Have you heard of the term "Doing well by doing good"?
Yes, they are publicly traded companies with some responsibility to their shareholders. I think some things to consider are how Brin and Page handled their IPO so that they could retain power and control over their company so that they wouldn't be as compromised as other publicly traded companies are.
Plus, let's look on the bright side of things. Competition drives innovation. If you think Google hasn't innovated anything then you need to wake up. I'm not even going to get into it. I think Microsoft has innovated too but they tend to have a bad rep in the tech community for certain practices they adopt (close source, leveraging monopolization, not playing well).
I think one should also consider whether all monetary pursuits are evil, as you seem to imply. Google seems to find value in indexing the world's information. I don't see that as particularly evil.
Personally, I guess I could only see it as a very, easy mobile laptop. Right now my laptop is pretty light, but I'm still wary of taking it everywhere. This would accomplish things too annoying to do on PDAs. I really only see this being a killer app if wireless were available everywhere. Then it'd be useful for browsing on the web while taking public transportation.
Microsoft is a monopoly w.r.t. the consumer OS market and Office software, but that's it. That's why they have to move to other markets like online search, console entertainment, online communities, etc. where they do NOT hold monopolies.
I'm not really sure how I should construe his remarks:
Similarly, Gmail forces you to view ads alongside your emails. Unlike Yahoo, it offers no paid option to avoid the ads.
So that's... bad? Good?
When you go to a store and you get offered something for free, do you ask the clerk if you could pay an extra $10 and get something even better? If they say no, should you be offended?
I can see why the guy would not want ads but it's a fscking free service. You don't like the ads, don't use the SERVICE. I hardly think it's an equal ground for criticism. Gmail free should be compared to yahoo! mail free. Yes, Yahoo offers a paid account, but that's a whole other domain with which there is no equivalent to measure for Gmail. I'm sure that if they REALLY wanted to they could make you pay and make the ads go away. I hardly think that we'd hear the jumps of joy from the masses considering how non-instrusive they are. Look at Yahoo's ads.. they are so damn distracting.
I don't hate Yahoo, but this guy sounds like he's seriously on Yahoo's payroll. Maybe he's applying for a job there or something and trying to kiss some Yahoo! A$$.
Personally, I have ruminated over buying a Mac Mini primarily because my experience with my iPod has been so great. I haven't bought it because I'm trying to cut back on purchasing hardware which I tend to do regularly because I'm a developer. The big thing for me was the big drop in pricing.
In general, I agree. I'd have to say that quality has much to do with it though. I've bought products that have felt like cheap quality or broke and I'm usually wary of buying products from that company ever again. I have a high regard for Apple and the iPod because of the quality of my 4g ipod (no problems, feels good, great design, good user experience). Design, UI and user experience are some factors that don't really have a tangible cost associated with them when calculating the material costs to build each unit, but it's definitely something people are willing to pay extra more. I think that's why the iPod has been successful, as opposed to people simply perceiving it to be better because it costs more (although I think this holds true for many people in general).
The way Microsoft has been performing, even if they could somehow find the money to buy out Google I doubt the shareholders would agree to it. Google is a growing stock; there is much money to be made their. Microsoft has been stagnant for 2 years.
I don't think Microsoft is concerned about Google moving into the OS and Office suite business. That's just not in their space. While Google is building more consumer software, their aim is to index the world's information.
Like you said, Microsoft was late to the internet game and now they're seeing the results of it. Google is getting all the buzz in the internet/information space and, to put it frankly, Microsoft is jealous. Microsoft is like that cute girl that's in the room, and Google is that super fine chick that suddenly grabs every guy's attention. THAT is why Microsoft is jealous... not to mention that Google is kicking Microsoft's ass in the internet space, they're making boatloads of money, the stock is going insane and almost every programmer wants to work for Google. Microsoft feels neglected.
For Microsoft JUST to stay in Windows/Office is like signign it's own death warrant. Yes, that's where they make all their money but every company needs growth. Without growth the stock doens't move.. in fact it goes down because no money is to be made there. With the stock going down, it's harder to attract talent. Like someone said yesterday, you end up with ossification.
There's no doubt that the next big era of computing is on the internet, not on the desktop.
I'm guessing you don't know much about the music industry. Well, neither do I, but I DO know that a large part of their costs go towards marketing. That's their one major cost: ads, paying radio stations, tv, mtv, events, posters,.. building buzz. Why else do you think bad musical artists are so popular (boy bands, britney spears, etc etc etc) ??
Long term research. It's just like products made for the military: they're always experimental/beta until they've had significant use in real world situations for a long period of time. It's the only way you can work all the kinks out that you don't find in QA.
My impression is that they are just really conservative about moving a product out of beta. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. This way I have full confidence in products they've moved out of beta.
The 25 vulnerabilities for Mozilla are almost certainly all the known vulnerabilities. For IE, how many vulnerabilities are there that've been reported that MS hasn't publicly acknowledged?
I love FF but just to make a point: Why is it that with Mozilla the number of vulnerabilities taken into account are the known ones and when it comes to IE it's always the ones that "haven't been publicly acknowledged"??
Show me a percentage of Firefox users that have had their computers screwed up, compared with IE. I'm sure the Firefox number will be lower.
Huh? I know users are the weakest link in security, but how can you justify one product is better than the other because the users screw things up less? I don't get that.
If we're going to make any remark related to users I think it's safe to say that the greater use of IE has given it more opportunity to QA-ed as a whole.
The thing is that if FF is going to be a contender (which it is) and is going to be compared to IE as an equally strong/useful browser (at least) then it's fair to make this sort of comparison. It has to withstand the same criticism as IE if it's going to be considered an equal.
I understand your point that IE has had more time to mature. But I also don't think it's smart to say "give FF 10 years." That's like saying Google and MSFT and not comparable AT ALL because 1 company has been around 20 years and the other has been around 6. Other than their age, there are many factors about the two companies that can be compared. My claim is that the same can be said for their browsers.
I'm trying to picture the lovely lady at the local Supercuts coding software after hours. Maybe in a motion-picture, but certainly not in the real world...
I don't know man. I don't find coding particularly sexy and would like to leave that image of the hot lady cutting my hair as it is.
Maybe this is obvious but maybe they were this hostile to you guys because contractors usually take the place of fulltime jobs. It's also the case that fulltime jobs are REPLACED with contractors.
America has held amazingly low inflation with relatively low unemployment for the past 4 years or so (of course much of this has to do with our federal budget which may be a time bomb in the making). Anyway, France just isn't a consumption society like America is.
I don't doubt that there's probably a handful of deaf and blind skiiers on the slopes. I'm also willing to guess that they usually have somebody accompany them.
All of what you said was good advice but not the actual reality of the slopes. I'm assuming you go a lot so I'm surprised you use such arguments. But from my experience (which has been substantial) yelling is just how it works. I don't think it's a question of control on the person who is passing, but someone slow up front making a sudden turn in front of you. Given how busy slopes can be and how little margin you may have, yelling is a reality of the slopes.
I don't think people rely on yelling as a primary form of communication but a safety mechanism to warn the person ahead that they're coming up from behind FAST. Maybe you're quick enough so this isn't an issue, but don't any sort of fast movement (like driving) half deaf is not the smartest thing to do IMO.
If you're backcountry boarding then feel free to do this. But you're sharing those slopes with others and obviously some slopes have already identified this as a safety hazard. I'm sure they have good reason for doing so.
Didn't see it posted anywhere. In case it gets/.ed:
Two bloggers charged under Sedition Act over racist remarks By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : Two bloggers have been charged with sedition for posting racist comments online.
This is the first time bloggers are being charged in Singapore and it is sending shockwaves through the local blogging community.
Lawyers say the last time the sedition act was invoked in Singapore was at least 10 years ago.
Twenty-five-year-old Nicholas Lim Yew and 27-year-old Benjamin Koh Song Huat are being accused of posting racist comments on an online forum and on their blog site.
They are both being charged with committing a seditious act, by promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between races in Singapore.
They were not represented by defence lawyers and were granted bail of S$10,000 each.
This charge came as a shock to many in the blogging community.
Said Singaporean blogger Benjamin Lee (Mr Miyagi):" A lot of them will be looking at their blogs and wondering if they made any legally seditious remarks. I think because of the way this will be played up, it's negative publicity for the Singapore blogging community."
"Currently if you surf the net you will come across a lot of bloggers making such comments. You will probably see a drop in such cases henceforth. At the moment I am not aware of any cases except of a case in Iran where bloggers are charged. But Iran has a different legal system from Singapore," said Leonard Loo, managing partner of Leonard Loo & Co Advocates & Solicitors.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the Media Development Authority had asked host servers to remove a racist blog from the web.
Police are now investigating this matter.
While many racist blogs by Singaporeans can be found online, the blogging community is also quick to criticize any racist comments.
Channel NewsAsia has received many emails from viewers informing us about a few racist sites.
Viewers said they were "appalled as well as disappointed that a Singaporean could condemn" other fellow Singaporeans of a different race.
Lawyers warn that anybody who forwards seditious remarks to others via email can also be charged with abetment.
The case is expected to be heard in court again on September 21.
A person is deemed to have committed an offence under the Sedition Act if he performs any act which has a seditious tendency, or conspires with any person to do so.
It is also an offence to utter any seditious words or to print, publish, sell, distribute, reproduce or import any seditious publication.
First time offenders can be fined up to S$5,000, or jailed up to three years, or both.
For subsequent offences, they can be jailed up to five years and have their seditious publications forfeited and destroyed. - CNA/ct/ls
FTFA: "They are both being charged with committing a seditious act, by promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between races in Singapore."
Apparently you've never seen the Chapelle Show. Many of the skits he does where race is involved could be deemed as "promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between races."
.. which makes it ok for skiers who can't hear anything to be on the slopes?
Just what we need on the slopes: deaf skiers. If someone crashes into you passing you on your left and they yelled at you that they were coming up on you to pass you have no one to blame but yourself.
This is an honest question. As much as I hate racism and hate speech, I have to admit that Dave Chapelle, whose comedy many times has to do with race, is one of the best/original comedians out there today.
Of course his is meant for comedy rather than hate, but where does one draw the line?
Slashdot Mirror
Have you heard of the term "Doing well by doing good"?
Yes, they are publicly traded companies with some responsibility to their shareholders. I think some things to consider are how Brin and Page handled their IPO so that they could retain power and control over their company so that they wouldn't be as compromised as other publicly traded companies are.
Plus, let's look on the bright side of things. Competition drives innovation. If you think Google hasn't innovated anything then you need to wake up. I'm not even going to get into it. I think Microsoft has innovated too but they tend to have a bad rep in the tech community for certain practices they adopt (close source, leveraging monopolization, not playing well).
I think one should also consider whether all monetary pursuits are evil, as you seem to imply. Google seems to find value in indexing the world's information. I don't see that as particularly evil.
Personally, I guess I could only see it as a very, easy mobile laptop. Right now my laptop is pretty light, but I'm still wary of taking it everywhere. This would accomplish things too annoying to do on PDAs. I really only see this being a killer app if wireless were available everywhere. Then it'd be useful for browsing on the web while taking public transportation.
Microsoft is a monopoly w.r.t. the consumer OS market and Office software, but that's it. That's why they have to move to other markets like online search, console entertainment, online communities, etc. where they do NOT hold monopolies.
So that's... bad? Good?
When you go to a store and you get offered something for free, do you ask the clerk if you could pay an extra $10 and get something even better? If they say no, should you be offended?
I can see why the guy would not want ads but it's a fscking free service. You don't like the ads, don't use the SERVICE. I hardly think it's an equal ground for criticism. Gmail free should be compared to yahoo! mail free. Yes, Yahoo offers a paid account, but that's a whole other domain with which there is no equivalent to measure for Gmail. I'm sure that if they REALLY wanted to they could make you pay and make the ads go away. I hardly think that we'd hear the jumps of joy from the masses considering how non-instrusive they are. Look at Yahoo's ads.. they are so damn distracting.
I don't hate Yahoo, but this guy sounds like he's seriously on Yahoo's payroll. Maybe he's applying for a job there or something and trying to kiss some Yahoo! A$$.
Personally, I have ruminated over buying a Mac Mini primarily because my experience with my iPod has been so great. I haven't bought it because I'm trying to cut back on purchasing hardware which I tend to do regularly because I'm a developer. The big thing for me was the big drop in pricing.
In general, I agree. I'd have to say that quality has much to do with it though. I've bought products that have felt like cheap quality or broke and I'm usually wary of buying products from that company ever again. I have a high regard for Apple and the iPod because of the quality of my 4g ipod (no problems, feels good, great design, good user experience). Design, UI and user experience are some factors that don't really have a tangible cost associated with them when calculating the material costs to build each unit, but it's definitely something people are willing to pay extra more. I think that's why the iPod has been successful, as opposed to people simply perceiving it to be better because it costs more (although I think this holds true for many people in general).
The way Microsoft has been performing, even if they could somehow find the money to buy out Google I doubt the shareholders would agree to it. Google is a growing stock; there is much money to be made their. Microsoft has been stagnant for 2 years.
Hrm. I think quite the opposite.
I don't think Microsoft is concerned about Google moving into the OS and Office suite business. That's just not in their space. While Google is building more consumer software, their aim is to index the world's information.
Like you said, Microsoft was late to the internet game and now they're seeing the results of it. Google is getting all the buzz in the internet/information space and, to put it frankly, Microsoft is jealous. Microsoft is like that cute girl that's in the room, and Google is that super fine chick that suddenly grabs every guy's attention. THAT is why Microsoft is jealous... not to mention that Google is kicking Microsoft's ass in the internet space, they're making boatloads of money, the stock is going insane and almost every programmer wants to work for Google. Microsoft feels neglected.
For Microsoft JUST to stay in Windows/Office is like signign it's own death warrant. Yes, that's where they make all their money but every company needs growth. Without growth the stock doens't move.. in fact it goes down because no money is to be made there. With the stock going down, it's harder to attract talent. Like someone said yesterday, you end up with ossification.
There's no doubt that the next big era of computing is on the internet, not on the desktop.
Actually, I think the hackers are korean and are testing their bugs locally instead of going abroad. It makes the most sense.
I'm guessing you don't know much about the music industry. Well, neither do I, but I DO know that a large part of their costs go towards marketing. That's their one major cost: ads, paying radio stations, tv, mtv, events, posters,.. building buzz. Why else do you think bad musical artists are so popular (boy bands, britney spears, etc etc etc) ??
Long term research. It's just like products made for the military: they're always experimental/beta until they've had significant use in real world situations for a long period of time. It's the only way you can work all the kinks out that you don't find in QA.
My impression is that they are just really conservative about moving a product out of beta. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. This way I have full confidence in products they've moved out of beta.
This may be true but it begs the more broader question whether there's anything inherently wrong with that.
AOL would've been great if it didn't SUCK so much. Yahoo! is cool, but I think really benefitted from the competition pushing it further.
If we're going to make any remark related to users I think it's safe to say that the greater use of IE has given it more opportunity to QA-ed as a whole.
Well yes ... and no.
The thing is that if FF is going to be a contender (which it is) and is going to be compared to IE as an equally strong/useful browser (at least) then it's fair to make this sort of comparison. It has to withstand the same criticism as IE if it's going to be considered an equal.
I understand your point that IE has had more time to mature. But I also don't think it's smart to say "give FF 10 years." That's like saying Google and MSFT and not comparable AT ALL because 1 company has been around 20 years and the other has been around 6. Other than their age, there are many factors about the two companies that can be compared. My claim is that the same can be said for their browsers.
I don't know man. I don't find coding particularly sexy and would like to leave that image of the hot lady cutting my hair as it is.
Maybe this is obvious but maybe they were this hostile to you guys because contractors usually take the place of fulltime jobs. It's also the case that fulltime jobs are REPLACED with contractors.
America has held amazingly low inflation with relatively low unemployment for the past 4 years or so (of course much of this has to do with our federal budget which may be a time bomb in the making). Anyway, France just isn't a consumption society like America is.
I don't doubt that there's probably a handful of deaf and blind skiiers on the slopes. I'm also willing to guess that they usually have somebody accompany them.
All of what you said was good advice but not the actual reality of the slopes. I'm assuming you go a lot so I'm surprised you use such arguments. But from my experience (which has been substantial) yelling is just how it works. I don't think it's a question of control on the person who is passing, but someone slow up front making a sudden turn in front of you. Given how busy slopes can be and how little margin you may have, yelling is a reality of the slopes.
I don't think people rely on yelling as a primary form of communication but a safety mechanism to warn the person ahead that they're coming up from behind FAST. Maybe you're quick enough so this isn't an issue, but don't any sort of fast movement (like driving) half deaf is not the smartest thing to do IMO.
If you're backcountry boarding then feel free to do this. But you're sharing those slopes with others and obviously some slopes have already identified this as a safety hazard. I'm sure they have good reason for doing so.
Apparently you've never seen the Chapelle Show. Many of the skits he does where race is involved could be deemed as "promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between races."
Noses???
AFAIK Summer didn't "step down." He apologized for his comments but is still the dean of Harvard.
.. which makes it ok for skiers who can't hear anything to be on the slopes?
:) I hope we don't go on the same slopes.
Just what we need on the slopes: deaf skiers. If someone crashes into you passing you on your left and they yelled at you that they were coming up on you to pass you have no one to blame but yourself.
Cheers.
And does racist speech = hate speech?
This is an honest question. As much as I hate racism and hate speech, I have to admit that Dave Chapelle, whose comedy many times has to do with race, is one of the best/original comedians out there today.
Of course his is meant for comedy rather than hate, but where does one draw the line?
People listening to music while skiing/snowboarding has always concerned me for the same reasons why it's illegal to have headsets on while driving.