I really don't want an interface where I have to gesticulate at a computer, while repeating words so the speech recognition engine picks them up correctly and moving cursors around with my eyeballs. Hell I don't even want 3D desktops and transparent windows - take all the damn effects away, and leave me with the folder metaphor, current UI for editing text and pictures, and a command line. These interfaces don't give me any new capabilities, and anything that requires more effort and doesn't empower the user is a waste of time. They aren't revolutionary - they're not even good sci-fi. They don't belong to the future, because the future will be built on interfaces that are MORE not less convenient and do actually give new capabilities. Good sci fi are things like the star trek communicator (not so different to today's mobile phone, or a walkie talkie of old, and were used to enable the characters).
I'm sorry. I meant to ask for examples of how Apple's inclusion of DRM negatively affects anyone. It's been probably four years now that I've heard people whining about Apple DRM, yet I haven't heard one compelling argument.
That's probably because you've got your hands over your ears and are yelling "lalalala!" at the top of your lungs.
Your video game argument probably has nothing to do with DRM, as your story seems to be the norm over the past 15 years of trying to play games on my PC.
Nothing to do with DRM? You've just moved in my mind from "possible sincere question" to "biased irrational troll who I shouldn't waste too much time on since he'll counter argue till I go blue".
If you had your way this would be the norm in music as well.
Even if it were DRM issues, they aren't relevant to iTunes. Somebody...anybody...give me ONE example of DRM being a problem with iTunes and iPods.
What? You're incapable of seeing that it's a slippery slope. You've just admitted that DRM has practically RUINED PC gaming. You want it to ruin your ability to listen to music too?? Are you insane or obtuse???
My parents dragged my kicking and screaming into daycare, then later pulled me off of my precious NES which caused me to get on my bike and jump dirt hills with friends, then again they dragged me into the football team against my wishes. I fought tooth and nail each time, then I discovered that I actually found those activities preferable to wasting away in front of a TV or monitor.
Well I had the opposite experience. Being forced to do things - church (my parents are quite religous) and learn another language mean I'm now and atheist and illiterate in that language. Your comment implies that forcing your children to do things they don't enjoy is a good idea, simply because they don't have the maturity to always act in their own interests. That suggestion is dangerous. It may work for some but my relationship with my parents was deeply strained and in my case they didn't know better.
What parents should do is find a way to interest their kids in what's good for them and help the child mature and make their own decisions. Yes the kid's indoor activities should be moderated, but the outdoor activities they do should be ones that they choose.
I've got plenty of examples to give you but here's just some:
- I bought the Battlefield 2 booster packs and despite trying for a few hours on separate days to try to get myself registered and running, I was unable to do so. The software installed but since I couldn't register I couldn't access any of the content. Fortunately the store I bought them from does take back faulty software so I was just out for the expense and frustration of trying to get it running.
- I've had numerous games refuse to run because I use drive imaging software (daemon tools). These games will not run even if the software is disabled. The drive imaging software must be completely removed. To do this legally the only practical way is to have a separate computer is required to play games.
- It is illegal for me to backup my disks. This means if I want to play a game on the train, I have to select it and find the CD before I go out for my morning commute. If I want to use my remote control flight sim it gets even sillier. I have to select which version since each has a separate fake usb r/c radio which also acts as a dongle - google Realflight. (To change minor versions for the R/C sim I must be net connected, and the company's servers must be working since they no longer offer offline patches).
- MS Flight Simulator X requires after the first 2 installs that you call Microsoft and beg for a new registration key.
- I don't buy DRM crippled music so I haven't been bitten there, but for DVD I have no choice and so if I want to watch a movie legally I'm forced to take an original disk , worth $30 on the train. Don't even get me strated. (Copying DVDs even for your own backups is illegal here). I don't even want to think what will happen to my DVD collection when my infant son starts wanting to use the DVD player.
Shall I go on? I have plenty more examples, but time typing them out isn't so plentiful.
As a 46 year old man with a mobile phone, I rarely text anyone because it takes me too damn long to do it! I'd rather call someone and speak to them directly rather than mess about on a phone keypad putting commas, capitals and full stops in the right places - and I refuse to use abbreviations and slang because, to me, it lessens the importance of what I am saying in it.
For reference I'm 33 and though I often fall short I try to use correct formal English where the situation demands it. (Also for reference I don't think it matters as much on a discussion board on slashdot, so please don't waste any time point out flaws in this message).
I think your blanket solution fails to cater for specific situations where text is more appropriate. Like email and unlike a phone call, a text message does not need to be dealt with immediately. There are times when this is important and when a brief message is enough to convey the complete meaning.
For example if my wife's got an important appointment on, and I haven't heard how it went, I might text "r u ok". She might be driving home or busy with something else, in which case she won't answer for some time but eventually I'll get "yes thanks" or alternately "pls call". Sure I could wait until I got home, but that puts my mind at ease. Here a text message is used to initiate a conversation, however equally there are certain situations where a short (or even yes/no) answer is enough e.g. "need me to do shopping". I don't need to interrupt my wife's day to ask that!
I have a 30GB 5th gen video iPod. It'll be my last. I HATE Apple but compromised a couple of years back to get my wife and I iPods. My mistake. Won't be doing that again in a hurry.
Apple has always been awful but lately they seem to have kicked the draconian DRM into overdrive.
And before another Apple fan starts screaming about how Fairplay is actually fair, no it's not. Any scheme that means an external company controls my content is unacceptable. Apple may be doing well right now but could fold at any time in the future.
Wake me up when consoles can run on my morning commute. Until then I'll stick with a laptop. Simulation (flight, train, car), games (chess, battlefield 2, call of duty), movies and TV shows (DVD player), books and music. I have it all (so long as I have room to pull out the laptop)
My wife and I own PS/2s and they hardly get used. The idea of spending big to play these consoles doesn't appeal to me at all.
Would you like a bucket of sand to bury your head in for Christmas?
I've seen this a lot on/. lately: Zealots who when presented with evidence, no matter how strong, insist on dismissing any such evidence as invalid and/or biased. What exactly do you gain from actively trying to ignore reality?
Not enough buzzwords. We need to lay a mesh on top of that and then a fabric, then a matrix and so on and so forth. Collectively they'll be referred to as the WWM or World Wide Mess. You heard it here first.
Max. 'oops' points of cours goes to Office 2007 that manages to hide the file menu so successfully I've actually been called in to 'fix' a machine when 5 people in an office couldn't work out how to save a document....and yet I still hear all the time, even here on slashdot, how "innovative", "inituitive" and "how much better" the freaking ribbon bar is. I can't understand the disconnect. Have people tried a different version of Office 2007 to me???
I'm no Microsoft apologist, it's just that it's starting to get old. Yes, we know Vista sucks. We know Microsoft felt the same way. We get it!! Please stop beating us over the head with it already.
No MS apologist huh? Have you sent MS a letter complaining about their multi million dollar advertising campaigns using has been stars like Seinfeld? If they're going to spend big making their product sound rosy, why are a few stories on slashdot annoying you, yet their advertising isn't?
The misogyny of most of the posters to this article
Way to go there with the man bashing. Yours is the first post I read that brought gender into it.
helps illustrate an earlier/. article on why fewer women are entering the computer sciences fields in university
Yeah that's gotta be it. Because ALL women are so easily deterred from doing what they want to. YOU are the one being sexist.
I bet you go around calling yourself a feminist too. The very term is sexist, but hypocrisy seems to run rife there. If you want equality, don't be so quick to lay into the opposite sex. If you want to dominate, and blame men for what you choose to do with your life, be honest about it.
So before anyone asks, yes, I'd rather see hundreds of planes in flames and the establishment of a Caliphate and I'm gonna marry a carrot.
-- I am not a crackpot.
Marry a carrot!? You must be new on slashdot. We're all married to cucumbers as we all know they're cooler!
I realise you intended the above as sarcasm but can you see how you're setting yourself up to come across as a crackpot even if your concerns are quite rational?
Don't ask anything that even remotely looks like it's age related. If it gets out to the younger applicant, though unlikely, you may have an expensive age discrimination lawsuit to ask. It doesn't gain you or your company a thing to be so candid.
Do not mention other applicant's at all. Simply ask what experience they bring to the table that's relevant to the job, and what similar work they've done. Ask this for each applicant. "I spent 10 years working on critical system XYZ" is a much better response than "I helped the cute chick at the IT lab get her assignment in on time". Also, if an applicant answers this question well (regardless of age) it can lead in to more detailed questions and you follow up with the younger candidate if he or she gives a good answer.
The person who telecommutes would not get paid for that time, why should the person in office?
Telecommuters can flick the switch and literally get on with something completely not work related - eat breakfast, shower, masturbate, or have sex while the computer boots. Last i checked that was frowned at work, but I guess it depends on the industry.
If booting up the machine is required to do your job, and your employer owns it, you should be paid. If the boss is expecting you to come in early, that's time on the clock. However if your computer is really taking half an hour to boot, you have larger fish to fry....But then officially I get paid by the hour and am paid overtime if I do more than 7.5hrs/day. In reality I have done plenty of days where I'm around for much longer than that, but I've claimed overtime about 7 times in 3.5 years (mostly for weekend work).
This is just really sad. Ted Stevens played a greater role in the development of Alaska as a state than any other person. Most people outside Alaska are unaware that he was literally named Alaskan of the Century. Think about that for a moment
I don't get it. Your argument is that it's sad because he did good things too? Doing the right thing doesn't excuse you from having to comply with the law. He doesn't get to eat babies and torture kittens just because he did things that made him wildly popular with his electorate. Perhaps he did do plenty of good but he also obviously did things that would have people celebrate him going including trying to impose stupid legislation on the net and breaking the law for profit.
I use to use Norton, but have stopped since it keeps flagging tools I know aren't infected as virulent. Giving MS the power to decide what can and can't run on your machine in this way sounds like bad news to me.
Hacks often find an audience. Doesn't make his work any less hackish. I only see one show on your list with any brains,
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but it's a lot easier to be a critic than actually produce something. You've presented nothing but your own opinion (and not very well informed, either). Personally I liked some of those shows...I guess I'm the audience the hack found.
I suspect his role was helping with funding and horning in on the writing credits.
Unless you know a hell of a lot more about this guy than I do (which you've indicated you don't) I'd say that's unfair to say without looking into it. Personally I'm not interested enough to go looking.
Slashdot Mirror
I really don't want an interface where I have to gesticulate at a computer, while repeating words so the speech recognition engine picks them up correctly and moving cursors around with my eyeballs. Hell I don't even want 3D desktops and transparent windows - take all the damn effects away, and leave me with the folder metaphor, current UI for editing text and pictures, and a command line. These interfaces don't give me any new capabilities, and anything that requires more effort and doesn't empower the user is a waste of time. They aren't revolutionary - they're not even good sci-fi. They don't belong to the future, because the future will be built on interfaces that are MORE not less convenient and do actually give new capabilities. Good sci fi are things like the star trek communicator (not so different to today's mobile phone, or a walkie talkie of old, and were used to enable the characters).
I'm sorry. I meant to ask for examples of how Apple's inclusion of DRM negatively affects anyone. It's been probably four years now that I've heard people whining about Apple DRM, yet I haven't heard one compelling argument.
That's probably because you've got your hands over your ears and are yelling "lalalala!" at the top of your lungs.
Your video game argument probably has nothing to do with DRM, as your story seems to be the norm over the past 15 years of trying to play games on my PC.
Nothing to do with DRM? You've just moved in my mind from "possible sincere question" to "biased irrational troll who I shouldn't waste too much time on since he'll counter argue till I go blue".
If you had your way this would be the norm in music as well.
Even if it were DRM issues, they aren't relevant to iTunes. Somebody...anybody...give me ONE example of DRM being a problem with iTunes and iPods.
What? You're incapable of seeing that it's a slippery slope. You've just admitted that DRM has practically RUINED PC gaming. You want it to ruin your ability to listen to music too?? Are you insane or obtuse???
My parents dragged my kicking and screaming into daycare, then later pulled me off of my precious NES which caused me to get on my bike and jump dirt hills with friends, then again they dragged me into the football team against my wishes. I fought tooth and nail each time, then I discovered that I actually found those activities preferable to wasting away in front of a TV or monitor.
Well I had the opposite experience. Being forced to do things - church (my parents are quite religous) and learn another language mean I'm now and atheist and illiterate in that language. Your comment implies that forcing your children to do things they don't enjoy is a good idea, simply because they don't have the maturity to always act in their own interests. That suggestion is dangerous. It may work for some but my relationship with my parents was deeply strained and in my case they didn't know better.
What parents should do is find a way to interest their kids in what's good for them and help the child mature and make their own decisions. Yes the kid's indoor activities should be moderated, but the outdoor activities they do should be ones that they choose.
I've got plenty of examples to give you but here's just some:
- I bought the Battlefield 2 booster packs and despite trying for a few hours on separate days to try to get myself registered and running, I was unable to do so. The software installed but since I couldn't register I couldn't access any of the content. Fortunately the store I bought them from does take back faulty software so I was just out for the expense and frustration of trying to get it running.
- I've had numerous games refuse to run because I use drive imaging software (daemon tools). These games will not run even if the software is disabled. The drive imaging software must be completely removed. To do this legally the only practical way is to have a separate computer is required to play games.
- It is illegal for me to backup my disks. This means if I want to play a game on the train, I have to select it and find the CD before I go out for my morning commute. If I want to use my remote control flight sim it gets even sillier. I have to select which version since each has a separate fake usb r/c radio which also acts as a dongle - google Realflight. (To change minor versions for the R/C sim I must be net connected, and the company's servers must be working since they no longer offer offline patches).
- MS Flight Simulator X requires after the first 2 installs that you call Microsoft and beg for a new registration key.
- I don't buy DRM crippled music so I haven't been bitten there, but for DVD I have no choice and so if I want to watch a movie legally I'm forced to take an original disk , worth $30 on the train. Don't even get me strated. (Copying DVDs even for your own backups is illegal here). I don't even want to think what will happen to my DVD collection when my infant son starts wanting to use the DVD player.
Shall I go on? I have plenty more examples, but time typing them out isn't so plentiful.
As a 46 year old man with a mobile phone, I rarely text anyone because it takes me too damn long to do it! I'd rather call someone and speak to them directly rather than mess about on a phone keypad putting commas, capitals and full stops in the right places - and I refuse to use abbreviations and slang because, to me, it lessens the importance of what I am saying in it.
For reference I'm 33 and though I often fall short I try to use correct formal English where the situation demands it. (Also for reference I don't think it matters as much on a discussion board on slashdot, so please don't waste any time point out flaws in this message).
I think your blanket solution fails to cater for specific situations where text is more appropriate. Like email and unlike a phone call, a text message does not need to be dealt with immediately. There are times when this is important and when a brief message is enough to convey the complete meaning.
For example if my wife's got an important appointment on, and I haven't heard how it went, I might text "r u ok". She might be driving home or busy with something else, in which case she won't answer for some time but eventually I'll get "yes thanks" or alternately "pls call". Sure I could wait until I got home, but that puts my mind at ease. Here a text message is used to initiate a conversation, however equally there are certain situations where a short (or even yes/no) answer is enough e.g. "need me to do shopping". I don't need to interrupt my wife's day to ask that!
I have a 30GB 5th gen video iPod. It'll be my last. I HATE Apple but compromised a couple of years back to get my wife and I iPods. My mistake. Won't be doing that again in a hurry.
Apple has always been awful but lately they seem to have kicked the draconian DRM into overdrive.
And before another Apple fan starts screaming about how Fairplay is actually fair, no it's not. Any scheme that means an external company controls my content is unacceptable. Apple may be doing well right now but could fold at any time in the future.
You're descriminating against the poor WARTARSEDAGGERWEED just because its a compound word.
I think I'll ignore devertebrated. I much prefer stewardesses...(don't let my wife read that!)
Didn't take long to find these...
http://davisfreeberg.com/2008/01/03/bad-copp-no-netflix/
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1865
http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-074.htm
http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/vista.pdf
Wake me up when consoles can run on my morning commute. Until then I'll stick with a laptop. Simulation (flight, train, car), games (chess, battlefield 2, call of duty), movies and TV shows (DVD player), books and music. I have it all (so long as I have room to pull out the laptop)
My wife and I own PS/2s and they hardly get used. The idea of spending big to play these consoles doesn't appeal to me at all.
Would you like a bucket of sand to bury your head in for Christmas?
I've seen this a lot on /. lately: Zealots who when presented with evidence, no matter how strong, insist on dismissing any such evidence as invalid and/or biased. What exactly do you gain from actively trying to ignore reality?
I can inmediately think of at least 3 people who have gotten macs also due to largely my influence on their decision.
My 2 Euros.
Yep, your decision to boycott them is worth about that to them.
Not enough buzzwords. We need to lay a mesh on top of that and then a fabric, then a matrix and so on and so forth. Collectively they'll be referred to as the WWM or World Wide Mess. You heard it here first.
Max. 'oops' points of cours goes to Office 2007 that manages to hide the file menu so successfully I've actually been called in to 'fix' a machine when 5 people in an office couldn't work out how to save a document. ...and yet I still hear all the time, even here on slashdot, how "innovative", "inituitive" and "how much better" the freaking ribbon bar is. I can't understand the disconnect. Have people tried a different version of Office 2007 to me???
I'm no Microsoft apologist, it's just that it's starting to get old. Yes, we know Vista sucks. We know Microsoft felt the same way. We get it!! Please stop beating us over the head with it already.
No MS apologist huh? Have you sent MS a letter complaining about their multi million dollar advertising campaigns using has been stars like Seinfeld? If they're going to spend big making their product sound rosy, why are a few stories on slashdot annoying you, yet their advertising isn't?
The misogyny of most of the posters to this article
Way to go there with the man bashing. Yours is the first post I read that brought gender into it.
helps illustrate an earlier /. article on why fewer women are entering the computer sciences fields in university
Yeah that's gotta be it. Because ALL women are so easily deterred from doing what they want to. YOU are the one being sexist.
I bet you go around calling yourself a feminist too. The very term is sexist, but hypocrisy seems to run rife there. If you want equality, don't be so quick to lay into the opposite sex. If you want to dominate, and blame men for what you choose to do with your life, be honest about it.
So before anyone asks, yes, I'd rather see hundreds of planes in flames and the establishment of a Caliphate and I'm gonna marry a carrot.
--
I am not a crackpot.
Marry a carrot!? You must be new on slashdot. We're all married to cucumbers as we all know they're cooler!
I realise you intended the above as sarcasm but can you see how you're setting yourself up to come across as a crackpot even if your concerns are quite rational?
Don't ask anything that even remotely looks like it's age related. If it gets out to the younger applicant, though unlikely, you may have an expensive age discrimination lawsuit to ask. It doesn't gain you or your company a thing to be so candid.
Do not mention other applicant's at all. Simply ask what experience they bring to the table that's relevant to the job, and what similar work they've done. Ask this for each applicant. "I spent 10 years working on critical system XYZ" is a much better response than "I helped the cute chick at the IT lab get her assignment in on time". Also, if an applicant answers this question well (regardless of age) it can lead in to more detailed questions and you follow up with the younger candidate if he or she gives a good answer.
...and I thought "hey, that's not news. I've known that for years!"
You have NO idea what you're missing.
- 5-8 hours long
- Speaking to a member of the opposite sex who I am romantically interested in
- May or may not be G-rated in parts
- Costs under $2
- (Definitely not a phone sex line - never called one of those)
The person who telecommutes would not get paid for that time, why should the person in office?
Telecommuters can flick the switch and literally get on with something completely not work related - eat breakfast, shower, masturbate, or have sex while the computer boots. Last i checked that was frowned at work, but I guess it depends on the industry.
If booting up the machine is required to do your job, and your employer owns it, you should be paid. If the boss is expecting you to come in early, that's time on the clock. However if your computer is really taking half an hour to boot, you have larger fish to fry. ...But then officially I get paid by the hour and am paid overtime if I do more than 7.5hrs/day. In reality I have done plenty of days where I'm around for much longer than that, but I've claimed overtime about 7 times in 3.5 years (mostly for weekend work).
This is just really sad. Ted Stevens played a greater role in the development of Alaska as a state than any other person. Most people outside Alaska are unaware that he was literally named Alaskan of the Century. Think about that for a moment
I don't get it. Your argument is that it's sad because he did good things too? Doing the right thing doesn't excuse you from having to comply with the law. He doesn't get to eat babies and torture kittens just because he did things that made him wildly popular with his electorate. Perhaps he did do plenty of good but he also obviously did things that would have people celebrate him going including trying to impose stupid legislation on the net and breaking the law for profit.
I use to use Norton, but have stopped since it keeps flagging tools I know aren't infected as virulent. Giving MS the power to decide what can and can't run on your machine in this way sounds like bad news to me.
Hacks often find an audience. Doesn't make his work any less hackish. I only see one show on your list with any brains,
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but it's a lot easier to be a critic than actually produce something. You've presented nothing but your own opinion (and not very well informed, either). Personally I liked some of those shows...I guess I'm the audience the hack found.
I suspect his role was helping with funding and horning in on the writing credits.
Unless you know a hell of a lot more about this guy than I do (which you've indicated you don't) I'd say that's unfair to say without looking into it. Personally I'm not interested enough to go looking.