Interesting variant of an existing investment scam that became popular again during the dotbomb era:
Advertise an "investment opportunity" that gets some wildly high return for a low-risk investment (let's say 10 percent monthly - guaranteed), but you have to pay in at least $2000 to "open" an "account".
Collect money from initial investors
Pay back investors 10 percent of their own money for a couple of months
Offer the initial investors some type of bonus if they get more investors
Pay the initial investors the "bonus" from their own money while they unwittingly network for your scam for free
Wait for a few more months while the pool of victims reaches critical mass, paying each back 10 percent of their own money in the meantime
Split with the remaining cash
Amazing how this simple scam remains so effective, year after year.
Consumers pick products based primarily on the content, not the distribution method. However, if the distribution method allows them to get more of what they want, faster, cheaper, and with greater convenience, then that will be the method of choice. The new technology has the potential to create millions of new jobs and generate billions in revenue for those that deliver through the new technology, or deliver the new technology. You're in the way. Kindly step aside.
Once again, existing, obvious idea + Internet == patentable idea! Conceptually, what's the difference between an update program that comes on a ROM, on a disk, or over a network? Nothing. Because of this, someone managed to patent the patching of software.
With all the hype surrounding the game, I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to even get my hands on a copy, (why can't id offer ISO downloads?). I'm wondering which of you/.-ers are going to pre-order, because I have a feeling everyone's inventory is going to be wiped-out!
If I was a gambling man, I'd be willing to be HL2 is coming out sometime this year. I would have bet on September, but maybe they don't want to overlap with Doom3? Or maybe that's not an issue, because HL2's longevity will most likely depend on it's multiplayer aspects.
It'd be wicked if I could order HL2 through Steam. I'd like to see how that works out.
It doesn't require you to run a separate webserver, it comes with its own. There are potential security problems, because in order to modify system configuration files, Webmin must be superuser-equivalent. However, Webmin modules have ACLs, and you can choose to not allow your lesser sysops access to things that might be dangerous.
Webmin has lots of thoughtful touches, like the ability to block certain UIDs and GIDs so that a lesser sysop cannot change the root account (for example). Another bonus is that Webmin users don't have to be regular shell accounts. It's not perfect, but it's still the Swiss Army Knife of configuration utilities.
Great point! The reason why things are the way they are in the computer field is that lots of things are general purpose, along the lines of a general purpose desktop computer. So lack of familiarity with the software, and the previous versions of that software are quite an obstacle. There can't be a direct comparison with a camera or an automobile, because those things have a very specific purpose, and are not engineered for expandability. Think about how much more complex it would be to configure and maintain a vehicle that:
Ran on electrical, biodiesel or petrol, with the ability to swap powerplants when more power is needed.
Completely reconfigurable passanger space or cargo space.
Completely reconfigurable suspension.
Reconfigurable dashboard.
Could be reconfigured as a lawn tractor
Could be reconfigured as a camper
Could be reconfigured as a generator
I would imagine that the majority of the population would use this vehicle the same way they use a computer, learn the most basic functions and let the rest go to waste. I like your example of Photoshop, and I'd like to add to it: Photo Elements and Photoshop LE were Adobe's attempt at making the most common things the easiest to do. Unfortunately, I hate those programs with a passion, because I couldn't find the features that I wanted most of the time. You see, my first experience with PS was around version 4.0, and along those lines, I'm fairly comfortable with 7.0 as well. My lack of familiarity was my biggest handicap, while friends who had started doing image retouching using PE have no problems doing all the basics.
The most common mistake that non-techies make is the assumption that the computer understands the context the same way you do. It doesn't. The computer is a stupid machine that needs you to provide all of that during the course of the task. Think about your red-eye example. A human can look at the picture as a whole and immediately spot the problem. The computer needs to be pointed to the specific area where the problem exists, and needs your input to determine whether or not the filter routine has fixed the problem in a satisfactory manner.
Bunk. I hate cable and broadcast television. I would love video-on-demand, and I have the bandwidth for it. The roadblock is the "piracy" histeria and pricing (which are most likely related). I already have the technology to receive high-quality "narrowcasts" on my desktop PC, but they insist on assuming me a criminal, and constantly coming up with a DRM-laden format du jour.
What makes it unappealing to sponsors is that it can't hold an audience captive and bash them over the head with catchy jingles. It's also unappealing to networks that would offer a mix, or general-interest programming, because if I can pick-and-choose, I will skip over the garbage; My prediction is that more attempts will be made, and it will fail because it will either be too expensive and/or too restricted.
But for what it's worth, I'd be willing to pay the equivalent of my old monthly cable bill to be able to pick maybe 10 shows I want to see, and to be able to watch them when I want.
- Sensorship and brainwashing in a modern democracy
I know some flamebaiter below you already mentioned this typo, but it's kind of funny in the context of the story.
Sensorship,
n.
Pervasive use of electronic sensors to track things. The misguided belief that pervasive, commercially- or governmentally-controlled electronic sensors will improve the quality of life.
Your Nigerian friend was definitely not typical, since illiteracy is very high there. He also is apparently very rich. But hey, as long as Nigeria remains a single-export economy (oil), it will remain as dangerous and as war torn as any other underdeveloped country being sucked dry of resources that the western powers crave.
Anyone looking to send in an Amiga 3000 for recycling? Mine fell off a table a decade or so ago, and it apparently took quite a shock since the video stopped working. Okay, it was more than a decade. I have a perfectly functioning Umax s900 (no operating system) that I'm not using.:o)?
I found an old Digital 320p laptop in a scrap pile at a local college, and now I've got the collecting-old-hardware bug. One of these days I'm going to get my hands on some nice old Sun equipment to play around with.
Hey, why the hell doesn't/. have a hardware swap-and-shop site? There's a way to generate revenue that someone might actually pay for.
Well if that article about the IE developers getting flamed during a public Q&A is truthful, then it's not that they're good/evil/overworked, they aren't even aware of the public's frustrations with IE.
Are we still programming large, monolithic applications like this? What happened to having the backend (scanning engine, etc.) as an app with no console output, so you can create the interface separately? Wouldn't you want the backend running as a higher-privileged service so that it couldn't be altered by malware running as a restricted user?
Oh wait, we're talking about commercial, closed-source software here. If these people built cars, the engine, battery and fuel tank would be housed in the passenger compartment as well. "Heck, toss it all in there, we'll worry about maintaining it later!"
I can't speak for them, but if I were the public relations for the project, I'd say, "we're going to trust Windows' protocol handlers a lot less." Just like how Windows' flawed design makes it dangerous to use Windows' shell functions to decide what to do with various filetypes, the Moz devs are going to have to include special testing procedures for their Windows releases to determine how underlying design flaws can make a third-party product vulnerable.
I think Mozilla Project got a bum rap on this one. When an XP service pack fixes the same issue in all effected products (including IE and Word), I'm inclined to think that it was a Windows problem to begin with.
This is the reason why I disregard most benchmarks. You might as well not even waste your time reading the article, because it is so skewed that it couldn't possibly be meaningful in the real world. To note:
MPlayer for Windows is built with MinGW32. That's a big minus for Windows, and most of us that have compared compilers know that VC++ produces faster code. Chances are that mencoder doesn't prefer Microsoft's functions over standard ones, for portability reasons. The benchmark would have been fair if the respective platforms used whichever encoder is considered the best.
The above applies for LAME. I also didn't see assembler optimizations mentioned, which is a feature that makes LAME so much faster than all the other audio encoders out there. But does that even work for 64-bit code?
You can toss the rendering comparisions out as well. 32-bit versions were compared. Why even include it?
Likewise with the game benchmarks. Of course Linux wins with the Unreal engine, because it's using the more efficient OpenGL renderer. Windows does not have this choice.
There was no 64-bit Windows version of MySQL, yet they included the benchmark anyway. Amazing.
Considering all the problems Anandtech had with 1) finding the right programs for 64-bit Windows, and 2) getting 64-bit drivers to work with the Linux kernel, they should have just said, "we couldn't complete the benchmark because third-party developers' software is not yet mature enough.
All protectionist rhetoric. Nothing new here. It may cost the jobs of those that sell retail, boxed software, but it also creates jobs in service-oriented areas related to open source development or modification. Using the same logic, game engine "modding" should have destroyed the jobs of game developers. When were the last round of layoffs at Valve?
What are some things that the FCC does to pander to centralized media producers? What exactly is a centralized media producer? That term brings to mind the BBC or the ABC.
I don't dispute that Windows 95/98/ME bootstraps off of DOS, or that Microsoft broke any possibility of compatibility with competitors' version of DOS. What I do dispute is the statment that Win9x is just a graphical shell on top of MS-DOS.
Slashdot Mirror
Amazing how this simple scam remains so effective, year after year.
Dear MPAA/RIAA/NFL,
Consumers pick products based primarily on the content, not the distribution method. However, if the distribution method allows them to get more of what they want, faster, cheaper, and with greater convenience, then that will be the method of choice. The new technology has the potential to create millions of new jobs and generate billions in revenue for those that deliver through the new technology, or deliver the new technology. You're in the way. Kindly step aside.
Sincerely,
The 21st Century
Yeah, each red 'X' is as sharp and clear as the my eyes are capable of resolving.
Espcially if 2.6 becomes an unstable piece of crap.
Your tense is incorrect.
Once again, existing, obvious idea + Internet == patentable idea! Conceptually, what's the difference between an update program that comes on a ROM, on a disk, or over a network? Nothing. Because of this, someone managed to patent the patching of software.
What's this shit?! I already signed up for the Do-Not-Assassinate list. See, I told you those things aren't enforceable!
With all the hype surrounding the game, I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to even get my hands on a copy, (why can't id offer ISO downloads?). I'm wondering which of you /.-ers are going to pre-order, because I have a feeling everyone's inventory is going to be wiped-out!
If I was a gambling man, I'd be willing to be HL2 is coming out sometime this year. I would have bet on September, but maybe they don't want to overlap with Doom3? Or maybe that's not an issue, because HL2's longevity will most likely depend on it's multiplayer aspects.
It'd be wicked if I could order HL2 through Steam. I'd like to see how that works out.
FYI, Webmin includes a Java SSH client, so it's right there for your operators that know how to use it.
It doesn't require you to run a separate webserver, it comes with its own. There are potential security problems, because in order to modify system configuration files, Webmin must be superuser-equivalent. However, Webmin modules have ACLs, and you can choose to not allow your lesser sysops access to things that might be dangerous.
Webmin has lots of thoughtful touches, like the ability to block certain UIDs and GIDs so that a lesser sysop cannot change the root account (for example). Another bonus is that Webmin users don't have to be regular shell accounts. It's not perfect, but it's still the Swiss Army Knife of configuration utilities.
Ran on electrical, biodiesel or petrol, with the ability to swap powerplants when more power is needed.
Completely reconfigurable passanger space or cargo space.
Completely reconfigurable suspension.
Reconfigurable dashboard.
Could be reconfigured as a lawn tractor
Could be reconfigured as a camper
Could be reconfigured as a generator
I would imagine that the majority of the population would use this vehicle the same way they use a computer, learn the most basic functions and let the rest go to waste. I like your example of Photoshop, and I'd like to add to it: Photo Elements and Photoshop LE were Adobe's attempt at making the most common things the easiest to do. Unfortunately, I hate those programs with a passion, because I couldn't find the features that I wanted most of the time. You see, my first experience with PS was around version 4.0, and along those lines, I'm fairly comfortable with 7.0 as well. My lack of familiarity was my biggest handicap, while friends who had started doing image retouching using PE have no problems doing all the basics.
The most common mistake that non-techies make is the assumption that the computer understands the context the same way you do. It doesn't. The computer is a stupid machine that needs you to provide all of that during the course of the task. Think about your red-eye example. A human can look at the picture as a whole and immediately spot the problem. The computer needs to be pointed to the specific area where the problem exists, and needs your input to determine whether or not the filter routine has fixed the problem in a satisfactory manner.
Bunk. I hate cable and broadcast television. I would love video-on-demand, and I have the bandwidth for it. The roadblock is the "piracy" histeria and pricing (which are most likely related). I already have the technology to receive high-quality "narrowcasts" on my desktop PC, but they insist on assuming me a criminal, and constantly coming up with a DRM-laden format du jour.
What makes it unappealing to sponsors is that it can't hold an audience captive and bash them over the head with catchy jingles. It's also unappealing to networks that would offer a mix, or general-interest programming, because if I can pick-and-choose, I will skip over the garbage; My prediction is that more attempts will be made, and it will fail because it will either be too expensive and/or too restricted.
But for what it's worth, I'd be willing to pay the equivalent of my old monthly cable bill to be able to pick maybe 10 shows I want to see, and to be able to watch them when I want.
Considering the problems with the shelf life of various recordable optical storage, that may be where we all end up!
I know some flamebaiter below you already mentioned this typo, but it's kind of funny in the context of the story.
Your Nigerian friend was definitely not typical, since illiteracy is very high there. He also is apparently very rich. But hey, as long as Nigeria remains a single-export economy (oil), it will remain as dangerous and as war torn as any other underdeveloped country being sucked dry of resources that the western powers crave.
Anyone looking to send in an Amiga 3000 for recycling? Mine fell off a table a decade or so ago, and it apparently took quite a shock since the video stopped working. Okay, it was more than a decade. I have a perfectly functioning Umax s900 (no operating system) that I'm not using. :o)?
/. have a hardware swap-and-shop site? There's a way to generate revenue that someone might actually pay for.
I found an old Digital 320p laptop in a scrap pile at a local college, and now I've got the collecting-old-hardware bug. One of these days I'm going to get my hands on some nice old Sun equipment to play around with.
Hey, why the hell doesn't
Well if that article about the IE developers getting flamed during a public Q&A is truthful, then it's not that they're good/evil/overworked, they aren't even aware of the public's frustrations with IE.
Are we still programming large, monolithic applications like this? What happened to having the backend (scanning engine, etc.) as an app with no console output, so you can create the interface separately? Wouldn't you want the backend running as a higher-privileged service so that it couldn't be altered by malware running as a restricted user?
Oh wait, we're talking about commercial, closed-source software here. If these people built cars, the engine, battery and fuel tank would be housed in the passenger compartment as well. "Heck, toss it all in there, we'll worry about maintaining it later!"
I can't speak for them, but if I were the public relations for the project, I'd say, "we're going to trust Windows' protocol handlers a lot less." Just like how Windows' flawed design makes it dangerous to use Windows' shell functions to decide what to do with various filetypes, the Moz devs are going to have to include special testing procedures for their Windows releases to determine how underlying design flaws can make a third-party product vulnerable.
I think Mozilla Project got a bum rap on this one. When an XP service pack fixes the same issue in all effected products (including IE and Word), I'm inclined to think that it was a Windows problem to begin with.
MPlayer for Windows is built with MinGW32. That's a big minus for Windows, and most of us that have compared compilers know that VC++ produces faster code. Chances are that mencoder doesn't prefer Microsoft's functions over standard ones, for portability reasons. The benchmark would have been fair if the respective platforms used whichever encoder is considered the best.
The above applies for LAME. I also didn't see assembler optimizations mentioned, which is a feature that makes LAME so much faster than all the other audio encoders out there. But does that even work for 64-bit code?
You can toss the rendering comparisions out as well. 32-bit versions were compared. Why even include it?
Likewise with the game benchmarks. Of course Linux wins with the Unreal engine, because it's using the more efficient OpenGL renderer. Windows does not have this choice.
There was no 64-bit Windows version of MySQL, yet they included the benchmark anyway. Amazing.
Considering all the problems Anandtech had with 1) finding the right programs for 64-bit Windows, and 2) getting 64-bit drivers to work with the Linux kernel, they should have just said, "we couldn't complete the benchmark because third-party developers' software is not yet mature enough.
That would be so sweet. I'd pay good money to see the Antarctic mega-organism have it out with that monster fungus in Oregon.
All protectionist rhetoric. Nothing new here. It may cost the jobs of those that sell retail, boxed software, but it also creates jobs in service-oriented areas related to open source development or modification. Using the same logic, game engine "modding" should have destroyed the jobs of game developers. When were the last round of layoffs at Valve?
What are some things that the FCC does to pander to centralized media producers? What exactly is a centralized media producer? That term brings to mind the BBC or the ABC.
I don't dispute that Windows 95/98/ME bootstraps off of DOS, or that Microsoft broke any possibility of compatibility with competitors' version of DOS. What I do dispute is the statment that Win9x is just a graphical shell on top of MS-DOS.