I think that there is one big problem with the current scheme as shown here - to get a patent, you should have to provide a working prototype... You know, something real. Patents should not be allowed to be applied to ideas - that's what copyright is for. And even then, neither should apply to generic ideas - there should be some specificity requirement.
Plus, I think there ought to be a peer review stage - so that prior art or obviousness can be argued prior to the patent being granted (though protection should exist during the review stage).
My point is I don't see anything wrong with people being able to vote for the laws they want to live under. That's what our entire system is about - though the voting is one step removed because this is a representative democracy.
You seem to be promoting either not having laws beyond do whatever you want that doesn't obviously hurt me (ignoring all the indirect issues that often have major affects on people) or that businesses are better than government. I.E. you'd rather a private business's policy trump the government's policy.
In general, I hold that a government carrying out the will of it's constituitants should hold over a private organization. That said, there's no simple answer here - the reason our founding fathers came up with a representative democracy was so that hopefully our government would also be able to hold back *from acting* when a popular vote would be disasterous - say right after 9/11, I think the majority wanted to start nuking places, and that would have been worse than what we've done so far.
Is there a reason you are against government carring out the will of the people? Are you advocating something other than democracy? Because in any somewhat working democracy, I can't see the government ignoring what the people want in general, even if it may be a bad idea.
I don't see anything wrong with people setting the laws they want through democracy.
First of all, there are many differences between what you're arguing and the original statement I responded to.
What I'm talikig about is people petitioning their representatives to make a law that presumably would apply to everyone equally that fell under the law. To clarify, I would not expect someone only selling land lines or hot dogs for that matter to be affected directly by a law regulating Wireless/Cellular service. But I would expect that all Cellular providers to be affected the same way, as put forth in the law.
What you are claiming I'm for is so different to be a straw man, you aren't attacking my original position.
This occurance is not about Massachusetts citizens all voting to force one company to suddenly do something, and then have a different vote for each company, possibly with different results.
And none of this has anything to do with executing anyone.
Well, by this theory the people can -- Democratically -- vote to execute someone on the spot and without trial. Athens -- the history's first Democracy -- used to do such things.
Well, no, they can't as this is a representative democracy. But I would guess the representitives could, thought it would be a PITA and need a constitutional amendment.
And I really don't see much wrong with this idea - on one side you have a large group of people, the company, who have apparently pissed off enough other people to cause them to get together and work within the system of govenrment. Government is really just a bunch of people working for a large group of people's interests.
What, people's PCs never fail in companies? I would guess that with Windows, plus the blaster etc, most people experianced at least 5.32 hours of downtime due to worms in the past 3 years. Do you really think the next 3 will be better?
Well, in this case (theoretically) the people went to their own damn government to have it represent them. You know, the whole presumed reason for the government in the US.
Sorry, I wasn't clear. Say they let Yahoo scan the books,because Yahoo decides to pay for the OCA. Can't anyone just copy or OCR the Yahoo PDF or whatever to gutenberg as the text is public domain?
Yeah, but can't anyone just take the online library text and put it in Gutenberg? I mean, it's public domain content, no one can sue for anything there.
It's also the player that constantly is in the news with hardware problems ranging from malfunctioning batteries to screens that scratch beyond usefulness in a day or two. I recommend to everyone I know to not buy an iPod.
No, I'm all for running Office on my PC. I'm just saying, if I did want to run something on a server, it seems like it would be more doable, especially on a LAN, to use one of the above solutions, or even VNC, that would not require me rewriting my app in some vaguly crippled manner inside a browser.
But why use some immature web based idea when you could use a remote X session or something like Citrix to accomplish the same thing for any app that already exists?
Re:Talking out both sides of out mouths.
on
Pepping Up Windows
·
· Score: 1
This is the problem though - mainly with MS being an OS and an App company. It's not that we're saying MS should have to load linux kernal modules - far from it.
It's us saying that Ford should not be able to require firestone tires (and they can't) if I want to put Goodyear on there.
Well, maps.google.com gives me a blank page... not too encouraging for Ajax. OTOH, maps24.com gives me a nice zoomable, draggable map interface in java for the US, Canada, and much of Europe.
In my experiance, these javascript based apps are much more likely to not work, where all the java applets "just work" whether I'm using IE, Opera or Netscape.
I've found that people are more receptive to trying out Opera or FireFox after they've just paid the Geek Squad $59 to tell them they have spyware and an additional $79 to fix it for them.
Yeah, but how do you feel about the rumors that these formats won't work with your pre-DRM TV? Or to work they will downsample. I mean, I'll bet it doesn't have secure whatever path thing that was on/. a while ago. Maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't the connection changing to a totally different interface to close the analogue hole?
That's all right, I'm not interested in HD at all really. I mean, sure, prosperous early adopters are salivating, but that's got to be at most 5% of the market.
How many of the masses are rushing out to spend hundereds to thousands of dollars on a HD TV? Best Buy's average price for HD sets seems to be $1,500 which is where the average buyer is looking (stores like that). Wal-Mart's average price for a regular TV is $100... Let's see.
Plus, I don't know anyone who isn't an arrogant videophile who really thinks there is anything wrong with DVDs. The quality is fine. I mean, people listen to mp3s over CDs, many are starting to watch (illegially) XviD over DVD... Quality isn't a huge selling point to the mass market as far as I can see.
And as someone else said, most people don't want to drop thousands of dollars replacing EVERYTHING to get a dubious benefit (Stronger DRM? Slightly sharper video?).
The only way I'm seeing a mass move to HD is if companies stop selling DVDs entirely. As shown with VHS - that can take *years*. And this is a problem for the studios I think.
If next year they only release HD-DVD or Blu-Ray to push the new format, I think they are more likely to just *NOT SELL MOVIES*. If they wait 5 years or so that it took DVD to go from videophile to mass market, they might have already lost out to iMovie + MacMini or whatever that sells XviD videos over the net...
Actually, last I knew, DVD-R was supported on ~6% more players, but those were pretty old players at this point... DVD-R seems to be cheaper right now for faster burn speeds, but +R is the only DL one, not that anyone really buys blank disks for $4 each or so.
At this point, I don't think it really matters much though.
Re:Its a matter of perspective
on
Pay vs. Happiness
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I've seen this post before, and I really think it's a troll. I mean, either that or you seriously need counsoling.
Anyway, I'm a college graduate, and I'll give you some advice from the Career development centers and State Job agencies I've dealt with. Not saying they work, but might be worth a try.
The basic idea is twofold. 1) pick something you want to do more than factory work. Generalize. Maybe you want to be in management, maybe you want to be in IT, maybe you want to be a chef.
Once you've picked what you want to do - lie. Not really, but get damned close.
Say you want to get into management. First, talk about how you are reliable - you come into work every day, you meet quotas, you've suggested improvements in processes on the factory floor.
Second, talk about your other skills - you think you don't have any, but really, you do. Talk about your understanding of office applications - you can obviously use a PC well enough to get online and post to slashdot. You can spin that into using Word, and IE and internet apps.
Then, come up with a plan to get additional skills. Lots can be done online for free, more can be done at seminars and your local employeement office.
With your ability to POST ON SLASHDOT, you can likely leverage that skillset to get into an office - likely doing clerical work.
Anyway, none of this is easy, you do have to work. You have to be willing to stretch the truth quite a bit, and be willing to learn new things - fast!
Many skills are non-obvious, heck, just working for a few years in a factory ought to put you in a position to try and jump to foreman or the like - maybe in a different company though. Always look for openings one step up from where you are in local competitiors.
Well, in NY, all banks I've talked to require you to be 18 or older to get a debit card. So, no, you can't get a debit card.
Now, you could get one of those prepaid cards - either specific to the store (and if I have to go to the mall to best buy and pay taxes etc, why not just get the fricken CD?) or the generic type that:
a) still require me to drive somewhere, b) now have additional fees - $10 to get initially, $5 to recharge, have to use it or pay monthly fees - basically a total ripoff.
The other choice is to use the parent's CC/DC, but does iTunes save the info? Can the kid go on a spree, or is it enter for each checkout?
Anyway, while minors really can't buy stuff online, I don't see how that really affects the issue.
If all their buying is based on an allowance, just ask the parents to buy some stuff for them online rather than giving them cash.
If they are working, then give the parents some cash for the purchase, and the parents still buy it.
Slashdot Mirror
I think that there is one big problem with the current scheme as shown here - to get a patent, you should have to provide a working prototype... You know, something real. Patents should not be allowed to be applied to ideas - that's what copyright is for. And even then, neither should apply to generic ideas - there should be some specificity requirement.
Plus, I think there ought to be a peer review stage - so that prior art or obviousness can be argued prior to the patent being granted (though protection should exist during the review stage).
My point is I don't see anything wrong with people being able to vote for the laws they want to live under. That's what our entire system is about - though the voting is one step removed because this is a representative democracy.
You seem to be promoting either not having laws beyond do whatever you want that doesn't obviously hurt me (ignoring all the indirect issues that often have major affects on people) or that businesses are better than government. I.E. you'd rather a private business's policy trump the government's policy.
In general, I hold that a government carrying out the will of it's constituitants should hold over a private organization. That said, there's no simple answer here - the reason our founding fathers came up with a representative democracy was so that hopefully our government would also be able to hold back *from acting* when a popular vote would be disasterous - say right after 9/11, I think the majority wanted to start nuking places, and that would have been worse than what we've done so far.
Is there a reason you are against government carring out the will of the people? Are you advocating something other than democracy? Because in any somewhat working democracy, I can't see the government ignoring what the people want in general, even if it may be a bad idea.
I don't see anything wrong with people setting the laws they want through democracy.
First of all, there are many differences between what you're arguing and the original statement I responded to.
What I'm talikig about is people petitioning their representatives to make a law that presumably would apply to everyone equally that fell under the law. To clarify, I would not expect someone only selling land lines or hot dogs for that matter to be affected directly by a law regulating Wireless/Cellular service. But I would expect that all Cellular providers to be affected the same way, as put forth in the law.
What you are claiming I'm for is so different to be a straw man, you aren't attacking my original position.
This occurance is not about Massachusetts citizens all voting to force one company to suddenly do something, and then have a different vote for each company, possibly with different results.
And none of this has anything to do with executing anyone.
Well, by this theory the people can -- Democratically -- vote to execute someone on the spot and without trial. Athens -- the history's first Democracy -- used to do such things.
Well, no, they can't as this is a representative democracy. But I would guess the representitives could, thought it would be a PITA and need a constitutional amendment.
And I really don't see much wrong with this idea - on one side you have a large group of people, the company, who have apparently pissed off enough other people to cause them to get together and work within the system of govenrment. Government is really just a bunch of people working for a large group of people's interests.
What, people's PCs never fail in companies? I would guess that with Windows, plus the blaster etc, most people experianced at least 5.32 hours of downtime due to worms in the past 3 years. Do you really think the next 3 will be better?
Really? Are you sure? That seems like AdBlock isn't near as good as I'd been told. I thought every major ad remover pulled google ads by now.
Well, in this case (theoretically) the people went to their own damn government to have it represent them. You know, the whole presumed reason for the government in the US.
Sorry, I wasn't clear. Say they let Yahoo scan the books,because Yahoo decides to pay for the OCA. Can't anyone just copy or OCR the Yahoo PDF or whatever to gutenberg as the text is public domain?
So if Google bought one copy of the book (or heck, 100 so they were ever only showing one copy to one person at a time) it would be ok?
It'd basically be a faster interlibrary loan system.
Yeah, but can't anyone just take the online library text and put it in Gutenberg? I mean, it's public domain content, no one can sue for anything there.
It's also the player that constantly is in the news with hardware problems ranging from malfunctioning batteries to screens that scratch beyond usefulness in a day or two. I recommend to everyone I know to not buy an iPod.
No, I'm all for running Office on my PC. I'm just saying, if I did want to run something on a server, it seems like it would be more doable, especially on a LAN, to use one of the above solutions, or even VNC, that would not require me rewriting my app in some vaguly crippled manner inside a browser.
Ok, but isn't that pretty much already a solved problem - with any of a range of technologies from Yahoo breifcase to SSH logins?
But why use some immature web based idea when you could use a remote X session or something like Citrix to accomplish the same thing for any app that already exists?
This is the problem though - mainly with MS being an OS and an App company. It's not that we're saying MS should have to load linux kernal modules - far from it.
It's us saying that Ford should not be able to require firestone tires (and they can't) if I want to put Goodyear on there.
Well, maps.google.com gives me a blank page... not too encouraging for Ajax. OTOH, maps24.com gives me a nice zoomable, draggable map interface in java for the US, Canada, and much of Europe.
In my experiance, these javascript based apps are much more likely to not work, where all the java applets "just work" whether I'm using IE, Opera or Netscape.
Does innerHTML work in Opera?
Please give us info as to whether sites begin blocking Konq because it has built in AdBlocking...
Check out the Geek Squad. $59 to take in a PC, $79 to do an OS Service (remove spyware).
I've found that people are more receptive to trying out Opera or FireFox after they've just paid the Geek Squad $59 to tell them they have spyware and an additional $79 to fix it for them.
Yeah, but how do you feel about the rumors that these formats won't work with your pre-DRM TV? Or to work they will downsample. I mean, I'll bet it doesn't have secure whatever path thing that was on /. a while ago. Maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't the connection changing to a totally different interface to close the analogue hole?
That's all right, I'm not interested in HD at all really. I mean, sure, prosperous early adopters are salivating, but that's got to be at most 5% of the market.
How many of the masses are rushing out to spend hundereds to thousands of dollars on a HD TV? Best Buy's average price for HD sets seems to be $1,500 which is where the average buyer is looking (stores like that). Wal-Mart's average price for a regular TV is $100... Let's see.
Plus, I don't know anyone who isn't an arrogant videophile who really thinks there is anything wrong with DVDs. The quality is fine. I mean, people listen to mp3s over CDs, many are starting to watch (illegially) XviD over DVD... Quality isn't a huge selling point to the mass market as far as I can see.
And as someone else said, most people don't want to drop thousands of dollars replacing EVERYTHING to get a dubious benefit (Stronger DRM? Slightly sharper video?).
The only way I'm seeing a mass move to HD is if companies stop selling DVDs entirely. As shown with VHS - that can take *years*. And this is a problem for the studios I think.
If next year they only release HD-DVD or Blu-Ray to push the new format, I think they are more likely to just *NOT SELL MOVIES*. If they wait 5 years or so that it took DVD to go from videophile to mass market, they might have already lost out to iMovie + MacMini or whatever that sells XviD videos over the net...
Actually, last I knew, DVD-R was supported on ~6% more players, but those were pretty old players at this point... DVD-R seems to be cheaper right now for faster burn speeds, but +R is the only DL one, not that anyone really buys blank disks for $4 each or so.
At this point, I don't think it really matters much though.
I've seen this post before, and I really think it's a troll. I mean, either that or you seriously need counsoling.
Anyway, I'm a college graduate, and I'll give you some advice from the Career development centers and State Job agencies I've dealt with. Not saying they work, but might be worth a try.
The basic idea is twofold. 1) pick something you want to do more than factory work. Generalize. Maybe you want to be in management, maybe you want to be in IT, maybe you want to be a chef.
Once you've picked what you want to do - lie. Not really, but get damned close.
Say you want to get into management. First, talk about how you are reliable - you come into work every day, you meet quotas, you've suggested improvements in processes on the factory floor.
Second, talk about your other skills - you think you don't have any, but really, you do. Talk about your understanding of office applications - you can obviously use a PC well enough to get online and post to slashdot. You can spin that into using Word, and IE and internet apps.
Then, come up with a plan to get additional skills. Lots can be done online for free, more can be done at seminars and your local employeement office.
With your ability to POST ON SLASHDOT, you can likely leverage that skillset to get into an office - likely doing clerical work.
Anyway, none of this is easy, you do have to work. You have to be willing to stretch the truth quite a bit, and be willing to learn new things - fast!
Many skills are non-obvious, heck, just working for a few years in a factory ought to put you in a position to try and jump to foreman or the like - maybe in a different company though. Always look for openings one step up from where you are in local competitiors.
Well, in NY, all banks I've talked to require you to be 18 or older to get a debit card. So, no, you can't get a debit card.
Now, you could get one of those prepaid cards - either specific to the store (and if I have to go to the mall to best buy and pay taxes etc, why not just get the fricken CD?) or the generic type that:
a) still require me to drive somewhere,
b) now have additional fees - $10 to get initially, $5 to recharge, have to use it or pay monthly fees - basically a total ripoff.
The other choice is to use the parent's CC/DC, but does iTunes save the info? Can the kid go on a spree, or is it enter for each checkout?
Anyway, while minors really can't buy stuff online, I don't see how that really affects the issue.
If all their buying is based on an allowance, just ask the parents to buy some stuff for them online rather than giving them cash.
If they are working, then give the parents some cash for the purchase, and the parents still buy it.