We regulate what voltage and frequency electricity goes to homes at, the formulation of gasoline, the size of roads and tunnels and so on for a reason. For interoperability, and to make the market MORE competitive. Charging devices should be a similar boat... right now we have little islands of compatibility and competition, but there's a large cost to switching to a different phone because you'll have to re-buy all your accessories. The companies profit, the consumer loses out for no good reason other than pocket-lining.
The job still needs done one way or another. Maybe not by that specific company's product, but somehow. If you have the choice of a) Shitty contract that costs a LOT b) Piracy that is reasonably safe or c) Don't get the job done and lose the efficiency gains/cost savings/money making, what do you choose?
They don't moderate the listings. Forget the phone book... TPB is more like a bulletin board in the town square that anyone can put fliers on. If lots of people use it to learn about furniture for sale and lost puppies, but there are a lot of scammy "Work from home for CEO pay!" ads, does that mean the board should be taken down?
They aren't proactive about taking down torrents because face it... the law is different in different countries, so there's no solid way of knowing whose rights you are trampling on by taking things down, so they just don't do it at all. If the media companies don't like it, they should provide a better product than TPB does. It's not hard... they own the originals, they have fucktons of money, and there's also the "non-seedy" aspect of them distributing it. The problem is that they have their heads so far up their asses that they think that society owes them something.
So if you have a popular bulletin board on the wall of your store that happens to be used by a lot of scammers, you should be forced to take it down because illegal things happen on it? Even though the community also does a lot of legal, useful things with it, too? I mean, you are encouraging scamming by allowing them a place to put their fliers.
Actually, maritime rules are pretty much universal around the world specifically to prevent that kind of situation.
Does nobody on Slashdot own a boat? Why in the hell is this modded insightful? It'd be more insightful to say "They collided because the French sub was attempting to surrender, but couldn't figure out how to raise the white flag underwater"
2.1.2 Linux/FreeBSD Exception. Notwithstanding the foregoing terms of Section 2.1.1, SOFTWARE designed exclusively for use on the Linux or FreeBSD operating systems, or other operating systems derived from the source code to these operating systems, may be copied and redistributed, provided that the binary files thereof are not modified in any way (except for unzipping of compressed files).
I still don't like the binary blob approach, but they aren't actively blocking any redistribution. They're encouraging it. It's just that distros like Debian don't use it because they have a (valid, IMHO) philosophical argument against binary blobs.
GTA was a NEW name. The Simpson's was a very well established brand before becoming a game. Try again.
And I'm not arguing that the GTA was BETTER than the Simpson's. But the vast majority of people think that it was more fun, and that's all that matters. Just like the vast majority of people think that Britney Spears is a better singer than Christina Aguilera. It may not be true from a critic's perspective, but the general public has chosen. You're arguing from a critics perspective, not from a social perspective. According to your values, Simpson's was as much if not more fun than GTA. The problem is that your values cannot be projected on society as a whole, and society as a whole, rightly or wrongly, think that GTA is more fun than Simpson's.
BTW, most gaming magazines thought that S:H&R was a good game, but that's not what the public thought.
A netbook. Sweet. What about a computer that has, say, a 15" or larger screen, that's a real laptop? They don't even sell those online at Dell.com. There's some Linux, but that's just as much "choice" as a moped would be "choice" if the only other vehicle available anywhere else was a Hummer.
Sure, those machines are available. How many of them are available in non-stripped-down configurations, or aren't hidden way down in websites or in back rooms? Oh, only Apple machines you say? Which means you effectively have a choice between 3 Apple configured machines and if none of those match what you want, a Windows box. Don't even say "Dell" with Linux configurations... it's not available for any but very minimal machines, and only two or 3 models. If those aren't what you want, you're SOL. Go ahead, try to buy a laptop from Dell with Linux on it with a screen that isn't 14.1". Oh wait... you can't.
No, it's a "tax" because it's nearly impossible to get a pre-built computer without Windows, which means that even if you don't want the product you have to pay for it. If you had the choice of getting an OS or not, or even a choice between OS's, then you would be right. But we're to the point where your selection of machines is SEVERELY limited if you don't want Windows.
No. The difference is that Microsoft was still selling XP. Just not to everyone, only to certain customers. Or if you really, REALLY wanted it, you could pay for both Vista AND XP. Because they abused their market control to push Vista on consumers who didn't want it by making XP cost more than Vista.
The difference is when Lenovo is not allowed by Microsoft to sell you XP, even though they can still sell it to business customers and it's quite obviously available from Microsoft (otherwise you wouldn't be able to buy XP period). It's Microsoft pushing it's new product on a market that did not want it by coercing machine sellers to not sell anything but Vista, and charge more for the permission to put XP on it.
No, the market for computers without an OS is most assuredly NOT zero. What's complete bullshit is that the computer is not somehow qualified to have a volume-licensed Windows installed on it. That is what's bullshit.
You do realize that "Age of Empires" was set in an historical time period when killing or enslaving peasants was a very much accepted tactic, and not considered a war crime. I'm sure you found it distasteful, but trying to ignore or forget history is very dangerous. It's how we keep ourselves as a society moving forward.
You did all the hard work of proving your point, and when you look at the sales numbers you see that you actually proved the opposite. I'm sure Simpson's was fun, but it's more than apparent that GTA is MORE fun. Why, that's another matter, but we can all agree violence does not make games any less fun, at least by society's standards.
I just tried out Swiftweasel... it's the same code as Firefox, just optimized. It certainly feels faster than Firefox ever did, and all plugins and such seem to work, too. You might consider it?
There are no questions of the impact of the vaccines from anyone who has studied this and allowed their results to be reviewed by peers. None. There is no evidence whatsoever other than simple coincidence. And if you count coincidence as evidence, then flu vaccinations teach children to crawl, because they usually start crawling soon after the time they get their first flu shot.
You saying that it's a valid fear is simply intellectual laziness, and your decision to not vaccinate your daughter makes society as a whole less healthy. A tragedy of the commons as it were. Add to that the fact that she's much more likely to suffer much more from diseases she might catch from not being vaccinated, and it's just outright irresponsibility to both society and your daughter.
That's not "evidence" in the sense that it would take to actually prove something. I assume you think that all uses of "theory" are synonymous with "conjecture" as well? Evidence is something tangible that can be verified by other people. Using your "broadest sense" definition I have evidence that you fuck goats. Because I know that stupid people have fucked goats in the past, and you're stupid, therefore you must fuck goats. And I have evidence to back up the truth of my assertion.
If he's talking about fiber, wireless is in no way an option. We're talking orders of magnitude difference in transfer speeds (gigabit vs. sub-100Mb in almost all wireless cases)
Slashdot Mirror
We regulate what voltage and frequency electricity goes to homes at, the formulation of gasoline, the size of roads and tunnels and so on for a reason. For interoperability, and to make the market MORE competitive. Charging devices should be a similar boat... right now we have little islands of compatibility and competition, but there's a large cost to switching to a different phone because you'll have to re-buy all your accessories. The companies profit, the consumer loses out for no good reason other than pocket-lining.
The job still needs done one way or another. Maybe not by that specific company's product, but somehow. If you have the choice of a) Shitty contract that costs a LOT b) Piracy that is reasonably safe or c) Don't get the job done and lose the efficiency gains/cost savings/money making, what do you choose?
They don't moderate the listings. Forget the phone book... TPB is more like a bulletin board in the town square that anyone can put fliers on. If lots of people use it to learn about furniture for sale and lost puppies, but there are a lot of scammy "Work from home for CEO pay!" ads, does that mean the board should be taken down?
They aren't proactive about taking down torrents because face it... the law is different in different countries, so there's no solid way of knowing whose rights you are trampling on by taking things down, so they just don't do it at all. If the media companies don't like it, they should provide a better product than TPB does. It's not hard... they own the originals, they have fucktons of money, and there's also the "non-seedy" aspect of them distributing it. The problem is that they have their heads so far up their asses that they think that society owes them something.
So if you have a popular bulletin board on the wall of your store that happens to be used by a lot of scammers, you should be forced to take it down because illegal things happen on it? Even though the community also does a lot of legal, useful things with it, too? I mean, you are encouraging scamming by allowing them a place to put their fliers.
Actually, maritime rules are pretty much universal around the world specifically to prevent that kind of situation.
Does nobody on Slashdot own a boat? Why in the hell is this modded insightful? It'd be more insightful to say "They collided because the French sub was attempting to surrender, but couldn't figure out how to raise the white flag underwater"
I still don't like the binary blob approach, but they aren't actively blocking any redistribution. They're encouraging it. It's just that distros like Debian don't use it because they have a (valid, IMHO) philosophical argument against binary blobs.
GTA was a NEW name. The Simpson's was a very well established brand before becoming a game. Try again. And I'm not arguing that the GTA was BETTER than the Simpson's. But the vast majority of people think that it was more fun, and that's all that matters. Just like the vast majority of people think that Britney Spears is a better singer than Christina Aguilera. It may not be true from a critic's perspective, but the general public has chosen. You're arguing from a critics perspective, not from a social perspective. According to your values, Simpson's was as much if not more fun than GTA. The problem is that your values cannot be projected on society as a whole, and society as a whole, rightly or wrongly, think that GTA is more fun than Simpson's.
BTW, most gaming magazines thought that S:H&R was a good game, but that's not what the public thought.
My kingdom for a +1 insightful mod point for you, sir...
A netbook. Sweet. What about a computer that has, say, a 15" or larger screen, that's a real laptop? They don't even sell those online at Dell.com. There's some Linux, but that's just as much "choice" as a moped would be "choice" if the only other vehicle available anywhere else was a Hummer.
Sure, those machines are available. How many of them are available in non-stripped-down configurations, or aren't hidden way down in websites or in back rooms? Oh, only Apple machines you say? Which means you effectively have a choice between 3 Apple configured machines and if none of those match what you want, a Windows box. Don't even say "Dell" with Linux configurations... it's not available for any but very minimal machines, and only two or 3 models. If those aren't what you want, you're SOL. Go ahead, try to buy a laptop from Dell with Linux on it with a screen that isn't 14.1". Oh wait... you can't.
No, it's a "tax" because it's nearly impossible to get a pre-built computer without Windows, which means that even if you don't want the product you have to pay for it. If you had the choice of getting an OS or not, or even a choice between OS's, then you would be right. But we're to the point where your selection of machines is SEVERELY limited if you don't want Windows.
No. The difference is that Microsoft was still selling XP. Just not to everyone, only to certain customers. Or if you really, REALLY wanted it, you could pay for both Vista AND XP. Because they abused their market control to push Vista on consumers who didn't want it by making XP cost more than Vista.
The difference is when Lenovo is not allowed by Microsoft to sell you XP, even though they can still sell it to business customers and it's quite obviously available from Microsoft (otherwise you wouldn't be able to buy XP period). It's Microsoft pushing it's new product on a market that did not want it by coercing machine sellers to not sell anything but Vista, and charge more for the permission to put XP on it.
No, the market for computers without an OS is most assuredly NOT zero. What's complete bullshit is that the computer is not somehow qualified to have a volume-licensed Windows installed on it. That is what's bullshit.
You do realize that "Age of Empires" was set in an historical time period when killing or enslaving peasants was a very much accepted tactic, and not considered a war crime. I'm sure you found it distasteful, but trying to ignore or forget history is very dangerous. It's how we keep ourselves as a society moving forward.
Naah, Portal just had a sadistic computer trying to get you to kill yourself. Still, it's a threat of violence, even passive violence.
You did all the hard work of proving your point, and when you look at the sales numbers you see that you actually proved the opposite. I'm sure Simpson's was fun, but it's more than apparent that GTA is MORE fun. Why, that's another matter, but we can all agree violence does not make games any less fun, at least by society's standards.
And which one of the games has sold orders of magnitude more than the other? You did all the hard work of proving your own point wrong.
I just tried out Swiftweasel... it's the same code as Firefox, just optimized. It certainly feels faster than Firefox ever did, and all plugins and such seem to work, too. You might consider it?
Just downloaded the binary direct from getfirefox.com... same thing.
Hell, the Ubuntu 8.04 Firefox 3.0.6 build isn't even using -O2 (at least on x86_64). That's gotta be part of it.
There are no questions of the impact of the vaccines from anyone who has studied this and allowed their results to be reviewed by peers. None. There is no evidence whatsoever other than simple coincidence. And if you count coincidence as evidence, then flu vaccinations teach children to crawl, because they usually start crawling soon after the time they get their first flu shot.
You saying that it's a valid fear is simply intellectual laziness, and your decision to not vaccinate your daughter makes society as a whole less healthy. A tragedy of the commons as it were. Add to that the fact that she's much more likely to suffer much more from diseases she might catch from not being vaccinated, and it's just outright irresponsibility to both society and your daughter.
*sigh*
That's not "evidence" in the sense that it would take to actually prove something. I assume you think that all uses of "theory" are synonymous with "conjecture" as well? Evidence is something tangible that can be verified by other people. Using your "broadest sense" definition I have evidence that you fuck goats. Because I know that stupid people have fucked goats in the past, and you're stupid, therefore you must fuck goats. And I have evidence to back up the truth of my assertion.
If he's talking about fiber, wireless is in no way an option. We're talking orders of magnitude difference in transfer speeds (gigabit vs. sub-100Mb in almost all wireless cases)
I don't think you know what "evidence" means. Please go back to school, and pay attention this time.