, DVD CSS, other types of DRM, unskippable advertisments and more. No user asked for any of these and you can pay extra for non-region coded DVDs | DVDs include a whole collection of different antifeatures. These include things like region coding, DVD CSS, other types of DRM, unskippable advertisments and more. No user asked for any of these and you can pay extra for non-region coded DVDs -- which is just one example. | ||
=== Mainframes === | === Mainframes === | ||
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==== Similar to the above ==== | ==== Similar to the above ==== | ||
Server came with two sized hard drives 10 | Server came with two sized hard drives 10 Mg or 30 Mg ( back in early 80's ) Like above engineer arrived and flicked switch to allow the Server to access the other 20 Mg and Bill yes Bill was $10,000 | ||
==== Modern version ==== | ==== Modern version ==== | ||
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For an existing DVB-T DVR to gain Freeview certification, the fast forward and rewind features must be restricted to 30x maximum, and not allow skipping by less than 10 minutes. A certified device also must not allow the user to transfer recordings off its hard disk. | For an existing DVB-T DVR to gain Freeview certification, the fast forward and rewind features must be restricted to 30x maximum, and not allow skipping by less than 10 minutes. A certified device also must not allow the user to transfer recordings off its hard disk. | ||
== Software Antifeatures == | == Software Antifeatures == | ||
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Microsoft, in its Windows Vista guide to implementing HDMI and HDCP, encouraged hardware and software developers to '''go above and beyond''' the definitions and actively provide more features to restrict what users can do. | Microsoft, in its Windows Vista guide to implementing HDMI and HDCP, encouraged hardware and software developers to '''go above and beyond''' the definitions and actively provide more features to restrict what users can do. | ||
=== | === Shareware unregistered copy limitations === | ||
Shareware for the MS-DOS market typically came in two versions: the one that users pay for, and a feature-restricted unregistered version that had some limit on functionality to encourage the user to get the paid version. Restrictions included printing "unregistered copy of (application)" on printed documents, disallowing saving, limiting document size, and a "nag screen" asking the user to upgrade at startup. | |||
== Miscellaneous Antifeatures == | == Miscellaneous Antifeatures == | ||
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I have a 96 year old neighbour who still remembers when mains water first arrived in our suburb. He said at the time, that the government wouldn't allow people to build water tanks for their houses, because they wanted people to use mains water. Ah the irony... | I have a 96 year old neighbour who still remembers when mains water first arrived in our suburb. He said at the time, that the government wouldn't allow people to build water tanks for their houses, because they wanted people to use mains water. Ah the irony... | ||