Then you don't exist. And I don't exist to you, and any debate is meaningless.
Maybe that's something you enjoy, but I don't. So I would say to you, enjoy your anonymity, and contribute your meaningless comments.
A couple of things...
First, if the hostility, as you describe it, toward anonymous speech drives AC posters away, then I think those who are hostile will be pretty happy with that outcome, so I don't think you're going to sway many people with that logic.
I also don't think you can consider yourself part of the community if you don't take any ownership of your contributions. Part of the essence of an online community is knowing who is part of the community, their past contributions, their credibility over time. If you always post AC, that can't be evaluated.
Finally, how is having a username giving up your anonymity? Unless you tie it to your real name (as I do), it's just as anonymous as AC, with the exception that it allows people to evaluate your credibility based on your previous contributions. If, as you say, your contributions are logical and persuasive, there can't be harm in owning them in the limited sense that having a "handle" provides.
What if the socket/ratched company had a web site that published the locations, operating times, inventories, security system descriptions, etc., of car lots all over the country so that thieves who wanted to steal rims could do so easier and more successfully? Would he have a cause of action then?
Just to add another point -- the 5 hours of battery life is with Wi-Fi on and being used. On that long 10-hour flights that everyone seems to be taking, you won't have wi-fi. I don't know how much that will extend the battery life, but I imagine it's significant.
Jeff
The Wii appeals to people who wouldn't touch PC games, and given the physique of the typical PC gamer, I can see why it would be "fatiguing" -- I imagine most PC gamers, even if they have a Wii, aren't standing up to play it because that would be fatiguing too.
I find it interesting that you seem to be able to predict exactly what would happen in a hypothetical situation without offering any evidence as to why this might be so. I mean, I don't begrudge you your gut feelings, but they surely can't form the basis of an argument, can they? Can you point to an instance in which Microsoft collected personally identifiable information from a portable electronics device and 9,000 people screamed bloody murder? Or was that hyperbole, designed to prop up your non-existent point?
I agree. I read the full study, and it seems as though they counted errors that the user typed, but were corrected accurately by the phone. When typing on my phone, I use "im" for "I'm" every time because I know the phone will correct it. I also hit "o" a lot instead of "I" but I don't worry about it, because the phone always changes it to "I".
Anyway, the sample size was much too small and they don't say how long the subjects owned their phones, other than the iPhone users had owned their phones for at least a month -- if the owners of the Blackberries had owned theirs for significantly longer it could explain the difference. I've had my iPhone for about 3 months and I've noticed a significant increase in speed and accuracy.
They also don't appear to have normalized for whether the subjects were already "heavy texters".
There wasn't a transition between the Apple ][ and the Macintosh, because they were two completely different product lines. The Apple ][ continued on with new models for several years after the introduction of the Mac. My company had an Apple ][ CS and a Quadra 950 running at the same time.
Not really an appropriate analogy. Apple didn't send anybody over to crowbar your phone. Here's a better way to look at it:
Let's say you want to put a more efficient aftermarket carburetor on your car. To install the new equipment, you make a few modifications to the engine block. Some time later the dealer sends you a package with a new improved carburetor from the manufacturer. You can choose to throw the new equipment in the trash, but if you install it and the engine breaks because of the engine block modifications that you made, it can only be your fault.
Okay, I'll concede the point that it is *possible* to purchase something accidentally if you were to accidentally click the 1-click button and then within a second or so click another link on the page, and then not check your email for 90 minutes. Unlikely and probably rare, but possible and given the volume of transactions on Amazon, it has probably happened at least once.
However, I can't see how that translates to "dangerous and insane" as you originally opined. It seems far more likely for someone to charge their own credit card twice by clicking "sumbit" twice on any standard e-commerce site than accidentally purchasing something via 1-click.
I think it would be dangerous if it actually worked the way you describe it (I'm talking about normal Amazon purchases via 1-click -- I haven't used the MP3 store yet). When I click "Purchase Now with 1-click" I am taken to a page that very obviously informs me that I just purchased something, and gives me a clear method of canceling the order (within 90 minutes, which seems pretty reasonable). I find it hard to believe one could actually purchase something accidentally.
I just want to point out that Apple doesn't "come in" anywhere. They offer an update, which you have to deliberately accept by clicking a button which causes your computer to connect to their network. They are not updating your equipment without your knowledge or permission.
I'm thinking they will be quite different, since American's adaptation is based on a book by Lewis Carroll, called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and this story is about an adaptation of books written by L. Frank Baum, beginning with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
They found the forest very thick on this side, and it looked
dark and gloomy. After the Lion had rested they started along the
road of yellow brick, silently wondering, each in his own mind, if
ever they would come to the end of the woods and reach the bright
sunshine again. To add to their discomfort, they soon heard strange
noises in the depths of the forest, and the Lion whispered to them
that it was in this part of the country that the Kalidahs lived.
"What are the Kalidahs?" asked the girl.
"They are monstrous beasts with bodies like bears and heads
like tigers," replied the Lion, "and with claws so long and sharp
that they could tear me in two as easily as I could kill Toto.
I'm terribly afraid of the Kalidahs."
"I'm not surprised that you are," returned Dorothy.
"They must be dreadful beasts."
The Lion was about to reply when suddenly they came to another
gulf across the road. But this one was so broad and deep that the
Lion knew at once he could not leap across it.
So they sat down to consider what they should do, and after
serious thought the Scarecrow said:
"Here is a great tree, standing close to the ditch. If the
Tin Woodman can chop it down, so that it will fall to the other
side, we can walk across it easily."
"That is a first-rate idea," said the Lion. "One would almost
suspect you had brains in your head, instead of straw."
The Woodman set to work at once, and so sharp was his axe that
the tree was soon chopped nearly through. Then the Lion put his
strong front legs against the tree and pushed with all his might,
and slowly the big tree tipped and fell with a crash across the
ditch, with its top branches on the other side.
They had just started to cross this queer bridge when a sharp growl
made them all look up, and to their horror they saw running toward them
two great beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers.
"They are the Kalidahs!" said the Cowardly Lion, beginning to tremble.
"Quick!" cried the Scarecrow. "Let us cross over."
So Dorothy went first, holding Toto in her arms, the Tin
Woodman followed, and the Scarecrow came next. The Lion, although
he was certainly afraid, turned to face the Kalidahs, and then he
gave so loud and terrible a roar that Dorothy screamed and the
Scarecrow fell over backward, while even the fierce beasts stopped
short and looked at him in surprise.
But, seeing they were bigger than the Lion, and remembering
that there were two of them and only one of him, the Kalidahs
again rushed forward, and the Lion crossed over the tree and
turned to see what they would do next. Without stopping an
instant the fierce beasts also began to cross the tree.
And the Lion said to Dorothy:
"We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with
their sharp claws. But stand close behind me, and I will fight
them as long as I am alive."
"Wait a minute!" called the Scarecrow. He had been thinking
what was best to be done, and now he asked the Woodman to chop
away the end of the tree that rested on their side of the ditch.
The Tin Woodman began to use his axe at once, and, just as the two
Kalidahs were nearly across, the tree fell with a crash into the
gulf, carrying the ugly, snarling brutes with it, and both were
dashed to pieces on the sharp rocks at the bottom.
"Well," said the Cowardly Lion, drawing a long breath of
relief, "I see we are going to live a little while longer, and I
am glad of it, for it must be a very uncomfortable thing not to be
alive. Those creatures frightened me so badly that my heart is
beating yet."
"Ah," said the Tin Woodman sadly, "I wish I had a heart to beat."
I still have a series 1 Tivo with lifetime service -- got it in November of 2000. Paid $199 for lifetime service, and paid $249 for lifetime service on the Series 2 that I bought in 2004. They discontinued lifetime service offering last year.
Slashdot Mirror
Then you don't exist. And I don't exist to you, and any debate is meaningless. Maybe that's something you enjoy, but I don't. So I would say to you, enjoy your anonymity, and contribute your meaningless comments.
A couple of things... First, if the hostility, as you describe it, toward anonymous speech drives AC posters away, then I think those who are hostile will be pretty happy with that outcome, so I don't think you're going to sway many people with that logic. I also don't think you can consider yourself part of the community if you don't take any ownership of your contributions. Part of the essence of an online community is knowing who is part of the community, their past contributions, their credibility over time. If you always post AC, that can't be evaluated. Finally, how is having a username giving up your anonymity? Unless you tie it to your real name (as I do), it's just as anonymous as AC, with the exception that it allows people to evaluate your credibility based on your previous contributions. If, as you say, your contributions are logical and persuasive, there can't be harm in owning them in the limited sense that having a "handle" provides.
What if the socket/ratched company had a web site that published the locations, operating times, inventories, security system descriptions, etc., of car lots all over the country so that thieves who wanted to steal rims could do so easier and more successfully? Would he have a cause of action then?
Just to add another point -- the 5 hours of battery life is with Wi-Fi on and being used. On that long 10-hour flights that everyone seems to be taking, you won't have wi-fi. I don't know how much that will extend the battery life, but I imagine it's significant. Jeff
The Wii appeals to people who wouldn't touch PC games, and given the physique of the typical PC gamer, I can see why it would be "fatiguing" -- I imagine most PC gamers, even if they have a Wii, aren't standing up to play it because that would be fatiguing too.
I find it interesting that you seem to be able to predict exactly what would happen in a hypothetical situation without offering any evidence as to why this might be so. I mean, I don't begrudge you your gut feelings, but they surely can't form the basis of an argument, can they? Can you point to an instance in which Microsoft collected personally identifiable information from a portable electronics device and 9,000 people screamed bloody murder? Or was that hyperbole, designed to prop up your non-existent point?
I agree. I read the full study, and it seems as though they counted errors that the user typed, but were corrected accurately by the phone. When typing on my phone, I use "im" for "I'm" every time because I know the phone will correct it. I also hit "o" a lot instead of "I" but I don't worry about it, because the phone always changes it to "I". Anyway, the sample size was much too small and they don't say how long the subjects owned their phones, other than the iPhone users had owned their phones for at least a month -- if the owners of the Blackberries had owned theirs for significantly longer it could explain the difference. I've had my iPhone for about 3 months and I've noticed a significant increase in speed and accuracy. They also don't appear to have normalized for whether the subjects were already "heavy texters".
There wasn't a transition between the Apple ][ and the Macintosh, because they were two completely different product lines. The Apple ][ continued on with new models for several years after the introduction of the Mac. My company had an Apple ][ CS and a Quadra 950 running at the same time.
Well, it is a grave issue.
Not really an appropriate analogy. Apple didn't send anybody over to crowbar your phone. Here's a better way to look at it: Let's say you want to put a more efficient aftermarket carburetor on your car. To install the new equipment, you make a few modifications to the engine block. Some time later the dealer sends you a package with a new improved carburetor from the manufacturer. You can choose to throw the new equipment in the trash, but if you install it and the engine breaks because of the engine block modifications that you made, it can only be your fault.
Okay, I'll concede the point that it is *possible* to purchase something accidentally if you were to accidentally click the 1-click button and then within a second or so click another link on the page, and then not check your email for 90 minutes. Unlikely and probably rare, but possible and given the volume of transactions on Amazon, it has probably happened at least once. However, I can't see how that translates to "dangerous and insane" as you originally opined. It seems far more likely for someone to charge their own credit card twice by clicking "sumbit" twice on any standard e-commerce site than accidentally purchasing something via 1-click.
I think it would be dangerous if it actually worked the way you describe it (I'm talking about normal Amazon purchases via 1-click -- I haven't used the MP3 store yet). When I click "Purchase Now with 1-click" I am taken to a page that very obviously informs me that I just purchased something, and gives me a clear method of canceling the order (within 90 minutes, which seems pretty reasonable). I find it hard to believe one could actually purchase something accidentally.
I just want to point out that Apple doesn't "come in" anywhere. They offer an update, which you have to deliberately accept by clicking a button which causes your computer to connect to their network. They are not updating your equipment without your knowledge or permission.
I'm thinking they will be quite different, since American's adaptation is based on a book by Lewis Carroll, called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and this story is about an adaptation of books written by L. Frank Baum, beginning with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
They found the forest very thick on this side, and it looked dark and gloomy. After the Lion had rested they started along the road of yellow brick, silently wondering, each in his own mind, if ever they would come to the end of the woods and reach the bright sunshine again. To add to their discomfort, they soon heard strange noises in the depths of the forest, and the Lion whispered to them that it was in this part of the country that the Kalidahs lived.
"What are the Kalidahs?" asked the girl.
"They are monstrous beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers," replied the Lion, "and with claws so long and sharp that they could tear me in two as easily as I could kill Toto. I'm terribly afraid of the Kalidahs."
"I'm not surprised that you are," returned Dorothy. "They must be dreadful beasts."
The Lion was about to reply when suddenly they came to another gulf across the road. But this one was so broad and deep that the Lion knew at once he could not leap across it.
So they sat down to consider what they should do, and after serious thought the Scarecrow said:
"Here is a great tree, standing close to the ditch. If the Tin Woodman can chop it down, so that it will fall to the other side, we can walk across it easily."
"That is a first-rate idea," said the Lion. "One would almost suspect you had brains in your head, instead of straw."
The Woodman set to work at once, and so sharp was his axe that the tree was soon chopped nearly through. Then the Lion put his strong front legs against the tree and pushed with all his might, and slowly the big tree tipped and fell with a crash across the ditch, with its top branches on the other side.
They had just started to cross this queer bridge when a sharp growl made them all look up, and to their horror they saw running toward them two great beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers.
"They are the Kalidahs!" said the Cowardly Lion, beginning to tremble.
"Quick!" cried the Scarecrow. "Let us cross over."
So Dorothy went first, holding Toto in her arms, the Tin Woodman followed, and the Scarecrow came next. The Lion, although he was certainly afraid, turned to face the Kalidahs, and then he gave so loud and terrible a roar that Dorothy screamed and the Scarecrow fell over backward, while even the fierce beasts stopped short and looked at him in surprise.
But, seeing they were bigger than the Lion, and remembering that there were two of them and only one of him, the Kalidahs again rushed forward, and the Lion crossed over the tree and turned to see what they would do next. Without stopping an instant the fierce beasts also began to cross the tree. And the Lion said to Dorothy:
"We are lost, for they will surely tear us to pieces with their sharp claws. But stand close behind me, and I will fight them as long as I am alive."
"Wait a minute!" called the Scarecrow. He had been thinking what was best to be done, and now he asked the Woodman to chop away the end of the tree that rested on their side of the ditch. The Tin Woodman began to use his axe at once, and, just as the two Kalidahs were nearly across, the tree fell with a crash into the gulf, carrying the ugly, snarling brutes with it, and both were dashed to pieces on the sharp rocks at the bottom.
"Well," said the Cowardly Lion, drawing a long breath of relief, "I see we are going to live a little while longer, and I am glad of it, for it must be a very uncomfortable thing not to be alive. Those creatures frightened me so badly that my heart is beating yet."
"Ah," said the Tin Woodman sadly, "I wish I had a heart to beat."
I think I speak for the entire /. community when I say.... what?
I still have a series 1 Tivo with lifetime service -- got it in November of 2000. Paid $199 for lifetime service, and paid $249 for lifetime service on the Series 2 that I bought in 2004. They discontinued lifetime service offering last year.