The move follows the refusal of the provider of the new system to allow the commission examine the confidential "source code" without an assurance of substantial compensation should details of the computer programme fall into the hands of competitors.
This is hilarious - you'd think they invented water or something. Do they really think it's that difficult to add 1 to an existing number when an on-screen button is pressed?
Imagine a nice record of your voting history? That would seriously rock.
No, it wouldn't. Large data warehouses (or other organizations) cannot abuse data they do not have. If I want a record of my voting history, I'll keep one, but the last thing I think anyone needs is to be a target of arbitrary discrimination based on the fact that someone got ahold of this information (legally or otherwise), and used it to formulate a response - whether it be a quality of service issue, or something that's more substantive, like a job prospect.
But the result is an obcene over-valuation of the cost of their labor. I can see *skilled* workers getting paid for the academic and technical accumen they bring to the table, but by comparison, do you think that dock workers should me making the same amount? What about people working in an auto assembly plant, where more and more of the assembly process is automated? I'd argue that these people get paid FAR more than the market value of their contribution, but that's what unions do- they may help the "little guy," but they also result in artificially induced market imbalances that add quite a bit to the cost of products and services.
Re:Linux spreads it's wings, but not to the Deskto
on
Linux Spreads its Wings
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· Score: 2, Interesting
If a decent Desktop Linux Distro ever comes out that is loved by the first group I can see the second group griping about how much it takes control away from the user.
I'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive. There have been several times where I WISHED something would just "work" without having to dork with dependencies, the odd compilation error, or somesuch. Even so, just because you have a layer that provides all the sugar coating, it's just that - sugar coating. As long as I as scrape as little or as much of it off as I want, I don't have a problem with a user-friendly desktop. That in my opinion, is the essence of a powerful OS.
Of all the non threatening social situations, I can't imagine a less threatening atmosphere than a church.
With the pretext, "Do this or you will burn in hell for eternity," some might consider it very threatening.
Re: Now all KDE devs have to do...
on
A Taste of Qt 4
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· Score: 1
...is think before implementing. Not all of them, of course, because there *is* some very decent software on the KDE/Qt side. Just the same, I *still* see things that leave me wondering, "What were they thinking?" My current pet peeve is the way that the Bookmarks menu in Konqueror is handled. If you have more items in the menu that will fit into a single column, instead of scrolling, it spills over into another column, blocking any menus to the right, and hijacking a good portion of the screen.
While I realize that there are several issues to contend with here, this, at least in my opinion, is not the answer. KDE/Qt is polished, and offers a great deal of flexibility. Even so, developers still need to use that flexibility wisely.
The later incarnations of Mozilla (Firefox) have done some nice things with their search function, both for the history and browsing in general. Why would anyone want to entertain the notion of using beacon software like the Amazon toolbar? Of course, I don't buy anything from Amazon, so maybe that's another reason this isn't a big issue for me. So far, my favorite online book vendor is nerdbooks.com- nice people, great service, and NO SPYING.
I don't have a problem with the C++ part, but I do have a problem with the implementation - it seems like the interface was designed around the programming, rather than the other way around. No where else have I see a "bend" function, and a "bender" object. This duality permeates much of the functionality, and I just can't seem to figure out why the distinction is even necessary.
Burn enough refrigerant, or just teflon in an open flame, and you will die.
I saw a news report about this, and it doesn't even require an open flame or "ruining" a pan - according to the reporter, all it requires is the same level of heat you'd use to fry bacon.
My professor is working on a book that uses Ethereal to study networks, but provides all the relevant captures and such to keep students from running traces on active networks.
Bah...running traces on live networks is MUCH more fun (albeit for legitimate purposes). Tethereal and grep are an interesting combination as well.
Do you hear a loud sucking noise? That's the sound of a huge portion of Old Steel's revenue being swept into the pensions of retired workers. What company can compete when they have this kind of overhead to deal with- especially a fresh, new one without anywhere near the same burden?
We have a speeding problem down a major thoroughfare where I live. Instead of a brute-force approach, the police department set up one of those programmable road constructions signs, reminding people of the speed limit, and politely requesting that they slow down. I can say that it at least initially had some effect - the morning traffic has been a lot quieter due to the slower speeds.
If there are many of these units in deployment, what are the chances that they will begin to alter or somehow affect the normal flow of water beneath the surface? And what kind of effect will this have on the ecosystem?
Funny thing is, they're still monitoring US communications - they're just doing it by proxy. Making believe that they aren't monitoring US communications is just a game of semantics.
My biggest frustration is in convincing my higher-ups that when making UI decisions, ego (somebody just deciding that something is of no practical use, for example) is the wrong way to do it,
I understand this completely. In the past I have made that mistake myself, implementing something because either I thought it would be "neat", or because I mistunderstood how a particular function would be applied. I am wiser now. I know that it is not I who should be directing the end user, but they who should be directing me (well, to the extent that what they want isn't going to create a disaster).
And I'm not meaning to say here that your statement was just an egotistical raving of a madman--actually, quite the contrary. I say things all the time about UI idioms ("Oh, that'll never fly") and then being proved completely wrong once users see it.
I didn't get that at all from your post. I think it boils to an honest admission that our ideas aren't always good ideas, and that we need to make a greater effort to test their viability before they are implemented.
The Linux desktop environment projects have issues equally as inibitive as the one described above, but rather than being financially oriented, their problems are more about ego and (with the exception of some of the KDE guys) a complete misunderstanding of what HCI is all about.
I can't help but wonder if this is the case with the decision to make the scrollbar thumb change size in proportion to the number/size of the content in a window or list. Maybe on its surface it might have appeared to be an interesting idea, but as far as practical use is concerned, there is none.
By your reasoning, enjoying anything of value without compensation is illegal.
You're way off the mark here.
Let's say I offer you something, and I say that you can have it and enjoy it, but I expected to be compensated. You decide that you're not going to pay me, and that you're going to take it anyway. How does this senario in any way equate to what you've just suggested?
Both are crimes, but theft is the illicit transfer of value from one person to another.
You just caught yourself up in your own argument. People want stuff because it has value. If it didn't have value, people wouldn't want it. Since people want music, music has value. Acquiring music illegally involves the enjoyment of that value by one party, without compensation to the other. I might agree that it is not a strict transfer of value the way that say, buying a car is, but it is the acquisition of value without paying for it. I personally don't see much difference between stealing a book, and stealing the value one gets from music that is acquired illegally.
The gentoo documentation is good, but it could use some improvement. My biggest complaint is that it includes the steps for several different architectures on the same page. This means that you have to read very carefully, lest you skip an instruction or two that apply to your particular situation, but aren't obvious because they're buried in a lot of other stuff that doesn't apply to you. I think it would be an improvement if they put the steps required for each archecture on a separate page - that way you know where you are, where you've been, and when you're ready to move to the next step.
Second, there is at least one place where bold text would have saved me days of trying to figure out why my system kept giving me kernel panics. The documentation should make a better effort to emphasize those items that can make this kind of difference.
I've played a couple of online games, and I totally understand what you're saying. In fact, if the level of intellect in the Battle.net chat channels is any indication, it might be a real problem. I'm hoping though, that there will be some balance - I usually play these kinds of games with a good friend of mine, and we have a good time. We'll see how this pans out.
Personally, I prefer gaming on the PC. But as I was reading through some of the posts, something dawned on me...the only time I boot Windows is to play games. If I bought a console, I could re-purpose my Windows drive to a second Linux drive. Then it's Bye Bye Billy.
The notion of re-use is good from an economic perspective, and in some ways, it might even be good from a gamer's point of view. But I'm as interested in the gameplay as I am in the degree to which the game is immersive- the more it can draw me into what's going on (awesome graphics, good animation, etc.), at least in my book, that's a positive part of the experience.
Many people are awaiting the release of World of Warcraft (me being one of them). The huge worlds inherent in these kinds of games impose certain limitations on their design - namely the poly counts used to model characters, the level of detail of certain kinds of effects (or the absence thereof), etc. The downside to re-use is that it may prolong these limitations.
Yes, new, cutting edge graphics cards are expensive. But the technology eventually migrates downward, and I'd rather see this, and a steady progression in the quality and depth of the gaming experience, than any artificially-induced constraints imposed by re-using older technology.
Slashdot Mirror
The move follows the refusal of the provider of the new system to allow the commission examine the confidential "source code" without an assurance of substantial compensation should details of the computer programme fall into the hands of competitors.
This is hilarious - you'd think they invented water or something. Do they really think it's that difficult to add 1 to an existing number when an on-screen button is pressed?
Imagine a nice record of your voting history? That would seriously rock.
No, it wouldn't. Large data warehouses (or other organizations) cannot abuse data they do not have. If I want a record of my voting history, I'll keep one, but the last thing I think anyone needs is to be a target of arbitrary discrimination based on the fact that someone got ahold of this information (legally or otherwise), and used it to formulate a response - whether it be a quality of service issue, or something that's more substantive, like a job prospect.
But the result is an obcene over-valuation of the cost of their labor. I can see *skilled* workers getting paid for the academic and technical accumen they bring to the table, but by comparison, do you think that dock workers should me making the same amount? What about people working in an auto assembly plant, where more and more of the assembly process is automated? I'd argue that these people get paid FAR more than the market value of their contribution, but that's what unions do- they may help the "little guy," but they also result in artificially induced market imbalances that add quite a bit to the cost of products and services.
If a decent Desktop Linux Distro ever comes out that is loved by the first group I can see the second group griping about how much it takes control away from the user.
I'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive. There have been several times where I WISHED something would just "work" without having to dork with dependencies, the odd compilation error, or somesuch. Even so, just because you have a layer that provides all the sugar coating, it's just that - sugar coating. As long as I as scrape as little or as much of it off as I want, I don't have a problem with a user-friendly desktop. That in my opinion, is the essence of a powerful OS.
Of all the non threatening social situations, I can't imagine a less threatening atmosphere than a church.
With the pretext, "Do this or you will burn in hell for eternity," some might consider it very threatening.
While I realize that there are several issues to contend with here, this, at least in my opinion, is not the answer. KDE/Qt is polished, and offers a great deal of flexibility. Even so, developers still need to use that flexibility wisely.
Pricing that (at least in my experience) will probably beat Amazon any day.
The later incarnations of Mozilla (Firefox) have done some nice things with their search function, both for the history and browsing in general. Why would anyone want to entertain the notion of using beacon software like the Amazon toolbar? Of course, I don't buy anything from Amazon, so maybe that's another reason this isn't a big issue for me. So far, my favorite online book vendor is nerdbooks.com- nice people, great service, and NO SPYING.
I don't have a problem with the C++ part, but I do have a problem with the implementation - it seems like the interface was designed around the programming, rather than the other way around. No where else have I see a "bend" function, and a "bender" object. This duality permeates much of the functionality, and I just can't seem to figure out why the distinction is even necessary.
Burn enough refrigerant, or just teflon in an open flame, and you will die.
I saw a news report about this, and it doesn't even require an open flame or "ruining" a pan - according to the reporter, all it requires is the same level of heat you'd use to fry bacon.
My professor is working on a book that uses Ethereal to study networks, but provides all the relevant captures and such to keep students from running traces on active networks.
Bah...running traces on live networks is MUCH more fun (albeit for legitimate purposes). Tethereal and grep are an interesting combination as well.
Do you hear a loud sucking noise? That's the sound of a huge portion of Old Steel's revenue being swept into the pensions of retired workers. What company can compete when they have this kind of overhead to deal with- especially a fresh, new one without anywhere near the same burden?
We have a speeding problem down a major thoroughfare where I live. Instead of a brute-force approach, the police department set up one of those programmable road constructions signs, reminding people of the speed limit, and politely requesting that they slow down. I can say that it at least initially had some effect - the morning traffic has been a lot quieter due to the slower speeds.
If there are many of these units in deployment, what are the chances that they will begin to alter or somehow affect the normal flow of water beneath the surface? And what kind of effect will this have on the ecosystem?
Funny thing is, they're still monitoring US communications - they're just doing it by proxy. Making believe that they aren't monitoring US communications is just a game of semantics.
My biggest frustration is in convincing my higher-ups that when making UI decisions, ego (somebody just deciding that something is of no practical use, for example) is the wrong way to do it,
I understand this completely. In the past I have made that mistake myself, implementing something because either I thought it would be "neat", or because I mistunderstood how a particular function would be applied. I am wiser now. I know that it is not I who should be directing the end user, but they who should be directing me (well, to the extent that what they want isn't going to create a disaster).
And I'm not meaning to say here that your statement was just an egotistical raving of a madman--actually, quite the contrary. I say things all the time about UI idioms ("Oh, that'll never fly") and then being proved completely wrong once users see it.
I didn't get that at all from your post. I think it boils to an honest admission that our ideas aren't always good ideas, and that we need to make a greater effort to test their viability before they are implemented.
The Linux desktop environment projects have issues equally as inibitive as the one described above, but rather than being financially oriented, their problems are more about ego and (with the exception of some of the KDE guys) a complete misunderstanding of what HCI is all about.
I can't help but wonder if this is the case with the decision to make the scrollbar thumb change size in proportion to the number/size of the content in a window or list. Maybe on its surface it might have appeared to be an interesting idea, but as far as practical use is concerned, there is none.
I watched it for 5 minutes and nothing changed.
By your reasoning, enjoying anything of value without compensation is illegal.
You're way off the mark here.
Let's say I offer you something, and I say that you can have it and enjoy it, but I expected to be compensated. You decide that you're not going to pay me, and that you're going to take it anyway. How does this senario in any way equate to what you've just suggested?
Both are crimes, but theft is the illicit transfer of value from one person to another.
You just caught yourself up in your own argument. People want stuff because it has value. If it didn't have value, people wouldn't want it. Since people want music, music has value. Acquiring music illegally involves the enjoyment of that value by one party, without compensation to the other. I might agree that it is not a strict transfer of value the way that say, buying a car is, but it is the acquisition of value without paying for it. I personally don't see much difference between stealing a book, and stealing the value one gets from music that is acquired illegally.
The gentoo documentation is good, but it could use some improvement. My biggest complaint is that it includes the steps for several different architectures on the same page. This means that you have to read very carefully, lest you skip an instruction or two that apply to your particular situation, but aren't obvious because they're buried in a lot of other stuff that doesn't apply to you. I think it would be an improvement if they put the steps required for each archecture on a separate page - that way you know where you are, where you've been, and when you're ready to move to the next step.
Second, there is at least one place where bold text would have saved me days of trying to figure out why my system kept giving me kernel panics. The documentation should make a better effort to emphasize those items that can make this kind of difference.
I've played a couple of online games, and I totally understand what you're saying. In fact, if the level of intellect in the Battle.net chat channels is any indication, it might be a real problem. I'm hoping though, that there will be some balance - I usually play these kinds of games with a good friend of mine, and we have a good time. We'll see how this pans out.
Personally, I prefer gaming on the PC. But as I was reading through some of the posts, something dawned on me...the only time I boot Windows is to play games. If I bought a console, I could re-purpose my Windows drive to a second Linux drive. Then it's Bye Bye Billy.
The notion of re-use is good from an economic perspective, and in some ways, it might even be good from a gamer's point of view. But I'm as interested in the gameplay as I am in the degree to which the game is immersive- the more it can draw me into what's going on (awesome graphics, good animation, etc.), at least in my book, that's a positive part of the experience.
Many people are awaiting the release of World of Warcraft (me being one of them). The huge worlds inherent in these kinds of games impose certain limitations on their design - namely the poly counts used to model characters, the level of detail of certain kinds of effects (or the absence thereof), etc. The downside to re-use is that it may prolong these limitations.
Yes, new, cutting edge graphics cards are expensive. But the technology eventually migrates downward, and I'd rather see this, and a steady progression in the quality and depth of the gaming experience, than any artificially-induced constraints imposed by re-using older technology.