Hell, they'll drag you out of the airport if you even LAND here.
Sure. You don't get out much, do you? I have a feeling that you *think* you know what this country is like, but you haven't actually experienced it yourself. I hate Bush as much as the next guy, but spouting nonesense doesn't help the cause.
What really pisses me off are people who want to leave the US (or at least express desire to) because they want the US to change. Huh? If you want the US to change, it's a lot easier to do something while here, while a voting citizen. Pissed off? Do something about it instead of whining. Vote OUT incumbents, vote OUT Repulicans, and get active.
If you leave, the percentage of people who accept and agree with this administration goes up. How does that help other than proving yourself a coward. Be brave and fight for the America you want; don't run from the America you fear. If you run, then the administration wins.
Safari sucks bigtime. As a Mac user myself, I really don't understand why anyone would use that browser. I'm also a web developer and have to deal with trying to get things to work in Safari, which is a massive pain.
From my perspective, everything Safari can do, Firefox can do better. Tabbing to fields in Safari works, but it won't tab to checkboxes or buttons, forcing me to use a mouse. Just an example.
You are on a US-centric website talking about a US trademark. By pointing out that things are different in the Netherlands is both correct and off topic.
is it possible Google's continuing expansion will spread it too thin?
I think it al depends on how Google organizes itself. If it tries to become a borg, then it will suffer from its size like all of the rest of them. But if Google can operate internally as a distributed collection of startups, all leveraging the great infrastructure they've built and minds they've collected, then I think they stand a much better chance of benefitting from economies of scale and not being dragged down by bloat.
What if this is discovered to be the next business model? Cripple things with DRM, and then for additional money they'll take them off?
That's what the cell phone companies do with the "free" phones that come with a service agreement. Want an unlocked phone that you already purchased? Pay your service provider about $30 to make it free from vendor lock-in.
As a former employee of eBay, I can give some of my insight. eBay's weakness is to niche markets, and that is one way to kill it. That, or a large player being able to successfully transition its users to a different platform. I think case #1 is a lot more likely.
eBay uses a one-size-fits-all approach to the UI. If a company were to come along and just knock one niche out of the park, then they can become *the* player (in jewelry, for example). eBay loses out on that market, then another, then another. It happens slowly, but I believe it will most definitely happen, especially if the top brass doesn't get booted out soon.
My point is that sellers will leave eBay when it stops being a decent market for them. It is quite cut-throat today, but clearly there is still a great power to listing on eBay. It isn't the end-all, but it is a useful tool to an online merchant.
Google could throw a much bigger blow to eBay by just putting more emphasis on Froogle. The potential is there, but they seem to be waiting on it, and I don't think it is intentional, but rather just the result of a ton of other projects and how management works there. eBay hasn't gotten local down, but Google already has a big piece to it figured out.
I can tell you my experience. My vision was -3.00 and -2.75 with some astigmatism in both eyes (right eye was worse). So my vision was not THAT bad, but things would start to get blurry at about 18 inches.
My vision today is pretty good, almost 7 months since the surgery. I don't think it is 20/20, and I do have a slight astigmatism that wasn't there before, but the best measure of success is that I would do it again. I still have some halos/starbursts in low-light conditions, but it isn't a new experience. Dirty contact lenses or even just wet eyelashes causes the same effect. Part of that is due to my large pupils (blue eyes do that), so if you have brown eyes your chances of those sorts of things is lower.
My sister had her eyes done a month after me, and because she had no astigmatism before her vision is perfect. No halos at all.
I've got slightly-imperfect vision now, but that is only because I am very picky. For the days and weeks following the surgery I would see how small of print I could read from across the room. It got to be ridiculous. The point is I can see quite well now. Traveling is easier (no need to bring glasses, contacts, solution, cases, backup glasses, etc.).
Make sure you read up on the procedure ahead of time so you don't get freaked out. It took about 5 minutes total, from the time I entered the surgery room to the time I was helped up out of the operating chair. If you have had cavities, you'll recognise the smell. (that's the worst part)
Good luck.
agreed, but this might make it VERY easy for regular schmos to do it. If they have to set up a webserver someplace else, they might say, "what the hell is a webserver?"
Either way, I see this idea of a webserver in your phone sticking around and growing in the future, so I'm looking forward to whatever happens.
I can think of another useful application extending the location idea: localized web radio
Driving/walking along, decide you are bored of the songs on your phone, turn to local web radio and listen to some else's songs. Something like that obviously wouldn't need to be restricted to a location, but that would make it managable (resource-wise) for the owner of the phone/server, and I think it would add an element of fun, too.
Also, aside from music, you could do even more light-weight journalism. Stream audio and video straight from your phone/camera to the web. I think that is a very powerful idea.
You and Jaw-Wren are haters. Call me a troll (although I feel like I'm feeding trolls), but you both remind me of the self-absorbed comic book store owner on the Simpsons.
Some people, quite a few, actually, stil enjoy listening to Pearl Jam. If you don't, fine, that's up to you, but don't come here and mouth off as if Pearl Jam is as washed up as Britney Spears. Pearl Jam is a solid band with a solid following and specific sound that not everyone likes. Fine.
Seeing as how you don't follow Pearl Jam, you wouldn't understand where they come from and the approach that they've taken to embracing their fanbase. They fight against the heavy business types in the music industry. Obviously they have done well for themselves business-wise, but that doesn't mean that they can't also push for change, which they do.
This is not just some publicity stunt. I'm sure they could care less that you've even heard about the video. This isn't aimed at you.
What you've said about a music video being an advertisement, well, I think that is true, but it is not hard-and-fast as either side of this debate has been portraying. It is art and business, and for each band, each song that has a video, the balance between the two is along a spectrum.
Both of you should STFU and stop acting high and mighty with your musical taste and great business sense.
if they had held out for a year or two longer... well, they would have been Skype.
Skype's strength is its ability to scale. Dialpad wasn't using p2p the way Skype is, and that is the difference. It is a minimal increase in cost per user to grow Skype, but the profit is there. This doesn't apply to SkypeOut, but since they are charging for that they can cover costs (this promotion aside).
The current promotion in North America is just to raise adoption, and as Skype said themselves, the cost is low enough to make it feasible. Skype needs to grow in this market to reach the success that is expected of them, and this is a way to speed up the growth.
Put some numbers out here to let us know what the pricing is for those packages. I'm disappointed by my options here (Silicon Valley), so I want to see what other places are paying.
I've got a friend whose dad runs a branch of an LCD manufacturing tools company (ie, they supply the tools to the people who actually make the LCDs), and I asked him about the future prices of LCD TVs. He says that by Christmas of 2006 a ~37" TV will cost under $1000 and by Christmas 2007 a 47" will cost under $1000.
Granted, he's talking about TVs and not monitors, but since the tech is basically the same, we should expect the prices on monitors to drop at about the same rate.
At least you haven't run across the phrase "blog it and cog it", as in "write a update to an personal and boring online journal and then publish it to the pile of other boring online journals"... bleh!
We should get some peace in a year or two.
Re:Skype and Google Talk are not the issue
on
Vonage IPO
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· Score: 1
Good points. Thanks for your insight. The next 5 years will be interesting for sure.
Re:Skype and Google Talk are not the issue
on
Vonage IPO
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· Score: 1
But what if Skype had hardware that left you untethered to a computer? Would that be a key component to truly take on Vonage? Or is it more than that?
Some hardware is going to be coming out in a few months, but I've wondered whether this will have an effect on VoIP. Today Skype can't compete at the same level that Vonage can because of the level of service and reliability that true VoIP providers have, but I'm wondering if it would be possible for that to change? What would Skype need to do to be able to cover the same bases that Vonage does right now?
Personally, I have my cell phone and that's it. If it could use Skype to keep my bill cheaper (only when in wireless range), then I might use it if the quality were there (I don't know). So I'm probably not in Vonage's target demographic.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd like to volunteer to mess with Texas.
I stand corrected.
Sure. You don't get out much, do you? I have a feeling that you *think* you know what this country is like, but you haven't actually experienced it yourself. I hate Bush as much as the next guy, but spouting nonesense doesn't help the cause.
What really pisses me off are people who want to leave the US (or at least express desire to) because they want the US to change. Huh? If you want the US to change, it's a lot easier to do something while here, while a voting citizen. Pissed off? Do something about it instead of whining. Vote OUT incumbents, vote OUT Repulicans, and get active.
If you leave, the percentage of people who accept and agree with this administration goes up. How does that help other than proving yourself a coward. Be brave and fight for the America you want; don't run from the America you fear. If you run, then the administration wins.
Thanks, found it.
Ah, found it in the preferences.
I'm not trying to stir up anything, but what are your reasons for liking Safari?
Safari sucks bigtime. As a Mac user myself, I really don't understand why anyone would use that browser. I'm also a web developer and have to deal with trying to get things to work in Safari, which is a massive pain. From my perspective, everything Safari can do, Firefox can do better. Tabbing to fields in Safari works, but it won't tab to checkboxes or buttons, forcing me to use a mouse. Just an example.
You are on a US-centric website talking about a US trademark. By pointing out that things are different in the Netherlands is both correct and off topic.
What if this is discovered to be the next business model? Cripple things with DRM, and then for additional money they'll take them off?
That's what the cell phone companies do with the "free" phones that come with a service agreement. Want an unlocked phone that you already purchased? Pay your service provider about $30 to make it free from vendor lock-in.
use two mics
Make it stereo then. Makes video conferencing even better.
As a former employee of eBay, I can give some of my insight. eBay's weakness is to niche markets, and that is one way to kill it. That, or a large player being able to successfully transition its users to a different platform. I think case #1 is a lot more likely.
eBay uses a one-size-fits-all approach to the UI. If a company were to come along and just knock one niche out of the park, then they can become *the* player (in jewelry, for example). eBay loses out on that market, then another, then another. It happens slowly, but I believe it will most definitely happen, especially if the top brass doesn't get booted out soon.
My point is that sellers will leave eBay when it stops being a decent market for them. It is quite cut-throat today, but clearly there is still a great power to listing on eBay. It isn't the end-all, but it is a useful tool to an online merchant.
Google could throw a much bigger blow to eBay by just putting more emphasis on Froogle. The potential is there, but they seem to be waiting on it, and I don't think it is intentional, but rather just the result of a ton of other projects and how management works there. eBay hasn't gotten local down, but Google already has a big piece to it figured out.
He's hanging out with Tupac and Biggie on an island somewhere...
I can tell you my experience. My vision was -3.00 and -2.75 with some astigmatism in both eyes (right eye was worse). So my vision was not THAT bad, but things would start to get blurry at about 18 inches. My vision today is pretty good, almost 7 months since the surgery. I don't think it is 20/20, and I do have a slight astigmatism that wasn't there before, but the best measure of success is that I would do it again. I still have some halos/starbursts in low-light conditions, but it isn't a new experience. Dirty contact lenses or even just wet eyelashes causes the same effect. Part of that is due to my large pupils (blue eyes do that), so if you have brown eyes your chances of those sorts of things is lower. My sister had her eyes done a month after me, and because she had no astigmatism before her vision is perfect. No halos at all. I've got slightly-imperfect vision now, but that is only because I am very picky. For the days and weeks following the surgery I would see how small of print I could read from across the room. It got to be ridiculous. The point is I can see quite well now. Traveling is easier (no need to bring glasses, contacts, solution, cases, backup glasses, etc.). Make sure you read up on the procedure ahead of time so you don't get freaked out. It took about 5 minutes total, from the time I entered the surgery room to the time I was helped up out of the operating chair. If you have had cavities, you'll recognise the smell. (that's the worst part) Good luck.
agreed, but this might make it VERY easy for regular schmos to do it. If they have to set up a webserver someplace else, they might say, "what the hell is a webserver?" Either way, I see this idea of a webserver in your phone sticking around and growing in the future, so I'm looking forward to whatever happens.
I can think of another useful application extending the location idea: localized web radio
Driving/walking along, decide you are bored of the songs on your phone, turn to local web radio and listen to some else's songs. Something like that obviously wouldn't need to be restricted to a location, but that would make it managable (resource-wise) for the owner of the phone/server, and I think it would add an element of fun, too.
Also, aside from music, you could do even more light-weight journalism. Stream audio and video straight from your phone/camera to the web. I think that is a very powerful idea.
I wish I could mod you up. Thanks for the info.
You and Jaw-Wren are haters. Call me a troll (although I feel like I'm feeding trolls), but you both remind me of the self-absorbed comic book store owner on the Simpsons.
Some people, quite a few, actually, stil enjoy listening to Pearl Jam. If you don't, fine, that's up to you, but don't come here and mouth off as if Pearl Jam is as washed up as Britney Spears. Pearl Jam is a solid band with a solid following and specific sound that not everyone likes. Fine.
Seeing as how you don't follow Pearl Jam, you wouldn't understand where they come from and the approach that they've taken to embracing their fanbase. They fight against the heavy business types in the music industry. Obviously they have done well for themselves business-wise, but that doesn't mean that they can't also push for change, which they do.
This is not just some publicity stunt. I'm sure they could care less that you've even heard about the video. This isn't aimed at you.
What you've said about a music video being an advertisement, well, I think that is true, but it is not hard-and-fast as either side of this debate has been portraying. It is art and business, and for each band, each song that has a video, the balance between the two is along a spectrum.
Both of you should STFU and stop acting high and mighty with your musical taste and great business sense.
if they had held out for a year or two longer ... well, they would have been Skype.
Skype's strength is its ability to scale. Dialpad wasn't using p2p the way Skype is, and that is the difference. It is a minimal increase in cost per user to grow Skype, but the profit is there. This doesn't apply to SkypeOut, but since they are charging for that they can cover costs (this promotion aside).
The current promotion in North America is just to raise adoption, and as Skype said themselves, the cost is low enough to make it feasible. Skype needs to grow in this market to reach the success that is expected of them, and this is a way to speed up the growth.
Put some numbers out here to let us know what the pricing is for those packages. I'm disappointed by my options here (Silicon Valley), so I want to see what other places are paying.
I've got a friend whose dad runs a branch of an LCD manufacturing tools company (ie, they supply the tools to the people who actually make the LCDs), and I asked him about the future prices of LCD TVs. He says that by Christmas of 2006 a ~37" TV will cost under $1000 and by Christmas 2007 a 47" will cost under $1000.
Granted, he's talking about TVs and not monitors, but since the tech is basically the same, we should expect the prices on monitors to drop at about the same rate.
At least you haven't run across the phrase "blog it and cog it", as in "write a update to an personal and boring online journal and then publish it to the pile of other boring online journals"... bleh!
We should get some peace in a year or two.
Good points. Thanks for your insight. The next 5 years will be interesting for sure.
But what if Skype had hardware that left you untethered to a computer? Would that be a key component to truly take on Vonage? Or is it more than that?
Some hardware is going to be coming out in a few months, but I've wondered whether this will have an effect on VoIP. Today Skype can't compete at the same level that Vonage can because of the level of service and reliability that true VoIP providers have, but I'm wondering if it would be possible for that to change? What would Skype need to do to be able to cover the same bases that Vonage does right now?
Personally, I have my cell phone and that's it. If it could use Skype to keep my bill cheaper (only when in wireless range), then I might use it if the quality were there (I don't know). So I'm probably not in Vonage's target demographic.
Surprise, IM networks are centralized...
Skype isn't.
Do you want security? Use end-to-end encryption.
Skype has end-to-end encryption.