In other words, any programming is just there to fill the 10 minutes between ad breaks.
This isn't precisely correct. The programming is there to fill those 10 minutes, but it is also there to make the consumers receptive to the 5-8 minutes of advertising that follows. The TV companies need to sell the time, so they create a demographic that they can sell to their advertisers, a demographic that is reinforced by the programming.
Employees are a threat to be monitored and controlled
Customers are potential thiefs and pirates to be monitored and restricted
Gee Ma, this game looks really fun!
Re:The main thing I think the article misses ...
on
The Next Generation
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
but hardly anyone is running around screaming about how cell phones have Fundamentally Altered Human Nature
I beg to differ. There are many people who do discuss such things and how they are fundamentally altering human nature. The phenomenon is usually referred to as Globalism, a term that can be seen in most any major or minor publication.
On the other hand, some of your sentiments are credible, in the long run. The idea of a modern Democracy was something that shook the world in it's time, but has now become muted and old hat. Same could be said for other inventions that have come or will come. Don't forget that this "shaking the world" didn't happen all at once, it is a process with it's own growth curve.
We did that too:
www.foxhillresource.org
Oh wait, that site doesn't exist anymore. Now I remember. We set up a bunch of computers by holding two night a week classes and training the kids and the parents together how to build machines from scratch (not literally, but from donated parts) and how to install and run Linux (RedHat 6.2 in this case) as well as how to use the Internet, type, etc. Built a fairly decent lab in the basement of their apartment building in FoxHill NJ. Then we ran into problems...
You see, these machines cost money to run, and the dsl line cost money too. While old computers are fairly easy to find, money is not and these folks didn't have any of it. That and more fundamental problems like trying not to get shot or beaten by cops occupied a lot of their time. So, when we volunteers could no longer afford to come down there all the time, the site disappeared.
The problems with these types of operations are the same problems that many groups from the Peace Corps on down have faced for years: maintenance. Until the kids/adults/whoever is being trained on these machines are able to make enough money themelves through the use of the machines to keep them running, they going to eventually fall by the wayside.
When was the last time you used US government services online?
Hmmm let me think for a moment....Tax time (that would be two days ago for me), to check on my student loan rights a few weeks before that, to look at the status of several bills over the course of the last few months, to get some information about the State Department a while before that....
Regardless, the US government services are public services for the public mad possible by our representatives and angencies. This policy is sickening.
Kudos to the M$ lawyers. This testomony will likely go a long way toward confusing the issue even further. Why? Bringing such fundamentally unrelated concepts as bundled middleware and processor functionality will only confuse the technologically illiterate (read, the judge).
So you see, Christians invented communism before Marx.
Some clarification for the ignorant, Marx did not in any form invent Communism, Socialism, Anarchism, et. al. These were all strong (and feared by the Capitalists) movements before Marx & Engels entered the scene. What they did that is so important is analyze the social aparatus that had emerged along side Capitalism and pointed out that the divisions between the political and the economic that were posited by the thinkers of the day (wherein the political arena was a seperate relationship that served to protect the property that allowed for economic groth, c.f. Hegel, Kant, etc) were artificial. He (or they depending on how you view the Marx/Engels relationship) pointed out that politics _is_ economics and that all political struggles are class struggles that emerge from a concrete economic situation.
The greatest contribution that Marx and Engels made was their invention of Dialectic Materialism (go read the Communist Manifesto for a good explanation, or better IMO are some of Marxes addresses to the German Communist Party). One of the results of this fundamentally scientific approach to politics and economics was a time-line of economic growth that he believed must be followed. The next stage of which is where the worker's claim the modes of production and invent a new state aparatus loosely termed Socialism but only vaguely defined through the terms yoou mention: "From each" and "To each" clauses amongst others. These were not strictures of the the new state, but an hypothesis about their development.
Where Marxist philosophy and OSS intersect (half-baked idea warning) is within this hypothetical framework of historical development (development used in the software sense, not in the Social Darwinist sense): i.e. the point where the global prolitariat realises that their independant struggles are actually parts of a common class struggle within the political/economic frameworks of Capitalism. Imagine small units consisting of power efficient lap-top components, solar cells, and short-wave towers or cell towers spread throughout the impoverished world (along with some training in physical maintenance of the components and pointers for software self-training) this could mean internet access where there are no telephones and connect people to a global network where...well you see where I'm going.
Of course, as has been noted elsewhere, this says nothing of the fact that these people are starving to death and being slaughtered by the millions by various forces and could therefore by no means be considered a Prolitariat (a topic for a whole 'nother discussion). But, for reasons that need not be enumerated, OSS is the only type of software that could be used in these cirumpstances.
Apologies for the rant, ignorance about Marx and Communism bug me. Now I await my modding down for not making a right-wing Libertarian agrument out of this post.:-)
For OSX users out there, iCab does this as well. It limits the javascript that a site can execute by the effect and by the site so that I could, for example, block pop-ups on site1 and allow them on site2 but not ones that change window size, etc. Combine this with image filtering and the web becomes a much friendlier place, IMHO.
Of course we can use Mozilla too, but iCab is small and quick (it is not, regretably, open source).
btw, I am not in any way affiliated with iCab, just a long term satisfied user.
Along these lines, it might be a good idea if package management systems kept track of such stuff (queried their central databases about known security holes/outdated programs) and notified admins.
At least this would remove any burdensome mandatory nature from the effect while still satisffying the perceived demand.
Could it be argued this is the next stage of human evolution?
It could, and it has; especially by the capitalists, those who are the direct beneficiaries of "Globalism" in its current form.
Perhapse evolution isn't the right word for this. But if we're changing over our society, from the primitive economic structure utilized by the rest of the world towards a more advanced, digital society in general...isn't that the next step?
You are building a result into your hypothesis. By supposing a linear development of the sort you outline, any development becomes The Next Step(TM). Not only that, but any development (used in the literary meaning, as in plot development rather than economic development) is removed from its contemporary circumpstances and abstracted into the imaginary realm of Human Progress(TM), a placement that follows the rhetoric of inevitability and deprives current action of any meaning other than the polarized "for or against" of King Shrub.
If what we do truely proves to be superior in the next few years, won't natural selection then come into play with other parts of the world who are resistent to the changes come about?
Don't fool yourself. Changes don't "come about" they happen and are made to happen. Don't close your eyes to the role of the US in the misery and poverty of the world and circumpstances of terrorism become much less mysterious. The US is the largest destabalizing force in the world. This is not accidental, this is not the result of our freedom loving ways or wealth-increasing economics, it is the result of the predatory and monopolous (if that's a word...) practices of the mega-corporations, their capitalist owners, and the CIA their Saruman.
In this context your speak of evolution and natural progression are quite appropriate. You are using the vocabulary of Social Darwinism and Manifest Destiny to support the actions and policies they are meant to support.
>There's really very little that can be done with raw footage. The creative control comes with the direction and that happens before the cameras are rolling
I don't want this to sound like a flame, but that statement shows exactly how little you know about the TV/Video/Movie making process. Havn't you ever seen a director's cut of a film? Havn't you ever noticed that it is sometimes quite different from the original cut?
The editing process is a very creative one, and one that is as crucial to the content as the writing and producing (o ye of little memory, can't you recall the videos of partying arabs shown after September 11 that had a date stamp of 1994?)
Cringely's idea is a quite valid translation of the idea of open source to the medium of video. Not only does it allow a 'user' to see the code behind the film, preventing opaque content, it allows for the use of this footage in other contexts (say a research paper, a documentary, a short film, a video montage, a... take your pick). This will allow any home computer user to suddenly have access to proffessional quality footage for very little cost, an incredible boon for a long list of creative types.
Sorry crovira, 'open source' is not the property of computer code.
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't precisely correct. The programming is there to fill those 10 minutes, but it is also there to make the consumers receptive to the 5-8 minutes of advertising that follows. The TV companies need to sell the time, so they create a demographic that they can sell to their advertisers, a demographic that is reinforced by the programming.
Gee Ma, this game looks really fun!
but hardly anyone is running around screaming about how cell phones have Fundamentally Altered Human Nature
I beg to differ. There are many people who do discuss such things and how they are fundamentally altering human nature. The phenomenon is usually referred to as Globalism, a term that can be seen in most any major or minor publication.
On the other hand, some of your sentiments are credible, in the long run. The idea of a modern Democracy was something that shook the world in it's time, but has now become muted and old hat. Same could be said for other inventions that have come or will come. Don't forget that this "shaking the world" didn't happen all at once, it is a process with it's own growth curve.
We did that too:
www.foxhillresource.org
Oh wait, that site doesn't exist anymore. Now I remember. We set up a bunch of computers by holding two night a week classes and training the kids and the parents together how to build machines from scratch (not literally, but from donated parts) and how to install and run Linux (RedHat 6.2 in this case) as well as how to use the Internet, type, etc. Built a fairly decent lab in the basement of their apartment building in FoxHill NJ. Then we ran into problems...
You see, these machines cost money to run, and the dsl line cost money too. While old computers are fairly easy to find, money is not and these folks didn't have any of it. That and more fundamental problems like trying not to get shot or beaten by cops occupied a lot of their time. So, when we volunteers could no longer afford to come down there all the time, the site disappeared.
The problems with these types of operations are the same problems that many groups from the Peace Corps on down have faced for years: maintenance. Until the kids/adults/whoever is being trained on these machines are able to make enough money themelves through the use of the machines to keep them running, they going to eventually fall by the wayside.
When was the last time you used US government services online?
Hmmm let me think for a moment....Tax time (that would be two days ago for me), to check on my student loan rights a few weeks before that, to look at the status of several bills over the course of the last few months, to get some information about the State Department a while before that....
Regardless, the US government services are public services for the public mad possible by our representatives and angencies. This policy is sickening.
Kudos to the M$ lawyers. This testomony will likely go a long way toward confusing the issue even further. Why? Bringing such fundamentally unrelated concepts as bundled middleware and processor functionality will only confuse the technologically illiterate (read, the judge).
So you see, Christians invented communism before Marx.
:-)
Some clarification for the ignorant, Marx did not in any form invent Communism, Socialism, Anarchism, et. al. These were all strong (and feared by the Capitalists) movements before Marx & Engels entered the scene. What they did that is so important is analyze the social aparatus that had emerged along side Capitalism and pointed out that the divisions between the political and the economic that were posited by the thinkers of the day (wherein the political arena was a seperate relationship that served to protect the property that allowed for economic groth, c.f. Hegel, Kant, etc) were artificial. He (or they depending on how you view the Marx/Engels relationship) pointed out that politics _is_ economics and that all political struggles are class struggles that emerge from a concrete economic situation.
The greatest contribution that Marx and Engels made was their invention of Dialectic Materialism (go read the Communist Manifesto for a good explanation, or better IMO are some of Marxes addresses to the German Communist Party). One of the results of this fundamentally scientific approach to politics and economics was a time-line of economic growth that he believed must be followed. The next stage of which is where the worker's claim the modes of production and invent a new state aparatus loosely termed Socialism but only vaguely defined through the terms yoou mention: "From each" and "To each" clauses amongst others. These were not strictures of the the new state, but an hypothesis about their development.
Where Marxist philosophy and OSS intersect (half-baked idea warning) is within this hypothetical framework of historical development (development used in the software sense, not in the Social Darwinist sense): i.e. the point where the global prolitariat realises that their independant struggles are actually parts of a common class struggle within the political/economic frameworks of Capitalism. Imagine small units consisting of power efficient lap-top components, solar cells, and short-wave towers or cell towers spread throughout the impoverished world (along with some training in physical maintenance of the components and pointers for software self-training) this could mean internet access where there are no telephones and connect people to a global network where...well you see where I'm going.
Of course, as has been noted elsewhere, this says nothing of the fact that these people are starving to death and being slaughtered by the millions by various forces and could therefore by no means be considered a Prolitariat (a topic for a whole 'nother discussion). But, for reasons that need not be enumerated, OSS is the only type of software that could be used in these cirumpstances.
Apologies for the rant, ignorance about Marx and Communism bug me. Now I await my modding down for not making a right-wing Libertarian agrument out of this post.
For OSX users out there, iCab does this as well. It limits the javascript that a site can execute by the effect and by the site so that I could, for example, block pop-ups on site1 and allow them on site2 but not ones that change window size, etc. Combine this with image filtering and the web becomes a much friendlier place, IMHO.
Of course we can use Mozilla too, but iCab is small and quick (it is not, regretably, open source).
btw, I am not in any way affiliated with iCab, just a long term satisfied user.
Along these lines, it might be a good idea if package management systems kept track of such stuff (queried their central databases about known security holes/outdated programs) and notified admins.
At least this would remove any burdensome mandatory nature from the effect while still satisffying the perceived demand.
First the complaint(abreviated): I had a %50 failure rate on the drives
:-)
and then the sig:
It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
Could it be argued this is the next stage of human evolution?
It could, and it has; especially by the capitalists, those who are the direct beneficiaries of "Globalism" in its current form.
Perhapse evolution isn't the right word for this. But if we're changing over our society, from the primitive economic structure utilized by the rest of the world towards a more advanced, digital society in general...isn't that the next step?
You are building a result into your hypothesis. By supposing a linear development of the sort you outline, any development becomes The Next Step(TM). Not only that, but any development (used in the literary meaning, as in plot development rather than economic development) is removed from its contemporary circumpstances and abstracted into the imaginary realm of Human Progress(TM), a placement that follows the rhetoric of inevitability and deprives current action of any meaning other than the polarized "for or against" of King Shrub.
If what we do truely proves to be superior in the next few years, won't natural selection then come into play with other parts of the world who are resistent to the changes come about?
Don't fool yourself. Changes don't "come about" they happen and are made to happen. Don't close your eyes to the role of the US in the misery and poverty of the world and circumpstances of terrorism become much less mysterious. The US is the largest destabalizing force in the world. This is not accidental, this is not the result of our freedom loving ways or wealth-increasing economics, it is the result of the predatory and monopolous (if that's a word...) practices of the mega-corporations, their capitalist owners, and the CIA their Saruman.
In this context your speak of evolution and natural progression are quite appropriate. You are using the vocabulary of Social Darwinism and Manifest Destiny to support the actions and policies they are meant to support.
> Oh, before the argument comes: no, in Switzerland we don't pay much more taxes than in USA, we pay a bit more, but not that much
I'll bet a shiny quarter that your upper classes pay more than ours do (and that you have a higher capital gains tax).
--Daniel
>There's really very little that can be done with raw footage. The creative control comes with the direction and that happens before the cameras are rolling
... take your pick). This will allow any home computer user to suddenly have access to proffessional quality footage for very little cost, an incredible boon for a long list of creative types.
I don't want this to sound like a flame, but that statement shows exactly how little you know about the TV/Video/Movie making process. Havn't you ever seen a director's cut of a film? Havn't you ever noticed that it is sometimes quite different from the original cut?
The editing process is a very creative one, and one that is as crucial to the content as the writing and producing (o ye of little memory, can't you recall the videos of partying arabs shown after September 11 that had a date stamp of 1994?)
Cringely's idea is a quite valid translation of the idea of open source to the medium of video. Not only does it allow a 'user' to see the code behind the film, preventing opaque content, it allows for the use of this footage in other contexts (say a research paper, a documentary, a short film, a video montage, a
Sorry crovira, 'open source' is not the property of computer code.