It's good that he probably understands what the problems are. Maybe less so that he is used to profiting by them.
Both valid points.
But profiting by patents- either defending for them or against them (which he did both), doesn't necessarily mean he likes the system the way it is, only that he understands the rules/problems. He might very well support patent reform (as many of us on Slashdot do) but we just don't know.
Software patents, especially, are far too vague/generic, and often obvious. They have caused all kinds of stupid litigation that has hurt companies and consumers, alike.
Most Republicans are Conservative, but they have their own twist. Many religious Republicans do co-mingle their religious conventions with politics, true Conservatives do not. The Constitution clearly separates the two- religion and government.
You are correct that Libertarians are more conservative than Republicans, and much, much more so than most Democrats. But the whole "left vs. right", "conservative vs. liberal", "progressive vs. regressive" are all two-dimensional oversimplifications of a much broader set of choices that go in many other directions. But the USA loves to make everything polarized- has to be "A" or "B"; the whole voting system is geared around the concept and our country suffers due to it.
As far as the marriage thing (which is another topic, but since you mentioned it)- Conservatives, including [I believe] most Republicans, believe that is reserved to the States and should be decided there (which is consistent with the Constitution). Marriage in religion is one thing, but in the eyes of Law it is just a construct that is [obviously] flexible. If marriage is not between a man and woman, it could be two men, two women, two men and a woman, two women and a man, four people, etc. The construct, in many ways, is actually pretty outdated. Most marriages ultimately and easily end, start again, etc. Almost half of children are now born outside marriage (over 40%). In each subsequent generation, fewer and fewer people are even bothering with getting married. Even the CURRENT concept of marriage is unfair if it conveys any privileges denied to those who are or want to remain single, or have relationships that do not fit the notion of just two people.
>"Conservatives want to keep things as is, unchanged. "
As far as USA Conservatives, no they don't. That is a big and unfair over-simplification. Conservatives want to keep the PRINCIPLES things were built on unchanged. Most importantly the concept of smaller government, especially Federal. Most Conservatives emphatically support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights inside it; they do not believe it is a flexible document that should be changed on a whim or twisted to meet the latest craze. They want people to be free of overbearing and over-reaching laws and regulations, and free to pursue happiness while also forced to take responsibility for their own actions and lives. They believe in equal rights and opportunities, not in quotas, handouts, reparations, affirmative action, and generations of people dependent on government spending with high taxes and debt. They also believe that free-markets work, and much better than government, as long as monopolies are kept in check and consumers are informed and free to make choices.
>"Google Chrome will soon allow users to permanently mute websites, a feature that will cheer millions who suffer through autoplaying videos on (annoying) websites every day"
Sorry, but audio is not the only problem. Let us know when AUTOPLAY OF THE VIDEOS (and even stupid animations) can also be "permanently" disabled. Having a video play is almost as annoying as the audio that goes with it. Many of us can't read or tolerate looking at sites that constantly move and spin and fade... it is beyond severely distracting. And now sites take their F'ing autoplaying videos and MOVE THEM DOWN THE SCREEN TO FOLLOW YOU, just to maximize the annoyance, waste screen space, and cover things you want to see.
At least Firefox + FlashStopper is a HUGE help (despite the name, it has nothing to do with Flash), although it does nothing for non-video animation.
I did for a while. Often I just play music with "mplayer" command line. Evolved to xmms for a long number of years before switching to Audacity. I still use "play" or "mplayer" when I want to just hear something I want right now.
>"Government should not pick winners and losers. Only the Republican party crony capitalists should pick winners and losers using tax payer funds. "
Yeah right.... only the Democrat party crony socialists should pick winners and losers using tax payer funds.
Doesn't that sound just as silly? BOTH PARTIES spend and tax and regulate more all the time. They do it somewhat differently, but they both want bigger government with more power and end up spending more, creating more debt, and making the government larger and larger with more and more corruption and waste.
Any real change will first require a different voting system (IRV/etc), especially for the primaries.
>"Of course, the real point is that neither political party in the US is any good actually doing what they say."
Absolutely.
And this further illustrates that there isn't this nice left vs. right thing most people think there is. More government spending = more government and more taxes and more debt and more corruption and more waste; doesn't matter WHAT it is spent on, it is still government spending. The right likes it just as much as the left. Apparently the only ones who don't want more spending/taxing are the Libertarians.
Translation of the whole thing comes down to: "We are officially a little scared by what AMD is able to do right now, so we are going to lay out our future plans to kick butt."
>"Not even something similar to Netflix or Amazon Video?
That might be an exception, but it generally doesn't work that way.... in such cases, you have a subscription to the content and the app is just along the way for the ride. All the content providers include free apps to access the content (HBO Go, Netflix, Google Movies, Amazon Video, Time Magazine, etc, etc).
>"App Developers Should Charge More If They Want People To Buy Subscriptions, Suggests Report"
Or give up on subscription. There is no app I would ever get sucked into "renting", ever. But I will pay a few dollars for a useful app. Maybe even more for a fantastic one (of which I have only done once).
But the plants most homeowners use pesticides on are not the flowering kinds that most bees go for. Lawn grass is rarely, if ever, allowed to flower because it is mowed (save maybe some low-growing clover... which is not grass anyway).
I know in my yard, the ONLY thing I use neonicotinoids on are my non-flowering ornamental bushes (which are trimmed enough to keep from flowering). Without it, unfortunately most would all be dead due to scale. Yes, I tried everything else and nothing worked until I applied Merit and that stuff is magic. Applied only once a year and the problem is gone.
I don't think the casual use by homeowners seeking protection of some established ornamentals is much (if any) exposure to bees. Its use is relatively infinitesimal (and the price extremely steep... one treatment for 20 bushes in my yard is about $50 for a single application). The wide-spread use on huge agricultural farms, however, could be significant (if neonicotinoids really are the main problem with harm to bees).
I would not be in favor of any type of across-the-board ban of neonicotinoids if it would mean taking it out of the hands of responsible use in ways that can't possibly be much danger.
>"Out of the box, Print Screen on Xubuntu opens a screenshot tool, but Print Screen on Debian Xfce does nothing. Instead, the user must manually associate xfce4-screenshooter with the Print key in Settings > Keyboard > Application Shortcuts."
So it is up to the BROWSER to standardize how desktops and operating systems handle screenshots? Why not mouse preferences, file browsing, window decorations, and mixer settings next? The browser is not the OS (as much as Google wants it to be).
A new look? Seriously? I want the OLD look. Not the current "new look" with everything rigid, Chromified, and hidden, and not some new look that, no doubt, is just more of the same. Oh, and I still don't want tabs on top, damnit. How about CHOICE?
And I don't want or need a "screenshot" function in a browser. I already have the feature elsewhere... that works anywhere... and does more. Don't we all? More non-browser boat/code/bugs/memory/resources is not what I want! Perhaps make a nice official *ADD-ON* for those who want it.
Firefox is still the only major multiplatform, open-source, community-driven browser (sorry, Chromium doesn't quite muster). For that, I am grateful. But stop worrying about trying to look and behave like Chrome! Put your efforts in stability, speed, and performance... and throw in a side of REMOVING non-browser features and adding back more user control and options for the UI and THAT will keep your user base. No matter what browser people are using, Firefox is still VERY important for EVERYONE to prevent a dangerous browser monoculture.
If you ARE Chrome, then why should people keep using Firefox? If you ARE Chrome, then why should people leave Chrome? If you ARE Chrome, then why does browser diversity matter anymore?
>"US Product Safety Commission Warns That Some Fidget Spinners Explode"
More media sensationalism. No phone/toy/whatever "explodes." But anything with a Lithium battery has the potential to melt, burn, even burn rapidly or violently... but that is not an "EXPLOSION". Of course, saying "a fire" is so less exciting or riveting than using extreme words like "EXPLODED!!!!!"
>"Fidget spinners are supposed to be calming and fun, especially for students struggling to focus."
Here is a better tip- turn off your phone!
>"There have been a handful of choking incidents"
And another tip- don't put toys, pens, currency, rocks, pets, batteries, phones, remotes, or other such things in your mouth. And keep anything that can be put in the mouth or break into pieces away from small children (duh).
Pension? What's that? Have worked for 32+ years non-stop, never seen one of those before. Could just be this area, but "pensions" seem to be pretty rare and just for cushy government/government-ish jobs. The rest of us are stuck with "tax deferred savings plans" which few younger people ever start early enough and when they do it is too late to amass the necessary savings (AKA 401/457).
>"What horrifically terrible machine learning algorithm sees a red octagon and thinks it's a black and white rectangular speed limit sign?"
+1 THANK YOU! I was wondering the same thing. I mean, I know visual AI is complicated, but it is a FREAKING RED OCTAGON!!! What freaking chance does freaking self-driving technology have if it can't freaking deal with something that freaking simple???
I have had to fight our auditors every year for decades about stupid password ageing rules. I refused to implement them and said it would LOWER security while simultaneously pissing off users and lowering productivity. Each year I added more references to articles from people who agreed with me, just in case.
Slashdot Mirror
It's good that he probably understands what the problems are. Maybe less so that he is used to profiting by them.
Both valid points.
But profiting by patents- either defending for them or against them (which he did both), doesn't necessarily mean he likes the system the way it is, only that he understands the rules/problems. He might very well support patent reform (as many of us on Slashdot do) but we just don't know.
Software patents, especially, are far too vague/generic, and often obvious. They have caused all kinds of stupid litigation that has hurt companies and consumers, alike.
>"Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV all offer universal search across services like Netflix and Hulu[...]"
You left out TiVo, which was not only first, but still one of the most powerful. Couple it with either cable or OTA antenna and go to town.
>"No take-backsies. Proceed."
No thanks, better things to do with my time right now.
>"Nope, as if you did, you wouldn't have tolerated"
Me tolerated? You don't know what I do or don't tolerate...
>"And yet Republicans, aka, self-professed Conservatives freak out over that and decry that it belongs to religion,"
Actually, I agree that it belongs to religion and should have no standing or observance by government. That is the simple solution.
>"Why is that a problem?
Unfairness? That is pretty self-explaining.
>"What unfairness do you see that you find objectionable?"
I said "if it conveys any privileges". Does it?
Most Republicans are Conservative, but they have their own twist. Many religious Republicans do co-mingle their religious conventions with politics, true Conservatives do not. The Constitution clearly separates the two- religion and government.
You are correct that Libertarians are more conservative than Republicans, and much, much more so than most Democrats. But the whole "left vs. right", "conservative vs. liberal", "progressive vs. regressive" are all two-dimensional oversimplifications of a much broader set of choices that go in many other directions. But the USA loves to make everything polarized- has to be "A" or "B"; the whole voting system is geared around the concept and our country suffers due to it.
As far as the marriage thing (which is another topic, but since you mentioned it)- Conservatives, including [I believe] most Republicans, believe that is reserved to the States and should be decided there (which is consistent with the Constitution). Marriage in religion is one thing, but in the eyes of Law it is just a construct that is [obviously] flexible. If marriage is not between a man and woman, it could be two men, two women, two men and a woman, two women and a man, four people, etc. The construct, in many ways, is actually pretty outdated. Most marriages ultimately and easily end, start again, etc. Almost half of children are now born outside marriage (over 40%). In each subsequent generation, fewer and fewer people are even bothering with getting married. Even the CURRENT concept of marriage is unfair if it conveys any privileges denied to those who are or want to remain single, or have relationships that do not fit the notion of just two people.
>" US "Conservatives" aren't. They're Radical Regressives. Trying to regress society [...] to mask ill intent. "
If you think that following both the words and intent of the Constitution is "radical" then nothing else I say to you will make any difference.
>"Conservatives want to keep things as is, unchanged. "
As far as USA Conservatives, no they don't. That is a big and unfair over-simplification. Conservatives want to keep the PRINCIPLES things were built on unchanged. Most importantly the concept of smaller government, especially Federal. Most Conservatives emphatically support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights inside it; they do not believe it is a flexible document that should be changed on a whim or twisted to meet the latest craze. They want people to be free of overbearing and over-reaching laws and regulations, and free to pursue happiness while also forced to take responsibility for their own actions and lives. They believe in equal rights and opportunities, not in quotas, handouts, reparations, affirmative action, and generations of people dependent on government spending with high taxes and debt. They also believe that free-markets work, and much better than government, as long as monopolies are kept in check and consumers are informed and free to make choices.
>"Google Chrome will soon allow users to permanently mute websites, a feature that will cheer millions who suffer through autoplaying videos on (annoying) websites every day"
Sorry, but audio is not the only problem. Let us know when AUTOPLAY OF THE VIDEOS (and even stupid animations) can also be "permanently" disabled. Having a video play is almost as annoying as the audio that goes with it. Many of us can't read or tolerate looking at sites that constantly move and spin and fade... it is beyond severely distracting. And now sites take their F'ing autoplaying videos and MOVE THEM DOWN THE SCREEN TO FOLLOW YOU, just to maximize the annoyance, waste screen space, and cover things you want to see.
At least Firefox + FlashStopper is a HUGE help (despite the name, it has nothing to do with Flash), although it does nothing for non-video animation.
Open a private tab and go here:
https://patient.info/doctor/pa...
Now you can take the test, through https and get immediate results without Google's involvement at all, and no tracking, no cookies.
How did I find it? With Google, of course :) But indirectly using http://startpage.com/ in a private tab.
>"Am I the only one using mpg123?"
I did for a while. Often I just play music with "mplayer" command line. Evolved to xmms for a long number of years before switching to Audacity. I still use "play" or "mplayer" when I want to just hear something I want right now.
>"And what mp3-playing software are you using today?"
Audacious [under Linux], of course. And guess what skin? Refugee Winamp 2! :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
>"Government should not pick winners and losers. Only the Republican party crony capitalists should pick winners and losers using tax payer funds. "
Yeah right.... only the Democrat party crony socialists should pick winners and losers using tax payer funds.
Doesn't that sound just as silly? BOTH PARTIES spend and tax and regulate more all the time. They do it somewhat differently, but they both want bigger government with more power and end up spending more, creating more debt, and making the government larger and larger with more and more corruption and waste.
Any real change will first require a different voting system (IRV/etc), especially for the primaries.
>"Of course, the real point is that neither political party in the US is any good actually doing what they say."
Absolutely.
And this further illustrates that there isn't this nice left vs. right thing most people think there is. More government spending = more government and more taxes and more debt and more corruption and more waste; doesn't matter WHAT it is spent on, it is still government spending. The right likes it just as much as the left. Apparently the only ones who don't want more spending/taxing are the Libertarians.
Translation of the whole thing comes down to: "We are officially a little scared by what AMD is able to do right now, so we are going to lay out our future plans to kick butt."
>"Not even something similar to Netflix or Amazon Video?
That might be an exception, but it generally doesn't work that way.... in such cases, you have a subscription to the content and the app is just along the way for the ride. All the content providers include free apps to access the content (HBO Go, Netflix, Google Movies, Amazon Video, Time Magazine, etc, etc).
>"App Developers Should Charge More If They Want People To Buy Subscriptions, Suggests Report"
Or give up on subscription. There is no app I would ever get sucked into "renting", ever. But I will pay a few dollars for a useful app. Maybe even more for a fantastic one (of which I have only done once).
But the plants most homeowners use pesticides on are not the flowering kinds that most bees go for. Lawn grass is rarely, if ever, allowed to flower because it is mowed (save maybe some low-growing clover... which is not grass anyway).
I know in my yard, the ONLY thing I use neonicotinoids on are my non-flowering ornamental bushes (which are trimmed enough to keep from flowering). Without it, unfortunately most would all be dead due to scale. Yes, I tried everything else and nothing worked until I applied Merit and that stuff is magic. Applied only once a year and the problem is gone.
I don't think the casual use by homeowners seeking protection of some established ornamentals is much (if any) exposure to bees. Its use is relatively infinitesimal (and the price extremely steep... one treatment for 20 bushes in my yard is about $50 for a single application). The wide-spread use on huge agricultural farms, however, could be significant (if neonicotinoids really are the main problem with harm to bees).
I would not be in favor of any type of across-the-board ban of neonicotinoids if it would mean taking it out of the hands of responsible use in ways that can't possibly be much danger.
>"Out of the box, Print Screen on Xubuntu opens a screenshot tool, but Print Screen on Debian Xfce does nothing. Instead, the user must manually associate xfce4-screenshooter with the Print key in Settings > Keyboard > Application Shortcuts."
So it is up to the BROWSER to standardize how desktops and operating systems handle screenshots? Why not mouse preferences, file browsing, window decorations, and mixer settings next? The browser is not the OS (as much as Google wants it to be).
A new look? Seriously? I want the OLD look. Not the current "new look" with everything rigid, Chromified, and hidden, and not some new look that, no doubt, is just more of the same. Oh, and I still don't want tabs on top, damnit. How about CHOICE?
And I don't want or need a "screenshot" function in a browser. I already have the feature elsewhere... that works anywhere... and does more. Don't we all? More non-browser boat/code/bugs/memory/resources is not what I want! Perhaps make a nice official *ADD-ON* for those who want it.
Firefox is still the only major multiplatform, open-source, community-driven browser (sorry, Chromium doesn't quite muster). For that, I am grateful. But stop worrying about trying to look and behave like Chrome! Put your efforts in stability, speed, and performance... and throw in a side of REMOVING non-browser features and adding back more user control and options for the UI and THAT will keep your user base. No matter what browser people are using, Firefox is still VERY important for EVERYONE to prevent a dangerous browser monoculture.
If you ARE Chrome, then why should people keep using Firefox?
If you ARE Chrome, then why should people leave Chrome?
If you ARE Chrome, then why does browser diversity matter anymore?
>"US Product Safety Commission Warns That Some Fidget Spinners Explode"
More media sensationalism. No phone/toy/whatever "explodes." But anything with a Lithium battery has the potential to melt, burn, even burn rapidly or violently... but that is not an "EXPLOSION". Of course, saying "a fire" is so less exciting or riveting than using extreme words like "EXPLODED!!!!!"
>"Fidget spinners are supposed to be calming and fun, especially for students struggling to focus."
Here is a better tip- turn off your phone!
>"There have been a handful of choking incidents"
And another tip- don't put toys, pens, currency, rocks, pets, batteries, phones, remotes, or other such things in your mouth. And keep anything that can be put in the mouth or break into pieces away from small children (duh).
>Without letting the people who disagree with me talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Pension? What's that? Have worked for 32+ years non-stop, never seen one of those before. Could just be this area, but "pensions" seem to be pretty rare and just for cushy government/government-ish jobs. The rest of us are stuck with "tax deferred savings plans" which few younger people ever start early enough and when they do it is too late to amass the necessary savings (AKA 401/457).
>"What horrifically terrible machine learning algorithm sees a red octagon and thinks it's a black and white rectangular speed limit sign?"
+1 THANK YOU!
I was wondering the same thing. I mean, I know visual AI is complicated, but it is a FREAKING RED OCTAGON!!! What freaking chance does freaking self-driving technology have if it can't freaking deal with something that freaking simple???
Freak!!
I have had to fight our auditors every year for decades about stupid password ageing rules. I refused to implement them and said it would LOWER security while simultaneously pissing off users and lowering productivity. Each year I added more references to articles from people who agreed with me, just in case.
Maybe now they will finally believe me?
>"sad news for anyone who'd prefer to not have to lug around an entire phone to listen to music."
Seriously? As if there aren't many dozens of other MP3 players out there for many, many years, that are also better and cheaper? Sandisk Clip perhaps?