It makes perfect sense. Making phone calls via a PC is still a very, VERY geeky thing to do (I haven't had a microphone plugged into my PC since I bought a Sound Blaster 1.0 and wanted to try it out). Most uber-geeks use Firefox. Makes perfect sense to me. I really doubt that there are a lot of ordinary people that sit at their PC's with a microphone making phone calls.
It already does work better than per-click for many reasons. The porn industry switched from per-click to per-sale, for the most part, about 5 years ago. Of course, as always, the porn industry online is ahead of the curve.
Re:Sick of B&N favoritism
on
Ubuntu Hacks
·
· Score: 1
I'm afraid to say that both of you guys may be right... I might be naive in thinking that local retail can make it (I own an independent retail store, too!).
Re:Sick of B&N favoritism
on
Ubuntu Hacks
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Thanks, but I buy locally. I like the few independent bookstores that we have left.
No big deal... if anybody wants to do anything illegal online, or even look at questionable material, it's simply a matter of using your local municipal wireless network. The only thing the feds will find out will be the MAC address and the time said content was accessed.
I read the whole article, and I couldn't find any instance of "finger pointing" by companies, the press, or the government. Who, exactly, is pointing fingers? This sounds like an article about a non-issue, if you ask me. I understand that many telecommuters want to continue telecommuting, but the article provides no information as to who this nebulous group of "finger pointers" are, or even if they really exist.
Wow. You laid some groundbreaking business theory that has only been prevalent for the past century or so. MS and Google are attempting to diversify via horizontal markets. The whole being good at one thing and sticking with it is a good thing. They're sticking with their "core competencies". Many companies do not succeed in diversifying. Sun couldn't even diversify to PC's within a similar industry (which was a bad idea, by the way). MS is one of the most successful companies in history (if not the most successful, especially considering the relative newness of the company itself). I don't think that they're all that worried.
You have to understand.... in this society, in this day and age, people DO define (identify) themselves by the things they own, the money they have in their bank account, and their credit rating. Sad, really.
What "artists" are getting paid is in no way mine, or your problem. It's up to the artists to negotiate a deal, just like anybody does when getting a job. Why should I care about whether or not Wierd Al has to buy a new or used jet? Hell, do you worry about whether or not any real people you know get paid "enough"? Honestly, the musicians control that as much as the record companies do. If they're worth money, then they can negotiate. And... just a wild guess here... but I'm guessing that the amount they make from downloads from places like iTunes is in the contract.
Of course the cats should be delivered spayed and neutered. Nobody has mentioned that we still have a HUGE overpopulation problem in this country with cats and dogs. My local shelter has to euthanize 80% of what comes in. There's no need to be breeding cats at all. We have way too many already. This is just more human hubris and greed.
If we had any kind of thinking lawmakers, all dog and cat breeding would be outlawed until animal shelters don't have to euthanize millions of animals every day.
Re:A lot of Japanese use PS2's as DVD players
on
How the PS3 Hit $600
·
· Score: 1
Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. I watch movies, listen to music, and play games with my PS2 controller. It's pretty damn easy. And the remote control is smaller than a lot of TV contollers I've seen. PS2 is as close as we've seen to true convergence.
Re:A lot of Japanese use PS2's as DVD players
on
How the PS3 Hit $600
·
· Score: 1
Waaay too complicated. The PS2 has 2 buttons: eject and reset. A PC is the last thing that most people want to relax in front of.
What percentage of people actually use their consoles as a primary movie player? Electronics manufacturers are always dreaming of using convergence as a way to take over the world, but the reality is people are used to spending ~$200 or less on a DVD player, it won't take long for HD players to reach that sort of price range, and the ability of a console to play HD disks will be irrelevant to most people. Can't really see it being seen as a "masterstroke".
I do, and I know lots of other people with small places, do. Actually, I hear that they're extremely popular in Japan because of the high cost of real estate, these are a great convergence box. I know the PS2 is for me. It's always going with a movie, music, or a game.
I doubt you'll see that. Law enforcement is pretty dumb (especially in the US). If it doesn't involve muscle, beatings, guns, and any other kind of physical violence, they pretty much have no idea how to deal with it. Government employees are, by definition, NEVER the Best and the Brightest. This is a war that law enforcement has no chance to win. Hell, even a government as centralized as China can't control the Net like they'd like to! What makes you think that the brain dead people in say, the FBI could figure out what an IP address is?
That's just not practical... you're talking about making sure that every PC on the planet is secure. A more practical solution is to go after the websites where the money is being made. I run Spam Vampire daily, and it does have a real impact. I get less spam, and I KNOW that I'm costing the spammers real money.
One question for you: Have you ever been a PAID web developer? And I don't mean doing something for your local club, but have you even developed web sites full time in order to pay your rent/mortgage? Somehow, I really doubt it....
Try giving your speech to somebody who is paying you for your time, THEN get back to us.
I'll bet if you looked around, you'd find accounting and POS packages that fit your business that run on Linux (or some other OS). They might be better (for some value of "better") than what you're using now, or they might be worse (ditto). But they almost certainly exist.
Actually, no they don't. I have spent a LOT of time looking, and anything available for Linux isn't close to useable. DOS actually has a much better selection for these kinds of apps that Linux does. The OS isn't expensive. $200/machine isn't anything. Point of Sale apps (a decent one) generally runs $800-$1000 workstation. Trust me, I've looked.
I'm not a fanboy, but I'm certainly buying one. The PS2 has been awesome, and the PS3 is supposed to be the best technology out there with them new fangled Cell chip thingies. Nintendo isn't a consideration because I sometimes like to play games that DO NOT look like an anime comic book or a child's cartoon. The XBox has turned me off because so much of it hinges on being online from what I can tell, and I have no interest in 1. playing against other humans 2. paying for broadband at home and 3. being nickeled and dimed buying upgrades for games I've already paid for.
Besides, $600? Big deal. If I want a PC that will play current games, I have to pay at least $600, AND deal with all of the configuration headaches. I'll plunk down $600 and be happy.
2. Exclaim loudly that there's no need to look beyond Windows as it supports both worlds of apps.
What's your point? This is an EXCELLENT point, that, in all honesty, helps to keep me using Windows in my business. Linux isn't even a possiblity because it doesn't run any of our mission critical applications. But we do use a few open source apps on Windows. I know you're trying to be funny with this, or imply that this is a bad thing... but in actuality, you're 100% right. I'm less locked-in with Windows than I am with Linux. I can run Apache and PostgreSQL on both platforms. I can run my point-of sale software and accounting software on Windows only.
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It makes perfect sense. Making phone calls via a PC is still a very, VERY geeky thing to do (I haven't had a microphone plugged into my PC since I bought a Sound Blaster 1.0 and wanted to try it out). Most uber-geeks use Firefox. Makes perfect sense to me. I really doubt that there are a lot of ordinary people that sit at their PC's with a microphone making phone calls.
It already does work better than per-click for many reasons. The porn industry switched from per-click to per-sale, for the most part, about 5 years ago. Of course, as always, the porn industry online is ahead of the curve.
I'm afraid to say that both of you guys may be right... I might be naive in thinking that local retail can make it (I own an independent retail store, too!).
Thanks, but I buy locally. I like the few independent bookstores that we have left.
No big deal... if anybody wants to do anything illegal online, or even look at questionable material, it's simply a matter of using your local municipal wireless network. The only thing the feds will find out will be the MAC address and the time said content was accessed.
Guess this laptop could be a poster child to prove that laptops really can cause sterility if they are on your lap
Am I the only person out there who thinks that sterility is a good thing? I can buy thousands of high end laptops for what one kid costs.
Businesses like paying for their software.
Actually, our business pays for Windows Server and Windows 2000 Pro because our important software is Windows-only.
I read the whole article, and I couldn't find any instance of "finger pointing" by companies, the press, or the government. Who, exactly, is pointing fingers? This sounds like an article about a non-issue, if you ask me. I understand that many telecommuters want to continue telecommuting, but the article provides no information as to who this nebulous group of "finger pointers" are, or even if they really exist.
Wow. You laid some groundbreaking business theory that has only been prevalent for the past century or so. MS and Google are attempting to diversify via horizontal markets. The whole being good at one thing and sticking with it is a good thing. They're sticking with their "core competencies". Many companies do not succeed in diversifying. Sun couldn't even diversify to PC's within a similar industry (which was a bad idea, by the way). MS is one of the most successful companies in history (if not the most successful, especially considering the relative newness of the company itself). I don't think that they're all that worried.
If it were a real impact, then the price would be higher. At least in the modern world, energy production is getting cleaner every year.
You have to understand.... in this society, in this day and age, people DO define (identify) themselves by the things they own, the money they have in their bank account, and their credit rating. Sad, really.
That is just awesome. I'm buying one.
What "artists" are getting paid is in no way mine, or your problem. It's up to the artists to negotiate a deal, just like anybody does when getting a job. Why should I care about whether or not Wierd Al has to buy a new or used jet? Hell, do you worry about whether or not any real people you know get paid "enough"? Honestly, the musicians control that as much as the record companies do. If they're worth money, then they can negotiate. And... just a wild guess here... but I'm guessing that the amount they make from downloads from places like iTunes is in the contract.
Of course the cats should be delivered spayed and neutered. Nobody has mentioned that we still have a HUGE overpopulation problem in this country with cats and dogs. My local shelter has to euthanize 80% of what comes in. There's no need to be breeding cats at all. We have way too many already. This is just more human hubris and greed.
If we had any kind of thinking lawmakers, all dog and cat breeding would be outlawed until animal shelters don't have to euthanize millions of animals every day.
Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. I watch movies, listen to music, and play games with my PS2 controller. It's pretty damn easy. And the remote control is smaller than a lot of TV contollers I've seen. PS2 is as close as we've seen to true convergence.
Waaay too complicated. The PS2 has 2 buttons: eject and reset. A PC is the last thing that most people want to relax in front of.
What percentage of people actually use their consoles as a primary movie player? Electronics manufacturers are always dreaming of using convergence as a way to take over the world, but the reality is people are used to spending ~$200 or less on a DVD player, it won't take long for HD players to reach that sort of price range, and the ability of a console to play HD disks will be irrelevant to most people. Can't really see it being seen as a "masterstroke".
I do, and I know lots of other people with small places, do. Actually, I hear that they're extremely popular in Japan because of the high cost of real estate, these are a great convergence box. I know the PS2 is for me. It's always going with a movie, music, or a game.
Two words: Lock in.
I doubt you'll see that. Law enforcement is pretty dumb (especially in the US). If it doesn't involve muscle, beatings, guns, and any other kind of physical violence, they pretty much have no idea how to deal with it. Government employees are, by definition, NEVER the Best and the Brightest. This is a war that law enforcement has no chance to win. Hell, even a government as centralized as China can't control the Net like they'd like to! What makes you think that the brain dead people in say, the FBI could figure out what an IP address is?
That's just not practical... you're talking about making sure that every PC on the planet is secure. A more practical solution is to go after the websites where the money is being made. I run Spam Vampire daily, and it does have a real impact. I get less spam, and I KNOW that I'm costing the spammers real money.
One question for you: Have you ever been a PAID web developer? And I don't mean doing something for your local club, but have you even developed web sites full time in order to pay your rent/mortgage? Somehow, I really doubt it....
Try giving your speech to somebody who is paying you for your time, THEN get back to us.
I'll bet if you looked around, you'd find accounting and POS packages that fit your business that run on Linux (or some other OS). They might be better (for some value of "better") than what you're using now, or they might be worse (ditto). But they almost certainly exist.
Actually, no they don't. I have spent a LOT of time looking, and anything available for Linux isn't close to useable. DOS actually has a much better selection for these kinds of apps that Linux does. The OS isn't expensive. $200/machine isn't anything. Point of Sale apps (a decent one) generally runs $800-$1000 workstation. Trust me, I've looked.
I'm not a fanboy, but I'm certainly buying one. The PS2 has been awesome, and the PS3 is supposed to be the best technology out there with them new fangled Cell chip thingies. Nintendo isn't a consideration because I sometimes like to play games that DO NOT look like an anime comic book or a child's cartoon. The XBox has turned me off because so much of it hinges on being online from what I can tell, and I have no interest in 1. playing against other humans 2. paying for broadband at home and 3. being nickeled and dimed buying upgrades for games I've already paid for.
Besides, $600? Big deal. If I want a PC that will play current games, I have to pay at least $600, AND deal with all of the configuration headaches. I'll plunk down $600 and be happy.
2. Exclaim loudly that there's no need to look beyond Windows as it supports both worlds of apps.
What's your point? This is an EXCELLENT point, that, in all honesty, helps to keep me using Windows in my business. Linux isn't even a possiblity because it doesn't run any of our mission critical applications. But we do use a few open source apps on Windows. I know you're trying to be funny with this, or imply that this is a bad thing... but in actuality, you're 100% right. I'm less locked-in with Windows than I am with Linux. I can run Apache and PostgreSQL on both platforms. I can run my point-of sale software and accounting software on Windows only.
Its more that they don't understand how to implement and secure it properly, and don't want to spend the time or money to do so.
And that's a perfectly valid reason not to implement it. That's why we won't implement it. Besides, cat 5 cable is insanely cheap.