Most times I see "community" these days, especially in a "Web 2.0" context, I think it's a euphemism for gathering personal data for marketing purposes.
Lately I've had a transactions where the site (not eBay) used a Paypal cart. Each time I contacted the merchant and requested another way to order/pay. Most of them mentioned how many complaints they hear about Paypal. One business gave me a $24 order for free because I detailed in writing why I won't use Paypal. All but one of the others either had a different merchant account or sent the order with an invoice, trusting me to send payment. Only one lost my business because they "had" to use Paypal.
Paypal would be way more safe if they'd just ban all browsers.
"I'd just go with the 5th ammendment defense - I don't have to tell you things that could incriminate me."
If we have to rely on the "No person...shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself..." part of the Constitution to protect us from the breach of the "...right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." part, we're sunk.
Somehow I just don't trust the government to uphold the Bill of Rights while they disregard my rights.
How "economical" it is for the developer is a moot point. From Scrivener's site:
Literature & Latte is not a software company...
Wait - if Literature & Latte isn't a software company, why would you want to buy software from me? Two reasons: Firstly, many shareware companies are really only one person - I just happen to be particularly upfront about it; secondly, I am first and foremost a user of Scrivener. I developed Scrivener because I felt I needed a tool to help me really get a grip on my writing, notes and research, to organise it and start putting it all together like a jigsaw.
The page goes on to describe the developer's approach to feature requests and updates, which is quite unlike that of commercial developers.
...an underlying philosophy is that Scrivener should never try to be all things to all writers. Instead, Scrivener has a well-defined general feature set, and the aim is for this feature-set (based around outlining, storyboarding and composing) to be as solid as possible, and as refined, user-friendly and intuitive as it can be. Feature requests will always be seriously considered, but just because another application has it, it doesn't mean that it will fit into Scrivener...
He also addresses Mac-onlyness:
The reason for this is not that I am a Mac snob, but simply that Literature & Latte... is really just me, and I happen to prefer and use (and program for) a Mac.
The developer is a writer who can code, he created Scrivener as a writing tool. I've offered him more than the software's $40 cost because it's been such a boon to my productivity. He politely declined.
This is uneducated speculation, and I have no idea what kind of tentacles XM and ClearChannel have into each other, but maybe the FCC is wary of a merger effectively handing satellite radio over to one megacorp. Then again, maybe not...
[Disclaimer: I'm a happy Sirius subscriber, but glad there's competition.]
Re:Guns are the assembly code of politics.
on
Sealand Put Up For Sale
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· Score: 4, Informative
"Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing... After they have exhausted all other possibilities."
--Winston Churchill
Fair enough. But if it's a matter of national security, then let's be sure the Congress, the cabinet and the Commander-in-Chief are subject to identical questions, investigation and consequences.
I'm in no way a Sony fan, and I have been a satisfied Lik-Sang customer. But I'm hardly of a mind to blame "our governments and our legal system" if Lik-Sang didn't show up to defend themselves.
It's a tradeoff, some people's work is much easier with a lot of screen space. Others are more concerned with weight, keyboard feel, etc. So you might say: it's not how big it is, it's how you use it.
Just a few weeks back I was shopping for new laptops for my girlfriend and myself (yes really). We never encountered anything larger than 17 inches, but found even that size to be painfully large. We settled on matching (of course) 15.4-inchers, which are "just right."
Funny coincidence though -- like the woman interviewed in the video, my girlfriend prefers black laptops.
In lots of government-funded research, the real payoff isn't always in the direct benefit but in everything learned along the way.
This is one of the few but very substantial good things to come out of our bloated military spending (besides Halliburton profits, I mean). And it's not just the military -- obligatory Tang jokes aside, there's a huge ripple effect from NASA. Ditto for Los Alamos, NOAA, the Forest Service and so on.
Privately funded research can yield a lot more than sharks with frickin' laser beams, too, but it's often less open-ended. Although that may be changing.
Even if stem cells never cure a thing, surely an incredible amount can be learned from the research.
Good point! Now I see how many problems are actually self-correcting. Cancer, rogue asteroids, drunk drivers, clearcutting, pretty much everything. Time for a Mentos!
A lot of people are jumping to conclusions, but what's to say they're not delaying to make the copy protection scheme less intrusive and more practical for end users?
Some games are tremendously valuable, but of course this varies for different people.
My friends and I play Halo 2 and even the original Halo a lot (multiplayer, LAN and online). I've often thought how much value, in the form of thousands of hours of fun, we've received from these games. I wouldn't even think of selling some titles, even one that's four years old, because they're so enjoyable.
I'm no MS fan, but I've given them full price for an Xbox, Live, and many copies of Halo/Halo 2 (some as gifts) over the years because, to me, these games have been worth it, and that's not even for the campaign mode. Games that are less valuable, I will buy "pre-owned" or not at all. I gladly gave Firaxis/2K full price for Civilization IV and Valve top dollar for HL2 because I had such great experiences with their predecessors. The list can go on and you have your own favorites.
If the business plan is to make really fun games (admittedly subjective, although that only serves to make room for more games and developers) or to extend older games with new ideas, then I will gladly pre-order, paying full price months in advance. If the business model is to churn out another "upgrade" or sequel with new stats, a few complicated "enhancements" and graphics that let me count every blade of grass -- well, I'm keepin' my money.
Dedicated gamers know that the newest and flashiest is not necessarily the most fun. The more marketing hype the publishers throw at us, the more disappointed we are if the fun doesn't live up to the fanfare -- and we don't forget. Gaming is about fun. Graphics and features and stats and seven layers of option menus may be impressive, but they don't automatically create fun (although they do automatically increase development cost).
So developers and publishers: I will pay you for fun. I will not pay to "support" you. (PS: You can set the price, but I decide what's fun.)
Slashdot Mirror
... I'm really tempted to send email to the "hosts" and tell them to STFU!.
It doesn't help.
>help build community
Most times I see "community" these days, especially in a "Web 2.0" context, I think it's a euphemism for gathering personal data for marketing purposes.
Maybe the goal isn't to actually impeach him now, but to have this on the record for the unexpected national emergency we're all expecting.
This Apple and Linux user blocks Paypal as unsafe.
Lately I've had a transactions where the site (not eBay) used a Paypal cart. Each time I contacted the merchant and requested another way to order/pay. Most of them mentioned how many complaints they hear about Paypal. One business gave me a $24 order for free because I detailed in writing why I won't use Paypal. All but one of the others either had a different merchant account or sent the order with an invoice, trusting me to send payment. Only one lost my business because they "had" to use Paypal.
Paypal would be way more safe if they'd just ban all browsers.
Just invade. You'll be welcomed as liberators.
"I'd just go with the 5th ammendment defense - I don't have to tell you things that could incriminate me."
If we have to rely on the "No person...shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself..." part of the Constitution to protect us from the breach of the "...right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." part, we're sunk.
Somehow I just don't trust the government to uphold the Bill of Rights while they disregard my rights.You must not be familiar with the wit and wisdom of Private Franklin Delano Donut.
We've had Red-ray DVD since about 1997. It's not pink, it's light-ish red.
ClearChannel runs several XM streams, and XM has rights to ClearChannel programming.
This is uneducated speculation, and I have no idea what kind of tentacles XM and ClearChannel have into each other, but maybe the FCC is wary of a merger effectively handing satellite radio over to one megacorp. Then again, maybe not...
[Disclaimer: I'm a happy Sirius subscriber, but glad there's competition.]
"Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing... After they have exhausted all other possibilities."
--Winston Churchill
Fair enough. But if it's a matter of national security, then let's be sure the Congress, the cabinet and the Commander-in-Chief are subject to identical questions, investigation and consequences.
The problem is not that Google said they'd do no evil. It's that we believed them.
And you'd think that after the Black Mesa catastrophe and the debacle at City 17, people would learn that robot sentry turrets just don't work.
I'm in no way a Sony fan, and I have been a satisfied Lik-Sang customer. But I'm hardly of a mind to blame "our governments and our legal system" if Lik-Sang didn't show up to defend themselves.
It's a tradeoff, some people's work is much easier with a lot of screen space. Others are more concerned with weight, keyboard feel, etc. So you might say: it's not how big it is, it's how you use it.
Just a few weeks back I was shopping for new laptops for my girlfriend and myself (yes really). We never encountered anything larger than 17 inches, but found even that size to be painfully large. We settled on matching (of course) 15.4-inchers, which are "just right."
Funny coincidence though -- like the woman interviewed in the video, my girlfriend prefers black laptops.
Mom's favorite games are Zuma and Hexic. Dad enjoys Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.
Terrorists will just attack the crabs' weak points for massive damage!
I'll buy it for one million dollars and use it for my underground lair.
In lots of government-funded research, the real payoff isn't always in the direct benefit but in everything learned along the way.
This is one of the few but very substantial good things to come out of our bloated military spending (besides Halliburton profits, I mean). And it's not just the military -- obligatory Tang jokes aside, there's a huge ripple effect from NASA. Ditto for Los Alamos, NOAA, the Forest Service and so on.
Privately funded research can yield a lot more than sharks with frickin' laser beams, too, but it's often less open-ended. Although that may be changing.
Even if stem cells never cure a thing, surely an incredible amount can be learned from the research.
Good point! Now I see how many problems are actually self-correcting. Cancer, rogue asteroids, drunk drivers, clearcutting, pretty much everything. Time for a Mentos!
A lot of people are jumping to conclusions, but what's to say they're not delaying to make the copy protection scheme less intrusive and more practical for end users?
Dude, quit hogging the bong!
Some games are tremendously valuable, but of course this varies for different people.
My friends and I play Halo 2 and even the original Halo a lot (multiplayer, LAN and online). I've often thought how much value, in the form of thousands of hours of fun, we've received from these games. I wouldn't even think of selling some titles, even one that's four years old, because they're so enjoyable.
I'm no MS fan, but I've given them full price for an Xbox, Live, and many copies of Halo/Halo 2 (some as gifts) over the years because, to me, these games have been worth it, and that's not even for the campaign mode. Games that are less valuable, I will buy "pre-owned" or not at all. I gladly gave Firaxis/2K full price for Civilization IV and Valve top dollar for HL2 because I had such great experiences with their predecessors. The list can go on and you have your own favorites.
If the business plan is to make really fun games (admittedly subjective, although that only serves to make room for more games and developers) or to extend older games with new ideas, then I will gladly pre-order, paying full price months in advance. If the business model is to churn out another "upgrade" or sequel with new stats, a few complicated "enhancements" and graphics that let me count every blade of grass -- well, I'm keepin' my money.
Dedicated gamers know that the newest and flashiest is not necessarily the most fun. The more marketing hype the publishers throw at us, the more disappointed we are if the fun doesn't live up to the fanfare -- and we don't forget. Gaming is about fun. Graphics and features and stats and seven layers of option menus may be impressive, but they don't automatically create fun (although they do automatically increase development cost).
So developers and publishers: I will pay you for fun. I will not pay to "support" you. (PS: You can set the price, but I decide what's fun.)