The information in Facebook is alone worth billions to a company such as Google. I reckon Google is drooling over Facebook, but realize that if they bought it they'd lose a lot of good will when they started to use that information for e.g. targeted ads and so on. Or maybe they will buy it and there'll only be some obscure critisism on Slashdot but mostly unheard of in the mainstream media...
Think about it.. they not only know who you email.. your typical activities via their calendar service.. what you search for using their search engine. Now they could know your true friends, how you know them (where you met, via another friend, work, and so on). Where you've been in the world (common application in Facebook lets you pinpoint locations you've been at), what you like (taste in movies, music, looks,..) and so on and so forth.
In fact.. it carries so much information its downright scary. I still use it though, despite my paranoia.
This is simply not true. Sure, you may smash your phone into the wall. But there exists plenty of carrier bound phone offers which you cannot unlock/should not unlock. I don't think it's illegal anyway - but so I hope it isn't in the USA either (DMCA, anyone?)
Us Swedes have the attitude of doing what we want, however. But we haven't got that luxury most times either. Let's not delude ourselves that we are More Free than The Other Ones on this issue.
If it becomes ISO-approved then it's a huge argument for managements around the world to use this new Format. It takes time for the public to soak up critisism, most likely too long - companies and public service might adopt it and start to convert all their stuff/send their stuff in the new format and when it's all picked up momentum it's hard to stop.
It's just a simple excuse that people can't counter easily. Everybody knows it's effectively Microsoft the corporation that sent those letters, but for Microsoft it's simple to use a, real or imagined, employee as shield.
Had it been a real rogue employee that had sent those letters then we'd be hearing he/she had been fired instantly - since this is effectively fraud/falsification in the company's name. We haven't seen any such firing, hence it must be supported from higher above.
The problem for Microsoft is how much publicity this story got. Apparently more than they had anticipated.
May I suggest an excellent application called Celestia. Quite wonderful an experience to use. It's using a 3D interface and lets you navigate our solar system and stars in our galaxy (some 120,000 stars). It has extensions, so you can load packs of new objects and functionality, e.g. satellites orbiting the earth and so on.
I completely sympathize with your opinion. But my opinion is that Windows XP can be faster than the Ubuntu-dists are. Let's not kid ourselves; the Ubuntu desktop uses lots of memory as well. (And from running Vista at work I can say that it must have at least 2 gigs to be usable.)
I run Gentoo. It's hardly lightweight but that's because I run KDE and on top of that, tons of apps. I've got the memory to support it, however.
So, putting Windows XP on this laptop will properly function just as well as e.g. Ubuntu but it'll add to the cost of course.
I think the headline is inflammatory. See, if Google is PROTECTING healthcare FROM Michael Moore then I would interpret that as Google making Michael Moore less visible in e.g. their search results.
This of course is the exact formulation of your example of censorship and probably a reason for people to trip on this.
They search your bags before they ship them onto the plane;) I got my heavy glass Statue of Liberty's casing (Swede on visit in New York here) ruined because they probably thought I had a lump of uranium on me..
I must say.. on the trip, the most scary event was the airport in first Frankfurt and then JFK. You really do feel like a criminal when you're forced to take off your shoes, belt and then give your left and right hand finger prints and on top of that you're photographed:) Oh.. and on the plane you need to fill in papers to different agencies, among them DHS, regarding if you've participated in the Holocaust or know terrorists, and so on.
I guess their main purpose is to intimidate possible terrorists by various techniques.
The problem is the infrastructure. An ISP can't possibly invest the cash needed to have bandwidth to grow with for years in the future. I fail to see how this would be possible in a chaotically growing market with more and more computers/other devices.
I'm sorry, but I'm sort of tired of this opinion. Slashdot is time-based for most people (not reading and commenting on journals etc.). News get "old" and move down the page until it disappears as yesterday's news. By then the debate is clearly over.
The way to keep a continuous debate is by having news, allthough small and "unpleasant" news, open for everyone to see and discuss, and reiterate.
Who cares what Microsoft's agenda is; we all pretty much agree it is FUD. But it's still interesting to discuss and discuss it we shall! There's no point in keeping silent to "not spread the FUD". Remember, FUD such that produced by SCO strengthened Linux. This will serve the same purpose - cry wolf, and all that.
So, please. Let people talk. If tech managers do make that assumption, let them. Incompetence is nothing we can do anything about on Slashdot - at least not the type concerned in your post.
Giving up modpoints here.. okay, so he will be making the double? He already got a contract? It's easy to be overly optimistic. Sort of like 1999 in the IT area. All things takes time to balance out. The guys and girls who are good at the IT business already have a career - the rest is left out. This drives sallaries up. Many from my C.SCI. class went to become MBA:s (sort of ABSURD if you ask me). I guess.. people will do anything for money. Thing is; in the end they won't be able to do their jobs and as such they will suck. There are no shortcuts - at least they're *very* uncommon. So the pendulum swings back and we're back in balance.
The *only* thing that can earn you money is risk. Of course, responsibility is the same thing as risk. And when I say responsibility I do mean real responsibility, accountability, and not some BS "responsibility" over something unimportant.
I'm a Swede and judging from the major news sources FRA (Military radio surveillance agency, basically) has only been allowed to monitor radio based sources (primarily the Russians) and not e.g. cable channels. They have certainly not been sanctioned to wiretap phones which is a police matter and requires a warrant. This is what they want to do, but there's been a massive uproar against this, since they say they want to "only" surveill international communications and technically they cannot distinguish between national and international communications (IP-traffic).
In fact, they don't wish to at all guarantee that people who've been wiretapped should know about it afterwards - in other words, this is a very sloppy proposal and they are receiving a lot of critisism for it.
They way they say that "this has been going on for ages and we are now just passing a law for it" is nothing but BS, which purpose is to make the matter seem less drastic.
Most likely, the law will be delayed for a year, debated and more restrictions as to what they may surveill be specified. Expect to see protests here any day soon.:-)
Oh I absolutely symphatize with your view, but in the real world it costs to get a good education. Me, I'm from Sweden. We've got free university educations, but you still have living costs. Especially if you're not living at home with your parents..
So what I'm trying to say is, you of course need to like what you do. But you ABSOLUTELY need to get PAID for it! If you love computers or programming you should of course educate yourself in some way but studying at an university might not be such a smart move since you will most likely have a debt afterwards that will last your lifetime. Maybe getting some entry level (don't know if this is the correct term) position at a computer business company and pick up knowledge there.
This is a strong opinion at least here in Sweden - just going to school and taking loans might not render you a sustainable situation in the years to come. You might even be financially f-ed.
Slashdot Mirror
The information in Facebook is alone worth billions to a company such as Google. I reckon Google is drooling over Facebook, but realize that if they bought it they'd lose a lot of good will when they started to use that information for e.g. targeted ads and so on. Or maybe they will buy it and there'll only be some obscure critisism on Slashdot but mostly unheard of in the mainstream media...
..) and so on and so forth.
Think about it.. they not only know who you email.. your typical activities via their calendar service.. what you search for using their search engine. Now they could know your true friends, how you know them (where you met, via another friend, work, and so on). Where you've been in the world (common application in Facebook lets you pinpoint locations you've been at), what you like (taste in movies, music, looks,
In fact.. it carries so much information its downright scary. I still use it though, despite my paranoia.
This is simply not true. Sure, you may smash your phone into the wall. But there exists plenty of carrier bound phone offers which you cannot unlock/should not unlock. I don't think it's illegal anyway - but so I hope it isn't in the USA either (DMCA, anyone?)
Us Swedes have the attitude of doing what we want, however. But we haven't got that luxury most times either. Let's not delude ourselves that we are More Free than The Other Ones on this issue.
If it becomes ISO-approved then it's a huge argument for managements around the world to use this new Format. It takes time for the public to soak up critisism, most likely too long - companies and public service might adopt it and start to convert all their stuff/send their stuff in the new format and when it's all picked up momentum it's hard to stop.
It's just a simple excuse that people can't counter easily. Everybody knows it's effectively Microsoft the corporation that sent those letters, but for Microsoft it's simple to use a, real or imagined, employee as shield.
Had it been a real rogue employee that had sent those letters then we'd be hearing he/she had been fired instantly - since this is effectively fraud/falsification in the company's name. We haven't seen any such firing, hence it must be supported from higher above.
The problem for Microsoft is how much publicity this story got. Apparently more than they had anticipated.
May I suggest an excellent application called Celestia. Quite wonderful an experience to use. It's using a 3D interface and lets you navigate our solar system and stars in our galaxy (some 120,000 stars). It has extensions, so you can load packs of new objects and functionality, e.g. satellites orbiting the earth and so on.
More info on Wikipedia and of course Celestia's homepage.
It is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
Story submission limits the number of characters for the headline. Doh.
Read my signature. You don't need to spend a fortune - everything counts. Plus you'll be part of the struggle.
I completely sympathize with your opinion. But my opinion is that Windows XP can be faster than the Ubuntu-dists are. Let's not kid ourselves; the Ubuntu desktop uses lots of memory as well. (And from running Vista at work I can say that it must have at least 2 gigs to be usable.)
I run Gentoo. It's hardly lightweight but that's because I run KDE and on top of that, tons of apps. I've got the memory to support it, however.
So, putting Windows XP on this laptop will properly function just as well as e.g. Ubuntu but it'll add to the cost of course.
So which, pray tell, European company is a near monopoly and competes with Intel and AMD?
I declare this the Masterpiece of the Year. Thank you. :-)
An explanation by Bruce Perens posted some weeks ago might clear things up. (Hint: relicensing seems to not be a problem at all.)
I think the headline is inflammatory. See, if Google is PROTECTING healthcare FROM Michael Moore then I would interpret that as Google making Michael Moore less visible in e.g. their search results.
This of course is the exact formulation of your example of censorship and probably a reason for people to trip on this.
Well hellooo Guantanamo!
They search your bags before they ship them onto the plane ;) I got my heavy glass Statue of Liberty's casing (Swede on visit in New York here) ruined because they probably thought I had a lump of uranium on me..
:) Oh.. and on the plane you need to fill in papers to different agencies, among them DHS, regarding if you've participated in the Holocaust or know terrorists, and so on.
I must say.. on the trip, the most scary event was the airport in first Frankfurt and then JFK. You really do feel like a criminal when you're forced to take off your shoes, belt and then give your left and right hand finger prints and on top of that you're photographed
I guess their main purpose is to intimidate possible terrorists by various techniques.
Wait a minute.. do you mean that not upgrading.. no wait.. there is no incentive to not not upgrade? double negative hurts my head.
Hehe, didn't know Sweden was known for its Greve-cheese.. ;-)
What in the world did Sweden do? We're neutral - officially. In bed with the US - inofficially. We go down - you go down!
The problem is the infrastructure. An ISP can't possibly invest the cash needed to have bandwidth to grow with for years in the future. I fail to see how this would be possible in a chaotically growing market with more and more computers/other devices.
I'm sorry, but I'm sort of tired of this opinion. Slashdot is time-based for most people (not reading and commenting on journals etc.). News get "old" and move down the page until it disappears as yesterday's news. By then the debate is clearly over.
The way to keep a continuous debate is by having news, allthough small and "unpleasant" news, open for everyone to see and discuss, and reiterate.
Who cares what Microsoft's agenda is; we all pretty much agree it is FUD. But it's still interesting to discuss and discuss it we shall! There's no point in keeping silent to "not spread the FUD". Remember, FUD such that produced by SCO strengthened Linux. This will serve the same purpose - cry wolf, and all that.
So, please. Let people talk. If tech managers do make that assumption, let them. Incompetence is nothing we can do anything about on Slashdot - at least not the type concerned in your post.
Sorry, but to me (approximately) 600 patents sounds very few. What's your source on this (since I myself don't know where to look)?
Things are really going to hell, aren't they.
/a sad Swede expecting the same in Sweden in the future
Giving up modpoints here.. okay, so he will be making the double? He already got a contract? It's easy to be overly optimistic. Sort of like 1999 in the IT area. All things takes time to balance out. The guys and girls who are good at the IT business already have a career - the rest is left out. This drives sallaries up. Many from my C.SCI. class went to become MBA:s (sort of ABSURD if you ask me). I guess.. people will do anything for money. Thing is; in the end they won't be able to do their jobs and as such they will suck. There are no shortcuts - at least they're *very* uncommon. So the pendulum swings back and we're back in balance. The *only* thing that can earn you money is risk. Of course, responsibility is the same thing as risk. And when I say responsibility I do mean real responsibility, accountability, and not some BS "responsibility" over something unimportant.
Calling a phone number is only a one dimensional violation. Youtube / any website is a two dimensional violation - that, sir, is the difference!
I'm a Swede and judging from the major news sources FRA (Military radio surveillance agency, basically) has only been allowed to monitor radio based sources (primarily the Russians) and not e.g. cable channels. They have certainly not been sanctioned to wiretap phones which is a police matter and requires a warrant. This is what they want to do, but there's been a massive uproar against this, since they say they want to "only" surveill international communications and technically they cannot distinguish between national and international communications (IP-traffic).
:-)
In fact, they don't wish to at all guarantee that people who've been wiretapped should know about it afterwards - in other words, this is a very sloppy proposal and they are receiving a lot of critisism for it.
They way they say that "this has been going on for ages and we are now just passing a law for it" is nothing but BS, which purpose is to make the matter seem less drastic.
Most likely, the law will be delayed for a year, debated and more restrictions as to what they may surveill be specified. Expect to see protests here any day soon.
Oh I absolutely symphatize with your view, but in the real world it costs to get a good education. Me, I'm from Sweden. We've got free university educations, but you still have living costs. Especially if you're not living at home with your parents..
So what I'm trying to say is, you of course need to like what you do. But you ABSOLUTELY need to get PAID for it! If you love computers or programming you should of course educate yourself in some way but studying at an university might not be such a smart move since you will most likely have a debt afterwards that will last your lifetime. Maybe getting some entry level (don't know if this is the correct term) position at a computer business company and pick up knowledge there.
This is a strong opinion at least here in Sweden - just going to school and taking loans might not render you a sustainable situation in the years to come. You might even be financially f-ed.