1. They had WMDs? Oh, do you mean the chemical weapons they received from the US and other allies to use on Iran in the 80's, which they turned on the Kurds, and which they were forced to disarm after the first Gulf War?
2. Ok, so... According to you, the UN didn't find anything in Irak, NOT because they weren't there despite the US's best efforts to find them after they marched in claiming to have 100% PROOF that they did, BUT because the UN inspectors were inept? Sure, buddy. Whatever you say.
What's EVEN more frightening is that they've wanted to have talks with the US for years, but the US has refused any direct negociations with them.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry about the boast that Irak's invasion was supposed to make the world safer. One year later, and there's now two hostile countries who armed themselves with nuclear power in DIRECT RELATION to a perceived threat to their sovereignty coming from the US.
I'm of the ones who would argue that Emin's My Bed is Art, while somebody playing for 30 seconds with an image generator, is not.
Don't know about the bananas, but My Bed is square in the realm of objects which are created with mundane means, but whose arrangement evokes an emotional response because of their meaning and what they communicate of the artist's soul. Yep, Art.
They say loudly that they are only willing to accept developers to the project that they have vetted themselves, no one need apply. And with this attitude in front of them, they drive away people who want to help but are unsure of their abilities
Seems to me, if you're unsure of your abilities, you should start on a smaller project with less visibility than FireFox. If a certain 'elitist' attitude is needed to filter out the rotten apples (e.g. the Linux kernel moderation approach), then this might explain why FireFox comes across as a shining example of OSS development.
I would go so far as to say that if the spirit of OSS is total openness and acceptance, and FireFox's approach isn't in the spirit of OSS, then FireFox's success and brilliance is an argument that the OSS spirit isn't working well. Just contrast FireFox as it is now with Mozilla 1.0 or Netscape 6...
These anecdotes are funny, but what I wonder is... Are they different from any other development project?
Every development project I worked on, the developpers included some form of easter eggs or witty comments in the code. It's human nature to have fun, and it happens in OSS and at Microsoft.
I think perhaps the only differences are 1) FireFox code gets seen by the world, whereas non-OSS comments are hidden for the most part; and 2) Quality Control usually catches stuff like the 'cookie description' in time for public consumption.
Hey, it's great that FireFox was born in a fun environment, but I think it's just human nature to make 'work' as pleasant as possible. It's great in the case of FireFox that the 'community' gets to share in the fun.
I don't think Zhongsou cares about the Western market. When they refer to being ahead of Google, they mean specifically for searching Chinese-based websites.
In that regard, they might well dominate the Chinese market, and considering Chinese is poised to become the #1 language on the Internet in 20 years or so, they might well become 'bigger' than Google... But I'd be surprised if we would see them enter the Western search engine space.
Yeah, sure. Is this why a majority of Google users use a Microsoft OS and a Microsoft browser to do their searches?
Since when is being a 'nice guy' a reason to be ahead in business? Do you think your grandmother uses Google because they're such nice chaps and she wishes she could invite them for a cup of tea?
I got Firefox 1.0, and I don't see the problem you describe. Slashdot looks peachy.
Wow, Slashdot sure ate that propaganda up
on
China Bans 50 Games
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
The article says China is banning 50 games, 26 of which are pirated. Since they are banning the game and not going after sources of piracy, the explanation is simple: it's disguised censorship.
Take a game like "The Sims 2". It's not published in China. Hence, all copies of "The Sims 2" in China are pirated. Hence, China can claim they are fighting piracy... But the truth is, if EA decided to publish "The Sims 2", they would not be able to because it is banned. (Interestingly, Ubisoft tends to publish EA games in China; for instance, Call of Duty. AFAIK, EA doesn't publish in China.)
That being said...
The dychotomy of China is that, while a game, movie or book might be banned from legal publishing, the Government makes no real effort to prevent piracy! If you're a movie director who does gay movies in China, the Government will most certainly 'ban' your film, which means you'll never find a distributor and cannot make money from projections. Your movie can still be found for a buck on the street corner, though.
So, the result of banning a pirated game just means publishers will never be able to publish it in the Mainland.
Result: it encourages piracy by preventing legal publishing.
The Japanese Godzilla is turning 50. For the occasion, Toho has decided to go out with a bang, and will retire the franchise. The last movie is 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. In it, the Japanese Godzilla will fight 10 other monsters from the past. One of them will be the American Godzilla, renamed simply 'Zilla' for the occasion.
I live in Shanghai and I don't even bother turning off my cellphone when I go to the movies. Why should I? Nobody does it. Not only that, but if the movie is really exciting, they won't even pick it up until the really exciting part is over. And when they do, they'll walk to the back of the theater and speak on the phone from there, yelling so they can be heard above the noise of the movie.
Unfortunately, even if they DID install scramblers, it wouldn't prevent all the people from explaining the movie to their neighbors. Sigh.:)
There are very little English-language websites blocked in China. You mostly notice it when you try to access free web hosting like Geocities, or Blog websites. Even English porn is not usually blocked. It's for this reason that Slashdot has yet to be blocked, even though some of the comments here would make a Chinese censor's hair rise on his back. Chinese-language websites, however, are heavily controlled.
The reason is that they are mostly concerned about the minimum effort for maximum results. By paying close attention to Chinese websites, they ensure that only a small percentage of the population can actually see the 'open' web. Sure, some will be able to fire up Google and find some 'bad' stuff, but that's not the majority of Chinese.
If you're a Laowai connecting your laptop in a hotel room, chances are you can surf for porn or political websites as much as you want. But if you're Chinese, and you're dialing up from home, you'll find your options are very limited.
On a side-note, given the connection to Western websites tends to be flaky (even through FTTB such as in my home), it's tough to distinguish between bad connections and censoring. Talk about obscurity through inefficiency.:)
Given the sheer amount of blocked websites that still show up in a standard Google search in China, I find this claim dubious. Why do they weed out the news for blocked sites but don't do so for websites such as the BBC, which has been blocked forever and STILL shows up in a Google search?
Wee! Another example of applying ridiculously advanced technology to a low-tech area in order to feel good about our meaningless hi-tech lives! Forget refrigeration or more advanced farming equipment, those are not cool!
As a matter of fact, I think we don't take this whole 'wi-fi in backward areas' far enough.
You know what would solve famines in Ethiopia? Let's send them cellphones and laptops so they can order pizza online!
Slashdot Mirror
1. They had WMDs? Oh, do you mean the chemical weapons they received from the US and other allies to use on Iran in the 80's, which they turned on the Kurds, and which they were forced to disarm after the first Gulf War?
2. Ok, so... According to you, the UN didn't find anything in Irak, NOT because they weren't there despite the US's best efforts to find them after they marched in claiming to have 100% PROOF that they did, BUT because the UN inspectors were inept? Sure, buddy. Whatever you say.
You forget to say this bit of, well, "Pentagon PR" came around *after* US troops had crossed the border into Irak.
What's EVEN more frightening is that they've wanted to have talks with the US for years, but the US has refused any direct negociations with them.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry about the boast that Irak's invasion was supposed to make the world safer. One year later, and there's now two hostile countries who armed themselves with nuclear power in DIRECT RELATION to a perceived threat to their sovereignty coming from the US.
What does it matter if it's true or not? Kim Jong Il admitting to having WMDs is already more proof than was necessary to invade Irak...
I'm of the ones who would argue that Emin's My Bed is Art, while somebody playing for 30 seconds with an image generator, is not.
Don't know about the bananas, but My Bed is square in the realm of objects which are created with mundane means, but whose arrangement evokes an emotional response because of their meaning and what they communicate of the artist's soul. Yep, Art.
Not pointless at all, no. He won't get a meaningful answer out of this mess, but he got to advertise his little article on Slashdot for free.
A blonde joke?
What were you thinking? No +1 Funny for you!
They say loudly that they are only willing to accept developers to the project that they have vetted themselves, no one need apply. And with this attitude in front of them, they drive away people who want to help but are unsure of their abilities
Seems to me, if you're unsure of your abilities, you should start on a smaller project with less visibility than FireFox. If a certain 'elitist' attitude is needed to filter out the rotten apples (e.g. the Linux kernel moderation approach), then this might explain why FireFox comes across as a shining example of OSS development.
I would go so far as to say that if the spirit of OSS is total openness and acceptance, and FireFox's approach isn't in the spirit of OSS, then FireFox's success and brilliance is an argument that the OSS spirit isn't working well. Just contrast FireFox as it is now with Mozilla 1.0 or Netscape 6...
These anecdotes are funny, but what I wonder is... Are they different from any other development project?
Every development project I worked on, the developpers included some form of easter eggs or witty comments in the code. It's human nature to have fun, and it happens in OSS and at Microsoft.
I think perhaps the only differences are 1) FireFox code gets seen by the world, whereas non-OSS comments are hidden for the most part; and 2) Quality Control usually catches stuff like the 'cookie description' in time for public consumption.
Hey, it's great that FireFox was born in a fun environment, but I think it's just human nature to make 'work' as pleasant as possible. It's great in the case of FireFox that the 'community' gets to share in the fun.
I don't think Zhongsou cares about the Western market. When they refer to being ahead of Google, they mean specifically for searching Chinese-based websites.
In that regard, they might well dominate the Chinese market, and considering Chinese is poised to become the #1 language on the Internet in 20 years or so, they might well become 'bigger' than Google... But I'd be surprised if we would see them enter the Western search engine space.
I look forward to saying, in 10 years:
:)
"Gee, remember when Google wasn't a monopolistic empire of Evil controlling everything on our desktop? Remember when we were rooting for them?"
Should make for fine flamewars on Slashdot.
Yeah, sure. Is this why a majority of Google users use a Microsoft OS and a Microsoft browser to do their searches?
Since when is being a 'nice guy' a reason to be ahead in business? Do you think your grandmother uses Google because they're such nice chaps and she wishes she could invite them for a cup of tea?
I got Firefox 1.0, and I don't see the problem you describe. Slashdot looks peachy.
The article says China is banning 50 games, 26 of which are pirated. Since they are banning the game and not going after sources of piracy, the explanation is simple: it's disguised censorship.
Take a game like "The Sims 2". It's not published in China. Hence, all copies of "The Sims 2" in China are pirated. Hence, China can claim they are fighting piracy... But the truth is, if EA decided to publish "The Sims 2", they would not be able to because it is banned. (Interestingly, Ubisoft tends to publish EA games in China; for instance, Call of Duty. AFAIK, EA doesn't publish in China.)
That being said...
The dychotomy of China is that, while a game, movie or book might be banned from legal publishing, the Government makes no real effort to prevent piracy! If you're a movie director who does gay movies in China, the Government will most certainly 'ban' your film, which means you'll never find a distributor and cannot make money from projections. Your movie can still be found for a buck on the street corner, though.
So, the result of banning a pirated game just means publishers will never be able to publish it in the Mainland.
Result: it encourages piracy by preventing legal publishing.
And where's the space bar?!
Hey, now, cut them a break! They went from 101 to 53 keys, and some tough decisions had to be made...
You're full of shit. How is Ubisoft "as a majority" based in Montreal when they have 3 studios and their their head office, in France?
a) Superior hardware, maybe, but since when has that mattered? I can name 10 systems who where superior and did worse than the xBox has.
You know 10 gaming systems with superior hardware to the XBOX? Please list them out, I'm curious to know about them...
Nope, you misread. Don't blame you.
The Japanese Godzilla is turning 50. For the occasion, Toho has decided to go out with a bang, and will retire the franchise. The last movie is 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. In it, the Japanese Godzilla will fight 10 other monsters from the past. One of them will be the American Godzilla, renamed simply 'Zilla' for the occasion.
Ah, the wonders of proper punctuation!
I live in Shanghai and I don't even bother turning off my cellphone when I go to the movies. Why should I? Nobody does it. Not only that, but if the movie is really exciting, they won't even pick it up until the really exciting part is over. And when they do, they'll walk to the back of the theater and speak on the phone from there, yelling so they can be heard above the noise of the movie.
:)
Unfortunately, even if they DID install scramblers, it wouldn't prevent all the people from explaining the movie to their neighbors. Sigh.
There are very little English-language websites blocked in China. You mostly notice it when you try to access free web hosting like Geocities, or Blog websites. Even English porn is not usually blocked. It's for this reason that Slashdot has yet to be blocked, even though some of the comments here would make a Chinese censor's hair rise on his back. Chinese-language websites, however, are heavily controlled.
:)
The reason is that they are mostly concerned about the minimum effort for maximum results. By paying close attention to Chinese websites, they ensure that only a small percentage of the population can actually see the 'open' web. Sure, some will be able to fire up Google and find some 'bad' stuff, but that's not the majority of Chinese.
If you're a Laowai connecting your laptop in a hotel room, chances are you can surf for porn or political websites as much as you want. But if you're Chinese, and you're dialing up from home, you'll find your options are very limited.
On a side-note, given the connection to Western websites tends to be flaky (even through FTTB such as in my home), it's tough to distinguish between bad connections and censoring. Talk about obscurity through inefficiency.
Aaah, ok.
:)
Well, Internet cafés is another beast... And so is Government-run cheap dialups with their whitelist of Chinese-only websites.
But definitely, CNN is not eaten by the Great Firewall of China, like the BBC is. Can't figure out why either...
Given the sheer amount of blocked websites that still show up in a standard Google search in China, I find this claim dubious. Why do they weed out the news for blocked sites but don't do so for websites such as the BBC, which has been blocked forever and STILL shows up in a Google search?
CNN isn't blocked... What are you talking about?
Considering Mindstorms came out in 1999, they must have been damn low on your shopping list to start with...
.NET would be that much more appealing.
And anyway, within six months we could code on something approaching C on the thing; I don't see why
Wee! Another example of applying ridiculously advanced technology to a low-tech area in order to feel good about our meaningless hi-tech lives! Forget refrigeration or more advanced farming equipment, those are not cool!
As a matter of fact, I think we don't take this whole 'wi-fi in backward areas' far enough.
You know what would solve famines in Ethiopia? Let's send them cellphones and laptops so they can order pizza online!