"Very soon the adverts will begin playing during the programs"
What are you talking about "very soon"? How about NOW? Conan, Leno, SNL, are already acting like advertising whores by mentioning and displaying ads *in their programming*, right before going to a commercial which matches the product they just showed. I don't know how they do it...I would feel so dirty.
Sixty percent of those surveyed believe in ESP, psychic power, and alien abduction.
So what? Tons of people believe in God...including many scientists. What does the NSF have to say about that? The elitist vibe is just very annoying. (my set of arbitrary rules is better than yours!)
The fact is, science (obviously) hasn't explained *everything* yet. So what it hasn't explained, people are free to believe whatever they want. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
The new line of transformers are much crappier though. I remember my transformers being heavy, made of metal, and *real* rubber for tires, and real tank treads, etc. Now it's all just plastic crap, plastic wheels and treads that don't move, parts that don't fit together perfectly, etc.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=31710&cid=34 33 482
We need them because of what, exactly? To temporarily conceal the fact that the economy you refer to is unbalanced? I'm not a big fan of bandaids on a sucking chest wound, even when there's alot of ready bandaids.
We don't need them. We need to make those jobs they're being exploited for into NON-shit jobs, and realize the standard of living we're taking for granted costs more than we thought.
I think both the main post, and this response are good points, and not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Uh, ever since computers got fast enough that they could map out the decision tree far deeper than is physically possible to evaluate, chess programs have been using heuristics ("strategy").
And yes, once computers can map all possible moves (well, probably not much chance of this for complicated games like chess and go), the term "strategy" becomes meaningless. Just like you couldn't use the term "strategy" with tic tac toe, because you already know all the possible moves.
I have a magical new system that is much better, and uses 0% extra bureaucratic overhead! It is a NOT-tax on sci-fi products! This is how it works:
1) Buy a sci-fi product (or don't, what do I care?) 2) Pay the sci-fi NOT-tax to yourself 3) Put the money you just gave yourself into an envelope, and send it to your favorite sci-fi organization!
This system is so amazing, it even works for non-sci-fi products! But don't even think about using this method. I am patenting it and staring a.com.
Uh, wouldn't ANWR give us only 6 months of oil? Ok, let's say it gives us a whole year of oil. We'll be SOL after that, so what exactly would it accomplish? Wouldn't investment in alternative (preferably renewable) energy sources be a better idea?
"An ideal solution would be to not directly hurt Microsoft while still ensuring that the competition is on a level playing field."
Well, since MS is already benefitting from an illegal monopoly, pretty much anything that is done to prevent MS from behaving illegally, would necessarily harm it.
<read slashdot> <read slashdot> <quickly switch to code editor with complicated source file loaded> <read slashdot> <read slashdot> <read slashdot> <quickly switch to terminal and enter a frenzy of mundane 'ls', 'grep' and 'vi' and 'find' commands.> <read slashdot> <read slashdot> <read slashdot> ...
WTF payoff do I get by the government handing over my money or software my money funded to a company to sell software back to me? Uh, when can I cash in THAT stock??
"You, the liberty loving individual, don't want big bad governments and corporations using data about you without your permission. You want control over that data.
Purveyors of digitized content don't want tiny bad people "pirates" using their data without their permission. They want control over that data."
Uh, except that we as consumers are not actively in the business of selling our data while the media industry is.
I don't see any similarity here. The media industry wants to control information even after they have sold it, whereas as a consumer I don't even want to give out this information in the first place.
Besides, I see a distinct qualitative difference between salable works of art/literature/content, and personal, non-artistic demographic data. Now if I created a piece of art based on my personal demographic data, and sold it, and then wanted to control how people used it, I would probably be in the same position as the media industry.
Yeah, just *try* to buy a computer without a Microsoft OS. Yes, us geeks can build our own, but we do not comprise the majority of the market any longer, so it is silly to tell the unwashed masses to just "dont buy" a preassembled computer but instead build your own. Not getting MS discounts on MS operating systems is immediate suicide for an OEM, so no mass market OEM would dare to provide that option.
These products serve vastly different markets. Putting a keyboard and mouse on an XBox does NOT make it nearly as versatile as a PC. Set top boxes have tied that several times and failed. Why?
Where's my XBox? In the living room.
Where's my PC? In my office.
When I'm surfing the web or writing an email on my XBox, nobody else can watch TV.
I bet these distinctions don't matter quite as much to the masses that use their PC as an overpowered AOL terminal. Microsoft is in an *excellent* position to, er, position, XBox as the central household "computer appliance" (and they've even hinted as much).
XBox IS nearly as versatile as a PC because it is made out of commodity PC parts! Games are just bait to get it in the living room. Then they integrate internet connectivity, and TiVO capabilities, and BLAM, one-stop computer appliance monopoly. It also is a great way to wedge in their new "software-as-service" concept. Once you have your XUniversalBox, whaddya gonna do if you need upgraded software? You think every schmoe out there is gonna crack open their XBox just to upgrade software ("wait, we can't do this, it's an 'appliance', it'll void our warranty")? No, they are going to shell out a fee, and download the newer software from MS.
Of course, get enough of these in the hands of geeks and this could backfire horribly for MS 8)
"Just because we don't understand how something works, doesn't mean it doesn't work."
Right...what the Chinese described as "chi" or "life force" and developed acupuncture based on, we now have scientic evidence to substantiate. Just because we don't really think it is some magical "life force" doesn't make their *model* any less signifacant. I could call atoms "magic gnomes" and planets "big cookies"...as long as my model is coherent, who the fuck cares?
Slashdot Mirror
"Very soon the adverts will begin playing during the programs"
What are you talking about "very soon"? How about NOW? Conan, Leno, SNL, are already acting like advertising whores by mentioning and displaying ads *in their programming*, right before going to a commercial which matches the product they just showed. I don't know how they do it...I would feel so dirty.
The fact is, science (obviously) hasn't explained *everything* yet. So what it hasn't explained, people are free to believe whatever they want. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
The new line of transformers are much crappier though. I remember my transformers being heavy, made of metal, and *real* rubber for tires, and real tank treads, etc. Now it's all just plastic crap, plastic wheels and treads that don't move, parts that don't fit together perfectly, etc.
So...where DO you live?
"That's what we really need: More people."
Not just that, but *clones of Slashdot readers*.
"Security _ought_ to be forcing you to upgrade."
Yeah, but what does this have to do with Windows upgrades?
Uh, ever since computers got fast enough that they could map out the decision tree far deeper than is physically possible to evaluate, chess programs have been using heuristics ("strategy").
And yes, once computers can map all possible moves (well, probably not much chance of this for complicated games like chess and go), the term "strategy" becomes meaningless. Just like you couldn't use the term "strategy" with tic tac toe, because you already know all the possible moves.
"I even watch M-TV once in a while, something which I never did before."
I thought you said you were a fan of music.
Who are these strange ones you talk of. Is one eye just permanently open or shut?
I have a magical new system that is much better, and uses 0% extra bureaucratic overhead! It is a NOT-tax on sci-fi products! This is how it works:
.com.
1) Buy a sci-fi product (or don't, what do I care?)
2) Pay the sci-fi NOT-tax to yourself
3) Put the money you just gave yourself into an envelope, and send it to your favorite sci-fi organization!
This system is so amazing, it even works for non-sci-fi products! But don't even think about using this method. I am patenting it and staring a
What you say??? Clearly you are a heathen and must rot in hell.
Uh, wouldn't ANWR give us only 6 months of oil? Ok, let's say it gives us a whole year of oil. We'll be SOL after that, so what exactly would it accomplish? Wouldn't investment in alternative (preferably renewable) energy sources be a better idea?
"An ideal solution would be to not directly hurt Microsoft while still ensuring that the competition is on a level playing field."
Well, since MS is already benefitting from an illegal monopoly, pretty much anything that is done to prevent MS from behaving illegally, would necessarily harm it.
"perhaps it would be a good idea to collect the water as the car is driven until the next refueling stop"
Or just emit it and it will find its way into rivers, lakes, and the water table itself. Hey, maybe if enough people drive through the midwest...
<read slashdot>
<read slashdot>
<quickly switch to code editor with complicated source file loaded>
<read slashdot>
<read slashdot>
<read slashdot>
<quickly switch to terminal and enter a frenzy of mundane 'ls', 'grep' and 'vi' and 'find' commands.>
<read slashdot>
<read slashdot>
<read slashdot>
...
Maybe not, but your payoff is CAPITAL GAIN.
WTF payoff do I get by the government handing over my money or software my money funded to a company to sell software back to me? Uh, when can I cash in THAT stock??
I don't see any similarity here. The media industry wants to control information even after they have sold it, whereas as a consumer I don't even want to give out this information in the first place.
Besides, I see a distinct qualitative difference between salable works of art/literature/content, and personal, non-artistic demographic data. Now if I created a piece of art based on my personal demographic data, and sold it, and then wanted to control how people used it, I would probably be in the same position as the media industry.
"Dont like the product, dont buy it."
Yeah, just *try* to buy a computer without a Microsoft OS. Yes, us geeks can build our own, but we do not comprise the majority of the market any longer, so it is silly to tell the unwashed masses to just "dont buy" a preassembled computer but instead build your own. Not getting MS discounts on MS operating systems is immediate suicide for an OEM, so no mass market OEM would dare to provide that option.
Reminds me of the Steve Martin bit "How to be a millionaire and pay no taxes":
...
1) First, become a millionaire
2)
I bet these distinctions don't matter quite as much to the masses that use their PC as an overpowered AOL terminal. Microsoft is in an *excellent* position to, er, position, XBox as the central household "computer appliance" (and they've even hinted as much).
XBox IS nearly as versatile as a PC because it is made out of commodity PC parts! Games are just bait to get it in the living room. Then they integrate internet connectivity, and TiVO capabilities, and BLAM, one-stop computer appliance monopoly. It also is a great way to wedge in their new "software-as-service" concept. Once you have your XUniversalBox, whaddya gonna do if you need upgraded software? You think every schmoe out there is gonna crack open their XBox just to upgrade software ("wait, we can't do this, it's an 'appliance', it'll void our warranty")? No, they are going to shell out a fee, and download the newer software from MS.
Of course, get enough of these in the hands of geeks and this could backfire horribly for MS 8)
"Stop stealing my watch!"
"What are you talking about? I found it right here just *lying* on your arm! It's mine!"
But then how will we show the world we pee the farthest?
"Just because we don't understand how something works, doesn't mean it doesn't work."
Right...what the Chinese described as "chi" or "life force" and developed acupuncture based on, we now have scientic evidence to substantiate. Just because we don't really think it is some magical "life force" doesn't make their *model* any less signifacant. I could call atoms "magic gnomes" and planets "big cookies"...as long as my model is coherent, who the fuck cares?