If Authors could publish themselves, they wouldn't need the Publishers. They still need a middle man, but this one would be a lot cheaper.
Think about it. I write a book. I want people to read it. I can send it to a publisher and get a crappy, barely better than a recording contract, book deal. They control all aspects of the book's dissemination. How many copies, where it goes, who gets paid of to give it a positive review.
Or, I invest a few G's in my own website, and take orders for my book which can be sent to the B&N's printer to be bound. B&N, or whomever, can add a surcharge to cover their costs. I still make as much money (much higher margins for the writer) and the bookstore makes thiers.
now, to perfect this model, every Library has one of these. To buy a book (sans cover art) you select from the catalog, the librarian processes your order, the document is printed. You get charged a fee for the content, and a fee for the supplies.
What is key is that it remains an Open system, where anyone can generate content for the printer. If Simon&Schuster et al. buy thier way into exclusive use, it would not be too different from the present state of affairs.
ACtually, a significant number of medical students are Indian/Pakistani. And Lawyers don't usually get PHD's. They get JD's.
I wasn't able to find decent stats, but it appears about %60-%70 of PHD's are US Citizens. That's just a guess based on limited numbers. If anyone has stats that include more than just one state or University, please post.
We do need computers. But we need teachers that understand how to use them. Not as you and I use them, but as a pervasive tool to incorporate into the classroom. Like desks.
But what they really need are roofs that don't leak. Stomaches that aren't empty. Hearts that are not hopeless.
It's silly to think a computer or ten will substanitively improve one's education. At least, when more basic needs are not met. Most of the hurdles facing Education in the US are Socio-Economic. Not technological.
Please pardon my spelling. I went to a public school with no computers.
I never lived in an area Webvan serviced. And I'm not home all that much, and would hate to have my Mint Choc. Chip sitting on the porch for a few hours.
A service that a few of the grocers are now offering is an ExpressLane. You give them a list, and 4 hours notice, and they'll get all the stuff, bag it, and have it waiting for you. They even have a special checkout line. There is generally a $5 service fee, but you can do 30 minutes worth of shopping in 5 minutes. And you just stop by on your way back home from work. Minimal alteration of your daily activities.
As an added bonus, at least where I live, I get to say I went to Harris Teeter. And I really like saying "Teeter"
While the odds of winnig the average state-run lottery are indeed small (very close to zero), they are not zero. While quantitatively similar enough to be considered the same; qualitatively something is far greater than nothing.
True. Where I live (Raleigh/Durham, NC area) RR's only competition is DSL. Those are the only two choices for broadband. They conveniently cost about the same, but I wonder how long that would last if DSL became even more marginalized in this market.
I have reservations about paying Earthlink $40/mo and still depending on TW for the infrastructure. At least when shit breaks now, I can call TW and expect a response. This may just add another layer.
Furthermore, I wonder how this will impact TW's pricing. Right now, it's $40 w/ standard Cable. No cable service, and it's $60/mo. If I can get Earthlink for $40, than I can finally dump TW Cable and get me a Dish.
I suspect that statement of the patent was more a function of the writer's inability to explain technical things to lay reader than an indication that the patent was lame.
What struck me as odd was the blurb at the end of the article, where they talk about adding SAN and wireless 'soon'. How the hell are they accessing and storing 6TB of data without a SAN or NAS in place? Considering that data availability is worth $136,000 an hour to them, one would think they'd have already put a premium on high-availability storage systems.
No market for it. It's cute, but lacks features power users need. Any real Mac enthusiast bought a G4 Tower or a PowerBook. The Cube was too different. It was awesome, but it had significant limitations that the market would not accept.
Honestly, who among you would choose to drop 1500 on a cube instead of a tower?
As for your statistics: beware the semi-attached figure. Accident rates involving cellphones are going to be under-reported because nobody is going to admit to a policeman after an accident that they were breaking the law by using their cellphone at the time.
Well, unless you are in Brooklyn, OH (near Cleveland) or New York state, it isn't illegal. A few other places are thinking about outlawing it, but haven't yet.
Furthermore, It's not illegal even there to use your cell. It's illegal to hold it up to your ear while driving. Hands-free stuff is OK. Makes phone sex easier.
I remember a day when the technology-Haves would encounter a question to which they had not the answer. Having not the answer, they would seek to find out. They'd search the Usenet archive. Query Y!, or Google. In short, they'd do some fucking work to figure shit out.
But now, we just Ask Slashdot. And the second post will point you towards an article you'd have found had you bothered to look. Ahh well. At least it wasn't a story about Anime.
First of all, I own and drive a 2001 GMC Sierra. So the following is obviosly not a dictating opinion:
The reasoning they make (and yes, they have reasons) is that by choosing to drive an excessively polluting and inefficient vehicle, you are behaving in a way that is inconsistant with a blanced, symbiotic relationship to our world/planet/society/ecosystem; you have committed an aggregious act of aggression against all of the above. As such, violence is warranted to prevent that from happening. That's the gist I get from reading some of their literature, anyway.
I use SCSI HD's. Seriously...how much of an issue will this be? Isn't USB 2.0 supposed to replaced ATA;) Or whatever happened to that newfangled serial interface Intel was working on? The one that was going to be faster than 1394 and rid my PC case of ugly IDE/Floppy cables.
I wish those that are moderating would READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE before declaring something "Off Topic".
I fail to see how responding to something that was in the article can be off-topic. Would the coward that modded the parent down explain to me why he/she chose to do so?
"And thanks to a Red Sox loss to the (cough)Devil Rays(/cough)"...
This has got ot be the first time I've seen an educated sports reference in an otherwise purely computer related article. That he went to a Socks game @ Fenway is not a big suprise. But he knew that the Devil Rays sucked. I'm impressed.
1. A mid-level Oil company. One 1-2 class per year that everyone attends. One more that you require Manager apporoval for. Forget the budget, but something like 6K per employee per year. College courses were re-imbursed provided you got a C or better, and were working towards a degree. Exceptions for management courses, or a class you needed for work (I took a programming class, though I'm a sysadmin. Had a generous manager)
2. Large Canadian Telecom/network equipment manufacturer. 2 classes per annum. Manager apporval required. The fuck heads laid me (and 30,000 other people) off, and arent' making a lot of money right now, so this program may have been frozen.
3. Small Bio-Tech firm. We have a small IT staff (15 people). Two classes per annum. Manager appoval.
In every case, the money is budgeted to the manager for his/her people. VP apporval is for cash-strapped companies, or pussy managers that can't say "no". Books were also something you just needed to ask for. Most of the time, you don't even need to ask. $50 a month on books is no big deal.
Definately look at this when evaluating a potential employer. Training for us IT people is important both for learning, and for resume building. And hey, if you can get that CCNE or MCSE on the company's nickle, all the better.
Slashdot Mirror
Think about it. I write a book. I want people to read it. I can send it to a publisher and get a crappy, barely better than a recording contract, book deal. They control all aspects of the book's dissemination. How many copies, where it goes, who gets paid of to give it a positive review.
Or, I invest a few G's in my own website, and take orders for my book which can be sent to the B&N's printer to be bound. B&N, or whomever, can add a surcharge to cover their costs. I still make as much money (much higher margins for the writer) and the bookstore makes thiers.
now, to perfect this model, every Library has one of these. To buy a book (sans cover art) you select from the catalog, the librarian processes your order, the document is printed. You get charged a fee for the content, and a fee for the supplies.
What is key is that it remains an Open system, where anyone can generate content for the printer. If Simon&Schuster et al. buy thier way into exclusive use, it would not be too different from the present state of affairs.
I wasn't able to find decent stats, but it appears about %60-%70 of PHD's are US Citizens. That's just a guess based on limited numbers. If anyone has stats that include more than just one state or University, please post.
But what they really need are roofs that don't leak. Stomaches that aren't empty. Hearts that are not hopeless.
It's silly to think a computer or ten will substanitively improve one's education. At least, when more basic needs are not met. Most of the hurdles facing Education in the US are Socio-Economic. Not technological.
Please pardon my spelling. I went to a public school with no computers.
A service that a few of the grocers are now offering is an ExpressLane. You give them a list, and 4 hours notice, and they'll get all the stuff, bag it, and have it waiting for you. They even have a special checkout line. There is generally a $5 service fee, but you can do 30 minutes worth of shopping in 5 minutes. And you just stop by on your way back home from work. Minimal alteration of your daily activities.
As an added bonus, at least where I live, I get to say I went to Harris Teeter. And I really like saying "Teeter"
I have reservations about paying Earthlink $40/mo and still depending on TW for the infrastructure. At least when shit breaks now, I can call TW and expect a response. This may just add another layer.
Furthermore, I wonder how this will impact TW's pricing. Right now, it's $40 w/ standard Cable. No cable service, and it's $60/mo. If I can get Earthlink for $40, than I can finally dump TW Cable and get me a Dish.
What struck me as odd was the blurb at the end of the article, where they talk about adding SAN and wireless 'soon'. How the hell are they accessing and storing 6TB of data without a SAN or NAS in place? Considering that data availability is worth $136,000 an hour to them, one would think they'd have already put a premium on high-availability storage systems.
You really ought to be using a UPS, anyway.
Honestly, who among you would choose to drop 1500 on a cube instead of a tower?
Defending Freedom is dirty work. Ask any Veteren. Or Civil Rights activist. Or Guatamalen Nun.
Where do I send my check?
Umm... ever heard of the AIDs quilt?
Well, unless you are in Brooklyn, OH (near Cleveland) or New York state, it isn't illegal. A few other places are thinking about outlawing it, but haven't yet.
Furthermore, It's not illegal even there to use your cell. It's illegal to hold it up to your ear while driving. Hands-free stuff is OK. Makes phone sex easier.
But now, we just Ask Slashdot. And the second post will point you towards an article you'd have found had you bothered to look. Ahh well. At least it wasn't a story about Anime.
The reasoning they make (and yes, they have reasons) is that by choosing to drive an excessively polluting and inefficient vehicle, you are behaving in a way that is inconsistant with a blanced, symbiotic relationship to our world/planet/society/ecosystem; you have committed an aggregious act of aggression against all of the above. As such, violence is warranted to prevent that from happening. That's the gist I get from reading some of their literature, anyway.
I fail to see how responding to something that was in the article can be off-topic. Would the coward that modded the parent down explain to me why he/she chose to do so?
This has got ot be the first time I've seen an educated sports reference in an otherwise purely computer related article. That he went to a Socks game @ Fenway is not a big suprise. But he knew that the Devil Rays sucked . I'm impressed.
:(
2. Large Canadian Telecom/network equipment manufacturer. 2 classes per annum. Manager apporval required. The fuck heads laid me (and 30,000 other people) off, and arent' making a lot of money right now, so this program may have been frozen.
3. Small Bio-Tech firm. We have a small IT staff (15 people). Two classes per annum. Manager appoval.
In every case, the money is budgeted to the manager for his/her people. VP apporval is for cash-strapped companies, or pussy managers that can't say "no". Books were also something you just needed to ask for. Most of the time, you don't even need to ask. $50 a month on books is no big deal.
Definately look at this when evaluating a potential employer. Training for us IT people is important both for learning, and for resume building. And hey, if you can get that CCNE or MCSE on the company's nickle, all the better.