Now give some money to this guy too, and we're square.
Ever see the story of the guy who invented the Weed Whacker? Toro (IIRC) brought so many lawyers to court he couldn't afford to fight them. I don't think he ever got 1 cent.
He is his only employee, he contracts for engineering jobs and conditions of contracts stipulate any invention in the carrying out of that contract remains his, or he doesn't accept the contract. Simple as that.
My dad worked for decades for one of the largest corporations in the world, as an engineer and developed many things which were patented by the company. He got to hang the patent on the office wall, but got little if any compensation for it.. the view being that his salary was the compensation he'd agreed to under the terms of his employment. Inventing things was part of his job.
About 10 years ago a friend took another stance and left an employer after they patented his (very profitable) invention and licensed it, but gave him no bonus for it (the product incidental to their core competency.) He started his own consulting company and keeps all his IP now.
Google has a lot of powerful tools on their website with the Beta descriptor. Tools effective enough to be considered vital by many. Calling something "Beta," then, makes for a great excuse for mistakes and bad code.
A fine example is Google Groups, which has gone back under the knife and is really flaky in the new Beta incarnation. It breaks threads, loses messages, utterly fails to post and other exciting things. I'd be nuts to rely on it, tho for non-critical things I do and feel confident enough that it can find archived things I need to look up.
Relying on BETA is the fault of the user, not the vendor. In some instances, however, I can recall vendors rolling out untested (it compiled, that was the only test) software for mission critical applications (i.e. payroll for about 38,000 people), which really is inexcusable.
yes, it's a beta... but shouldn't beta be a functional version being tested for bugs?
Certainly, and as a Gmail user you should view your use of Gmail as evaluation, not something you depend upon for any critical application.
if my email and/or account can be compromised, in a way that cripples its basic functionality as an email service, i am not sure if you can call it a "beta" to begin with. how do you work out bugs in the program if it can't be trusted to function as intended at the very basic level?
You have the sense that it's experimental and don't rely on it for anything critical. Get another email service which isn't Beta for anything requiring security/reliability. I'm sure Google has the terms somewhere, which state something along the lines of "user accepts all risk" and "Google shall not be held responsible for" That's a pretty good indication you're depending on something you shouldn't.
if a beta version of a photoshop, as an example, couldn't even reliably open a JPEG file, that's a serious problem i'd be unwilling to dismiss simply as a "bug" just because "it's a beta."
Sure, but BETA means 'not ready for production' If you bought the production version of Photoshop and it left artifacts in your work, you have an issue with the company. Artifacts in Beta should not be unexpected and the role of the user is not to complain about it, but to point the bug out to the developer, after all using BETA software is intended to be testing and evaluating.
There are some very good points that the Linux community could adopt. An example is end-user training videos such as how to use a mouse."
A fellow I worked with once was sacked for something along the lines of 'to be an actual thinking person [you should be able to use a mouse.]' Seriously, it seems harsh, but rudimentary training isn't exactly a new idea. You can lead an end user to a manual/help file/training video, but you'll see them reach for that phone in a blink.
Besides, this starter editiion is to address piracy, isn't it?
Sorry but these are questions of social mannerisms, not ethics. And I hope the second one is NOT used socially.
I expect at some point robots to be 0wn3d, then you'll see ethics...
"the wife and i were in bed when the %&^#*@ robot came in and suggested i buy a penis pump and where i could order one!"
I think machines ought to be barred from rapid critical human thinking until we have stepped through the process with them.
Lord knows we've done the opposite with computers -- making it up as we go along, screwing each other with IP, DRM, shoddy software and locked-into architecture for the maximized benefit (profit) of a few.
How does any rational person see us proceding with robots/cyborgs any differently?
I foresee patents, robots running on Windows (you'll know, because they have to be rebooted frequently, are infested with parasites(virii/worms), regularly patrol their environment doing things they shouldn't (whether defective, under guidance by software vendor or cracker, you'll not know) and need to download pest scanning/diagnostics/patches on a daily basis), Linux (two distros duking it out in the parking lot while a debian one waits to fight the winner) and having to upgrade and service on a basis that'll make your checkbook spin.
Seriously, how altruistic does anyone expect robot manufacturing to be?
That's sched'd for a future release, to cast aspersions on the non-standard apps you have on your system.
todo list: remove any known worm/virus
scan disk for 'BSoD' references or slashdot cookie, if found, format drive
sneakily install microsoft DRM
verify windows registration key and log ip address
corrupt iTunes (1 chance in 10, so it's less suspicious)
report all applications back to microsoft next time connecting to net under request [Get latest update?]
...
Profit!!!
10/ More than half of game players expect to be playing as much or more 10 years from now as they do today.
I burned out and needed to be replaced. I thank whomever took my place in handing $,$$$ each year over to the fine people who make and sell games. With whatever is left of my hand/eye coordination I do crossworld puzzles and drink a lot of beer.
Sometimes women will say to me "Look at those scantily clad women with their tits hanging out on the box! That's sexist!"
--
To which I have to say "Do you see any short bald dudes with a big pot belly on any of these boxes either? No, it's all he-man looking dudes busting at the seams with muscles".
--
These games aren't any different than music videos or movies. Do you see any ugly people in music videos or movies aimed at 18-25 audience? Of course not. No one attacks the music industry for using half-naked chicks and musclemen with abs-o-steele to get teenagers to watch their videos...
Exactly right. I was looking in the Health & Beauty (the combination is actually rather ironic and people regularly ruin their health to maintain some ideal of beauty) and what do you see headlining the featured auctions? Peni pills, pumps, b00b enhancement, etc.
Honestly, when I saw the recent pictures of Anna Nicole Smith, I thought she looked rather worse for wear (see what the beautician does to the girl in Shaolin Soccer, ecch!)
<curmudgeon mode>why, back in my day i couldn't get enough of a girl with well defined pixels!</curmudgeon mode>
I hardly watch TV anymore and find music videos very trying. There are some advantages to getting older. It's quite remarkable outside pop culture how good some ladies look who aren't over done in any way, especially artificially. Those who do, attract the stares a freak would. Best be happy with yourself and your friends as you/they are. Games, eh, I don't buy them one looks anyway. I've been ripped off enough on sharp cover art and shoddy game play.
For me it's the Thief series of games. I've been walking behind people and thought "I could blackjack him/her..." Don't call the guys in white coats, though, I've never lurked in shadows while wearing a black cape or muttered about "Keepers".
Blackjack's nothing. Wait until you start thinking about backstabbing.
Funny how I used to play games about 8 hours a day for years. Now I hardly play games at all, strategy games when I do. And ride a road bike like a fiend. I logged ~530 miles over my two week christmas break, 168 in three days. I wish I'd played games less and got started in riding earlier. I figure when I'm too frail to hammer anymore I'll pick up some old games at an thrift shop and start playing them again in the old coders home.
FCC considers one home in a zip code with broadband to mean that entire zip code is 'serviced.'"
Then, what, there are 6 people in Nevada with broadband?
Seriously, it's so expensive for what I need internet for I can't justify it. Further, I'm concerned with paying for services I don't want and having some type of service rammed down my throat which I don't want at all.
SBC/Yahoo talk like everything is rosy and wonderful, but I don't see it in my future and it's probably going to be more and more packaged in time to come, rather than a-la-carte, like Cable TV will eventually be.
Humanity to spread to outer space, before cleaning up the mess it still has on planet Earth. Is it a case of running away from the problem, or spreading the problem to other planets and colonies in the solar system? Rumor has it that terrorist groups are also working on improving their technology so they can explode a satellite outside an geosynchronus nightclub or such.
Slashdot Mirror
Ever see the story of the guy who invented the Weed Whacker? Toro (IIRC) brought so many lawyers to court he couldn't afford to fight them. I don't think he ever got 1 cent.
He is his only employee, he contracts for engineering jobs and conditions of contracts stipulate any invention in the carrying out of that contract remains his, or he doesn't accept the contract. Simple as that.
Except KMart...
blue LED special in aisle twelve on dove bath soap...
About 10 years ago a friend took another stance and left an employer after they patented his (very profitable) invention and licensed it, but gave him no bonus for it (the product incidental to their core competency.) He started his own consulting company and keeps all his IP now.
A fine example is Google Groups, which has gone back under the knife and is really flaky in the new Beta incarnation. It breaks threads, loses messages, utterly fails to post and other exciting things. I'd be nuts to rely on it, tho for non-critical things I do and feel confident enough that it can find archived things I need to look up.
Relying on BETA is the fault of the user, not the vendor. In some instances, however, I can recall vendors rolling out untested (it compiled, that was the only test) software for mission critical applications (i.e. payroll for about 38,000 people), which really is inexcusable.
Certainly, and as a Gmail user you should view your use of Gmail as evaluation, not something you depend upon for any critical application.
if my email and/or account can be compromised, in a way that cripples its basic functionality as an email service, i am not sure if you can call it a "beta" to begin with. how do you work out bugs in the program if it can't be trusted to function as intended at the very basic level?
You have the sense that it's experimental and don't rely on it for anything critical. Get another email service which isn't Beta for anything requiring security/reliability. I'm sure Google has the terms somewhere, which state something along the lines of "user accepts all risk" and "Google shall not be held responsible for" That's a pretty good indication you're depending on something you shouldn't.
if a beta version of a photoshop, as an example, couldn't even reliably open a JPEG file, that's a serious problem i'd be unwilling to dismiss simply as a "bug" just because "it's a beta."
Sure, but BETA means 'not ready for production' If you bought the production version of Photoshop and it left artifacts in your work, you have an issue with the company. Artifacts in Beta should not be unexpected and the role of the user is not to complain about it, but to point the bug out to the developer, after all using BETA software is intended to be testing and evaluating.
Oh, sure, it means ready to be shipped/used in production by some companies, but has that line gotten to fuzzy for some people?
"that's not a feature, that's a bug"
It's only a matter of time until it's all being pirated, including training materials. Linux/OS have much to learn from this example (hoo hah)
A fellow I worked with once was sacked for something along the lines of 'to be an actual thinking person [you should be able to use a mouse.]' Seriously, it seems harsh, but rudimentary training isn't exactly a new idea. You can lead an end user to a manual/help file/training video, but you'll see them reach for that phone in a blink.
Besides, this starter editiion is to address piracy, isn't it?
I expect at some point robots to be 0wn3d, then you'll see ethics... "the wife and i were in bed when the %&^#*@ robot came in and suggested i buy a penis pump and where i could order one!"
Lord knows we've done the opposite with computers -- making it up as we go along, screwing each other with IP, DRM, shoddy software and locked-into architecture for the maximized benefit (profit) of a few.
How does any rational person see us proceding with robots/cyborgs any differently?
I foresee patents, robots running on Windows (you'll know, because they have to be rebooted frequently, are infested with parasites(virii/worms), regularly patrol their environment doing things they shouldn't (whether defective, under guidance by software vendor or cracker, you'll not know) and need to download pest scanning/diagnostics/patches on a daily basis), Linux (two distros duking it out in the parking lot while a debian one waits to fight the winner) and having to upgrade and service on a basis that'll make your checkbook spin.
Seriously, how altruistic does anyone expect robot manufacturing to be?
See Shoalin Soccer, which features:
Steven Chow
Team Evil
Cheating with American Drugs
A guy with a pair of underpants on his head
The kind of kicks every soccer player has fantasies about delivering
Shoalin master of sweet buns(!)
Dunno, but...
The team manager will probably be Sir Alex Fergustron
/dev/null the goalkeeper
Still, who's gonna watch 'bots kick a ball around?
Obviously more 'bots, which'll 'splain why nothing gets down around the house on weekends.
It's either as you say, or the french version.
Rednecks may wish to rename it freedomer and feel proud to have it infest their PC as they do their bit for the war on terror.
You appear to have left out the following key steps:
Draw pentagram
Light candles
Sacrifice a goat
...
Prophet!!!
Will it remove firefox also?
That's sched'd for a future release, to cast aspersions on the non-standard apps you have on your system.
I burned out and needed to be replaced. I thank whomever took my place in handing $,$$$ each year over to the fine people who make and sell games. With whatever is left of my hand/eye coordination I do crossworld puzzles and drink a lot of beer.
"Gamers Are Human Beings!"--announces Industry Group
"People with money are people"--reveals Las Vegas Visitors Bureau
"Bill O'Riley isn't an evil git"--proclaims his mum
"Gays aren't people, too!"--admits Karl Rove
"Moderators are nearly human"--slashdot
"first posters are fairly human"--slashdot
"A sufficiently patched hack-job is indistinguishable from actual security until later notice"--Microsoft rolling out any new release
"Will Eisner, still dead."--everyone BUT slashdot
Exactly right. I was looking in the Health & Beauty (the combination is actually rather ironic and people regularly ruin their health to maintain some ideal of beauty) and what do you see headlining the featured auctions? Peni pills, pumps, b00b enhancement, etc.
Honestly, when I saw the recent pictures of Anna Nicole Smith, I thought she looked rather worse for wear (see what the beautician does to the girl in Shaolin Soccer, ecch!)
<curmudgeon mode>why, back in my day i couldn't get enough of a girl with well defined pixels!</curmudgeon mode>
I hardly watch TV anymore and find music videos very trying. There are some advantages to getting older. It's quite remarkable outside pop culture how good some ladies look who aren't over done in any way, especially artificially. Those who do, attract the stares a freak would. Best be happy with yourself and your friends as you/they are. Games, eh, I don't buy them one looks anyway. I've been ripped off enough on sharp cover art and shoddy game play.
For me it's the Thief series of games. I've been walking behind people and thought "I could blackjack him/her..." Don't call the guys in white coats, though, I've never lurked in shadows while wearing a black cape or muttered about "Keepers".
Blackjack's nothing. Wait until you start thinking about backstabbing.
Funny how I used to play games about 8 hours a day for years. Now I hardly play games at all, strategy games when I do. And ride a road bike like a fiend. I logged ~530 miles over my two week christmas break, 168 in three days. I wish I'd played games less and got started in riding earlier. I figure when I'm too frail to hammer anymore I'll pick up some old games at an thrift shop and start playing them again in the old coders home.
Would evaluate people in a grocery line
Wonder why muds don't have grocery stores or shopping centers, maybe a Darth Mall...
Think about wearing a robe, until I realize I'd always be tripping on it, unlike in the mud where my 18 dex seemed to prevent such pratfalls.
Think reality is just too weird.
Then, what, there are 6 people in Nevada with broadband?
Seriously, it's so expensive for what I need internet for I can't justify it. Further, I'm concerned with paying for services I don't want and having some type of service rammed down my throat which I don't want at all.
SBC/Yahoo talk like everything is rosy and wonderful, but I don't see it in my future and it's probably going to be more and more packaged in time to come, rather than a-la-carte, like Cable TV will eventually be.
Humanity to spread to outer space, before cleaning up the mess it still has on planet Earth. Is it a case of running away from the problem, or spreading the problem to other planets and colonies in the solar system? Rumor has it that terrorist groups are also working on improving their technology so they can explode a satellite outside an geosynchronus nightclub or such.