As for plane docs, it doesn't really matter as long as the ipad is highly reliable.
I don't think any Avionics expert would call the iPad "highly reliable".
You use the same checklist over and over to make sure you don't forget anything... its 99.999% good without a checklist (literally) so once or twice is no big deal.
I've never heard that the iPad gives 5 9's of reliability.
But assuming that it is, it's that.0001% of the time when the iPad is not available that is the problem. The pilot goes through the identical checklist on every single flight, then that one time the iPad won't boot, he has to play it by ear, change his routine, and hope that he didn't miss anything. That's what causes accidents and is why there is a checklist in the first place. Just telling the pilot that he has to pay more attention this time because he can't run through the checklist goes against human nature since it means that he'll be so focused on the flaps that he'll forget to adjust the rudder trim (or whatever it is that airline pilots do in their checklists)
There is some truth that the ipad will probably be more up to date and less likely to have a page torn out or coffee dumped on it than paper. It'll likely be more reliable as a system, even if it doesn't degrade smoothly.
I'd rather have my pilot try to decipher an emergency checklist on a torn up page than stare at his reflection in a blank iPad screen.
I still have paper documentation in my datacenter that tells me how to recover key servers because I know that technology sometimes fails, despite redundant safeguards.
because they'd NEVER carry a second, or maybe a third ipad?
Which is great until you discover a time related software bug that puts all 3 iPads into an endless reboot cycle, or you find that the documentation loaded onto the iPads is corrupt and the engine-out landing checklist is not available when you need it.
Then what is your problem with Amazon's Kindle? You and other consumers have the choice whether or not to purchase it and if you do buy it and are surprised and dismayed by the ads, you can return it for a refund.
There are lots of Chinese manufacturers making pure Android tablets without even Google's marketplace, so you can enjoy a pure Android experience without any advertising at all.
Third, one day when you move out of mommy's basement you will realize that not everyone has the same preferences that you do. Only an idiot or fool naively believes everyone should have the same opinion.
I never said the Kindle was the right tablet for everyone, but I did say that it's target market isn't going to care about some lock-screen ads and I stand behind that - Amazon has been selling ad supported devices for some time now, and they know exactly what consumers think about them. Their Kindle Fire target market is consumers that are happy to have their tablet locked to the Amazon ecosystem, and don't mind some Amazon ads to go along the rest of the Amazon ads that they see when they are browsing the Amazon marketplace.
But I think you'll find that it's the kids that never leave Mom's basement that are the idealists that think we should live in a pure advertising-free society. The rest of us live in the real world realize that advertising is a part of our economy and culture, why would over a 100 years of a corporate culture that relies on ads change now? If you lived 100 years ago, would you be complaining that your mom hung the Sears Catalog in the outhouse for use as toilet paper because you don't want to wipe your ass with an ad?
Why would you use Android in the first place since it's an advertising supported product? Where do you think Google (a company that earns almost all of its revenue from Advertising) got the money to develop Android? Maybe you'd be better off with an IOS or WebOS tablet since that's a little closer to your ideals?
Sigh. This kind of story makes me miss ignorant Ask Slashdot questions. I wonder if the OP would mind if I told him how to select the best network cable for use at home.
I'd like to know - the cheap cables I keep buying on eBay often fail after a few plug/unplug cycles, and the $20 Systimax patch cables seem like overkill.
Is a DRM-free.azw file the same as a.mobi file or will it only work on a Kindle?
I think you can just rename it to.mobi and mobi readers can then read it.
Rename? You mean I have to alter the file before I can read it on another eBook reader? Sounds like a "technical measure to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute."
My current net worth is about $600,000 and I have this in my basement. I'm pretty sure I don't have to worry.
Yes you do. Now we know we can raid your basement for food.
I'm not sure why this was modded as funny because it's true.
The problem with being more prepared than your neighbors for a disaster is that when they get hungry and notice that you and your family are not, then they'll be busting down your door to take your food. No matter how well armed you are, if you have something worth stealing, there will always be someone better armed than you and enough desperate people with nothing left to lose to overwhelm your defenses.
Some comments on the linked-to site question whether it's even allowable for Amazon to make the content available as a DRM encumbered Kindle eBook, because of this clause in the GFDL:
You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute.
If the FBI was caught doing something illicit or illegal, wouldn't you expect them to come up with an alternate source of the data to cover up their behavior?
QR codes can store more data than just a website address. In addition to a URL, name, dates, and a brief biography are reasonable things to include in a large QR code. Future readers could get the website if it's still around (or archived somewhere, assuming the URL follows a suitable format), but even if that's unavailable they could still get more information than just a name.
The problem here is that with more data included, the code's footprint will necessarily increase, or its details will get smaller. One's ugly, and the other's more fragile.
The capacity of a QR code sounded a little limiting to hold any kind of meaningful biography (4296 ASCII characters), but after looking around at some obituaries they seem to be mostly around 1200 characters long, the longest I could find in a brief search was only 3100 characters long.
As long as you're using clearly marked ballots, and least you can figure out who one by careful counting even if it takes a few days. It's been 12 years since the 2000 election and we still don't *really* know who won.
Oh, and the Electoral College doesn't help much either - why should it be possible for a candidate to lose the election despite having a majority of the popular vote!?
The bounce is the problem with the IPO market - if the stock was priced correctly, there should be no bounce (and no crash either).
- the problem is with all the regulations around investing set up by the government, which prevents normal people from making money.
Normal people do not place their money into VC funds and companies are not allowed to go IPO before they comply with so many laws, that are set up in order to 'protect' the investors. Well, they 'protect' the investors from making money, that's what they protect investors from.
PayPal co-founder made a billion bucks on a half a million investment on FB, same with many other people - various early investors made money, because they had a lot of upside when they put their money into that company.
Ahh, so you think that companies are inherently altruistic and if only there were less government intervention, then everyone would be better off. The last minute disclosure of Facebook's updated financial information to key investors was probably not illegal (there's some debate, but it appears to be an ethical lapse rather than a legal lapse). So you think if only companies didn't have to comply with all of the filing and other regulatory regulations then the small investor would be better off?
What are some of these pre-IPO regulations that make well heeled investors rich in an IPO? Definitely investing in pre-IPO stock when the stock is available at a fraction of its ultimate IPO price is valuable to an investor, but it also comes at some risk. Would you have invested money in Zynga a year before their IPO, knowing that they were dependent upon Facebook for almost all of their revenue? Those pre-IPO investments are how companies fund their operations before they are ready for an IPO, they have great risks, but also the potential for great rewards. There are hundreds (thousands) of companies out there looking for cash, many of them never make it to an IPO.
By the time all of the regulations are complied with and the company can go IPO, guess what: there is NO upside left.
If the IPO is used for its stated purpose (raising capital for the company), then there is not supposed to be any short-term upside left after the IPO.
The bounce is the problem with the IPO market - if the stock was priced correctly, there should be no bounce (and no crash either).
"Correct" is a matter of interpretation. Underpricing the IPO is one of many clever ways of compensating angel/venture capital, stock-compensated employees, and the investment bank in a manner that doesn't have to be costed on an income statement and will be taxed at favorable capital gains rates.
Right, which is again part of the problem. The purpose of the IPO is supposed to be raise capital for the company, it's not supposed to make millionaires out of investors and employees, and certainly not supposed to make multi-millionaires out of well-connected millionaire investors. Adding all of these other aspects to the IPO makes it harder for an investor to know whether it's really a good investment or not. An IPO should not be used as a lottery ticket for those connected enough to get in early.
Which is why the auction format is so rarely used - Google had the clout to force underwriters to do an IPO auction, but they sure did grumble since they lost much of their ability to reward clients with a big bounce.
So instead I bought a Cargo bike [wikipedia.org], it's fun fun fun. But I guess SF is abit more hilly..
SF is still quite bikeable despite the hills. Even when I lived on top of Nob Hill I rode my bike frequently... I still had to climb a hill to get home, but the east-west roads (California St, Pine St, etc) had more reasonable inclines than the north-south roads (Taylor St, Mason St, etc). It's possible to get to/from most areas of town without surmounting any large hills. There's a popular cross-town route that avoids hills when biking across town.
Now I live outside of the city and have a 12 mile bike commute to work (which is still faster than taking transit).
When the stock didn't bounce as I thought/hoped it would, I realized I was wrong and got out
The bounce is the problem with the IPO market - if the stock was priced correctly, there should be no bounce (and no crash either). If the stock bounces, it means the company left money on the table that should be in their pockets. If the stock crashes, then it means that investors lost money that never should have gone to the company.
An IPO auction would be more fair, that way everyone who wants to buy shares can get some if they are willing to pay the auction price. With prorata distribution they may not get as many as they wanted (and they may try to game the system by asking for more than they wanted), but you don't need to have special ties with the company to get IPO shares at the opening price.
I hope I'm not breaching protocol by asking, but would you be willing to share any numbers on how much you're spending on the cabs? Just curious how it compares to owning a car.
I'm not the original poster, but SF has a usable transit system (not perfect, not even great, but usable), so for a $70/month transit pass you can use transit to get to work and many other places. If you spend $40/weekend on Uber rides, then you're still way ahead of owning a car, since you can easily spend $150 - $300/month for a parking space depending on where you live (and thanks to increasingly more aggressive parking enforcement by the City, you'll probably end up spending more than that on tickets if you park on the street)
Of course, your Uber expenses are largely dictated by where you live and where you're going -- if you live in the Outer Sunset and are regularly going to North Beach, it's going to cost around $30 per trip on Uber. Make 8 round trips on Uber and you're up to around $500.
China's population density is skewed by large tracts of comparatively empty provinces. Instead of comparing it as a country to other countries, stick to the provinces with high populations.
Isn't that better for the environment? Areas of very dense population large areas of mostly undeveloped land? I'd bet that if their population were more evenly distributed across the country then there'd be more environmental destruction.
Because some of us don't be want to be visually distracted with crap we don't want nor need.
how do you manage to drive or walk anywhere without seeing an ad? Where I live, not only are most buses wrapped in big banner ads, but there are ads in the bus stops/train stations, and when I sit in my seat on the bus I can see at least a dozen ads. When I drive, I pass a number of flashing billboards as well as traditional billboards. Or do you live locked up in a rural monastery?
An ad on the lockscreen of my Kindle would be unobtrusive in comparison to what I see on my way to work.
Worse. Finally china's population density has brought about a horrific consequence, the land itself is synchronizing periods with the local population. Those poor bastards, may god have mercy on their souls...
China's population density is about 1/3 that of Japan, Korea, and India, and about half the density of the UK. Does god have enough mercy for all of those souls as well?
> None of the target audience for this device will care
Plenty of people care about force fed ads.
Some people will even pay to avoid them or just buy someone else's product.
This isn't about Free Software religion. This is a hardware vendor blatantly abusing the customer. In an era where technology is allowing us to filter out or avoid ads entirely, it's a pretty stupid move.
Amazon is selling the hardware below their cost, in part because of the ads. How is that abusing the consumer? It's not like it's the first product in the world that's subsidized by ads, but in this case it's a luxury product that's easy to opt out of. It's much harder to opt out of things like buses and bus shelters covered by ads
Oh, and they offer a 30 day return guarantee for the device - if you turn it on and feel abused by the ads, you can box it up and return it for a full refund.
I think you're misreading their target market - they aren't targeting the sophisticated user that's uses (or has even heard of) ad blocking software, they are targeting the rest of the market (the users that don't read Slashdot), where users aren't so offended by ads. The more sophisticated user probably isn't going to buy a Kindle, or if they do, they are just going to run CM on it (and will enjoy the ad subsidized price without actually having to view the ads, so everyone wins -- those that don't care about ads will see them, and those that care enough to block them can do so).
Why do you still keep coming to Slashdot since ads are prominently featured on the site (and not just a "lock screen" that's only active when you're not using the site)? You're forced to use blocking technology to block the ads if you don't want to see them. From your post, you sound like one of the many people that care about being force fed ads, yet you continue to patronize a website that force feeds ads to you (even more obtrusively than the Kindle).
Slashdot Mirror
As for plane docs, it doesn't really matter as long as the ipad is highly reliable.
I don't think any Avionics expert would call the iPad "highly reliable".
You use the same checklist over and over to make sure you don't forget anything... its 99.999% good without a checklist (literally) so once or twice is no big deal.
I've never heard that the iPad gives 5 9's of reliability.
But assuming that it is, it's that .0001% of the time when the iPad is not available that is the problem. The pilot goes through the identical checklist on every single flight, then that one time the iPad won't boot, he has to play it by ear, change his routine, and hope that he didn't miss anything. That's what causes accidents and is why there is a checklist in the first place. Just telling the pilot that he has to pay more attention this time because he can't run through the checklist goes against human nature since it means that he'll be so focused on the flaps that he'll forget to adjust the rudder trim (or whatever it is that airline pilots do in their checklists)
There is some truth that the ipad will probably be more up to date and less likely to have a page torn out or coffee dumped on it than paper. It'll likely be more reliable as a system, even if it doesn't degrade smoothly.
I'd rather have my pilot try to decipher an emergency checklist on a torn up page than stare at his reflection in a blank iPad screen.
I still have paper documentation in my datacenter that tells me how to recover key servers because I know that technology sometimes fails, despite redundant safeguards.
...you'd better have a backup plan.
because they'd NEVER carry a second, or maybe a third ipad?
Which is great until you discover a time related software bug that puts all 3 iPads into an endless reboot cycle, or you find that the documentation loaded onto the iPads is corrupt and the engine-out landing checklist is not available when you need it.
Then what is your problem with Amazon's Kindle? You and other consumers have the choice whether or not to purchase it and if you do buy it and are surprised and dismayed by the ads, you can return it for a refund.
There are lots of Chinese manufacturers making pure Android tablets without even Google's marketplace, so you can enjoy a pure Android experience without any advertising at all.
Third, one day when you move out of mommy's basement you will realize that not everyone has the same preferences that you do. Only an idiot or fool naively believes everyone should have the same opinion.
I never said the Kindle was the right tablet for everyone, but I did say that it's target market isn't going to care about some lock-screen ads and I stand behind that - Amazon has been selling ad supported devices for some time now, and they know exactly what consumers think about them. Their Kindle Fire target market is consumers that are happy to have their tablet locked to the Amazon ecosystem, and don't mind some Amazon ads to go along the rest of the Amazon ads that they see when they are browsing the Amazon marketplace.
But I think you'll find that it's the kids that never leave Mom's basement that are the idealists that think we should live in a pure advertising-free society. The rest of us live in the real world realize that advertising is a part of our economy and culture, why would over a 100 years of a corporate culture that relies on ads change now? If you lived 100 years ago, would you be complaining that your mom hung the Sears Catalog in the outhouse for use as toilet paper because you don't want to wipe your ass with an ad?
Why would you use Android in the first place since it's an advertising supported product? Where do you think Google (a company that earns almost all of its revenue from Advertising) got the money to develop Android? Maybe you'd be better off with an IOS or WebOS tablet since that's a little closer to your ideals?
Sigh. This kind of story makes me miss ignorant Ask Slashdot questions. I wonder if the OP would mind if I told him how to select the best network cable for use at home.
I'd like to know - the cheap cables I keep buying on eBay often fail after a few plug/unplug cycles, and the $20 Systimax patch cables seem like overkill.
Link them together and use them to mine bitcoins. You might need to pay a few students to type in the numbers, but you will be richly rewarded.
Is a DRM-free .azw file the same as a .mobi file or will it only work on a Kindle?
I think you can just rename it to .mobi and mobi readers can then read it.
Rename? You mean I have to alter the file before I can read it on another eBook reader? Sounds like a "technical measure to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute."
My current net worth is about $600,000 and I have this in my basement. I'm pretty sure I don't have to worry.
Yes you do. Now we know we can raid your basement for food.
I'm not sure why this was modded as funny because it's true.
The problem with being more prepared than your neighbors for a disaster is that when they get hungry and notice that you and your family are not, then they'll be busting down your door to take your food. No matter how well armed you are, if you have something worth stealing, there will always be someone better armed than you and enough desperate people with nothing left to lose to overwhelm your defenses.
DRM is optional for Kindle books sold on Amazon. They do not require it's use; it's up to the Author.
Is a DRM-free .azw file the same as a .mobi file or will it only work on a Kindle?
Some comments on the linked-to site question whether it's even allowable for Amazon to make the content available as a DRM encumbered Kindle eBook, because of this clause in the GFDL:
You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute.
Did you read your own question?
When did he "famously" say that we shouldn't have laws against fraud? Do you have a link?
I provided the link, you may debate the veracity of the source, but whether or not you believe he said it, a number of people do
When did he "famously" say that we shouldn't have laws against fraud? Do you have a link?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=alan+greenspan+laws+against+fraud
If the FBI was caught doing something illicit or illegal, wouldn't you expect them to come up with an alternate source of the data to cover up their behavior?
QR codes can store more data than just a website address. In addition to a URL, name, dates, and a brief biography are reasonable things to include in a large QR code. Future readers could get the website if it's still around (or archived somewhere, assuming the URL follows a suitable format), but even if that's unavailable they could still get more information than just a name.
The problem here is that with more data included, the code's footprint will necessarily increase, or its details will get smaller. One's ugly, and the other's more fragile.
The capacity of a QR code sounded a little limiting to hold any kind of meaningful biography (4296 ASCII characters), but after looking around at some obituaries they seem to be mostly around 1200 characters long, the longest I could find in a brief search was only 3100 characters long.
As long as you're using clearly marked ballots, and least you can figure out who one by careful counting even if it takes a few days. It's been 12 years since the 2000 election and we still don't *really* know who won.
Oh, and the Electoral College doesn't help much either - why should it be possible for a candidate to lose the election despite having a majority of the popular vote!?
The bounce is the problem with the IPO market - if the stock was priced correctly, there should be no bounce (and no crash either).
- the problem is with all the regulations around investing set up by the government, which prevents normal people from making money.
Normal people do not place their money into VC funds and companies are not allowed to go IPO before they comply with so many laws, that are set up in order to 'protect' the investors. Well, they 'protect' the investors from making money, that's what they protect investors from.
PayPal co-founder made a billion bucks on a half a million investment on FB, same with many other people - various early investors made money, because they had a lot of upside when they put their money into that company.
Ahh, so you think that companies are inherently altruistic and if only there were less government intervention, then everyone would be better off. The last minute disclosure of Facebook's updated financial information to key investors was probably not illegal (there's some debate, but it appears to be an ethical lapse rather than a legal lapse). So you think if only companies didn't have to comply with all of the filing and other regulatory regulations then the small investor would be better off?
What are some of these pre-IPO regulations that make well heeled investors rich in an IPO? Definitely investing in pre-IPO stock when the stock is available at a fraction of its ultimate IPO price is valuable to an investor, but it also comes at some risk. Would you have invested money in Zynga a year before their IPO, knowing that they were dependent upon Facebook for almost all of their revenue? Those pre-IPO investments are how companies fund their operations before they are ready for an IPO, they have great risks, but also the potential for great rewards. There are hundreds (thousands) of companies out there looking for cash, many of them never make it to an IPO.
By the time all of the regulations are complied with and the company can go IPO, guess what: there is NO upside left.
If the IPO is used for its stated purpose (raising capital for the company), then there is not supposed to be any short-term upside left after the IPO.
"Correct" is a matter of interpretation. Underpricing the IPO is one of many clever ways of compensating angel/venture capital, stock-compensated employees, and the investment bank in a manner that doesn't have to be costed on an income statement and will be taxed at favorable capital gains rates.
Right, which is again part of the problem. The purpose of the IPO is supposed to be raise capital for the company, it's not supposed to make millionaires out of investors and employees, and certainly not supposed to make multi-millionaires out of well-connected millionaire investors. Adding all of these other aspects to the IPO makes it harder for an investor to know whether it's really a good investment or not. An IPO should not be used as a lottery ticket for those connected enough to get in early.
Which is why the auction format is so rarely used - Google had the clout to force underwriters to do an IPO auction, but they sure did grumble since they lost much of their ability to reward clients with a big bounce.
So instead I bought a Cargo bike [wikipedia.org], it's fun fun fun. But I guess SF is abit more hilly..
SF is still quite bikeable despite the hills. Even when I lived on top of Nob Hill I rode my bike frequently... I still had to climb a hill to get home, but the east-west roads (California St, Pine St, etc) had more reasonable inclines than the north-south roads (Taylor St, Mason St, etc). It's possible to get to/from most areas of town without surmounting any large hills. There's a popular cross-town route that avoids hills when biking across town.
Now I live outside of the city and have a 12 mile bike commute to work (which is still faster than taking transit).
When the stock didn't bounce as I thought/hoped it would, I realized I was wrong and got out
The bounce is the problem with the IPO market - if the stock was priced correctly, there should be no bounce (and no crash either). If the stock bounces, it means the company left money on the table that should be in their pockets. If the stock crashes, then it means that investors lost money that never should have gone to the company.
An IPO auction would be more fair, that way everyone who wants to buy shares can get some if they are willing to pay the auction price. With prorata distribution they may not get as many as they wanted (and they may try to game the system by asking for more than they wanted), but you don't need to have special ties with the company to get IPO shares at the opening price.
I hope I'm not breaching protocol by asking, but would you be willing to share any numbers on how much you're spending on the cabs? Just curious how it compares to owning a car.
I'm not the original poster, but SF has a usable transit system (not perfect, not even great, but usable), so for a $70/month transit pass you can use transit to get to work and many other places. If you spend $40/weekend on Uber rides, then you're still way ahead of owning a car, since you can easily spend $150 - $300/month for a parking space depending on where you live (and thanks to increasingly more aggressive parking enforcement by the City, you'll probably end up spending more than that on tickets if you park on the street)
Of course, your Uber expenses are largely dictated by where you live and where you're going -- if you live in the Outer Sunset and are regularly going to North Beach, it's going to cost around $30 per trip on Uber. Make 8 round trips on Uber and you're up to around $500.
China's population density is skewed by large tracts of comparatively empty provinces. Instead of comparing it as a country to other countries, stick to the provinces with high populations.
Isn't that better for the environment? Areas of very dense population large areas of mostly undeveloped land? I'd bet that if their population were more evenly distributed across the country then there'd be more environmental destruction.
It wouldn't be the first time dye turned a chinese river red
They said it's not the normal red-tide algae because that algae grows in salt water, but this is a freshwater river.
There most likely is no god
Why are you trying to turn this into a religious argument? There most certainly is a god, and I've got a Wikipedia article that proves it.
> I wonder why ads bother people so much
Because some of us don't be want to be visually distracted with crap we don't want nor need.
how do you manage to drive or walk anywhere without seeing an ad? Where I live, not only are most buses wrapped in big banner ads, but there are ads in the bus stops/train stations, and when I sit in my seat on the bus I can see at least a dozen ads. When I drive, I pass a number of flashing billboards as well as traditional billboards. Or do you live locked up in a rural monastery?
An ad on the lockscreen of my Kindle would be unobtrusive in comparison to what I see on my way to work.
Worse.
Finally china's population density has brought about a horrific consequence, the land itself is synchronizing periods with the local population.
Those poor bastards, may god have mercy on their souls...
China's population density is about 1/3 that of Japan, Korea, and India, and about half the density of the UK. Does god have enough mercy for all of those souls as well?
> None of the target audience for this device will care
Plenty of people care about force fed ads.
Some people will even pay to avoid them or just buy someone else's product.
This isn't about Free Software religion. This is a hardware vendor blatantly abusing the customer. In an era where technology is allowing us to filter out or avoid ads entirely, it's a pretty stupid move.
Amazon is selling the hardware below their cost, in part because of the ads. How is that abusing the consumer? It's not like it's the first product in the world that's subsidized by ads, but in this case it's a luxury product that's easy to opt out of. It's much harder to opt out of things like buses and bus shelters covered by ads
Oh, and they offer a 30 day return guarantee for the device - if you turn it on and feel abused by the ads, you can box it up and return it for a full refund.
I think you're misreading their target market - they aren't targeting the sophisticated user that's uses (or has even heard of) ad blocking software, they are targeting the rest of the market (the users that don't read Slashdot), where users aren't so offended by ads. The more sophisticated user probably isn't going to buy a Kindle, or if they do, they are just going to run CM on it (and will enjoy the ad subsidized price without actually having to view the ads, so everyone wins -- those that don't care about ads will see them, and those that care enough to block them can do so).
Why do you still keep coming to Slashdot since ads are prominently featured on the site (and not just a "lock screen" that's only active when you're not using the site)? You're forced to use blocking technology to block the ads if you don't want to see them. From your post, you sound like one of the many people that care about being force fed ads, yet you continue to patronize a website that force feeds ads to you (even more obtrusively than the Kindle).