This is very interesting. I'm Brazilian, and always heard about how Frenchmen were impolite, especially with tourists. Then I had the chance to visit France. Surprise, Frenchmen were actually very nice to me. Probably because I tried my best to speak French to them. ^^
Later, I was told that a lot of French people can speak English, but hate when you approach them speaking English. They can easily "forgive" you, though, if you just say "pardonnez-moi, mais je ne parle pas français... peux-je parlez anglais?" (forgive me, but I can't speak French... may I speak English?) =)
We had our fair share of knee-jerk reactions from a lot of people. Some Americans felt (really!) threatened by the fact a non-English speaking country dominated Orkut's stats overnight, and voiced out their frustration in a very vocal manner. Some Brazilians felt outraged and started an equally stupid reaction, flooding English-speaking communities with messages in Portuguese. Perhaps it has happened otherwise, I'm not sure.
This could be discussed in a more civilized, intelligent way, but (as often happens also in Slashdot) well-thought and valuable opinions are just lost in the noise. Nobody respects anybody, that's what we can get from all this.
I think it's a shame that a service like this, which can be used to connect people from every corner of the planet, isn't better used. Personally, I'll still try to do the best use I can. Orkut already helped me to find some (long lost) old friends and I'm happy I could find them. ^^
I totally understand it. I purchased my P2/350MHz (now upgraded to P2/400MHz) in March 1999 (Brazil, we get things later than Australia ^^). I paid premium for a good 440BX mobo. I later equipped it with a GeForce2MX. I can play UT2003 in it, although somewhat slowly. But a lot of great games are totally playable, like Quake 3, plain UT and so on. =)
I'm aware of that, I should have noted it. Please forgive my omission, that was a semester course and of course we did study a lot more than that. I meant that human population is growing as a whole, but unfortunately just a fraction of the world's population live in developed countries.
I live in Brazil, and populational growth here is now much reduced, comparing to a couple decades ago. However, Brazil can't be really used as an example, since it's relatively developed among developing countries, and has a potentially stronger economy.
Human population net growth is still positive and it's fairly obvious a lot of countries already live with population problems. The rest of the world may be also forced to deal with them, sooner or later. If you imply that the world's overpopulation will not be a great issue in industrialised countries, please accept my respectful disagreement. Thanks for the comment, though. =)
Ecologists say essentially the same thing, but with different words. I attended to an Ecology class when I was in college, and I nicknamed it Apocalypse class, because every day our professor told us a different way to deplete natural resources which would lead humankind to extinction. And this usually had something to do with the fact that human population is always growing. I though it was interesting, but scary.
I'm not sure those FTAA provisions would pass here in Brazil. There simply isn't much political support for it. In the current state of matters, President Lula is trying to become kind of a leader for Latin American countries, and has already partnered with President Kirchner of Argentina in FTAA-important matters. Brazil was one of the founders of Mercosur (Common Market of South Cone Countries), and intends to, first, strenthen Mercosur, and then negotiate with US as a unified block. This makes sense, since each of the Latin American economies has, individually, not much power of bargain.
First, FTAA must be approved by all countries willing to participate. In some countries, like Bolivia, there's no popular will to do that, and the population may resort to violence if the government insist to push unwanted policies. If FTAA manages to do that, and I seriously doubt it will be succesful, it's very likely it will fall sooner or later. And if this happens, I hope it will be soon.
I didn't say this, but I know first-hand tht the government INDEED uses Microsoft (and other companies') software without paying for it. The reason is the lack of financial resources to buy needed software. Of course, this tends to happen less in higher circles, but still happens - for example, when a department has 30 computers and buy only 15 Office licenses. An audition could prove fatal for the one in charge.
Usually the government WANTS to be legal. Two possibilities: wait for the financial resources to arrive and use them; or switch to free software, which unfortunately many people perceive only as free-beer software and a lot of people consider a difficult move.
Actually, they only changed the page layout. DivX is still free (as in beer), but DivX is paid or adware (just as before). Mac and Linux versions are still free (as in beer), by the way.
I'm Brazilian, and we have a lot of parties. Many of them ally in majoritarian elections, but it's still common to have 3 or 4 major party candidates, and a few minor party candidates in any election for mayor, governor or president. Some of them publically recognize they don't stand a chance, but still want to participate in the electoral process to defend their ideas in a democratic way, as it's their right. Do you honestly believe in your candidature, or you are there just to make a point?
Greetings from Brazil. The forthcoming Californian election is drawing a lot of attention here. We are curious to see what's going to happen. =)
I can already see the projectionist bumping into the mouse and the Media Player controls popping up in the movie screen! I hate that Media Player gimmick...
OT: I thought about it before adding it to my.sig. Before adopting it, I tried to figure out its exact writing, since I only know its Brazilian version. I stumbled across this page at E2. I'm more inclined to think like the ones who got C! in their entries, but I didn't realize this quote could be so controversial and ambiguous. Thank you for making me notice it. Probably I should now search for a better one.:)
I think it's OK to exploit a game. If there's a loophole, sooner or later everyone will know about it. Although that may be later closed by the game's developer, it's not like someone has unfair advantage. That's in the rules. If the rules change, well, that's OK because everyone is affected by it. Much like the "grenades through walls" in Counter-Strike.
I also think it's OK if it's an inside, official cheat. I don't think this exists in online games, but if it exists, then it should be used. It's like it were in the rules.
But pure cheating is not OK. Yes, some people can be very successful at cheating, but they CAN be caught any time. Their fun is cheating, not playing by the rules. I believe it's OK to cheat in a game, but not at the expenses of the other players. If it detracts from other players' fun, it should be banned. If you want to play fair, it's really annoying when some other person is cheating and usually in a better position in the game than you.
As a side story: we have a card game in Brazil called "Truco" (I think it also exists in other countries) where it is allowed and even encouraged to cheat. But if you get caught you lose instantly or must pay some compensation. Usual cheats include signaling to the other player, hoarding cards or looking at cards before drawing them. You must keep your eyes peeled all the time. As you see, cheating is not really allowed, but you play the game with such a mindset that you expect a cheat anytime, and that's part of the game. It's fair in this context.
You're probably right, but let's try to read between the lines:
1. The wrist computer is exactly this: a computer in your wrist. Nowadays, what is the main app for computers? Pr0n, of course. Just imagine the potential. I can't even begin with...
2. The smell tester can be very useful when you need to check the safety of some... um... "service" you want to get.
3. The earplug can be used to screen undesired and unerotic sounds. An invention like this is sure to experience the sex experience, even in the Slashdot demographic. But don't neutralize the sound of your parents when they come home.
4. Nice goggles. Now you can forget those boring classes and no one will see what you're really learning about. Just keep enough interesting info in its display. It can even record your performance, for Scott's sake!
5. Well, you have a point here. I can't imagine a way of making lenses seem more useful. Perhaps by blocking your sight when you're with an ugly woman. This is a bit chauvinistic, isn't it?
6. Look at all those naked women! And they're in natural size! Wow!
You're right when you imply we shouldn't compare one thing to another, but you chose a bad example. I'm not defending the Nazis (far from that!), but in World War II millions of people died in a lot of places, including civilians in "enemy" countries. I believe it's not necessary to give any more examples of that.
In Brazil, there's something similar to that, but the message is "piracy is a crime". Here, a new CD costs around US$7.50 to US$10.00, but an equivalent pirate CD costs around US$2.85 (at least where I live). These pirate CDs are usually pressed bootlegs, but not always. Considering a single CD costs (in average) 15% of minimum monthly wage in Brazil, I think it's safe to assume CDs are way overpriced here. Sad to see bootleggers AND record companies get rich taking advantage of this situation. And copy-protected CDs are cropping up here too.:(
I'm aware most people don't have this problem, but I could add a little to this discussion. I, myself, can't understand the images on a TV set if I'm not aligned to it. In other words, if I'm upside-down or tilted to one side, I have a very difficult time distinguishing images, and can't recognize famous people (although I can recognize cartoons). The same happens when I tilt the TV (I did this for an experience).
This is of course just a little annoying, but curious. It also seems to be linked to the loss of 3D perspective, since I don't have this problem while seeing the real world. What intrigues me most is that I really can't distinguish what happens in the screen. To make a poor analogy, it's like someone is mumbling instead of talking.
It's like they are punishing us for using Windows. Haven't we had enough already?! OTOH, at least Micro$oft doesn't hold a monopoly for harassing Windows users.
Slashdot Mirror
This is very interesting. I'm Brazilian, and always heard about how Frenchmen were impolite, especially with tourists. Then I had the chance to visit France. Surprise, Frenchmen were actually very nice to me. Probably because I tried my best to speak French to them. ^^
Later, I was told that a lot of French people can speak English, but hate when you approach them speaking English. They can easily "forgive" you, though, if you just say "pardonnez-moi, mais je ne parle pas français... peux-je parlez anglais?" (forgive me, but I can't speak French... may I speak English?) =)
We had our fair share of knee-jerk reactions from a lot of people. Some Americans felt (really!) threatened by the fact a non-English speaking country dominated Orkut's stats overnight, and voiced out their frustration in a very vocal manner. Some Brazilians felt outraged and started an equally stupid reaction, flooding English-speaking communities with messages in Portuguese. Perhaps it has happened otherwise, I'm not sure.
This could be discussed in a more civilized, intelligent way, but (as often happens also in Slashdot) well-thought and valuable opinions are just lost in the noise. Nobody respects anybody, that's what we can get from all this.
I think it's a shame that a service like this, which can be used to connect people from every corner of the planet, isn't better used. Personally, I'll still try to do the best use I can. Orkut already helped me to find some (long lost) old friends and I'm happy I could find them. ^^
I totally understand it. I purchased my P2/350MHz (now upgraded to P2/400MHz) in March 1999 (Brazil, we get things later than Australia ^^). I paid premium for a good 440BX mobo. I later equipped it with a GeForce2MX. I can play UT2003 in it, although somewhat slowly. But a lot of great games are totally playable, like Quake 3, plain UT and so on. =)
Considering recent Google news, I was wondering if Google was evil. Well, SCO is undoubtedly evil. If SCO hates Google, then Google must be good.
Boy, I feel relieved now.
I'm aware of that, I should have noted it. Please forgive my omission, that was a semester course and of course we did study a lot more than that. I meant that human population is growing as a whole, but unfortunately just a fraction of the world's population live in developed countries.
I live in Brazil, and populational growth here is now much reduced, comparing to a couple decades ago. However, Brazil can't be really used as an example, since it's relatively developed among developing countries, and has a potentially stronger economy.
Human population net growth is still positive and it's fairly obvious a lot of countries already live with population problems. The rest of the world may be also forced to deal with them, sooner or later. If you imply that the world's overpopulation will not be a great issue in industrialised countries, please accept my respectful disagreement. Thanks for the comment, though. =)
Ecologists say essentially the same thing, but with different words. I attended to an Ecology class when I was in college, and I nicknamed it Apocalypse class, because every day our professor told us a different way to deplete natural resources which would lead humankind to extinction. And this usually had something to do with the fact that human population is always growing. I though it was interesting, but scary.
I'm not sure those FTAA provisions would pass here in Brazil. There simply isn't much political support for it. In the current state of matters, President Lula is trying to become kind of a leader for Latin American countries, and has already partnered with President Kirchner of Argentina in FTAA-important matters. Brazil was one of the founders of Mercosur (Common Market of South Cone Countries), and intends to, first, strenthen Mercosur, and then negotiate with US as a unified block. This makes sense, since each of the Latin American economies has, individually, not much power of bargain.
First, FTAA must be approved by all countries willing to participate. In some countries, like Bolivia, there's no popular will to do that, and the population may resort to violence if the government insist to push unwanted policies. If FTAA manages to do that, and I seriously doubt it will be succesful, it's very likely it will fall sooner or later. And if this happens, I hope it will be soon.
It seems we are the most influential people over silicon.com servers.
I didn't say this, but I know first-hand tht the government INDEED uses Microsoft (and other companies') software without paying for it. The reason is the lack of financial resources to buy needed software. Of course, this tends to happen less in higher circles, but still happens - for example, when a department has 30 computers and buy only 15 Office licenses. An audition could prove fatal for the one in charge.
Usually the government WANTS to be legal. Two possibilities: wait for the financial resources to arrive and use them; or switch to free software, which unfortunately many people perceive only as free-beer software and a lot of people consider a difficult move.
Darn. I should have paid more attention. DivX is free, DivX Pro is paid or adware.
Actually, they only changed the page layout. DivX is still free (as in beer), but DivX is paid or adware (just as before). Mac and Linux versions are still free (as in beer), by the way.
I'm Brazilian, and we have a lot of parties. Many of them ally in majoritarian elections, but it's still common to have 3 or 4 major party candidates, and a few minor party candidates in any election for mayor, governor or president. Some of them publically recognize they don't stand a chance, but still want to participate in the electoral process to defend their ideas in a democratic way, as it's their right. Do you honestly believe in your candidature, or you are there just to make a point?
Greetings from Brazil. The forthcoming Californian election is drawing a lot of attention here. We are curious to see what's going to happen. =)
Sooner or later they'll start blaming users for providing personal information, and excusing websites and companies from security flaws.
Physical device?
You mean, like a computer?
I won't quote it here, but Slappy and Skinny had something to say about it.
I can already see the projectionist bumping into the mouse and the Media Player controls popping up in the movie screen! I hate that Media Player gimmick...
Why do all comments in April Fools' Day must be annoying as hell?
OT: I thought about it before adding it to my .sig. Before adopting it, I tried to figure out its exact writing, since I only know its Brazilian version. I stumbled across this page at E2. I'm more inclined to think like the ones who got C! in their entries, but I didn't realize this quote could be so controversial and ambiguous. Thank you for making me notice it. Probably I should now search for a better one. :)
I think it's OK to exploit a game. If there's a loophole, sooner or later everyone will know about it. Although that may be later closed by the game's developer, it's not like someone has unfair advantage. That's in the rules. If the rules change, well, that's OK because everyone is affected by it. Much like the "grenades through walls" in Counter-Strike.
I also think it's OK if it's an inside, official cheat. I don't think this exists in online games, but if it exists, then it should be used. It's like it were in the rules.
But pure cheating is not OK. Yes, some people can be very successful at cheating, but they CAN be caught any time. Their fun is cheating, not playing by the rules. I believe it's OK to cheat in a game, but not at the expenses of the other players. If it detracts from other players' fun, it should be banned. If you want to play fair, it's really annoying when some other person is cheating and usually in a better position in the game than you.
As a side story: we have a card game in Brazil called "Truco" (I think it also exists in other countries) where it is allowed and even encouraged to cheat. But if you get caught you lose instantly or must pay some compensation. Usual cheats include signaling to the other player, hoarding cards or looking at cards before drawing them. You must keep your eyes peeled all the time. As you see, cheating is not really allowed, but you play the game with such a mindset that you expect a cheat anytime, and that's part of the game. It's fair in this context.
Laputa's sequel is scary: Children of Laputa, also known in the Latin media as Los Hijos de Laputa.
You're probably right, but let's try to read between the lines:
1. The wrist computer is exactly this: a computer in your wrist. Nowadays, what is the main app for computers? Pr0n, of course. Just imagine the potential. I can't even begin with...
2. The smell tester can be very useful when you need to check the safety of some... um... "service" you want to get.
3. The earplug can be used to screen undesired and unerotic sounds. An invention like this is sure to experience the sex experience, even in the Slashdot demographic. But don't neutralize the sound of your parents when they come home.
4. Nice goggles. Now you can forget those boring classes and no one will see what you're really learning about. Just keep enough interesting info in its display. It can even record your performance, for Scott's sake!
5. Well, you have a point here. I can't imagine a way of making lenses seem more useful. Perhaps by blocking your sight when you're with an ugly woman. This is a bit chauvinistic, isn't it?
6. Look at all those naked women! And they're in natural size! Wow!
You're right when you imply we shouldn't compare one thing to another, but you chose a bad example. I'm not defending the Nazis (far from that!), but in World War II millions of people died in a lot of places, including civilians in "enemy" countries. I believe it's not necessary to give any more examples of that.
In Brazil, there's something similar to that, but the message is "piracy is a crime". Here, a new CD costs around US$7.50 to US$10.00, but an equivalent pirate CD costs around US$2.85 (at least where I live). These pirate CDs are usually pressed bootlegs, but not always. Considering a single CD costs (in average) 15% of minimum monthly wage in Brazil, I think it's safe to assume CDs are way overpriced here. Sad to see bootleggers AND record companies get rich taking advantage of this situation. And copy-protected CDs are cropping up here too. :(
I'm aware most people don't have this problem, but I could add a little to this discussion. I, myself, can't understand the images on a TV set if I'm not aligned to it. In other words, if I'm upside-down or tilted to one side, I have a very difficult time distinguishing images, and can't recognize famous people (although I can recognize cartoons). The same happens when I tilt the TV (I did this for an experience).
This is of course just a little annoying, but curious. It also seems to be linked to the loss of 3D perspective, since I don't have this problem while seeing the real world. What intrigues me most is that I really can't distinguish what happens in the screen. To make a poor analogy, it's like someone is mumbling instead of talking.
It's like they are punishing us for using Windows. Haven't we had enough already?! OTOH, at least Micro$oft doesn't hold a monopoly for harassing Windows users.