It's worth a lot less than that. Companies like this pay only what they have to, not a penny more. They'd rather pay in lives than money, because you can always hire more workers.
I know someone else has probably already said this, but..
I can't believe you charge your family members to click a couple of buttons in ad-aware for them. Granted, it may take a couple more button clicks to install the program and get it up to date. Do you charge per click? Do they get a discount on double-clicks?
Sounds like more a complaint of most gamers than one of the D&D system. I've played a *lot* of systems, from the elementary to the incredibly complex, and in my opinion D&D 3rd edition is the best mix of simplicity, variety and speed I've found so far (with the possible exception of DP9's silhouette system), and I feel like comparisons to Microsoft are a huge stretch, even by Slashdot standards.
The biggest complaint against d20 I've heard is that it is not realistic. Realism is the last thing I want from my game of enchanted blades, spell-slinging wizards, dragons and beholders. Good rules get out of the way and stay there. Though D&D has a huge product library, almost every book is independent and not at all required to have an enjoyable session. A good percentage of the D&D sessions I've run never involved rolling a die.
Charities help normal kids who get into normal automobile accidents cover the ridiculous costs forced upon them by the (privatized) medical system? I'd love to give to these charities -- could you give me more information on them? Do you actually know of or give money to any charities that would have seen a penny to this kid, or are you just resentful that you pay taxes and don't really care about what happens to poor people because you're rich enough to pay your way out of any problems in your own life? I apologize if I stereotype, but that's the sincere opinion of most people I've met who make the arguments you are making.
Governments do fuck you over. However, they can't hold a candle to the myriad ways that corporate America fucks you over, with the blessings of the government.
Unless you get it through work (which fewer and fewer people these days, and those that do are getting worse and worse coverage for the same money), it is prohibitively expensive for most people to get health insurance. You may be sheltered from this because you've always had a good job. Congratulations for you. Please take a moment to open your eyes to the reality of the majority of the people, the working class, who are not permitted such luxuries. How can you expect to pay for a loan if you can't pay for insurance? Do you know how difficult it is for many to even get a loan?
Do you really think it's more noble for people to be begging to the banks and the medical industry than it is to be begging to the government? At least the government, funded by us, can be held to a modicum of transparency, standards and accountability. This is one reason why government are so, according to you, bad at spending money. Granted, it doesn't work like it's supposed to, but corporate America has no accountability whatsoever. The few regulatory weapons we've had to keep corporate America in check are eroding hard, and the erosion is followed by a wave of the common person getting screwed, and the big, rich company getting bigger and richer off their backs. I got to see this firsthand in California during the power deregulation nightmare.
Many people, a great deal of them children, rely on the government for social services. If they didn't get these services from the government, they wouldn't get them from anyone. It depresses me that so many people equate income and ability to pay for things like insurance with how "hard" people work; the hardest working people I've ever known have always been, and likely will always be, dirt poor. The days of the American Dream, of Americans' success being tied to their work ethic, are long dead, if they ever existed.
Well, I think the point they're trying to make is that even though people didn't stay home, they did go out, they spent hours in line, and they voted correctly, that the computers still made the decision.
1. Ballmer never threatened to sue anyone as the story implicates.
2. Ballmer may not enforce US laws in Asia, but he can certainly bring the WTO and such organizations to bear.
3. Microsoft has indeed been hit with many patent lawsuits, but they've promised to pay legal fees their customers incur due to Windows patent disputes.
That being said, I think this is a ridiculous and insulting move on Ballmer's part. I hope that his talk has opposite the indended effect. I just don't believe in fighting misinformation with misinformation.
The whole point of the WTO is to protect companies like Microsoft and extend their monopolies and the legal framework which hold them up to other countries. Of course they're subserviant to Microsoft's patent arsenal.
In this case, one of those presumptions may be wrong but the other one is completely right. Consumers typically don't care about the working environment of the people making their clothes/car/computers/programs/video games/etc, especially when that rough treatment makes the end product cheaper for the consumer.
Re:Not quite so negative.
on
MSN Search Roundup
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
They are already driving innovation -- to the benefit of us. And, so long as Google exists, MSN must do no evil, else it will never gain customers.
Are you kidding? Doing evil is the best way to get and keep customers. It means you are not fettered by the moral rules and restrictions that "not evil" companies abide by. Walmart and the much-hated Microsoft are two good examples of this.
That being said, I don't see this as a huge threat for google, either.
If this is the case, then how come the successful party is divisive and insulting to whole portions of our population, such as gays, the poor and minorities?
It seems to me the winners are exactly the people who are looking at our countrymen as the enemy.
Sorry I don't have any Fox News links, but maybe thiswillsuffice, for starters. I wasn't aware there were still people out there who are still contesting the fact that this happened.
But, if you prefer to believe the word of Bush's own Dept. of Justice on whether or not Bush screwed the country, that's your business.
Only the media made a big deal about butterfly ballots in Florida. The truth is, that was just a media smokescreen for the real issue, the disenfranchisment of thousands of black voters in Florida. People who showed up on election day and were told that they couldn't vote, or were notified right before the election and then forced to go through a lengthy, complicated process to have the rights which were stolen from them restored, if they were lucky.
If it weren't for this, George Bush simply wouldn't be president today. A little more serious than some pregnant chads.
Prescription drugs can kill you if you take too many of them. There are many drug users in the world; a lot of the successful, responsible people you deal with on a regular basis are probably drug users and you don't even know it. My father killed himself with an overdose of legal, perscription medication that he had been given. I certainly don't think that nobody else should be allowed to use that kind of medication because my father decided to take his life with it.
Secondly, if weed/hash can be confirmed to be a "gateway drug," (which I don't believe anyway) that to me is a compelling argument for the legalization of weed. Obviously, it's not the doing of drugs which leads people to shoot heroin (because then alcoholics, smokers and caffeine junkies would all be shooting up too), it's the fact that once you're accustomed to breaking the law, it's that much easier to break the law in other ways. Not to mention that some of the people who deal weeed also peddle other, harder drugs, which would not be the case if you could buy a pack of joints down at the convienence store.
That's a good point. However, keep in mind that these are not just innocent people. They are people suspected of violating copyright law. Some people who get the notices are indeed innocent. Many are guilty.
What does that have to do with the people who aren't guilty? The spirit of civil liberties is (was) such that it doesn't matter if you look like a lot of other people who happen to be guilty. That's not a good enough reason to become a target.
Slashdot Mirror
I guess they could've nuked union carbide's headquarters.
Then we would've nuked them.
Yeah those lazy bastards.
It's worth a lot less than that. Companies like this pay only what they have to, not a penny more. They'd rather pay in lives than money, because you can always hire more workers.
Most anti-spyware programs are spyware. Of course they don't remove it. They are scams.
I know someone else has probably already said this, but..
I can't believe you charge your family members to click a couple of buttons in ad-aware for them. Granted, it may take a couple more button clicks to install the program and get it up to date. Do you charge per click? Do they get a discount on double-clicks?
Sounds like more a complaint of most gamers than one of the D&D system. I've played a *lot* of systems, from the elementary to the incredibly complex, and in my opinion D&D 3rd edition is the best mix of simplicity, variety and speed I've found so far (with the possible exception of DP9's silhouette system), and I feel like comparisons to Microsoft are a huge stretch, even by Slashdot standards.
The biggest complaint against d20 I've heard is that it is not realistic. Realism is the last thing I want from my game of enchanted blades, spell-slinging wizards, dragons and beholders. Good rules get out of the way and stay there. Though D&D has a huge product library, almost every book is independent and not at all required to have an enjoyable session. A good percentage of the D&D sessions I've run never involved rolling a die.
Charities help normal kids who get into normal automobile accidents cover the ridiculous costs forced upon them by the (privatized) medical system? I'd love to give to these charities -- could you give me more information on them? Do you actually know of or give money to any charities that would have seen a penny to this kid, or are you just resentful that you pay taxes and don't really care about what happens to poor people because you're rich enough to pay your way out of any problems in your own life? I apologize if I stereotype, but that's the sincere opinion of most people I've met who make the arguments you are making.
Governments do fuck you over. However, they can't hold a candle to the myriad ways that corporate America fucks you over, with the blessings of the government.
Unless you get it through work (which fewer and fewer people these days, and those that do are getting worse and worse coverage for the same money), it is prohibitively expensive for most people to get health insurance. You may be sheltered from this because you've always had a good job. Congratulations for you. Please take a moment to open your eyes to the reality of the majority of the people, the working class, who are not permitted such luxuries. How can you expect to pay for a loan if you can't pay for insurance? Do you know how difficult it is for many to even get a loan?
Do you really think it's more noble for people to be begging to the banks and the medical industry than it is to be begging to the government? At least the government, funded by us, can be held to a modicum of transparency, standards and accountability. This is one reason why government are so, according to you, bad at spending money. Granted, it doesn't work like it's supposed to, but corporate America has no accountability whatsoever. The few regulatory weapons we've had to keep corporate America in check are eroding hard, and the erosion is followed by a wave of the common person getting screwed, and the big, rich company getting bigger and richer off their backs. I got to see this firsthand in California during the power deregulation nightmare.
Many people, a great deal of them children, rely on the government for social services. If they didn't get these services from the government, they wouldn't get them from anyone. It depresses me that so many people equate income and ability to pay for things like insurance with how "hard" people work; the hardest working people I've ever known have always been, and likely will always be, dirt poor. The days of the American Dream, of Americans' success being tied to their work ethic, are long dead, if they ever existed.
Well, I think the point they're trying to make is that even though people didn't stay home, they did go out, they spent hours in line, and they voted correctly, that the computers still made the decision.
Hey now, what's wrong with fads? Especially if you're filthy rich and can buy it just because? :)
1. Ballmer never threatened to sue anyone as the story implicates.
2. Ballmer may not enforce US laws in Asia, but he can certainly bring the WTO and such organizations to bear.
3. Microsoft has indeed been hit with many patent lawsuits, but they've promised to pay legal fees their customers incur due to Windows patent disputes.
That being said, I think this is a ridiculous and insulting move on Ballmer's part. I hope that his talk has opposite the indended effect. I just don't believe in fighting misinformation with misinformation.
The whole point of the WTO is to protect companies like Microsoft and extend their monopolies and the legal framework which hold them up to other countries. Of course they're subserviant to Microsoft's patent arsenal.
In this case, one of those presumptions may be wrong but the other one is completely right. Consumers typically don't care about the working environment of the people making their clothes/car/computers/programs/video games/etc, especially when that rough treatment makes the end product cheaper for the consumer.
They are already driving innovation -- to the benefit of us. And, so long as Google exists, MSN must do no evil, else it will never gain customers.
Are you kidding? Doing evil is the best way to get and keep customers. It means you are not fettered by the moral rules and restrictions that "not evil" companies abide by. Walmart and the much-hated Microsoft are two good examples of this.
That being said, I don't see this as a huge threat for google, either.
If this is the case, then how come the successful party is divisive and insulting to whole portions of our population, such as gays, the poor and minorities?
It seems to me the winners are exactly the people who are looking at our countrymen as the enemy.
"I'm petey the pistol! When you squeeze me, I make bad guys go away! I'm lonely.. will you hold me?"
It's alright, all he needs is his good friend Diebold.
Wait a minute..
CNN *isn't* credible, but Wikipedia *is*?!?!!
I think this discussion has gone into bizarro-world.
Sorry I don't have any Fox News links, but maybe this will suffice, for starters. I wasn't aware there were still people out there who are still contesting the fact that this happened.
But, if you prefer to believe the word of Bush's own Dept. of Justice on whether or not Bush screwed the country, that's your business.
I used to get stoned every day at work and would code like a madman. Of course, it was just Cold Fusion.
Some parts of scripting/programming may be exciting, but a lot of it is pretty dull and mind-numbing. That kind of work is always more tolerable high.
Only the media made a big deal about butterfly ballots in Florida. The truth is, that was just a media smokescreen for the real issue, the disenfranchisment of thousands of black voters in Florida. People who showed up on election day and were told that they couldn't vote, or were notified right before the election and then forced to go through a lengthy, complicated process to have the rights which were stolen from them restored, if they were lucky.
If it weren't for this, George Bush simply wouldn't be president today. A little more serious than some pregnant chads.
Prescription drugs can kill you if you take too many of them. There are many drug users in the world; a lot of the successful, responsible people you deal with on a regular basis are probably drug users and you don't even know it. My father killed himself with an overdose of legal, perscription medication that he had been given. I certainly don't think that nobody else should be allowed to use that kind of medication because my father decided to take his life with it.
Secondly, if weed/hash can be confirmed to be a "gateway drug," (which I don't believe anyway) that to me is a compelling argument for the legalization of weed. Obviously, it's not the doing of drugs which leads people to shoot heroin (because then alcoholics, smokers and caffeine junkies would all be shooting up too), it's the fact that once you're accustomed to breaking the law, it's that much easier to break the law in other ways. Not to mention that some of the people who deal weeed also peddle other, harder drugs, which would not be the case if you could buy a pack of joints down at the convienence store.
Thank you! I've been trying to make this argument, too. Drugs should be legal, as should assisted suicide.
QA people are a dime a dozen (just like managers.)
And programmers.
Wish I could mod this as "Funny."
Rocket jumping I'll give you, but telefrags were one of my favorite parts of the original DOOM games.
That's a good point. However, keep in mind that these are not just innocent people. They are people suspected of violating copyright law. Some people who get the notices are indeed innocent. Many are guilty.
What does that have to do with the people who aren't guilty? The spirit of civil liberties is (was) such that it doesn't matter if you look like a lot of other people who happen to be guilty. That's not a good enough reason to become a target.