" Imagine asking someone to memorize (to the point of not thinking about it) the various dual-joystick combinations to type out a typical email. "
I'm thinking of all the absolute knuckledraggers that could enter their initials in a video game very quickly. This might be good for people with low intelligence but good muscle memory.
The Twiddler was pretty good. I have a former boss who built an ultra-low-cost wearable by modifying a VR helmet and a subnotebook, using a twiddler. He had no problem learning to key on it. I've considered something like this for my (music) keyboards, but I prefer midi control surfaces over (qwerty) keyboards and mice.
"Nobody is saying that it is illegal to transfer material to another media"
The US Government is indeed saying that it is illegal to traffic in circumvention devices, which, by extension, makes it illegal. More importantly, it creates a scenario where works will be lost in the future, long after their copyrights are irrelevant. Think, "centuries after our government has ceased to exist", these copy controls will still be effectively protecting (destroying) many artifacts of our civilization.
In a way, I'd prefer that future archaeologists don't have to know about the importance we placed on crappy entertainment media.
"And as long as people continue to have this attitude, Linux will be nothing more than a niche system used by 5% of the total desktop PC market."
A whole lot of people don't actually see that as a problem of any sort, and that seems to be difficult for others to grasp. Maybe Linus shouldn't have made that "world domination" joke so early on.
I know how to terrace a field. I know how to plow it and irrigate it. I know how to plant, cultivate and harvest grain. I know how to thresh and grind the grain.
I know how to build a convection oven out of mud and stones. I know how to chop wood, and how to build a fire. I can make a whole lot of excellent things from that point, but I still don't say it makes me a chef.
"Woah, there! I'm not sure what computer science you're talking about here."
Hopefully any B.S. at all, requires three semesters of calc, quite possibly followed by some analysis, some linear, and some abstract algebra. It doesn't matter if you ever apply the math... You just have to get through the courses.
"Yeah, like you would be happy if an operating system didn't let you try something."
Certainly. I like it to prevent my users from writing over write-protected files, or reading each others files when read protection is turned off. I like it to stop a process from accessing memory not assigned to it. Sure, I'd be happy with that.
Don't worry. Things can only get worse until huge numbers of people decide they have nothing to lose by destroying the whole system. Corporations may buy governments, but rebellions are the sole domain of the people.
Things not quite that bad yet? Count your blessings.
Hundreds of comments, and I got to yours before I saw anything that resembled a clue. Thank you for pointing out that IO is what a mainframe is all about, and that there's not really a comparison to the PC world.
"Your microwave isn't designed to let you put an AOL CD or a piece of tinfoil in it and turn it into a box-shaped firecracker, but it still lets you try it."
No, it's quite the contrary. If you read the instructions that come with your microwave oven, I think you will find some language that insists the appliance is only for cooking food, and it might even go as far as to be very specific about what kinds of food. I would not be surprised if it even specified that live animals and CD's should NOT be placed in the oven.
You have a good point in your analogy, but it is flawed. The crash condition I was referring to sounded like a reasonable use case to me, not a "zapping the CD" condition, and not even "trying to boil an egg in the microwave" either.
I stand by my reasoning, that using a "download manager" at the same time as an IM client should be a reasonable use case, in addition to having maybe a dozen editor windows open. The CD Burner, due to the horrid legacy hardware interface, is probably not reasonable in this scenario, but, you will also find it documented that you should not attempt to do other tasks while burning a CD. Worst case for that should be a coaster, but NOT a system crash.
That said, I have been able to do anything except A/D sampling while burning a cd using cdrecord on an ide-scsi device, since the later 2.2 kernels. I still don't trust Nero or Adaptec or anything else I have on the same box with windows to do this.
That is one of the few things that a store manager will respond to. They know that a customer who makes a lot of noise complaining, will probably come back again and again. Some of them do it because they enjoy complaining. (Work in a restaurant sometime, you'll see this effect routinely!)
What worries them is the idea that customers are leaving dissatisfied after the first visit, and then never come back to their store.
I hate being treated like a criminal too. I solve the problem by not shopping in those places.
Did I say I went to the theatre, concerts, or plays?
Well, I do some of those things, but they also fall under the category of things that are consumed by observation. I don't insist on unwrapping my Kit Kat Bar before I buy it either, but if the store expected me to pay for my Kit Kat, then wait in another line while someone unlocked the Kit Kat Kabinet, I would certainly not go through the experience twice.
I would also point out that I do mail order items, and I find it more convenient than retail. I don't believe that takes away from my point.
I once was buying a car from a new car dealer, where the dealer tried, at the last minute, to switch the sale to a car of a color I absolutely hated. He did not believe that I would back out of the sale so late in the process.
"However, if I'm trying to download a huge file while opening and closing lots of windows, programming some web pages, uploading them to the web, listening to some tunes, talk to 80 different people on AIM, and enjoying a flash animation at the same time, the computer might crash."
Was it, or was it not, designed to be used in this way? If it was not, why does the system let you try it?
Maybe they don't care if they can't drive it, sell it, or anything else. Maybe the goal was simply mayhem. Deprive someone of their property, or destroy something that obviously has value to someone else. The motivation for this crime could be more like arson than like theft.
Millions of others saw nothing wrong also, but the ones who did were very vocal about it. That may give a distorted impression. By and large, the big complex government in this country exists in the state it is in, because the voters put it there and keep it there. Bush, and the entire executive branch is really a small part of the whole picture.
"Either way, Bush II should be a lot more humble than he has been."
Why? You find yourself in the Oval Office, you milk the job for all it's worth. Even if you DID win unfairly. Why bother being humble when you take charge? To please whom, and why?
You're joking, but I seriously will not buy something that I am forbidden to see before I've paid. I expect a sample of my deli meats and cheeses, produce, etc, which the merchants are happy to provide. If something is consumed by handling, I still want to get as close to handling it as is reasonable. Hiding the details of a transaction from me is unacceptable.
Slashdot Mirror
" Imagine asking someone to memorize (to the point of not thinking about it) the various dual-joystick combinations to type out a typical email. "
I'm thinking of all the absolute knuckledraggers that could enter their initials in a video game very quickly. This might be good for people with low intelligence but good muscle memory.
The Twiddler was pretty good. I have a former boss who built an ultra-low-cost wearable by modifying a VR helmet and a subnotebook, using a twiddler. He had no problem learning to key on it. I've considered something like this for my (music) keyboards, but I prefer midi control surfaces over (qwerty) keyboards and mice.
"Nobody is saying that it is illegal to transfer material to another media"
The US Government is indeed saying that it is illegal to traffic in circumvention devices, which, by extension, makes it illegal. More importantly, it creates a scenario where works will be lost in the future, long after their copyrights are irrelevant. Think, "centuries after our government has ceased to exist", these copy controls will still be effectively protecting (destroying) many artifacts of our civilization.
In a way, I'd prefer that future archaeologists don't have to know about the importance we placed on crappy entertainment media.
"And as long as people continue to have this attitude, Linux will be nothing more than a niche system used by 5% of the total desktop PC market."
A whole lot of people don't actually see that as a problem of any sort, and that seems to be difficult for others to grasp. Maybe Linus shouldn't have made that "world domination" joke so early on.
"iTunes does not like connecting to localhost or 127.0.0.1"
So is it happy with 10.2.x.x or 192.168.x.x ?
Up a virtual IP and do the ssh to that.
>As a string player
A-hah! A horn player will be going the exact opposite direction, and come to a different conclusion!
>Do you know how to make bread from scratch?
I know how to terrace a field. I know how to plow it and irrigate it. I know how to plant, cultivate and harvest grain. I know how to thresh and grind the grain.
I know how to build a convection oven out of mud and stones. I know how to chop wood, and how to build a fire. I can make a whole lot of excellent things from that point, but I still don't say it makes me a chef.
"Woah, there! I'm not sure what computer science you're talking about here."
Hopefully any B.S. at all, requires three semesters of calc, quite possibly followed by some analysis, some linear, and some abstract algebra. It doesn't matter if you ever apply the math... You just have to get through the courses.
>Go write me a symphony, then come back and tell
>me how easy it is, retard.
I think you confuse "fine arts" with "liberal arts".
A better example might be to remind the O.P. that mathematics degrees are often received from Liberal Arts colleges.
Go get a Ph.D. in math and then come back and tell me how easy it is.
>So, my system would be that I would pay my ISP 1
>cent for every email I send.
If everyone had to pay 1 cent for every mail they *received*, the outrage against the spammers would get momentum much faster.
"Yeah, like you would be happy if an operating system didn't let you try something."
Certainly. I like it to prevent my users from writing over write-protected files, or reading each others files when read protection is turned off. I like it to stop a process from accessing memory not assigned to it. Sure, I'd be happy with that.
>Corporations.
Don't worry. Things can only get worse until huge numbers of people decide they have nothing to lose by destroying the whole system. Corporations may buy governments, but rebellions are the sole domain of the people.
Things not quite that bad yet? Count your blessings.
Hundreds of comments, and I got to yours before I saw anything that resembled a clue. Thank you for pointing out that IO is what a mainframe is all about, and that there's not really a comparison to the PC world.
"Your microwave isn't designed to let you put an AOL CD or a piece of tinfoil in it and turn it into a box-shaped firecracker, but it still lets you try it."
No, it's quite the contrary. If you read the instructions that come with your microwave oven, I think you will find some language that insists the appliance is only for cooking food, and it might even go as far as to be very specific about what kinds of food. I would not be surprised if it even specified that live animals and CD's should NOT be placed in the oven.
You have a good point in your analogy, but it is flawed. The crash condition I was referring to sounded like a reasonable use case to me, not a "zapping the CD" condition, and not even "trying to boil an egg in the microwave" either.
I stand by my reasoning, that using a "download manager" at the same time as an IM client should be a reasonable use case, in addition to having maybe a dozen editor windows open. The CD Burner, due to the horrid legacy hardware interface, is probably not reasonable in this scenario, but, you will also find it documented that you should not attempt to do other tasks while burning a CD. Worst case for that should be a coaster, but NOT a system crash.
That said, I have been able to do anything except A/D sampling while burning a cd using cdrecord on an ide-scsi device, since the later 2.2 kernels. I still don't trust Nero or Adaptec or anything else I have on the same box with windows to do this.
Question: Did you ever go back to CompUSA?
That is one of the few things that a store manager will respond to. They know that a customer who makes a lot of noise complaining, will probably come back again and again. Some of them do it because they enjoy complaining. (Work in a restaurant sometime, you'll see this effect routinely!)
What worries them is the idea that customers are leaving dissatisfied after the first visit, and then never come back to their store.
I hate being treated like a criminal too. I solve the problem by not shopping in those places.
>when you go to the theater
Did I say I went to the theatre, concerts, or plays?
Well, I do some of those things, but
they also fall under the category of things that are consumed by observation. I don't insist on unwrapping my Kit Kat Bar before I buy it either, but if the store expected me to pay for my Kit Kat, then wait in another line while someone unlocked the Kit Kat Kabinet, I would certainly not go through the experience twice.
I would also point out that I do mail order items, and I find it more convenient than retail. I don't believe that takes away from my point.
I once was buying a car from a new car dealer, where the dealer tried, at the last minute, to switch the sale to a car of a color I absolutely hated. He did not believe that I would back out of the sale so late in the process.
"However, if I'm trying to download a huge file while opening and closing lots of windows, programming some web pages, uploading them to the web, listening to some tunes, talk to 80 different people on AIM, and enjoying a flash animation at the same time, the computer might crash."
Was it, or was it not, designed to be used in this way? If it was not, why does the system let you try it?
Crash? What crash?
radagast% uptime
8:56pm up 582 day(s), 12:45, 22 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.01
You made the OP's case by splitting hairs.
Now, which boards support more than 4GB? What do you need when you want *way* more than 4?
"If Earthlink responds to this legal challenge, they'd be in violation of this Mailblocks patent? A nice merry-go-round."
Not to mention the tradition of gospel singing!
Or the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Tak-tsey Tong-ya!
"Ballantine indicated that he was the only one to have the machine in the south puget sound area"
Is that just a discreet way of saying these things are all over Seattle?
>Even funnier that some turkey stole it.
Maybe they don't care if they can't drive it, sell it, or anything else. Maybe the goal was simply mayhem. Deprive someone of their property, or destroy something that obviously has value to someone else. The motivation for this crime could be more like arson than like theft.
>I didn't see anything wrong Bush elected.
Millions of others saw nothing wrong also, but the ones who did were very vocal about it. That may give a distorted impression. By and large, the big complex government in this country exists in the state it is in, because the voters put it there and keep it there. Bush, and the entire executive branch is really a small part of the whole picture.
"Either way, Bush II should be a lot more humble than he has been."
Why? You find yourself in the Oval Office, you milk the job for all it's worth. Even if you DID win unfairly. Why bother being humble when you take charge? To please whom, and why?
You're joking, but I seriously will not buy something that I am forbidden to see before I've paid. I expect a sample of my deli meats and cheeses, produce, etc, which the merchants are happy to provide. If something is consumed by handling, I still want to get as close to handling it as is reasonable. Hiding the details of a transaction from me is unacceptable.