Your logic fails in one key area. Creating real physical things costs a lot of money and you have to use a lot of raw materials and energy. No machine will ever exist which lets an individual make something on his desk like a cell phone. Even on a bigger scale, say 100s of units from a small undeground company is near impossible. The market competition is far too fierce to allow them viable profits.
The Iraqis may be slow but the problem is that the whole country was used to a dictator and it took someone that strong and tyrannical to overcome the religious and ethnic differences between the people. Take away the order of the dictator and nobody knows what to do or to expect. You'd be moving slowly too if you'd never experienced democracy and lacked the overwhelming government infrastructure required to make it work. All we have now is lawlessness, and no clear roles for people or groups. Naturally all the thugs and zealots are struggling to get whatever power they can and it has turned into a civil war. In my opinion, the Iraqis are not going to pull it together by themselves because 1.) they have no experience 2.) the disruptive forces are much bigger than the calming forces and 3.) there's no help from their neighbours or anyone in the world. The only way to avoid a 100 year civil war is to have the UN go in with 50,000 peace keepers along with a coalition of middle east leaders (honest ones) and work for 5-10 years on setting up a functioning government and infrastructure. The chances of that happening are next to zero. Bush wrecked the country
To go a step further, I think the now-universal sense of entitlement kids feel can be traced directly to their parents. Baby boomers have pretty much had their cake and eaten it too and definitely show a strong sense of entitlement and arrogance in regards to the culture, wealth and values they feel they created. In the most basic sense, they are still kids and treat their kids as friends, not as kids. Their kids now expect the same luxury as their "friends" despite not having lived and earned it.
Most people abusing their authority will quickly yield if they know someone of higher authority is going to arrive soon. The thought of them being deemed in the wrong usually puts their abuse of authority into perspective, or at least stops it temporarily.
You're missing the whole point. The government isn't supposed to own the ideas, nor be able to sell them to us! That's why news is independent. In a democracy, the government is supposed to be a reflection of what we want it to be, not the other way around.
I wrote to Larry to voice my concerns about the name - hard to say, too long, hard to spell, overthought - and suggested something shorter such as "Citi" which could take on the character of the encyclopedia. His response:
"Exactly the same things were said about "Wikipedia," another name I coined."
I don't know which business you are in but it must be large and you must have some power with your manufacturer. Most businesses have long since left private one-store retailers for the bigger chain stores, especially in terms of music, movies and computers. Any small store that tries to "drop" a product which is being sold lower online or to a bigger store just gets a curt "thank you" from the retailer.
Target and Walmart have been undercutting stores since they opened by monopolizing distribution. Now they're going to get a taste of their own business model.
I remember at the beginning of iTMS Steve Jobs said that in some cases the record companies were delivering studio tape quality files to them which they were converting to 128 AAC and thus some of these files sounded better than even the CDs put out by the record companies because the source files were that much better to begin with.
Even if content providers are responsible for encoding the files (which I doubt) Apple should still be professional and ensure they meet a certain standard. It just makes them look bad.
When we have WWIII I'm sure you will be happy to see the trend line increasing at the same logarithmic rate. We haven't had a war in 50 years largely because of economic prosperity due to increasing oil consumption but as that runs out I am sure the nuclear weapons will be back online and likely used.
American auto makers are so far behind the rest of the world and not just in emissions. A good kick in the ass is just what they need to make better cars and stay in business!
There's no problem in having two free encyclopedias on the web and I want the option of having a moderated, somewhat accountable one. Wikipedia is just not reliable enough for certain topics.
In making the special editions any idiot would have digitized and archived all the film even if it wasn't eventually used. If some guys on the internet can string together a version based on the DVD with only select shots from LD then Lucas will have NO problem. Just a lame excuse.
Microsoft developed a lot of "standard" principles and features but that period is now over. For most people, computers are powerful and complex enough. Where Linux can excel is NOT being first to add new features but simply refining the interface and usefulness of what we have now. Mac OS X has been extraordinarily effective at this and Linux can be too. Windows is only going to get more bloated and cumbersome.
There aren't any alternatives, that's the problem
on
The Science of eBay
·
· Score: 1
The reason people don't leave ebay is because there are no visible alternatives. eBay works because it is the ONLY option you have. If the market had a competitor with even 10% of the users it would probably be enough to turn the tides against eBay. You just need to fracture the audience enough and eBay's main selling feature will vanish. They're probably the most exposed company out there.
We already have this, although it originated in Japan. It's called Kobe Beef. Only, its one of the most expensive meats on the planet.
I can buy organic beef at my local supermarket for about double the cost of regular beef. There has to be some point between factory farms and organic farms which is still cost effective and can be marketed to the average consumer. We are seeing organic & "air-chilled", "premium" chicken breasts advertised on TV and these are evidently selling very well.
Personally I'd love to see us progress to the point where it was possible to grow just the meat itself without the animal.
Personally, I would love to see us progress to the point where cows are well fed, happy and healthy. The meat will taste better, we'll be healthier and there's less cruelty to the cows. I would never eat meat grown in a lab.
As the story points out, now the guy is listing his auction 4 times instead of 2. The CEO has doubled listing fees! In fact, I bet she has increased just about every profitable area possible. eBay is content with the number of auctions it has, now they're just milking the addicted users for fees. In the world of business, she should be getting an award. What the poster should be complaining about is the lack of auction competition.
I guess I'm talking more mass transit - 100 people+ or for freight. If the airlines were grounded a couple times a year due to terrorist attacks there would be big problems. Even if jet fuel gets a little more expensive consumer prices could get out of hand really quick since everything is flown around now. A rail backup would be good insurance and if done right could easily compete with air even under current economic systems.
I agree with you on the negative trend with air travel, but ultimately we have to remember that air travel is a very expensive, cumbersome and fragile way to travel. When you introduce terrorists trying to screw it up it just makes it tougher from a practical and economic stand point. To me, it is obvious that we have to be looking at alternative infrastructure in the way of trains, not just as a backup for terrorist disruptions but if oil prices keep rising. Over the last 100 years we have dismantled trains and poured money into highways and air and neither of these are as robust or cost effective, especially if mass transit is a priority. There's a reason why all other nations have kept or expanded their rail service: it's reliability and long term cost efficiency.
Funny enough, I think Slashdot is one of the best places to complain. It's a huge audience of people who think about civil rights and liberties and are used to democratic freedom. Moreover they tend to be people who "do it themselves" (at least when it comes to technology). They might even be say "hey, this guy's got a point" and maybe enough Slashdotters would get together and make a web site or write letters to congressmen or protest somewhere.
You're insisting that everyone should be an individual and make choices themselves which will change things. In today's mass-culture, techno-capitalist society this has little or no effect. You have to TEAM UP!
I don't know which side you're on with the reactionary comment but to me this is a clear trend towards reducing personal freedoms through bureaucratic hoops. Personally, I don't want to fly as much as I used to because I don't want to wait in line for 2 hours or give them my fingerprints to get in the quick line. I want to bring my own freakin toothpaste when I travel. Freedom to move around the country is a pretty basic right which is being eroded by stealth.
Slashdot Mirror
Your logic fails in one key area. Creating real physical things costs a lot of money and you have to use a lot of raw materials and energy. No machine will ever exist which lets an individual make something on his desk like a cell phone. Even on a bigger scale, say 100s of units from a small undeground company is near impossible. The market competition is far too fierce to allow them viable profits.
The Iraqis may be slow but the problem is that the whole country was used to a dictator and it took someone that strong and tyrannical to overcome the religious and ethnic differences between the people. Take away the order of the dictator and nobody knows what to do or to expect. You'd be moving slowly too if you'd never experienced democracy and lacked the overwhelming government infrastructure required to make it work. All we have now is lawlessness, and no clear roles for people or groups. Naturally all the thugs and zealots are struggling to get whatever power they can and it has turned into a civil war. In my opinion, the Iraqis are not going to pull it together by themselves because 1.) they have no experience 2.) the disruptive forces are much bigger than the calming forces and 3.) there's no help from their neighbours or anyone in the world. The only way to avoid a 100 year civil war is to have the UN go in with 50,000 peace keepers along with a coalition of middle east leaders (honest ones) and work for 5-10 years on setting up a functioning government and infrastructure. The chances of that happening are next to zero. Bush wrecked the country
To go a step further, I think the now-universal sense of entitlement kids feel can be traced directly to their parents. Baby boomers have pretty much had their cake and eaten it too and definitely show a strong sense of entitlement and arrogance in regards to the culture, wealth and values they feel they created. In the most basic sense, they are still kids and treat their kids as friends, not as kids. Their kids now expect the same luxury as their "friends" despite not having lived and earned it.
Most people abusing their authority will quickly yield if they know someone of higher authority is going to arrive soon. The thought of them being deemed in the wrong usually puts their abuse of authority into perspective, or at least stops it temporarily.
You're missing the whole point. The government isn't supposed to own the ideas, nor be able to sell them to us! That's why news is independent. In a democracy, the government is supposed to be a reflection of what we want it to be, not the other way around.
And the best is when one wise man takes the input of a million and makes the best decision...
I wrote to Larry to voice my concerns about the name - hard to say, too long, hard to spell, overthought - and suggested something shorter such as "Citi" which could take on the character of the encyclopedia. His response:
"Exactly the same things were said about "Wikipedia," another name I coined."
I don't know which business you are in but it must be large and you must have some power with your manufacturer. Most businesses have long since left private one-store retailers for the bigger chain stores, especially in terms of music, movies and computers. Any small store that tries to "drop" a product which is being sold lower online or to a bigger store just gets a curt "thank you" from the retailer.
Target and Walmart have been undercutting stores since they opened by monopolizing distribution. Now they're going to get a taste of their own business model.
You mean eWorld right?
I remember at the beginning of iTMS Steve Jobs said that in some cases the record companies were delivering studio tape quality files to them which they were converting to 128 AAC and thus some of these files sounded better than even the CDs put out by the record companies because the source files were that much better to begin with.
Even if content providers are responsible for encoding the files (which I doubt) Apple should still be professional and ensure they meet a certain standard. It just makes them look bad.
When we have WWIII I'm sure you will be happy to see the trend line increasing at the same logarithmic rate. We haven't had a war in 50 years largely because of economic prosperity due to increasing oil consumption but as that runs out I am sure the nuclear weapons will be back online and likely used.
American auto makers are so far behind the rest of the world and not just in emissions. A good kick in the ass is just what they need to make better cars and stay in business!
There's no problem in having two free encyclopedias on the web and I want the option of having a moderated, somewhat accountable one. Wikipedia is just not reliable enough for certain topics.
In making the special editions any idiot would have digitized and archived all the film even if it wasn't eventually used. If some guys on the internet can string together a version based on the DVD with only select shots from LD then Lucas will have NO problem. Just a lame excuse.
Microsoft developed a lot of "standard" principles and features but that period is now over. For most people, computers are powerful and complex enough. Where Linux can excel is NOT being first to add new features but simply refining the interface and usefulness of what we have now. Mac OS X has been extraordinarily effective at this and Linux can be too. Windows is only going to get more bloated and cumbersome.
The reason people don't leave ebay is because there are no visible alternatives. eBay works because it is the ONLY option you have. If the market had a competitor with even 10% of the users it would probably be enough to turn the tides against eBay. You just need to fracture the audience enough and eBay's main selling feature will vanish. They're probably the most exposed company out there.
We already have this, although it originated in Japan. It's called Kobe Beef. Only, its one of the most expensive meats on the planet.
I can buy organic beef at my local supermarket for about double the cost of regular beef. There has to be some point between factory farms and organic farms which is still cost effective and can be marketed to the average consumer. We are seeing organic & "air-chilled", "premium" chicken breasts advertised on TV and these are evidently selling very well.
Personally I'd love to see us progress to the point where it was possible to grow just the meat itself without the animal.
Personally, I would love to see us progress to the point where cows are well fed, happy and healthy. The meat will taste better, we'll be healthier and there's less cruelty to the cows. I would never eat meat grown in a lab.
As the story points out, now the guy is listing his auction 4 times instead of 2. The CEO has doubled listing fees! In fact, I bet she has increased just about every profitable area possible. eBay is content with the number of auctions it has, now they're just milking the addicted users for fees. In the world of business, she should be getting an award. What the poster should be complaining about is the lack of auction competition.
I guess I'm talking more mass transit - 100 people+ or for freight. If the airlines were grounded a couple times a year due to terrorist attacks there would be big problems. Even if jet fuel gets a little more expensive consumer prices could get out of hand really quick since everything is flown around now. A rail backup would be good insurance and if done right could easily compete with air even under current economic systems.
I agree with you on the negative trend with air travel, but ultimately we have to remember that air travel is a very expensive, cumbersome and fragile way to travel. When you introduce terrorists trying to screw it up it just makes it tougher from a practical and economic stand point. To me, it is obvious that we have to be looking at alternative infrastructure in the way of trains, not just as a backup for terrorist disruptions but if oil prices keep rising. Over the last 100 years we have dismantled trains and poured money into highways and air and neither of these are as robust or cost effective, especially if mass transit is a priority. There's a reason why all other nations have kept or expanded their rail service: it's reliability and long term cost efficiency.
Funny enough, I think Slashdot is one of the best places to complain. It's a huge audience of people who think about civil rights and liberties and are used to democratic freedom. Moreover they tend to be people who "do it themselves" (at least when it comes to technology). They might even be say "hey, this guy's got a point" and maybe enough Slashdotters would get together and make a web site or write letters to congressmen or protest somewhere.
You're insisting that everyone should be an individual and make choices themselves which will change things. In today's mass-culture, techno-capitalist society this has little or no effect. You have to TEAM UP!
I don't know which side you're on with the reactionary comment but to me this is a clear trend towards reducing personal freedoms through bureaucratic hoops. Personally, I don't want to fly as much as I used to because I don't want to wait in line for 2 hours or give them my fingerprints to get in the quick line. I want to bring my own freakin toothpaste when I travel. Freedom to move around the country is a pretty basic right which is being eroded by stealth.