How does parent get modded 'offtopic' when TFA gets into the concept of 'executive privelege', and it's usage by the EPA to suppress democratic operation of government (government lacking in transparency and openness)?
Bush (for better or for worse, in my opinion well beyond worse) is the executive in question. Parent is not offtopic.
If you don't agree, post an intelligent and informed response, with information specifically pertaining TFA in your rebuttal, then you could possibly look smarter; don't incorrectly mod as a form of political retaliation and hide behind mod points. Wus!
"They might try this, but they'd get caught (they always do), and there would be a huge class action and they'd never do it again. I don't see a problem."
Yes, because 'they' ALWAYS get caught (sarcasm)...nevermind that sometimes it takes a generation or more, like the recent release of classified information that the US govt faked incidents to escalate the Vietnam War.
"How much exactly are they raising the temperature here???"
By enough to potentially make a difference for the elderly person on a fixed income who is already keeping the thermostat on the bleeding edge of reasonability to be able to afford the bill. And, thanks for proving my point with your response to item number 1, where that class action suit will raise prices as I pointed out in item 2.
"Oh not the slipperly slope again. Now all we need is someone making a frog in boiling water comparison and the commentry will be complete."
Some of us are concerned about the 'slippery slope' and there is valid reason throughout history for that concern.
And yet I see some already posting that they would be ok with it. Perplexing.
If we sit down and think for 10 minutes we can probably come up with a million reasons why this is a BAD idea. I'll help start the list, and maybe others can add to it:
1. If the utility (which charges you for their services) can raise your air conditioning temp by a couple of degrees to ease the load, what prevents them from lowering the thermostat by a degree or two (or, depending on the technology,.45 degrees in order to keep the display showing the same degree you set it at, but increasing usage ever so slightly multiplied by millions of households) to increase their profit at your expense?
2. The first time someone dies from heat overexposure, the taxpayer and utility customer will end up footing the bill to cover the liability payout.
3. It is a slippery slope. What form of control of our daily life will be recommended next {for our own good, of course}? I would prefer to see some rationing from the other direction, which would likely encourage a more environmentallly friendly outcome of less energy usage. If the utility company says you have X amount of kilowatt hours for the {week | month | year} then you could ration as you saw fit, rather than having an intrusive system rationing for you. The environmental benefit is that when there is scarcity, people tend to do a better job of using less, and you would likely come in well below your ration mark.
"The only semi-cogent argument I've heard supporting Windows being deployed in this environment is that the children will somehow be disadvantaged when they grow up and take on jobs that will use Windows."
As far as I am concerned, you touched on THE key point as to why Microsoft thinks it is a good idea (in fact, they should view it as near essential to their survival in these areas of the world) to work with the OLPC. If you have a generation of children who grow up knowing open source operating systems and software inside and out, there is no need for Microsoft, at home, in their offices, anywhere. These countries will not touch Microsoft products within a generation, because it will not be 'the coin of the realm', since the entire technical portion of their economy will only know open source....unless of course if Microsoft gets a foothold, and the OLPC is a good place to start.
Pretty damn good business decision, very forward-thinking (in a 'there is profit to be made here' sorta way), if you ask me. How many companies do you know that think 2 decades into the future. Most operate with short term gain in mind.
I personally think it is a bad thing overall, but who am I to deny the 'children' their right to choice? (don't do it kids! it's a scam!)
I think some of us pine for what could have been, not the mediocrity that we ended up with as we grew into our technological world (speaking as someone in his early 30's, growing up in the Atari age).
The negative effect that monopolistic actions have had in stifling innovation has been extremely unfortunate, even if in some ways we don't even realize how unfortunate.
Also, while I give him credit for what he has been doing lately, as far as I remember, Bill Gates was late to the humanitarian game too. I seem to remember him having to have external pressure applied to get going on that.
That just says to me that their products won't stand up to review, and likely won't get to be killer hits anyway even amongst all that noise at CES, so that company should go back to the drawing board and spend their money on R&D for a better product.
Like many things in a capitalist economy, it just seems that CES has gotten too big for it's britches, and maybe needs to be broken into smaller parts (kinda like an antitrust for trade shows).
Although it does fit well in Vegas, being over the top and glitzy.
"One of the reasons Apple stole C.E.S. last year was that its message was simple and succinct," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. "C.E.S. does not have a crystal-clear message. There's too much information, and it looks like you have to get a Ph.D. to get these things to work."
Plain and simple, it's hard to stand out in a crowd!
Sounds like an "I'm takin my toys and goin home"...
Seriously though, who needs these kinds of things? It seems like a big glitzy extravaganza for large tech co's to pat themselves on the back. Especially in an economic downturn it makes sense for companies to cut back on these sorts of frills, much the same as mortgage lending houses are cutting back on dividends and bonuses. Course, there is a teensy weensy little problem in their particular industry that could be causing that...
Your scenario is not impossible, but very unlikely. Considering that we are talking about a heat seeking missile here, it would home in one of the jet engines, which would ignite the fuel and likely turn the entire plane into a fireball, with near instant death and destruction.
Your basic point is accurate, so I should have said something more along the lines of 'high probability' that I and my fellow passengers would not have to suffer for a lengthy period of time (relative to instantaneous death).
Either way, as others have pointed out, the cost/benefit ratio is silly (which unfortunately requires a degree of cynicism about the 'value' of human life). I am sure I will get flamed on that one, but one should think about all the dangerous and more deadly activities that they participate in on a near daily basis, and all the inexpensive things that they aren't doing to mitigate some of that risk, before lighting up their flame-thrower.
Reading your post, a thought occurred to me. I think I rather agree with you on living with the risk of a heat seeking missile shooting me down in flight. Of all the issues/ways to die on cramped, stuffy, claustrophobic airplane ride I would much rather never know what hit me, have it be over with in about 2 to 3 seconds, and not live to be a maimed vegetable. In short, a heat seeking missile beats the hell out of a 2 to 3 minute harrowing hell ride into the ocean, or a fiery landing into the middle of a crowded urban area, or worse yet the sickening realization that I am the unwilling missile that is being used to kill thousands.
So as far as I am concerned the $40 billion is a waste.
A morbid thought, yes, but let's be realistic, these things happen.
Mike Huckabee plays bass, which everyone knows is nowhere near as cool as guitar. That's why he won't be getting my vote!
(Although, you would be accurate in arguing that technically a bass is a guitar.)
Seriously though, getting back to the topic, this seems like an idea thought up in some corporate boardroom to make someone alot of money while not really saving all that many lives. Nothing like covering symptoms rather than fixing actual problems. There are so many better uses for $40 Billion.
I'm not being nitpicky (or at least I don't think so) and I honestly didn't get through reading TFA entirely (it is just painful to look at) but I would surmise that they are talking about getting accuracy of the result to within 2 seconds for the file copy, not the actual time needed to calculate the result.
Either way, from my experiences (granted, limited) Vista sucks. It is harder for me as an admin to deal with, so I can't see how it would be easier for a user to work with. Maybe I am wrong, or in the minority, but I am not a zealot for any OS but this one just seems bad.
"I hear more MS Windows users say I grew up on windows and hate anything else."
People say this? I am no zealot for any particular OS (although I am very impressed with Apple in the post OS 9 world) but I just can't imagine being a Windows fanboi.
To each his own, I guess...there are after all people out there that actually like plain rice cakes. I just sorta always presume it is an 'I use it cuz I have to or cuz I don't know anything else' sort of mentality.
I also meant to add to my comment that I would agree with TFA that having one person at the helm driving the direction of the organization helps immensely, at least when that person is Steve Jobs.
That is admittedly biased, because you could say 'what about Gates? or Linus?'. My feeling though is that I don't like the direction that M$ is going in, and Linus is interested in Linux kernel development, not a holistic end user experience that Apple has focused on.
I wholeheartedly agree with you...Apple has been brilliant in not only their marketing, but also their development direction. There is not much better a method to gain mindshare than what they have done with the 'if you can't beat them, join them, sorta' methodology.
Somewhat related side story: I happened to lose a job that was offered to me in NYC as a network admin because I requested that the business owner consider purchasing a MacBook Pro for me to perform my network administration duties. My reasoning was that it will allow me to triple boot Windows/OS X/Linux giving me the most flexibility in performing current duties and compatibility for future growth (I would have been in charge of multiple client networks). She called me up the next day and retracted the job offer calling my request 'a gross lack of judgement'.
This despite offering to pay for the machine by forgoing a $5000 pay raise that was to be given after three months of employment.
I still stand by my reasoning, and I am guessing it probably worked out for the best that I didn't end up working for said employer.
I wish I could afford to just get the MacBook Pro on my own...and then maybe go do a better job supporting those clients than she does.
So if I buy shares in VMWare, does this mean I own part of my Virtual Reality, and if I get non-voting shares, can I sue because my virtual civil rights have been virtually violated? Does it also mean I get to pick my virtual file system, cuz I think I would prefer ext3 over hfs...
Slashdot Mirror
I forgot what I was going to do in this space here....
How does parent get modded 'offtopic' when TFA gets into the concept of 'executive privelege', and it's usage by the EPA to suppress democratic operation of government (government lacking in transparency and openness)?
Bush (for better or for worse, in my opinion well beyond worse) is the executive in question. Parent is not offtopic.
If you don't agree, post an intelligent and informed response, with information specifically pertaining TFA in your rebuttal, then you could possibly look smarter; don't incorrectly mod as a form of political retaliation and hide behind mod points. Wus!
"They might try this, but they'd get caught (they always do), and there would be a huge class action and they'd never do it again. I don't see a problem."
Yes, because 'they' ALWAYS get caught (sarcasm)...nevermind that sometimes it takes a generation or more, like the recent release of classified information that the US govt faked incidents to escalate the Vietnam War.
"How much exactly are they raising the temperature here???"
By enough to potentially make a difference for the elderly person on a fixed income who is already keeping the thermostat on the bleeding edge of reasonability to be able to afford the bill. And, thanks for proving my point with your response to item number 1, where that class action suit will raise prices as I pointed out in item 2.
"Oh not the slipperly slope again. Now all we need is someone making a frog in boiling water comparison and the commentry will be complete."
Some of us are concerned about the 'slippery slope' and there is valid reason throughout history for that concern.
Right? Really, I mean c'mon...
.45 degrees in order to keep the display showing the same degree you set it at, but increasing usage ever so slightly multiplied by millions of households) to increase their profit at your expense?
And yet I see some already posting that they would be ok with it. Perplexing.
If we sit down and think for 10 minutes we can probably come up with a million reasons why this is a BAD idea. I'll help start the list, and maybe others can add to it:
1. If the utility (which charges you for their services) can raise your air conditioning temp by a couple of degrees to ease the load, what prevents them from lowering the thermostat by a degree or two (or, depending on the technology,
2. The first time someone dies from heat overexposure, the taxpayer and utility customer will end up footing the bill to cover the liability payout.
3. It is a slippery slope. What form of control of our daily life will be recommended next {for our own good, of course}? I would prefer to see some rationing from the other direction, which would likely encourage a more environmentallly friendly outcome of less energy usage. If the utility company says you have X amount of kilowatt hours for the {week | month | year} then you could ration as you saw fit, rather than having an intrusive system rationing for you. The environmental benefit is that when there is scarcity, people tend to do a better job of using less, and you would likely come in well below your ration mark.
"The only semi-cogent argument I've heard supporting Windows being deployed in this environment is that the children will somehow be disadvantaged when they grow up and take on jobs that will use Windows."
As far as I am concerned, you touched on THE key point as to why Microsoft thinks it is a good idea (in fact, they should view it as near essential to their survival in these areas of the world) to work with the OLPC. If you have a generation of children who grow up knowing open source operating systems and software inside and out, there is no need for Microsoft, at home, in their offices, anywhere. These countries will not touch Microsoft products within a generation, because it will not be 'the coin of the realm', since the entire technical portion of their economy will only know open source....unless of course if Microsoft gets a foothold, and the OLPC is a good place to start.
Pretty damn good business decision, very forward-thinking (in a 'there is profit to be made here' sorta way), if you ask me. How many companies do you know that think 2 decades into the future. Most operate with short term gain in mind.
I personally think it is a bad thing overall, but who am I to deny the 'children' their right to choice? (don't do it kids! it's a scam!)
Yes, I'd like to declare that I just got out of the pool...the water was cold...really, I swear!
I remember having one of those. I think I always longed for the complexity of the other style.
Could be that is just a commentary on how I live my life, making things too complicated.
But thanks for the trip down Memory Lane (now what address did I live at?).
:/
Only if they have a generous return policy...
Finances dictate that I pay the mortgage before purchasing sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads....er....laser keyboards.
waaaaaaaaaant
well, much of it anyway. I certainly could do without the toaster. I would love to try out that bluetooth laser keyboard.
Anyone notice that the top was down on the amphibious car? Hope they brought their wetsuits...
I think some of us pine for what could have been, not the mediocrity that we ended up with as we grew into our technological world (speaking as someone in his early 30's, growing up in the Atari age).
The negative effect that monopolistic actions have had in stifling innovation has been extremely unfortunate, even if in some ways we don't even realize how unfortunate.
Also, while I give him credit for what he has been doing lately, as far as I remember, Bill Gates was late to the humanitarian game too. I seem to remember him having to have external pressure applied to get going on that.
Like many, he has (and will have) a mixed legacy.
"For instance, cannon were a disruptive technology but had a very long learning curve, maybe hundreds of years."
That's cuz trebuchet technology fsckin rocked (literally).
Sorry, offtopic, but I had to.
That just says to me that their products won't stand up to review, and likely won't get to be killer hits anyway even amongst all that noise at CES, so that company should go back to the drawing board and spend their money on R&D for a better product.
Like many things in a capitalist economy, it just seems that CES has gotten too big for it's britches, and maybe needs to be broken into smaller parts (kinda like an antitrust for trade shows).
Although it does fit well in Vegas, being over the top and glitzy.
"One of the reasons Apple stole C.E.S. last year was that its message was simple and succinct," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. "C.E.S. does not have a crystal-clear message. There's too much information, and it looks like you have to get a Ph.D. to get these things to work."
Plain and simple, it's hard to stand out in a crowd!
Just cuz Gates bows out, we all have to bow out?
Sounds like an "I'm takin my toys and goin home"...
Seriously though, who needs these kinds of things? It seems like a big glitzy extravaganza for large tech co's to pat themselves on the back. Especially in an economic downturn it makes sense for companies to cut back on these sorts of frills, much the same as mortgage lending houses are cutting back on dividends and bonuses. Course, there is a teensy weensy little problem in their particular industry that could be causing that...
Your scenario is not impossible, but very unlikely. Considering that we are talking about a heat seeking missile here, it would home in one of the jet engines, which would ignite the fuel and likely turn the entire plane into a fireball, with near instant death and destruction.
Your basic point is accurate, so I should have said something more along the lines of 'high probability' that I and my fellow passengers would not have to suffer for a lengthy period of time (relative to instantaneous death).
Either way, as others have pointed out, the cost/benefit ratio is silly (which unfortunately requires a degree of cynicism about the 'value' of human life). I am sure I will get flamed on that one, but one should think about all the dangerous and more deadly activities that they participate in on a near daily basis, and all the inexpensive things that they aren't doing to mitigate some of that risk, before lighting up their flame-thrower.
Reading your post, a thought occurred to me. I think I rather agree with you on living with the risk of a heat seeking missile shooting me down in flight. Of all the issues/ways to die on cramped, stuffy, claustrophobic airplane ride I would much rather never know what hit me, have it be over with in about 2 to 3 seconds, and not live to be a maimed vegetable. In short, a heat seeking missile beats the hell out of a 2 to 3 minute harrowing hell ride into the ocean, or a fiery landing into the middle of a crowded urban area, or worse yet the sickening realization that I am the unwilling missile that is being used to kill thousands.
So as far as I am concerned the $40 billion is a waste.
A morbid thought, yes, but let's be realistic, these things happen.
Mike Huckabee plays bass, which everyone knows is nowhere near as cool as guitar. That's why he won't be getting my vote!
(Although, you would be accurate in arguing that technically a bass is a guitar.)
Seriously though, getting back to the topic, this seems like an idea thought up in some corporate boardroom to make someone alot of money while not really saving all that many lives. Nothing like covering symptoms rather than fixing actual problems. There are so many better uses for $40 Billion.
That's by weight, not by volume! /sarcasm
I'm not being nitpicky (or at least I don't think so) and I honestly didn't get through reading TFA entirely (it is just painful to look at) but I would surmise that they are talking about getting accuracy of the result to within 2 seconds for the file copy, not the actual time needed to calculate the result.
Either way, from my experiences (granted, limited) Vista sucks. It is harder for me as an admin to deal with, so I can't see how it would be easier for a user to work with. Maybe I am wrong, or in the minority, but I am not a zealot for any OS but this one just seems bad.
Codename: XP SP2
But first you will have to click the Allow button to 'upgrade'...
the following month for $50 on Ebay when they come out with one that has 18 billion pixels at a cost of only $10 million?
I look at my 2 megapixel camera these days and struggle with whether I should buy batteries for it or not...
"I hear more MS Windows users say I grew up on windows and hate anything else."
People say this? I am no zealot for any particular OS (although I am very impressed with Apple in the post OS 9 world) but I just can't imagine being a Windows fanboi.
To each his own, I guess...there are after all people out there that actually like plain rice cakes. I just sorta always presume it is an 'I use it cuz I have to or cuz I don't know anything else' sort of mentality.
I also meant to add to my comment that I would agree with TFA that having one person at the helm driving the direction of the organization helps immensely, at least when that person is Steve Jobs.
That is admittedly biased, because you could say 'what about Gates? or Linus?'. My feeling though is that I don't like the direction that M$ is going in, and Linus is interested in Linux kernel development, not a holistic end user experience that Apple has focused on.
Just my two pence...
I wholeheartedly agree with you...Apple has been brilliant in not only their marketing, but also their development direction. There is not much better a method to gain mindshare than what they have done with the 'if you can't beat them, join them, sorta' methodology.
Somewhat related side story: I happened to lose a job that was offered to me in NYC as a network admin because I requested that the business owner consider purchasing a MacBook Pro for me to perform my network administration duties. My reasoning was that it will allow me to triple boot Windows/OS X/Linux giving me the most flexibility in performing current duties and compatibility for future growth (I would have been in charge of multiple client networks). She called me up the next day and retracted the job offer calling my request 'a gross lack of judgement'.
This despite offering to pay for the machine by forgoing a $5000 pay raise that was to be given after three months of employment.
I still stand by my reasoning, and I am guessing it probably worked out for the best that I didn't end up working for said employer.
I wish I could afford to just get the MacBook Pro on my own...and then maybe go do a better job supporting those clients than she does.
So if I buy shares in VMWare, does this mean I own part of my Virtual Reality, and if I get non-voting shares, can I sue because my virtual civil rights have been virtually violated? Does it also mean I get to pick my virtual file system, cuz I think I would prefer ext3 over hfs...
I'll stop now....I'm virtually outta here...