3. Clearly describe what the software is, in plain english. Words like "Quicktime" (software to help you display certain kinds of media) and "Safari" (yet another web browser) are pure geek speak, and unintelligible to your average user.
At least "Internet Explorer" is reasonably named. How does the name "Firefox" or "Safari" relate to web surfing? Your average safari is held pretty far from the ocean.
In his native United Kingdom, Banks' work is released in hardcover at the front of bookshops; here, those seeking his science fiction work, at least, must dig down into the trade paperbacks -- and often find things out of print.
Consider just ordering the UK edition from amazon.co.uk. I've found most titles arrive in less than a week, and prices are extremely comparable to buying in a bookshop in the USA.
There are (at least) two ways of reading this article:
Apple has succeeded because Steve Jobs is evil;
Apple has succeeded in spite of the fact that Steve Jobs is evil.
In fact, if Steve Jobs was a more reasonable leader - like say Larry Page - maybe Apple would be triple it's current size. Unfortunately, we'll never know.
The State of New Jersey just needs to hire Professors Felten and Appel as consultants. Nothing in the so-called "established Sequoia licensing Agreement for use of the voting system" can prevent a State employee from accessing a State machine.
Your local Starbucks is going to be a lot more interesting to visit.
Well, on second thought, the one over by the University where the coeds hang out, will be more interesting. The one over by the retirement home, not so much.
Note to YouTube: forcing your users to upload a crappy resolution compressed/downsized video, and then upsampling it to a higher resolution, does NOT produce a high-quality video. How about allowing people to upload decent quality videos in the first place??
Wouldn't 99% of this problem - and many others - go away with a simple check digit on the SSN?
Other countries (e.g. Canada) do it. Sure, it would be a bunch of work to issue everyone with a new 10-digit (or 12-digit) SSN, but the process would help to stem the current wave of identity theft. You could even sell the idea to republicans by pointing out that illegals here working with a forged SSN wouldn't get a new one.
The normal way things work in computing, things tricke down from high-performance platforms to lower ones. So, where are the desktop games using raytracing?
If they want a phone to do 256 x 192 raytracing in real time, then a desktop with 1000x the compute power should easily be able to do 720x480 (full res television) in real time. But, oddly enough, there are no such titles out there....
A 5,000 square foot house that costs $15 million? And has a carbon footprint larger than some third-world cities?
The real house of the future will be small, will be built from recycled/recyclable materials, and will be energy efficient. And, will be affordable by someone who is not a CEO.
Suppose, when Toyota brought out the Prius, that the gas filler was square instead of round, and that Mobil gas stations had an exclusive deal to provide gas with square nozzles on their pumps.
Don't you think that would have hurt the popularity of the Prius - especially in areas of the country with poor coverage of Mobil stations - and created a controversy?
Don't you think that a mini-industry of "unlockers" would spring up with square-to-round adapters?
Wouldn't people view Toyota and Mobil as the devil incarnate, and refused to ever do business with either of them ever again?
the aim of OLPC was to develop a $100 laptop for kids in poor nations to ensure they don't miss out on the benefits of computing, and to make sure developing countries don't fall further and further behind modern nations
And so they're including the USA in the list of underdeveloped, poor nations. Exactly where is the news here? With the state of the US educational system, and the state of the US dollar, this all makes perfect sense.
I really can't see why this is such a huge deal to some people.
Well, it does violate that constitution thingie that the USA is so proud of.
I seriously doubt that, even with RealID, we're going to take a step back to the days of mid twentieth century Russia where they're going to throw you in the Gulag in Siberia for not being able to produce an ID when they ask you for it.
Once everyone has a RealID card, such a scenario is only one more "executive order" away from reality. If your worst nightmare requires many years to implement, it may not happen; but if the government breaks that up into one seemingly innocuous step that takes many years, and a second step that takes a simple stroke of the pen, it is much more likely to be done.
TFA says Microsoft has a bunch of patents - but then infers that this means Microsoft is innovative, which any Slashdotter knows to be false.
Innovation is a product of bright engineers, who are doing it for the love of engineering. Patents are a product of lawyers, who are doing it for the money.
How much has the entire SETI project contributed to global warming? That has probably had a more significant impact on the fate of the planet than triggering some hypothetical attack.
Slashdot Mirror
So, now the real terrorists will simply have their buddies drive a half mile ahead of them with a radioactive cat??
American Evangelicals don't go suicide bombing anyone that disagrees with their point of view.
Oh yes they do.
They also don't call for the execution of cartoonists that portray Jesus disrespectfully...
No, but pretty close.
3. Clearly describe what the software is, in plain english. Words like "Quicktime" (software to help you display certain kinds of media) and "Safari" (yet another web browser) are pure geek speak, and unintelligible to your average user.
At least "Internet Explorer" is reasonably named. How does the name "Firefox" or "Safari" relate to web surfing? Your average safari is held pretty far from the ocean.
In his native United Kingdom, Banks' work is released in hardcover at the front of bookshops; here, those seeking his science fiction work, at least, must dig down into the trade paperbacks -- and often find things out of print.
Consider just ordering the UK edition from amazon.co.uk. I've found most titles arrive in less than a week, and prices are extremely comparable to buying in a bookshop in the USA.
- Apple has succeeded because Steve Jobs is evil;
- Apple has succeeded in spite of the fact that Steve Jobs is evil.
In fact, if Steve Jobs was a more reasonable leader - like say Larry Page - maybe Apple would be triple it's current size. Unfortunately, we'll never know.The State of New Jersey just needs to hire Professors Felten and Appel as consultants. Nothing in the so-called "established Sequoia licensing Agreement for use of the voting system" can prevent a State employee from accessing a State machine.
Gee, I used to have to buy my own USB drive to steal software and data files from work. Now, they're providing me with one for free!!
Can we get a code of conduct here in the USA about ISPs not blocking content? And, can we get Comcast to sign it?
I find the fact that the US Government runs on Lotus Notes more scary than the fact that they don't have any sort of backup strategy.
I bet if you go over to the IRS, those guys have a rock-solid backup going back many years.....
Your local Starbucks is going to be a lot more interesting to visit.
Well, on second thought, the one over by the University where the coeds hang out, will be more interesting. The one over by the retirement home, not so much.
Note to YouTube: forcing your users to upload a crappy resolution compressed/downsized video, and then upsampling it to a higher resolution, does NOT produce a high-quality video. How about allowing people to upload decent quality videos in the first place??
Wouldn't 99% of this problem - and many others - go away with a simple check digit on the SSN? Other countries (e.g. Canada) do it. Sure, it would be a bunch of work to issue everyone with a new 10-digit (or 12-digit) SSN, but the process would help to stem the current wave of identity theft. You could even sell the idea to republicans by pointing out that illegals here working with a forged SSN wouldn't get a new one.
The normal way things work in computing, things tricke down from high-performance platforms to lower ones. So, where are the desktop games using raytracing?
If they want a phone to do 256 x 192 raytracing in real time, then a desktop with 1000x the compute power should easily be able to do 720x480 (full res television) in real time. But, oddly enough, there are no such titles out there....
Bad analogy. (Although around here, there is a bank in every grocery store....)
Better analogy: Disneyland will buy up all of the highways, or the highway system will buy up Disneyland.
A 5,000 square foot house that costs $15 million? And has a carbon footprint larger than some third-world cities?
The real house of the future will be small, will be built from recycled/recyclable materials, and will be energy efficient. And, will be affordable by someone who is not a CEO.
When did he get his jaw wired shut? And will it be unwired before the election? Sure makes him sound funny.
Suppose, when Toyota brought out the Prius, that the gas filler was square instead of round, and that Mobil gas stations had an exclusive deal to provide gas with square nozzles on their pumps.
Don't you think that would have hurt the popularity of the Prius - especially in areas of the country with poor coverage of Mobil stations - and created a controversy?
Don't you think that a mini-industry of "unlockers" would spring up with square-to-round adapters?
Wouldn't people view Toyota and Mobil as the devil incarnate, and refused to ever do business with either of them ever again?
Eh? Half Life and Half Life 2 are both single player, are madly popular, and are what made Valve the giant corporation they are today.
True, they have multiplayer spin-offs (Deathmatch) and third-party mods - but the basic games are single-player.
the aim of OLPC was to develop a $100 laptop for kids in poor nations to ensure they don't miss out on the benefits of computing, and to make sure developing countries don't fall further and further behind modern nations
And so they're including the USA in the list of underdeveloped, poor nations. Exactly where is the news here? With the state of the US educational system, and the state of the US dollar, this all makes perfect sense.
I really can't see why this is such a huge deal to some people.
Well, it does violate that constitution thingie that the USA is so proud of.
I seriously doubt that, even with RealID, we're going to take a step back to the days of mid twentieth century Russia where they're going to throw you in the Gulag in Siberia for not being able to produce an ID when they ask you for it.
Once everyone has a RealID card, such a scenario is only one more "executive order" away from reality. If your worst nightmare requires many years to implement, it may not happen; but if the government breaks that up into one seemingly innocuous step that takes many years, and a second step that takes a simple stroke of the pen, it is much more likely to be done.
According to the article one kid was just holding a drink. Another was standing behind a bar.
Plus: how does the photograph prove that it was an alcoholic drink? That could be water, or lemonade, in that 40-ounce bottle.
And I bet the high school computer lab has a copy of Photoshop - so the legal "proof" of anyone standing anywhere is highly suspect.
Yeah, six months in Scotland does feel like a year or two in civilization....
TFA says Microsoft has a bunch of patents - but then infers that this means Microsoft is innovative, which any Slashdotter knows to be false.
Innovation is a product of bright engineers, who are doing it for the love of engineering. Patents are a product of lawyers, who are doing it for the money.
How much has the entire SETI project contributed to global warming? That has probably had a more significant impact on the fate of the planet than triggering some hypothetical attack.
So in today's news, first the BBC is in bed with Bill Gates. Now, Steve Ballmer is giving the-b-word - aka blow jobs - to Nigerian officals.
If I was in Redmond today, I wouldn't drink the water....