...is more than paid for in the efficiency gained by not having to: train employees to plug their cars in;
Yes, it will require at least a week long course to learn how to put a plug in a socket - perhaps two weeks to be on the safe side.
.. actually have employees take the time to plug them in;
Yes, it must take at least 15 minutes to do that (who said anything about "employees" anyway?)
.. train the parking attendants to check the cars are plugged in,
Yes, that is going to need a degree in rocket science. (who said anything about "parking attendants" anyway?)
.. time lost to inclement weather for outdoor stations,...
??????? The time to pluck up the courage to get out the car if it is raining? They will need to bite that bullet whether they have to plug a charger or not
a whole parking garage of wirelessly charging electric vehicles that _isn't_ a glowing electromagetic dome of inteference should be exciting.
I am sorry I was poking fun at you - now I realise you are poking fun yourself.
other benefits of computer driven cars - make money while at work by being a taxi
You are going to love it when it is returned to you at going-home time, and you find the floor swimming in some drunk's vomit, shit and condoms, discarded take-aways on the vandalised seats, and the navigator ripped out. Taxis get enough crap even with a driver present to moderate things.
So these people are planning to sit in their cars all night while they are charged? If these idiots are that paranoid, why can't they just get out the car and plug it in instead? Why do we waste time on these people?
90% may not be good enough if a plug is a convenient alternative.
You are dammed right it isn't. In fact it is totally unacceptable. Think of it as a 10% price hike (for which UK elecricity supply companies are taking huge flak right now www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/26/edf_energy_price_rises/). I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind and able body would pay an extra 10% for a substantial chunk of fuel just to avoid putting a lead in a socket. There are many chores in my life that are a PITA, but plugging a lead into a car would come about nowhere on the list.
How about this: line up magnets under the road to charge cars as they move along. (Ideally the chargers would be powered by solar panels in the median, or in the road itself).
Keep talking : you have nearly invented a perpetual motion machine of the first kind.
Incorrect.
Insurance companies barter/bargain for the lowest prices.
Then they don't make a very good job of it. My wife had a minor op done privately, without insurance. The hospital told her openly they had two prices, one for insurance jobs and one for cash customers, and the latter was considerably lower. The admin lady read out the prices from a computer screen - I am sure she was not meant to.
Insurance companies don't care much about bargaining because they do not have the time - they would need to employ lots of (expensive) skilled negotiators to do it instead of monkeys. So they just pass the cost on to the people who insure with them, and keep their cleverest employees on the sales side.
Individuals might be very careful with their money when it comes to buying boring things like bread and electricity, go a bit barmy when it comes to "interesting" things like iPhones, but go absolutely stark raving bonkers when buying insurance. They pay stupid amounts of money for "peace of mind" as the salesmen say.
As I asked above, how else should a company like MS be punished for breaking a legal agreement other than fining? Should we torture its employees? The fine is still far less than the Europe has spent buying Windows and other MS software.
Windows needs IE so people can download the other web browsers you fucking European trash twits..
No it does not. Another browser can be downloaded with FTP protocol. MS could write a relatively small user-friendly app employing FTP to do the download and installation without involving IE. Perhaps that is what this browser choice screen is already?
U.S should move all their troops out of Europe and back home... If EU does not like windows method maybe they should use Linux or BSD.
Why isn't microsoft forced to include notepad alternatives and MSpaint alternatives.
Because what you do with Notepad and MS paint does not affect other users - even if you post their output files on the web they will be standard ASCII or JPG files.
OTOH the pairing of IE and MS's own HTML creation software was distorting the Web in that they used non-standard extensions. That meant that you had to use IE to view or use many websites in the way their creator intended. This was deliberate MS policy to create the impression that other browsers were "broken". This was to get people to use IE which in turn meant that you had to use Windows.
It was not long ago that my bank website told me I must use IE for it to work for me. I closed the account instead. Notepad and Paint never had effects like that.
Have people become so lazy (or stupid) that they can't even go download a browser by themselves?
Most people never were capable of downloading a browser themselves. As far as 90% of users are concerned, the PC is like a TV, an appliance, with which to access Facebook and maybe a few other functions like e-mail. They would not think of changing their browser (which to them is an integral part of their valuable purchase) any more than they would change the inlet manifold on their Volvo.
Fuck sake people. Me thinks this is just another big government money grab. After all, EU governments have a lot of mouths to feed.
So how do you suggest a corporation should be punished for breaking a legal agreement? Execute the chairman? Torture the employees? Set fire to their offices? Imprison the executives? (Perhaps the last is not such a bad idea).
Is Internet Explorer considered a free product they were giving away?... Can someone explain it to me how it was damaging for them to do that?
Kryst, why do we keep having to explain this to newcomers (or people who have just woken up and missed the events of the last 15 years)? It was damaging because IE (and MS's HTML creation app, FrontPage) did not keep to the HTML standards : they used MS's own extensions. This meant that websites created by FrontPage, which seemed to be the majority at the time, could only be viewed the way the designer intended if you viewed them with IE.
This was deliberate MS policy to create the impression that other browsers were "broken". This was to get people to use IE which in turn meant that you had to use Windows.
IE was not really free. MS themselves argued persistently that it was "part of the OS [Windows]", which is not free. You can download IE freely, but that is like downloading any other Windows patch, and that does not mean that Windows is "free".
The 700000 figure is itemized in the court documents but instead of examining them you ignorantly deny that they are justified.
As far as I and the UK is concerned, the case has not come to court so this fantastic figure has never been challenged in court. And it is is not worth challenging in court because it is too ridiculous to waste time on it. USG maintain that $700,000 damage was caused but McKinnon maintains he did no damage, and just looked for UFO info. It sounds to me that the $700,000 was spent putting in security that should have been there in the first place and checking for (non-existent) damage. It is like a "secret" military establishment had no fences or guards, and one day a curious passer-by went up to the windows and looked in. Someone sees him and only then the establishment puts up fences, CCTV, floodlighting etc and it costs them $700,000, and then claim that the passer-by "caused" $700,000 worth of damage.
Your pattern of behavior is clear: you prefer ignorance to informed opinions.... Your point, is clear, but it's ignorance/negation of accepted international law make it nonsensical. Why overturn centuries of precedent because a teen aged idiot caused immense damages & then refused to fave the consequences?
You are using the word "ignorant" an awful lot about your opponents in this discusssion, but then show your own ingnorance of this case. McKinnon is an idiot, but not a teenager. He is a man in his 40's.
How does one determine the provenance of a widget, mineral (like oil), or foodstuff?
Easy. In practice you can say everything will have something from abroad in it, even if it something like a anti-wear trace additive in the oil, or the ink in the label of the food wrapper. That is what the lawyers will say anyway.
So the first thing that happens with any tragedy is that people make jokes about it.... Some people use it as a form of therapy. It's part of our coping mechanism.
I fail to see why a 20 yo man in Lancashire, a couple of hundred miles away from the murder and unrelated to the victim, requires such therapy.
.. because you may or may not be able to open that PowerPoint.pptx with cute cat pictures. I know compatibility exists, but it is in no way guaranteed to always work
I am dammed sure I will not be giving PP presentations prepared by other people and I would not expect them to give any prepared by me. So transfer of PP files is a non-issue as far as I am concerned.
Windows did not come free with my PC because I built it.
You are obviously someone who regards the OS as an integral part of the PC. I expect you toss the whole thing in the skip when you feel you need an upgrade (or get over-run with malware) and buy new. Agreed, that is what most people do.
I have a different approach. My PC does all I want now and I don't need to upgrade for performance. I upgrade/replace hardware only when/if it breaks and upgrade my Linux distro only when it ceases being supported.
Please recognise that different people have totally different approaches to things, not all like yours.
The bit I really don't get is the NIMBY response - I'd totally put on in my back yard.
It should be easy to "get it", they are ugly industrial plant. If we have to have them they should be kept to industrial areas (or better still out at sea). I don't want one in my back yard, or yours, or anyone else's because I can still see it. I do not even want the things spoiling other peoples areas where perhaps I shall never even go.
They are much worse than a static object (like a conventional power station, or a radio mast) because they are moving, and the human eye/brain is very sensitive to movement because we are natural hunters.
You may not appreciate it yourself, but some of us get a lot from unspoiled countryside / wilderness, being able to get away from the signs of industry, commerce and human hubbub from time to time. Unfortunately the most scenic areas are those most likely to be targeted for these things as they tend to be put where there are hills.
I don't know how you like to get away from things, lets say by listening to music. Would a music lover want their music overlaid by a buzzing sound? - that is an analogy.
Slashdot Mirror
> why can't they just get out the car and plug it in instead? Why do we waste time on these people?
You've never forgotten to plug your phone in to charge it?
Yes, but that was my problem and this is their problem. Why should I waste time (and public funding) on their problem?
They say the best way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once.
...is more than paid for in the efficiency gained by not having to: train employees to plug their cars in;
Yes, it will require at least a week long course to learn how to put a plug in a socket - perhaps two weeks to be on the safe side.
.. actually have employees take the time to plug them in;
Yes, it must take at least 15 minutes to do that (who said anything about "employees" anyway?)
.. train the parking attendants to check the cars are plugged in,
Yes, that is going to need a degree in rocket science. (who said anything about "parking attendants" anyway?)
.. time lost to inclement weather for outdoor stations, ...
??????? The time to pluck up the courage to get out the car if it is raining? They will need to bite that bullet whether they have to plug a charger or not
a whole parking garage of wirelessly charging electric vehicles that _isn't_ a glowing electromagetic dome of inteference should be exciting.
I am sorry I was poking fun at you - now I realise you are poking fun yourself.
other benefits of computer driven cars - make money while at work by being a taxi
You are going to love it when it is returned to you at going-home time, and you find the floor swimming in some drunk's vomit, shit and condoms, discarded take-aways on the vandalised seats, and the navigator ripped out. Taxis get enough crap even with a driver present to moderate things.
So these people are planning to sit in their cars all night while they are charged? If these idiots are that paranoid, why can't they just get out the car and plug it in instead? Why do we waste time on these people?
90% may not be good enough if a plug is a convenient alternative.
You are dammed right it isn't. In fact it is totally unacceptable. Think of it as a 10% price hike (for which UK elecricity supply companies are taking huge flak right now www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/26/edf_energy_price_rises/). I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind and able body would pay an extra 10% for a substantial chunk of fuel just to avoid putting a lead in a socket. There are many chores in my life that are a PITA, but plugging a lead into a car would come about nowhere on the list.
How about this: line up magnets under the road to charge cars as they move along. (Ideally the chargers would be powered by solar panels in the median, or in the road itself).
Keep talking : you have nearly invented a perpetual motion machine of the first kind.
Can you cite the costs for the same device in non-for-profit countries? I dare ya.
Yes. £0 in Wales. I know someone who has just got one.
Incorrect.
Insurance companies barter/bargain for the lowest prices.
Then they don't make a very good job of it. My wife had a minor op done privately, without insurance. The hospital told her openly they had two prices, one for insurance jobs and one for cash customers, and the latter was considerably lower. The admin lady read out the prices from a computer screen - I am sure she was not meant to.
Insurance companies don't care much about bargaining because they do not have the time - they would need to employ lots of (expensive) skilled negotiators to do it instead of monkeys. So they just pass the cost on to the people who insure with them, and keep their cleverest employees on the sales side.
Individuals might be very careful with their money when it comes to buying boring things like bread and electricity, go a bit barmy when it comes to "interesting" things like iPhones, but go absolutely stark raving bonkers when buying insurance. They pay stupid amounts of money for "peace of mind" as the salesmen say.
The free market only works if customers aren't stupid.
Indeed. Assuming that customers are informed and clever is part of the Grantham Grocer Fallacy
Windows needs IE so people can download the other web browsers you fucking European trash twits..
No it does not. Another browser can be downloaded with FTP protocol. MS could write a relatively small user-friendly app employing FTP to do the download and installation without involving IE. Perhaps that is what this browser choice screen is already?
U.S should move all their troops out of Europe and back home ... If EU does not like windows method maybe they should use Linux or BSD.
I heartily agree with all that
was it a bad decision to bundle a TCP/IP stack into the Windows operating system?
No, because the TCP/IP stack is an industry standard. I hope that helps. Next question?
Why isn't microsoft forced to include notepad alternatives and MSpaint alternatives.
Because what you do with Notepad and MS paint does not affect other users - even if you post their output files on the web they will be standard ASCII or JPG files.
OTOH the pairing of IE and MS's own HTML creation software was distorting the Web in that they used non-standard extensions. That meant that you had to use IE to view or use many websites in the way their creator intended. This was deliberate MS policy to create the impression that other browsers were "broken". This was to get people to use IE which in turn meant that you had to use Windows.
It was not long ago that my bank website told me I must use IE for it to work for me. I closed the account instead. Notepad and Paint never had effects like that.
Have people become so lazy (or stupid) that they can't even go download a browser by themselves?
Most people never were capable of downloading a browser themselves. As far as 90% of users are concerned, the PC is like a TV, an appliance, with which to access Facebook and maybe a few other functions like e-mail. They would not think of changing their browser (which to them is an integral part of their valuable purchase) any more than they would change the inlet manifold on their Volvo.
Fuck sake people. Me thinks this is just another big government money grab. After all, EU governments have a lot of mouths to feed.
So how do you suggest a corporation should be punished for breaking a legal agreement? Execute the chairman? Torture the employees? Set fire to their offices? Imprison the executives? (Perhaps the last is not such a bad idea).
I'm sure the $7B will come in handy for supporting the EU member states' addiction to spending and entitlements.
Unfortunately they are addicted to spending it on Windows and Office.
Is Internet Explorer considered a free product they were giving away? ... Can someone explain it to me how it was damaging for them to do that?
Kryst, why do we keep having to explain this to newcomers (or people who have just woken up and missed the events of the last 15 years)? It was damaging because IE (and MS's HTML creation app, FrontPage) did not keep to the HTML standards : they used MS's own extensions. This meant that websites created by FrontPage, which seemed to be the majority at the time, could only be viewed the way the designer intended if you viewed them with IE.
This was deliberate MS policy to create the impression that other browsers were "broken". This was to get people to use IE which in turn meant that you had to use Windows.
IE was not really free. MS themselves argued persistently that it was "part of the OS [Windows]", which is not free. You can download IE freely, but that is like downloading any other Windows patch, and that does not mean that Windows is "free".
The 700000 figure is itemized in the court documents but instead of examining them you ignorantly deny that they are justified.
As far as I and the UK is concerned, the case has not come to court so this fantastic figure has never been challenged in court. And it is is not worth challenging in court because it is too ridiculous to waste time on it. USG maintain that $700,000 damage was caused but McKinnon maintains he did no damage, and just looked for UFO info. It sounds to me that the $700,000 was spent putting in security that should have been there in the first place and checking for (non-existent) damage. It is like a "secret" military establishment had no fences or guards, and one day a curious passer-by went up to the windows and looked in. Someone sees him and only then the establishment puts up fences, CCTV, floodlighting etc and it costs them $700,000, and then claim that the passer-by "caused" $700,000 worth of damage.
Your pattern of behavior is clear: you prefer ignorance to informed opinions. ... Your point, is clear, but it's ignorance/negation of accepted international law make it nonsensical. Why overturn centuries of precedent because a teen aged idiot caused immense damages & then refused to fave the consequences?
You are using the word "ignorant" an awful lot about your opponents in this discusssion, but then show your own ingnorance of this case. McKinnon is an idiot, but not a teenager. He is a man in his 40's.
AND :-
> They charge an "Admin fee" to pay your own bill.
How does one determine the provenance of a widget, mineral (like oil), or foodstuff?
Easy. In practice you can say everything will have something from abroad in it, even if it something like a anti-wear trace additive in the oil, or the ink in the label of the food wrapper. That is what the lawyers will say anyway.
So the first thing that happens with any tragedy is that people make jokes about it. ... Some people use it as a form of therapy. It's part of our coping mechanism.
I fail to see why a 20 yo man in Lancashire, a couple of hundred miles away from the murder and unrelated to the victim, requires such therapy.
Funny, but your sig is really appropriate for this situation. Let's tweak it a bit :-
"Distros are like babies' diapers; they should be changed often, and for the same reason."
I changed from Ubuntu to Mepis four weeks ago.
.. because you may or may not be able to open that PowerPoint.pptx with cute cat pictures. I know compatibility exists, but it is in no way guaranteed to always work
I am dammed sure I will not be giving PP presentations prepared by other people and I would not expect them to give any prepared by me. So transfer of PP files is a non-issue as far as I am concerned.
If the UK Gov releases these, that should keep IPv4 going a few more days.
Windows did not come free with my PC because I built it.
You are obviously someone who regards the OS as an integral part of the PC. I expect you toss the whole thing in the skip when you feel you need an upgrade (or get over-run with malware) and buy new. Agreed, that is what most people do.
I have a different approach. My PC does all I want now and I don't need to upgrade for performance. I upgrade/replace hardware only when/if it breaks and upgrade my Linux distro only when it ceases being supported.
Please recognise that different people have totally different approaches to things, not all like yours.
What? Industrial plant? Have you actually seen any industry?
Funny you should say that. I am in fact a power station engineer.
A wind turbine is a piece of industrial plant. No matter how much they try to make it pretty, it is out of place in a rural environment IMHO.
The bit I really don't get is the NIMBY response - I'd totally put on in my back yard.
It should be easy to "get it", they are ugly industrial plant. If we have to have them they should be kept to industrial areas (or better still out at sea). I don't want one in my back yard, or yours, or anyone else's because I can still see it. I do not even want the things spoiling other peoples areas where perhaps I shall never even go.
They are much worse than a static object (like a conventional power station, or a radio mast) because they are moving, and the human eye/brain is very sensitive to movement because we are natural hunters.
You may not appreciate it yourself, but some of us get a lot from unspoiled countryside / wilderness, being able to get away from the signs of industry, commerce and human hubbub from time to time. Unfortunately the most scenic areas are those most likely to be targeted for these things as they tend to be put where there are hills.
I don't know how you like to get away from things, lets say by listening to music. Would a music lover want their music overlaid by a buzzing sound? - that is an analogy.
Typo - I rang them on a financial matter. I would not have been daft enough to seek their advice on OS/2.