I think this is just the 80/20 split. Almost everybody goes home and sleeps almost every night. For the vast majority of cases, taking your watch off to charge it once every three days is no better than taking your watch off to charge it every night. And the tradeoff to get to three days is either a) a battery three times larger, b) a watch that is three times more power efficient, or c) lesser capability. A three day battery life isn't worth the sacrifices you'd have to make to get it.
I don't want to charge a watch every night!!
Why? What's so much better about taking your watch off every three nights instead of every night?
Actually, something that you don't do every day (at the same time) you won't build a habit around. I kept forgetting to charge my Pebble and so didn't use it much for the first few months (well, to be honest, not really until iOS7 and better notification support) - one of the big reasons is I didn't have the habit of charging the device every night. So I'd forget on day 4, then day 6 it would run out of battery and stay unused until the weekend when I'd be like - why TF did i buy this thing?
Now I charge every night. And I use it every day - it helps me not miss calls (phone is always muted b/c meetings) or important texts (did you know that some daycare centers charge like $1/min for being late? If wife can't pick up the kids on time, I better not miss the call/text/voicemail).
You're confusing progress with "progress". There are many of us dying to get higher than 1920x1080 as the standard display types. I recently realised I have had 1200 vertical pixels on my computer display for 14 years now. It's quite sad.
You know you could just tilt your monitor (or use VESA mounts for the mountable ones). I've had my monitors in portrait side-by-side (two towers) at work for several years. Really great way to get very many pixels (roughly 4k, but 4.5:5 ratio - almost square). I only recommend getting good viewing angle screens, however - IPS preferred - as most monitors don't have good vertical angles (which become horizontal - terribly important).
"What part of this don't you understand? If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed. Comprende? We didn't claw our way to the top of the razor game by clinging to the two-blade industry standard. We got here by taking chances. Well, five blades is the biggest chance of all."
improving technology and the use of data across agencies
That is the exact opposite of what we need right now.
The NSA and the security industrial complex don't need stinking laws and the approval of the public to aggregate and track you. They're already doing it. I doubt this role will help them (or hinder them). What integrated data could provide is more effective programs and less paperwork, and possibly more data.gov APIs.
Worrying about the CTO "improving things the wrong way" is the same as worrying about sharing your bank password with your spouse while storing your password file in cleartext on a malware infested desktop.
and as first-strike weapons they would be very hard if not impossible to stop
No harder than ICBMs.
First-strike weaponry generally enables the crazy/unstable countries
Who aren't known for their adherence to treaty. We are extremely fortunate that development of nuclear weapons in the first place is hard enough that our current crop of crazy/unstable countries hasn't been able to develop them. I think it would be a terrible assumption to assume that anyone who does manage to do that, isn't going to try to develop delivery methods with continued disregard for international treaty as well.
The goal of removing nuclear weapons isn't the current lot of crazies that don't have power, but that crazies could get ahold of a currently "sane" country quite easily - including the USA. When power to destroy the world several thousands of times over exists, there will be those that want to use it - to everyone else's detriment.
While we shouldn't remove all the weaponry, removing most of it while keeping what's needed (maybe a bit more than needed) would be a good way to prevent
Then there's the issue of proliferation - the "Back to the Future" argument against stockpiling such atrocities-waiting-to-happen - by limiting nuclear stockpiles, you prevent "broken arrows" and the accompanying terrorist wet dreams.
Clearly it's a typo - the feature is that you automatically pay more for mobile data. I only wish I was kidding - remember, this is the same "CEO" that openly thought his users were "dumb fucks".
I started a shared data pool plan for my family and my brother's usage was estimated at about 2GB per month. A couple weeks into the billing cycle I checked usage and my brother had used MORE data than the other FIVE of us combined, and was on track to use over 5GB!
I was a bit disappointed originally that I wouldn't get shared data when I switch my extended family over from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint (seriously, all 3 other networks!), but I soon realized this was a huge boon - because T-Mobile doesn't charge overage for data - only steps down when you reach the limit (i.e., data limit is for "fast data" - i.e., LTE or 4G, but the 2G is unlimited). So my post-grad cousin who has erratic data usage doesn't impact my bill or my speeds. My bills never change month to month - been that way for over a year now, and it's an awesome feeling (remember having to try to parse a cell-phone bill wondering why we paid $130 this month and $80 last month for the same line).
Oh, and I'm spending the same on phone bills - except now I have 5 lines where I used to have 3, and all with better data and reception than before.
Lesson: don't trust shared data - it's makes each line on your plan a liability for increased data costs on your entire plan, all possibly due to a rogue app.
If they can get the real range up to 150 or 200 miles it will be vastly easier to own a car like the Leaf as your only car.
This. I commute several days a week nearly 40mi each way. While that is technically within the capabilities of the Leaf, and I do have a charging station at work... the problem comes with the fact that a) if the range drops off from the reasonable estimate (i.e., I drive much faster than 55mph or the car loses range with age) or b) if I don't get a charging spot at my work parking lot, then I'm at risk of being stranded on the highway.
Right now I drive a 10 year old Prius, which does OK for mileage (50mpg average). A Leaf or a Volt seem like lateral upgrades, while a Tesla is exactly what I'm slavering over. I just can't... justify the cost - my Prius while enviable 10 years ago - is still a souped up econobox type car, but it simply won't die. I fully expect it to last another 5-10 years. Hell, I haven't replaced my original brake pads,
The argument is at heart "Don't develop these weapons because they will be good at killing people and I personally am not smart enough to come up with a civilan use that doesn't kill people". It is the kind of idiocy that makes the military industrial complex laugh and call you names.
I think the big issue with these weapons is that they *will* become nuclear payload delivery systems, and as first-strike weapons they would be very hard if not impossible to stop (not that good defense industry $$ won't be spent trying). First-strike weaponry generally enables the crazy/unstable countries and their leaders to exert their will over the rest of the world, while not exactly providing much in terms of benefits to larger, more well nuclear established countries.
Banning this kind of testing isn't new - we did have a nuclear test ban for several decades [1]
You're in favor of the federal government enacting legislation that would determine how a company runs? We need less government oversight, not more... especially for something as ridiculous as this. If you can't be without your phone overnight, you have some issues. If it's that important.. YOU keep a spare on hand using YOUR money.
It's as simple as getting a $20 Jenny basic phone from Amazon, and possibly a $5 SIM adapter so your micro/nano sim can fit. I think it's a great insurance policy, and you can take the basic phone with you overseas to use with random sims (of course, with T-Mobile, you can still use your phone data-free,sms-free, and calls without usurious charges overseas too, but having a backup there is useful too).
I would imagine it is laying groundwork for tax inversion.
I already replied in this argument, but this is probably the most insightful comment I've seen on this story. Setting up a very good reason why they should relocate their HQ for tax purposes (i.e., privacy of their files) seems a good PR move to offset any public outcry.
Is it me, or does it almost seem easier to just buy a damn tablet for the car and leave it there?
The problem is, as is usually ignored by most/. geeks, interface. I already use my smartphone in a bracket on the car - and despite the tablet having larger touch surface, the problem is essentially the same - I want an interface with *big ass buttons* and voice control and preferably physical dials the the like - because I don't want to muck around with even a single more tap than needed.
Sure, I could replace my Prius console with a far more functional tablet, but unless it's designed to be used by a highly distracted user (i.e., Driver), it's neither safe nor fun to do so.
I took it on my europe trip - worked on every car I was in, and it's super-light, portable, and I stuck the metal plate to the *inside* of my case so not only is it not marring my phone, it's not even visible.
When the UX fails, the role of documentation is to be there to prevent the user from quitting in frustration (and turning to a competing product).
I do think a rich user community forum and/or wiki can supplant most of the need for documentation (e.g. most open-source projects), however, all features of a product should have some basic documentation (e.g.: command-line usage --help).
Extensive documentation adds a lot of "drag" to a product - this is both good and bad, but where doc can't be updated, the user should *at least* know how stale it is.
Apple's current approach seems to parallel what they're doing with iTunes which really favors the labels over the artists. What they should look at is, instead, creating a community for social discovery and interaction - in short, what Amazon has done a fairly good job of (all review systems have faults and can be gamed, but it's clear that the average App Store review is generally of a lower quality than your average Amazon product review).
While I do like seeing "featured" stuff, I also like seeing what others buy based on what I bought, and whether there are any reviews.
Part of this may revolve around making reviews more seamless [1] while also putting down the ban-hammer on apps that have fake/bought reviews.
Also, I'd suggest Apple also adopt a "return period" - they support this for some jurisdictions (S.Korea? HK? I forget).
Absent this kind of reform, the App Store is simply a device for pushing the interests of publishers, not developers, let alone users.
The trouble I can see with PDFLib is the stupid "per machine" licensing. Per machine licensing for a software library is ridiculous - the description of the license on their website pretty much rules out using it in any situation other than some sort of central PDF processing behemoth service.
Clearly you haven't dealt with Oracle's licensing, compared to that, PDFLib is highly liberal stuff. They even give you one machine free (dev box).
Your next supercar will be ugly as hitting your father with a sweaty sock, but really efficient because, as we all know, people buy supercars for their efficiency.
Let's turn it around - *some* or "a lot* of people who buy super cars (especially of the electric variety) buy cars for their efficiency (speed/mileage).
Notes: a) not all or nothing - a big enough niche where you dominate (and erect defenses from encroachment) will provide a solid business model and sustainable profits. b) speed requires efficiency, unless you plan on putting rocket fuel into your afterburner. c) I always thought dimples were sexy on a girl, why not a car?
Why is this comment rated so low? If anything, having such a politically invested person on the board of directors really does say something about Dropbox and their views on privacy and security (yes, I do think the same about Apple and Al Gore - his values did seem to align with the company's).
Ever since 1Password moved to iCloud sync, I've stopped using Dropbox for even stashing an encrypted file. For everything else there're more targeted cloud services.
If teachers' unions ever agree to let teachers be paid based on how good they are - rather than just by seniority - you might actually see more attractive salaries for good teachers. You might also see more bright people interested in taking up the profession if they knew they could make a better living doing so.
The problem is in the measuring of "good" - this is realistically best measured in terms of outcomes - i.e., the better a student does a the end of their scholastic engagement, the teachers involved should be rewarded. Problem: this takes long-term thinking and doesn't profit private interests.
Some teachers had a profound impact on my education. I spend the majority of my educational years in US schools, after immigrating here. The impact could not likely have been measured within the year. You would have to have looked at my performance at the end of several years, or my matriculation out of the school to accurately see what those experiences did for me.
However then you run into the problem that a similar students in similar classes with perhaps abusive home environments, or being unlucky enough to live in more dangerous neighborhoods (gangs, drugs) who might have completely different scores - so you'd need to also cross-correlate with socio-economic factors to get a true view (i.e., factoring out economic standing, and possibly more uncomfortable factors like ethnicity and type of household like single-income vs. dual, vs. single-parent, etc).
All this shit is hard. And doesn't profit those who want to cash in on the education cash cow. So it's never going to happen. But it should.
Most of these vans get less than 20-25 MPG, so an offering that gets 40 MPG city (or better) would surely be more compelling than a gimmick megaphone. Hey Toyota, about get your act together and bring your superior automotive technology to the USA instead of this kind of stuff.
I've been asking Toyota for years. That said, I finally caved and got a non-hybrid Sienna, and it gets about 20mpg combined average. I'd kill for that Estima to be sold here even if they did mark up for adding a hybrid drivetrain.
Yes, the kids love them and yes, they probably do have educational value... but look at the mission creep. The district becoming its own ISP next? Can of worms.
Public funding for education going into internet bandwidth for widgets... well, it takes a bridging argument to say that's a good thing.
How would you feel if the school district made money off this venture thereby lowering tax burden or removing the need for "school foundation" donation culture? I, for one, would love that.
Slashdot Mirror
I think this is just the 80/20 split. Almost everybody goes home and sleeps almost every night. For the vast majority of cases, taking your watch off to charge it once every three days is no better than taking your watch off to charge it every night. And the tradeoff to get to three days is either a) a battery three times larger, b) a watch that is three times more power efficient, or c) lesser capability. A three day battery life isn't worth the sacrifices you'd have to make to get it.
Why? What's so much better about taking your watch off every three nights instead of every night?
Actually, something that you don't do every day (at the same time) you won't build a habit around. I kept forgetting to charge my Pebble and so didn't use it much for the first few months (well, to be honest, not really until iOS7 and better notification support) - one of the big reasons is I didn't have the habit of charging the device every night. So I'd forget on day 4, then day 6 it would run out of battery and stay unused until the weekend when I'd be like - why TF did i buy this thing?
Now I charge every night. And I use it every day - it helps me not miss calls (phone is always muted b/c meetings) or important texts (did you know that some daycare centers charge like $1/min for being late? If wife can't pick up the kids on time, I better not miss the call/text/voicemail).
You're confusing progress with "progress". There are many of us dying to get higher than 1920x1080 as the standard display types. I recently realised I have had 1200 vertical pixels on my computer display for 14 years now. It's quite sad.
You know you could just tilt your monitor (or use VESA mounts for the mountable ones). I've had my monitors in portrait side-by-side (two towers) at work for several years. Really great way to get very many pixels (roughly 4k, but 4.5:5 ratio - almost square). I only recommend getting good viewing angle screens, however - IPS preferred - as most monitors don't have good vertical angles (which become horizontal - terribly important).
http://www.theonion.com/articl...
"What part of this don't you understand? If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed. Comprende? We didn't claw our way to the top of the razor game by clinging to the two-blade industry standard. We got here by taking chances. Well, five blades is the biggest chance of all."
improving technology and the use of data across agencies
That is the exact opposite of what we need right now.
The NSA and the security industrial complex don't need stinking laws and the approval of the public to aggregate and track you. They're already doing it. I doubt this role will help them (or hinder them). What integrated data could provide is more effective programs and less paperwork, and possibly more data.gov APIs.
Worrying about the CTO "improving things the wrong way" is the same as worrying about sharing your bank password with your spouse while storing your password file in cleartext on a malware infested desktop.
and as first-strike weapons they would be very hard if not impossible to stop
No harder than ICBMs.
First-strike weaponry generally enables the crazy/unstable countries
Who aren't known for their adherence to treaty. We are extremely fortunate that development of nuclear weapons in the first place is hard enough that our current crop of crazy/unstable countries hasn't been able to develop them. I think it would be a terrible assumption to assume that anyone who does manage to do that, isn't going to try to develop delivery methods with continued disregard for international treaty as well.
The goal of removing nuclear weapons isn't the current lot of crazies that don't have power, but that crazies could get ahold of a currently "sane" country quite easily - including the USA. When power to destroy the world several thousands of times over exists, there will be those that want to use it - to everyone else's detriment.
While we shouldn't remove all the weaponry, removing most of it while keeping what's needed (maybe a bit more than needed) would be a good way to prevent
Then there's the issue of proliferation - the "Back to the Future" argument against stockpiling such atrocities-waiting-to-happen - by limiting nuclear stockpiles, you prevent "broken arrows" and the accompanying terrorist wet dreams.
Clearly it's a typo - the feature is that you automatically pay more for mobile data. I only wish I was kidding - remember, this is the same "CEO" that openly thought his users were "dumb fucks".
I started a shared data pool plan for my family and my brother's usage was estimated at about 2GB per month. A couple weeks into the billing cycle I checked usage and my brother had used MORE data than the other FIVE of us combined, and was on track to use over 5GB!
I was a bit disappointed originally that I wouldn't get shared data when I switch my extended family over from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint (seriously, all 3 other networks!), but I soon realized this was a huge boon - because T-Mobile doesn't charge overage for data - only steps down when you reach the limit (i.e., data limit is for "fast data" - i.e., LTE or 4G, but the 2G is unlimited). So my post-grad cousin who has erratic data usage doesn't impact my bill or my speeds. My bills never change month to month - been that way for over a year now, and it's an awesome feeling (remember having to try to parse a cell-phone bill wondering why we paid $130 this month and $80 last month for the same line).
Oh, and I'm spending the same on phone bills - except now I have 5 lines where I used to have 3, and all with better data and reception than before.
Lesson: don't trust shared data - it's makes each line on your plan a liability for increased data costs on your entire plan, all possibly due to a rogue app.
If they can get the real range up to 150 or 200 miles it will be vastly easier to own a car like the Leaf as your only car.
This. I commute several days a week nearly 40mi each way. While that is technically within the capabilities of the Leaf, and I do have a charging station at work... the problem comes with the fact that a) if the range drops off from the reasonable estimate (i.e., I drive much faster than 55mph or the car loses range with age) or b) if I don't get a charging spot at my work parking lot, then I'm at risk of being stranded on the highway.
Right now I drive a 10 year old Prius, which does OK for mileage (50mpg average). A Leaf or a Volt seem like lateral upgrades, while a Tesla is exactly what I'm slavering over. I just can't ... justify the cost - my Prius while enviable 10 years ago - is still a souped up econobox type car, but it simply won't die. I fully expect it to last another 5-10 years. Hell, I haven't replaced my original brake pads,
The argument is at heart "Don't develop these weapons because they will be good at killing people and I personally am not smart enough to come up with a civilan use that doesn't kill people".
It is the kind of idiocy that makes the military industrial complex laugh and call you names.
I think the big issue with these weapons is that they *will* become nuclear payload delivery systems, and as first-strike weapons they would be very hard if not impossible to stop (not that good defense industry $$ won't be spent trying). First-strike weaponry generally enables the crazy/unstable countries and their leaders to exert their will over the rest of the world, while not exactly providing much in terms of benefits to larger, more well nuclear established countries.
Banning this kind of testing isn't new - we did have a nuclear test ban for several decades [1]
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...
Hell, that's less than 160 MegaParsecs. Not that much bigger than the already-cramped Virgo Supercluster at 33MPa. Still the name is quite nice.
You're in favor of the federal government enacting legislation that would determine how a company runs? We need less government oversight, not more... especially for something as ridiculous as this. If you can't be without your phone overnight, you have some issues. If it's that important.. YOU keep a spare on hand using YOUR money.
It's as simple as getting a $20 Jenny basic phone from Amazon, and possibly a $5 SIM adapter so your micro/nano sim can fit. I think it's a great insurance policy, and you can take the basic phone with you overseas to use with random sims (of course, with T-Mobile, you can still use your phone data-free,sms-free, and calls without usurious charges overseas too, but having a backup there is useful too).
I know for example that Apple uses broadcom chipsets and supports WPS (through Airport Utility) - are they vulnerable?
A known list of vulnerable routers would be very interesting.
I would imagine it is laying groundwork for tax inversion.
I already replied in this argument, but this is probably the most insightful comment I've seen on this story. Setting up a very good reason why they should relocate their HQ for tax purposes (i.e., privacy of their files) seems a good PR move to offset any public outcry.
The US legal system starts and ENDS at the US borders.
Microsoft is headquartered and incorporated in the US and thus subject to US law. QED.
Is it me, or does it almost seem easier to just buy a damn tablet for the car and leave it there?
The problem is, as is usually ignored by most /. geeks, interface. I already use my smartphone in a bracket on the car - and despite the tablet having larger touch surface, the problem is essentially the same - I want an interface with *big ass buttons* and voice control and preferably physical dials the the like - because I don't want to muck around with even a single more tap than needed.
Sure, I could replace my Prius console with a far more functional tablet, but unless it's designed to be used by a highly distracted user (i.e., Driver), it's neither safe nor fun to do so.
Regarding mounts - this has been absolutely awesome - and even works with my iPad mini:
http://www.mountek.com/press/2...
I took it on my europe trip - worked on every car I was in, and it's super-light, portable, and I stuck the metal plate to the *inside* of my case so not only is it not marring my phone, it's not even visible.
There are other brands that target the same space apparently, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Why should THE MAN want to brick your phone, when instead they can just track you - that's what they want - then they can brick *you* as needed.
No one reads documentation.
When the UX fails, the role of documentation is to be there to prevent the user from quitting in frustration (and turning to a competing product).
I do think a rich user community forum and/or wiki can supplant most of the need for documentation (e.g. most open-source projects), however, all features of a product should have some basic documentation (e.g.: command-line usage --help).
Extensive documentation adds a lot of "drag" to a product - this is both good and bad, but where doc can't be updated, the user should *at least* know how stale it is.
Apple's current approach seems to parallel what they're doing with iTunes which really favors the labels over the artists. What they should look at is, instead, creating a community for social discovery and interaction - in short, what Amazon has done a fairly good job of (all review systems have faults and can be gamed, but it's clear that the average App Store review is generally of a lower quality than your average Amazon product review).
While I do like seeing "featured" stuff, I also like seeing what others buy based on what I bought, and whether there are any reviews.
Part of this may revolve around making reviews more seamless [1] while also putting down the ban-hammer on apps that have fake/bought reviews.
Also, I'd suggest Apple also adopt a "return period" - they support this for some jurisdictions (S.Korea? HK? I forget).
Absent this kind of reform, the App Store is simply a device for pushing the interests of publishers, not developers, let alone users.
[1] https://medium.com/@hliriani/r...
The trouble I can see with PDFLib is the stupid "per machine" licensing. Per machine licensing for a software library is ridiculous - the description of the license on their website pretty much rules out using it in any situation other than some sort of central PDF processing behemoth service.
Clearly you haven't dealt with Oracle's licensing, compared to that, PDFLib is highly liberal stuff. They even give you one machine free (dev box).
Your next supercar will be ugly as hitting your father with a sweaty sock, but really efficient because, as we all know, people buy supercars for their efficiency.
Let's turn it around - *some* or "a lot* of people who buy super cars (especially of the electric variety) buy cars for their efficiency (speed/mileage).
Notes:
a) not all or nothing - a big enough niche where you dominate (and erect defenses from encroachment) will provide a solid business model and sustainable profits.
b) speed requires efficiency, unless you plan on putting rocket fuel into your afterburner.
c) I always thought dimples were sexy on a girl, why not a car?
Why is this comment rated so low? If anything, having such a politically invested person on the board of directors really does say something about Dropbox and their views on privacy and security (yes, I do think the same about Apple and Al Gore - his values did seem to align with the company's).
Ever since 1Password moved to iCloud sync, I've stopped using Dropbox for even stashing an encrypted file. For everything else there're more targeted cloud services.
If teachers' unions ever agree to let teachers be paid based on how good they are - rather than just by seniority - you might actually see more attractive salaries for good teachers. You might also see more bright people interested in taking up the profession if they knew they could make a better living doing so.
The problem is in the measuring of "good" - this is realistically best measured in terms of outcomes - i.e., the better a student does a the end of their scholastic engagement, the teachers involved should be rewarded. Problem: this takes long-term thinking and doesn't profit private interests.
Some teachers had a profound impact on my education. I spend the majority of my educational years in US schools, after immigrating here. The impact could not likely have been measured within the year. You would have to have looked at my performance at the end of several years, or my matriculation out of the school to accurately see what those experiences did for me.
However then you run into the problem that a similar students in similar classes with perhaps abusive home environments, or being unlucky enough to live in more dangerous neighborhoods (gangs, drugs) who might have completely different scores - so you'd need to also cross-correlate with socio-economic factors to get a true view (i.e., factoring out economic standing, and possibly more uncomfortable factors like ethnicity and type of household like single-income vs. dual, vs. single-parent, etc).
All this shit is hard. And doesn't profit those who want to cash in on the education cash cow. So it's never going to happen. But it should.
So Rick is only going to give you up after a Factory Data Reset?
The lyrics take on a whole new meaning with this exploit :)
In Japan, Toyota sells a hybrid minivan (the Estima) that uses the Prius drivetrain and is based off the (discontinued in the states) Previa styling:
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/11/07/toyota-estima-hybrid-minivan/
Most of these vans get less than 20-25 MPG, so an offering that gets 40 MPG city (or better) would surely be more compelling than a gimmick megaphone. Hey Toyota, about get your act together and bring your superior automotive technology to the USA instead of this kind of stuff.
I've been asking Toyota for years. That said, I finally caved and got a non-hybrid Sienna, and it gets about 20mpg combined average. I'd kill for that Estima to be sold here even if they did mark up for adding a hybrid drivetrain.
Yes, the kids love them and yes, they probably do have educational value... but look at the mission creep. The district becoming its own ISP next? Can of worms.
Public funding for education going into internet bandwidth for widgets... well, it takes a bridging argument to say that's a good thing.
How would you feel if the school district made money off this venture thereby lowering tax burden or removing the need for "school foundation" donation culture? I, for one, would love that.