First and foremost they want you to use their software, even if you steal it. Not only are you then a potential customer, but you're friends/family/colleagues will also be more likely to use MS. Also, they'd rather you steal their software then help the competition. Heck, they aren't allowed to give their software away for anti-trust reasons, so having it stolen is the next best thing.
The funny thing is that the article states that software theft is a major economic drain. I wonder how much of that is the needless effort put into protection schemes that don't work and lawyers to sue...well anyone for anything. This number will of course be far less than the amount estimated for lost sales..
Say rather that your comprehension of role playing games is rather narrow. Traditionally, role playing games have been exactly that, you take the role of a character. go play. Mind you this is not computer RPG. what we call computer RPG took basically only the statistics/war gaming aspect of rpg's and pretended like it was the same (which, sadly, for some people it is). Personally I always thought it was silly calling games like Larry an adventure while Bard Tale et al got to be RPG's.
Diablo is most definately a roguelike, not an adventure. An adventure focuses on puzzle solving and is story driven. Diablo is a go down to the dungeon and kill things to find the amulet of yendor game.
Mind you, the adventure market seems to have died a little...or perhaps crpgs have matured. The traditional split between adventure and rpg's (vis a vis computer games naturally) is all but gone. RPG's are now story driven and incorporate puzzles. They are more and more getting closer to table top role playing (allthough they still have lightyears to go).
Genres in general are of limited use. With racing games getting adventure/rpg like aspects, rpg's becoming adventures, first person shooter becoming rpgs, strategy and action all getting mixed up in one big package. When is it multi-genre and when do the old genre's lose meaning? Torment - and rpg, but story driven...so is it an adventure? GTA - a racing game...or was it a shooter? you get my point, I think.
So you write a program, I buy it and now I can sell it to anyone I want?
So you write a song, I buy a recording and now I can sell it to anyone I want?
So you write a book...
Even more, I could claim all aforementioned work as my own, since you just said I can do anything with it I want.
Information is really easy to copy and it's difficult to say where the line is, but surely authors/composers/programmers have some rights to be compensated for their work. The question is how to implement it. I don't copy illegally (there may be some exceptions vis a vis abandonware) but I don't agree with the current definition of what is or isn't legal. I still try to stay on the right side of the law, while arguing for change, but that's beside the point. The point being you can't and shouldn't be allowed to do anything with something you've bought. You shouldn't be allowed to commit perjury, and you probably should compensate the original creator for their effort.
I agree the DMCA is bs, but there is a need to create a viable system.
As a result, the price of an iPod after taxes should be the same regardless of where it is sold, argues Commonwealth Securities. Does it ignore sales tax? the above quote suggests taxes are taken into account. However none of the linked articles seems to go into how the price is derived. For that matter, the US charges a sales tax which differs per state, and other countries charge a VAT which is applied before sale. Of course, I only skimmed the article, but some people here need to do even more than that (see below).
But just like The Economist's Big Mac index, the CommSec iPod index is a light-hearted look at the pricing of a good across a range of countries. Just like the Big Mac index, it may have use for currency analysis, but time will tell. So why are we all taking this so seriously? It may or may not be useful, but it sure is fun. If you plan on using this to plan your career in currency exchange, you do so at your own risk. The Big Mac index was a joke, but it turned out to be useful. This may as well, though you shouldn't hold your breath.
If nothing else it shows the disparity in purchasing power for (high end) consumer electronics or luxury products. Don't tell me the iPod is not a luxury product in your country.
IANAE, but I doubt most people here are either. As far as I read the article it isn't a serious index. OK the BBC article doesn't make this clear, which says something about the BBC. The CommSec article is clearer and perhaps some people here would've done good reading it before going of on a rant about how ridiculous it is.
In economics oftentimes you just have to try and track things to see what effect they have. You get weird correlations sometimes, and sometimes they are meaningful. Sunspot cycles seem to be correlated to economic cycles, and a friend of mine found a (weak) correlation between the weather in New York and the NYSE index. Does this prove anything? I don't have an answer. However economics is as much about weirdness as it is about math.
The security guard can click on any suspicious objects to remove the distortion and enlarge that area for a closer look. So this scanner is meant to protect the dignity of passengers how? Seems like it protects security from passengers they *dont* want to see naked. Any good looking passenger will obviously have something suspicious in their underwear. After all, you have to make sure those bulges aren't concealing any dangerous liquids. For that matter, aren't breast implant illegal hidden carriers of liquids? Could be dangerous. Think of your own scenarios for female guards, I don't go that way.
You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Ever heard of....rock? Paint on it, carve it, make big pictures on the ground. For long lasting storage, rock is unbeaten! Order your rock today, and we will throw in a free cave painting by one of our expert cavemen.
I can't believe they are trying to patent this (well, I can, but I don't want to). Anyone heard of Frederick Pohl? Author of the Gateway books. The aliens (and later humans) archived themselves for posterity. There are plenty of other examples as well.
It's a good idea, but not original. I read the article, but couldn't force myself through the whole patent. Still, it sounds to me like they are trying to patent the idea of a time capsule, with the only difference being that they are talking about information in a more interactive form.
They aren't even trying to patent a specific technique, but the whole idea. From the patent application (all the way at the bottom which I did read):
What has been described above includes examples of the subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
So basically they are claiming that any system which in any way is similar to theirs is covered. Ok, par for the course. It still isn't very original, and doesn't deserve a patent.
What do they want to achieve anyway? Will you have to buy a renewable licensing scheme for accessing this information? Will it contain drm? Will sony end up owning your grandfathers immortal thoughts?
So what if I write an interactive information system as described, with the one difference is that I'm still alive, and I just want my genius available to my friends and family without actually having to talk to them. Does the system all of a sudden owe licensing costs to MS when I die?
This has to be one of silliest patent ideas I've seen. Of course, I haven't seen all that many and remain convinced that there are many more that are sillier.
What I don't understand...why do you need permission to talk to the authorities about a crime? Or isn't this a crime? IANAL , maybe this happens in other places. I just don't understand it.
Personally I don't care what sex offenders do on the internet. It's a bit difficult to rape someone without actually meeting them. That isn't the point. Internet is a contact point for pedophiles to reach children, and they are allready sneaky. The sister of a friend of mine had a 'friend' online for four years (or something like that, I don't remember the exact numbers). This 'friend' was supposed to be the same age as this little girl (about 13 years old when they discovered it was a he and a pedophile). This 'friend' was going to a Brittney Spears contest and had an extra ticket. For some reason this 'friend' wanted nude pictures. Luckily, this is when her brother found out what was going on. Unfortunately he scared the guy off before police could get involved. This is scary. This guy pretended to be a little girl for years before making his move. This isn't just traumatic for this little girl. This is traumatic for the whole family, and in this case things were stopped before they got out of hand. Imagine going to a Brittney Spears concert with your teenage daughter. There are pedophiles going as well.
It amazes me that the american public allows the laws regarding the "internets" be made by people who don't even have a basic understanding of how it works or what it is capable of. Law always tends to run decades behind on fact. When those laws are driven by fear, they tend to be really bad laws too. Most people don't understand their toaster, let alone the internet. They just want laws to be passed. The only thing a law like this will allow, is if offenders use a non-registered address, then you can throw 'em in jail for that, if nothing else. Let's not forget that they never caught Al Capone on any violent crimes. They convicted him on tax fraud and sent him to Alcatraz. It's the same idea (if toned down). We can't prove you've been bothering little kids, but you haven't use your registered e-mail. Back to jail. It's a stupid law, but may have some backdoor usage (not that that is something you want in a law, but we don't live in an ideal world).
Nor can you keep these people away from computers. Not only is that a nightmare to keep track of, there are so many legitimate reasons for using your computer that it isn't fair, even to sex offenders. In fact there will come a time (and that time is now in some places) that not having internet access will not allow you to function normally in regular society. In which case you might as well put these people in jail. Though I do believe pedophiles require special handling. What they do is repulsive even to hardened criminals. They deserve constant watching and restricted posibilities (like not getting a job teaching). They also deserve to show that they have changed, but I'm not sure complete rehabilitation is ever possible. Some crimes should have lifelong consequences.
Remember this folks, no where in the RFC's is there anything that states email will get delivered.... This is what I thought when I read the headline (having used that excuse in the past;). So I immediately looked up RFC2821 - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
6.1 Reliable Delivery and Replies by Email
When the receiver-SMTP accepts a piece of mail (by sending a "250 OK"
message in response to DATA), it is accepting responsibility for
delivering or relaying the message. It must take this responsibility
seriously. It MUST NOT lose the message for frivolous reasons, such
as because the host later crashes or because of a predictable
resource shortage.
If there is a delivery failure after acceptance of a message, the
receiver-SMTP MUST formulate and mail a notification message.
naturally there is alot more, including cases where it is acceptable not to send a notification, but I don't think any apply here.
So basically, SMTP is defined as a reliable protocol which guarantees delivery or notification of failure. The days of unreliable e-mail no longer apply.
Yes. But (saturated) animal fats usually taste better than (unsaturated) trans fats.
So, for great taste, go for the natural unhealthy fat, not for the chemically altered, really unhealth fat. Yes, that's what I was trying to say. The healthy nontransfatty oils are also less tasty.
Basically, if its good for you, it tastes bad. Except apples. I like apples.
What the fuck are you on about man? Trans fat has absolutely nothing to do with taste. Restaurants use hydrogenated vegetable oil for frying because it lasts longer at high temperatures, not for taste. Real butter has no trans fat naturally. Some margarines are hydrogenated to keep them solid at room temperature, and some have already removed all trans fat from their product without anyone noticing. While most transfat consumed comes from hydrogenated oils, naturally occuring transfat is found only in animal fats, such as are found in milk (at least afaik, maybe it occurs in vegetable fats but I've never heard of it). Butter, a product which one could describe as the concentrated fat of (cow's) milk, almost certainly contains transfats.
Many restaurants have already done the same, ie. switched to fry oil without trans fats, without anyone noticing. It's zero to do with taste, and everything to do with penny pinching, at the expense of anyone who eats that shit. What are your sources? Restaurants (most notably the fast food industry) switched from animal fats to (partially) hydrogenated vegetable fats because that was cheaper. The switch to oils without transfats is not a cost saving measure but public health and/or company image factor. Ok, there was also a health issue with regards to saturated and unsaturated fats, but now we know transfats are much worse then saturated fats.
Checking Wikipedia we find:
Plant-based hydrogenated vegetable oils are much less expensive than the animal fats traditionally favored by bakers, such as butter or lard, and may be more readily available or less expensive than semi-solid plant fats such as palm oil.
So taste appears to a factor.
now, I am tempted to say something rude in response to the tone of your message, but instead I will take the moral high ground in an arrogantly explicit fashion until a new king comes to push me off the hill.
For some reason slashdot requires the facts to be stated and restated in multiple posts without actually changing anyones opinion on anything (mostly because they read only what confirms their own worldview anyway).
You should applaud HP for this. They settled for a civil suit. not criminal, civil. They said they were wrong. They are making amends. They are instuting policies to not let it happen again. However much you trust the effectiveness is irrelevant. You keep an eye on them if you're that worried. They could've kept this in the courts for years, costing the state and themselves alot of money. Money which comes from taxes or product prices.
You can't keep making companies bad guys wether or not they try to do the right thing. Be mad when they do wrong, be happy when they do right.
my question for the cynics: If this is bad 'justice', what should've happened?
And just what does banning trans-fat acids in food have to do with banning good tasting food? Because fat is tasty. hmmmm, fat.
Such a ban has been in effect in Denmark since 2004, and I'm yet to see any restaurants close over it or any chefs complain that now they can't make their favorite dishes. But have you looked? Have you talked to chefs? Not that reastaurant would have to close for this, as everyone has the same restrictions, so it doesn't unfairly change the playing field for competition, it just makes food taste different.
Hell, even McDonalds got on board very quickly. And they've even announced their intentions of extending the restrictions on transfatty acids to all of their European restaurents - all 6,300 of them. Even Kentucky Fried Chicken announced similar goals (they have restaurents in Denmark as well).
And all that without changing the way food tastes. wait, I get it now. You only eat at fast food restaurants. Considering that fast food has the least amount of taste possible, it's no wonder you don't notice the difference. This issue goes beyond the fast food industry however. It effects gourmet restaurants, bakeries, ice cream vendors... Playing the McD/KFC card only weakens your case. It adds nothing and thus dilutes your argument.
Try substituting anything at all for real butter, and I guarantee I can tell the difference. Due to dietary restrictions that some people I know have, I have experimented with various soya substitutes for dairy products. It tastes different. I like the real dairy taste better. I don't care that it is bad for me. Don't protect me against myself.
OK call me overly sensitive, I usually am against Political Correctness, but this is a serious issue. DEADLY serious. You are overly sensitive.
Almost all humor is based on pain/humiliation in some form or another. There are certainly exceptions, but very often humor is used to laugh at serious things. DEADLY serious things. Just think about it. Here is you're highly trained soldier creeping around with his night vision goggles, instant communication with HQ, live satelite imagery being fed to his pda. His grenades have an IQ higher than we do. he steps up to the door of a house. he carefully opens it. Then he sprays the house with silly string.
It's Funny, Laugh.
Read up on the definition of division. If for a moment we ignore the "and the divisor is not 0" part of the definition, one of the basic principles of division is:
if a * b = c
then a / c = b, and b / c = a yes, but he's pretty much redefining the system. You can't disprove him by saying it doesn't work in another system.
A fundamental part of his explanation pivots on the following being true:
1/0 = infinity
-1/0 = -infinity this is the part I don't get. As I've always understood it, infinity is not a part of [N|Q|R|Z]. So the definitions he provides are meaningless. Those kids aren't likely to be working with anything other than [N|Q|R|Z]. Tell them that 1/0=infinity and you are tellng them gobbledygook.
Of course I am not a mathematician...but then neither are those kids. However usefull nullity may turn out to be, he still presented utter bs to those kids. Naturally I reserve the right to considered a totally clueless moron.
So, according to that, the following would hold:
if 1/0 = infinity
then infinity * 0 = 1 Is this true? I don't know exactly how to do mathematics on infinities. I do know it doesn't quite work as does regular math.
I do know one thing, for all you doubting thomases. If nullity is usefull, it is more than just NaN. NaN is an error. A bug. Or worse even, its a programming construct with little to no meaning to your hardware. Division by zero on the actual machine level can bring your whole system down. However, if its part of the system then your system at least doesn't crash. Divide by zero? Nullity! continue processing. Sounds good to me.
Hows that work then? If the pie gets bigger, your slice gets bigger sure, but not relative to everyone elses. You still get the same relative to others. Of course you could mean that when your economy grows someone elses shrinks, which means someone somewhere has less pie. Maybe you mean that the whole world economy grows thus there is so much more pie to go around. Current economic theory certainly seems to be based on unlimited growth. Unfortunately, scientists currently predict a finite amount of materials in the universe. Thus economic models are basically flawed.
As to being close to the point of having everything you need...Parts of the U.S. can be compared to third world countries. Even in socialist netherlands there are people living on the streets and the Netherlands is in no way a poor country or a failed experiment.
I agree completely. As I understand it you are even required to spend 20% of your time on your own project. One of the smartest people I know will probably go to Google soon, so I don't think they have a problem with hiring.
As to spinoffs, sure maybe there will be some, which is a good thing too. However, if you get to work on your cool idea on company time, and get bonuses in relation to the succes of your project, why start up your own company. Do you want to become a manager who has to run a business, or do you want to play with your toys. Google works by making it profitable not to start your own company. Sure, you might not make 1 billion dollars with a brilliant idea, but who needs that much money? If google makes it that your brilliant idea earns you millions and does the boring admin and pays you to work on your next crackpot idea that may or may not work then why would you leave.
Police: Excuse me sir. We have witnesses saying you killed a number of elves. I'm afraid we're gonna have to take you in.
Char: But, it was a quest. I needed to do it to get this Cloak of HellaCoolness
Tax Collector: Ah yes, you seem to have forgotten to declare that Cloak. That's a 100000 gp item. Current tax rates, plus fines, plus late fees, you owe us 250000.
Finally the Horde and the Alliance find common cause to work together!
The test did not have the huge effect being claimed. I get the impression they base these, lies..er..damn lies...no wait...statistics on how well visited the test was, and not on any actual outcome.
The supposition that the test wil lead to extreme parties doesn't work either. At least, most people I know got results away from the extreme and towards the center. This despite the fact that none of them votes the center parties. I myself got results which made me extremely sceptical of the outcome of such a test.
However the test does promote discussionand thought. That had a great influence. The end results of the election still had a lot more to do with the way the parties campaigned and, of course, the actual events of the last couple of years (in the netherlands we still allow our political views to be influenced by reality *ducks and runs*;).
While Stemwijzer only took into account what the parties said they believed, kiescompass also allowed you to say what you thought of the parties (or at least their political leaders). Just because a party says they are for X doesnt mean you have to believe them. Some parties just have no credibility in my eyes, so no matter what they say I won't believe them.
I still read party programs and get informed. These tests encourage that by linking to the party sites.
There is a danger however. Stemwijzer didn't include all parties in their advice by default. Fringe parties that were predicted to win no seats were not included unless you chose to include them. While I don't think this had a great effect, I do think it could. There is no reason to not have included them. In this election that was an issue which probably helped some fringe parties by getting them media attention for not getting attention. In the future it could mean people automatically dismiss them. However, serious parties will still find a way to get their votes out.
Slashdot Mirror
First and foremost they want you to use their software, even if you steal it. Not only are you then a potential customer, but you're friends/family/colleagues will also be more likely to use MS. Also, they'd rather you steal their software then help the competition. Heck, they aren't allowed to give their software away for anti-trust reasons, so having it stolen is the next best thing.
The funny thing is that the article states that software theft is a major economic drain. I wonder how much of that is the needless effort put into protection schemes that don't work and lawyers to sue...well anyone for anything. This number will of course be far less than the amount estimated for lost sales..
Say rather that your comprehension of role playing games is rather narrow. Traditionally, role playing games have been exactly that, you take the role of a character. go play. Mind you this is not computer RPG. what we call computer RPG took basically only the statistics/war gaming aspect of rpg's and pretended like it was the same (which, sadly, for some people it is). Personally I always thought it was silly calling games like Larry an adventure while Bard Tale et al got to be RPG's.
Diablo is most definately a roguelike, not an adventure. An adventure focuses on puzzle solving and is story driven. Diablo is a go down to the dungeon and kill things to find the amulet of yendor game.
Mind you, the adventure market seems to have died a little...or perhaps crpgs have matured. The traditional split between adventure and rpg's (vis a vis computer games naturally) is all but gone. RPG's are now story driven and incorporate puzzles. They are more and more getting closer to table top role playing (allthough they still have lightyears to go).
Genres in general are of limited use. With racing games getting adventure/rpg like aspects, rpg's becoming adventures, first person shooter becoming rpgs, strategy and action all getting mixed up in one big package. When is it multi-genre and when do the old genre's lose meaning? Torment - and rpg, but story driven...so is it an adventure? GTA - a racing game...or was it a shooter? you get my point, I think.
So you write a song, I buy a recording and now I can sell it to anyone I want?
So you write a book...
Even more, I could claim all aforementioned work as my own, since you just said I can do anything with it I want.
Information is really easy to copy and it's difficult to say where the line is, but surely authors/composers/programmers have some rights to be compensated for their work. The question is how to implement it. I don't copy illegally (there may be some exceptions vis a vis abandonware) but I don't agree with the current definition of what is or isn't legal. I still try to stay on the right side of the law, while arguing for change, but that's beside the point. The point being you can't and shouldn't be allowed to do anything with something you've bought. You shouldn't be allowed to commit perjury, and you probably should compensate the original creator for their effort. I agree the DMCA is bs, but there is a need to create a viable system.
If nothing else it shows the disparity in purchasing power for (high end) consumer electronics or luxury products. Don't tell me the iPod is not a luxury product in your country.
IANAE, but I doubt most people here are either. As far as I read the article it isn't a serious index. OK the BBC article doesn't make this clear, which says something about the BBC. The CommSec article is clearer and perhaps some people here would've done good reading it before going of on a rant about how ridiculous it is.
In economics oftentimes you just have to try and track things to see what effect they have. You get weird correlations sometimes, and sometimes they are meaningful. Sunspot cycles seem to be correlated to economic cycles, and a friend of mine found a (weak) correlation between the weather in New York and the NYSE index. Does this prove anything? I don't have an answer. However economics is as much about weirdness as it is about math.
lol Point taken. No offense meant.
You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Ever heard of....rock? Paint on it, carve it, make big pictures on the ground. For long lasting storage, rock is unbeaten! Order your rock today, and we will throw in a free cave painting by one of our expert cavemen.
It's a good idea, but not original. I read the article, but couldn't force myself through the whole patent. Still, it sounds to me like they are trying to patent the idea of a time capsule, with the only difference being that they are talking about information in a more interactive form.
They aren't even trying to patent a specific technique, but the whole idea. From the patent application (all the way at the bottom which I did read):
What has been described above includes examples of the subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.So basically they are claiming that any system which in any way is similar to theirs is covered. Ok, par for the course. It still isn't very original, and doesn't deserve a patent.
What do they want to achieve anyway? Will you have to buy a renewable licensing scheme for accessing this information? Will it contain drm? Will sony end up owning your grandfathers immortal thoughts?
So what if I write an interactive information system as described, with the one difference is that I'm still alive, and I just want my genius available to my friends and family without actually having to talk to them. Does the system all of a sudden owe licensing costs to MS when I die?
This has to be one of silliest patent ideas I've seen. Of course, I haven't seen all that many and remain convinced that there are many more that are sillier.
What I don't understand...why do you need permission to talk to the authorities about a crime? Or isn't this a crime? IANAL , maybe this happens in other places. I just don't understand it.
Nor can you keep these people away from computers. Not only is that a nightmare to keep track of, there are so many legitimate reasons for using your computer that it isn't fair, even to sex offenders. In fact there will come a time (and that time is now in some places) that not having internet access will not allow you to function normally in regular society. In which case you might as well put these people in jail. Though I do believe pedophiles require special handling. What they do is repulsive even to hardened criminals. They deserve constant watching and restricted posibilities (like not getting a job teaching). They also deserve to show that they have changed, but I'm not sure complete rehabilitation is ever possible. Some crimes should have lifelong consequences.
naturally there is alot more, including cases where it is acceptable not to send a notification, but I don't think any apply here.
So basically, SMTP is defined as a reliable protocol which guarantees delivery or notification of failure. The days of unreliable e-mail no longer apply.
So, for great taste, go for the natural unhealthy fat, not for the chemically altered, really unhealth fat. Yes, that's what I was trying to say. The healthy nontransfatty oils are also less tasty.
Basically, if its good for you, it tastes bad. Except apples. I like apples.
Checking Wikipedia we find:
Plant-based hydrogenated vegetable oils are much less expensive than the animal fats traditionally favored by bakers, such as butter or lard, and may be more readily available or less expensive than semi-solid plant fats such as palm oil.
So taste appears to a factor.
now, I am tempted to say something rude in response to the tone of your message, but instead I will take the moral high ground in an arrogantly explicit fashion until a new king comes to push me off the hill.
For some reason slashdot requires the facts to be stated and restated in multiple posts without actually changing anyones opinion on anything (mostly because they read only what confirms their own worldview anyway).
You should applaud HP for this. They settled for a civil suit. not criminal, civil. They said they were wrong. They are making amends. They are instuting policies to not let it happen again. However much you trust the effectiveness is irrelevant. You keep an eye on them if you're that worried. They could've kept this in the courts for years, costing the state and themselves alot of money. Money which comes from taxes or product prices.
You can't keep making companies bad guys wether or not they try to do the right thing. Be mad when they do wrong, be happy when they do right.
my question for the cynics: If this is bad 'justice', what should've happened?
And all that without changing the way food tastes. wait, I get it now. You only eat at fast food restaurants. Considering that fast food has the least amount of taste possible, it's no wonder you don't notice the difference. This issue goes beyond the fast food industry however. It effects gourmet restaurants, bakeries, ice cream vendors... Playing the McD/KFC card only weakens your case. It adds nothing and thus dilutes your argument.
Try substituting anything at all for real butter, and I guarantee I can tell the difference. Due to dietary restrictions that some people I know have, I have experimented with various soya substitutes for dairy products. It tastes different. I like the real dairy taste better. I don't care that it is bad for me. Don't protect me against myself.
Hows that work then? If the pie gets bigger, your slice gets bigger sure, but not relative to everyone elses. You still get the same relative to others. Of course you could mean that when your economy grows someone elses shrinks, which means someone somewhere has less pie. Maybe you mean that the whole world economy grows thus there is so much more pie to go around. Current economic theory certainly seems to be based on unlimited growth. Unfortunately, scientists currently predict a finite amount of materials in the universe. Thus economic models are basically flawed. As to being close to the point of having everything you need...Parts of the U.S. can be compared to third world countries. Even in socialist netherlands there are people living on the streets and the Netherlands is in no way a poor country or a failed experiment.
You're damn tootin. That's why I read /.
I agree completely. As I understand it you are even required to spend 20% of your time on your own project. One of the smartest people I know will probably go to Google soon, so I don't think they have a problem with hiring. As to spinoffs, sure maybe there will be some, which is a good thing too. However, if you get to work on your cool idea on company time, and get bonuses in relation to the succes of your project, why start up your own company. Do you want to become a manager who has to run a business, or do you want to play with your toys. Google works by making it profitable not to start your own company. Sure, you might not make 1 billion dollars with a brilliant idea, but who needs that much money? If google makes it that your brilliant idea earns you millions and does the boring admin and pays you to work on your next crackpot idea that may or may not work then why would you leave.
LoL.
New class for the Horde: Tax Collector
New class for the Alliance: Police officer
Police: Excuse me sir. We have witnesses saying you killed a number of elves. I'm afraid we're gonna have to take you in.
Char: But, it was a quest. I needed to do it to get this Cloak of HellaCoolness
Tax Collector: Ah yes, you seem to have forgotten to declare that Cloak. That's a 100000 gp item. Current tax rates, plus fines, plus late fees, you owe us 250000.
Finally the Horde and the Alliance find common cause to work together!
The test did not have the huge effect being claimed. I get the impression they base these, lies..er..damn lies...no wait...statistics on how well visited the test was, and not on any actual outcome.
;).
The supposition that the test wil lead to extreme parties doesn't work either. At least, most people I know got results away from the extreme and towards the center. This despite the fact that none of them votes the center parties. I myself got results which made me extremely sceptical of the outcome of such a test.
However the test does promote discussionand thought. That had a great influence. The end results of the election still had a lot more to do with the way the parties campaigned and, of course, the actual events of the last couple of years (in the netherlands we still allow our political views to be influenced by reality *ducks and runs*
While Stemwijzer only took into account what the parties said they believed, kiescompass also allowed you to say what you thought of the parties (or at least their political leaders). Just because a party says they are for X doesnt mean you have to believe them. Some parties just have no credibility in my eyes, so no matter what they say I won't believe them.
I still read party programs and get informed. These tests encourage that by linking to the party sites.
There is a danger however. Stemwijzer didn't include all parties in their advice by default. Fringe parties that were predicted to win no seats were not included unless you chose to include them. While I don't think this had a great effect, I do think it could. There is no reason to not have included them. In this election that was an issue which probably helped some fringe parties by getting them media attention for not getting attention. In the future it could mean people automatically dismiss them. However, serious parties will still find a way to get their votes out.