Unfortunately, that means the only major carriers in the US I can now ever use are AT&T and T-Mobile. But then again, its nice to be able to use any device I want on a carrier that doesn't have the technical means (due to an uncommon network technology) to be a jackass about devices.
And how long do you think this situation will last? Every major corp in the world is looking to rape your privacy - AT&T and T-Mobile probably aren't far behind in locking down everything, in spite of "uncommon network technology". I predict that within two years unlocked bootloaders will be a thing of the past, simply because providers will check on bootloader status and deny access to any phone that hasn't drunk their Kool-Aid.
I know it was a joke but "Great Britain" is the island - the largest island in the British Isles - not the country. So yes, it will still be great since it's the largest.
United Kingdom is the country and includes Northern Ireland - for now - which is part of a different island: Ireland. Not to be confused with Ireland (the country), which is only part of Ireland(the island).
Thanks to you and to other posters above for straightening me out - my grasp of geography is abysmal.
So I guess if various secessions occur, the UK will become the DK?;~)
Yeah, the amount of advertising that I can't block on this site has been creeping upward. Maybe they think that if they do it slowly enough we won't notice. Next I expect to see Slashdot Beta popping up its empty head.
At least the adverts are brown, so we can tell at a glance that they're shit and quickly turn our eyes away.
Basically, the moment two companies talk about a merger and "synergies", it is the start of the downward spiral for both...
I don't know anything about Accenture. As for Oracle, I'd be happy to see them circling the drain. Too bad Ellison would never go down with the ship though.
Yes, upgrade from MS Windows to Linux! Use that most of the time, run Windows only in a VM and only if you have to. If it's absolutely necessary, have a computer that boots into Windows - but the more dust said computer collects, the better for you and for the entire world.
Elsewhere on Slashdot is a story about why Flash died. Too bad it wasn't talking about Windows instead. I had no love for Flash either; but if I got to choose which one of them would be pushing up daisies, Flash blocking browser extensions would still be a thing.
Flash doesn't need a post mortem, it just needs an obituary. Its death wasn't suspicious, and it didn't commit suicide. It was a cute, talented kid with promise, but as often happens, it became a shiftless, troublesome adult, partly as a result of the parenting mistakes of its narcissistic adoptive parent. Its lifestyle, shortcomings, and bad luck led it to an early death; it's time to close the casket, fill in the hole, place the gravestone, and move on.
We have a guy here who would clog the meeting idea up with ideas that he should know cannot work.
The paper bag in the bore hole couldn't work either - but it led to an idea that DID work. The key is to NOT rely on one person tossing out a viable almost-ready-to-implement idea; rather, you rely on even stupid, goofy, off-topic ruminations that trigger trains of thought and association. Those, in turn, may lead to viable solutions. The other possibility is that you end up with a solution to some other problem, one that perhaps you didn't even know you had. The key is to maintain an open mind and not shut people down over 'stupid' or 'impractical' ideas that might lead to bigger and better things. That's the essence of creativity, whether in an individual or in a group.
when it happens organically, in small companies or in small cohesive groups within a company. Planning brainstorm sessions in the way that HR types would prefer doesn't work as a rule. What does work is an informal get-together in a comfortable space with a whiteboard, and passionate people who know what they're talking about, respect each other, have no time for political BS, and trust each other enough to blurt out the stupid-sounding stuff that can lead to innovation.
I remember when I was no more than 12 years old, reading a Reader's Digest article on brainstorming. One example given was a group of people who were trying to find a way to deliver some kind of explosive charge to the bottom of a liquid-filled bore hole, that was cheaper than the aluminum devices currently in use. They weren't making any headway, and one of the frustrated participants said 'why don't we just put the damn thing in a paper bag?'. That led fairly quickly to the solution - basically a variation on a paper tube. Happily, that lesson has stuck with me all my life.
It's the uncensored moments that make brainstorming work; that's why it tends NOT to work in most corporate environments, where failure to self-censor may be career-limiting at best, and career-ending at worst.
They wouldn't dare - I know where their babies are. Most of them are speeding to a local daycare center to pick up their little snowflakes before the 6 o'clock deadline. Another idea I had was to take pictures of the speeders' kids and make big cardboard cutouts of their kids to place in the middle of the street.
Now THAT is a really good idea! The cutouts wouldn't have to be in the middle of the road though. Having them off to the side would work - especially if they were accompanied by a sign asking people to drive as though their kids lived in one of the houses on that street.
A computer doesn't give a shit if the runway is straight or curved, because it can handle a little more left (or whatever) while it's managing dozens of other things. But a human can't do that. You want to make pilots have to account for bank and curvature in addition to everything else?
I'm only mildly concerned about that under normal conditions. But when there's ice, snow, poor visibility, a landing gear that won't drop, a deficiency in the plane's control surfaces, illness in the cockpit, or any of a couple dozen other problems that plague fliers and aircraft, then you're right - it's a shit idea.
Without further details, this story of a plot sounds as though it could be just that - a story. One created to justify further restrictions that lead to further reflexive obedience to authority. I'm not saying there wasn't a plot; but without further information and confirmation, the whole things smacks of propaganda.
ONLY luddites can luddite luddites, so this APP lawsuit against ludditey Ludditedows 10 will be destroyed by Ludditeald Trump, who will Make Luddites Ludditey Again!
But never mind all that, the productive people can have the police, the army, the politicians on their side because they can pay.
Ah, yes - the old "might makes right" argument. Even Ayn Rand condemned that point of view in her books, in spite of the fact that a thinly disguised version of it was a key element of her 'philosophy'. If the old bitch were still alive, I'm not sure whether she would applaud your boldness or chastise you for tipping her hand.
...Simple solution: anyone who pays more in taxes than they receive in direct benefits is allowed to vote.
Sounds to me like just another wealth / power concentration mechanism. Corporations axe employees; those employees lose income, so their taxes go down while the likelihood of them receiving assistance goes up. Some of them won't meet your 'eligible voter' criteria; as a result, the voter base is reduced selectively in a manner that favours those who support / benefit from corporate cost-cutting agendas. Consequently, government policies become still more favourable to corporations, even as there are fewer voters to oppose those policies. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Also, note that in some ways the system has already devolved into something similar to what you've proposed. Lobbying + political donations form a far more powerful legislator-selecting and policy-shaping force than mere votes. That has positioned the dividing line between the 'super-enfranchised' and the merely enfranchised, rather than between the enfranchised and the disenfranchised - but other than that distinction, I think the current state of affairs is pretty similar to what you're advocating.
...What clusterfuck corrosion of the rule of law have the patent lawyers hoisted on the body politic this time?
"Rule of law"? Have you been living in a cave? Rule of law has been on the endangered species list for quite some time, and its prospects of survival are becoming more dire by the second. Corporations have been quite successful in their overt efforts make the rule of law follow the dodo into extinction.
Nobody should be surprised by this kind of shit any more; the only surprise is that there seems to be no sign of the bloody revolution that usually follows such ongoing abuse by the rich and powerful. I guess they've perfected bread and circuses, (and public education), to the point where average people no longer care, or even realize, that they've been sold down the river into slavery.
The proposed scheme reduces Earth's infrared energy surplus by reducing the amount of visible light reaching us from the sun. Photosynthesis requires certain wavelengths of visible light; so reducing the amount of sunlight reaching plants will reduce photosynthesis, which will in turn reduce the conversion rate of CO2 to O2. So while less energy comes into the system, more CO2 remains in the system, and the latter will tend to offset the former. The net effect on warming might be zero. Worse, we could be upside-down on the transaction, with the net effect actually worsening global warming in the long term. Yes, volcanic eruptions reduce average temperatures; but their effects are fairly short-lived, and don't give us much of a clue about the consequences of reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface over a span of decades or centuries. Also, it strikes me that we might experience significantly-reduced crop yields as an additional result of the reduced photosynthesis - not a good thing when we may also be losing arable land as a result of rising sea levels.
I really hope the folks tinkering with our biosphere are asking the same questions, (and more), and coming up with credible answers. I know they're generally a smart lot of people; but their track record so far WRT climate change models and predictions isn't nearly good enough to justify their apparent excess of hubris. Their attitude of 'yeah, if a few minuscule tests look good, we should roll out a full-scale implementation on the whole planet', is downright fucking scary.
My 'attack', (if indeed it was one), was more 'ad philosophia', than 'ad hominem'. For an example of an 'ad hominem' attack, see your own reply to my comment.
You seem to be arguing that willful ignorance and intentional incompetence should be celebrated even more so than they currently are in Hollywood and politics.
Did you read the same comment I did? Please specify which sentence(s) in GP's post led you to that conclusion.
If the modern poor live more comfortably than the kings of old, is that not a reason to celebrate?
You have a pretty shallow notion of comfort. The 'kings of old' enjoyed far more autonomy and freedom than 'the modern poor'; especially the working poor, who may work three jobs to just barely make ends meet, while the largest part of the fruits of their labour is concentrated in the hands of a few people far above them on the socio-economic ladder. A slave is still a slave; it's an existentially uncomfortable position to say the least, even if the slave lives in a palace; and the living conditions of today's slaves are far from palatial.
You want to "fix" the parts of human nature that you've been brainwashed to find distasteful. Don't expect the rest of us to jump onto your Marxist bandwagon.
Why would anyone with even pretensions of being a geek link their password manager to a browser, beyond the two applications sharing the same OS install? I've been using a password manager for years, and it would NEVER have occurred to me to make it easy for my browser to access it directly. I don't consider myself terribly security conscious; but dangling a LOT of low-hanging fruit in front of would-be attackers was just never even on my radar. Goes without saying that the first thing I did when browsers introduced 'remember passwords' was to turn the damned thing off.
Security and convenience will always be at odds. But most people who don't have alarm systems will at least lock up their houses and cars. When it comes to The Interwebs, they should also go at least that far.
If the law supports restricting my right to repair, modify, and re-purpose items which I have purchased with my own money, then SCREW THE LAW. If I bought it and paid for it, then, short of using it for the purposes of harm or fraud, I'll do whatever the fuck I please with it, and I'll move heaven and earth to repair it myself if I'm so inclined, regardless of any "agreements" to the contrary forced upon my by evil slime buckets such as John Deere. Piss on them, and piss on any lawmakers who support them. May they all rot in hell.
I mean, who closes tabs anyway. I have over 300 open right now.
I actually close tabs fairly often, but that hasn't stopped me from having in excess of 700 open at once, on too many occasions for me to contemplate. I guess I really need to learn to let go. Or not...:)
Slashdot Mirror
Unfortunately, that means the only major carriers in the US I can now ever use are AT&T and T-Mobile. But then again, its nice to be able to use any device I want on a carrier that doesn't have the technical means (due to an uncommon network technology) to be a jackass about devices.
And how long do you think this situation will last? Every major corp in the world is looking to rape your privacy - AT&T and T-Mobile probably aren't far behind in locking down everything, in spite of "uncommon network technology". I predict that within two years unlocked bootloaders will be a thing of the past, simply because providers will check on bootloader status and deny access to any phone that hasn't drunk their Kool-Aid.
I know it was a joke but "Great Britain" is the island - the largest island in the British Isles - not the country. So yes, it will still be great since it's the largest.
United Kingdom is the country and includes Northern Ireland - for now - which is part of a different island: Ireland. Not to be confused with Ireland (the country), which is only part of Ireland(the island).
Thanks to you and to other posters above for straightening me out - my grasp of geography is abysmal.
So I guess if various secessions occur, the UK will become the DK? ;~)
In related news, Scotland's parliament has just "approved plans to request a referendum on independence that could take place just before Britain completes its withdrawal from the European Union". Ireland may not be far behind in making its own bid for independence. Would it still be "Great" Britain if it was just England and Wales?
Yeah, the amount of advertising that I can't block on this site has been creeping upward. Maybe they think that if they do it slowly enough we won't notice. Next I expect to see Slashdot Beta popping up its empty head.
At least the adverts are brown, so we can tell at a glance that they're shit and quickly turn our eyes away.
Basically, the moment two companies talk about a merger and "synergies", it is the start of the downward spiral for both...
I don't know anything about Accenture. As for Oracle, I'd be happy to see them circling the drain. Too bad Ellison would never go down with the ship though.
Yes, upgrade from MS Windows to Linux! Use that most of the time, run Windows only in a VM and only if you have to. If it's absolutely necessary, have a computer that boots into Windows - but the more dust said computer collects, the better for you and for the entire world.
Elsewhere on Slashdot is a story about why Flash died. Too bad it wasn't talking about Windows instead. I had no love for Flash either; but if I got to choose which one of them would be pushing up daisies, Flash blocking browser extensions would still be a thing.
Flash doesn't need a post mortem, it just needs an obituary. Its death wasn't suspicious, and it didn't commit suicide. It was a cute, talented kid with promise, but as often happens, it became a shiftless, troublesome adult, partly as a result of the parenting mistakes of its narcissistic adoptive parent. Its lifestyle, shortcomings, and bad luck led it to an early death; it's time to close the casket, fill in the hole, place the gravestone, and move on.
We have a guy here who would clog the meeting idea up with ideas that he should know cannot work.
The paper bag in the bore hole couldn't work either - but it led to an idea that DID work. The key is to NOT rely on one person tossing out a viable almost-ready-to-implement idea; rather, you rely on even stupid, goofy, off-topic ruminations that trigger trains of thought and association. Those, in turn, may lead to viable solutions. The other possibility is that you end up with a solution to some other problem, one that perhaps you didn't even know you had. The key is to maintain an open mind and not shut people down over 'stupid' or 'impractical' ideas that might lead to bigger and better things. That's the essence of creativity, whether in an individual or in a group.
when it happens organically, in small companies or in small cohesive groups within a company. Planning brainstorm sessions in the way that HR types would prefer doesn't work as a rule. What does work is an informal get-together in a comfortable space with a whiteboard, and passionate people who know what they're talking about, respect each other, have no time for political BS, and trust each other enough to blurt out the stupid-sounding stuff that can lead to innovation.
I remember when I was no more than 12 years old, reading a Reader's Digest article on brainstorming. One example given was a group of people who were trying to find a way to deliver some kind of explosive charge to the bottom of a liquid-filled bore hole, that was cheaper than the aluminum devices currently in use. They weren't making any headway, and one of the frustrated participants said 'why don't we just put the damn thing in a paper bag?'. That led fairly quickly to the solution - basically a variation on a paper tube. Happily, that lesson has stuck with me all my life.
It's the uncensored moments that make brainstorming work; that's why it tends NOT to work in most corporate environments, where failure to self-censor may be career-limiting at best, and career-ending at worst.
They wouldn't dare - I know where their babies are. Most of them are speeding to a local daycare center to pick up their little snowflakes before the 6 o'clock deadline. Another idea I had was to take pictures of the speeders' kids and make big cardboard cutouts of their kids to place in the middle of the street.
Now THAT is a really good idea! The cutouts wouldn't have to be in the middle of the road though. Having them off to the side would work - especially if they were accompanied by a sign asking people to drive as though their kids lived in one of the houses on that street.
A computer doesn't give a shit if the runway is straight or curved, because it can handle a little more left (or whatever) while it's managing dozens of other things. But a human can't do that. You want to make pilots have to account for bank and curvature in addition to everything else?
I'm only mildly concerned about that under normal conditions. But when there's ice, snow, poor visibility, a landing gear that won't drop, a deficiency in the plane's control surfaces, illness in the cockpit, or any of a couple dozen other problems that plague fliers and aircraft, then you're right - it's a shit idea.
Without further details, this story of a plot sounds as though it could be just that - a story. One created to justify further restrictions that lead to further reflexive obedience to authority. I'm not saying there wasn't a plot; but without further information and confirmation, the whole things smacks of propaganda.
ONLY luddites can luddite luddites, so this APP lawsuit against ludditey Ludditedows 10 will be destroyed by Ludditeald Trump, who will Make Luddites Ludditey Again!
Luddites!
But never mind all that, the productive people can have the police, the army, the politicians on their side because they can pay.
Ah, yes - the old "might makes right" argument. Even Ayn Rand condemned that point of view in her books, in spite of the fact that a thinly disguised version of it was a key element of her 'philosophy'. If the old bitch were still alive, I'm not sure whether she would applaud your boldness or chastise you for tipping her hand.
Thanks for that! Great song - I'd like it even if it didn't affirm my socio-political bias! ;-)
...Simple solution: anyone who pays more in taxes than they receive in direct benefits is allowed to vote.
Sounds to me like just another wealth / power concentration mechanism. Corporations axe employees; those employees lose income, so their taxes go down while the likelihood of them receiving assistance goes up. Some of them won't meet your 'eligible voter' criteria; as a result, the voter base is reduced selectively in a manner that favours those who support / benefit from corporate cost-cutting agendas. Consequently, government policies become still more favourable to corporations, even as there are fewer voters to oppose those policies. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Also, note that in some ways the system has already devolved into something similar to what you've proposed. Lobbying + political donations form a far more powerful legislator-selecting and policy-shaping force than mere votes. That has positioned the dividing line between the 'super-enfranchised' and the merely enfranchised, rather than between the enfranchised and the disenfranchised - but other than that distinction, I think the current state of affairs is pretty similar to what you're advocating.
...What clusterfuck corrosion of the rule of law have the patent lawyers hoisted on the body politic this time?
"Rule of law"? Have you been living in a cave? Rule of law has been on the endangered species list for quite some time, and its prospects of survival are becoming more dire by the second. Corporations have been quite successful in their overt efforts make the rule of law follow the dodo into extinction.
Nobody should be surprised by this kind of shit any more; the only surprise is that there seems to be no sign of the bloody revolution that usually follows such ongoing abuse by the rich and powerful. I guess they've perfected bread and circuses, (and public education), to the point where average people no longer care, or even realize, that they've been sold down the river into slavery.
The proposed scheme reduces Earth's infrared energy surplus by reducing the amount of visible light reaching us from the sun. Photosynthesis requires certain wavelengths of visible light; so reducing the amount of sunlight reaching plants will reduce photosynthesis, which will in turn reduce the conversion rate of CO2 to O2. So while less energy comes into the system, more CO2 remains in the system, and the latter will tend to offset the former. The net effect on warming might be zero. Worse, we could be upside-down on the transaction, with the net effect actually worsening global warming in the long term. Yes, volcanic eruptions reduce average temperatures; but their effects are fairly short-lived, and don't give us much of a clue about the consequences of reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface over a span of decades or centuries. Also, it strikes me that we might experience significantly-reduced crop yields as an additional result of the reduced photosynthesis - not a good thing when we may also be losing arable land as a result of rising sea levels.
I really hope the folks tinkering with our biosphere are asking the same questions, (and more), and coming up with credible answers. I know they're generally a smart lot of people; but their track record so far WRT climate change models and predictions isn't nearly good enough to justify their apparent excess of hubris. Their attitude of 'yeah, if a few minuscule tests look good, we should roll out a full-scale implementation on the whole planet', is downright fucking scary.
My 'attack', (if indeed it was one), was more 'ad philosophia', than 'ad hominem'. For an example of an 'ad hominem' attack, see your own reply to my comment.
You seem to be arguing that willful ignorance and intentional incompetence should be celebrated even more so than they currently are in Hollywood and politics.
Did you read the same comment I did? Please specify which sentence(s) in GP's post led you to that conclusion.
If the modern poor live more comfortably than the kings of old, is that not a reason to celebrate?
You have a pretty shallow notion of comfort. The 'kings of old' enjoyed far more autonomy and freedom than 'the modern poor'; especially the working poor, who may work three jobs to just barely make ends meet, while the largest part of the fruits of their labour is concentrated in the hands of a few people far above them on the socio-economic ladder. A slave is still a slave; it's an existentially uncomfortable position to say the least, even if the slave lives in a palace; and the living conditions of today's slaves are far from palatial.
You want to "fix" the parts of human nature that you've been brainwashed to find distasteful. Don't expect the rest of us to jump onto your Marxist bandwagon.
Found the Libertarian!
...everything gains +9001% media attention...
That's a pretty specific figure - are you sure you didn't mean +ISO 9001%?
Why would anyone with even pretensions of being a geek link their password manager to a browser, beyond the two applications sharing the same OS install? I've been using a password manager for years, and it would NEVER have occurred to me to make it easy for my browser to access it directly. I don't consider myself terribly security conscious; but dangling a LOT of low-hanging fruit in front of would-be attackers was just never even on my radar. Goes without saying that the first thing I did when browsers introduced 'remember passwords' was to turn the damned thing off.
Security and convenience will always be at odds. But most people who don't have alarm systems will at least lock up their houses and cars. When it comes to The Interwebs, they should also go at least that far.
If the law supports restricting my right to repair, modify, and re-purpose items which I have purchased with my own money, then SCREW THE LAW. If I bought it and paid for it, then, short of using it for the purposes of harm or fraud, I'll do whatever the fuck I please with it, and I'll move heaven and earth to repair it myself if I'm so inclined, regardless of any "agreements" to the contrary forced upon my by evil slime buckets such as John Deere. Piss on them, and piss on any lawmakers who support them. May they all rot in hell.
I mean, who closes tabs anyway. I have over 300 open right now.
I actually close tabs fairly often, but that hasn't stopped me from having in excess of 700 open at once, on too many occasions for me to contemplate. I guess I really need to learn to let go. Or not... :)