Well he is basically the main dude at BoingBoing, which I figure a good percentage of Slashdot readers visit daily. I'm surprised you haven't run into him before.
Frankly it amazes me that they were dumb enough to include his works, given how outspoken he is on such issues.
My broadband isp and phone company (comcast) is already a regulated monopoly. Also, I do have other choices that I could move to in a very short time with very little economic impact (if I get dsl with at&t, for instance....I'd be up and running quickly, and my computer and software would all work just fine).
I switched to mac a couple years ago, and it made a HUGE impact as I had to get and learn all new software. And I haven't been able to get rid of the PC (in fact, I recently got a new one as my old one was getting too old to be usable), because I am constantly expected to run this or that piece of software because most of the rest of the world runs Windows.
So yeah, the Windows defacto monopoly affects me every day, while the ISP/phone/oil company issues, less so.
Still, problems do not need to be addressed one at a time. Why because one issue hasn't been solved to your satisfaction should we do nothing about another issue? The world is able to multitask.
Of course the fact that women equal or outnumber men doing ANYTHING online in 2007 is pretty much a nonissue anyway. Well I just read about a different survey that concluded that over 50% of people on slashdot are women. I don't know about you, but I found that number rather surprising.
Stores are always overcharging for doing simple things for clueless or busy people....If the market didn't support it, they would lower their price or stop offering it. And one thing that affects the degree to which the market will support it is whether or not it gets them negative press. As far as I'm concerned, the more they do such things, the more/. and others should piss on them.
I'm not sure how this is so scary. This is something that happens naturally, so it's presumably been going on since long before humans were around. Issues with pesticide resistance and genetic modification seems peripherally related, at best.
So the genome of the e. coli in our intestines is part of our genome? I don't think so. Mitochondrial dna, yes, because mitochondria are not considered separate organisms, but e. coli are. Admittedly, the lines can be a bit blurry, but still. One big difference is that mitochondrial dna normally passes from parent (specifically mother) to child and ancestry can be traced with it, but e. coli can move "horizontally" much more readily.
One of the most interesting questions asks if whether people should feel like that have to wait until SP1 to upgrade to the operating system, a common practice with Windows users Who wrote that sentence? Miss South Carolina?
My weird experience with "time" was one time I called it, and could hear the muffled sounds of everyone else who called it (with the time lady playing in the foreground). So it became like a big chat room, where everyone was asking what other people's real numbers were so they could call them and chat with random people of the opposite sex.
Since this was approximately 1977 and there was no internet, well, it seemed pretty cool for the few days it lasted.
They make a much better margin selling OS X. They sell it for over $100, and it costs about $1.50 to make the cd's and packaging. That's like 70 times what it costs to make!
Because, of course, the cost of development shouldn't be considered at all.
It doesn't trump the law there. Both laws can apply, which means that a company doing business in both countries might find itself unable to comply with applicable laws.
If they don't like being in that position, they don't have to do business in both countries.
They didn't 'leave their back door open' to a thief... they effectively put a table on the front lawn piled high with music with a big sign saying 'come on in, copy all you want!' And of course the analogy was flawed in a different sense. Leaving your back door open only risks harm to yourself.
I think it should be rather obvious that it doesn't have to be infinitly small to be "good enough". But in theory, for things off the focal plane to be perfectly in focus, it would have to be an infinitely small aperture.
It's generally not well very accepted by the general public, I think it has less to do with acceptance, as opposed to the convenience of distinguishing between our own type and other types, especially in everyday speech.
I mean, not many people question that humans are scientifically animals, but it is still convenient to reserve the word "animal" for speaking of those of the non-human variety...at least by default. Otherwise you'd have to have the "Non-human Animal Planet" tv channel and "People for the Ethical Treatment of Non-Human Animals", "Non-human Animal Control" department, etc.
It just depends on the word and the context. Words like "mammal" and "primate" are more commonly used in a somewhat scientific context, so most people understand them to include humans by default.
Apes are monophyletic, because apes include humans I think more accurate would be to say "Apes are monophyletic, if you consider that apes include humans". Most people don't consider them to include humans, anymore than they consider dinosaurs to include birds or reptiles to include mammals.
However, Hominoidea, the "ape clade", certainly includes humans.
My understanding of the article is that they are indeed talking about the human chimp split....but it is weird and confusing that they keep talking about gorillas....since as you say they split from the chimp/human line long before the chimp/human line split into chimps and humans.
Talking about a "split" is confusing anyway, what they should be talking about is when the most recent common ancestor of modern apes (presumably chimps) and humans was.
sorry, it sure looked like you were jumping to the cynical response. Maybe I'm a bit hair trigger on such things, because everyone seems to want to bash google at every opportunity.
Does it matter if they did it for the PR, because they want to keep the customers happy so they can make more money off them, because they think they can get better employees for cheaper if those employees think they are working for a company that is non-evil, or if they just do it because they think it is the right thing to do?
Seriously, what difference does it make? If you dig deep enough, it's pretty hard to find anything anyone has ever done that you can't assign a selfish motive to, if you really want to dig deep enough.
I mean, come on, don't you think if you were in her place you would WANT to communicate with people?
I'm sure if you handed her an iPhone and asked her to do multi-touch typing, that wouldn't work out. But I am also quite sure there are plenty of solutions that might indeed help and would not be in the least bit intimidating for someone not particularly comfortable with typical tech stuff. Just because she is old and injured doesn't mean she is stupid.
Slashdot Mirror
Well he is basically the main dude at BoingBoing, which I figure a good percentage of Slashdot readers visit daily. I'm surprised you haven't run into him before.
Frankly it amazes me that they were dumb enough to include his works, given how outspoken he is on such issues.
And yeah, he's a bit of a nutcase I suppose. ( http://xkcd.com/239/ )
My broadband isp and phone company (comcast) is already a regulated monopoly. Also, I do have other choices that I could move to in a very short time with very little economic impact (if I get dsl with at&t, for instance....I'd be up and running quickly, and my computer and software would all work just fine).
I switched to mac a couple years ago, and it made a HUGE impact as I had to get and learn all new software. And I haven't been able to get rid of the PC (in fact, I recently got a new one as my old one was getting too old to be usable), because I am constantly expected to run this or that piece of software because most of the rest of the world runs Windows.
So yeah, the Windows defacto monopoly affects me every day, while the ISP/phone/oil company issues, less so.
Still, problems do not need to be addressed one at a time. Why because one issue hasn't been solved to your satisfaction should we do nothing about another issue? The world is able to multitask.
But it will get people questioning... "What do you mean chose?" You mean, as opposed to "choose"?
Great, and pollution is a problem too, but I don't see how it is related to this issue.
This story is about things that happen naturally. Your concerns are things caused by humans. See the difference?
Ok, I made that up.
I'm not sure how this is so scary. This is something that happens naturally, so it's presumably been going on since long before humans were around. Issues with pesticide resistance and genetic modification seems peripherally related, at best.
Just curious.
So the genome of the e. coli in our intestines is part of our genome? I don't think so. Mitochondrial dna, yes, because mitochondria are not considered separate organisms, but e. coli are. Admittedly, the lines can be a bit blurry, but still. One big difference is that mitochondrial dna normally passes from parent (specifically mother) to child and ancestry can be traced with it, but e. coli can move "horizontally" much more readily.
I'm not sure I agree. Mitochondria are separate from the nuclear dna, but they are still part of the human genome...just not the nuclear genome.
My weird experience with "time" was one time I called it, and could hear the muffled sounds of everyone else who called it (with the time lady playing in the foreground). So it became like a big chat room, where everyone was asking what other people's real numbers were so they could call them and chat with random people of the opposite sex.
Since this was approximately 1977 and there was no internet, well, it seemed pretty cool for the few days it lasted.
They make a much better margin selling OS X. They sell it for over $100, and it costs about $1.50 to make the cd's and packaging. That's like 70 times what it costs to make!
Because, of course, the cost of development shouldn't be considered at all.
Ok, but only if you'll tell me why I'm in trouble for beating up my girlfriend, while genocide is being practiced in Darfur.
Please, world....only try to solve one problem at a time. Kthxbai.
It doesn't trump the law there. Both laws can apply, which means that a company doing business in both countries might find itself unable to comply with applicable laws.
If they don't like being in that position, they don't have to do business in both countries.
Unless the reason they are doing this is to get some money from Lucas.
I think it should be rather obvious that it doesn't have to be infinitly small to be "good enough". But in theory, for things off the focal plane to be perfectly in focus, it would have to be an infinitely small aperture.
I mean, not many people question that humans are scientifically animals, but it is still convenient to reserve the word "animal" for speaking of those of the non-human variety...at least by default. Otherwise you'd have to have the "Non-human Animal Planet" tv channel and "People for the Ethical Treatment of Non-Human Animals", "Non-human Animal Control" department, etc.
It just depends on the word and the context. Words like "mammal" and "primate" are more commonly used in a somewhat scientific context, so most people understand them to include humans by default.
However, Hominoidea, the "ape clade", certainly includes humans.
My understanding of the article is that they are indeed talking about the human chimp split....but it is weird and confusing that they keep talking about gorillas....since as you say they split from the chimp/human line long before the chimp/human line split into chimps and humans.
Talking about a "split" is confusing anyway, what they should be talking about is when the most recent common ancestor of modern apes (presumably chimps) and humans was.
Ok, up until the word "nicer" you were clearly on one side, and then flipped rather dramatically to the other, as best I can tell. Weird.
sorry, it sure looked like you were jumping to the cynical response. Maybe I'm a bit hair trigger on such things, because everyone seems to want to bash google at every opportunity.
What's your point?
Does it matter if they did it for the PR, because they want to keep the customers happy so they can make more money off them, because they think they can get better employees for cheaper if those employees think they are working for a company that is non-evil, or if they just do it because they think it is the right thing to do?
Seriously, what difference does it make? If you dig deep enough, it's pretty hard to find anything anyone has ever done that you can't assign a selfish motive to, if you really want to dig deep enough.
I mean, come on, don't you think if you were in her place you would WANT to communicate with people?
I'm sure if you handed her an iPhone and asked her to do multi-touch typing, that wouldn't work out. But I am also quite sure there are plenty of solutions that might indeed help and would not be in the least bit intimidating for someone not particularly comfortable with typical tech stuff. Just because she is old and injured doesn't mean she is stupid.
And btw, your condescending attitude is annoying.