There's about fifty different ways my kid could quickly and brutally kill themselves or another person in my house, and there are no guns. I won't argue about the concern for safety; but I'm not sure there's a sensible reason to single out the risk from guns, when the staircase or powersaw represents a greater real danger.
Who even wants to be "protected" by these wild-west loons?
*raises hands*
I like living in places where the majority owns guns. It's safer. I don't own one myself, and probably never will, but not out of any opposition to gun ownership.
I got my first HDTV 4 years ago, how much longer are we supposed to wait for the laggards to catch up?
My SDTV is over 4 years old and will work for another decade. Why should I throw it out and buy a new one to catch up with an overeager minority of tech consumers?
Flamebait? Odd. It's possible that the OP is wrong, but it's not like he has no justification for thinking the way he does. I would be surprised if the EU didn't favor, by whatever means they have available, EU companies.
Or does it just reduce down to: EU fined Microsoft, so EU = good?
It was insightful because he pointed out a flaw in the GP's reasoning that the GP evidently wasn't aware of. Just because it was humorous, doesn't mean it wasn't insightful. Humor is a useful tool to illustrate such errors.
Pain free? have you ever heard of titles breaking, or that you have to pay for every add-on that PC users get free, or that you can't upgrade your hardware like a PC and constantly stay up to date?
I honestly don't mind buying a new game if I break it. That's the way it works with all my OTHER stuff.
Paying for add-ons is lame, and I don't do it. It's not deceptive, though, and takes no control away from me.
And I don't need to upgrade my hardware to stay up to date because that concept doesn't exist in the console world. A three year old 360 is no more out of date than a brand new 360. There's no games coming out that my console can't run; it's not slowly becoming obsoleted. I don't have to run and send in order to stay in place, like I do in the pc world.
I'm defending the consoles, but I like playing pc games, too. Less and less, though, because it's just a headache. People bitch about the 360's red-ring rate... I'd like to see stats on how many brand new gaming computers are running without serious problems three years later. (Not anecdotes. Stats.)
I've not heard a valid example of the US violating it. Remember, the Geneva conventions are primarily concerned with the treatment of uniformed members of national military forces (and includes definitions of such).
It also is only in force when engaged in war with another state that is also bound by the convention. Legally, at least; morally/politically is a different game, of course.
They can competitively play just fine; they just can't competitively play with PC owners. FPS for the console, the good ones, are constructed around the gamepad, and (here's the important part) are just as challenging and just as entertaining as FPS on the pc with a keyboard/mouse. It's only a problem when the two are mixed.
I think you'd see the same problem if a FPS allowed competition between, say, 360 and Wii owners. The Wii owners would decimate them, simply because of the control scheme.
Also, there are good reasons to think mutation occurs at different rates in different chromosomes and genes (in fact, I believe that's an established fact). It may not make any sense to extrapolate from the Y chromosome outward.
But it's DRM that has been completely inoffensive and pain-free. That's the difference. I don't have a problem with copy protection. I wouldn't mind nailed down DRM on my pc, if it simply stopped games from being copied. The problem with DRM on the pc is that it goes further than that... it tracks you, it breaks things, it modifies your setup, it takes away legitimate functionality, it hinders free development... It ends up being the Sony rootkit, which should have put some Sony execs in jail.
If DRM meant that I always had to put the Starcraft 2 dvd in my computer when I wanted to play it, and NO OTHER RESTRICTION, I might actually buy the game. Instead, DRM seems to mean 'contact Blizzard every game for permission to play. Here's my IP, battlenet ID, etc., etc...'.
Sigh. I'm sure console games will eventually go that route, though.
All Sony has done is reverted to the status quo for game consoles. The Wii and 360 don't allow Linux to be run. While Sony should be praised for including a (mostly gimped) linux option with the PS3, they shouldn't be condemned any more than Nintendo or Microsoft for not including it. I'm not a Sony fan at all.
There's FAR better things to criticize Sony about.
I agree. Firefox should use the more straightforward and common GUI standards for the platform it's on. In windows, that means a square window with min/max/close buttons exactly where they should be, a menu exactly where it should be with/file/edit/view/.../help/ entries, a toolbar below that, and content below that. That's the format that EVERY windows program should follow, unless that whole paradigm doesn't work for them for some reason (like a game).
This is why I can't use any media player other than Media Player Classic. Developers think that THEIR app is the special one that should have a 'revolutionary' new UI, which in reality is simply 'nonstandard'.
Ah, well. Firefox is highly themeable, so if they do crazy things, there'll be an add-on to fix it.
I really don't like capitalization in domain names. I kept on reading is as "US Aspending", and thought it was some sort of parody site. Yes, we're aspending a lot of money. Enough to make my head asplode.
Hell, given an either-or choice, I'd probably rather have a PS1 than a PS3. I'd DEFINITELY prefer a PS2 over a PS3. Over a 360, too... I'm an agnostic hater.
It doesn't change the fact that, of two people accused of committing similar crimes, the one who can raise sufficient money gets to leave jail. The one who can't, stays in jail until the trial is complete. I can think of no moral or ethical reason that should be allowed.
Relatedly, I'm fascinated and a little creeped out by viruses, infections, and parasites that modify the behavior of the host in order to spread further. This seems to be more prevalent in simpler animals (such as insects), but I can't help but believe it happens (more subtly) in humans. Even if it's just 'make you itch so you spread the infection' type behavior.
I would think that STDs, for instance, would benefit immensely from heightening their host's sex drive.
You're absolutely correct. Those weren't your passwords; you were just the caretaker of them. None of this would be a problem for Childs if he had behaved responsibly.
Refusal to divulge root passwords to those who shouldn't have them isn't a very good reason to throw someone in jail, even if it IS a city government network.
It also means that Childs reneged on that trust. Any sysadmin that keeps secret passwords, and won't divulge them to the actual owners, deserves at LEAST firing, and mostly likely a civil lawsuit. Criminal charges depend on the circumstances.
this is preposterous. basically they're condemning him for being arrogant while competent. he always stated that he was only refusing to hand out the passwords because he didn't trust the competence of the people that were still working there.
Which is, and SHOULD BE, illegal. Wasn't his network.
Slashdot Mirror
There's about fifty different ways my kid could quickly and brutally kill themselves or another person in my house, and there are no guns. I won't argue about the concern for safety; but I'm not sure there's a sensible reason to single out the risk from guns, when the staircase or powersaw represents a greater real danger.
Who even wants to be "protected" by these wild-west loons?
*raises hands*
I like living in places where the majority owns guns. It's safer. I don't own one myself, and probably never will, but not out of any opposition to gun ownership.
This isn't flamebait, obviously.
I got my first HDTV 4 years ago, how much longer are we supposed to wait for the laggards to catch up?
My SDTV is over 4 years old and will work for another decade. Why should I throw it out and buy a new one to catch up with an overeager minority of tech consumers?
Flamebait? Odd. It's possible that the OP is wrong, but it's not like he has no justification for thinking the way he does. I would be surprised if the EU didn't favor, by whatever means they have available, EU companies.
Or does it just reduce down to: EU fined Microsoft, so EU = good?
It was insightful because he pointed out a flaw in the GP's reasoning that the GP evidently wasn't aware of. Just because it was humorous, doesn't mean it wasn't insightful. Humor is a useful tool to illustrate such errors.
Pain free? have you ever heard of titles breaking, or that you have to pay for every add-on that PC users get free, or that you can't upgrade your hardware like a PC and constantly stay up to date?
I honestly don't mind buying a new game if I break it. That's the way it works with all my OTHER stuff.
Paying for add-ons is lame, and I don't do it. It's not deceptive, though, and takes no control away from me.
And I don't need to upgrade my hardware to stay up to date because that concept doesn't exist in the console world. A three year old 360 is no more out of date than a brand new 360. There's no games coming out that my console can't run; it's not slowly becoming obsoleted. I don't have to run and send in order to stay in place, like I do in the pc world.
I'm defending the consoles, but I like playing pc games, too. Less and less, though, because it's just a headache. People bitch about the 360's red-ring rate... I'd like to see stats on how many brand new gaming computers are running without serious problems three years later. (Not anecdotes. Stats.)
I've not heard a valid example of the US violating it. Remember, the Geneva conventions are primarily concerned with the treatment of uniformed members of national military forces (and includes definitions of such).
It also is only in force when engaged in war with another state that is also bound by the convention. Legally, at least; morally/politically is a different game, of course.
Firing at civilians is illegal too... but dropping a bomb on an enemy that is surrounded by a thousand civilians is perfectly fine.
Creating a blinding weapon is illegal. Creating a destructive weapon that may blind as an accidental side-effect is perfectly fine.
By 'perfectly fine', I mean within the terms of international agreements on the conduct of war.
What international convention is the US a party to, that it doesn't follow? Specifically?
And now is... pretty much SD.
They can competitively play just fine; they just can't competitively play with PC owners. FPS for the console, the good ones, are constructed around the gamepad, and (here's the important part) are just as challenging and just as entertaining as FPS on the pc with a keyboard/mouse. It's only a problem when the two are mixed.
I think you'd see the same problem if a FPS allowed competition between, say, 360 and Wii owners. The Wii owners would decimate them, simply because of the control scheme.
Also, there are good reasons to think mutation occurs at different rates in different chromosomes and genes (in fact, I believe that's an established fact). It may not make any sense to extrapolate from the Y chromosome outward.
But it's DRM that has been completely inoffensive and pain-free. That's the difference. I don't have a problem with copy protection. I wouldn't mind nailed down DRM on my pc, if it simply stopped games from being copied. The problem with DRM on the pc is that it goes further than that... it tracks you, it breaks things, it modifies your setup, it takes away legitimate functionality, it hinders free development... It ends up being the Sony rootkit, which should have put some Sony execs in jail.
If DRM meant that I always had to put the Starcraft 2 dvd in my computer when I wanted to play it, and NO OTHER RESTRICTION, I might actually buy the game. Instead, DRM seems to mean 'contact Blizzard every game for permission to play. Here's my IP, battlenet ID, etc., etc...'.
Sigh. I'm sure console games will eventually go that route, though.
All Sony has done is reverted to the status quo for game consoles. The Wii and 360 don't allow Linux to be run. While Sony should be praised for including a (mostly gimped) linux option with the PS3, they shouldn't be condemned any more than Nintendo or Microsoft for not including it. I'm not a Sony fan at all.
There's FAR better things to criticize Sony about.
I agree. Firefox should use the more straightforward and common GUI standards for the platform it's on. In windows, that means a square window with min/max/close buttons exactly where they should be, a menu exactly where it should be with /file/edit/view/.../help/ entries, a toolbar below that, and content below that. That's the format that EVERY windows program should follow, unless that whole paradigm doesn't work for them for some reason (like a game).
This is why I can't use any media player other than Media Player Classic. Developers think that THEIR app is the special one that should have a 'revolutionary' new UI, which in reality is simply 'nonstandard'.
Ah, well. Firefox is highly themeable, so if they do crazy things, there'll be an add-on to fix it.
I really don't like capitalization in domain names. I kept on reading is as "US Aspending", and thought it was some sort of parody site. Yes, we're aspending a lot of money. Enough to make my head asplode.
Hell, given an either-or choice, I'd probably rather have a PS1 than a PS3. I'd DEFINITELY prefer a PS2 over a PS3. Over a 360, too... I'm an agnostic hater.
I understand it completely.
It doesn't change the fact that, of two people accused of committing similar crimes, the one who can raise sufficient money gets to leave jail. The one who can't, stays in jail until the trial is complete. I can think of no moral or ethical reason that should be allowed.
Relatedly, I'm fascinated and a little creeped out by viruses, infections, and parasites that modify the behavior of the host in order to spread further. This seems to be more prevalent in simpler animals (such as insects), but I can't help but believe it happens (more subtly) in humans. Even if it's just 'make you itch so you spread the infection' type behavior.
I would think that STDs, for instance, would benefit immensely from heightening their host's sex drive.
You're absolutely correct. Those weren't your passwords; you were just the caretaker of them. None of this would be a problem for Childs if he had behaved responsibly.
Refusal to divulge root passwords to those who shouldn't have them isn't a very good reason to throw someone in jail, even if it IS a city government network.
It also means that Childs reneged on that trust. Any sysadmin that keeps secret passwords, and won't divulge them to the actual owners, deserves at LEAST firing, and mostly likely a civil lawsuit. Criminal charges depend on the circumstances.
this is preposterous. basically they're condemning him for being arrogant while competent. he always stated that he was only refusing to hand out the passwords because he didn't trust the competence of the people that were still working there.
Which is, and SHOULD BE, illegal. Wasn't his network.
The entire concept of 'bail' is ridiculous. Money paid should not have any effect on whether a person is in or out of jail.
I've been pretty skeptical of the usefulness of the ACID tests.
I now feel validated.