And afterwards the lawyers took over, and issued patent-applications (and getting them approved) for everything under the sun, even if it's not man made.
Witness patents on DNA. No - they won't charge you for running around with one of their genes, but they will charge you, if you get the idea that you want to know, if it's inside your body, because they have patented any process linked to checking for that specific gene; witness the 2,000 odd dollars it costs in royalties to a specific company, if you want to see if you are carrying the breast cancer gene. No, it doesn't matter what process you use - you want to know if it's there, you have to pay.
Some patents are good, some are bad, and some should be taken out side and shot!
I wholehartedly agree with a poster on Slashdot who once said something to the effect of:
Change the standard procedure, and reject all patent applications by default. If the applicant can't make a good enough case as to why the patent should be granted, then the invention isn't worth patenting.
Want being the operating word. If you don't want to watch it, then by all means don't.
People had similar complaints about Hugh Jackman being 6'2" vs Logans 5' something, Storms flight inside the elevator shaft and other nit picking stuff (read: anal retentive retards bickering about other peoples creative freedom).
Of course you're entitled to your complaints, but have you watched the movie? If so - does the bio-shooters ruin the plot? Is it more disturbing than watching 24 hours of Opera Special? Or are you simply crying out for attention and to help you forget your drab, wretched life?
Re:The nature of Spiderman's webbing
on
Review: Spiderman
·
· Score: 2
Actually they're not claws, they're hooks, and that's how spiders hang on to stuff - and if I'm not mistaken (obviously) that's also how it works in the comic, with the small hooks being able to penetrate the suit without ripping it.
Actually, in one episode Wolverine was sent into orbit around a small moon, and yes - he survived. Now, I would think, that Hulk would just send Logan into orbit and think that was that.
Haven't you seen "The Evil Dead" on DVD? Haven't you heard Bruce Campbell's commentary to that movie?
Quote Bruce Campbell: "Now Sam will lie to you about this car [the aforementioned "classic"]; he calls it a classic. It's a '73 Delta 88 Oldsmobile and it's a piece of junk! This car had been in numerous super-8 mm of Sam's in the past, and for some reason he felt obligated to use it in this movie. We tried to wreck it but it didn't work, and you'll find out that this movie is in almost every one of... this car is in almost every one of Sam Raimi's movies from this point on."
Well, as far as I've been able to find out, they have no intention of porting it to Windows, which makes it pretty much useless for the rest of the company. And no - dropping Windows is impossible, as 90% of our work requires programs that are only available for Windows.
I'd be willing to pay good money for Ximian Evolution and Connector for Windows, but aparantly that's not an option - God knows for what reason.
It's still missing an email-program and a calendar.
Granted, when compared to Outlook, it's only missing one thing, but still...
Okay - so I don't need to have those two functions embedded into the office program, but I would rather not be without them, and I'm somewhat sure, that the rest of my office wouldn't either.
Here's what I need: 1) A calendar function comparable to Outlook, preferably one that isn't dependant on a specific platform (ie. Windows, Linux, Mac OS et al). This means the ability to include/invite other people in/to meetings and to view other peoples calendars.
2) An email function comparable to Outlook, again, preferably one that isn't dependant on a specific platform. Support for multiple accounts and Usenet would be a boon.
No, the programs don't have to be free, neither as in beer or speech, they just need to work, be cheaper than Office and safer with regards to vira etc.
Preferably the two/three mentioned programs/functions should be integrated into one program.
Some of the danish newspapers are against sites that leech off them, and claim that what they leech is their own and sell the content to other people.
Imagine Slashdot copying every story they link to, and claiming that it's their own story, and charging you 10 cents for their service.
The newspapers don't mind what Slashdot does (well, except slashdotting them of course), because they're still getting the exposure they want.
Well - some of the newspapers that is. Some of them want you to link like this:
"Open a new page and type in http://www.cnn.com Click on the "U.S." link in the left hand menu. Click on the "U.S.: Friendly fire pilot reported being fired upon" link in the top right hand corner, right under the picture of a jet fighter.
He has 52 students (no, it's not a college) and for each assignment he has 52 different tasks. They may not vary by much, but more than enough to prevent people just copying stuff from each other.
There are enough similarities between the tasks, that people can collaborate on the same things, but if that's all you hand in, you fail, because it's mostly between 25 and 33 percent of a given task.
Of course, doing this kind of thing when you have 200+ students is difficult if not impossible, but at least it weeds out the cheaters:-)
If students aren't allowed to use anything but pre-approved materials, then they are cheating if they use another teachers books; of course the neat side effect of this is, that you are forcing your students into buying your books, thus proving to various publishers, that "my books are much better, because none of my students use any other books".
Actually I've finished such a test in less than 10 minutes.
Knowing that our teacher had a knack for rotating tests like that, I had in advance designed and written the five different tests he used to use (notice the past tense), and brought them to the test. I spent one minute reading the question, one minute finding the apropriate premade answer, a couple of minutes printing it out, a few minutes going over the question making sure, I hadn't missed anything and left.
This was a two hour test, and I finished in less than 10 minutes.
For some strange reason I was hauled into his office and given 10 minutes to defend my answer, because he was sure I had been cheating. I spent 5 minutes showing him the small nooks and crannies of the code (the obscure things, and the reasoning behind using them) and another 5 minutes berating him for using those kinds of tests.
I ended up getting the highest grade possible, and he ended up dropping his test-rotation.
Oh, and yes, the rest of my class was dumbfound that I had managed to get away with it, because "you were obviously cheating".
Btw, it wasn't bad code nor bad design - I spent more than 20 hours answering each of those tests, and yes, they were a heck of a lot better than every other answer ever handed in. Well - that's my claim and I'm sticking with it.
Oh, almost forgot. Yes, those kinds of tests are ridiculous, as they don't show your ability to create a usable design that doesn't need to be maintained.
I like comparing tests to making love. It's not about how fast you finish, it's about the end result and rusing it doesn't help out.
other people call it "leaving a potential death trap of a planet for our grand children".
Of course, being a slashdotter, you probably won't get laid, and thus you don't care about the next generations of the species.
Re:'TrustUnWorthy Computing'
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 2
D'oh!
I just looked at the list that popped up and thought, that the list was only the first words in each line, so it jumped from "untrimmed" to "untypical".
I'm sorry about wasting your time, pretending I'm more knowledgable than you and stuff like that.
Sorry for your time.
Note to self: Don't lend the glasses mentioned here to the guy; you need them more than he does.
Re:You'd already be connected to the Net....
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 2
Good morning or good night. Either way, your eyes don't appear to be working like they should:
1) Making people pay their ISP/phone company to search their local harddrives.
Re:What a non story! A waste of space!
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 2
Probably.
But what happens, if it Search Assistant can't connect to Microsoft? Does it refuse to work, like many of Microsoft's other apps does in XP, if you remove Internet Explorer?
Re:What a non story! A waste of space!
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Sadly the two posters above me haven't read the article properly.
True, when searching local files and intranet, nothing about that search is sent to Microsoft.
Now, I haven't used XP, so I don't know how the Search Assistant works, but apparently you can tell it NOT to use MSN for searches, but something like Google. I don't mind Google collecting info about my searches, but I do mind when Microsoft collects info about my searches on Google - that's simply none of their business.
As a poster above me mentioned, many people in Europe have to pay for the call-time they use when surfing. Why should they have to pay a minimum of 5 cents to their ISP, just to search their own harddrive? I can't think of a single good reason for that.
"No information is ever collected by Search Companion when you search your local system, LAN, or intranet for any reason."
"When you search the Internet using the Search Companion, the following information is collected regarding your use of the service: your IP address, the text of your Internet search query, grammatical information about the query, the list of tasks which the Search Companion Web service recommends, and any tasks you select from the recommendation list."
"Search Companion does not record your choice of Internet search engine, and does not collect or request any personal or demographic information. Information collected by the Search Companion cannot be used to identify you individually, and is never used in conjunction with other data sources that may contain personal data."
Now, like I said, I don't use XP, I don't know how Search Assistant works, and I probably wouldn't even use it, but it's still a bad thing to do for two reasons:
1) Making people pay their ISP/phone company to search their local harddrives. 2) IF I can make Search Assistant use another search engine (like Google), it's none of Microsofts business what I search for. If I can't use another search engine, then obviously Microsoft has to know what I'm searching for.
Re:'TrustUnWorthy Computing'
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 2
His suggestion:
Trust - actual word Unworthy - actual word Computing - actual word
Your suggestion: Untrust - not actual word Worthy - actual word Computing - actual word
Conclusion: Yes, I know that "trustworthy" is a single word - see end of post.
Even though "Trust Unworthy Computing" isn't correct English, it's better than "Untrust Worthy Computing" which uses gibberish words.
Slashdot Mirror
And afterwards the lawyers took over, and issued patent-applications (and getting them approved) for everything under the sun, even if it's not man made.
Witness patents on DNA. No - they won't charge you for running around with one of their genes, but they will charge you, if you get the idea that you want to know, if it's inside your body, because they have patented any process linked to checking for that specific gene; witness the 2,000 odd dollars it costs in royalties to a specific company, if you want to see if you are carrying the breast cancer gene. No, it doesn't matter what process you use - you want to know if it's there, you have to pay.
Some patents are good, some are bad, and some should be taken out side and shot!
I wholehartedly agree with a poster on Slashdot who once said something to the effect of:
Change the standard procedure, and reject all patent applications by default. If the applicant can't make a good enough case as to why the patent should be granted, then the invention isn't worth patenting.
import java.lang.EnglishSpelling;
import java.util.AntiLamenessFilter;
import java.util.LameSenseOfHumour;
I have the same problem (single developer), but I just switch to skitzo-mode and work with my other personalities.
Make a program and include some simple kind of copy-protection (ie ROT13 or bit-flip).
Have another person break the protection. Sue him - take turns appealing it all the way to the Supreme Court.
Want being the operating word. If you don't want to watch it, then by all means don't.
People had similar complaints about Hugh Jackman being 6'2" vs Logans 5' something, Storms flight inside the elevator shaft and other nit picking stuff (read: anal retentive retards bickering about other peoples creative freedom).
Of course you're entitled to your complaints, but have you watched the movie? If so - does the bio-shooters ruin the plot? Is it more disturbing than watching 24 hours of Opera Special? Or are you simply crying out for attention and to help you forget your drab, wretched life?
Actually they're not claws, they're hooks, and that's how spiders hang on to stuff - and if I'm not mistaken (obviously) that's also how it works in the comic, with the small hooks being able to penetrate the suit without ripping it.
Actually, in one episode Wolverine was sent into orbit around a small moon, and yes - he survived. Now, I would think, that Hulk would just send Logan into orbit and think that was that.
Haven't you seen "The Evil Dead" on DVD? Haven't you heard Bruce Campbell's commentary to that movie?
... this car is in almost every one of Sam Raimi's movies from this point on."
Quote Bruce Campbell:
"Now Sam will lie to you about this car [the aforementioned "classic"]; he calls it a classic. It's a '73 Delta 88 Oldsmobile and it's a piece of junk! This car had been in numerous super-8 mm of Sam's in the past, and for some reason he felt obligated to use it in this movie. We tried to wreck it but it didn't work, and you'll find out that this movie is in almost every one of
No - it's not a classic - it's a piece of junk!
Well, as far as I've been able to find out, they have no intention of porting it to Windows, which makes it pretty much useless for the rest of the company. And no - dropping Windows is impossible, as 90% of our work requires programs that are only available for Windows.
I'd be willing to pay good money for Ximian Evolution and Connector for Windows, but aparantly that's not an option - God knows for what reason.
It's still missing an email-program and a calendar.
...
:-)
Granted, when compared to Outlook, it's only missing one thing, but still
Okay - so I don't need to have those two functions embedded into the office program, but I would rather not be without them, and I'm somewhat sure, that the rest of my office wouldn't either.
Here's what I need:
1) A calendar function comparable to Outlook, preferably one that isn't dependant on a specific platform (ie. Windows, Linux, Mac OS et al). This means the ability to include/invite other people in/to meetings and to view other peoples calendars.
2) An email function comparable to Outlook, again, preferably one that isn't dependant on a specific platform. Support for multiple accounts and Usenet would be a boon.
No, the programs don't have to be free, neither as in beer or speech, they just need to work, be cheaper than Office and safer with regards to vira etc.
Preferably the two/three mentioned programs/functions should be integrated into one program.
Suggestions are more than welcome
Some of the danish newspapers are against sites that leech off them, and claim that what they leech is their own and sell the content to other people.
Imagine Slashdot copying every story they link to, and claiming that it's their own story, and charging you 10 cents for their service.
The newspapers don't mind what Slashdot does (well, except slashdotting them of course), because they're still getting the exposure they want.
Well - some of the newspapers that is. Some of them want you to link like this:
"Open a new page and type in http://www.cnn.com
Click on the "U.S." link in the left hand menu.
Click on the "U.S.: Friendly fire pilot reported being fired upon" link in the top right hand corner, right under the picture of a jet fighter.
If it's not there, tough luck."
Others are quite cool with just linking like this:
CNN.com reports - U.S.: Friendly fire pilot reported being fired upon
Here's an idea, that a teacher I know uses.
:-)
He has 52 students (no, it's not a college) and for each assignment he has 52 different tasks. They may not vary by much, but more than enough to prevent people just copying stuff from each other.
There are enough similarities between the tasks, that people can collaborate on the same things, but if that's all you hand in, you fail, because it's mostly between 25 and 33 percent of a given task.
Of course, doing this kind of thing when you have 200+ students is difficult if not impossible, but at least it weeds out the cheaters
it's about teachers making money.
If students aren't allowed to use anything but pre-approved materials, then they are cheating if they use another teachers books; of course the neat side effect of this is, that you are forcing your students into buying your books, thus proving to various publishers, that "my books are much better, because none of my students use any other books".
Geez.
Actually I've finished such a test in less than 10 minutes.
Knowing that our teacher had a knack for rotating tests like that, I had in advance designed and written the five different tests he used to use (notice the past tense), and brought them to the test. I spent one minute reading the question, one minute finding the apropriate premade answer, a couple of minutes printing it out, a few minutes going over the question making sure, I hadn't missed anything and left.
This was a two hour test, and I finished in less than 10 minutes.
For some strange reason I was hauled into his office and given 10 minutes to defend my answer, because he was sure I had been cheating. I spent 5 minutes showing him the small nooks and crannies of the code (the obscure things, and the reasoning behind using them) and another 5 minutes berating him for using those kinds of tests.
I ended up getting the highest grade possible, and he ended up dropping his test-rotation.
Oh, and yes, the rest of my class was dumbfound that I had managed to get away with it, because "you were obviously cheating".
Btw, it wasn't bad code nor bad design - I spent more than 20 hours answering each of those tests, and yes, they were a heck of a lot better than every other answer ever handed in. Well - that's my claim and I'm sticking with it.
Oh, almost forgot. Yes, those kinds of tests are ridiculous, as they don't show your ability to create a usable design that doesn't need to be maintained.
I like comparing tests to making love. It's not about how fast you finish, it's about the end result and rusing it doesn't help out.
Well, being chased by various dinosaurs of the meat eating kind probably would be considered a "death trap", but here's a surprise for you:
The average temperature back then was only 1.2 C warmer back then.
Now, you'd better install some big-ass kangaroo-bars on your SUV, if you want it to survive an impact with say, a triceratops.
other people call it "leaving a potential death trap of a planet for our grand children".
Of course, being a slashdotter, you probably won't get laid, and thus you don't care about the next generations of the species.
D'oh!
I just looked at the list that popped up and thought, that the list was only the first words in each line, so it jumped from "untrimmed" to "untypical".
I'm sorry about wasting your time, pretending I'm more knowledgable than you and stuff like that.
Sorry for your time.
Note to self:
Don't lend the glasses mentioned here to the guy; you need them more than he does.
Considdering you get Googles express permission for it:
Your Google Account and license key entitle you to 1,000 automated queries per day.
I happen to have a pair of spare glasses lying around, (+2,75 on each eye) - wanna borrow them?
Weird, I based my complaint on Merriam-Webster.
Dude, just learn to put on titanium-mesh gloves when working with stuff like that.
Mother-in-law? Can the ring stand up to her?
Good morning or good night. Either way, your eyes don't appear to be working like they should:
1) Making people pay their ISP/phone company to search their local harddrives.
Probably.
But what happens, if it Search Assistant can't connect to Microsoft? Does it refuse to work, like many of Microsoft's other apps does in XP, if you remove Internet Explorer?
Sadly the two posters above me haven't read the article properly.
8 359 for a good comment on that subject.
True, when searching local files and intranet, nothing about that search is sent to Microsoft.
Now, I haven't used XP, so I don't know how the Search Assistant works, but apparently you can tell it NOT to use MSN for searches, but something like Google. I don't mind Google collecting info about my searches, but I do mind when Microsoft collects info about my searches on Google - that's simply none of their business.
As a poster above me mentioned, many people in Europe have to pay for the call-time they use when surfing. Why should they have to pay a minimum of 5 cents to their ISP, just to search their own harddrive? I can't think of a single good reason for that.
Read this post: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=30967&cid=332
The privacy statement for Search Assistant has the following provisions, which is what I base some of my arguments on:
http://sa.windows.com/privacy/
"No information is ever collected by Search Companion when you search your local system, LAN, or intranet for any reason."
"When you search the Internet using the Search Companion, the following information is collected regarding your use of the service: your IP address, the text of your Internet search query, grammatical information about the query, the list of tasks which the Search Companion Web service recommends, and any tasks you select from the recommendation list."
"Search Companion does not record your choice of Internet search engine, and does not collect or request any personal or demographic information. Information collected by the Search Companion cannot be used to identify you individually, and is never used in conjunction with other data sources that may contain personal data."
Now, like I said, I don't use XP, I don't know how Search Assistant works, and I probably wouldn't even use it, but it's still a bad thing to do for two reasons:
1) Making people pay their ISP/phone company to search their local harddrives.
2) IF I can make Search Assistant use another search engine (like Google), it's none of Microsofts business what I search for. If I can't use another search engine, then obviously Microsoft has to know what I'm searching for.
His suggestion:
Trust - actual word
Unworthy - actual word
Computing - actual word
Your suggestion:
Untrust - not actual word
Worthy - actual word
Computing - actual word
Conclusion:
Yes, I know that "trustworthy" is a single word - see end of post.
Even though "Trust Unworthy Computing" isn't correct English, it's better than "Untrust Worthy Computing" which uses gibberish words.
"Not Trustworthy Computing" would be better IMO