Man have you missed something! Haven't you seen the "video" released after some years by the fed after confiscating ALL surveillance footage in the area- including footage that was shot from private property? The "video" consists of five frames, taken at a quite a distance. All you get to see is a whitish blur (claimed to be the nosecone of the incoming plane) and a fireball. It's only five frames, so the likelihood of tampering, enhancement, or outright fabrication isn't outside the realm of possibility, especially when you consider the mounds of unanswered questions surrounding 9/11 in general.
The books will be printed on paper that will turn dark after one year, rendering the printed material unusable. Rumor has it that this copy protection scheme can be defeated by drawing a line around the perimeter of each page using a black sharpie, but this has yet to be confirmed.
IF someone includes a link in their writing to what is supposed to be a specific item of interest, but cannot because of rulings such as this one, they're forced to leave a link to the home page of the web site instead. Does anyone honestly think users are going to waste their valuable time trying to locate the item of interest being referenced by the writer? When I'm confronted with these kinds of links, the very next click is on the "close" button.
Apple and Microsoft have PAID USABILITY EXPERTS who conduct studies, research- they have resources to figure this out.
Yes, I guess this explains wonderful little joys in the Windows OS like the Start menu, where you choose "Turn off Computer" in order to Restart the thing. A stroke interface brilliance....And don't even get me started on Linux on Embedded devices or in Aviation/Military- Horribly Insecure- and irresponsible.
Please do. Explain how embedded Linux is more insecure than Windows. Or, are you talking about how someone might have horribly munged an otherwise secure OS in a particular embedded implementation?
That way, if they want a raise, they have to improve the quality of life for all people.
I'd opine that if they want a raise, they can step down and find something that pays more. Serving our country as an elected representative used to be considered an honor, where one held office for a period of time and then exited gracefully at the end of their term. Now it's just another career choice for people who find satisfaction in back-room deals, pimping themselves to the highest bidder, and exercising control over their minions.
Holding them to the notion of "improving life for all people" smacks of communism. It's not the government's responsibility to improve the lives of people- at least directly. This is a responsibility that each person assumes as a member of a free society.
When clients like these sign on to the program, the Geek becomes expendable.
Sure...but only until some overpaid executive can't get his second yacht because of revenue shortfalls. This is only as permanent as there is money to be made.
Amazing...and yet it still continues. It's ironic how all this "innovation" has been allowed to plateau just so that entrenched interests can keep their spot as king of the hill.
What we should do is make sure that donation and grant money for nonprofit research is plentiful, and rely on them to solve our health problems.
Money can't do much when you have these same greed-driven monopolies controlling the means that *could* lead to cures. If they have a patent on a drug and some minor modifications could change it from a treatment to a cure, it's still not something the market will ever see, regardless of the source of funding or who is doing the research.
Another part of the problem is patent extensions- for some reason, the Big Pharma, Inc. is continually being allowed to work the system by extending patent on existing drugs- the whole system is broken. What we cannot do is expect the non-profit R&D sector to re-invent the wheel each time, which due to existing patents, is pretty much what they'd have to do. The question facing us is this: Do we care more about the health of our population, or do we care more about the profits of Big Pharma, Inc.?
I believe, that of all things, proprietary document formats should be illegal. If I endeavor to purchase a product to create something for myself, my business, or even someone else, it should not the vendor's choice as to how I must access that document at a later point in time. If I decide that it is no longer feasible to continue using the product (due to licensing, technical, or other considerations), I should be free to access my data with any other software of my choosing. The problem with proprietary formats is that they impose what I see as form ownership by proxy, whereby the owner of the software used to create the document has a sufficient degree of control over the documents themselves.
I'm running something far less substantial than you describe (Windows OS), and JEdit will load, with several files open, in a tad less than 15 seconds.
QA and support don't apply here - these apps already exist, have already been in distribution, and have already won awards and whatnot. Any support and/or QA issues are the sole responsibility of the developer- the one getting only 25%. It's not like MacHeist has any distribution costs, either, as the software is downloaded, and licenses are acquired through email.
Despite the health crisis facing the US where the number of obese people is steadily rising, nothing changes. Why? Bad habits. An over-reliance on Windows is no less a bad habit than ordering a super-sized meal for the fifth time in one week.
But it doesn't matter- the super-sized meal, even though, over the long term, is degrading my health, it works for me NOW...this second. The failure here is the inability or lack of motivation when it comes to looking past the immediately obvious. Moving beyond this will require a cultural shift, and those don't come easy.
That having been said, I think linux will continue to gain ground, albeit slowly. The "freedom disk" may find takers in a small number of cases, but I don't think it will have the degree of impact that some are hoping for.
The *only* way Microsoft could gain my respect is to realize that they are *a* player in the market, that customers have a right to their own information regardless of which software was used to produce it, and finally, they realize that vendor lock-in is evil.
The only thing that will come of the RealID program is that someone's friend will become very well off by providing whatever resources are needed for implementation. Of COURSE Mr. Chertoff is going to defend it - I expect he wants to avoid the fallout associated with a friend (and possible political ally) that wasn't given what was promised.
Anytime somebody tries to show me a code sample, the first thing I ask them is where they downloaded it from.
I can show you samples, and I can point you to exactly where I got them- hint: they aren't downloaded. While I'm sure there are those who would try to cheat their way through this, don't be so quick to judge- it's as bad as the fallacious thinking behind the four-year-degree syndrome. For those wondering where to get the samples...CODE THEM. Write a small app.
And someone finally had the sense to ask that question! That's the first thing that came to mind when I was reading the article. Maybe TIA (or whatever the fed is calling it these days) is selling subscriptions to all the data it is collecting illegally.
But in the years since, he has squandered it all. He has sucked up to the very President who had slurred him viciously here in South Carolina. He has cow-towed to the religious right. He has supported a war that he knew damn well was a bad move, for his own political ends. And, most telling of all, he caved-in on the one issue that I would have NEVER thought that he (of all people) would have caved on--torture of detainees.
Your comment engenders the very defniition of what it means to be a politician. In that sense, he's right on target. But we don't need more politicians, we need more leaders.
They know they'll be elsewhere in a few years, so why not plunder the company in the meantime?
Not only elsewhere in a few years, but elsewhere in a few years with a few million in their pocket, whether or not they provided any value. The whole golden parachute thing has really bastardized the notion of rewarding good leadership.
I completely agree with what you're saying, but it's amazing how many programming positions now require a CS in Computer Science. I guess it's just a simpler interface for the HR abstraction layer, albeit one that isn't very useful.
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Agreed. The whitehouse's continued attempts to pin the blame for 9/11 on a terrorist attack was full of holes from the very start.
Man have you missed something! Haven't you seen the "video" released after some years by the fed after confiscating ALL surveillance footage in the area- including footage that was shot from private property? The "video" consists of five frames, taken at a quite a distance. All you get to see is a whitish blur (claimed to be the nosecone of the incoming plane) and a fireball. It's only five frames, so the likelihood of tampering, enhancement, or outright fabrication isn't outside the realm of possibility, especially when you consider the mounds of unanswered questions surrounding 9/11 in general.
The books will be printed on paper that will turn dark after one year, rendering the printed material unusable. Rumor has it that this copy protection scheme can be defeated by drawing a line around the perimeter of each page using a black sharpie, but this has yet to be confirmed.
an elected representative is supposed to be the agent of the people in their electorate, and that includes acting to improve their lives.
And just how is this accomplished?
IF someone includes a link in their writing to what is supposed to be a specific item of interest, but cannot because of rulings such as this one, they're forced to leave a link to the home page of the web site instead. Does anyone honestly think users are going to waste their valuable time trying to locate the item of interest being referenced by the writer? When I'm confronted with these kinds of links, the very next click is on the "close" button.
Apple and Microsoft have PAID USABILITY EXPERTS who conduct studies, research- they have resources to figure this out.
...And don't even get me started on Linux on Embedded devices or in Aviation/Military- Horribly Insecure- and irresponsible.
Yes, I guess this explains wonderful little joys in the Windows OS like the Start menu, where you choose "Turn off Computer" in order to Restart the thing. A stroke interface brilliance.
Please do. Explain how embedded Linux is more insecure than Windows. Or, are you talking about how someone might have horribly munged an otherwise secure OS in a particular embedded implementation?
That way, if they want a raise, they have to improve the quality of life for all people.
I'd opine that if they want a raise, they can step down and find something that pays more. Serving our country as an elected representative used to be considered an honor, where one held office for a period of time and then exited gracefully at the end of their term. Now it's just another career choice for people who find satisfaction in back-room deals, pimping themselves to the highest bidder, and exercising control over their minions.
Holding them to the notion of "improving life for all people" smacks of communism. It's not the government's responsibility to improve the lives of people- at least directly. This is a responsibility that each person assumes as a member of a free society.
If anyone shows tendencies toward wanting to become a politician, they can be stopped long before they cause any damage. Problem solved.
When clients like these sign on to the program, the Geek becomes expendable.
Sure...but only until some overpaid executive can't get his second yacht because of revenue shortfalls. This is only as permanent as there is money to be made.
Amazing...and yet it still continues. It's ironic how all this "innovation" has been allowed to plateau just so that entrenched interests can keep their spot as king of the hill.
What we should do is make sure that donation and grant money for nonprofit research is plentiful, and rely on them to solve our health problems.
Money can't do much when you have these same greed-driven monopolies controlling the means that *could* lead to cures. If they have a patent on a drug and some minor modifications could change it from a treatment to a cure, it's still not something the market will ever see, regardless of the source of funding or who is doing the research.
Another part of the problem is patent extensions- for some reason, the Big Pharma, Inc. is continually being allowed to work the system by extending patent on existing drugs- the whole system is broken. What we cannot do is expect the non-profit R&D sector to re-invent the wheel each time, which due to existing patents, is pretty much what they'd have to do. The question facing us is this: Do we care more about the health of our population, or do we care more about the profits of Big Pharma, Inc.?
I believe, that of all things, proprietary document formats should be illegal. If I endeavor to purchase a product to create something for myself, my business, or even someone else, it should not the vendor's choice as to how I must access that document at a later point in time. If I decide that it is no longer feasible to continue using the product (due to licensing, technical, or other considerations), I should be free to access my data with any other software of my choosing. The problem with proprietary formats is that they impose what I see as form ownership by proxy, whereby the owner of the software used to create the document has a sufficient degree of control over the documents themselves.
Corporations have state records about who they are, and who their registered agents are.
And yet, we still have Enron...which some think was only the tip of the iceberg.
I'm running something far less substantial than you describe (Windows OS), and JEdit will load, with several files open, in a tad less than 15 seconds.
QA and support don't apply here - these apps already exist, have already been in distribution, and have already won awards and whatnot. Any support and/or QA issues are the sole responsibility of the developer- the one getting only 25%. It's not like MacHeist has any distribution costs, either, as the software is downloaded, and licenses are acquired through email.
How many of you who say there isn't a problem here, but speak out against the RIAA when it comes to music? I don't see any difference.
Despite the health crisis facing the US where the number of obese people is steadily rising, nothing changes. Why? Bad habits. An over-reliance on Windows is no less a bad habit than ordering a super-sized meal for the fifth time in one week.
But it doesn't matter- the super-sized meal, even though, over the long term, is degrading my health, it works for me NOW...this second. The failure here is the inability or lack of motivation when it comes to looking past the immediately obvious. Moving beyond this will require a cultural shift, and those don't come easy.
That having been said, I think linux will continue to gain ground, albeit slowly. The "freedom disk" may find takers in a small number of cases, but I don't think it will have the degree of impact that some are hoping for.
The *only* way Microsoft could gain my respect is to realize that they are *a* player in the market, that customers have a right to their own information regardless of which software was used to produce it, and finally, they realize that vendor lock-in is evil.
The only thing that will come of the RealID program is that someone's friend will become very well off by providing whatever resources are needed for implementation. Of COURSE Mr. Chertoff is going to defend it - I expect he wants to avoid the fallout associated with a friend (and possible political ally) that wasn't given what was promised.
They could have stated it in much simpler terms: Bend over!
Anytime somebody tries to show me a code sample, the first thing I ask them is where they downloaded it from.
I can show you samples, and I can point you to exactly where I got them- hint: they aren't downloaded. While I'm sure there are those who would try to cheat their way through this, don't be so quick to judge- it's as bad as the fallacious thinking behind the four-year-degree syndrome. For those wondering where to get the samples...CODE THEM. Write a small app.
And someone finally had the sense to ask that question! That's the first thing that came to mind when I was reading the article. Maybe TIA (or whatever the fed is calling it these days) is selling subscriptions to all the data it is collecting illegally.
But in the years since, he has squandered it all. He has sucked up to the very President who had slurred him viciously here in South Carolina. He has cow-towed to the religious right. He has supported a war that he knew damn well was a bad move, for his own political ends. And, most telling of all, he caved-in on the one issue that I would have NEVER thought that he (of all people) would have caved on--torture of detainees.
Your comment engenders the very defniition of what it means to be a politician. In that sense, he's right on target. But we don't need more politicians, we need more leaders.
They know they'll be elsewhere in a few years, so why not plunder the company in the meantime?
Not only elsewhere in a few years, but elsewhere in a few years with a few million in their pocket, whether or not they provided any value. The whole golden parachute thing has really bastardized the notion of rewarding good leadership.
I completely agree with what you're saying, but it's amazing how many programming positions now require a CS in Computer Science. I guess it's just a simpler interface for the HR abstraction layer, albeit one that isn't very useful.