but there are enough educated and intelligent people, aren't there?
Obviously not - every time the NFL owners want a new stadium, the population of whatever municipality is getting a**-r****d ponies up the taxpayer dollars without much question as to how much the NFL owners are making.
I can't help realize that the internet of today is a far cry from what it was intended to be in terms of freedom of communication...
As the internet becomes more and more available to people, we begin to realize what complete a-holes people can be, thus the need for more and more security measures.
There shouldn't be any difference between making a political statement and, say, a statement about how much you hate cheese.
Not necessarily true. In no country in the world that I am aware of, are dairy farmers going to kick in your door and Abu Ghraib you and your family for saying you don't like cheddar.
On the other hand, repression or restriction of political speech in some form or fashion is a fairly common occurrence, even in this country (the USA).
The idea behind the law is that political speech is far more incendiary than making a statement about cheese preference and thus deserves the higher protection. In an ideal world, a person would be able to state his or her political opinions with no more repercussion than a flaming row, but sadly, this is not the case, even here.
---
If the Wisconsin dairy farmers were suddenly to gain an upper hand on the political system and force everyone to bow to their cheesy will, then you might have an argument.
Re:Finally something to address this....
on
Are You Annoying?
·
· Score: 1
Well, apparently, I'd still be getting paid.
It's a question of clearly defining the problem - which doesn't happen a lot of the time. Once the problem is defined and broken down and defined some more (ie., analyzed) then the solution hopefully should appear...
Part of the problem with fonts is that there aren't a whole lot of freeware fonts out there that have complete character sets. Font design is pretty specialized area of graphic design and not everyone has the skills to do it well.
Sure, anyone can bung together a font face in an hour or two or perhaps a day with the (very expensive) tools out there, but to create quality fonts requires a whole lot of dedication.
The fonts that ship with Linux distributions are most likely the ones that are free of licensing issues, unlike the majority of the fonts out there which are commercial or shareware.
Re:Finally something to address this....
on
Are You Annoying?
·
· Score: 1
Thank whatever deity is above, no. And I pray to whatever deity is above that I will never be forced to.
Re:Finally something to address this....
on
Are You Annoying?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
My favorite bit of the article was:
"[They] have difficulty between shades of gray," he says. "Sometimes there are a lot of 'rightish' answers," and insisting that there's just one can be annoying.
To which I reply:
Yes, I know there are a lot of "rightish" answers - it took me a long time to realize that, but that doesn't help when I'm the one stuck coding an answer to the problem. People understand gray areas, but computer's don't. It's a 1 and 0 thing - there's no "wacky" bit.
Even at the higher levels, it's still a problem, because in order to devise an answer, the problem must be clearly defined and I don't necessarily have the knowledge to solve an issue that's outside my field of expertise. Even acquiring a limited knowledge is a time-consuming task that is not likely to give me the finesse necessary to make a competent decision.
I could give a best guess and damn the consequences, but I'm paid to be right, not a good guesser. Not being given a clear direction or complete information is not only annoying to me, but dangerous to the company.
Don't buy Sony in the UK. Start a new campaign: Friends don't let friends buy Sony. Make it the loudest, most annoying campaign ever, and they'll recant.
Or perhaps they won't. But whatever the case, they can't force you to buy Sony products.
I'm with you. These same people who won't buy into the "hype" of running Flash in their browsers, all of a sudden buy into the hype of having graphics on their cellphones?
Have they lost their minds?
Me, I really, really want a phone that makes calls, has a really generous phone book, and is larger than a Cheetoh. That's it. No text messaging, no internet, no FM Tuner. Just phone calls. I'm ambivalent to customizable ring tones.
I'm for anything that ends the trend toward using SMS shorthand where it's not necessary. Which means public message boards, english papers, and well, anything that's not a cellphone.
It still doesn't settle the problem of disparate hardware though. Unless all the terminals are exactly the same, then you have all kinds of nightmares using the system (too slow, crappy monitor, etc.). Not to mention, there are the issues of what happens if the system crashes, access speed from the load at prime usage time.
This would be good fr handling the utility functions of computing (email, web browsing, etc) but I don't see getting much done besides office work.
It would suggest, anecdotally anyway, that users have no major issues with KDE which is something that cannot be said about almost any other Linux desktop.
Or that they prefer to report them to the KDE team, where it will actually do some good.
No, actually I was very tired and didn't catch the typo until too late. I should say I avoid the discount shops and go for the slightly higher priced mom-and-pop shops.
For some services, I will actually avoid the discount shops (mainly printing companies) because they actually treat you like a human being. The extra cost is worth it (mentally, I think of it as tip even though it's not) in that you walk out feeling like they absolutely thrilled to help you out.
When Linux gets software of the same or better calibre in the area of graphic design and video editing, I'm there. Solid, stable, feature filled packages is what I'm after, not Rube Goldbergian systems of programs. Real equivalents to existing Windows and Macintosh software.
Everything else seems to work OK, just need those specialized apps and not running on Wine, either.
Most infamously, the Watson/Sherlock controversy. Except note that Apple offered Watson developer Dan Wood an engineering position on the Sherlock team, which Wood declined. This is of course contrary to the popular misconception that Apple "blindsided" Wood with Sherlock 3 (which had been in development before Watson debuted). Wood wanted compensation for the existing work he'd done on Watson, not just a job that would pay him for future work on Sherlock. Twice offering Wood a job on the Sherlock team doesn't qualify as oppression.
Basically, the whole Widgets/Konfabulator issue is a load of horse manure cooked up by Arlo Rose to generate some publicity.
Re:Not always a good thing...
on
On PHP and Scaling
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
It is not a good thing that there is a short learning curve on PHP. While it does put the ability for dynamic webcontent at the fingers of most users, it also creates a crapflood of insecure sites.
I hate to say it, but the problem exists between keyboard and chair. PHP is not inherently secure or insecure language. It may still have bugs, but those are a function of age and the serious ones have been taken care of. Rather, the problem is in the way people write software using PHP, without necessarily understanding the nature of the platform they are using.
It is not the job of the language to enforce security - it is the job of the programmer.
It's the same argument against bloated software - a phone is a phone, not a calendar. There's no particular reason for it not to be a calendar as well, but there's no crying need for it either. For the most part phones are badly designed to do much else than make calls anyway. Text messaging? Sorry, it's easier to call someone.
The same with an MP3 player. What good is an alarm clock on an MP3 player if only functions while you're wearing the headphones (unless Apple secretly dropped a piezo speaker in the thing). If it's going to be a travel accessory, it needs to function for those situations where you're not using directly using it as well. Note taking? No keyboard. No way to keep up with someone who's delivering the information. Solitaire? Someone too lazy to come up with an original game?
One tool. One purpose. It's the simplest rule of software programming and the one that leads to the least number of problems.
Yes, they are making the betas available for free. But on another section of MSDN (and referenced late last week on/.) they are making the command line version of the Visual C compiler available for free.
It's more like, I like how the iPod handles (layout, how the menus are arranged, etc.) but I just want something to pick songs and play them. Everything else is just bloat, IMO.
Which brings me to this point: why can't Apple set it up so we can pick and choose what accessories to load into it?
Compilers - Microsoft just released free versions of their Visual Development environments. The VC command line compiler is also available. There are several other free compilers available as well.
Environment - ever heard of Litestep? Completely replaces Explorer. As well as BB4Win, ObjectDesktop and several others.
Games - there's all sorts of free games out there for windows. Try Google once in a while.
Networking tools - you are correct on that point.
Command Prompt - bash for windows, 4DOS/4NT/TakeCommand (non-free, but inexpensive). Both of those work within the constraints posed by the operating system. Bash mimics the Unix CLI, while 4DOS/4NT/Take Command provide extra functionality. Bash runs on top of cmd.exe, 4NT replaces it. Take Command is an alternate shell environment.
Useful things on that list: - Contacts - Calendar - marginally useful - Playlist
Features I don't need: - AAC - no DRM for me, thank you - Text notes - really, I'll just write it down - it's quicker - On-the-go Playlists - sure, but I can just as easily do that at home - Auto-sync - don't use iTunes anymore. It's too bloated. I use QCD. - Alarm clock - got one. Why do I need another? And how well does it work if I'm not wearing the earphones? - Firewire - I don't need it updated RIGHT DAMN NOW. I can wait a minute or two. - Solitaire - It's an MP3 player, not a game machine. Besides, solitaire is old and busted. Give me something that's actually fun. - Partridge - we don't need no stinkin' partridges
From a sentimental standpoint, I favor the iPod, but really, it's only a 5 Gigger. Most of the features you just named are eating up space that I could use for something else, you know, like MUSIC, which is why I bought the damn thing in the first place. Perhaps if Apple offered a way to only load up the features you actually wanted into the iPod, then I would consider sticking with it, but otherwise, I just need a music player with a really big hard drive and you can keep all that other crap for the hipsters.
Slashdot Mirror
but there are enough educated and intelligent people, aren't there?
Obviously not - every time the NFL owners want a new stadium, the population of whatever municipality is getting a**-r****d ponies up the taxpayer dollars without much question as to how much the NFL owners are making.
I can't help realize that the internet of today is a far cry from what it was intended to be in terms of freedom of communication...
As the internet becomes more and more available to people, we begin to realize what complete a-holes people can be, thus the need for more and more security measures.
There shouldn't be any difference between making a political statement and, say, a statement about how much you hate cheese.
Not necessarily true. In no country in the world that I am aware of, are dairy farmers going to kick in your door and Abu Ghraib you and your family for saying you don't like cheddar.
On the other hand, repression or restriction of political speech in some form or fashion is a fairly common occurrence, even in this country (the USA).
The idea behind the law is that political speech is far more incendiary than making a statement about cheese preference and thus deserves the higher protection. In an ideal world, a person would be able to state his or her political opinions with no more repercussion than a flaming row, but sadly, this is not the case, even here.
---
If the Wisconsin dairy farmers were suddenly to gain an upper hand on the political system and force everyone to bow to their cheesy will, then you might have an argument.
Well, apparently, I'd still be getting paid.
It's a question of clearly defining the problem - which doesn't happen a lot of the time. Once the problem is defined and broken down and defined some more (ie., analyzed) then the solution hopefully should appear...
Part of the problem with fonts is that there aren't a whole lot of freeware fonts out there that have complete character sets. Font design is pretty specialized area of graphic design and not everyone has the skills to do it well.
Sure, anyone can bung together a font face in an hour or two or perhaps a day with the (very expensive) tools out there, but to create quality fonts requires a whole lot of dedication.
The fonts that ship with Linux distributions are most likely the ones that are free of licensing issues, unlike the majority of the fonts out there which are commercial or shareware.
Thank whatever deity is above, no. And I pray to whatever deity is above that I will never be forced to.
To which I reply:
Yes, I know there are a lot of "rightish" answers - it took me a long time to realize that, but that doesn't help when I'm the one stuck coding an answer to the problem. People understand gray areas, but computer's don't. It's a 1 and 0 thing - there's no "wacky" bit.
Even at the higher levels, it's still a problem, because in order to devise an answer, the problem must be clearly defined and I don't necessarily have the knowledge to solve an issue that's outside my field of expertise. Even acquiring a limited knowledge is a time-consuming task that is not likely to give me the finesse necessary to make a competent decision.
I could give a best guess and damn the consequences, but I'm paid to be right, not a good guesser. Not being given a clear direction or complete information is not only annoying to me, but dangerous to the company.
Don't buy Sony in the UK. Start a new campaign: Friends don't let friends buy Sony. Make it the loudest, most annoying campaign ever, and they'll recant.
Or perhaps they won't. But whatever the case, they can't force you to buy Sony products.
And a PS2 is not a necessity, it's a luxury.
I'm with you. These same people who won't buy into the "hype" of running Flash in their browsers, all of a sudden buy into the hype of having graphics on their cellphones?
Have they lost their minds?
Me, I really, really want a phone that makes calls, has a really generous phone book, and is larger than a Cheetoh. That's it. No text messaging, no internet, no FM Tuner. Just phone calls. I'm ambivalent to customizable ring tones.
I'm for anything that ends the trend toward using SMS shorthand where it's not necessary. Which means public message boards, english papers, and well, anything that's not a cellphone.
It still doesn't settle the problem of disparate hardware though. Unless all the terminals are exactly the same, then you have all kinds of nightmares using the system (too slow, crappy monitor, etc.). Not to mention, there are the issues of what happens if the system crashes, access speed from the load at prime usage time.
This would be good fr handling the utility functions of computing (email, web browsing, etc) but I don't see getting much done besides office work.
It would suggest, anecdotally anyway, that users have no major issues with KDE which is something that cannot be said about almost any other Linux desktop.
Or that they prefer to report them to the KDE team, where it will actually do some good.
No, actually I was very tired and didn't catch the typo until too late. I should say I avoid the discount shops and go for the slightly higher priced mom-and-pop shops.
For some services, I will actually avoid the discount shops (mainly printing companies) because they actually treat you like a human being. The extra cost is worth it (mentally, I think of it as tip even though it's not) in that you walk out feeling like they absolutely thrilled to help you out.
When Linux gets software of the same or better calibre in the area of graphic design and video editing, I'm there. Solid, stable, feature filled packages is what I'm after, not Rube Goldbergian systems of programs. Real equivalents to existing Windows and Macintosh software.
Everything else seems to work OK, just need those specialized apps and not running on Wine, either.
Hell, I was ranting on the 'net in 1990! You'd think the art would have evolved since then...
You left out: get off my lawn, you damn kids!
Read the sentence after it in which he blames the language for insecure sites, rather than the developers.
To quote from the site:
Basically, the whole Widgets/Konfabulator issue is a load of horse manure cooked up by Arlo Rose to generate some publicity.
It is not a good thing that there is a short learning curve on PHP. While it does put the ability for dynamic webcontent at the fingers of most users, it also creates a crapflood of insecure sites.
I hate to say it, but the problem exists between keyboard and chair. PHP is not inherently secure or insecure language. It may still have bugs, but those are a function of age and the serious ones have been taken care of. Rather, the problem is in the way people write software using PHP, without necessarily understanding the nature of the platform they are using.
It is not the job of the language to enforce security - it is the job of the programmer.
It's the same argument against bloated software - a phone is a phone, not a calendar. There's no particular reason for it not to be a calendar as well, but there's no crying need for it either. For the most part phones are badly designed to do much else than make calls anyway. Text messaging? Sorry, it's easier to call someone.
The same with an MP3 player. What good is an alarm clock on an MP3 player if only functions while you're wearing the headphones (unless Apple secretly dropped a piezo speaker in the thing). If it's going to be a travel accessory, it needs to function for those situations where you're not using directly using it as well. Note taking? No keyboard. No way to keep up with someone who's delivering the information. Solitaire? Someone too lazy to come up with an original game?
One tool. One purpose. It's the simplest rule of software programming and the one that leads to the least number of problems.
Yes, they are making the betas available for free. But on another section of MSDN (and referenced late last week on /.) they are making the command line version of the Visual C compiler available for free.
It's more like, I like how the iPod handles (layout, how the menus are arranged, etc.) but I just want something to pick songs and play them. Everything else is just bloat, IMO.
Which brings me to this point: why can't Apple set it up so we can pick and choose what accessories to load into it?
Au contraire, mon frere.
Compilers - Microsoft just released free versions of their Visual Development environments. The VC command line compiler is also available. There are several other free compilers available as well.
Environment - ever heard of Litestep? Completely replaces Explorer. As well as BB4Win, ObjectDesktop and several others.
Games - there's all sorts of free games out there for windows. Try Google once in a while.
Networking tools - you are correct on that point.
Command Prompt - bash for windows, 4DOS/4NT/TakeCommand (non-free, but inexpensive). Both of those work within the constraints posed by the operating system. Bash mimics the Unix CLI, while 4DOS/4NT/Take Command provide extra functionality. Bash runs on top of cmd.exe, 4NT replaces it. Take Command is an alternate shell environment.
Do some research next time.
Useful things on that list:
- Contacts
- Calendar - marginally useful
- Playlist
Features I don't need:
- AAC - no DRM for me, thank you
- Text notes - really, I'll just write it down - it's quicker
- On-the-go Playlists - sure, but I can just as easily do that at home
- Auto-sync - don't use iTunes anymore. It's too bloated. I use QCD.
- Alarm clock - got one. Why do I need another? And how well does it work if I'm not wearing the earphones?
- Firewire - I don't need it updated RIGHT DAMN NOW. I can wait a minute or two.
- Solitaire - It's an MP3 player, not a game machine. Besides, solitaire is old and busted. Give me something that's actually fun.
- Partridge - we don't need no stinkin' partridges
From a sentimental standpoint, I favor the iPod, but really, it's only a 5 Gigger. Most of the features you just named are eating up space that I could use for something else, you know, like MUSIC, which is why I bought the damn thing in the first place. Perhaps if Apple offered a way to only load up the features you actually wanted into the iPod, then I would consider sticking with it, but otherwise, I just need a music player with a really big hard drive and you can keep all that other crap for the hipsters.
1. License the right to build cars in countries with no existing car industry ...
2. Snap up all those unused VINs
3.
4. Profit!