It may just be that it is physically impossible to have privacy in the future. If that's the case, then we should accept it and start putting into place the mechanisms to make sure that "transparency" is a two-way street, which is the best case scenario in that case.
As much as I love to see MS waste vast quantities of money, I'd rather they did it building ridiculous computer operating systems for incomprehensible budgets, and not dragging down companies with some value with them.
On a side note, I wonder how much it cost Apple to build OS X?
Slack was my first Linux distro, and I still fondly remember downloading the floppy iso's with so much excitement. That's why recently I decided to give it another whack.
I have to say though, it lacks a lot of the polish of the more recent distro's, and this is not a good thing. It's been several months so I don't recall the details, but I mostly just recall having the same sorts of issues that I had on other distros several years ago, but are now annoyance free in those other distros.
It's not just a matter of being slim and sleek--it's a bit emaciated;-)
On the one hand, perhaps Ballmer and co. have been listening to all the contempt among well informed techies that the merger is an incredibly stupid idea, and so perhaps we should have kept our mouths shut, and let them accelerate their destruction.
On the other hand, I'm not sure that would be worth the price of sacrificing Yahoo, warts and all.
I'm really feeling like Google will be the next tech company to hate. They're not not evil, folks, and the sooner you get used to the idea the better. They help the Chinese government censor their web searches--that's all I need to know, and I'm simply not interested in their excuses.
MS is psychopathic, and their bad acting has really driven techies away in droves, which I believe has hurt their other businesses--like search. Who of us slashdotters is going to set up Grandma with MSN as her default page? Not too many.
Google, however, is much more intelligent, and I suspect will cause quite a lot of damage more through blithe ignorance of their own limitations before it's all said and done.
Of course C++ is losing ground. But does it matter? No.
If you still need optimum performance at any cost--like for OS's, many games, simulations, etc.--you must use the C's. If you don't, then your Java or favorite scripting language will give you faster development time and easier deployment.
So it just doesn't matter. I still don't consider someone a proper coder unless they know C++, though.
Since it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to ship a Windows XO to a developing country--none--nada--zero--I have to think that Negroponte is simply pulling an MS. You know, act like your all Mr. Cooperative and let the other guy expend resources to his heart's content, and then whammo! you pull the rug out from under them.
This way he can placate whatever board members MS has paid off, but when the time comes he can pull out a laundry list of requirements that MS has not met--like source code, for example. And then it's, "oh man I'm so sorry I reeeeally wanted this to work for you".
This is true, but it's still asinine for them to be doing this. A) any "illegal" information can be trvially protected by simply uploading it to some internet server before crossing the border, deleting it off the laptop, and downloading when you get inside the country again. B) TSA monkeys are not remotely in any way qualified to even turn a computer on, or they would not be TSA monkeys.
I call them monkeys because many of them have lousy attitudes. When they start acting like professinals, I'll start treating them with more respect in turn.
I got a first class example of this in my game, where I have dumb bots following simple paths with nodes. That's all they do, follow paths. But in the engine they are subject to the vagueries of the physics and sim system. I have long noticed how even the slightest change in initial orientation or inertia can have wildly significant effects on the precise paths the bots take, or whether they can complete them at all. The system, in fact, is sufficiently complex, that even background processes on the game server can effect the timing of some moves, and thus the paths.
It was inevitable that there would be _some_ sort of issue with the initial massive deployment of a new product. If this is the only problem they ever have, it'll be a stunning success.
But like some other posters have said--this is about self-sufficiency, in any case. Speaking as someone who has kept old CBM hardware alive for decades--it's not a big deal. The owners will figure out how to fix it.
If you think about it, it's kinda odd that there is an *.su TLD at all. After all, back in the day the internet was essentially a U.S. military thing designed to protect military communications in the event of an *.su nuclear attack.
I've converted quite a few people over to OpenOffice, when they came to me hoping for a pirated MS Office. Invariable, when I ask them why they just need to read an *.xls or *.ppt, and are freaking DELIGHTED to find a free, legal way to do that.
And after that, they also invariably say they can't tell the difference between OOO and MS Office. I know I can't. I'm too busy making first person shooters to become the WordMaster!
Slashdot Mirror
It may just be that it is physically impossible to have privacy in the future. If that's the case, then we should accept it and start putting into place the mechanisms to make sure that "transparency" is a two-way street, which is the best case scenario in that case.
Link to the Wikipedia article on his ideas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Transparent_Society
As much as I love to see MS waste vast quantities of money, I'd rather they did it building ridiculous computer operating systems for incomprehensible budgets, and not dragging down companies with some value with them.
On a side note, I wonder how much it cost Apple to build OS X?
Slack was my first Linux distro, and I still fondly remember downloading the floppy iso's with so much excitement. That's why recently I decided to give it another whack.
;-)
I have to say though, it lacks a lot of the polish of the more recent distro's, and this is not a good thing. It's been several months so I don't recall the details, but I mostly just recall having the same sorts of issues that I had on other distros several years ago, but are now annoyance free in those other distros.
It's not just a matter of being slim and sleek--it's a bit emaciated
U.S. companies should not help any government censor anything, period. Anything else is a slippery slope--real fast.
This is why Google is evil.
Read his question more carefully, and try again.
He said "ethical", not "difficult".
I wish I could mod the submission down as troll.
This is it, Steve, take the bone that's been thrown to you, and use it as an excuse to call the whole thing off.
I know...go buy Comcast! That would be cool. I think I would actually like you better as my ISP. And that's saying something.
Nobody on here, even the trolls, have ever said that musicians don't deserve to make money from their work.
They just don't have the right to extort it from us. Same as IT guys.
And they don't have the _right_ to make money. Same as unemployed IT guys (as I myself can tell you right now!)
Making money is about _convincing_ people to give you money for something. And that's all she wrote...
Ah, but does the deduction itself exist, except when you make it?
On the one hand, perhaps Ballmer and co. have been listening to all the contempt among well informed techies that the merger is an incredibly stupid idea, and so perhaps we should have kept our mouths shut, and let them accelerate their destruction.
On the other hand, I'm not sure that would be worth the price of sacrificing Yahoo, warts and all.
I'm really feeling like Google will be the next tech company to hate. They're not not evil, folks, and the sooner you get used to the idea the better. They help the Chinese government censor their web searches--that's all I need to know, and I'm simply not interested in their excuses.
MS is psychopathic, and their bad acting has really driven techies away in droves, which I believe has hurt their other businesses--like search. Who of us slashdotters is going to set up Grandma with MSN as her default page? Not too many.
Google, however, is much more intelligent, and I suspect will cause quite a lot of damage more through blithe ignorance of their own limitations before it's all said and done.
Of course C++ is losing ground. But does it matter? No.
If you still need optimum performance at any cost--like for OS's, many games, simulations, etc.--you must use the C's. If you don't, then your Java or favorite scripting language will give you faster development time and easier deployment.
So it just doesn't matter. I still don't consider someone a proper coder unless they know C++, though.
What's strange is how the customer service peons take the company's side on this kind of stuff--every single time.
People who work for bad companies tend to fit in there.
Since it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to ship a Windows XO to a developing country--none--nada--zero--I have to think that Negroponte is simply pulling an MS. You know, act like your all Mr. Cooperative and let the other guy expend resources to his heart's content, and then whammo! you pull the rug out from under them.
This way he can placate whatever board members MS has paid off, but when the time comes he can pull out a laundry list of requirements that MS has not met--like source code, for example. And then it's, "oh man I'm so sorry I reeeeally wanted this to work for you".
This is true, but it's still asinine for them to be doing this. A) any "illegal" information can be trvially protected by simply uploading it to some internet server before crossing the border, deleting it off the laptop, and downloading when you get inside the country again. B) TSA monkeys are not remotely in any way qualified to even turn a computer on, or they would not be TSA monkeys.
I call them monkeys because many of them have lousy attitudes. When they start acting like professinals, I'll start treating them with more respect in turn.
I think it's more about that they would prefer that WE eat meat grown in vats.
They don't want to eat that shit!
Sounds good to me, though.
LOL you already lost most humans with your first instruction--"partition harddrive".
You make a wealth of unsupported assertions, and I dispute all of them.
I got a first class example of this in my game, where I have dumb bots following simple paths with nodes. That's all they do, follow paths. But in the engine they are subject to the vagueries of the physics and sim system. I have long noticed how even the slightest change in initial orientation or inertia can have wildly significant effects on the precise paths the bots take, or whether they can complete them at all. The system, in fact, is sufficiently complex, that even background processes on the game server can effect the timing of some moves, and thus the paths.
Needless to say, debugging could be unpleasant.
It was inevitable that there would be _some_ sort of issue with the initial massive deployment of a new product. If this is the only problem they ever have, it'll be a stunning success.
But like some other posters have said--this is about self-sufficiency, in any case. Speaking as someone who has kept old CBM hardware alive for decades--it's not a big deal. The owners will figure out how to fix it.
Russia has so much potential, but it always slips back into authoritarian ways. Must be the weather or something.
Doubt that. You sure they aren't just telling you this so that everyone will believe they are impossible to steal?
Speaking of social engineering....
If you think about it, it's kinda odd that there is an *.su TLD at all. After all, back in the day the internet was essentially a U.S. military thing designed to protect military communications in the event of an *.su nuclear attack.
Dude...you don't have to post AC just because you like...have direct experience!
Another great reason to continue avoiding network tv.
I've converted quite a few people over to OpenOffice, when they came to me hoping for a pirated MS Office. Invariable, when I ask them why they just need to read an *.xls or *.ppt, and are freaking DELIGHTED to find a free, legal way to do that.
And after that, they also invariably say they can't tell the difference between OOO and MS Office. I know I can't. I'm too busy making first person shooters to become the WordMaster!