Because I have seen too many people make this error: "Ever-changing.doc format: Yes, the doc format changes. How else are new features supposed to be saved? However, Office has XML-based formats that work quite well now, too (since Office2K, even!)"
This is just wrong: a properly specified document format is forwards *and* backwords compatible. You can have different versions of an application with different capabilities losslessly read and write the same files.
As a rather simplified example of this consider HTML. A useragent need only support a subset. If it doesn't know a tag it just discards it. For read/write ability in the most generic sense the tag would be anchored but invisible. Even if the application doesn't know how to parse it, it can still keep it around and save the same thing back out.
Still don't believe me? Try PageStream -- this is a desktop publishing application. As an example, the Pro version has some specialized text manipulation that the Standard version lacks. This doesn't present a problem in switching versions, however. Moreover, you can load a PgS 5 document into PgS 3.
PageStream's file format is IFF which is more-or-less 8-bit binary XML. (Most people associate IFF with the IFF-ILBM, but IFF just presents a standard way for arranging information.)
Common misconception is that the solstices and equinoxes mark the changes between seasons rather than their midpoints. Who knows, maybe by this time the damage has been done and seasons redefined, but I ask you this question: When does Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream take place?
Good post! I just wanted to comment on the "They are adults consenting to relationships" part. This is the predominately accepted form of homosexuality in the US, but this is not the case everywhere/everywhen. For example, my understanding is that in classical Greece the "bisexual" Greek pattern was for a youth to have an older male lover, but there was an expectation of hetereosexual marriage in adulthood.
In the modern US that activity would be considered pedophilia so what is gay or acceptable gay activity (just as what is hetereosexual or acceptable hetereosexual activity) depends to a large part on the society doing the judging.
A common misconception is that US troops are in Saudi Arabia because of Saddam Hussein. This is simply not the case. We have had US military in Saudi Arabia for some time and we were friends with Iraq's brutal dictator due to his animosity with... that's right, Iran.
The real concern of the US government in the Middle East, rightly or wrongly, has been Iran (at least, since they threw our brutal dictator puppet out). The Saudi Arabian government did not *want* our help with Saddam Hussein (pick a reason, maybe they were afraid for their sovereignty if they had to accept foreign aid, or maybe they really thought they could handle it) but we forced it on them.
The main presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia is because of the Patriot missile batteries. There's more to the story, but the short of it is that the US provides the batteries and the troops to operate them -- and additional troops to provide security. The Saudi Arabian government tolerates this (sort of) because it is the arrangement which gives them the missile batteries they believe they need.
What I'm saying is that once you scratch the surface it gets *a lot* more complicated than simply pulling out troops. Not that these complexities *shouldn't* be tackled.
I probably shouldn't reply but... when you post crap like "Talk to an Iraqi sometime. They will tell you stories about how on their sister's wedding night a drunk Uday Hussein showed up and decided to rape her death and slit the throat of the groom. These weren't isolated incidents, they happened every day." I just have to question it. Every day? Literally? Even if taken figuratively that is extreme and ridiculous. For you information I *have* talked with Iraqis. Not a single one of them liked Saddam Hussein (one had been part of his government and escaped -- via Italy IIRC -- with his family).
But these ridiculous excuses to justify the war crimes we have committed... It reminds me of the true golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. What is this, WWF?
Your statement that most "geeks hit the same sites as non-geeks" is non-provable and, without a valid premise, your metric is also invalid.
Being non-provable is sufficient, but to not just leave it to the trivial counterproof: you're metric does not take into account that most browsing is done during the day which for many is at work which means that your are getting more of a corporate browser and OS measure than anything else.
Which in my case would count the WinXP system I use at work for my primary desktop, but miss the two OS X desktops and the RedHat desktop, not to mention the two SuSE desktops and OS X laptop at home (and, no, that's not trying to count in the two additional SuSE servers as desktops).
I stand by my original claim: there are no metrics.
US != world, however the US is still home to a disproportionate number of computers. I like how you come up with the 2-3% guess. You don't know and have no way of knowing or even estimating so your guess is as pointless as me making one.
Any linux usage numbers are basically worthless because:
1. MS claims market share based on number of PCs sold with Windows pre-installed PLUS number of Windows licenses sold
2. Number of linux kernel/ISO/whatever downloads could be more or less than number installed via that method (download once, install many; download many never install one)
3. Number of linux distro sales is likewise meaningless for the same reason.
These market share numbers are just meaningless. There are too many variables with no means of checking on any of their values.
I've never heard of Dell doing that and I work for a Uni that does a lot of business with Dell. We are also practically a Windows only environment with a site-license from MS for *all* versions of Windows.
But guess what? Our license is only an "upgrade" license: each system must come with a valid license for some (any) version of Windows. Even if Dell did offer that kind of computer we couldn't buy them and I suspect that the same is true for most/all MS licensees.
But misunderstanding "site-license" is a common problem, one I have to explain in its many variations every day.
Complain or not I think that there is a large difference in the fan base. I like U2 well enough (and have War and Joshua Tree), but I have *every* studio Rush album. Add them up and its quite a bit. I know many more people who know and like U2 than I do those who appreciate Rush, but those who like Rush tend, like me, to collect all the music (in fact, I'm somewhat unusual for those I know as I have avoided the live albums).
On the other hand, Rush isn't U2 so when it happens to U2 its going to get more media attention. Which I guess is to say that I think Rush probably has less to lose by this kind of theft/release than U2, but the difference in perceived band reaction is likely to be just media attention.
I don't recall the name, but a number of years ago I remember dissecting a Word macro virus that had (commented out) code that would randomly delete a letter or word from a document (I think each time it opened).
Truly hideous
Thoromyr
I've seen PS2's not do well in smoke-filled environments. Of course, the PS2's aren't the only tech device with this "problem" -- it affects computers and cd/dvd players as well. OTOH I've been using my PS2 since... well, since they were released in the states.
Re:Adjust your tinfoil hat, guy.
on
Cracking GSM
·
· Score: 1
I'm sorry that I'm not giving you verifiable facts, but it is *absolutely* true that this is going on. The US gov't hires civilian agencies to do its dirty work and cooperation with the UK is fairly close. Is it technically legal? I surely don't know, I'm not a lawyer. But I know from direct, personal experience that these things happen. You should be able to fairly easily verify the civilian end of things with some simple googling. I forget the name of one of the larger contractors or I'd simply tell you myself.
There is one additional factor: the more xboxes sold the larger installed base microsoft can go showing to vendors. You make them more credible by increasing their numbers when you buy an xbox.
Some people are morons.
Where does the constitution say someone has the right to make money off of music? That was the assertion and you did nothing to disprove it. You then turn it into an argument about copyright. Which has fuck-all to do with someone's right to make money. There IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY. Get over it.
thoromyr
And the point is again that the pixel resolution isn't upgradeable either. Its really a non-issue. If you have a 5MP camera with 1.5GB of storage then that is 100 images stored as 24 bit, no compression. That doesn't seem that small, the equivalent of a few rolls of film. But wait, assuming the camera supports jpg compression it is more likely in the neighborhood of 1,000 images.
If you need more than 100 lossless images per go then look for a different solution (or have a laptop or equivalent you can download to).
Your complaint would have more merit if it weren't currently being used (as is alleged).
Slashdot Mirror
Because I have seen too many people make this error: "Ever-changing .doc format: Yes, the doc format changes. How else are new features supposed to be saved? However, Office has XML-based formats that work quite well now, too (since Office2K, even!)"
This is just wrong: a properly specified document format is forwards *and* backwords compatible. You can have different versions of an application with different capabilities losslessly read and write the same files.
As a rather simplified example of this consider HTML. A useragent need only support a subset. If it doesn't know a tag it just discards it. For read/write ability in the most generic sense the tag would be anchored but invisible. Even if the application doesn't know how to parse it, it can still keep it around and save the same thing back out.
Still don't believe me? Try PageStream -- this is a desktop publishing application. As an example, the Pro version has some specialized text manipulation that the Standard version lacks. This doesn't present a problem in switching versions, however. Moreover, you can load a PgS 5 document into PgS 3.
PageStream's file format is IFF which is more-or-less 8-bit binary XML. (Most people associate IFF with the IFF-ILBM, but IFF just presents a standard way for arranging information.)
thoromyr
Correct the correction!
Common misconception is that the solstices and equinoxes mark the changes between seasons rather than their midpoints. Who knows, maybe by this time the damage has been done and seasons redefined, but I ask you this question: When does Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream take place?
thoromyr
Good post! I just wanted to comment on the "They are adults consenting to relationships" part. This is the predominately accepted form of homosexuality in the US, but this is not the case everywhere/everywhen. For example, my understanding is that in classical Greece the "bisexual" Greek pattern was for a youth to have an older male lover, but there was an expectation of hetereosexual marriage in adulthood.
In the modern US that activity would be considered pedophilia so what is gay or acceptable gay activity (just as what is hetereosexual or acceptable hetereosexual activity) depends to a large part on the society doing the judging.
thoromyr
A common misconception is that US troops are in Saudi Arabia because of Saddam Hussein. This is simply not the case. We have had US military in Saudi Arabia for some time and we were friends with Iraq's brutal dictator due to his animosity with... that's right, Iran.
The real concern of the US government in the Middle East, rightly or wrongly, has been Iran (at least, since they threw our brutal dictator puppet out). The Saudi Arabian government did not *want* our help with Saddam Hussein (pick a reason, maybe they were afraid for their sovereignty if they had to accept foreign aid, or maybe they really thought they could handle it) but we forced it on them.
The main presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia is because of the Patriot missile batteries. There's more to the story, but the short of it is that the US provides the batteries and the troops to operate them -- and additional troops to provide security. The Saudi Arabian government tolerates this (sort of) because it is the arrangement which gives them the missile batteries they believe they need.
What I'm saying is that once you scratch the surface it gets *a lot* more complicated than simply pulling out troops. Not that these complexities *shouldn't* be tackled.
thoromyr
I probably shouldn't reply but... when you post crap like "Talk to an Iraqi sometime. They will tell you stories about how on their sister's wedding night a drunk Uday Hussein showed up and decided to rape her death and slit the throat of the groom. These weren't isolated incidents, they happened every day." I just have to question it. Every day? Literally? Even if taken figuratively that is extreme and ridiculous. For you information I *have* talked with Iraqis. Not a single one of them liked Saddam Hussein (one had been part of his government and escaped -- via Italy IIRC -- with his family).
But these ridiculous excuses to justify the war crimes we have committed... It reminds me of the true golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. What is this, WWF?
thoromyr
argh.... I mean:
I stand by my original claim: there are no valid metrics.
Your statement that most "geeks hit the same sites as non-geeks" is non-provable and, without a valid premise, your metric is also invalid.
Being non-provable is sufficient, but to not just leave it to the trivial counterproof: you're metric does not take into account that most browsing is done during the day which for many is at work which means that your are getting more of a corporate browser and OS measure than anything else.
Which in my case would count the WinXP system I use at work for my primary desktop, but miss the two OS X desktops and the RedHat desktop, not to mention the two SuSE desktops and OS X laptop at home (and, no, that's not trying to count in the two additional SuSE servers as desktops).
I stand by my original claim: there are no metrics.
Thoromyr
US != world, however the US is still home to a disproportionate number of computers. I like how you come up with the 2-3% guess. You don't know and have no way of knowing or even estimating so your guess is as pointless as me making one.
Any linux usage numbers are basically worthless because:
1. MS claims market share based on number of PCs sold with Windows pre-installed PLUS number of Windows licenses sold
2. Number of linux kernel/ISO/whatever downloads could be more or less than number installed via that method (download once, install many; download many never install one)
3. Number of linux distro sales is likewise meaningless for the same reason.
These market share numbers are just meaningless. There are too many variables with no means of checking on any of their values.
Thoromyr
I've never heard of Dell doing that and I work for a Uni that does a lot of business with Dell. We are also practically a Windows only environment with a site-license from MS for *all* versions of Windows.
But guess what? Our license is only an "upgrade" license: each system must come with a valid license for some (any) version of Windows. Even if Dell did offer that kind of computer we couldn't buy them and I suspect that the same is true for most/all MS licensees.
But misunderstanding "site-license" is a common problem, one I have to explain in its many variations every day.
Thoromyr
Complain or not I think that there is a large difference in the fan base. I like U2 well enough (and have War and Joshua Tree), but I have *every* studio Rush album. Add them up and its quite a bit. I know many more people who know and like U2 than I do those who appreciate Rush, but those who like Rush tend, like me, to collect all the music (in fact, I'm somewhat unusual for those I know as I have avoided the live albums).
On the other hand, Rush isn't U2 so when it happens to U2 its going to get more media attention. Which I guess is to say that I think Rush probably has less to lose by this kind of theft/release than U2, but the difference in perceived band reaction is likely to be just media attention.
Thoromyr
I don't recall the name, but a number of years ago I remember dissecting a Word macro virus that had (commented out) code that would randomly delete a letter or word from a document (I think each time it opened). Truly hideous Thoromyr
Ah yes... Using the /. effect to inflate web statistics.
Ego stroking? Never!
I've seen PS2's not do well in smoke-filled environments. Of course, the PS2's aren't the only tech device with this "problem" -- it affects computers and cd/dvd players as well. OTOH I've been using my PS2 since... well, since they were released in the states.
I'm sorry that I'm not giving you verifiable facts, but it is *absolutely* true that this is going on. The US gov't hires civilian agencies to do its dirty work and cooperation with the UK is fairly close. Is it technically legal? I surely don't know, I'm not a lawyer. But I know from direct, personal experience that these things happen. You should be able to fairly easily verify the civilian end of things with some simple googling. I forget the name of one of the larger contractors or I'd simply tell you myself.
thoromyr
There is one additional factor: the more xboxes sold the larger installed base microsoft can go showing to vendors. You make them more credible by increasing their numbers when you buy an xbox.
Give your reasoning I would agree that we liberated Iraq if what were are now doing were not oppression. thoromyr
I called your bluff and did exactly what you said. I guess "BROUGHTON, REGINALD C." is not the senior vice president as per Yahoo stocks? thoromyr
Some people are morons. Where does the constitution say someone has the right to make money off of music? That was the assertion and you did nothing to disprove it. You then turn it into an argument about copyright. Which has fuck-all to do with someone's right to make money. There IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY. Get over it. thoromyr
And the point is again that the pixel resolution isn't upgradeable either. Its really a non-issue. If you have a 5MP camera with 1.5GB of storage then that is 100 images stored as 24 bit, no compression. That doesn't seem that small, the equivalent of a few rolls of film. But wait, assuming the camera supports jpg compression it is more likely in the neighborhood of 1,000 images.
If you need more than 100 lossless images per go then look for a different solution (or have a laptop or equivalent you can download to).
Your complaint would have more merit if it weren't currently being used (as is alleged).
thoromyr