When I was a kid my family went to Disneyland. We checked our luggage at the ticket counter, walked to the gate and got on the plane. No security scanners, no checking of any kind. People on the plane could have been carrying handguns in their pockets. No big deal. Then people started taking advantage of this huge gaping security hole and actually hijacking planes, and things changed.
I think MOST security in the world follows the same principle: safe & secure = nothing bad has happened yet. Think about all the public places you visit all the time... shopping centers, movie theaters, schools... where large crowds are assembled on a daily basis and there's great potential for mass mayhem, except it hasn't happened enough for people to worry about it yet. Eventually that will change. Everything does.
These silly comments about Slashdot taking down sites got old a long time ago. Every hosting service can't be a Google server farm. A large enough amount of traffic can temporarily hose any site, same as a big sporting event or a major accident can jam up any freeway. It's just a fact of life. Get over it.
I don't know who you're quoting, but I said, "stay faithful to the original spirit," which I think Jackson did beautifully. Sorry you weren't able to enjoy it.
What this really demonstrates is how stifling Microsoft's OS monopoly has been I don't think that's a valid interpretation. It makes just as much sense to say that it shows how many people aren't on the leading-edge bandwagon. Look how many people drive decades-old cars.
This is the reason I think Microsoft will fail if they expect people to rush out and buy new computers so they can run Longhorn, when they won't even shell out $85 for an OS upgrade.
Hire a production crew who grew up during the original Star Wars era. Get a director like Peter Jackson, who has shown that he understands how to use great effects, tell a story on a grand scale, stay faithful to the original spirit and respect the fans. Have this production company make episodes 7,8 and 9 that were planned long ago. Now that might kick ass.
Re:I'll take content over "hip-looking, style-lade
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Web Design Garage
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· Score: 1
if you collide with a car and you're on a motorbike you're going to be thrown off it whether or not the motorbike weighs 200lb or 500lb
Yeah, but how far you fly and how hard you land depend a lot on how much momentum gets transferred to you vs the bike.
Sort of like if somebody rear-ends you while you are driving a big old Buick you say, "Did I just run over a cat?" vs if you are in a Honda Civic you say, "Mffmmggmmfbmmf" because it's hard to talk with a steering wheel in your mouth.
To solve the silence problem, the motorcycle rider will have to keep yelling out Raaaaayyyyy-Neeeeeeeeer-Beeeeeeer!!!! [homage to the 80s, or was it the 70s. Damn I'm old]
Not to give Ballmer any undeserved credit, but Microsoft is in a different phase of corporate life now than in the Bill Gates era. As a business grows in terms of customers, products or employees, change becomes increasingly difficult and inefficient.
Stock analysts have compared MS to a guy in his 40s going through mid-life crisis, wanting to act young but not having the body or mental outlook for it. I read a good article on Motley Fool a couple years ago that said MS is in stage 3 of the corporate life cycle. Stage 1 is the Startup stage, where obviously you take a lot of risks and do a lot of innovation. Stage 2 is the Growth stage, where you focus on expanding market share by learning how to replicate your success as cheaply and efficiently as possible, which usually means developing a culture of standardization and uniformity. I forget the name of Stage 3, but it's where the company can't make changes fast enough to compete in the real world. At this stage it should be reinvesting its money in younger companies and branding their innovations.
Employees who produce the most new ideas -- the young, creative people with the least structured minds and the greatest ability to go without sleep -- are the ones most alienated by Stage 3 corporate culture. Microsoft's problem, according to the Motley Fool article, is that it's a Stage 3 company trying to perform like a Startup. If Ballmer's to blame for anything, it's his failure to accept that fact.
Re:I'll take content over "hip-looking, style-lade
on
Web Design Garage
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Of course, the eMpTy-V generation probably disagrees with me.
Don't know about that, but the read-the-article-before-commenting generation might disagree with you. According to the review, this book seems pretty chock full of useful content. By the way, nice HiP-LoOkInG, sTyLe-LaDeN comment!
The one thing I would change is that the DM has to tell the players to avert their eyes while he adjusts the mask to reveal selected areas of the map. It would be cool if the DM had a little better control over what went to the projector -- shut off the feed to the projector while changing the mask, or maybe have the software send only the unmasked layer to the projector.
Other than that minor gripe, I totally envy this system. Pretty cool gaming room as well. Even with the overhead ductwork. Nice jorb!
We already have the input side of a valid micropayment system. It's called taxation. News and other content could be a public service with private providers, if some bright business people would get over the "socialism" barrier and put some time into figuring out the mechanics of getting the right amount of money to the providers, instead of the spending all their time on the mechanics of withholding the content from non-payers.
I've just been looking through articles about the SuperShuffle and I don't see any mention of price. Where do you get that it's the same price as the IPod Shuffle?
As soon as I read the article I knew Slashdot readers would see this obvious point. What baffles me is how Microsoft people, who are also pretty smart, could miss it. Somebody must think there's a marketing advantage to convincing clueless administrator types that the company is on the government's side in the war on terrorism. Or something.
I bet the artists whose files were shared won't see one red cent of these millions.
You are correct. Standard recording contracts stipulate that all the expenses of production, manufacturing, distribution, advertising, etc. are taken out of the artist's share of the money, which almost always leaves Zero no matter how much profit the CD actually makes. The costs of all the hotels, limos, parties and other superstar trappings lavished on the hot band du jour are financed up front by the record companies, but every cent gets added up and deducted before the musician gets paid any royalties.
Because of this, musicians under contract to a recording company almost NEVER see any money from the sale of records. Usually all they get is exposure, which leads to fame and bigger, higher-paying performance gigs, which is how they actually make a living. Of course they get the same exposure whether you buy a CD, hear it on the radio, download it or find it lying on the street.
Record companies justify their contract terms by whining that most of the time they don't recover those costs. Well gosh, when this happens in other industries it's referred to as "investing" -- sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But they don't see it that way, and because they've been the only game in town for the past century they get away with it.
That headline "Music Piracy Unit Raids ISP in BitTorrent Assault" reminds me of the "Crimson Permanent Assurance Building" sketch in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, where the pirates and the insurance executives fought it out in the office building. Classic.
Startup.com really is a great documentary. If it were funnier it could be the Spinal Tap of its genre, except it's real. Much of what happens is so stereotypical that I was amazed to find out it wasn't a mock-umentary.
Note: they break two of Paul Graham's rules -- basing their business on the government and building a product that sucks.
I briefly worked as a contractor for one of those ex-Microsoft-employee dotcom startups. They were developing an IM client. Offices on the top floor of a Seattle highrise, beautiful wraparound view of the city and surroundings, nice office furniture, company-paid parking in a lot down the street, everything but a free lunch. The high-energy CEO wore suspenders and had an unbelievably gorgeous babe for a secretary/assistant.
They got acquired just as my contract was ending, but I don't think their product ever saw the light of day. I always wondered what happened.
My bet is that you didn't read the article. Getting venture capital is only a step in the process. Lots of great, practical ideas in this article, but it won't read itself to you.
Slashdot Mirror
Hatch doesn't really believe the capital of the world is DC. He thinks it's Hollywood.
and I was happy to establish it," Specter said.
Specter "established" a Senate subcommittee?
Is this:
a) just typical "it's all about me" music industry executive ego talking.
b) a sign of what a show-business lapdog Hatch actually is.
When I was a kid my family went to Disneyland. We checked our luggage at the ticket counter, walked to the gate and got on the plane. No security scanners, no checking of any kind. People on the plane could have been carrying handguns in their pockets. No big deal. Then people started taking advantage of this huge gaping security hole and actually hijacking planes, and things changed.
I think MOST security in the world follows the same principle: safe & secure = nothing bad has happened yet. Think about all the public places you visit all the time... shopping centers, movie theaters, schools... where large crowds are assembled on a daily basis and there's great potential for mass mayhem, except it hasn't happened enough for people to worry about it yet. Eventually that will change. Everything does.
These silly comments about Slashdot taking down sites got old a long time ago. Every hosting service can't be a Google server farm. A large enough amount of traffic can temporarily hose any site, same as a big sporting event or a major accident can jam up any freeway. It's just a fact of life. Get over it.
I don't know who you're quoting, but I said, "stay faithful to the original spirit," which I think Jackson did beautifully. Sorry you weren't able to enjoy it.
What this really demonstrates is how stifling Microsoft's OS monopoly has been
I don't think that's a valid interpretation. It makes just as much sense to say that it shows how many people aren't on the leading-edge bandwagon. Look how many people drive decades-old cars.
This is the reason I think Microsoft will fail if they expect people to rush out and buy new computers so they can run Longhorn, when they won't even shell out $85 for an OS upgrade.
Hire a production crew who grew up during the original Star Wars era. Get a director like Peter Jackson, who has shown that he understands how to use great effects, tell a story on a grand scale, stay faithful to the original spirit and respect the fans. Have this production company make episodes 7,8 and 9 that were planned long ago. Now that might kick ass.
DuH.
-"duh" - get it?
if you collide with a car and you're on a motorbike you're going to be thrown off it whether or not the motorbike weighs 200lb or 500lb
Yeah, but how far you fly and how hard you land depend a lot on how much momentum gets transferred to you vs the bike.
Sort of like if somebody rear-ends you while you are driving a big old Buick you say, "Did I just run over a cat?" vs if you are in a Honda Civic you say, "Mffmmggmmfbmmf" because it's hard to talk with a steering wheel in your mouth.
To solve the silence problem, the motorcycle rider will have to keep yelling out Raaaaayyyyy-Neeeeeeeeer-Beeeeeeer!!!!
[homage to the 80s, or was it the 70s. Damn I'm old]
Not to give Ballmer any undeserved credit, but Microsoft is in a different phase of corporate life now than in the Bill Gates era. As a business grows in terms of customers, products or employees, change becomes increasingly difficult and inefficient.
Stock analysts have compared MS to a guy in his 40s going through mid-life crisis, wanting to act young but not having the body or mental outlook for it. I read a good article on Motley Fool a couple years ago that said MS is in stage 3 of the corporate life cycle.
Stage 1 is the Startup stage, where obviously you take a lot of risks and do a lot of innovation.
Stage 2 is the Growth stage, where you focus on expanding market share by learning how to replicate your success as cheaply and efficiently as possible, which usually means developing a culture of standardization and uniformity.
I forget the name of Stage 3, but it's where the company can't make changes fast enough to compete in the real world. At this stage it should be reinvesting its money in younger companies and branding their innovations.
Employees who produce the most new ideas -- the young, creative people with the least structured minds and the greatest ability to go without sleep -- are the ones most alienated by Stage 3 corporate culture. Microsoft's problem, according to the Motley Fool article, is that it's a Stage 3 company trying to perform like a Startup. If Ballmer's to blame for anything, it's his failure to accept that fact.
Of course, the eMpTy-V generation probably disagrees with me.
Don't know about that, but the read-the-article-before-commenting generation might disagree with you. According to the review, this book seems pretty chock full of useful content.
By the way, nice HiP-LoOkInG, sTyLe-LaDeN comment!
Our sysadmin's cube also has an atmosphere created by gas escaping.
The one thing I would change is that the DM has to tell the players to avert their eyes while he adjusts the mask to reveal selected areas of the map. It would be cool if the DM had a little better control over what went to the projector -- shut off the feed to the projector while changing the mask, or maybe have the software send only the unmasked layer to the projector.
Other than that minor gripe, I totally envy this system. Pretty cool gaming room as well. Even with the overhead ductwork. Nice jorb!
Along the same lines, I wonder if the RIAA uses Metcalfe's Law in any way to establish the value of a file shared on a p2p network?
We already have the input side of a valid micropayment system. It's called taxation. News and other content could be a public service with private providers, if some bright business people would get over the "socialism" barrier and put some time into figuring out the mechanics of getting the right amount of money to the providers, instead of the spending all their time on the mechanics of withholding the content from non-payers.
I've just been looking through articles about the SuperShuffle and I don't see any mention of price. Where do you get that it's the same price as the IPod Shuffle?
As soon as I read the article I knew Slashdot readers would see this obvious point. What baffles me is how Microsoft people, who are also pretty smart, could miss it. Somebody must think there's a marketing advantage to convincing clueless administrator types that the company is on the government's side in the war on terrorism. Or something.
As of 8pm PST it's downloading to me at a snappy 56kb/s. This fact is perhaps even more impressive than the machine itself.
I bet the artists whose files were shared won't see one red cent of these millions.
You are correct.
Standard recording contracts stipulate that all the expenses of production, manufacturing, distribution, advertising, etc. are taken out of the artist's share of the money, which almost always leaves Zero no matter how much profit the CD actually makes. The costs of all the hotels, limos, parties and other superstar trappings lavished on the hot band du jour are financed up front by the record companies, but every cent gets added up and deducted before the musician gets paid any royalties.
Because of this, musicians under contract to a recording company almost NEVER see any money from the sale of records. Usually all they get is exposure, which leads to fame and bigger, higher-paying performance gigs, which is how they actually make a living. Of course they get the same exposure whether you buy a CD, hear it on the radio, download it or find it lying on the street.
Record companies justify their contract terms by whining that most of the time they don't recover those costs. Well gosh, when this happens in other industries it's referred to as "investing" -- sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But they don't see it that way, and because they've been the only game in town for the past century they get away with it.
That headline "Music Piracy Unit Raids ISP in BitTorrent Assault" reminds me of the "Crimson Permanent Assurance Building" sketch in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, where the pirates and the insurance executives fought it out in the office building. Classic.
David Kaefer, director of Microsoft's IP Licensing Program. "It's only a system that works for the largest companies."
Since the whole Federal Government works way too, now that a corporate giant wants some changes maybe we'll see some changes.
Startup.com really is a great documentary. If it were funnier it could be the Spinal Tap of its genre, except it's real. Much of what happens is so stereotypical that I was amazed to find out it wasn't a mock-umentary.
Note: they break two of Paul Graham's rules -- basing their business on the government and building a product that sucks.
I briefly worked as a contractor for one of those ex-Microsoft-employee dotcom startups. They were developing an IM client. Offices on the top floor of a Seattle highrise, beautiful wraparound view of the city and surroundings, nice office furniture, company-paid parking in a lot down the street, everything but a free lunch. The high-energy CEO wore suspenders and had an unbelievably gorgeous babe for a secretary/assistant.
They got acquired just as my contract was ending, but I don't think their product ever saw the light of day. I always wondered what happened.
My bet is that you didn't read the article. Getting venture capital is only a step in the process. Lots of great, practical ideas in this article, but it won't read itself to you.