Tech companies love "software as a service" because it is never paid for and provides them with an eternal revenue stream. You can buy the PC, but if you want to use it, you need to keep making payments to Microsoft forever. It also simplifies their service load because everyone has the same version of the system, getting gradual updates as time passes. They don't need to keep providing fixes and maintenance for Windows Vista, for example, because old releases don't exist in the service model. The benefits for users are a lot more sparse: We get steady updates, but we also get a wave of advertising and continuous reporting of our activities back to Mama Microsoft. I made the decision to just use Linux for everything a long time ago.
This substantial grant of money for undergraduate tuition aid will allow the university to raise their tuition and get more revenue. This will allow them to hire even more administrators and assistant deans of student diversity and such. A big win fro everyone. Especially the administrators.
A couple of years ago, climate scientists were insisting that climate change would cause more hurricanes, typhoons, and other serious storms as it progressed. This has largely been shown to be untrue, with the number of major storms remaining the same or slightly declining in recent years. So, in their relentless search to identify a global disaster that justifies their research grants, these same scientists are saying that the storms we are having are larger than before. Sorry, guys. Your credibility is at a low point and I will not believe this or any other disaster-mongering reports until there is a lot more evidence supporting them.
Once again, Apple is welding the hood of the car shut so that no one can touch the precious internals of the Apple machine that they supposedly purchased. What do they fear? You can't buy the thing without paying Apple for the operating system, and if you decide to change it to something else (like Linux, for example) they do not lose any revenue. The only thing they lose is their ironclad control over what their customers are allowed to do with the equipment they own. It stinks, and it is not new for them. It's the reason I have not used any Apple equipment for over 20 years.
The Google Chrome browser in my Android phone now prevents me from using any public WiFi that requires a login screen, as in an airport or a hotel. This has been profoundly irritating. I know that these hotspots are not safe and am willing to take responsibility for my own data. Having Google slamming the door on me in these situations makes me want to abandon them entirely, but it's like hating the government. There really is no alternative.
There is little doubt that Elon Musk is a maniac. But he is a driven maniac, and his auto company probably would not exist if not for his monomaniacal drive and promotion of it. There has been an entirely disproportionate amount of activity in the media over some questionable actions that may have affected the stock price at a relatively small company -- Tesla. I have no doubt that this is being driven at least partly by labor union interests, who have been desperately trying to unionize the Tesla factories for several years, and failing at it. And the media, now the most active arm of the Democrat party, is helping the unions in their activism.
While playing Tetris or any of the other endless video games of similar ilk, whether Tetris, or crushing candies or falling jewels, I find that they distract me from current concerns, as the psychologists noted. But they induce a stress of their own that steadily increases as the game continues, relentlessly and endlessly.
When technology is new, the devices get noticeably better with each new generation -- for a while. Then, the new development turns to cheapening production costs and cosmetic changes. That's when people realize that what they already have is good enough, and there is no real benefit to spending money on a new gadget. It happened with PCs, and now it's happening with mobile phones.
Now that the anti-smoke activists have convinced the world that tobacco smoke is terrible and have caused it to be outlawed in many places, they are starting to realize that having smoking "turn the corner" is not necessarily a good thing for them. The whole purpose of many NGOs and health organizations has been focused only on smoking. Now that they have won this war, their purpose and livelihood is in question. To survive, they need to find a new cause so that the money keeps rolling in for them. Air pollution is an excellent choice, as it is widespread, tightly linked to economic activity everywhere and endemic around the world. And, it will probably never go away.
The argument that removing the old law requiring replacement with comparable wired service slowed down the restoration of service to hurricane victims is silly. First, cell service can be restored much more quickly than wired service in these situations no matter what. Second, having this law in place is not going to make the phone repairmen working on the poles go any faster than they already are.
Once they get rid of all those troublesome people and animals exhaling carbon dioxide, the goal will be reached. Soon after that, all the plans will be gone too.
The article cites an expect claiming that once any of the several temperature tipping points he describes are reached, the climate will "be completely beyond human control." He is assuming that climate is somehow within the scope of human control now, and that is stupid. If it was, people would not be losing their homes and lives in major storms, for example.
Apple devotes a tremendous amount of energy to preventing anyone but an ordained Apple priest from repairing any of their products. I would expect this to generate a huge amount of bad feeling -- it certainly does with me -- but the Apple fanboys and fangirls continue to smugly purchase these overpriced products and wave them around to show how smart they are. It's one of the great mysteries of the universe.
Even a national emergency alert system is subject to Trump derangement syndrome. If he does it, it must be a bad thing and all the maniacs who hate him will go ballistic with lawsuits and random howling. If Obama had sent all these people a text message, they would all be drooling and begging for more.
In wealthy America. animals are apparently only found in zoos, according to this article. Has the person quoted here ever been in the United States? When I lived in suburban New Jersey, I routinely had deer, large groundhogs, raccoons, opossums, and other animals roaming through my yard eating my landscaping and ravaging my garbage cans if I left them out. Maybe the writer thinks all of America is like mid-town Manhattan.
Al Gore reported yesterday that the dangers of global wobble were now dire, with the danger of Earth whirling out of its orbit and falling in to the sun becoming more and more likely. Human activity is entirely responsible for this situation and the only cure for it is enormous taxes on the developed nations, who move around more than the rest of the world and, of course, have lots of money. Gore has formed a wobble bank that will be selling wobble credits to rich people so that they can assuage their consciences over causing this terrible situation.
The governor and state legislature in California are doing their best to advance the nanny state to protect all of us. Just recently, they passed a state law that schools could not open before 8:30 am so that the students would get enough sleep. And, of course, the plastic bag and plastic straw bans are spreading across California like a fungus. Now they are passing a law to force us to lock up our wireless routers properly. Next will be a law prescribing a particular method of shoe-tying so that none of us will trip on our laces and get a boo-boo.
The article's reference to slavery as "America's peculiar institution" is incorrect and offensive. Slavery was not invented in America and continues to exist today in many parts of the world outside North America. America was among the first countries to pass legislation prohibiting slavery.
Forcing students to speak does put a burden on those who are shy and anxious. It is also true that taking tests and earning grades is a larger burden for those who are stupid. The public school system in the US long ago adopted social promotion policies so that the stupid students are not unduly handicapped by their affliction, so why not let the shy, anxious ones also get a pass on actually standing up and saying anything in class? The fact that it is good for them and that giving talks actually teaches them something seems to be unimportant to those in charge, or we would never be having this discussion at all.
While many phones have featured dual SIM slots for several years now, Apple has improved on this. They will provide a dual-SIM phone that is more expensive and features one SIM that is soldered in place instead of being removable like a normal SIM. This furthers their company policy of selling devices that are welded shut and not serviceable by their owners. And, their advertising will attempt to make it look like they invented the idea of dual SIMs. The appeal of this company to so many people mystifies me.
Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Why should private publishing companies be allowed to charge huge fees to see the results of work that was, for the most part, publicly funded?
It's only fair and right that Big Brother should know everything we are thinking or saying because Big Brother loves us and has all of our best interests in mind always. Where would we be without Big Brother taking care of us?
Slashdot Mirror
Tech companies love "software as a service" because it is never paid for and provides them with an eternal revenue stream. You can buy the PC, but if you want to use it, you need to keep making payments to Microsoft forever. It also simplifies their service load because everyone has the same version of the system, getting gradual updates as time passes. They don't need to keep providing fixes and maintenance for Windows Vista, for example, because old releases don't exist in the service model. The benefits for users are a lot more sparse: We get steady updates, but we also get a wave of advertising and continuous reporting of our activities back to Mama Microsoft. I made the decision to just use Linux for everything a long time ago.
This substantial grant of money for undergraduate tuition aid will allow the university to raise their tuition and get more revenue. This will allow them to hire even more administrators and assistant deans of student diversity and such. A big win fro everyone. Especially the administrators.
A couple of years ago, climate scientists were insisting that climate change would cause more hurricanes, typhoons, and other serious storms as it progressed. This has largely been shown to be untrue, with the number of major storms remaining the same or slightly declining in recent years. So, in their relentless search to identify a global disaster that justifies their research grants, these same scientists are saying that the storms we are having are larger than before. Sorry, guys. Your credibility is at a low point and I will not believe this or any other disaster-mongering reports until there is a lot more evidence supporting them.
Once again, Apple is welding the hood of the car shut so that no one can touch the precious internals of the Apple machine that they supposedly purchased. What do they fear? You can't buy the thing without paying Apple for the operating system, and if you decide to change it to something else (like Linux, for example) they do not lose any revenue. The only thing they lose is their ironclad control over what their customers are allowed to do with the equipment they own. It stinks, and it is not new for them. It's the reason I have not used any Apple equipment for over 20 years.
The Google Chrome browser in my Android phone now prevents me from using any public WiFi that requires a login screen, as in an airport or a hotel. This has been profoundly irritating. I know that these hotspots are not safe and am willing to take responsibility for my own data. Having Google slamming the door on me in these situations makes me want to abandon them entirely, but it's like hating the government. There really is no alternative.
There is little doubt that Elon Musk is a maniac. But he is a driven maniac, and his auto company probably would not exist if not for his monomaniacal drive and promotion of it. There has been an entirely disproportionate amount of activity in the media over some questionable actions that may have affected the stock price at a relatively small company -- Tesla. I have no doubt that this is being driven at least partly by labor union interests, who have been desperately trying to unionize the Tesla factories for several years, and failing at it. And the media, now the most active arm of the Democrat party, is helping the unions in their activism.
While playing Tetris or any of the other endless video games of similar ilk, whether Tetris, or crushing candies or falling jewels, I find that they distract me from current concerns, as the psychologists noted. But they induce a stress of their own that steadily increases as the game continues, relentlessly and endlessly.
When technology is new, the devices get noticeably better with each new generation -- for a while. Then, the new development turns to cheapening production costs and cosmetic changes. That's when people realize that what they already have is good enough, and there is no real benefit to spending money on a new gadget. It happened with PCs, and now it's happening with mobile phones.
Now that the anti-smoke activists have convinced the world that tobacco smoke is terrible and have caused it to be outlawed in many places, they are starting to realize that having smoking "turn the corner" is not necessarily a good thing for them. The whole purpose of many NGOs and health organizations has been focused only on smoking. Now that they have won this war, their purpose and livelihood is in question. To survive, they need to find a new cause so that the money keeps rolling in for them. Air pollution is an excellent choice, as it is widespread, tightly linked to economic activity everywhere and endemic around the world. And, it will probably never go away.
You can get a perfectly serviceable VPN attached to the Opera browser for free. Why would I pay Mozilla for this one?
The argument that removing the old law requiring replacement with comparable wired service slowed down the restoration of service to hurricane victims is silly. First, cell service can be restored much more quickly than wired service in these situations no matter what. Second, having this law in place is not going to make the phone repairmen working on the poles go any faster than they already are.
Once they get rid of all those troublesome people and animals exhaling carbon dioxide, the goal will be reached. Soon after that, all the plans will be gone too.
The article cites an expect claiming that once any of the several temperature tipping points he describes are reached, the climate will "be completely beyond human control." He is assuming that climate is somehow within the scope of human control now, and that is stupid. If it was, people would not be losing their homes and lives in major storms, for example.
Apple devotes a tremendous amount of energy to preventing anyone but an ordained Apple priest from repairing any of their products. I would expect this to generate a huge amount of bad feeling -- it certainly does with me -- but the Apple fanboys and fangirls continue to smugly purchase these overpriced products and wave them around to show how smart they are. It's one of the great mysteries of the universe.
Even a national emergency alert system is subject to Trump derangement syndrome. If he does it, it must be a bad thing and all the maniacs who hate him will go ballistic with lawsuits and random howling. If Obama had sent all these people a text message, they would all be drooling and begging for more.
In wealthy America. animals are apparently only found in zoos, according to this article. Has the person quoted here ever been in the United States? When I lived in suburban New Jersey, I routinely had deer, large groundhogs, raccoons, opossums, and other animals roaming through my yard eating my landscaping and ravaging my garbage cans if I left them out. Maybe the writer thinks all of America is like mid-town Manhattan.
Al Gore reported yesterday that the dangers of global wobble were now dire, with the danger of Earth whirling out of its orbit and falling in to the sun becoming more and more likely. Human activity is entirely responsible for this situation and the only cure for it is enormous taxes on the developed nations, who move around more than the rest of the world and, of course, have lots of money. Gore has formed a wobble bank that will be selling wobble credits to rich people so that they can assuage their consciences over causing this terrible situation.
The governor and state legislature in California are doing their best to advance the nanny state to protect all of us. Just recently, they passed a state law that schools could not open before 8:30 am so that the students would get enough sleep. And, of course, the plastic bag and plastic straw bans are spreading across California like a fungus. Now they are passing a law to force us to lock up our wireless routers properly. Next will be a law prescribing a particular method of shoe-tying so that none of us will trip on our laces and get a boo-boo.
The article's reference to slavery as "America's peculiar institution" is incorrect and offensive. Slavery was not invented in America and continues to exist today in many parts of the world outside North America. America was among the first countries to pass legislation prohibiting slavery.
Forcing students to speak does put a burden on those who are shy and anxious. It is also true that taking tests and earning grades is a larger burden for those who are stupid. The public school system in the US long ago adopted social promotion policies so that the stupid students are not unduly handicapped by their affliction, so why not let the shy, anxious ones also get a pass on actually standing up and saying anything in class? The fact that it is good for them and that giving talks actually teaches them something seems to be unimportant to those in charge, or we would never be having this discussion at all.
While many phones have featured dual SIM slots for several years now, Apple has improved on this. They will provide a dual-SIM phone that is more expensive and features one SIM that is soldered in place instead of being removable like a normal SIM. This furthers their company policy of selling devices that are welded shut and not serviceable by their owners. And, their advertising will attempt to make it look like they invented the idea of dual SIMs. The appeal of this company to so many people mystifies me.
Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Why should private publishing companies be allowed to charge huge fees to see the results of work that was, for the most part, publicly funded?
It's only fair and right that Big Brother should know everything we are thinking or saying because Big Brother loves us and has all of our best interests in mind always. Where would we be without Big Brother taking care of us?
And I want to lash a giant old SUV that leaks oil to the back of it. Where can I get this new Windows for Chrome?
To hire a few flacks than to actually improve working conditions.