Kind of the weapon-of-last-resort, and the one which MS fears most and has resisted hardest, is the company being split.
The EU could theoretically demand that, if MS want to continue operating in Europe, MS should split their company into 2 or more competing companies with few formal ties. If this were demanded of MS, it'd be a disaster for a company reliant on monopolistic behaviour to keep their market share. Imagine, for example, 2 competing versions of MS Office 2007- that'd be a sure fire way to get these feature in working order.
There are plenty of reasons why it hasn't happened. For one, it's incredibly drastic. For two, there's no telling how MS would react (a company that size and importance can hurt the EU pretty bad if they were backed into a corner). For three, the US government would be furious. But that doesn't mean to say the EU can't hold that axe over MS's head for as long as like...
Actually, it's not. Even taking VAT into account, prices for software in Europe is drastically higher than it is in the US. VAT in the UK is 15% flat rate (down from 17.5% a few months ago).
The UK version is the equivalent of $203 dollars, the US version $139. That makes the UK version 46% more expensive- more than 3 times the rate of VAT.
Of course, all cars sold in the US/EU have to pass the same safety standards regardless of where they were made. So the US car manufacturers' failure to compete against foreign companies can totally be blamed on legislation, obviously, totally, and not just on their inability to mass-produce decent quality cars...
The difference there being that most people will have Java or Flash installed already, for the 100s of other sites that demand it. For most people, having Java and Flash installed is part of the basics of having a working computer.
I'm not sure if that's the same for the Quake plugin. Will anything other than id games be using it, or will it be a download just for playing this game? If it's the latter, they might as well have just stuck with the normal client software platform that multiplayer games have been using for decades.
A well practised tactic is to sell a proportion of your products at a loss. You do it in the right markets, just long enough to drive your competition in that market out of business. Then you can jack your prices right back up again. Any losses you incur while doing this can be covered by other aspects of your huge multi-national business.
Being able to manufacture things at a high quality cheaper than your competitors is definitely a good thing for everyone. Selling things temporarily at a loss to put competitors out of business is very very bad.
Well, I'm not sure about that. Desperate is probably too far, but confidence it is not.
It's standard shareware tactics. Give someone a free trial, they're more likely to pay you for it in the long run.
It's a sign of the times that Microsoft feel they need to change their tactics, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. As much as I'm not a fan of MS, it does sound like a clever move.
...and if it loses containment, is highly explosive)
Small point- that's a little bit of a common misconception. Although hydrogen is of course extremely flammable and explosive (doy), it's actually not as dangerous in real world situations as, say, petrol.
The thing about hydrogen is that, as soon as it loses containment, it dissipates. If you're in a hellish car crash and your hydrogen tank is punctured, the hydrogen rushes off into the atmosphere very very fast. Petrol and other liquid fuels, though, just sit around in a puddle under the vehicle. When the hydrogen ignites (what's left of it) will produce a single bang, with much of the energy directed away from the vehicle. When petrol ignites, it creates a firestorm that can burn for hours, setting light to every other flammable item in easy reach.
Just about the only time when the situation would be reversed is in a confined space where the gas would build up, like a tunnel or an enclosed car park. But a petrol fire would be pretty devastating then too, so it's all much of a muchness.
It sounds like pretty rotten behaviour from Apple.
AT&T paid them lots (AND LOTS) of money to get "exclusive rights" to the iPhone, which Apple willingly agreed to. But as soon as AT&T renew their contract, they declare that they're going to make a competing phone and sell it to their arch-rivals.
Breach of contract? Nope, because Apple are going to print a different name on the packaging for this one.
If that were true across as many people as you seem to think, Konami wouldn't have needed to cancel it on "controversial" grounds. If people didn't want to play it, it wouldn't have sold. And if Konami suspected it wouldn't sell (and they've had a lot of practice with this sort of thing), they would never have let it get off of the drawing board in the first place.
The only reason they put any time and money into it was because they thought it would sell. The reason they're axing it is because they've been burned by the negative press.
What gamers wanted doesn't have much to do with it.
Look up Derren Brown. He's a very clever man who has been doing the "psychic" routine for a long while now, with more than enough success to convince you he's real.
The difference? He admits he's not. He's written books about his methods. He even explains some of his more outlandish tricks afterwards. And he happily uses the same trickery skills for shows that don't have the psychic theme.
Anyone who has watched Derren Brown should be under no illusion as to what a clever and charismatic person can do- magical powers not necessary.
Who wants to bet that the 2% who use Linux are disproportionately over-represented in the folks who watch TV over the internet?
I mean just saying, the vast majority of Linux desktop users will be techy sorts who are comfortable with online media. The same can't be said of the 88% or so who use Windows. Not to say that Linux is bigger than Windows or anything ridiculous like that- just that Linux users are probably a fairly rich seam that online content providers will want to cater to.
A friend of mine has smoked it for over 20 years, and has a loving wife, steady job, is stable, and only partakes after work. He can tell you every phone number he's had since he was 4, and has worked in the IT field since the early 90's.
Everyone knows someone who can say this: "My gran is 96 years old and has smoked 30 cigarettes a day since she was 12, and is still fit as a thoroughbred on race day!". Does this mean the (extremely well documented) carcinogenic effects of tobacco smoking don't count for anything?
Just because we can find counter-intuitive examples, it doesn't mean that the initial premise is flawed.
For what it's worth, I know quite a few people who are either current or former users (although I've never indulged myself). The majority of them display some combination of awful memory, bouts of depression, or paranoid tendencies. None of them are chronic, but it's a notable trend in comparison with my non-user friends.
B) The one that was developed by Monsanto as a biochemical weapon for the US government, and then when not so successful, found to taste sweet in light dosages. (Aspartame) ?
[citation needed]?
I was under the impression that it was discovered in the course of trying to create an ulcer treatment.
I'm intrigued as to what kind of music it is that can't be performed live.
DJs have been creating music synthetically and through mixing for a long time, and pull in huge crowds when they "perform" it. I mean if Kraftwerk can make a living out of live performances, any good musician can...
Saying "bless you" is just a polite acknowledgement. You could say "pardon you" instead and get the same message across- it's basically saying "I acknowledge you've just done something that might be embarrassing (expelling snot and saliva at high speed out of your face and making a funny noise), but it's alright by me!".
It falls into the same category of polite clap-trap as pleases and thank yous. The fact it has a religious etymology is just kind of incidental.
I doubt US authorities would be happy when a small, elderly cargo ship full of Saudi Arabian crew with high powered assault rifles turns up in a major civil port.
Currently the laws of the sea make it quite clear that carrying weapons is a no-no, making it easy for US authorities (and the rest) to make policy without having to make snap (and probably unfair) judgements. Scrap those laws, you've scrapped the easiest way of policing your ports.
After all, who wants to be the port official who has to announce the new policy- "Guns allowed, whites only"?
Depends how much of your waking life you devote to thinking about it.
If you thought "hey, maybe I'll encrypt my data" and then did it, and that's that, then you're not a nerd. If you thought about it pretty much any more than that, then bad news...
Like most security, data encryption is just a way of raising the barrier to entry. Almost all security can be beaten with enough time/effort/resources; but by taking precautions, you can deter anyone who doesn't want to dedicate [X] to the task. Of course you pay for every new barrier in kind, with your own time/effort/system resource...
Anyone who thinks they can make their data completely uncrackable might want to think again.
I've often wondered about this. If the democratically elected government can, in this instance, provide a superior quality of service at cost for the benefit of all, why do we need a private company again?
The capitalist argument is that private companies are favourable to nationalised industries as the private companies can provide higher service or lower costs. Where that is patently not the case, what is the benefit of involving shareholders and investors in the whole mess?
All the same though, I would have thought it'd be trivial to convert the cable utility in question into a non-government body. The business model could be that of a cooperative/building society/credit union, all of which have been in existence for a very long time and work fine.
Put yourself in the shoes of that guy deciding who to hire.
You might see 100 CVs, and interview 10's of them. You only get to meet each person for an hour or so, and you don't get to see them all in action.
The only thing you have to base your judgement on is a list of people's achievements and qualifications. If 90% of the candidates have a degree, and you happen to be a university drop-out, they're going to base their judgement on that.
Whether you're a child prodigy or not isn't going to enter into it- how would they know?
Life is all about jumping through hoops. If you're intelligent enough to get a degree, you just have to face up to the fact that that's a hoop you'll probably need to jump through.
Slashdot Mirror
Kind of the weapon-of-last-resort, and the one which MS fears most and has resisted hardest, is the company being split.
The EU could theoretically demand that, if MS want to continue operating in Europe, MS should split their company into 2 or more competing companies with few formal ties. If this were demanded of MS, it'd be a disaster for a company reliant on monopolistic behaviour to keep their market share. Imagine, for example, 2 competing versions of MS Office 2007- that'd be a sure fire way to get these feature in working order.
There are plenty of reasons why it hasn't happened. For one, it's incredibly drastic. For two, there's no telling how MS would react (a company that size and importance can hurt the EU pretty bad if they were backed into a corner). For three, the US government would be furious. But that doesn't mean to say the EU can't hold that axe over MS's head for as long as like...
Actually, it's not. Even taking VAT into account, prices for software in Europe is drastically higher than it is in the US. VAT in the UK is 15% flat rate (down from 17.5% a few months ago).
Proof? Look at:
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Vista-Home-Premium/dp/B0015CCFLE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1241452273&sr=1-10
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Vista-Home-Premium-Service/dp/B0013O54OE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1241452166&sr=8-2
The UK version is the equivalent of $203 dollars, the US version $139. That makes the UK version 46% more expensive- more than 3 times the rate of VAT.
Of course, all cars sold in the US/EU have to pass the same safety standards regardless of where they were made. So the US car manufacturers' failure to compete against foreign companies can totally be blamed on legislation, obviously, totally, and not just on their inability to mass-produce decent quality cars...
The difference there being that most people will have Java or Flash installed already, for the 100s of other sites that demand it. For most people, having Java and Flash installed is part of the basics of having a working computer.
I'm not sure if that's the same for the Quake plugin. Will anything other than id games be using it, or will it be a download just for playing this game? If it's the latter, they might as well have just stuck with the normal client software platform that multiplayer games have been using for decades.
"Sir, we've detected a pre-warp civilization on the planet's surface!"
"Nazi or cowboy?"
A well practised tactic is to sell a proportion of your products at a loss. You do it in the right markets, just long enough to drive your competition in that market out of business. Then you can jack your prices right back up again. Any losses you incur while doing this can be covered by other aspects of your huge multi-national business.
Being able to manufacture things at a high quality cheaper than your competitors is definitely a good thing for everyone. Selling things temporarily at a loss to put competitors out of business is very very bad.
Well, I'm not sure about that. Desperate is probably too far, but confidence it is not.
It's standard shareware tactics. Give someone a free trial, they're more likely to pay you for it in the long run.
It's a sign of the times that Microsoft feel they need to change their tactics, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. As much as I'm not a fan of MS, it does sound like a clever move.
...and if it loses containment, is highly explosive)
Small point- that's a little bit of a common misconception. Although hydrogen is of course extremely flammable and explosive (doy), it's actually not as dangerous in real world situations as, say, petrol.
The thing about hydrogen is that, as soon as it loses containment, it dissipates. If you're in a hellish car crash and your hydrogen tank is punctured, the hydrogen rushes off into the atmosphere very very fast. Petrol and other liquid fuels, though, just sit around in a puddle under the vehicle. When the hydrogen ignites (what's left of it) will produce a single bang, with much of the energy directed away from the vehicle. When petrol ignites, it creates a firestorm that can burn for hours, setting light to every other flammable item in easy reach.
Just about the only time when the situation would be reversed is in a confined space where the gas would build up, like a tunnel or an enclosed car park. But a petrol fire would be pretty devastating then too, so it's all much of a muchness.
Oh. You want cites? Ah.
Look! A bunny! Look at the bunny! (runs away)
Oh come one, that's not even trying...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus#Skin_and_feathers
For the cat faeces to be more nutritious than dog food, cat food would have to be significantly more nutritious again.
Have you any idea exactly how much ash there is in cat food...?
It sounds like pretty rotten behaviour from Apple.
AT&T paid them lots (AND LOTS) of money to get "exclusive rights" to the iPhone, which Apple willingly agreed to. But as soon as AT&T renew their contract, they declare that they're going to make a competing phone and sell it to their arch-rivals.
Breach of contract? Nope, because Apple are going to print a different name on the packaging for this one.
If that were true across as many people as you seem to think, Konami wouldn't have needed to cancel it on "controversial" grounds. If people didn't want to play it, it wouldn't have sold. And if Konami suspected it wouldn't sell (and they've had a lot of practice with this sort of thing), they would never have let it get off of the drawing board in the first place.
The only reason they put any time and money into it was because they thought it would sell. The reason they're axing it is because they've been burned by the negative press.
What gamers wanted doesn't have much to do with it.
Look up Derren Brown. He's a very clever man who has been doing the "psychic" routine for a long while now, with more than enough success to convince you he's real.
The difference? He admits he's not. He's written books about his methods. He even explains some of his more outlandish tricks afterwards. And he happily uses the same trickery skills for shows that don't have the psychic theme.
Anyone who has watched Derren Brown should be under no illusion as to what a clever and charismatic person can do- magical powers not necessary.
Who wants to bet that the 2% who use Linux are disproportionately over-represented in the folks who watch TV over the internet?
I mean just saying, the vast majority of Linux desktop users will be techy sorts who are comfortable with online media. The same can't be said of the 88% or so who use Windows. Not to say that Linux is bigger than Windows or anything ridiculous like that- just that Linux users are probably a fairly rich seam that online content providers will want to cater to.
A friend of mine has smoked it for over 20 years, and has a loving wife, steady job, is stable, and only partakes after work. He can tell you every phone number he's had since he was 4, and has worked in the IT field since the early 90's.
Everyone knows someone who can say this: "My gran is 96 years old and has smoked 30 cigarettes a day since she was 12, and is still fit as a thoroughbred on race day!". Does this mean the (extremely well documented) carcinogenic effects of tobacco smoking don't count for anything?
Just because we can find counter-intuitive examples, it doesn't mean that the initial premise is flawed.
For what it's worth, I know quite a few people who are either current or former users (although I've never indulged myself). The majority of them display some combination of awful memory, bouts of depression, or paranoid tendencies. None of them are chronic, but it's a notable trend in comparison with my non-user friends.
B) The one that was developed by Monsanto as a biochemical weapon for the US government, and then when not so successful, found to taste sweet in light dosages. (Aspartame)
?
[citation needed]?
I was under the impression that it was discovered in the course of trying to create an ulcer treatment.
I'm intrigued as to what kind of music it is that can't be performed live.
DJs have been creating music synthetically and through mixing for a long time, and pull in huge crowds when they "perform" it. I mean if Kraftwerk can make a living out of live performances, any good musician can...
Saying "bless you" is just a polite acknowledgement. You could say "pardon you" instead and get the same message across- it's basically saying "I acknowledge you've just done something that might be embarrassing (expelling snot and saliva at high speed out of your face and making a funny noise), but it's alright by me!".
It falls into the same category of polite clap-trap as pleases and thank yous. The fact it has a religious etymology is just kind of incidental.
I honestly don't understand. What do they hope to gain by stopping Real?
A large out-of-court settlement?
I dream of a day when newegg will ship to the UK...
of Police officers beating people to death with batons at protests.
How long do you think the website will last with that sort of gold?
OK, have a more relevant example.
I doubt US authorities would be happy when a small, elderly cargo ship full of Saudi Arabian crew with high powered assault rifles turns up in a major civil port.
Currently the laws of the sea make it quite clear that carrying weapons is a no-no, making it easy for US authorities (and the rest) to make policy without having to make snap (and probably unfair) judgements. Scrap those laws, you've scrapped the easiest way of policing your ports.
After all, who wants to be the port official who has to announce the new policy- "Guns allowed, whites only"?
Depends how much of your waking life you devote to thinking about it.
If you thought "hey, maybe I'll encrypt my data" and then did it, and that's that, then you're not a nerd. If you thought about it pretty much any more than that, then bad news...
Like most security, data encryption is just a way of raising the barrier to entry. Almost all security can be beaten with enough time/effort/resources; but by taking precautions, you can deter anyone who doesn't want to dedicate [X] to the task. Of course you pay for every new barrier in kind, with your own time/effort/system resource...
Anyone who thinks they can make their data completely uncrackable might want to think again.
I've often wondered about this. If the democratically elected government can, in this instance, provide a superior quality of service at cost for the benefit of all, why do we need a private company again?
The capitalist argument is that private companies are favourable to nationalised industries as the private companies can provide higher service or lower costs. Where that is patently not the case, what is the benefit of involving shareholders and investors in the whole mess?
All the same though, I would have thought it'd be trivial to convert the cable utility in question into a non-government body. The business model could be that of a cooperative/building society/credit union, all of which have been in existence for a very long time and work fine.
Put yourself in the shoes of that guy deciding who to hire.
You might see 100 CVs, and interview 10's of them. You only get to meet each person for an hour or so, and you don't get to see them all in action.
The only thing you have to base your judgement on is a list of people's achievements and qualifications. If 90% of the candidates have a degree, and you happen to be a university drop-out, they're going to base their judgement on that.
Whether you're a child prodigy or not isn't going to enter into it- how would they know?
Life is all about jumping through hoops. If you're intelligent enough to get a degree, you just have to face up to the fact that that's a hoop you'll probably need to jump through.