So, airport security checks are useless and no more than a waste of taxpayers' money. Time to scrap TSA and the likes around the world.
A popular opinion on slashdot.
But naive.
Even while cumbersome I much prefer sitting in an airplane where people had to pass a check than one without. Honestly, what would be your preference?
You can bet that terrorists would find it an easy attack vector if there were no checks anymore.
It is true that they may now start to resort to tactics that were not imaginable just a few years ago, like implanting in their body - but no security checks would make their attempts so much easier.
This is a great initative that could be be beneficial and hunger suppressing in multiple sandy countries in northern africa and the middle east. As long as the country borders on the sea. Sadly this leaves out Mali, Niger and a few more landlocked piss-poor countries in the regio.
Ideally this would be combined with careful irrigation and planting strategies to stop the desertification (if that is a word). Such a more classic initiative worked well in one of these countries (I forgot which one), but a civil war destroyed all the good effort practically overnight, a shame.
I currently live in Asia (1.5 years in Singapore and now in Hong Kong) and I've seen Android (mainly Samsung) phones getting more and more popular over that period. This is very obvious when observing people in the metro.
From discussions, it is mainly the large screen size that draws many people to these Samsung devices. Leaving out the tiring arguments of fanboys of each camp, non-technical people liked the iphones just fine, sometimes preferring the way it works, but mainly they prefer a bigger screen.
Myself, I prefer a compact phone - I have an iPhone 4S and would love it with 5S guts. But it is obvious that Apple should have been selling bigger phones since a good time already. So, considering that the brand still has goodwill amongst non slashdotty users, I can imagine that they will win back some users with these bigger phones.
Regarding the technical changes. I like the idea of a pressure-level sensitive sensor. I can imagine that a curved screen will look very posh (nothing wrong with that, in fact since a number of years I like buying things that are nicely designed, even if at a premium), but it's to my mind not really a true value add. I do expect that a curved screen will look much more natural on an eventual iWatch.
Sour grapes, much?
Why does it get so much on your nerves that other people may buy something that not only works well with little headaches but is also a lot prettier than most computers on the market?
I've left my ikea days long behind. Nowadays, when I buy something I want it to be good AND beautiful in my house. Yes it costs more than generic products, but I am happy with my previous gen iMac. And when whiners think that it costs too much, I won't lose sleep over it. My life quality is worth something.
Similarly two years ago I bought my non techy parents a Macbook Pro. Since then I've had to do almost no interventions, what a change compared to their previous Windows on HP experience. Their life is better and I sacrifice less time. IT's worth something for me.
I am not so cynical. I think that is good that people are working on the next level of devices. Wearable computing will be very big, even if it may not be in the form of google glass.
She has a point that it may be boring for intelligent engineers to work on yet another new, incrementally better iteration of a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Many consumerss, me included are not that in awe anymore of a somewhat better new generation of iphone, galaxy, ipad, thin laptop etc. They were very good before and are now a bit better.
Hence her research might be interesting, but I am not sure that Google Glass will be the answer. Now I am not as cynical as many on/. - I think that moving towards near-invisible wearable computing is a very exciting next step and I am curious what she and companies like Apple will eventually come up with.
Very, very good idea amongst the many cynical posts here. I like to use Memrise on my iphone to (painfully slowly) learn Mandarin, and I can see the appeal of having it on my watch instead.
If Apple releases a smartwatch it will probably be about as much a watch as the iPhone was "just" a phone...
I've never worn a watch in my life but I can *imagine* a wearable computer that is cool and useful enough that I might consider it... Can't you?
Pat
I agree - wearable computing will become important; a smartwatch or google glass are just the first exponents. Having near invisible computer assistance everywhere you are is an attractive step forward, and it will eventually happen.
Reflecting Apple's product history, I think that they will only release a smartwatch if they can do it substantially better than what is out there in the market. I am curious about smartwatch tech, but every one so far failed to impress me.
Yes, those of us who have moved beyond watches have a term for them. It is "Idiot".
You sure are judgemental about other people. I don't mind if other people prefer to have only a phone to check the time. Similarly I like a nice mechanical watch, it's an interesting blend of craft, technology and art.
Apple is quickly becoming irrelevant. Sure they sold a lot of phones but that hardly is a good measure. 1D has a lot of fans, does that mean they are musical geniuses?
Say what you will but the general reaction to their phones was mainly 'meh'. Gone was the media hope and adolation of the years past
Meh reaction? Just today I read in the South China Morning Post that here in HK Apple has regained the top spot from Samsung.
This being said, I think that they should release a larger screen iPhone as well. Imagine one with one row and one column more icons. Personally I wouldn't want it, I don't like large phones, but many people seem to like them.
I agree, there is something about the cost of film photography that makes you focus more. And working with mediul for at cameras even more so because they usually require slow methodical worm which in my case leads to better pictures.
Iike my digital cameras (Fuji xe1 with 35mm 1.4 lens as main camera, and a panasonic lx5 compact) but the quality and specific rendering of a carefully scanned medium format negative is something else still. The one most obvious limitation I have with film is that you are stuck with one iso value for the whole film.
With my Rolleiflex, I have typically 4 pictures on a film of 12 worth enlarging. On my more convivial analog 35mm Nikon F3 it is 4 on a film of 36. With digital it is 4 iut of 100...
I think that Woz needed the early marketing genius of Jobs to shine and make a real difference in society with the Apple 2; and it is equally true that Jobs would not have been able to rise to fame back then without the technical genius of Wozniak.
Their talents complemented each other very well, and at the right time.
Imagine if Woz would have had an early job offer at say HP. He might have become a respected engineer over there, but unlikely with the same recognition today. We wouldn't have heard of Jobs so early on, yet the man had a such a good consumer insight that it is not inconceivable that he would have become notable in other ways.
I know for a fact that theists and creationists are completely bonkers and wrong - but I'm *always* willing to debate the issue. The exercise both helps me hone my own rationale, but also gives me empathy and insight to their beliefs and convictions.
It does get tiring after a short while though to have to re-debate this topic ad nauseam.
My Local library sells any books donated to them so they can use that money to buy more books.
Go figure. They got a book, so instead of loaning it out, they sell it for less then it costs to buy another book. Great system.
Because a good librarian will keep the collection alive with books that enough people will actually want to read. Usually libraries are not interested in just accumulating people's old junk books.
My experience on an ipad 2 so far: popular apps like Safari start somewhat slower, say from a bit under a second to a bit over a second.
Afterwards it seems ok.
Some transitions could be smoother but they'd not be quicker in my perception.
It is quite logical that there is some loss of speed on older hardware.
In general it is still very usable and the clean, crisp UI works well after dubious first few minutes.
I think that indeed Safari is a bit slower in IOS7 than it was on IOS6 (on ipad 2, already an older machine).
In general the look and feel of IOS7 is appealing. Still not explored everything of course.
What is best however is the never-ending rotational head movement that some people from the Indian subcontinent use.
Yes indeed, i t is initially very puzzling.
Eventually I learned that it does not mean yes or no or maybe; but simply "I understand you" (this does not imply agreement).
Let's face it, the economic importance of the USA in the world is waning. This is the century of Asia (not just my words), and you notice already how the economic balance is shifting.
Since, to my knowledge, the financial networks use multiple levels of encryption, I wonder if the VPN boxes used have NSA-prescribed backdoors in them.
Is it in fact possible to buy a VPN box without backdoor?
They were making money off from other people's work.
They were selling a product that people decided to buy. All they had to do was copy the original data over and over, so no theft was involved; there were no damages.
I can't stand hypocrites who think that selling copyrighted works is magically harmful, but copying it freely is not. Either you are pro-freedom or you are not; if you support copyright, you support censorship and the loss of control over private property.
It is pretty hypocritical to state that there were no damages because there was no theft in the traditional sense of the word.
They make lots of money on the effort of the movie company without the latter getting any compensation. Why would that be fair or even that overused phrase "fair use"? It is not a case of someone selling their official dvds.
Slashdot Mirror
So, airport security checks are useless and no more than a waste of taxpayers' money. Time to scrap TSA and the likes around the world.
A popular opinion on slashdot. But naive.
Even while cumbersome I much prefer sitting in an airplane where people had to pass a check than one without. Honestly, what would be your preference?
You can bet that terrorists would find it an easy attack vector if there were no checks anymore.
It is true that they may now start to resort to tactics that were not imaginable just a few years ago, like implanting in their body - but no security checks would make their attempts so much easier.
This is a great initative that could be be beneficial and hunger suppressing in multiple sandy countries in northern africa and the middle east. As long as the country borders on the sea. Sadly this leaves out Mali, Niger and a few more landlocked piss-poor countries in the regio.
Ideally this would be combined with careful irrigation and planting strategies to stop the desertification (if that is a word). Such a more classic initiative worked well in one of these countries (I forgot which one), but a civil war destroyed all the good effort practically overnight, a shame.
From my direct observation, plenty of men have bigger size phones as well here in Hong Kong.
I currently live in Asia (1.5 years in Singapore and now in Hong Kong) and I've seen Android (mainly Samsung) phones getting more and more popular over that period. This is very obvious when observing people in the metro.
From discussions, it is mainly the large screen size that draws many people to these Samsung devices. Leaving out the tiring arguments of fanboys of each camp, non-technical people liked the iphones just fine, sometimes preferring the way it works, but mainly they prefer a bigger screen.
Myself, I prefer a compact phone - I have an iPhone 4S and would love it with 5S guts. But it is obvious that Apple should have been selling bigger phones since a good time already. So, considering that the brand still has goodwill amongst non slashdotty users, I can imagine that they will win back some users with these bigger phones.
Regarding the technical changes. I like the idea of a pressure-level sensitive sensor. I can imagine that a curved screen will look very posh (nothing wrong with that, in fact since a number of years I like buying things that are nicely designed, even if at a premium), but it's to my mind not really a true value add. I do expect that a curved screen will look much more natural on an eventual iWatch.
I've left my ikea days long behind. Nowadays, when I buy something I want it to be good AND beautiful in my house. Yes it costs more than generic products, but I am happy with my previous gen iMac. And when whiners think that it costs too much, I won't lose sleep over it. My life quality is worth something.
Similarly two years ago I bought my non techy parents a Macbook Pro. Since then I've had to do almost no interventions, what a change compared to their previous Windows on HP experience. Their life is better and I sacrifice less time. IT's worth something for me.
Yeah, right, it is such a scandal that the upgrade doesn't work on 7 year old computers. Haters clutching at straws...
Yes they are useful tools and at the same time it is good that these people are working on a fundamentally next level kind of tool.
I am not so cynical. I think that is good that people are working on the next level of devices. Wearable computing will be very big, even if it may not be in the form of google glass.
She has a point that it may be boring for intelligent engineers to work on yet another new, incrementally better iteration of a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Many consumerss, me included are not that in awe anymore of a somewhat better new generation of iphone, galaxy, ipad, thin laptop etc. They were very good before and are now a bit better. Hence her research might be interesting, but I am not sure that Google Glass will be the answer. Now I am not as cynical as many on /. - I think that moving towards near-invisible wearable computing is a very exciting next step and I am curious what she and companies like Apple will eventually come up with.
Very, very good idea amongst the many cynical posts here. I like to use Memrise on my iphone to (painfully slowly) learn Mandarin, and I can see the appeal of having it on my watch instead.
If Apple releases a smartwatch it will probably be about as much a watch as the iPhone was "just" a phone...
I've never worn a watch in my life but I can *imagine* a wearable computer that is cool and useful enough that I might consider it... Can't you?
Pat
I agree - wearable computing will become important; a smartwatch or google glass are just the first exponents. Having near invisible computer assistance everywhere you are is an attractive step forward, and it will eventually happen. Reflecting Apple's product history, I think that they will only release a smartwatch if they can do it substantially better than what is out there in the market. I am curious about smartwatch tech, but every one so far failed to impress me.
Yes, those of us who have moved beyond watches have a term for them. It is "Idiot".
You sure are judgemental about other people. I don't mind if other people prefer to have only a phone to check the time. Similarly I like a nice mechanical watch, it's an interesting blend of craft, technology and art.
Apple is quickly becoming irrelevant. Sure they sold a lot of phones but that hardly is a good measure. 1D has a lot of fans, does that mean they are musical geniuses?
Say what you will but the general reaction to their phones was mainly 'meh'. Gone was the media hope and adolation of the years past
Meh reaction? Just today I read in the South China Morning Post that here in HK Apple has regained the top spot from Samsung. This being said, I think that they should release a larger screen iPhone as well. Imagine one with one row and one column more icons. Personally I wouldn't want it, I don't like large phones, but many people seem to like them.
I agree, there is something about the cost of film photography that makes you focus more. And working with mediul for at cameras even more so because they usually require slow methodical worm which in my case leads to better pictures. Iike my digital cameras (Fuji xe1 with 35mm 1.4 lens as main camera, and a panasonic lx5 compact) but the quality and specific rendering of a carefully scanned medium format negative is something else still. The one most obvious limitation I have with film is that you are stuck with one iso value for the whole film.
With my Rolleiflex, I have typically 4 pictures on a film of 12 worth enlarging. On my more convivial analog 35mm Nikon F3 it is 4 on a film of 36. With digital it is 4 iut of 100...
I find it remarkable and interesting that we still can't or at least not easily produce eith sensors the sniffing capabilities of these critters.
I think that Woz needed the early marketing genius of Jobs to shine and make a real difference in society with the Apple 2; and it is equally true that Jobs would not have been able to rise to fame back then without the technical genius of Wozniak. Their talents complemented each other very well, and at the right time. Imagine if Woz would have had an early job offer at say HP. He might have become a respected engineer over there, but unlikely with the same recognition today. We wouldn't have heard of Jobs so early on, yet the man had a such a good consumer insight that it is not inconceivable that he would have become notable in other ways.
Mod parent up.
I know for a fact that theists and creationists are completely bonkers and wrong - but I'm *always* willing to debate the issue. The exercise both helps me hone my own rationale, but also gives me empathy and insight to their beliefs and convictions.
It does get tiring after a short while though to have to re-debate this topic ad nauseam.
My Local library sells any books donated to them so they can use that money to buy more books.
Go figure. They got a book, so instead of loaning it out, they sell it for less then it costs to buy another book. Great system.
Because a good librarian will keep the collection alive with books that enough people will actually want to read. Usually libraries are not interested in just accumulating people's old junk books.
My experience on an ipad 2 so far: popular apps like Safari start somewhat slower, say from a bit under a second to a bit over a second. Afterwards it seems ok. Some transitions could be smoother but they'd not be quicker in my perception. It is quite logical that there is some loss of speed on older hardware. In general it is still very usable and the clean, crisp UI works well after dubious first few minutes.
I think that indeed Safari is a bit slower in IOS7 than it was on IOS6 (on ipad 2, already an older machine). In general the look and feel of IOS7 is appealing. Still not explored everything of course.
What is best however is the never-ending rotational head movement that some people from the Indian subcontinent use.
Yes indeed, i t is initially very puzzling.
Eventually I learned that it does not mean yes or no or maybe; but simply "I understand you" (this does not imply agreement).
Well, many people use a precompiled linux distribution. It is not trivial to know whether there is a backdoor in any of those binaries.
Let's face it, the economic importance of the USA in the world is waning. This is the century of Asia (not just my words), and you notice already how the economic balance is shifting.
Since, to my knowledge, the financial networks use multiple levels of encryption, I wonder if the VPN boxes used have NSA-prescribed backdoors in them. Is it in fact possible to buy a VPN box without backdoor?
They were making money off from other people's work.
They were selling a product that people decided to buy. All they had to do was copy the original data over and over, so no theft was involved; there were no damages.
I can't stand hypocrites who think that selling copyrighted works is magically harmful, but copying it freely is not. Either you are pro-freedom or you are not; if you support copyright, you support censorship and the loss of control over private property.
It is pretty hypocritical to state that there were no damages because there was no theft in the traditional sense of the word.
They make lots of money on the effort of the movie company without the latter getting any compensation. Why would that be fair or even that overused phrase "fair use"? It is not a case of someone selling their official dvds.