I think when the UN says it's a form of torture they are probably meaning it falls within the UN accepted definition of torture.
A lot of this comes down to definitions, like the old "freedom fighter" V "terrorist" argument.
If I was a cop who wanted to have a taser I'd probably say it wasn't torture, if I was this guy who got tasered after a speeding offense I might be inclined to call it torture. If someone I knew was tasered repeatedly and then died, then I would definitely call it torture.
Aside from whether you call it torture or not, police are much more likely to use a taser than they are to use a deadly weapon so a considerable number of people who would never have been shot at are now being tasered.
You may just be seeing the effect of the contents in the VM disk cache being changed. Eg, previously your applications seemed very responsive because all the files they were accessing were in the VM disk cache and after watching a movie they no longer are.
I have a similar problem with postgresql, which relies on the the VM disk caching for most of it's database caching - the problem is similar to what you are seeing in that you lose all fine grained control of what your memory is used for potentially resulting in a big slowdown because important stuff was ditched from the VM disk cache for something you know doesn't need caching.
Maybe the Japanese government doesn't want to invest billions in a civil liberty infringing national ID card scheme when they know it wouldn't actually stop kids buying cigarettes?
lol. The problem is if you keep rounding off, the extra 24's really start to add up after while!
If you really do naturally think in SI units for digital data storage then just take pleasure in the fact that you get 24 extra free with every 1000 as a "bonus".
Uh, when you factor in partitioning, filesystems, etc, they're going to be disappointed no matter what.
True, but I'd be lying if I claimed that most of the space difference was caused by partitioning and the filesystem block size. The biggest problem is drive manufacturers using a misleading unit to measure the disk space.
The problem is that for whatever reason nobody in the IT world can agree on one set of units to use for everything. Most of the rest of the world formed SI for this reason, and for whatever reason IT had to do its own thing...
This is just nonsense, the entire IT world except disk manufacturers has always used 1meg=1024bytes for *binary* storage devices it doesn't make any sense at all to use SI units when the underlying device is binary because the size of the disk only fits exactly if you work in Base2.
With 10 bits you can store 2^10 different value which equals 1024 and *not* 1000. Perhaps you'd like us to stop using the last 24 values so it more conveniently fits into the SI scheme??!
A non computer person goes to a shop to buy a 200GB drive, then they go home, plug it in and their computer shows it only has 185GB. Trust me, it happens and they are usually pissed off.
Also, I have to say I'm inclined to agree with them, whatever technical justification (for which there is little IMO) it has clearly been done to mislead consumers.
I don't really see the point in this. For sites willing to obey the rules they can publish a P3P privacy policy for their site. This allows users to reject their cookies based on what the site owner plans to do with the data. Or alternatively a user can set his browser to accept 1st party cookies but reject 3rd party cookies.
I believe IE (and possibly firefox) actually requires a valid P3P policy to serve 3rd party cookies at all.
There is an argument that the browsers should be more aggressive at explaining to users that they are leaking their personal data due to the default privacy settings.
Mpeg size depends on quality and size of encoding, at similar quality and size to flv I believe the usual codec used for mpeg produces small files than the standard ones used for flv. This was true until very recently anyway when Flash started to support H. 264.
There are plenty of reasons, here are some:
- Flash has better penetration than native MPEG players and native embedded players.
- Gives a more consistent user experience regardless of OS/browser
- It is guaranteed that most users will be able to work out how to play the video, even if they don't understand downloading or what an mpg is.
- Guarantees that that the user can stay on the site and easily navigate elsewhere.
- Gives less annoying advertising options than post/pre-roll ads.
- Works even if the.mpg browser association or content-type mapping is out of date or wrong.
- Works even if the native.mpg player is in a state where it is unable to play videos.
I would hazard a guess that there are more users of video sites who don't understand what MPEG or a native video player is, than geeks who want to access the underlying video stream.
Yeah also if you waste resources "giving back" and your competitor doesn't, then you are at a disadvantage. That is unless "giving back" gives you some direct benefit rather than a general feeling of wellbeing.
Realistically if you want companies to give back, then you have to explain whats in it for them. Eg, building a community, etc,
Maybe they plan to use it to compete with google for domains, the groupware functionality on Google for Domains is probably not as advanaced as Zimbra - although it does start up faster.
Re:The more I learn about JavaScript...
on
GWT in Action
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· Score: 1
I'm not really sure I see the point of GWT
Millions of dollars and 5 years of Java IDE development by some of the best IDE developers in the world. Also the Hotspot JIT Compiler and class libraries.
There are many 'languages' that Java developers would probably prefer to use if they had had the same massive cross-industry investment as Java - like Ruby, Python or Smalltalk.
Ironically half the script based 'ad-tags' that slow page loading just dynamically write out an iframe style advert.
Possibly this is because some publisher sites don't like accepting iframe style ads because they think it is "old html" - which in a way it is.
Using a script tag to render the iframe tricks most people and most 'pre-rendering' based HTML validators to pass the adtag as valid XHTML/HTML. The only down side is that it is still actually invalid, it slows down the publisher site as it is synronously called every page hit and occasionally makes the publisher site entirely unuseable if the adserver becomes unavailable.
But ultimately after a lot of ranting one usually gives people what they want even if it isn't good for them, because time is short and it is *their* site they are screwing up after all.
Regardless of the moral angle, "free" software is aggressively lowering prices in most areas of traditional software. The money is moving from traditional software to software delivered as a service.
Let's assume that this trend continues and that any software you can get your hands on is both free and eventually also comes with source code.
What about the new generation of software-as-service, the stuff that will be making all the big money, like Adwords/Adsense. The software has never been distributed, does RMS believe he still has a moral right to the source code? Should everyone who writes a line of code be forced to register it in a central bank, or just give it up when asked?
If ASP/Web style software is not tackled surely you end up in a worse situation than before the Free Software movement started since you won't be able to even get the binaries let alone the source.
Microsoft shouldn't have assumed that the FSF would continue to offer their new software under GPLv2.
Very true. Exploiting a loophole in the GPL2 to try and split the free software community over supposed "secret" patents is underhand. Updating the GPL for new software to prevent this scam was just common sense - although it was a lot of work!
I find it difficult to believe that a judge is going to grant a search order for not having a TV license - no one has a responsibility to prove their innocence.
Most convictions are people who confess or throw their TV out the window when an inspector comes round.
Here in the UK a TV license is compulsory if you have a TV that can receive a signal
I hate to be a pedant but that is actually slightly misleading. It is only compulsory to have a TV license if you receive or record a broadcast signal (BBC or otherwise).
That said, it might be wise to de-tune the TV if you plan to allow TV Licensing to check your TV (which you are under no legal obligation to do).
I get really annoyed by a lot of people who claim they are called "Matthew".
So here's what I propose: let's all agree-- citizens, press, governments, and others shall use the name 'Matthew' to refer only to people who I have granted an official MPC-Approved license and follow the official MPC approved "Matthew" practices.
Otherwise, let's face it just about any plonker could call themselves Matthew, and we really don't want that.
A lot of the comments on this thread talk about "the districts" bad behavior and how IBM should not forget the debt or they will "never learn".
Whilst I have some sympathy with this view, it was so long ago that almost certainly the school district is now run by entirely different people who weren't responsible for running up the debt in the first place.
The district should never have been allowed to borrow so much money in the first place. But someone did and if *I* was now running things I would most certainly be pleading with IBM to write off the debt - particularly if the alternative is bankruptcy. If you take over an organisation close to bankruptcy then pleading/negotiating with debtors is unfortunately part of your job.
I suspect that the only reason the file has the email address in is because apple has always put your email address in the AAC files and didn't change the code when they lifted the DRM.
Slashdot Mirror
I think when the UN says it's a form of torture they are probably meaning it falls within the UN accepted definition of torture.
A lot of this comes down to definitions, like the old "freedom fighter" V "terrorist" argument.
If I was a cop who wanted to have a taser I'd probably say it wasn't torture, if I was this guy who got tasered after a speeding offense I might be inclined to call it torture. If someone I knew was tasered repeatedly and then died, then I would definitely call it torture.
Aside from whether you call it torture or not, police are much more likely to use a taser than they are to use a deadly weapon so a considerable number of people who would never have been shot at are now being tasered.
You may just be seeing the effect of the contents in the VM disk cache being changed. Eg, previously your applications seemed very responsive because all the files they were accessing were in the VM disk cache and after watching a movie they no longer are.
I have a similar problem with postgresql, which relies on the the VM disk caching for most of it's database caching - the problem is similar to what you are seeing in that you lose all fine grained control of what your memory is used for potentially resulting in a big slowdown because important stuff was ditched from the VM disk cache for something you know doesn't need caching.
Maybe the Japanese government doesn't want to invest billions in a civil liberty infringing national ID card scheme when they know it wouldn't actually stop kids buying cigarettes?
lol. The problem is if you keep rounding off, the extra 24's really start to add up after while!
If you really do naturally think in SI units for digital data storage then just take pleasure in the fact that you get 24 extra free with every 1000 as a "bonus".
But the bigger issue is that we don't have any real robot technology that can do anything useful.
Roomba!
Uh, when you factor in partitioning, filesystems, etc, they're going to be disappointed no matter what.
True, but I'd be lying if I claimed that most of the space difference was caused by partitioning and the filesystem block size. The biggest problem is drive manufacturers using a misleading unit to measure the disk space.
The problem is that for whatever reason nobody in the IT world can agree on one set of units to use for everything. Most of the rest of the world formed SI for this reason, and for whatever reason IT had to do its own thing...
This is just nonsense, the entire IT world except disk manufacturers has always used 1meg=1024bytes for *binary* storage devices it doesn't make any sense at all to use SI units when the underlying device is binary because the size of the disk only fits exactly if you work in Base2.
With 10 bits you can store 2^10 different value which equals 1024 and *not* 1000. Perhaps you'd like us to stop using the last 24 values so it more conveniently fits into the SI scheme??!
Most consumer don't read 30 pages of legalease in software clickwrap agreements either, how far do we go when saying it's a "consumer problem".
When people click "OK" to giving away their first born child?
A non computer person goes to a shop to buy a 200GB drive, then they go home, plug it in and their computer shows it only has 185GB.
Trust me, it happens and they are usually pissed off.
Also, I have to say I'm inclined to agree with them, whatever technical justification (for which there is little IMO) it has clearly been done to mislead consumers.
I don't really see the point in this. For sites willing to obey the rules they can publish a P3P privacy policy for their site. This allows users to reject their cookies based on what the site owner plans to do with the data. Or alternatively a user can set his browser to accept 1st party cookies but reject 3rd party cookies.
I believe IE (and possibly firefox) actually requires a valid P3P policy to serve 3rd party cookies at all.
There is an argument that the browsers should be more aggressive at explaining to users that they are leaking their personal data due to the default privacy settings.
Mpeg size depends on quality and size of encoding, at similar quality and size to flv I believe the usual codec used for mpeg produces small files than the standard ones used for flv. This was true until very recently anyway when Flash started to support H. 264.
There are plenty of reasons, here are some: .mpg browser association or content-type mapping is out of date or wrong. .mpg player is in a state where it is unable to play videos.
- Flash has better penetration than native MPEG players and native embedded players.
- Gives a more consistent user experience regardless of OS/browser
- It is guaranteed that most users will be able to work out how to play the video, even if they don't understand downloading or what an mpg is.
- Guarantees that that the user can stay on the site and easily navigate elsewhere.
- Gives less annoying advertising options than post/pre-roll ads.
- Works even if the
- Works even if the native
I would hazard a guess that there are more users of video sites who don't understand what MPEG or a native video player is, than geeks who want to access the underlying video stream.
Yeah also if you waste resources "giving back" and your competitor doesn't, then you are at a disadvantage.
That is unless "giving back" gives you some direct benefit rather than a general feeling of wellbeing.
Realistically if you want companies to give back, then you have to explain whats in it for them. Eg, building a community, etc,
Maybe they plan to use it to compete with google for domains, the groupware functionality on Google for Domains is probably not as advanaced as Zimbra - although it does start up faster.
I'm not really sure I see the point of GWT
Millions of dollars and 5 years of Java IDE development by some of the best IDE developers in the world. Also the Hotspot JIT Compiler and class libraries.
There are many 'languages' that Java developers would probably prefer to use if they had had the same massive cross-industry investment as Java - like Ruby, Python or Smalltalk.
Matt
Ironically half the script based 'ad-tags' that slow page loading just dynamically write out an iframe style advert.
Possibly this is because some publisher sites don't like accepting iframe style ads because they think it is "old html" - which in a way it is.
Using a script tag to render the iframe tricks most people and most 'pre-rendering' based HTML validators to pass the adtag as valid XHTML/HTML. The only down side is that it is still actually invalid, it slows down the publisher site as it is synronously called every page hit and occasionally makes the publisher site entirely unuseable if the adserver becomes unavailable.
But ultimately after a lot of ranting one usually gives people what they want even if it isn't good for them, because time is short and it is *their* site they are screwing up after all.
Regardless of the moral angle, "free" software is aggressively lowering prices in most areas of traditional software.
The money is moving from traditional software to software delivered as a service.
Let's assume that this trend continues and that any software you can get your hands on is both free and eventually also comes with source code.
What about the new generation of software-as-service, the stuff that will be making all the big money, like Adwords/Adsense. The software has never been distributed, does RMS believe he still has a moral right to the source code? Should everyone who writes a line of code be forced to register it in a central bank, or just give it up when asked?
If ASP/Web style software is not tackled surely you end up in a worse situation than before the Free Software movement started since you won't be able to even get the binaries let alone the source.
Yeah it's about bloody time the US harmonized their over zealous IP laws with the rest of the world.
Microsoft shouldn't have assumed that the FSF would continue to offer their new software under GPLv2.
Very true.
Exploiting a loophole in the GPL2 to try and split the free software community over supposed "secret" patents is underhand.
Updating the GPL for new software to prevent this scam was just common sense - although it was a lot of work!
I find it difficult to believe that a judge is going to grant a search order for not having a TV license - no one has a responsibility to prove their innocence.
Most convictions are people who confess or throw their TV out the window when an inspector comes round.
There was a recommendation in 2006 that format shifting should be made legal.
But it's still illegal.
Here in the UK a TV license is compulsory if you have a TV that can receive a signal
I hate to be a pedant but that is actually slightly misleading.
It is only compulsory to have a TV license if you receive or record a broadcast signal (BBC or otherwise).
That said, it might be wise to de-tune the TV if you plan to allow TV Licensing to check your TV (which you are under no legal obligation to do).
Depends on your jurisdiction of course.
Format shifting is almost certainly illegal in the UK.
I get really annoyed by a lot of people who claim they are called "Matthew".
So here's what I propose: let's all agree-- citizens, press, governments, and others shall use the name 'Matthew' to refer only to people who I have granted an official MPC-Approved license and follow the official MPC approved "Matthew" practices.
Otherwise, let's face it just about any plonker could call themselves Matthew, and we really don't want that.
Yours,
Matthew.
A lot of the comments on this thread talk about "the districts" bad behavior and how IBM should not forget the debt or they will "never learn".
Whilst I have some sympathy with this view, it was so long ago that almost certainly the school district is now run by entirely different people who weren't responsible for running up the debt in the first place.
The district should never have been allowed to borrow so much money in the first place. But someone did and if *I* was now running things I would most certainly be pleading with IBM to write off the debt - particularly if the alternative is bankruptcy. If you take over an organisation close to bankruptcy then pleading/negotiating with debtors is unfortunately part of your job.
I suspect that the only reason the file has the email address in is because apple has always put your email address in the AAC files and didn't change the code when they lifted the DRM.