It's not even sure yet if 8.1 will include the start menu and boot to desktop. By the way, I (and many, many others) installed a little thingy to bring back those features. Wouldn't it be a laugh if MS, instead of giving in to the complaints, broke the desktop/start menu applets to force people to Metro?
Now is a great time to go. The tourist areas are about as safe before, and nothing much has changed for visitors... except that things are less crowded and cheaper, what with so many scared tourists staying away. Stick to the main tourist centers and don't wander off alone at night, and you'll be a-ok.
Agreed. And it's not just useful for interaction with coders or other IT folks; most of the better knowledge workers know a bit of coding to make it easier to process and manage information for their own job. Some macros, VBA in Excel, life hacking, ITTT, or even setting up a little Access database (yes) can make ones life a lot easier than if one has to ask someone else for help on these tools. Because in a lot of cases (especially MS Access), if you have to ask for it, you won't get it.
If you just want to try the software or use it once, $20 is a pretty sweet deal. For people who use the software on a daily basis, it's easy to see how the Cloud deal is more expensive. And even for casual users, $20/month could mean $20/use for them, which quickly adds up to being more expensive than the one-off purchase. Guess which kind of users are prevalent?
If you like, I can refer you to a great dominatrix who is uncannily handy with the whip and enjoys watching people suffer. Should be right up the alley of people who enjoyed the upgrade to Windows 8.
Seriously, I am curious to learn which areas you found to be an improvement over previous versions of Windows on desktop machines. I for one never had to Google around for instructions on performing basic tasks after upgrading to a new OS. I didn't have to when I tried a few of the more modern Linux distros, nor when I got my first iDevice from Apple. That's because those environments have good UI designs that build on existing paradigms, make things obvious, visible and intuitive, and provide contextual help when stuff isn't obvious. Windows 8 has none of that.
Today I took delivery of my new work PC. When I ordered it I asked for Windows 8... One has to keep up with these things, right? Bloody hell...
Seriously, when one has to Google on another computer for instructions on how to bring up the damn (well hidden) address bar in the browser, you know your "intuitive" design is bad, bad, bad. Luckily I already knew about the (equally well hidden) active corners of the screen to bring up the Start screen, Desktop and Charm bar,so I did manage to get around, sort of. Trying to find some essential system settings proved impossible until I ended up installing StartIsBack, which gives me the start menu and old desktop upon boot; after that I could access the old style control panel. Windows 8 is just fine and dandy... Now that I have it working just like Windows 7. Honestly, the Metro interface is not that bad on a mobile device with a touch screen, but it has no place on a desktop PC.
Sure, all new UIs will require some learning. But never, not since Windows 3.11, have I had such a hostile experience from a new OS.
Yes and No. The legal system protects society as well as preserving the rights of individuals. In court, what matters is the law, which may have been written with the needs of the many in mind, but when applying that law, those needs are not always a consideration right then and there. If a murderer is tried, with hard evidence against him, but all evidence is ruled inadmissible on a technicality, he walks (or should walk). The needs of the many = lock up a known murderer. Needs of the few = right to a fair trial.
Of course you can argue that the right of a fair trial is also in the interest of everyone else, thus it's "the needs of the many". The point is that the ST quote implies a weighing of interests (needs), whereas the judge in many cases will not apply such weighing, only the law.
Same in France I believe, and this is what they want to implement in the Netherlands as well. The ECHR is wary of this issue but it certainly isn't completely clear-cut. Some info on exceptions in this paper. (PDF alert).
How does nemo tenetur interact with obstruction of justice? e.g., If they ask someone who isn't a suspect and they are subsequently charged with obstruction, can they then invoke their right to remain silent even if the information isn't self-incriminating? Or can my own silence bring obstruction charges?
If you refuse to surrender information that doesn't incriminate you, then there's no conflict between obstruction of justice and the right to remain silent.
Actually, it does. As a suspect, you are not obliged to hand over evidence or tell the police where to find it if they ask for it, and you can not be punished for withholding this information. However, the police are authorized to obtain this evidence by other means, i.e. busting down your door and looking for it, or asking someone else who is not a suspect and thus not protected by nemo tenetur.
There are several EU countries where this principle is interpreted narrowly (certainly the Netherlands), and the law in some cases does compel suspects to hand over documents and keys while retaining only the right to literally remain silent, but the European Human Rights Court has overturned many convictions obtained thus on appeal. Even in cases where suspects of tax evasion got fined for not handing over incriminating records (and the tax agencies over here are notorious for being allowed to do whatever the hell they please in order to get at your cash).
The law might very well pass. In ordinary circumstances it would likely be shot down in the senate, who are supposed to be more or less apolitical, and normally only pass or strike proposed bills after checking if they are fair, just, in line with other laws and principles, and practical. At the moment however, the governing parties have no majority in the senate, which has opened up the floor for all sorts of political wheeling & dealing, precisely the sort of thing the senate is not supposed to do. The party leader for the Christian Democrats even said it out loud: Quid pro quo, if you want your laws passed. A statement which I think ought to get him ejected from the senate.
So we have a law on the table. A law which goes against our civil liberties, something that many a party in the opposition is not going to like. However the issue of civil liberties, especially "digital" ones, has always been a political bargaining chip that is easily given up if it can be exchanged for something better. When this law lands in the senate, you can be sure that many parties will be interested in supporting it in exchange for something else.
I think child porn ought to be the legislator's Godwin: mention it, and your bill gets shit-canned automatically.
Incidentally, the bill goes beyond hacking into suspects' computers. It also states that suspects (not convicted criminals) can be forced to hand over encryption keys, if they are suspected of serious crimes. So in the interest of making things easier for investigators, we've done away with an important legal principle ("nemo tenetur") which states that suspects cannot be forced to aid their own prosecution. The minister thinks that this principle should be set aside for, you guessed it, suspects of terrorism or kiddie porn.
Nice. Here in (self proclaimed) ultra-modern and progressive NL, the man gets 2 whole days... That's it. IIRC, the woman gets 16 weeks.
While it's good to give some time that the man and woman can split between them, 1 year total does seem a bit excessive. The government doesn't really cover this as they have no money of their own, all they do is redistribute our money.
Yes. Anything for which no off-the-shelf equivalent exists: replacement parts, prototypes, components for my own projects, objets d'art, etc. Printing at home is still something for the 3d printing enthusiast, but there are fablabs that will print high quality parts in plastic or metal and mail them, at attractive prices.
This is a crappy argument (or at least, it's only half the picture), but it is the one used often by HR types or those doing the selection. The real question isn't "what does this guy cost", but "what cost/benefit ratio is there". The older, more experienced guy may cost more, but his experience often makes up for that, and if he is capable of coaching your junior devs well, then you got a sweet deal on your hands.
Perhaps a more important difference between young and old guys: if an old guy does turn out to be sucky, there's little chance of turning him around. With younger guys your chances of turning a mishire into a success are far greater.
Depending somewhat on the kind of company doing the hiring, the prospective new hire shouldn't just be evaluated for the job at hand, but also for how well they'd do at other jobs, both at and above their current level. This means testing for adaptability, versatility and future potential. This, by the way, is where I find that people with college degrees far outperform self taught high school dropout programmers.
Some open source projects are in a better state than others, but in my experience it is a good idea to treat all of them as if they can stop working at any time, and manage that risk. In other words, have a contingency plan ready. In some cases you may be able to fx a broken bit of software yourself (or hire a company to do this). In other cases there are alternative software products you can switch to. Or simply accept the fact that whatever it is you've put together will stop working some day (obviously nothing mission critical). The last option may sound scary, especially to managers, but often it's better to have something rather than nothing, even if its for a limited amount of time.
I'm paying for HBO on cable because I am willing to pay for what they offer, but I still get their stuff via SickBeard and watch it off my NAS because it's way more convenient. Something for them to think about.
Plenty of companies are working on long term goals. It's the new breed of politicians who fail to come up with viable longer term plans (this seems to be much more of an issue than it was 20-30 years ago). Everything is focused on the next 4-5 years (whatever the election cycle is), and when our coalitions become unstable, the range may drop to mere months: anything to keep voters, constituents or coalition partners happy.
I can see why that would be less of a problem in China.
That depends. Many blogs have a sizable crowd of followers who regularly debate stuff amongst themselves, and in some cases there is a group of regular, frequent commenters, transforming a blog from a mere set of articles with comments into an online community. Such a community might well feel the need for a topic to discuss momentous events like these, even if it is off topic. Just like everyone was discussing it today at the water cooler and at their desks.
It's more complex than that. Facebook at the core is about us sharing our personal stuff: we're both consumers and producers there. From a consumer point of view, it'll be clear early on if it's worth to jump ship; if something looks like it might be the next big thing, we can be confident that producers will move over as well because that's us (and our friends). And from a producer point of view, jumping ship comes at a relatively low price, plus being on two social networks at once is certainly doable.
On Windows, most of us are just consumers. It's not our friends that drive a potential migration, it's the producers (i.e. software companies), who are facing a serious investment when considering to move to a different ecosystem. They cannot afford to assume something will be the next big thing and just see how things develop, and Windows has a distinct advantage to many of them: it covers the business market, where Windows is still the ecosystem of choice. As long as the producers stick to Windows, consumers are unlikely to make the change.
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It's not even sure yet if 8.1 will include the start menu and boot to desktop. By the way, I (and many, many others) installed a little thingy to bring back those features. Wouldn't it be a laugh if MS, instead of giving in to the complaints, broke the desktop/start menu applets to force people to Metro?
Now is a great time to go. The tourist areas are about as safe before, and nothing much has changed for visitors... except that things are less crowded and cheaper, what with so many scared tourists staying away. Stick to the main tourist centers and don't wander off alone at night, and you'll be a-ok.
Agreed. And it's not just useful for interaction with coders or other IT folks; most of the better knowledge workers know a bit of coding to make it easier to process and manage information for their own job. Some macros, VBA in Excel, life hacking, ITTT, or even setting up a little Access database (yes) can make ones life a lot easier than if one has to ask someone else for help on these tools. Because in a lot of cases (especially MS Access), if you have to ask for it, you won't get it.
If you just want to try the software or use it once, $20 is a pretty sweet deal. For people who use the software on a daily basis, it's easy to see how the Cloud deal is more expensive. And even for casual users, $20/month could mean $20/use for them, which quickly adds up to being more expensive than the one-off purchase. Guess which kind of users are prevalent?
If you like, I can refer you to a great dominatrix who is uncannily handy with the whip and enjoys watching people suffer. Should be right up the alley of people who enjoyed the upgrade to Windows 8.
Seriously, I am curious to learn which areas you found to be an improvement over previous versions of Windows on desktop machines. I for one never had to Google around for instructions on performing basic tasks after upgrading to a new OS. I didn't have to when I tried a few of the more modern Linux distros, nor when I got my first iDevice from Apple. That's because those environments have good UI designs that build on existing paradigms, make things obvious, visible and intuitive, and provide contextual help when stuff isn't obvious. Windows 8 has none of that.
Today I took delivery of my new work PC. When I ordered it I asked for Windows 8... One has to keep up with these things, right? Bloody hell...
Seriously, when one has to Google on another computer for instructions on how to bring up the damn (well hidden) address bar in the browser, you know your "intuitive" design is bad, bad, bad. Luckily I already knew about the (equally well hidden) active corners of the screen to bring up the Start screen, Desktop and Charm bar,so I did manage to get around, sort of. Trying to find some essential system settings proved impossible until I ended up installing StartIsBack, which gives me the start menu and old desktop upon boot; after that I could access the old style control panel. Windows 8 is just fine and dandy... Now that I have it working just like Windows 7. Honestly, the Metro interface is not that bad on a mobile device with a touch screen, but it has no place on a desktop PC.
Sure, all new UIs will require some learning. But never, not since Windows 3.11, have I had such a hostile experience from a new OS.
Yes and No. The legal system protects society as well as preserving the rights of individuals. In court, what matters is the law, which may have been written with the needs of the many in mind, but when applying that law, those needs are not always a consideration right then and there. If a murderer is tried, with hard evidence against him, but all evidence is ruled inadmissible on a technicality, he walks (or should walk). The needs of the many = lock up a known murderer. Needs of the few = right to a fair trial.
Of course you can argue that the right of a fair trial is also in the interest of everyone else, thus it's "the needs of the many". The point is that the ST quote implies a weighing of interests (needs), whereas the judge in many cases will not apply such weighing, only the law.
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
Interesting quote to open with, because in court they don't.
Same in France I believe, and this is what they want to implement in the Netherlands as well. The ECHR is wary of this issue but it certainly isn't completely clear-cut. Some info on exceptions in this paper. (PDF alert).
How does nemo tenetur interact with obstruction of justice? e.g., If they ask someone who isn't a suspect and they are subsequently charged with obstruction, can they then invoke their right to remain silent even if the information isn't self-incriminating? Or can my own silence bring obstruction charges?
If you refuse to surrender information that doesn't incriminate you, then there's no conflict between obstruction of justice and the right to remain silent.
Actually, it does. As a suspect, you are not obliged to hand over evidence or tell the police where to find it if they ask for it, and you can not be punished for withholding this information. However, the police are authorized to obtain this evidence by other means, i.e. busting down your door and looking for it, or asking someone else who is not a suspect and thus not protected by nemo tenetur.
There are several EU countries where this principle is interpreted narrowly (certainly the Netherlands), and the law in some cases does compel suspects to hand over documents and keys while retaining only the right to literally remain silent, but the European Human Rights Court has overturned many convictions obtained thus on appeal. Even in cases where suspects of tax evasion got fined for not handing over incriminating records (and the tax agencies over here are notorious for being allowed to do whatever the hell they please in order to get at your cash).
The law might very well pass. In ordinary circumstances it would likely be shot down in the senate, who are supposed to be more or less apolitical, and normally only pass or strike proposed bills after checking if they are fair, just, in line with other laws and principles, and practical. At the moment however, the governing parties have no majority in the senate, which has opened up the floor for all sorts of political wheeling & dealing, precisely the sort of thing the senate is not supposed to do. The party leader for the Christian Democrats even said it out loud: Quid pro quo, if you want your laws passed. A statement which I think ought to get him ejected from the senate.
So we have a law on the table. A law which goes against our civil liberties, something that many a party in the opposition is not going to like. However the issue of civil liberties, especially "digital" ones, has always been a political bargaining chip that is easily given up if it can be exchanged for something better. When this law lands in the senate, you can be sure that many parties will be interested in supporting it in exchange for something else.
I think child porn ought to be the legislator's Godwin: mention it, and your bill gets shit-canned automatically.
Incidentally, the bill goes beyond hacking into suspects' computers. It also states that suspects (not convicted criminals) can be forced to hand over encryption keys, if they are suspected of serious crimes. So in the interest of making things easier for investigators, we've done away with an important legal principle ("nemo tenetur") which states that suspects cannot be forced to aid their own prosecution. The minister thinks that this principle should be set aside for, you guessed it, suspects of terrorism or kiddie porn.
Nice. Here in (self proclaimed) ultra-modern and progressive NL, the man gets 2 whole days... That's it. IIRC, the woman gets 16 weeks.
While it's good to give some time that the man and woman can split between them, 1 year total does seem a bit excessive. The government doesn't really cover this as they have no money of their own, all they do is redistribute our money.
Yes. Anything for which no off-the-shelf equivalent exists: replacement parts, prototypes, components for my own projects, objets d'art, etc. Printing at home is still something for the 3d printing enthusiast, but there are fablabs that will print high quality parts in plastic or metal and mail them, at attractive prices.
It's equally crap on both, you mean. SAP's UI is Satan's sick joke on humanity.
This is a crappy argument (or at least, it's only half the picture), but it is the one used often by HR types or those doing the selection. The real question isn't "what does this guy cost", but "what cost/benefit ratio is there". The older, more experienced guy may cost more, but his experience often makes up for that, and if he is capable of coaching your junior devs well, then you got a sweet deal on your hands.
Perhaps a more important difference between young and old guys: if an old guy does turn out to be sucky, there's little chance of turning him around. With younger guys your chances of turning a mishire into a success are far greater.
Depending somewhat on the kind of company doing the hiring, the prospective new hire shouldn't just be evaluated for the job at hand, but also for how well they'd do at other jobs, both at and above their current level. This means testing for adaptability, versatility and future potential. This, by the way, is where I find that people with college degrees far outperform self taught high school dropout programmers.
Some open source projects are in a better state than others, but in my experience it is a good idea to treat all of them as if they can stop working at any time, and manage that risk. In other words, have a contingency plan ready. In some cases you may be able to fx a broken bit of software yourself (or hire a company to do this). In other cases there are alternative software products you can switch to. Or simply accept the fact that whatever it is you've put together will stop working some day (obviously nothing mission critical). The last option may sound scary, especially to managers, but often it's better to have something rather than nothing, even if its for a limited amount of time.
I'm paying for HBO on cable because I am willing to pay for what they offer, but I still get their stuff via SickBeard and watch it off my NAS because it's way more convenient. Something for them to think about.
Plenty of companies are working on long term goals. It's the new breed of politicians who fail to come up with viable longer term plans (this seems to be much more of an issue than it was 20-30 years ago). Everything is focused on the next 4-5 years (whatever the election cycle is), and when our coalitions become unstable, the range may drop to mere months: anything to keep voters, constituents or coalition partners happy.
I can see why that would be less of a problem in China.
That depends. Many blogs have a sizable crowd of followers who regularly debate stuff amongst themselves, and in some cases there is a group of regular, frequent commenters, transforming a blog from a mere set of articles with comments into an online community. Such a community might well feel the need for a topic to discuss momentous events like these, even if it is off topic. Just like everyone was discussing it today at the water cooler and at their desks.
They have plans to sell a version that clips to prescription glasses.
It's more complex than that. Facebook at the core is about us sharing our personal stuff: we're both consumers and producers there. From a consumer point of view, it'll be clear early on if it's worth to jump ship; if something looks like it might be the next big thing, we can be confident that producers will move over as well because that's us (and our friends). And from a producer point of view, jumping ship comes at a relatively low price, plus being on two social networks at once is certainly doable.
On Windows, most of us are just consumers. It's not our friends that drive a potential migration, it's the producers (i.e. software companies), who are facing a serious investment when considering to move to a different ecosystem. They cannot afford to assume something will be the next big thing and just see how things develop, and Windows has a distinct advantage to many of them: it covers the business market, where Windows is still the ecosystem of choice. As long as the producers stick to Windows, consumers are unlikely to make the change.
Perhaps they are: Windows 8.1 will include boot to desktop. Good news if true, all they need to do then is bring back the Start button & menu.