I would argue that Usenet is #1 on that list. It is the birthplace of the free electronic exchange of ideas, similar to what we have here in Slashdot, or IRC before that. (And all those damn chat rooms)
Email certainly gives it a run for its money, but it didn't help turn the net into a community like Usenet did. When one looks toward the future of the net the web will be gaining in prominence I'm sure, but everything seems to be headed toward a community type structure.
I've found that companies with good benefits in other areas also tend to have some sort of tuition reinbursement program and/or a training budget that most managers can spend on their employees.
My current employer has great benefits, big 401k matches, fully paid and excellent health insurance, subisduzed life insurance, etc. They also allow each department manager about $3,500 per year per employee for various job related training purchases. My department uses the money to maintain a decent library of reference books and CD training courses. We also send people to various one and two day classes on a regular basis.
In addition to job related training they also offer tuition reinbursement, for just about any college level class (as long as you get a C I think). A lot of companies have relaized that good benefits can attract better talent that simply high salaries, and education programs sometimes offer better returns for the company in the form of better employees. Investing in your people is never a bad idea.
I think it will. Maybe not today, or maybe not even in the next few years, but eventually someone at the USPTO will realize that what they are doing is evil.
Maybe I'm just being the eternal optimist but I have to think that since the office is composed of, essentially, a bunch of average human being they are probably prone to the same kind of thinking that other human beings are prone to. If you sat in a room all day and rubber stamped patent applications you might not care all that much about whether you understood them or not. If you never received any feedback it would only make matters worse.
Left unchanged that type of situation brings about that kind we are in right now, where big business can step in and influence things in the direction they want. In order to undo that problem I think the people who actually do care about patents, and who see the damage done from bad ones, need to get more involved. If commenting is the first step then I say get over there and comment. You might not stop today's One Click Patent but you might stop tomorrow's.
Generally people like to talk shit about the speeds they run on their bikes. If I had a dollar for every person I know who knows the guy with the fastest bike in Indiana I could buy a Hayabusa and trick the hell out of it.
That said, anyone who has put 30K into a bike damn well better have some speed. I would think that it would have more to do with quicker 0-100 times than top end though.
Hotmail offers something similar. The biggest problem with Hotmail's is that if a new address sends you something it automatically gets placed in the bulk email box and you have to wade through the spam to find it and approve future mailing from the sender.
I doubt that menus are for 'their local guru'. If that were the case MS would not have included the smart menus in the 2000 releases of their products. The seldom used options are blanked out (which is annoying for me to use and from a tech support side: not everyone sees the same menu)
WIndows has been the same to keep retraining costs low, thats what the corporate customers want. Thats a Good Thing I think but the problem I have with it is that you can't change it too much even if you want to. You are pretty much locked in to the standard Windows look and feel even if you are skilled enough to learn a new interface.
Creating hydroelectric dams is of benefit if your goal is to create more power. It may not be ultimately beneficial because you may end up doing more harm than good.
Re:Couple of thoughts on tall buildings
on
First Arcology?
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· Score: 2
There were people on both sides of the money. Investors put it into businesses that weren't worth a damn but there were also people peddling those businesses, knowing full well they wouldn't make it.
I think you might be in the minority. Many new games include the ability to record matches so that they can be played later or posted on the web. There are many hard core gamers who use recordings as a way to analyze their flaws, study up on opponents, or learn new strategies. Indeed, the desire to watch others play games is particularly popular in the realm of television as some of the most popular shows this year include Survivor and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
I'm no prophet but if we take a look at two of the recent Slashdot gaming stories we see that technology is increasing the scale of digital games. We have an example of some good research to create a large VR environment as well as a new method of allowing a multitude of spectators to watch a 'live' game. It may be that in the future many of us will connect to the nightly Quake tournaments much the same way we watch a football game today. (Which reminds me quite a bit of The Running Man
All of this may be good, or it may be bad. I think the Internet's advantage over television is primarly that it actually involves the end user rather than just piping information his way. There is a bit of thinking involved, or there can be. It would be sad to see it become more passive. More like television.
I find: such as future DVD-RAM equipped personal computers and future DVD-RAM recorders and home DVD players.
and: With DVD video recorded on the Hitachi DVD-RAM Camcorder, consumers can easily connect the camcorder to a TV to enjoy the recorded video or plug into the USB port of a PC (equipped with Windows 98 or Windows 98 second edition) or drop the disc into a 4.7GB DVD-RAM drive for editing, viewing, printing or even posting recorded memories on a personal home page.
 
I read the words future in the first quote and absolutely nothing about using a standard DVD drive in the second.
You are correct in saying that DVD-RAM and DVD-R are not the same thing. Different discs, different format, drives not interchangeable.
I would also imagine that the DVD-RAM that works in this camera is cartridge based but I'm not positive, I've only seen the 5.2GB disks.
The need for a lot of storage is pretty obvious, even for stills. Many professional photographers might take the same shot a half a dozen times. Since you get more out of a single disc it also reduces the amount of extra media you have to carry around.
Video, at least decent quality video, eats up gobs of space.
Slashdot Mirror
Email certainly gives it a run for its money, but it didn't help turn the net into a community like Usenet did. When one looks toward the future of the net the web will be gaining in prominence I'm sure, but everything seems to be headed toward a community type structure.
My current employer has great benefits, big 401k matches, fully paid and excellent health insurance, subisduzed life insurance, etc. They also allow each department manager about $3,500 per year per employee for various job related training purchases. My department uses the money to maintain a decent library of reference books and CD training courses. We also send people to various one and two day classes on a regular basis.
In addition to job related training they also offer tuition reinbursement, for just about any college level class (as long as you get a C I think). A lot of companies have relaized that good benefits can attract better talent that simply high salaries, and education programs sometimes offer better returns for the company in the form of better employees. Investing in your people is never a bad idea.
Maybe I'm just being the eternal optimist but I have to think that since the office is composed of, essentially, a bunch of average human being they are probably prone to the same kind of thinking that other human beings are prone to. If you sat in a room all day and rubber stamped patent applications you might not care all that much about whether you understood them or not. If you never received any feedback it would only make matters worse.
Left unchanged that type of situation brings about that kind we are in right now, where big business can step in and influence things in the direction they want. In order to undo that problem I think the people who actually do care about patents, and who see the damage done from bad ones, need to get more involved. If commenting is the first step then I say get over there and comment. You might not stop today's One Click Patent but you might stop tomorrow's.
Like so many other companies...
That said, anyone who has put 30K into a bike damn well better have some speed. I would think that it would have more to do with quicker 0-100 times than top end though.
Hotmail offers something similar. The biggest problem with Hotmail's is that if a new address sends you something it automatically gets placed in the bulk email box and you have to wade through the spam to find it and approve future mailing from the sender.
I doubt that menus are for 'their local guru'. If that were the case MS would not have included the smart menus in the 2000 releases of their products. The seldom used options are blanked out (which is annoying for me to use and from a tech support side: not everyone sees the same menu)
The reds will be coming for you soon.
What if there is a fire down there?
Creating hydroelectric dams is of benefit if your goal is to create more power. It may not be ultimately beneficial because you may end up doing more harm than good.
I like smartasses!
Its always a Cisco
You should get out (or in?) more often. FOX has an entire hour devoted to that crap.
But ours blew up on the front page.
There were people on both sides of the money. Investors put it into businesses that weren't worth a damn but there were also people peddling those businesses, knowing full well they wouldn't make it.
I'm no prophet but if we take a look at two of the recent Slashdot gaming stories we see that technology is increasing the scale of digital games. We have an example of some good research to create a large VR environment as well as a new method of allowing a multitude of spectators to watch a 'live' game. It may be that in the future many of us will connect to the nightly Quake tournaments much the same way we watch a football game today. (Which reminds me quite a bit of The Running Man
All of this may be good, or it may be bad. I think the Internet's advantage over television is primarly that it actually involves the end user rather than just piping information his way. There is a bit of thinking involved, or there can be. It would be sad to see it become more passive. More like television.
That is the first time ZDNet has had better coverage than anyone else.
I find:
such as future DVD-RAM equipped personal computers and future DVD-RAM recorders and home DVD players.
and:
With DVD video recorded on the Hitachi DVD-RAM Camcorder, consumers can easily connect the camcorder to a TV to enjoy the recorded video or plug into the USB port of a PC (equipped with Windows 98 or Windows 98 second edition) or drop the disc into a 4.7GB DVD-RAM drive for editing, viewing, printing or even posting recorded memories on a personal home page.
 
I read the words future in the first quote and absolutely nothing about using a standard DVD drive in the second.
Are you and I reading the same article?
I would also imagine that the DVD-RAM that works in this camera is cartridge based but I'm not positive, I've only seen the 5.2GB disks.
The need for a lot of storage is pretty obvious, even for stills. Many professional photographers might take the same shot a half a dozen times. Since you get more out of a single disc it also reduces the amount of extra media you have to carry around.
Video, at least decent quality video, eats up gobs of space.