I don't like him all that much (sorry, Jon, but sometimes you just sound too much like my high school teachers back then...), but he has got a point this time... I think Metallica etc. stepped into something here that is far too big for them to comprehend. I understand that Metallica is in it for the money and doesn't want to lose any of it, but to sue individual Napster users was surely the wrong move.
AFAIK the allied forces in Operation Desert Storm encrypted or otherwise degraded the signal for the whole region. That way, the allied troops could restore the signal with the key they had (I don't remember exactly how it worked) and know exactly where they are (a big advantage if you are fighting in a desert), while the Iraqis did not - should they have had GPS equipment at all.
So I think they can still change the accuracy for a specific region, without neccessarily changing it global.
I think the language of net for now may be English, but since there are more and more people coming online who don't speak as their native tongue, this will change...
I mean look at it: the 'English' we are using on/. and elsewhere on the net is not the English you neccessarily use in everyday conversation. We have all the acronyms, emoticons, and, yes, words from other languages coming in... so this is a language still very similar to English, but I think it will eventually branch of more and more during the next decades/centuries, with the net (and it's laguage) becoming more and more international. I guess this is language evolution at an accelerated pace...
The bad news is that such language would be probably English (bad news for >95% of mankind who doesn't speak English as a first language).
Yeah, maybe their are only 5% speaking English as the first language, but AFAIK 30%+ of the world's population speak it as their second language(including me).
and I'm pretty sure air traffic controllers in almost every country have to speak it.
Actually, they don't have to. AFAIK there are a few languages the international comission who controls this thing has endorsed (like French, Russian and so on), but the FAA demands that all flights to the US have to use English. And since most airlines have flights to the US, they adopted English as the 'primary' language and so did the ATCs.
The fact of the matter is, Microsoft practically single-handedly turned the PC from the haven of 31337 tech-savvy "gurus" to a domain where anyone could use a computer to browse the internet, write letters and play games. Whilst I know that/.ers seem to think that only they should be allowed to use PCs, Microsoft pushed the idea that everyone could benefit from a PC, and it worked, because people wanted that.
I agree with you, but that is not the point of the whole issue. The point is that MS abuse the monopoly in the industry to make a shitload of money from the users who paid more for their software than it was worth.
I have no problem with giving MS credit where they deserve it: but I have a problem with them abusing their market position in a way that is hindering this very progress in user-frienly computer interfaces.
The catholics do the same thing with Wine, unleavened bread and 'holy' water. People used to pay big money for these little items.
Yes, I guess you are right... I'm not catholic, but for me there is a differnce between their wine-and-bread-thing and the CoS E-Meter. I mean, wine and bread aren't supposed to read your mind or whatever AFAIK, but are more used sybolize faith and coming together as a religious community.
To me it is just ridiculous to attribute some kind of religious meaning to something from which know how it works the first year you're in college, but that may be just me.
Did I get that right that this "E-Meter" basically just measures somebody's electrical resistance and they try to make something out of that? That's just sad. And sad for the people who believe in this crap...
In the last weeks or so, there has been a lot of discussing about this subject here... but it is mainly whether the German government should change the tough immigration laws so the companies could hire IT specialists from abroad, since they claim they can't find any over here.
I personally think that the IT industry is right in trying to get the people they need(*g* okay, I hope so... I'm studying CS myself...), but in Germany the problem is largely homemade; during the mid-90s, job counselors over here strongly advised students not to study computer science, claiming they needed more construction engineers to rebuild East Germany (the very industry that is collapsing there now... go figure).
I don't know how it is in the US, but I think one should include what young people are told when they are looking around what to study and whether or not the IT industry is putting enough effort in that before complaining about not being able to find IT people.
Just saw on the news the Royal Weather Service in the Netherlands is having problems with the leap day... seems as if they are unable to predict tomorrows weather. My guess: rain...
There was a very interesting article on violence in computer/video games in the last c't... for all of you capable in reading German, it is at http://www.heise.de/ct/00/04/132/.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't like him all that much (sorry, Jon, but sometimes you just sound too much like my high school teachers back then...), but he has got a point this time...
I think Metallica etc. stepped into something here that is far too big for them to comprehend. I understand that Metallica is in it for the money and doesn't want to lose any of it, but to sue individual Napster users was surely the wrong move.
So I think they can still change the accuracy for a specific region, without neccessarily changing it global.
I mean look at it: the 'English' we are using on /. and elsewhere on the net is not the English you neccessarily use in everyday conversation. We have all the acronyms, emoticons, and, yes, words from other languages coming in... so this is a language still very similar to English, but I think it will eventually branch of more and more during the next decades/centuries, with the net (and it's laguage) becoming more and more international. I guess this is language evolution at an accelerated pace...
Yeah, maybe their are only 5% speaking English as the first language, but AFAIK 30%+ of the world's population speak it as their second language(including me).
Actually, they don't have to. AFAIK there are a few languages the international comission who controls this thing has endorsed (like French, Russian and so on), but the FAA demands that all flights to the US have to use English. And since most airlines have flights to the US, they adopted English as the 'primary' language and so did the ATCs.
No! We are the knights that say:
I agree with you, but that is not the point of the whole issue. The point is that MS abuse the monopoly in the industry to make a shitload of money from the users who paid more for their software than it was worth.
I have no problem with giving MS credit where they deserve it: but I have a problem with them abusing their market position in a way that is hindering this very progress in user-frienly computer interfaces.
Yes, I guess you are right... I'm not catholic, but for me there is a differnce between their wine-and-bread-thing and the CoS E-Meter. I mean, wine and bread aren't supposed to read your mind or whatever AFAIK, but are more used sybolize faith and coming together as a religious community.
To me it is just ridiculous to attribute some kind of religious meaning to something from which know how it works the first year you're in college, but that may be just me.
I personally think that the IT industry is right in trying to get the people they need(*g* okay, I hope so... I'm studying CS myself...), but in Germany the problem is largely homemade; during the mid-90s, job counselors over here strongly advised students not to study computer science, claiming they needed more construction engineers to rebuild East Germany (the very industry that is collapsing there now... go figure).
I don't know how it is in the US, but I think one should include what young people are told when they are looking around what to study and whether or not the IT industry is putting enough effort in that before complaining about not being able to find IT people.
Just watched your parody, it's really great! *ROTFL*
Rabenwol f
I'm pretty sure I saw an ad for them the other day, I'll tell you more as soon as I find it...
cu, rabenwolf