The problem with "voluntary" security measures are that they quickly become practically mandatory: "Well, you can either opt for the invasive scan, or you can empty your pockets, take off your shoes, wait in line, go through the metal detector, get patted down while all your luggage is picked through (you refused the scan, you must have something to hide, right?), and end up missing your flight. Your choice."
On the other hand, open source coders have been reverse-engineering Microsoft document formats for years. Couldn't Microsoft, just this once, return the favor in the name of interopability?
...of course, because we all know that society in general won't benefit at all from any new discovery/invention. And we also know that scientists have a long history of getting incredibly rich from their discoveries and inventions, instead of getting royally screwed by governments/corporations.
Microsoft? Refuse money? In an attempt to win a little "good will"? HAH!
They're Microsoft. They have a tiny group of diehard fanboys, and that's it. Nobody else really likes them, and they really don't need to be liked. As long as their OS and Office suite continue to dominate, they couldn't care less what their users think of them.
If you read the article (or hell, even the summary), you'd find that no, Silverlight is obviously NOT better, because even with plenty of assistance from Microsoft it still failed quite badly in a situation where Flash worked.
I run Linux on my main system, but after years of fiddling with WINE, I gave up and built myself a dedicated gaming PC. Now both computers are hooked up to a KVM switch, and when I want to play a game I can just turn on the "gamin' box", without having to stop everything I was doing and boot into Windows or deal with WINE. It works quite well. Best of both worlds, really.
Except that, in this case, the believers are actively being "called home" by their God (terminal cancer and all...). For some reason they're refusing to go, opting instead for expensive, painful, and degrading treatments that will extend their life by a few days at best.
And nobody in their right mind would call that extra time alive - spent immobile, drugged up on painkillers, with tubes in every orifice - a "gift from God".
If the new graduates are taking a job thinking "This will look good on my resume" and not "This will be a great career", good. That means that they have some grounding in reality. Their first job is not likely to be the ideal job of their dreams, and they recognize that and know they have to start small and work their way up. I'd be far more suspicious of any new grad coming in to their first job and thinking it'll be their whole career. That would signal a major lack of motivation. (there are exceptions of course, but even if they get a fantastic first job, they should still be casually looking for new opportunities)
While I agree that it has its uses, the current infinity-bazillion-year copyright goes way too far.
Protecting your work from duplication for a time, allowing you to make money and, hopefully, finance future works? Good! Creating one successful work and living off it for your whole life while preventing anyone else from improving on it? Terrible, and sadly what we're dealing with today.
I'll second the opinion on Linux video editing. I just wanted to do some basic editing on a large (5 GB) mpg file. The result? Crash, crash, hang, crash, error, crash. I tried every video editor for Linux I could find, and not one of them worked worth a damn.
is it really such a big deal that people want something to believe in, even if you don't particularly want or need that?
Yes, because it never stops there. There are always people who are compelled by their religion to spread it to others. In a worst-case scenario, that compulsion changes from "make everyone believe in my religion by converting them" to "make everyone believe in my religion by killing everyone who doesn't".
I love seeing statements like this from nominal authority figures.
'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Off-topic, but: You know, I always figured that Ozymandias knew what was going to happen to his monuments, and was leaving that as a message to the pompous leaders of the future: "You think you're so great? I was 100 times better than you, and look what still happened to me! You'll be gone and forgotten in the blink of an eye!"
Slashdot Mirror
Searching...
Are you still there?
There you are.
*BLAM*BLAM*BLAM*BLAM*BLAM*
Target lost...
The problem with "voluntary" security measures are that they quickly become practically mandatory: "Well, you can either opt for the invasive scan, or you can empty your pockets, take off your shoes, wait in line, go through the metal detector, get patted down while all your luggage is picked through (you refused the scan, you must have something to hide, right?), and end up missing your flight. Your choice."
Sure, that's what they want you to think!
...unless, as IE's use continues to slip, OEMs begin loading - and making default - an alternative browser like Firefox on new machines.
I don't know about you, but the instant somebody engages me in conversation and calls me "buddy" I assume he's trying to scam me somehow.
On the other hand, open source coders have been reverse-engineering Microsoft document formats for years. Couldn't Microsoft, just this once, return the favor in the name of interopability?
From the posts I've read, their opinion is still being dismissed. After all, this has been pretty much what we've been saying Microsoft should do.
...of course, because we all know that society in general won't benefit at all from any new discovery/invention. And we also know that scientists have a long history of getting incredibly rich from their discoveries and inventions, instead of getting royally screwed by governments/corporations.
Microsoft? Refuse money? In an attempt to win a little "good will"?
HAH!
They're Microsoft. They have a tiny group of diehard fanboys, and that's it. Nobody else really likes them, and they really don't need to be liked. As long as their OS and Office suite continue to dominate, they couldn't care less what their users think of them.
In other news, RIAA navy seals under cover of night parachute into Swedish prison and with 4 well placed shots.....
...shoot themselves in the foot, if the RIAA's tactics remain consistent.
xkcd has a better solution to your problem.
If you read the article (or hell, even the summary), you'd find that no, Silverlight is obviously NOT better, because even with plenty of assistance from Microsoft it still failed quite badly in a situation where Flash worked.
I run Linux on my main system, but after years of fiddling with WINE, I gave up and built myself a dedicated gaming PC. Now both computers are hooked up to a KVM switch, and when I want to play a game I can just turn on the "gamin' box", without having to stop everything I was doing and boot into Windows or deal with WINE.
It works quite well. Best of both worlds, really.
AMD is watching from the shadows, hands clasped, whispering "Good, good."
The graphics might be amazing in this "outside", but I hear it's buggy as hell.
Except that, in this case, the believers are actively being "called home" by their God (terminal cancer and all...). For some reason they're refusing to go, opting instead for expensive, painful, and degrading treatments that will extend their life by a few days at best.
And nobody in their right mind would call that extra time alive - spent immobile, drugged up on painkillers, with tubes in every orifice - a "gift from God".
If the new graduates are taking a job thinking "This will look good on my resume" and not "This will be a great career", good. That means that they have some grounding in reality. Their first job is not likely to be the ideal job of their dreams, and they recognize that and know they have to start small and work their way up.
I'd be far more suspicious of any new grad coming in to their first job and thinking it'll be their whole career. That would signal a major lack of motivation. (there are exceptions of course, but even if they get a fantastic first job, they should still be casually looking for new opportunities)
In order to leave no child behind, you have to travel at the slowest child's pace.
While I agree that it has its uses, the current infinity-bazillion-year copyright goes way too far.
Protecting your work from duplication for a time, allowing you to make money and, hopefully, finance future works? Good!
Creating one successful work and living off it for your whole life while preventing anyone else from improving on it? Terrible, and sadly what we're dealing with today.
I'll second the opinion on Linux video editing. I just wanted to do some basic editing on a large (5 GB) mpg file. The result? Crash, crash, hang, crash, error, crash. I tried every video editor for Linux I could find, and not one of them worked worth a damn.
xkcd is everywhere...
We may not doing too hot in the "we have rights" department either, but that doesn't mean we can't point out how bad things are elsewhere.
is it really such a big deal that people want something to believe in, even if you don't particularly want or need that?
Yes, because it never stops there.
There are always people who are compelled by their religion to spread it to others. In a worst-case scenario, that compulsion changes from "make everyone believe in my religion by converting them" to "make everyone believe in my religion by killing everyone who doesn't".
I love seeing statements like this from nominal authority figures.
'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Off-topic, but:
You know, I always figured that Ozymandias knew what was going to happen to his monuments, and was leaving that as a message to the pompous leaders of the future: "You think you're so great? I was 100 times better than you, and look what still happened to me! You'll be gone and forgotten in the blink of an eye!"
Was that an attempt at geek poetry?