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User: gorbachev

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  1. Copying not just for copying's sake on Jaron Lanier Rants Against the World of Web 2.0 · · Score: 1

    I really don't understand his argument.

    The "machines" aren't scanning/copying/rehashing the messages just because they can. They're doing it with to expose the content to as many people as possible. Without content aggregators and search engines the majority of online content would have only a fraction of consumers they have now.

    I also think it's naive to expect every single person out there to consume content the same way or the way he thinks is The Right Way. I consume information in multiple ways. Some I read very carefully word for word, and check references and related information. Some I glance through quickly. For some I only read the summary. Same for all types of content. I don't think I'm unique in any way the way I consume content.

  2. Re: No recourse is a problem on Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service · · Score: 1

    I think most reasonable people would agree with what you said.

    I'm a heavy Xbox 360 user. I haven't been banned from XBL, because I don't go out of my way to break the TOS. I have been banned (for two weeks...once) from xbox.com, for posting something some unnamed moderator didn't like. A few of my friends have been (temporarily) banned from XBL for things like having "FFTW" in their motto.

    In all cases it was impossible to get the exact reason for the ban. When I was banned from xbox.com I couldn't even send a private message to the moderators asking about why I was banned, because the ban removed my ability to PM the moderators. In all cases the bans were handed out anonymously, with no information about how to escalate if you felt you were banned erroneously. People were basically left guessing as to why they were banned with no way to find out what the reason really was. This is consistent across the board with Microsoft.

    If I don't know why I was banned, how am I supposed to correct my behavior? Not knowing also often leads to all kinds of unhealthy speculation, paranoia and conspiracy theories.

    Why can't Microsoft just tell people? They have all the information about why they banned someone after all.

  3. Re:Ignorance in the comments from the Superintende on SETI@home Project Responds To School Firing · · Score: 1

    You haven't followed New York State politics. They're not interested in solving problems for their constituents or saving tax-payer money.

  4. Re:How very ironic... on Relaunched Recovery.gov Fails Accessibility Standards · · Score: 1

    There was a discussion on this on Slashdot already.

    The contract is NOT expensive, if you look at the requirements, which are (or were) publicly available on the Government's contracting job bank.

    In fact, if you looked at the requirements, and have any experience in system integration work, you'd have felt pity for whoever schmuck ended up doing the work for this one. It was preconditioned to fail.

    It does seem, though, that the contractor made a best effort to screw it up on their own with the non-compliant implementation. If the Government requires them to fix it, I'm pretty sure the contractor won't actually make any profit out of the project.

  5. Make it public on Do Retailers Often Screen User Reviews? · · Score: 2, Informative

    This retailer is seriously screwing its customers by hiding problems in product it sells. I would absolutely avoid shopping with the retailer if I knew who it was.

    Consumerist.com, owned by Consumer Reports, is doing a pretty good job exposing anti-consumer behavior by companies. I would tip them off about this.

  6. Absolutely on Who Wants To Be a Billionaire Coder? · · Score: 1

    So if you didn't have to work â" and had more money than George Lucas and Steven Spielberg â" would you be like Sall and continue to program?

    Yes, I would.

    I would work on all the projects I don't have time for between 10-hour workdays and 24-hour take-care-of-the-children-make-sure-wife-is-happy life.

    I would be busier than ever. And I would love every minute of it.

  7. Re:Apple Admits It, Sort Of on Why AT&T Killed iPhone Google Voice · · Score: 1

    While Apple is "pondering", the GV Mobile developer went ahead and released the app in Cydia.

    That is a violation of the iPhone developer program.

    It's gonna be very interesting, if Apple lets GV Mobile back to the app store.

  8. Do what any good parent would do on Parents Baffled By Science Questions · · Score: 1

    Google it.

  9. Re:What's the big deal? This is a business... on EMI Only Selling CDs To Mega-Chains From Now On · · Score: 1

    I think the bigger issue is what this is going to do to the sales of EMI artists, whose fans are not the Walmart shopping kind.

    I would expect some of their artists be VERY unhappy about this move...to the point that I would expect a few of them break their contracts over this. Assuming EMI doesn't concentrate entirely on the Britney Spears mass market type of music.

  10. Read the RFP on Recovery.gov To Get $18 Million Redesign · · Score: 5, Insightful

    https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=9745fb34e48a36a32b4fc589c3e371cb&tab=core&_cview=1&cck=1&au=&ck=

    The Federal Business Opportunities website listed this opportunity a few weeks ago (could've been up longer than that, who knows).

    It's not "just a website". It's a bit of a cluster**** in terms of number of data sources, what they expect to do with the data, etc.

    I've done my time (never again!) with sorting through data from various data sources and while the actual programming part is *usually* not that difficult (assuming the data is not too badly malformed), but there are so many problems with processes, dealing with crap data, exceptions, etc. that if I were bidding for this work, I'd inflate my estimates quite a bit, too.

  11. Re:Proof please. on Comic Artist Detained For Script Containing 9/11 Type Scenarios · · Score: 1

    This happens all over the world. When it happens in the USA, however, people stand up and make noise

    And that's all they do...for 30 minutes, after which they go back to watching American Idol.

  12. Re:opt out on Circuit City Returns Under Systemax · · Score: 1

    They already spammed me, so what's the point?

    I'm setting up an email filter rule that returns all that stuff back to as many Systemax employees as I can possibly find.

  13. Re:And then imagine on Time Warner Shutting Off Austin Accounts For Heavy Usage · · Score: 1

    ...and they only had 200 years to fix it.

    Maybe another 100 years more and it'll catch up to Japan of 2009.

  14. Re:The rise of Hulu on Time Warner Shutting Off Austin Accounts For Heavy Usage · · Score: 1

    Why do you think net neutrality is such a hot topic?

  15. Re:Confused on Appeals Court Stays RIAA Subpoena Vs. Students · · Score: 1

    Of course not. MediaSenty is protected by lobbyists.

    The students are not.

  16. Re:Anon on Slashdot Mentioned In Virginia Terrorism Report · · Score: 1

    Just make sure you don't legally change your name to Anonymous Coward and I think you'll be fine.

  17. Re:Sesame Street & the Importance of Bilingual on Shouldn't Every Developer Understand English? · · Score: 1

    I thought I had read/heard somewhere (might have even been the documentary Revolution OS) that Finns & Swedes grow up with English Sesame Street available to them and as a result many of them are bilingual from a young age.

    Don't believe everything you read.

    However, regular TV shows and movies are not dubbed unlike in some other European countries and instead use subtitles, which is a pretty good way to learn English.

    Personally I learned English from video games, because they didn't translate those back in the day. The Microprose manuals were particularly useful for developing English skills.

    BTW, Linus is tri-lingual (at the very least)...Finnish, Swedish and English.

  18. Best. Promo. Evar. on Mythbusters Accidentally Bust Windows In Nearby Town · · Score: 1

    It was an accident. Yea, sure.

  19. Re:Translation:Cycles. on Chimp Found Plotting Against Zoo Guests · · Score: 1

    I disagree. The primates running the investment banks on Wall Street knew exactly what they wanted. They just didn't care other people got hurt while they got rich.

    Sociopathic behavior, afaik, is something animals are yet to exhibit. Hurray! We're still at the top of the food pyramid!

  20. Re:me thinks that RAND don't protest too much. on Film Piracy, Organized Crime and Terrorism · · Score: 1

    "I wonder what's next."

    The Nationalization Ghost.

    Look for it to become a household word just in time for the healthcare reform debate.

  21. So many targets omitted on Jack Thompson Attacks DoD, ESA, GTA With Utah Bill · · Score: 1

    CIA, FBI, Jeb Bush, Janet Reno, Florida Supreme Court, Florida Bar Association, 2 Live Crew, Ice-T, Take Two Interactive, Rockstar Games, Paul Eibeler, Paula Eibel, tin foil manufacturers, ...

    Damn it, I could go on forever.

    This must not be a real Jackhole sponsored bill. Too few targets.

  22. Re:Deleted my account. on Monster.com Data Stolen, Won't Email Users · · Score: 1

    You really sure they actually deleted it?

    I've had pretty poor results with requests to delete my account information in the past with various online entities. Buy.com, for example, never deletes anything...I am still getting spammed by them to four disabled accounts years after they were supposedly gone.

  23. Re:H1Bs are fine on Senator Prods Microsoft On H-1B Visas After Layoff Plans · · Score: 1

    There you go again with straw man arguments.

    Hiring H1B workers requires the companies to pay prevailing wages. If they not doing so, then they're breaking the law.

    The H1B program does not reduce the prevailing wage. H1B workers do not reduce the prevailing wage.

    Companies who abuse the H1B program and the Government who is failing to adequately oversee their own program are reducing the prevailing wage.

    The H1B program has all the sageguards in place to prevent this. If it's happening it's not the fault of the program or the temporary workers working in this country because of it.

  24. Limited study? on Dutch Study Says Filesharing Has Positive Economic Effects · · Score: 1

    From the few English language translations it seems as if the study was limited to studying the economic impact of file sharing to content publishing businesses (Seagate products store a lot of porn, you know, their CEO said so).

    Nor did it seem to address the economic impact of reinventing/remixing/reusing/repackaging/redistributing/mashing up digital content available for free (legally or illegally)

    If so, then the study, by no means, is an accurate depiction of the economic impact of file sharing.

  25. The list is the opposite on Tech Companies That Won't Survive 2009 · · Score: 1

    If you actually go through the list, the comments on all of the companies listed state they're not going out of business in 2009.

    What was the point of this again?