It's great for when someone remotely logs on to help a user with a problem.
Actually, that shouldn't make any difference. When you log into a remote computer and run an X client, it connects to your computer, and you use your local mouse and keboard because those are the ones your X server is connected.
Maybe if you were sitting right there, it may help, but remotely connected, it wouldn't make a difference...unless you are talking about something I've never heard of...
Not only that, but what about the lusers who change the extension. They might want that picture to have motion so they rename "mekitty.png" to "mekitty.avi" and expect it to work. Or they want to import it into a word processor (one which doesn't read most picture formats) and they rename it to "mekitty.doc", then they send it to some "smart computer guy" and ask him to fix it....and if you have an OS or any programs which decifer the magic string, you have one hell of a time with that file...
They tried with things like WebTV and various internet/email appliances....
That isn't what I was talking about. I was talking about a regular computer without strings attached. It can be done. In the late 80s, I had an Atari 130XE which cost $125(US). It was just a computer, no tie in deals at all With today's technology a manufacturer could make a computer far better than that for less money. In fact, they are selling ancient game systems for $20(US). They probably fit on a single chip. Surely they could make something better for $50.
If you wanted to go that far, you could say game systems are cheap computers (they have all the parts), the manufacturers just use a proprietary system to force software companies to get approval--and usually only video games are approved. Maybe most computers will be that way in the future. The Xbox is Microsoft's prototype for DRM, and they want it for Windows. If they could control who is able to write software for their OS, they could expand their empire in many ways...not to mention eliminate most of their competition.
Most users are lazy--they don't even want to enter a password. I installed Linux on my mother's computer, and she complained because she had to enter a username and password. I had to set kdm to auto log her in.
The thing is computers shouldn't cost that much--at least the low end. Most home users don't really need much. They could easily get by with a computer which could be sold for less than $50(US). The question is: why don't computer manufacturers make these cheap computers? (I suppose the answer is they want more profit...)
I imaging plenty of universities use 3D acceleration in Linux for their work, among other places. Then again, they probably use one of the BSDs or Unix...
the RIAA's money comes from labels and manufacturing
Wrong, the RIAA's money comes from compulsary licenses, which anyone broadcasting music (such as radio stations) are required by law to pay the RIAA unless they make a deal with the copyright owner. The only way for a copyright owner to get their money due from compulsary licenses is to join the RIAA. That is one of the major problems. Corruption is built into the system.
To some that probably does look like gobbeldygook.
To others the idea of wasting processing time on scaling is silly. (What if you are raytracing in the background? Surely you want the job finished faster)
Still some thinks spending effort to make mozilla work like IE is crazy.
Unless you are always correcting people's grammar, people are going to think your nick is a joke.
Is your sig a joke? (I don't get it)
I don't know why the Mozilla/FireFox developers are copying IE. Auto image resizing is stupid. It might not be bad to have a "fit image in window" menu option, but to have it the default is stupid. If they want displaying images to be nice, why don't they add zooming options and the quad arrow scroller widget from GIMP (the thing on the bottom right which allows one to scroll around the thumbnail instead of using the akward scroll bars).
While we're on the subject of stupid things, they also refuse to display an image if there are errors or the download isn't complete!?! WTF? Sometimes I only want to see the top half of the image anyway--especially if it is huge and I'm on dialup. What's wrong with that? Why would they put an idiotic message "this image contains errors" instead of showing the partial image??? Browsers have worked that way for as long as I can remember. It works, why change it? It's like they are trying to look as stupid as microsoft. Then again so many cheer KDE/GNOME, and those are just crappy bloated copies of the horrid Windows 98...
DRM will take away rights of free speech and property. If you followed all the things they are trying to do, you would see that.
For one thing, it would take away your ability to choose an OS. Most likely everyone would be forced to use the crappiest OS I have ever seen. How many for-profit competitors of Microsoft have you seen lately? You certainly won't be able to use an open source OS. The DRM consortium wouldn't allow it, and couldn't for obvious reasons--it would undermine the whole system. They tried to make DRM legally mandated, however even if they don't get any laws passed a certain company could make it so you couldn't send email to 90% of users because their systems are DRM only. It would be an obvious violation of anti-trust laws, but their response would be: "...but the music and movie companies made us do this!" Just another excuse to get away with ruining the software market. This is not only limited to the OS, they could limit other types of software as well.
They have also talked about a sort of broadcast delete system where they could send a message to the network which tells every computer to erase a particular file to "combat piracy" by eliminating files they decide is "pirated." So if you have a document criticizing the RIAA (or government), they can just send the hash code for the file, and all the copies of that file are gone. This not only has freedom of speech implications, but this is entering 1984 territory.
One thing they will also likelly do is make it really expensive to broadcast anything. If you want to send files to more than just a few people (or perhaps anyone) you will have to pay the DRM cartel a very high fee to sign your key--more than most common people could afford...and some of you thought VeriSign was bad! If you don't think this will happen, look at the radio spectrum. Common people are limited to a very small set of bands. WiFi had to be put on the same band as Microwave ovens interfere. If you want to be more advanced, you have to get a license from the FCC where they test you on a whole bunch procedures and technicalities. Corporations have bought the vast majority of the spectrum (which should be everyone's to use--it goes through all of our airspace.) It has gone to the point where you have to pay to use wireless communication (cell phones). Why isn't local site to site communication free? Because the entertainment cartel made it that way. They created legalities to suppress the general public's ability to send radio broadcasts.
You may think "they can't just do this things. People will complain." The problem is they won't do it all instantly. It will progress slowly, so the people won't notice until it's too late.
I could go on, but I have other things I need to do...
You only mention IE and Netscape. What about other browsers? Didn't Microsoft buy the technology from Spyglass? Who knows what would have happend if Microsoft didn't offer their browser for "free." This crushed nearly all competition.
Your post seems a little silly from where I'm sitting.
SUMMARY: It is okay for companies to only consider hiring people by how much "education" they've had, not by what they know how to do. If someone was stupid enough to waste 4 years of their life on nothing, then they must be worth hiring. The public schools are crap and a waste of time. Solution: everyone should spend more time in school. Don't solve the problem, just create more of it! Only about 73,933,533 Americans have a 4 year degree, not very many. Not enough to flood the market. America is not creating a workforce for the global market. Everyone must get educashon by community college. Sitting in class while the instructor explains basic algebra very important--especially for those who have been programming computers since they were ten and want to learn about...hmm...maybe WHAT THE CLASS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TEACHING!?!
I would say everyone should get at least a third grade education, but it should only take three years.
I think America can't compete in the global workforce because everyone is against automation ("It'll take everyone's job!" but nobody wants to do those jobs) and they expect to be paid millions like a rock star (and more than anyone else) even if they are just doing some simple crap job. That is the problem. If everything is run by middlemen and con artists, it won't work. They do this to get out of the crap jobs because they "deserve better", yet if someone does the real work they tear the person down.
There is the whole problem. The entire system is based on what Advertisers(tm) want on tv. If people paid for TV directly instead of indirectly through the companies who advertise, then maybe there would be better choices.
$20? The movie studios think they should get $50, just like video games. The only problem is no one wants to pay that for movies because they: don't take as much effort to produce, are noninteractive, not addictive, don't last as long (insert jokes about movie execs being impotent--haha) and are not really that interesting.
Well, there are probably people working on an open spec video card (possibly on opencores.org), but designing chips takes a LOT of manpower and expertise.
As for preinstalled Linux, there seem to be plaenty of people doing that. (including WalMart) They are just so little noticed and/or small time, well, no one notices them.;-)
Well then, the comparison was hardly fair. Imagine if someone made a comparison between upgrading from Linux to WindowsXP? He could hardly use the same software there...
Yes, lets be sensitive with the humor and be careful what you say.
For example, I have goatse sensitivity syndrome, and at first glance, I thought "GO TEAM" spelled out "GO ATSECX!!!" I'm going to have bad dreams for weeks. Please refrain from phrases similar to the great evil url. Have a nice day.
Why not give them the goatse.cx guy's phone number? It would be much more pleasing knowing soon their computer is going to be filled with "interesting" pictures.
The point of DRM is to be in the way when you try to distribute something.
So you are saying if you want to do anything more than use your computer as a television, you shouldn't be allowed? What about posting to Slashdot? How do you prove to the DRM system you didn't "steal" the words in your post? Only if you are an employee of a major media company you are allowed to distribute?
This is the way it will be if manufacturers embed DRM into all computers. Look at the patterns. This is the way the big "intellectual property" companies want it. No competition.
Windows still needs to defrag the filesystem? Linux's ext2, and I'm sure many other modern filesystems, are designed so fragmentation isn't likely to happen in the first place. That is why you don't see many defrag utils for Linux. The only project I know about, the guy gave up because someone pointed out it wasn't needed.
As for expensive monitors, if people understood anything about computers, most home users wouldn't pay more than $50(us) for the thing. Sony sold new Playstation 1s (after #2 was out) for $50. A computer made with the same parts as a playstation would be overkill for what most home users need. Use a CD for the programs, and flash cards to store documents &etc. Yes, some would want more storage, but they could just buy a fileserver for the whole house.
It wouldn't be able to play graphic intensive games, but for most computing tasks it would be good enough. The only problem: computer salesmen, Bill Gates, and "modern" programmers do all sorts of things to keep this from being reality. End the bloat and start selling to people what they need.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, that shouldn't make any difference. When you log into a remote computer and run an X client, it connects to your computer, and you use your local mouse and keboard because those are the ones your X server is connected.
Maybe if you were sitting right there, it may help, but remotely connected, it wouldn't make a difference...unless you are talking about something I've never heard of...
Not only that, but what about the lusers who change the extension. They might want that picture to have motion so they rename "mekitty.png" to "mekitty.avi" and expect it to work. Or they want to import it into a word processor (one which doesn't read most picture formats) and they rename it to "mekitty.doc", then they send it to some "smart computer guy" and ask him to fix it. ...and if you have an OS or any programs which decifer the magic string, you have one hell of a time with that file...
Too much fun for me.
Yeah, yeah. Processors and memory are "not all that great in the ease-of-use department" either.
That isn't what I was talking about. I was talking about a regular computer without strings attached. It can be done. In the late 80s, I had an Atari 130XE which cost $125(US). It was just a computer, no tie in deals at all With today's technology a manufacturer could make a computer far better than that for less money. In fact, they are selling ancient game systems for $20(US). They probably fit on a single chip. Surely they could make something better for $50.
If you wanted to go that far, you could say game systems are cheap computers (they have all the parts), the manufacturers just use a proprietary system to force software companies to get approval--and usually only video games are approved. Maybe most computers will be that way in the future. The Xbox is Microsoft's prototype for DRM, and they want it for Windows. If they could control who is able to write software for their OS, they could expand their empire in many ways...not to mention eliminate most of their competition.
Most users are lazy--they don't even want to enter a password. I installed Linux on my mother's computer, and she complained because she had to enter a username and password. I had to set kdm to auto log her in.
The thing is computers shouldn't cost that much--at least the low end. Most home users don't really need much. They could easily get by with a computer which could be sold for less than $50(US). The question is: why don't computer manufacturers make these cheap computers? (I suppose the answer is they want more profit...)
I imaging plenty of universities use 3D acceleration in Linux for their work, among other places. Then again, they probably use one of the BSDs or Unix...
Apparently not. It looks like the parents who let their kids steal everything and run around naked have taken over.
Wrong, the RIAA's money comes from compulsary licenses, which anyone broadcasting music (such as radio stations) are required by law to pay the RIAA unless they make a deal with the copyright owner. The only way for a copyright owner to get their money due from compulsary licenses is to join the RIAA. That is one of the major problems. Corruption is built into the system.
Yes. What do you think they teach at Col's Ledge these days?
Yes, Firefox is better than IE, I just don't understand why so many open source programmers are copying horrid microsoft crap.
I think you got funny mods because:
I don't know why the Mozilla/FireFox developers are copying IE. Auto image resizing is stupid. It might not be bad to have a "fit image in window" menu option, but to have it the default is stupid. If they want displaying images to be nice, why don't they add zooming options and the quad arrow scroller widget from GIMP (the thing on the bottom right which allows one to scroll around the thumbnail instead of using the akward scroll bars).
While we're on the subject of stupid things, they also refuse to display an image if there are errors or the download isn't complete!?! WTF? Sometimes I only want to see the top half of the image anyway--especially if it is huge and I'm on dialup. What's wrong with that? Why would they put an idiotic message "this image contains errors" instead of showing the partial image??? Browsers have worked that way for as long as I can remember. It works, why change it? It's like they are trying to look as stupid as microsoft. Then again so many cheer KDE/GNOME, and those are just crappy bloated copies of the horrid Windows 98...
Actually it was the entertainment cartel which got rid of all the news shows. Not that many were smart enough to notice. ;-)
DRM will take away rights of free speech and property. If you followed all the things they are trying to do, you would see that.
For one thing, it would take away your ability to choose an OS. Most likely everyone would be forced to use the crappiest OS I have ever seen. How many for-profit competitors of Microsoft have you seen lately? You certainly won't be able to use an open source OS. The DRM consortium wouldn't allow it, and couldn't for obvious reasons--it would undermine the whole system. They tried to make DRM legally mandated, however even if they don't get any laws passed a certain company could make it so you couldn't send email to 90% of users because their systems are DRM only. It would be an obvious violation of anti-trust laws, but their response would be: "...but the music and movie companies made us do this!" Just another excuse to get away with ruining the software market. This is not only limited to the OS, they could limit other types of software as well.
They have also talked about a sort of broadcast delete system where they could send a message to the network which tells every computer to erase a particular file to "combat piracy" by eliminating files they decide is "pirated." So if you have a document criticizing the RIAA (or government), they can just send the hash code for the file, and all the copies of that file are gone. This not only has freedom of speech implications, but this is entering 1984 territory.
One thing they will also likelly do is make it really expensive to broadcast anything. If you want to send files to more than just a few people (or perhaps anyone) you will have to pay the DRM cartel a very high fee to sign your key--more than most common people could afford...and some of you thought VeriSign was bad! If you don't think this will happen, look at the radio spectrum. Common people are limited to a very small set of bands. WiFi had to be put on the same band as Microwave ovens interfere. If you want to be more advanced, you have to get a license from the FCC where they test you on a whole bunch procedures and technicalities. Corporations have bought the vast majority of the spectrum (which should be everyone's to use--it goes through all of our airspace.) It has gone to the point where you have to pay to use wireless communication (cell phones). Why isn't local site to site communication free? Because the entertainment cartel made it that way. They created legalities to suppress the general public's ability to send radio broadcasts.
You may think "they can't just do this things. People will complain." The problem is they won't do it all instantly. It will progress slowly, so the people won't notice until it's too late.
I could go on, but I have other things I need to do...
You only mention IE and Netscape. What about other browsers? Didn't Microsoft buy the technology from Spyglass? Who knows what would have happend if Microsoft didn't offer their browser for "free." This crushed nearly all competition.
Your post seems a little silly from where I'm sitting.
SUMMARY: It is okay for companies to only consider hiring people by how much "education" they've had, not by what they know how to do. If someone was stupid enough to waste 4 years of their life on nothing, then they must be worth hiring. The public schools are crap and a waste of time. Solution: everyone should spend more time in school. Don't solve the problem, just create more of it! Only about 73,933,533 Americans have a 4 year degree, not very many. Not enough to flood the market. America is not creating a workforce for the global market. Everyone must get educashon by community college. Sitting in class while the instructor explains basic algebra very important--especially for those who have been programming computers since they were ten and want to learn about...hmm...maybe WHAT THE CLASS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TEACHING!?!
I would say everyone should get at least a third grade education, but it should only take three years.
I think America can't compete in the global workforce because everyone is against automation ("It'll take everyone's job!" but nobody wants to do those jobs) and they expect to be paid millions like a rock star (and more than anyone else) even if they are just doing some simple crap job. That is the problem. If everything is run by middlemen and con artists, it won't work. They do this to get out of the crap jobs because they "deserve better", yet if someone does the real work they tear the person down.
There is the whole problem. The entire system is based on what Advertisers(tm) want on tv. If people paid for TV directly instead of indirectly through the companies who advertise, then maybe there would be better choices.
$20? The movie studios think they should get $50, just like video games. The only problem is no one wants to pay that for movies because they: don't take as much effort to produce, are noninteractive, not addictive, don't last as long (insert jokes about movie execs being impotent--haha) and are not really that interesting.
Well, there are probably people working on an open spec video card (possibly on opencores.org), but designing chips takes a LOT of manpower and expertise.
As for preinstalled Linux, there seem to be plaenty of people doing that. (including WalMart) They are just so little noticed and/or small time, well, no one notices them. ;-)
Well then, the comparison was hardly fair. Imagine if someone made a comparison between upgrading from Linux to WindowsXP? He could hardly use the same software there...
Yes, lets be sensitive with the humor and be careful what you say.
For example, I have goatse sensitivity syndrome, and at first glance, I thought "GO TEAM" spelled out "GO ATSECX!!!" I'm going to have bad dreams for weeks. Please refrain from phrases similar to the great evil url. Have a nice day.
Why not give them the goatse.cx guy's phone number? It would be much more pleasing knowing soon their computer is going to be filled with "interesting" pictures.
Nude figures shouldn't be in a M rated game? Isn't that and violence the reason M rating was created in the first place?
Is this a joke or troll? Mods: Please go +1 Funny either way.
So you are saying if you want to do anything more than use your computer as a television, you shouldn't be allowed? What about posting to Slashdot? How do you prove to the DRM system you didn't "steal" the words in your post? Only if you are an employee of a major media company you are allowed to distribute?
This is the way it will be if manufacturers embed DRM into all computers. Look at the patterns. This is the way the big "intellectual property" companies want it. No competition.
Windows still needs to defrag the filesystem? Linux's ext2, and I'm sure many other modern filesystems, are designed so fragmentation isn't likely to happen in the first place. That is why you don't see many defrag utils for Linux. The only project I know about, the guy gave up because someone pointed out it wasn't needed.
As for expensive monitors, if people understood anything about computers, most home users wouldn't pay more than $50(us) for the thing. Sony sold new Playstation 1s (after #2 was out) for $50. A computer made with the same parts as a playstation would be overkill for what most home users need. Use a CD for the programs, and flash cards to store documents &etc. Yes, some would want more storage, but they could just buy a fileserver for the whole house.
It wouldn't be able to play graphic intensive games, but for most computing tasks it would be good enough. The only problem: computer salesmen, Bill Gates, and "modern" programmers do all sorts of things to keep this from being reality. End the bloat and start selling to people what they need.