Hey, I was on my "we're getting raped by the corporations" rant. And now you want me to change tracks?:)
True, we're getting equally screwed by the people who are supposed to be representing us -- at least here in Australia a lot of that collected tax seems to go out to private companies to provide services that governments used to provide for themselves much more cheaply. Or it goes on stupid things like locking up refugees on Nauru, or other such morally bankrupt and wasteful practices.
But I digress.:)
The point remains, people shouldn't look at media content as some sort of "manna from heaven", soon to disappear. They're paying for it, all right... probably more than they realize, and more than they'd want to.
I have no compelling reason to participate in democratic elections, so I don't vote!
Yeah, but democracy is moving the way of the marketplace -- 1 vote per million dollars owned.:(
Is there much point in voting if, by hook or by crook, the tools of the corporations will always end up in power? Is the choice between Tweedledum & Tweedledee really a choice at all?
Somebody has to pay for the programming, and right now it ain't you.
Networks pay for programming.
Advertisers pay networks.
Viewers pay advertisers by buying their products.
Why do you think a box of cornflakes costs so much? Advertising budget (and profit margins:).
This is why the term 'free-to-air' is a joke, why commercials on cable TV (that you're paying extra for) are even more of a joke, and why you should watch at least some television each week if you want real value from your shopping basket.:) (If I'm forced to cross-subsidise all the other crap, at least I can get The Simpsons out of it.)
Hey--most of us are heterosexual. Guys don't want to see two guys falling in love; gals don't want to see two gals falling in love. Why waste money on such a thing? I want to see some a guy and a girl fall in love. And so do the vast majority of men and women.
I think you're generalising wildly there.
I'd rather see an accurate rendition of history instead of having everything whitewashed into some heterosexual fantasy. And I'd hope that more people than you think are open-minded enough to believe that the love that exists between two men, or that between two women, is just as valid and worthy of portrayal as that between a man and a woman.
Heck, given societal attitudes towards homosexual relationships, there's probably more scope for dramatic incidents, tragedy, etc...
I do agree that a movie about codebreaking definitely doesn't need a romance, though.:)
b) and their products' (and competing products') prices will drop, benefitting everyone, those in and out of the know alike
I don't see how b) follows from a). I think a more likely statement would be 'and Macromedia's stock price goes up, and their shareholders make a killing.'
Re:Kathy Acker does this, regarded as art
on
Mashed-Up Music
·
· Score: 1
Acker's never been sued or prosecuted.
That might be difficult now, given that she died in 1997.
IIRC the books usually were those non-fiction business fad books (How to Drive Your Company to Just Unbelievable Success by Shouting Slogans at your Salesforce kinds of things).
You're sure that wasn't just the Ballmer Effect? Let's face it, he has the money, the motive, he's exhibited the behaviour... he could well have OD'd on these types of books:)
33. On May 14, 1991, the '009 patent, entitled "Data Compression Apparatus And Method," was granted to Stac. Since its issuance, Stac has been, and continues to be, the owner of all right, title and interest in and to the '009 patent. A copy of the '009 patent is attached as Exhibit A, and incorporated herein by reference.
An earlier patent was granted to a different company, and later acquired by Stac. So it's not as black-and-white as you seem to paint it.
Rejecting the spawn of Satan on the computer, but accepting them in your mug? (And if they both come from Seattle, is this evidence of some greater conspiracy?):)
Well, I have to say that I've never had such luck... but then I'm not the sort of person who would be working on their laptop in a cafe, I'm too likely to be talking to friends as its the only chance I've had to get away from a computer all day:) More luck to you. (Of course, to really determine whether that was proof we'd need to set up a series of experiments, with many beautiful girls (drool, drool)... after all, it could have been you, or the laptop, or the coffee, rather than the Gimp:)
'Altnet's seeded software [will be] awakened some time in May'
Skynet 5 years late?:)
Once we have networks acting independently of the owners of the machines, what's to stop someone putting in a bit of self-preservation and random activity into the distributed processes...???
I was trying to make the man*/ machine distinction there... but I understand the point you are making.:) (Although one of dictionary.com's definitions of machine is A system or device, such as a computer, that performs or assists in the performance of a human task, and as such electronic computers would fit into the wider set of machines...) Aagh, language, it can be so imprecise sometimes:)
* (Actually, as with any repetitive work, once the price had been driven down far enough it was often done by women.
Re:Itterative Development/Refactoring
on
Agile Modeling
·
· Score: 1
My biggest problem is that I over-engineer. Quite often I end up with a bunch of interfaces, abstract classes and implementations, where, in hindsight, something really simple would have worked just as well.
Or I end up "bending over backwards" to create more re-usable objects that are never re-used.
Object Oriented Overkill is my problem.
Murphy's Law dictates that the project you stop doing this on will be the one that would really have benefitted from it. It ends up becoming superstition, a form of learned behaviour... I think you can tell that I'm afflicted with a similar mania.:/
(However, I've been working under extreme time pressures recently, and for stuff that has to be done quickly rather than well -- this has forced me to loosen up a bit. Good, fast and cheap -- pick any two, and we had to opt for fast and cheap:)
(BTW, I don't work for the organisation advertised in my.sig -- just a disclaimer in case people get the wrong ideas.:)
This is a bad analogy. The user interface to automobiles hasn't changed much in the last 70 years. Computer user interfaces have changed dramatically in the last 10.
Yes, but if you teach kids two or three differing interfaces, they should be able to grasp the principles of any others they come across.
Kids shouldn't be afraid of computers, or of any machine.
I definitely agree with this. People (children and adults) need to learn that the key to learning about computers (as with so many other things) is exploration, and a focussed sense of play. 'What does this button do?' is the question I want to hear my (as yet unconceived:) children asking.
Isn't the brain the primary computing device? In fact, "computers" used to be a term for people whose job it was to do what these days we would use a calculator (or a mechanical computer) for -- long and boring calculations.
(I was going to use the term "digital computer" in there, but realized that it could mean someone counting on their fingers:)
A lot of the large media companies would be happier if no other competition existed for people's attention. A lot of the recent legislation is aimed not only at controlling the means of media consumption, but also the means of media production.
In ten years, it could be illegal to put up a web site or run an ISP without arranging content licensing and censoring (like, say, Iran or China).
Don't like it? Get active about it.
You can dream, but the reality gets more and more like a nightmare each day.:(
What does the number of employees have to do with the number of licenses? The last time I checked, Oracle was licensed on a per server basis, not on who uses it...
I'd imagine that when you're a state government, normal pricing rules don't apply:)
Given that public liability suits often seem to consist of finding the party with the deepest pockets and then blaming them, it's not outside the realms of possibility.:/
Legal logic is, of course, different from the ordinary kind; but if gun manufacturers can be sued for massacres (a deliberate act of violence by people not associated with the company, but using their product) I can imagine Boeing being sued for September 11 (a deliberate act of violence by people not associated with the company, but using their product). It goes without saying that I don't think either lawsuit deserves to win.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, I was on my "we're getting raped by the corporations" rant. And now you want me to change tracks? :)
:)
True, we're getting equally screwed by the people who are supposed to be representing us -- at least here in Australia a lot of that collected tax seems to go out to private companies to provide services that governments used to provide for themselves much more cheaply. Or it goes on stupid things like locking up refugees on Nauru, or other such morally bankrupt and wasteful practices.
But I digress.
The point remains, people shouldn't look at media content as some sort of "manna from heaven", soon to disappear. They're paying for it, all right... probably more than they realize, and more than they'd want to.
I have no compelling reason to participate in democratic elections, so I don't vote!
:(
Yeah, but democracy is moving the way of the marketplace -- 1 vote per million dollars owned.
Is there much point in voting if, by hook or by crook, the tools of the corporations will always end up in power? Is the choice between Tweedledum & Tweedledee really a choice at all?
Somebody has to pay for the programming, and right now it ain't you.
:).
:) (If I'm forced to cross-subsidise all the other crap, at least I can get The Simpsons out of it.)
Networks pay for programming.
Advertisers pay networks.
Viewers pay advertisers by buying their products.
Why do you think a box of cornflakes costs so much? Advertising budget (and profit margins
This is why the term 'free-to-air' is a joke, why commercials on cable TV (that you're paying extra for) are even more of a joke, and why you should watch at least some television each week if you want real value from your shopping basket.
Hey--most of us are heterosexual. Guys don't want to see two guys falling in love; gals don't want to see two gals falling in love. Why waste money on such a thing? I want to see some a guy and a girl fall in love. And so do the vast majority of men and women.
:)
I think you're generalising wildly there.
I'd rather see an accurate rendition of history instead of having everything whitewashed into some heterosexual fantasy. And I'd hope that more people than you think are open-minded enough to believe that the love that exists between two men, or that between two women, is just as valid and worthy of portrayal as that between a man and a woman.
Heck, given societal attitudes towards homosexual relationships, there's probably more scope for dramatic incidents, tragedy, etc...
I do agree that a movie about codebreaking definitely doesn't need a romance, though.
Adobe? Macromedia, methinks.
a) Adobe will get advertising money
b) and their products' (and competing products') prices will drop, benefitting everyone, those in and out of the know alike
I don't see how b) follows from a). I think a more likely statement would be 'and Macromedia's stock price goes up, and their shareholders make a killing.'
Acker's never been sued or prosecuted.
That might be difficult now, given that she died in 1997.
a record previously held by the late Douglas Adams...
Ignore the Slashdot interview process at your peril! Look what it did to poor DNA!
Now we get to see whether artistic integrity will triumph over filthy lucre...
Unfortunately, I think George Lucas made his choice between those two options a long time ago.
As someone who was to some extent in the "public eye" during the first science fiction boom
Hey, Mr. Dwight, wasn't the first SF boom during the Gernsback era (1920s)?
IIRC the books usually were those non-fiction business fad books (How to Drive Your Company to Just Unbelievable Success by Shouting Slogans at your Salesforce kinds of things).
:)
You're sure that wasn't just the Ballmer Effect? Let's face it, he has the money, the motive, he's exhibited the behaviour... he could well have OD'd on these types of books
This court document says that one patent was originally granted to Stac:
33. On May 14, 1991, the '009 patent, entitled "Data Compression Apparatus And Method," was granted to Stac. Since its issuance, Stac has been, and continues to be, the owner of all right, title and interest in and to the '009 patent. A copy of the '009 patent is attached as Exhibit A, and incorporated herein by reference.
An earlier patent was granted to a different company, and later acquired by Stac. So it's not as black-and-white as you seem to paint it.
I've gotten to the point where no news of Microsoft's misdeeds would shock me anymore.
Microsoft is cutting up babies to make their user manuals! So what.
Microsoft still makes manuals? Now that shocks me. I thought they dropped paper manuals in the early 1990s...
We have a 24 hour starbucks
:)
:) More luck to you. (Of course, to really determine whether that was proof we'd need to set up a series of experiments, with many beautiful girls (drool, drool)... after all, it could have been you, or the laptop, or the coffee, rather than the Gimp :)
Rejecting the spawn of Satan on the computer, but accepting them in your mug? (And if they both come from Seattle, is this evidence of some greater conspiracy?)
Well, I have to say that I've never had such luck... but then I'm not the sort of person who would be working on their laptop in a cafe, I'm too likely to be talking to friends as its the only chance I've had to get away from a computer all day
'Altnet's seeded software [will be] awakened some time in May'
:)
Skynet 5 years late?
Once we have networks acting independently of the owners of the machines, what's to stop someone putting in a bit of self-preservation and random activity into the distributed processes...???
Gimp gets chicks, I have proof.
:)
I'm going to call you on that one. Proof? How?
I was trying to make the man*/ machine distinction there... but I understand the point you are making. :) (Although one of dictionary.com's definitions of machine is A system or device, such as a computer, that performs or assists in the performance of a human task, and as such electronic computers would fit into the wider set of machines...) Aagh, language, it can be so imprecise sometimes :)
* (Actually, as with any repetitive work, once the price had been driven down far enough it was often done by women.
(to continue the Talking Heads theme :)
My biggest problem is that I over-engineer. Quite often I end up with a bunch of interfaces, abstract classes and implementations, where, in hindsight, something really simple would have worked just as well.
:/
:)
.sig -- just a disclaimer in case people get the wrong ideas. :)
Or I end up "bending over backwards" to create more re-usable objects that are never re-used.
Object Oriented Overkill is my problem.
Murphy's Law dictates that the project you stop doing this on will be the one that would really have benefitted from it. It ends up becoming superstition, a form of learned behaviour... I think you can tell that I'm afflicted with a similar mania.
(However, I've been working under extreme time pressures recently, and for stuff that has to be done quickly rather than well -- this has forced me to loosen up a bit. Good, fast and cheap -- pick any two, and we had to opt for fast and cheap
(BTW, I don't work for the organisation advertised in my
This is a bad analogy. The user interface to automobiles hasn't changed much in the last 70 years. Computer user interfaces have changed dramatically in the last 10.
:) children asking.
Yes, but if you teach kids two or three differing interfaces, they should be able to grasp the principles of any others they come across.
Kids shouldn't be afraid of computers, or of any machine.
I definitely agree with this. People (children and adults) need to learn that the key to learning about computers (as with so many other things) is exploration, and a focussed sense of play. 'What does this button do?' is the question I want to hear my (as yet unconceived
Isn't the brain the primary computing device? In fact, "computers" used to be a term for people whose job it was to do what these days we would use a calculator (or a mechanical computer) for -- long and boring calculations.
:)
(I was going to use the term "digital computer" in there, but realized that it could mean someone counting on their fingers
Homer: "Can I have some money now?"
You forgot option E -- all of the above.
I can dream.
:(
A lot of the large media companies would be happier if no other competition existed for people's attention. A lot of the recent legislation is aimed not only at controlling the means of media consumption, but also the means of media production.
In ten years, it could be illegal to put up a web site or run an ISP without arranging content licensing and censoring (like, say, Iran or China).
Don't like it? Get active about it.
You can dream, but the reality gets more and more like a nightmare each day.
What does the number of employees have to do with the number of licenses? The last time I checked, Oracle was licensed on a per server basis, not on who uses it...
:)
I'd imagine that when you're a state government, normal pricing rules don't apply
Given that public liability suits often seem to consist of finding the party with the deepest pockets and then blaming them, it's not outside the realms of possibility. :/
Legal logic is, of course, different from the ordinary kind; but if gun manufacturers can be sued for massacres (a deliberate act of violence by people not associated with the company, but using their product) I can imagine Boeing being sued for September 11 (a deliberate act of violence by people not associated with the company, but using their product). It goes without saying that I don't think either lawsuit deserves to win.