When I travelled to London on business years ago (early 90's), I had occasion to need Kleenex and went into a shop. Caught myself before looking the total ignorant yank asking for 'Kleenex', but still got a perplexed look when I fumbled and finally uttered 'facial tissue'.
"Oh, paper hankies? Right over there..."
BTW, moust foul sandpaper I ever had the misfortune to attempt to wipe my nose with. I think there was still bark in that crap. And don't get me started on "English Breakfast";-)
On their first mission, a simple delivery to the Moon, Fry undergoes severe culture shock. Rather than being a daring voyage of exploration, lunar travel has become a day trip to an amusement park called Luna Park. The actual documentation of the historical events of Project Apollo are somehow lost by the 31st Century, and instead they are replaced by ridiculous "fungineering" musicals about "whalers on the moon".
We're whalers on the moon, We carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales So we tell tall tales And sing our whaling tune.
Right, then of course you would expect the up-front costs to increase to reflect the value of the software. The licensing terms would have been quite different. Instead of a few thousand a month to license the system, you pay maybe a few hundred thousand, but now you have rights to modify the system.
But the problem wasn't a software flaw that the city was unable to fix because they didn't have the source. The problem was they bought a system that had license management that turned off the system when they didn't pay the bills. What they weren't able to do was get the software to keep working when it detected that there was no longer a valid license.
That's like licensing any other closed-source commercial software that depends on some ongoing activation (like a license server), then when it stops working because you didn't renew the license saying: gee, if I had the source code this wouldn't have happened!
More like, if I didn't enter into a licensing agreement that required recurring payments for the software to work, this wouldn't have happened!
>Why not just make it impossible to add vehicles to the garage when the license expires?
Because then you don't have as much leverage over the licensor. Sure, his garage is sitting idle losing you money, but that's not nearly as much as an incentive to deal as a garage full of angry customers' cars.
I doubt this was an unintended consequence of license expiry. Now, if the problem had been that it stopped working even though there was a valid license, yeah, bad design, etc.
Seems the flaw was in the contract lawyer, not the software. Sounds like the contract with the vendor hid this expired license consequence pretty well, or the lawyer didn't care or think it was an issue. They tried to play harball with the vendor (kicking out their employees, trying to bring in a competitor) and got screwed.
Hmm, I thought the same thing when I saw this earlier. Seems like the enhancement did not add enough to warrant the risk of discovery. Made me wonder if he really did it himself or someone else did it to discredit/punish him (this is the guy that took the picture of the dead child being held up in Qana)?
Ok, but still, 90 billion ly in 15 billion years implies that for some period, matter travelled at speeds greatly in excess of spd of light?
I was about to post the very same dumb question (thought not nearly as funny). Matter in the expanding universe is currently moving at incredible speed in every direction, away from the point of the big bang, but on average much slower than c (not a cosmologist, but watched Sagan)?
I can't wrap my head around that. My puny mamalian brain is having a hard time fathoming how large the universe was right after the "instant" of the big bang. Is the universe slowing down and cooling, headed for an eventual collapse and another bang (just another in an infinite series)?
forget it, easier to just beleive that some supreme being called the universe into being when he sneezed or something.;-)
Heh, our place here our security morons don't look too closely either. Our cards are white with a picture on the front an a black mag stripe on the back. I carry mine in a little plastic holder on a retractible cord from my belt. Half the time it hangs with the stripe-side, which is apparently good enough for most of the guards. There is one guy who will ask you to stop and show the photo side, but I think this is more because he likes the power trip than a desire to actually make sure you have a valid id.
Once I left my card at home and just pulled out my grocery store card and waved the back of it at the guards until I could get upstairs and have someone let me in. On the way back from lunch, mr superhero security guard asked me to turn it over, whereupon I flipped it, planning to make some excuse along the lines of 'oops, wrong one, where is my card -- um, must have left it at home'. Didn't need to, he apparently never even looked to see the Jewel or Dominicks logo where my company name and my photo should have been. My coworker and I just about suffocated from trying not to laugh out loud as we made of the elevators.
moreso that he was careless enough to leave the tape lying around...
Mr. Laflamme and Mr. Rheault conceded their role in spreading a video that Mr. Raza, then 15, had made of himself and left on a shelf in the school TV studio.
so either a) didn't realize he did this b) wasn't his tape to take & didn't realize how embarassing it would be if it got out, or c) left it there because he doesn't care if anyone else sees it (or maybe actually wants other to see it).
yeah, but Ask has that spiffy TV ad campaign where people de-evolve into monkeys when using their computers until they start using ask! [/sarcasm]
I agree, that's a tough row to hoe, trying to get a leg up on google by being 'as good' with a couple nice extra features. They've got to offer something dramatically new/different/better.
That's what google's appeal was (and still is) -- I remember how disgusted I was with altavista or hotwired or whatever I was using when I found out about google though word of mouth. I remember telling all my friends and having them say "oh wow" at how uncluttered the interface was, how quickly it returned results and how usefull the results were.
On the specific plane they tested. That's the problem I see, how can the FCC/FAA ever certify every type of aircraft & wireless communication device to be free of any possible interference. Grant even said that.
Personally, I don't think that someone using a wireless phone on a modern commercial airliner is going to cause any serious degradation of the plane's critical navigation or control systems. If it were the case, there would be reported incidents because I see idiots using their phones on board all the time.
That being said, I can't really fault them for a blanket, better-safe-than-sorry regulation. How many people _really_ need to use their phones during take off and landing. How well does wireless phone service even work while cruising at altitude? Is it worth the risk that somewhere, some specific plane will have a problem because some specific wireless consumer device caused interference?
Yah, forgot about that one. Wouldn't have remembered Sulu was security chief. I just remember he tried to kill Kirk because he intercepted Spock's orders and decided it was a good way for "everyone to move up".
>There goes 10 years of trying to prove I'm not a nerd.
Know what ya mean -- just tipped my hand big-time.:-)
>a measure of influence on the most fickle of Google's investors...and really, who needs them anyways!? Seriously, the day-traders will dump google and refuse to touch them with a ten-foot-pole, and their shares will eventually fall in the hands of actual "investors". Right?
Slashdot Mirror
When I travelled to London on business years ago (early 90's), I had occasion to need Kleenex and went into a shop. Caught myself before looking the total ignorant yank asking for 'Kleenex', but still got a perplexed look when I fumbled and finally uttered 'facial tissue'.
"Oh, paper hankies? Right over there..."
BTW, moust foul sandpaper I ever had the misfortune to attempt to wipe my nose with. I think there was still bark in that crap. And don't get me started on "English Breakfast"
We're whalers on the moon, We carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales So we tell tall tales And sing our whaling tune.
yeah, my point is it doesn't have to be OSS to solve this issue.
Right, then of course you would expect the up-front costs to increase to reflect the value of the software. The licensing terms would have been quite different. Instead of a few thousand a month to license the system, you pay maybe a few hundred thousand, but now you have rights to modify the system.
But the problem wasn't a software flaw that the city was unable to fix because they didn't have the source. The problem was they bought a system that had license management that turned off the system when they didn't pay the bills. What they weren't able to do was get the software to keep working when it detected that there was no longer a valid license.
That's like licensing any other closed-source commercial software that depends on some ongoing activation (like a license server), then when it stops working because you didn't renew the license saying: gee, if I had the source code this wouldn't have happened!
More like, if I didn't enter into a licensing agreement that required recurring payments for the software to work, this wouldn't have happened!
>Why not just make it impossible to add vehicles to the garage when the license expires?
Because then you don't have as much leverage over the licensor. Sure, his garage is sitting idle losing you money, but that's not nearly as much as an incentive to deal as a garage full of angry customers' cars.
I doubt this was an unintended consequence of license expiry. Now, if the problem had been that it stopped working even though there was a valid license, yeah, bad design, etc.
Seems the flaw was in the contract lawyer, not the software. Sounds like the contract with the vendor hid this expired license consequence pretty well, or the lawyer didn't care or think it was an issue. They tried to play harball with the vendor (kicking out their employees, trying to bring in a competitor) and got screwed.
>Also, wasn't there enough smoke already?
Hmm, I thought the same thing when I saw this earlier. Seems like the enhancement did not add enough to warrant the risk of discovery. Made me wonder if he really did it himself or someone else did it to discredit/punish him (this is the guy that took the picture of the dead child being held up in Qana)?
Something here doesn't pass the "smell test".
Ok, but still, 90 billion ly in 15 billion years implies that for some period, matter travelled at speeds greatly in excess of spd of light?
;-)
I was about to post the very same dumb question (thought not nearly as funny). Matter in the expanding universe is currently moving at incredible speed in every direction, away from the point of the big bang, but on average much slower than c (not a cosmologist, but watched Sagan)?
I can't wrap my head around that. My puny mamalian brain is having a hard time fathoming how large the universe was right after the "instant" of the big bang. Is the universe slowing down and cooling, headed for an eventual collapse and another bang (just another in an infinite series)?
forget it, easier to just beleive that some supreme being called the universe into being when he sneezed or something.
Isn't that the guy from penny arcade ?
*yeah, I know
Heh, our place here our security morons don't look too closely either. Our cards are white with a picture on the front an a black mag stripe on the back. I carry mine in a little plastic holder on a retractible cord from my belt. Half the time it hangs with the stripe-side, which is apparently good enough for most of the guards. There is one guy who will ask you to stop and show the photo side, but I think this is more because he likes the power trip than a desire to actually make sure you have a valid id.
Once I left my card at home and just pulled out my grocery store card and waved the back of it at the guards until I could get upstairs and have someone let me in. On the way back from lunch, mr superhero security guard asked me to turn it over, whereupon I flipped it, planning to make some excuse along the lines of 'oops, wrong one, where is my card -- um, must have left it at home'. Didn't need to, he apparently never even looked to see the Jewel or Dominicks logo where my company name and my photo should have been. My coworker and I just about suffocated from trying not to laugh out loud as we made of the elevators.
have you no idea what irony is?
yeah, irony is like goldy and bronzy, only it's made of iron.
I second this -- this DVD was one of the first ones I bought after getting a player. Never been happy with the audio.
I'm planning on checking out the new release to see if it is a better transfer. Theatrical release and any extras are a welcome bonus
aw man, where are my mod points? I apparently squandered them.
Bravo, sir.
yeah, but then you don't get all the advantages that come with Genuine Windows notification, which are... um... ...I'll, um, get back to you on that.
(yeah, this came up last night and I printed the EULA and declined it)
moreso that he was careless enough to leave the tape lying around...
Mr. Laflamme and Mr. Rheault conceded their role in spreading a video that Mr. Raza, then 15, had made of himself and left on a shelf in the school TV studio.
so either a) didn't realize he did this b) wasn't his tape to take & didn't realize how embarassing it would be if it got out, or c) left it there because he doesn't care if anyone else sees it (or maybe actually wants other to see it).
heh, reminds me of this Tom Toles gem the other day.
...
Smoking does not cause cancer.
Okay, it does, but I'm addicted.
their class ring
The beaver, nature's engineer, is the school's mascot.
(oh wait, replying to a troll modded post by the time I hit reply -- oh, well)
yeah, but Ask has that spiffy TV ad campaign where people de-evolve into monkeys when using their computers until they start using ask! [/sarcasm]
I agree, that's a tough row to hoe, trying to get a leg up on google by being 'as good' with a couple nice extra features. They've got to offer something dramatically new/different/better.
That's what google's appeal was (and still is) -- I remember how disgusted I was with altavista or hotwired or whatever I was using when I found out about google though word of mouth. I remember telling all my friends and having them say "oh wow" at how uncluttered the interface was, how quickly it returned results and how usefull the results were.
hmmm, I read the GP as sarcasm
everything is thoroughly shielded from EM.
On the specific plane they tested. That's the problem I see, how can the FCC/FAA ever certify every type of aircraft & wireless communication device to be free of any possible interference. Grant even said that.
Personally, I don't think that someone using a wireless phone on a modern commercial airliner is going to cause any serious degradation of the plane's critical navigation or control systems. If it were the case, there would be reported incidents because I see idiots using their phones on board all the time.
That being said, I can't really fault them for a blanket, better-safe-than-sorry regulation. How many people _really_ need to use their phones during take off and landing. How well does wireless phone service even work while cruising at altitude? Is it worth the risk that somewhere, some specific plane will have a problem because some specific wireless consumer device caused interference?
yeah, his email link disappeared -- not surprisingly
hire Christopher Walken as a Project manager
mmmm, Windows could definitely use more cowbell
*ducks*
yep
I am please to serve the citizens of the City of Tuttle.
I guess it's a good thing he isn't running the school board or anything.
Mirror, Mirror?
:-)
Yah, forgot about that one. Wouldn't have remembered Sulu was security chief. I just remember he tried to kill Kirk because he intercepted Spock's orders and decided it was a good way for "everyone to move up".
>There goes 10 years of trying to prove I'm not a nerd.
Know what ya mean -- just tipped my hand big-time.
Hmmm, I must have missed that episode also. Thought he was the navigation officer or something.
Actually, I thought of "Guy Fleegman as Security Chief 'Roc' Ingersol".
>a measure of influence on the most fickle of Google's investors ...and really, who needs them anyways!? Seriously, the day-traders will dump google and refuse to touch them with a ten-foot-pole, and their shares will eventually fall in the hands of actual "investors". Right?