OK, first of all, I didn't use quite the correct wording. What i meant was that talking about the problems we and others have is not going to help much unless we act like we talk when we are faced with similar problems. Look at what happens in Britain: do you think people there like being watched on the street? Sure they can talk about how it makes them safer but ultimately anyone understands that in the long run it's a blow to their freedom. But do they act about it? Did the cameras install themselves, or are they watched by computers? No, those are all done by people who think they can only comply and that is a good start to a totalitarian government.
The same thing happened at our school, some new principal came around and starting checking everyone up for the smallest mistakes. There was a rumour that she will put cameras to watch us during breaks. Everyone was saying how this is awful but when we needed to say what we were thinking at the meetings nobody had the guts (yeah, that includes me).
This talk is great, people get to express ideas about what should be done, etc. but when we talk too much about it we tend to act less because you couldn't possibly rise and march for every story you see on slashdot.
Also, what you said about self protection also goes in there, the key to implementing a totalitarian government is small steps because people don't see the threat in the long run, and this happens in all the countries in one way or another.
About the Chinese being incapable of running a democratic country, that's not what I said (or at least meant). Of course they are capable but I really think it wouldn't be better for them as a people and as individuals, something which I think they know at least instinctively. I live in a ex-communist country and I can see that many older people don't like all the freedom, they liked it when they were told what to do and didn't have many responsibilities. The current government is half democratic and half ex-communists with democratic faces. If I ask the average man in my country they know who is bad and who is good but most say it's nothing we can do. That's how people think and until that changes (good luck!) these talks will only help up to a point.
PS. isn't 'rumour' the correct spelling? Firefox (or whatever checks the spelling in this box) thinks not.
I don't get it, why do westerners care about how free the Chinese are? It doesn't affect you at all, and talking about how everyone should be allowed to free speech and will isn't going to help the Chinese either.
When I visited China what impressed me was that they are extremely well organized. This is in close connection with the fact that there are 1 billion+ Chinese and the type of government they have.
I don't think the average Cho cares if he's heard by the public or not, or if he can view any website he wants (most of them don't have internet connections anyway), he wouldn't make much difference (because of the 10 digit population number) and if it would, there would be complete chaos in there.
Look what happens when all the idiots in Europe or the USA get equal rights to speech and thinking: Bush commands the USA, an illiterate shepherd becomes a party leader in my country (not a successful one but still...), astrologists get to be viewed as scientists and so on. Now think of the USA and Europe in a much smaller place with a lot fewer resources. It wouldn't work.
the main problem with the distros that try to be 'easy to use' is that they are usually new and don't have support for many devices or don't work well with them. that's why i find debian, ubuntu, red hat and the other popular distros more easy to use: you install it and it usually finds all your devices and makes use of them perfectly. it's the same thing that makes windows easy to use, extensive testing by developers and/or users. this is obviously going to happen for OSes that have a large user base. so, the only way to make a new successful distro (easy to use or not) is to fork or expand an already popular distro (or sponsor it with a lot of money).
i think it's completely useless because the patterns won't match all the time. that's the whole idea of user+pass: to verify your identity based on something that is in your head not on something physical. on the other hand it could be useful to tell you if someone else logged on and didn't have the same writing pattern you do. i would use that but i don't think it's reliable for authentication (except for those that want to brag to others about how linux is so great and all).
yeah, but it's not really a cover up. they just forced the comities to accept the standard with no fear of consequences (on M$) because they know there aren't going to be consequences whatever they do.
that's probably because of memory limitations. i have a nokia with 9.1 and it can multitask anything but if i open too many programs at once (for example a browser and a game) one of them gets closed (or gets a 'out of memory' error). also, it has some problems with multiple audio outputs at once.
i agree but i was trying to support the previous poster which wanted to say that numbers (the concept) cannot help you understand everything. you need words (more complex concepts like ideas, feelings, etc) for that. and yes, those don't help very much, but that is not my point any more:P
you can _encode_ text into numbers but the meaning of a sentence is still in the words. you could for example, learn to read hexadecimal ASCII codes just as fast as normal text but you would still see the words, not numbers. numbers wouldn't have meaning, words would.
i think that even computers can be assumed to be alive. they exist because we need them (therefore they have a purpose they fulfill), they can interact with us, they multiply (with our help of course). sure, they aren't aware of this, just as a plant is not aware of what's happening around but is still able to interact with the environment. i predict a future where robots will be the center of life and we are just inspiration to them (new code or something that helps them understand more) just like nature is an inspiration to us.
you have a good point. we might just be a link in the chain of evolution. since the planet is probably going to become unsuitable for 'green' life in time, the robots could be the only ones able to survive. maybe this is our purpose all along (that is to create the robots). sure, not a good thing for us, but if the robots do become more intelligent and capable than us, they are a normal step in evolution, hence better for life in general.
well i only play games on my mobile when i'm waiting for the bus or something. my point was that i tried some 3d racing games and some kind of 2d splinter cell clone but the only ones i actually feel like playing when i'm bored are a Zuma clone and 2 other simple games. maybe it's because i don't need to pay much attention or because i don't need time to understand how to play it. but i can't see why would anyone want to play a complex game on such a small screen and with those really bad controls.
nah, most games these days tend to focus on graphical and sound effects rather than playability. this trend is similar to the movies made en masse in Hollywood that have pretty good effects but lousy plots. most games i played on a mobile have low quality graphics but playability makes them worthwhile. what good is raytracing going to do if the game is hard to control or understand. many mobile devices don't have a good support for multiple keypresses at once.
then how do you explain your signature? software patents are just a way of enforcing IP laws. i am against them but only because the way they are implemented right now, they do more harm than good.
if amd dies wouldn't there be a problem with the fact that intel remains the only (major) cpu manufacturer? it would be really bad for the cpu evolution (unless some researchers invent some new type of cpu that is much better, in which case they would probably get bought by intel anyway).
So are you suggesting that America should just impose everyone what to do? Well actually that already happens, one country at a time (all in the name of the war on terrorism and other propaganda crap).
Slashdot Mirror
OK, first of all, I didn't use quite the correct wording. What i meant was that talking about the problems we and others have is not going to help much unless we act like we talk when we are faced with similar problems. Look at what happens in Britain: do you think people there like being watched on the street? Sure they can talk about how it makes them safer but ultimately anyone understands that in the long run it's a blow to their freedom. But do they act about it? Did the cameras install themselves, or are they watched by computers? No, those are all done by people who think they can only comply and that is a good start to a totalitarian government.
The same thing happened at our school, some new principal came around and starting checking everyone up for the smallest mistakes. There was a rumour that she will put cameras to watch us during breaks. Everyone was saying how this is awful but when we needed to say what we were thinking at the meetings nobody had the guts (yeah, that includes me).
This talk is great, people get to express ideas about what should be done, etc. but when we talk too much about it we tend to act less because you couldn't possibly rise and march for every story you see on slashdot.
Also, what you said about self protection also goes in there, the key to implementing a totalitarian government is small steps because people don't see the threat in the long run, and this happens in all the countries in one way or another.
About the Chinese being incapable of running a democratic country, that's not what I said (or at least meant). Of course they are capable but I really think it wouldn't be better for them as a people and as individuals, something which I think they know at least instinctively. I live in a ex-communist country and I can see that many older people don't like all the freedom, they liked it when they were told what to do and didn't have many responsibilities. The current government is half democratic and half ex-communists with democratic faces. If I ask the average man in my country they know who is bad and who is good but most say it's nothing we can do. That's how people think and until that changes (good luck!) these talks will only help up to a point.
PS. isn't 'rumour' the correct spelling? Firefox (or whatever checks the spelling in this box) thinks not.
I don't get it, why do westerners care about how free the Chinese are? It doesn't affect you at all, and talking about how everyone should be allowed to free speech and will isn't going to help the Chinese either.
When I visited China what impressed me was that they are extremely well organized. This is in close connection with the fact that there are 1 billion+ Chinese and the type of government they have.
I don't think the average Cho cares if he's heard by the public or not, or if he can view any website he wants (most of them don't have internet connections anyway), he wouldn't make much difference (because of the 10 digit population number) and if it would, there would be complete chaos in there.
Look what happens when all the idiots in Europe or the USA get equal rights to speech and thinking: Bush commands the USA, an illiterate shepherd becomes a party leader in my country (not a successful one but still...), astrologists get to be viewed as scientists and so on. Now think of the USA and Europe in a much smaller place with a lot fewer resources. It wouldn't work.
I would like that too... As long as it's debian or ubuntu the only one left :D. (not trying to start a flame war here, so please don't flame, hmk?)
Yeah, that was my point, Ubuntu.
the main problem with the distros that try to be 'easy to use' is that they are usually new and don't have support for many devices or don't work well with them. that's why i find debian, ubuntu, red hat and the other popular distros more easy to use: you install it and it usually finds all your devices and makes use of them perfectly. it's the same thing that makes windows easy to use, extensive testing by developers and/or users. this is obviously going to happen for OSes that have a large user base. so, the only way to make a new successful distro (easy to use or not) is to fork or expand an already popular distro (or sponsor it with a lot of money).
i think it's completely useless because the patterns won't match all the time. that's the whole idea of user+pass: to verify your identity based on something that is in your head not on something physical. on the other hand it could be useful to tell you if someone else logged on and didn't have the same writing pattern you do. i would use that but i don't think it's reliable for authentication (except for those that want to brag to others about how linux is so great and all).
yeah, but it's not really a cover up. they just forced the comities to accept the standard with no fear of consequences (on M$) because they know there aren't going to be consequences whatever they do.
that's probably because of memory limitations. i have a nokia with 9.1 and it can multitask anything but if i open too many programs at once (for example a browser and a game) one of them gets closed (or gets a 'out of memory' error). also, it has some problems with multiple audio outputs at once.
i agree but i was trying to support the previous poster which wanted to say that numbers (the concept) cannot help you understand everything. you need words (more complex concepts like ideas, feelings, etc) for that. and yes, those don't help very much, but that is not my point any more :P
you can _encode_ text into numbers but the meaning of a sentence is still in the words. you could for example, learn to read hexadecimal ASCII codes just as fast as normal text but you would still see the words, not numbers. numbers wouldn't have meaning, words would.
i think that even computers can be assumed to be alive. they exist because we need them (therefore they have a purpose they fulfill), they can interact with us, they multiply (with our help of course). sure, they aren't aware of this, just as a plant is not aware of what's happening around but is still able to interact with the environment. i predict a future where robots will be the center of life and we are just inspiration to them (new code or something that helps them understand more) just like nature is an inspiration to us.
you have a good point. we might just be a link in the chain of evolution. since the planet is probably going to become unsuitable for 'green' life in time, the robots could be the only ones able to survive. maybe this is our purpose all along (that is to create the robots). sure, not a good thing for us, but if the robots do become more intelligent and capable than us, they are a normal step in evolution, hence better for life in general.
well i only play games on my mobile when i'm waiting for the bus or something. my point was that i tried some 3d racing games and some kind of 2d splinter cell clone but the only ones i actually feel like playing when i'm bored are a Zuma clone and 2 other simple games. maybe it's because i don't need to pay much attention or because i don't need time to understand how to play it. but i can't see why would anyone want to play a complex game on such a small screen and with those really bad controls.
nah, most games these days tend to focus on graphical and sound effects rather than playability. this trend is similar to the movies made en masse in Hollywood that have pretty good effects but lousy plots. most games i played on a mobile have low quality graphics but playability makes them worthwhile. what good is raytracing going to do if the game is hard to control or understand. many mobile devices don't have a good support for multiple keypresses at once.
then how do you explain your signature? software patents are just a way of enforcing IP laws. i am against them but only because the way they are implemented right now, they do more harm than good.
if amd dies wouldn't there be a problem with the fact that intel remains the only (major) cpu manufacturer? it would be really bad for the cpu evolution (unless some researchers invent some new type of cpu that is much better, in which case they would probably get bought by intel anyway).
it's not theft. governments, studios, etc. should get over that. nothing is going to stop people from using/creating pirated content.
So are you suggesting that America should just impose everyone what to do? Well actually that already happens, one country at a time (all in the name of the war on terrorism and other propaganda crap).