Ugh. You can keep your crappy video with downmixed sound and artifacting in the blacks. It's very sad that some poeple think that enjoying a movie is just about saying they watched it; you're line of thinking is practically just an extension of the warez kids who are all about quantity, not quality.
The "comfort" of your chair in front of your PC? I don't care how comfortable it is, my couch is better. Any couch. Do you not realize that half the experience of watching a movie is putting aside some time, sitting down, turning down the lights, and getting absorbed into a good story? Do you read lots of books and not pay attention to the nuances of the sentence structure, but instead read to say "look how many books I've read!"? A handheld shot will never portray the reasons I watch movies properly; cinematography, sound mixes, with emotions and characterizations that are properly portrayed through subtleties.
Convenience MAY win over quality, but the sacrifices you intend to make to just see a flick are far too great, so much so that they end up degrading the movie. I definitely think Mark Cuban reached a set of wrong conclusions, but you've also taken it far to the extreme, on the other side. Downloading movies is not as popular as people play it out to be, especially when DVDs are fairly cheap, have no learning curve, and do not take effort in playing on your TV. Why do you think the format has been so succesful? When I can download such things as a copy of "Contempt" by Goddard in less time than it takes to go to the store and pull it up on my HDTV projector, you will see downloads going through the roof.
Then again, maybe your idea of movies to see are limited to "xXx" and whatever mindless $$-machine comes out of Hollywood... it is ironic that you mention that you hate running the risk of paying for something you might hate. Do you know what caveat emptor is?
That's bluejacking, and it's not very prevalent anywhere I've been in NYC, LA, or Chicago (where I live)... and I travel to those cities a ton. Coworkers in London say it happens, but that it's barely above background noise (ie, once every 6 months if that).
This is however your sentence: Having bluetooth on wil only drain your batteries, and you receive random advertisements from phone co.'s and misc. online services on mMode.
Either you are saying mmode=bluetooth (obviously not), or you need to put together sentence a little more coherently.
Try plaing NiGHTS Into Dreams on the Saturn... the music basically was your measure of success. And on a little different note (no pun intended), there are games like Rez...
Re:Yet another reason to get the *cheap* phones
on
Ready, Aim, HACK!
·
· Score: 1
Informative? Sheesh, more like complete luddite.
If you actually KNEW anything about bluetooth, you know there are simple ways to secure the connections (which the article conveniently leaves out). Here's a hint; how many simultaneous connections can most bt enabled phones host on the stack?
Jesus dude, get a grip before you turn into a complete luddite. You have a valid point, namely, that cell phones have a lot of features that are half-assed. However, no one FORCES those on you. In fact, practically every major carrier out there has their no-frills phone that is more often than not free with a contract. It makes calls. It stores numbers. It can't sync with your PIM software via bluetooth and it can barely eek out a text message. Good for you.
But blaming cell phone usage into turning people into lazy slobs reeks of shortsightedness. Do you think when cars started becoming mainstream that people exploded into lazy blobs? Do you think people complained about the noise and the pollution? I'm sure it seemed like it at the time, especially when people took the car to go down to the store two blocks away.
And guess what? I've seen more abuses of iPod folks than cell phone folks lately, especially in urban Chicago where I live. People are constantly standing in front of el train exits and entrances, not letting people through because they are oblivious to the crush behind them. They do not answer when you call your friend from 50 feet away. I've seen so many instances of oblivious attitudes almost leading to car accidents while pedestrians with white headphones leasurely stroll into a DON'T WALK intersection. Does this prove that iPod users are lazy idiots? Of course not. It just means that people are dumb in general, and it's amplified when many people jump on a bandwagon (ie cell phones, and iPod usage).
And finally, while some of us don't want crappy gadgets to replace single-use, superior ones, you are NOT that majority. Plenty of people deal with crappy, inferior products when they are handy. In fact, your iPod is another example. How many people use Apple Lossless on their ipods? How many of the masses even KNOW what that is? Nope, mp3 at 128 with bad compression artificats is plenty good for them. I like convergence, except when it compromises too much... however we are clearly not the group with the most buying power.
Basically, what you are complaining about is human nature, that is magnified by certain gadgets. If it affects you to such a degree that you are overwhelmed emotionally and mentally regarding bad cell phone etiquette, I suggest you use some of that angry energy to affect some change, not bitch mindlessly to an audience that either agrees with you or doesn't care. In other words, get over yourself dude; since your iPod make you want to do something, well... do it.
While I appreciated the old newtons, the parent is blatantly wrong; Palm, Inc, in 1992, established some serious guidelines regarding what a PDA should and should not be, noting that it is definitely not a desktop replacement. This was formalized in 1996 with the Zen of Palm document. It was very much designed to be a handheld device; in fact, the Palm was a direct response to many of the newton complaints, ie size, input issues, and battery life.
These days, on the Palm platform, it's a little more tricky. As memory and processor speeds increase, feature creep has entered, and so have the sometimes blind movement towards replicating various desktop activites on the PDA, with varying results. However, that does not negate the fact that many of the very good applications still hold the ideals of a PDA for a PDA's sake to heart.
Wow, it doesn't get more disgustingly gushing and full of turf that your post, which doesn't seem to make any kind of point... and I own tons of apple gear.
$60/month is more than anyone currently pays for DSL...
Sorry, but anyone that gets real DSL access, ie >= 750 upload, no PPPoE, a handful of static IPs, no restrictions on any kind of server (as long as it's not deemed abusive) is easily ~$60. You can keep your SBC "DSL" with its dynamic IPs and peer disconnects at regular intervals.
What is your definition of hard? Is is the sci-fi stuff buried in the science today extended realistically forward? I would agree with you then.
I do have to say that Lem is probably one of the best sci-fi writers EVER, however. I think he really hits the core of what sci-fi is all about in his writing, which has little to do with technology and instead focuses on humanity.
Use SSL IMAP or ssh + console client (like mutt, which has excellent support for GnuPG
Use GPG even for casual mail
Basically at that point, no one can read your mail, and if you set it up properly, is available anywhere where there's internet access. It's most of the benefits of webmail without losing any control. Echelon may be able to read the headers, but not the content. Of course, this means you are required to put in a not-insignificant effort in getting it to work... but then again, almost everyone I know uses mail this way.
That's AT&T spam, not third party spam. You can easily end the text messages (they're actually WAP push's if you use a compatible phone) if you either tell customer service or opt out with a certain type of reply. While still spam, it is easy to end it (and when you sign your contract at the beginning, you can opt out right there). Most people are concerned with the OTHER spam, which your wireless provider has less control over.
Using your gadgets to unintrusively enhance your activities to is what it's all about. REPLACING your activities with a gadget is what people get all up in arms about.
Re:Yeah, that's why I go kayaking
on
War Kayaking
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
..."Hey, I could have at least gotten items A or B done today, instead of lying in this hammock."
Honestly, if you feel this way, you need MORE time away from your laptop. Being a human isn't always about getting something done.
What I think the grandparent's point is is that we should never be slaves to our tech. While it's fun (and even applicable) during outdoor activities, we shouldn't lose an appreciation for what lies out there beyond what a JPG on a screen can give us. There's plenty of time to play with your new bluetooth GPS receiver, and there's also time to put it away and appreciate the awe of a huge cliff you hiked 2 days to get to.
Who cares about faster? I want a steady, low latency connection with decent upload. Sorry, but cable, while good at times, can frequently and easily fall into overpopulation on a segment, much moreso than any other data delivery method. I know, I've been there; I've had a few good years with AT&T, so good in fact that I didn't mind the bleh upload. When Comcast came around, they oversubscribed, didn't do anything about it, and suddenly not only were my downloads hovering around 200k/sec, latency started TOPPING 1000ms and routers were dropping packets left and right.
Most of us want the low latency connections and a decent upload, especially if you run a server at home. Good DSL providers (SBC, Verizon, and Earthlink do not fall into *good*) do not use PPPoE, offer (multiple) static IPs, and don't care if you run as many servers as you want as long you are not abusive. I may be lucky in that I only pay $60 a month for 1.5 down and 1000 up with 5 static ips, but I'd gladly pay over $100 for that compared to the gee-whiz-I've-got-3mbps-down-but-256k-up glorified dialup line, which is almost useless to me (and anyone that makes good use of a home server).
I use it everyday on a powerbook, a handfull of pcs, and a linux box. I can't seem to live without it and reaching for a mouse now seems slow... BUT the learning curve was very steep.
I don't know how people can use a keyboard - too awkward and slow.
It's called adapting, and learning something new. If you don't have the time or effort into learning an input system to a point where you're efficient with it, of course it will be awkward and slow. My grandfather thinks keyboards are terrible input devices, but he hunts and pecks constantly.
Am I truly misguided because I hold a higher education in high regard, and feel that a complete education in my field is valuable? I think not.
Ah, but therein lies the rub; what constitutes a "complete education"? Simply running through years of postgraduate work isn't the end of it. Similarly, a "mockery" of a degree from a vocational school can mean much more than what YOU think it stands for. Again, I will say that there are plenty of people out there who understand all the theory and intricacies of whatever standard BS/BFA you are referring to that is "superior", but simply cannot obtain them because of a whole slew of reasons, which most of the time have nothing to do with intelligence. It is a fact that these days, certain formal qualifications are needed just to get in the door, which is why those vocational schools exist. Of course there are people who obtain those degrees without too much effort, but the same came be said at ANY level, including a doctorate track. What makes them important is that someone without the means to obtain a "superior" undergrad degree achieve one of these vocational qualifications and use it to get their foot in the door; if they are truly talented enough, a BS/BFA should be redundant.
While you may defend that that is your position, you border on hypocritical when you apparently are proud of your accomplishments to date (which you should be), while shoving those that DO have a handle on the theory and aspect without the formal degree aside. You say I generalize, then issue a statement like this:
What I said was, there are concepts taught in Computer Science that are what make up the actual *science* of it, rather than it simply being an excersize in data entry, which persons not formally trained in Computer Science are often ignorant of.
When I said that my advisor made it clear that plenty of value does not arise just from academia, he was saying the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you just said. You *are* on a high horse. You are *exactly* what the problem is with academia today, namely superiority complexes and a very narrow mindset. A good education doesn't just come from credentials handed out by an institution, and I would expect someone who has experienced a bit of that (as you have stated) would understand that!
Any doubt that I have regarding your initial intentions are erased when I reread the very first line of your original post:
Here come the ignorant assholes who will knock on getting a Ph.D. because they can't get one.
Can't get one? That is the height of arrogance; plenty of people can't "get them" for so many reasons unrelated to intelligence and inherent ability that it's ludicrous to call them ignorant for disagreeing with you that it's important. I've already been down this discussion path plenty of times before with people thinking exactly like you do, so I'll stop here.
You may not have meant it, but you really come off as a high-and-mighty-knower-of-all. Here is a simple fact you might want to consider:
Many folks don't pursue PhDs not because they lack they intelligence, but because it offers nothing to them.
The reason for that? I should say reasons; those are myriad, ranging from lack of time because of other worthwhile pursuits, to disgust of the current state of academics today, to a lack of any worthwhile application (even purely academic).
Since you HAVEN'T been through a serious postgraduate program (and yes, I have a PhD), I will chalk your comments up to a misguided sense of respect for certain types of academic qualifications... but at the same time, I find your views more than a bit disturbing. While those letters that come after your name can indicate a greater capacity for meeting certain challanges, by no stretch of the imagination should one pigeonhole various strata of intelligence, adaptability, and ability by said letters to the apparent level you have. To put it into perspective; my thesis advisor made it clear to me that while what I was pursuing was worthwhile, it did not qualify me. In fact, someone who had NOT received my credentials yet still had amassed the same amount of knowledge and come to the same type of creative thinking levels would be a much more lucrative individual to pick up... and apparently, situations like that are not terribly uncommon. What was he trying to say?
Don't climb on your high horse
There's always someone smarter and more qualified
Real genius and value often comes from the dark corners of life, not the fluorescent hallways of academia.
Is there a way to disable SSID broadcasts and still get XP laptops to connect properly? I remember reading on ars about this issue, and sure enough, when we added a wireless AP on our company network, what was mentioned in the article happened. Switching to the manufacturers' software to manage the wireless cards isn't an ideal solution, mostly because we have so many laptops with different card vendors.
Currently, we VPN using IPsec, so it's not that big of a deal to leave the broadcasts on... but it's still a bit annoying.
Slashdot Mirror
Convenience will win over Quality.
Ugh. You can keep your crappy video with downmixed sound and artifacting in the blacks. It's very sad that some poeple think that enjoying a movie is just about saying they watched it; you're line of thinking is practically just an extension of the warez kids who are all about quantity, not quality.
The "comfort" of your chair in front of your PC? I don't care how comfortable it is, my couch is better. Any couch. Do you not realize that half the experience of watching a movie is putting aside some time, sitting down, turning down the lights, and getting absorbed into a good story? Do you read lots of books and not pay attention to the nuances of the sentence structure, but instead read to say "look how many books I've read!"? A handheld shot will never portray the reasons I watch movies properly; cinematography, sound mixes, with emotions and characterizations that are properly portrayed through subtleties.
Convenience MAY win over quality, but the sacrifices you intend to make to just see a flick are far too great, so much so that they end up degrading the movie. I definitely think Mark Cuban reached a set of wrong conclusions, but you've also taken it far to the extreme, on the other side. Downloading movies is not as popular as people play it out to be, especially when DVDs are fairly cheap, have no learning curve, and do not take effort in playing on your TV. Why do you think the format has been so succesful? When I can download such things as a copy of "Contempt" by Goddard in less time than it takes to go to the store and pull it up on my HDTV projector, you will see downloads going through the roof.
Then again, maybe your idea of movies to see are limited to "xXx" and whatever mindless $$-machine comes out of Hollywood... it is ironic that you mention that you hate running the risk of paying for something you might hate. Do you know what caveat emptor is?
uh, that's a good thing, even under a microsoft os.
That's bluejacking, and it's not very prevalent anywhere I've been in NYC, LA, or Chicago (where I live)... and I travel to those cities a ton. Coworkers in London say it happens, but that it's barely above background noise (ie, once every 6 months if that).
This is however your sentence:
Having bluetooth on wil only drain your batteries, and you receive random advertisements from phone co.'s and misc. online services on mMode.
Either you are saying mmode=bluetooth (obviously not), or you need to put together sentence a little more coherently.
Try plaing NiGHTS Into Dreams on the Saturn... the music basically was your measure of success. And on a little different note (no pun intended), there are games like Rez...
Informative? Sheesh, more like complete luddite.
If you actually KNEW anything about bluetooth, you know there are simple ways to secure the connections (which the article conveniently leaves out). Here's a hint; how many simultaneous connections can most bt enabled phones host on the stack?
Uh, mmode and bluetooth are completely different. You will still receive push stuff from AT&T with bluetooth off.
Jesus dude, get a grip before you turn into a complete luddite. You have a valid point, namely, that cell phones have a lot of features that are half-assed. However, no one FORCES those on you. In fact, practically every major carrier out there has their no-frills phone that is more often than not free with a contract. It makes calls. It stores numbers. It can't sync with your PIM software via bluetooth and it can barely eek out a text message. Good for you.
But blaming cell phone usage into turning people into lazy slobs reeks of shortsightedness. Do you think when cars started becoming mainstream that people exploded into lazy blobs? Do you think people complained about the noise and the pollution? I'm sure it seemed like it at the time, especially when people took the car to go down to the store two blocks away.
And guess what? I've seen more abuses of iPod folks than cell phone folks lately, especially in urban Chicago where I live. People are constantly standing in front of el train exits and entrances, not letting people through because they are oblivious to the crush behind them. They do not answer when you call your friend from 50 feet away. I've seen so many instances of oblivious attitudes almost leading to car accidents while pedestrians with white headphones leasurely stroll into a DON'T WALK intersection. Does this prove that iPod users are lazy idiots? Of course not. It just means that people are dumb in general, and it's amplified when many people jump on a bandwagon (ie cell phones, and iPod usage).
And finally, while some of us don't want crappy gadgets to replace single-use, superior ones, you are NOT that majority. Plenty of people deal with crappy, inferior products when they are handy. In fact, your iPod is another example. How many people use Apple Lossless on their ipods? How many of the masses even KNOW what that is? Nope, mp3 at 128 with bad compression artificats is plenty good for them. I like convergence, except when it compromises too much... however we are clearly not the group with the most buying power.
Basically, what you are complaining about is human nature, that is magnified by certain gadgets. If it affects you to such a degree that you are overwhelmed emotionally and mentally regarding bad cell phone etiquette, I suggest you use some of that angry energy to affect some change, not bitch mindlessly to an audience that either agrees with you or doesn't care. In other words, get over yourself dude; since your iPod make you want to do something, well... do it.
While I appreciated the old newtons, the parent is blatantly wrong; Palm, Inc, in 1992, established some serious guidelines regarding what a PDA should and should not be, noting that it is definitely not a desktop replacement. This was formalized in 1996 with the Zen of Palm document. It was very much designed to be a handheld device; in fact, the Palm was a direct response to many of the newton complaints, ie size, input issues, and battery life.
These days, on the Palm platform, it's a little more tricky. As memory and processor speeds increase, feature creep has entered, and so have the sometimes blind movement towards replicating various desktop activites on the PDA, with varying results. However, that does not negate the fact that many of the very good applications still hold the ideals of a PDA for a PDA's sake to heart.
If you can handle the learning curve, These are the best thing ever.
Wow, it doesn't get more disgustingly gushing and full of turf that your post, which doesn't seem to make any kind of point... and I own tons of apple gear.
$60/month is more than anyone currently pays for DSL...
Sorry, but anyone that gets real DSL access, ie >= 750 upload, no PPPoE, a handful of static IPs, no restrictions on any kind of server (as long as it's not deemed abusive) is easily ~$60. You can keep your SBC "DSL" with its dynamic IPs and peer disconnects at regular intervals.
What is your definition of hard? Is is the sci-fi stuff buried in the science today extended realistically forward? I would agree with you then.
I do have to say that Lem is probably one of the best sci-fi writers EVER, however. I think he really hits the core of what sci-fi is all about in his writing, which has little to do with technology and instead focuses on humanity.
Basically at that point, no one can read your mail, and if you set it up properly, is available anywhere where there's internet access. It's most of the benefits of webmail without losing any control. Echelon may be able to read the headers, but not the content. Of course, this means you are required to put in a not-insignificant effort in getting it to work... but then again, almost everyone I know uses mail this way.
That's AT&T spam, not third party spam. You can easily end the text messages (they're actually WAP push's if you use a compatible phone) if you either tell customer service or opt out with a certain type of reply. While still spam, it is easy to end it (and when you sign your contract at the beginning, you can opt out right there). Most people are concerned with the OTHER spam, which your wireless provider has less control over.
Using your gadgets to unintrusively enhance your activities to is what it's all about. REPLACING your activities with a gadget is what people get all up in arms about.
..."Hey, I could have at least gotten items A or B done today, instead of lying in this hammock."
Honestly, if you feel this way, you need MORE time away from your laptop. Being a human isn't always about getting something done.
What I think the grandparent's point is is that we should never be slaves to our tech. While it's fun (and even applicable) during outdoor activities, we shouldn't lose an appreciation for what lies out there beyond what a JPG on a screen can give us. There's plenty of time to play with your new bluetooth GPS receiver, and there's also time to put it away and appreciate the awe of a huge cliff you hiked 2 days to get to.
Who cares about faster? I want a steady, low latency connection with decent upload. Sorry, but cable, while good at times, can frequently and easily fall into overpopulation on a segment, much moreso than any other data delivery method. I know, I've been there; I've had a few good years with AT&T, so good in fact that I didn't mind the bleh upload. When Comcast came around, they oversubscribed, didn't do anything about it, and suddenly not only were my downloads hovering around 200k/sec, latency started TOPPING 1000ms and routers were dropping packets left and right.
Most of us want the low latency connections and a decent upload, especially if you run a server at home. Good DSL providers (SBC, Verizon, and Earthlink do not fall into *good*) do not use PPPoE, offer (multiple) static IPs, and don't care if you run as many servers as you want as long you are not abusive. I may be lucky in that I only pay $60 a month for 1.5 down and 1000 up with 5 static ips, but I'd gladly pay over $100 for that compared to the gee-whiz-I've-got-3mbps-down-but-256k-up glorified dialup line, which is almost useless to me (and anyone that makes good use of a home server).
I use it everyday on a powerbook, a handfull of pcs, and a linux box. I can't seem to live without it and reaching for a mouse now seems slow... BUT the learning curve was very steep.
I don't know how people can use a keyboard - too awkward and slow.
It's called adapting, and learning something new. If you don't have the time or effort into learning an input system to a point where you're efficient with it, of course it will be awkward and slow. My grandfather thinks keyboards are terrible input devices, but he hunts and pecks constantly.
I think I agree with you, though I can see the grandparent's thought process:
impossible -> umpossible (changing one letter), whereas in the original, I think the prefix un- is substituted instead.
And you obviously know little about pop culture.
Go buy a FingerWorks keyboard. Install XWinder. You have now more control than Tom Cruise did.
Am I truly misguided because I hold a higher education in high regard, and feel that a complete education in my field is valuable? I think not.
Ah, but therein lies the rub; what constitutes a "complete education"? Simply running through years of postgraduate work isn't the end of it. Similarly, a "mockery" of a degree from a vocational school can mean much more than what YOU think it stands for. Again, I will say that there are plenty of people out there who understand all the theory and intricacies of whatever standard BS/BFA you are referring to that is "superior", but simply cannot obtain them because of a whole slew of reasons, which most of the time have nothing to do with intelligence. It is a fact that these days, certain formal qualifications are needed just to get in the door, which is why those vocational schools exist. Of course there are people who obtain those degrees without too much effort, but the same came be said at ANY level, including a doctorate track. What makes them important is that someone without the means to obtain a "superior" undergrad degree achieve one of these vocational qualifications and use it to get their foot in the door; if they are truly talented enough, a BS/BFA should be redundant.
While you may defend that that is your position, you border on hypocritical when you apparently are proud of your accomplishments to date (which you should be), while shoving those that DO have a handle on the theory and aspect without the formal degree aside. You say I generalize, then issue a statement like this:
What I said was, there are concepts taught in Computer Science that are what make up the actual *science* of it, rather than it simply being an excersize in data entry, which persons not formally trained in Computer Science are often ignorant of.
When I said that my advisor made it clear that plenty of value does not arise just from academia, he was saying the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you just said. You *are* on a high horse. You are *exactly* what the problem is with academia today, namely superiority complexes and a very narrow mindset. A good education doesn't just come from credentials handed out by an institution, and I would expect someone who has experienced a bit of that (as you have stated) would understand that!
Any doubt that I have regarding your initial intentions are erased when I reread the very first line of your original post:
Here come the ignorant assholes who will knock on getting a Ph.D. because they can't get one.
Can't get one? That is the height of arrogance; plenty of people can't "get them" for so many reasons unrelated to intelligence and inherent ability that it's ludicrous to call them ignorant for disagreeing with you that it's important. I've already been down this discussion path plenty of times before with people thinking exactly like you do, so I'll stop here.
Many folks don't pursue PhDs not because they lack they intelligence, but because it offers nothing to them.
The reason for that? I should say reasons; those are myriad, ranging from lack of time because of other worthwhile pursuits, to disgust of the current state of academics today, to a lack of any worthwhile application (even purely academic).
Since you HAVEN'T been through a serious postgraduate program (and yes, I have a PhD), I will chalk your comments up to a misguided sense of respect for certain types of academic qualifications... but at the same time, I find your views more than a bit disturbing. While those letters that come after your name can indicate a greater capacity for meeting certain challanges, by no stretch of the imagination should one pigeonhole various strata of intelligence, adaptability, and ability by said letters to the apparent level you have. To put it into perspective; my thesis advisor made it clear to me that while what I was pursuing was worthwhile, it did not qualify me. In fact, someone who had NOT received my credentials yet still had amassed the same amount of knowledge and come to the same type of creative thinking levels would be a much more lucrative individual to pick up... and apparently, situations like that are not terribly uncommon. What was he trying to say?
Is there a way to disable SSID broadcasts and still get XP laptops to connect properly? I remember reading on ars about this issue, and sure enough, when we added a wireless AP on our company network, what was mentioned in the article happened. Switching to the manufacturers' software to manage the wireless cards isn't an ideal solution, mostly because we have so many laptops with different card vendors.
Currently, we VPN using IPsec, so it's not that big of a deal to leave the broadcasts on... but it's still a bit annoying.