Has most of the US populous been pegged as a terrorist because of something they did and been interrogated/had their world turned upside-down in a home search?
Thanks for proving that Americans are conditioned to believe that they aren't being directly affected and that as long as the government is creepily looking "from a distance" that it doesn't matter.
Privacy issues won't arise for the general public untill it's them directly affected. They see no reason to care untill they see what happens when they don't care.
Oh Americans are directly affected right now. They are under constant video surveillance, their government is "legally" spying on them and their friends, and their bank records are closely watched for "terrorism". We aren't allowed to protest publically if the President is affected, we aren't allowed to voice our opinions silently "in there" without a hassle and threats of police action, and we aren't allowed to protest publically w/o the threat of being added to a FBI watchlist for "Homeland Terrorism".
So, while Americans are conditioned to believe that they are not having their privacy and freedoms infringed on, it is.
Ice Weasel sounds like it will be only installable on Debian, perhaps Debian-descended platforms like Ubuntu. Of course, since it's open source, anyone can port it to other platforms, I suppose. But why bother, all Ice Weasel is, is Firefox devoid of any nonfree trademarked art. And any updates to Firefox will be bought to Iceweasel.
Then, if everyone is so fucking concerned with "unity" in the userbase stop using vi, vim, Emacs, pico, nano, joe, and echo and instead just come up with a standard editor and use just that. Fuck, all those editors are installable on a bunch of different platforms. All these different text editors are just fragmenting the userbase just because of differences of opinion in some small part of the program.
Or, the best solution would be for the Firefox folks (if they were so concerned with "unity" in the userbase) to just get rid of the questionable graphics so that everyone could run Firefox and defeat the big bad IE monster!
Oh and down with those assholes that use lynx, w3m, Opera, Netscape, and Mozilla. They ruin the Internet.
I think if parents started being charged with involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide when their kids go on school schooting rampages, you'd see more parents suddenly taking an interest in their children's lives and activities.
While I agree wholeheartedly that parents should be held accountable, should be responsible for the proper upbringing of their children, and should be involved with their kids' lives I don't believe that it would change the fact that there are some seriously fucked up kids out there that think killing/harming others is the answer.
It is *very* important for companies to learn to market to people using the Internet. Where I work they are comtemplating myspace accounts, already have iTunes U going, use Blogger, and are looking for even more ways to capture those that are "jacked in".
Second Life users scare the shit out of me but so do Myspace, Okrut, and Friendster users. Hell, I won't even go on IRC anymore;) It's just nice to see that companies are finally realizing that the market is huge out there and to embrace it as best they can.
Me? I'm still into staying away from those services -- I guess I'm not the intended market;)
Too bad the average American believes that if you are interested in free speech implications and privacy that you are a terrorist or a conspiracy theorist.
Google is usually good at not integrating just for the sake of integrating. For example, Google Analytics still uses a Flash based map instead of the Google Maps API.
IMHO that was an example of why Google *should* integrate. Google Analytics' flash map absolutely blows. It's basically worthless unless you are looking at the world overview. The second you want to see anything close up it's shit and you can't navigate it very well.
I'd give anything for them to make that section of Analytics more useful as IMHO that part of the tool is potentially the most interesting.
And the plethora of books on Linux that are being published underlines the popularity of this OS.
There has always been a "plethora" of books on Linux and a variety of other subjects that no one in the general public gives a shit about. I'm interested in knowing just how this means anything significant.
If I could add a second, it'd be, Are there any reasons why I won't want to upgrade?
Yes.
Of course there are always going to be "features" you'll want to upgrade for and there will be "features" (like DRM) that you will want to avoid. The question is how many people will hold out until the DRM "features" will force them to "upgrade" to the new OS because nothing else will work anymore.
I can attest (I'm sure many can) to how fast an unpatched XP machine gets hit. I have an installation disc from 2002 (sp1). When I use it I install with the ethernet cable unplugged. After install I plug in the ethernet and go straight away to Windows update but still, on the last go, within 5 minutes I got a somewhat obviously (to me) fake and malicious pop-up telling me I'd better click on it to protect my computer.
You're obviously confused by the definition of "average home PC". The "average" home PC user doesn't do jack shit other than put the CD in the drive and click OK a bunch. Do you honestly believe that an "average" PC user is installing their OS with the cable unplugged? Do you honestly belive that the first thing that goes through their head is "Windows Update and Firewall!" No, it's "myspace++, AOL Instant Messenger++, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, oooh porno+++++++++++++, mmmmmm porno."
On the other hand, I know a myspace who was 18 when I first met her, and I thought she looked 26 then.
You mean a "person" right? Myspace isn't 18 years old. Just wanted to clear that confusion up.
As far as differences in "social networking sites" (I hate that term as they rarely do anything of the sort) go, yes, they are all entirely different. I utilize Dodgeball although not for social networking (I'm fairly certain that no one uses it for that as the notification of friends of friends hasn't worked in at least 6 months). I use it to keep track of which venues I've been to and when. I used to post the RSS feed on my website as the content there generally pertains to restaurants and where I've been going to so it was a nice fit (once the RSS feed died when they switched to Google's backend I never bothered to reuse it once fixed).
Myspace and Facebook are pretty much worthless in the sense of "social networking" unless you are talking about being online "friends". Plenty of people want another number but rarely do you meet anyone new that is interested in actually being your friend IRL (unless we are talking about 40 year old men and 15 year old girls).
While the lines of real life and Internet life are blurring these sites are not doing much to fix that. It might not be the sites fault, obviously, as their users are the ones that decide how to use it "properly".
I have done a lot of reading on North Korea recently and while that doesn't make me an expert by any means, I have to believe that the people in NK are a little less likely to blindly follow Kim than his father.
They blindly followed "their" Father but Kim doesn't have the same kind of appeal.
Re:rocket "belt"
on
Rocket Men
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Why is it called a rocket "Belt", when it's typically something the size of a surfboard with a pair of propane tanks that you strap on your back? -- #11. No pirate shall ever wear a "fanny pack".
Look at the way great ideas have grown quickly: YouTube, digg, and so on.
YouTube isn't a great idea. That's like saying that Empornium and Suprnova are/were great ideas. YouTube, just like Empornium and Supernova, is successful because there is a metric fuckton of copyrighted shit on there. No other reason.
If the site was only starting out and didn't have that stuff no one would have started to use it. Now that they are huge and people know of them because of allowing copyright infrigement, they are going to stick around -- even after they scale back those activities.
"Executives and politicians may be starting to realize that privacy is dead and secrets can no longer be kept in the information age. There is always a technological trail, and transparency is pervasive.
Starting to? No, they realized that long ago -- what they are finally realizing is that they are no longer immune to the effects their legislation has created.
The more bullshit that the administrations, Congresses, and Houses create, the more the community will buck against. We might be fighting the war differently than we would have (or should have) but we are fighting it.
I consider this a miniscule bit of payback for the warrantless wiretaps and the "Patriot" Act.
*YOU* won't because you aren't their target market. YOU are the exact opposite of their target market. They want users that are uninformed, not computer literate, and have no desire to maintain a computer.
These people are cash cows for businesses. They get them to buy/rent the software, they are able to convince them that they won't have to care for the applications, and they convince them that this is the best way.
These people don't know what bandwidth is, they are people that don't want to control anything, and they don't think about things like requiring an Internet connection to do their tasks. As long as everything works they're thrilled to fork the money over monthly, just like they do for electric, gas, water, telephone, and their cable TV.
Linux is *not* ready for the desktop. I'm sure you can search google and find many of my rants about the subject here on Slashdot. To sum them up: regardless of what the Slashbotters believe, Linux and X suck for "Desktop" use. It's not "easy" even for someone who has been using Linux for 10 years and is pretty proficient at it.
OS X is another OS I have ranted about on Slashdot before, same disclaimer applies. My reasons are basically that it's just *so* different from my prior experience (OS/2, Windows, Linux with FVWM and E) that I cannot get used to it. I have a difficult time navigating the OS and finding anything I'm looking for. While I realize that the OS is great for "new" or "unadjusted" users it's not good for me.
I currently use OS X as my "desktop OS" (which means nothing more than I use a web browser and a Terminal window for SSH to the Linux machine). I just don't like it.
For the most part I just use a SSH session with screen as it does most of what I need. Unless I'm doing some hardcore web browsing, I just use my mobile device for checking and posting to Slashdot, forums, etc.
That's about how long it would take me to find and download a crack;)
That's about how long it will take me to download Linux. As I said in this post about WGA, I'm no longer interested in playing MSFT's games. If I didn't have to have a Windows PC at home for my wife to do her job, I wouldn't be using Windows at all.
I *despise* Linux on the desktop but I'm not about to use a crack that could be open me to more attacks than using the vanilla MSFT OS, have to deal with MSFT, and pay the crazy price point that they want for Vista. Nevermind the fact that my current machines will probably run the OS like shit.
I'll suffer with OS X (which I also despise as a desktop OS), Linux, and my current interation of XP (heavily firewalled).
It's unfortunate that this will do nothing but piss people off. But will that change anything? Nope.
Slashdot Mirror
Has most of the US populous been pegged as a terrorist because of something they did and been interrogated/had their world turned upside-down in a home search?
Thanks for proving that Americans are conditioned to believe that they aren't being directly affected and that as long as the government is creepily looking "from a distance" that it doesn't matter.
Privacy issues won't arise for the general public untill it's them directly affected. They see no reason to care untill they see what happens when they don't care.
Oh Americans are directly affected right now. They are under constant video surveillance, their government is "legally" spying on them and their friends, and their bank records are closely watched for "terrorism". We aren't allowed to protest publically if the President is affected, we aren't allowed to voice our opinions silently "in there" without a hassle and threats of police action, and we aren't allowed to protest publically w/o the threat of being added to a FBI watchlist for "Homeland Terrorism".
So, while Americans are conditioned to believe that they are not having their privacy and freedoms infringed on, it is.
Ice Weasel sounds like it will be only installable on Debian, perhaps Debian-descended platforms like Ubuntu. Of course, since it's open source, anyone can port it to other platforms, I suppose. But why bother, all Ice Weasel is, is Firefox devoid of any nonfree trademarked art. And any updates to Firefox will be bought to Iceweasel.
Then, if everyone is so fucking concerned with "unity" in the userbase stop using vi, vim, Emacs, pico, nano, joe, and echo and instead just come up with a standard editor and use just that. Fuck, all those editors are installable on a bunch of different platforms. All these different text editors are just fragmenting the userbase just because of differences of opinion in some small part of the program.
Or, the best solution would be for the Firefox folks (if they were so concerned with "unity" in the userbase) to just get rid of the questionable graphics so that everyone could run Firefox and defeat the big bad IE monster!
Oh and down with those assholes that use lynx, w3m, Opera, Netscape, and Mozilla. They ruin the Internet.
I think if parents started being charged with involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide when their kids go on school schooting rampages, you'd see more parents suddenly taking an interest in their children's lives and activities.
While I agree wholeheartedly that parents should be held accountable, should be responsible for the proper upbringing of their children, and should be involved with their kids' lives I don't believe that it would change the fact that there are some seriously fucked up kids out there that think killing/harming others is the answer.
It is *very* important for companies to learn to market to people using the Internet. Where I work they are comtemplating myspace accounts, already have iTunes U going, use Blogger, and are looking for even more ways to capture those that are "jacked in".
;) It's just nice to see that companies are finally realizing that the market is huge out there and to embrace it as best they can.
;)
Second Life users scare the shit out of me but so do Myspace, Okrut, and Friendster users. Hell, I won't even go on IRC anymore
Me? I'm still into staying away from those services -- I guess I'm not the intended market
Too bad the average American believes that if you are interested in free speech implications and privacy that you are a terrorist or a conspiracy theorist.
Corporations aren't people and shouldn't be able to own anything.
That's exactly what a corporation *is*. A legal "person" on paper. Yes, it's fucked up but that's how it works.
While the disappearance (and possible murder) of his wife is tragic, Linux users will wonder where this will leave Reiser 4.
On Death Row!
Google is usually good at not integrating just for the sake of integrating. For example, Google Analytics still uses a Flash based map instead of the Google Maps API.
IMHO that was an example of why Google *should* integrate. Google Analytics' flash map absolutely blows. It's basically worthless unless you are looking at the world overview. The second you want to see anything close up it's shit and you can't navigate it very well.
I'd give anything for them to make that section of Analytics more useful as IMHO that part of the tool is potentially the most interesting.
CNN says it will.
And the plethora of books on Linux that are being published underlines the popularity of this OS.
There has always been a "plethora" of books on Linux and a variety of other subjects that no one in the general public gives a shit about. I'm interested in knowing just how this means anything significant.
I can answer both of those for you right now:
Are there any reasons why I'll want to upgrade?
Yes.
If I could add a second, it'd be, Are there any reasons why I won't want to upgrade?
Yes.
Of course there are always going to be "features" you'll want to upgrade for and there will be "features" (like DRM) that you will want to avoid. The question is how many people will hold out until the DRM "features" will force them to "upgrade" to the new OS because nothing else will work anymore.
I can attest (I'm sure many can) to how fast an unpatched XP machine gets hit. I have an installation disc from 2002 (sp1). When I use it I install with the ethernet cable unplugged. After install I plug in the ethernet and go straight away to Windows update but still, on the last go, within 5 minutes I got a somewhat obviously (to me) fake and malicious pop-up telling me I'd better click on it to protect my computer.
You're obviously confused by the definition of "average home PC". The "average" home PC user doesn't do jack shit other than put the CD in the drive and click OK a bunch. Do you honestly believe that an "average" PC user is installing their OS with the cable unplugged? Do you honestly belive that the first thing that goes through their head is "Windows Update and Firewall!" No, it's "myspace++, AOL Instant Messenger++, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, oooh porno+++++++++++++, mmmmmm porno."
Give me a break.
On the other hand, I know a myspace who was 18 when I first met her, and I thought she looked 26 then.
You mean a "person" right? Myspace isn't 18 years old. Just wanted to clear that confusion up.
As far as differences in "social networking sites" (I hate that term as they rarely do anything of the sort) go, yes, they are all entirely different. I utilize Dodgeball although not for social networking (I'm fairly certain that no one uses it for that as the notification of friends of friends hasn't worked in at least 6 months). I use it to keep track of which venues I've been to and when. I used to post the RSS feed on my website as the content there generally pertains to restaurants and where I've been going to so it was a nice fit (once the RSS feed died when they switched to Google's backend I never bothered to reuse it once fixed).
Myspace and Facebook are pretty much worthless in the sense of "social networking" unless you are talking about being online "friends". Plenty of people want another number but rarely do you meet anyone new that is interested in actually being your friend IRL (unless we are talking about 40 year old men and 15 year old girls).
While the lines of real life and Internet life are blurring these sites are not doing much to fix that. It might not be the sites fault, obviously, as their users are the ones that decide how to use it "properly".
I have done a lot of reading on North Korea recently and while that doesn't make me an expert by any means, I have to believe that the people in NK are a little less likely to blindly follow Kim than his father.
They blindly followed "their" Father but Kim doesn't have the same kind of appeal.
Why is it called a rocket "Belt", when it's typically something the size of a surfboard with a pair of propane tanks that you strap on your back?
.sig has answered that for us!
--
#11. No pirate shall ever wear a "fanny pack".
Well, I think your
1. Tetris (and variants) - SNES
2. Gran Turismo 1
3. Ms. Pacman - arcade
4. Lierati
5. We Love Katamari
Look at the way great ideas have grown quickly: YouTube, digg, and so on.
YouTube isn't a great idea. That's like saying that Empornium and Suprnova are/were great ideas. YouTube, just like Empornium and Supernova, is successful because there is a metric fuckton of copyrighted shit on there. No other reason.
If the site was only starting out and didn't have that stuff no one would have started to use it. Now that they are huge and people know of them because of allowing copyright infrigement, they are going to stick around -- even after they scale back those activities.
"Executives and politicians may be starting to realize that privacy is dead and secrets can no longer be kept in the information age. There is always a technological trail, and transparency is pervasive.
Starting to? No, they realized that long ago -- what they are finally realizing is that they are no longer immune to the effects their legislation has created.
The more bullshit that the administrations, Congresses, and Houses create, the more the community will buck against. We might be fighting the war differently than we would have (or should have) but we are fighting it.
I consider this a miniscule bit of payback for the warrantless wiretaps and the "Patriot" Act.
and I have to download Word, Excel, and Outlook every day
You wouldn't be downloading the applications daily. You'd be downloading the DRM keys that allow you run those applications daily.
*YOU* won't because you aren't their target market. YOU are the exact opposite of their target market. They want users that are uninformed, not computer literate, and have no desire to maintain a computer.
These people are cash cows for businesses. They get them to buy/rent the software, they are able to convince them that they won't have to care for the applications, and they convince them that this is the best way.
These people don't know what bandwidth is, they are people that don't want to control anything, and they don't think about things like requiring an Internet connection to do their tasks. As long as everything works they're thrilled to fork the money over monthly, just like they do for electric, gas, water, telephone, and their cable TV.
Everyone retires or downgrades thier career.
Lucas must be someone special as he's done both!
Linux is *not* ready for the desktop. I'm sure you can search google and find many of my rants about the subject here on Slashdot. To sum them up: regardless of what the Slashbotters believe, Linux and X suck for "Desktop" use. It's not "easy" even for someone who has been using Linux for 10 years and is pretty proficient at it.
OS X is another OS I have ranted about on Slashdot before, same disclaimer applies. My reasons are basically that it's just *so* different from my prior experience (OS/2, Windows, Linux with FVWM and E) that I cannot get used to it. I have a difficult time navigating the OS and finding anything I'm looking for. While I realize that the OS is great for "new" or "unadjusted" users it's not good for me.
I currently use OS X as my "desktop OS" (which means nothing more than I use a web browser and a Terminal window for SSH to the Linux machine). I just don't like it.
For the most part I just use a SSH session with screen as it does most of what I need. Unless I'm doing some hardcore web browsing, I just use my mobile device for checking and posting to Slashdot, forums, etc.
That's about how long it would take me to find and download a crack ;)
That's about how long it will take me to download Linux. As I said in this post about WGA, I'm no longer interested in playing MSFT's games. If I didn't have to have a Windows PC at home for my wife to do her job, I wouldn't be using Windows at all.
I *despise* Linux on the desktop but I'm not about to use a crack that could be open me to more attacks than using the vanilla MSFT OS, have to deal with MSFT, and pay the crazy price point that they want for Vista. Nevermind the fact that my current machines will probably run the OS like shit.
I'll suffer with OS X (which I also despise as a desktop OS), Linux, and my current interation of XP (heavily firewalled).
It's unfortunate that this will do nothing but piss people off. But will that change anything? Nope.