Actually, the reason debts are collected where the collection cost outweighs the debt is that not collecting them might prejudice the legal position. Particularly where tax and rent are involved.
Hamish
Re:Shooting the messenger
on
Lawsuits Suck
·
· Score: 1
The problems I have with the article are twofold:
Lawyers don't rule the world, media corporations do.
The assumption is that the best way to take on the status quo to use the existing tools. Absolute rubbish. Can you envisage not being able to get hold a copy of DeCSS any time soon?
Suck is pseudo-journalism based on stirring up sensationalism, just like Slashdot.
Hamish
Re:Why GPG is STILL partly vulnerable to ADK attac
on
GPG vs. PGP?
·
· Score: 1
Correct me if I'm wrong, but... if you create a v3 key and revoke any old key that you might have, then people encrypting to you will have to use your v3 public key, which cannot have any ADKs affixed. Of course there are always vulnerabilities (the sender's system might have been compromised, your drink might have been spiked with LSD, your friends might actually be NSA spies, etc.), but I don't think that Bill Stewart was trying to claim otherwise.
I would assert that if your Karma goes down, it is because the slashcode thinks that you have mismetamoderated. Perhaps if you disagree with moderation, it verifies your opinion by asking another couple of people to metamoderate the same comment and, if both of them are of the troll mindset, it's goodbye karma time.
I would also like to point out that improving slashdot is not just a matter of metamoderation and moderation, it is a matter of generating intelligent discussion through posting insightful/informative/whatever comments. If no-one sees these because your karma is negative, it detracts from slashdot. Obviously there is no easy answer to finding the right balance.
I think (hope) that the original post was an attempt at reductio ad absurdem. Personally I'd rather see copyrights bite the dust and the GPL become unenforcable, than the large media conglomerates getting money for every time I buy a computer to run GPL software on...
Of course your mileage may vary:) I suspect that your English usage guide is both modern and American. My grammar is learned from British literature and from British parents.
With respect to pluralising abbreviations (such as KOs, MPs, SOSs and TLAs), my guide states an s should be added, without an apostrophe. The pluralised form of the original phrase is not relevant (imagine what your suggestion would result in where the final word isn't pluralised with an s).
This seems a little inconsistent. Wouldn't this make the plural of SOS, SOSes?
No, TLA (for example) is already in its contracted form, adding an apostrophe when pluralizing it isn't necessary. (Supposing that it would make sense to pluralize it.)
I disagree. For a start, I think that TLA is an incorrect form of T.L.A. (the word acronym used to refer to a pronuncible contraction, although its meaning has changed somewhat in the computing age). Secondly, it's arguable that the contraction of Three Letter Acronyms is TLA (or T.L.A.), but in order to make it read better we include the S. The rule of thumb (there are probably exceptions) is that if letters are removed to the end of the word, a period is used (e.g., e.g., Prof.), but if the start of the word is omitted, or the word is later resumed, an apostrophe is used (e.g., they're, shouldn't). Hence, T.L.A's. Of course, TLAs is just as correct or otherwise as TLA, but I prefer the form TLA's, since it means (as I've indicated elsewhere in this thread) that I can write emails entirely in lowercase without confusing the reader.
It's P.C's, not PCs or PC's. However, since no-one writes P.C. any more, PCs seems an acceptable evolution.
however i'm still at a loss as to what to do when i'm emailing a quick note and i don't bother with the shift key. is pc's clearer than pcs?
The '90s vs 90's thing is not clear-cut either. Arguably, 90's is correct because the word nineties is, without extenuating context, used to refer exclusively to the period between 1990 and 1999, and the word nineties is being contracted, hence the apostrophe. However, your position is also perfectly reasonable.
You are dead right. It's almost perfectly analogous to the difference between publishing details of how to make LSD in your kitchen, and making LSD in your kitchen.
Nobody has argued that britney spears mp3s are NOT the same tune as the original CDs because it's stupidly obvious that they're effectively the same tune.
Stupidly obvious to a HUMAN listener. And there, my friend, you have your answer. The RIAA will be able to identify songs in bulk automation.
I do care about the environment [...] but I prefer to put [...] my car's performance first.
Which is about as popular with environmentalists as saying "I do care about children, but I prefer to put my sexual perversions first," is in our current political climate.
I think the "All others be damned" might have contributed to it too.
Believe it or not, the current state of EVs is not the optimal state. Your local global oil giant has seen to that.
Try to get out a bit, and expand your perspective.
So what if they did? People would find an alternative to Napster. How much would Sony have to pay 3Com to block Gnutella at the NIC? How about FTP? HTTP?
You guys are as much cause of the problem as the music industry. You don't play fair either.
I see what you're saying, but the policeman does not have the power to impose a 24-hour curfew in order to stop crime happening. Blocking FTP is like stopping people carrying knives on the street, blocking Napster like stopping them carrying guns.
It was exactly for this reason (that they tried to move the dateline) that it never caught on. If they had kept the dateline where it was an just decimalised... well, it wouldn't have caught on either, but you know.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm trying to decode the iMac's transparency, but its significance escapes me.
I think it might be something to do with presenting the Mac as female, scantily-clad. Seriously!
Hamish
Actually, the reason debts are collected where the collection cost outweighs the debt is that not collecting them might prejudice the legal position. Particularly where tax and rent are involved.
Hamish
The problems I have with the article are twofold:
Suck is pseudo-journalism based on stirring up sensationalism, just like Slashdot.
Hamish
Correct me if I'm wrong, but... if you create a v3 key and revoke any old key that you might have, then people encrypting to you will have to use your v3 public key, which cannot have any ADKs affixed. Of course there are always vulnerabilities (the sender's system might have been compromised, your drink might have been spiked with LSD, your friends might actually be NSA spies, etc.), but I don't think that Bill Stewart was trying to claim otherwise.
Hamish
I would assert that if your Karma goes down, it is because the slashcode thinks that you have mismetamoderated. Perhaps if you disagree with moderation, it verifies your opinion by asking another couple of people to metamoderate the same comment and, if both of them are of the troll mindset, it's goodbye karma time.
I would also like to point out that improving slashdot is not just a matter of metamoderation and moderation, it is a matter of generating intelligent discussion through posting insightful/informative/whatever comments. If no-one sees these because your karma is negative, it detracts from slashdot. Obviously there is no easy answer to finding the right balance.
Hamish
I think (hope) that the original post was an attempt at reductio ad absurdem. Personally I'd rather see copyrights bite the dust and the GPL become unenforcable, than the large media conglomerates getting money for every time I buy a computer to run GPL software on...
Hamish
My English usage guide explicitly says...
Of course your mileage may vary :) I suspect that your English usage guide is both modern and American. My grammar is learned from British literature and from British parents.
With respect to pluralising abbreviations (such as KOs, MPs, SOSs and TLAs), my guide states an s should be added, without an apostrophe. The pluralised form of the original phrase is not relevant (imagine what your suggestion would result in where the final word isn't pluralised with an s).
This seems a little inconsistent. Wouldn't this make the plural of SOS, SOSes?
Hamish
No, TLA (for example) is already in its contracted form, adding an apostrophe when pluralizing it isn't necessary. (Supposing that it would make sense to pluralize it.)
I disagree. For a start, I think that TLA is an incorrect form of T.L.A. (the word acronym used to refer to a pronuncible contraction, although its meaning has changed somewhat in the computing age). Secondly, it's arguable that the contraction of Three Letter Acronyms is TLA (or T.L.A.), but in order to make it read better we include the S. The rule of thumb (there are probably exceptions) is that if letters are removed to the end of the word, a period is used (e.g., e.g., Prof.), but if the start of the word is omitted, or the word is later resumed, an apostrophe is used (e.g., they're, shouldn't). Hence, T.L.A's. Of course, TLAs is just as correct or otherwise as TLA, but I prefer the form TLA's, since it means (as I've indicated elsewhere in this thread) that I can write emails entirely in lowercase without confusing the reader.
Hamish
It's P.C's, not PCs or PC's. However, since no-one writes P.C. any more, PCs seems an acceptable evolution.
however i'm still at a loss as to what to do when i'm emailing a quick note and i don't bother with the shift key. is pc's clearer than pcs?
The '90s vs 90's thing is not clear-cut either. Arguably, 90's is correct because the word nineties is, without extenuating context, used to refer exclusively to the period between 1990 and 1999, and the word nineties is being contracted, hence the apostrophe. However, your position is also perfectly reasonable.
Hamish
P.S. It's thingy and thingies. :)
You are dead right. It's almost perfectly analogous to the difference between publishing details of how to make LSD in your kitchen, and making LSD in your kitchen.
Hamish
Why would you want to do that?
Because an apostrophe indicates a contraction. Mind you, to be grammatically correct in the traditional sense, TLA should be spelled T.L.A.
You shouldn't believe everything you're told.
Nowhere is this truer than on Slashdot. Aaargh! Reminds me of the liar paradox.
Hamish
*WRONG*
You should add an apostrophe when making a possessive out of a plural word.
Correct: James's house, houses' chimneys.
Incorrect: Jesus' disciples.
Hamish
Objective-C doesn't even compare to WebObjects.
You need to learn to read. Having eyes is a good foundation for parachute jumping, but the two are not equivalent.
Hamish
I think he meant really nice lipstick on a really scraggy chicken.
Perhaps it would have been clearer if he had said that it would be like putting one's genitals in a meat grinder.
Hamish
Nobody has argued that britney spears mp3s are NOT the same tune as the original CDs because it's stupidly obvious that they're effectively the same tune.
Stupidly obvious to a HUMAN listener. And there, my friend, you have your answer. The RIAA will be able to identify songs in bulk automation.
Hamish
You did not get my point all that well.
Hmmm... could that be because you said:
I do care about the environment [...] but I prefer to put [...] my car's performance first.
Which is about as popular with environmentalists as saying "I do care about children, but I prefer to put my sexual perversions first," is in our current political climate.
I think the "All others be damned" might have contributed to it too.
Believe it or not, the current state of EVs is not the optimal state. Your local global oil giant has seen to that.
Try to get out a bit, and expand your perspective.
Hamish
Good grief! I'm glad I don't employ Signal 11 as a coder!
if (message != WARNING) shut_down_reactor();
That long? You must have very old hardware. Our quantum computer can factor a googleplex-digit number in under 10 picoseconds.
Hamish
So what if they did? People would find an alternative to Napster. How much would Sony have to pay 3Com to block Gnutella at the NIC? How about FTP? HTTP?
Hamish
You guys are as much cause of the problem as the music industry. You don't play fair either.
I see what you're saying, but the policeman does not have the power to impose a 24-hour curfew in order to stop crime happening. Blocking FTP is like stopping people carrying knives on the street, blocking Napster like stopping them carrying guns.
Hamish
Although that's the beauty of field-upgradable firmware.
You can't just create any old list and then say, "well, no-to had to follow it."
Otherwise, what's to stop newspapers publishing lists of "unconfirmed paedophiles" or whatever? It's still defammatory (sp?).
Hamish
Difficult to say, but I found it interesting :)
Hamish
It was exactly for this reason (that they tried to move the dateline) that it never caught on. If they had kept the dateline where it was an just decimalised... well, it wouldn't have caught on either, but you know.
Hamish
Boo fucking hoo. At least you have constitutional protection against shit like the RIP.
Hamish