I was at the magazine stand in W H Smiths today. There was a 'Linus' category. I didn't see any Linus Torvalds fanzines, they must have all sold out already.
He obviously was not adequately restrained because they couldn't get the cuffs on him.
He was in no position to inflict any harm on either of the police officers, defend himself or escape. That is adequate restraint. The penalty for resisting arrest is not a punch in the face and a police officer has no right to deal out that punishment either.
Doesn't matter what he did. I saw the video, and punching the guy several times in the face went far beyond reasonably force, especially as he was already adequately restrained, and in any case it is not the job of the police to hand out punishment.
Exactly. I remember that the figure used to be 10s back in the days of dialup, but now that connections are faster we are getting more and more impatient.
What really annoys me are sites where the main text of the page seems to load last. Everything else, like image intensive navigation strips, logo headers, ads (if Camino's ad blocker hasn't caught them) etc. seems to slowly load first and then it's a couple of seconds before the main text appears.
Wouldn't work. It's all about return on investment. In a pure free capitalist environment, you want to be sure that the money you spent installing that wheelchair ramp is going to be made back by increased patronage of wheelchair users. Now, given the ratio of wheelchair users to ably-bodied people in most societies, that ROI may not be met for all establishments, so wheelchair access becomes a niche market - which in the real world means that, of all people, the ones that have to travel furthest for services are the ones with mobility issues.
The solution is to pass laws like the ADA. It would be an utterly ridiculous situation if the richest country in the world was unwilling to spend the extra money to ensure that people disabled through illness or injury, through no fault of their own, were able to live normal lives.
First an observation: they're not monitoring criminals, they're monitoring you.
They're not? Do they black them out? That's remarkable.
This article makes it sound like every single camera in the country is sending images directly to 10 Downing Street, which is utter rubbish. Most cameras will be under the control of local police forces, and a significant proportion will be located on private property for security purposes. And the national government is in general not responsible for town centre cameras (local councils are), so I think it's a bit unfair that they're getting blamed for their use.
I'd love to see some of the page histories from this wiki.
-- I doubt that he will reveal any WMD, because I think both we UN inspectors and the American inspectors have been looking around and come to the conclusion that there aren't any. - 17:01 16 December 2003 HansBrix
++ Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, that Saddam has continued to produce them, that he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population; and that he is actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability - 16:44 24 September 2002 TBlair
I agree, especially for cheapskates like me:) I love being able to use lots of small hard drives that I've pinched from my friends once they're done with them... and Unix doesn't force me to have the whole OS on one drive, unlike (last I checked) Windows.
I'm not so sure of the advantages when it comes to teaching a new user, though. One of the things I like to do with new users is to take the side off the computer and show them what's inside, and teach them what the bits do. Medical analogies are useful - most people understand the concepts of short-term and long-term memory, which makes the difference between HDDs and RAM easier to explain.
Windows makes it easy to take this knowledge and apply it to the user interface, because it makes no attempt to hide the devices. The user can then relate 'C:\' to something tangible. The Unix way of doing things introduces another level of abstraction that is good if you want to have an easy to access 'Home' folder (and Applications folder, which OSX has and Linux desperately needs), or if you're technically minded and don't mind setting up mountpoints manually. But for beginners I think it makes it more difficult to understand what's really going on.
I'm pretty sure that Windows automatically categorises drives by type in the My Computer view, so assigning a random letter isn't the end of the story (I'm on a Mac right now, so I can't say for sure).
Generally agree though. The Unix file system was a bit of a shock to me at first because it seemed to be independent of my storage devices... but then, I remember being shocked when Windows 95 came out and all my drives were in the My Computer 'folder'... I wondered for a long time what drive that folder was on.
The evil of racist speech can be effectively countered with anti-racist speech
The problem with this argument is that you assume that racists are of rational mind and will submit to valid argument and facts. I seriously doubt that this is ever the case.
Incidentally, do you believe that people should be free to restrict their own freedoms, or is this a freedom that should be denied to them? I am interested in where Slashdot users see 'democracy' ending and 'rights' beginning.
Jeg vil gjerne gå på Norge! At least once I learn the language. It's nice and close to home so I wouldn't be too far away from family, and because they're in the EEA I wouldn't even have to apply for citizenship.
I really honestly see it as better for our culture and our species, if we don't say "Sorry, someone else came up with something too similar five years ago, even though you have the far superior idea".
I think you're talking about patents here, rather than copyright. I'm not going to argue against that, because I'm neutral on that topic - I can appreciate the arguments on both sides. Copyright doesn't prevent you from copying ideas as patents do - you could write a book that is similar in plot, setting etc, and it would be legal - most copyright laws protect the right of parody, even.
For that matter, most of the lesser-known musicians I enjoy, I found by downloading their material for free before shelling out any cash for their CDs and/or concert.
Same here. Most of the music I've bought recently has been from bands I've heard on the tartanpodcast, and if these bands think that will enlarge their fan base, then good for them. I just don't think that that model should be forced upon them.
I think the problem with your proposed model is that it makes life harder for those that 'make it big' at the moment - in that they can't find the funds for the latest commercial-interest special-effects-laden plotless blockbuster - but it doesn't necessarily make anything better for the little guy, who could never break into the mainstream because he couldn't get a record deal. Well, he'll never get that record deal now, he's in the same donations-reliant position he's ever been in. And if you assume that current market forces are in effect giving the people what they want to hear (vs. telling them what they want to hear), then you have to assume that a donations-based industry would result in the same 'making it big' people receiving the donations.
I do think it would be a bad thing. Think of your favourite film, and then think about how you would pay for sets, cameras, and computers for special effects. It's possible - look at Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning, but how long did it take to make, and is it really a substitute for every other film you've ever seen? Same goes for any television you may watch - how much of it would get made if you downloaded all, with no advertising?
Do you have a favourite author? Ever waited impatiently for their next novel to come out? A good writer might be able to crank out a book in three months, if they work solidly at it. Most will take roughly a year. Multiply that by at least five if they're working full-time. And if you want it published in print (Sony's eReader hasn't taken off yet), how will you pay for your material and distribution costs?
It's conceivable that the Beatles might have managed to pay for all the instruments and studio recording out of their own pocket, but then there's the outlay of capital necessary if they ever want to tour any further afield than Newcastle.
And then there's the economic argument. Why do you think promoting copyright treaties overseas is a priority for the American government? It's because America exports a vast amount of music, film and television all over the world, and the loss of these industries would severely affect America's economy and trade balance (I'm not American so this doesn't bother me, but I'm guessing that you are).
And for what benefit? So that some people can get stuff for free?
Slashdot Mirror
I was at the magazine stand in W H Smiths today. There was a 'Linus' category. I didn't see any Linus Torvalds fanzines, they must have all sold out already.
He was in no position to inflict any harm on either of the police officers, defend himself or escape. That is adequate restraint. The penalty for resisting arrest is not a punch in the face and a police officer has no right to deal out that punishment either.
Doesn't matter what he did. I saw the video, and punching the guy several times in the face went far beyond reasonably force, especially as he was already adequately restrained, and in any case it is not the job of the police to hand out punishment.
It was a British judge that made this ruling. Can a British judge make this ruling on behalf of the whole European Union?
Great... now all we need in Scotland is some sunlight.
What? Isn't this the 21st century? I know we turned the clocks back a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't realise we'd turned them back that far!
Exactly. I remember that the figure used to be 10s back in the days of dialup, but now that connections are faster we are getting more and more impatient.
What really annoys me are sites where the main text of the page seems to load last. Everything else, like image intensive navigation strips, logo headers, ads (if Camino's ad blocker hasn't caught them) etc. seems to slowly load first and then it's a couple of seconds before the main text appears.
There's no reason why tidal energy couldn't be used as well, it's just that potential sites are more limited.
But they're ain't no whales. Presumably this is why Iceland has not committed itself to a space programme.
Wrong. DRM is Alice sending a message to Bob while making sure that Bob doesn't pass it on to Eve.
Wouldn't work. It's all about return on investment. In a pure free capitalist environment, you want to be sure that the money you spent installing that wheelchair ramp is going to be made back by increased patronage of wheelchair users. Now, given the ratio of wheelchair users to ably-bodied people in most societies, that ROI may not be met for all establishments, so wheelchair access becomes a niche market - which in the real world means that, of all people, the ones that have to travel furthest for services are the ones with mobility issues.
The solution is to pass laws like the ADA. It would be an utterly ridiculous situation if the richest country in the world was unwilling to spend the extra money to ensure that people disabled through illness or injury, through no fault of their own, were able to live normal lives.
They're not? Do they black them out? That's remarkable.
This article makes it sound like every single camera in the country is sending images directly to 10 Downing Street, which is utter rubbish. Most cameras will be under the control of local police forces, and a significant proportion will be located on private property for security purposes. And the national government is in general not responsible for town centre cameras (local councils are), so I think it's a bit unfair that they're getting blamed for their use.
He won't be - his half brother and his chief judge have both been sentenced to death, and several others have been given prison sentences.
I'd love to see some of the page histories from this wiki.
I played about for a while. It was disconcerting, but kinda fun. Then I went to my back button to come back here, and forgot to click it.
I agree, especially for cheapskates like me :) I love being able to use lots of small hard drives that I've pinched from my friends once they're done with them... and Unix doesn't force me to have the whole OS on one drive, unlike (last I checked) Windows.
I'm not so sure of the advantages when it comes to teaching a new user, though. One of the things I like to do with new users is to take the side off the computer and show them what's inside, and teach them what the bits do. Medical analogies are useful - most people understand the concepts of short-term and long-term memory, which makes the difference between HDDs and RAM easier to explain.
Windows makes it easy to take this knowledge and apply it to the user interface, because it makes no attempt to hide the devices. The user can then relate 'C:\' to something tangible. The Unix way of doing things introduces another level of abstraction that is good if you want to have an easy to access 'Home' folder (and Applications folder, which OSX has and Linux desperately needs), or if you're technically minded and don't mind setting up mountpoints manually. But for beginners I think it makes it more difficult to understand what's really going on.
I'm pretty sure that Windows automatically categorises drives by type in the My Computer view, so assigning a random letter isn't the end of the story (I'm on a Mac right now, so I can't say for sure).
Generally agree though. The Unix file system was a bit of a shock to me at first because it seemed to be independent of my storage devices... but then, I remember being shocked when Windows 95 came out and all my drives were in the My Computer 'folder'... I wondered for a long time what drive that folder was on.
Why do people think that they have a right to privacy in a public place?
The problem with this argument is that you assume that racists are of rational mind and will submit to valid argument and facts. I seriously doubt that this is ever the case.
Incidentally, do you believe that people should be free to restrict their own freedoms, or is this a freedom that should be denied to them? I am interested in where Slashdot users see 'democracy' ending and 'rights' beginning.
Jeg vil gjerne gå på Norge! At least once I learn the language. It's nice and close to home so I wouldn't be too far away from family, and because they're in the EEA I wouldn't even have to apply for citizenship.
Wouldn't that make it impossible to repeal old laws?
Thanks for mentioning this, this answers my question: "should I hold off upgrading from IE6 for the time being?"
Wouldn't this indicate that your courts system needs reform, rather than your IP laws?
I think you're talking about patents here, rather than copyright. I'm not going to argue against that, because I'm neutral on that topic - I can appreciate the arguments on both sides. Copyright doesn't prevent you from copying ideas as patents do - you could write a book that is similar in plot, setting etc, and it would be legal - most copyright laws protect the right of parody, even.
Same here. Most of the music I've bought recently has been from bands I've heard on the tartanpodcast, and if these bands think that will enlarge their fan base, then good for them. I just don't think that that model should be forced upon them.
I think the problem with your proposed model is that it makes life harder for those that 'make it big' at the moment - in that they can't find the funds for the latest commercial-interest special-effects-laden plotless blockbuster - but it doesn't necessarily make anything better for the little guy, who could never break into the mainstream because he couldn't get a record deal. Well, he'll never get that record deal now, he's in the same donations-reliant position he's ever been in. And if you assume that current market forces are in effect giving the people what they want to hear (vs. telling them what they want to hear), then you have to assume that a donations-based industry would result in the same 'making it big' people receiving the donations.
I do think it would be a bad thing. Think of your favourite film, and then think about how you would pay for sets, cameras, and computers for special effects. It's possible - look at Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning, but how long did it take to make, and is it really a substitute for every other film you've ever seen? Same goes for any television you may watch - how much of it would get made if you downloaded all, with no advertising?
Do you have a favourite author? Ever waited impatiently for their next novel to come out? A good writer might be able to crank out a book in three months, if they work solidly at it. Most will take roughly a year. Multiply that by at least five if they're working full-time. And if you want it published in print (Sony's eReader hasn't taken off yet), how will you pay for your material and distribution costs?
It's conceivable that the Beatles might have managed to pay for all the instruments and studio recording out of their own pocket, but then there's the outlay of capital necessary if they ever want to tour any further afield than Newcastle.
And then there's the economic argument. Why do you think promoting copyright treaties overseas is a priority for the American government? It's because America exports a vast amount of music, film and television all over the world, and the loss of these industries would severely affect America's economy and trade balance (I'm not American so this doesn't bother me, but I'm guessing that you are).
And for what benefit? So that some people can get stuff for free?
(Man, I forgot about video games. Oh well.)