You triggered a thought I've had from time to time about the evolution of/., and I've prepared this simple karma whore cheat sheet for those that can't be bothered to read the article, summary or, in the next phase, comments:
Microsoft: We hate them. Referencing XP as an upgrade to Vista is still good for +5 Insightful or +5 Funny. This is because somehow, somewhere, there are still people that haven't already seen this joke hundreds of times. Google: We're afraid of them, although most of us still use their products. Comments with creative ways they could do evil are good for +5 Informative. Linux: Whatever year it is now, it's the year of the desktop. Comments generally descend into a KDE vs. Gnome battle royal ending in stalemate. There would be lots of +5 Mental Masturbation, if that category existed. Instead we get lots of +5 Informative and +5 Insightful. It doesn't matter which side you pick and you can probably get mod points with conflicting comments on the same article. Apple: We love them no matter what kind of shit they pull. Irony is not appreciated when referring the the big silver fruit. Good opportunity to bash Microsoft (see above).
Oh yay. Lets fill our landfills with more useless crap. Why the hell do I need LED's and battery is PACKAGING? They go into the trash! We as a society are trying to move towards LESS PACKAGING and recyclable packaging not MORE packaging. Is the consumer expected to rip out that LED and battery and recycle that separate for ever single ceral box they purchase?
You'll sound more informed if you actually read the article.
"We already have prototypes which are completely passive," said Dr Mohan.
Anyone who thinks Apple is going to sit on their laurels while Android eats its lunch simply doesn't know Steve Jobs. First, compare the quality of user experience between the iPhone and all of its rivals. The iPhone is so far ahead of anything currently on the market that Apple has the luxury of rejecting apps that would otherwise be useful for their customers.
This is certainly open to debate. The iPhone is a fantastic consumer device and I think is in a leadership position in that segment. However, as a business tool it doesn't hold up well compared to some of the more mature offerings available. Apple understands the consumer customer and marketplace very well but the enterprise market has them stumped (fanbois will say "uninterested"). I don't think Android is there yet, either, but I think I'm starting to understand what they're going towards and the next few years will certainly be interesting. Blackberry is dominate in this market segment for a reason; they don't make the best devices but they do make the best business tool.
I also want to point out that Apple had better be more than just one man's personality. Steve Jobs won't be around forever and if he's the only way they can introduce innovative products, they're gonna be screwed in a few years.
This post was typed on a Macbook Pro. It's possible to own and use Apple products without joining the cult. They make good products, but they have shitty policies about how those products are used.
Because nothing says dignity and respect like working in a sweatshop and being paid pennies an hour...
Welcome to your "free trade" competition. This is the world that business lobbyists want, and they aren't going away, so get used to it. Democracy, my ass.
Don't you mean Communism?
And yeah, I know, China is about as communist as the US is democratic.
We've been co-opting other language's words into English for a long, long time now. To a growing number US citizens prefixing anything with "uber" is the same as saying "ultra" or "super". You know the saying "it's all over except for the shouting"? Yeah, that's pretty much where this is.
Feel free to mod this entire thread, including the parent, uber off-topic.
Also note that both these stats are not the number of accidents, but the number of fatalities. Looking at the number of accidents, which I think is probably a better measurement anyway, we have an estimated total of 6,316,000 and an estimated 240,000 where cell phones contributed. That gives us a higher percentage but still only 3.8%.
Sorry, but while cell phone usage while driving does contribute, it's nowhere near being the boogie-man everyone makes it out to be. And yeah, I've been rear-ended by someone screwing with their phone.
There is no doubt in my mind that outlawing cell phone usage while driving will save lives. Just not a lot of them.
Well, if it *is* to be the Prius of the high seas, let's hope they at least make it a decent looking ship. Not something fugly like the Prius on land is...
:)
Also, it will need Obama '08 and "Coexist" bumper stickers.
I think the invites may be random. I filled out my app to beta test it a few months ago, and only got the invite last week.
They only started sending out new invites about two weeks ago after a long hiatus. They've worked through the backlog now and it's pretty quick to get an account.
"How to make the largest pile of cash while providing the least amount of service"
That's just Business 101 stuff. The difference between how much the service costs to provide and how much money you make from providing it is what we call "profit". On the other hand, losing customers by degrading their service experience is bad for business.
The real problem is that in many markets there are still only limited choices for broadband. If you have to choose between DNS redirection or dial-up, what would you do?
Isn't this the process that makes lots of test/tube babies, and discards the ones that don't meant the parent's criteria?
No, it isn't. IVF just means that fertilization takes place outside of the body ("test tube") and then a viable fertilized embryo is implanted back into the mother. Some clinics may do what you describe, though. I don't know of any. The way you word it makes it sound like you'd discard anything that wouldn't give you a 7'2" power forward. It doesn't work that way.
Basically it goes like this:
1. Mother takes fertility drugs to produce multiple eggs. 2. Eggs are harvested from mother in an out-patient procedure. 3. Viable eggs are fertilized. 4. Viable embryo(s) are implanted. 5. Hopefully at least one embryo attaches to the uterine lining and a normal pregnancy results.
I should mention the 1.5" needle in the ass every day for three months that comes along with all the rest of this fun. It's no picnic, folks.
The Pope doesn't like this idea because usually multiple embryos are implanted back into the mother. This is because most of them won't "take", so you play the odds. Generally speaking there is a 67% chance of one, a 30% chance of twins and a 3% chance of more than two.
Bottom line is the Catholics don't like humans mucking about in the reproductive cycle, either prevention of pregnancy or promotion of pregnancy.
If the human race goes extinct, it certainly won't be because we didn't reproduce enough. So really, what's the point of fertility clinics? As in, why don't people just adopt the already-existing baby that meets whatever "criteria" they have instead of doing all of this?
The most practical answer I can give is because IVF is cheaper than adoption, at least in my case. Adoption is complicated and expensive, with good reason. Despite popular belief here in the US, the Chinese government does not really want a bunch of (predominately) white Americans adopting all their babies, although there are certainly exceptions. You also have to consider the cultural difficulties that come along with international adoption. Being raised by an anglo family while you are genetically Chinese, for example, presents an additional challenge. Most kids adapt well, but it still needs consideration.
There are other factors as well. For example, there is evidence that addiction has a genetic component, so there may be some risk in unknown genes. If this were combined with a cultural conflict it would be devastating. Feeling like you don't "belong" while also having a predisposition to addition would be sure to cause strife and heartache for all involved. Not saying this is actually happening, but it's a possible scenario that might make IVF more attractive than adoption.
There are other, less direct reasons though. Many women want the experience of pregnancy. Well, the first time around anyway. I know my wife worried that she wouldn't be able to love an adopted child the same as her own child.
Is it surprising that the Pope objected? He's very conservative, and doesn't even approve of contraception for people with HIV. Does he approve of IV fertilisation at all? If god wants you to have a disabled kid...
The Pope has referred to IVF as an "abomination", so no, he does not approve of IVF at all, designer eyes or no.
Someday I'll tell my daughter that she owes her existence, in part, to the fact that we aren't Catholic.
I've got 2, just in case. Leave one configured for open access, but don't connect it to your network, and you can truthfully say "But I was running a open access point... anybody could have connected to it!"
Not sure why everyone persists in believing all lawyers are stupid. Some are, but most aren't. Good luck with your strategy.
... and pornography featuring violence, bestiality, and incest...
Isn't that particular stuff still considered legal? And if so, does it have an rightful place in an appeal by the government to a judge?
In most places no, those acts are not legal. Simulating those acts is legal. Maybe some wiggle room on the "violence", depending on what exactly they mean. Incest laws, like sodomy laws, are rarely prosecuted, or at least I've never heard of such prosecution. Rape and bestiality are. IANAL
Always the same back and forth on this topic every time eBooks are mentioned.
Someone says smartphones/PDAs are better, then someone else (like me) responds that the benefit of an eInk display is:
1) There is no backlight, which helps alleviate eyestrain during long reading sessions. 2) There is no screen refresh, so you can read for a very long time without killing your battery.
Having read extensively on a homebrew-enabled PSP with a LCD screen and now on a Sony PRS-700, I know that the LCD screen does hurt my eyes and the eInk screen does not.
I mean a support contract from a stable provider with multiple levels of escalation, 24x7 call center, etc.
Staffed by pony-tailed bearded guys who charge their employer by the hour.
I'm not really sure what my point with that is; but here's one: why is the physical appearance and pricing structure the important issue?
What if that pony-tailed one-man company is the highest level of tech skills around and he's on call 24x7?
If having more people in the call center means there's always someone available, you're paying wages to people who just monitor the phones but don't have any calls to take.
I think it all comes down to this: what are your needs, and who meets them with the best quality/price trade-off?
I guess we can collect data on how often a one-man show is the answer, relative to the alternative(s), but I don't have that; it doesn't a priori follow that it's a bad idea, though.
My pony-tailed bearded comment was tongue in cheek. What I was really referring to is a support agreement that would be in jeopardy if one person keels over from a heart attack or decides he'd rather live in Bolivia now. Or kills his wife.
You're right about balancing price versus needs. Unless your operation is very, very small, you'll need more than just one guy who's really good at fixing problems.
Can you please list other commercial OS'es which are still supported after 10 years?
No, I can't. I didn't intend to imply that MS was worse than other proprietary OS vendors. I just meant that proprietary OS vendors were worse than open-source OS vendors.
Do you believe you could purchase a support contract for a 10-year-old distribution of Linux today? I don't mean a guy with a pony tail and beard who will help you out and charges by the hour, I mean a support contract from a stable provider with multiple levels of escalation, 24x7 call center, etc.
I think you're comparing apples and oranges. It's no problem to purchase a support contract for any current and popular Linux distribution because upgrades are free (as in beer). If Microsoft upgrades were also free (as in beer) you'd have no problem obtaining support for the current version of software from them either.
I don't mean to imply that you should be running a MS OS instead of Ubuntu, or vice-versa. Pick whatever tool suites your requirements. I think that your analysis of the reasons for doing one or the other appears to be flawed, though.
Slashdot Mirror
You triggered a thought I've had from time to time about the evolution of /., and I've prepared this simple karma whore cheat sheet for those that can't be bothered to read the article, summary or, in the next phase, comments:
Microsoft: We hate them. Referencing XP as an upgrade to Vista is still good for +5 Insightful or +5 Funny. This is because somehow, somewhere, there are still people that haven't already seen this joke hundreds of times.
Google: We're afraid of them, although most of us still use their products. Comments with creative ways they could do evil are good for +5 Informative.
Linux: Whatever year it is now, it's the year of the desktop. Comments generally descend into a KDE vs. Gnome battle royal ending in stalemate. There would be lots of +5 Mental Masturbation, if that category existed. Instead we get lots of +5 Informative and +5 Insightful. It doesn't matter which side you pick and you can probably get mod points with conflicting comments on the same article.
Apple: We love them no matter what kind of shit they pull. Irony is not appreciated when referring the the big silver fruit. Good opportunity to bash Microsoft (see above).
Oh yay. Lets fill our landfills with more useless crap. Why the hell do I need LED's and battery is PACKAGING? They go into the trash! We as a society are trying to move towards LESS PACKAGING and recyclable packaging not MORE packaging. Is the consumer expected to rip out that LED and battery and recycle that separate for ever single ceral box they purchase?
You'll sound more informed if you actually read the article.
"We already have prototypes which are completely passive," said Dr Mohan.
Anyone who thinks Apple is going to sit on their laurels while Android eats its lunch simply doesn't know Steve Jobs. First, compare the quality of user experience between the iPhone and all of its rivals. The iPhone is so far ahead of anything currently on the market that Apple has the luxury of rejecting apps that would otherwise be useful for their customers.
This is certainly open to debate. The iPhone is a fantastic consumer device and I think is in a leadership position in that segment. However, as a business tool it doesn't hold up well compared to some of the more mature offerings available. Apple understands the consumer customer and marketplace very well but the enterprise market has them stumped (fanbois will say "uninterested"). I don't think Android is there yet, either, but I think I'm starting to understand what they're going towards and the next few years will certainly be interesting. Blackberry is dominate in this market segment for a reason; they don't make the best devices but they do make the best business tool.
I also want to point out that Apple had better be more than just one man's personality. Steve Jobs won't be around forever and if he's the only way they can introduce innovative products, they're gonna be screwed in a few years.
This post was typed on a Macbook Pro. It's possible to own and use Apple products without joining the cult. They make good products, but they have shitty policies about how those products are used.
What, information wants to be free unless it's your information?
Welcome to your "free trade" competition. This is the world that business lobbyists want, and they aren't going away, so get used to it. Democracy, my ass.
Don't you mean Communism?
And yeah, I know, China is about as communist as the US is democratic.
We've been co-opting other language's words into English for a long, long time now. To a growing number US citizens prefixing anything with "uber" is the same as saying "ultra" or "super". You know the saying "it's all over except for the shouting"? Yeah, that's pretty much where this is.
Feel free to mod this entire thread, including the parent, uber off-topic.
There were 43,005 auto accident fatalities in 2002 (source: http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx). So we're talking about 2.2% of these being related to cell phone usage.
Also note that both these stats are not the number of accidents, but the number of fatalities. Looking at the number of accidents, which I think is probably a better measurement anyway, we have an estimated total of 6,316,000 and an estimated 240,000 where cell phones contributed. That gives us a higher percentage but still only 3.8%.
Sorry, but while cell phone usage while driving does contribute, it's nowhere near being the boogie-man everyone makes it out to be. And yeah, I've been rear-ended by someone screwing with their phone.
There is no doubt in my mind that outlawing cell phone usage while driving will save lives. Just not a lot of them.
Well, if it *is* to be the Prius of the high seas, let's hope they at least make it a decent looking ship. Not something fugly like the Prius on land is...
Also, it will need Obama '08 and "Coexist" bumper stickers.
I think the invites may be random. I filled out my app to beta test it a few months ago, and only got the invite last week.
They only started sending out new invites about two weeks ago after a long hiatus. They've worked through the backlog now and it's pretty quick to get an account.
Just fill out the form on the main page. I got my invitation in less than 24 hours last week.
Here's the link: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/
"How to make the largest pile of cash while providing the least amount of service"
That's just Business 101 stuff. The difference between how much the service costs to provide and how much money you make from providing it is what we call "profit". On the other hand, losing customers by degrading their service experience is bad for business.
The real problem is that in many markets there are still only limited choices for broadband. If you have to choose between DNS redirection or dial-up, what would you do?
Related, but not the same thing at all.
Isn't this the process that makes lots of test/tube babies, and discards the ones that don't meant the parent's criteria?
No, it isn't. IVF just means that fertilization takes place outside of the body ("test tube") and then a viable fertilized embryo is implanted back into the mother. Some clinics may do what you describe, though. I don't know of any. The way you word it makes it sound like you'd discard anything that wouldn't give you a 7'2" power forward. It doesn't work that way.
Basically it goes like this:
1. Mother takes fertility drugs to produce multiple eggs.
2. Eggs are harvested from mother in an out-patient procedure.
3. Viable eggs are fertilized.
4. Viable embryo(s) are implanted.
5. Hopefully at least one embryo attaches to the uterine lining and a normal pregnancy results.
I should mention the 1.5" needle in the ass every day for three months that comes along with all the rest of this fun. It's no picnic, folks.
The Pope doesn't like this idea because usually multiple embryos are implanted back into the mother. This is because most of them won't "take", so you play the odds. Generally speaking there is a 67% chance of one, a 30% chance of twins and a 3% chance of more than two.
Bottom line is the Catholics don't like humans mucking about in the reproductive cycle, either prevention of pregnancy or promotion of pregnancy.
Feeling like you don't "belong" while also having a predisposition to addition
Wow, Freudian slip there. Obviously meant "addiction" but in the context of adoption from China... :P
If the human race goes extinct, it certainly won't be because we didn't reproduce enough. So really, what's the point of fertility clinics? As in, why don't people just adopt the already-existing baby that meets whatever "criteria" they have instead of doing all of this?
The most practical answer I can give is because IVF is cheaper than adoption, at least in my case. Adoption is complicated and expensive, with good reason. Despite popular belief here in the US, the Chinese government does not really want a bunch of (predominately) white Americans adopting all their babies, although there are certainly exceptions. You also have to consider the cultural difficulties that come along with international adoption. Being raised by an anglo family while you are genetically Chinese, for example, presents an additional challenge. Most kids adapt well, but it still needs consideration.
There are other factors as well. For example, there is evidence that addiction has a genetic component, so there may be some risk in unknown genes. If this were combined with a cultural conflict it would be devastating. Feeling like you don't "belong" while also having a predisposition to addition would be sure to cause strife and heartache for all involved. Not saying this is actually happening, but it's a possible scenario that might make IVF more attractive than adoption.
There are other, less direct reasons though. Many women want the experience of pregnancy. Well, the first time around anyway. I know my wife worried that she wouldn't be able to love an adopted child the same as her own child.
"even the Pope objected"
Is it surprising that the Pope objected? He's very conservative, and doesn't even approve of contraception for people with HIV. Does he approve of IV fertilisation at all? If god wants you to have a disabled kid...
The Pope has referred to IVF as an "abomination", so no, he does not approve of IVF at all, designer eyes or no.
Someday I'll tell my daughter that she owes her existence, in part, to the fact that we aren't Catholic.
I've got 2, just in case. Leave one configured for open access, but don't connect it to your network, and you can truthfully say "But I was running a open access point... anybody could have connected to it!"
Not sure why everyone persists in believing all lawyers are stupid. Some are, but most aren't. Good luck with your strategy.
I've never found a free one that was worth a damn, but there are several pay alternatives that are quite good. I'm currently with easynews.com.
If you don't need the binary groups, I'd bet the chances of finding a usable free one will be much higher, though.
I would also recommend easynews.com, I'm very happy with their service.
From the summary:
Isn't that particular stuff still considered legal? And if so, does it have an rightful place in an appeal by the government to a judge?
In most places no, those acts are not legal. Simulating those acts is legal. Maybe some wiggle room on the "violence", depending on what exactly they mean. Incest laws, like sodomy laws, are rarely prosecuted, or at least I've never heard of such prosecution. Rape and bestiality are. IANAL
Always the same back and forth on this topic every time eBooks are mentioned.
Someone says smartphones/PDAs are better, then someone else (like me) responds that the benefit of an eInk display is:
1) There is no backlight, which helps alleviate eyestrain during long reading sessions.
2) There is no screen refresh, so you can read for a very long time without killing your battery.
Having read extensively on a homebrew-enabled PSP with a LCD screen and now on a Sony PRS-700, I know that the LCD screen does hurt my eyes and the eInk screen does not.
Please, yes. Sony's device interface is great and super easy to use. Their store interface, on the other hand, was designed by sadists.
I mean a support contract from a stable provider with multiple levels of escalation, 24x7 call center, etc.
Staffed by pony-tailed bearded guys who charge their employer by the hour.
I'm not really sure what my point with that is; but here's one: why is the physical appearance and pricing structure the important issue?
What if that pony-tailed one-man company is the highest level of tech skills around and he's on call 24x7?
If having more people in the call center means there's always someone available, you're paying wages to people who just monitor the phones but don't have any calls to take.
I think it all comes down to this: what are your needs, and who meets them with the best quality/price trade-off?
I guess we can collect data on how often a one-man show is the answer, relative to the alternative(s), but I don't have that; it doesn't a priori follow that it's a bad idea, though.
My pony-tailed bearded comment was tongue in cheek. What I was really referring to is a support agreement that would be in jeopardy if one person keels over from a heart attack or decides he'd rather live in Bolivia now. Or kills his wife.
You're right about balancing price versus needs. Unless your operation is very, very small, you'll need more than just one guy who's really good at fixing problems.
Firefox + Greasemonkey + FB Purity = no more quizzes showing up. The removal of the most annoying part of Facebook definitely enhances the service.
http://steeev.freehostia.com/wp/2009/03/19/facebook_purity_cleans_up_the_facebook_homepage/
No, I can't. I didn't intend to imply that MS was worse than other proprietary OS vendors. I just meant that proprietary OS vendors were worse than open-source OS vendors.
Do you believe you could purchase a support contract for a 10-year-old distribution of Linux today? I don't mean a guy with a pony tail and beard who will help you out and charges by the hour, I mean a support contract from a stable provider with multiple levels of escalation, 24x7 call center, etc.
I think you're comparing apples and oranges. It's no problem to purchase a support contract for any current and popular Linux distribution because upgrades are free (as in beer). If Microsoft upgrades were also free (as in beer) you'd have no problem obtaining support for the current version of software from them either.
I don't mean to imply that you should be running a MS OS instead of Ubuntu, or vice-versa. Pick whatever tool suites your requirements. I think that your analysis of the reasons for doing one or the other appears to be flawed, though.
REI spends a huge amount of money on marketing - and this year's entire budget just got flushed down the toilet.
What the hell is REI? Is this a Niemann-Marcus clone? I'm sure I've never seen one.
It's an outdoor activity outfitter. Think backpacks, water filtration systems, skis, parkas, etc.