When you look at some of the accidental and deliberate abuse of piracy over the years, it's pretty clear we are totally unprepared for such a huge change in mindset.
M$ allowed huge amounts of piracy of their software, as it gave them a big market share, and in the long run, allowing that piracy will probably make them a lot of money.
The record companies can't let go of the old technology, and wonder why people are so angry about paying the same price twice, for a CD that's scratched. Isn't part of the money for the license? not the media?
When a discussion is about the price of CDs, it's all about incorporating the license fee into the media... but when it's about getting a discount on a replacement or duplicate media (CD version of your old LP), then it's all about the media and distribution...
M$ still hasn't come across the big rebellion against them, and won't unless they start cracking down on piracy... but when they do, people are going to be pissed off, and retaliate... unfair? well if you allow piracy some days, and not on others, you're inviting people to be pissed at you...
Too many big companies have lied to their customers about many things, so it's asking a lot for them to respect their rights, when the companies don't respect their customers.
Hire out The Lord of the Flies sometime. It is also a book, but just reading it doesn't quite convey the horror of seeing kids do the things they do, and their level of enjoyment in it.
People are not naturally and instinctively "good". They injure, attack, rape, kill, bully, blackmail, lie, torture, steal and do many other horrible things.
Raising kids is not just buying the "right" toys, or avoiding the "bad" toys... or even getting your kids to behave well in public... it's trying to teach kids right from wrong, and the consequences of their actions. So that even away from people who can punish them, they will not decend into barbarism.
When people/corporations choose to abuse anything that is not defined specifically in law, it is fair game in court with a plethora of lawyers.
Internet vs Print for example has a few very different outcomes.
Internet publishing should probably have:
it's own rights as a media, and previous print publishers do not have the right to reprint their work for free. they wouldn't get it for free if it was audio. (not exactly different rights, but this defines internet publishing as a type of media, and each media has it's own rules)
Internet vs Print journalists should have equal rights. (same)
Past internet news should be available in public archives, just like print (not sure if this differs from print archiving, it may depend on what country you're in)
Retractions online can edit the original, and add a note that an error was made and it has been fixed. This is very different from print media, as it's a technology difference. (different)
Do you see people raving about their site? I never have. In fact I've been there a few times, looking for reports on their human rights abuses, but they're not on there.
I would guess a lot of hits Nike gets are from being in the news for their slave labour practices.
A hit count won't tell you whether your site is good or bad, only how many people have visited it.
If lots of people go to a filthy public toilet that could give you any disease of your choice, it doesn't mean it's a great public toilet, it just means they needed to go.
Your site can have graphics, but if it's heavy, people will leave before they fall asleep, waiting for it to load.
I can't really think of any time to use this design. If I have to wait around for a site to load, I'm off doing something else, and I won't be back.
branding usually doesn't have much meaning
on
Homepage Usability
·
· Score: 2
You can't blame that on the internet.
And if you spell like that, I'd say your brand comes across as illiterate and unobservant. It's Jakob, not Jokob, as any previous post could tell you. Your grammar could also do with some polishing.
Branding isn't usually information, except to marketroids.
A useful shopping or gaming site would:
have no annoying advertising
be easy to use
be fast loading
always have what you want
be easily accessible to people with disabilities
never send you html spam against your wishes
respect your privacy
have a good reputation
Something which branding doesn't cover, if you just don't have what it takes.
Most sites don't have what's mentioned above. Work on that and then start your branding.
navigation links and story submissions
on
Homepage Usability
·
· Score: 2
are really the only things that I think could be improved, and that's really because regular and new readers of slashdot need different things.
I think a link above Topic and Section on the story submission page would make it more understandable for first time submitters.
Sections (from what I understand, correct me if I'm wrong) is more about which Editor will look at your submission, as they have different sections as their responsibility, just like a newspaper. (as for those colours, I have no freakin idea, except that I do think Ask Slashdot should look a little different, as it's questions, not direct information)
Topics are really related to the subject matter, which I think can be a little intimidating for first time submitters, as there are a lot of variables on some submissions.
I recently submitted a story that was accepted, that would have fit under a couple of Topic headings.
It was News, but a lot of stuff is News. It was more important to people following Linux news, so that's what I submitted it under. But is also could have gone under Science or Technology.
I think it would be useful to have a little blurb to help submitters choose the most accurate Topic for Slashdot purposes.
With the navigation links, I'd like to see those become customised. For a new user, most of those links are useful. But for regulars, some of it is not so useful.
If I could tick boxes on what I want, I'd retain:
preferences
submit story
And below that I'd dump the section box altogether.
And I'd like a search box up high, above all links on the left, or just under them (I'd only have two if I could choose).
But for a new person, visiting the site for the first time (especially if they have never heard of it), different stuff is needed.
As for all the delightful goodness in Slashdot, I think most people have mentioned it all, aside from what I really love, which is news I can't always get ahold of easily and quickly. Slashdot gave me really great (fast, accurate, important) information on the American Attacks, I never had any trouble loading it during that time, when I was almost unable to use a lot of overseas sites like CNN (I know they said it didn't go down, but when it times out because it's so slow, it's the same thing to the viewer).
Humans rely on memory a lot, day to day, but also things like being a witness in court. As so many things become easy to forge (photos, recorded voices etc), are we in danger of losing our legal system?
If all physical evidence can be faked, and all mental evidence can be faked, are we left with anything?
The Tasmanian Devil is one of the most effective natural garbage disposals on the face of the planet.
To quote from the above link: With its powerful jaws and sharp sectorial teeth, it can consume every part of a dead kangaroo or sheep, including the skull.
Many people cite the lack of found dead Thylacine bodies (roadkill etc) as proof that they are not around any more. But when a carrion cleaner like the Devil is around, that makes that assumption a little presumptious. It can smell a lot better than we can see.
Not that this is proof that Thylacines are still around, but it is reason to question some "evidence" that they are not.
I noticed you have an email form on your website. It reminded me about something almost no webmasters seem to take responsibility for. Email customer service.
MAKE SURE SOMEONE IS READING AND RESPONDING TO EMAIL.
You wouldn't (well, you shouldn't) have incoming mail or phonecalls that no one checks and responds to, so don't do it with email. If someone goes on leave, either monitor their inbox, or set up an autoresponder (always check they are actually working, and keep checking it).
If you have a large volume of email correspondance, have a seperate email response group, don't allocate it as something to be done in spare time.
Have a procedure about how all this is to be done, and how long it should take for email to be responded to.
There will be people who are supposed to follow this, who have no idea how email really works.
Email is not an optional extra if it's used for public or client contact.
If I rang a store or office and left a message, and got a return call 2 weeks later, I wouldn't be impressed. Same goes for email.
Think this isn't the responsibility of a webmaster? who knows the mail links are available to the public?
Unless there is a notice near all email links that it is not a priority for replies, or to expect a delay, most people will assume a quick response.
Now while the monitoring etc may not be what the webmaster is doing, someone needs to make sure the rest of the organisation is using the website properly.
Letting the web group know when email addresses become defunct, or staff leave/arrive.
Letting the web group know when staff are going on leave, or are away for the day (if one day makes a difference in your work).
A website is like a virtual office in a lot of ways, and it all needs to function properly.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
This quote is from the Alpha Centauri game. From the character Commisioner Pravin Lal (leader of the UN Peacekeeper faction), and said to be from the U.N. Declaration of Rights.
"One example of how this is not done is SETI," said Ellis, referring to the popular screensaver program beloved by millions of home and work computer users. The program processes chunks of satellite data for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project.
"It's not real-time, and it's not online," said Brian Coghlan of Trinity College Dublin, an Irish participant in DataGRID. "You go to SETI and laboriously download data and then laboriously send it back."
With DataGRID, they're talking about a network that can do real-time processing of petabytes of data -- a barely imaginable amount of information. One petabyte is a quadrillion bytes -- equal to all the information that could be held on 125,000 PC hard drives."
SETI data can be delayed. If you don't get online for awhile, your data is held back from the grid. Doesn't that make it different?
is just the same as any other sense technology. recorded sound gave us the ability to reproduce sound far away in time and space from it's origin. when touch is on an equal footing to this, it will be so commonplace, you won't think of it any more than a photograph, or tape recording.
the route taken by the solar challenge is (I presume) chosen for maximum sun. a lot of the places on the map are incredibly dry and have little wildlife due to the lack of water. CooberPedy is like a moonscape, Alice Springs is a lot more hospitable, as is Tennant Creek.
Are there any websites where you can get a review by a blind person? or anything similar?
We can talk about web standards until we are blue in the face, but when we stop certain people from being about to use the web, that's more than a failure of standard.
virtual reality (from what I have seen) has been restricted to visual information. I don't know about you, but my reality has more than one sense, and I expect a virtual reality to take that into account.
Sight - this one VR is pretty good at, movement, perspective etc.
Sound - what can you hear right now? the problem with reality is that you don't always hear what you want to hear... there are layers apon layers of sound... right now I can hear the office air conditioning humming, phones ringing, groups of people talking in 3 different directions and someone making a weird metal clicking kind of noise that sounds frustrated. That's reality.
Smell - this is a part of body information a lot of people forget about. You sense of smell can tell you a lot about your environment. The smell of the sea... that weird smell at the movies, part popcorn, part excessive vacuuming...
Taste - this is the sense I think VR will have the most trouble capturing. If you've ever been too close to a campfire, you'll know that smoke has a taste as well as a smell. Then you've got your more pedestrian taste situations, like eating a meal...
Touch - not quite as elusive as taste, but far more complex is the sense of touch. Touch measures so many things, instantly. Texture, pressure, temperature, movement... as well as shape recognition. Even when you're not touching anything, your skin is giving you loads of sensory feedback.
When virtual reality stops being about image projection and sound, and starts mimicking real reality, I think it will be a lot more interesting to people.
Right now, my own reality kicks ass over a cave.
I'm not saying VR developments as they are are not impressive, but this is a young technology, don't expect too much from something not fully grown.
An adult VR could produce Better Than Life, Red Dwarf style... or, the Matrix...
Slashdot Mirror
When you look at some of the accidental and deliberate abuse of piracy over the years, it's pretty clear we are totally unprepared for such a huge change in mindset.
M$ allowed huge amounts of piracy of their software, as it gave them a big market share, and in the long run, allowing that piracy will probably make them a lot of money. The record companies can't let go of the old technology, and wonder why people are so angry about paying the same price twice, for a CD that's scratched. Isn't part of the money for the license? not the media?
When a discussion is about the price of CDs, it's all about incorporating the license fee into the media... but when it's about getting a discount on a replacement or duplicate media (CD version of your old LP), then it's all about the media and distribution...
M$ still hasn't come across the big rebellion against them, and won't unless they start cracking down on piracy... but when they do, people are going to be pissed off, and retaliate... unfair? well if you allow piracy some days, and not on others, you're inviting people to be pissed at you...
Too many big companies have lied to their customers about many things, so it's asking a lot for them to respect their rights, when the companies don't respect their customers.
Disgusting ethics breeds disgusting ethics...
you can't have it both ways...
It's a bitch when Karma bites back
I want the web on a handheld... for public transport.
but I also don't want an internet connected toaster or a psychic fridge or half the other crap that's around.
before you build it... stop and think... does it fill a need?
Hire out The Lord of the Flies sometime. It is also a book, but just reading it doesn't quite convey the horror of seeing kids do the things they do, and their level of enjoyment in it.
People are not naturally and instinctively "good". They injure, attack, rape, kill, bully, blackmail, lie, torture, steal and do many other horrible things.
Raising kids is not just buying the "right" toys, or avoiding the "bad" toys... or even getting your kids to behave well in public... it's trying to teach kids right from wrong, and the consequences of their actions. So that even away from people who can punish them, they will not decend into barbarism.
It's about loopholes in legislation...
When people/corporations choose to abuse anything that is not defined specifically in law, it is fair game in court with a plethora of lawyers.
Internet vs Print for example has a few very different outcomes.
Internet publishing should probably have:
it's own rights as a media, and previous print publishers do not have the right to reprint their work for free. they wouldn't get it for free if it was audio. (not exactly different rights, but this defines internet publishing as a type of media, and each media has it's own rules)
Internet vs Print journalists should have equal rights. (same)
Past internet news should be available in public archives, just like print (not sure if this differs from print archiving, it may depend on what country you're in)
Retractions online can edit the original, and add a note that an error was made and it has been fixed. This is very different from print media, as it's a technology difference. (different)
I'm not interested.
SMAC raised my expectations of the Civ line.
even if you don't think it exists.
when a story is on slashdot, there's a lot of links to the items being discussed.
that's a lot of opportunities for someone to visit Nike when they are in the news so much.
you said:
Do you really think that they would get as many visitors to there site if it wasn't a flashy site? No way. and that's just not accurate
a lot of hits are first time visitors, they've never seen it before, so they don't know it's flashy.
branding is why Nike gets hits, it has nothing to do with their site.
but it could be aided by their frequent news items
Do you see people raving about their site? I never have. In fact I've been there a few times, looking for reports on their human rights abuses, but they're not on there.
I would guess a lot of hits Nike gets are from being in the news for their slave labour practices.
A hit count won't tell you whether your site is good or bad, only how many people have visited it.
If lots of people go to a filthy public toilet that could give you any disease of your choice, it doesn't mean it's a great public toilet, it just means they needed to go.
Your site can have graphics, but if it's heavy, people will leave before they fall asleep, waiting for it to load.
I can't really think of any time to use this design. If I have to wait around for a site to load, I'm off doing something else, and I won't be back.
And if you spell like that, I'd say your brand comes across as illiterate and unobservant. It's Jakob, not Jokob, as any previous post could tell you. Your grammar could also do with some polishing.
Branding isn't usually information, except to marketroids.
A useful shopping or gaming site would:
Something which branding doesn't cover, if you just don't have what it takes.
Most sites don't have what's mentioned above.
Work on that and then start your branding.
are really the only things that I think could be improved, and that's really because regular and new readers of slashdot need different things.
I think a link above Topic and Section on the story submission page would make it more understandable for first time submitters.
Sections (from what I understand, correct me if I'm wrong) is more about which Editor will look at your submission, as they have different sections as their responsibility, just like a newspaper. (as for those colours, I have no freakin idea, except that I do think Ask Slashdot should look a little different, as it's questions, not direct information)
Topics are really related to the subject matter, which I think can be a little intimidating for first time submitters, as there are a lot of variables on some submissions.
I recently submitted a story that was accepted, that would have fit under a couple of Topic headings.
It was News, but a lot of stuff is News. It was more important to people following Linux news, so that's what I submitted it under. But is also could have gone under Science or Technology.
I think it would be useful to have a little blurb to help submitters choose the most accurate Topic for Slashdot purposes.
With the navigation links, I'd like to see those become customised. For a new user, most of those links are useful. But for regulars, some of it is not so useful.
If I could tick boxes on what I want, I'd retain:
preferences
submit story
And below that I'd dump the section box altogether.
And I'd like a search box up high, above all links on the left, or just under them (I'd only have two if I could choose).
But for a new person, visiting the site for the first time (especially if they have never heard of it), different stuff is needed.
As for all the delightful goodness in Slashdot, I think most people have mentioned it all, aside from what I really love, which is news I can't always get ahold of easily and quickly. Slashdot gave me really great (fast, accurate, important) information on the American Attacks, I never had any trouble loading it during that time, when I was almost unable to use a lot of overseas sites like CNN (I know they said it didn't go down, but when it times out because it's so slow, it's the same thing to the viewer).
Maximum Stories:
The default is 30. The main column displays 1/3rd of these at minimum, and all of today's stories at maximum.
Try making yours lower and see if it improves.
Not using Nested will speed you up as well.
keep it up :o)
Humans rely on memory a lot, day to day, but also things like being a witness in court. As so many things become easy to forge (photos, recorded voices etc), are we in danger of losing our legal system?
If all physical evidence can be faked, and all mental evidence can be faked, are we left with anything?
Some people go for .net as they're on the net, others go for .org as they're not trying to make a profit.
.biz, rarely .info
Where are the little guys supposed to go? they're not
We're talking the dark age of genetics here, Lucas. Scientists playing God. Desperate to get into the genetic soldier business.
Dr Wendy Smith
SeaQuest DSV
Is it scientists playing God that's so dangerous? or why they are playing God in the first place?
The Tasmanian Devil is one of the most effective natural garbage disposals on the face of the planet.
To quote from the above link:
With its powerful jaws and sharp sectorial teeth, it can consume every part of a dead kangaroo or sheep, including the skull.
Many people cite the lack of found dead Thylacine bodies (roadkill etc) as proof that they are not around any more. But when a carrion cleaner like the Devil is around, that makes that assumption a little presumptious. It can smell a lot better than we can see.
Not that this is proof that Thylacines are still around, but it is reason to question some "evidence" that they are not.
I noticed you have an email form on your website. It reminded me about something almost no webmasters seem to take responsibility for. Email customer service.
MAKE SURE SOMEONE IS READING AND RESPONDING TO EMAIL.
You wouldn't (well, you shouldn't) have incoming mail or phonecalls that no one checks and responds to, so don't do it with email. If someone goes on leave, either monitor their inbox, or set up an autoresponder (always check they are actually working, and keep checking it).
If you have a large volume of email correspondance, have a seperate email response group, don't allocate it as something to be done in spare time.
Have a procedure about how all this is to be done, and how long it should take for email to be responded to.
There will be people who are supposed to follow this, who have no idea how email really works.
Email is not an optional extra if it's used for public or client contact.
If I rang a store or office and left a message, and got a return call 2 weeks later, I wouldn't be impressed. Same goes for email.
Think this isn't the responsibility of a webmaster? who knows the mail links are available to the public?
Unless there is a notice near all email links that it is not a priority for replies, or to expect a delay, most people will assume a quick response.
Now while the monitoring etc may not be what the webmaster is doing, someone needs to make sure the rest of the organisation is using the website properly.
Letting the web group know when email addresses become defunct, or staff leave/arrive.
Letting the web group know when staff are going on leave, or are away for the day (if one day makes a difference in your work).
A website is like a virtual office in a lot of ways, and it all needs to function properly.
Don't be a weak link in the chain.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
This quote is from the Alpha Centauri game. From the character Commisioner Pravin Lal (leader of the UN Peacekeeper faction), and said to be from the U.N. Declaration of Rights.
It doesn't make sense until you read the sound bite: "I believe grid computing will revolutionize the way we compute"
In that article it says:
"One example of how this is not done is SETI," said Ellis, referring to the popular screensaver program beloved by millions of home and work computer users. The program processes chunks of satellite data for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project.
"It's not real-time, and it's not online," said Brian Coghlan of Trinity College Dublin, an Irish participant in DataGRID. "You go to SETI and laboriously download data and then laboriously send it back."
With DataGRID, they're talking about a network that can do real-time processing of petabytes of data -- a barely imaginable amount of information. One petabyte is a quadrillion bytes -- equal to all the information that could be held on 125,000 PC hard drives."
SETI data can be delayed. If you don't get online for awhile, your data is held back from the grid. Doesn't that make it different?
The Planets - BBC
Walking with Dinosaurs - BBC
Intimate Universe - The Human Body
they have a US bill with "You are not a slave" on it in what looks like red texta.
But there are also other reasons to copy money. If you are trying to convey the meaning of money without text, a picture is the obvious way to go.
is just the same as any other sense technology. recorded sound gave us the ability to reproduce sound far away in time and space from it's origin. when touch is on an equal footing to this, it will be so commonplace, you won't think of it any more than a photograph, or tape recording.
Kangaroos are daytime critters, but are sometimes active at night, and get squished by cars (or cars squished by the big ones).
Marsupial possums are often nocturnal.
Regular cars are more likely to disturb wildlife than solar cars.
wanna know more about em? australianwildlife.com.au
the route taken by the solar challenge is (I presume) chosen for maximum sun. a lot of the places on the map are incredibly dry and have little wildlife due to the lack of water. Coober Pedy is like a moonscape, Alice Springs is a lot more hospitable, as is Tennant Creek.
Water is not always easy to come by in the desert, which can have an unusual effect on wildlife.
Truck road trains and tour buses use these roads, so solar cars should be a nice change of pace.
If you're (physically) going to watch the challenge, don't miss some of the amazing places out there.
thanks Kynn
Are there any websites where you can get a review by a blind person? or anything similar?
We can talk about web standards until we are blue in the face, but when we stop certain people from being about to use the web, that's more than a failure of standard.
virtual reality (from what I have seen) has been restricted to visual information. I don't know about you, but my reality has more than one sense, and I expect a virtual reality to take that into account.
Sight - this one VR is pretty good at, movement, perspective etc.
Sound - what can you hear right now? the problem with reality is that you don't always hear what you want to hear... there are layers apon layers of sound... right now I can hear the office air conditioning humming, phones ringing, groups of people talking in 3 different directions and someone making a weird metal clicking kind of noise that sounds frustrated. That's reality.
Smell - this is a part of body information a lot of people forget about. You sense of smell can tell you a lot about your environment. The smell of the sea... that weird smell at the movies, part popcorn, part excessive vacuuming...
Taste - this is the sense I think VR will have the most trouble capturing. If you've ever been too close to a campfire, you'll know that smoke has a taste as well as a smell. Then you've got your more pedestrian taste situations, like eating a meal...
Touch - not quite as elusive as taste, but far more complex is the sense of touch. Touch measures so many things, instantly. Texture, pressure, temperature, movement... as well as shape recognition. Even when you're not touching anything, your skin is giving you loads of sensory feedback.
When virtual reality stops being about image projection and sound, and starts mimicking real reality, I think it will be a lot more interesting to people.
Right now, my own reality kicks ass over a cave.
I'm not saying VR developments as they are are not impressive, but this is a young technology, don't expect too much from something not fully grown.
An adult VR could produce Better Than Life, Red Dwarf style... or, the Matrix...