I dont know what planet you are on, seriously. Did you just Gentoo or something? My family use linux, the kids have always had it, the eldest always had a choice of windows or linux, but got sick of me having to fix windows, and the wireless never worked right.
Ahahaha. I got modded as troll. I'll consider this an honor. A purely honest assessment of 12 years of trying to use Linux.
I, in turn, must wonder what planet you live on. I have a Fedora Core cluster for my experiments. My school is using Debian. I haven't had much exposure to other Linuxes, but how different can they be?
I won't go into any details, since that gets a troll rating nodays. But I am very serious - your mileage clearly varies.
My Grandma uses Linux... Please -- Stop spreading FUD. If these barely computer literate people can use Linux just as well as they can use Windows, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I respectfully call bullshit. Maybe you were able to setup a sandbox for internet-only and it held up so far... but... I have been using Linux for many, many years -- through my undergrad, master's and my PhD (all 3 in computer science, might I add). And Linux is still far, far away from becoming usable.
On a Windows machine I can expect my relatives to install the software if I sent them the link to the download page. You'd think that installing simple stable software would be possible before you can talk about Linux usability? I can't count the number of times I gave up on software install in Linux. Either it has to be compiled or it has a 100-item long list of dependencies. The right binaries are impossible to find. Yum (on my Fedora cluster) is broken and I haven't been able to fix it, despite spending several multi-hour stretches scouring the forums. In all of my university, I don't think I have seen a Linux machine that has working sound, because that is a 21st century newfangled functionality.
I don't know where to start to list the things that just don't work in Linux. I really don't. I can typically resolve any problem that anyone in my Windows-using family has after a 20-30 minute forum search. Yes, I wish I didn't have to clean spyware.... but in Linux, there are really three outcomes to any problems a) I don't find a solution b) I find lots of RTFM posts, directing me to another forum (which either contains no solution or a wrong one) or directing me to the poorly written manuals c) I find and try about 5-6 suggestions that do not solve the problem.
Another recent example (not a user issue -- installer issue, but still) is that apparently the brand new Fedora Core 14 crashes when you try to edit an NTFS partition during install. Not only is this a known bug, but it has been rated moderately severe and relegated to the next version (8 months, I think, since it has been filed). You'd think if this is not going to be fixed, one could catch the crash in the installer and have an error message instead? But no, hard crash of the installer software was deemed more appropriate!
I am going to stop now, though I can keep ranting indefinitely. But Linux being difficult to use is no FUD... It is a sad, sad reality.
And how much of those resources is spent hunting down people who produce or keep simulated child pornography? People who have child porn comic books, animated/virtual versions or have porn movies with adult actresses that look like they are 12?
I can be convinced on possession, although they should really go for producers and not the users (as sick as those users might be). But it amazes me that a child porn comic books could be illegal
What is worse, many of these introductory courses were given in Java - producing students who were completely lost when the black box of the Java runtime and libraries was taken away - e.g. when having to transition to C/C++
I respectfully disagree. Based on my personal experience in undergrad - this is a good thing. Starting from Java lets you learn a programming language without simultaneously dealing with pointers and memory management. Once some programming skills are in place, transitioning to C/C++ and learning explicit memory management is actually easier.
Manning is a fucking traitor, nothing less. What else do you call someone who steals secret documents and gives to someone who is not supposed to have them?
Manning is an alleged fucking traitor. Just because some dude pointed a finger at him, does not make him a convicted traitor. Once he is convicted (by the military court, I assume?), you may call him a traitor.
If you read the parent post (re-read it), you would notice that he is not arguing that Manning is a good guy. He is saying that no matter what he is (even when he is most likely convicted), our constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment that is being inflicted on Manning (read the details in the news). Once he is convicted he should go to a regular jail, traitor or not. Unless he is given a death penalty, in which case he might be executed.
But what is happening now to him is presumably unconstitutional as there is no option that allows his current treatment. Not even if Manning is convicted of every crime he is accused of and a few more will regular abuse be an acceptable punishment.
. It's about the people. At the heart of the best classic science fiction is solid character development and rich human interaction. Its really a psychological drama. That's why "I, Robot" failed so hard - the original book wasn't about the robots at all, but the humans who worked with them
You just prevented me from moderating.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that SciFi is about people and drama, while technology is just the background. But "I, Robot" specifically did not fail because the movie makers forgot to focus on human emotions.
"I, Robot" failed because it was a bullshit action story that had essentially nothing to do with Asimov's work. Unless you count the fact that there was a young girl that was named Susan Calvert who had worked with robots, there was not many other similarities that I saw...
I always wonder about this -- the story is *already* written and it is already *good*. What is it that forces the movie-makers to take work by Asimov and completely rewrite it preserving nothing but a few names?
Instead of paying $1000 for a $1000 laptop like I was planning, I got a $2500 laptop for $1000. As far as Im concerned it was win-win - I got a great laptop, and they got my money.
Although I am all for targeted ads, but it is a lot more likely that you have paid $1000 for a $1200 or even a $900 laptop. Shockingly, few retailers are willing to sell items at less than 50% of their price. Not unless they triple the retail price first.
The divide between rich and poor has never been so big
Are you sure about this? I'm sure there was a much bigger difference between a king or duke in the Middle Ages who could order anyone's head chopped off at will, who could seize anyone's land, and who could basically do what he wanted, to people today.
Too far. I am assuming that GP referred to this century rather than to the history of the world. When the cave-men roamed the earth, there was even less divide between rich and poor. Plus King is not the same as "rich". Kings/Dukes would be closer to President/Senators, while the "rich" are the bankers, etc. Anyway, for most of the 20th century, the GP claim is accurate:
See here after cursory search.
I don't look at it as negative slanted journalism, but an article on how Verizon's pricing plans do not seem to be evolving at the same rate as their technology.
Your statement is amusing. Verizon pricing plans are evolving just fine. They just have a different evolution target from what you might want. The goal is not to offer you a fair and reasonable price, the goal is to subtly bilk you out of as much money as possible. Maybe next they'll lower the cap further? (and perhaps decrease the per/MB fees).
Actually, I think the intent of the article is to show that while Verizon has a 4th gen awesome network, they still have a pricing framework that's about 5 years obsolete.
Heh, it might be obsolete from your perspective. But on Verizon's side it is very progressive. I bet they make more money from over-quota fees than the basic monthly income... It should be a legal requirement that I would have an option for my device to at least stop using the network when it goes into over-charge fees
Based on my AT&T experience (before I left), there is probably no way to avoid paying extra fees in Verizon either, short of manually checking your usage every day and turning off your phone when you've come close to the usage limit.
Without reading TFA, is that even a good accuracy?
I always assumed that fingerprint accuracy is better than that. Having 0.4% error rate means that it is only good for identifying customers in commercial surveys. Any security mechanism will need better than that.
It always amazes me how the business mind works. Like the phone company charging you for the service of not listing your phone number. Eventually, it becomes income to which they feel entitled.
It always amazes me when people are looking for ethical or exotic behavioral explanation behind buisness decisions. The buisness mind works just fine. The phone company charges you for the services of _not_ listing your phone number because they essentially sell the access to your phone number by publishing phone books with ads. They make money from you either way (indirectly through ads or directly by charging you). Being a localized monopoly helps, of course.
Have you read the parent post at all? There is lots of fun in the challenge, but when you get shot every 2 seconds that's not a challenge, that's massacre. In chess servers they have player ranking that makes sure you only play with people of comparable (within some delta) skill. It also makes sure that you get rewarded according to how much challenge you had.
Those games should really do player ranking and give you a fraction of the kill (between 0.1 and 2.0) based on the skill level of your opponent.
What's wrong with something simple like bill=roundup(GBUsedInMonth)*$5 or something like that?
Nothing wrong with that, except that it would reduce the company's income. You see, having a tiered account is a beatiful system where each customer gets screwed in their own unique way! Unless you are using exactly 200MB, you will pay extra. If you use less than 200MB, then you have paid for some bandwidth and didn't use it. If you go over 200MB, then you pay exorbitant extra fees for every MB. It's perfect. If everyone actually paid a fair price for what they used, Verizon would make a lot less money (same applies to cell phone minute plans, btw).
Also, it is fair to point out that unlike electricity, bandwidth usage does not have much of a cost - the infrastructure is everything. If the networks were completely unused, the savings in maintenance would be negigible.
In other news GE has sold their buggy whip division...
Must people always stop me from moderating? Your analogy is off. Buggy whips became obsolete
and hence manufacturers went out of business. The bulbs in question have become too expensive
to make in US -- the demand, as I understand it is quite alive.
The problem is not in the bulb going the way of the buggy whip, but in the cheap sweatshops
that manufacture plenty of the same product in China.
Speed bumps may be more effective than radar traps.
And now I am not moderating anymore. I used to agree with you, but then someone
pointed out that this is not nearly as good of a solution as it seems. Apparently,
all it takes is one trip in an ambulance over a few speedbumps and you'd see things
differently.
A non-discriminating solution that slows all traffic to 5-10 miles an hour on a city
road is an overkill.
Pay for a virtual private server somewhere. Tie it to a credit card or some payment method that you need to keep paying. You die? Payments don't get made, hosting provider nukes the virtual machine after X days for non-payment.
Yeah, because whoever deals with your inheritance is not going to get those bills? Hosting provider will most likely be willing to provide a new password to whoever gives them a new credit card and your death certificate.
The first one I thought it so obvious that I was making a legal right turn that I requested a hearing without my presence, figuring that the judge would get it. They still charged me.
Sorry, what? A hearing without your presence? Are you not aware that any hearing/lawsuit is an automatic win for one party if the other party does not show up?? That's why the recommend going to contest your tickets even if you are fully guilty - if the accusing officer does not bother to show up, you automatically get the ticket tossed.
Also, you would lose because you are showing lots of contempt for the judge by not showing up and he would actively look for a way to screw you over.
It does not appear that this guy is insane. He's just a moron. He should be tried, and if found guilty, the court should take his stupidity and intent into consideration when sentencing. Because he was an idiot rather than a spy or saboteur, he will likely get a light sentence.
Indeed. And this discussion is coming up not because US wants to extradite him, but because they talk about multi-decade to life sentences in high-security federal prison. It's the concern that a "terrorist" act such as this has 20 year (or such, I don't know exactly) federally mandated minimum that's completely out of proportion with the crime or damages inflicted.
If he was facing a couple years in prison and some fines - no one would care. Nor would anyone care to extradite to US, I think - because he might get some jail time in UK too.
The numerical amount may be high, but that could encompass a lot of costs in having to hire forensic investigators to check out each and every system (since breaking into one can also lead to breaking into others). So you've got the cost of downtime for everyone using the systems (because you want to freeze the system for investigation), the cost of the investigation itself, plus the cost of incidentals (e.g., changing passwords, etc).
I bet a lot of the "incidentals" included in the cost did include re-securing the system. Just like you said - changing the passwords, updating the software, etc. Guess what - none of this is his damage. Instead, things like changing the passwords is fixing the screwups made by sys admins in the first place - and they are pinning this on McKinnon instead of admitting that they screwed up.
Not to condone his behavior - but the costs of changing the passwords is not his damage
But it's not a crime to rob a bank if the front door was left unlocked..... and you didn't actually rob anything, but just left a note saying "Hi. I was here." You could be charged with trespassing maybe but that's about it. And even then you could claim you thought the bank was open for business.
Although I agree with you, you are distorting the discussion a bit. Trespassing is a crime. And guessing an easy password is more akin to finding a key to the locked front door lying under the rug on the porch, not "finding an open door".
His "hacking" is a crime in all jurisdictions - he just won't be crucified and put away for life in UK. UK should not be giving him up.
Crimes are usually prosecuted where the body falls - and not where the shot was fired. That would allow the criminal to choose a safe venue from which to commit his crimes by remote control.
Damn, I guess I am not going to moderate this discussion anymore. What you say makes perfect sense for crimes like murder - but once you move on to a hacking crime... I mean - lookup Dmitryi Sklyarov? This McKinnon guy is (rightly) afraid of being crucified in US by receiving a punishment that's completely disproportionate to the crime and is way above what he'd expect in UK.
I am sure if Saudi Arabia wanted to extradite you for buying some porn you would see his way.
This is a very old trick, and I can't understand why people still fall for it.
What I want to know - if this is an old and known trick - where's the IRS? Is Hollywood tougher than Capone? If you essentially fake expenses to report losses instead of profits isn't that the definition of tax fraud?
In this case, Ticketmaster is actually trying to do something that's good for the people who want to see the show, and isn't good for the people who just want to resell their tickets.
Hahahahhahhahahaha. Are you *that* naive?:) Ticketmaster is openly saying that they plan to offer their own re-seller website services, charging 20% fees. They just wante to collect more fees. This just means you'll be paying scalpers 5x-10x ticket prices AND 20% on top to ticketmaster when this goes into effect.
Slashdot Mirror
Ahahaha. I got modded as troll. I'll consider this an honor. A purely honest assessment of 12 years of trying to use Linux.
I, in turn, must wonder what planet you live on. I have a Fedora Core cluster for my experiments. My school is using Debian. I haven't had much exposure to other Linuxes, but how different can they be?
I won't go into any details, since that gets a troll rating nodays. But I am very serious - your mileage clearly varies.
Please -- Stop spreading FUD. If these barely computer literate people can use Linux just as well as they can use Windows, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I respectfully call bullshit. Maybe you were able to setup a sandbox for internet-only and it held up so far... but... I have been using Linux for many, many years -- through my undergrad, master's and my PhD (all 3 in computer science, might I add). And Linux is still far, far away from becoming usable.
On a Windows machine I can expect my relatives to install the software if I sent them the link to the download page. You'd think that installing simple stable software would be possible before you can talk about Linux usability? I can't count the number of times I gave up on software install in Linux. Either it has to be compiled or it has a 100-item long list of dependencies. The right binaries are impossible to find. Yum (on my Fedora cluster) is broken and I haven't been able to fix it, despite spending several multi-hour stretches scouring the forums. In all of my university, I don't think I have seen a Linux machine that has working sound, because that is a 21st century newfangled functionality.
I don't know where to start to list the things that just don't work in Linux. I really don't. I can typically resolve any problem that anyone in my Windows-using family has after a 20-30 minute forum search. Yes, I wish I didn't have to clean spyware.... but in Linux, there are really three outcomes to any problems a) I don't find a solution b) I find lots of RTFM posts, directing me to another forum (which either contains no solution or a wrong one) or directing me to the poorly written manuals c) I find and try about 5-6 suggestions that do not solve the problem.
Another recent example (not a user issue -- installer issue, but still) is that apparently the brand new Fedora Core 14 crashes when you try to edit an NTFS partition during install. Not only is this a known bug, but it has been rated moderately severe and relegated to the next version (8 months, I think, since it has been filed). You'd think if this is not going to be fixed, one could catch the crash in the installer and have an error message instead? But no, hard crash of the installer software was deemed more appropriate!
I am going to stop now, though I can keep ranting indefinitely. But Linux being difficult to use is no FUD... It is a sad, sad reality.
And how much of those resources is spent hunting down people who produce or keep simulated child pornography? People who have child porn comic books, animated/virtual versions or have porn movies with adult actresses that look like they are 12?
I can be convinced on possession, although they should really go for producers and not the users (as sick as those users might be). But it amazes me that a child porn comic books could be illegal
Obligatory Simpsons (Kent Brockman) quote:
The [federal] government has just issued an Orange Alert, which again means... nothing.
I respectfully disagree. Based on my personal experience in undergrad - this is a good thing. Starting from Java lets you learn a programming language without simultaneously dealing with pointers and memory management. Once some programming skills are in place, transitioning to C/C++ and learning explicit memory management is actually easier.
Manning is an alleged fucking traitor. Just because some dude pointed a finger at him, does not make him a convicted traitor. Once he is convicted (by the military court, I assume?), you may call him a traitor.
If you read the parent post (re-read it), you would notice that he is not arguing that Manning is a good guy. He is saying that no matter what he is (even when he is most likely convicted), our constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment that is being inflicted on Manning (read the details in the news). Once he is convicted he should go to a regular jail, traitor or not. Unless he is given a death penalty, in which case he might be executed.
But what is happening now to him is presumably unconstitutional as there is no option that allows his current treatment. Not even if Manning is convicted of every crime he is accused of and a few more will regular abuse be an acceptable punishment.
You just prevented me from moderating.
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that SciFi is about people and drama, while technology is just the background. But "I, Robot" specifically did not fail because the movie makers forgot to focus on human emotions.
"I, Robot" failed because it was a bullshit action story that had essentially nothing to do with Asimov's work. Unless you count the fact that there was a young girl that was named Susan Calvert who had worked with robots, there was not many other similarities that I saw...
I always wonder about this -- the story is *already* written and it is already *good*. What is it that forces the movie-makers to take work by Asimov and completely rewrite it preserving nothing but a few names?
Although I am all for targeted ads, but it is a lot more likely that you have paid $1000 for a $1200 or even a $900 laptop. Shockingly, few retailers are willing to sell items at less than 50% of their price. Not unless they triple the retail price first.
The divide between rich and poor has never been so big
Are you sure about this? I'm sure there was a much bigger difference between a king or duke in the Middle Ages who could order anyone's head chopped off at will, who could seize anyone's land, and who could basically do what he wanted, to people today.
Too far. I am assuming that GP referred to this century rather than to the history of the world. When the cave-men roamed the earth, there was even less divide between rich and poor. Plus King is not the same as "rich". Kings/Dukes would be closer to President/Senators, while the "rich" are the bankers, etc. Anyway, for most of the 20th century, the GP claim is accurate: See here after cursory search.
Your statement is amusing. Verizon pricing plans are evolving just fine. They just have a different evolution target from what you might want. The goal is not to offer you a fair and reasonable price, the goal is to subtly bilk you out of as much money as possible. Maybe next they'll lower the cap further? (and perhaps decrease the per/MB fees).
Heh, it might be obsolete from your perspective. But on Verizon's side it is very progressive. I bet they make more money from over-quota fees than the basic monthly income... It should be a legal requirement that I would have an option for my device to at least stop using the network when it goes into over-charge fees
Based on my AT&T experience (before I left), there is probably no way to avoid paying extra fees in Verizon either, short of manually checking your usage every day and turning off your phone when you've come close to the usage limit.
Without reading TFA, is that even a good accuracy? I always assumed that fingerprint accuracy is better than that. Having 0.4% error rate means that it is only good for identifying customers in commercial surveys. Any security mechanism will need better than that.
It always amazes me when people are looking for ethical or exotic behavioral explanation behind buisness decisions. The buisness mind works just fine. The phone company charges you for the services of _not_ listing your phone number because they essentially sell the access to your phone number by publishing phone books with ads. They make money from you either way (indirectly through ads or directly by charging you). Being a localized monopoly helps, of course.
Have you read the parent post at all? There is lots of fun in the challenge, but when you get shot every 2 seconds that's not a challenge, that's massacre. In chess servers they have player ranking that makes sure you only play with people of comparable (within some delta) skill. It also makes sure that you get rewarded according to how much challenge you had.
Those games should really do player ranking and give you a fraction of the kill (between 0.1 and 2.0) based on the skill level of your opponent.
Nothing wrong with that, except that it would reduce the company's income. You see, having a tiered account is a beatiful system where each customer gets screwed in their own unique way! Unless you are using exactly 200MB, you will pay extra. If you use less than 200MB, then you have paid for some bandwidth and didn't use it. If you go over 200MB, then you pay exorbitant extra fees for every MB. It's perfect. If everyone actually paid a fair price for what they used, Verizon would make a lot less money (same applies to cell phone minute plans, btw).
Also, it is fair to point out that unlike electricity, bandwidth usage does not have much of a cost - the infrastructure is everything. If the networks were completely unused, the savings in maintenance would be negigible.
Must people always stop me from moderating? Your analogy is off. Buggy whips became obsolete and hence manufacturers went out of business. The bulbs in question have become too expensive to make in US -- the demand, as I understand it is quite alive. The problem is not in the bulb going the way of the buggy whip, but in the cheap sweatshops that manufacture plenty of the same product in China.
And now I am not moderating anymore. I used to agree with you, but then someone pointed out that this is not nearly as good of a solution as it seems. Apparently, all it takes is one trip in an ambulance over a few speedbumps and you'd see things differently. A non-discriminating solution that slows all traffic to 5-10 miles an hour on a city road is an overkill.
Yeah, because whoever deals with your inheritance is not going to get those bills? Hosting provider will most likely be willing to provide a new password to whoever gives them a new credit card and your death certificate.
Sorry, what? A hearing without your presence? Are you not aware that any hearing/lawsuit is an automatic win for one party if the other party does not show up?? That's why the recommend going to contest your tickets even if you are fully guilty - if the accusing officer does not bother to show up, you automatically get the ticket tossed.
Also, you would lose because you are showing lots of contempt for the judge by not showing up and he would actively look for a way to screw you over.
Indeed. And this discussion is coming up not because US wants to extradite him, but because they talk about multi-decade to life sentences in high-security federal prison. It's the concern that a "terrorist" act such as this has 20 year (or such, I don't know exactly) federally mandated minimum that's completely out of proportion with the crime or damages inflicted.
If he was facing a couple years in prison and some fines - no one would care. Nor would anyone care to extradite to US, I think - because he might get some jail time in UK too.
I bet a lot of the "incidentals" included in the cost did include re-securing the system. Just like you said - changing the passwords, updating the software, etc. Guess what - none of this is his damage. Instead, things like changing the passwords is fixing the screwups made by sys admins in the first place - and they are pinning this on McKinnon instead of admitting that they screwed up.
Not to condone his behavior - but the costs of changing the passwords is not his damage
Although I agree with you, you are distorting the discussion a bit. Trespassing is a crime. And guessing an easy password is more akin to finding a key to the locked front door lying under the rug on the porch, not "finding an open door".
His "hacking" is a crime in all jurisdictions - he just won't be crucified and put away for life in UK. UK should not be giving him up.
Damn, I guess I am not going to moderate this discussion anymore. What you say makes perfect sense for crimes like murder - but once you move on to a hacking crime... I mean - lookup Dmitryi Sklyarov? This McKinnon guy is (rightly) afraid of being crucified in US by receiving a punishment that's completely disproportionate to the crime and is way above what he'd expect in UK.
I am sure if Saudi Arabia wanted to extradite you for buying some porn you would see his way.
What I want to know - if this is an old and known trick - where's the IRS? Is Hollywood tougher than Capone? If you essentially fake expenses to report losses instead of profits isn't that the definition of tax fraud?
Hahahahhahhahahaha. Are you *that* naive? :) Ticketmaster is openly saying that they plan to offer their own re-seller website services, charging 20% fees. They just wante to collect more fees. This just means you'll be paying scalpers 5x-10x ticket prices AND 20% on top to ticketmaster when this goes into effect.