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  1. Re:Canonical's business model. on Canonical Seeks $32 Million To Make Ubuntu Smartphone · · Score: 0

    Wait, who apart from some neckbeards who live in their own universe every suggested you shouldn't install X on a server? There are definite advantages to a GUI for reasons of ease and discoverability and even if you don't use it often, having that functionality immediately available is a lot more useful than not having it at all.

  2. Re:No thanks Gnome on Canonical Seeks $32 Million To Make Ubuntu Smartphone · · Score: 1

    Sounds like you're trying to work outside of how Android is designed as opposed to working within the system. I'm not even talking about a walled garden at this point - Android works in a particular way, just like Ubuntu works in a particular way. Trying to use Linux apps designed for a desktop interface instead of just using the Android-equivalent apps seems to be missing the point. Not to mention increased stress for no real gain.

  3. Re:Too much bullshit from Canonical on Canonical Seeks $32 Million To Make Ubuntu Smartphone · · Score: 0

    The only reason I could see Dell doing that in China is because it reduces the cost of the machine even further, and they assume people will format it and put a pirated version of Windows on it anyway, so there's no point bundling it for greater cost. Very few are likely to keep using the pre-installed Ubuntu and miss out on stuff like MS Office and things that the rest of the fucking world expect to be able to do.

  4. Re:Crowdfunding?? on Canonical Seeks $32 Million To Make Ubuntu Smartphone · · Score: 1

    There is such a thing as too much choice, particularly for mobile platforms. Too many differing options tends to put more work on the app developer, which tends to push them towards pursuing only the top one or two platforms for reasons of practicality and feasibility. If Windows Phone is having trouble being relevant despite Microsoft's significantly greater influence and financial resources compared to Canonical, imagine how tough it will be for Ubuntu Phone.

    Besides, I kinda want to see Canonical fail for all their arrogance at thinking they're the next Apple and almost ruining the desktop Linux landscape with their shitty design decisions.

  5. Re:Looks nice but bridges burnt? on Canonical Seeks $32 Million To Make Ubuntu Smartphone · · Score: 1

    No disrespect to yourself (nothing wrong with being enthusiastic about something), but if this phone is released the fanboys will go crazy, saying this is the end of Apple/Microsoft like they do every time a new version of Ubuntu is released (and nothing happens, not even with Windows 8 giving them plenty of ammo).

    Also, why the hell is this even happening? Doesn't Canonical have any money put away for R&D purposes? Or are they still yet to turn a profit? Shuttleworth is rich - if he can't even turn a profit with Linux and doesn't want to fund the research himself (or indeed, can't find investors willing to contribute, which might be the reason this is happening in the first place), then fuck him. He bet on the wrong horse.

  6. Re:Anal.... anything is funny! on Hollywood's Love of Analytics Couldn't Prevent Six Massive Blockbuster Flops · · Score: 1

    I suppose that says something about windows?

    Says to me you're either using Windows XP (in which case upgrade damnit! Win 7 is a very worthwhile upgrade - skip 8 if you want), or you're using something newer but using a non-default taskbar settings which normally only shows icons instead of labels (in which case... meh, no biggie).

  7. Re:The absolute best movies have as many foes as f on Hollywood's Love of Analytics Couldn't Prevent Six Massive Blockbuster Flops · · Score: 1

    No, Suckerpunch flopped because people want happy endings.

    No, people want satisfying endings. This may or may not mean a happy ending - it may mean an ending that is neither (might even be leaning more towards the unhappy side), but might still have ended with some sort of twist revelation that makes you thing "woah, funny that!".

    The Usual Suspects is a good example ***SPOILERS*** - it's definitely not a happy ending because the bad guy gets away. Doesn't even need to escape - just walks out of the police station before the lead detective puts the pieces together. But it's just so damn satisfying to watch that it's a satisfying ending, and finishes off the film so damn well.

  8. Re:Better plots? on Hollywood's Love of Analytics Couldn't Prevent Six Massive Blockbuster Flops · · Score: 2

    blow the doors off every cinema in America to turn a profit

    If taken literally though, you've got to admit that would be a pretty cool way to measure success.

  9. Re:Password policy on Ubuntuforums.org Hacked · · Score: 1

    Your sarcasm was misguided anyway. The point is that if your original password can be sent to you in an email, it means they must be storing the password in plain-text anyway - if they're doing that, it doesn't bode well for the rest of their security implementations.

  10. Password policy on Ubuntuforums.org Hacked · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The passwords are not stored in plain text

    You'd hope so. That would be standard policy you'd assume by now (hashes are easy), but apparently it's still important to mention this given there are still way too many outfits storing plain-text passwords in their systems.

    I remember reading the following advice - if you're unsure about the security of any company with whom you've got a password-secured account with, just check to see if they have some kind of password recovery link on their login page. Normally these links should email you with a temporary password so you can make a new one, but if they happen actually email you with your actual password... RUN!!!

  11. Re:Everybody has it backwards on Microsoft Stock Drops 11% In a Day · · Score: 0

    There are undoubtedly those who would avoid buying a machine if it has Windows 8 (often with good reason), but I doubt that section of the buying public would make any appreciable impact on the overall number of sales.

    What I know from my own experience is that I'd rather learn how to use Windows 8 than go back to the poor, under-mature desktop experience I keep getting with Linux distros. I physically shudder at the idea of going back to Linux on the desktop - it's actually gotten WORSE over time.

  12. I don't understand Microsoft sometimes on Microsoft Is Sitting On Six Million Unsold Surface Tablets · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Microsoft have been doing the smartphone thing, and indeed the tablet thing for YEARS before Apple ever released the iPhone/iPad. They have years of experience which any decently-run company would have use said experience to be able to refine the devices and operating systems and improve their standing in the marketplace. But no, they didn't make any impact on the smartphone/tablet market - Apple comes out with the first release of the iPhone and iPad and each becomes the standard for their respective device fields. And now MS is trying to play catchup even to Android.

    They had the market before anyone else. If they just took it more seriously they could have owned it lock and key. Fucking idiots.

  13. Re:Wow, the anti-OSS platoon is out... on Kernel Dev Tells Linus Torvalds To Stop Using Abusive Language · · Score: 1

    Although I dislike you because you're a inflexible, closed-minded zealot, you do have a point. It's even worse at ArsTechnica with its respective coverage of this issue - there now seems to be something of an anti-Linux bias at that place (as well as a bias against anyone who doesn't like Windows 8 and doesn't agree with its changes).

    The Internet sucks for intelligent discourse.

  14. Re:Smart guns... on Hardly Anyone Is Buying 'Smart Guns' · · Score: 1

    Where I live (Adelaide, Australia), I don't feel scared, but at the same time I recognise the fact that the US is a much, much more violent place than Australia due to its gun culture, society in general and significantly worse ghetto problem. This isn't a bash on the US, just illustrating the fact that I understand why being strapped might seem seriously unnecessarily to most Aussies, but would actually be perfectly sensible in areas such as Atlanta. It's a different social climate, hence it requires a different approach to things. That makes perfect sense to me.

    Having said that, fuck I'm glad I don't live in the US.

  15. Re:US rental industry is insane on Piracy Rates Plummet As Legal Alternatives Come To Norway · · Score: 2

    unlike with streaming content, once he downloads it, he can be sure that it will still be there in a month when he wants to watch it again, and he can load it on his phone or laptop to take it on the go.

    This is my biggest issue with the legal alternatives these days. Yes, there are more and more popping up, which is great, however almost all of them are streaming services - which isn't what I'm after. I want files preferably in an open format, but failing that a widely-accepted format that can be downloaded to my local storage which I can then put on my other devices with minimal pain and without requiring continual authentication to some server somewhere. I'd pay for that because it would insulate me from changing agreements or abandonment of a service if I want to keep listing to a song or want to build a collection of media that I can watch again at a later date. It seems to be very difficult for studios to accommodate this market - mainstream acceptance of streaming makes this option less and less likely. Which is why people will always find an incentive to pirate if they aren't offered what they want.

  16. Re:They are in such demand on Microsoft Slashes Prices On Surface · · Score: 1

    I see I was downvoted (slightly anyway). I should probably mention that I use LibreOffice Writer, both at home and at work (though I definitely use MS Word at work a lot when it calls for it - Writer is mostly there to improve muscle memory for various features when I get back home). I kinda like LO - it's the only truly cross-platform office package out there which is even slightly close to Microsoft's offering, which is why I support it and use it when I can.

    BUT... my needs of an Official application are for the most part fairly rudimentary. For someone who lives and breathes MS Office every day and knows how to use it to its fullest to make amazing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, making them use LibreOffice instead would be an exercise in frustration, and trying to admit anything else is just being dishonest about its limitation.

  17. Microsoft wants to be Apple on Microsoft Slashes Prices On Surface · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft desperately wants to be Apple, that much should be obvious by now. With all the dancing hipster ads for Surface trying to appear cool and in touch, it just... doesn't... work.

    Microsoft still has something of a business/corporate reputation. They make operating systems to run Office on, to perform spreadsheet work, boring but necessary work. That's their image. Apple deliberately target non-business customers in the vast majority of their products and marketing - they have for a while now and that is THEIR image. Microsoft can't just try to perform a 180 and appear like Apple - that's like a 50 year old Steve Buscemi trying to act hip to young people by saying "How do you do, fellow kids?" It's comedic when done by an actor - but embarrassing when done by a corporation.

    They say a business must grow or die. Microsoft have reached the limits of desktop operating systems - they've owned their sector for so long that they can't grow in it. That's fine, go for it. But emulating Apple when there already IS an Apple is not a strategy for a leader to take.

  18. Re:They are in such demand on Microsoft Slashes Prices On Surface · · Score: 0

    Office is not compelling... People don't want to use their software.

    I'm not so sure about that. Office might be "boring", but if you swap it out for say LibreOffice for someone who actually uses all the features in MS Office, I'm pretty sure you'll find most people will end up wanting to use their software if it means NOT having to use the competition.

  19. Re:Also on George Zimmerman Acquitted In Death of Trayvon Martin · · Score: 1

    You can't really express an opinion about firearms and how to safely use them without being hounded by a hundred other people telling you you're wrong. And they themselves being told that they are wrong. You're right, it is complicated. But given it's so complicated, sometimes you do need to have an all-encompassing view such that you stick to it and not make up new rules on the fly, which can be even more dangerous.

    One thing I've learnt about firearms discussion on the net (and in real life I suppose) - don't get involved in them. Everyone's wrong apparently.

  20. Re:DuckDuckGo Response on DuckDuckGo: Illusion of Privacy · · Score: 1

    Calm the fuck down already. You don't go bashing a small-time company unless you have an ulterior motive to ensure they disappear. Which it disturbingly sounds like you're trying to do.

    Even if he said something untruthful, that's very different to being a willful lie and your rant is out of proportion.

  21. Re:Its not about 100% privacy on DuckDuckGo: Illusion of Privacy · · Score: 1

    Yes, but again, it's all about the the less trodden paths. Fewer people use it, so it has less attention directed towards it from those who would see to subvert the user. I agree that it being proprietary has some concern, but it's all about weighing the pros and cons.

  22. Re:Cap on Limitations and All, Chromebooks Appear To Be Selling · · Score: 1

    You clearly don't understand. I pity you.

  23. Re:What choice do they have? on Microsoft's Cooperation With NSA Either Voluntary, Or Reveals New Legal Tactic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who says they didn't ask for the warrant? Do you know for sure how the requests went down? Also, what makes them illegal orders? If the courts uphold them, they aren't illegal (they might be immoral, but that's another story).

    Google's just better at the PR in these cases. But in the end, both companies (indeed, most companies) look out for themselves. They probably know it's not worth fighting the Unites States fucking Government unless you're pretty damn sure it's worth it.

  24. What choice do they have? on Microsoft's Cooperation With NSA Either Voluntary, Or Reveals New Legal Tactic · · Score: 1

    What do you expect Microsoft to do if the NSA come knocking with a request for information? Say no? You either provide it to them or your company will get severely fined with possible additional legal action taken against it.

    Doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it "land of the free". But fuck if Google wouldn't have to deal with the same shit if the NSA came to them (and no doubt they already have). It's just because Microsoft didn't want to make a big fuss for no reason that people are jumping over them.

    Having said that, that "Scroogled" campaign of Microsoft is basically in tatters now, and rightly so. Fucking hypocrites.

  25. Re:Never? on Are Amazon Vine Reviews of Technical Books a Joke? · · Score: 1

    I don't buy often from Amazon because, well, there's no Australian version of the site - the times I've used Amazon has been through the US or UK sites. We've got our own online companies with stock that you'd get far quicker than Amazon. They also promised for YEARS to be opening a DRM-free music purchase section for us Aussies like they do in the US, but completely failed to eventuate. Because making money is not in their interest I guess.

    Having said that, I've bought a couple of biographical books from Amazon that were cheaper than those found in Aus (including postage), so there's that.