"The supreme court is becoming more and more pointless every day IMHO"
That might be true if you didn't take a moment to realize that our legislatures are more interested in corporate giveaways and popularity contests, and the American public is so apathetic, it's basically abdicated its responsibility as citizens to instead become consumers and ratings numbers.
In that light, I think the courts are forced to be the adults around here, whether they want to be or not.
I checked this out via an ad at Engadget, and it is pretty nice, but man, that price tag is way too expensive to even consider them. While I like the remote control that has the built-in monitor (for the love of God, all remotes for small devices should have that, otherwise you can't see what you're navigating around in unless the player is at arm's length, in which case, who needs a remote?), $1199 for two wireless boxes and a remote w/monitor is waaaaaaay out of my price range.
Bah, why the fixation with inserting that extra syllable? Mactel is short, sweet, descriptive, and to the point. It also doesn't have any syllables that aren't necessary, and it abides by the general rule of condensing an abbreviated term down to its necessary parts while still retaining its meaning.
We're actually already half-way there if you read the Slashdot stories at a level of +3 or more. The only thing that needs to be done is to remove the editorial posts on a topic and instead allow/.'ers to add actual information to a given topic a la Wiki. It sounds like an interesting project.
"What I said is people who CHOOSE to be ignorant deserve what they get."
Then it's reassuring to know you'll get yours, unless you're honestly stating that you're fully aware and informed about every aspect of your life, including those aspects you're probably unaware of.
"If you're just too lazy to take a semester of "outlook for dummies" at your local state college... then why bother using a computer at all?"
Hahahahahahaha, that's funny. Really. Here's one for you: True or False, the PC Revolution would have happened if everyone had first been required to attend a semester course on PCs.
"By your logic, anyone should be able to hop into a plane and fly around. Afterall, forcing training and knowledge on people is the act of a zealot crazy person."
By your logic, everyone should be required to take a semester-long course before operating a PC. And only an IDIOT would compare operating a PC with operating a plane to make their point.
<snip a whole bunch of snide, logically fallacious garbage>
"I guess you're right, I must be a geniOUS."
No, but you are arrogant, aloof, spectacularly bad at creating metaphors and comparisons, and you misspelled retARD.
Good points, I hadn't known it was that young in its development stage (since the term "Beta" covers everything from early Alpha to the final, pre-gold release candidate).
I'll check it out some more in the next few months to see if it becomes more useful beyond finding passages in their text abstracts.
Your point is made on the conflict of interest. But, if you read the review linked from the front page, it makes several key points about why Google's Scholar service is pretty poor. No structured XML/other output, no listed, covered research publications, no index- or directory-browsing options, no fuzzy logic operants for branch-defining a research institute's name wildcards, and much more.
Yes, it's free, but given the time and productivity constraints that the professionals who will be using this are under, this is the classic case of being free only if your time is worth nothing. For casual or non-professional related searches, that's fine; for this field, it's a timehole.
According to Apple, they're sticking with the G5 for their high-end systems. The Intels are simply going into their low-end and laptop lines for now. Of course, we'll see how that pans out.
"FreeScale is about to release a dual-core, 64-bit CPU with clock speeds starting at around 2GHz, integrated memory controller and 3 integrated GigE controllers (and a few other things I've forgotten), with a power consumption in line with current G5s."
I doubt this, and would ask they you document it from something besides a blog. Freescale (and before them, Motorola) has been notorious for being slow on chip improvements over the last 5 years.
"How many of these suits are valid, and how many are simply pissy users and overzealous lawyers?"
Oh, they're all pissy users who are dumb enough to expect Apple to stand by their claims, especially since they paid more for their products than the competition charges.
"Because the number of people who understand how to secure a windows environment are few and far between."
Huh. I installed ZoneAlarm and AVG anti-virus on my mom's new PC back in June 2002. I showed her how to update them (click "Yes" when the program asks you if it can update itself), and the programs update themselves. She's never gotten hacked, or a worm, or a virus.
"So to you 99% of the world are clueless fucktards?"
If they can't handle the Neanderthalicly simple, 2-step instructions I gave my mom three years ago, then yes, They Are Clueless Fucktards. They would be better advised to spend $20 on an Etch-a-Sketch, or $99 for the Mac version.
"Perhaps you should address why all these third party applications are needed just to give a Wintel box a basic level of security?"
Because there are insufficient numbers of folks willing to pay $2000 (without Applecare) for a Dul-CPU box when they can spend $1200 on single-CPU AMD64 system that is just as fast?
"They have high engineering standards which really shine through on the final product."
* You mean like PCI-Express? Which model is it on? * How about a 1600mhz front side bus? Standard on Athlon 64. * How about support for dual core chips? * How about Apple motherboards that let you take today's great single-core chip and swap it out with a much better dual-core CPU in a few years, like the 939-series motherboards for AMD64 let you do? Which Apple mboard lets you do that?
Also, if their quality is so dang sparky, why do they offer 90 days of software support, and 1 year of technical support by default, the same as any Beige Box shop?
"It's all the little things added up which turns your computer from a hassle to a productivity tool."
Uh-huh: http://www.macfixit.com. Of course, maybe your idea of productivity is playing Solitaire.
Hmmm. I bought an Athlon 650 in February 2000 with Win98se (later Win2kPro), kept it patched, and kept the anti-virus and firewall updated once a week (for about 2 minutes in the background), and it's still going strong.
"Why do you have to have a firewall and an anti-virus to be safe? Why not just run safe software?"
OS X ships with the firewall "on" by default, and every Mac user I know uses a virus scanner. Are you saying Apple doesn't make safe software?
"Are there decent PC's out there that don't start breaking within 9 months?"
Yes, tons of them, but it's ok if you don't bother to learn about them.
"But the Mac ones, even the older iBooks and Powerbooks, are still running fine."
Funny, so's my 64 month old Athlon 650, and I didn't even have to pay $250 for AppleCare, or $2000 for a box back then. It cost me $1100.
"The basic point is that, to use WinTel, you have to spend a LOT of time and effort just keeping the stupid thing alive."
If you say so. I spend 2 minutes a week keeping my free ZoneAlarm firewall and free AVG anti-virus updated, and 80% of that time, it's doing it itself in the background while I'm working or playing on the PC. Of course, you're right - 24 seconds a week is a lot.
"With Mac, you spend your time actually working."
You forgot the rest of the sentence: "...to pay it off."
FWIW, this is what I do for my "need to be secure" passwords, as opposed to my Slashdot login password. Every password has the same 5 digits that I don't care if someone sees; some of them have the unwritten key prefixing them, and some of them have the key afterwards. IMO, it's nice, but YMMV.
"So why should a for-profit company (Google) do so without paying the people who they are copying from?"
Oh, I don't know, because they're not shilling all over Slashdot as the spokesperson for the American Publishers Association, otherwise known as the assholes who would shut down libraries in a moment if they thought it would fly.
You know, in looking at your post history, it's interesting that you don't mention One. Single. Word. about any of the following:
* Actually addressing what Google will be doing, because it sure as shit isn't what you're trolling on about.
* The fact that many of the works that Google is copying from are public domain works, or do you expect modern publishers to be paid for works that have in the public domain for centuries? Sweet Jesus, how will Chaucer feed his family!?
* You mention choice, which would be appropriate for an APA Spokesperson. To be published, non-bestselling authors have absolutely no choice about the contract that is put in front of them. If they don't take it and their $.50-$1 per copy sold, they don't get published. Frankly, I believe you couldn't care less about the authors based on your posting history.
* You repeatedly deride Google for making a profit from the public domain or by using Fair Use towards copyrighted works. So far, you haven't actually demonstrated which parts of Google's service are breaking the 4-part rule of literary Fair Use.
"Many people still keep a copy that they listen to and then give it around. That is the real problem."
Yes, because sharing is baaaaaaaaaaad; bad, bad, bad, bad.
"You may not agree with the pricing - but you don't have a say in the pricing."
Actually, the market does. The market, and only the market, determines what will be paid for a given work. I do believe it is the publisher and the writer who don't have a say in the pricing.
"So the government can spend an extra $8 per item times how ever many items. What does that mean? That means they raise taxes to pay for it."
Haven't you heard? The government has been cutting taxes for the last 5 years and sticking the difference in the national deficit. 'Cause, you know, that's free money that the taxpayers of America aren't responsible for.
Slashdot Mirror
"The supreme court is becoming more and more pointless every day IMHO"
That might be true if you didn't take a moment to realize that our legislatures are more interested in corporate giveaways and popularity contests, and the American public is so apathetic, it's basically abdicated its responsibility as citizens to instead become consumers and ratings numbers.
In that light, I think the courts are forced to be the adults around here, whether they want to be or not.
"my device, which I've dubbed 'the Lunatrix'"
:-)
Don't you mean the GNU/Lunatrix?
I checked this out via an ad at Engadget, and it is pretty nice, but man, that price tag is way too expensive to even consider them. While I like the remote control that has the built-in monitor (for the love of God, all remotes for small devices should have that, otherwise you can't see what you're navigating around in unless the player is at arm's length, in which case, who needs a remote?), $1199 for two wireless boxes and a remote w/monitor is waaaaaaay out of my price range.
"Macintel dammit, not Mactel!"
Bah, why the fixation with inserting that extra syllable? Mactel is short, sweet, descriptive, and to the point. It also doesn't have any syllables that aren't necessary, and it abides by the general rule of condensing an abbreviated term down to its necessary parts while still retaining its meaning.
Mactel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm...
"Create a slashwiki and see if it lasts longer."
/.'ers to add actual information to a given topic a la Wiki. It sounds like an interesting project.
We're actually already half-way there if you read the Slashdot stories at a level of +3 or more. The only thing that needs to be done is to remove the editorial posts on a topic and instead allow
"and Google isn't buying any services?"
Oh, they are, but unlike Yahoo, they're doing something with them.
"What I said is people who CHOOSE to be ignorant deserve what they get."
Then it's reassuring to know you'll get yours, unless you're honestly stating that you're fully aware and informed about every aspect of your life, including those aspects you're probably unaware of.
"If you're just too lazy to take a semester of "outlook for dummies" at your local state college... then why bother using a computer at all?"
Hahahahahahaha, that's funny. Really. Here's one for you: True or False, the PC Revolution would have happened if everyone had first been required to attend a semester course on PCs.
"By your logic, anyone should be able to hop into a plane and fly around. Afterall, forcing training and knowledge on people is the act of a zealot crazy person."
By your logic, everyone should be required to take a semester-long course before operating a PC. And only an IDIOT would compare operating a PC with operating a plane to make their point.
<snip a whole bunch of snide, logically fallacious garbage>
"I guess you're right, I must be a geniOUS."
No, but you are arrogant, aloof, spectacularly bad at creating metaphors and comparisons, and you misspelled retARD.
Chuck
Good points, I hadn't known it was that young in its development stage (since the term "Beta" covers everything from early Alpha to the final, pre-gold release candidate).
I'll check it out some more in the next few months to see if it becomes more useful beyond finding passages in their text abstracts.
Your point is made on the conflict of interest. But, if you read the review linked from the front page, it makes several key points about why Google's Scholar service is pretty poor. No structured XML/other output, no listed, covered research publications, no index- or directory-browsing options, no fuzzy logic operants for branch-defining a research institute's name wildcards, and much more.
Yes, it's free, but given the time and productivity constraints that the professionals who will be using this are under, this is the classic case of being free only if your time is worth nothing. For casual or non-professional related searches, that's fine; for this field, it's a timehole.
Of course, YMMV.
"What is the major reason for people still sticking with VHS?"
;-)
Easy, it gives me warmer, deeper, and groovier playback on my vintage VHS machine, compared to the over-produced, sterile playback of a DVD.
Say all you want, but I can just see and hear the difference, the resonance, the WARMTH. I just love tubes.
According to Apple, they're sticking with the G5 for their high-end systems. The Intels are simply going into their low-end and laptop lines for now. Of course, we'll see how that pans out.
" /. /.s itself, Felt is deep throat, Apple goes pentium. What's the fourth horseman???"
:-)
Debian Sarge was released as a stable build today. You can see it on Slashdot's front page.
"As my father used to say, even a broken clock is right twice a day."
Yep. Or as we say in Ohio, even a blind squirrel occasionally finds the nut.
"FreeScale is about to release a dual-core, 64-bit CPU with clock speeds starting at around 2GHz, integrated memory controller and 3 integrated GigE controllers (and a few other things I've forgotten), with a power consumption in line with current G5s."
I doubt this, and would ask they you document it from something besides a blog. Freescale (and before them, Motorola) has been notorious for being slow on chip improvements over the last 5 years.
"The LAST thing Apple needs to do is to piss off it's user base."
;-)
What, all three of them?
"So an error of 1 part in 100 billion is worth getting excited about?"
:-)
Last I checked, it's been a standing industry joke about a few Intel errors for the last 9.99999+ years, so yeah.
"How many of these suits are valid, and how many are simply pissy users and overzealous lawyers?"
Oh, they're all pissy users who are dumb enough to expect Apple to stand by their claims, especially since they paid more for their products than the competition charges.
Eventually, they'll learn.
</sarcasm>
"Because the number of people who understand how to secure a windows environment are few and far between."
Huh. I installed ZoneAlarm and AVG anti-virus on my mom's new PC back in June 2002. I showed her how to update them (click "Yes" when the program asks you if it can update itself), and the programs update themselves. She's never gotten hacked, or a worm, or a virus.
"So to you 99% of the world are clueless fucktards?"
If they can't handle the Neanderthalicly simple, 2-step instructions I gave my mom three years ago, then yes, They Are Clueless Fucktards. They would be better advised to spend $20 on an Etch-a-Sketch, or $99 for the Mac version.
"Perhaps you should address why all these third party applications are needed just to give a Wintel box a basic level of security?"
Because there are insufficient numbers of folks willing to pay $2000 (without Applecare) for a Dul-CPU box when they can spend $1200 on single-CPU AMD64 system that is just as fast?
"They have high engineering standards which really shine through on the final product."
* You mean like PCI-Express? Which model is it on?
* How about a 1600mhz front side bus? Standard on Athlon 64.
* How about support for dual core chips?
* How about Apple motherboards that let you take today's great single-core chip and swap it out with a much better dual-core CPU in a few years, like the 939-series motherboards for AMD64 let you do? Which Apple mboard lets you do that?
Also, if their quality is so dang sparky, why do they offer 90 days of software support, and 1 year of technical support by default, the same as any Beige Box shop?
"It's all the little things added up which turns your computer from a hassle to a productivity tool."
Uh-huh: http://www.macfixit.com. Of course, maybe your idea of productivity is playing Solitaire.
Hmmm. I bought an Athlon 650 in February 2000 with Win98se (later Win2kPro), kept it patched, and kept the anti-virus and firewall updated once a week (for about 2 minutes in the background), and it's still going strong.
"Why do you have to have a firewall and an anti-virus to be safe? Why not just run safe software?"
OS X ships with the firewall "on" by default, and every Mac user I know uses a virus scanner. Are you saying Apple doesn't make safe software?
"Are there decent PC's out there that don't start breaking within 9 months?"
Yes, tons of them, but it's ok if you don't bother to learn about them.
"But the Mac ones, even the older iBooks and Powerbooks, are still running fine."
Funny, so's my 64 month old Athlon 650, and I didn't even have to pay $250 for AppleCare, or $2000 for a box back then. It cost me $1100.
"The basic point is that, to use WinTel, you have to spend a LOT of time and effort just keeping the stupid thing alive."
If you say so. I spend 2 minutes a week keeping my free ZoneAlarm firewall and free AVG anti-virus updated, and 80% of that time, it's doing it itself in the background while I'm working or playing on the PC. Of course, you're right - 24 seconds a week is a lot.
"With Mac, you spend your time actually working."
You forgot the rest of the sentence: "...to pay it off."
Peace.
FWIW, this is what I do for my "need to be secure" passwords, as opposed to my Slashdot login password. Every password has the same 5 digits that I don't care if someone sees; some of them have the unwritten key prefixing them, and some of them have the key afterwards. IMO, it's nice, but YMMV.
"So why should a for-profit company (Google) do so without paying the people who they are copying from?"
Oh, I don't know, because they're not shilling all over Slashdot as the spokesperson for the American Publishers Association, otherwise known as the assholes who would shut down libraries in a moment if they thought it would fly.
You know, in looking at your post history, it's interesting that you don't mention One. Single. Word. about any of the following:
* Actually addressing what Google will be doing, because it sure as shit isn't what you're trolling on about.
* The fact that many of the works that Google is copying from are public domain works, or do you expect modern publishers to be paid for works that have in the public domain for centuries? Sweet Jesus, how will Chaucer feed his family!?
* You mention choice, which would be appropriate for an APA Spokesperson. To be published, non-bestselling authors have absolutely no choice about the contract that is put in front of them. If they don't take it and their $.50-$1 per copy sold, they don't get published. Frankly, I believe you couldn't care less about the authors based on your posting history.
* You repeatedly deride Google for making a profit from the public domain or by using Fair Use towards copyrighted works. So far, you haven't actually demonstrated which parts of Google's service are breaking the 4-part rule of literary Fair Use.
"Many people still keep a copy that they listen to and then give it around. That is the real problem."
Yes, because sharing is baaaaaaaaaaad; bad, bad, bad, bad.
"You may not agree with the pricing - but you don't have a say in the pricing."
Actually, the market does. The market, and only the market, determines what will be paid for a given work. I do believe it is the publisher and the writer who don't have a say in the pricing.
"So the government can spend an extra $8 per item times how ever many items. What does that mean? That means they raise taxes to pay for it."
Haven't you heard? The government has been cutting taxes for the last 5 years and sticking the difference in the national deficit. 'Cause, you know, that's free money that the taxpayers of America aren't responsible for.