That Slashdot post you link to is still correct. Sending non-violent people into prison knowing fully that they will be victims of violent crime is clearly "cruel and unusual."
Decriminalizing harmless drugs and separating violent and non-violent criminals would go a long way to solving this problem.
Actually, this means Slashdot is good journalism, in spite of the trolls and flamers out there.
How often does a biased story on MSNBC get retracted within minutes? There are few checks and balances anymore in big-time "news" reporting, and it seems only the smaller information outlets offer integrity and accountability, if only because they lack the resources to give false information the polish of Fox News, for example. And why does CNN offer several minutes per half hour to cover shark sightings and celebrity weddings? Because the "News" in CNN is merely historical.
Given that Satan is some abstract entity with an identity and existence we can only speculate about, these photos and the surrounding claims are pretty foolish.
A DRM push by Microsoft might drive a few more OEMs into this camp.
Any company that realizes they are no longer holding the keys (both literally and figuratively) will dump Microsoft in favor of the alternatives.
Choosing Word 2003 would be like a U.S. citizen saying that they don't mind if the government knows everything about them and then uses that information to write highly targeted and manipulative laws (don't think voting Democrat in 2004 will save you from this; if you think nationalized health care cannot be abused and transformed into a domestic spy network, then you are naive).
A vote for a Democrat is a vote for a Republican and vice versa. Consider your options in 2004; surely, we will have more than two on the ballot.
They'll just cut your contract and give their business to someone who will listen to them.
All because of some other company's file format? Where are their priorities?
This is like dumping a potential customer because they chose to wear a grey suit today instead of a sport coat and khakis. Sure, GM has a right to shoot themselves in their feet like this, but I would hope they are not this stupid.
Discriminating based on a person's ability to keep up with every version of a proprietary software package seems shallow and short-sighted, doesn't it?
If OpenOffice.org supported DRM like this, one would simply hack the program to to disregard such restrictions.
Yet another indication that DRM is a bad idea. If proper implementation of DRM requires closed-source, then one has to wonder if it also requires revoking the First Amendment, too.
If you recieve an e-mail with a DRM-controlled attachment, reply saying that DRM is not widely supported outside of that specific version of Office and that people (regardless of wealth) should not be expected to shell out $500 for someone else's benefit.
This is why the arrogance behind IE-only websites or Word-only HR depeartments is painfully frustrating. The people who demand Microsoft Word attachments are saying that the barrier to entry for employment, for example, is that the candidate must first demonstrate an ability to spend money needlessly, travel needlessly to a public unsecured terminal, or needlessly and illegally use their present employer's software.
The convenience of the "World Wide" Web was not intended for this abuse. There should not be this brand of elitism in an environment whose sole purpose was to eliminate those barriers!
No, it doesn't. http://www.go-mono.com. Again, the Community does it better, too.
We have to be honest with ourselves, here. Anyone who really believes Microsoft will tolerate Free implementations of.NET for long is naive.
In other worlds, such as UNIX, companies like Sun and IBM really do have to compete on implementation. After all, it isn't overly difficult to move to a competitor. However, Microsoft has no financial interest in being forced to compete in implementation, when, currently, they are the only implementation available.
Any non-Microsoft.NET implementations should be considered tokens and novelties but cannot be considered viable alternatives for businesses and professional developers.
And in 2008, KDE will finally do what Longhorn does.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. This is one benefit of Open Source, where things that should be a commodity will be a commodity. Now, Microsoft has only a brief hold on new features before everyone else gets them, forcing Microsoft to actually do some innovating (no matter how small).
This will force Microsoft to peak sooner than later as a corporation. Either they will dominate the free world ending civilization as we know it, they will simply plateau and maintain their installed base, or they will decline into irrelevance. Regardless, any monopoly they have is definitely temporary.
Actually, Longhorn is Duke Nukem Forever. It's just that Microsoft's customers no longer see the distinction between getting real work done and fighting with the operating system.
...they're integrating it into Longhorn so much so that releasing a new version of the stand alone browser is irrevlevant.
And, as a result, IE 6 will live on until 2012 (at least). How many people are still using Windows 2000, ME, 98, and 95? How many people just won't upgrade until they are forced to when they buy a new computer? How many people, given the option of a whole new MS platform, will end up with Apple, Sun, or a Linux distribution?
I think Microsoft is becoming a niche company that happens to have a huge legacy installed base.
No, I would prefer to see them boil in their own blood. Having them regulated into perpetuity like the telephone companies would not be a good thing. What we need is reinvention rather than codifying the status quo.
I'll choose a democratically elected government over a plutocratic regime of corporations (=markets) any day.
So, you claim that free markets tend to monopolies, yet you ignore that democracies tend toward corrupt hegemonies and, likely, freely-elected dictatorships.
At least corporations can be unseated relatively peacefully through controlling the flow of money (freedom of consumer choice). How do you unseat a dictatorship? Civil war.
Which do you prefer?
Personally, I think civil war is best avoided. I'd rather keep the government in check through eliminating the federal Income Tax and keeping corporations in check by increasing accountability in their executive staffs.
You mean American women have evolved into a whole new species? Is this to help ensure their children take on that oh-so-sexy spherical shape we all love?
Sure, you can kill some 'bitches', but you'll find people do a lot more killing in games like Unreal Tournament.
GTA, Unreal, whatever. If I were to celebrate the Christmas holiday, one day, with kids old enough to play video games, I would think twice about giving them any of these games. I suppose this is where Nintendo used to shine for kids' games (squashing gels and koopas and such). Once the kids are in their 20s, I'll let them get GTA, if they want it.
Okay, I'd like to see you design and test a computer system with a bundle of operating system software and applications, and then be able to re-verify the system with each patch for every patch each and every month.
Computers are complex. Software is complex. Microsoft does mediocre quality control and testing given this complexity, so their word is worthless. What is Dell supposed to do? Do people expect General Motors to sell new pistons made from an experimental material without trying it out first? Do people really think computers are magical, built by magical fairies, and running on magical pixie dust? That one wave of a wand and everything is just dandy?
This is why software sucks. People are not willing to admit that a modest computer program or microprocessor is more complex, fundamentally, than most of the engineering wonders of the world. Yet they stand there confused when Einstein can't merge gravity and electromagnitism at a moment's notice. God dammit, is this what the world is coming to?
Slashdot Mirror
Is prison rape still not funny...
That Slashdot post you link to is still correct. Sending non-violent people into prison knowing fully that they will be victims of violent crime is clearly "cruel and unusual."
Decriminalizing harmless drugs and separating violent and non-violent criminals would go a long way to solving this problem.
Actually, this means Slashdot is good journalism, in spite of the trolls and flamers out there.
How often does a biased story on MSNBC get retracted within minutes? There are few checks and balances anymore in big-time "news" reporting, and it seems only the smaller information outlets offer integrity and accountability, if only because they lack the resources to give false information the polish of Fox News, for example. And why does CNN offer several minutes per half hour to cover shark sightings and celebrity weddings? Because the "News" in CNN is merely historical.
I wonder when these dot-bomb ideas will stop popping back up, and more credible research will get the much needed funds.
When government spending is allocated based on merit rather than scratching the backs of constituent contractors.
So, the answer to your question is: probably never.
Satan's Face in the WTC smoke?
Given that Satan is some abstract entity with an identity and existence we can only speculate about, these photos and the surrounding claims are pretty foolish.
You show a pretty girl, and they become more happy.
Roughly 50% of people also redistribute their volume by a few cubic inches...
A DRM push by Microsoft might drive a few more OEMs into this camp.
Any company that realizes they are no longer holding the keys (both literally and figuratively) will dump Microsoft in favor of the alternatives.
Choosing Word 2003 would be like a U.S. citizen saying that they don't mind if the government knows everything about them and then uses that information to write highly targeted and manipulative laws (don't think voting Democrat in 2004 will save you from this; if you think nationalized health care cannot be abused and transformed into a domestic spy network, then you are naive).
A vote for a Democrat is a vote for a Republican and vice versa. Consider your options in 2004; surely, we will have more than two on the ballot.
They'll just cut your contract and give their business to someone who will listen to them.
All because of some other company's file format? Where are their priorities?
This is like dumping a potential customer because they chose to wear a grey suit today instead of a sport coat and khakis. Sure, GM has a right to shoot themselves in their feet like this, but I would hope they are not this stupid.
Discriminating based on a person's ability to keep up with every version of a proprietary software package seems shallow and short-sighted, doesn't it?
If OpenOffice.org supported DRM like this, one would simply hack the program to to disregard such restrictions.
Yet another indication that DRM is a bad idea. If proper implementation of DRM requires closed-source, then one has to wonder if it also requires revoking the First Amendment, too.
If you recieve an e-mail with a DRM-controlled attachment, reply saying that DRM is not widely supported outside of that specific version of Office and that people (regardless of wealth) should not be expected to shell out $500 for someone else's benefit.
This is why the arrogance behind IE-only websites or Word-only HR depeartments is painfully frustrating. The people who demand Microsoft Word attachments are saying that the barrier to entry for employment, for example, is that the candidate must first demonstrate an ability to spend money needlessly, travel needlessly to a public unsecured terminal, or needlessly and illegally use their present employer's software.
The convenience of the "World Wide" Web was not intended for this abuse. There should not be this brand of elitism in an environment whose sole purpose was to eliminate those barriers!
No, it doesn't. http://www.go-mono.com. Again, the Community does it better, too.
.NET for long is naive.
.NET implementations should be considered tokens and novelties but cannot be considered viable alternatives for businesses and professional developers.
We have to be honest with ourselves, here. Anyone who really believes Microsoft will tolerate Free implementations of
In other worlds, such as UNIX, companies like Sun and IBM really do have to compete on implementation. After all, it isn't overly difficult to move to a competitor. However, Microsoft has no financial interest in being forced to compete in implementation, when, currently, they are the only implementation available.
Any non-Microsoft
And in 2008, KDE will finally do what Longhorn does.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. This is one benefit of Open Source, where things that should be a commodity will be a commodity. Now, Microsoft has only a brief hold on new features before everyone else gets them, forcing Microsoft to actually do some innovating (no matter how small).
This will force Microsoft to peak sooner than later as a corporation. Either they will dominate the free world ending civilization as we know it, they will simply plateau and maintain their installed base, or they will decline into irrelevance. Regardless, any monopoly they have is definitely temporary.
They decided to bundle Duke Nukem Forever.
Actually, Longhorn is Duke Nukem Forever. It's just that Microsoft's customers no longer see the distinction between getting real work done and fighting with the operating system.
...they're integrating it into Longhorn so much so that releasing a new version of the stand alone browser is irrevlevant.
And, as a result, IE 6 will live on until 2012 (at least). How many people are still using Windows 2000, ME, 98, and 95? How many people just won't upgrade until they are forced to when they buy a new computer? How many people, given the option of a whole new MS platform, will end up with Apple, Sun, or a Linux distribution?
I think Microsoft is becoming a niche company that happens to have a huge legacy installed base.
Actually Microsoft is the only company I have ever seen that can delay a product 5 or 6 times and THEN rush it out the door ready or not.
You know, this is no different than teasing a hungry dog with a fresh juicy steak and, then, giving the dog some dried out leather boot.
Towards animals, Microsoft's behavior would be considered cruel. What makes Microsoft's customers not even worthy of a dog's status in life?
The Blaster worm probably lit a fire under Microsoft to rethink their security practices.
However, during that time, Microsoft will be reduced to steaming coals, and, finally, dark ashes.
This fire is also warming up businesses to the notion that buying everything under the sun from one company is not a good idea.
the OS can be made stronger by fixing and working around bugs in poorly written third party applications.
One thing about this "fire fighting" mode of software development is that for each fire fought 100 could have been prevented.
Break up Microsoft, for God's sake
No, I would prefer to see them boil in their own blood. Having them regulated into perpetuity like the telephone companies would not be a good thing. What we need is reinvention rather than codifying the status quo.
Sure there is corruption, but when it's in the government you can vote it out.
Which is less corrupt: George W. Bush/Dick Cheny or their potential Democratic replacement?
I laugh with sardonic cynicism.
Republican Homeland Security: bigger government, bigger spending, unconstitutional information gathering, less freedom for people.
Democratic Nationalized Healthcare: bigger government, bigger spending, unconstitutional information gathering, less freedom for people.
Of the major political parties available to us, there are no ways to vote out corruption, because, simply, they are nearly all corrupt.
I'll choose a democratically elected government over a plutocratic regime of corporations (=markets) any day.
So, you claim that free markets tend to monopolies, yet you ignore that democracies tend toward corrupt hegemonies and, likely, freely-elected dictatorships.
At least corporations can be unseated relatively peacefully through controlling the flow of money (freedom of consumer choice). How do you unseat a dictatorship? Civil war.
Which do you prefer?
Personally, I think civil war is best avoided. I'd rather keep the government in check through eliminating the federal Income Tax and keeping corporations in check by increasing accountability in their executive staffs.
Gates Says Windows Reliability Is Greater ...than a 1983 Chevette!
You mean American women have evolved into a whole new species? Is this to help ensure their children take on that oh-so-sexy spherical shape we all love?
Sure, you can kill some 'bitches', but you'll find people do a lot more killing in games like Unreal Tournament.
GTA, Unreal, whatever. If I were to celebrate the Christmas holiday, one day, with kids old enough to play video games, I would think twice about giving them any of these games. I suppose this is where Nintendo used to shine for kids' games (squashing gels and koopas and such). Once the kids are in their 20s, I'll let them get GTA, if they want it.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sold a million copies in two months leading up to Christmas
"Joy to the world, our Lord is come..."
"Okay time for presents!"
"Yay, Grand Theft Auto! I want to kill me some bitches!"
Does anyone recognize anything wrong, here? Is it just me?!?
UCITA is already the law in Maryland and Virginia. If you live in those states, move!
Interesting that Washington DC is right in the middle.
August 11th... mid-July
Okay, I'd like to see you design and test a computer system with a bundle of operating system software and applications, and then be able to re-verify the system with each patch for every patch each and every month.
Computers are complex. Software is complex. Microsoft does mediocre quality control and testing given this complexity, so their word is worthless. What is Dell supposed to do? Do people expect General Motors to sell new pistons made from an experimental material without trying it out first? Do people really think computers are magical, built by magical fairies, and running on magical pixie dust? That one wave of a wand and everything is just dandy?
This is why software sucks. People are not willing to admit that a modest computer program or microprocessor is more complex, fundamentally, than most of the engineering wonders of the world. Yet they stand there confused when Einstein can't merge gravity and electromagnitism at a moment's notice. God dammit, is this what the world is coming to?