"I believe that "the point" here is to prevent children from getting their hands on guns"
More laws that restrict legal gun use isn't the answer. The single BEST way of keeping guns out of your childrens' hands is to educate them and make them respect the gun and what it is capable of. If they are properly educated, children won't want to get their hands on guns.
Rather, we see an overprotective government thinking (yet again) that it knows better than its citizens, imposing a potentially very flawed technology, that when it fails, can very likely lead to the citizen's death.
On the surface, all of these "for the children" arguments sound good. But after reading many of these posts here, you can see that there are plenty of reasons why this is just another bad idea passed onto us by a government that either doesn't know better, or (as I believe) knows that "for the children" legislation can still be justified to further control a populace/earn votes.
I know this won't be popular...
on
Linus Is A Hero
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· Score: 2
I wasn't able to read the list (big nasty flash ad + 28.8 connection = $#@%%^#$@) but is either Bill Gates or the creator of AOL on that list?
I know this will probably activate the froth glands of you zealots, but please read this whole post first. I don't know who compiled this list, but I suspect that if those people were left off, it was done so deliberately, despite their obvious contributions to the development of the internet.
As unpopular as they and their creations are to a lot of people here, I think it's unfair to ignore how they were able to bring the internet to millions of users who, without Windows and/or AOL, would have never been able to do so.
Oh I read the article... and I still couldn't find anything to justify paying $250 for this. I mean, was there really that much demand for such a device?
I would even go so far as to suggest that the people this is marketed towards prefer using their computers for their multimedia needs... something that they can already do without having to spend $250 for what only amounts to a neat gadget.
I'd love to see some kind of message board on that site (Slashcode?) where people could express their support and ideas about the treesitting, as well as engage in discussion.
But of course they won't do that because these kinds of groups are very unreceptive to criticism and debate. Trolls aside (and what message board doesn't have trolls), I think they would find that their cause and methods are not as accepted or supported as many of them believe.
I wasn't really referring to the usefullness of the software; more like the device itself. From what I know of these things, there are already technologies available that do what these Tablet PCs can do (just not necessarily in a single device), so when I refer to usefullness, I'm referring to meeting a business requirement that hasn't yet been fulfilled.
Every review I have read about these Tablet PC's suggests that they are a nice in a gadgety kind of way, but not exceptionally useful. How would a Linux Tablet make such a device more valuable to the target consumer?
So basically your criteria for a "skilled artist" are that they are proficient at their particular medium, and that they don't accept money for their work.
Are you suggesting that Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Michaelangelo (as an insightful poster pointed out), and John Carmack are not "skilled artists" because they accept(ed) money for their work?
"Should any slashdotter actually want to submit a comment (gasp! could it be?), read this first (FCC's rules on electronic comment submission), and then go here."
I hear a lot of arguments here saying that piracy doesn't hurt business. That may be true, but think about what happens in insurance fraud, and you will see that it hurts teh consumer instead.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that insurance fraud costs the insurance industry an estimated $30 billion each year. Insurance fraud and accident staging costs the average American household approximately $300 each year in extra insurance premiums.
Now I don't KNOW if the same thing may happen in the software industry, but it occurred to me that there has to be SOME reason why these companies still make a huge profit despite rampant piracy. It only makes sense that the difference is being made up by the honest folks who actually pay for the software.
I wonder where you are getting your information from. The OMB figures state that only 17% ($368 billion out of total $2.128 Trillion)of the fiscal year 2003 budget is allocated to defense spending.
I know most European nations are generally socialist at their core and tax their citizens quite heavily. Is a migration to Linux going to mean lower cost of government operation and lower taxes? Or is the money that they save just going to go to some other bloated government program?
I believe you are grossly misinformed. What do you think brought all those bombs to their targets in the Gulf War (as was so wonderfully seen on TV every day)?
Slashdot Mirror
More laws that restrict legal gun use isn't the answer. The single BEST way of keeping guns out of your childrens' hands is to educate them and make them respect the gun and what it is capable of. If they are properly educated, children won't want to get their hands on guns.
Rather, we see an overprotective government thinking (yet again) that it knows better than its citizens, imposing a potentially very flawed technology, that when it fails, can very likely lead to the citizen's death.
On the surface, all of these "for the children" arguments sound good. But after reading many of these posts here, you can see that there are plenty of reasons why this is just another bad idea passed onto us by a government that either doesn't know better, or (as I believe) knows that "for the children" legislation can still be justified to further control a populace/earn votes.
I know this will probably activate the froth glands of you zealots, but please read this whole post first. I don't know who compiled this list, but I suspect that if those people were left off, it was done so deliberately, despite their obvious contributions to the development of the internet.
As unpopular as they and their creations are to a lot of people here, I think it's unfair to ignore how they were able to bring the internet to millions of users who, without Windows and/or AOL, would have never been able to do so.
I would even go so far as to suggest that the people this is marketed towards prefer using their computers for their multimedia needs... something that they can already do without having to spend $250 for what only amounts to a neat gadget.
...I'd best be off to patent my 3-Click online shopping cart invention.
Or you could just buy a DVD player for $50 at WalMart. Is the geek-factor really worth the additional $200?
I mean, information wants to be free, right?
"Suggested Retail
Price£30.00"
Who here in the States has £30.00 laying around?
A Linux port of an underachieving game makes the headlines, but news of a MySQL security hole does not.
I guess that's what they mean by security through obsurity.
But of course they won't do that because these kinds of groups are very unreceptive to criticism and debate. Trolls aside (and what message board doesn't have trolls), I think they would find that their cause and methods are not as accepted or supported as many of them believe.
I know it's not exactly the same thing, but it sure takes a hell of a lot less time than actually reviewing hundreds of products.
I wasn't really referring to the usefullness of the software; more like the device itself. From what I know of these things, there are already technologies available that do what these Tablet PCs can do (just not necessarily in a single device), so when I refer to usefullness, I'm referring to meeting a business requirement that hasn't yet been fulfilled.
Every review I have read about these Tablet PC's suggests that they are a nice in a gadgety kind of way, but not exceptionally useful. How would a Linux Tablet make such a device more valuable to the target consumer?
Are you suggesting that Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Michaelangelo (as an insightful poster pointed out), and John Carmack are not "skilled artists" because they accept(ed) money for their work?
The point of my post was, of course, that everyone deserves to be paid for their work.
You MUST be new here, right?
Is that the old "Information wants to be free!" argument? ;)
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that insurance fraud costs the insurance industry an estimated $30 billion each year. Insurance fraud and accident staging costs the average American household approximately $300 each year in extra insurance premiums.
Now I don't KNOW if the same thing may happen in the software industry, but it occurred to me that there has to be SOME reason why these companies still make a huge profit despite rampant piracy. It only makes sense that the difference is being made up by the honest folks who actually pay for the software.
I just want the websites I work on viewed and enjoyed.. the money is just a bonus.
Oh wait, I have bills to pay! Excuse me if I'm greedy and want to be paid for my work.
"
...as you wish :)
I hope I see this one in meta... I thought it was an interesting/informative post, for what it's worth.
Social Security is a sinking ship. Should we be helping people get off of it or should we make them more comfortable for the trip down?
"If we had any sense we'd try to reform the UN and sell parts of our offensive military to them to police the Bosnias and Rwandas of the world."
The UN has plenty of military resources, they simply choose not to enforce their policies/resolutions.
I wonder where you are getting your information from. The OMB figures state that only 17% ($368 billion out of total $2.128 Trillion)of the fiscal year 2003 budget is allocated to defense spending.
I know most European nations are generally socialist at their core and tax their citizens quite heavily. Is a migration to Linux going to mean lower cost of government operation and lower taxes? Or is the money that they save just going to go to some other bloated government program?
And if Linux was perfect at it's 1.0 release, you'd have a leg to stand on.
I believe you are grossly misinformed. What do you think brought all those bombs to their targets in the Gulf War (as was so wonderfully seen on TV every day)?