It may not seem to be very important right now, but "Slashdot" has now become part of my vocabulary. Whenever I see someone gag the innocent accused from protesting gangsterism-motivated prosecutions, I tell him or her to stop "Slashdot-ing". You've heard me say that Slashdot's trained seals are all subhuman insurrectionists. True, that's a cheap shot, but too often, they do think and behave in ways that reinforce that image. This is the very source of the factionalism of which I accuse Slashdot -- justly, as is now more clear than ever. That, in itself, will condemn us to live with baleful, irrational hatemongers any day now.
Well if you don't like it, why the fuck do you keep coming back here then ?
Slashdot does have its moments of 'groupthink' but that's what makes it entertaining.
I imagine that all these copy protection schemes which add noise to an already poor quality format like CD, will simply serve to motivate consumers to migrate to the new high-resolution digital formats such as Sony's SADC (Super Audio CD) and the DVD-Audio format.
Then they can sell us the music we already own YET AGAIN on YET ANOTHER format.
For too long the safety critical aspects of software development have been neglected by the government. There appears to be no law holding software developers to the same standards as say, builders, or electricians, or gas workers.
Software can be dangerous. You only have to look at the amount of safety critical systems out there to realize this.
I for one am not happy with the idea of a nuclear power station being controlled by software developed by a loose coalition of left wing students. (I am referring to Linux here).
Lets get real. Software can kill, if not developed correctly. All software developers should be licensed by the government, and any safety critical systems should be formally specified (in Z for example) to prove there are no bugs before being tested on the general populace at large.
I realise the open source zealots will disagree with me, but their unregulated sloppy work has been accepted for too long. It is time we introduced rigourous quality standards backed up by legislation with teeth.
Why should some unqualified fourteen year old 'hacker' be allowd to develop software that could put lives at risk ?
I realise that many of us here on slashdot care about privacy. I am one of those people. However as a US citizen, I am also directly in the firing line of any lunatic with a grudge (e.g. Osama Bin Laden).
On the whole I think the American people have far too much mistrust of our government which after all is elected by us, and fully accountable to us every four years at the ballot box.
Every day we trust people better qualified than ourselves to do tasks for which we do not posess the required skill. (piloting a plane, cooking our hamburgers etc etc). Why should we be worried about a bit of secrecy when the national interest is threatened ?
Sounds to me like objectors to this scheme are siding with the terrorists. I fear the fundamentalists in Afghanistan far more than any suit in Washington.
I would even argue as this guy at adequacy does that perhaps we need a few more of our 'freedoms' re-evaluated in the light of recent event.
It is even easier than that. Buy an apple 'airport' you don't even need to hack it very much. Simply stand outside a likely looking building. (Banks are an ideal target). Watch in wonder as you realise that Banks don't even encrypt their wireless traffic half the time...
Like it or not, this IS an issue that is important to many Slashdot readers, no matter what side of the fence you are when it comes to copyright law
Well I DONT like it. I am sick of whinging white middle class so-called 'nerds' crying whenever their inalienable rights to free porn and warez are called into question, while meanwhile elsewhere there are serious problems in the world.
Slashdots moronic readership should take time out away from their computers and find out what is going on in the real world
I am so fed up of stories that are supposedly about the very real and dangerous threat of censorship, only to find out on closer inspection that slashdot is advocating theft.
If you want to read hustler, (and I can imagine that for plenty of slashdotters this will be their only source of releif, ESR's tips notwithstanding) go the fuck out to the fucking shop and BUY a fucking copy. DONT expect me to think of you as a latter-day Nelson Mandela simply because you STOLE it via @home.
For FUCK'S SAKE, PLEASE STOP POSTING THESE BOGUS STORIES TO SLASHDOT. MOST OF US ARE LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS. WE DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT PORN, OR WAREZ, OR ANYTHING ELSE LIKE THAT. NOW, HOW ABOUT SOME STORIES FOR NERDS. SURELY THERE MUST BE A NEW POINT RELEASE OF G++ COMING SOON ????
Exactly how is pointing out endemic racism flamebait ?
I am getting sick and tired of racist moderation. I guess after 300 years of oppression I should be used to it, but I had thought that slashdot was free of the kind of racists I encounter in the non-geek world. Oh well another illusion shattered.
Perhaps the moderation system could be altered to take account of the racism of the average slashdotter, so that african americans can only be down-modded by other african-american slashdotters. This would seem the fairest way to make reparation for the years of racism my people have suffered from. What do other african-american slashdotters think about this idea ?
I've been thinking a bit more about this guy's problem. maybe its the car thats screwing things up. Chicks don't really like sedans. (Unless they are BMW M3). I would suggest buying something a bit more sporting, say a porsche boxster or a BMW Z3, then you will find chicks just climb into your car if you forget to lock the doors. This actually happened to me when I was driving a rental Z3.
Don't be offended, they really work. I followed some of these and I was having to turn down dates because I became so successful. Seriously these tips are the most practical guide to getting laid I have ever seen anywhere. Period.
The best thing is they are tailored to the slashdot demographics of nerds.
The reviewer is often unqualified to perform the review, and the reader is equally unqualified to asses the review.
For example most people think that DDR memory is a good thing. But does anyone out there really know what DDR memory is ? I bet half the slashdot readership think they are 'hardware experts' simply because they have overclocked their Athlon or whatever.
Remember in hardware a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. My approach to buying hardware has always been as follows:
1) Pick a price point.
2) Find out who the market leader, and the second player is (in the case of PC hardware that would be DELL and GATEWAY)
3) choose one or the other
I really believe this strategy is best for all but the most hardcore tech-savvy propellerheads. (you know, the kind of person who opens up their PC and is capable of understanding all that hardcore jargon about 'bus speeds' and IRQs.
I really appreciate your mastering of the art of trolling. I one day hope to achieve your level of it. All I can do for now is look on an awe and hope to learn your techniques well enough to emulate (and, with enough luck, improve on) in the future.
WRONG. Try again. As a developer of trading systems for major league international banks, I have evaluated Linux and found it severly lacking. But don't let facts get in the way of your prejudice.
MSFT dominates because they had a 10 year head start and a much larger marketing budget.
Don't make me laugh. Linux is based on Unix, which is over 30 years old. So don't pull that headstart crap. I would use Linux if it was actually any good. Fact is, it is crap.
Your abusive tone proves you don't have an argument.
I know slashdot is the Linux zealot's home-from-home on the web, but believe it or not, many of us actually make our livings providing solutions based on Microsoft technology.
Its not that we are somehow dumb, or "don't get it", in fact quite the opposite. We have investigated Linux (and BSD, etc) and found it lacking. In all of the key areas of business, Linux is clearly inferior to W2K.
Obviously I will be modded down for saying something so heretical in a linux-bigot forum like slashdot, but it needs to be said.
If businesses were not making $$$$s from their Microsoft systems, do you really think they would stick with them ?
If Linux really did offer any competitive advantage do you think businesses (whose main concern is making money) would not install redhat straight away ?
Lets face facts. Linux is an obscure, hard to use, inconsistant OS, with a few cool features and thousands of drawbacks. Microsoft has nothing to fear, and indeed is giving Linux a spurious credibility by even acknowledging it.
Microsoft will still be hear years after we have forgotten who Linus Torvaldees is. I mean, you don't hear too much about OS/2 or the Amiga these days, do you ? Both these OS's were supposedly superior to windows, but Microsoft kicked both their asses real hard.
Anyway I know I am wasting my breath here, but geeks and nerds who want to succeed in the information economy had better study a few business courses, in addition to their geek courses, then they will realise that their time would be better spent getting a professional qualification such as MCSE rather than rebuilding their kernal every 2 minutes.
It amazes me that you Americans are so obsessed with 'privacy' since you are such a nation of exhibitionists. One only has to take a look at your TV shows to realise this. Springer, Rikki Lake, Montell Williams, Jenny Jones etc demonstrate that the average American is prepared to let all the details of his/her private life to be revealed to anyone provided they are 'on TV'.
Since your government tracks you all by a unique number (Social Security ID) which is illegal in most European states, your privacy is effectively dead. You have one choice, so eloquently phrased by Scott McNealy: GET OVER IT.
Really, I mean who really cares about all that information anyway.
No, we drive well engineered vehicles which use advanced techniques like turbocharging and variable valve timing, and dynamic cam profiles to achieve higher bhp figures.
There is a substitute for cubic inches, Its called intelligence.
Nobody in their right mind buys their car in the UK, we all buy them from Holland or Germany and import them to the UK.
Seems to me like this is overkill. Linux is a fork of BSD Unix (An OS originally designed for huge timesharing systems, and mainframe class work). How many people do you want logged into your Journada ? The P in PDA stands for PERSONAL. The moment you let anyone login, you have opened a gaping security hole.
I can only assume this irrational urge to run Linux on every computer is the same urge that causes them to place 5 litre engines in their cars.
Slashdot Mirror
Well if you don't like it, why the fuck do you keep coming back here then ?
Slashdot does have its moments of 'groupthink' but that's what makes it entertaining.
My guess is that they US govt stays offline, because it doesn't want to lay itself wide open to terrorists.
European countries individually would not make interesting targets, which is why the French are not so bothered about it.
On the whole, it seems to work very well, and it has protected us from all kinds of terrorist threats.
I cannot wait to see what this Game Cube can do.
I wonder when they are released in Europe ? I hope someone comes out with a 'hunt Osama' game for it, then I would be in heaven...
Then they can sell us the music we already own YET AGAIN on YET ANOTHER format.
Modula-3 is even better. Give it a try. Sam Harbison has written a good book on the subject.
As I recall, it failed.
Software can be dangerous. You only have to look at the amount of safety critical systems out there to realize this.
I for one am not happy with the idea of a nuclear power station being controlled by software developed by a loose coalition of left wing students. (I am referring to Linux here).
Lets get real. Software can kill, if not developed correctly. All software developers should be licensed by the government, and any safety critical systems should be formally specified (in Z for example) to prove there are no bugs before being tested on the general populace at large.
I realise the open source zealots will disagree with me, but their unregulated sloppy work has been accepted for too long. It is time we introduced rigourous quality standards backed up by legislation with teeth.
Why should some unqualified fourteen year old 'hacker' be allowd to develop software that could put lives at risk ?
On the whole I think the American people have far too much mistrust of our government which after all is elected by us, and fully accountable to us every four years at the ballot box.
Every day we trust people better qualified than ourselves to do tasks for which we do not posess the required skill. (piloting a plane, cooking our hamburgers etc etc). Why should we be worried about a bit of secrecy when the national interest is threatened ?
Sounds to me like objectors to this scheme are siding with the terrorists. I fear the fundamentalists in Afghanistan far more than any suit in Washington.
I would even argue as this guy at adequacy does that perhaps we need a few more of our 'freedoms' re-evaluated in the light of recent event.
Well I DONT like it. I am sick of whinging white middle class so-called 'nerds' crying whenever their inalienable rights to free porn and warez are called into question, while meanwhile elsewhere there are serious problems in the world.
Slashdots moronic readership should take time out away from their computers and find out what is going on in the real world
If you want to read hustler, (and I can imagine that for plenty of slashdotters this will be their only source of releif, ESR's tips notwithstanding) go the fuck out to the fucking shop and BUY a fucking copy. DONT expect me to think of you as a latter-day Nelson Mandela simply because you STOLE it via @home.
For FUCK'S SAKE, PLEASE STOP POSTING THESE BOGUS STORIES TO SLASHDOT. MOST OF US ARE LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS. WE DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT PORN, OR WAREZ, OR ANYTHING ELSE LIKE THAT. NOW, HOW ABOUT SOME STORIES FOR NERDS. SURELY THERE MUST BE A NEW POINT RELEASE OF G++ COMING SOON ????
I am getting sick and tired of racist moderation. I guess after 300 years of oppression I should be used to it, but I had thought that slashdot was free of the kind of racists I encounter in the non-geek world. Oh well another illusion shattered.
Perhaps the moderation system could be altered to take account of the racism of the average slashdotter, so that african americans can only be down-modded by other african-american slashdotters. This would seem the fairest way to make reparation for the years of racism my people have suffered from. What do other african-american slashdotters think about this idea ?
Thank you again.
Ummm. I dunno ? A 3-year BS and a masters in comp sci did it for me...
I've been thinking a bit more about this guy's problem. maybe its the car thats screwing things up. Chicks don't really like sedans. (Unless they are BMW M3). I would suggest buying something a bit more sporting, say a porsche boxster or a BMW Z3, then you will find chicks just climb into your car if you forget to lock the doors. This actually happened to me when I was driving a rental Z3.
The answer is simple. You need ESR's sex tips.
Don't be offended, they really work. I followed some of these and I was having to turn down dates because I became so successful. Seriously these tips are the most practical guide to getting laid I have ever seen anywhere. Period.
The best thing is they are tailored to the slashdot demographics of nerds.
For example most people think that DDR memory is a good thing. But does anyone out there really know what DDR memory is ? I bet half the slashdot readership think they are 'hardware experts' simply because they have overclocked their Athlon or whatever.
Remember in hardware a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. My approach to buying hardware has always been as follows:
1) Pick a price point.
2) Find out who the market leader, and the second player is (in the case of PC hardware that would be DELL and GATEWAY)
3) choose one or the other
I really believe this strategy is best for all but the most hardcore tech-savvy propellerheads. (you know, the kind of person who opens up their PC and is capable of understanding all that hardcore jargon about 'bus speeds' and IRQs.
A good place to start is the slashdot troll how-to.
And remember, its not the quality of the troll that counts, its the spirit and love that went into it's creation.
WRONG. Try again. As a developer of trading systems for major league international banks, I have evaluated Linux and found it severly lacking. But don't let facts get in the way of your prejudice.
MSFT dominates because they had a 10 year head start and a much larger marketing budget.
Don't make me laugh. Linux is based on Unix, which is over 30 years old. So don't pull that headstart crap. I would use Linux if it was actually any good. Fact is, it is crap.
Your abusive tone proves you don't have an argument.
Its not that we are somehow dumb, or "don't get it", in fact quite the opposite. We have investigated Linux (and BSD, etc) and found it lacking. In all of the key areas of business, Linux is clearly inferior to W2K.
Obviously I will be modded down for saying something so heretical in a linux-bigot forum like slashdot, but it needs to be said.
If businesses were not making $$$$s from their Microsoft systems, do you really think they would stick with them ?
If Linux really did offer any competitive advantage do you think businesses (whose main concern is making money) would not install redhat straight away ?
Lets face facts. Linux is an obscure, hard to use, inconsistant OS, with a few cool features and thousands of drawbacks. Microsoft has nothing to fear, and indeed is giving Linux a spurious credibility by even acknowledging it.
Microsoft will still be hear years after we have forgotten who Linus Torvaldees is. I mean, you don't hear too much about OS/2 or the Amiga these days, do you ? Both these OS's were supposedly superior to windows, but Microsoft kicked both their asses real hard.
Anyway I know I am wasting my breath here, but geeks and nerds who want to succeed in the information economy had better study a few business courses, in addition to their geek courses, then they will realise that their time would be better spent getting a professional qualification such as MCSE rather than rebuilding their kernal every 2 minutes.
Phew, good to get that off my chest.
Anyway anything that reduces capitalist exploitation of the once-free web can only be a good thing right ?
Since your government tracks you all by a unique number (Social Security ID) which is illegal in most European states, your privacy is effectively dead. You have one choice, so eloquently phrased by Scott McNealy: GET OVER IT.
Really, I mean who really cares about all that information anyway.
There is a substitute for cubic inches, Its called intelligence.
Nobody in their right mind buys their car in the UK, we all buy them from Holland or Germany and import them to the UK.
I can only assume this irrational urge to run Linux on every computer is the same urge that causes them to place 5 litre engines in their cars.