What a relief to see our government coming out on the side of big businesses (cable TV/Internet service providers). Yes, this bodes well for consumers, but at its heart, this is about enabling big businesses to make tons of money. The MPAA/RIAA is not the only or biggest corporate interest the government is supporting.
Re:Carrier Exclusivity Might Kill It
on
Palm Pre Reviewed
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· Score: 1
You said it yourself. There are other people outside the US, you know.
Heh... people outside the US... yeah, sure, like where? Texas?
As for Pre, Palm will almost certainly have to remain a single-carrier device, as it'll be the only way they'll get enough support from the carrier to push the device.
On a serious note, does this work the same internationally as it does with the US carriers? (Phones with exclusivity deals, that work for one carrier but are disabled for other carriers?) This has always mystified me in the US; I'm wondering if it's the same in other places.
In any case, it's not illegal to have a dominant market position; it's only illegal to use that dominance to stifle competition. Fortunately, Apple hasn't demonstrated any significant tendency to eliminate competition in the markets they do dominate.
Is Apple becoming the Microsoft of the mobile world?!
The problem with Microsoft is that they use a very large market share in one market to destroy competition and innovation in other markets, thus slowing progress. Apple doesn't have dominance in any markets, so their locked down products drive innovation by providing real competition. When Apple has a monopoly o near monopoly and ties to other markets, then "ll lump them in with Microsoft.
Short answer to the question is, yes, Apple is becoming the Microsoft of the mobile world. Name me a portable music player other than an iPod that anyone you know owns.
And awesome, I have a lower slashdot id than him as well. Time to remind him to talk to us!
Good grief. Having a low Slashdot ID is like having been the first one on your block to wear polyester leisure suits. Sure, you were a trendsetter, but wearing a polyester leisure suit before your neighbors is nothing to be proud of.
This appears like a modern day Kobayashi Maru exercise. And instead of it being designed and executed by a single Vulcan whom we all know, it was done by the best and brightest of our 'No Such Agency'. I say congratulations to both parties, the NSA and the winning West Point Team.
Man, do I ever long for the good old days of the Victorian era Kobayashi Maru.
Don't show the user what he/she doesn't need at the moment (context sensitivity).
Oh dear, I really don't like this one. The UI will be in constant flux. I won't know where things are or what the application can do. Also, there's a chance I am about to do what they don't expect me to do.
The important part is not to show options that just won't work in the current context. It does mean there's change in the UI, but the UI should never provide invalid options.
If the cause isn't network-traffic-related, then why aren't those same interfering devices causing problems in rural areas? Even people in rural areas these days have microwaves and baby monitors.
As I understand it, these devices don't tend to have very high-powered transmitters, so they may only be a noticeable problem when you have another device competing for that spectrum within 10-20 meters.
Results will vary based on the power of the devices in question, but when the nearest neighboring house is 30 meters or more away, you're unlikely to see a problem. It's a different story than when you have 5 neighbors with devices operating in that spectrum within 10 meters.
Of course, I invite someone who knows what the heck he's talking about to refine my explanation.
Since, once again, the political affiliation of a Democrat has conveniently been left out of the summary, I feel it necessary to do the job the poster and/. editors have failed to do.
Yes, we definitely need to perpetuate the idiocy of associating all the members of a group with its most unappealing members.
"To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;"
It reminds me of "the Royal Nonesuch" marketing campaign.
Mr. Clemens must be turning in his grave, in an spatially limited kind of ROFL:)
Good call. Compare for convenience in this article about the relevant bit from Huckleberry Finn, and decide for yourself if this is where Cameron is getting his inspiration.
Too often we satisfy ourselves with respecting or discrediting the source. That's good politics, poor science. To actually disprove it, we really should find the errors in the report.
Right. So pull the Ethernet cable out of your computer, or turn of your wireless radio. Watch carefully to see if your computer will "jitter and freeze". Then decide if the Science part was already handled by previous posts.
Their concept of cloud computing, while compelling, is ultimately unworkable, due to nothing more complicated than market forces. If there is no money to be made in it, no corporate entity will become associated with it.
So what? You've never heard of a co-operative before? Never heard of publicly funded works for the common good? Corporations aren't the only structure humans can use to collaborate. And looking at how things turned turn out, they don't seem to be a particularly good structure, either. They repeatedly keep running things on the edge of collapse, calling it efficiency, and putting the extra resources up someones nose or wherever the hell it disappears to.
The concept of "cloud computing" described in the paper is, as far as I can discern, purely hypothetical. The model of theoretically superior cloud computing never existed, if I understand the paper correctly.
This paper contains lots of hand waving and hand wringing, but no concrete comparisons of anything, and no data which would enable anything remotely resemble an objective analysis.
I think there's a seed of an interesting discussion in there, but nothing more. Give us a proposal, a real analysis of what today's "cloud" looks like and does, and how that compares to a more ideal "cloud" that provides equivalent services. Only then will we have something worth talking about.
1. I for one, welcome the return to a beowulf cluster of serious news for nerds instead of childish pranks or Soviet Russia parodying you. 2. ??? 3. Profit!
I don't see any reason to make a huge deal about any "new" Linux release.
Well, two things: 1. Yeah, that's the kind of news only Nerds would care about! Can't they find an appropriate forum for that? 2. This is not about a new "Linux" release. It's about a new Ubuntu beta. By contrast, This is a story about a new Linux release.
If the tax system was fair in the first place, no loopholes would be needed. Income tax is really unlawful. It punishes productivity and penalizes saving.
Finally something intelligent on the topic. Generational categorization is the worst idea ever, hire people that you think will do the job well, fire ones that do not do the job well, this really isn't that hard.
Fascinating. When describing young people, we say "generational categorization", but when describing older people, we say "age discrimination".
In any case, I agree with the parent and grandparent posts.
Generally, I agree with the parent, but as a long time Linux user (Slackware, Debian, Ubuntu) and arguably a computer expert, I have (or WANT to have) a mental model of computers that essentially matches this description of Windows users.
Sure I can figure out how to get things working that don't, how to make the system start up faster, how to fix the problems I encounter, how to configure my firewall, etc. However, I don't WANT to do any of those things.
For example, the mental model I would like to have is that I'm going to write music, NOT that I'm going to use the computer to write music.
Much of my time, I'm not interested in the computer at all. I just want to do something that's also relevant outside the context of computers. Interacting with "the computer" in order to accomplish my task is a distraction.
Now, I think Ubuntu (for example) does a pretty good job of minimizing the distractions from the end goal. But I thoroughly agree with the parent that there are still some good opportunities to improve the way the computer gets me into the context of pursuing my ultimate task-related goal.
Same reason blogs lost?
on
Why TV Lost
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Perhaps TV has lost for the same reason blogs have lost. Nobody wants to read/watch inane crap that somebody just pulled out of his ass in order to attract advertising attention.
What, people actually read this tripe? Nevermind; I recant. TV has a bright future.
The day "computers" are good for an evening of video entertainment with a significant other, the word will be spelled "television".
Okay, so the Chinese government is to blame, sure. But how, exactly, to you figure that corporations are not to blame for ruthlessly exploiting these inhumane conditions?
Screw everyone who tries to make this a partisan issue.
Bush and Obama have both accurately described the economic conditions as disastrous. The potential fallout of inaction is huge.
Is massive government spending the best way to get us headed toward recovery? I don't know, but Bush thought so, and so does Obama. Props to Bush for sticking to his approach despite the lack of support from his own party. Props to Obama for not dismissing Bush's approach just because he's a Republican.
Both of these guys genuinely want the US economy to succeed. They are and have been deeply concerned about its current direction. Calling what either of them did fear mongering is unjustifed. They are trying to help people understand the extent of the problems, and motivate them to support what they believe to be a workable solution.
Don't like the Bush/Obama approach? Suggest a better one.
Slashdot Mirror
What a relief to see our government coming out on the side of big businesses (cable TV/Internet service providers). Yes, this bodes well for consumers, but at its heart, this is about enabling big businesses to make tons of money. The MPAA/RIAA is not the only or biggest corporate interest the government is supporting.
You said it yourself. There are other people outside the US, you know.
Heh... people outside the US... yeah, sure, like where? Texas?
As for Pre, Palm will almost certainly have to remain a single-carrier device, as it'll be the only way they'll get enough support from the carrier to push the device.
On a serious note, does this work the same internationally as it does with the US carriers? (Phones with exclusivity deals, that work for one carrier but are disabled for other carriers?) This has always mystified me in the US; I'm wondering if it's the same in other places.
Mmmm... Apple's dominance includes not only portable music devices (iPods) but the actual distribution of music (iTunes).
In any case, it's not illegal to have a dominant market position; it's only illegal to use that dominance to stifle competition. Fortunately, Apple hasn't demonstrated any significant tendency to eliminate competition in the markets they do dominate.
Is Apple becoming the Microsoft of the mobile world?!
The problem with Microsoft is that they use a very large market share in one market to destroy competition and innovation in other markets, thus slowing progress. Apple doesn't have dominance in any markets, so their locked down products drive innovation by providing real competition. When Apple has a monopoly o near monopoly and ties to other markets, then "ll lump them in with Microsoft.
Short answer to the question is, yes, Apple is becoming the Microsoft of the mobile world. Name me a portable music player other than an iPod that anyone you know owns.
Lump them in.
And awesome, I have a lower slashdot id than him as well. Time to remind him to talk to us!
Good grief. Having a low Slashdot ID is like having been the first one on your block to wear polyester leisure suits. Sure, you were a trendsetter, but wearing a polyester leisure suit before your neighbors is nothing to be proud of.
This appears like a modern day Kobayashi Maru exercise. And instead of it being designed and executed by a single Vulcan whom we all know, it was done by the best and brightest of our 'No Such Agency'. I say congratulations to both parties, the NSA and the winning West Point Team.
Man, do I ever long for the good old days of the Victorian era Kobayashi Maru.
Don't show the user what he/she doesn't need at the moment (context sensitivity).
Oh dear, I really don't like this one. The UI will be in constant flux. I won't know where things are or what the application can do. Also, there's a chance I am about to do what they don't expect me to do.
The important part is not to show options that just won't work in the current context. It does mean there's change in the UI, but the UI should never provide invalid options.
If the cause isn't network-traffic-related, then why aren't those same interfering devices causing problems in rural areas? Even people in rural areas these days have microwaves and baby monitors.
As I understand it, these devices don't tend to have very high-powered transmitters, so they may only be a noticeable problem when you have another device competing for that spectrum within 10-20 meters.
Results will vary based on the power of the devices in question, but when the nearest neighboring house is 30 meters or more away, you're unlikely to see a problem. It's a different story than when you have 5 neighbors with devices operating in that spectrum within 10 meters.
Of course, I invite someone who knows what the heck he's talking about to refine my explanation.
Since, once again, the political affiliation of a Democrat has conveniently been left out of the summary, I feel it necessary to do the job the poster and /. editors have failed to do.
Yes, we definitely need to perpetuate the idiocy of associating all the members of a group with its most unappealing members.
Hmmm. Just to be clear....
Article 1, Section 8 says that Congress shall have the power:
"To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;"
It reminds me of "the Royal Nonesuch" marketing campaign.
Mr. Clemens must be turning in his grave, in an spatially limited kind of ROFL :)
Good call. Compare for convenience in this article about the relevant bit from Huckleberry Finn, and decide for yourself if this is where Cameron is getting his inspiration.
Too often we satisfy ourselves with respecting or discrediting the source. That's good politics, poor science. To actually disprove it, we really should find the errors in the report.
Right. So pull the Ethernet cable out of your computer, or turn of your wireless radio. Watch carefully to see if your computer will "jitter and freeze". Then decide if the Science part was already handled by previous posts.
Of course. You can't just use a simple flat touchscreen in a vehicle dashboard. It would be impossible for a blind person to find the controls.
Their concept of cloud computing, while compelling, is ultimately unworkable, due to nothing more complicated than market forces. If there is no money to be made in it, no corporate entity will become associated with it.
So what? You've never heard of a co-operative before? Never heard of publicly funded works for the common good? Corporations aren't the only structure humans can use to collaborate. And looking at how things turned turn out, they don't seem to be a particularly good structure, either. They repeatedly keep running things on the edge of collapse, calling it efficiency, and putting the extra resources up someones nose or wherever the hell it disappears to.
The concept of "cloud computing" described in the paper is, as far as I can discern, purely hypothetical. The model of theoretically superior cloud computing never existed, if I understand the paper correctly.
This paper contains lots of hand waving and hand wringing, but no concrete comparisons of anything, and no data which would enable anything remotely resemble an objective analysis.
I think there's a seed of an interesting discussion in there, but nothing more. Give us a proposal, a real analysis of what today's "cloud" looks like and does, and how that compares to a more ideal "cloud" that provides equivalent services. Only then will we have something worth talking about.
The theme itself though, sadly, hasn't changed.
What do you have against the color brown?? Other than it happens to be the color of dog poop laying on dirt.
Hmmm.... Brown is also the color of delicious chocolate, and benevolent, life-giving coffee, and the hazy morning sky over Newark, New Jersey....
Novell did it. Novell is just one of the several corporations that profits from Linux, and it isn't "Linux".
I don't care WHO did it. That is a very nice video.
As for Novell, they may not be ALL of Linux, but it looks to me as if they're a darn good chunk of Linux.
1. I for one, welcome the return to a beowulf cluster of serious news for nerds instead of childish pranks or Soviet Russia parodying you.
2. ???
3. Profit!
I don't see any reason to make a huge deal about any "new" Linux release.
Well, two things:
1. Yeah, that's the kind of news only Nerds would care about! Can't they find an appropriate forum for that?
2. This is not about a new "Linux" release. It's about a new Ubuntu beta. By contrast, This is a story about a new Linux release.
If the tax system was fair in the first place, no loopholes would be needed. Income tax is really unlawful. It punishes productivity and penalizes saving.
First and third sentences are debateable. The second sentence is, as far as I understand, untrue as stated, according to Article 1, section 8, clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States of America.
You might argue that the income tax is immoral, unconscionable, or unfair, but it appears to be pretty darn legal in the US.
The cause of these problems is not the scarcity of resources, but rather the huge surplus of people.
Finally something intelligent on the topic. Generational categorization is the worst idea ever, hire people that you think will do the job well, fire ones that do not do the job well, this really isn't that hard.
Fascinating. When describing young people, we say "generational categorization", but when describing older people, we say "age discrimination".
In any case, I agree with the parent and grandparent posts.
Generally, I agree with the parent, but as a long time Linux user (Slackware, Debian, Ubuntu) and arguably a computer expert, I have (or WANT to have) a mental model of computers that essentially matches this description of Windows users.
Sure I can figure out how to get things working that don't, how to make the system start up faster, how to fix the problems I encounter, how to configure my firewall, etc. However, I don't WANT to do any of those things.
For example, the mental model I would like to have is that I'm going to write music, NOT that I'm going to use the computer to write music.
Much of my time, I'm not interested in the computer at all. I just want to do something that's also relevant outside the context of computers. Interacting with "the computer" in order to accomplish my task is a distraction.
Now, I think Ubuntu (for example) does a pretty good job of minimizing the distractions from the end goal. But I thoroughly agree with the parent that there are still some good opportunities to improve the way the computer gets me into the context of pursuing my ultimate task-related goal.
Perhaps TV has lost for the same reason blogs have lost. Nobody wants to read/watch inane crap that somebody just pulled out of his ass in order to attract advertising attention.
What, people actually read this tripe? Nevermind; I recant. TV has a bright future.
The day "computers" are good for an evening of video entertainment with a significant other, the word will be spelled "television".
Okay, so the Chinese government is to blame, sure. But how, exactly, to you figure that corporations are not to blame for ruthlessly exploiting these inhumane conditions?
Screw everyone who tries to make this a partisan issue.
Bush and Obama have both accurately described the economic conditions as disastrous. The potential fallout of inaction is huge.
Is massive government spending the best way to get us headed toward recovery? I don't know, but Bush thought so, and so does Obama. Props to Bush for sticking to his approach despite the lack of support from his own party. Props to Obama for not dismissing Bush's approach just because he's a Republican.
Both of these guys genuinely want the US economy to succeed. They are and have been deeply concerned about its current direction. Calling what either of them did fear mongering is unjustifed. They are trying to help people understand the extent of the problems, and motivate them to support what they believe to be a workable solution.
Don't like the Bush/Obama approach? Suggest a better one.