And, really, do you need to look at a rearview mirror if you have an icon before you saying "clear to left"?
Rearview mirror - standard.
Radar doohickey and HUD - thousand dollar option (or mandatory $1000 price hike on the car)
For crying out loud, it is cool technology, but we don't need it in our passenger cars. Now you want to equip semis and big trucks with it, that might be cool. But those guys don't seem to care who is in their way anyway.
The problem is, there are a TON of moderators that will go and mod-bomb people because they don't like them, regardless of how well-reasoned their post is. Posts are supposed to be moderated, not individuals, but that's not how a lot of people do it.
And yet, there are moderators who will mod down anything that goes against the "geek norm", regardless of content. On some recent thread about movies, I posted what I thought were reasons why LOTR-ROTK was just a good movie and not fantastic. I was modded as a troll faster than you can download a picture of Natalie Portman. See for yourself Now granted, I didn't go on in great length about my points, but I still think that if you can let go of the fanboy fanaticism and look at it honestly, what I said holds. I was by no means trolling.
The problem with moderators is that meta-moderating is just a little-too-late. And even if it did work well, it wouldn't be able to stop biased moderating. Or it would plunge it into the void of predictable moderating. Or are we already there? There is a mod of "Troll", but not of "Karma Whore".
From reading all of the other posts, it sounds like instead of VoIP, your business should be creating an open source product that is "able to handle Customer Relationship data, manage subscriptions, handle invoicing and accounts, have a web shop of sorts, online billing, credit card transactions, and more."
Sounds like there may be a market for it.
To really make the point stick...
on
Darl Goes to Harvard
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· Score: 2, Insightful
It sounds like the students were pretty well informed, at least more than the speakers were. I think to really drive the point home, nobody should have showed up.
I mean, having SCO speak on how to defend intellectual property rights is like Bill Gates giving a speech on business ethics.
rely on a broadband connection, games served up by microsoft, and a monthly fee per game required to play...
which is the better financial model?
No brainer - the flash memory. Not everyone has broadband, nor is willing to get it just to play console games. You can add on the broadband access to those who have it and are willing to subscribe, but it *can't* be a requirement of the system.
I just meant that he is located in Iraq, where he might have more important things to do than answer interview questions. Although he has access, he also said the power is off at least once a week. Certainly not ideal conditions. 1 week turnaround vs 6 months (and counting). What is that, about 25x faster? I just have a feeling that we are never going to get the answers to the Bruce Perens interview, and I have emailed a couple of times asking what happened to it. Heck, the questions would have changed by now. I am sure the questions regarding SCO would be different now.
As much as I dislike the RIAA and how they treat artists, I have to disagree with your statement about them doing nothing.
They provide: Recording studios and equipment Initial cash for distribution Advertising Manufacturing etc. etc.
Now, I'm not saying that they aren't a bunch of bastards who rip off artists and try and restrict technology, but they DO do a lot.
Nope, read it closely, directly from RIAA.org...
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. RIAA members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.
In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; conduct consumer industry and technical research; and monitor and review - - state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA also certifies Gold(R), Platinum(R), Multi-Platinum?, and Diamond(R) sales awards, and recently launched Los Premios De Oro y Platino?, a new award celebrating Latin music sales.
Nice turnaround time, especially considering where he's located. One week to receive and answer the questions is pretty nice. I wonder if we'll ever get to see the answers to the Bruce Perens interview from July 28?
Dude, I am sure if you want to get bitten on the breast by a guy, you don't have to go to work at DQ. Just look on the internet, I am sure there is a website out there that will hook you up.
So if I were to "steal" one of these DVDs from a store, and open it but never watch it, would that be considered illegal? After all, you don't buy the product, you just rent it.
I could also see the new prank to be to go into a store and poke holes in all the cases.
What I have never understood about certain segments of the open source community is why Apple gets such a big pass. The average slashdrone will rant endlessly (and probably rightly so) about the evils of SCO and Microsoft. When in fact Apple is more closed source and proprietary than both of them combined and talk about how cool Apple is and if only the world were a better place we would all use Mac's.
Maybe it is me, but Apple is more upfront about their proprietary hardware. They don't do backdoor tactics like Microsoft to sabotage competitors (or allies). We all know how the "embrace and extend" deal goes. Apple simply says "This is how we are doing it, if you don't like it, don't buy it." There is something a little more honorable about that.
A couple years ago the patent office lost a legal battle over their use of a rubber stamp with the word "DENIED" on it. Apparently someone had a patent on the device, and the USPTO was in violation.
So they obviously switched to the un-patented "APPROVED" one, and all is running smoothly...
You'd think that given the big rant by Sam towards the end of The Two Towers that gosand would have maybe realized that the story wasn't about the ending so much as the journey itself (as you said). To quote from The Two Towers--
You act like there is something there to get. It is an extremely shallow story - Good vs Evil. Whooptie-doo. I have a friend that is REALLY into LOTR, and over some beers one night he told me some things that they just couldn't really convey in the movie - like the living trees. From what he said, the movie just couldn't do them justice (and sorry for not remembering exactly what they are called). But for the average movie-goer, they might have seemed kind of corny because a movie couldn't do them justice. And we are talking about JUST the movie here, not the books. So you have to step back and look at JUST the movies. I think they were good, probably in the top10 of the year, but not close to the best of the year. (and certainly not best of all time, as I have heard some people suggest)
P.S. The fanboi moderators can suck my sack for modding me down as a Troll, when all I did was offer a different opinion than most people here on a discussion about the movie.
Agreed, I was incredibly disappointed to hear Sean Astin didn't get a nod for his performance as Sam. Easily the most moving performance I've seen in a long time, and he pulled it off perfectly.
I don't get it. Really, I don't. I don't understand all the hubub around this movie. It was good. That's it. The acting wasn't all that great folks. Take off your fanboi glasses and look at it for what it really was.
I have never read the books, nor should I to fully appreciate a movie - after all, movies are never as good as books. That being said, here are a few observations about ROTK that you probably haven't heard...
The outcome was pre-determined. I knew what was going to happen, I could tell how it was going to end. It was predictable. Remember, I didn't know the story.
The whole thing where you think that Gollum was killed, then he comes back right at the climax - cheesy.
I found the Hobbits to be very annoying, especially Sam. They were just too corny for me.
Battle scenes - ugh. Sure, they were fantastic, but bordered on cheesy. Oh no, we are about to be defeated AGAIN. Whee, here come some eagles to save us. It just got a little tired.
I know a lot of people hold this story very dear and may take offense at my comments (I am sure I'll be modded appropriately), but I am looking at the MOVIE with no pre-conceptions. If anything, I watched the trilogy to see what all the hype was about. I still really don't know.
No other DRM system actually lets you choose your player. iTunes only talks to iPod, at least w/o burning and re-ripping. You want to talk product tying -- MS doesn't even sell an MP3 player, let alone force you to use theirs.
That is because MP3 players are still somewhat innovative, and Microsoft "innovates" at the speed of evolution. In fact, instead of making their own, they'll probably just buy out some company that makes them. They obviously can't buy the iPod, and haven't found a suitable one to purchase and call their own.
It may be an ingenious way of paying open source developers and volunteers, Big Blue, but can it really be described as an invention?
This isn't an invention, it is just a modification on an existing invention - the Open Source model where the developers are not paid. Isn't that the crux of our patent system, where instead of inventing something new, you take something that exists and improve upon it in unique ways?
This could be just another leverage patent, of which IBM has many. They only bring them out if you piss them off. Like the extremely well hung guy at a party who just sits back and chills while all the drunken frat guys get into a weiner-size argument, and only whips it out when money hits the table.
If you really want to put your money where your mouth is ("Screw the RIAA!") you shouldn't buy or listen to any of the crap they produce.
But of course, that would involve sticking to principles, and that's hard!
Technically, the RIAA doesn't produce anything. They are an association that the record labels belong to, and they are the ones who produce things. All the RIAA does is....
Hmm, what the hell do they do? Let's see:
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. RIAA members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.
In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; conduct consumer industry and technical research; and monitor and review - - state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA also certifies Gold(R), Platinum(R), Multi-Platinum?, and Diamond(R) sales awards, and recently launched Los Premios De Oro y Platino?, a new award celebrating Latin music sales.
See? They don't produce a damn thing. So why are they necessary? Anyone? They aren't. They simply control the music industry through shady deals, legislation, purchasing of politicians, and strongarm tactics. They are the only game in town, they said so themselves.
Perens too good for Slashdot?
on
Perens on Patents
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Is Bruce Perens too good for Slashdot, or did the editors drop the ball on the questions? Whatever happened to the Ask Bruce Perens interview? That was back in late July, 2003. Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?
The price of a CD is nothing to do with manufacture. Your money pays for all sorts of things, and a big chunk of that is marketing. TV, radio and press adverts in the UK are paid for by the UK record company, not a global body. Radio "pushers", TV appearances, freebies to reviewers, launch parties, etc. etc. etc. are all paid for by the local record company.
So by that logic, any CD that is not being actively marketed should be sold at manufacturing cost.
Does it work like that? Hell no. If anything, the price of a new CD is lower than one that is a year old, because all they are interested in is pumping the sales numbers and moving on. CD prices are simply set because they are the only game in town. Record companies are f'n stupid for not embracing the "digital file" model and keeping control of the market. They still are not embracing it, even though there is a 100% proven market for it. What is even more ignorant is that they offer backdoor support by manufacturing MP3 players while suing those who download MP3s.
Slashdot Mirror
Rearview mirror - standard.
Radar doohickey and HUD - thousand dollar option (or mandatory $1000 price hike on the car)
For crying out loud, it is cool technology, but we don't need it in our passenger cars. Now you want to equip semis and big trucks with it, that might be cool. But those guys don't seem to care who is in their way anyway.
And yet, there are moderators who will mod down anything that goes against the "geek norm", regardless of content. On some recent thread about movies, I posted what I thought were reasons why LOTR-ROTK was just a good movie and not fantastic. I was modded as a troll faster than you can download a picture of Natalie Portman. See for yourself Now granted, I didn't go on in great length about my points, but I still think that if you can let go of the fanboy fanaticism and look at it honestly, what I said holds. I was by no means trolling.
The problem with moderators is that meta-moderating is just a little-too-late. And even if it did work well, it wouldn't be able to stop biased moderating. Or it would plunge it into the void of predictable moderating. Or are we already there? There is a mod of "Troll", but not of "Karma Whore".
Sounds like there may be a market for it.
I mean, having SCO speak on how to defend intellectual property rights is like Bill Gates giving a speech on business ethics.
which is the better financial model?
No brainer - the flash memory. Not everyone has broadband, nor is willing to get it just to play console games. You can add on the broadband access to those who have it and are willing to subscribe, but it *can't* be a requirement of the system.
Well, at least they have a full cock between the two of them.
Yeah, but who is the pitcher and who is the catcher? Oh wait, MS is a part of this, that makes it obvious.
I just meant that he is located in Iraq, where he might have more important things to do than answer interview questions. Although he has access, he also said the power is off at least once a week. Certainly not ideal conditions. 1 week turnaround vs 6 months (and counting). What is that, about 25x faster? I just have a feeling that we are never going to get the answers to the Bruce Perens interview, and I have emailed a couple of times asking what happened to it. Heck, the questions would have changed by now. I am sure the questions regarding SCO would be different now.
They provide:
Recording studios and equipment
Initial cash for distribution
Advertising
Manufacturing
etc. etc.
Now, I'm not saying that they aren't a bunch of bastards who rip off artists and try and restrict technology, but they DO do a lot.
Nope, read it closely, directly from RIAA.org...
Nice turnaround time, especially considering where he's located. One week to receive and answer the questions is pretty nice. I wonder if we'll ever get to see the answers to the Bruce Perens interview from July 28?
RMS got a little mixed up about India. He thought the Gnu was holy instead of the cow.
Dude, I am sure if you want to get bitten on the breast by a guy, you don't have to go to work at DQ. Just look on the internet, I am sure there is a website out there that will hook you up.
I could also see the new prank to be to go into a store and poke holes in all the cases.
Maybe it is me, but Apple is more upfront about their proprietary hardware. They don't do backdoor tactics like Microsoft to sabotage competitors (or allies). We all know how the "embrace and extend" deal goes. Apple simply says "This is how we are doing it, if you don't like it, don't buy it." There is something a little more honorable about that.
What self-respecting Linux geek wears a shirt with a collar?
I guess trolling is easy, especially for ACs. Just my little experiment, thanks for participating.
So they obviously switched to the un-patented "APPROVED" one, and all is running smoothly...
You act like there is something there to get. It is an extremely shallow story - Good vs Evil. Whooptie-doo. I have a friend that is REALLY into LOTR, and over some beers one night he told me some things that they just couldn't really convey in the movie - like the living trees. From what he said, the movie just couldn't do them justice (and sorry for not remembering exactly what they are called). But for the average movie-goer, they might have seemed kind of corny because a movie couldn't do them justice. And we are talking about JUST the movie here, not the books. So you have to step back and look at JUST the movies. I think they were good, probably in the top10 of the year, but not close to the best of the year. (and certainly not best of all time, as I have heard some people suggest)
P.S. The fanboi moderators can suck my sack for modding me down as a Troll, when all I did was offer a different opinion than most people here on a discussion about the movie.
I don't get it. Really, I don't. I don't understand all the hubub around this movie. It was good. That's it. The acting wasn't all that great folks. Take off your fanboi glasses and look at it for what it really was.
I have never read the books, nor should I to fully appreciate a movie - after all, movies are never as good as books. That being said, here are a few observations about ROTK that you probably haven't heard...
The outcome was pre-determined. I knew what was going to happen, I could tell how it was going to end. It was predictable. Remember, I didn't know the story.
The whole thing where you think that Gollum was killed, then he comes back right at the climax - cheesy.
I found the Hobbits to be very annoying, especially Sam. They were just too corny for me.
Battle scenes - ugh. Sure, they were fantastic, but bordered on cheesy. Oh no, we are about to be defeated AGAIN. Whee, here come some eagles to save us. It just got a little tired.
I know a lot of people hold this story very dear and may take offense at my comments (I am sure I'll be modded appropriately), but I am looking at the MOVIE with no pre-conceptions. If anything, I watched the trilogy to see what all the hype was about. I still really don't know.
That is because MP3 players are still somewhat innovative, and Microsoft "innovates" at the speed of evolution. In fact, instead of making their own, they'll probably just buy out some company that makes them. They obviously can't buy the iPod, and haven't found a suitable one to purchase and call their own.
Duh. They now own it, why shouldn't they switch to it?
This isn't an invention, it is just a modification on an existing invention - the Open Source model where the developers are not paid. Isn't that the crux of our patent system, where instead of inventing something new, you take something that exists and improve upon it in unique ways?
This could be just another leverage patent, of which IBM has many. They only bring them out if you piss them off. Like the extremely well hung guy at a party who just sits back and chills while all the drunken frat guys get into a weiner-size argument, and only whips it out when money hits the table.
Technically, the RIAA doesn't produce anything. They are an association that the record labels belong to, and they are the ones who produce things. All the RIAA does is....
Hmm, what the hell do they do? Let's see:
See? They don't produce a damn thing. So why are they necessary? Anyone? They aren't. They simply control the music industry through shady deals, legislation, purchasing of politicians, and strongarm tactics. They are the only game in town, they said so themselves.
Is Bruce Perens too good for Slashdot, or did the editors drop the ball on the questions? Whatever happened to the Ask Bruce Perens interview? That was back in late July, 2003. Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?
Dammit! Why can't the browser just be integrated into the OS?
*ducks*
So by that logic, any CD that is not being actively marketed should be sold at manufacturing cost.
Does it work like that? Hell no. If anything, the price of a new CD is lower than one that is a year old, because all they are interested in is pumping the sales numbers and moving on. CD prices are simply set because they are the only game in town. Record companies are f'n stupid for not embracing the "digital file" model and keeping control of the market. They still are not embracing it, even though there is a 100% proven market for it. What is even more ignorant is that they offer backdoor support by manufacturing MP3 players while suing those who download MP3s.