If software companies really want to enforce click through licenses like a contract, why don't they just make it a formal contract? Print it out on official legal paper, require all customers to sign (with witnesses, etc) before they buy, and take people to court if they violate it?
Oh right, because that would mean that people would be paranoid out of their minds whenever they went to buy software. Not to mention that no one under age 18 would be able to buy software (or use it, for that matter). No, software giants WANT the click through license to be as easy and brainless as possible, so people don't realize just how much they're getting screwed. Plus, they don't want the idea of click-through to get too much legal scrutiny, since it would probably be ruled unenforcable. No, they're just interested in the fear factor they get from being able to say "Hey, you clicked to agree that you wouldn't do that! Don't make us come after you!"
For the builders at heart, check out MindRover by CogniToy. Given a set of parts, you build a little robotic vehicle to compete in various sporting and dueling activities. At the core of the game is modern AI and robotics theory, layered with some idealized virtual hardware to smooth over the "unfun" aspects of building a real robot. It's tons of fun to have competitions with your friends' robots!
Ah, you may be right about this... remember "The Truman Show"? The show was never interrupted, per se, but there was very commercial-esque product placement and endorsement built in. It does seem to be the logical next step... if you can't get people to sit through the commercials, you can trick them into watching them as part of the show.
the power of cancellation
on
Disconnecting
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Actually cancelling various services may be hard, but never underestimate the power of threatening to cancel the service in order to get what you want.
I use AT&T for my cable and internet service. I stopped watching TV as much recently, so I wanted to downgrade my cable service from Extended Basic to Standard Basic. I called the ever helpful (sarcasm) tech support, and the woman told me that they would have to charge a $15 "service fee" to downgrade the service as I requested. She explained that they had to send a technician out to turn off part of my service, and that I had to pay for that. Obviously, this sounded ridiculous, so I asked "If I just cancelled the service entirely, would there still be a fee?"
The next words out of her mouth were "Let me just waive that service fee for you..."
"Perhaps a programmer's significant other can get them away from the computer...."
Sure! Actually, they can do this already with the proper training and pleasure feedback. After all, this is just a high-tech application of classical conditioning, made more efficient by directly stimulating the brain to create the reward.
Software engineering, compared to most other fields, is still VERY young and immature. Despite the fact that "pretty good" software is being produced today, as the field matures there will be vast improvements in the quality of software applications. For many many years, there will be a need for talented programmers to produce the latest and greatest advancements in software.
I recently lost the last of my respect for Creative Labs after I tried to install a "Sound Blaster Live" on my new system. Not only could I not get the thing working, but their lame "driver setup tool" (which is apparently the only way to get the drivers) wouldn't even run without crashing or failing horribly. Back in the day, they used to be the main players in the sound card business, but lately it seems like their driver support capabilities haven't evolved since the days of DOS. Even if I had gotten it installed, I probably would have been plagued by the skipping and popping that seems to be characteristic of every new Creative Labs product. Honestly, I'm not surprised at the negative review.
No, seriously. The selling point of any ISP should be the connection itself. Every dollar spent on hiring a programmer to embed the ISP's icon in a custom version of netscape is a dollar that could have been better spent on more hardware, or more competent sysadmins to keep the connection running smoothly.
Feel free to give the user suggestions about what software to use, and point them to where they can obtain those applications, but don't waste resources putting together silly custom software packages that 1) eat up memory and cpu on the users' machines, and 2) half the users don't install anyway.
... then put the system in a special room which contains a thermal sensor, a sound sensor, and touch sensors on the floor. Oh, and don't forget to put a laser on the air vent in the ceiling...
It would be even more amusing to harness the collective power of the open source community to simplify this task. Create an online repository for text, divided up and numbered by page. Have 50 or so people buy the ebook, and let them "sign up" for 10 pages each. Their responsibility would be to copy their assigned pages into plain text, then upload the result to the repository. With a coordinated effort like this, an entire ebook could be replicated in under 30 minutes:)
Uh oh, I'd better shut up before they arrest me for discussing a circumvention method...
What I'd really like to see is a search engine that can differentiate (reasonably well) between sites with information and sites that are trying to sell you something. It seems that whenever I'm looking for a good info page about X, all I can find is someone trying to sell me X, and vice versa.
I would imagine that using modern search engine techniques, one would be able to determine what commercial pages "generally" look like, and what informational pages "generally" look like, and categorize appropriately. If you used a learning neural network, you could even accept user ratings on specific search results and use that to fine-tune the algorithm.
Interesting idea, but somehow I think it would still be too predictable. Taking the principle even further, they should have multiple sensors that measure thermal noise, sound variations, RF signals, power fluctuations, light levels, and humidity. Then combine all that data with a big old hash function, and you'll probably get as close to "random" data as one could hope for in this distinctly un-random world.
Not necessarily BS, though it depends on the way the hardware is made. A very simple way (engineering-wise) to implement an indicator LED on a cable modem would be as follows: Whenever the modem is receiving a "1" bit, turn the LED on, otherwise, turn the LED off. Being a type of diode, LEDs are capable of extremely high switching rates (remote controls generally use infrared LEDs pulsed at 56 kHz to transmit data. They can actually switch much faster). Hence, for each packet received, the LED would actually blink dozens of times. To a person, this looks like just a single blink, but a high-speed photodetector would be able to measure the length of each pulse, and use that information to reconstruct the data that was received.
Of course, all this relies on the construction of the modem. Using a slightly less naive algorithm (when a packet arrives, turn the LED on for 1 ms and then shut it off) would defeat this unique kind of sniffing. Still, after staring at my lan hub for a few minutes, I'm wondering if it uses the former technique for flashing the light...
I believe it's true that more than 50% of us don't vote. Yes, that's startling and discouraging. However, even as someone who DOES vote, I find it hard to feel that I've done much better than those who don't vote. Everyone says I'm empowered to direct my government, but I don't buy it. What power do I have? A vote? Everyone tells me that I can vote for anyone I want, then they tell me if I don't vote Democrat or Republican, I'm throwing my vote away. What power do I have? One vote among billions? I feel like I'm standing over a pool full of sand, being told that I have the power to throw one grain of sand into the pool. What power do I have? The power to write letters to my government? And when they ignore me, do I write more letters?
In my humble opinion, this is just the first step from Microsoft for a new FUD campaign against HTTP: "First, we show everyone how HTTP isn't any good, then we roll over our brand new protocol that supports all of HTTP's capabilities, and lacks its limitations. Buy it from us, your beloved Microsoft!".
Now wait a minute... so you're saying that if MS developed "a brand new protocol that supports all of HTTP's capabilities, and lacks its limitations," you'd scoff at it? Or do you only feel this way because we're talking about the evil empire here...
I like making fun of them as much as the next guy, but...
I've always enjoyed a joke along these lines. It starts with a philosophical question...
If all of the technological progress on Earth was suddenly destroyed in an instant, what would happen? Well, within a week, someone would have Linux running on something...
For the most part, I agree with most of the points you've made. However, I need to address this one, which lies at the core of UI design problems:
Microsoft Windows is NOT easy to use. It simply is not.
I'm almost certain that you mean "Windows is not easy for me to use." And possibly you can assert "Windows is not easy for me or anyone I know to use." But to make such a bold statement as yours is to ignore a basic fact of user interfaces: not everyone thinks the same way. I'm willing to bet that there are a large number of people who DO find Windows easy to use. There are also people out there who dislike the Macintosh UI. Designers of user interfaces need to target these large groups of people with similar ways of thinking, but must never lose sight of the fact that there is enormous diversity in what people consider "intuitive".
I've seen a couple window managers/distros that try to look like Windows, but each one uses unique fonts, slightly different widgets, different icons, etc. In the end, it's easy to tell that they're not actually Windows.
Why doesn't someone make a window manager that's pixel-per-pixel compatible with Windows? Obviously you'd need to replace the actual product and company names. But I think it would be hilarious to have a linux system that so closely resembled the Windows GUI that you might mistake one for the other. Not to mention that it would piss MS off to no end...
1. A premade CD that you can just pop into your drive instead of trying to do something "weird", like burning a distro set or doing an FTP install. (FTP? What's that?) 2. A paper copy of an installation manual. Nothing like getting confused in the middle of an installation and not having another machine handy for web access. 3. Sixty days of tech support. This is the one huge advantage that Microsoft generally has, so providing solid support for linux is a big step in the right direction.
Slashdot Mirror
If software companies really want to enforce click through licenses like a contract, why don't they just make it a formal contract? Print it out on official legal paper, require all customers to sign (with witnesses, etc) before they buy, and take people to court if they violate it?
Oh right, because that would mean that people would be paranoid out of their minds whenever they went to buy software. Not to mention that no one under age 18 would be able to buy software (or use it, for that matter). No, software giants WANT the click through license to be as easy and brainless as possible, so people don't realize just how much they're getting screwed. Plus, they don't want the idea of click-through to get too much legal scrutiny, since it would probably be ruled unenforcable. No, they're just interested in the fear factor they get from being able to say "Hey, you clicked to agree that you wouldn't do that! Don't make us come after you!"
For the builders at heart, check out MindRover by CogniToy. Given a set of parts, you build a little robotic vehicle to compete in various sporting and dueling activities. At the core of the game is modern AI and robotics theory, layered with some idealized virtual hardware to smooth over the "unfun" aspects of building a real robot. It's tons of fun to have competitions with your friends' robots!
Ah, you may be right about this... remember "The Truman Show"? The show was never interrupted, per se, but there was very commercial-esque product placement and endorsement built in. It does seem to be the logical next step... if you can't get people to sit through the commercials, you can trick them into watching them as part of the show.
Actually cancelling various services may be hard, but never underestimate the power of threatening to cancel the service in order to get what you want.
I use AT&T for my cable and internet service. I stopped watching TV as much recently, so I wanted to downgrade my cable service from Extended Basic to Standard Basic. I called the ever helpful (sarcasm) tech support, and the woman told me that they would have to charge a $15 "service fee" to downgrade the service as I requested. She explained that they had to send a technician out to turn off part of my service, and that I had to pay for that. Obviously, this sounded ridiculous, so I asked "If I just cancelled the service entirely, would there still be a fee?"
The next words out of her mouth were "Let me just waive that service fee for you..."
:)
Looks like Larry's gonna get the "Criminal" bit set in his entry in the National Big Brother database.
"Perhaps a programmer's significant other can get them away from the computer...."
Sure! Actually, they can do this already with the proper training and pleasure feedback. After all, this is just a high-tech application of classical conditioning, made more efficient by directly stimulating the brain to create the reward.
Software engineering, compared to most other fields, is still VERY young and immature. Despite the fact that "pretty good" software is being produced today, as the field matures there will be vast improvements in the quality of software applications. For many many years, there will be a need for talented programmers to produce the latest and greatest advancements in software.
:)
Don't panic
Yea, totally. I'm routing for the Bears!
:)
Yes, that is one possible joke in this context
The other would be "I'm rooting for the Bears!"
I recently lost the last of my respect for Creative Labs after I tried to install a "Sound Blaster Live" on my new system. Not only could I not get the thing working, but their lame "driver setup tool" (which is apparently the only way to get the drivers) wouldn't even run without crashing or failing horribly. Back in the day, they used to be the main players in the sound card business, but lately it seems like their driver support capabilities haven't evolved since the days of DOS. Even if I had gotten it installed, I probably would have been plagued by the skipping and popping that seems to be characteristic of every new Creative Labs product. Honestly, I'm not surprised at the negative review.
>ask me if I have found jesus yet
I saw a fridge magnet that said "I found Jesus; he was hiding behind the couch the whole time."
No, seriously. The selling point of any ISP should be the connection itself. Every dollar spent on hiring a programmer to embed the ISP's icon in a custom version of netscape is a dollar that could have been better spent on more hardware, or more competent sysadmins to keep the connection running smoothly.
Feel free to give the user suggestions about what software to use, and point them to where they can obtain those applications, but don't waste resources putting together silly custom software packages that 1) eat up memory and cpu on the users' machines, and 2) half the users don't install anyway.
Woah, can I turn my chest into a speaker?
:)
Imagine walking down the street, blasting music from your belly
Buddy, what goes on in your private life is entirely your business
This kind of provides some insight into the sad state of speech recognition technology... at least the stuff coming from Microsoft.
... then put the system in a special room which contains a thermal sensor, a sound sensor, and touch sensors on the floor. Oh, and don't forget to put a laser on the air vent in the ceiling...
Re: Copying ebooks manually...
:)
It would be even more amusing to harness the collective power of the open source community to simplify this task. Create an online repository for text, divided up and numbered by page. Have 50 or so people buy the ebook, and let them "sign up" for 10 pages each. Their responsibility would be to copy their assigned pages into plain text, then upload the result to the repository. With a coordinated effort like this, an entire ebook could be replicated in under 30 minutes
Uh oh, I'd better shut up before they arrest me for discussing a circumvention method...
What I'd really like to see is a search engine that can differentiate (reasonably well) between sites with information and sites that are trying to sell you something. It seems that whenever I'm looking for a good info page about X, all I can find is someone trying to sell me X, and vice versa.
I would imagine that using modern search engine techniques, one would be able to determine what commercial pages "generally" look like, and what informational pages "generally" look like, and categorize appropriately. If you used a learning neural network, you could even accept user ratings on specific search results and use that to fine-tune the algorithm.
Interesting idea, but somehow I think it would still be too predictable. Taking the principle even further, they should have multiple sensors that measure thermal noise, sound variations, RF signals, power fluctuations, light levels, and humidity. Then combine all that data with a big old hash function, and you'll probably get as close to "random" data as one could hope for in this distinctly un-random world.
Not necessarily BS, though it depends on the way the hardware is made. A very simple way (engineering-wise) to implement an indicator LED on a cable modem would be as follows: Whenever the modem is receiving a "1" bit, turn the LED on, otherwise, turn the LED off. Being a type of diode, LEDs are capable of extremely high switching rates (remote controls generally use infrared LEDs pulsed at 56 kHz to transmit data. They can actually switch much faster). Hence, for each packet received, the LED would actually blink dozens of times. To a person, this looks like just a single blink, but a high-speed photodetector would be able to measure the length of each pulse, and use that information to reconstruct the data that was received.
Of course, all this relies on the construction of the modem. Using a slightly less naive algorithm (when a packet arrives, turn the LED on for 1 ms and then shut it off) would defeat this unique kind of sniffing. Still, after staring at my lan hub for a few minutes, I'm wondering if it uses the former technique for flashing the light...
I believe it's true that more than 50% of us don't vote. Yes, that's startling and discouraging. However, even as someone who DOES vote, I find it hard to feel that I've done much better than those who don't vote. Everyone says I'm empowered to direct my government, but I don't buy it. What power do I have? A vote? Everyone tells me that I can vote for anyone I want, then they tell me if I don't vote Democrat or Republican, I'm throwing my vote away. What power do I have? One vote among billions? I feel like I'm standing over a pool full of sand, being told that I have the power to throw one grain of sand into the pool. What power do I have? The power to write letters to my government? And when they ignore me, do I write more letters?
I feel powerless.
Now wait a minute... so you're saying that if MS developed "a brand new protocol that supports all of HTTP's capabilities, and lacks its limitations," you'd scoff at it? Or do you only feel this way because we're talking about the evil empire here...
I like making fun of them as much as the next guy, but...
I've always enjoyed a joke along these lines. It starts with a philosophical question...
If all of the technological progress on Earth was suddenly destroyed in an instant, what would happen? Well, within a week, someone would have Linux running on something...
I'm almost certain that you mean "Windows is not easy for me to use." And possibly you can assert "Windows is not easy for me or anyone I know to use." But to make such a bold statement as yours is to ignore a basic fact of user interfaces: not everyone thinks the same way. I'm willing to bet that there are a large number of people who DO find Windows easy to use. There are also people out there who dislike the Macintosh UI. Designers of user interfaces need to target these large groups of people with similar ways of thinking, but must never lose sight of the fact that there is enormous diversity in what people consider "intuitive".
I've seen a couple window managers/distros that try to look like Windows, but each one uses unique fonts, slightly different widgets, different icons, etc. In the end, it's easy to tell that they're not actually Windows.
Why doesn't someone make a window manager that's pixel-per-pixel compatible with Windows? Obviously you'd need to replace the actual product and company names. But I think it would be hilarious to have a linux system that so closely resembled the Windows GUI that you might mistake one for the other. Not to mention that it would piss MS off to no end...
Here's a list of what you're paying $30 for:
1. A premade CD that you can just pop into your drive instead of trying to do something "weird", like burning a distro set or doing an FTP install. (FTP? What's that?)
2. A paper copy of an installation manual. Nothing like getting confused in the middle of an installation and not having another machine handy for web access.
3. Sixty days of tech support. This is the one huge advantage that Microsoft generally has, so providing solid support for linux is a big step in the right direction.