The problem with patenting life is that it tends to do it's own thing. This leads to the legal equivalent of Dick Cheney kicking you out of your own home because his dog shat in your yard.
Life tends to contaminate it's surrounding environment. That's what it does. It tends to make "ownership" and even trickier prospect then ethereal things like "invention".
Some people like to say that the GPL is viral. Life is that way for real.
> if our education system required a class on morality instead
That's called ethics 101. It really wouldn't be a problem because it would not be limited to the idea that "God makes right". Although I could see the fundies getting their panties in a bunch again once the ethics class moves beyond that. Exposing the hellenic influences on Xianity might embarrass the Xian fundies too.
The problem isn't "fairness", it's having too much information. Fundies are afraid of heresy. They view it as a threat to their authoritarian approach to governance.
Teaching is the process of exposing people to ideas they may or may not choose to believe. It's INDOCTRINATION that is expected to be accepted without question and permanently alter the cult member.
The problem is that fundies have an authoritarian worldview. They apply this to all areas of scholarship including religion. That is why they get their panties in a bunch when they encounter "heresy".
If you're provider can tell, then you're probably doing it wrong.
A light duty server doesn't need a data center. It should also not be exposed to the world as a big fat "kick me" sign. Getting cut off from your ISP because they managed to find your server is really the least of your worries.
If it belongs at home, your ISP should never notice it.
> Time is also money and running on old hardware, things would take longer to run than running on newer stuff.
That's simply bullshit.
Requirements remain static and PC hardware is just not progressing that rapidly these days. That's why the mundanes are going goofy over tablets.
Compute time may increase but that doesn't ultimately matter because you aren't sitting there feeding it bits. Batch jobs tend to themselves regardless how long they run and user facing stuff remains USER bound whether your PC is shiny or new or whether it's 10 years old.
The "time is money" fallacy is only relevant if you happen to be waiting on the computer for some clearly absurd reason.
That's great. Trade people who work for you for people who don't work for you at all. They have their own boss and interests that completely conflict with yours. Unless you're really good a negotiating contracts with companies much larger than your own, you are likely just going to get screwed over.
Trade your IT department for one which is much larger and even less responsive that has a contractual firewall and a corporate air gap separating it from you.
He's doing the opposite of romanticizing education. He's reducing it to what it really is for most people "a rite of passage". It's a rite of passage necessary for geting a decent paying job with most companies. Your degree doesn't even have to necessarily have anything to do with your job.
If you wanted to "go lighter" with the CS degree, you could switch to the business college (depending on your institution) and diversify your education a bit. You could also focus more on fine arts or just plain switch to fine arts entirely.
Major in some sort of fine art and minor in CIS.
You will have fun getting past HR your first few times regardless.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that housing is governed by supply and demand as it relates to inelastic demand of non-luxury goods. IOW: you can't choose to live under a bridge. This means that EVERYONE needs to rent somewhere and there is only so much land to go around.
This is why it's cheaper to live in the middle of Ohio than it is London or Tokyo or Silicon Valley.
McMansions, where they are available tend to be cheaper than a shack in a popular high density urban area.
If they are just dogs on a leash then that's not good public policy. Our national immigration policy should not be about creating an underclass that can be abused and forced to work for less.
The 4 partition limit? Really? That's like something that only 1% of the 1% care about. All of your other examples are similarly completely unexciting.
BIOS may be ancient and ugly and still require you to [gasp] still use a keyboard but they don't seem to be bricking machines.
Quite. This sounds like a solution in search of a problem and users that actually care. On the other hand, it could break things horribly especially for those failsafe situations.
it sounds like yet another example for of change for it's own sake not driven by any actual end user requirements that is actually being done DESPITE end user objections.
They aren't PC problems. They weren't problems with the Mac and they aren't problems with Linux. Any solutions that you could apply to a crippled appliance can be applied equally well to a less crippled device.
Now that the fanboys have a new messiah, the Mac is no longer quite a spiffy as it used to be despite being a decent trade off of openness and information hiding.
The problem with the PC is that Apple couldn't sell any.
> Yes, many people will gladly limit their software options if it means no malware, third party updaters, intrusive programs, etc. The iPad's sales figures prove it.
Android sales say otherwise.
So do PC sales.
In truth, Microsoft could have introduced the first successful mass market tablet with MS-DOS if they had the vision and courage.
Others have noted how this doesn't look so good for Apple once you apply standards evenly.
No. Being under the control of the end user has EVERYTHING to do with the definition of a personal computer. It's the whole raison d'etre. The PC empowered individuals to do for themselves. This often occured in conflict with the same exact kind of central planning that characterizes Apple products.
You're just a wounded fanboy upset that his overpriced toy doesn't make him l33t or some similar nonsense.
> A calculator has no program storage into which the "person" who owns the device can store a method of "computing".
Don't be so sure. I know someone that managed to code a game on a programmable calculator.
Those old "word processors" also had games coded for them.
If the criteria is "can be hacked with enough effort", then a lot of devices qualify as a PC even if they aren't intended to be programmed or controlled by the end user.
My Blu-Ray player runs Linux. It even has a nice booklet with printed copies of the GPL and the LGPL and all of the projects that you can get source for (including LIRC).
The same goes for various TVs, cable tuners, home routers, and NAS storage devices.
You can jailbreak those too.
So are they PCs too? If they aren't then why does Apple product get to be special? They're all general purpose devices masquerading as appliances.
> There is nothing that could be done on an original IBM PC that cannot be done on tablets and smartphones today.
The P in PC stands for personal. That means that you can do whatever you like with it. It is a GENERAL PURPOSE device IN YOUR OWN CONTROL.
You can write the next killer app for the PC and you don't have to worry about anyone getting in your way. You don't have to worry about your company's IT department or Apple corp because you are in control.
That's not the model for tablets.
Tablets are more like game consoles.
It's not a PC because you aren't free to create your own code or the next visicalc or netscape.
Most people really don't care where they get their binaries. They just follow the rest of the herd. It doesn't matter if that herd is running MS-DOS or iPhones. People will take whatever is pushed at them. They will balk at ANY thing that costs more.
Most people are cheap lemmings.They will happily eat dirt because it's what's cheap and they may not even realize they are even eating dirt.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem with patenting life is that it tends to do it's own thing. This leads to the legal equivalent of Dick Cheney kicking you out of your own home because his dog shat in your yard.
Life tends to contaminate it's surrounding environment. That's what it does. It tends to make "ownership" and even trickier prospect then ethereal things like "invention".
Some people like to say that the GPL is viral. Life is that way for real.
> if our education system required a class on morality instead
That's called ethics 101. It really wouldn't be a problem because it would not be limited to the idea that "God makes right". Although I could see the fundies getting their panties in a bunch again once the ethics class moves beyond that. Exposing the hellenic influences on Xianity might embarrass the Xian fundies too.
The problem isn't "fairness", it's having too much information. Fundies are afraid of heresy. They view it as a threat to their authoritarian approach to governance.
You are confusing INDOCTRINATION and teaching.
Teaching is the process of exposing people to ideas they may or may not choose to believe. It's INDOCTRINATION that is expected to be accepted without question and permanently alter the cult member.
The problem is that fundies have an authoritarian worldview. They apply this to all areas of scholarship including religion. That is why they get their panties in a bunch when they encounter "heresy".
They are like "Bible Nazis".
A barely passable GPU can be had for $40.
A GPU for $100 may require special power connections than your current power supply can accomodate.
If you're provider can tell, then you're probably doing it wrong.
A light duty server doesn't need a data center. It should also not be exposed to the world as a big fat "kick me" sign. Getting cut off from your ISP because they managed to find your server is really the least of your worries.
If it belongs at home, your ISP should never notice it.
> Time is also money and running on old hardware, things would take longer to run than running on newer stuff.
That's simply bullshit.
Requirements remain static and PC hardware is just not progressing that rapidly these days. That's why the mundanes are going goofy over tablets.
Compute time may increase but that doesn't ultimately matter because you aren't sitting there feeding it bits. Batch jobs tend to themselves regardless how long they run and user facing stuff remains USER bound whether your PC is shiny or new or whether it's 10 years old.
The "time is money" fallacy is only relevant if you happen to be waiting on the computer for some clearly absurd reason.
That's great. Trade people who work for you for people who don't work for you at all. They have their own boss and interests that completely conflict with yours. Unless you're really good a negotiating contracts with companies much larger than your own, you are likely just going to get screwed over.
Trade your IT department for one which is much larger and even less responsive that has a contractual firewall and a corporate air gap separating it from you.
He's doing the opposite of romanticizing education. He's reducing it to what it really is for most people "a rite of passage". It's a rite of passage necessary for geting a decent paying job with most companies. Your degree doesn't even have to necessarily have anything to do with your job.
If you wanted to "go lighter" with the CS degree, you could switch to the business college (depending on your institution) and diversify your education a bit. You could also focus more on fine arts or just plain switch to fine arts entirely.
Major in some sort of fine art and minor in CIS.
You will have fun getting past HR your first few times regardless.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that housing is governed by supply and demand as it relates to inelastic demand of non-luxury goods. IOW: you can't choose to live under a bridge. This means that EVERYONE needs to rent somewhere and there is only so much land to go around.
This is why it's cheaper to live in the middle of Ohio than it is London or Tokyo or Silicon Valley.
McMansions, where they are available tend to be cheaper than a shack in a popular high density urban area.
Let them compete FAIRLY.
If they are just dogs on a leash then that's not good public policy. Our national immigration policy should not be about creating an underclass that can be abused and forced to work for less.
Green cards are OK. H1B Visas are not.
> And how many of your ancestors were the best?
My ancestors came here with no strings attached and weren't indentured servants.
People that are smart enough to be imported here today should be treated the same way.
The 4 partition limit? Really? That's like something that only 1% of the 1% care about. All of your other examples are similarly completely unexciting.
BIOS may be ancient and ugly and still require you to [gasp] still use a keyboard but they don't seem to be bricking machines.
You can revive an old Pentium or Sempron with much less than a dual GTX680.
Intel GPUs? Really?
Quite. This sounds like a solution in search of a problem and users that actually care. On the other hand, it could break things horribly especially for those failsafe situations.
it sounds like yet another example for of change for it's own sake not driven by any actual end user requirements that is actually being done DESPITE end user objections.
It seems like a perfect microsoftism.
> iTunes music is dorm free ...which is only relevant if you are stuck in an approach to your phone that predates any of the smartphones.
MP3's are so 90s.
That facility didn't even come into existence until decades after the plaform beceme a malware magnet.
Those are WINDOWS problems.
They aren't PC problems. They weren't problems with the Mac and they aren't problems with Linux. Any solutions that you could apply to a crippled appliance can be applied equally well to a less crippled device.
Now that the fanboys have a new messiah, the Mac is no longer quite a spiffy as it used to be despite being a decent trade off of openness and information hiding.
The problem with the PC is that Apple couldn't sell any.
> Yes, many people will gladly limit their software options if it means no malware, third party updaters, intrusive programs, etc. The iPad's sales figures prove it.
Android sales say otherwise.
So do PC sales.
In truth, Microsoft could have introduced the first successful mass market tablet with MS-DOS if they had the vision and courage.
Others have noted how this doesn't look so good for Apple once you apply standards evenly.
No. Being under the control of the end user has EVERYTHING to do with the definition of a personal computer. It's the whole raison d'etre. The PC empowered individuals to do for themselves. This often occured in conflict with the same exact kind of central planning that characterizes Apple products.
You're just a wounded fanboy upset that his overpriced toy doesn't make him l33t or some similar nonsense.
> A calculator has no program storage into which the "person" who owns the device can store a method of "computing".
Don't be so sure. I know someone that managed to code a game on a programmable calculator.
Those old "word processors" also had games coded for them.
If the criteria is "can be hacked with enough effort", then a lot of devices qualify as a PC even if they aren't intended to be programmed or controlled by the end user.
My Blu-Ray player runs Linux. It even has a nice booklet with printed copies of the GPL and the LGPL and all of the projects that you can get source for (including LIRC).
The same goes for various TVs, cable tuners, home routers, and NAS storage devices.
You can jailbreak those too.
So are they PCs too? If they aren't then why does Apple product get to be special? They're all general purpose devices masquerading as appliances.
> They let you touch the hardware just as much as a C64 did.
Really?
You must not understand either then if you really believe that.
> There is nothing that could be done on an original IBM PC that cannot be done on tablets and smartphones today.
The P in PC stands for personal. That means that you can do whatever you like with it. It is a GENERAL PURPOSE device IN YOUR OWN CONTROL.
You can write the next killer app for the PC and you don't have to worry about anyone getting in your way. You don't have to worry about your company's IT department or Apple corp because you are in control.
That's not the model for tablets.
Tablets are more like game consoles.
It's not a PC because you aren't free to create your own code or the next visicalc or netscape.
Calculators have microprocessors.
Your pad of paper alternative does not.
Yes it's absurd. That's the entire point. The original premise was absurd. Tablets aren't PCs. They're appliances.
Sauce for the goose...
Most people really don't care where they get their binaries. They just follow the rest of the herd. It doesn't matter if that herd is running MS-DOS or iPhones. People will take whatever is pushed at them. They will balk at ANY thing that costs more.
Most people are cheap lemmings.They will happily eat dirt because it's what's cheap and they may not even realize they are even eating dirt.