Clickfraud is a massive problem for advertisers in China - I have personal experience with this. Basically the numbers you get from sites about clicks, page views and CTR are worthless garbage - and they wouldn't let us use a third-party like DoubleClick. YMMV from site to site, but the Chinese web industry is a pretty wild place. But what are you going to do - not bother selling in China?
No it hasn't - the ads will not be displayed on Google's search results pages - the ads will displayed within their content network - i.e. the network of independent websites that monetise what they do by taking ads from Google - you know, like just about every blog you've ever seen that has AdWords in it.
I don't think it's a support issue - Dell traditionally makes more margin on its business machines - so business is a very important category for them. They definitely would not like the idea of their business customers buying consumer machines with Ubuntu installed. So I think they were hoping to discourage the purchaser - unfortunately for Dell he knew what he wanted.
Sure, but if you go to the Dell website mentioned in the article you'll see that all the people who've been responding have been nominating every distro under the sun. If Dell settles on one distro, then anyone who doesn't like that distro probably won't be interested.
Especially if (as the writer says) a non-crapware PC from Dell will actually cost more - because then it would still be cheaper for someone to buy a Windows Dell and then install their favourite Linux distribution.
Finally - the last point the writer made is completely right - since late last year Dell has been trying to switch from volume to margin. They would rather sell one XPS for $2000 than 4 Dimensions for $500, because the margin on the XPS is greater than the four Dimensions combined. And there's no way Dell's going to be putting linux on an XPS.
Yes exactly. When I compare my Lotus Notes inbox and folders to Gmail's conversation view I could cry in frustration. Trying to find mail in Notes is an exercise in banging your head into a wall, over and over again. Why other mail apps haven't cottoned on to conversation view I'll never know.
I don't disagree with much of what you wrote - I would point out though that the US doesn't have to station nukes in Japan to place Japan under the US' nuclear umbrella.
There are a variety of complicating factors as to what all this adds up to, but the unifying element is Japan.
Since WW2 Japan has had an explicitly 'peaceful' constitution that precludes it from engaging in any military action other than self-defense.
In recent years though Japanese politicians and strategists have been reconsidering this posture, due largely to the continuing belligerence of North Korea, and more recently because of the strong nationalist and anti-Japan sentiments emanating from China.
Memory of Japanese nationalism and militarism within East Asia is very very strong (partly because of Chinese govt efforts to remind everyone of Japan's atrocities at every opportunity). There is great suspicion within China and Korea (Nth and Sth) of Japan. If Japan becomes alarmed by Nth Korea's (and they will) they may start down the path of a more expressly offensive military posture, even to the point of pursuing their own weapon. At this point China would be very very angry and nervous indeed. An arms race in East Asia is a real possibility.
In this light - the absolute best thing the US government can do right now is to immediately reassure the Japanese government and people that they are still very much protected by the US nuclear umbrella, that there is no need for Japan to pursue its own nuke, and that they should restrain their understandable urge to assume a more offensive military posture.
In this situation the US needs to make sure that there is no possible excuse for China and Japan, and to a lesser extent, Sth Korea, to begin an arms race. The best way to do that is restrain Japanese militarism, be firm with Nth Korea, and involve China in everything it does to resolve the situation.
The wild card in all of this is Taiwan. Taiwan is going through a very interesting political situation - and Taiwanese pro-independence politicians might be considering using such sentiment to shore up their own position (rocked by a corruption scandal). Taiwanese independence will almost certainly force China to attack Taiwan (they've always said they would), and so the US could be dragged into a war it can't actually fight.
Throw away your tuning software and learn to use a tuning fork. Once you get good at that THEN you can use an electronic tuner. Electronic tuners should be used for convenience (e.g trying to tune an instument in a noisy environment), not because you can't tune your instrument without them.
As for learning to play an instrument like the violin, forget software. Find a violin teacher and get some lessons. It will be a much better use of your money because: a) they know what they are doing and will adjust their teaching method to suit your ability; b) they will correct your mistakes - if you get into bad habits learning to play by yourself with the aid of software, you'll never fix them; c) you will get the chance to play with your teacher - the best part of being a musician is playing with other people. And maybe your teacher will offer to get you involved in other musical groups like orchestras.
There are many other good reasons for having a teacher - there is only one good reason for using software (if there is no teacher locally available to you).
I speak from experience - I studied the viola for 15 years (insert viola jokes) and I know that there isn't a piece of software in the world that would have been better than the various teachers I had.
My experience is that IT departments are more in the business of CYA these days. In a recent job, some colleagues were developing a data warehouse on Oracle. They were piggybacking off a dev server we had, behind the firewall, sitting under my desk. Two guys, some commodity equipment, and they were doing a ton of good work. One day they decided they needed their own dev server, which was fair enough. So they put in a request to IT for a new desktop machine. IT came down to talk about what they needed it for, saw what they were doing, unplugged the dev server and then made them put in a request for a mid-range machine. This of course required a budget, a project manager, a business case, and in short order the project stalled, for months. All their good work was going nowhere fast and the business was crying out for their solution, which was initially only costing the DBA and developer's salaries and two desktop machines. These guys weren't cowboys either. The DBA was one of the best Oracle DBA's I've ever met. But IT effectively shut them down.
To my mind businesses need some kind of network-DMZ where people can start their projects without the need to resort to business cases, project sponsors etc, because IT is mainly concerned with making sure the network is safe.
Painfully bad? I think that's a bit strong. I do use Google's Personal Homepage, and the live.com page seems remarkably similar - editable drag and drop content sections, options for adding other or custom content. It has support for 5 languages including 3 variants of English (UK, US and Australian), and interestingly, they are quite mature about what suggested content they offer up - eg. Google News, FLickr. Two of their biggest competitors and they're prepared to send traffic their way.
Painfully bad? Well, I won't use it (it's just another service similar to things I already use) but other people will, and I don't think they'll find it painfully bad.
A few years ago I had to use Photoshop for work. At first I found it very difficult. Luckily I worked with someone who knew it inside-out. They taught me how to use it and I came to appreciate what a useful tool it is.
A short while ago I tried Picasa for the first time. I didn't need any help.
If you want a simple digital image editing tool use Picasa. If you're a pro, you don't need my advice.
No Elvis, no Beatles, no Clash (a lot of people might not care about that last one, but last time I checked there were a lot of fans of the first two).
I've been using an i-mate for the past three weeks - the best thing about it is accessing the web via GPRS. The phone is dumb, the camera pathetic. However if I had the $ I'd get one BUT for the cost per kb charged by Telstra. That's the sticking point for pda's in Australia.
Goods and ServicesTax - it is a 10% consumption tax. This was a dumb article to post on Slashdot - all it is about is the ACCC making sure that consumers don't get ripped off by businesses that eBay to sell things.
Not only that - but I can't see my weather (Melbourne, Australia) nor localise my news. I've mentioned it to them, and no doubt it will appear in time, but it would be nice if for once when Google creates a new service they think about internationalisation from the git go.
Hmmm, how about "research that doesn't end up with the results being patented"? Or "research, the results of which are released into the public domain"?
It wouldn't be mandatory - the way "mutual obligation" is supposed to work is that Centrelink is supposed to try and find you a position that matches your interests and skills. Of course if you have no skills or interests you run the risk of being put to work picking up litter by the side of the road.
In my brother's case, he was interested in audio-engineering. Centrelink placed him as a volunteer producer in a community radio station, and from there he got a job at a mastering studio.
So in the case of coding for OSS projects - it would be voluntary. And even if someone did provide half-hearted help (i.e. bad code) there's no obligation on the part of the project to accept the code.
Good point. How about - once the eyeballs look for alternatives, the customers will move away from the networks and then the networks will scream at the government to prevent the eyeballs from looking away.
Slashdot Mirror
Clickfraud is a massive problem for advertisers in China - I have personal experience with this. Basically the numbers you get from sites about clicks, page views and CTR are worthless garbage - and they wouldn't let us use a third-party like DoubleClick. YMMV from site to site, but the Chinese web industry is a pretty wild place. But what are you going to do - not bother selling in China?
Vietnam, Korea, India.
That's three.
No it hasn't - the ads will not be displayed on Google's search results pages - the ads will displayed within their content network - i.e. the network of independent websites that monetise what they do by taking ads from Google - you know, like just about every blog you've ever seen that has AdWords in it.
I don't think it's a support issue - Dell traditionally makes more margin on its business machines - so business is a very important category for them. They definitely would not like the idea of their business customers buying consumer machines with Ubuntu installed. So I think they were hoping to discourage the purchaser - unfortunately for Dell he knew what he wanted.
Traditional Chinese is only used in Hong Kong, where Flickr is not blocked. China simplified it's writing system a few years ago.
Sure, but if you go to the Dell website mentioned in the article you'll see that all the people who've been responding have been nominating every distro under the sun. If Dell settles on one distro, then anyone who doesn't like that distro probably won't be interested.
Especially if (as the writer says) a non-crapware PC from Dell will actually cost more - because then it would still be cheaper for someone to buy a Windows Dell and then install their favourite Linux distribution.
Finally - the last point the writer made is completely right - since late last year Dell has been trying to switch from volume to margin. They would rather sell one XPS for $2000 than 4 Dimensions for $500, because the margin on the XPS is greater than the four Dimensions combined. And there's no way Dell's going to be putting linux on an XPS.
Seems like it is if you live in South Korea...
Yes exactly. When I compare my Lotus Notes inbox and folders to Gmail's conversation view I could cry in frustration. Trying to find mail in Notes is an exercise in banging your head into a wall, over and over again. Why other mail apps haven't cottoned on to conversation view I'll never know.
I don't disagree with much of what you wrote - I would point out though that the US doesn't have to station nukes in Japan to place Japan under the US' nuclear umbrella.
There are a variety of complicating factors as to what all this adds up to, but the unifying element is Japan.
Since WW2 Japan has had an explicitly 'peaceful' constitution that precludes it from engaging in any military action other than self-defense.
In recent years though Japanese politicians and strategists have been reconsidering this posture, due largely to the continuing belligerence of North Korea, and more recently because of the strong nationalist and anti-Japan sentiments emanating from China.
Memory of Japanese nationalism and militarism within East Asia is very very strong (partly because of Chinese govt efforts to remind everyone of Japan's atrocities at every opportunity). There is great suspicion within China and Korea (Nth and Sth) of Japan. If Japan becomes alarmed by Nth Korea's (and they will) they may start down the path of a more expressly offensive military posture, even to the point of pursuing their own weapon. At this point China would be very very angry and nervous indeed. An arms race in East Asia is a real possibility.
In this light - the absolute best thing the US government can do right now is to immediately reassure the Japanese government and people that they are still very much protected by the US nuclear umbrella, that there is no need for Japan to pursue its own nuke, and that they should restrain their understandable urge to assume a more offensive military posture.
In this situation the US needs to make sure that there is no possible excuse for China and Japan, and to a lesser extent, Sth Korea, to begin an arms race. The best way to do that is restrain Japanese militarism, be firm with Nth Korea, and involve China in everything it does to resolve the situation.
The wild card in all of this is Taiwan. Taiwan is going through a very interesting political situation - and Taiwanese pro-independence politicians might be considering using such sentiment to shore up their own position (rocked by a corruption scandal). Taiwanese independence will almost certainly force China to attack Taiwan (they've always said they would), and so the US could be dragged into a war it can't actually fight.
We live in VERY interesting times.
Throw away your tuning software and learn to use a tuning fork. Once you get good at that THEN you can use an electronic tuner. Electronic tuners should be used for convenience (e.g trying to tune an instument in a noisy environment), not because you can't tune your instrument without them.
As for learning to play an instrument like the violin, forget software. Find a violin teacher and get some lessons. It will be a much better use of your money because:
a) they know what they are doing and will adjust their teaching method to suit your ability;
b) they will correct your mistakes - if you get into bad habits learning to play by yourself with the aid of software, you'll never fix them;
c) you will get the chance to play with your teacher - the best part of being a musician is playing with other people. And maybe your teacher will offer to get you involved in other musical groups like orchestras.
There are many other good reasons for having a teacher - there is only one good reason for using software (if there is no teacher locally available to you).
I speak from experience - I studied the viola for 15 years (insert viola jokes) and I know that there isn't a piece of software in the world that would have been better than the various teachers I had.
My experience is that IT departments are more in the business of CYA these days. In a recent job, some colleagues were developing a data warehouse on Oracle. They were piggybacking off a dev server we had, behind the firewall, sitting under my desk. Two guys, some commodity equipment, and they were doing a ton of good work. One day they decided they needed their own dev server, which was fair enough. So they put in a request to IT for a new desktop machine. IT came down to talk about what they needed it for, saw what they were doing, unplugged the dev server and then made them put in a request for a mid-range machine. This of course required a budget, a project manager, a business case, and in short order the project stalled, for months. All their good work was going nowhere fast and the business was crying out for their solution, which was initially only costing the DBA and developer's salaries and two desktop machines. These guys weren't cowboys either. The DBA was one of the best Oracle DBA's I've ever met. But IT effectively shut them down.
To my mind businesses need some kind of network-DMZ where people can start their projects without the need to resort to business cases, project sponsors etc, because IT is mainly concerned with making sure the network is safe.
Painfully bad? I think that's a bit strong. I do use Google's Personal Homepage, and the live.com page seems remarkably similar - editable drag and drop content sections, options for adding other or custom content. It has support for 5 languages including 3 variants of English (UK, US and Australian), and interestingly, they are quite mature about what suggested content they offer up - eg. Google News, FLickr. Two of their biggest competitors and they're prepared to send traffic their way.
Painfully bad? Well, I won't use it (it's just another service similar to things I already use) but other people will, and I don't think they'll find it painfully bad.
A few years ago I had to use Photoshop for work. At first I found it very difficult. Luckily I worked with someone who knew it inside-out. They taught me how to use it and I came to appreciate what a useful tool it is.
A short while ago I tried Picasa for the first time. I didn't need any help.
If you want a simple digital image editing tool use Picasa. If you're a pro, you don't need my advice.
No Elvis, no Beatles, no Clash (a lot of people might not care about that last one, but last time I checked there were a lot of fans of the first two).
I've been using an i-mate for the past three weeks - the best thing about it is accessing the web via GPRS. The phone is dumb, the camera pathetic. However if I had the $ I'd get one BUT for the cost per kb charged by Telstra. That's the sticking point for pda's in Australia.
Much better to keep the violin in the case and download the distro of your choice as and when you need to.
Goods and ServicesTax - it is a 10% consumption tax.
This was a dumb article to post on Slashdot - all it is about is the ACCC making sure that consumers don't get ripped off by businesses that eBay to sell things.
As is the ABC. And the BBC is doing it too.
Not only that - but I can't see my weather (Melbourne, Australia) nor localise my news. I've mentioned it to them, and no doubt it will appear in time, but it would be nice if for once when Google creates a new service they think about internationalisation from the git go.
Hmmm, how about "research that doesn't end up with the results being patented"? Or "research, the results of which are released into the public domain"?
It wouldn't be mandatory - the way "mutual obligation" is supposed to work is that Centrelink is supposed to try and find you a position that matches your interests and skills. Of course if you have no skills or interests you run the risk of being put to work picking up litter by the side of the road.
In my brother's case, he was interested in audio-engineering. Centrelink placed him as a volunteer producer in a community radio station, and from there he got a job at a mastering studio.
So in the case of coding for OSS projects - it would be voluntary. And even if someone did provide half-hearted help (i.e. bad code) there's no obligation on the part of the project to accept the code.
That's true, but you have to carry your box with you.
Good point. How about - once the eyeballs look for alternatives, the customers will move away from the networks and then the networks will scream at the government to prevent the eyeballs from looking away.
Run!!! It's chasing us!!!! Very very slowly...