There's so much misinformation here about the Roomba. It's a vacuum. It "sucks." It does it quite well. It's a well built product that does what it's supposed to do.
Here's a thought: Don't try to offer facts on what something does if you don't have a little first hand knowledge.
Seriously, it's not so primitive. When it starts a cleaning mission it first determines the size of the room and uses that info to load different rule sets.
It's actually pretty sophisticated.
Why say things that you don't know to be true? I don't get it.
I think you really miss a lot of important points with this idea.
First, everything is a balancing act. The maximum extension of your logic is to legalize any substance that has shown any promise in saving lives without any testing at all. After all, we can't "kill people" by not giving them the drug, can we? But that is simply moronic. People--especially those with a proverbial gun to their head in the form of an illness--simply do not have enough information to make a decision about what non-regulated chemical to take. And without testing and regulation, doctors don't have enough information either.
Second, how many people would be "killed" if they couldn't trust the drugs that are prescribed for them? Horror stories and dead bodies would stack up and people would doubt the safety of all medications. After all, in an unregulated market just because a drug says it's Vicodin or Valium or Vioxx, it doesn't mean that it actually is.
Third, the crux of your point is just a guess. How would you possibly know what the "total sum" of "deaths from snake oil" are compared to the deaths that *MAY* have been prevented if a drug was approved quicker?
Fourth, if you have a serious illness that may be treatable with a drug in the pipeline you can (with your doctors help) get in on the late-stage trials. Many people are on experimental pipeline drugs.
Fifth, the idea that regulation "kills" people by not giving them a treatment fast enough is akin to saying that a paramedic kills the gunshot victim because he couldn't get him to the hospital in time. In reality, it's the gun shot that kills him. And maybe the paramedic could have saved him if he'd gone 110 MPH and blew thru every intersection but there's no way of knowing how many other people that would've killed.
And finally, you need to look no further than the hippocratic oath. "First, Do no harm." Your "regulation kills people" idea is the literal contradiction of that.
And really, comparing marijuana, which is literally ripped out of the ground with no further processing, to todays prescription drugs is a little overboard. The pharmacology and pharmacodynamics of the average drug are insanely complex.
"a private industry would be faster, better and cheaper."
Well, that's a nice guess but that's about it.
I'm no fan of bureaucracy, but the FDA isn't your average government agency. It's completely independent. And the idea that a "private industry" could constrain time and cost and still produce "better" results is amusing to me.
What, exactly, would you expect to be different? The drug companies run the trials. It's always been that way. All the FDA does is provide oversight, review and approval.
And not to be a prick but it's a little obvious that you under-thought this. How would a "faster" trial period possibly produce "better" results? If you're producing a drug that would be taken for extended periods of time, how would you possibly know what to expect if you don't run long-term trials?
A private enterprise has only one constituency: its shareholders. Sometimes the best interests of shareholders and the public at large align, but not always, and I wouldn't feel comfortable even saying "often." I don't care if your liberal or conservative, there are some things that a government just does better. And this is one.
Those that believe in the magical powers of the free-market to regulate itself need only look at all of human history prior to the last 75 years.
"I am quite disappointed in Merck for two reasons: first because they took an unreasonable and unwise approach to the evidence of cardiovascular risk in Vioxx, and second because now they refuse to manufacture Vioxx and sell it with appropriate warnings"
Here is where you should ask yourself what they know that you don't.
Vioxx was a billion dollar drug. They didn't scrap it out of kindness.
Besides, Cox-2 drugs are not a medical necessity. NSAIDs are safe for daily, long-term use without the risk of gastro problems in a majority of patients. Those that have conditions that could be aggravated by daily aspirin or other NSAID like Aleve can simply take a proton inhibitor like Prilosec to mitigate the problem.
If it wasn't rare you wouldn't remember it when it happens.
And as for Celebrex, it's only similar to Vioxx in that they're both Cox-2 inhibitors. Their pharmacology is very different. Which actually illustrates my point: these things are tough and we need solid regulation on the industry.
"At least snake oil, though useless, didn't kill people."
You do realize that 'snake oil' isn't actually a real thing? To say that whatever concoction being peddled on any given day wasn't lethal is a pure guess on your part. Simple logic tells me that it probably was, at least some of the time.
I say that we should just scrap the whole thing and go back to the days of the traveling snake-oil salesmen. God knows that was much better for consumers.
And while I understand that the urge to deteriorate into meaningless hyperbole is nearly irresistible when writing a two sentence post, let's not lose touch with reality. Every year drugs with amazing complexity are trialled and approved. Say what you want about drug companies, but advances in the pharmaceutical industry are just as--if not more--impressive than in any other industry. Maybe they could be better under different circumstances, but I'm absolutely sure that they could be worse.
The grim truth is that we still only have rudimentary understanding of our own biology. The only reliable way that we've found to test drugs (and drug interactions) is by lots and lots of human trials in graduating size and complexity. How else are you going to know what drug X does when it's mixed with drugs Y & Z on a patient that used to take drugs C, D, and F and once suffered from diseases J and K?
Even now--with this rigorous testing--we find that some drugs should never have been sold. Vioxx comes to mind. These episodes are famous because they're so rare and they shake consumer confidence in the pharma industry. Imagine what it would be like if that were a weekly or monthly occurrence.
I agree. If somebody could abstract the hardware it would be pure genius. Unfortunately, I think that most people with enough brains and bucks to do this would realize the value and sell it, instead of giving it away.
I could see a future YouTube-ish site for indie game developers. Or maybe Pure Volume is a better example, where resources are pooled and the best of the games get distribution deals.
It's a lot of work to create a successful video game, but I feel strongly that there's a niche for simple, creative games. I'm not much of a gamer, but I have a real impression that game producers are stuck in a creative rut even if they don't acknowledge it themselves. I think the industry relies too much on franchises and serials. We might be able to see some truly unique, creative games if we give the unique, creative masses the tools to express themselves in this medium.
I think no matter how you see Microsoft, this is a step in the right direction.
Maybe I'm an exception, but it's obvious to me that when he says "Our credit card transaction data shows a real drop between the January post-holiday peak and the rest of the year" he's talking about his sample data. That, in their sample, there is a "real drop" in the number of transactions. He then ackonowledges that, based on their data, they couldn't draw the conclusion that iTunes sales, as a whole, experienced the same "real drop."
"The XNA Framework Content Pipeline, a set of tools that allow developers to more easily incorporate 3D content into their games"
From an Ars Technica Article:
"3D models come in a dizzying variety of formats, depending on what tool has been used to create them. In order to make it easier for developers to create their own content, Microsoft has announced that SoftImage has added support for the XNA's native ".X" format to their Mod Tool 4.2 software, a free version of the company's popular 3D modelling program. In addition, the XNA software supports the Autodesk.FBX format, which can be exported by tools such as 3D Studio Max and its free cousin, GMax. The.X format is text-based and very straightforward, so it is easy for other modelling software companies to add support for the format, and some free file translators are already available."
From the same article:
"Microsoft hopes to help by providing subscribers to the XNA service access to the "XNA Creators Club," which includes a large database of free 2D and 3D art, models, and textures. Developers can use these assets as-is free of charge in developing their own games, or modify them to suit their purposes."
Again, from Ars Technica:
"XNA acts as a bridge between the.NET frameworks and the lower-level game interfaces such as DirectX. Programmers call routines in the XNA game library that activate 3D screen modes, create polygons, paint textures on 3D meshes, play sounds, and interface with control devices such as joysticks or the Xbox 360 game controller."
This has about as much credibility as selling drugs to someone and saying "You're not a cop are you? You gotta tell me if you are. Otherwise it's entrapment."
Uhh...... If I had a nickel for everytime I've heard someone misuse the "entrapment" line, I'd be able to do my laundry this weekend.
To listen to the people in this thread, there would be heaven on earth if only people would stop sending junk mail and optimizing for search engines.
Get over it! The paper that's used in junk mail was PAID FOR.
Who are you to tell them that they cannot mail something?
I mean, my god, drop the thing in your recycle box for chrissake. Problem solved.
But I guess it's just easier to bitch about it.
Here, I'll join you: I hate it when I'm in the left lane and someone is in front of me going the speed limit. God, it's such an inconvenience and it's a waste of my time. Maybe we can make a law that says that people must let you pass.
Actually, lets just make a law that says when ever I'm driving somewhere, people yield the right of way to me. I'd like that. And while we're at it, let's do the same at every line, every where. The Supermarket, The DMV, All of them. After all, this is about a "net positive" to the world or whatever.
Also, lets do away with guns, drinking, smoking, loud talkers, mouth breathers, ball-mice, pepsi, and lima beans. I would enjoy that world more.....I'm sorry, but it's hard to listen to the majority of you people in this thread and not see a bunch of whiners. As if Junkmail were the bane of your existence.
It fluctuates between 1 and 2. Next week it'll probably be 1 again. It's been doing that for nearly a year.
The page rank is high *because* of the SEO. When I took over it was a 2.
And backlinks don't make as big of difference as people tend to think. Especially if they fluctuate a lot. Matt Cutts wrote an article about why you're wasting your money if you purchase a text link on a high PR page.
And linking from sites like slashdot actually doesn't help very much. Most of these sites have a rel=nofollow attribute set, and GoogleBot also has a "noFollow" blacklist of sites like these.
For example, look at the HTML of your link to jamesbarlow.com. You'll see the noFollow tag.
What I meant is that SOMEBODY has to pay for the software, even if you don't. And I specifically said "major" software to exclude the many, many, many freeware/GPL/OSS apps that are created by a single person or a team of people and given away.
Specifically, I was thinking of MySQL, Linux, OO.o, etc. All the biggest, best examples of OSS are by-and-large written by developers being paid by large corporations.
I have no problem with free software in reality. I do have a problem with free software as its mythologized here at Slashdot. If all you knew about these topics was what you read here, it would seem like these apps were being written in their entirety with 'donations' from individual developers and that companies that actually turn a profit with software are somehow perpetuating a crime against humanity. In summary, it's the "Software is information and information is free" mentality that I despise.
As for Slashdot moderation, well, you know. People use it to editorialize. It happens. They're just human.
It's far too long and far too uninteresting to me.
There is nothing wrong with SEO. The notion that search results should be this sacrosanct land of unquestionable purity is a joke to me. The idea that you should "respect googles judgement" in ranking sites and leave them to their own devices is a joke to me. And your idealistic fantasies are also a joke to me.
Grow up, get over it. You could've deleted two hundred spams on your message board--and implemented a CAPTCHA--in the time you've taken writing meaningless notes to me.
Slashdot Mirror
There's so much misinformation here about the Roomba. It's a vacuum. It "sucks." It does it quite well. It's a well built product that does what it's supposed to do.
Here's a thought: Don't try to offer facts on what something does if you don't have a little first hand knowledge.
Seriously, it's not so primitive. When it starts a cleaning mission it first determines the size of the room and uses that info to load different rule sets.
It's actually pretty sophisticated.
Why say things that you don't know to be true? I don't get it.
The roomba already ships with a remote for this purpose. This is just a cooler remote.
"USA, however, [having your teeth cleaned] is a status symbol"
It's no more a status symbol than frequent bathing.
"('does it have dental?' seems to be a common question Americans ask when deciding whether to take a job)"
Well, inquiring about benefits is a normal thing, but a teeth cleaning costs about $50. Not exactly a big-ticket item.
I'm sorry for beating your pants off so badly here. I didn't mean to. You just had a really weak argument.
Maybe next time!
I think you really miss a lot of important points with this idea.
First, everything is a balancing act. The maximum extension of your logic is to legalize any substance that has shown any promise in saving lives without any testing at all. After all, we can't "kill people" by not giving them the drug, can we? But that is simply moronic. People--especially those with a proverbial gun to their head in the form of an illness--simply do not have enough information to make a decision about what non-regulated chemical to take. And without testing and regulation, doctors don't have enough information either.
Second, how many people would be "killed" if they couldn't trust the drugs that are prescribed for them? Horror stories and dead bodies would stack up and people would doubt the safety of all medications. After all, in an unregulated market just because a drug says it's Vicodin or Valium or Vioxx, it doesn't mean that it actually is.
Third, the crux of your point is just a guess. How would you possibly know what the "total sum" of "deaths from snake oil" are compared to the deaths that *MAY* have been prevented if a drug was approved quicker?
Fourth, if you have a serious illness that may be treatable with a drug in the pipeline you can (with your doctors help) get in on the late-stage trials. Many people are on experimental pipeline drugs.
Fifth, the idea that regulation "kills" people by not giving them a treatment fast enough is akin to saying that a paramedic kills the gunshot victim because he couldn't get him to the hospital in time. In reality, it's the gun shot that kills him. And maybe the paramedic could have saved him if he'd gone 110 MPH and blew thru every intersection but there's no way of knowing how many other people that would've killed.
And finally, you need to look no further than the hippocratic oath. "First, Do no harm." Your "regulation kills people" idea is the literal contradiction of that.
And really, comparing marijuana, which is literally ripped out of the ground with no further processing, to todays prescription drugs is a little overboard. The pharmacology and pharmacodynamics of the average drug are insanely complex.
Once again, the thread slides into useless hyperbole.
Go re-read my post. I already addressed this.
"a private industry would be faster, better and cheaper."
Well, that's a nice guess but that's about it.
I'm no fan of bureaucracy, but the FDA isn't your average government agency. It's completely independent. And the idea that a "private industry" could constrain time and cost and still produce "better" results is amusing to me.
What, exactly, would you expect to be different? The drug companies run the trials. It's always been that way. All the FDA does is provide oversight, review and approval.
And not to be a prick but it's a little obvious that you under-thought this. How would a "faster" trial period possibly produce "better" results? If you're producing a drug that would be taken for extended periods of time, how would you possibly know what to expect if you don't run long-term trials?
A private enterprise has only one constituency: its shareholders. Sometimes the best interests of shareholders and the public at large align, but not always, and I wouldn't feel comfortable even saying "often." I don't care if your liberal or conservative, there are some things that a government just does better. And this is one.
Those that believe in the magical powers of the free-market to regulate itself need only look at all of human history prior to the last 75 years.
"I am quite disappointed in Merck for two reasons: first because they took an unreasonable and unwise approach to the evidence of cardiovascular risk in Vioxx, and second because now they refuse to manufacture Vioxx and sell it with appropriate warnings"
Here is where you should ask yourself what they know that you don't.
Vioxx was a billion dollar drug. They didn't scrap it out of kindness.
Besides, Cox-2 drugs are not a medical necessity. NSAIDs are safe for daily, long-term use without the risk of gastro problems in a majority of patients. Those that have conditions that could be aggravated by daily aspirin or other NSAID like Aleve can simply take a proton inhibitor like Prilosec to mitigate the problem.
If it wasn't rare you wouldn't remember it when it happens.
And as for Celebrex, it's only similar to Vioxx in that they're both Cox-2 inhibitors. Their pharmacology is very different. Which actually illustrates my point: these things are tough and we need solid regulation on the industry.
"At least snake oil, though useless, didn't kill people."
You do realize that 'snake oil' isn't actually a real thing? To say that whatever concoction being peddled on any given day wasn't lethal is a pure guess on your part. Simple logic tells me that it probably was, at least some of the time.
I say that we should just scrap the whole thing and go back to the days of the traveling snake-oil salesmen. God knows that was much better for consumers.
And while I understand that the urge to deteriorate into meaningless hyperbole is nearly irresistible when writing a two sentence post, let's not lose touch with reality. Every year drugs with amazing complexity are trialled and approved. Say what you want about drug companies, but advances in the pharmaceutical industry are just as--if not more--impressive than in any other industry. Maybe they could be better under different circumstances, but I'm absolutely sure that they could be worse.
The grim truth is that we still only have rudimentary understanding of our own biology. The only reliable way that we've found to test drugs (and drug interactions) is by lots and lots of human trials in graduating size and complexity. How else are you going to know what drug X does when it's mixed with drugs Y & Z on a patient that used to take drugs C, D, and F and once suffered from diseases J and K?
Even now--with this rigorous testing--we find that some drugs should never have been sold. Vioxx comes to mind. These episodes are famous because they're so rare and they shake consumer confidence in the pharma industry. Imagine what it would be like if that were a weekly or monthly occurrence.
You really are a funny guy!
you're a funny guy!
I agree. If somebody could abstract the hardware it would be pure genius. Unfortunately, I think that most people with enough brains and bucks to do this would realize the value and sell it, instead of giving it away.
I could see a future YouTube-ish site for indie game developers. Or maybe Pure Volume is a better example, where resources are pooled and the best of the games get distribution deals.
It's a lot of work to create a successful video game, but I feel strongly that there's a niche for simple, creative games. I'm not much of a gamer, but I have a real impression that game producers are stuck in a creative rut even if they don't acknowledge it themselves. I think the industry relies too much on franchises and serials. We might be able to see some truly unique, creative games if we give the unique, creative masses the tools to express themselves in this medium.
I think no matter how you see Microsoft, this is a step in the right direction.
Maybe I'm an exception, but it's obvious to me that when he says "Our credit card transaction data shows a real drop between the January post-holiday peak and the rest of the year" he's talking about his sample data. That, in their sample, there is a "real drop" in the number of transactions. He then ackonowledges that, based on their data, they couldn't draw the conclusion that iTunes sales, as a whole, experienced the same "real drop."
HAHA! BSOD! HAHA!
Seriously. 1999 called and they want their joke back.
It's more robust than that.
.FBX format, which can be exported by tools such as 3D Studio Max and its free cousin, GMax. The .X format is text-based and very straightforward, so it is easy for other modelling software companies to add support for the format, and some free file translators are already available."
.NET frameworks and the lower-level game interfaces such as DirectX. Programmers call routines in the XNA game library that activate 3D screen modes, create polygons, paint textures on 3D meshes, play sounds, and interface with control devices such as joysticks or the Xbox 360 game controller."
From the FAQ:
"The XNA Framework Content Pipeline, a set of tools that allow developers to more easily incorporate 3D content into their games"
From an Ars Technica Article:
"3D models come in a dizzying variety of formats, depending on what tool has been used to create them. In order to make it easier for developers to create their own content, Microsoft has announced that SoftImage has added support for the XNA's native ".X" format to their Mod Tool 4.2 software, a free version of the company's popular 3D modelling program. In addition, the XNA software supports the Autodesk
From the same article:
"Microsoft hopes to help by providing subscribers to the XNA service access to the "XNA Creators Club," which includes a large database of free 2D and 3D art, models, and textures. Developers can use these assets as-is free of charge in developing their own games, or modify them to suit their purposes."
Again, from Ars Technica:
"XNA acts as a bridge between the
http://arstechnica.com/articles/xna.ars/1
http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/xna/faq/
Let's all work together to bust the FUD.
This has about as much credibility as selling drugs to someone and saying "You're not a cop are you? You gotta tell me if you are. Otherwise it's entrapment."
Uhh...... If I had a nickel for everytime I've heard someone misuse the "entrapment" line, I'd be able to do my laundry this weekend.
This is hilarious. Really.
....I'm sorry, but it's hard to listen to the majority of you people in this thread and not see a bunch of whiners. As if Junkmail were the bane of your existence.
To listen to the people in this thread, there would be heaven on earth if only people would stop sending junk mail and optimizing for search engines.
Get over it! The paper that's used in junk mail was PAID FOR.
Who are you to tell them that they cannot mail something?
I mean, my god, drop the thing in your recycle box for chrissake. Problem solved.
But I guess it's just easier to bitch about it.
Here, I'll join you: I hate it when I'm in the left lane and someone is in front of me going the speed limit. God, it's such an inconvenience and it's a waste of my time. Maybe we can make a law that says that people must let you pass.
Actually, lets just make a law that says when ever I'm driving somewhere, people yield the right of way to me. I'd like that. And while we're at it, let's do the same at every line, every where. The Supermarket, The DMV, All of them. After all, this is about a "net positive" to the world or whatever.
Also, lets do away with guns, drinking, smoking, loud talkers, mouth breathers, ball-mice, pepsi, and lima beans. I would enjoy that world more.
It fluctuates between 1 and 2. Next week it'll probably be 1 again. It's been doing that for nearly a year.
The page rank is high *because* of the SEO. When I took over it was a 2.
And backlinks don't make as big of difference as people tend to think. Especially if they fluctuate a lot. Matt Cutts wrote an article about why you're wasting your money if you purchase a text link on a high PR page.
And linking from sites like slashdot actually doesn't help very much. Most of these sites have a rel=nofollow attribute set, and GoogleBot also has a "noFollow" blacklist of sites like these.
For example, look at the HTML of your link to jamesbarlow.com. You'll see the noFollow tag.
But thanks for the tips anyway!
Shane
Larry,
What I meant is that SOMEBODY has to pay for the software, even if you don't. And I specifically said "major" software to exclude the many, many, many freeware/GPL/OSS apps that are created by a single person or a team of people and given away.
Specifically, I was thinking of MySQL, Linux, OO.o, etc. All the biggest, best examples of OSS are by-and-large written by developers being paid by large corporations.
I have no problem with free software in reality. I do have a problem with free software as its mythologized here at Slashdot. If all you knew about these topics was what you read here, it would seem like these apps were being written in their entirety with 'donations' from individual developers and that companies that actually turn a profit with software are somehow perpetuating a crime against humanity. In summary, it's the "Software is information and information is free" mentality that I despise.
As for Slashdot moderation, well, you know. People use it to editorialize. It happens. They're just human.
...You seriously can't expect people to take you seriously when you compare junk mail to the maffia, can you?
Give me a break. At least come up with a relevant argument.
What is with all the venom here? Get a grip people. You'd think that clubbing seals was an SEO technique or something.
First, PageRank is only a part of the results ranking. You can have a lower page rank and be a higher rank in the search results.
Second, like I said, the first site I optimized was nearly two years ago. It's still on the first page of results.
Besides, I have a contract with these people. I make no guarantees after the contract is completed. It is what it is.
I just checked the 20-or-so google servers. They're number one or number two for all of them still.
Sorry to disapoint you!
I didn't read your post.
It's far too long and far too uninteresting to me.
There is nothing wrong with SEO. The notion that search results should be this sacrosanct land of unquestionable purity is a joke to me. The idea that you should "respect googles judgement" in ranking sites and leave them to their own devices is a joke to me. And your idealistic fantasies are also a joke to me.
Grow up, get over it. You could've deleted two hundred spams on your message board--and implemented a CAPTCHA--in the time you've taken writing meaningless notes to me.
Thanks!
Shane