1. "the fact of the matter is that Apple could have far, far reduced restrictions on its music and still satisfied the record companies."
Says you... if you have evidence, I'd like to see it.
2. "The fact of the matter is that Apple is purposefully using DRM as a tool to force people to buy an iPod to listen to their music downloaded through iTunes."
True-ish, however the use of AAC isn't really a DRM issue, it's simply a case of a company selling music in a format that can only be processed by their own music players.
And in general, I think that's a fair argument, but you do see why I'm not comfortable in relying on the belief that any phenotypic changed beneficial to man must necessarily make it less fit to survive in the wild, don't you?
There are any number of hypothetical changes I can think of that would benefit both agriculture and the wild plant. Frost resistance, drought resistance, for example.
Well, that looks like a nifty Ad hominem attack really. I was studying at a university where the staff were pretty bleeding edge in terms of crop research.
I'm intrigued by your unsupported assertion that GMOs carry 'genetic baggage' that puts them at a disadvantage to wild type crops. It's a lovely theory, but I'm not sure how you can assert it holds true for ALL GMO phenotypes.
The Cane toad isn't a a red herring, and I attempted to explain why.
Assuming you have a scientific background you should actually address the science.
It's an excellent article, refreshing. As a person of greenish hue, I've certainly moved my stance on nuclear power over the last few years.
However I'd take issue with a couple of points.
My degree is in Biological Sciences, specializing in genetics, and while I am quite happy to eat GM food on health grounds, to say that rejection of the technology on environmental grounds is pure romanticism is overly harsh.
Back when I was doing my degree, (in the late 80s, just as the first GM plans were being worked on) we were well educated on the potential perils of introducing novel DNA or combinations of DNA into an Eco system.
History is replete with examples of novel organisms that have been set loose into the environment as a biological control or source of food or some-such. Australia (the cane toad etc. etc.) and other island ecosystems provide good example where the results have not be as anticipated and in cases pretty grim.
The course looked in some detail at the potential problems of GM.
Today people would generally not introduce a foreign organism into the wild.
"Yes but regular selective breeding is creating new genotypes and phenotypes all the time".
They are correct. However in my view the potential risk of GM falls somewhere between the two cases. The degree of novelty involved with GM is greater than selective breeding but less than foreign species introduction. The risk is proportional to the degree of novelty, in my opinion.
So there is an enhanced risk - how much? I'm not sure. But I have yet to see many compelling reasons to embrace the additional risk.
I'm sorry but this really annoys me, and I'm ever so glad that I'm not a user working a department that you serve.
I love the implicit sneer in your scare quotes around "program" and "database".
It's not surprising that investment strategists want to play around with their own models and investigate data on their own. It's part of what they are paid to-do.
It seems to me that one way forward here would be to provide them with the Excel export that they want, but before it is enabled, the strategist has to agree to go on a compulsory 1 day course designed to explain the possible pitfalls of spreadsheet use and the compliance issues inherent in having unchecked spreadsheets lying about.
Get them to sign a code of conduct which is part of their contract of employment following the course.
Then give them their bloody Excel data and let them explore it.
Well, let's see - the people who really benefit from the switch are the people who get their hands on the new frequencies.
It seems to me that the government should open up bids for the use of the new frequencies rather like many European countries did for 3G licences.
The government could then use the shed-loads of cash so raised to subsidise the provision of digital converter boxes to those consumers who don't want to junk their old TVs.
You're thinking about Doctor Who and the green death. A very scary story, which if I remember correctly involved a computer running a company that pumped out toxic waste that caused these nasty mutant maggots. One bite and you died as the green glowing stuff slowly grew up you arm.
Well, I suppose there are two ways of thinking about things like the SSN. One way is to consider it a piece of privileged private information that can be used for security purposes.
The other way is to think of it as a piece of information information as public as your first name or hair colour.
It seems to me that SSN now has to be considered in the second category.
The problem is that there is a mismatch of perception in society, so some people see it as a secure item, some people think of it as insecure and some people don't really think.
It is this mismatch which is causing the potential identity theft and security problems.
I'm sure it is handy as a unique key in many people's databases, but it has to be realised that it is public and can be falsified.
Disclaimer: I'm British, so I may have misunderstood some aspect of the problem.
He's five yes. So he'll tell his friends: "The game broke and my stupid dad can't fix it". And that'll get around the playground, and eventually you'll find a nice helpful father standing on your doorstep with a copy of Norton and a set of game install CDs to help you out.
Sounds like you need to pull the network connection in the classroom when it isn't explicitly needed for a task. I realise that's probably a highly simplistic suggestion... but I can't really see why it wouldn't work.
You should have a look at Enigmo from Pangea. It is originally a Mac game, but available for PC too now.
Fabulous.
My daughter is 2 and I'm waiting until she is old enough to play it. I'm also busily writing some Logo routines to draw pretty stuff that she will be able to tweak about whenshe is much older... if she wants to.
Actually, a quick search on Google Groups by date suggests that the phrase in a marketing sense was first popularized by Steve Jobs... but when he was at NeXT.
I suspect that the phrase transferred to Apple with him. It was certainly widely used around the launch of OS X.
You can see here, that it was a well entrenched NeXT slogan by late 1992. The earliest quote from Jobs using it as a slogan I could find was in January of that year.
To find the answer to your question, you'll have to see the film, or read some spoilers somewhere. Suffice to say, I saw the film on a flight (no, I didn't pay to see it, I thought it was going to be rubbish) and it wasn't bad. The way that the 3 laws were interpreted by one of the artificial antagonists was interesting and fairly self consistent.
But I'm not going to convince you, and you'r not going to see the film. So >shrug
Hmmm, someone needs to understand the difference between an opinion that they disagree with and a Troll. Did you really think that the Tertiary Phase was as good radio as Series 1 and 2?
I have to say that I think the last radio series was very disappointing. It demonstrated Adam's genius in knowing how to craft an excellent radio series and how to craft an excellent book and knowing the difference between the two media.
The Tertiary phase simply didn't work as good radio for me, compared to the original series. The narrative didn't carry me along, the writing lacked the great 'radio moments' that the original had.
"I have *zero* obligation to allow myself to be annoyed by anyone else's choices."
Correct. You are under *zero* obligation to visit anyone's site that uses banner advertising you dislike. Or rather you are under no compunction to visit a site where the inconvenience of the advertising outweighs your interest in the content.
That's what you meant, isn't it?
Re:The morality of the story:
on
Tracking Your Taxes
·
· Score: 2, Informative
The UK government has a truly excellent Web-based tax filing system http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/. It is one of the best examples of a robust, intuitive, helopful Web-based system I know.
It saves the government heaps in terms of manually checking paper-work and entering figures.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, yes I'd forgotten about the FairPlay aspect - so you and the original poster are right there is a DRM aspect
Mea culpa.
You're conflating two unrelated points there.
1. "the fact of the matter is that Apple could have far, far reduced restrictions on its music and still satisfied the record companies."
Says you... if you have evidence, I'd like to see it.
2. "The fact of the matter is that Apple is purposefully using DRM as a tool to force people to buy an iPod to listen to their music downloaded through iTunes."
True-ish, however the use of AAC isn't really a DRM issue, it's simply a case of a company selling music in a format that can only be processed by their own music players.
And in general, I think that's a fair argument, but you do see why I'm not comfortable in relying on the belief that any phenotypic changed beneficial to man must necessarily make it less fit to survive in the wild, don't you?
There are any number of hypothetical changes I can think of that would benefit both agriculture and the wild plant. Frost resistance, drought resistance, for example.
Well, that looks like a nifty Ad hominem attack really. I was studying at a university where the staff were pretty bleeding edge in terms of crop research.
I'm intrigued by your unsupported assertion that GMOs carry 'genetic baggage' that puts them at a disadvantage to wild type crops. It's a lovely theory, but I'm not sure how you can assert it holds true for ALL GMO phenotypes.
The Cane toad isn't a a red herring, and I attempted to explain why.
Assuming you have a scientific background you should actually address the science.
It's an excellent article, refreshing. As a person of greenish hue, I've certainly moved my stance on nuclear power over the last few years.
However I'd take issue with a couple of points.
My degree is in Biological Sciences, specializing in genetics, and while I am quite happy to eat GM food on health grounds, to say that rejection of the technology on environmental grounds is pure romanticism is overly harsh.
Back when I was doing my degree, (in the late 80s, just as the first GM plans were being worked on) we were well educated on the potential perils of introducing novel DNA or combinations of DNA into an Eco system.
History is replete with examples of novel organisms that have been set loose into the environment as a biological control or source of food or some-such. Australia (the cane toad etc. etc.) and other island ecosystems provide good example where the results have not be as anticipated and in cases pretty grim.
The course looked in some detail at the potential problems of GM.
Today people would generally not introduce a foreign organism into the wild.
"Yes but regular selective breeding is creating new genotypes and phenotypes all the time".
They are correct. However in my view the potential risk of GM falls somewhere between the two cases. The degree of novelty involved with GM is greater than selective breeding but less than foreign species introduction. The risk is proportional to the degree of novelty, in my opinion.
So there is an enhanced risk - how much? I'm not sure. But I have yet to see many compelling reasons to embrace the additional risk.
I'm sorry but this really annoys me, and I'm ever so glad that I'm not a user working a department that you serve.
I love the implicit sneer in your scare quotes around "program" and "database".
It's not surprising that investment strategists want to play around with their own models and investigate data on their own. It's part of what they are paid to-do.
It seems to me that one way forward here would be to provide them with the Excel export that they want, but before it is enabled, the strategist has to agree to go on a compulsory 1 day course designed to explain the possible pitfalls of spreadsheet use and the compliance issues inherent in having unchecked spreadsheets lying about.
Get them to sign a code of conduct which is part of their contract of employment following the course.
Then give them their bloody Excel data and let them explore it.
"I would probably do it myself but I'd need to do too much work on my antenna..."
Are you sure, here (in London) my digital box works fine with a set-top loop arial.
Well, let's see - the people who really benefit from the switch are the people who get their hands on the new frequencies.
It seems to me that the government should open up bids for the use of the new frequencies rather like many European countries did for 3G licences.
The government could then use the shed-loads of cash so raised to subsidise the provision of digital converter boxes to those consumers who don't want to junk their old TVs.
You're thinking about Doctor Who and the green death. A very scary story, which if I remember correctly involved a computer running a company that pumped out toxic waste that caused these nasty mutant maggots. One bite and you died as the green glowing stuff slowly grew up you arm.
Let's see... a yes here we are.
Scared the willies out of me, as did the daleks. Oddly though, it was The Master that always scared me most.
Well, I suppose there are two ways of thinking about things like the SSN. One way is to consider it a piece of privileged private information that can be used for security purposes.
The other way is to think of it as a piece of information information as public as your first name or hair colour.
It seems to me that SSN now has to be considered in the second category.
The problem is that there is a mismatch of perception in society, so some people see it as a secure item, some people think of it as insecure and some people don't really think.
It is this mismatch which is causing the potential identity theft and security problems.
I'm sure it is handy as a unique key in many people's databases, but it has to be realised that it is public and can be falsified.
Disclaimer: I'm British, so I may have misunderstood some aspect of the problem.
He's five yes. So he'll tell his friends: "The game broke and my stupid dad can't fix it". And that'll get around the playground, and eventually you'll find a nice helpful father standing on your doorstep with a copy of Norton and a set of game install CDs to help you out.
Well, sounds like a job for a white-list then. Or a real-live teacher.
Sounds like you need to pull the network connection in the classroom when it isn't explicitly needed for a task. I realise that's probably a highly simplistic suggestion... but I can't really see why it wouldn't work.
You should have a look at Enigmo from Pangea. It is originally a Mac game, but available for PC too now.
.
Fabulous.
My daughter is 2 and I'm waiting until she is old enough to play it. I'm also busily writing some Logo routines to draw pretty stuff that she will be able to tweak about whenshe is much older... if she wants to
He'll just get a friend's dad to come around and fix it or some such. Tell him the truth.
"we came to the conclusion that it is easier for him..."
no, you mean "we came to the conclusion that it is easier for us..."
Actually, a quick search on Google Groups by date suggests that the phrase in a marketing sense was first popularized by Steve Jobs... but when he was at NeXT.
I suspect that the phrase transferred to Apple with him. It was certainly widely used around the launch of OS X.
You can see here, that it was a well entrenched NeXT slogan by late 1992. The earliest quote from Jobs using it as a slogan I could find was in January of that year.
Why yes, I do have too much time on my hands.
To find the answer to your question, you'll have to see the film, or read some spoilers somewhere. Suffice to say, I saw the film on a flight (no, I didn't pay to see it, I thought it was going to be rubbish) and it wasn't bad. The way that the 3 laws were interpreted by one of the artificial antagonists was interesting and fairly self consistent.
But I'm not going to convince you, and you'r not going to see the film. So >shrug
Hmmm, someone needs to understand the difference between an opinion that they disagree with and a Troll. Did you really think that the Tertiary Phase was as good radio as Series 1 and 2?
If so, Belgium man, Belgium!
I have to say that I think the last radio series was very disappointing. It demonstrated Adam's genius in knowing how to craft an excellent radio series and how to craft an excellent book and knowing the difference between the two media.
The Tertiary phase simply didn't work as good radio for me, compared to the original series. The narrative didn't carry me along, the writing lacked the great 'radio moments' that the original had.
Sad.
Because, obviously you couldn't have a Preference Panel called 'Preferred Applications' or somesuch, could you?
Obviously, what you should do is eat in a different restaurant. Hope that helps.
Option-clicking on the estimated time figure has toggled to transfer rate for quite a long time (since Safari came out?)
"I have *zero* obligation to allow myself to be annoyed by anyone else's choices."
Correct. You are under *zero* obligation to visit anyone's site that uses banner advertising you dislike. Or rather you are under no compunction to visit a site where the inconvenience of the advertising outweighs your interest in the content.
That's what you meant, isn't it?
The UK government has a truly excellent Web-based tax filing system http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/. It is one of the best examples of a robust, intuitive, helopful Web-based system I know.
It saves the government heaps in terms of manually checking paper-work and entering figures.
I tend to run he machine for a few months, then if everything is in order delete, or archive the previous systems.