I don't understand why you can't accept that someone is satisfied with what he has. The choice of one web browser over another is hardly comparable to the choice of growing food for personal consumption versus purchasing it. Mentioned in this article is a gentleman whose simple web browsing needs are fully met, as hard as it is to believe, with the Netscape browser. This creates cognitive dissonance on our part because we place such a high value on internet usage (perhaps too much).
You could just not use Gmail. Pay for your own host and account somewhere else.
I accept Google's services for what they are -- free crap with a catch. They will use any edge they can, and that's gained from the information you provide to them.
What's funny about this story (and the predictable responses of the Slashdotters) is that user passwords are by and large useless to Google. They already have unlimited access to the data we provide them with or without our login information. That leads me to believe this was a careless error.
The more disturbing thing is that Google is storing our passwords in clear text. For a bunch who is so proud of all their Ph.D.'s, that sure is a dumb practice.
This is an SDK for a specific device, not one for an operating system or framework. It's unreasonable to expect Apple to open up areas of development that would be anathema to their strategies for success. Allowing VOIP development would be damaging to the carriers with whom Apple has made deals. It would be crazy not to have rules against such development.
Re:It's a serious art form
on
Reading Comics
·
· Score: 1
You're right. Watchmen was very self-aware in this regard. The person to whom you're replying is trying to look smart by hating on a work that was critically acclaimed. However, he/she shows ignorance by not appreciating the subtleties of the work.
I've almost completely abandoned physical media for music, but I think we're still pretty far off from me being able to do it with video. I had no problem ripping all my CDs into iTunes, and putting them into storage. I hear about how the quality is "crappy," but it's good enough to make a worthy benefit out of the 8-10 cubic feet I've gained from all my discs being put into storage. Plus, 500+ CDs only takes up about 25 GB on my hard drive. I can very conveniently keep that on my laptop drive, as well as perform regular backups.
Video is an altogether different beast. If I were to rip all my DVDs, that would require around 1.5 TB of storage. It's not so convenient to back up, and I'd have to keep it all on a NAS or a PC. Every NAS I've tried has been loud and hot, and a PC takes up nearly as much space as my DVDs do. And that's just using regular DVDs as an example. Bluray discs would be... what... 3-5x the size? Is it even more? I don't know.
Woz makes some good points about the MacBook Air, which are largely the reasons I have no interest in the product. Although I'm not sure whether it can be called a "hit" or a "miss," as we don't know Apple's sales expectations for that model. I think it's a fine idea for a relatively small sector -- presenters, salespeople, etc. being among them -- who value portability and battery life above all else. If it gets a high adoption rate among this demographic, you'd have to label it a "hit." Problem is, who knows how big this sect is or of whom it is comprised.
As for the iPhone, I personally don't care about lack of 3G, simply because there isn't a 3G network within 100 miles of my house yet. I would expect a 3G model of the iPhone to be released later this year, and I probably wouldn't find use for one until next year. That gives me around 2 years with my current iPhone, which is the typical lifespan for phones with me.
I agree with his sentiment on Apple TV. I, too, dislike the 24-hour rule. However, he's a bit out of touch with the paradigm set by the onDemand system. The rules set by iTunes are comparable, although Apple at least gives you 30 days to start watching the rented material. One would think Apple will adjust this policy somewhat. Even if they give you 36 or 48 hours to finish watching, that would make a huge difference without really costing them anything. As for the quality of the YouTube content, it's no worse than watching it on the site -- Garbage In, Garbage Out, after all. In general, I think the Apple TV is a fine device. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I had a couple hundred bucks in Apple Store credit I needed to burn, but I do like its form factor, the available outputs, and how intuitively it accesses the iTunes store and syncs with your computer.
Good point. To further raise the BS meter, there are always three words that lead me to believe a story is more science fiction than science: "British researchers discovered."
In the past several years, we've seen the following breakthroughs from British scientists:
Claims of teleportation. Claims of sending a photon of light backwards in time. Cancer treatment breakthroughs.
All have turned out to be nonsense. "British researchers" immediately says to me "STOP READING NOW."
Exactly. I can get 10mb DSL to my house and will gladly do so. The phone companies don't have as much incentive to discourage internet over media. I'll also be a satellite subscriber then.
I spend about $200/month on my cable and internet access. I'm not shy about ordering premium movie packages (HBO, Showtime, and Skinemax currently), picked up their expensive sports tier so I could get the NFL Network, and also have the NHL Center Ice package. I'm easily a $2500/year customer for Comcast.
Funny, most companies believe that level of spending makes for a valued customer. If the cable companies choose to take this route (which I doubt they will, honestly), I will find other options. I'll even pay more for other options, as lack of restriction is a value point for me.
This drastic change has certainly yielded some positive results -- book reading and stimulus of imagination being two of them.
But... TV and video games are two widely accepted social norms. They're your kids, so how you raise them is your business. But consider that perhaps allowing restricted TV watching and video games would yield a similar positive result, but also allow your children a solid frame of reference for social interaction with their peers.
There's no reason you can't implement your own hashtable or linked list in Java or any other high-level language. There's no reason you can't implement your own sort algorithm, either. Blame the curriculum itself, not the language used. That's where I think you the author fails to make the proper distinction.
Your four points are dead-on. These were my thoughts exactly after leaving the theater.
This just goes to show that Blair Witch would have been a much better movie had there been a real witch involved.
The shaky cam was way overdone. That was my sole criticism of the film. When it came to the filming, we already had to suspend a bit of disbelief. The battery on that camera must have been alien technology to last that long. It had more settings (light, night vision) than stuff you can find in the military. And you're not going to get all kinds of crazy bass-heavy digital surround sound on a mini camera microphone. We may as well take the next step and trim down the shake factor a little while we're at it.
There's a difference between public service and a welfare/nanny state.
A government that cures all social ills and provides for all our needs does not now, nor will it ever, exist.
Dreamers like you are quick to denigrate anyone who suggests that supporting the view that people are responsible for themselves. "Oh, well you're just fucking the poor you evil man!" Meanwhile you have no realistic vision for how to reach this utopia.
I ran simulations like this all the time...
on
Modeling Urban Panic
·
· Score: 1
Back when I played Grand Theft Auto, I'd blow up a car in a crowd of people then watch them scatter. The ones who caught fire were my favorites. True story!
First thing I'd do is give the press conference format a bit of a kick in the pants. I'd make sure all my press conferences and addresses were on a seven-second delay, and use the "F" word liberally in them. For example: talk to Congress like they're a bunch of spoiled children and ponder aloud about what the "F" could possibly be wrong with them.
Next thing I'd do is encourage the legislature to take away the governmental power that political parties have enjoyed. I would threaten to veto every bill that came across my desk until the two-party power cartel was effectively castrated. There's no reason a majority party should mean anything in the House or Senate, except that they are fairly like-minded individuals holding office. You have a much more honest legislature when you're pitting individuals against each other instead of parties.
I think by doing these things the rest would naturally take care of itself. While it's easy to think I'd do this or that with regards to a specific policy, it's really not that simple. Every day politicians make decisions based on volumes of information and advice from advisers -- data to which none of us is privy. We are quick to criticize every move of the people we don't like with our 20-20 hindsight, but in reality we can't say we wouldn't reach the same conclusions at the time.
Ford is on pretty solid legal footing here. It's a pretty standard defense of trademarked property.
However, I do have to question the wisdom in adopting this strategy. If I'm the holder of a trademark that has quite frankly taken a beating in recent years, I'd be exuberant to find out that some enthusiast of my brand were doing this. I'd even go so far as to provide them additional materials in exchange for: 1) some editorial review of the final product, and 2) some marketing materials embedded in the product.
It seems that this calendar among a group of enthusiasts would be accretive to the value of Ford's brand. Such a stoic, one-size-fits-all trademark policy can only harm the company in this case.
No, the price should be what people are willing to pay for it. There are two premiums over buying a physical medium with the work:
1. Convenience. People who make money value their time more. That's not laziness. It's rational economic behavior. 2. Space. There is an opportunity cost involved with owning a physical CD -- it is occupying space that could be occupied by something else.
Based on the success of iTunes and the like, there are plenty of people out there who find the $.99/track price to be reasonable. Perhaps they value the aforementioned premiums over bit rate. Obviously you're not one of those people, and that's fine. There's no reason to be so emotionally invested in your position on this that you would sit in judgment of others who don't share your view.
I think the reason is even simpler than that: IE comes preinstalled on Windows boxes, while Firefox does not. Most corporate users are on Windows, and will use whatever default browser they're handed.
I'm surprised that Apple has insisted on forcing the "chiclet" design on us, despite the criticism that design has received over the years. On the other hand, after playing around with one of the keyboards at an Apple store recently, I have to say I'm surprised at how quickly I was able to type on it. I do find the previous Apple keyboard more preferable, but I at least didn't hate the new one.
If only they came out with a full keyboard that was wireless, I'd get one. I can't stand that they downgraded the more expensive wireless keyboard to be a notebook keyboard. I bought the wireless keyboard for use with my notebook. I may as well just type directly into the computer if I'm not going to get the benefit of a full keyboard.
Maybe it would help if I sent this to Apple instead of Slashdot.
Worry less about the languages you'll be using and more about building discipline in yourself to do things the right way.
College courses do well in teaching language syntax and high level concepts. Some schools also push good programming style. However, I find a lot of concepts get pushed aside since they're more important in a commercial environment than in an academic one. These are the concepts that make for a complete software developer.
For example, testing is an afterthought in college courses. The reasoning is sound. You're building an application in a college course that is designed to run once and get you the grade. You don't have to worry about regression issues. It's not an application that will be cause for a 3am phone call on a Sunday morning. Even if testing is covered in the course, the nature of the work you do in that course means the value of the testing will never be realized.
Maybe try this: come up with a software project to build discipline in your development practices. The scope of the project should be fairly small, as the code you write should be one of the least of your concerns. Rather, this should be an exercise in writing tests, managing your project in source control, automating builds (and testing them), and refactoring. Do this and you'll be amazed at how far ahead you are of your peers in a year or two.
If you invoke an NDA, Customs will simply bar entry to the item in question. Just because they're not likely to throw you in jail for refusing to comply doesn't mean they have to let you in with your laptop either.
I fail to see anything illegal or unconstitutional with this policy. As stewards of our security, this government reserves the right to know about anything that crosses its borders. Where Customs is involved, they are acting in the interests of our economic security, keeping contraband that is potentially harmful to us economically out of our nation.
But (there's always a but) one has to question the practicality of this endeavor. It would seem to me that the cost to society, through invasion of privacy and general inconvenience, greatly outweighs any benefit we may realize. Plus there is an opportunity cost involved with searching a laptop -- whatever Customs agent is given this task could invariably be doing something much more productive with that time.
Perhaps once information becomes the sole asset remaining in this country, we'd have a change of heart, but right now it just seems like annoyingly senseless policy.
This article is much ado about nothing. This was part of the risk disclosure section in McAfee's annual filing. It is neither indicative of corporate policy nor suggestive of future direction. This kind of CYA is pretty standard with any publicly-reporting company. Their disclosure states that there is a risk of their intellectual property ownership being compromised by the license terms of some of the OSS they use. You, I, and everyone at McAfee knows the chances of this happening are practically non-existent. However, you present this information to the investor so he/she can't sue you if somehow a scenario like this does happen.
I worked for a small public company for awhile, and many of our risk disclosures in our reports were not necessarily reflective of reality. One such disclosure was that our systems ran on Microsoft software, and that if Microsoft went out of business we were basically screwed. I didn't remember seeing a magazine article stating how we were "worried" that Microsoft will be going out of business.
Linux is getting killed by OS X in the desktop arena. Consumers want either a black box that works right out of the package (Mac) or a product that offers such universal compatibility (with minimal effort) that the product can run in almost any hardware configuration (Windows). Though Ubuntu has made great strides, Linux offers neither. While you or I may not find it difficult to get a Linux desktop or laptop running, my 90-year-old grandma would, and she's more representative of the consumer base at large than you or I.
This assumes the existence of God is dependent on on the available god-theory constructs. Of course, that then suggests existence of anything is dependent upon human perception, which is itself a fallible and unprovable philosophical belief.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't understand why you can't accept that someone is satisfied with what he has. The choice of one web browser over another is hardly comparable to the choice of growing food for personal consumption versus purchasing it. Mentioned in this article is a gentleman whose simple web browsing needs are fully met, as hard as it is to believe, with the Netscape browser. This creates cognitive dissonance on our part because we place such a high value on internet usage (perhaps too much).
Or. OR...
You could just not use Gmail. Pay for your own host and account somewhere else.
I accept Google's services for what they are -- free crap with a catch. They will use any edge they can, and that's gained from the information you provide to them.
What's funny about this story (and the predictable responses of the Slashdotters) is that user passwords are by and large useless to Google. They already have unlimited access to the data we provide them with or without our login information. That leads me to believe this was a careless error.
The more disturbing thing is that Google is storing our passwords in clear text. For a bunch who is so proud of all their Ph.D.'s, that sure is a dumb practice.
This is an SDK for a specific device, not one for an operating system or framework. It's unreasonable to expect Apple to open up areas of development that would be anathema to their strategies for success. Allowing VOIP development would be damaging to the carriers with whom Apple has made deals. It would be crazy not to have rules against such development.
You're right. Watchmen was very self-aware in this regard. The person to whom you're replying is trying to look smart by hating on a work that was critically acclaimed. However, he/she shows ignorance by not appreciating the subtleties of the work.
I've almost completely abandoned physical media for music, but I think we're still pretty far off from me being able to do it with video. I had no problem ripping all my CDs into iTunes, and putting them into storage. I hear about how the quality is "crappy," but it's good enough to make a worthy benefit out of the 8-10 cubic feet I've gained from all my discs being put into storage. Plus, 500+ CDs only takes up about 25 GB on my hard drive. I can very conveniently keep that on my laptop drive, as well as perform regular backups.
Video is an altogether different beast. If I were to rip all my DVDs, that would require around 1.5 TB of storage. It's not so convenient to back up, and I'd have to keep it all on a NAS or a PC. Every NAS I've tried has been loud and hot, and a PC takes up nearly as much space as my DVDs do. And that's just using regular DVDs as an example. Bluray discs would be... what... 3-5x the size? Is it even more? I don't know.
Woz makes some good points about the MacBook Air, which are largely the reasons I have no interest in the product. Although I'm not sure whether it can be called a "hit" or a "miss," as we don't know Apple's sales expectations for that model. I think it's a fine idea for a relatively small sector -- presenters, salespeople, etc. being among them -- who value portability and battery life above all else. If it gets a high adoption rate among this demographic, you'd have to label it a "hit." Problem is, who knows how big this sect is or of whom it is comprised.
As for the iPhone, I personally don't care about lack of 3G, simply because there isn't a 3G network within 100 miles of my house yet. I would expect a 3G model of the iPhone to be released later this year, and I probably wouldn't find use for one until next year. That gives me around 2 years with my current iPhone, which is the typical lifespan for phones with me.
I agree with his sentiment on Apple TV. I, too, dislike the 24-hour rule. However, he's a bit out of touch with the paradigm set by the onDemand system. The rules set by iTunes are comparable, although Apple at least gives you 30 days to start watching the rented material. One would think Apple will adjust this policy somewhat. Even if they give you 36 or 48 hours to finish watching, that would make a huge difference without really costing them anything. As for the quality of the YouTube content, it's no worse than watching it on the site -- Garbage In, Garbage Out, after all. In general, I think the Apple TV is a fine device. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I had a couple hundred bucks in Apple Store credit I needed to burn, but I do like its form factor, the available outputs, and how intuitively it accesses the iTunes store and syncs with your computer.
Good point. To further raise the BS meter, there are always three words that lead me to believe a story is more science fiction than science: "British researchers discovered."
In the past several years, we've seen the following breakthroughs from British scientists:
Claims of teleportation.
Claims of sending a photon of light backwards in time.
Cancer treatment breakthroughs.
All have turned out to be nonsense. "British researchers" immediately says to me "STOP READING NOW."
No offense to the British intended, of course.
Exactly. I can get 10mb DSL to my house and will gladly do so. The phone companies don't have as much incentive to discourage internet over media. I'll also be a satellite subscriber then.
I spend about $200/month on my cable and internet access. I'm not shy about ordering premium movie packages (HBO, Showtime, and Skinemax currently), picked up their expensive sports tier so I could get the NFL Network, and also have the NHL Center Ice package. I'm easily a $2500/year customer for Comcast.
Funny, most companies believe that level of spending makes for a valued customer. If the cable companies choose to take this route (which I doubt they will, honestly), I will find other options. I'll even pay more for other options, as lack of restriction is a value point for me.
"Now don't get me wrong - I despise spending time with either one of them." ::pissing pants
This drastic change has certainly yielded some positive results -- book reading and stimulus of imagination being two of them.
But... TV and video games are two widely accepted social norms. They're your kids, so how you raise them is your business. But consider that perhaps allowing restricted TV watching and video games would yield a similar positive result, but also allow your children a solid frame of reference for social interaction with their peers.
There's no reason you can't implement your own hashtable or linked list in Java or any other high-level language. There's no reason you can't implement your own sort algorithm, either. Blame the curriculum itself, not the language used. That's where I think you the author fails to make the proper distinction.
Your four points are dead-on. These were my thoughts exactly after leaving the theater.
This just goes to show that Blair Witch would have been a much better movie had there been a real witch involved.
The shaky cam was way overdone. That was my sole criticism of the film. When it came to the filming, we already had to suspend a bit of disbelief. The battery on that camera must have been alien technology to last that long. It had more settings (light, night vision) than stuff you can find in the military. And you're not going to get all kinds of crazy bass-heavy digital surround sound on a mini camera microphone. We may as well take the next step and trim down the shake factor a little while we're at it.
Interesting. Does it come with a pre-trained model? Are you able to train it more fully?
There's a difference between public service and a welfare/nanny state.
A government that cures all social ills and provides for all our needs does not now, nor will it ever, exist.
Dreamers like you are quick to denigrate anyone who suggests that supporting the view that people are responsible for themselves. "Oh, well you're just fucking the poor you evil man!" Meanwhile you have no realistic vision for how to reach this utopia.
Back when I played Grand Theft Auto, I'd blow up a car in a crowd of people then watch them scatter. The ones who caught fire were my favorites. True story!
First thing I'd do is give the press conference format a bit of a kick in the pants. I'd make sure all my press conferences and addresses were on a seven-second delay, and use the "F" word liberally in them. For example: talk to Congress like they're a bunch of spoiled children and ponder aloud about what the "F" could possibly be wrong with them.
Next thing I'd do is encourage the legislature to take away the governmental power that political parties have enjoyed. I would threaten to veto every bill that came across my desk until the two-party power cartel was effectively castrated. There's no reason a majority party should mean anything in the House or Senate, except that they are fairly like-minded individuals holding office. You have a much more honest legislature when you're pitting individuals against each other instead of parties.
I think by doing these things the rest would naturally take care of itself. While it's easy to think I'd do this or that with regards to a specific policy, it's really not that simple. Every day politicians make decisions based on volumes of information and advice from advisers -- data to which none of us is privy. We are quick to criticize every move of the people we don't like with our 20-20 hindsight, but in reality we can't say we wouldn't reach the same conclusions at the time.
Ford is on pretty solid legal footing here. It's a pretty standard defense of trademarked property.
However, I do have to question the wisdom in adopting this strategy. If I'm the holder of a trademark that has quite frankly taken a beating in recent years, I'd be exuberant to find out that some enthusiast of my brand were doing this. I'd even go so far as to provide them additional materials in exchange for: 1) some editorial review of the final product, and 2) some marketing materials embedded in the product.
It seems that this calendar among a group of enthusiasts would be accretive to the value of Ford's brand. Such a stoic, one-size-fits-all trademark policy can only harm the company in this case.
No, the price should be what people are willing to pay for it. There are two premiums over buying a physical medium with the work:
1. Convenience. People who make money value their time more. That's not laziness. It's rational economic behavior.
2. Space. There is an opportunity cost involved with owning a physical CD -- it is occupying space that could be occupied by something else.
Based on the success of iTunes and the like, there are plenty of people out there who find the $.99/track price to be reasonable. Perhaps they value the aforementioned premiums over bit rate. Obviously you're not one of those people, and that's fine. There's no reason to be so emotionally invested in your position on this that you would sit in judgment of others who don't share your view.
I think the reason is even simpler than that: IE comes preinstalled on Windows boxes, while Firefox does not. Most corporate users are on Windows, and will use whatever default browser they're handed.
I'm surprised that Apple has insisted on forcing the "chiclet" design on us, despite the criticism that design has received over the years. On the other hand, after playing around with one of the keyboards at an Apple store recently, I have to say I'm surprised at how quickly I was able to type on it. I do find the previous Apple keyboard more preferable, but I at least didn't hate the new one.
If only they came out with a full keyboard that was wireless, I'd get one. I can't stand that they downgraded the more expensive wireless keyboard to be a notebook keyboard. I bought the wireless keyboard for use with my notebook. I may as well just type directly into the computer if I'm not going to get the benefit of a full keyboard.
Maybe it would help if I sent this to Apple instead of Slashdot.
Worry less about the languages you'll be using and more about building discipline in yourself to do things the right way.
College courses do well in teaching language syntax and high level concepts. Some schools also push good programming style. However, I find a lot of concepts get pushed aside since they're more important in a commercial environment than in an academic one. These are the concepts that make for a complete software developer.
For example, testing is an afterthought in college courses. The reasoning is sound. You're building an application in a college course that is designed to run once and get you the grade. You don't have to worry about regression issues. It's not an application that will be cause for a 3am phone call on a Sunday morning. Even if testing is covered in the course, the nature of the work you do in that course means the value of the testing will never be realized.
Maybe try this: come up with a software project to build discipline in your development practices. The scope of the project should be fairly small, as the code you write should be one of the least of your concerns. Rather, this should be an exercise in writing tests, managing your project in source control, automating builds (and testing them), and refactoring. Do this and you'll be amazed at how far ahead you are of your peers in a year or two.
If you invoke an NDA, Customs will simply bar entry to the item in question. Just because they're not likely to throw you in jail for refusing to comply doesn't mean they have to let you in with your laptop either.
I fail to see anything illegal or unconstitutional with this policy. As stewards of our security, this government reserves the right to know about anything that crosses its borders. Where Customs is involved, they are acting in the interests of our economic security, keeping contraband that is potentially harmful to us economically out of our nation.
But (there's always a but) one has to question the practicality of this endeavor. It would seem to me that the cost to society, through invasion of privacy and general inconvenience, greatly outweighs any benefit we may realize. Plus there is an opportunity cost involved with searching a laptop -- whatever Customs agent is given this task could invariably be doing something much more productive with that time.
Perhaps once information becomes the sole asset remaining in this country, we'd have a change of heart, but right now it just seems like annoyingly senseless policy.
This article is much ado about nothing. This was part of the risk disclosure section in McAfee's annual filing. It is neither indicative of corporate policy nor suggestive of future direction. This kind of CYA is pretty standard with any publicly-reporting company. Their disclosure states that there is a risk of their intellectual property ownership being compromised by the license terms of some of the OSS they use. You, I, and everyone at McAfee knows the chances of this happening are practically non-existent. However, you present this information to the investor so he/she can't sue you if somehow a scenario like this does happen.
I worked for a small public company for awhile, and many of our risk disclosures in our reports were not necessarily reflective of reality. One such disclosure was that our systems ran on Microsoft software, and that if Microsoft went out of business we were basically screwed. I didn't remember seeing a magazine article stating how we were "worried" that Microsoft will be going out of business.
Linux is getting killed by OS X in the desktop arena. Consumers want either a black box that works right out of the package (Mac) or a product that offers such universal compatibility (with minimal effort) that the product can run in almost any hardware configuration (Windows). Though Ubuntu has made great strides, Linux offers neither. While you or I may not find it difficult to get a Linux desktop or laptop running, my 90-year-old grandma would, and she's more representative of the consumer base at large than you or I.
This assumes the existence of God is dependent on on the available god-theory constructs. Of course, that then suggests existence of anything is dependent upon human perception, which is itself a fallible and unprovable philosophical belief.