Some time back I was staying with relatives on vacation. My retired uncle had fallen asleep in front of the TV when the phone rang. It was cordless and had been left near the TV, so I popped my head in the room to get it. He woke up halfway, put the TV remote to his ear, and said "Hello?" When there was no answer, he looked askance at the remote, pushed the big power button, then put it up to his ear again. "Hello? Anybody there?"
I was laughing so hard I could barely answer the real phone, which was on the shelf.
Clearly, the time has come for universal remotes to answer phone calls too. (Maybe when you can receive video calls on your TV?)
I'm reminded of Ferry Halim, who seems to produce small web-based games just to test out specific game mechanics. Some good games there, also some lousy ones.
âoeYou know, the trick is we're not someone in need of help. We're not invalids. Help is something that you should give to poor people, to people with limited capacities, to pensioners, to developing countries... As for Russia and our partners in Europe, in the United States, in some Asian countries, there should be a partnership of equals.â
I often sit and wonder about the cases where this truly causes harm -- suppose someone patented an affordable, powerful, stylish 100 mpg car (urban legend, I know). We'd have 20 more years of other car companies selling gas guzzlers because the one company sat on that patent. Or suppose it was medicine -- you'd have people dying because they couldn't afford the prices of the main supplier, and their competitors couldn't use the formula.
You're assuming that the purpose of such inventions is for the greater good. It is not, at least primarily. It is for making money. Most Slashdot readers live in capitalistic societies, after all.
YouTube doesn't permit downloading of videos... Distributing them only through YouTube adds restriction to its use.
Which is probably why Whitehouse.gov has a link under the first video that says "download as high-quality.mp4". Presumably this will be true for future links as well.
I agree that the White House ought to have downloadable versions. I even agree about the Internet Archive -- and it looks like they've already posted it there, since it's the exact same file name as the MP4 on whitehouse.gov. But I think it's perfectly valid to use YouTube too. Most people don't care; it's searchable; it's where the average video viewer is going anyway. The addition of the downloadable links and the post to Internet Archive are nice extras that should mollify most critics.
You may hate Palin, but this is a technology website. Let's deal in the truth.
First, I don't hate Palin.
Second, if you think that talking about technology has any relevance to the truth, you've never met a Linux/Apple/Windows zealot/evangelist/fanboy -- or any technology marketer.
Third, no, I didn't look at the screen shots. I went by what heard and read reported. If Palin's use of Yahoo really was non-governmental, then I apologize, and you can strike out my comments. It still doesn't mean that Obama's temporary use of Gmail is some major lapse of judgement.
Palin staff: already had government e-mail accounts, but used Yahoo accounts to conduct business that they did not want to reveal to the public.
Obama staff: losing one e-mail account before they gained their next one, so for a few hours they needed transitional addresses, and Gmail was free and easy to use.
If Obama staff continue to use Gmail for government business, THEN we can equate these two situations. But not until then.
Why? Because Youtube isn't free. It's being paid for by advertisers.
Right. Advertisers on YouTube.com are effectively supporting streaming, ad-free videos on Whitehouse.gov. I'm okay with that. Next you'll be complaining that the local library buys books from Amazon (those capitalists!), or that my local police department buys gasoline from Mobil (who do they think they are?!).
But why invest in all that bandwidth and hosting when there's a free, available, willing, and WILDLY POPULAR alternative already here? C'mon. If they hosted it themselves, they would RFP it out to the lowest bidder, futz around with technology issues for awhile (does the BBC iPlayer ring a bell?), before finally delivering a subpar product that frustrates everyone. I would MUCH rather they used YouTube for their videos, and spent their time and money on things that matter.
He is not as much a bigot as the ever benighted Bush but he is not as enlightened as some would believe. I would rather we strip him of his saintliness in public now than later. Some people are completely crazed about this man have such expectations that could not be realized without revolution.
On this, we can agree. He ain't no saint. Better than Bush, yes. Better than average, maybe.
Is Obama as much of a bigot as Bush? Have we made any advancement at all by electing Obama instead of McCain? Are small victories no better than defeat?
On a more serious note, when did mere nudity = porn? There are nude beaches, nudist colonies, clothing optional hotels, cruises, etc. I think someone may have crossed nudity with porn. Was there a sex act or adult involved?
For what it's worth... I was in art school years ago, and we painted and illustrated nude models. One of my painting professors said that if a painting of a nude aroused him, he knew it was done well. And this was a rather upstanding Christian man, married with several children, who I know did not sleep around with the coeds (really -- some of my fellow students hit on him constantly and got nowhere).
Slashdot Mirror
Some time back I was staying with relatives on vacation. My retired uncle had fallen asleep in front of the TV when the phone rang. It was cordless and had been left near the TV, so I popped my head in the room to get it. He woke up halfway, put the TV remote to his ear, and said "Hello?" When there was no answer, he looked askance at the remote, pushed the big power button, then put it up to his ear again. "Hello? Anybody there?"
I was laughing so hard I could barely answer the real phone, which was on the shelf.
Clearly, the time has come for universal remotes to answer phone calls too. (Maybe when you can receive video calls on your TV?)
Yeah, I'm sure this is really keeping Steve Jobs up nights. Maybe this was Mike's plan--to have Steve die in a laughing fit.
Or, alternatively, Apple commissioned Dell to design and advertise this thing....
I'm reminded of Ferry Halim, who seems to produce small web-based games just to test out specific game mechanics. Some good games there, also some lousy ones.
Oh, and here's the GM blog with the actual response.
They forgot the actual link.
...how many critical vulnerabilities have they INTRODUCED?
FTA: "Mr Simpson says they are careful to use only scats from wombats in captivity, because animals in the wild use them for communication."
And now, apparently, they want humans to use their poop for communication. Clearly it's a conspiracy by wombats, trying to take over the media...
Here.
âoeYou know, the trick is we're not someone in need of help. We're not invalids. Help is something that you should give to poor people, to people with limited capacities, to pensioners, to developing countries... As for Russia and our partners in Europe, in the United States, in some Asian countries, there should be a partnership of equals.â
I've now had to consider this twice, and also came to these conclusions. So did my wife, who is a doctor. It isn't a scam, but it is a gamble.
You're assuming that the purpose of such inventions is for the greater good. It is not, at least primarily. It is for making money. Most Slashdot readers live in capitalistic societies, after all.
You know, everything you say about the software may be true, but the commercial is still hideous.
That's just hilarious. Can I get sliders like that for my Slashdot interface?
Anyone think Apple will copy this for the next version of Garageband?
Which is probably why Whitehouse.gov has a link under the first video that says "download as high-quality .mp4". Presumably this will be true for future links as well.
I agree that the White House ought to have downloadable versions. I even agree about the Internet Archive -- and it looks like they've already posted it there, since it's the exact same file name as the MP4 on whitehouse.gov. But I think it's perfectly valid to use YouTube too. Most people don't care; it's searchable; it's where the average video viewer is going anyway. The addition of the downloadable links and the post to Internet Archive are nice extras that should mollify most critics.
Very true.
Thanks. See my response here and the follow-up comments from others.
Thanks. See my response here along with the follow-up comments from others.
First, I don't hate Palin.
Second, if you think that talking about technology has any relevance to the truth, you've never met a Linux/Apple/Windows zealot/evangelist/fanboy -- or any technology marketer.
Third, no, I didn't look at the screen shots. I went by what heard and read reported. If Palin's use of Yahoo really was non-governmental, then I apologize, and you can strike out my comments. It still doesn't mean that Obama's temporary use of Gmail is some major lapse of judgement.
Palin staff: already had government e-mail accounts, but used Yahoo accounts to conduct business that they did not want to reveal to the public.
Obama staff: losing one e-mail account before they gained their next one, so for a few hours they needed transitional addresses, and Gmail was free and easy to use.
If Obama staff continue to use Gmail for government business, THEN we can equate these two situations. But not until then.
Right. Advertisers on YouTube.com are effectively supporting streaming, ad-free videos on Whitehouse.gov. I'm okay with that. Next you'll be complaining that the local library buys books from Amazon (those capitalists!), or that my local police department buys gasoline from Mobil (who do they think they are?!).
But why invest in all that bandwidth and hosting when there's a free, available, willing, and WILDLY POPULAR alternative already here? C'mon. If they hosted it themselves, they would RFP it out to the lowest bidder, futz around with technology issues for awhile (does the BBC iPlayer ring a bell?), before finally delivering a subpar product that frustrates everyone. I would MUCH rather they used YouTube for their videos, and spent their time and money on things that matter.
They already had that -- it was called the Cube.
Funny way to put it, though I agree. Full text here.
On this, we can agree. He ain't no saint. Better than Bush, yes. Better than average, maybe.
Is Obama as much of a bigot as Bush? Have we made any advancement at all by electing Obama instead of McCain? Are small victories no better than defeat?
For what it's worth... I was in art school years ago, and we painted and illustrated nude models. One of my painting professors said that if a painting of a nude aroused him, he knew it was done well. And this was a rather upstanding Christian man, married with several children, who I know did not sleep around with the coeds (really -- some of my fellow students hit on him constantly and got nowhere).