The things I hated about Pine were that it unnecessarily reversed colors on the screen to look more "graphical," and its default editor was that horror known as Pico. I much preferred elm and vi.
yeah, that just might be the least intuitive combination of programs the world has ever seen.
I'm sorry, but putting up an excuse for not being physically active because your brain can't deal with only handling a single task is specious at best.
Not to mention which it's wrong. Coding, in my experience, requires the sort of single-minded focus that the article claims geeks don't have.
But let's accept that the grandparent shouldn't have used the phrase "guilty". Even so, here's what we have: a student, who has has all but admitted to illegal file sharing, is being offered a settlement to avoid being sued for rather more money than that (likely). Is this a bullying, stronghanded tactic by the RIAA? Sure. Is it extortion? Absolutely not. Unless you (ahem) think that people should be presumed guilty of extortion before it's proven in court.
You're right - in this case. However, the problem is that the RIAA is adopting the same tactics against people who *haven't* all but admitted to being guilty. That combined with their threats to bleed people out of legal fees if they don't settle is certainly questionable. I don't think one need be a "lunatic" to see that as a threat.
If the RIAA were carefully vetting their cases to at least convince themselves of someone's likely culpability, that would be one thing. They're not.
Where's the limit here? Can I go to my neighbor and tell him to give me $3000 or I'll sue him because his tree is casting a shadow on my lawn? That wouldn't be extortion or anything, right? Because in some of these cases, the level of probable guilt is comparable. Not all, mind you, and maybe not even the majority. But the point is that the RIAA is making basically no effort to check.
Aside from that, I agree with your sentiments regarding the specific case. You knowingly do something that has enormous criminal and civil penalties, don't cry to me when they bust you. Maybe the punishment didn't fit the crime, but you knew what the punishment would be...
Idealists don't understand compromisers, compromisers don't understand idealists. Idealists don't live very harmoniously in the world, compromisers don't change the world. Stallman decided to go for change. You say rigidity and stubborness, others say integrity and persistence. I think it's one of those cases where 'it takes all types'.
The thing is, it doesn't have to be an absolute, where someone either compromises too much (Neville Chamberlain) or refuses to budge regardless of the consequences (Stallman, for example). To me, wisdom is in knowing when to compromise. Stallman doesn't even have the capability due to his arrogance.
I agree it takes all types. The problem comes in when a given philosophy (like OSS) can only have a very small number of public leaders, and effectively a choice must be made. In that regard, I believe Stallman now does a great deal more harm than good, because there isn't really a counterbalance other than Linus. And if Stallman forces a schism there like he seems to be planning, then there will be little balance at all.
What do you mean, "unworkable"? Obviously, Stallman is pushing an ideal.
Well, that's just the point. The question is which would one rather do: push for something workable that's the best realistic case, or push your "ideal" even if it means failure? That's where I can't stand Stallman or any other ideologues: I don't have patience for ideals because ideals are rarely if ever realized. Ideologues do not possess the ability for compromise, which you've called "consistency." I don't consider that a virtue, because in this case it could be considered a synonym for rigidity and stubbornness.
I found it quite interesting. Not surprising but interesting. I'm not sure why you would consider this flamebait. Unless you just happen to not like microsoft being shown in a bad light. Get used to it, they are evil.
If you do find MS to be evil, then this is most certainly *not* news to you. None of the events in question happened in the last 20 years. I don't like the bastards either, but this is old and exists for no reason than to flame the usual anti-MS flames. So yes, flamebait.
...is my idiot coworkers who get a phishing email and are barely savvy enough to recognize it for what it is. These people seem to think 1) these emails make the rounds like viruses, and 2) no one else will figure it out. So when one of these idiots gets a phish, I get an email like
DON'T CLICK ON BANK OF AMERICA EMAIL! ITS A SCAM!!!!
because the moron sent their warning out to the entire company. It's like an idiot test.
Unfortunately - its customer is RIAA, not us the people who buy & use their products.
Reality check - Apple has fought the RIAA pretty hard to keep iTMS prices 1)lower, and 2) uniform.
We all go round to the drummer's house to have a jam, we all have our ipods with us. Now - we should be able to pool all our music together. But try doing it using iTunes - its on the verge of impossible (in fact most ipod owners are afraid to plug their ipod in to someone's computer in case all the files are delete)
I can't help it you and your friends 1) don't know how to use an iPod, and 2) are incapable of using flash drives, which are specifically made for that sort of thing. You *can* use the iPod as a drive. However, it's not the default mode because - *gasp* - the iPod is a music player!
If you're trying to use a device for a use that isn't its reason for existance, be prepared to do some legwork to figure out how to make it do what you want. An iPod isn't a replacement for a recording studio.
Ironically, Apple makes a great product intended *just for you.* It's called GarageBand. Get a laptop.
Though a competitor may try to make advances against google with revampments, Google's already got the golden brand and in this industry the guy who's at the top stays there as people feel more comfortable using what everyone else uses... what's established. They're not going anywhere, move along.
I seem to remember a time when Altavista owned the search market, with Yahoo a distant number 2 and Google didn't even exist. It is possible. Large companies can be beaten when they become complacent - something I think Google could be accused of when it comes to searching.
Starbucks prices are higher than other coffee shops because not only is the coffee better (IMHO), but they also actually pay their employees decently compared to their competitors. One of my friends worked part-time for them back in 2001 while attending law school. Starbucks pay starting out was $9/hr. Add to that health care, tuition reimbursement, and stock options.
I don't feel like subsidizing unskilled labor with my coffee money for no good reason.
So please do not compare Starbucks to Wal*Mart (or a local donut/bagel shop). Starbucks offers finer quality than Wal*Mart does, and its also a more socially responsible company than Wal*Mart ever will be without the government forcing such behavior upon it.
Since when is it the job of businesses in the unskilled labor market to implement social programs? If you want socialism, have to government do it themselves. Having businesses do it makes no sense, and has the effect of artificially tripling the prices of crap like coffee.
You want benefits and a good salary? Learn to do something more complicated than pouring coffee.
Heh, heh. Whenever I'm forced to deal with Starbucks I, too, like messing with the smug clerks, or "batistas" or "borrachas" or whatever they call themselves. Face it, you're still working at Dunkin' Donuts, but with more mood lighting.
"Batistas", that's classic. Tell 'em that was too bad what happened in '59, Havana really went downhill after that.
Dreadful analogy - the 50-cent vending machine coffee is crap, the $3.50 starbucks latte is crap.
Judging from the prevalence of Starbucks and people willing to pay $4 for their latte, I'd say many people seem ot disagree with you!
Personally, I'd say Starbucks coffee isn't crap, it's just priced about 2-3x too high. I can get an equally good cup of coffee at a donut or bagel shop for $1.25-$1.75. And not deal with the lines, faux ambience, and yuppies I want to beat the shit out of. Oh, and also the fake Italian-sounding words they give to their sizes.
On the few occasions I can't find anything *but* a Starbucks, I take great pleasure in asking for a large coffee. "Do you mean a (whatever it's called, Voopi or something)", they say? "No," I say, "I want a ***ing 'Large.'" Then we have the "What kind of coffee?" question. "Regular." Great fun.
Sadly there will always be governments looking to restrict the speech of its people, I wonder how long it will take for google to move in an support those efforts?
You win today's "Baseless speculation" jackpot on slashdot! Your prize is a used Ouija board. You may also receive a job offer from Macrumors, they need help coming up with that sort of speculation. You need to learn how to speculate authoritatively though, and cite mysterious sources.
Try it this way:
"According to sources inside Google, the company who censored China will sell personal information of dissident bloggers to the Iranian government. The public announcement will come Monday once the dissidents have been rounded up and shot. Terms of the transaction haven't been settled, but it's been rumored that Google will be paid in oil and kebobs.
For example: I am affected by virusses. If I work alongside someone who has a cold, but not yet sick enough to show obvious symptoms, I may get ill. Does this mean that I can use this effect to "correctly recognise" when someone is incubating a cold? No, because the time delay is too long.
Allow me to introduce you to autoregressive analysis. If you have enough data you can most certainly pick out the lags in the correlations between the variables.
Probably fairly high. I recall him and a number of other early microscopists being convinced that they could see a little tiny human embryo in the head, much like the early telescopists were convinced they could see canals on Mars.
Ya know, he was from Amsterdam, after all. Not saying anything, just throwin' it out there. Could have had something to do with him seeing things.
Slashdot Mirror
The things I hated about Pine were that it unnecessarily reversed colors on the screen to look more "graphical," and its default editor was that horror known as Pico. I much preferred elm and vi.
yeah, that just might be the least intuitive combination of programs the world has ever seen.
Not to mention which it's wrong. Coding, in my experience, requires the sort of single-minded focus that the article claims geeks don't have.
You're right - in this case. However, the problem is that the RIAA is adopting the same tactics against people who *haven't* all but admitted to being guilty. That combined with their threats to bleed people out of legal fees if they don't settle is certainly questionable. I don't think one need be a "lunatic" to see that as a threat.
If the RIAA were carefully vetting their cases to at least convince themselves of someone's likely culpability, that would be one thing. They're not.
Where's the limit here? Can I go to my neighbor and tell him to give me $3000 or I'll sue him because his tree is casting a shadow on my lawn? That wouldn't be extortion or anything, right? Because in some of these cases, the level of probable guilt is comparable. Not all, mind you, and maybe not even the majority. But the point is that the RIAA is making basically no effort to check.
Aside from that, I agree with your sentiments regarding the specific case. You knowingly do something that has enormous criminal and civil penalties, don't cry to me when they bust you. Maybe the punishment didn't fit the crime, but you knew what the punishment would be...
The thing is, it doesn't have to be an absolute, where someone either compromises too much (Neville Chamberlain) or refuses to budge regardless of the consequences (Stallman, for example). To me, wisdom is in knowing when to compromise. Stallman doesn't even have the capability due to his arrogance.
I agree it takes all types. The problem comes in when a given philosophy (like OSS) can only have a very small number of public leaders, and effectively a choice must be made. In that regard, I believe Stallman now does a great deal more harm than good, because there isn't really a counterbalance other than Linus. And if Stallman forces a schism there like he seems to be planning, then there will be little balance at all.
Well, that's just the point. The question is which would one rather do: push for something workable that's the best realistic case, or push your "ideal" even if it means failure? That's where I can't stand Stallman or any other ideologues: I don't have patience for ideals because ideals are rarely if ever realized. Ideologues do not possess the ability for compromise, which you've called "consistency." I don't consider that a virtue, because in this case it could be considered a synonym for rigidity and stubbornness.
I like Dell too, but I don't know if I'd buy 4 of them.
Nature should get out of the business of editorializing. I just skip straight to the back these days.
If you do find MS to be evil, then this is most certainly *not* news to you. None of the events in question happened in the last 20 years. I don't like the bastards either, but this is old and exists for no reason than to flame the usual anti-MS flames. So yes, flamebait.
When did this go live? Midnight GMT?
DON'T CLICK ON BANK OF AMERICA EMAIL! ITS A SCAM!!!!
because the moron sent their warning out to the entire company. It's like an idiot test.
With perhaps the exception proving the rule? There's a definite US vs. Japan flavor to most RPGs, with natural crossovers.
That's one. Another is "Never underestimate the consumer. It's impossible."
Reality check - Apple has fought the RIAA pretty hard to keep iTMS prices 1)lower, and 2) uniform.
We all go round to the drummer's house to have a jam, we all have our ipods with us. Now - we should be able to pool all our music together. But try doing it using iTunes - its on the verge of impossible (in fact most ipod owners are afraid to plug their ipod in to someone's computer in case all the files are delete)
I can't help it you and your friends 1) don't know how to use an iPod, and 2) are incapable of using flash drives, which are specifically made for that sort of thing. You *can* use the iPod as a drive. However, it's not the default mode because - *gasp* - the iPod is a music player!
If you're trying to use a device for a use that isn't its reason for existance, be prepared to do some legwork to figure out how to make it do what you want. An iPod isn't a replacement for a recording studio.
Ironically, Apple makes a great product intended *just for you.* It's called GarageBand. Get a laptop.
Time to check the prescription on your reading glasses there Pops.
Come on, now, I think $19,900 for beer is padding the budget a bit much, don't you?
I seem to remember a time when Altavista owned the search market, with Yahoo a distant number 2 and Google didn't even exist. It is possible. Large companies can be beaten when they become complacent - something I think Google could be accused of when it comes to searching.
I believe the expected "bug" would be hardware, not software.
I don't feel like subsidizing unskilled labor with my coffee money for no good reason.
So please do not compare Starbucks to Wal*Mart (or a local donut/bagel shop). Starbucks offers finer quality than Wal*Mart does, and its also a more socially responsible company than Wal*Mart ever will be without the government forcing such behavior upon it.
Since when is it the job of businesses in the unskilled labor market to implement social programs? If you want socialism, have to government do it themselves. Having businesses do it makes no sense, and has the effect of artificially tripling the prices of crap like coffee.
You want benefits and a good salary? Learn to do something more complicated than pouring coffee.
"Batistas", that's classic. Tell 'em that was too bad what happened in '59, Havana really went downhill after that.
Judging from the prevalence of Starbucks and people willing to pay $4 for their latte, I'd say many people seem ot disagree with you!
Personally, I'd say Starbucks coffee isn't crap, it's just priced about 2-3x too high. I can get an equally good cup of coffee at a donut or bagel shop for $1.25-$1.75. And not deal with the lines, faux ambience, and yuppies I want to beat the shit out of. Oh, and also the fake Italian-sounding words they give to their sizes.
On the few occasions I can't find anything *but* a Starbucks, I take great pleasure in asking for a large coffee. "Do you mean a (whatever it's called, Voopi or something)", they say? "No," I say, "I want a ***ing 'Large.'" Then we have the "What kind of coffee?" question. "Regular." Great fun.
Yeah, instead Digg has duped Apple ads from 1987.
You win today's "Baseless speculation" jackpot on slashdot! Your prize is a used Ouija board. You may also receive a job offer from Macrumors, they need help coming up with that sort of speculation. You need to learn how to speculate authoritatively though, and cite mysterious sources.
Try it this way:
See, it's much better when you do it that way!
Allow me to introduce you to autoregressive analysis. If you have enough data you can most certainly pick out the lags in the correlations between the variables.
That sucks. Did you get to the end first?
Ya know, he was from Amsterdam, after all. Not saying anything, just throwin' it out there. Could have had something to do with him seeing things.