If they asked me to leave, I'd have to leave or else face trespassing charges, but they can't stop me from taking pictures in what is considered a public place.
Uhhh... if they make you leave, wouldn't that also force you to stop taking pictures of the place?
Window shade use keeps the house at 70 degrees during 100 degree weather without the need for fans or AC
Howzat? Even with no windows, no doors, great insulation, etc. I don't see how you can maintain a 30 degree temperature differential for more than a few hours.
Taking advantage of other people's mistakes is not so clearly unethical. There are plenty of examples where you can pocket that fifty without guilt.
People make the argument about one computer "asking permission" of the other when the discussion becomes legalistic. If you're going to accuse me of an actual crime for which I could do jail time or pay a fine, I'm going to point out that I asked permission first. This kind of nitpicking is what lawyers do for a living. You might not like it, but it's not "retarded".
One thing we can agree on is that these owners "don't know any better". So is one ethically obligated to treat a person better than he treats himself? Personally, I think the answer is no.
Here's another analogy: Let's say you walk into antique store and recognize that a vase they are selling for $10 is actually worth $1,000,000. Are you ethically obligated to inform the owner of this before purchasing the vase? I don't think so.
If you agree with me, then hopefully you'll also agree that the Wifi situation is even clearer, because the cost to the ignorant owner is negligible.
Note that I'm not condoning any sort of abuse here. No one or thing gets damaged. I'm simply saying that you don't have to look out for someone who isn't looking out for himself.
To act like any open AP is an indication of the owner's intent is idiotic.
We're not idiots - we understand that most people probably don't intend to share their Internet connection with anyone passing by. But since these owners' actions are entirely inconsistent with their intent, I think it's actually you who are being naive about what happens.
They are accidentally inviting people to use their Wifi. Yes, it's by accident, but it's still a completely valid invitation and you really can't blame people for accepting it.
Let's say someone sends you an invitation to a Smith family reunion, even though your name is Jones. You RSVP and ask "is it really OK for me to come?". If they answer yes, then you can hardly be blamed for showing up on the day of the party (especially since you mean them no harm and just enjoy parties).
I think the people behind this misunderstand the difficulty (and purpose) of passing the Turing test. The problem isn't in manufacturing a believable back story for your program's "character". The problem is in communicating effectively in spite of the inherent ambiguity, fuzziness, and confusion of human languages. I think it's very unlikely that any team is about to meet this threshold.
The true goal of a computer program for a school is to ready its students for the workplace
No, that's the goal of a vocational program (like shop class).
The goal of a typical computer class is the same as that of school in general: To educate citizens so they can successfully assume responsibility for running their country in the future. This is reason we have public education.
I would run my business from a company that runs their business on their own hardware which is managed by a third party.
OK, but I don't think that's what's happening with Sun. The whole premise of "software as a service" is that the customer (i.e. Sun) has no control over what hardware is used. It's the complete commoditization of hardware (i.e. just like sugar, oil, etc.). If Sun is acknowledging that hardware is a commodity, they're also acknowledging that no one is going to pay a premium to use their hardware.
The chances of a large asteroid impact in your lifetime are MUCH HIGHER than you think. The Earth is currently a "single point of failure" for humanity. We have the ability (and the obligation) to detect and escape such impacts.
All he did was act contrarian in a very adolescent manner
I'm sorry, I seem to have missed the part of your post where you refute the GP's point. Or perhaps you were just making an ad hominem attack dressed up in fancy language? In that case, carry on...
Q. increased support for DRM which inherently decreases my freedom, especially when applied to broadly A. I am concerned about this, but tend to stay away from Windows Media, so I don't bump into it much in practices.
Q. continuation of Microsoft's dominance which I have found through experience indirectly hinders my ability to choose the software and hardware that I can make use of A. And if I switched back to XP, this would be different... how?
Q. the artificially high cost attributed to this operating system A. My client pays for my OS, so I don't see the cost.
Q. the continuation of apparent willful vendor independent standards A. Not sure what you're trying to say here. Aren't standards supposed to be "vendor independent"?
Q. the continued use as leveraging tool to push Microsoft specific, and often closed psuedo-standards A. Again, switching back to XP would fix this... how? Sounds like your beef is with Office, not Vista.
People in emergency situations don't report that "time slows down" in general. What they say is that they are able to focus intently on the details that are relevant to survival. For example, a cop in a firefight is acutely aware of someone reaching for a gun, pulling it out, aiming it, and firing. This allows the cop to react in time to shoot first.
Since reading numbers in free-fall is not relevant to survival, this study doesn't seem to be providing any useful insight.
Like the Star Wars prequels, Serenity was so bad that it retroactively ruined the original series for me. The character of River, for example, lost all her charm. I can't watch the TV shows anymore.
Slashdot Mirror
You're kidding, right? If they get a negative result, then they think they don't have life at all and they dump the sample.
It's much worse than that. What makes them (or you) think that alien life will have any DNA at all?
They seem to be assuming that alien life will share a common ancestor with Terran life. This seems like a pretty dubious assumption to me.
If they asked me to leave, I'd have to leave or else face trespassing charges, but they can't stop me from taking pictures in what is considered a public place.
Uhhh... if they make you leave, wouldn't that also force you to stop taking pictures of the place?
Just browsed your Flickr photos. I think you might find this interesting: Your camera doesn't matter.
This has got to be a troll. You're talking about the Nazi regime, right? Government by intimidation and violence is "nearly right"?
Window shade use keeps the house at 70 degrees during 100 degree weather without the need for fans or AC
Howzat? Even with no windows, no doors, great insulation, etc. I don't see how you can maintain a 30 degree temperature differential for more than a few hours.
Taking advantage of other people's mistakes is not so clearly unethical. There are plenty of examples where you can pocket that fifty without guilt.
People make the argument about one computer "asking permission" of the other when the discussion becomes legalistic. If you're going to accuse me of an actual crime for which I could do jail time or pay a fine, I'm going to point out that I asked permission first. This kind of nitpicking is what lawyers do for a living. You might not like it, but it's not "retarded".
One thing we can agree on is that these owners "don't know any better". So is one ethically obligated to treat a person better than he treats himself? Personally, I think the answer is no.
Here's another analogy: Let's say you walk into antique store and recognize that a vase they are selling for $10 is actually worth $1,000,000. Are you ethically obligated to inform the owner of this before purchasing the vase? I don't think so.
If you agree with me, then hopefully you'll also agree that the Wifi situation is even clearer, because the cost to the ignorant owner is negligible.
Note that I'm not condoning any sort of abuse here. No one or thing gets damaged. I'm simply saying that you don't have to look out for someone who isn't looking out for himself.
-- Brian
To act like any open AP is an indication of the owner's intent is idiotic.
We're not idiots - we understand that most people probably don't intend to share their Internet connection with anyone passing by. But since these owners' actions are entirely inconsistent with their intent, I think it's actually you who are being naive about what happens.
They are accidentally inviting people to use their Wifi. Yes, it's by accident, but it's still a completely valid invitation and you really can't blame people for accepting it.
Let's say someone sends you an invitation to a Smith family reunion, even though your name is Jones. You RSVP and ask "is it really OK for me to come?". If they answer yes, then you can hardly be blamed for showing up on the day of the party (especially since you mean them no harm and just enjoy parties).
This isn't actually funny, but it is insightful.
I think the people behind this misunderstand the difficulty (and purpose) of passing the Turing test. The problem isn't in manufacturing a believable back story for your program's "character". The problem is in communicating effectively in spite of the inherent ambiguity, fuzziness, and confusion of human languages. I think it's very unlikely that any team is about to meet this threshold.
The GPL is a license, not a contract.
The question is rather seemingly basic, but gets into the nuts and bolts of contract law.
Unlikely, since the GPL is a license, not a contract.
Negativeland - Escape From Noise?
The true goal of a computer program for a school is to ready its students for the workplace
No, that's the goal of a vocational program (like shop class).
The goal of a typical computer class is the same as that of school in general: To educate citizens so they can successfully assume responsibility for running their country in the future. This is reason we have public education.
Right, because running all the computers between you and the download site takes no resources at all. Wait...
I would run my business from a company that runs their business on their own hardware which is managed by a third party.
OK, but I don't think that's what's happening with Sun. The whole premise of "software as a service" is that the customer (i.e. Sun) has no control over what hardware is used. It's the complete commoditization of hardware (i.e. just like sugar, oil, etc.). If Sun is acknowledging that hardware is a commodity, they're also acknowledging that no one is going to pay a premium to use their hardware.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity.
So would you run your business on hardware made by a company that refuses to run their own business on the same hardware?
Because of the principle of Eating one's own dog food.
The computers will be in someone's house, just not Sun's. This just means that Sun will be completely out of the hardware business by then.
Hey, wake up!
The chances of a large asteroid impact in your lifetime are MUCH HIGHER than you think. The Earth is currently a "single point of failure" for humanity. We have the ability (and the obligation) to detect and escape such impacts.
All he did was act contrarian in a very adolescent manner
I'm sorry, I seem to have missed the part of your post where you refute the GP's point. Or perhaps you were just making an ad hominem attack dressed up in fancy language? In that case, carry on...
Honest answers from a real Vista user below.
Q. increased support for DRM which inherently decreases my freedom, especially when applied to broadly
A. I am concerned about this, but tend to stay away from Windows Media, so I don't bump into it much in practices.
Q. continuation of Microsoft's dominance which I have found through experience indirectly hinders my ability to choose the software and hardware that I can make use of
A. And if I switched back to XP, this would be different... how?
Q. the artificially high cost attributed to this operating system
A. My client pays for my OS, so I don't see the cost.
Q. the continuation of apparent willful vendor independent standards
A. Not sure what you're trying to say here. Aren't standards supposed to be "vendor independent"?
Q. the continued use as leveraging tool to push Microsoft specific, and often closed psuedo-standards
A. Again, switching back to XP would fix this... how? Sounds like your beef is with Office, not Vista.
People in emergency situations don't report that "time slows down" in general. What they say is that they are able to focus intently on the details that are relevant to survival. For example, a cop in a firefight is acutely aware of someone reaching for a gun, pulling it out, aiming it, and firing. This allows the cop to react in time to shoot first.
Since reading numbers in free-fall is not relevant to survival, this study doesn't seem to be providing any useful insight.
Amen.
Like the Star Wars prequels, Serenity was so bad that it retroactively ruined the original series for me. The character of River, for example, lost all her charm. I can't watch the TV shows anymore.