I get the feeling that someone is playing an elaborate joke on everyone. I just haven't figured out whether it's the Russians, the Mafia, the Chinese, or the Canadians.
It must be the Canadians. They've wanted both sides of Niagra Falls for years.
As others have commented, this is kind of a "duh" moment. What's the next article?
If you install and enable Apache, people can download arbitrary files from your web root directory! Also, driving cars requires gas, and plastic surgery made Paris Hilton uglier.
Google attracts advertisers like Luis with the idea that their ads will be cheaper because, frankly, they are selling something that is only thinly traded. The dream is that the system scales and scales fairly, only it isn't fair at all because if Amazon wants to advertise an equation editor USING EXACTLY THE SAME AD TEXT AND FORMATTING AS LUIS -- their words will cost 100 times less than the same words bought by Luis. It's not that Amazon (or any other big Google advertiser) has better copy writers, it is just that they sell a broader range of things.
"A large percentage of impressions & clicks do have £0.01 minimum bids," said Jeff from Google, "but these are our very highest quality ads/advertisers."
In other words, the minimum word price is 1p, BUT NOT FOR YOU.
Um, yeah. The same words should be more effective coming from Amazon than from Cringely's friend Luis, because people are simply more likely to click.
You could run all this through an algorithm that maximizes expected revenue (AI people would call this "utility") for Google based on click probability, and you'd come up with pretty much what Google does.
I'm sorry. I'm not a Google fanboi, but this is ridiculous.
That sounds a lot like Quake 3's commands. Movement, buttons, and a time stamp were pretty much all that were sent to the server.
It didn't work. Aimbotters created network proxies (intercept and modify input), OpenGL hacks (move the mouse for you based on what's drawn on the screen), client hooks (load up the Quake 3 executable and cause all sorts of mischief), etc., etc., etc.
At some point, you have to trust the client, period. In the case you describe, the server trusts that the input sent to it actually reflects what the player did.
NEVER TRUST THE CLIENT, EVER, WHOEVER THEY ARE, NO NOT EVEN YOUR MUM.
That's not exactly true.
As a mod author, I've dealt with cheating in Quake 3. The actual truth is that you'll have to trust the client at some point or you can't even have a playable game.
It's at that point of trust that the cheaters exploit things. For example, you have to trust the controller input (or a function of it), or players couldn't even play. You could never stop some d00d from creating a custom controller / television set that aims for him.
Well, you could, theoretically, through legislation. (Mandating hardware certification and such-like.) But then you bring the threat of violence against him for merely cheating.
Dude, do we really have to read an article about Mario's twenty-six year history? I read a bunch of articles last year about his twenty fifth anniversary, and I was glad to do it, but this is just too much.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to the 26 1/365th year nostalgia articles. I don't know what's wrong with you.
There's obviously some overlap in that some of their products overlap, but what's with all this war drum talk?
They do obviously compete online, with Google offering search + kitchen sink services and Microsoft offering search + a piece of crap portal. Since online is Google's primary domain, they're direct competitors even if Microsoft has scads of other products.
Don't you hate people who look back on high school as "the best years of their lives?" They are either forgetting what it was like, or they were the bastards who made life miserable for the rest of us. I'm never going to tell my kids to cherish those years.
My kids aren't going to have those years, and if "backward" means "less used to taking a beating from your peers," then by golly, my kids will be backward.
Yes, it all gets better after high school. My parents told me the same dumb crap about how it gets harder. What a crock. It probably would have helped a bit if they'd told me it gets better, but it never occurred to them, because I'm sure that's what their parents told them.
Isn't it ironic that a song entitled "Isn't it Ironic" contains no irony? But that makes it ironic, which means it does contain irony. Which means that it isn't ironic...
If we were being attacked by malicious robots, you could tell them that to blow them up. I'm glad you're around.
Really, it's just supposed to be funny. Remember that? Humour? That thing that makes your tummy wobble up and down with mirth?
The wobbling part totally depends on the tummy. This being Slashdot, though...
I've always been a little unsettled by Slashdot's "Funny" category. It's not "Funny" or "Humor" or "Amusement" or "Drollness" or whatever - it's "It's Funny. Laugh." Like we need directions.
The sad part is that so many of us do. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Can someone direct me, please?
Slashdot Mirror
We don't have any evidence that the author is male, either.
We have a prior belief based on the general population of Slashdot that looks something like this:
Male: 0.99
Female: 0.01
Is it so un-PC to make reasonable assumptions backed up with strong evidence?
'm happy driving my '94 Ford Probe!
It doesn't mean they should stop making Ferraris and Aston Martins.
Rich people have to put their money somewhere. If they didn't, the economy would stagnate.
Luxury items are a major avenue of wealth dispersal.
Two fresh kids, a warm summer night, a dropped piece of soap, twenty horny harderned criminals.
Ah, young love. Brings a tear to your eye doesn't it.
I'm in utter awe at your sense of fairness and humanity.
In case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm.
I get the feeling that someone is playing an elaborate joke on everyone. I just haven't figured out whether it's the Russians, the Mafia, the Chinese, or the Canadians.
It must be the Canadians. They've wanted both sides of Niagra Falls for years.
...that $69 million of debts is still quite real.
Nah. They'll just declare bankruptcy and be done with it. The scammers involved can easily find ways to insulate themselves from any repercussions.
Oh, and it'll help with that Web 2.0 thingy project...
I had no idea "thingy" was a management buzzword.
I definitely need to get out more.
As others have commented, this is kind of a "duh" moment. What's the next article?
If you install and enable Apache, people can download arbitrary files from your web root directory! Also, driving cars requires gas, and plastic surgery made Paris Hilton uglier.
Shocking stuff.
I thought modern philosophy was ephermeral, mindless crap.
Surely you're thinking of deconstructionism and all the other garbage that gets pushed onto poor, unsuspecting lovers of the English language.
Philosophy deals mostly with logic. I wish more were taught in CS courses, if only to engender more rigorous thinking.
Sorry to self-reply, but I just finished the article. Here's the last sentence:
It all comes down to the AdWords algorithm and its intent, which isn't to help Luis OR Amazon, but to simply maximize profit for Google.
Why, yes, Cringely, I think you may have just figured it out. Good job, have a gold star, go to the head of the class. You finally passed ECON 101.
From the article:
Google attracts advertisers like Luis with the idea that their ads will be cheaper because, frankly, they are selling something that is only thinly traded. The dream is that the system scales and scales fairly, only it isn't fair at all because if Amazon wants to advertise an equation editor USING EXACTLY THE SAME AD TEXT AND FORMATTING AS LUIS -- their words will cost 100 times less than the same words bought by Luis. It's not that Amazon (or any other big Google advertiser) has better copy writers, it is just that they sell a broader range of things.
"A large percentage of impressions & clicks do have £0.01 minimum bids," said Jeff from Google, "but these are our very highest quality ads/advertisers."
In other words, the minimum word price is 1p, BUT NOT FOR YOU.
Um, yeah. The same words should be more effective coming from Amazon than from Cringely's friend Luis, because people are simply more likely to click.
You could run all this through an algorithm that maximizes expected revenue (AI people would call this "utility") for Google based on click probability, and you'd come up with pretty much what Google does.
I'm sorry. I'm not a Google fanboi, but this is ridiculous.
That sounds a lot like Quake 3's commands. Movement, buttons, and a time stamp were pretty much all that were sent to the server.
It didn't work. Aimbotters created network proxies (intercept and modify input), OpenGL hacks (move the mouse for you based on what's drawn on the screen), client hooks (load up the Quake 3 executable and cause all sorts of mischief), etc., etc., etc.
At some point, you have to trust the client, period. In the case you describe, the server trusts that the input sent to it actually reflects what the player did.
NEVER TRUST THE CLIENT, EVER, WHOEVER THEY ARE, NO NOT EVEN YOUR MUM.
That's not exactly true.
As a mod author, I've dealt with cheating in Quake 3. The actual truth is that you'll have to trust the client at some point or you can't even have a playable game.
It's at that point of trust that the cheaters exploit things. For example, you have to trust the controller input (or a function of it), or players couldn't even play. You could never stop some d00d from creating a custom controller / television set that aims for him.
Well, you could, theoretically, through legislation. (Mandating hardware certification and such-like.) But then you bring the threat of violence against him for merely cheating.
Dude, do we really have to read an article about Mario's twenty-six year history? I read a bunch of articles last year about his twenty fifth anniversary, and I was glad to do it, but this is just too much.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to the 26 1/365th year nostalgia articles. I don't know what's wrong with you.
Maybe you're a Mario hater.
Hater.
I hear it's also popular on Alpha Centauri A-4, though they're still back on Mario 64 due to rate of information propagation issues.
I really don't care what happens with Nintendo's higher-ups as long as Shigeru Miyamoto keeps making games there.
Heck, if he made them somewhere else, I'd probably defect.
Is it just me, or did the ending of the blurb remind anyone else of the text at the beginning of Star Wars?
It was just as exciting as the opening crawl from The Phantom Menace, too.
Um, it's a search toolbar, not an OS. I'm sure M$ still happily cashes Dell's checks for each copy of the OS that ships with nearly every model...
They must be counting on the search toolbar turning into something like Emacs, which directly competes with Linux.
There's obviously some overlap in that some of their products overlap, but what's with all this war drum talk?
They do obviously compete online, with Google offering search + kitchen sink services and Microsoft offering search + a piece of crap portal. Since online is Google's primary domain, they're direct competitors even if Microsoft has scads of other products.
That was awesome. Thanks!
Don't you hate people who look back on high school as "the best years of their lives?" They are either forgetting what it was like, or they were the bastards who made life miserable for the rest of us. I'm never going to tell my kids to cherish those years.
My kids aren't going to have those years, and if "backward" means "less used to taking a beating from your peers," then by golly, my kids will be backward.
Yes, it all gets better after high school. My parents told me the same dumb crap about how it gets harder. What a crock. It probably would have helped a bit if they'd told me it gets better, but it never occurred to them, because I'm sure that's what their parents told them.
Should the school be able to suspend or expell him for drinking outside school? Should they suspend a student who asks them to?
1) Yes, if this was a rule that they agreed to. Plenty of private schools do things like this.
2) I agree here - no. "I hate school! Please suspend me!"
Isn't it ironic that a song entitled "Isn't it Ironic" contains no irony? But that makes it ironic, which means it does contain irony. Which means that it isn't ironic...
If we were being attacked by malicious robots, you could tell them that to blow them up. I'm glad you're around.
actually, I've owned two since one [GameCube] got hit by lightning
There's a story here that I'm just dying to hear.
Both set in the Wild West...
Ah, I didn't know this. (Because in the grand Slashdot tradition, I didn't RTFA.)
So they've got pirates and cowboys now? All that's left is ninjas, really.
Really, it's just supposed to be funny. Remember that? Humour? That thing that makes your tummy wobble up and down with mirth?
The wobbling part totally depends on the tummy. This being Slashdot, though...
I've always been a little unsettled by Slashdot's "Funny" category. It's not "Funny" or "Humor" or "Amusement" or "Drollness" or whatever - it's "It's Funny. Laugh." Like we need directions.
The sad part is that so many of us do. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Can someone direct me, please?