Hi,
I am an engineer not a lawyer. I find the increasing number of "free software" licenses completely overwhelming. There have been times where it has been easier for me to tell the team, "Since we can't tell whether or not this license works for us, let's just write it ourselves." Legal complexities have definitely stifled our innovation. Any thoughts on the implications of rampant growth in YAFSL (yet another free software license)?
Thanks.
I've been reading/. for over a decade. I've been a Mormon longer than that.
I get your Meh point and should probably just go back to coding, but I want to say that rejecting Linux over this would be like getting angry at the Hierarchy because Chomsky is a political personality: Sheer stupidity. Chomsky and Linus are complex and interesting people. Most Mormons are the same way. However, I worry that Romeny doesn't normalize Mormonism, but rather reinforces a very specific stereotype around Mormons and business.
I have worked in both a female dominated field (child psychology) and a male dominated field (software engineering). Teams are always better with a touch of gender balance. Every single time.
I wish they just cut the crap. Verizon has built a system where they can sell your listing for a profit. Some of that money is used to offset the cost of maintaining your line. Without that revenue stream they need to add a fee in order for you to be a profitable customer.
It reminds of the situation with desktops and Windows. Because of licensing arrangements, it is cheaper to buy a Windows prefab than to buy a machine with no os. Crazy but true.
Without certain features some products are not as profitable for vendors, so it is discouraging, but not surprising, that they would pass on the offset costs to the end-user.
As an IT researcher, one would think living where ever you want, working from home, and telecommuting would be the ideal for family life.
Let me put it another way. There is a telecommuting homomorphism between the set of the best places to live and the set of best place to live for an IT researcher.
Mod up parent.
The main reason I moved to Lion was to FINALLY be able to resize windows by selecting anywhere on the frames. This was an obvious and long overdue feature, but they changed many things that didn't need changing. I can think of no reasons to stay on Lion as the grass certainly looks greener on the Mountain, but maybe that's just because my boots are covered in mud.
Disregard the hype.
I am decidedly unimpressed with Steam's (or anyone else's) offerings for Mac. The available titles are good games, but many other good games that I want to play are unavailable: Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite, Mass Effect 3, Guild Wars, SWTOR, Call of Duty, and many, many others. If I can't get developers to support Mac--a widely available hardware model with a good distribution channel, a few graphics cards, and a few major OS versions--why on earth should I be more optimistic about gaming on linux where there is no driver support, limited willingness to pay for software, and infinite variation in OS versions?
My team maintains roughly a million lines of multi-platform code, supporting linux, windows, mac, and others. Believe me, It is a major pain to keep current on all the OS versions. People are drastically underestimating the amount of developer resources it takes to maintain a multi-platform source tree. This is why only the Valves and Blizzards of the world do it.
The great thing about coding is you can create your own experience. I would find an open source project and contribute, and start building ups portfolio of published code.
I bet it only recognizes nouns, which for a large set is impressive in its own right, but to be able to create ways for all the nouns to interact...that would be the really amazing part. To have a system, where you can put any two or three objects together and get some meaningful interaction is mind-boggling.
Sure we all know what Shark + Laser should be, but what about Jello + Harley, Yarn + Glass, DS + PS3, in principle the possibilities are quite literally endless.
The funny thing is I now want to buy the game just to see what Jello+Harley does.
If you have so much trouble with customs that you wish you had encrypted your whole hard disk, you are already in a load of trouble.
And by the time they get around to browsing your personal pics on your lap top, you will already have done so much wrong in customs, that encryption or no, you might want a good lawyer.
Unless you are stupid enough to try to physically smuggle illegal pics (terrorist propaganda, kiddie porn), I think it not worth your time to worry about encryption just for the sake of customs.
If you are aware of the hell that is DRM for PC games, then you probably are die-hard enough to find other more reliable reviews than AMAZON. So strangely this anti-DRM campaign will be most likely to affect the purchase by mom/pop computer users who are clueless about what DRM is, much less how to install a patch to get around it. If they are browsing for a Christmas gift, and see a 1-star review, maybe they keep looking....*maybe*.
Mass execution of Kurds in Iraq: the law of Sadam.
Tiananmen Square Masacre...
Well, you get the point.
Now, I am not anti-China. It is poised to emerge as the next super power in every conceivable way...BUT...that doesnt mean everything law they enact is right. The Western world has a storied history about how the free and open exchange of ideas is a good thing. Current example: we are free to question the US government's actions in everything from Katrina Disaster relief to the questionable wire taps without fear of retribution. This means we have the potential to get it right in the future. If we can't question, we can't correct.
Frankly, I am a bit disappointed in Google. I had hoped for better...:(
Obligatory 'roids dig: The steroid industry probably has a rightful claim to say they "created" Bond's 73 home runs.:) Are they counter-suing MLB?
MLB has as much claim on the stats as on stadium attendance figures, the number of filled parking stalls, how many hot dogs I eat, on average, while seated in section 120 row 5 seat 7 in Caden Yards. I mean I ate the hot-dogs...I created the stat, why does MLB get to claim the number just because they have more lawyers?
We aren't exactly hurting compared to the average Chinese, especially considering US citizens only spend 6.4% of their income on food (the lowest percentage of reported countries). (Source ific.org). No one has to starve in the USA; tragically there are those who still do, but there is plenty of food and money to go around. It's a resource allocation problem, not a question of affordability.
Which is bad enough for the common American LABORER- for whom American businesses are already traitors in this war.
You are probably right here that NEITHER US or Chinese laborers will benefit from a price war...
Then you haven't been paying attention to what the Waltons are saying.
I was surprised by a great NPR piece on the upcoming Walmart Movie which suggested that Walmart really does do some things to help common laborers like provide a lot of unskilled jobs, cashes a LOT of checkes, and keep the price of consumer goods down. Allbeit US manufacturing is suffering, it's not only Walmart's fault..."Traitor" is uncalled for...The Walton are mid-western American buisness owners, not anti-patriotic communists.
Which is bad enough- a Wal*Mart every three miles and no other stores at all.
While the loss of small buisnesses and farm owners preceded the fall of the Roman Empire (college history class), maybe in a World Wide Economy the Walmarts allow for more efficient transfer of goods and services.
Or at least they're pretending to- while they destroy jobs here and close our home retail outlets to sell their shoddy goods through traitors to America.
Do you know anyone who has been to China in the last couple of years!?!? Things ARE changing...and if the worst part of your war is the exchange of shoddy goods, then you clearly don't have much experience with a "World War".
It should conjure images of hollocaust and depraved trench war fare, not poorly made can-openers and long check-out lines.
Except for China, who has already stated that if we interfere with their next invasion they will nuke American cities.
Do you have a source for that allegation? China wouldn't make that threat, much less carry it out.
While it's intersting you've already planned WWIII, it just seems like extremism and isolationist flamebait to me.
We have a record trade deficit right now: money.cnn.com
so China doesn't want to fight us, we consume way too much of their produced goods.
And we don't want to fight China, American buisnesses rely way too much on Chinese goods. On top of that, China and South Asia are among the largest emerging markets in the world... The only war both sides want is a price war.
I certainly don't think there is any Nazi/Alexander the Great/Ghengis Khan expansionist ambition on any side that could lead to a world wide conflict. After Iraq, no one in the US wants to rule anything but the good ol' USA. And while there are huge issues with basic human rights, China is gradually making a shift towards a free society, which is probably the right way to go (see the former USSR, Easter Europe, and the Balkans, for the variety of problems: economic depression, civil war, etc. that emerge with even the best intentioned political upheaval).
Taiwan could end up being a sticky issue, but neither side really wants it to result in violence.
But is goat-rendering worse than pig...or cow-rendering? Apparently these is a whole set of farm animal related benchmarks that I just haven't tried on my graphics card.
On a related note, cow-RENDING is definately harder than goat-RENDING...I am told it has something to do with the extra stomachs.
Cheers,
Adam Wayment
p.s. we all know open source security is better than...well, any thing else...so maybe we should start an open source TSA initiative and solve Holiday flying woes.;)
Being the first to market is not successful, if the second is better by a long shot. If your fancy-smancy console crashes all the time, then even my old Atari 2600 beats it out...at least I get to finish the pixelated races in Pole Position. It seems like MS would be VERY concerned about widespread product failures with NextGen Nintendo and Sony consoles coming soon.
Has anyone had any POSITIVE experience with contacting MS about the over-heating issue?
If no one has, then the silence is truly deafening.
It seems at the very least Tech Support should be suggesting PSU suspension as a temporary fix...but what about the long term? Are there promises of replacement? Or--in the worst case--refund?
adlib24
p.s. I don't own an console system (alas) so I have nothing against (or in favor of) MS consoles.
I'm just throwing this out there....so let's say I accept that we are not the only intelligent life in the unvierse.
BUT what if we end up being THE advanced civilization gallivanting about the solar system and eventually (read millenia) galaxy....
How do we really know we are the dumb, slow ones in the universe? A priori it seems just as likely we are the smart ones.
I mean Earth's creativity could be truly unique. We could be the only ones who invented war...and weapons of mass distruction...the Chinese finger trap...missle defense systems...Kevlar body armour...traffic jams...pop music...ICBMs...reality TV...
Well seriously, DESPITE our intelligence, what if all the fears and worries about a first strike/contact on earth end up being reversed?
adlib24
It's important to complain, as that provides them with feedback on their decision.
Yes, but they are under NO obligation to listen.
Profit margins speak much, much louder than peevish email. As long as people buy the product then the price schedule is justified. Would you REALLY never use your iPod/iTunes again if you had to pay $1.50 for a new song?
For example, I keep telling myself I won't buy anything from a vending machine because prices are too high, but then I see those peanut M&MS, and I think "Well, what's a dollar..."
I bet the prices become ever-so flexible, and customers complain for a month, but then realize that they have too much invested in iTunes and iPods to give up their white head-phones and metallic GUIs, so the customers will stop complaining and just keep paying.
Who wins in a customer/company price dispute? The M&M/Mars coorporation, and sometimes that Hershey guy, but my wasteline always loses!
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Hi, I am an engineer not a lawyer. I find the increasing number of "free software" licenses completely overwhelming. There have been times where it has been easier for me to tell the team, "Since we can't tell whether or not this license works for us, let's just write it ourselves." Legal complexities have definitely stifled our innovation. Any thoughts on the implications of rampant growth in YAFSL (yet another free software license)? Thanks.
I get your Meh point and should probably just go back to coding, but I want to say that rejecting Linux over this would be like getting angry at the Hierarchy because Chomsky is a political personality: Sheer stupidity. Chomsky and Linus are complex and interesting people. Most Mormons are the same way. However, I worry that Romeny doesn't normalize Mormonism, but rather reinforces a very specific stereotype around Mormons and business.
I have worked in both a female dominated field (child psychology) and a male dominated field (software engineering). Teams are always better with a touch of gender balance. Every single time.
I wish they just cut the crap. Verizon has built a system where they can sell your listing for a profit. Some of that money is used to offset the cost of maintaining your line. Without that revenue stream they need to add a fee in order for you to be a profitable customer.
It reminds of the situation with desktops and Windows. Because of licensing arrangements, it is cheaper to buy a Windows prefab than to buy a machine with no os. Crazy but true.
Without certain features some products are not as profitable for vendors, so it is discouraging, but not surprising, that they would pass on the offset costs to the end-user.
As an IT researcher, one would think living where ever you want, working from home, and telecommuting would be the ideal for family life. Let me put it another way. There is a telecommuting homomorphism between the set of the best places to live and the set of best place to live for an IT researcher.
Mod up parent. The main reason I moved to Lion was to FINALLY be able to resize windows by selecting anywhere on the frames. This was an obvious and long overdue feature, but they changed many things that didn't need changing. I can think of no reasons to stay on Lion as the grass certainly looks greener on the Mountain, but maybe that's just because my boots are covered in mud.
Disregard the hype. I am decidedly unimpressed with Steam's (or anyone else's) offerings for Mac. The available titles are good games, but many other good games that I want to play are unavailable: Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite, Mass Effect 3, Guild Wars, SWTOR, Call of Duty, and many, many others. If I can't get developers to support Mac--a widely available hardware model with a good distribution channel, a few graphics cards, and a few major OS versions--why on earth should I be more optimistic about gaming on linux where there is no driver support, limited willingness to pay for software, and infinite variation in OS versions? My team maintains roughly a million lines of multi-platform code, supporting linux, windows, mac, and others. Believe me, It is a major pain to keep current on all the OS versions. People are drastically underestimating the amount of developer resources it takes to maintain a multi-platform source tree. This is why only the Valves and Blizzards of the world do it.
The great thing about coding is you can create your own experience. I would find an open source project and contribute, and start building ups portfolio of published code.
I bet it only recognizes nouns, which for a large set is impressive in its own right, but to be able to create ways for all the nouns to interact...that would be the really amazing part. To have a system, where you can put any two or three objects together and get some meaningful interaction is mind-boggling. Sure we all know what Shark + Laser should be, but what about Jello + Harley, Yarn + Glass, DS + PS3, in principle the possibilities are quite literally endless. The funny thing is I now want to buy the game just to see what Jello+Harley does.
If you have so much trouble with customs that you wish you had encrypted your whole hard disk, you are already in a load of trouble. And by the time they get around to browsing your personal pics on your lap top, you will already have done so much wrong in customs, that encryption or no, you might want a good lawyer. Unless you are stupid enough to try to physically smuggle illegal pics (terrorist propaganda, kiddie porn), I think it not worth your time to worry about encryption just for the sake of customs.
If you are aware of the hell that is DRM for PC games, then you probably are die-hard enough to find other more reliable reviews than AMAZON. So strangely this anti-DRM campaign will be most likely to affect the purchase by mom/pop computer users who are clueless about what DRM is, much less how to install a patch to get around it. If they are browsing for a Christmas gift, and see a 1-star review, maybe they keep looking....*maybe*.
There is definately something creepy about it...not really sure if it Björkian or just Kavorkian: almost alive but not quite...
Google's decision to conform to Chinese law requiring Internet censorship was _______:
a) a very good idea. b) the right move under the circumstances.
c) regrettable, but not too bad.
d) completely disappointing.
I am interested to see if /.ers come to the defense of Google.
What if Google was replaced with M$? Would your answer be better or worse?
The Holocaust was the law of the Nazis.
Genocide in Camobia: the law of the Khmer-Rouge.
Child soldiers in Sudan: the law of the land.
Mass execution of Kurds in Iraq: the law of Sadam.
Tiananmen Square Masacre...
Well, you get the point.
Now, I am not anti-China. It is poised to emerge as the next super power in every conceivable way...BUT...that doesnt mean everything law they enact is right. The Western world has a storied history about how the free and open exchange of ideas is a good thing. Current example: we are free to question the US government's actions in everything from Katrina Disaster relief to the questionable wire taps without fear of retribution. This means we have the potential to get it right in the future. If we can't question, we can't correct.
Frankly, I am a bit disappointed in Google. I had hoped for better...:(
MLB has as much claim on the stats as on stadium attendance figures, the number of filled parking stalls, how many hot dogs I eat, on average, while seated in section 120 row 5 seat 7 in Caden Yards. I mean I ate the hot-dogs...I created the stat, why does MLB get to claim the number just because they have more lawyers?
In this case, Ultrasonic Alchemy would be more appropriate. "Modern" is just ...so 20th century.
I agree I can't understand why Bush waited so long...Hopefully, he is the last one to confuse ends and means, but I too have my doubts.
However, I worry more about a US attack on N. Korea or Iran, than I do about a US-China war. The latter just strikes me as far-fetched on all levels.
I didn't plan it. I'm not the one who decreased the American workforce by half in just 5 years.
Decrease is a little vague...unemoployment rate is 1.2% higher than it was 5 years ago. ( reuters.com)
And with that trade deficit we'll be able to afford to do so exactly how long? We already can't feed our own population.
US per capita income: $40,100
China per capita income: $ 5,600
(Source www.cia.gov)
We aren't exactly hurting compared to the average Chinese, especially considering US citizens only spend 6.4% of their income on food (the lowest percentage of reported countries). (Source ific.org). No one has to starve in the USA; tragically there are those who still do, but there is plenty of food and money to go around. It's a resource allocation problem, not a question of affordability.
Which is bad enough for the common American LABORER- for whom American businesses are already traitors in this war.
You are probably right here that NEITHER US or Chinese laborers will benefit from a price war...
Then you haven't been paying attention to what the Waltons are saying.
I was surprised by a great NPR piece on the upcoming Walmart Movie which suggested that Walmart really does do some things to help common laborers like provide a lot of unskilled jobs, cashes a LOT of checkes, and keep the price of consumer goods down. Allbeit US manufacturing is suffering, it's not only Walmart's fault..."Traitor" is uncalled for...The Walton are mid-western American buisness owners, not anti-patriotic communists.
Which is bad enough- a Wal*Mart every three miles and no other stores at all.
While the loss of small buisnesses and farm owners preceded the fall of the Roman Empire (college history class), maybe in a World Wide Economy the Walmarts allow for more efficient transfer of goods and services.
Or at least they're pretending to- while they destroy jobs here and close our home retail outlets to sell their shoddy goods through traitors to America.
Do you know anyone who has been to China in the last couple of years!?!? Things ARE changing...and if the worst part of your war is the exchange of shoddy goods, then you clearly don't have much experience with a "World War". It should conjure images of hollocaust and depraved trench war fare, not poorly made can-openers and long check-out lines.
Except for China, who has already stated that if we interfere with their next invasion they will nuke American cities.
Do you have a source for that allegation? China wouldn't make that threat, much less carry it out.
We have a record trade deficit right now: money.cnn.com so China doesn't want to fight us, we consume way too much of their produced goods.
And we don't want to fight China, American buisnesses rely way too much on Chinese goods. On top of that, China and South Asia are among the largest emerging markets in the world... The only war both sides want is a price war.
I certainly don't think there is any Nazi/Alexander the Great/Ghengis Khan expansionist ambition on any side that could lead to a world wide conflict. After Iraq, no one in the US wants to rule anything but the good ol' USA. And while there are huge issues with basic human rights, China is gradually making a shift towards a free society, which is probably the right way to go (see the former USSR, Easter Europe, and the Balkans, for the variety of problems: economic depression, civil war, etc. that emerge with even the best intentioned political upheaval).
Taiwan could end up being a sticky issue, but neither side really wants it to result in violence.
On a related note, cow-RENDING is definately harder than goat-RENDING...I am told it has something to do with the extra stomachs.
Cheers,
Adam Wayment
p.s. we all know open source security is better than...well, any thing else...so maybe we should start an open source TSA initiative and solve Holiday flying woes. ;)
Has anyone had any POSITIVE experience with contacting MS about the over-heating issue?
If no one has, then the silence is truly deafening.
It seems at the very least Tech Support should be suggesting PSU suspension as a temporary fix...but what about the long term? Are there promises of replacement? Or--in the worst case--refund?
adlib24
p.s. I don't own an console system (alas) so I have nothing against (or in favor of) MS consoles.
adlib24
obligatory Canadian rub... This is NOT a joke. ;)
adlib24
BUT what if we end up being THE advanced civilization gallivanting about the solar system and eventually (read millenia) galaxy....
How do we really know we are the dumb, slow ones in the universe? A priori it seems just as likely we are the smart ones.
I mean Earth's creativity could be truly unique. We could be the only ones who invented war...and weapons of mass distruction...the Chinese finger trap...missle defense systems...Kevlar body armour...traffic jams...pop music...ICBMs...reality TV...
Well seriously, DESPITE our intelligence, what if all the fears and worries about a first strike/contact on earth end up being reversed? adlib24
It's important to complain, as that provides them with feedback on their decision.
Yes, but they are under NO obligation to listen.
Profit margins speak much, much louder than peevish email. As long as people buy the product then the price schedule is justified. Would you REALLY never use your iPod/iTunes again if you had to pay $1.50 for a new song?
For example, I keep telling myself I won't buy anything from a vending machine because prices are too high, but then I see those peanut M&MS, and I think "Well, what's a dollar..."
I bet the prices become ever-so flexible, and customers complain for a month, but then realize that they have too much invested in iTunes and iPods to give up their white head-phones and metallic GUIs, so the customers will stop complaining and just keep paying.
Who wins in a customer/company price dispute? The M&M/Mars coorporation, and sometimes that Hershey guy, but my wasteline always loses!
adlib24