>> Farmers can still farm the land their grand pa made farmable. Ships my grandfather build still sail the sees and I get revenue from the passengers. The house my grandpa build I still can rent out.
Big difference here is that the physical asset your grandpappy had would likely have been taxed (via property taxes, etc.) for the past few decades, and some active maintenance would have been required to keep the asset usable.
Meanwhile, intellectual property remains non-taxed (wouldn't it be great to assess and tax Disney's use of the Mouse) and can park for free for years.
Fix the difference (i.e., tax old IP) and I'll be happy.
Ocean Cleanup appears to be HQ'ed in NYC, doesn't have enough financial statements to appear in any charity watch site, and is happily taking people's money. This could be a scam (like those calls your grandma gets about the police ball) built on the plastic straw hype. Seriously, if you feel plastic in the ocean is a problem then please consider donating to reputable organization with a real track record instead.
>> (something no one has ever heard of) has collapsed into "administration" over a funding "row"
Better watch out for all the depressed hedge fund managers jumping in front of lorries or taking the lift and jumping out of the first floor window onto the concrete below. It's all a bit sticky.
>> Senator Ron Wyden urged commissioners to create a three-digit, 911-style suicide hotline number. (611)
Somehow this will end up being another $3.99 service fee on each of my phone lines. Seriously: just popping up a "don't kill yourself" chatbot would be cheaper and more effective; we need "better than Boomer" thinking on this one.
>> If CO2 is really a problem, local governments will seek to adopt some of those ideas
The main problem is that two of those "local governments" are India and China - until we figure out a way to get them in check we're still on a path to be very screwed.
>> I am pretty sure [thing promised by company will happen] in the next five years
No wonder companies continue advertise here: Slashdot remains a target-rich environment filled with consumers who are easily persuaded by flimsy promises. Why don't we go ahead an speculate on which flying cars we'll have in five years while we're at it?
We're definitely not in Kansas anymore. Remember when Firefox's whole deal was "the browser without the cruft"? (I'd be surprised if anyone on the Firefox team was technical enough to even know what "cruft" is these days.)
>> Our local laundromat lost $2000 to lawyers fees after offering free wi-fi that pirates used... your teenagers?
If my kids decided to take their own laundry to a laundromat and wash it themselves - I'd happily pay $2K to see it.
What probably happened here was that the laundromat offered WiFi that someone camped on for a long enough period and with enough content to attract the authorities. And, since the laundromat owner didn't have the sophistication to filter out leeches who put him in the original bind, he probably also didn't have the sophistication to dodge the piracy bullet. In any case, why offer free anything if you don't know what you're offering?
Here's how my family currently uses Netflix. Our usage has definitely dropped over time.
1) Wife will "watch" a series if it's interesting, maybe BBC, after the 10pm news. She's typically asleep by 10:40 and 3/4 episodes often play while she's snoozing. 2) I watch old Star Trek series, maybe the occasional anime or new sci fi series - typically in the background while I'm working on some side project by myself late at night. 3) Young daughter will watch girl cartoons, typically for about an hour at a time per day. 4) Teen boys ignore it. They know how to pirate and don't even bother checking to see if NetFlix has a version of what they want to watch before downloading.
What aren't we doing? Sitting down to watch anything other than the occasional movie together. No one binges series after series anymore; we pretty much got that out of our systems two years ago. And we still pirate GoT and other "premium" series, particularly if the only legit version online is season-limited or injected with commercials. But 3-4 hours of the same series...in the same sitting? Ain't nobody got that kind of time...
>> Skype is getting real-time captions and subtitles, and PowerPoint will have these features
Hilarity ensues. Can't wait for the first international conflict caused or massive business deal lost by a printed misinterpretation of garbled speech.
But there is a valid #reason# for that. See OP and then go out and research what mobile phone manufacturers are actually building their battery-sensitive phones on.
Duh - that's why they did (or anyone else would) create their powerful "Intel Inside" brand: to create perceived value where there is little actual difference between themselves and their competitors. See also: Nike, McDonalds, Red Hat, etc.
Intel saw how Microsoft got PC builders to beat each other up to carry the One True Operating System, and decided to avoid that racket by building their own parallel brand: Intel Inside (with music) so that CPUs from AMD, etc. didn't push their pricing down. It largely worked, to the point where almost everyone in America knows who Intel is: "it's the guys who powered my Compaq 10 years ago - dun dun dun DAHN".
>> Company: we had a serious security breach that coughed up enough information to allow anyone to assume your identity
Does anyone else remember when they'd at least offer credit monitoring? Maybe even a coupon? These days, it seems they just send a notification (the minimum requirement under most privacy laws) and then stand there smugly to see if someone is brave enough to try a class action that will yield it's members nothing more than a free membership to the jelly-of-the-month club.
The TFA sounds like a RFP. They want the data to be free, but are open to paying millions of pounds in licensing fees for the all the stuff that's actually required to consume the data.
>> "There are opportunities to explore alternative business models that will help to ensure sustainable access to open geospatial data. For example: charging for warranties and quality assurance, charging for support and consulting around use of data, charging for API access and/or tailored online services to enable on-demand use of data within specific sectors or types of application..."
>> Apple CEO Tim Cook explained the decision to use Google...has baffled some, considering Google's business model of making money off of users' data -- something Apple has spoken out against numerous times
Now $1B would change my views on many things too, but in this case, Cook was just being a smart businessman: lying to Apple customers (those gullible little marks) to get them to sign themselves and their friends up to his service, while at the same time telling Google that they would need to bring a truckload of money into a deal to get Apple to violate its lofty, lofty "principles". Well, the deal is done now that Google is bringing in the billions: in service to his shareholders, let's hope Cook gets a nice Christmas bonus.
Slashdot Mirror
>> Farmers can still farm the land their grand pa made farmable. Ships my grandfather build still sail the sees and I get revenue from the passengers. The house my grandpa build I still can rent out.
Big difference here is that the physical asset your grandpappy had would likely have been taxed (via property taxes, etc.) for the past few decades, and some active maintenance would have been required to keep the asset usable.
Meanwhile, intellectual property remains non-taxed (wouldn't it be great to assess and tax Disney's use of the Mouse) and can park for free for years.
Fix the difference (i.e., tax old IP) and I'll be happy.
Ocean Cleanup appears to be HQ'ed in NYC, doesn't have enough financial statements to appear in any charity watch site, and is happily taking people's money. This could be a scam (like those calls your grandma gets about the police ball) built on the plastic straw hype. Seriously, if you feel plastic in the ocean is a problem then please consider donating to reputable organization with a real track record instead.
>> (something no one has ever heard of) has collapsed into "administration" over a funding "row"
Better watch out for all the depressed hedge fund managers jumping in front of lorries or taking the lift and jumping out of the first floor window onto the concrete below. It's all a bit sticky.
>> Senator Ron Wyden urged commissioners to create a three-digit, 911-style suicide hotline number. (611)
Somehow this will end up being another $3.99 service fee on each of my phone lines. Seriously: just popping up a "don't kill yourself" chatbot would be cheaper and more effective; we need "better than Boomer" thinking on this one.
>> If CO2 is really a problem, local governments will seek to adopt some of those ideas
The main problem is that two of those "local governments" are India and China - until we figure out a way to get them in check we're still on a path to be very screwed.
>> I am pretty sure [thing promised by company will happen] in the next five years
No wonder companies continue advertise here: Slashdot remains a target-rich environment filled with consumers who are easily persuaded by flimsy promises. Why don't we go ahead an speculate on which flying cars we'll have in five years while we're at it?
>> Chinese hack the shit out of the US again
But how can we blame the Russians?
We're definitely not in Kansas anymore. Remember when Firefox's whole deal was "the browser without the cruft"? (I'd be surprised if anyone on the Firefox team was technical enough to even know what "cruft" is these days.)
>> Our local laundromat lost $2000 to lawyers fees after offering free wi-fi that pirates used... your teenagers?
If my kids decided to take their own laundry to a laundromat and wash it themselves - I'd happily pay $2K to see it.
What probably happened here was that the laundromat offered WiFi that someone camped on for a long enough period and with enough content to attract the authorities. And, since the laundromat owner didn't have the sophistication to filter out leeches who put him in the original bind, he probably also didn't have the sophistication to dodge the piracy bullet. In any case, why offer free anything if you don't know what you're offering?
>> If you're going through the effort of downloading pirated content in order to watch it, you're probably wasting just as much time
If you had a geek card, now would be the time you need to turn it in.
Here's how my family currently uses Netflix. Our usage has definitely dropped over time.
1) Wife will "watch" a series if it's interesting, maybe BBC, after the 10pm news. She's typically asleep by 10:40 and 3/4 episodes often play while she's snoozing.
2) I watch old Star Trek series, maybe the occasional anime or new sci fi series - typically in the background while I'm working on some side project by myself late at night.
3) Young daughter will watch girl cartoons, typically for about an hour at a time per day.
4) Teen boys ignore it. They know how to pirate and don't even bother checking to see if NetFlix has a version of what they want to watch before downloading.
What aren't we doing? Sitting down to watch anything other than the occasional movie together. No one binges series after series anymore; we pretty much got that out of our systems two years ago. And we still pirate GoT and other "premium" series, particularly if the only legit version online is season-limited or injected with commercials. But 3-4 hours of the same series...in the same sitting? Ain't nobody got that kind of time...
>> when you get to enterprise environments you have segregated permissions
Sometimes. YMMV.
>> Skype is getting real-time captions and subtitles, and PowerPoint will have these features
Hilarity ensues. Can't wait for the first international conflict caused or massive business deal lost by a printed misinterpretation of garbled speech.
>> Does Google Harm Local Search Rivals?
Yes. That's the point.
>> Registries are deceptive to people buying crap for new parents
Buy your own stuff |
Avoid problems with registries |
Millennials wreck everything |
Burma Shave!
But there is a valid #reason# for that. See OP and then go out and research what mobile phone manufacturers are actually building their battery-sensitive phones on.
>> Intel vs. AMD, not really
Duh - that's why they did (or anyone else would) create their powerful "Intel Inside" brand: to create perceived value where there is little actual difference between themselves and their competitors. See also: Nike, McDonalds, Red Hat, etc.
Intel saw how Microsoft got PC builders to beat each other up to carry the One True Operating System, and decided to avoid that racket by building their own parallel brand: Intel Inside (with music) so that CPUs from AMD, etc. didn't push their pricing down. It largely worked, to the point where almost everyone in America knows who Intel is: "it's the guys who powered my Compaq 10 years ago - dun dun dun DAHN".
>> Company: we had a serious security breach that coughed up enough information to allow anyone to assume your identity
Does anyone else remember when they'd at least offer credit monitoring? Maybe even a coupon? These days, it seems they just send a notification (the minimum requirement under most privacy laws) and then stand there smugly to see if someone is brave enough to try a class action that will yield it's members nothing more than a free membership to the jelly-of-the-month club.
The TFA sounds like a RFP. They want the data to be free, but are open to paying millions of pounds in licensing fees for the all the stuff that's actually required to consume the data.
>> "There are opportunities to explore alternative business models that will help to ensure sustainable access to open geospatial data. For example: charging for warranties and quality assurance, charging for support and consulting around use of data, charging for API access and/or tailored online services to enable on-demand use of data within specific sectors or types of application..."
>> hardware authentication keys...Microsoft accounts used for Outlook, Office 365
That smells like an "Office dongle" to me. Thank God the world is moving on to Google Docs as their default office suite.
>> they really believed they were on Mars.
So...a loony bin financed some random rich dude? Was there any actual science?
>> they waited 20 minutes for their emails to reach their family members, and another 20 to hear back
If you think that's a long delay, it's a good thing you're not someone who tries to text me - especially about work.
>> Since you can easily change the default search engine
But hardly anyone does.
>> Apple CEO Tim Cook explained the decision to use Google...has baffled some, considering Google's business model of making money off of users' data -- something Apple has spoken out against numerous times
Now $1B would change my views on many things too, but in this case, Cook was just being a smart businessman: lying to Apple customers (those gullible little marks) to get them to sign themselves and their friends up to his service, while at the same time telling Google that they would need to bring a truckload of money into a deal to get Apple to violate its lofty, lofty "principles". Well, the deal is done now that Google is bringing in the billions: in service to his shareholders, let's hope Cook gets a nice Christmas bonus.
>> Who expects software to make them cry?
Answer: Anyone who's dealt with Oracle