So the problem with the.com bubble and the Enron/Arthur Anderson scandal were essentially the same then: lack of ethics and incestuous business relationships.
P.S., I love it when an FC thread gets taken over by the employees of a company and they start using it as their rumor board. You can't buy better gossip than that.
Re:That link to Fatbrain always confuses me...
on
Dot.Con
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· Score: 2
I don't know, lots of people like to watch Ed Wood movies. Maybe this book would appeal to the same demographic. (The demographic of people who like horrid things.)
I recall Robert X. Cringely talking about "perfect competition" long before the.com bubble.
He said that sites like pricewatch.com and pricescan.com would make competition so fierce, and profits so thin, that nearly everything would become a commodity. Wish I could post a link...
So what is the point of our organization? Endorsement of free software, or hatred of Microsoft?
Usually these interests coincide, but what if on occasion they don't? If Microsoft ever releases something that is GPL-compliant, this community is in big trouble.
Will the group implode on itself, each side calling the other "heretic"?
Will Pope Stallman and Pope De Icaza excommunicate each other and cause a split in the Empire?
It seems that, as technology increase, RPG's are becoming more and more linear. They look like a beautifully rendered movie where I get to play through a few fight scenes and maybe choose from 1 of 3 possible endings.
That's because they're mostly made by Japanese companies. Japanese gamers like linear stories. One of my coworkers (I live in Japan) said he didn't like the Ultimas because he "didn't know what he was supposed to do."
When I read this I didn't think of individual liability suits. If you don't take proper precautions, then you shouldn't have any recourse if you lose all your company's data. That should go for any OS.
What I think should apply, are Lemon Laws, to protect a customer from what is, inherintly, a piece of junk. I'm fairly certain no major version of Linux or BSD falls into that category.
At any rate, these laws protect buyers, not users.
I think a leading "x" produces small characters (a i u e o, tsu) in most Unix editors, including kinput2. On windows, you use a leading "l" (for little?)
Capitalzation on both editors makes that letter, and all following letters unbroken by a space, come out as Roman characters. So typing "America" in either editor makes it come out as "America."
I'd rather that the nanites be able to collect dead cell tissue and use it to ferment alcohol, which could then be rereleased into my bloodstream, thus keeping me drunk all of the time (for free!)
I know nothing of fluid dynamics or, for that matter, the ocean...
But it seems to me that for these things to be effective, they would need to be pretty close to the surface pretty much all of the time (which is where most of the pollution is, right?)
If that is the case, I don't think the temperature or pressure is going to vary all that much. If you make the robot of such a density that it can take advantage of differing water pressures, wouldn't you run the risk of most of your nanites sinking to the bottom?
Every really nasty weapon ever used was first studied, tested, and perfected by the so-called "civilized" nations of the earth.
Chemical weapons, biological weapons, nuclear weapons, thermite plasma, napalm, depleted uranium, cluster bombs, you name it.
I see no reason to suspect that terrorists will be the first to use nano-weapons. No, someone else will make it, and then the terrorists will somehow "get their hands on it".
Yes, the rules of grammar should closely model how the language is actually spoken.
However, there is much to be said for encouraging use of a "standardized" grammar. A standardized grammar means efficiency, which translates to political and economic power. Just look at the agony that China, India, Japan, Turkey &c. went (and go) through trying to make it so that everyone in the country is able to communicate with everyone else in the country.
In Japan, for example, "standard Japanese" is said to be in decline.
I believe that the removal of the "u" from colour (and humour, honour, behaviour &c.) was an intentional act attributed to that great American linguistic social engineer Noah Webster.
The mispellings you speak of probably predate Mr. Webster however.
That thing in the trash compactor... that reminds me.
Has anyone noticed the striking parallels between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings?
Kenobi == Gandalf
Skywalker == Frodo
Solo == Aragorn (maybe)
Vader == Saruman, (or the Balrog)
Palpatine == Sauron
Death Star == Moria
Tattoine == The Shire
Mos Eisley == Bree
That thing in the compactor == That thing in the black pools outside moria
R2/D2 / the plans == The One Ring
Slashdot Mirror
So the problem with the .com bubble and the Enron/Arthur Anderson scandal were essentially the same then: lack of ethics and incestuous business relationships.
That gives me a really black feeling in my gut.
mod parent up!
P.S., I love it when an FC thread gets taken over by the employees of a company and they start using it as their rumor board. You can't buy better gossip than that.
I don't know, lots of people like to watch Ed Wood movies. Maybe this book would appeal to the same demographic. (The demographic of people who like horrid things.)
I recall Robert X. Cringely talking about "perfect competition" long before the .com bubble.
He said that sites like pricewatch.com and pricescan.com would make competition so fierce, and profits so thin, that nearly everything would become a commodity. Wish I could post a link...
So what is the point of our organization? Endorsement of free software, or hatred of Microsoft?
Usually these interests coincide, but what if on occasion they don't? If Microsoft ever releases something that is GPL-compliant, this community is in big trouble.
Will the group implode on itself, each side calling the other "heretic"?
Will Pope Stallman and Pope De Icaza excommunicate each other and cause a split in the Empire?
A better translation would be "redefining entertainment."
I have no joke, I just like to say
"digital acid bath."
No, Star Wars 5 is "The Empire Strikes Back".
Yeesh, I'm almost 30 too...
I didn't play it (I don't think).
What the heck ever happened to the Androsynths?
It seems that, as technology increase, RPG's are becoming more and more linear. They look like a beautifully rendered movie where I get to play through a few fight scenes and maybe choose from 1 of 3 possible endings.
That's because they're mostly made by Japanese companies. Japanese gamers like linear stories. One of my coworkers (I live in Japan) said he didn't like the Ultimas because he "didn't know what he was supposed to do."
Yes, but whenever you use money at a store that money goes out of circulation permanently.
...Unless it was the weaponsmith that bankrolled and equipped all those monsters... hmmm...
My fellow adventurers, I think we're being scammed.
Don't get me wrong, I like Ranma, but the animated version is kinda crappy.
The economy of a windows-using PC *is* shot because of extra features.
Not that a stock install of Redhat 7.2 is what I would call efficient, but at least you can remove what isn't necessary.
When I read this I didn't think of individual liability suits. If you don't take proper precautions, then you shouldn't have any recourse if you lose all your company's data. That should go for any OS.
What I think should apply, are Lemon Laws, to protect a customer from what is, inherintly, a piece of junk. I'm fairly certain no major version of Linux or BSD falls into that category.
At any rate, these laws protect buyers, not users.
I think a leading "x" produces small characters (a i u e o, tsu) in most Unix editors, including kinput2. On windows, you use a leading "l" (for little?)
Capitalzation on both editors makes that letter, and all following letters unbroken by a space, come out as Roman characters. So typing "America" in either editor makes it come out as "America."
I'd rather that the nanites be able to collect dead cell tissue and use it to ferment alcohol, which could then be rereleased into my bloodstream, thus keeping me drunk all of the time (for free!)
Wait a sec...
I know nothing of fluid dynamics or, for that matter, the ocean...
But it seems to me that for these things to be effective, they would need to be pretty close to the surface pretty much all of the time (which is where most of the pollution is, right?)
If that is the case, I don't think the temperature or pressure is going to vary all that much. If you make the robot of such a density that it can take advantage of differing water pressures, wouldn't you run the risk of most of your nanites sinking to the bottom?
Every really nasty weapon ever used was first studied, tested, and perfected by the so-called "civilized" nations of the earth.
Chemical weapons, biological weapons, nuclear weapons, thermite plasma, napalm, depleted uranium, cluster bombs, you name it.
I see no reason to suspect that terrorists will be the first to use nano-weapons. No, someone else will make it, and then the terrorists will somehow "get their hands on it".
Yes, I remember The Diamond Age. Diseases and toxins were eliminated to be replaced by hostile nanites.
Frankly, I prefer diseases. At least we know how to handle most of them.
Ah the old prescriptive vs. descriptive debate...
Yes, the rules of grammar should closely model how the language is actually spoken.
However, there is much to be said for encouraging use of a "standardized" grammar. A standardized grammar means efficiency, which translates to political and economic power. Just look at the agony that China, India, Japan, Turkey &c. went (and go) through trying to make it so that everyone in the country is able to communicate with everyone else in the country.
In Japan, for example, "standard Japanese" is said to be in decline.
I believe that the removal of the "u" from colour (and humour, honour, behaviour &c.) was an intentional act attributed to that great American linguistic social engineer Noah Webster.
The mispellings you speak of probably predate Mr. Webster however.
The first virus I ever heard referred to as "concept" virus was a Word macro virus from about 4-5 years ago.
That thing in the trash compactor... that reminds me.
Has anyone noticed the striking parallels between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings?
Kenobi == Gandalf
Skywalker == Frodo
Solo == Aragorn (maybe)
Vader == Saruman, (or the Balrog)
Palpatine == Sauron
Death Star == Moria
Tattoine == The Shire
Mos Eisley == Bree
That thing in the compactor == That thing in the black pools outside moria
R2/D2 / the plans == The One Ring
Maybe he's from Japan.
"amerika" (uncapitalized, and with a k) is the only way to make it come out right in a Japanese editor.
¥¥á¥ê¥
Anakin did not make me want to go on a killing spree.
That 2 headed sportscaster who talked like Howard Cosel however...
(Cosel, Kosel...?)