That's an interesting analogy. I agree that the best that can be done (from a technical perspective) is to provide the tools and make them easy to use. However, I live in a country where it is mandated by law that people wear seatbelts, and as a result evryone does. Not from fear of punishment, but because it's the done thing (like putting litter in a bin). Interestingly, the penalty for a passenger not wearing a seatbelt is levied against the driver here -- if someone wants to bypass a safety device you are not supposed to transport them.
It sounds very draconian in writing but it feels casual and traditional in practice. It just a thing you do when you get into a car, on par with closing your door.
Now that I think about it, I think that the law actually supports individual freedoms, in that it prevents people becoming projectiles in the event of a car accident. The freedom to not be speared by some halfit emerging from a windscreen is rated higher than the freedom to place oneself in needless danger of emerging from said windscreen.
the fact that some people will be too dumb/uneducated/lazy to use such a filter is not society's problem
I take your point, but if most people are unable to use it, then it's not a successful strategy (from society's point of view).
I suppose this is one of those things like popup blocking where the technocrats get a free out for as long as the general public remain technically illiterate.
Tycho had talked me into playing my first MMORPG and I told him that if he ever did that again I'd kick him right in his cream and crackers. After an hour or so of hitting spiders with a bat I was ready to write off the entire genre. He said "What about Star Wars Galaxies?" At the time I told him that Galaxies would be different because it was Star Wars. "It's not like they're gonna make you spend hours hitting Wamprats with a stick." Oh irony, thou art a harsh mistress.
The question now is whether Hotmail etc will start automatically filtering out ADV: spam. If they do not, or if (more likely) they market ADV: filtering as a pay service, then most technically illiterate folks will still be drowned in spam. The spam will just have a slightly different subject line.
(NB: The scientifically standard 'average punter' is kept in a tube of inert gas in Geneva).
I don't think that a private company is necessarily more trustworthy than a public regulator. UL may be great (and are probably better than the FDA as you suggest), but for every UL there's an Anderson Consulting.
This, I think, is a really key problem with letting the market regulate itself. Some companies are as crooked and avaricious as the worst of politicians. At the moment said companies at least have to go through the tedious process of buying out politicians and then slowly watering down regulatory bodies into total uselessness.
There's an old PA comic where they mock Scott's love of micropayments here.
In today's PA Tycho clarifies this somewhat by making an interesting point about micropayments: they can only keep you afloat if you get lots of them. And if you're a comic producer getting that much attention, you can probably survive by selling ad space, merchandising, subscriptions etc. So the numbers needed to make micropayments viable are probably similar to the numbers needed to make web comics viable (in a business sense) full stop.
I am working / studying at an Australian Uni and it is quite different here. Although most of the general computer labs run Windows or OSX, if you are an IT/science/engineering student you can choose to use Linux or Solaris instead, and are encouraged to use them interchangeably (for Java / Perl development etc).
I totally understand the move towards casual gaming. After working a long day I can't devote the hours to a time-intensive game (e.g. Resident Evil). Now I find myself playing retro shooters and suchlike, games that can be crammed in between work and endless bloody domestic chores.
Oh, save us from small-minded, narrow, ignoratn American parochialism.
I am an Australian, typing this from frosty Sydney, and have no particular loyalty to the US. I don't even like my own government.
As a realist I think we should acknowledge that the US has the strongest influence over what happens in international trade etc. It may not be ethical or just, but it's what's happening. I would point you to zillions of examples but I assume you can read a newspaper.
The best protection open source can get is US legal precendents. The defeat of SCO would be a good start, then a decision upholding the GPL so that it gets taken seriously.
This would not only protect OSS, but allay the fears of fence-sitting businessfolk.
I believe Microsoft is largely to blame for this with Internet Explorer. Many users have default settings that do not prompt or reject downloads of unsigned ActiveX objects. So Gator slips right in. And they don't have prompt/reject set for running unsigned scripts.
Have you ever tried surfing the web using IE with Active X set to prompt? Pretty much every banner add seems to use Active X for something or other. It's scary...
isn't fbi the new saviour of the sydney radio scene?
It sounds too similar to JJJ in my opinion -- does Sydney really need another station playing Radiohead etc? There's so much interesting music out there, and it disturbs me that many of the 'community' stations (e.g. the evil Wild FM) play stuff you can hear a lot of elsewhere. It would be nice if community radio played local music, electronic music etc. This is why I like 2SER... they even had System Corrupt on in drive time last year.
Oh and although we will agree to disagree on the music policy - I am right
Well, I can't argue with that logic. Anyhoo, aren't you a Kiwi?
Slashdot Mirror
That's an interesting analogy. I agree that the best that can be done (from a technical perspective) is to provide the tools and make them easy to use. However, I live in a country where it is mandated by law that people wear seatbelts, and as a result evryone does. Not from fear of punishment, but because it's the done thing (like putting litter in a bin). Interestingly, the penalty for a passenger not wearing a seatbelt is levied against the driver here -- if someone wants to bypass a safety device you are not supposed to transport them.
It sounds very draconian in writing but it feels casual and traditional in practice. It just a thing you do when you get into a car, on par with closing your door.
Now that I think about it, I think that the law actually supports individual freedoms, in that it prevents people becoming projectiles in the event of a car accident. The freedom to not be speared by some halfit emerging from a windscreen is rated higher than the freedom to place oneself in needless danger of emerging from said windscreen.
the fact that some people will be too dumb/uneducated/lazy to use such a filter is not society's problem
I take your point, but if most people are unable to use it, then it's not a successful strategy (from society's point of view).
I suppose this is one of those things like popup blocking where the technocrats get a free out for as long as the general public remain technically illiterate.
There's a scathing review at Penny Arcade (scroll down to the middle of the page).
Tycho had talked me into playing my first MMORPG and I told him that if he ever did that again I'd kick him right in his cream and crackers. After an hour or so of hitting spiders with a bat I was ready to write off the entire genre. He said "What about Star Wars Galaxies?" At the time I told him that Galaxies would be different because it was Star Wars. "It's not like they're gonna make you spend hours hitting Wamprats with a stick." Oh irony, thou art a harsh mistress.
The question now is whether Hotmail etc will start automatically filtering out ADV: spam. If they do not, or if (more likely) they market ADV: filtering as a pay service, then most technically illiterate folks will still be drowned in spam. The spam will just have a slightly different subject line.
(NB: The scientifically standard 'average punter' is kept in a tube of inert gas in Geneva).
You might also like to read the slashdot story.
I don't think that a private company is necessarily more trustworthy than a public regulator. UL may be great (and are probably better than the FDA as you suggest), but for every UL there's an Anderson Consulting.
This, I think, is a really key problem with letting the market regulate itself. Some companies are as crooked and avaricious as the worst of politicians. At the moment said companies at least have to go through the tedious process of buying out politicians and then slowly watering down regulatory bodies into total uselessness.
He's a troll because he pretends to work for various videogame companies but actually doesn't. Check this comment for details.
I am posting this from Firebird and loving it. Cheers.
Thanks a lot! I am downloading it now...
Sadly I, like many others, do not have the privs to install Mozilla on my work box. : (
I love it, the article has a popunder : )
And I doubt my favourite bands will be on iTunes any day soon :)
There's an old PA comic where they mock Scott's love of micropayments here.
In today's PA Tycho clarifies this somewhat by making an interesting point about micropayments: they can only keep you afloat if you get lots of them. And if you're a comic producer getting that much attention, you can probably survive by selling ad space, merchandising, subscriptions etc. So the numbers needed to make micropayments viable are probably similar to the numbers needed to make web comics viable (in a business sense) full stop.
Finally, investigative reporting that is actually helpful and interesting. Go the Beeb : )
I am working / studying at an Australian Uni and it is quite different here. Although most of the general computer labs run Windows or OSX, if you are an IT/science/engineering student you can choose to use Linux or Solaris instead, and are encouraged to use them interchangeably (for Java / Perl development etc).
Ha, I was just listening to Bomb the Bass - 'Megablast' last night, and thinking how it cool it was as the soundtrack to Xenon 2 on the Amiga.
I totally understand the move towards casual gaming. After working a long day I can't devote the hours to a time-intensive game (e.g. Resident Evil). Now I find myself playing retro shooters and suchlike, games that can be crammed in between work and endless bloody domestic chores.
Oh, save us from small-minded, narrow, ignoratn American parochialism.
I am an Australian, typing this from frosty Sydney, and have no particular loyalty to the US. I don't even like my own government.
As a realist I think we should acknowledge that the US has the strongest influence over what happens in international trade etc. It may not be ethical or just, but it's what's happening. I would point you to zillions of examples but I assume you can read a newspaper.
A friend of mine got propositioned by The Weasel recently. Ewwww...
It's a pisstake of Scott McCloud of Understanding Comics fame, for those who were wondering.
The best protection open source can get is US legal precendents. The defeat of SCO would be a good start, then a decision upholding the GPL so that it gets taken seriously.
This would not only protect OSS, but allay the fears of fence-sitting businessfolk.
You make me want to fire up AMOS and DPaint IV and write a shitty top-scrolling shooter. I salute you.
Forgive my scepticism, but looking at the picture this seems awfully similar to two adjacent screens.
I believe Microsoft is largely to blame for this with Internet Explorer. Many users have default settings that do not prompt or reject downloads of unsigned ActiveX objects. So Gator slips right in. And they don't have prompt/reject set for running unsigned scripts.
Have you ever tried surfing the web using IE with Active X set to prompt? Pretty much every banner add seems to use Active X for something or other. It's scary...
isn't fbi the new saviour of the sydney radio scene?
It sounds too similar to JJJ in my opinion -- does Sydney really need another station playing Radiohead etc? There's so much interesting music out there, and it disturbs me that many of the 'community' stations (e.g. the evil Wild FM) play stuff you can hear a lot of elsewhere. It would be nice if community radio played local music, electronic music etc. This is why I like 2SER... they even had System Corrupt on in drive time last year.
Oh and although we will agree to disagree on the music policy - I am right
Well, I can't argue with that logic. Anyhoo, aren't you a Kiwi?