I've also seen usability studies that asked people to locate a goal: a certain page or Flash app. Whenever it was behind a button that looked like an ad, a majority of people never found the goal, even when it was right at the top or side of the screen. That means many people have subconsciously learned to tune out small blinking colorful squares in a field of black and white text.
I know I couldn't even tell you if that page had an ad or not, I just focused on the text.
Hmm, the great thing about radio is that many ads are for local small businesses.
For instance, I was listening to the radio and an ad came on for a restaurant that sounded interesting, and occasionally ads for heating/cooling, foundation repair, etc., catch my ear because I need that stuff.
Ads for national stuff are usually just completely annoying and effect a quick return to the safety of public radio. I mean, I KNOW Nokia sells phones, etc., what's the point?
I do agree some Mac fanatics can be a little odd (I consider myself one, even though I use usually use Linux and FreeBSD for the flexibility).
But I've also noticed that it's okay to drive a different car than most folks, or eat a different breakfast cereal, or drink a different soda, or sit on different furniture, or buy exotic cookware. But as soon as you mention that you use a different computer than everybody else.. UH OH! You're some kind of counterculture revolutionary.
I think this is partly because Microsoft is so pervasive, you have to go out of your way to avoid them. Which is a little sad, really. I don't care much for Microsoft's technical practices, I don't like the monopoly, I don't like the idea that this one company controls almost ALL the computers out there, from the government on down. They have a position of amazing power. So I practice "don't like it? don't buy it!". Why should that be a big deal.
I feel Apple's position keeps them honest. If they ever became Microsoft, I'd jump ship in a heartbeat and head for the safety of the GPL. Right now they have a great platform and it's nice to use. I also relate to the Apple philosophy of "little details" rather than raw power, since that's how I choose pretty much every other product I pay for, and the philosophy I use in my own programming. I spend much more time with "superficial" stuff like the names of buttons and menus, then with actual algorithms.
People always say "hey, don't fight Windows, it's the standard, it came free on the computer" and shit like that, which after a while makes you real defensive and makes you come up with all kinda of rebuttals for each point.. I just try and shrug and say "It works better for me" or something like that.
I dunno about this guy. He seems annoyed that he got some email he wasn't expecting. If Dole or someone sends me email, I would just block their address.
What gets me most about the (real) spammers is, they LIE about their address, their web pages, their names, everything. They go out of their way to NOT honor people's requests.
Recently I started receiving some leftist political newsletter. I don't know how exactly I got on the list (I think my address was pulled from a Cc: list that had me in it). I didn't sue anybody, I just edited/etc/mail/access and added the from address, along with a custom message saying "550..please unsubscribe". No problem.
Let's worry more about the spammers who hide their identities and send mail through korean servers, etc. Yeah it's a fine line, but I think mass-mailing voters with your (noncommercial) campaign message is acceptable, provided you don't lie about your address or identity, or otherwise interfere with my ability to block you, and follow other guidelines like honoring remove requests, and not sending more than one message a month, etc.
I know.. it didn't make sense at first: "Why is the computer claiming ownership of the files I made?"
Shouldn't it be saying "YOUR Pictures", "YOUR Videos", etc? Imagine talking to a co-worker who calls *your* report "My Report".
I think either it's typical Microsoft arrogance coming to the surface "I am your computer, and these files are MINE", or maybe just an offshoot from "My Computer" that went totally out of control.
I prefer the Mac version: just "Pictures", "Music", "Videos". Or the Linux version: mkdir ~/pix ~/mp3 ~/vid:-).
Ahh, well you see "not buying the game" actually violates the license agreement. You agreed to this license contract by "referring to the game in a sentence, reading an article about the game, or thinking about playing the game" (paragraph 2). None of those things would be possible without the hard work of the game writers.
Also, watch your language. You're not allowed to disparage the product (paragraph 23).
Note also the survivability clause (paragraph 37), which stipulates that "even after termination [of this license], all terms and conditions... remain in full effect."
Thank you for your cooperation,
LawyerDrone
PS: Every legal paper served by our firm will include a voucher for a FREE McDonalds(tm) cheeseburger. Time is running out, so get sued today!
If you liked this article, go ahead and send the guy a few bucks. You accomplish TWO goals with you donation: 1) you prove that voluntary payments work, and 2) you make a donation to the EFF (you know, the one you've been meaning to make for a long time now).
Looks like he just discovered and renamed the basic idea that "all models are incomplete". Any scientist could tell you that one! I remember a quote that goes something like this: The greatest scientific accomplishment of the 19th century was the discovery that everything could be described by equations. The greatest scientific accomplishment of the 20th century is that nothing can be described by equations.
That's all an abstraction is: a model. Just like Newtonian physics, supply and demand under perfect competition, and every other hard or soft scientific model. Supply and demand breaks down at the low end (you can't be a market participant if you haven't eaten in a month) and the high end (if you are very wealthy, you can change the very rules of the game). Actually, supply and demand breaks down in many ways, all the time. Physics breaks down at the very large or very small scales. Planetary orbits have wobbles that can only be explained by more complex theories. Etc.
No one should pretend that the models are complete. Or even pretend that complete models are possible. However, the models help you understand. They help you find better solutions (patterns) to problems. They help you discuss and comprehend and write about a problem. They allow you to focus on invariants (and even invariants break down).
All models are imperfect. It's good that computer science folks can understand this, however, I don't think Joel should use a term like "leaky abstraction". Calling it that implies the existence of "unleaky abstraction", which is impossible. These are all just "abstractions" and the leaks are unavoidable.
Example: if I unplug the computer and drop it out of a window, the software will fail. That's a leak, isn't it? Think of how you would address that in your model: maybe another computer watches this one so it can take over if it dies..etc..more complexity, more abstractions, more leaks....
He also points out that, basically, computer science isn't exempt from the complexity, specialization, and growing body of understanding that accompanies every scientific field. Yeah, these days you have to know quite a bit of stuff about every part of a computer system in order to write truly reliable programs and understand what they are doing. And it will only get more complex as time goes on.
But what else can we do, go back to the Apple II? (actually that's not a bad idea. That was the most reliable machine I've ever owned!)
Hey, I listen to NPR. I listen to a lot of public radio in general (jazz station). I used to listen to Garson Keillor regularly. I own one of his books. It's not *that* far off the map.
Ever seen Keillor in person? He's one ugly motherfucker. Good voice though.
and the APIs can be buried in MSDN, forcing OSS software developers to not only subscribe to MSDN, but also follow whatever licensing MSDN forces on users.
That's what makes it not 100% "free". I haven't read MSDN's license (did you?), so I don't know what it says.
As an example of license fun, Apple's Developer Connection agreement contains the following words:
5. Verification of Compliance. You agree that authorized Apple representatives, with 24 hours advance notice, may inspect the location where the Prototype
is stored, the Prototype and copies of other Confidential Information and your Prototype access log during your normal business hours in order to verify that you are complying with your obligations under this Agreement.
("Prototype" is "Apple pre-release software and related documentation and information".. how do I know when I downloaded that? Does a Beta of QuickTime count?)
That was enough to make me avoid joining.
Any tasty nuggets in MSDN's license agreement? Or perhaps, they will add some now..
Just pointing out that, like RMS, software companies have their own idea of what "free" means.
interesting .. but is it effective?
on
Web Page Entanglement
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I'm reminded of the idea of leaving your campus grounds unpaved, and then waiting for the "natural" grooves to appear in the ground where people walk, and then paving over those to make the sidewalks. You've probably seen an example of where there's a sidewalk connecting two points but then there's a worn-out groove nearby that's better, or connects from a more popular location.
Some people think it's rude or immature for people to create these grooves by not walking on the sidewalk, but I see it as an example of an arrogant designer who thinks he knows the best way simply by studying a piece of paper. It's amazing sometimes, the groove just appears almost magically in an optimal place, given the layout of buildings and traffic patterns.
This applies to web pages too. But, unlike sidewalks and buildings, you can't see your other destinations when you're sitting on a web page, so how do you know where to go next? This seems like it will just constantly reinforce the previous set of links, whatever they are.
I didn't fully read the documents (/. strikes again) but what I saw says you move from page to page either by 1) following an existing link or 2) using a search function. #1 is not going to create fresh paths.
It seems to me, a better idea would be to present a user with all possible links, or a subset of possible links, the first few times they visit. Then as they click through the site, add their arcs to the database.
After the first few visits, you can stop showing all links, and show them the "most popular" links. If you just show the popular links up front, new paths may not be discovered.
So perhaps this technique could be seen as a way to remove unpopular links, to trim the fat from a page. Then again, it might not be good to change a page after a person has gotten used to it.
It's very interesting though. As the web matures, you'll see more of this sort of analysis to move beyond static web pages.
...[he] tells Congress that they can best help him by going back to their constituents and finding out where the public wants to draw the line between liberty and safety.
Whoa, they have to ask Disney AND the oil industry? Unprecedented!
(PS: It's a joke. Please don't tap my phone line.)
But for the Open Source products this was not the case. Contacting the maintainers of the Open Source products and asking if anyone provided commercial support was fruitless; in one case the response was downright rude (basically a variation on RTFM) and in the other the response was more helpful, but still could not suggest anything other than being active on the mailing list.
Sounds to me like this just is not a supported product. You can't can get support if it isn't there.. Open Source doesn't mean every product is magically supported by some roving group of expert consultants. If you have to choose between closed-source lock-in and nothing, well, I'd have to go with the lock-in.
Of course, an open-source consulting company might pop up in the next couple of years that does exactly what you want for 1/10 the price and gives you freedom, but since you went with the closed-source solution, you're stuck.
I've found that Open Source is usually cheaper because you have the flexibility to choose how you want to do things. Stick with your old hardware, upgrade, pay a consultant for a one-time job, do it yourself, etc.
.. and it's actually pretty good, especially for newbies. For instance, "redhat-list-my-files-in-current-directory" is a little heavily branded, but it makes a lot more sense than "ls" to a new user. And the "Are you sure you want to run 'xyz' (Y/n)" prompts after every command saved my ass a couple times. Getting rid of all commands that can delete files is also great for security, and that's definitely an advantage over other distros.
The only thing that really tripped me up was that Red Hat mapped "delete character" to the "d" key (probably to fix the whole backspace/delete confusion once and for all). And the character D is mapped to ^X-F4 which is a little hard to type at first but you get used to it. Since they made this change system-wide I learned it pretty fast.
All in all a step in the right direction. Of course power users can always use another distro, or just type their system's source code onto the hard drive from scratch or whatever it is they do for fun on Saturday nights.
I don't know if you're trolling, but personally, I can't stand that "K". I don't mind Gnome's "G" everywhere, but I don't like KDE's "K" at all.
Visually, "K" is just an annoying, ugly letter, all kinds of sharp edges, and it doesn't brighten my day the way a nice "g" or "i" does. Just take a look at that "g", if you've got the right font, it's like a beautiful woman. You can't even get away from "K" in lowercase: "k" looks just like "K". It's like somebody getting kneed in the crotch, or something. (Kneed - begins with "K", ouch!).
When you say it out loud, it makes everything heavy and hard, like something from another language. Konsole. Konqueror. TheKompany. Though each day I am thankful I don't have to put up with a "Kalendar" or a "Klok", or, heaven forfend, a "Kalkulator". The other day, I found myself thinking of programming in kvikkalkul or plankalkül. Skary!
(What do non-English native speakers think of the "K"?)
Well, yes this sounds incredibly stupid, but I avoided KDE for a long time simply because of my strong anti-K stance. No marketing department would ever overuse "K" the way KDE has. Now that I've been using it since I installed RH7.3, I've gotten a little used to it, but man, I'd kill (kill - begins with K) for a nice soft "o", that would be so nice and comfy, maybe even a little funny, like Santa Claus laughing.
(Can you tell I've been programming all weekend?? You know, after you stare at letters for hours on end, they start to stare back....)
Just also check for a magic string in the user agent and voila! trusted computing reinvented. To make it unhackable - just add a few more levels of obfuscation.;))) The sad part of this, is that I have actually seen authentication schemes like this. Don't know whether I should cry or laugh:)
probably cry... what you described could easily be enforced with the DMCA.
If you use wget, watch out when using "--referer" and "--user-agent".... you just might be breaking TEH LAW!!!
I'm not sure I understand. Does this mean the spammers put links on their own porn (or whatever) sites, and casual surfers will click into the blog from the porn site, thus making the porn site show up in the logs as the referer? That's how the referer is supposed to work, right?
Or are they just bots that hit random web sites and send fake referers along?
Either way, I have absolutely no clue why this would be abusive or even annoying? Can someone explain? Do people sit around checking their referers all day long?? (Then again, I don't understand why anyone would run a blog, so maybe I'm just out of touch).
I clean out all my outgoing referers (thanks squid), so maybe I subconciously assume everybody else does too. Never thought of the referers as anything but a silly waste of bandwidth, since they can be forged so easily.
There goes my theory that Apple was going to bust open the tablet PC market. They have all the pieces ready to go, including handwriting technology, Bluetooth/WiFi, and Rendezvous zero-configuration networking.
Imagine the flat-panel iMac without the connecting tube. Everybody says "the screen makes you want to touch it and adjust it" wouldn't it be cool if you could pick it up and carry it into the next office?
Personally, I've been wishing for a nice wireless tablet PC for home use for a while. So I can read slashdot while plopped on the couch, of course.:-)
That really stinks. I wish Dom the best of luck getting his money back.
But, I'm not going to cancel my PayPal account over this just yet. I've had the account since the service began (remember when it was for Palm Pilots?). Never had a problem. I treat PayPal with kid gloves because they are not regulated the same way banks are (and they shouldn't be: they are a payment service, not a full-service bank), and they are a huge hacker's target.
Here what I do with my PayPal account (I use it quite a bit on eBay for buying and selling):
1) Set up a separate bank account for PayPal. I have a money market fund whose sole purpose in life is to transfer money between paypal and my regular savings account. I transfer the money out at least once a month or so.
2) never give PayPal any more information than they need. Give them one credit card (preferably exclusive to PayPal with a PO box billing address). Don't sign up for the piss-ant Money Market fund that requires giving them your Social Security Number. No extra emails, phone numbers, or mailing addresses. Change password often.
3) NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES leave a balance in your PayPal account. Because it's PayPal's money, not yours, until you take it out (remember, it's not a bank). Withdraw immediately. Even if you need to pay for an auction later, use your bank/credit card to pay for it. (I use a Citibank card that gives a cash back bonus, so I actually get a small benefit from doing this.)
4) If they send you a free Debit card, cancel it. Don't sign up for the credit card either.
You have to keep in mind also, PayPal can freeze your money at any time. All that has to happen is someone file a complaint against you. They can lock your account. They can do various silly things.
I don't want to "blame the victim", but if your money is not in the PayPal account, it can't be stolen. And if there's a fraudulent charge on your credit card, it can be taken care of with a signed affidavit, or maybe just a letter, like any problem with your card. Your card has consumer protection laws associated with it, your PayPal account doesn't.
I did have one of my other cards stolen once and used on PayPal (had nothing to do with my paypal account, the perp opened his own). I wrote them and received a response and an affidavit to fill out, the next day. In fact, all my PayPal customer service mails have been answered the next day. (I have a "premier" / "merchant rate" account, which gets better treatment, ymmv).
By this point, with all the horror stories out there, I'm surprised anyone would keep a balance in their PayPal account.
the movie studios are trying to co-opt the movie delivery mechanisms of the 'counter-culture' set
I'd say more like: "the movie studios are trying to get a clue and are pulling their heads out of their ass another inch".
I have no interest in their movies, legally or otherwise, but at least they're giving it a go. Maybe it will work out and they won't pass any more legislation. That's what I care about.
Oh yeah, can you imagine how that debate would go? I can.. let's listen in..
Rosen: (to herself: heh, this one works every time.. well except at Oxford Union.) So, who here downloads and burns music?
Congress: (silence. they look at each other and shrug.)
R: (to herself: oh yeah, they don't know the hip lingo like I do) Uh, who here uses their computer to get digital music from the internet and then to put the music on recordable CDs, you know, like homemade CDs?
C: (silence. one congressman checks his watch.)
R: (getting frustrated) Okay, does anyone here use a computer?
C: (shaking of heads. one congressman quietly hides a piece of paper with pending legislation on regulation of the personal computer industry.)
R: (gets an idea) Hey never mind about that. Here's another one: who here likes money?
C: (faces light up.. the room becomes animated) ME!! ME!! ME!! ME!!! OVER HERE!! MONEY!!
R: (to herself: looks like my side won this debate after all)
Yeah, what a great justification: "everybody else is doing it, so it must be okay"
I bet if companies started running ads saying "unlike the other guys, our license only requires the sacrifice of ONE infant", you'd see some competition on license terms.
Of course the existence of the radically different licenses like the GPL, BSD, etc., is also a good counterexample.
Slashdot Mirror
Good point.
I've also seen usability studies that asked people to locate a goal: a certain page or Flash app. Whenever it was behind a button that looked like an ad, a majority of people never found the goal, even when it was right at the top or side of the screen. That means many people have subconsciously learned to tune out small blinking colorful squares in a field of black and white text.
I know I couldn't even tell you if that page had an ad or not, I just focused on the text.
Perhaps it had a subconscious effect, who knows.
Hmm, the great thing about radio is that many ads are for local small businesses.
For instance, I was listening to the radio and an ad came on for a restaurant that sounded interesting, and occasionally ads for heating/cooling, foundation repair, etc., catch my ear because I need that stuff.
Ads for national stuff are usually just completely annoying and effect a quick return to the safety of public radio. I mean, I KNOW Nokia sells phones, etc., what's the point?
Yes, that's an interesting point.
.. UH OH! You're some kind of counterculture revolutionary.
I do agree some Mac fanatics can be a little odd (I consider myself one, even though I use usually use Linux and FreeBSD for the flexibility).
But I've also noticed that it's okay to drive a different car than most folks, or eat a different breakfast cereal, or drink a different soda, or sit on different furniture, or buy exotic cookware. But as soon as you mention that you use a different computer than everybody else
I think this is partly because Microsoft is so pervasive, you have to go out of your way to avoid them. Which is a little sad, really. I don't care much for Microsoft's technical practices, I don't like the monopoly, I don't like the idea that this one company controls almost ALL the computers out there, from the government on down. They have a position of amazing power. So I practice "don't like it? don't buy it!". Why should that be a big deal.
I feel Apple's position keeps them honest. If they ever became Microsoft, I'd jump ship in a heartbeat and head for the safety of the GPL. Right now they have a great platform and it's nice to use. I also relate to the Apple philosophy of "little details" rather than raw power, since that's how I choose pretty much every other product I pay for, and the philosophy I use in my own programming. I spend much more time with "superficial" stuff like the names of buttons and menus, then with actual algorithms.
People always say "hey, don't fight Windows, it's the standard, it came free on the computer" and shit like that, which after a while makes you real defensive and makes you come up with all kinda of rebuttals for each point.. I just try and shrug and say "It works better for me" or something like that.
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fffffeeeeeeeeeeddddd iiiiittttt sssssooooommmmmeeeee
sssssooooouuuuunnnnndddddsssss,,,,, wwwwwaaaaaiiiiittttt
ooooovvvvveeeeerrrrrnnnnniiiiiggggghhhhhttttt,,,,, aaaaannnnnddddd
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TTTTThhhhhooooossssseeeee ooooofffff yyyyyooooouuuuu
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(Before you mod down, remember, this is ART.)
I dunno about this guy. He seems annoyed that he got some email he wasn't expecting. If Dole or someone sends me email, I would just block their address.
/etc/mail/access and added the from address, along with a custom message saying "550..please unsubscribe". No problem.
What gets me most about the (real) spammers is, they LIE about their address, their web pages, their names, everything. They go out of their way to NOT honor people's requests.
Recently I started receiving some leftist political newsletter. I don't know how exactly I got on the list (I think my address was pulled from a Cc: list that had me in it). I didn't sue anybody, I just edited
Let's worry more about the spammers who hide their identities and send mail through korean servers, etc. Yeah it's a fine line, but I think mass-mailing voters with your (noncommercial) campaign message is acceptable, provided you don't lie about your address or identity, or otherwise interfere with my ability to block you, and follow other guidelines like honoring remove requests, and not sending more than one message a month, etc.
I know.. it didn't make sense at first: "Why is the computer claiming ownership of the files I made?"
:-).
Shouldn't it be saying "YOUR Pictures", "YOUR Videos", etc? Imagine talking to a co-worker who calls *your* report "My Report".
I think either it's typical Microsoft arrogance coming to the surface "I am your computer, and these files are MINE", or maybe just an offshoot from "My Computer" that went totally out of control.
I prefer the Mac version: just "Pictures", "Music", "Videos". Or the Linux version: mkdir ~/pix ~/mp3 ~/vid
Ahh, well you see "not buying the game" actually violates the license agreement. You agreed to this license contract by "referring to the game in a sentence, reading an article about the game, or thinking about playing the game" (paragraph 2). None of those things would be possible without the hard work of the game writers.
... remain in full effect."
Also, watch your language. You're not allowed to disparage the product (paragraph 23).
Note also the survivability clause (paragraph 37), which stipulates that "even after termination [of this license], all terms and conditions
Thank you for your cooperation,
LawyerDrone
PS: Every legal paper served by our firm will include a voucher for a FREE McDonalds(tm) cheeseburger. Time is running out, so get sued today!
Why did you take out the PayPal link at the end? Especially in an article about the content cartel dinosaurs. Here it is again:
If you liked this article, go ahead and send the guy a few bucks. You accomplish TWO goals with you donation: 1) you prove that voluntary payments work, and 2) you make a donation to the EFF (you know, the one you've been meaning to make for a long time now).
I sent him a few bucks already.
Looks like he just discovered and renamed the basic idea that "all models are incomplete". Any scientist could tell you that one! I remember a quote that goes something like this: The greatest scientific accomplishment of the 19th century was the discovery that everything could be described by equations. The greatest scientific accomplishment of the 20th century is that nothing can be described by equations.
That's all an abstraction is: a model. Just like Newtonian physics, supply and demand under perfect competition, and every other hard or soft scientific model. Supply and demand breaks down at the low end (you can't be a market participant if you haven't eaten in a month) and the high end (if you are very wealthy, you can change the very rules of the game). Actually, supply and demand breaks down in many ways, all the time. Physics breaks down at the very large or very small scales. Planetary orbits have wobbles that can only be explained by more complex theories. Etc.
No one should pretend that the models are complete. Or even pretend that complete models are possible. However, the models help you understand. They help you find better solutions (patterns) to problems. They help you discuss and comprehend and write about a problem. They allow you to focus on invariants (and even invariants break down).
All models are imperfect. It's good that computer science folks can understand this, however, I don't think Joel should use a term like "leaky abstraction". Calling it that implies the existence of "unleaky abstraction", which is impossible. These are all just "abstractions" and the leaks are unavoidable.
Example: if I unplug the computer and drop it out of a window, the software will fail. That's a leak, isn't it? Think of how you would address that in your model: maybe another computer watches this one so it can take over if it dies..etc..more complexity, more abstractions, more leaks....
He also points out that, basically, computer science isn't exempt from the complexity, specialization, and growing body of understanding that accompanies every scientific field. Yeah, these days you have to know quite a bit of stuff about every part of a computer system in order to write truly reliable programs and understand what they are doing. And it will only get more complex as time goes on.
But what else can we do, go back to the Apple II? (actually that's not a bad idea. That was the most reliable machine I've ever owned!)
Hey, I listen to NPR. I listen to a lot of public radio in general (jazz station). I used to listen to Garson Keillor regularly. I own one of his books. It's not *that* far off the map.
Ever seen Keillor in person? He's one ugly motherfucker. Good voice though.
Thank you, drive through.
and the APIs can be buried in MSDN, forcing OSS software developers to not only subscribe to MSDN, but also follow whatever licensing MSDN forces on users.
That's what makes it not 100% "free". I haven't read MSDN's license (did you?), so I don't know what it says.
As an example of license fun, Apple's Developer Connection agreement contains the following words:
("Prototype" is "Apple pre-release software and related documentation and information" .. how do I know when I downloaded that? Does a Beta of QuickTime count?)
That was enough to make me avoid joining.
Any tasty nuggets in MSDN's license agreement? Or perhaps, they will add some now..
Just pointing out that, like RMS, software companies have their own idea of what "free" means.
I'm reminded of the idea of leaving your campus grounds unpaved, and then waiting for the "natural" grooves to appear in the ground where people walk, and then paving over those to make the sidewalks. You've probably seen an example of where there's a sidewalk connecting two points but then there's a worn-out groove nearby that's better, or connects from a more popular location.
Some people think it's rude or immature for people to create these grooves by not walking on the sidewalk, but I see it as an example of an arrogant designer who thinks he knows the best way simply by studying a piece of paper. It's amazing sometimes, the groove just appears almost magically in an optimal place, given the layout of buildings and traffic patterns.
This applies to web pages too. But, unlike sidewalks and buildings, you can't see your other destinations when you're sitting on a web page, so how do you know where to go next? This seems like it will just constantly reinforce the previous set of links, whatever they are.
I didn't fully read the documents (/. strikes again) but what I saw says you move from page to page either by 1) following an existing link or 2) using a search function. #1 is not going to create fresh paths.
It seems to me, a better idea would be to present a user with all possible links, or a subset of possible links, the first few times they visit. Then as they click through the site, add their arcs to the database.
After the first few visits, you can stop showing all links, and show them the "most popular" links. If you just show the popular links up front, new paths may not be discovered.
So perhaps this technique could be seen as a way to remove unpopular links, to trim the fat from a page. Then again, it might not be good to change a page after a person has gotten used to it.
It's very interesting though. As the web matures, you'll see more of this sort of analysis to move beyond static web pages.
Remember, boarding a ship without permission from the ship owner makes you a PIRATE.
Whoa, they have to ask Disney AND the oil industry? Unprecedented!
(PS: It's a joke. Please don't tap my phone line.)
But for the Open Source products this was not the case. Contacting the maintainers of the Open Source products and asking if anyone provided commercial support was fruitless; in one case the response was downright rude (basically a variation on RTFM) and in the other the response was more helpful, but still could not suggest anything other than being active on the mailing list.
Sounds to me like this just is not a supported product. You can't can get support if it isn't there.. Open Source doesn't mean every product is magically supported by some roving group of expert consultants. If you have to choose between closed-source lock-in and nothing, well, I'd have to go with the lock-in.
Of course, an open-source consulting company might pop up in the next couple of years that does exactly what you want for 1/10 the price and gives you freedom, but since you went with the closed-source solution, you're stuck.
I've found that Open Source is usually cheaper because you have the flexibility to choose how you want to do things. Stick with your old hardware, upgrade, pay a consultant for a one-time job, do it yourself, etc.
I believe it's roughly:
Scheißetwaswirklichschlechtesgeschehenundesüberras chtemichgroß
Used in a sentence:
Mein Automobil ist defekt. Scheißetwaswirklichschlechtesgeschehenundesüberras chtemichgroß!!!
(sorry about slashdot breaking the word in two. They obviously have no respect for the German language.)
.. and it's actually pretty good, especially for newbies. For instance, "redhat-list-my-files-in-current-directory" is a little heavily branded, but it makes a lot more sense than "ls" to a new user. And the "Are you sure you want to run 'xyz' (Y/n)" prompts after every command saved my ass a couple times. Getting rid of all commands that can delete files is also great for security, and that's definitely an advantage over other distros.
The only thing that really tripped me up was that Red Hat mapped "delete character" to the "d" key (probably to fix the whole backspace/delete confusion once and for all). And the character D is mapped to ^X-F4 which is a little hard to type at first but you get used to it. Since they made this change system-wide I learned it pretty fast.
All in all a step in the right direction. Of course power users can always use another distro, or just type their system's source code onto the hard drive from scratch or whatever it is they do for fun on Saturday nights.
I don't know if you're trolling, but personally, I can't stand that "K". I don't mind Gnome's "G" everywhere, but I don't like KDE's "K" at all.
Visually, "K" is just an annoying, ugly letter, all kinds of sharp edges, and it doesn't brighten my day the way a nice "g" or "i" does. Just take a look at that "g", if you've got the right font, it's like a beautiful woman. You can't even get away from "K" in lowercase: "k" looks just like "K". It's like somebody getting kneed in the crotch, or something. (Kneed - begins with "K", ouch!).
When you say it out loud, it makes everything heavy and hard, like something from another language. Konsole. Konqueror. TheKompany. Though each day I am thankful I don't have to put up with a "Kalendar" or a "Klok", or, heaven forfend, a "Kalkulator". The other day, I found myself thinking of programming in kvikkalkul or plankalkül. Skary!
(What do non-English native speakers think of the "K"?)
Well, yes this sounds incredibly stupid, but I avoided KDE for a long time simply because of my strong anti-K stance. No marketing department would ever overuse "K" the way KDE has. Now that I've been using it since I installed RH7.3, I've gotten a little used to it, but man, I'd kill (kill - begins with K) for a nice soft "o", that would be so nice and comfy, maybe even a little funny, like Santa Claus laughing.
(Can you tell I've been programming all weekend?? You know, after you stare at letters for hours on end, they start to stare back....)
Just also check for a magic string in the user agent and voila! trusted computing reinvented. To make it unhackable - just add a few more levels of obfuscation. ;))) The sad part of this, is that I have actually seen authentication schemes like this. Don't know whether I should cry or laugh :)
probably cry... what you described could easily be enforced with the DMCA.
If you use wget, watch out when using "--referer" and "--user-agent".... you just might be breaking TEH LAW!!!
I'm not sure I understand. Does this mean the spammers put links on their own porn (or whatever) sites, and casual surfers will click into the blog from the porn site, thus making the porn site show up in the logs as the referer? That's how the referer is supposed to work, right?
Or are they just bots that hit random web sites and send fake referers along?
Either way, I have absolutely no clue why this would be abusive or even annoying? Can someone explain? Do people sit around checking their referers all day long?? (Then again, I don't understand why anyone would run a blog, so maybe I'm just out of touch).
I clean out all my outgoing referers (thanks squid), so maybe I subconciously assume everybody else does too. Never thought of the referers as anything but a silly waste of bandwidth, since they can be forged so easily.
There goes my theory that Apple was going to bust open the tablet PC market. They have all the pieces ready to go, including handwriting technology, Bluetooth/WiFi, and Rendezvous zero-configuration networking.
:-)
Imagine the flat-panel iMac without the connecting tube. Everybody says "the screen makes you want to touch it and adjust it" wouldn't it be cool if you could pick it up and carry it into the next office?
Personally, I've been wishing for a nice wireless tablet PC for home use for a while. So I can read slashdot while plopped on the couch, of course.
That really stinks. I wish Dom the best of luck getting his money back.
But, I'm not going to cancel my PayPal account over this just yet. I've had the account since the service began (remember when it was for Palm Pilots?). Never had a problem. I treat PayPal with kid gloves because they are not regulated the same way banks are (and they shouldn't be: they are a payment service, not a full-service bank), and they are a huge hacker's target.
Here what I do with my PayPal account (I use it quite a bit on eBay for buying and selling):
1) Set up a separate bank account for PayPal. I have a money market fund whose sole purpose in life is to transfer money between paypal and my regular savings account. I transfer the money out at least once a month or so.
2) never give PayPal any more information than they need. Give them one credit card (preferably exclusive to PayPal with a PO box billing address). Don't sign up for the piss-ant Money Market fund that requires giving them your Social Security Number. No extra emails, phone numbers, or mailing addresses. Change password often.
3) NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES leave a balance in your PayPal account. Because it's PayPal's money, not yours, until you take it out (remember, it's not a bank). Withdraw immediately. Even if you need to pay for an auction later, use your bank/credit card to pay for it. (I use a Citibank card that gives a cash back bonus, so I actually get a small benefit from doing this.)
4) If they send you a free Debit card, cancel it. Don't sign up for the credit card either.
You have to keep in mind also, PayPal can freeze your money at any time. All that has to happen is someone file a complaint against you. They can lock your account. They can do various silly things.
I don't want to "blame the victim", but if your money is not in the PayPal account, it can't be stolen. And if there's a fraudulent charge on your credit card, it can be taken care of with a signed affidavit, or maybe just a letter, like any problem with your card. Your card has consumer protection laws associated with it, your PayPal account doesn't.
I did have one of my other cards stolen once and used on PayPal (had nothing to do with my paypal account, the perp opened his own). I wrote them and received a response and an affidavit to fill out, the next day. In fact, all my PayPal customer service mails have been answered the next day. (I have a "premier" / "merchant rate" account, which gets better treatment, ymmv).
By this point, with all the horror stories out there, I'm surprised anyone would keep a balance in their PayPal account.
the movie studios are trying to co-opt the movie delivery mechanisms of the 'counter-culture' set
I'd say more like: "the movie studios are trying to get a clue and are pulling their heads out of their ass another inch".
I have no interest in their movies, legally or otherwise, but at least they're giving it a go. Maybe it will work out and they won't pass any more legislation. That's what I care about.
Oh yeah, can you imagine how that debate would go? I can.. let's listen in..
Rosen: (to herself: heh, this one works every time.. well except at Oxford Union.) So, who here downloads and burns music?
Congress: (silence. they look at each other and shrug.)
R: (to herself: oh yeah, they don't know the hip lingo like I do) Uh, who here uses their computer to get digital music from the internet and then to put the music on recordable CDs, you know, like homemade CDs?
C: (silence. one congressman checks his watch.)
R: (getting frustrated) Okay, does anyone here use a computer?
C: (shaking of heads. one congressman quietly hides a piece of paper with pending legislation on regulation of the personal computer industry.)
R: (gets an idea) Hey never mind about that. Here's another one: who here likes money?
C: (faces light up.. the room becomes animated) ME!! ME!! ME!! ME!!! OVER HERE!! MONEY!!
R: (to herself: looks like my side won this debate after all)
Yeah, what a great justification: "everybody else is doing it, so it must be okay"
I bet if companies started running ads saying "unlike the other guys, our license only requires the sacrifice of ONE infant", you'd see some competition on license terms.
Of course the existence of the radically different licenses like the GPL, BSD, etc., is also a good counterexample.