Netflix is charging a flat rate for VOD, while the cable companies want to charge by the view, particularly for their own content. It will be an enormous revenue hit when they give that up, so that is a step they will never willingly take.
I just don't think that it's a realistic view, at all, to think that that many people are bringing merit-less claims. If you have a statistic that says a certain percentage of malpractice claims are fraudulent, that would be interesting to see. But unless you do, and again, I'd be interested to learn, I'd personally bet pretty heavily against it being more than 20%. The highest percentage claim I could find was 12.
As others have pointed out in other threads, boiling water is largely ineffective for sterilization of surgical tools. It isn't hot enough to kill the really dangerous stuff.
Actually, that doesn't suggest that. An alternative interpretation says that malpractice is hard to prove. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Do you, for example, also think that the ~85% of rape trials that don't result in conviction mean that the reported rape wasn't really rape?
Passing peak oil doesn't mean a mad max scenario. I don't know who thought it would, and obviously it wasn't anyone with much sense. Actually running out (or, let's say, worldwide production dropping to 10% of today's level) is what would (potentially) trigger that. And even then, it depends on the extent to which we've been able to move our transportation economy to function on a different energy supply before it happens.
134 billion barrels known, just requires more work/legislation to get at some of it. So 18 years. Still, your children would get to experience a Mad-Max style collapse of civilization.
Please. None of this matters till those who understand these technologies can develop a system for individual persons to make their own solar cells at home from things that can be bought inexpensively at the local hardware and grocery stores. The focal point and goal of ALL new energy research should be to make the individual independent from the corporate leach. If the end user stays hooked to rental of energy, then the cost will never improve and all the research will be for nothing. The cost of and access to energy are the most important issues in this field. Who determines how much we will pay and who gets the money when we pay our energy rent (domestic or foreign) is irrelevant to the end user, and therefore to the nation. What good is freedom from slavery to foreign oil if we are still enslaved to domestic energy sources?
Aren't you still enslaved to the local hardware and grocery stores? If you can buy solar cells at the local hardware store, install them, and live off-grid, are you free?
I, and I think most people, don't consider a company holding a valid claim to be a troll. To be a troll requires that the claim be frivolous by definition.
He's thinking with a short time horizon, as most bad CEOs do. In the long run, having every patent troll know they will go bankrupt fighting you in court will reduce your long-run costs to zero.
People should be able to do the things likely to be required of them in life, including the 1% chance necessities. Setting a bone is a good example: That's a rarely needed skill. Should everyone really know how to set it? Or, should we learn to ensure that medical help is available instead (something much easier to learn, and more generally applicable... because if you have a crush injury, for example, having made medical help available you are good, but having learned to set a bone, you are screwed.)
Butchering a hog (equivalent to what the parent suggested) is similar. You'd be talking downfall of civilization before that would be needed by most people, who would then actually be better off having learned other skills with that time.
The current farm process looks nothing like what people have done for millenia. And people have been making clothes for longer, should we all be expert seamstresses? Demanding that everyone should know all the details of how to farm is ridiculous.
Why should that be anything but a fringe function? It's like asking if they've never plowed their own wheat, written their own operating system, or installed their own plumbing and electricity. The complexity of our civilization requires specialization.
To oversimplify, it boils down to the fact that we have noticed that there is a set of problems where, if you have a potential answer, you can quickly (and by quickly: in an mount of time defined by a polynomial... e.g. O(n^2)) verify whether or not it is correct.
But: there is no known way to find that answer quickly (in polynomial time). Instead, we are typically talking about problems where the best known solver algorithm takes exponential time (O(2^n)).
P vs NP boils down to wondering: do we just suck at coming up with algorithms (P=NP), or is it genuinely impossible to solve said problems in polynomial time (P!=NP)
My point was precisely that Oracle bought Sun, ruining any chance of finding out if Sun could survive on their own or not. Sun did not go out of business.
He's a terrible socialist, money has been flowing up hill like never before under his reign. I wish he'd be a much better socialist, our nation would be better off.
Since they pay the random Joe's to call in (you didn't think that was unstaged, did you?) it would be hard to claim with any legitimacy that they don't 'officially' say those things.
Slashdot Mirror
Netflix is charging a flat rate for VOD, while the cable companies want to charge by the view, particularly for their own content. It will be an enormous revenue hit when they give that up, so that is a step they will never willingly take.
Licensing the right to install said cables exclusively to a single entity for terms of typically 50, 100, or infinity years.
Same as you, but at least I had statistics on my side.
I just don't think that it's a realistic view, at all, to think that that many people are bringing merit-less claims. If you have a statistic that says a certain percentage of malpractice claims are fraudulent, that would be interesting to see. But unless you do, and again, I'd be interested to learn, I'd personally bet pretty heavily against it being more than 20%. The highest percentage claim I could find was 12.
As others have pointed out in other threads, boiling water is largely ineffective for sterilization of surgical tools. It isn't hot enough to kill the really dangerous stuff.
Actually, that doesn't suggest that. An alternative interpretation says that malpractice is hard to prove. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Do you, for example, also think that the ~85% of rape trials that don't result in conviction mean that the reported rape wasn't really rape?
http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/april2009/rape-conviction-rates-toolow.html
Passing peak oil doesn't mean a mad max scenario. I don't know who thought it would, and obviously it wasn't anyone with much sense. Actually running out (or, let's say, worldwide production dropping to 10% of today's level) is what would (potentially) trigger that. And even then, it depends on the extent to which we've been able to move our transportation economy to function on a different energy supply before it happens.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves_in_the_United_States
134 billion barrels known, just requires more work/legislation to get at some of it. So 18 years. Still, your children would get to experience a Mad-Max style collapse of civilization.
Please. None of this matters till those who understand these technologies can develop a system for individual persons to make their own solar cells at home from things that can be bought inexpensively at the local hardware and grocery stores. The focal point and goal of ALL new energy research should be to make the individual independent from the corporate leach. If the end user stays hooked to rental of energy, then the cost will never improve and all the research will be for nothing. The cost of and access to energy are the most important issues in this field. Who determines how much we will pay and who gets the money when we pay our energy rent (domestic or foreign) is irrelevant to the end user, and therefore to the nation. What good is freedom from slavery to foreign oil if we are still enslaved to domestic energy sources?
Aren't you still enslaved to the local hardware and grocery stores?
If you can buy solar cells at the local hardware store, install them, and live off-grid, are you free?
I, and I think most people, don't consider a company holding a valid claim to be a troll. To be a troll requires that the claim be frivolous by definition.
He's thinking with a short time horizon, as most bad CEOs do. In the long run, having every patent troll know they will go bankrupt fighting you in court will reduce your long-run costs to zero.
People should be able to do the things likely to be required of them in life, including the 1% chance necessities. ... because if you have a crush injury, for example, having made medical help available you are good, but having learned to set a bone, you are screwed.)
Setting a bone is a good example: That's a rarely needed skill. Should everyone really know how to set it? Or, should we learn to ensure that medical help is available instead (something much easier to learn, and more generally applicable
Butchering a hog (equivalent to what the parent suggested) is similar. You'd be talking downfall of civilization before that would be needed by most people, who would then actually be better off having learned other skills with that time.
The current farm process looks nothing like what people have done for millenia. And people have been making clothes for longer, should we all be expert seamstresses? Demanding that everyone should know all the details of how to farm is ridiculous.
I'm in no way criticizing Oracle. I'm merely pointing out that Sun didn't, in fact, tank completely, as you admit.
Why should that be anything but a fringe function? It's like asking if they've never plowed their own wheat, written their own operating system, or installed their own plumbing and electricity. The complexity of our civilization requires specialization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_versus_NP_problem
To oversimplify, it boils down to the fact that we have noticed that there is a set of problems where, if you have a potential answer, you can quickly (and by quickly: in an mount of time defined by a polynomial ... e.g. O(n^2)) verify whether or not it is correct.
But: there is no known way to find that answer quickly (in polynomial time). Instead, we are typically talking about problems where the best known solver algorithm takes exponential time (O(2^n)).
P vs NP boils down to wondering: do we just suck at coming up with algorithms (P=NP), or is it genuinely impossible to solve said problems in polynomial time (P!=NP)
My point was precisely that Oracle bought Sun, ruining any chance of finding out if Sun could survive on their own or not. Sun did not go out of business.
So Sun actually went under?
If I hadn't posted already I could mod the gp up. Javascript is a significant misfortune for the world of computing.
Go try to reformat a thousand page novel on word 97.
And how many grammar mistakes can it spot in that novel?
You feel it likely that this played significantly into his decision making process?
And then the guys at the NSA say: hmm, interesting challenge!
He's a terrible socialist, money has been flowing up hill like never before under his reign. I wish he'd be a much better socialist, our nation would be better off.
Since they pay the random Joe's to call in (you didn't think that was unstaged, did you?) it would be hard to claim with any legitimacy that they don't 'officially' say those things.
You'd best talk to India and China about that, they are doing some serious work on putting an end to that.