I think you're missing something, when you say "take in no revenue", I assume you're talking about revenue from the wifi. There is such a thing as free wifi (and a free lunch), it's used to sell you something else.
I live in York, PA, one of the most untechnologically advanced areas in the country and I know of several places that offer "free" wifi just to get you in the door. "Sparky and Clark's", the local coffee shop has free wifi, all the time I see my few fellow geeks in there checking mail on a pda or surfing on a laptop while waiting for or enjoying their coffee. I don't know the specifics, but given the seating arrangement of the place, I have no doubt that a simple business DSL/cable line could serve everyone in the coffee shop, and I'm sure there's a decently configured router behind the scenes. But I can't imagine their monthly bill is more than $60-$80, and I can vouch for the fact that lines have gotten WAY longer and seating has become much more of a commodity since they installed the wifi. There are also several apartment buildings that are offering free wifi setups, I assume they get around some technicalities because they're giving it away. Don't forget hotels, last time I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express there was completely unsecured wifi. Oh and also, the indoor sports arena where I play Ultimate (and most people play soccer) also gives away wifi.
Can you offer free wifi as a service on its own and still turn a profit? No. But could an eatery, housing arrangement, hotel, entertainment arena, hell even a whole city? Sure, as long as it's providing some other benefit.
Having a bathroom costs money and requires maintenance, but how many businesses just deal with this as part of the cost of operation?
Let's be fair here, cell phones turn SOME drivers into worse-than-drunk drivers. ANYONE with a.08 BAC is going to drive poorly, only some folks who talk on a cell phone while they drive will drive poorly.
I'm going to be preemptive here, the solution lies in education, training and responsibility, not prohibition.
Yes, I RTFA, and the software that they've produced doesn't distinguish between legal files and "illegal files" I see this as completely rediculous. How many clueless parents will punish kids now for doing something that's completely legal, moral, and ethical. It even flags iTunes files, and Mirc, I mean, come on here. There should be a libel lawsuit here to deter people from distributing what is in essence a fraud of a "illegal file detecting software"
I have a hacked d-reb, and there are still a few differences from the 10D (not 20D). Smaller buffer and lack of selectable AI Servo in cretaive modes are the most noticeable.
BUT THERE'S HOPE. The digital rebel was one of the first DSLRs that was in the ~= $1000 range, and so it's been hacked A LOT. Besides the wasia hack, there are also other numerous attempts. One thing that I read that was REAL interesting was that the camera actually runs on a DOS based system, and inside the camera were several applications, most notably camera.exe. With the ability to hack the firmware with moderate difficulty, I'm hoping soon someone will figure out some more tricks (I'd kill for AI servo in aperture and shutter priority modes). I do my best to provide feedback and ideas and even test the firmware hacks, and I think a lot of other prosumer range DSLR owners do the same
Hi, I'm the phone company, I've decided that you have no choice but to use me for phone service, so I'm going to screw you. Oh wait, you suddenly have a choice... I TAKE THAT BACK, I'm your best friend, look here's some free stuff, here's a discount, just don't leave, PLEASE!!!
OK, HL2 was in development for how long? And now some unfortunate folks in europe can't play their LEGALLY PURCHASED game because of poor planning and implementation of steam (I thought steam was a bad idea from the beginning, but that's not the point here).
In addition, I'm one of the hordes of beta testers for World of Warcraft, with less than two weeks until the game launches, there is lag in some areas that nearly makes the game unplayable
What are game designers thinking when they plan development timelines? Why aren't they factoring in testing for issues like these?
It's most likely a record label issue, while record labels (usually) can't prevent you for doing things for free, they DO control all money you receive for sales of albums, merch, etc. That's why bands that make gold records often make more off of non-record-company related deals (like interviews, photo shoots, hosting MTV shows, modeling contracts, movies, etc.) than actual album sales (not that the album sale profits rae anything to laugh at).
"and to encourage chickens to take exercise" ...Please leave the chickens alone, they have enough of a problem running from the farmer when his wife is out of town.
Firstly, quality of glass certainly has a bit to do with EVERY ASPECT of the image created. Use shitty glass, you'll get shitty images, it's that simple. Note that I didn't say the L glass is the only glass that produces quality image.
Bokeh is absolutely affected by glass quality. Especially when dealing with numerous small points of light, such as cityscapes and reflections on choppy water, using low dispersion glass will create smoother but still "contrasty" bokeh.
I own the 50mm 1.8 that you're talking about and use it very often, it's a great lens. Yes it feels like a child's toy but it takes amazing photos. Already it's got a bit of a "stick" in the focusing ring, but for $60 I could just as easily replace it if I found that to be an inconvenience.
I also own a wonderfully terrible Canon 75-300 f4-5.6 III, and I have used on several occasions Canon's 100-400 f4 L (I am also preparing to purchase this lens for myself). I understand that this is comparing bottom-of-the-line to top-of-the-line glass here, but the difference between the lenses is incredible. Yes, there are numerous factors that make L lenses great besides the actual glass, but that still doesn't take away from the quality of that glass.
I'm not trying to start a flame war here, I don't think many people got the impression that L GLASS IS TEH AWESOMES IF YOU DON'T USE IT YOU WILL GET PWN3D!!!! I was just saying that the optics mean a lot more when you talk about image quality than the number of meg-uh-picksuls. Next time I'll make sure to not be a "fanboy" by not mentioning any brand, make, model, country of origin or color or any item that I talk about.
I'd like to take this time to point out the lunacy of the 'megapixel' ratings for cameras
A number determined from the multiplication of length and width in pixels of an image has about as much to do with the quality of a picture as the size of your passenger cabin has to do with the speed of your car. Yes, you can print larger pictures without seeing pixels if you have a higher megapixel count, but chances are it's not the resolution of your photos that you'll notice.
A major factor in the quality of any image is the quality of the optics used to take it. That means the lens, the glass used to focus and point the image onto the sensor. Quality glass, such as low dispersion glass (I'm preferential to Canon's "L" glass) will create images with sharp edges, crisp focus, and good bokeh. Use cheap glass and you'll get the opposite. Effects like soft focus, purple halos, light leaking, and distortion will all still be present if you use poor optics, no matter what the MP rating. I wonder how many people have upgraded from a 3 mp to a 4, 6, or 8 mp camera and still found lackluster results.
My point, a camera has many more features that determine quality than just the megapixel rating, when you choose one, consider these as well and you'll be happier. And here's a plug, dpreview.com does some awesome camera reviews (I'm in no way affiliated with them).
Uh, maybe elion's worked well for you. I ended up taking an extra semester because I trusted eLion's degree audit. And have you ever tried to schedule classes during peak time using elion?
I'm with ya on the legos man. Legos teach kids so much, and even come in handy later in life (for ghetto casemods, propping up the short leg on the couch, or building usefull small containers.
I'm not a big fan of assembling those sets the way they are supposed to be, but don't let them stop you from buying it. Just steal the directions and tell the kid to build what he thinks he should build.
Mod me as a troll of you wish, but I'm not trolling.
I think the fact that so soon after the new ipod comes out people are brute forcing it to play movies is a demonstration that Apple may be losing its direction in innovation
I'm an avid digital photographer, and in almost all of the photo boards I hang out on, the opinion of the photo ipod was generally disappointing. How hard would it have been to put a freakin CF card reader in it? How hard would it have been to enable movie playback in at least ONE format?
The ipod was helped in its jump to the top by the fact that it was innovative, so much so that people were willing to ignore its high price tag. Apple missed two big opportunities on this one; movie playback AND easy storage transfer from camera media.
I'm not buying a photo ipod now, but I would've in a second if it had those two features. Apple, I hope this is an isolated incident.
The article talks about the "temporary IT job" this guy has in York, PA. Guess what, I've got one of those jobs too (also in York). I have no idea why that guy would move TO York to get an IT job, it's all crappy temp work. Chances are the guy is working for Harley Davidson, they're one of the only employers of IT people in York and they hire a lot of temporary people.
Seriously, if this guy moved here for a job, I'm real scared, because I'm getting ready to move AWAY to get one.
Suggested Sample question
on
IT Literacy Test
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Q: You're browsing your favorite site full of neat little applications that will tell you the weather, customize your windows, and even let you download music for free when a pop up box tells you that your computer may be infected with DANGEROUS SPYWARE... You should...
A: Click the box, you wouldn't want to get infected!
B: Close the box, you're running windows, the worlds #1 safest and securest and bestest computer program
C: Go to start->search and type in "spyware", find the problem yourself
I don't need more bandwidth from my phone to my PDA/laptop, I need more bandwidth from my phone to the tower. When GPRS picks up the snail's pace a bit then maybe we can focus on speeding up Bluetooth.
Or am I the only one who only uses BT for phone-> device communication?
I own a gun for one reason, in case some one threatens my life or property in my home. As such, I'm really not worried about my gun being hacked, I doubt the burglar/vandal/rapist would think ahead to break in a night or two in advance and hack my gun.
"The most powerful and successful country in the world"
Wow, those are some nice blinders you've got on, where can I get a pair? What standards are you using for power? We've got the biggest military, and that equates to what? Sure we could destroy the whole world, so could several other countries, are we more powerful because we could nuke the same area 7 times? What about diplomatic power, which is the way things really get done in the modern world, we're certainly not #1 in that category.
Most successful eh? I guess all of those countries with lower unemployment rates, longer life expectancies, and shorter work weeks are just green with envy.
Treating "everyone else" as a few countries that are easy to make examples of is a hallmark of stereotyping and short-sightedness.
Slashdot Mirror
I think you're missing something, when you say "take in no revenue", I assume you're talking about revenue from the wifi. There is such a thing as free wifi (and a free lunch), it's used to sell you something else.
I live in York, PA, one of the most untechnologically advanced areas in the country and I know of several places that offer "free" wifi just to get you in the door. "Sparky and Clark's", the local coffee shop has free wifi, all the time I see my few fellow geeks in there checking mail on a pda or surfing on a laptop while waiting for or enjoying their coffee. I don't know the specifics, but given the seating arrangement of the place, I have no doubt that a simple business DSL/cable line could serve everyone in the coffee shop, and I'm sure there's a decently configured router behind the scenes. But I can't imagine their monthly bill is more than $60-$80, and I can vouch for the fact that lines have gotten WAY longer and seating has become much more of a commodity since they installed the wifi. There are also several apartment buildings that are offering free wifi setups, I assume they get around some technicalities because they're giving it away. Don't forget hotels, last time I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express there was completely unsecured wifi. Oh and also, the indoor sports arena where I play Ultimate (and most people play soccer) also gives away wifi.
Can you offer free wifi as a service on its own and still turn a profit? No. But could an eatery, housing arrangement, hotel, entertainment arena, hell even a whole city? Sure, as long as it's providing some other benefit.
Having a bathroom costs money and requires maintenance, but how many businesses just deal with this as part of the cost of operation?
Let's be fair here, cell phones turn SOME drivers into worse-than-drunk drivers. ANYONE with a .08 BAC is going to drive poorly, only some folks who talk on a cell phone while they drive will drive poorly.
I'm going to be preemptive here, the solution lies in education, training and responsibility, not prohibition.
Damn you English, you win this time, but Next time I soon you beate in battel, see you will.
Yes, I RTFA, and the software that they've produced doesn't distinguish between legal files and "illegal files" I see this as completely rediculous. How many clueless parents will punish kids now for doing something that's completely legal, moral, and ethical. It even flags iTunes files, and Mirc, I mean, come on here. There should be a libel lawsuit here to deter people from distributing what is in essence a fraud of a "illegal file detecting software"
I know a joke that ends the exact same way
I have a hacked d-reb, and there are still a few differences from the 10D (not 20D). Smaller buffer and lack of selectable AI Servo in cretaive modes are the most noticeable.
BUT THERE'S HOPE. The digital rebel was one of the first DSLRs that was in the ~= $1000 range, and so it's been hacked A LOT. Besides the wasia hack, there are also other numerous attempts. One thing that I read that was REAL interesting was that the camera actually runs on a DOS based system, and inside the camera were several applications, most notably camera.exe. With the ability to hack the firmware with moderate difficulty, I'm hoping soon someone will figure out some more tricks (I'd kill for AI servo in aperture and shutter priority modes). I do my best to provide feedback and ideas and even test the firmware hacks, and I think a lot of other prosumer range DSLR owners do the same
This takes geek sheik to a whole new low
Hi, I'm the phone company, I've decided that you have no choice but to use me for phone service, so I'm going to screw you. Oh wait, you suddenly have a choice... I TAKE THAT BACK, I'm your best friend, look here's some free stuff, here's a discount, just don't leave, PLEASE!!!
I love competition
OK, HL2 was in development for how long? And now some unfortunate folks in europe can't play their LEGALLY PURCHASED game because of poor planning and implementation of steam (I thought steam was a bad idea from the beginning, but that's not the point here).
In addition, I'm one of the hordes of beta testers for World of Warcraft, with less than two weeks until the game launches, there is lag in some areas that nearly makes the game unplayable
What are game designers thinking when they plan development timelines? Why aren't they factoring in testing for issues like these?
It's most likely a record label issue, while record labels (usually) can't prevent you for doing things for free, they DO control all money you receive for sales of albums, merch, etc. That's why bands that make gold records often make more off of non-record-company related deals (like interviews, photo shoots, hosting MTV shows, modeling contracts, movies, etc.) than actual album sales (not that the album sale profits rae anything to laugh at).
"and to encourage chickens to take exercise"
...Please leave the chickens alone, they have enough of a problem running from the farmer when his wife is out of town.
Firstly, quality of glass certainly has a bit to do with EVERY ASPECT of the image created. Use shitty glass, you'll get shitty images, it's that simple. Note that I didn't say the L glass is the only glass that produces quality image.
Bokeh is absolutely affected by glass quality. Especially when dealing with numerous small points of light, such as cityscapes and reflections on choppy water, using low dispersion glass will create smoother but still "contrasty" bokeh.
I own the 50mm 1.8 that you're talking about and use it very often, it's a great lens. Yes it feels like a child's toy but it takes amazing photos. Already it's got a bit of a "stick" in the focusing ring, but for $60 I could just as easily replace it if I found that to be an inconvenience.
I also own a wonderfully terrible Canon 75-300 f4-5.6 III, and I have used on several occasions Canon's 100-400 f4 L (I am also preparing to purchase this lens for myself). I understand that this is comparing bottom-of-the-line to top-of-the-line glass here, but the difference between the lenses is incredible. Yes, there are numerous factors that make L lenses great besides the actual glass, but that still doesn't take away from the quality of that glass.
I'm not trying to start a flame war here, I don't think many people got the impression that L GLASS IS TEH AWESOMES IF YOU DON'T USE IT YOU WILL GET PWN3D!!!! I was just saying that the optics mean a lot more when you talk about image quality than the number of meg-uh-picksuls. Next time I'll make sure to not be a "fanboy" by not mentioning any brand, make, model, country of origin or color or any item that I talk about.
I'd like to take this time to point out the lunacy of the 'megapixel' ratings for cameras
A number determined from the multiplication of length and width in pixels of an image has about as much to do with the quality of a picture as the size of your passenger cabin has to do with the speed of your car. Yes, you can print larger pictures without seeing pixels if you have a higher megapixel count, but chances are it's not the resolution of your photos that you'll notice.
A major factor in the quality of any image is the quality of the optics used to take it. That means the lens, the glass used to focus and point the image onto the sensor. Quality glass, such as low dispersion glass (I'm preferential to Canon's "L" glass) will create images with sharp edges, crisp focus, and good bokeh. Use cheap glass and you'll get the opposite. Effects like soft focus, purple halos, light leaking, and distortion will all still be present if you use poor optics, no matter what the MP rating. I wonder how many people have upgraded from a 3 mp to a 4, 6, or 8 mp camera and still found lackluster results.
My point, a camera has many more features that determine quality than just the megapixel rating, when you choose one, consider these as well and you'll be happier. And here's a plug, dpreview.com does some awesome camera reviews (I'm in no way affiliated with them).
Uh, maybe elion's worked well for you. I ended up taking an extra semester because I trusted eLion's degree audit. And have you ever tried to schedule classes during peak time using elion?
Now where'd I put that 486 laptop with the broken screen and half working keyboard
I'm with ya on the legos man. Legos teach kids so much, and even come in handy later in life (for ghetto casemods, propping up the short leg on the couch, or building usefull small containers.
I'm not a big fan of assembling those sets the way they are supposed to be, but don't let them stop you from buying it. Just steal the directions and tell the kid to build what he thinks he should build.
This is slashdot, do you know what you're getting into asking that kind of question here?
Mod me as a troll of you wish, but I'm not trolling.
I think the fact that so soon after the new ipod comes out people are brute forcing it to play movies is a demonstration that Apple may be losing its direction in innovation
I'm an avid digital photographer, and in almost all of the photo boards I hang out on, the opinion of the photo ipod was generally disappointing. How hard would it have been to put a freakin CF card reader in it? How hard would it have been to enable movie playback in at least ONE format?
The ipod was helped in its jump to the top by the fact that it was innovative, so much so that people were willing to ignore its high price tag. Apple missed two big opportunities on this one; movie playback AND easy storage transfer from camera media.
I'm not buying a photo ipod now, but I would've in a second if it had those two features. Apple, I hope this is an isolated incident.The article talks about the "temporary IT job" this guy has in York, PA. Guess what, I've got one of those jobs too (also in York). I have no idea why that guy would move TO York to get an IT job, it's all crappy temp work. Chances are the guy is working for Harley Davidson, they're one of the only employers of IT people in York and they hire a lot of temporary people.
Seriously, if this guy moved here for a job, I'm real scared, because I'm getting ready to move AWAY to get one.
Q: You're browsing your favorite site full of neat little applications that will tell you the weather, customize your windows, and even let you download music for free when a pop up box tells you that your computer may be infected with DANGEROUS SPYWARE... You should...
Whoopedy freakin' dooo...
I don't need more bandwidth from my phone to my PDA/laptop, I need more bandwidth from my phone to the tower. When GPRS picks up the snail's pace a bit then maybe we can focus on speeding up Bluetooth.
Or am I the only one who only uses BT for phone-> device communication?
I own a gun for one reason, in case some one threatens my life or property in my home. As such, I'm really not worried about my gun being hacked, I doubt the burglar/vandal/rapist would think ahead to break in a night or two in advance and hack my gun.
Funny, Insightful, and true.
"The most powerful and successful country in the world"
Wow, those are some nice blinders you've got on, where can I get a pair? What standards are you using for power? We've got the biggest military, and that equates to what? Sure we could destroy the whole world, so could several other countries, are we more powerful because we could nuke the same area 7 times? What about diplomatic power, which is the way things really get done in the modern world, we're certainly not #1 in that category.
Most successful eh? I guess all of those countries with lower unemployment rates, longer life expectancies, and shorter work weeks are just green with envy.
Treating "everyone else" as a few countries that are easy to make examples of is a hallmark of stereotyping and short-sightedness.
Flaimbait? I guess the difference between humor and flaming is lost on some people.