Such as: - surfing the web via WiFi - email - viewing digital photos - transferring from SD card to a microdrive - listening to mp3s - viewing video - playing games (I'm thinking Chess here) - viewing DivX that you've recorded with your PVR - looking up maps - looking up dictionaries - storing and reading PDF manuals
I use my PDA for all of these things. Sure there are probably devices that can do some of these individual tasks better, but a PDA is a single general purpose device that can do all of these.
...but rather ROMS, the Russian equivalent of ASCAP/BMI. Like a radio station, they pay money to the authors/composers association and sidestep the record companies altogether. Also like a radio station, there is no way that an individual record company can keep their work off their service.
Google have a policy of pulling ads when a complaint is made from a trademark holder; we have had our competitors' names disallowed as AdWords after they asked Google (note we were not using their names in the adverts). Other competitors also advertise under our name.
I don't know why that wasn't done, or if it was done why it wasn't sufficient for AXA in this case. It's not reasonable to expect Google to do trademark infringement searches on prospective AdWords, and they can't just make a big list of trademarks - besides the jurisdictional issues, there would be non-infringing uses of even a non-generic word such as AXA (e.g. if the BBC wanted to advertise their news coverage of AXA).
Indeed, I don't think such ads *should* be pulled - there should just be a prohibition on using the trademarked term in your ad. The point is, it is not *Google* that is providing the trademarked term, its the user. Its would be like going into a shop, and asking for a Pepsi, and the shop not being allowed to say we dont have it, how about a Coke.
Now if the makers of \/1@G*r@ (Pf!z/3r) could go after those spammers for trademark infringement...
I presume you mean the dedications/usernames on the webcam photos, as it would be pretty difficult to spell out anything with only the searchlights (this fact not stopping endless speculation by other posters). I saw them myself when in town on Saturday night, but didn't know what it was all about until an American friend sent me a link to this Slashdot story.
I have this problem also. Are you using the big black CDs with the spiral grooves too?
Heh. The interesting difference between vinyl noise and the noise I'm getting on these CDs is that the CD noise increases in proportion with the volume of the signal, whereas vinyl noise is constant, independent of the signal. It goes without saying that this type of noise is considerably more annoying than vinyl noise.
Audio CDs can lose quality consistently across a whole disc in an audible way. Obviously this occurs as you say due to the digital information being lost beyond the ability of the error correction data to reconstruct it. But it doesn't ruin every sample, so the audio is still audible, just degraded.
Specifically, I get a constant crackling on some of my CDs that have degraded in this way. The crackling only affects passages with audio and doesn't appear during silence (or relative/'analogue' silence). It's worse the louder the sound recorded. These CDs will not verifiably copy onto the computer (I have managed to save some of these CDs with EAC, but not these ones.) The worst problems I have had with certain CDRs, but I have had old pressed CDs degrade also.
...and it clearly says in the article that the change was long planned and nothing to do with Baystar. Baystar's complaint with SCO is all their public posturing; they would prefer that SCO quietly pursue the case in the courts. The serious changes that they want at senior management level are related to stopping this public posturing - and that means Darl.
Secondarily, they want SCO to quit the UNIX business altogether so that they can put all their focus on their IP litigation. They just want SCO to shut up and do this quietly. Given the brain-dead decisions that can be made by an uninformed judiciary (I'm thinking the MS-Eolas decision here), SCO publicly hanging themselves on a weekly basis is probably a good thing for Linux. So Baystar are not exactly the knight in shining armour.
..compared to CPU speed. So while a CPU today may run thousands of times faster than an 8086, today's 300gb hard drive is not transferring data thousands of times faster than the 10mb drive you might have had at the time. (Although it does have thousands of times more capacity.)
The only link I can find substantiating this is Wikipedia's article on Moore's Law, which points out that hard disk performance has significantly lagged behind capacity. If anyone has hard figures for hard disk speed increases since the early 80s, please post.
The point is, that while a 1,000x theoretical limit might be of immediate concern in relation to CPU speed, extrapolating from the hard disk speed trend, we aren't likely to be hitting a 1,000x limit with hard drives any time soon. (And, as people have pointed out, this only applies to a single head in any case.)
...not the activity of recording. According to the Reg article quoted in the story it's illegal simply to bring the recording device into the theatre, irrespective of whether you record or intend to record the film. That point is backed up in this Sacremento Bee article.
They point out that the law is phrased to cover future recording devices and could even cover video-recording phones, so that taking your phone into a theatre would be an offence.
They word the law like this so that it's easier to prove guilt, but that doesn't make it a good law.
...to receive a knighthood, only to use the title 'Sir'. Gates is being knighted (this was covered so widely I suspect you may be a troll) along with many other Americans including Rudy Giuliani, Steven Spielberg, Bob Hope, Billy Graham, George Mitchell, Norman Schwarzkopf and George Bush senior. Note the inclusion of politicians and that the 1810 consitutional amendment banning American citizens from accepting foreign honours was never ratified (ref: quoted BBC article above).
...but rather MMS (multi-media messaging) which is standard on all camera phones (in Europe at least) and works automatically out of the box (excepting problems with inter-network transmission which will undoubtedly soon be solved.) Before-you-nitpick note: MMS may work using GPRS as a transport, I'm not sure, but my point is that it is preconfigured, like SMS, on at least European mobiles.
To get your position to within a few hundred feet you'd need to know the exact parameterization of the lens, the zoom, the angle of the camera... unlikely.
You point it at the building in front of you. It tells you "you are looking at building X, now turn to your right and..." This is close enough to be useful without a map being necessary.
Part of the problem with 3D GUIs is that monitors are 2D devices, not 3D. Give me a workable 3D display device and manipulation tools (hint: I'm thinking of 'give me the real world' here) with my 3D GUI and you might have something. Even in the 'real world' however, 2D is often a most useful abstraction. Jakob Nielsen has an interesting column (with rebuttals) on the problems of 3D interfaces.
Wouldn't this make people accessories to the crime of sending [spam]?
No, it would make them guilty of the crime of sending spam.
What about CPU/internet speed?
on
Paid To Spam
·
· Score: 1
Surely someone with a fast CPU on a fast connection is worth more per "CPU hour" than someone with a 486 on dialup?
Disclaimer: I didn't read the site; it's now slashdotted and it's not in the Google cache.
Not so free...
on
Paid To Spam
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
...when their internet connection gets pulled. Which would probably happen within the first week.
They make money because most of their fares cost more than 0.99p, and they trim their costs to the bone (quick turnarounds, one type of aircraft, 50% discount negotiated with Boeing, cheap deals with regional airports, etc.) Ryanair copied the model from Southwest, but are actually better at it even than them.
They offer the 99p fares on flights that have a lot of space free - typically mid-week, etc. If you try to book a flight last-minute, they will absolutely screw you (expect to pay up to EUR 200-300.) Unfortunately they will also screw you if anything goes wrong - no refunds in any circumstances, unless your flight is cancelled - in which case a refund is *all* you get and good luck getting home if you're stranded. They also keep the taxes/charges for no-shows.
The cost of the flight is basically fixed irrespective of how many people are on it, so Ryanair sell the empty seats off cheap as a marketing tool, while other airlines might just leave the seats empty. (The passenger must pay taxes and airport charges, although they did do one promotion where they paid these for the passenger.) They also make money on in-flight sales and advertising, and their CEO has in the past suggested the idea of permanently free flights financed by in-air gambling.
The 99p fares do exist, and are not even that difficult to get if you book quickly after they announce a special offer. I've often flown on them. Their *average* fare in 2002 was GBP 30; I believe it's lower now. They are a profitable company on this average.
The web is a collection of documents, with useful links to other documents. For example [any website]. See those blue links scattered on the page? They lead to other documents.
Seems like they took the idea, but they sell the links! It will be annoying.
That last sentence I do agree with. I've no problem with AdWords, however, as long as they are unobstructive (no pop-ups) and properly distinguished from the content, which it doesn't look like these will be. What's the alternative? Subscription Google?
...than many of the woefully inefficient ex-monopoly train operators. I'm talking about the low-fare airlines here doing internal flights; the 'flag carriers' such as British Airways aren't generally competing with trains. Ryanair will ensure that it has close to 100% load at all times by varying ticket prices; while you can get a cheap ticket if you book in advance, if you are trying to book short-notice a ticket will cost a small fortune. The trains don't vary their pricing structure in such a dynamic way, and are often half-empty.
To a small degree the airlines do have an advantage in not having to pay tax on their fuel, but actually it is generally the train companies that are getting the subsidies. I don't think this is a bad thing in itself as long as it doesn't promote inefficiency; rail travel is far more environmentally friendly than short-haul air, and a good rail infrastructure has many public benefits.
...than flying with the likes of Ryanair who often do free or 0.99p deals. The train however goes from city centre to city centre, rather than circa 1 hour outside each city; I'm thinking London Stansted to "Glasgow" (Prestwick) here. When you factor in taxes and the exorbitant cost of the Stansted Express it's not always so cheap any more.
Fast rail travel (like they have on the European continent) is far more comfortable than flying. When you factor in airport distance, check-in times, etc, it's also quicker than flying on most domestic-length routes. Look at Eurostar's dominance on the London-Paris route at the expense of the airlines. It's also far more environmentally friendly than short-haul flights - in Spain you can get a discount on an AVE/Talgo ticket within 48 hours of flying into/out of the country, to persuade you to use the train rather than a connecting flight to your ultimate destination.
Offering WiFi is definately another value-add that will increase train use - you can actually spend that 4-5 hour journey *working* (or whatever) rather than spending approx the same amount of time getting a train to the airport, check-in, hanging around, short flight, another train. Now if they can only get those leaves off the track and introduce high speed services...
They would have had a problem if they had checked baggage, which would have gone on to Austin, where it would probably be destroyed, possibly by the bomb squad. Seriously, though, getting off the plane when you are not meant to is one thing airlines and governments get very pissed off about for security reasons - e.g. you get off at a stopover, leaving the bomb you placed in your baggage on the flight.
"Yes they worked here and the dates they worked were from X to Y..." is actually a *bad reference*.
"He worked here and was one of the best employees we ever had - had the initiative to suggest and implement a new system that saved us $x per year, etc. - we were sorry to see him go and would definitely rehire him" - that is a *good reference*.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a Toshiba e740 Pocket PC (ducks) so I'm using Pocket MVP. A bit jumpy depending on resolution but it does work.
...that should double the amount they're able to store.
Such as:
- surfing the web via WiFi
- email
- viewing digital photos
- transferring from SD card to a microdrive
- listening to mp3s
- viewing video
- playing games (I'm thinking Chess here)
- viewing DivX that you've recorded with your PVR
- looking up maps
- looking up dictionaries
- storing and reading PDF manuals
I use my PDA for all of these things. Sure there are probably devices that can do some of these individual tasks better, but a PDA is a single general purpose device that can do all of these.
...but rather ROMS, the Russian equivalent of ASCAP/BMI. Like a radio station, they pay money to the authors/composers association and sidestep the record companies altogether. Also like a radio station, there is no way that an individual record company can keep their work off their service.
...as a neutral locator of information.
Google have a policy of pulling ads when a complaint is made from a trademark holder; we have had our competitors' names disallowed as AdWords after they asked Google (note we were not using their names in the adverts). Other competitors also advertise under our name.
I don't know why that wasn't done, or if it was done why it wasn't sufficient for AXA in this case. It's not reasonable to expect Google to do trademark infringement searches on prospective AdWords, and they can't just make a big list of trademarks - besides the jurisdictional issues, there would be non-infringing uses of even a non-generic word such as AXA (e.g. if the BBC wanted to advertise their news coverage of AXA).
Indeed, I don't think such ads *should* be pulled - there should just be a prohibition on using the trademarked term in your ad. The point is, it is not *Google* that is providing the trademarked term, its the user. Its would be like going into a shop, and asking for a Pepsi, and the shop not being allowed to say we dont have it, how about a Coke.
Now if the makers of \/1@G*r@ (Pf!z/3r) could go after those spammers for trademark infringement...
I presume you mean the dedications/usernames on the webcam photos, as it would be pretty difficult to spell out anything with only the searchlights (this fact not stopping endless speculation by other posters). I saw them myself when in town on Saturday night, but didn't know what it was all about until an American friend sent me a link to this Slashdot story.
...this?
Heh. The interesting difference between vinyl noise and the noise I'm getting on these CDs is that the CD noise increases in proportion with the volume of the signal, whereas vinyl noise is constant, independent of the signal. It goes without saying that this type of noise is considerably more annoying than vinyl noise.
Audio CDs can lose quality consistently across a whole disc in an audible way. Obviously this occurs as you say due to the digital information being lost beyond the ability of the error correction data to reconstruct it. But it doesn't ruin every sample, so the audio is still audible, just degraded.
Specifically, I get a constant crackling on some of my CDs that have degraded in this way. The crackling only affects passages with audio and doesn't appear during silence (or relative/'analogue' silence). It's worse the louder the sound recorded. These CDs will not verifiably copy onto the computer (I have managed to save some of these CDs with EAC, but not these ones.) The worst problems I have had with certain CDRs, but I have had old pressed CDs degrade also.
...and it clearly says in the article that the change was long planned and nothing to do with Baystar. Baystar's complaint with SCO is all their public posturing; they would prefer that SCO quietly pursue the case in the courts. The serious changes that they want at senior management level are related to stopping this public posturing - and that means Darl.
Secondarily, they want SCO to quit the UNIX business altogether so that they can put all their focus on their IP litigation. They just want SCO to shut up and do this quietly. Given the brain-dead decisions that can be made by an uninformed judiciary (I'm thinking the MS-Eolas decision here), SCO publicly hanging themselves on a weekly basis is probably a good thing for Linux. So Baystar are not exactly the knight in shining armour.
The only link I can find substantiating this is Wikipedia's article on Moore's Law, which points out that hard disk performance has significantly lagged behind capacity. If anyone has hard figures for hard disk speed increases since the early 80s, please post.
The point is, that while a 1,000x theoretical limit might be of immediate concern in relation to CPU speed, extrapolating from the hard disk speed trend, we aren't likely to be hitting a 1,000x limit with hard drives any time soon. (And, as people have pointed out, this only applies to a single head in any case.)
...not the activity of recording. According to the Reg article quoted in the story it's illegal simply to bring the recording device into the theatre, irrespective of whether you record or intend to record the film. That point is backed up in this Sacremento Bee article.
They point out that the law is phrased to cover future recording devices and could even cover video-recording phones, so that taking your phone into a theatre would be an offence.
They word the law like this so that it's easier to prove guilt, but that doesn't make it a good law.
...but rather the WWW, right here. It's in his 'Kid's Questions' section - you might want to check it out.
...to receive a knighthood, only to use the title 'Sir'. Gates is being knighted (this was covered so widely I suspect you may be a troll) along with many other Americans including Rudy Giuliani, Steven Spielberg, Bob Hope, Billy Graham, George Mitchell, Norman Schwarzkopf and George Bush senior. Note the inclusion of politicians and that the 1810 consitutional amendment banning American citizens from accepting foreign honours was never ratified (ref: quoted BBC article above).
...but rather MMS (multi-media messaging) which is standard on all camera phones (in Europe at least) and works automatically out of the box (excepting problems with inter-network transmission which will undoubtedly soon be solved.) Before-you-nitpick note: MMS may work using GPRS as a transport, I'm not sure, but my point is that it is preconfigured, like SMS, on at least European mobiles.
To get your position to within a few hundred feet you'd need to know the exact parameterization of the lens, the zoom, the angle of the camera... unlikely.
You point it at the building in front of you. It tells you "you are looking at building X, now turn to your right and..." This is close enough to be useful without a map being necessary.
I've got 26 things open right now and between a multi-tabbed browser, taskbars over two monitors and a sidebar I don't have any problem getting to what I want. The Alt-Tab Replacement helps too.
Part of the problem with 3D GUIs is that monitors are 2D devices, not 3D. Give me a workable 3D display device and manipulation tools (hint: I'm thinking of 'give me the real world' here) with my 3D GUI and you might have something. Even in the 'real world' however, 2D is often a most useful abstraction. Jakob Nielsen has an interesting column (with rebuttals) on the problems of 3D interfaces.
Wouldn't this make people accessories to the crime of sending [spam]?
No, it would make them guilty of the crime of sending spam.
Surely someone with a fast CPU on a fast connection is worth more per "CPU hour" than someone with a 486 on dialup? Disclaimer: I didn't read the site; it's now slashdotted and it's not in the Google cache.
...when their internet connection gets pulled. Which would probably happen within the first week.
They make money because most of their fares cost more than 0.99p, and they trim their costs to the bone (quick turnarounds, one type of aircraft, 50% discount negotiated with Boeing, cheap deals with regional airports, etc.) Ryanair copied the model from Southwest, but are actually better at it even than them.
They offer the 99p fares on flights that have a lot of space free - typically mid-week, etc. If you try to book a flight last-minute, they will absolutely screw you (expect to pay up to EUR 200-300.) Unfortunately they will also screw you if anything goes wrong - no refunds in any circumstances, unless your flight is cancelled - in which case a refund is *all* you get and good luck getting home if you're stranded. They also keep the taxes/charges for no-shows.
The cost of the flight is basically fixed irrespective of how many people are on it, so Ryanair sell the empty seats off cheap as a marketing tool, while other airlines might just leave the seats empty. (The passenger must pay taxes and airport charges, although they did do one promotion where they paid these for the passenger.) They also make money on in-flight sales and advertising, and their CEO has in the past suggested the idea of permanently free flights financed by in-air gambling.
The 99p fares do exist, and are not even that difficult to get if you book quickly after they announce a special offer. I've often flown on them. Their *average* fare in 2002 was GBP 30; I believe it's lower now. They are a profitable company on this average.
Seems like they took the idea, but they sell the links! It will be annoying.
That last sentence I do agree with. I've no problem with AdWords, however, as long as they are unobstructive (no pop-ups) and properly distinguished from the content, which it doesn't look like these will be. What's the alternative? Subscription Google?
To a small degree the airlines do have an advantage in not having to pay tax on their fuel, but actually it is generally the train companies that are getting the subsidies. I don't think this is a bad thing in itself as long as it doesn't promote inefficiency; rail travel is far more environmentally friendly than short-haul air, and a good rail infrastructure has many public benefits.
Fast rail travel (like they have on the European continent) is far more comfortable than flying. When you factor in airport distance, check-in times, etc, it's also quicker than flying on most domestic-length routes. Look at Eurostar's dominance on the London-Paris route at the expense of the airlines. It's also far more environmentally friendly than short-haul flights - in Spain you can get a discount on an AVE/Talgo ticket within 48 hours of flying into/out of the country, to persuade you to use the train rather than a connecting flight to your ultimate destination.
Offering WiFi is definately another value-add that will increase train use - you can actually spend that 4-5 hour journey *working* (or whatever) rather than spending approx the same amount of time getting a train to the airport, check-in, hanging around, short flight, another train. Now if they can only get those leaves off the track and introduce high speed services...
They would have had a problem if they had checked baggage, which would have gone on to Austin, where it would probably be destroyed, possibly by the bomb squad. Seriously, though, getting off the plane when you are not meant to is one thing airlines and governments get very pissed off about for security reasons - e.g. you get off at a stopover, leaving the bomb you placed in your baggage on the flight.
"Yes they worked here and the dates they worked were from X to Y..." is actually a *bad reference*. "He worked here and was one of the best employees we ever had - had the initiative to suggest and implement a new system that saved us $x per year, etc. - we were sorry to see him go and would definitely rehire him" - that is a *good reference*.