There is no case in which advertising ADDS value to anything on this planet.
Duh. Of course advertising cannot add value to anything, but it can induce the consumer to perceive increased value by making a product appear more desirable, thus increasing demand. That's only a bad thing when the product is truly of little worth; case in point: television ads for the latest reality show.
Let's take a hypothetical situation where you have developed a product or service that would be of substantial value to society. You believe that there is no case in which advertising ADDS value to anything on this planet, so you don't do anything to promote public awareness of your fantastic product or service. As a result, no one knows about it, no one uses it, and its potential value is never realized.
Here's an idea: walk into a grocery store and buy an Amazon gift card for any amount from $25 to $500 (need one for $29.73? Yeah, you can do that). Now you don't need a credit or debit card at the Amazon store.
The rise of steam, mmo's, always online drm and f2p games means the average pc and software consumer is a fucking moron.
No, it means that the average pc gamer is a fucking moron. The average PC and software consumer has probably never heard of steam, mmo's, and f2p games.
Impose a fee on Universities and other places that harbor research staff sufficient to support a small staff of editors and the like to coordinate and distribute papers.
Good idea! Bringing on a group of full-time employees will undoubtedly be cheaper than subscriptions to publishing services. Anyway, the universities can recoup the cost by merely raising their modest tuitions a little.
The very same researchers, etc. commit to reviewing studies for free.
Another good idea! Why shouldn't university employees be happy to work for free?
Papers are submitter, the paid staff categorizes and sends out for review, reviews classify not only if they are publish worthy, but also their normal review process.
I'm having a hard time parsing that one, but I'm sure it's just as good as the others.
sending hate mail is not illegal, while housing discrimination is
This brings up an interesting point. Apparently (courtesy of Jussie Smollet), mailing yourself threatening letters and using them in a false police report constiutes mail fraud, a Federal crime. I'm idly wondering if a person can commit mail fraud by way of email. There are plenty of articles about "email fraud", but they're mostly about how to avoid falling victim to a scam. I've never run across a reference to laws or criminal penalties for any kind of email fraud.
This is on the same order of bullshittery as "we could erase the national debt if we just raised taxes on the top 1%." In 2011, the total amount of money spent on college tuition in the US (note, this does not include books, housing, or food) was about half of the total US miitary budget. Since then, the military budget has declined and college tuition has increased. So no, passing on "a few less unnecessary tanks for the army" would not free up enough money to make all colleges free.
I don't know of any sort of major advertiser that wants to be associated with that sort of stuff. That's the right wing sites just have ads for fake drugs, gun safes, and other such nonsense. It's not worth alienating 80-90% of your customer base to try to pander to 5%.
Fair enough. Now tell me, how does anyone but Facebook, me, and the advertiser know what shows up in my newsfeed? Hint: advertisements don't show up in a user's profile page (what I believe used to be referred to as the user's "wall" or "Facebook page").
The problem is that their advertisers don't want their brands to show up on "Jim Bob's MAGA White People are the Best" Facebook page. So yes, they are fixing the problem. Were you trying to be sarcastic?
Jim Bob buys stuff too. Why would you think advertisers wouldn't want their ads to appear in his newsfeed?
I have a feeling you don't know very many people. People are creatures of habit. People loathe change. People think that the way they do things is the best way. People think that the way they think things should work is the best way things could possibly work, and they can't figure out why other people have a hard time agreeing with them. People think that people who don't think like they do, have something wrong with them. People who have serious things wrong with them think they're perfectly fine, and that other people should be like them in every way.
37 indictments, 6 guilty please, and one conviction. That doesn't sound like a fail to me.
You do recall, don't you, that 32 of those indictments were against foreign nationals who will never be brought to trial? I suppose that qualifies as a symbolic non-fail.
Actually, it appears that you're every bit as much of a dumbfuck as most of the population, and probably even more of a dumbfuck.
If you don't look down, why do you need to look up every 2 seconds? At 30 mph, your car traverses almost 90 feet in 2 seconds, but you seem to think it's fine to go that far with your attention on texting.
I think I've seen you out there on the freeway. You're the idiot going 50 mph in the fast lane with a mile of open highway in front of you.
Are Jared and Ivanka storing US state secrets on illegal external servers outside the control of the US intelligence agencies?
Us Intelligence agencies controls Whatsapp? I'm sure there are many people who'd like to know this little fact, including the US intelligence agencies. Have you told them, yet?
You need to work on your reading comprehension. Of course US intelligence agencies don't control Whatsapp, and that's not what the OP was implying. Jared and Ivanka aren't dealing with state secrets, unlike a certain former Secretary of State.
i hear this mentioned quite a bit, do you happen to have a citation/link for reference?
(to be clear, it sounds absolutely plausible, and I wouldn't doubt it for a second -- but still curious as to the specifics)
There are plenty of articles about the $1.5 billion in FCC subsidies given to ISPs annually (here's one), but I've never seen anything substantiating the part about "handing it out as bonuses to execs". Not that it might not be true, of course.
That AT&T can continue to exist is proof that the whole system is corrupt from stem to stern.
That's a pretty broad brush you have there. I would say that ATT's continued existence is more a testament to the cluelessness of their customers than some systemic corruption.
U-verse U-400 service, $200+. Netflix, $12; Hulu, $12; Amazon Prime, $10; ISP, $50. So, cable = $200; streaming = $84. That leaves quite a bit of margin for intermittent, short-term subscriptions to other streaming services when something interesting pops up. And of course, the cost of Amazon Prime covers more than their streaming service; we save more in shipping costs than the cost of the Prime subscription.
While it's true that there are a few shows that are available through U-verse that aren't available through our streaming selections, there are many shows through the streaming services that aren't available through U-verse, so it's pretty much a wash in that respect. Plus, we aren't sportsball fans, so that's not even an issue.
Work on your reading comprehension. He said it was a benefit. Or, maybe it's your language skills rather than reading comprehension. Benefit = good thing.
Garage doors are far from secure, most new cars come with a built in universal garage door opener that can be programed to an older garage door opener in a just a couple minutes with out ever getting out of your car or even knowing the name brand of the garage door opener.
Our opener is at least 15 years old, and for both of our cars required the use of a working remote to program the cars' openers.
It happens absolutely everywhere: an organic thing hits the dirt, that thing gets consumed and literally becomes the freaking dirt.
When someone drops a french fry on the ground and it goes through the process of becoming the freaking dirt, no one notices and no one cares. When a commercial enterprise causes ten tons of banana peels to "hit the dirt" and go through the process of becoming the freaking dirt, it causes a powerful stench and lots of people notice and lots of people care. See the difference?
What she means, of course, is "it's easier to sell: 'tax a robot.' " "Don't tax you and don't tax me, tax that robot behind the tree."
"...because what it could potentially mean is more time educating ourselves, more time creating art, more time investing in and investigating the sciences, more time focused on invention, more time going to space, more time enjoying the world that we live in..."
I guess that's easier to say (or sell, if you prefer) than "what it could potentially mean is more time sitting on the couch, watching "Ow! My Balls!" on teevee.
Slashdot Mirror
There is no case in which advertising ADDS value to anything on this planet.
Duh. Of course advertising cannot add value to anything, but it can induce the consumer to perceive increased value by making a product appear more desirable, thus increasing demand. That's only a bad thing when the product is truly of little worth; case in point: television ads for the latest reality show.
Let's take a hypothetical situation where you have developed a product or service that would be of substantial value to society. You believe that there is no case in which advertising ADDS value to anything on this planet, so you don't do anything to promote public awareness of your fantastic product or service. As a result, no one knows about it, no one uses it, and its potential value is never realized.
Here's an idea: walk into a grocery store and buy an Amazon gift card for any amount from $25 to $500 (need one for $29.73? Yeah, you can do that). Now you don't need a credit or debit card at the Amazon store.
And those of us that see it and try to circumvent it are seen as the outliers, the weirdos, the nut jobs.
I don't see you as weirdos or nutjobs, but you're definitely outliers.
The rise of steam, mmo's, always online drm and f2p games means the average pc and software consumer is a fucking moron.
No, it means that the average pc gamer is a fucking moron. The average PC and software consumer has probably never heard of steam, mmo's, and f2p games.
Impose a fee on Universities and other places that harbor research staff sufficient to support a small staff of editors and the like to coordinate and distribute papers.
Good idea! Bringing on a group of full-time employees will undoubtedly be cheaper than subscriptions to publishing services. Anyway, the universities can recoup the cost by merely raising their modest tuitions a little.
The very same researchers, etc. commit to reviewing studies for free.
Another good idea! Why shouldn't university employees be happy to work for free?
Papers are submitter, the paid staff categorizes and sends out for review, reviews classify not only if they are publish worthy, but also their normal review process.
I'm having a hard time parsing that one, but I'm sure it's just as good as the others.
sending hate mail is not illegal, while housing discrimination is
This brings up an interesting point. Apparently (courtesy of Jussie Smollet), mailing yourself threatening letters and using them in a false police report constiutes mail fraud, a Federal crime. I'm idly wondering if a person can commit mail fraud by way of email. There are plenty of articles about "email fraud", but they're mostly about how to avoid falling victim to a scam. I've never run across a reference to laws or criminal penalties for any kind of email fraud.
Or we make all colleges free and buy a few less unnecessary tanks for the army.
This is on the same order of bullshittery as "we could erase the national debt if we just raised taxes on the top 1%." In 2011, the total amount of money spent on college tuition in the US (note, this does not include books, housing, or food) was about half of the total US miitary budget. Since then, the military budget has declined and college tuition has increased. So no, passing on "a few less unnecessary tanks for the army" would not free up enough money to make all colleges free.
I don't know of any sort of major advertiser that wants to be associated with that sort of stuff. That's the right wing sites just have ads for fake drugs, gun safes, and other such nonsense. It's not worth alienating 80-90% of your customer base to try to pander to 5%.
Fair enough. Now tell me, how does anyone but Facebook, me, and the advertiser know what shows up in my newsfeed? Hint: advertisements don't show up in a user's profile page (what I believe used to be referred to as the user's "wall" or "Facebook page").
The problem is that their advertisers don't want their brands to show up on "Jim Bob's MAGA White People are the Best" Facebook page. So yes, they are fixing the problem. Were you trying to be sarcastic?
Jim Bob buys stuff too. Why would you think advertisers wouldn't want their ads to appear in his newsfeed?
I don't know why people have a hard time...
I have a feeling you don't know very many people. People are creatures of habit. People loathe change. People think that the way they do things is the best way. People think that the way they think things should work is the best way things could possibly work, and they can't figure out why other people have a hard time agreeing with them. People think that people who don't think like they do, have something wrong with them. People who have serious things wrong with them think they're perfectly fine, and that other people should be like them in every way.
37 indictments, 6 guilty please, and one conviction. That doesn't sound like a fail to me.
You do recall, don't you, that 32 of those indictments were against foreign nationals who will never be brought to trial? I suppose that qualifies as a symbolic non-fail.
Damn, you're right! We should just repeal all criminal laws and empty the prisons. I'd mod you Insightful if I hadn't already posted on this thread.
Actually, it appears that you're every bit as much of a dumbfuck as most of the population, and probably even more of a dumbfuck.
If you don't look down, why do you need to look up every 2 seconds? At 30 mph, your car traverses almost 90 feet in 2 seconds, but you seem to think it's fine to go that far with your attention on texting.
I think I've seen you out there on the freeway. You're the idiot going 50 mph in the fast lane with a mile of open highway in front of you.
Are Jared and Ivanka storing US state secrets on illegal external servers outside the control of the US intelligence agencies? Us Intelligence agencies controls Whatsapp? I'm sure there are many people who'd like to know this little fact, including the US intelligence agencies. Have you told them, yet?
You need to work on your reading comprehension. Of course US intelligence agencies don't control Whatsapp, and that's not what the OP was implying. Jared and Ivanka aren't dealing with state secrets, unlike a certain former Secretary of State.
i hear this mentioned quite a bit, do you happen to have a citation/link for reference?
(to be clear, it sounds absolutely plausible, and I wouldn't doubt it for a second -- but still curious as to the specifics)
There are plenty of articles about the $1.5 billion in FCC subsidies given to ISPs annually (here's one), but I've never seen anything substantiating the part about "handing it out as bonuses to execs". Not that it might not be true, of course.
That AT&T can continue to exist is proof that the whole system is corrupt from stem to stern.
That's a pretty broad brush you have there. I would say that ATT's continued existence is more a testament to the cluelessness of their customers than some systemic corruption.
U-verse U-400 service, $200+. Netflix, $12; Hulu, $12; Amazon Prime, $10; ISP, $50. So, cable = $200; streaming = $84. That leaves quite a bit of margin for intermittent, short-term subscriptions to other streaming services when something interesting pops up. And of course, the cost of Amazon Prime covers more than their streaming service; we save more in shipping costs than the cost of the Prime subscription.
While it's true that there are a few shows that are available through U-verse that aren't available through our streaming selections, there are many shows through the streaming services that aren't available through U-verse, so it's pretty much a wash in that respect. Plus, we aren't sportsball fans, so that's not even an issue.
Any other questions?
I spend less time watching
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Work on your reading comprehension. He said it was a benefit. Or, maybe it's your language skills rather than reading comprehension. Benefit = good thing.
People bothering to post that who are NOT being paid to do so are the stupidest of the bunch. At least the schills get a potatoe out of it.
They may be stupid, but I'll bet they can spell potato.
Can you explain what a radio receiver or universal remote have to do with programming a car's gatage door opener?
Garage doors are far from secure, most new cars come with a built in universal garage door opener that can be programed to an older garage door opener in a just a couple minutes with out ever getting out of your car or even knowing the name brand of the garage door opener.
Our opener is at least 15 years old, and for both of our cars required the use of a working remote to program the cars' openers.
It happens absolutely everywhere: an organic thing hits the dirt, that thing gets consumed and literally becomes the freaking dirt.
When someone drops a french fry on the ground and it goes through the process of becoming the freaking dirt, no one notices and no one cares. When a commercial enterprise causes ten tons of banana peels to "hit the dirt" and go through the process of becoming the freaking dirt, it causes a powerful stench and lots of people notice and lots of people care. See the difference?
The law that causes the most trouble for people who think laws should be simple and "flexible", is the law of unintended consequences.
What she means, of course, is "it's easier to sell: 'tax a robot.' " "Don't tax you and don't tax me, tax that robot behind the tree."
"...because what it could potentially mean is more time educating ourselves, more time creating art, more time investing in and investigating the sciences, more time focused on invention, more time going to space, more time enjoying the world that we live in..."
I guess that's easier to say (or sell, if you prefer) than "what it could potentially mean is more time sitting on the couch, watching "Ow! My Balls!" on teevee.
I read this entire comment thread and was both surprised and disappointed at the lack of the obligatory xkcd.