In fact, "decimation" is from Latin and means "removal of a tenth". So losing 17,4% is _worse_ than decimation. The Roman army used it as an extreme punishment. Soldiers were divided into groups of 10 and drew lots to decide which one of them would be executed (by his comrades)!
Don't extrapolate from your individual experience. When I go walking with my guinea pig, I have a terrific fear of chickens attacking me - and this despite the fact I always have a solid stick at hand (attached to my zimmer frame) for self defence.
I suggest we institute a sarcasm recognition protocol for the sarcasm-challenged amongst us. During non-elctronic communication this could be a sharp slap in the face. To avoid confusion in situations where a slap in the face would have been natural anyway, we insist that in such situations, the slap be followed by a kick in the bollocks. To avoid confusion in situations where a kick in the bollocks, preceeded by a slap in the face would have been natural, anyway, we suggest that this specific procedure be avoided, except in communications with a sarcasm-challenged person. During electronic communications, if the speaker suspects a sarcasm-challenged listener, he can either verbally shout, "SLAP, BALL-KICK" followed by his sarcastic communication, followed by "FINISH SLAP AND FINISH BALL-KICK", or in written messages substitue a written version. To avoid situations where it would have been natural to write/shout the above in a non-sarcastic context, we suggest that communications which require the use of these words in a non-sarcastic context be avoided. In the unlikely event that any females read slashdot, and find this protocol sexist, all occurrences of "bollocks" above can be replaced by "groin". Likewise, "ball-kick" can be replaced with "groin-kick".
I did not claim that SIP was perfect. I am making a plea for people to consider carefully the consequences of their choices. You are being naive if you believe Skype will not start squeezing their users if and when they have enough of the market that people won't be able (easily) to move elsewhere.
You want an example: MS word. Lots of people still use it because they are "forced" to if they want to interoperate with documents from work etc. There _are_ ways out but they involve effort and work.
So when your place of employment uses Skype, your local authorities use Skype, your family and friends use Skype (partly because you advised them to!) and the Telcoms have gone out of business, how easy is it going to be for you to stop using it?
BTW, I tried using Skype on my system (Linux), and the executable from their site wouldn't run due to library problems! So much for "just works"! And yes, I was using the statically linked version. Humbug.
If they corner the market, there won't be other programs of much significance. That's what "corner the market" means: You've backed it into the corner of the ring and are pounding the crap out of it. And even if there _are_ other programs people won't be able to use them to talk to their family etc, because their family all use Skype, and Skype won't let them.
So think about it. They don't start charging then corner the market. They corner it because they've got a slick, classy product that "just works". _Then_ they start charging. If you doubt this then just read the comments to the article. That is exactly why lots of people choose Skype, and if enough people make that choice, then they will have cornered the market.
You could try SJphone from http://www.sjlabs.com. It uses open protocols and there are versions for all the platforms you mention. I have tried it on Linux and it works fine and was easy to install. It probably isn't as polished as Skype. The point I was trying to make is that for a consumer, insisting on your/or your friends short term interests (ease of installation and use, coolness, etc) may well be against your own long term interests. Presumably, you and your friends want to communicate for free. Presumably, that is your number one priority, since there are pay-for alternatives to VOIP that are better established, easier to use, etc. So by making the choice you seem to insist on (Skype) you are, in the long term, running a real risk that your own number one priority will get trashed. No free calls when Skype owns the market, lovebyte.
Dear Consumer,
Skype have based their products on a proprietary protocol. They hope to corner the market, and if they succeed in that aim, their services will not remain free.
If you care about the future of VOIP, go with any other solution (even if it's currently less slick, technically), using the open SIP protocol.
The choices you make as a consumer (even of so-called "free" products) determine our future.
From Prof Nelson's page at Princeton: " * Weather Springtime outdoor celebrations of Alumni Reunions and Commencement at Princeton University provide a "natural experiment" to see whether the common interest in good weather might produce a positive effect."
_Now_ we know why the earth is warming! Everyone prefers warmer weather! Stop it, you fools, stop it!
"I was an FBI agent for 20 years," said Randall Murch, now a researcher at the Institute for Defense Analyses, which works for the Office of the Defense Secretary and other government agencies. "And I have yet to see anyone who is able to model the way an agent thinks and works through an investigation."
Apart from suggesting the jibe that, of course, only an ex-fbi dick could think that anyone would want to model his/her behaviour, this misses the point that text-mining is intended to find precisely those connections which are too weak to attract human attention. A human being approaches an investigation with preconceptions that can colour their findings powerfully. The power of text mining lies in the fact that is non-human and stupid. Software doesn't get tired and is very fast. Attempts to make software "smarter" are misguided.
Slashdot Mirror
In fact, "decimation" is from Latin and means "removal of a tenth". So losing 17,4% is _worse_ than decimation. The Roman army used it as an extreme punishment. Soldiers were divided into groups of 10 and drew lots to decide which one of them would be executed (by his comrades)!
Anybody who can get hot under the collar over this non-issue has a serious problem.
Frankenfurter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show: "It's not easy having a good time - even smiling makes my face ache"
"... what else are we missing that may lie right in front of us..."
Spelling mistakes?
Don't extrapolate from your individual experience. When I go walking with my guinea pig, I have a terrific fear of chickens attacking me - and this despite the fact I always have a solid stick at hand (attached to my zimmer frame) for self defence.
"These days adolescence seems to last until about 35" -- yeah, and then you hit the mid life crisis! What a bummer.
I suggest we institute a sarcasm recognition protocol for the sarcasm-challenged amongst us. During non-elctronic communication this could be a sharp slap in the face. To avoid confusion in situations where a slap in the face would have been natural anyway, we insist that in such situations, the slap be followed by a kick in the bollocks. To avoid confusion in situations where a kick in the bollocks, preceeded by a slap in the face would have been natural, anyway, we suggest that this specific procedure be avoided, except in communications with a sarcasm-challenged person. During electronic communications, if the speaker suspects a sarcasm-challenged listener, he can either verbally shout, "SLAP, BALL-KICK" followed by his sarcastic communication, followed by "FINISH SLAP AND FINISH BALL-KICK", or in written messages substitue a written version. To avoid situations where it would have been natural to write/shout the above in a non-sarcastic context, we suggest that communications which require the use of these words in a non-sarcastic context be avoided. In the unlikely event that any females read slashdot, and find this protocol sexist, all occurrences of "bollocks" above can be replaced by "groin". Likewise, "ball-kick" can be replaced with "groin-kick".
You want an example: MS word. Lots of people still use it because they are "forced" to if they want to interoperate with documents from work etc. There _are_ ways out but they involve effort and work.
So when your place of employment uses Skype, your local authorities use Skype, your family and friends use Skype (partly because you advised them to!) and the Telcoms have gone out of business, how easy is it going to be for you to stop using it?
BTW, I tried using Skype on my system (Linux), and the executable from their site wouldn't run due to library problems! So much for "just works"! And yes, I was using the statically linked version. Humbug.
So think about it. They don't start charging then corner the market. They corner it because they've got a slick, classy product that "just works". _Then_ they start charging. If you doubt this then just read the comments to the article. That is exactly why lots of people choose Skype, and if enough people make that choice, then they will have cornered the market.
You could try SJphone from http://www.sjlabs.com. It uses open protocols and there are versions for all the platforms you mention. I have tried it on Linux and it works fine and was easy to install. It probably isn't as polished as Skype. The point I was trying to make is that for a consumer, insisting on your/or your friends short term interests (ease of installation and use, coolness, etc) may well be against your own long term interests. Presumably, you and your friends want to communicate for free. Presumably, that is your number one priority, since there are pay-for alternatives to VOIP that are better established, easier to use, etc. So by making the choice you seem to insist on (Skype) you are, in the long term, running a real risk that your own number one priority will get trashed. No free calls when Skype owns the market, lovebyte.
Dear Consumer, Skype have based their products on a proprietary protocol. They hope to corner the market, and if they succeed in that aim, their services will not remain free. If you care about the future of VOIP, go with any other solution (even if it's currently less slick, technically), using the open SIP protocol. The choices you make as a consumer (even of so-called "free" products) determine our future.
From Prof Nelson's page at Princeton: " * Weather Springtime outdoor celebrations of Alumni Reunions and Commencement at Princeton University provide a "natural experiment" to see whether the common interest in good weather might produce a positive effect." _Now_ we know why the earth is warming! Everyone prefers warmer weather! Stop it, you fools, stop it!
This compiler ... Is it the illegitimate offspring of Yoda and Gollum, or what?
"In your SCO-is-Vader cosmology, who's Jar Jar Binks?"
Eric Raymond?
"I was an FBI agent for 20 years," said Randall Murch, now a researcher at the Institute for Defense Analyses, which works for the Office of the Defense Secretary and other government agencies. "And I have yet to see anyone who is able to model the way an agent thinks and works through an investigation."
Apart from suggesting the jibe that, of course, only an ex-fbi dick could think that anyone would want to model his/her behaviour, this misses the point that text-mining is intended to find precisely those connections which are too weak to attract human attention. A human being approaches an investigation with preconceptions that can colour their findings powerfully. The power of text mining lies in the fact that is non-human and stupid. Software doesn't get tired and is very fast. Attempts to make software "smarter" are misguided.