"Other trends started this year and expected to increase in 2004 include the use of e-mail to trick people into going to what they think is a legitimate vendor's web site..."
That sounds suspiciously familiar, especially when you substitute "e-mail" with "innocent-looking links to Amazon.com".
"But Windows users refuse to look at alternatives, and it's infuriating. So I just try to avoid these people.
It's like dealing with a relative who's an alcoholic or drug addict. The solution is so simple (stop taking drugs), but they just get angry if you suggest that."
You, sir, win the daily "Elitist Prick Award"!!
It's no wonder a lot of people regard Linux with suspicion and contempt with people like you championing its cause.
As another poster pointed out, people using screen readers (the blind) have no use for such a feature.
But let's say that some crafty web designer decides to make it so that content is generated/displayed by certain gestures. That content would be completely inaccessable to someone using a screen reader.
The point being, of course, that the more that Javascript is used to convey anything, the less information that reaches someone using a screenreader.
I'm not going to pretend to know what extend this mouse-gesture feature can be used in the context of presenting information, but regardless, such features do nothing to make web content more accessable, and usually end up making it less so.
While mouse-gestures sounds really neat to a lot of folks, 'features' like this only means more and more websites that are less accessable to people that require assistive technology such as screen-readers (most Javascript features are notorious for being inaccessable).
It would be nice if, for once, web technology was developed that made content more accessable to people with disabilities instead of less.
"There is nothing pretentious about the claim that they are fighting for our freedom to use, extend, develop, improve, share, redistribute, modify software."
Since when did we not have this freedom? Like I said in my original post, open source software is not illegal, nor is the GPL.
People who want to have their software poked, prodded, etc. have the freedom to release it under the GPL; those who don't can release it as closed source. It's up to the author of the code to decide which lisence to publish their code under, and they have the right to make that choice.
That being the case, I'm still confused what the actual purpose of the FSF is. Are they are simply an enforcement arm for the GPL, or trying to make ALL software open source (and thereby limiting the freedom of software developers who don't want their code open)? If either is the case, the name "Free Software Foundation" is misleading, just as I asserted in my original post.
...am I the only one with a problem with the name "FREE Software Foundation"? The name makes a pretentious claim that they are somehow fighting for our freedom (of what, exactly, I don't know) while suggesting, to those unfamiliar with their efforts, that software shouldn't cost anything. Just look around here for THAT particular misconception!
Exactly what "freedom" is FSF fighting for? Is it illegal to use anything but closed-source commercial software all of a sudden?
Wouldn't a more accurate name be "Open Software Foundation"? They advocate the development and use of open source software. Nothing more, nothing less. So let's drop this freedom-fighter bullshit, shall we?
I'm all about laws (at least laws that make sense and aren't over-intrusive) and a lawful society, but I'm also all about separating the responsibilities of school and home.
While students are in school, it is of course reasonable for the school to enforce a certain code of conduct. However once a student leaves campus grounds, the school's (and by proxy the taxpayers') responsibility ends.
And as a side, I believe that kids shouldn't be forced, by law, to go to school, however if they don't go to school, they should automatically be disqualified for any taxpayer-funded financial aid.
Schools need to teach kids math, literacy, and science! It is NOT the job of the school system to substitute for bad parenting! It's this politically-correct approach to public education that's producing more and more dumb kids!
"The article suggests many tips for combating the problem - chief among them being the establishment of specific school policies."
Am I the only one who sees a problem with giving schools control over students' lives beyond campus grounds? Why is it that some people are so quick to abdicate control and responsibility of their children to a government beaurocracy? Are today's parents really that bad? Is the government that eager to monitor/regulate every aspect of our lives?
It's time for people to stop blaming the school system and making out kids the taxpayers' problem. If your kid is a fuck-up, be a goddamned parent and put them in their place! Stop automatically run crying to the government!
It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)
Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors.. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt.45 and a.38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.
Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!
Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.
"Not to be entirely cynical but what are the odds that Microsoft had a little bit to do with the review by the USPTO."
And what if they did? It's a patent that, in all likelihood, never should have been awarded, so it really doesn't matter much to me who got the USPTO to examine it as long as it and bad patents like it are thrown out.
Seriously people, you have to stop cutting off your nose to spite your face. This is a good thing!
...well, maybe it is for technical folks like us who read Slashdot, but to the vast majority of the country, opening the source of these programs wil be utterly useless. Your neighbor Bob probably doesn't know an 'include' from an 'endif'.
It seems to me that our lawmakers, in their infinite wisdom, corrected a complicated voting system by replacing it with an even more complicated one. What went so wrong with putting an "X" next to a name on a slip of paper?
Slashdot Mirror
Hardly a spoiler; everybody knows that already!
Actually I use Linux as well, and that doesn't make you any less of an elitist prick with a chip on your shoulder.
That sounds suspiciously familiar, especially when you substitute "e-mail" with "innocent-looking links to Amazon.com".
Did I read this right? Don't you mean this was an IIS server that was r00ted?
It's like dealing with a relative who's an alcoholic or drug addict. The solution is so simple (stop taking drugs), but they just get angry if you suggest that."
You, sir, win the daily "Elitist Prick Award"!!
It's no wonder a lot of people regard Linux with suspicion and contempt with people like you championing its cause.
Are sheep-like Slashdot Moderators, and by proxy their wool, really all that rare?
After reading that minor, humorous typo, I couldn't help but think of my sig.
Good record-keeping doesn't necessarily mean keeping everything, just stuff worth keeping.
But let's say that some crafty web designer decides to make it so that content is generated/displayed by certain gestures. That content would be completely inaccessable to someone using a screen reader.
I'm not going to pretend to know what extend this mouse-gesture feature can be used in the context of presenting information, but regardless, such features do nothing to make web content more accessable, and usually end up making it less so.
It would be nice if, for once, web technology was developed that made content more accessable to people with disabilities instead of less.
Oh yeah! They're not secure! Good thing we have those air-tight Debian servers, eh Slashdotters?
Since when did we not have this freedom? Like I said in my original post, open source software is not illegal, nor is the GPL.
People who want to have their software poked, prodded, etc. have the freedom to release it under the GPL; those who don't can release it as closed source. It's up to the author of the code to decide which lisence to publish their code under, and they have the right to make that choice.
That being the case, I'm still confused what the actual purpose of the FSF is. Are they are simply an enforcement arm for the GPL, or trying to make ALL software open source (and thereby limiting the freedom of software developers who don't want their code open)? If either is the case, the name "Free Software Foundation" is misleading, just as I asserted in my original post.
Yes, and as to many teenagers, the concept of actions having real consequences seems a little ridiculous too.
Say whatever you will about the RIAA's tactics, this type of reaction from a teenager is hardly the result of an over-aggressive music industry.
Exactly what "freedom" is FSF fighting for? Is it illegal to use anything but closed-source commercial software all of a sudden?
Wouldn't a more accurate name be "Open Software Foundation"? They advocate the development and use of open source software. Nothing more, nothing less. So let's drop this freedom-fighter bullshit, shall we?
You forgot the "and here's what I, the editor who posted the story, think about it" part.
Does this put Apple among Big Evil Inc. conglomerate or is this OK because it's Apple?
While students are in school, it is of course reasonable for the school to enforce a certain code of conduct. However once a student leaves campus grounds, the school's (and by proxy the taxpayers') responsibility ends.
And as a side, I believe that kids shouldn't be forced, by law, to go to school, however if they don't go to school, they should automatically be disqualified for any taxpayer-funded financial aid.
Schools need to teach kids math, literacy, and science! It is NOT the job of the school system to substitute for bad parenting! It's this politically-correct approach to public education that's producing more and more dumb kids!
Am I the only one who sees a problem with giving schools control over students' lives beyond campus grounds? Why is it that some people are so quick to abdicate control and responsibility of their children to a government beaurocracy? Are today's parents really that bad? Is the government that eager to monitor/regulate every aspect of our lives?
It's time for people to stop blaming the school system and making out kids the taxpayers' problem. If your kid is a fuck-up, be a goddamned parent and put them in their place! Stop automatically run crying to the government!
Moderators I know this is offtopic, that's why I'm not burning kharma bonus.
I was going to click the link in your sig, but due to the high risk of goatse landmines, I decided to play it safe. What's the actual URL?
It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)
.. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.
Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors
Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!
Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.
And what if they did? It's a patent that, in all likelihood, never should have been awarded, so it really doesn't matter much to me who got the USPTO to examine it as long as it and bad patents like it are thrown out.
Seriously people, you have to stop cutting off your nose to spite your face. This is a good thing!
Hmm, perhaps I'll base my next proposal to my boss using this "Incremental approach"...
Sir, my plan will gurantee a return of $20 million, but only if you follow these steps:
1. Give me 138% raise
2. ???
3. Profit!
I can't fail!
It seems to me that our lawmakers, in their infinite wisdom, corrected a complicated voting system by replacing it with an even more complicated one. What went so wrong with putting an "X" next to a name on a slip of paper?