Maybe I'm weird for being mostly interested in what kind of new NUC platforms Broadwell will give us. The mobile rush has been good for desktop systems from an evolutionary standpoint. I have already built a few systems the size of a WiFi router with zero moving parts.
Whatever this costs Microsoft in fines and legal costs is going to be paltry compared the the revenue they have likely been losing from overseas business since the Snowden revelations. Doing this puts on a good show that makes it look like they care about they are fighting the U.S. government to protect their customers. Deep down I wonder how many of their executives want to see Snowden locked up as well.
Part of me screams for Amazon to mercilessly crush the cable companies and salt their fields. The more reasonable side of me worries we would wind up trading one overpowered corporate overlord for another. It won't stop me from grabbing popcorn and enjoying the show either way, though; just to satisfy the bloodlust against these bastards.
I am going to start using cash a lot more often until the system has it's act together. All of the crooks are busy robbing people the 21st century way anyhow. The good news is that between this and the NSA's shenanigans, security development efforts are on fire right now. It's long overdue.
Municipalities providing a critical infrastructure? What Lunacy! That will never work! What other crazy ideas do these municipalities have in store for us? Electricity? Running water and sewage? Gas heating? Paved roads? Balderdash! Best to leave these things to the large corporations and eliminate all of the regulations since they have nothing but the public's best interests at heart. To the free market fairy we pray for forgiveness. Amen.
Gives an interesting look....
on
Comcast Confessions
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· Score: 4, Insightful
At first glance this may seem completely irrelevant to debates about Net Neutrality and data caps, but now I think it tells us a lot about just how unscrupulous Comcast and other big ISPs are. When their greed trumps even the most basic tact and professionalism, how can anyone in their right mind expect us to believe that the best thing for everyone is to let them run amok unchallenged and unregulated with a virtual monopoly? It boggles the mind.
As much as I would like to see Linux displace Windows in these kinds of environments, there really aren't any systems that give you the same kind of management functionality as Userlock, or even Active Directory and Group Policy. It's possible of course, but only if you have the time, skill, and manpower to rig something together yourself. I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying this, but the Linux desktop has a long way to go before it can even hope to be a viable alternative to Windows in the enterprise. Even then it will not be possible unless that particular segment unifies around a specific distro. Not saying I like it; just being realistic. It certainly doesn't stop me from going all Linux at home, but it makes it an unthinkable idea to try and sell to management. Hopefully this changes in the future, but it's a long way down the road.
Netflix is probably trying to save money by cutting costs. It kinds of sort of sucks but life goes on. Compared to some of the other antics large companies are up to, I have a hard time getting worked up about this.
I most definitely left a comment and I would do it again, but at the same time my pessimistic side wonders how much weight our comments carry compared to the opinions of the FCC commissioners' golf buddies from the ISPs.
Well the government has made one thing very clear. They believe that they are the only beings on earth that are entitled to privacy or secrecy, and they are entitled to ALL of it while simultaneously violating everyone else's eight ways till friday.
Technologically exciting, realistically irrelevant. It has become abundantly clear that the telcos do not want to upgrade their networks no matter how much the cost of doing so drops.
The problem was with everyone developing their own proprietary system, by the time they get the vehicles to market it looks horrendously outdated compared to iOS and Android, to say nothing of trying to get developers interested. Standardizing around the same open platform will allow them to get their infotainment systems up to par and keep pace with the rest of the technology world. Not that it matters much for me and my car right now. I never imagined having a six-disc CD changer would seem so behind the times.
Especially considering that the Linux job market is red-hot, and almost all Linux sysadmin job listings I see list Perl as a wanted skill. What exactly causes a language to be declared dead, anyway? Would you say that Fortran or Cobol are dead? Because they are still going strong in their respective niches.
The fact that Title II rules were written so long ago is a point that net neutrality opponents like to hammer on all the live long day. If you want to aggravate them quickly just point out how some like to say the same about the second amendment. That argument aside, though, I do often wonder: Why not rewrite Title II altogether? Even if for no other reason than to close the argument about 'outdated' regulations.
I'm having a difficult time believing that this is a genuine effort to accomplish anything besides PR for the democratic party. First of all, everyone knows perfectly well that the FCC's current authority falls well short of what is needed to ban fast lanes; Verizon did a rather thorough job of demonstrating that if I remember correctly. Secondly, if they are going to pass legislation, then why not pass net neutrality directly into law? This is a farce. Most democrats do not care about this issue any more than the republicans do. They are simply trying to look good to the public while simultaneously pleasing their campaign donors; as if Obama's appointing Tom Wheeler as chairman wasn't proof enough of that already.
I wouldn't have expected the FCC to be able to do anything about this. They are mostly toothless when it comes to many of the problems with the Internet, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering they have abused their power in favor of incumbents in the past. This is a problem that really needs to be attacked at it's source: telecom's ludicrous lobbying power. I hate to sound like a shill for Lawrence Lessig, but I really hope the May One super PAC is a success. American "democracy" really is pay-to-win.
Fair enough, but there I have one question about that analogy. Are thousands of people's bank accounts potentially put at risk by an unlocked bedroom window?
Are you the guy who designed that ATM? Because that sounds like something they would say to save face from the fact that the security of their product was so hilariously inadequate that a couple of kids screwing around(which kids tend to do) were able to compromise it.
This general attitude is why Tesla is such a disruptive force, and why the rest of the automotive market and their ilk hate them. I for one am happy to see the status quo get genuinely threatened for a change.
Slashdot Mirror
It says a lot about Quickflix's service when Netflix via VPN is an actual competitive problem for them.
Maybe I'm weird for being mostly interested in what kind of new NUC platforms Broadwell will give us. The mobile rush has been good for desktop systems from an evolutionary standpoint. I have already built a few systems the size of a WiFi router with zero moving parts.
Whatever this costs Microsoft in fines and legal costs is going to be paltry compared the the revenue they have likely been losing from overseas business since the Snowden revelations. Doing this puts on a good show that makes it look like they care about they are fighting the U.S. government to protect their customers. Deep down I wonder how many of their executives want to see Snowden locked up as well.
Part of me screams for Amazon to mercilessly crush the cable companies and salt their fields. The more reasonable side of me worries we would wind up trading one overpowered corporate overlord for another. It won't stop me from grabbing popcorn and enjoying the show either way, though; just to satisfy the bloodlust against these bastards.
I am going to start using cash a lot more often until the system has it's act together. All of the crooks are busy robbing people the 21st century way anyhow. The good news is that between this and the NSA's shenanigans, security development efforts are on fire right now. It's long overdue.
Municipalities providing a critical infrastructure? What Lunacy! That will never work! What other crazy ideas do these municipalities have in store for us? Electricity? Running water and sewage? Gas heating? Paved roads? Balderdash! Best to leave these things to the large corporations and eliminate all of the regulations since they have nothing but the public's best interests at heart. To the free market fairy we pray for forgiveness. Amen.
At first glance this may seem completely irrelevant to debates about Net Neutrality and data caps, but now I think it tells us a lot about just how unscrupulous Comcast and other big ISPs are. When their greed trumps even the most basic tact and professionalism, how can anyone in their right mind expect us to believe that the best thing for everyone is to let them run amok unchallenged and unregulated with a virtual monopoly? It boggles the mind.
As much as I would like to see Linux displace Windows in these kinds of environments, there really aren't any systems that give you the same kind of management functionality as Userlock, or even Active Directory and Group Policy. It's possible of course, but only if you have the time, skill, and manpower to rig something together yourself. I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying this, but the Linux desktop has a long way to go before it can even hope to be a viable alternative to Windows in the enterprise. Even then it will not be possible unless that particular segment unifies around a specific distro. Not saying I like it; just being realistic. It certainly doesn't stop me from going all Linux at home, but it makes it an unthinkable idea to try and sell to management. Hopefully this changes in the future, but it's a long way down the road.
Netflix is probably trying to save money by cutting costs. It kinds of sort of sucks but life goes on. Compared to some of the other antics large companies are up to, I have a hard time getting worked up about this.
I'm seeing the same thing. Maybe Verizon realized their screw-up and took it down. Hello Streisand Effect.
I most definitely left a comment and I would do it again, but at the same time my pessimistic side wonders how much weight our comments carry compared to the opinions of the FCC commissioners' golf buddies from the ISPs.
Well the government has made one thing very clear. They believe that they are the only beings on earth that are entitled to privacy or secrecy, and they are entitled to ALL of it while simultaneously violating everyone else's eight ways till friday.
Technologically exciting, realistically irrelevant. It has become abundantly clear that the telcos do not want to upgrade their networks no matter how much the cost of doing so drops.
The problem was with everyone developing their own proprietary system, by the time they get the vehicles to market it looks horrendously outdated compared to iOS and Android, to say nothing of trying to get developers interested. Standardizing around the same open platform will allow them to get their infotainment systems up to par and keep pace with the rest of the technology world. Not that it matters much for me and my car right now. I never imagined having a six-disc CD changer would seem so behind the times.
Especially considering that the Linux job market is red-hot, and almost all Linux sysadmin job listings I see list Perl as a wanted skill. What exactly causes a language to be declared dead, anyway? Would you say that Fortran or Cobol are dead? Because they are still going strong in their respective niches.
would have been much more interesting minus the first three words.
They forgot to mention the free leg massages from leg-humping auto salesmen.
The fact that Title II rules were written so long ago is a point that net neutrality opponents like to hammer on all the live long day. If you want to aggravate them quickly just point out how some like to say the same about the second amendment. That argument aside, though, I do often wonder: Why not rewrite Title II altogether? Even if for no other reason than to close the argument about 'outdated' regulations.
I'm having a difficult time believing that this is a genuine effort to accomplish anything besides PR for the democratic party. First of all, everyone knows perfectly well that the FCC's current authority falls well short of what is needed to ban fast lanes; Verizon did a rather thorough job of demonstrating that if I remember correctly. Secondly, if they are going to pass legislation, then why not pass net neutrality directly into law? This is a farce. Most democrats do not care about this issue any more than the republicans do. They are simply trying to look good to the public while simultaneously pleasing their campaign donors; as if Obama's appointing Tom Wheeler as chairman wasn't proof enough of that already.
I wouldn't have expected the FCC to be able to do anything about this. They are mostly toothless when it comes to many of the problems with the Internet, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering they have abused their power in favor of incumbents in the past. This is a problem that really needs to be attacked at it's source: telecom's ludicrous lobbying power. I hate to sound like a shill for Lawrence Lessig, but I really hope the May One super PAC is a success. American "democracy" really is pay-to-win.
I like it.
Those spoofed Obama posters that replaced HOPE with OBEY seem more and more appropriate.
Fair enough, but there I have one question about that analogy. Are thousands of people's bank accounts potentially put at risk by an unlocked bedroom window?
Are you the guy who designed that ATM? Because that sounds like something they would say to save face from the fact that the security of their product was so hilariously inadequate that a couple of kids screwing around(which kids tend to do) were able to compromise it.
This general attitude is why Tesla is such a disruptive force, and why the rest of the automotive market and their ilk hate them. I for one am happy to see the status quo get genuinely threatened for a change.