This from the same people who call the shipyard in Groton, CT that makes the stelthy nuclear powered submarines that carry dozens of intercontinental balistic missiles that can rain down multiple independant warheads on nearly any city in the world with less than 1 hours notice . ..the electric boat division.
Uh. Isn't that what General Dynamics calls their submarine division? I mean, at least there's a private sector precedent for it.
First off, I'd like to ask just how much credibility does one have who writes "to" as "2" and "be" as "b".
I shouldn't even dignify this with a response. But I will: if you are willing to ignore the message because of the manner in which it is delivered, then the fault lies with you -- not the messenger.
Just look at what he did with his title, he became "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" just to show his disdain for the RIAA.
Ooh, he changed his name to exercise independence from an oppressive contract. Let's criticize him. (And never mind the fact that the RIAA isn't the entity in question; it's Time-Warner.)
Yet he fails to realize that without them, he would have no fame or fortune.
That might well be true. That's why he's trying to change the system so future artists don't have to enter indentured servitude to make their music available to a wide audience.
I think Prince know exactly how much the RIAA has done for him, and that's probably why he's pissed off at it.
No, it's not taking away Windows NT market share. The only area where Linux has achieved significant gains is in the server market, where it has realized nearly all of its share at the expense of other Unixes (Unices?). Why the hell is Microsoft always the one accused of FUD?
I'd post the source of the statistics, but I'm at work and I don't have time to find them right now. (Of course, I don't really have time to be reading Slashdot either, but.... hey. whatever.) But if you want to see them, I'll try to dig them up when I get home.
Microsoft employees? Morons? Is this really a common perception? I know, first-hand, that Microsoft employees are generally some of the smartest people you'll meet, and believe it or not, they all (well, all the ones I know) have faith in their company and its products. So their vision differs from yours. That doesn't make them stupid.
Southwestern Bell (SBC) came out and installed DSL for us last month, and it was a simple enough process. The hardware part was pretty straightforward: plug the DSL modem/router into your phone line, put filters on all the other extensions of that phone line and then hook up the modem to the NIC in your computer. And as it turned out, all the materials for the installation (router, modem, cables, line filters, etc.) had already been shipped to us a couple weeks before -- if I had known that we had had them (and this policy in place at the time) I wouldn't have had to wait nearly a month for the installation appointment.
The only part of the process that might have presented difficulties and made me glad that they sent someone out was configuring the DSL modem itself -- and this wasn't so much difficult, but foreign to me. I'm sure with a decent set of instructions and a help line phone number, I could have had it up and running nearly as fast as the installation techs.
(Semi-related note on my experience, thus far, with SBC DSL: speed and availability are pretty decent, but upstream is limited to 128k and there's no static IP. I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra per month to correct those two issues, but that doesn't seem to be an option. I'd recommend the service UNLESS you're at all interested in running some kind of server. Other than that, though, everything's good.)
Alright, chances are the growth of the Internet (and particularly the web) will eventually be recognized as one of the major sociological developments of the late 20th century. Someday, we'll want to look back at the roots of the revolution and trace its development through the present day. However, that may well be an impossibility: we still have Gutenburg Bibles, but the original Mosaic/Netscape site is already a dim memory.
The other day, I was browsing through the Hotwired archives. Basically, they have everything to come out of the Wired family of publications for the past five or six years, and that's great: it's fun and oddly fascinating to read an article from early '96 and hear about this fantastic new "push" technology. But, being a Wired venture, many of the stories are gaudily hyperlinked, and very, very few (if any) of those external pages are still extant. Entire dimension to these stories are already lost to the ages.
The are a lot of obvious difficulties in archiving the web, but it's something that probably should be done. I really think not too far down the line, we'll look back and regret that a lot of what we take for granted today wasn't preserved.
-jay
Damn these sites (or, my mouse has spoiled me)
on
Web Site "Lock-In"
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· Score: 2
I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life...
I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.
The short answer: Yeah, there are Microsoft loyalists. They're called stockholders. Either that, or employees.
The long answer to a refined version of the question: Well, do they exist outside of Redmond/Wall Street? Again, I'd say that they do, especially since I'd identify myself as one of them. I consider myself to be a very happy Microsoft customer (and owner of a very, very small amount of their stock) and a supporter of theirs in the fight against the Justice Department. Whenever a debate breaks out regarding the trial proceedings, or Windows vs. Linux, I'm pretty firmly in the Microsoft camp. (Though for what it's worth, I hate Windows 98 with a passion.)
I haven't had a chance to check out their Freedom to Innovate brochure (slashdotted, at the moment), but I suppose something like that might persuade me to write a quick letter to my congressman, or do something along those lines to support them.
Say what you will, but Microsoft is capable of some pretty solid feats. Their optical mice are amazing (though I understand it uses HP technology, someone had to bring it to market) and as I've said before, Windows 2000 really is a very solid, stable, functional OS (in my experience).
Obviously, I don't think that Microsoft/Windows has the grassroots subculture that OSS/Linux/etc. has, but don't completely discount its backers. It's made a lot of people quite wealthy (even if it hasn't done the same for me, yet:) and that simple fact alone shouldn't be underestimated.
You call systems that crash every second day easy to use.
Support this statement, please. My experience with Windows (specifically Windows NT 4/2000) dictates otherwise.
Windows isn't the easyest to use in the class room enviroment because it lacks true muti user support. I'm not talking about the ablity for a few people to use a computer at the same time I mean the ablity of a user to have there own settings and files that the next person who uses the computer can't mess with.
For most school environments, I expect that NT/2000's multi-user support is more than sufficient. What, you didn't think I was talking about Windows 9x, did you?
From a UI point of view linux is the same as windows and is more configureable. In schools you don't need huge menu's of programs like you see under the start button in windows or linux, you only need 10-20 buttons or icons on the screen.
No, I've seen what 10-20 buttons on the desktop look like and it's an interface nightmare. A reasonably organized Start menu is, in my opinion, vastly easier to use.
Right now at school every other day I see one of the computers geting windows re installed because some student has guessed the password to fortress, a program that keeps students from changeing setting and stuff, or some program has destroyed the system, viruses, or because some program was running really slow.
This sounds more like a problem with the additional software installed than a problem with Windows. Besides, if you're going to run Windows, shouldn't y'all be running NT/2000? I'm not saying it's a cure-all, but I believe it would be better suited to the task than Windows 9x.
Hey, this isn't a flame, and I'm not trying to be a Windows 2000 smart-ass (whatever the hell that is). But it really is a pretty solid operating system, and one that is definitely on par with Linux in an academic/public computing environment. Don't be so quick to dismiss it just because Windows 9x sucks in many, many respects.
OK, is it more or less indisputable that Windows is easier to use than Linux? I'm not saying easier to configure exactly to your specifications, or easier to accomplish some hardcore technical task -- I'm saying easier for Joe Random User to walk in and fire up a word processor, or write an e-mail, or whatever.
Schools are going to use an OS in their labs that is a.) easy to use and b.) will allow anyone to come in, immediately get to work typing their term paper, and save it in a format used by 98% of the Western world. (Maybe the Eastern world too. I have no idea.)
Right now, Linux is in no position to be that OS. I'm a reasonably proficient computer user, but the software was too lacking and the learning curve too steep for me to justify making it my primary OS. MacOS might have a shot by virtue of its purported usability, except for its market share. Windows is that OS, perhaps by default.
Linux has a ways to go before it could contend for that title, but I'm not even sure it's fundamentally well-suited for use as a public terminal. Or not so much ill-suited, but it would probably be overkill in such a setting.
The true community of slashdot is 100% behind you.
Trevor, I'm not quite sure how you judge yourself to be a member of the "true Slashdot community." Judging by your user ID # (high 100k's) it seems that you haven't really been around here all that long.
Of course, that's not the only criterion to judge community membership by. I freely admit that I haven't been around much longer than you have (but then again, I don't claim to be part of the group that knows what's best for Slashdot). However, I don't think you or I really have much of a right to claim that the trolls, many of whom post at 0 or -1, irrevocably end any serious attempt at conversation. Don't like what they have to say? Raise the threshold and ignore them. They're making fun of you? Ignore them. If you don't like what the trolls are doing, ignore them.
Ugh. I've probably been trolled myself right here (and look at how quickly I disregard my own advice!) But I'm getting a little tired of people claiming that the trolls are ruining Slashdot. Hate to break it to you, but they're more a part of it than you or me.
What's the big deal? The article seems to be out of commission right this second, so I'm admittedly operating out of cluelessness here, but I don't see what the issue is. The only problematic scenario that I can envision is that the movie was released here with English-subtitled Japanese audio. Is that the case? If not, what's so bad about not being able to listen to the movie in Japanese? It seems like there might be better causes to direct our energies toward. But if someone could fill me in, I'd be appreciative.
Gattaca: the movie where fraud and the endangerment of a dozen lives and the life's work of countless others is considered a moral victory.
Of course I can understand you not liking the movie, but you really miss the point: Vincent/Jerome underwent the same training and testing as everyone else for that mission, and despite is "inferior" genetics, he did just as well, or better.
Eh, it's a minor nit, but the movie's one of my favorites, and I feel the need to defend it:)
Besides, the humorous part about Napster is that most music isn't shared by it - it is from college universities and mp3 servers in offices.
Err... what? I'm a bit confused by your statement. If you're saying that Napster, Inc. doesn't provide much of the music that people use Napster (the client) to download, you're wrong. Napster, Inc. doesn't provide any of it, but I'm sure you knew that. So could you clarify what you were trying to say?
The hardest part about mp3's is not in finding music, it's in finding a particular song. If it isn't popular (ie, the 18-25 group) you won't find it, unless it's techno.
Well, this one is entirely subjective, but I beg to differ. I have musical taste reasonably distinct from the mainstream, and I have never not been able to find a given song on Napster. Though that is, of course, just my personal experience.
I've had experience with these little gems, and they are an absolute bitch to try to use. Actually, let me rephrase -- they're easy enough to utilize (stick in in the cd-rom drive and boot up the computer). But if you want any control over your system at all -- components installed, configuration, etc. -- then you're pretty much out of luck.
One of my friends was having trouble with her Compaq laptop, and I basically decided to do a fresh install of Windows 98. Since I couldn't find a Windows 98 CD among the materials that came with her computer (because -- surprise, surprise -- there wasn't one!) I had her buy the academic edition through our school.
Over, hmm, the six or so hours that I wrestled with that installation, I slowly got Windows working with all of the proprietary hardware on the Compaq. However, I just could not find drivers for the sound card. I finally broke down and called Compaq, and they told me that no drivers were available, to use the helpfully marked recovery CD, blah blah, etc.
Well, I used the recovery CD, and like I said, it was simple enough (a 20 automated minute install vs. the six hours I had spent) but there was no way to stop it from installing all the additional crap that had been bogging her system down in the first place. I tried manually uninstalling all the programs that a.) run in the background and b.) have no apparent function, but there was only so much I could do.
Honestly, I get the feeling that this particular step taken to combat piracy has just gone too far. Personally, I could probably accept a computer with a machine- or brand-specific bundled OS. I mean, the next computer I buy will probably include an OS one way or another, so I can live with that. It's not particularly fair, it's an example of unreasonable software licenses, but it could also be worse. However, when the step so fundamentally cripples the installation process, you know there's a problem.
That's why we don't put legal authority into the hands of the drooling sheeple. We have judges who presumably (at least sometimes) have clues. Otherwise you get mob rule as the majority decides to do crazy stuff like kill all the Jews or execute anyone caught with a joint.
I don't see why you use the Holocaust as an example. It did not occur because the majority of the German people suddenly decided they disliked Jews; it was largely perpetuated at the hands of Hitler and his cabal -- the (quasi-kinda-sorta)elected/legal government, essentially the conterparts to those you claim are protecting us from ourselves.
For what it's worth, I'd also like to remind you that it's entirely possible for moderately intelligent, well-informed members of the public to support Microsoft. Just because you don't doesn't make it intrinsically wrong conclusion.
(Naturally, I speak for myself here. Whether or not I qualify as "moderately intelligent, well-informed", I am a member of the public, and I am a proud Microsoft customer, supporter and shareholder. Yeah, crazy, huh?)
Personally, I think your attitude smacks of elitism and if anything, undermines your point. I'd say, on the whole, our legislators are generally well-educated, presumably intelligent and America's "best and brightest." And look how badly Congress is capable of screwing things up. I doubt the track record of the general public could be that much worse:)
-jay
Ah, one last thing. Yeah, I know you were referring to judges in your example, but they're not necessarily paragons of enlightenment. Here in Texas, they're often elected (in a lot of districts, the candidate who calls himself a Republican will almost automatically win, no matter how unqualified he is) and at the federal level, they're politically-motivated appointees a lot of times. So to sum up... they're not perfect, I guess. Or something.
Err... sorry. Just wanted to take exception to one comment.
Sure, then we can watch as concert ticket prices go MORE through the roof than they already are (my friend Dave paid more than $150 for Bruce Springsteen tickets...unreal).\
If your friend paid more than $150, that's because he bought multiple tickets. Springsteen has traditionally been very good about keeping tickets at reasonable prices, and making sure they go to actual fans (instead of scalpers). I went to his show in Austin and paid $150 (face value) for a pair of floor seats probably about 20 yards from the stage. I didn't think that was a bad deal at all. Springsteen is one of the hardest-working guys in music today, puts on a fantastic show, and in my opinion, those tickets were worth every penny. If you want to see some outrageous ticket pricing, check out the Rolling Stones, to mention a band off the top of my head.
Yeah, I'm a Springsteen fan. Is it that obvious?:)
Please try to ignore all of the rhetoric on both sides and look at the facts. The vast majority of MP3s out there were not created with the artist's or the record company's consent. Wether or not they "deserve" the money is besides the point. MP3s are no different than warez because in both cases the rightful owner of the copyright didn't give permission for the copy to be made.
That's a point I've been wondering about for some time now. As far as I understand it, it's legal for me to take a CD that I own, and create mp3's for my own personal use.
But what if, instead of ripping the CD myself, I just download it off Napster? As I have the right to posess an mp3 of a song that I own, does it matter how I obtain it? Isn't this the principle that my.mp3.com works on? I know the RIAA took exception to that, but is it strictly illegal?
By the way, you say that the mp3's were created without the consent of the record companies. Seeing as how someone had to own CD from which the mp3 was initially made, the first copy was probably legit. The issues of legality arise in the subsequent distrbution. (Right? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) It's a subtle point, but an important one, I would think.
I read the comments because the store interest me, and one can sometimes find corrections or further information or insigts about the story in the comments. I suspect this is what the same the vast majority of readers are after, and I moderate and meta-moderate with that in mind.
I also think that the Slashdot readers (or moderators, more accurately) are usually capable of determining what additional comments/insights are of value. What would be so wrong about the comments appearing in the form of a post? If they're of interest to the general public, they'll be moderated up. If not, they'll assume a position of less prominence.
The original comment was not only stupid and wrong, it was also absolutely off-topic.
All three seem to be subjective assessments, except for the original post's assertion that the FreeBSD 4.0 hadn't merited a story.
If a story doesn't interest you, skip it. Don't misuse it for whining about how/. does not match your interests perfectly.
I found the story to be very interesting, as usual, which is why I read Slashdot - not for the twenty-five words beneath the submission. I absolutely agree that there's a place for opinions (yes! even those that differ from mine!) on Slashdot -- that's why makes it what it is. And in expressing the opinion that I think there is a more suitable manner in which this story might have been posted, I'm just trying to contribute to Slashdot in my own, twisted way:)
Believe it or not, you are not the only person in the world, nor a particularily important one.
I don't see how anything I suggested might impinge on your -- or anyone's -- enjoyment of Slashdot. I never claimed to be of particular importance, and frankly, I find your attack groundless. Please remember that my opinion is no more or less valid than yours.
Sigh... I hope I get this one in M2. This is absolutely not off-topic. Until we have some kind of persistent thread where we can discuss topics primarily related to Slashdot, a post to a related/example article is the only acceptable forum for concerns of this nature.
jimjag was, in my opinion, out of line with his comments. Yes, he's obviously been around long enough and is knowledgable enough that the Slashdot powers that be respect his opinion more than they do mine; he gets to post the stories, and I do not. However, that does not mean he (or myself or anyone else) is above reproach. There was no good reason that his thoughts couldn't have -- and shouldn't have -- been posted in the discussion forum.
Please, let's see a little less editorializing in the items posted. Leave that to the person who submitted them, or to the discussion itself. There's no need for a display like this one.
Slashdot Mirror
A precedent for changing the constitution? God forbid. It's not like we don't 27 of those -- what're they called? amendments? -- already.
Nice try, though.
Pfft. This is a clear rip-off of The Onion's Least Essential Albums of the 90's.
Now THOSE were useless.
-jay
Check out Leisure Town. It's funny.
This from the same people who call the shipyard in Groton, CT that makes the stelthy nuclear powered submarines that carry dozens of intercontinental balistic missiles that can rain down multiple independant warheads on nearly any city in the world with less than 1 hours notice . . .the electric boat division.
Uh. Isn't that what General Dynamics calls their submarine division? I mean, at least there's a private sector precedent for it.
Obviously a troll, but I'll bite.
First off, I'd like to ask just how much credibility does one have who writes "to" as "2" and "be" as "b".
I shouldn't even dignify this with a response. But I will: if you are willing to ignore the message because of the manner in which it is delivered, then the fault lies with you -- not the messenger.
Just look at what he did with his title, he became "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" just to show his disdain for the RIAA.
Ooh, he changed his name to exercise independence from an oppressive contract. Let's criticize him. (And never mind the fact that the RIAA isn't the entity in question; it's Time-Warner.)
Yet he fails to realize that without them, he would have no fame or fortune.
That might well be true. That's why he's trying to change the system so future artists don't have to enter indentured servitude to make their music available to a wide audience.
I think Prince know exactly how much the RIAA has done for him, and that's probably why he's pissed off at it.
No, it's not taking away Windows NT market share. The only area where Linux has achieved significant gains is in the server market, where it has realized nearly all of its share at the expense of other Unixes (Unices?). Why the hell is Microsoft always the one accused of FUD?
I'd post the source of the statistics, but I'm at work and I don't have time to find them right now. (Of course, I don't really have time to be reading Slashdot either, but.... hey. whatever.) But if you want to see them, I'll try to dig them up when I get home.
Microsoft employees? Morons? Is this really a common perception? I know, first-hand, that Microsoft employees are generally some of the smartest people you'll meet, and believe it or not, they all (well, all the ones I know) have faith in their company and its products. So their vision differs from yours. That doesn't make them stupid.
Southwestern Bell (SBC) came out and installed DSL for us last month, and it was a simple enough process. The hardware part was pretty straightforward: plug the DSL modem/router into your phone line, put filters on all the other extensions of that phone line and then hook up the modem to the NIC in your computer. And as it turned out, all the materials for the installation (router, modem, cables, line filters, etc.) had already been shipped to us a couple weeks before -- if I had known that we had had them (and this policy in place at the time) I wouldn't have had to wait nearly a month for the installation appointment.
The only part of the process that might have presented difficulties and made me glad that they sent someone out was configuring the DSL modem itself -- and this wasn't so much difficult, but foreign to me. I'm sure with a decent set of instructions and a help line phone number, I could have had it up and running nearly as fast as the installation techs.
(Semi-related note on my experience, thus far, with SBC DSL: speed and availability are pretty decent, but upstream is limited to 128k and there's no static IP. I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra per month to correct those two issues, but that doesn't seem to be an option. I'd recommend the service UNLESS you're at all interested in running some kind of server. Other than that, though, everything's good.)
-jay
Alright, chances are the growth of the Internet (and particularly the web) will eventually be recognized as one of the major sociological developments of the late 20th century. Someday, we'll want to look back at the roots of the revolution and trace its development through the present day. However, that may well be an impossibility: we still have Gutenburg Bibles, but the original Mosaic/Netscape site is already a dim memory.
The other day, I was browsing through the Hotwired archives. Basically, they have everything to come out of the Wired family of publications for the past five or six years, and that's great: it's fun and oddly fascinating to read an article from early '96 and hear about this fantastic new "push" technology. But, being a Wired venture, many of the stories are gaudily hyperlinked, and very, very few (if any) of those external pages are still extant. Entire dimension to these stories are already lost to the ages.
The are a lot of obvious difficulties in archiving the web, but it's something that probably should be done. I really think not too far down the line, we'll look back and regret that a lot of what we take for granted today wasn't preserved.
-jay
I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life...
I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.
-jay
The short answer: Yeah, there are Microsoft loyalists. They're called stockholders. Either that, or employees.
:) and that simple fact alone shouldn't be underestimated.
The long answer to a refined version of the question: Well, do they exist outside of Redmond/Wall Street? Again, I'd say that they do, especially since I'd identify myself as one of them. I consider myself to be a very happy Microsoft customer (and owner of a very, very small amount of their stock) and a supporter of theirs in the fight against the Justice Department. Whenever a debate breaks out regarding the trial proceedings, or Windows vs. Linux, I'm pretty firmly in the Microsoft camp. (Though for what it's worth, I hate Windows 98 with a passion.)
I haven't had a chance to check out their Freedom to Innovate brochure (slashdotted, at the moment), but I suppose something like that might persuade me to write a quick letter to my congressman, or do something along those lines to support them.
Say what you will, but Microsoft is capable of some pretty solid feats. Their optical mice are amazing (though I understand it uses HP technology, someone had to bring it to market) and as I've said before, Windows 2000 really is a very solid, stable, functional OS (in my experience).
Obviously, I don't think that Microsoft/Windows has the grassroots subculture that OSS/Linux/etc. has, but don't completely discount its backers. It's made a lot of people quite wealthy (even if it hasn't done the same for me, yet
-jay
You call systems that crash every second day easy to use.
Support this statement, please. My experience with Windows (specifically Windows NT 4/2000) dictates otherwise.
Windows isn't the easyest to use in the class room enviroment because it lacks true muti user support. I'm not talking about the ablity for a few people to use a computer at the same time I mean the ablity of a user to have there own settings and files that the next person who uses the computer can't mess with.
For most school environments, I expect that NT/2000's multi-user support is more than sufficient. What, you didn't think I was talking about Windows 9x, did you?
From a UI point of view linux is the same as windows and is more configureable. In schools you don't need huge menu's of programs like you see under the start button in windows or linux, you only need 10-20 buttons or icons on the screen.
No, I've seen what 10-20 buttons on the desktop look like and it's an interface nightmare. A reasonably organized Start menu is, in my opinion, vastly easier to use.
Right now at school every other day I see one of the computers geting windows re installed because some student has guessed the password to fortress, a program that keeps students from changeing setting and stuff, or some program has destroyed the system, viruses, or because some program was running really slow.
This sounds more like a problem with the additional software installed than a problem with Windows. Besides, if you're going to run Windows, shouldn't y'all be running NT/2000? I'm not saying it's a cure-all, but I believe it would be better suited to the task than Windows 9x.
Hey, this isn't a flame, and I'm not trying to be a Windows 2000 smart-ass (whatever the hell that is). But it really is a pretty solid operating system, and one that is definitely on par with Linux in an academic/public computing environment. Don't be so quick to dismiss it just because Windows 9x sucks in many, many respects.
OK, is it more or less indisputable that Windows is easier to use than Linux? I'm not saying easier to configure exactly to your specifications, or easier to accomplish some hardcore technical task -- I'm saying easier for Joe Random User to walk in and fire up a word processor, or write an e-mail, or whatever.
Schools are going to use an OS in their labs that is a.) easy to use and b.) will allow anyone to come in, immediately get to work typing their term paper, and save it in a format used by 98% of the Western world. (Maybe the Eastern world too. I have no idea.)
Right now, Linux is in no position to be that OS. I'm a reasonably proficient computer user, but the software was too lacking and the learning curve too steep for me to justify making it my primary OS. MacOS might have a shot by virtue of its purported usability, except for its market share. Windows is that OS, perhaps by default.
Linux has a ways to go before it could contend for that title, but I'm not even sure it's fundamentally well-suited for use as a public terminal. Or not so much ill-suited, but it would probably be overkill in such a setting.
-jay
The true community of slashdot is 100% behind you.
Trevor, I'm not quite sure how you judge yourself to be a member of the "true Slashdot community." Judging by your user ID # (high 100k's) it seems that you haven't really been around here all that long.
Of course, that's not the only criterion to judge community membership by. I freely admit that I haven't been around much longer than you have (but then again, I don't claim to be part of the group that knows what's best for Slashdot). However, I don't think you or I really have much of a right to claim that the trolls, many of whom post at 0 or -1, irrevocably end any serious attempt at conversation. Don't like what they have to say? Raise the threshold and ignore them. They're making fun of you? Ignore them. If you don't like what the trolls are doing, ignore them.
Ugh. I've probably been trolled myself right here (and look at how quickly I disregard my own advice!) But I'm getting a little tired of people claiming that the trolls are ruining Slashdot. Hate to break it to you, but they're more a part of it than you or me.
Yes, it does. I appreciate your explanation of the issues involved. Thanks very much.
What's the big deal? The article seems to be out of commission right this second, so I'm admittedly operating out of cluelessness here, but I don't see what the issue is. The only problematic scenario that I can envision is that the movie was released here with English-subtitled Japanese audio. Is that the case? If not, what's so bad about not being able to listen to the movie in Japanese? It seems like there might be better causes to direct our energies toward. But if someone could fill me in, I'd be appreciative.
Gattaca: the movie where fraud and the endangerment of a dozen lives and the life's work of countless others is considered a moral victory.
:)
Of course I can understand you not liking the movie, but you really miss the point: Vincent/Jerome underwent the same training and testing as everyone else for that mission, and despite is "inferior" genetics, he did just as well, or better.
Eh, it's a minor nit, but the movie's one of my favorites, and I feel the need to defend it
Besides, the humorous part about Napster is that most music isn't shared by it - it is from college universities and mp3 servers in offices.
Err... what? I'm a bit confused by your statement. If you're saying that Napster, Inc. doesn't provide much of the music that people use Napster (the client) to download, you're wrong. Napster, Inc. doesn't provide any of it, but I'm sure you knew that. So could you clarify what you were trying to say?
The hardest part about mp3's is not in finding music, it's in finding a particular song. If it isn't popular (ie, the 18-25 group) you won't find it, unless it's techno.
Well, this one is entirely subjective, but I beg to differ. I have musical taste reasonably distinct from the mainstream, and I have never not been able to find a given song on Napster. Though that is, of course, just my personal experience.
I've had experience with these little gems, and they are an absolute bitch to try to use. Actually, let me rephrase -- they're easy enough to utilize (stick in in the cd-rom drive and boot up the computer). But if you want any control over your system at all -- components installed, configuration, etc. -- then you're pretty much out of luck.
One of my friends was having trouble with her Compaq laptop, and I basically decided to do a fresh install of Windows 98. Since I couldn't find a Windows 98 CD among the materials that came with her computer (because -- surprise, surprise -- there wasn't one!) I had her buy the academic edition through our school.
Over, hmm, the six or so hours that I wrestled with that installation, I slowly got Windows working with all of the proprietary hardware on the Compaq. However, I just could not find drivers for the sound card. I finally broke down and called Compaq, and they told me that no drivers were available, to use the helpfully marked recovery CD, blah blah, etc.
Well, I used the recovery CD, and like I said, it was simple enough (a 20 automated minute install vs. the six hours I had spent) but there was no way to stop it from installing all the additional crap that had been bogging her system down in the first place. I tried manually uninstalling all the programs that a.) run in the background and b.) have no apparent function, but there was only so much I could do.
Honestly, I get the feeling that this particular step taken to combat piracy has just gone too far. Personally, I could probably accept a computer with a machine- or brand-specific bundled OS. I mean, the next computer I buy will probably include an OS one way or another, so I can live with that. It's not particularly fair, it's an example of unreasonable software licenses, but it could also be worse. However, when the step so fundamentally cripples the installation process, you know there's a problem.
Hmm, this is a perfectly insightful, relevant comment. I hardly think it deserves to be at -1. Why, Rob, is this comment at -1? Hmm?
That's why we don't put legal authority into the hands of the drooling sheeple. We have judges who presumably (at least sometimes) have clues. Otherwise you get mob rule as the majority decides to do crazy stuff like kill all the Jews or execute anyone caught with a joint.
:)
I don't see why you use the Holocaust as an example. It did not occur because the majority of the German people suddenly decided they disliked Jews; it was largely perpetuated at the hands of Hitler and his cabal -- the (quasi-kinda-sorta)elected/legal government, essentially the conterparts to those you claim are protecting us from ourselves.
For what it's worth, I'd also like to remind you that it's entirely possible for moderately intelligent, well-informed members of the public to support Microsoft. Just because you don't doesn't make it intrinsically wrong conclusion.
(Naturally, I speak for myself here. Whether or not I qualify as "moderately intelligent, well-informed", I am a member of the public, and I am a proud Microsoft customer, supporter and shareholder. Yeah, crazy, huh?)
Personally, I think your attitude smacks of elitism and if anything, undermines your point. I'd say, on the whole, our legislators are generally well-educated, presumably intelligent and America's "best and brightest." And look how badly Congress is capable of screwing things up. I doubt the track record of the general public could be that much worse
-jay
Ah, one last thing. Yeah, I know you were referring to judges in your example, but they're not necessarily paragons of enlightenment. Here in Texas, they're often elected (in a lot of districts, the candidate who calls himself a Republican will almost automatically win, no matter how unqualified he is) and at the federal level, they're politically-motivated appointees a lot of times. So to sum up... they're not perfect, I guess. Or something.
Yeah, and don't forget why the oil rig was abandoned: it was replaced by orbital data havens. Can't wait for that...
Err... sorry. Just wanted to take exception to one comment.
:)
Sure, then we can watch as concert ticket prices go MORE through the roof than they already are (my friend Dave paid more than $150 for Bruce Springsteen tickets...unreal).\
If your friend paid more than $150, that's because he bought multiple tickets. Springsteen has traditionally been very good about keeping tickets at reasonable prices, and making sure they go to actual fans (instead of scalpers). I went to his show in Austin and paid $150 (face value) for a pair of floor seats probably about 20 yards from the stage. I didn't think that was a bad deal at all. Springsteen is one of the hardest-working guys in music today, puts on a fantastic show, and in my opinion, those tickets were worth every penny. If you want to see some outrageous ticket pricing, check out the Rolling Stones, to mention a band off the top of my head.
Yeah, I'm a Springsteen fan. Is it that obvious?
-jay
Please try to ignore all of the rhetoric on both sides and look at the facts. The vast majority of MP3s out there were not created with the artist's or the record company's consent. Wether or not they "deserve" the money is besides the point. MP3s are no different than warez because in both cases the rightful owner of the copyright didn't give permission for the copy to be made.
That's a point I've been wondering about for some time now. As far as I understand it, it's legal for me to take a CD that I own, and create mp3's for my own personal use.
But what if, instead of ripping the CD myself, I just download it off Napster? As I have the right to posess an mp3 of a song that I own, does it matter how I obtain it? Isn't this the principle that my.mp3.com works on? I know the RIAA took exception to that, but is it strictly illegal?
By the way, you say that the mp3's were created without the consent of the record companies. Seeing as how someone had to own CD from which the mp3 was initially made, the first copy was probably legit. The issues of legality arise in the subsequent distrbution. (Right? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) It's a subtle point, but an important one, I would think.
I read the comments because the store interest me, and one can sometimes find corrections or further information or insigts about the story in the comments. I suspect this is what the same the vast majority of readers are after, and I moderate and meta-moderate with that in mind.
/. does not match your interests perfectly.
:)
I also think that the Slashdot readers (or moderators, more accurately) are usually capable of determining what additional comments/insights are of value. What would be so wrong about the comments appearing in the form of a post? If they're of interest to the general public, they'll be moderated up. If not, they'll assume a position of less prominence.
The original comment was not only stupid and wrong, it was also absolutely off-topic.
All three seem to be subjective assessments, except for the original post's assertion that the FreeBSD 4.0 hadn't merited a story.
If a story doesn't interest you, skip it. Don't misuse it for whining about how
I found the story to be very interesting, as usual, which is why I read Slashdot - not for the twenty-five words beneath the submission. I absolutely agree that there's a place for opinions (yes! even those that differ from mine!) on Slashdot -- that's why makes it what it is. And in expressing the opinion that I think there is a more suitable manner in which this story might have been posted, I'm just trying to contribute to Slashdot in my own, twisted way
Believe it or not, you are not the only person in the world, nor a particularily important one.
I don't see how anything I suggested might impinge on your -- or anyone's -- enjoyment of Slashdot. I never claimed to be of particular importance, and frankly, I find your attack groundless. Please remember that my opinion is no more or less valid than yours.
-jay
Sigh... I hope I get this one in M2. This is absolutely not off-topic. Until we have some kind of persistent thread where we can discuss topics primarily related to Slashdot, a post to a related/example article is the only acceptable forum for concerns of this nature.
jimjag was, in my opinion, out of line with his comments. Yes, he's obviously been around long enough and is knowledgable enough that the Slashdot powers that be respect his opinion more than they do mine; he gets to post the stories, and I do not. However, that does not mean he (or myself or anyone else) is above reproach. There was no good reason that his thoughts couldn't have -- and shouldn't have -- been posted in the discussion forum.
Please, let's see a little less editorializing in the items posted. Leave that to the person who submitted them, or to the discussion itself. There's no need for a display like this one.
-jay