Facebook is a social interaction system. IM is a communication system. They have entirely different expectations of privacy and function. It's really not that difficult to draw distinction between them and what functions should cross over and which should not.
I think the bigger point here is that MSN is a crappy IM system trying to be a crappy social network. Neither of those things is terribly useful, so don't use it. Problem solved.
Largely because in the past 50 years, they have seldom done so even for the most obvious and egregious acts by corporations. Also maybe because it isn't their job or preview to investigate unless it's a national issue of grave import. I hardly think this qualifies, compared to NSA/ATT merger. Or a dozen others we could all name.
The whole point? The only one? Entirely? Are you sure? I think maybe that might be the "whole point" for you, but not necessarily for everyone else. You should try considering other perspectives once in a while. I'll bet you'd be shocked at the depth and breadth of reasons people do things.
Oddly enough, if the situation were reversed, you'd (you meaning most of/.) probably be screaming bloody murder against MS for making it so hard to port their OS. Different expectations I suppose. Odd though, if you think on it.
Yes, and it's largely due to the fact that most of these people don't have anything better to do. Like work. So them being in public with a macbook a couple years ago was their way of showing off. Now it's trendy to have an Ipod/phone/pad so that's what they have. They still aren't getting anything useful done, but damn if they don't look all sleek and new agey not doing it.
Rather than your wry wit, you could have given some alternatives. Like RenBatch (free ware). Or I could spend the next 200 lines explaining how you can already do this with Batch files and proper command line fu, but somehow I doubt that would be helpful for most of the readers. The few that would understand, already know how.
Get yourself a Geiger counter, and take a walk down a rail spur. Or you could find the facts for yourself. The internet is just fantastic isn't it?
I'm not sure what makes you think fruit and vegetables are radioactive. Possibly you don't know what that term means. Maybe you should look that up too.
The waste is entirely manageable? So you've found a method to reduce physically hot, and radioactive hot materials to safe standards within... say, 100 years? Oh no... OK, so you've found a way to store these materials that doesn't expose the environment, people, or significant sections of aquifer to the lethal materials? Oh... you want to put it in tanks and cool those tanks with AC units for the next 5,000 years or so. Gotcha, Technical perspective absorbed.
I realize that most people really don't have a handle on what the waste output of the current crop of nuclear reactors is, or maybe they do and they think technology will rescue us. In either case, the problem is a significant risk, one that has been downplayed fairly well, mainly because so far, no major leaks have occurred. The fact that almost every rail spur in the southwest is radioactive, or that fact that even several gallons of such materials could contaminate water for millions of people, those aren't credible dangers... right?
Don't get me wrong, I'm pro nuclear power. I'm just also pro telling it like it really is, not the way people will be willing to accept it. The true risks and true costs should be put forward clearly and rationally. THEN we can decide what to do. Jumping head first into a reactor building fest, without proper consideration for the long term impacts will land us in even worse places than the quest for oil has. I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the recent costs and disasters of that quest. Right?
You don't have the foggiest idea what you are talking about. The explosive system used to put out oil field fires doesn't necessarily, or intentionally close the well in any way. It simply blows out the fire so that workers can get in and contain the well head.
You talking about this demo? http://www.apple.com/html5/ Because if you are, it sure doesn't work in chrome. "You’ll need to download Safari to view this demo." So what was your point again? Oh, that apple isn't really blocking out all the competition... hmm want to try again?
Unfortunately, and as I think you probably know, that doesn't actually extend to encompass the difference between a small pot growing operation for personal consumption, and drug traffickers.
First off, in many countries, a small pot growing operation for personal use isn't actually a criminal act. While trafficking at any level is. Second, the principle of harm comes into play. No one is getting hurt because of a small pot growing operation in a basement / garage. Where traffickers are killing people for even finding their growing fields.
So while I like the law to be applied evenly, without too much "consideration", I think there is a pretty big leap between applying anti-drug laws to a couple of stoners, and applying those same laws to south american cartels armed with machine guns and anti-personnel mines.
Re:I'm not sure why anybody would listen to Gartne
on
Time To Dump XP?
·
· Score: 1
Why? Why is that obviously the only choice? What happens if my small company decides to stick with XP? Does XP have a kill switch I'm not aware of? Does MS cutting off new patches mean that all the old ones stop working? Does my stable and well understood desktop environment crash and burn just because it's old? I don't think so.
My company at least will be on XP until we literally don't have a choice, and that is a long long time from now. We have the advantage over most companies that we can simply freeze our environment and software and continue doing business for the foreseeable future. (5+ years) By then, new and better OS's from different corners will be available and the choices will be wider and maybe more enticing. In the mean time, there is a choice, and I think you are going to be shocked to find that many many companies stick with XP for several more years at least.
[Citation Needed] I hate to get cliche on you, but do you have a source?
I may be very ignorant, but I'm pretty sure HTML5 doesn't include anything that XP can't be made to work with. Nor is it all that likely that ever major browser on earth is going to drop support for the OS that holds majority market share (and will for some time to come).
Dolphins and any other reasonably intelligent species have already abandoned the gulf coast area. You won't be dragging up any porpoises unless they are already dead.
You brought up slander/libel laws in the UK vs the US. The UK doesn't reject the idea that truth is an absolute defense, instead they embrace the idea that even if you have a public medium, it's still not acceptable to go out and use it against people/companies. If you have a factually based and valid point to make you can generally get away with it. If you are out to sully someone, regardless of the facts, you won't. It's called CIVILIZED, and the US never did figure out what that was all about. Hence our tort system.//ENDOT lark.
I like the term external memory (with thanks to GITS). I often tell people I work with that I'm not an expert, I don't know hardly anything. But if you give me a terminal with internet access, I can FIND anything, and learn to do anything, at least in the short term. Having good google fu makes me more valuable, not smarter. I do take away small pieces of knowledge every time I do something new, but that isn't the same quality of knowledge that a scholar in previous ages would have.
ON that note, it's worth debating the ability of humans to keep pace with the volume of knowledge available. You can be an expert at any one subject, or even a couple of them. Can people really be scholars with vast portions of the sum of all knowledge? Not anymore, and it's debatable if they ever actually could.
In any case, I agree that the internet is a tool and like any good tool, it's the user that decides what they get from it's use. You can fill your time with pointless baubles on the internet, as you can in real life or TV or any other medium. Or you can expand your knowledge and understanding. And the entire gambit in between those extremes. Of course, the internet has a difference, and that is there is no barrier to entry and information dissemination. That's unique, but not bad, necessarily. I've developed a really good bullshit detector. Largely through massive cross reference of sources. I think this is a required skill in this day and age. Just like typing, they should teach search fu in schools, and information checking and other such things.
So what do we do instead? What are the systems in place to prevent... oh none. OK. So surely there is a system in place to punish... oh, no? OK, so we leave it to the courts? OH, the CEO and officers in the company can't be held liable in any way what so ever? So then what stops them from using a profit motive to justify poisoning people? Nothing. Well alright then, lets go ahead and just move along, nothing to see here.
No, that is not how capitalism works. That's how capitalism fails. When you buy a service the seller should have no stake in how it's used. If they do have a stake in how it's used, then they should be LIABLE for it too. In a really free market, where 2 or 3 holding companies don't own the entire network, there would be no charges for services which are dirt cheap or free to the carrier. Like text messages. Because someone would come along and sell the service at or very near cost.
Instead, we have fees and inflated costs for services, because the network is wholly owned by a handful of companies which see fit to keep a relatively level pricing scheme between them. Tethering fees are only possible because of two things. 1) most consumers are too ignorant to know what they aren't getting. 2) monopoly control of what should be a public resource. That isn't capitalism, it's corpratism.
Why isn't it reasonable? It's the history of the world, or maybe you didn't notice? People have been uprooting and moving around to find the greener grass for thousands of years. I don't think it's unreasonable for them to do so when it means moving to a place that more accurately reflects their life style choices, morality, or economic reasons. In this day and age moving is not hard, it's not life threatening, it's simply a hassle. Let me remind you that you do not have the right to live without hassle. Stand up and do what needs to be done for yourself and your family, including move to a different state/nation. Or you could sit behind your keyboard and whimper, if you prefer.
You've missed the fundamental point entirely. The system doesn't need false trust, it needs REAL trust. People need to believe that police are there to HELP them, and if that isn't true, believing it is far worse than the alternative. The system won't collapse without trust, it will be rebuilt until that trust is back, or until anarchy rules. However, allowing false trust to prevail is like installing false security measures at airports. It accomplishes nothing, it will eventually be seen for the fraud it is, and it costs a fortune. When that fraud is seen by the public, and it will be despite even monumental efforts, then your false trust system will be torn asunder. What then?
You are right, people really should just submit to the will of the police, and the government, and anyone with a big stick because it's not worth getting hurt. I mean, they could break your arm, or give you a black eye with one of those batons, hell they could give you brain damage. You might not be really smart anymore. You might end up so dumb you think it's a good idea to resist abuse of power!!!
Sarcasm aside, let me lay it out for you. If you do nothing, EVIL wins. If you act, we all have a chance. I leave your choice to you, and I'll tell you that my video equipment will be pointed at the nearest abuse of power. Come night sticks or high water.
Oh, and btw, that badge isn't actually magic armor. Cops go down like anyone else when you put a taser in their neck. Just remember to restrain/disarm the fucker before you remove the taser. It'll keep you from getting shot in the back as you walk away.
I don't believe all police are bad men. Not even half. But if we don't do something about the bad ones, we won't have enough good ones left.
Slashdot Mirror
Facebook is a social interaction system. IM is a communication system. They have entirely different expectations of privacy and function. It's really not that difficult to draw distinction between them and what functions should cross over and which should not.
I think the bigger point here is that MSN is a crappy IM system trying to be a crappy social network. Neither of those things is terribly useful, so don't use it. Problem solved.
Largely because in the past 50 years, they have seldom done so even for the most obvious and egregious acts by corporations. Also maybe because it isn't their job or preview to investigate unless it's a national issue of grave import. I hardly think this qualifies, compared to NSA/ATT merger. Or a dozen others we could all name.
That explains why intel and microsoft are screaming at congress about HB1 visas.... Or not.
The whole point? The only one? Entirely? Are you sure? I think maybe that might be the "whole point" for you, but not necessarily for everyone else. You should try considering other perspectives once in a while. I'll bet you'd be shocked at the depth and breadth of reasons people do things.
Oddly enough, if the situation were reversed, you'd (you meaning most of /.) probably be screaming bloody murder against MS for making it so hard to port their OS. Different expectations I suppose. Odd though, if you think on it.
Yes, and it's largely due to the fact that most of these people don't have anything better to do. Like work. So them being in public with a macbook a couple years ago was their way of showing off. Now it's trendy to have an Ipod/phone/pad so that's what they have. They still aren't getting anything useful done, but damn if they don't look all sleek and new agey not doing it.
Rather than your wry wit, you could have given some alternatives. Like RenBatch (free ware). Or I could spend the next 200 lines explaining how you can already do this with Batch files and proper command line fu, but somehow I doubt that would be helpful for most of the readers. The few that would understand, already know how.
Get yourself a Geiger counter, and take a walk down a rail spur. Or you could find the facts for yourself. The internet is just fantastic isn't it?
I'm not sure what makes you think fruit and vegetables are radioactive. Possibly you don't know what that term means. Maybe you should look that up too.
The waste is entirely manageable? So you've found a method to reduce physically hot, and radioactive hot materials to safe standards within... say, 100 years? Oh no... OK, so you've found a way to store these materials that doesn't expose the environment, people, or significant sections of aquifer to the lethal materials? Oh... you want to put it in tanks and cool those tanks with AC units for the next 5,000 years or so. Gotcha, Technical perspective absorbed.
I realize that most people really don't have a handle on what the waste output of the current crop of nuclear reactors is, or maybe they do and they think technology will rescue us. In either case, the problem is a significant risk, one that has been downplayed fairly well, mainly because so far, no major leaks have occurred. The fact that almost every rail spur in the southwest is radioactive, or that fact that even several gallons of such materials could contaminate water for millions of people, those aren't credible dangers... right?
Don't get me wrong, I'm pro nuclear power. I'm just also pro telling it like it really is, not the way people will be willing to accept it. The true risks and true costs should be put forward clearly and rationally. THEN we can decide what to do. Jumping head first into a reactor building fest, without proper consideration for the long term impacts will land us in even worse places than the quest for oil has. I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the recent costs and disasters of that quest. Right?
You don't have the foggiest idea what you are talking about. The explosive system used to put out oil field fires doesn't necessarily, or intentionally close the well in any way. It simply blows out the fire so that workers can get in and contain the well head.
5$ cafe drinks being poured over the keyboards by beret wearing foofs in black turtlenecks. At the very least.
You talking about this demo? http://www.apple.com/html5/ Because if you are, it sure doesn't work in chrome. "You’ll need to download Safari to view this demo." So what was your point again? Oh, that apple isn't really blocking out all the competition... hmm want to try again?
Get a better playback device. I haven't seen ads or previews on a DVD in an age. Even the legit ones. ;)
Use VLC (or your favorite) and you won't see ads anymore. What's that? You aren't using an HTPC? Why the hell not?
Unfortunately, and as I think you probably know, that doesn't actually extend to encompass the difference between a small pot growing operation for personal consumption, and drug traffickers.
First off, in many countries, a small pot growing operation for personal use isn't actually a criminal act. While trafficking at any level is. Second, the principle of harm comes into play. No one is getting hurt because of a small pot growing operation in a basement / garage. Where traffickers are killing people for even finding their growing fields.
So while I like the law to be applied evenly, without too much "consideration", I think there is a pretty big leap between applying anti-drug laws to a couple of stoners, and applying those same laws to south american cartels armed with machine guns and anti-personnel mines.
Why? Why is that obviously the only choice? What happens if my small company decides to stick with XP? Does XP have a kill switch I'm not aware of? Does MS cutting off new patches mean that all the old ones stop working? Does my stable and well understood desktop environment crash and burn just because it's old? I don't think so.
My company at least will be on XP until we literally don't have a choice, and that is a long long time from now. We have the advantage over most companies that we can simply freeze our environment and software and continue doing business for the foreseeable future. (5+ years) By then, new and better OS's from different corners will be available and the choices will be wider and maybe more enticing. In the mean time, there is a choice, and I think you are going to be shocked to find that many many companies stick with XP for several more years at least.
[Citation Needed] I hate to get cliche on you, but do you have a source?
I may be very ignorant, but I'm pretty sure HTML5 doesn't include anything that XP can't be made to work with. Nor is it all that likely that ever major browser on earth is going to drop support for the OS that holds majority market share (and will for some time to come).
Dolphins and any other reasonably intelligent species have already abandoned the gulf coast area. You won't be dragging up any porpoises unless they are already dead.
... the end of the world occurred pretty much as we'd predicted. Too many humans, not even space or resources to go around....
OFFTOPIC lark.
//ENDOT lark.
You brought up slander/libel laws in the UK vs the US. The UK doesn't reject the idea that truth is an absolute defense, instead they embrace the idea that even if you have a public medium, it's still not acceptable to go out and use it against people/companies. If you have a factually based and valid point to make you can generally get away with it. If you are out to sully someone, regardless of the facts, you won't. It's called CIVILIZED, and the US never did figure out what that was all about. Hence our tort system.
I like the term external memory (with thanks to GITS). I often tell people I work with that I'm not an expert, I don't know hardly anything. But if you give me a terminal with internet access, I can FIND anything, and learn to do anything, at least in the short term. Having good google fu makes me more valuable, not smarter. I do take away small pieces of knowledge every time I do something new, but that isn't the same quality of knowledge that a scholar in previous ages would have.
ON that note, it's worth debating the ability of humans to keep pace with the volume of knowledge available. You can be an expert at any one subject, or even a couple of them. Can people really be scholars with vast portions of the sum of all knowledge? Not anymore, and it's debatable if they ever actually could.
In any case, I agree that the internet is a tool and like any good tool, it's the user that decides what they get from it's use. You can fill your time with pointless baubles on the internet, as you can in real life or TV or any other medium. Or you can expand your knowledge and understanding. And the entire gambit in between those extremes. Of course, the internet has a difference, and that is there is no barrier to entry and information dissemination. That's unique, but not bad, necessarily. I've developed a really good bullshit detector. Largely through massive cross reference of sources. I think this is a required skill in this day and age. Just like typing, they should teach search fu in schools, and information checking and other such things.
So what do we do instead? What are the systems in place to prevent... oh none. OK. So surely there is a system in place to punish... oh, no? OK, so we leave it to the courts? OH, the CEO and officers in the company can't be held liable in any way what so ever? So then what stops them from using a profit motive to justify poisoning people? Nothing. Well alright then, lets go ahead and just move along, nothing to see here.
No, that is not how capitalism works. That's how capitalism fails. When you buy a service the seller should have no stake in how it's used. If they do have a stake in how it's used, then they should be LIABLE for it too. In a really free market, where 2 or 3 holding companies don't own the entire network, there would be no charges for services which are dirt cheap or free to the carrier. Like text messages. Because someone would come along and sell the service at or very near cost.
Instead, we have fees and inflated costs for services, because the network is wholly owned by a handful of companies which see fit to keep a relatively level pricing scheme between them. Tethering fees are only possible because of two things. 1) most consumers are too ignorant to know what they aren't getting. 2) monopoly control of what should be a public resource. That isn't capitalism, it's corpratism.
Why isn't it reasonable? It's the history of the world, or maybe you didn't notice? People have been uprooting and moving around to find the greener grass for thousands of years. I don't think it's unreasonable for them to do so when it means moving to a place that more accurately reflects their life style choices, morality, or economic reasons. In this day and age moving is not hard, it's not life threatening, it's simply a hassle. Let me remind you that you do not have the right to live without hassle. Stand up and do what needs to be done for yourself and your family, including move to a different state/nation. Or you could sit behind your keyboard and whimper, if you prefer.
You've missed the fundamental point entirely. The system doesn't need false trust, it needs REAL trust. People need to believe that police are there to HELP them, and if that isn't true, believing it is far worse than the alternative. The system won't collapse without trust, it will be rebuilt until that trust is back, or until anarchy rules. However, allowing false trust to prevail is like installing false security measures at airports. It accomplishes nothing, it will eventually be seen for the fraud it is, and it costs a fortune. When that fraud is seen by the public, and it will be despite even monumental efforts, then your false trust system will be torn asunder. What then?
You are right, people really should just submit to the will of the police, and the government, and anyone with a big stick because it's not worth getting hurt. I mean, they could break your arm, or give you a black eye with one of those batons, hell they could give you brain damage. You might not be really smart anymore. You might end up so dumb you think it's a good idea to resist abuse of power!!!
Sarcasm aside, let me lay it out for you. If you do nothing, EVIL wins. If you act, we all have a chance. I leave your choice to you, and I'll tell you that my video equipment will be pointed at the nearest abuse of power. Come night sticks or high water.
Oh, and btw, that badge isn't actually magic armor. Cops go down like anyone else when you put a taser in their neck. Just remember to restrain/disarm the fucker before you remove the taser. It'll keep you from getting shot in the back as you walk away.
I don't believe all police are bad men. Not even half. But if we don't do something about the bad ones, we won't have enough good ones left.