1. Someone makes a comment about India in direct reply to a story about Sri Lanka.
2. India and Sri Lanka are very close, indeed Sri Lanka could be construde as an Indian province to the poorly informed.
3. Some makes a sophomoric comment based on specious fact (see #2).
4. You defend it as relevant on grounds of humour.
So would you defend such a comment as 'humour' in the same vein if, say, the story was about Google buying some German software? How moronic.
Perhaps you could reply along the lines that this is a story about people with brown skin and an unfamiliar culture and, God damn it, (in a suitably jingoistic manner) "they're stealing out jobs".
Google do lots of cool stuff, and if they joined it up well it could be super cool, but lets not froth at the mouth...
G-mail is hands down the best e-mail service I've ever used
Yeah, the ability to write limited abounts of HTML formatted messages and an interface sunken in HTML makes it really good. The only good thing about it is the storage space and integration within google.com/ig, IMHO. I have seen better, but they have all died a miserable death.
although I haven't used the new IMing service, I hear that it's very streamlined
What? It runs the a Jabber protocol. It is no more streamlined than any other Jabber server, of which there are many.
As long as they don't become bent on world domination like Microsoft, I don't see why them getting bigger would be a problem.
You do know that Google have, in the past, made remarks about putting a chip in people's brains and co-ordinating all the information in the entire world. He who controls the world's information controls the world... even if he is a Baynesian filter.
Someday maybe they'll invent a decent, affordable, backup solution for people that have TB's of files. For now my future money is all going for a decent RAID setup. TeraStation's are pretty cool.
Seriously, RAID is a great way to go. RAID-5 will protect against reasonable levels of equipment failure for around +20% expense. If you're thinking about off-line storage, store it off-site: the chances of something affecting a RAID-5 setup (bar slack administration) are high that it will affect local off-line storage (I'm thinking fire, flood, theft).
To refer to the constitution is to totally miss the point.
Only recently we were discussing whether TLDs should stay under US jurisdiction. This is clearly an example of a national government's priorities over what is a global system, and a system that is increasingly drawing away from the US as web use diversifies. This is a kick in the face of the argument that remaining under US jurisdiction encourages 'freedom', however defined.
That was, infact, one of the founding moments of the 'mutually assured distruction' hardware agreement moving to software. Of course, if a massive fundamental patent was breached, I'm not sure the agreement would stand, but for the day-to-day patent infingements the agreement holds up well.
All she was charged with was lying to protect herself. She was set up just like the victims of AbScam and just like John Delorean. Entrapment, pure and simple.
Lying to investigators is not entrapment, it is obstruction of justice.
The big hardware and software companies have a mutual undersanding regarding licences. Because over the past few decades almost everything is dependent on almost everything else, it is pointless to argue over licences - the big 4 IT companies could criple each other in an instant if they decided to, but that would be a no-win situation for anyone.
So I doubt MS will go after Apple (by way of a SW example, remember all the aspects of the Apple GUI MS copied, and the derivatives of that it patented, and Apple also patented, who actually had the kernal of the idea is debatable).
This situation is of course not good. Because they are afraid of each others' ability to crush themselves they'll maintain the oligopoly, yet be active and able to crush the small guy start up, thus maintaining their dominance.
Minus, as well, the cost of paying all of those people to write it, which I suppose might be more than the cost of the DVD.
When the software has been developed, replicating it costs no more than the media and cost of physically writing to this media (plus any per-copy royalties). So these extra copies are, more or less, 100% profit. In reality supporting a more diversified hardware base would mean increased driver support which would be additional cost.
The best PDA? Pencil and paper. No easier or cheaper way to write a quick note down,
or to tear off a corner and give your phone number to that hot babe.
Can't remember a week of appointments, or a few irregular but important dates... is your diary that busy? Need to remember submission dates.. write them on a calendar in your dorm/flat, are you really going to work on something randomly during the day?
Find out why your memory is lacking or diary overly busy - remembering things shouldn't be such a problem. If it is reflect why so.
"There is no cost to writing down on a PDA" - no, not at all. Most importantly, don't let technology disable your inate abilities. Carrying a PDA may feel (self) important but try a role where you actually need one. You'll realise human memory is all important:
With 5+ meetings per day and having to reflect/relay them ad-hoc I can testify that
a good memory is all that matters - constantly active, not reflective on what a screen states - a PDA really doesn't matter other than as a backup. Groupworking
diaries really don't work unless you're constantly sync'd with others, and is probably out of scope and Blackberry
is the only option.
"...why should I be concerned with his answers to general questions about the web?... but that doesn't mean his answers are particularly insightful or relevant."
You answer your own question st stating "TBL is a computer scientist who saw interesting possibilities in a new technique called hypertext."
If anyone is going to comment on something being useful or not, then surely that's someone who has domonstrated an ability in the past to understand where a concept will/should lead, and what it is like to be at the fore-front of a technological tsunami.
You could say no one knows, and that the internet type system is so widely spread now that no single person would have a hope in understading where it would lead. You could say that someone is always biased to promote their own ideas/personal ideologies. I would agree with both of these critiques, but I would say, if one person has proved themself as a seminal, insightful, big picture personality, that really understands the web, then TBL is that person.
Writing something factually correct is one thing, construing it as a counter example to another point with no direct logical relationship between the two does not a valid argument make. Rather, it stinks of ego-sticking your own opinion to others', much like the one who tries to shout loudest in a crowd believes that because they shout loudest they are most correct.
The two points you cited were not mutually exclusive, therefore there is no logical inconsistency. One can example and counter example about Coca Cola all one likes, but they do not make a generality.
What I believe daveschroeder (516195) meant was that companies trying their best to do their best is not a bad thing, in the same way a student at university trying their best is a good thing (best defined on many levels depending on subject/verb/object). Would we want companies not to do their best, and hence screw all of our savings plans and pensions (no, it is not 'them and us'); everyone doing their best increases productivity, technological progress, and national income.
There is something that exists that is called Government. Its role, in a capitalist country, is to allow free enterprise to thrive under an environment where the rule of law is layed down. Its role, in a democratic country, is to provide an environment its population, on majority, think is best for them (this best may not be best for a subset of society, or even as it turns out for those who choose them, but adults vote for a government and adults can make mistakes). The interaction effect, which I think gets a lot of/.ers gripe, is that more money can influence opinion (via media control, heuristic bias, etc), hence result in a form of path determinance, ironically non-democratic (if looking from a blank sheet).
The key, IMHO, is not to get upset with specific examples, but to rally against the concept as a generality, and to minimalise this interaction effect which may be disliked; special interest groups, as effective they are in their subset of interest, actually perpetuate and enforce this interaction.
The article was factually incorrect, even though it linked to correct articles, cited in the parent post. This 'story' seems no more than a waste of everyone's time, yet the submitter that pointed this out is (presently) modded down to -1.
Read up: MS isn't 100% bad. They have some good stuff and good policies sometimes. Don't complain about them point blank to improve your ego, you'll be the kid that called wolf too many times.
Our Asterisk head-end system knows which of our customer service people is on pager duty with an SQL query which looks at their service calendar.
Ah, it only knows if they should be on duty. You really need to fix a GPS scanner and electrode to their spine to ping them (and get unique response) to really know if they're on duty. And if that works, to send them a few dud messages from the customers they're there to support, e.g. "my scanner says it has 0xF4C83D, I'm running NetBSD-experimental.0.03.01.09.0843 under Alpha-64, what can I do" to make sure they're not faking it.
Perhaps you could do something similar. SQL is pretty ubiquitous.
Totally. It would be so simple to do. Just have a script on your mailserver to link a script to write the email (breaking down into the various fields) and attachment to a relational database. Super easy. Use a robust database, prioritise write speed, would probably have to be pretty massive size wise as you'd be writing every single email for 7 years (I think that's what the SEC requires, but don't cite me in court!). Infact, it could be optimised as a flat file structure as blindly saving emails into whatever fields would hardly require relational complexity.
Alternatively, you could instruct your users to save the email into whatever document management system you use (associating the email with whatever other documents you have), but this would be extremely time consuming and unpopular for the users, creating the possibility you would miss an important email which the company could end up liable for. On the trade off, so for an automatic relational database. It would be simple to implement, offer a flexible interface, and offer the security and robustness you're after.
Oh yeah. Many calling cards blow chunks. A good one that is widely available, should you ever need it (and be able to call the 0800/0845 number), is First National.
VoIP 2 local exchange works great, in my experience. I subscribe to Skype to make calls to fixed lines and mobiles regularly. Great call quality and consistently good reliability.
To make cheap international calls I use 'calling cards'. These guys use a variety of technologies. One of my favourites (due to cheapness and consistent reliability) have used a mishmash of VOIP for at least 5 years. Here's how it works: you buy a calling card (like a phone card), call a land number listed on the back of that card, type in a scratch-off security number, then make your international call. Billing works by your phone company charging you for the call to the calling card service (typically local rate, if mobile operators decide to charge a premium for the listed number (not sure how legal that is) then the calling card helpline will offer a further number (also not sure how legal that is)), then receiving a charge from the call card service.
Using this calling card service, I daily call the US for GBP0.04p/min (o/w 0.02p/min calling card charge, 0.02p/min domestic mobile charge), and Hong Kond for GBP0.05p/min (o/w 0.03/min calling card charge, 0.02p/min domestic mobile charge).
Explicit VOIP services don't interest me much in this system of fuzzy technologies. Whatever works. VOIP/Skype is great to save that few pennies, but very similar services already exist.
[My knowledge of calling card services refers to the UK only. I have no knowledge of equivalent services in the US.]
And... under the Steam system, they've constantly been tweaking and updating the Source engine. It is not the same engine it started out as. So long as Valve don't go on a whole redesign, the engine could be updated (for selective HL3 customers?) via the Steam system reasonably easily...
So hard drives seem to be media that you can write to and write to and write to and you'll always be able to get the data back. So a 1 gig drive could become an infinite gig drive...
Not really. The impressions in the drive which are overwritten still exist as shadows, but reading them to any level of accuracy or reliability is extremely hard. Sure a 1 gig drive can 'store' more in this way, but its hard to read - it involves dismanteling the drive and using specialist equipment and even that's not guaranteed. As data is rewritten more and more the shadow gets noisier and noisier - extracting meaningful data from the drive since inception, if it has been a well worked drive, is unlikely - probably 2 generations is all you you could rely on, if that, sometimes you could strike lucky and get 3 generations...
Slashdot Mirror
1. Someone makes a comment about India in direct reply to a story about Sri Lanka.
2. India and Sri Lanka are very close, indeed Sri Lanka could be construde as an Indian province to the poorly informed.
3. Some makes a sophomoric comment based on specious fact (see #2).
4. You defend it as relevant on grounds of humour.
So would you defend such a comment as 'humour' in the same vein if, say, the story was about Google buying some German software? How moronic.
Perhaps you could reply along the lines that this is a story about people with brown skin and an unfamiliar culture and, God damn it, (in a suitably jingoistic manner) "they're stealing out jobs".
Google do lots of cool stuff, and if they joined it up well it could be super cool, but lets not froth at the mouth...
G-mail is hands down the best e-mail service I've ever used
Yeah, the ability to write limited abounts of HTML formatted messages and an interface sunken in HTML makes it really good. The only good thing about it is the storage space and integration within google.com/ig, IMHO. I have seen better, but they have all died a miserable death.
although I haven't used the new IMing service, I hear that it's very streamlined
What? It runs the a Jabber protocol. It is no more streamlined than any other Jabber server, of which there are many.
As long as they don't become bent on world domination like Microsoft, I don't see why them getting bigger would be a problem.
You do know that Google have, in the past, made remarks about putting a chip in people's brains and co-ordinating all the information in the entire world. He who controls the world's information controls the world... even if he is a Baynesian filter.
Someday maybe they'll invent a decent, affordable, backup solution for people that have TB's of files. For now my future money is all going for a decent RAID setup. TeraStation's are pretty cool.
Seriously, RAID is a great way to go. RAID-5 will protect against reasonable levels of equipment failure for around +20% expense. If you're thinking about off-line storage, store it off-site: the chances of something affecting a RAID-5 setup (bar slack administration) are high that it will affect local off-line storage (I'm thinking fire, flood, theft).
I wonder if I can tempt you to reply to your own thread again?
To refer to the constitution is to totally miss the point.
Only recently we were discussing whether TLDs should stay under US jurisdiction. This is clearly an example of a national government's priorities over what is a global system, and a system that is increasingly drawing away from the US as web use diversifies. This is a kick in the face of the argument that remaining under US jurisdiction encourages 'freedom', however defined.
It's a Sunday, it's August. So if we're browsing comments on a non-story I guess we're bored. There is a load of more cool Shockwave animation here.
That was, infact, one of the founding moments of the 'mutually assured distruction' hardware agreement moving to software. Of course, if a massive fundamental patent was breached, I'm not sure the agreement would stand, but for the day-to-day patent infingements the agreement holds up well.
All she was charged with was lying to protect herself. She was set up just like the victims of AbScam and just like John Delorean. Entrapment, pure and simple.
Lying to investigators is not entrapment, it is obstruction of justice.
The big hardware and software companies have a mutual undersanding regarding licences. Because over the past few decades almost everything is dependent on almost everything else, it is pointless to argue over licences - the big 4 IT companies could criple each other in an instant if they decided to, but that would be a no-win situation for anyone.
So I doubt MS will go after Apple (by way of a SW example, remember all the aspects of the Apple GUI MS copied, and the derivatives of that it patented, and Apple also patented, who actually had the kernal of the idea is debatable).
This situation is of course not good. Because they are afraid of each others' ability to crush themselves they'll maintain the oligopoly, yet be active and able to crush the small guy start up, thus maintaining their dominance.
Totally friend you.
See average cost and marginal cost.
Minus, as well, the cost of paying all of those people to write it, which I suppose might be more than the cost of the DVD.
When the software has been developed, replicating it costs no more than the media and cost of physically writing to this media (plus any per-copy royalties). So these extra copies are, more or less, 100% profit. In reality supporting a more diversified hardware base would mean increased driver support which would be additional cost.
The best PDA? Pencil and paper. No easier or cheaper way to write a quick note down, or to tear off a corner and give your phone number to that hot babe.
Can't remember a week of appointments, or a few irregular but important dates... is your diary that busy? Need to remember submission dates.. write them on a calendar in your dorm/flat, are you really going to work on something randomly during the day?
Find out why your memory is lacking or diary overly busy - remembering things shouldn't be such a problem. If it is reflect why so.
"There is no cost to writing down on a PDA" - no, not at all. Most importantly, don't let technology disable your inate abilities. Carrying a PDA may feel (self) important but try a role where you actually need one. You'll realise human memory is all important:
With 5+ meetings per day and having to reflect/relay them ad-hoc I can testify that a good memory is all that matters - constantly active, not reflective on what a screen states - a PDA really doesn't matter other than as a backup. Groupworking diaries really don't work unless you're constantly sync'd with others, and is probably out of scope and Blackberry is the only option.
"...why should I be concerned with his answers to general questions about the web?... but that doesn't mean his answers are particularly insightful or relevant."
You answer your own question st stating "TBL is a computer scientist who saw interesting possibilities in a new technique called hypertext."
If anyone is going to comment on something being useful or not, then surely that's someone who has domonstrated an ability in the past to understand where a concept will/should lead, and what it is like to be at the fore-front of a technological tsunami.
You could say no one knows, and that the internet type system is so widely spread now that no single person would have a hope in understading where it would lead. You could say that someone is always biased to promote their own ideas/personal ideologies. I would agree with both of these critiques, but I would say, if one person has proved themself as a seminal, insightful, big picture personality, that really understands the web, then TBL is that person.
You seem to be trying to make a totally different point than the one you originally picked up. Please see conversation, the exchange of thoughts and ideas.
Writing something factually correct is one thing, construing it as a counter example to another point with no direct logical relationship between the two does not a valid argument make. Rather, it stinks of ego-sticking your own opinion to others', much like the one who tries to shout loudest in a crowd believes that because they shout loudest they are most correct.
Ok, I admit, they still have the best calculator in town.
Thought you were talking about Excel. A top quality spreadsheet, with no peer near comparison, 90% good, infact.
The two points you cited were not mutually exclusive, therefore there is no logical inconsistency. One can example and counter example about Coca Cola all one likes, but they do not make a generality.
/.ers gripe, is that more money can influence opinion (via media control, heuristic bias, etc), hence result in a form of path determinance, ironically non-democratic (if looking from a blank sheet).
What I believe daveschroeder (516195) meant was that companies trying their best to do their best is not a bad thing, in the same way a student at university trying their best is a good thing (best defined on many levels depending on subject/verb/object). Would we want companies not to do their best, and hence screw all of our savings plans and pensions (no, it is not 'them and us'); everyone doing their best increases productivity, technological progress, and national income.
There is something that exists that is called Government. Its role, in a capitalist country, is to allow free enterprise to thrive under an environment where the rule of law is layed down. Its role, in a democratic country, is to provide an environment its population, on majority, think is best for them (this best may not be best for a subset of society, or even as it turns out for those who choose them, but adults vote for a government and adults can make mistakes). The interaction effect, which I think gets a lot of
The key, IMHO, is not to get upset with specific examples, but to rally against the concept as a generality, and to minimalise this interaction effect which may be disliked; special interest groups, as effective they are in their subset of interest, actually perpetuate and enforce this interaction.
The article was factually incorrect, even though it linked to correct articles, cited in the parent post. This 'story' seems no more than a waste of everyone's time, yet the submitter that pointed this out is (presently) modded down to -1.
Read up: MS isn't 100% bad. They have some good stuff and good policies sometimes. Don't complain about them point blank to improve your ego, you'll be the kid that called wolf too many times.
Our Asterisk head-end system knows which of our customer service people is on pager duty with an SQL query which looks at their service calendar.
Ah, it only knows if they should be on duty. You really need to fix a GPS scanner and electrode to their spine to ping them (and get unique response) to really know if they're on duty. And if that works, to send them a few dud messages from the customers they're there to support, e.g. "my scanner says it has 0xF4C83D, I'm running NetBSD-experimental.0.03.01.09.0843 under Alpha-64, what can I do" to make sure they're not faking it.
Perhaps you could do something similar. SQL is pretty ubiquitous.
Totally. It would be so simple to do. Just have a script on your mailserver to link a script to write the email (breaking down into the various fields) and attachment to a relational database. Super easy. Use a robust database, prioritise write speed, would probably have to be pretty massive size wise as you'd be writing every single email for 7 years (I think that's what the SEC requires, but don't cite me in court!). Infact, it could be optimised as a flat file structure as blindly saving emails into whatever fields would hardly require relational complexity.
Alternatively, you could instruct your users to save the email into whatever document management system you use (associating the email with whatever other documents you have), but this would be extremely time consuming and unpopular for the users, creating the possibility you would miss an important email which the company could end up liable for. On the trade off, so for an automatic relational database. It would be simple to implement, offer a flexible interface, and offer the security and robustness you're after.
Any suggestions as to why not?
Oh yeah. Many calling cards blow chunks. A good one that is widely available, should you ever need it (and be able to call the 0800/0845 number), is First National.
Click on the link and log in. You will see YANC.
Was it harder to click on the link or to post your inane comment?
I sort of share your sentiment.
VoIP 2 local exchange works great, in my experience. I subscribe to Skype to make calls to fixed lines and mobiles regularly. Great call quality and consistently good reliability.
To make cheap international calls I use 'calling cards'. These guys use a variety of technologies. One of my favourites (due to cheapness and consistent reliability) have used a mishmash of VOIP for at least 5 years. Here's how it works: you buy a calling card (like a phone card), call a land number listed on the back of that card, type in a scratch-off security number, then make your international call. Billing works by your phone company charging you for the call to the calling card service (typically local rate, if mobile operators decide to charge a premium for the listed number (not sure how legal that is) then the calling card helpline will offer a further number (also not sure how legal that is)), then receiving a charge from the call card service.
Using this calling card service, I daily call the US for GBP0.04p/min (o/w 0.02p/min calling card charge, 0.02p/min domestic mobile charge), and Hong Kond for GBP0.05p/min (o/w 0.03/min calling card charge, 0.02p/min domestic mobile charge).
Explicit VOIP services don't interest me much in this system of fuzzy technologies. Whatever works. VOIP/Skype is great to save that few pennies, but very similar services already exist.
[My knowledge of calling card services refers to the UK only. I have no knowledge of equivalent services in the US.]
And... under the Steam system, they've constantly been tweaking and updating the Source engine. It is not the same engine it started out as. So long as Valve don't go on a whole redesign, the engine could be updated (for selective HL3 customers?) via the Steam system reasonably easily...
So hard drives seem to be media that you can write to and write to and write to and you'll always be able to get the data back. So a 1 gig drive could become an infinite gig drive...
Not really. The impressions in the drive which are overwritten still exist as shadows, but reading them to any level of accuracy or reliability is extremely hard. Sure a 1 gig drive can 'store' more in this way, but its hard to read - it involves dismanteling the drive and using specialist equipment and even that's not guaranteed. As data is rewritten more and more the shadow gets noisier and noisier - extracting meaningful data from the drive since inception, if it has been a well worked drive, is unlikely - probably 2 generations is all you you could rely on, if that, sometimes you could strike lucky and get 3 generations...