Quiet computing? It's called a closet. As long as you don't mind getting up to insert a CD, just stick everything but the keyboard/mouse/monitor in a closet and shut the door. Make sure there's some way air can flow into and out of the closet you should be okay!
Is information not surrouned by animation and beautiful shadowed icons less valuable? Does a slick candy coating make a content-less website more compelling?
Does that flash animation really give your readers a more "complete web experience"? Do different fonts make your words more meaningful? Does the color of your text say anything about the message it contains?
Does a message have to stand out to be outstanding?
I'd like to see a few sources to your polls... I don't know many people who work with *nix systems (rather than just sitting there taking screenshots of their desktop all day) who care in the slightest about alpha-blending, anti-aliasing, or "windowed 3D"--whatever that is. A couple of the guys I know are hung up on smooth fonts, but it's usually considered a "would be nice" feature, rather than a "must-have".
In the future when we think ``computer'' we won't picture a big beige box under the desk with wires running all over the place, and another big box with a beam scanning back and forth across a piece of glass.
If Linux lost the desktop PC, that's fine, 'cause the days of the desktop PC dinosaurs are numbered.
The computers of the future are smaller, faster, and cheaper--Three words NOT in Microsoft's vocabulary.
Excellent post. You spelled it out pretty thoroughly. If you weren't already at five, I'd mod you up even more.
No one cares about "streeeeeaming video"!
Nobody cares about streaming anything.
People don't want to tie up their phone line by reading their email. They want to browse a few of their favorite sites and not sit there twiddling their thumbs while the (inevitably bloated with graphics) page loads.
Some people want to play a decent low-latency game of quake (though unfortunately many broadband providers seem to trade latency for bandwidth whenever possible).
If you are willing to go through a hefty background check and whatnot to ensure you are not associated with foriegn terrorist agencies than you can go and get the National ID CARD. You are no longer searched as heavily or treated as a terrorist. People who oppose this National ID card will be searched and questioned.
Yep, guilty until proven innocent. That's the New American Way.
I oppose giving our corporate government more ways of tracking my medical records, spending habits, and private life. I guess that makes me a potential terrorist.
I love it how whenever someone DARES suggest the USA isn't 100% perfect, he gets flamed to pieces for being ignorant, heartless, anti-american, etc. etc.
The parent poster has some good points. From the replys, it looks like some of us have been letting blind nationalism get out of control, and refuse to even look at both sides of the issue.
Bin Laden is a monster, but the USA should still examine its own foreign policy with regard to the middle east. Our involvement there has certainly angered lots of people.
What I want to know is what kind of programmer sunk so low as to agree to do this sort of stuff? The lack of ethics displayed by some dot-com programmers makes me ashamed to be part of the computer industry.
Well it's down to whether or not people (or corps) would invent new things without patent law. I say they would and you say they wouldn't, and we'll never really know for sure, because patents will be around as long as corporate interests control the world.
That's certainly the conventional (Slashdot) belief, but it's frankly not true. Patent attorneys will often work on a contingency basis if you have a real case. Prove it to me: Show me a patent that was filed by a little guy that was "smashed" by a big guy.
I was not implying that "little guys" who can actually afford the patent process are smashed by big companies. I'm talking about hugecompanies who can afford to build up patent war chests in order to intimidate competition from entering the market.
Sure, bad patents can be overturned one at a time, but this often requires lots of money and lawyers too.
(And here is my opportunity to be controversial): The only reason many Slashdotters are against patents is because they want to steal other people's ideas, not because they are worried about corporations stealing the little guy's ideas.
Not really controversial--this is the standard corporate party line. Actually, many of us belive that ideas cannot be owned, and thus cannot be stolen. It's no surprise our corporate government doesn't share this viewpoint.
That's delusional. Patents serve only to tip the scales to the party with the most money/lawyers. They might have been created to protect the small businessman, but all you have to do is open your eyes and see how they are really being used. Corporate interests own hundreds of thousands (millions?) of patents. What do you think they own them for? For someone called "Reality Master" you don't seem to have much of an understanding of reality.
This hurts the no-talents (Spears, etc.) that are basically ENGINEERED by media execs, and require a massive team of techies to put up the illusion of musical talent.
Real musicians that play in front of real people who appreciate their real talent should have no problem with mp3's. People still pay to experience live music.
I wish MY favorite bands would adopt the "play in real life" spirit that these other guys have. Unfortunately, I just don't dig on the Greatful Dead's or Phish's particular musical style, and they seem like the only ones that do consistant touring.
One point that isn't often brough up, is that while it may not be against the TOS to run a server, it _IS_ against the TOS to interfere with other's connections. The link to AT&T that slashdot provided above illustrates this.
If you're hosing Code Red, you're interfering with my (and others') connection!
I said it before, and I'll say it again: Find the people who are too stupid to admin their IIS servers and YANK their connections. Let the rest of us use our connections responsibly.
Sure, it sucks that port 80 is blocked, but as long as they use this time to identify the people aiding and abetting the Code Red worm, I'm all for it.
I've found a general rule that works pretty well when reading stuff linked from slashdot:
Never trust any writing that uses the word "consumers"
This writing is pro-corporate propaganda, written by and for corporate heads. Anyone who only thinks of me or anyone else as a "consumer" is pushing further the idea that people are numbers--whos only purpose is to contribute to the all-important corporation's bottom line.
Some people may think that this is the way things should be, but many do not.
Read the article again. Everytime he says that some quality of the Internet is bad, you should read it as "bad for corporations, but good for real people." Read it this way and you'll have an idea of what the article is really about.
Your analogies don't make sense. They lack the element of negligence.
A computer user passing a virus along to someone else is more akin to a driver drinking 10 beers and then crashing into someone else, in which case, his license will surely be revoked.
A pet that goes around biting other people will also certainly be put to sleep.
When you sign up with an ISP, you are making your machine a part of the Internet. If that machine does not play well with others (who are also paying for their access) it should not be allowed on the network.
Simple. If a customer's machine is responsible for further spreading a virus, worm, etc. the ISP should CANCEL the customer's account without a refund. People would be more responsible if irresponsibility affected their wallets.
I was totally unimpressed by FF. It felt like I was watching an hour-and-a-half long video game cutscene. Why is it that just because it's computer animated, we expect less from the story and characters? For once I totally agree with Katz.
In the last year many different sizes and styles of ads have been used to try to add more value to the advertiser. X10.com is simply using a new form of advertising. Please try to understand that this type of advertising is what keeps the Internet enjoyable as it pays for operational costs behind the sites you enjoy visiting for free.
Oh that's funny... The Internet has always been enjoyable to me. Long before people started advertising on the web.
These people are delusional. Do they really think they are keeping the Internet enjoyable by plastering it with pop-ups and banner ads?
True, the UK is swamped with cameras and other tracking devices, but their access is limited to the emergency services, and the government.
It's rather naive to belive this. Information that is available to someone, is available to someone else as long as there is enough money involved.
If government cameras could track abortion doctors do you REALLY think that various religious organizations wouldn't bribe their way into this information?
If government cameras could tell what books you were looking at in a public library, do you REALLY think that insurance companies wouldnt do anything to get this information (particularly if you were looking for books on cancer or AIDS)?
If government cameras could tell how hungry you were do you REALLY think McDonalds wouldnt pay BILLIONS for this information?
Even if it were possible to restrict this information to the government, do you really think your government is not corrupt? (hint: ALL governments are corrupt)
If you voted for "the other guy" then I guess it's fine if the government drags you out of work or out of your home and question you for 24 hours? After all, they will say it was because you "match the description" of a known criminal...
Slashdot Mirror
Quiet computing? It's called a closet. As long as you don't mind getting up to insert a CD, just stick everything but the keyboard/mouse/monitor in a closet and shut the door. Make sure there's some way air can flow into and out of the closet you should be okay!
What makes a web site boring? Informative?
Is information not surrouned by animation and beautiful shadowed icons less valuable? Does a slick candy coating make a content-less website more compelling?
Does that flash animation really give your readers a more "complete web experience"? Do different fonts make your words more meaningful? Does the color of your text say anything about the message it contains?
Does a message have to stand out to be outstanding?
Who's with me? I'd love to see M.U.L.E. brought back from the dead. What a great FUN game.
Unfortunately, I predict most of these attempts to re-create old games will be FOXed as soon as they get off the ground.
I'd like to see a few sources to your polls... I don't know many people who work with *nix systems (rather than just sitting there taking screenshots of their desktop all day) who care in the slightest about alpha-blending, anti-aliasing, or "windowed 3D"--whatever that is. A couple of the guys I know are hung up on smooth fonts, but it's usually considered a "would be nice" feature, rather than a "must-have".
Ten, twenty years?
In the future when we think ``computer'' we won't picture a big beige box under the desk with wires running all over the place, and another big box with a beam scanning back and forth across a piece of glass.
If Linux lost the desktop PC, that's fine, 'cause the days of the desktop PC dinosaurs are numbered.
The computers of the future are smaller, faster, and cheaper--Three words NOT in Microsoft's vocabulary.
Excellent post. You spelled it out pretty thoroughly. If you weren't already at five, I'd mod you up even more.
No one cares about "streeeeeaming video"!
Nobody cares about streaming anything.
People don't want to tie up their phone line by reading their email. They want to browse a few of their favorite sites and not sit there twiddling their thumbs while the (inevitably bloated with graphics) page loads.
Some people want to play a decent low-latency game of quake (though unfortunately many broadband providers seem to trade latency for bandwidth whenever possible).
If you are willing to go through a hefty background check and whatnot to ensure you are not associated with foriegn terrorist agencies than you can go and get the National ID CARD. You are no longer searched as heavily or treated as a terrorist. People who oppose this National ID card will be searched and questioned.
Yep, guilty until proven innocent. That's the New American Way.
I oppose giving our corporate government more ways of tracking my medical records, spending habits, and private life. I guess that makes me a potential terrorist.
I love it how whenever someone DARES suggest the USA isn't 100% perfect, he gets flamed to pieces for being ignorant, heartless, anti-american, etc. etc.
The parent poster has some good points. From the replys, it looks like some of us have been letting blind nationalism get out of control, and refuse to even look at both sides of the issue.
Bin Laden is a monster, but the USA should still examine its own foreign policy with regard to the middle east. Our involvement there has certainly angered lots of people.
What I want to know is what kind of programmer sunk so low as to agree to do this sort of stuff? The lack of ethics displayed by some dot-com programmers makes me ashamed to be part of the computer industry.
Well it's down to whether or not people (or corps) would invent new things without patent law. I say they would and you say they wouldn't, and we'll never really know for sure, because patents will be around as long as corporate interests control the world.
That's certainly the conventional (Slashdot) belief, but it's frankly not true. Patent attorneys will often work on a contingency basis if you have a real case. Prove it to me: Show me a patent that was filed by a little guy that was "smashed" by a big guy.
I was not implying that "little guys" who can actually afford the patent process are smashed by big companies. I'm talking about huge companies who can afford to build up patent war chests in order to intimidate competition from entering the market.
Not to mention the various groups of patents that have the capacity to hurt real people.
Sure, bad patents can be overturned one at a time, but this often requires lots of money and lawyers too.
(And here is my opportunity to be controversial): The only reason many Slashdotters are against patents is because they want to steal other people's ideas, not because they are worried about corporations stealing the little guy's ideas.
Not really controversial--this is the standard corporate party line. Actually, many of us belive that ideas cannot be owned, and thus cannot be stolen. It's no surprise our corporate government doesn't share this viewpoint.
That's delusional. Patents serve only to tip the scales to the party with the most money/lawyers. They might have been created to protect the small businessman, but all you have to do is open your eyes and see how they are really being used. Corporate interests own hundreds of thousands (millions?) of patents. What do you think they own them for? For someone called "Reality Master" you don't seem to have much of an understanding of reality.
You know what I mean... Jeez
Pay the musician directly!
This hurts the no-talents (Spears, etc.) that are basically ENGINEERED by media execs, and require a massive team of techies to put up the illusion of musical talent.
Real musicians that play in front of real people who appreciate their real talent should have no problem with mp3's. People still pay to experience live music.
I wish MY favorite bands would adopt the "play in real life" spirit that these other guys have. Unfortunately, I just don't dig on the Greatful Dead's or Phish's particular musical style, and they seem like the only ones that do consistant touring.
What, it's only censorship if the government is doing it?
One point that isn't often brough up, is that while it may not be against the TOS to run a server, it _IS_ against the TOS to interfere with other's connections. The link to AT&T that slashdot provided above illustrates this.
If you're hosing Code Red, you're interfering with my (and others') connection!
I said it before, and I'll say it again: Find the people who are too stupid to admin their IIS servers and YANK their connections. Let the rest of us use our connections responsibly.
Sure, it sucks that port 80 is blocked, but as long as they use this time to identify the people aiding and abetting the Code Red worm, I'm all for it.
I've found a general rule that works pretty well when reading stuff linked from slashdot:
Never trust any writing that uses the word "consumers"
This writing is pro-corporate propaganda, written by and for corporate heads. Anyone who only thinks of me or anyone else as a "consumer" is pushing further the idea that people are numbers--whos only purpose is to contribute to the all-important corporation's bottom line.
Some people may think that this is the way things should be, but many do not.
Read the article again. Everytime he says that some quality of the Internet is bad, you should read it as "bad for corporations, but good for real people." Read it this way and you'll have an idea of what the article is really about.
Your analogies don't make sense. They lack the element of negligence.
A computer user passing a virus along to someone else is more akin to a driver drinking 10 beers and then crashing into someone else, in which case, his license will surely be revoked.
A pet that goes around biting other people will also certainly be put to sleep.
When you sign up with an ISP, you are making your machine a part of the Internet. If that machine does not play well with others (who are also paying for their access) it should not be allowed on the network.
Simple. If a customer's machine is responsible for further spreading a virus, worm, etc. the ISP should CANCEL the customer's account without a refund. People would be more responsible if irresponsibility affected their wallets.
"Microsoft To Assist Ximian Produce Mono"
Am I the only one who looked at the headline and thought about Zero Wing?
I was totally unimpressed by FF. It felt like I was watching an hour-and-a-half long video game cutscene. Why is it that just because it's computer animated, we expect less from the story and characters? For once I totally agree with Katz.
10-15 decks? If your casino is playing with more than 6-7 decks go to a different casino!
In the last year many different sizes and styles of ads have been used to try to add more value to the advertiser. X10.com is simply using a new form of advertising. Please try to understand that this type of advertising is what keeps the Internet enjoyable as it pays for operational costs behind the sites you enjoy visiting for free.
Oh that's funny... The Internet has always been enjoyable to me. Long before people started advertising on the web.
These people are delusional. Do they really think they are keeping the Internet enjoyable by plastering it with pop-ups and banner ads?
True, the UK is swamped with cameras and other tracking devices, but their access is limited to the emergency services, and the government.
It's rather naive to belive this. Information that is available to someone, is available to someone else as long as there is enough money involved.
If government cameras could track abortion doctors do you REALLY think that various religious organizations wouldn't bribe their way into this information?
If government cameras could tell what books you were looking at in a public library, do you REALLY think that insurance companies wouldnt do anything to get this information (particularly if you were looking for books on cancer or AIDS)?
If government cameras could tell how hungry you were do you REALLY think McDonalds wouldnt pay BILLIONS for this information?
Even if it were possible to restrict this information to the government, do you really think your government is not corrupt? (hint: ALL governments are corrupt)
If you voted for "the other guy" then I guess it's fine if the government drags you out of work or out of your home and question you for 24 hours? After all, they will say it was because you "match the description" of a known criminal...
What you say!