"And they have the right to ban you for life if and when they catch you."
A good way to avoid new customers though, don't you think?
e.g. try the World of Warcraft demo, the first thing you see is an EULA demanding root access to your PC and boasting that they _will_ abuse that power any way they can. Amazing that some people allow it to do so.
"I'm pretty sure the problem isn't prejudice against hardware, but integration issues that arise when moving from an all-MS shop to a mixed environment with OS X."
Assuming this is a troll. however...
we've budgeted months of effort to integrate Windows Vista with the current all-MS environment...
"Probably because Iran has openly stated its desire to wipe Israel off the map should it ever have the means to do so. I'm not a big fan of US foreign policy, but I don't recall them ever making such statements."
"former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age."
The potential for abuse here is pretty high. If the controlling government (Read: whoever controls the Internet connection and licensing servers, so maybe a corporation) wants to keep the people in line, they can just threaten to turn everyone's laptop off
They can also selectively shut-off laptops - just enter the serial numbers of laptops in a village that didn't vote for you, into the license server...
"yet there's no apparent replacement for Outlook & Exchange. For a huge number of folk in business, having an open office suite is useless if they don't have calendar sharing, resource scheduling and email/contact sharing amongst groups. Is this really so difficult to achieve?"
So imagine free-sofware folks with web-based CMS, groupware, wikis, ical servers, mailing lists, etc. all working nicely like free software does with all the standards-based communication between them all so you've got loads of options for each component
Then compare it to the Exchange/Outlook solution, which just about does the job [if the job is extremely simple] but is a PITA to use and a nightmare to configure
Is it any wonder that they didn't decide to replicate the awful system, when they have much better tools?
"Meanwhile, their 'extra validation' CPS states that they offer no warranties or guarantees, nor any detail about what they DO do to make extra super sure they don't issue certificates to some random Joe."
You're assuming that they're in the business of being secure and trustworthy, as they claim. It makes more sense if you think about their business as taking a toll on e-commerce websites.
"Pay us money, or Internet Explorer will tell your customers not to trust you"
Would it matter to them if a load of people got incorrecly certified? So long as business need to pay them before their site is "trusted" by the default browser, I can't imagine them being too bothered about actual security (other than for appearance).
"Does Best Buy have to have legislation to ask for your ID when you pay by credit card? No. Do they? Yes. Why? Business policies. Do stores have to have national laws enacted when they enforce their return policies? No. Do they? Yes. Why? Business policies."
Do people who ask themselves rhetorical questions sound like they have an axe to grind? Yes!
"computers can nowadays compare fingerprints with ease"
How many distinct combinations exist? It had better be more than a few tens of billion (that need to always vary between individuals, never vary for the same individual, and all be recognisable as different by this computer.
e.g. surely if you took a monochrome scanner, simply counting bits would indicate that a 100,000x100,000 pixel scanner would be required to even satisfy the condition that everyone has a unique pattern (and that would be if everyone had a random scattering of dots on their finger that correspond exactly to pixels, rather than recognisable patterns that change size) - meaning that if any feature on anyones fingerprint changes by 100nm or more then the system can't be used to accurately identify people.
Or looking at it the other way, a 400x400 pixel "perfect in every possible way" scanner could only narrow you down to a choice of about 30,000 possible people.
"Well, you shouldn't use a Q-tip to clean your ear. It shoves the earwax further in, and does far more damage than good. No doctor would ever recommend Q-tips for ear cleaning."
They should stop selling them then, if they can't safely be used for the task they're designed for
"And how many people really go to Dell to buy a computer and DON'T want windows on it?"
None obviously, because Dell won't sell them such a computer. That's a bit of a circular argument ("why do none of my customers buy something I don't sell")
b.t.w. don't Dell already support Windows XP Home, Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Media Centre Edition, Windows Vista Pro, Windows Vista Home, and a load of corporate special-options? Surely your argument (that adding a choice of operating systems requires Dell to add support for it in their assembly line) has already been solved.
All those people who say they won't try free software because "it means learning a new interface" or "we'd have to convert all our files" or "they teach Office XP in school" or "it would require retraining" or "the TCO of switching is too high" - we now know what they actually mean.
"We want microsoft software at any cost"
Otherwise, all those arguments mean that they cannot use the latest version of Word.
"Compare the number of bird deaths from those windfarms"
Given that (a) they're not fast-spinning (b) not on land, and (c) not in the flight-path for a certain type of rare bird, it's difficult to imagine why you're using data from the Altamont Pass turbines to evaluate this project?
As the RSPB say, "The available evidence suggests that appropriately positioned wind farms do not pose a significant hazard for birds"
The problem with wind energy is that it's output is unreliable
Not when the wind turbines are in different places
and unlikely to match demand
Cold winds -> lots of electricity to heat houses. Plus, UK houses can turn their heating on and off when the electricity company sends them a radio signal, which means you can modify the demand whenever you want.
Essentially, this means that wind farms have to be backed up with other, reliable, fast-switching power sources.
Like Dinorwig power station? (hydroelectric, very rapid switching). You can also do it with a building full of fuel cells.
This, of course, means you've still not solved the energy problem - what do these other plants run on?
Does it matter? You already said they only need to match the difference in demand, to cover short-term fluctuations. And as mentioned above, those plants can run on electricity from the wind turbines if you want.
"Right, because your grand-daddy's rifle is really going to help against tanks and automatic weaponry."
It only needs to help against the police - if you're fighting for a true american cause, then your sons in the army will be back with their tank and automatic weaponry to fight with you...
besides, what part of the second amendment precludes you from owning tanks and automatic weaponry yourself? it doesn't mention any limit (and it's not like the people who wrote it didn't know about long range and crew-served weapons -- they chose not to add any such limits)
Slashdot Mirror
"And they have the right to ban you for life if and when they catch you."
A good way to avoid new customers though, don't you think?
e.g. try the World of Warcraft demo, the first thing you see is an EULA demanding root access to your PC and boasting that they _will_ abuse that power any way they can. Amazing that some people allow it to do so.
"Y'see, in the UK we pay approximately $6.40 a gallon of petrol. I don't think you have that much of a right to complain."
Admittedly we get 20% more petrol than a US customer when we buy a gallon...
"I'm pretty sure the problem isn't prejudice against hardware, but integration issues that arise when moving from an all-MS shop to a mixed environment with OS X."
Assuming this is a troll. however...
we've budgeted months of effort to integrate Windows Vista with the current all-MS environment...
"This is likely part of agreements made in secret host city dealings with the Olympic committees. It seems to happen in all other host cities"
3 2_en_2.htm#mdiv2
Or in whole countries. Here's the UK version, from 1995:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/Ukpga_199500
More recently when London decided to host an olympics, they also felt that this piece of legislation was necessary:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/20060012.htm
"Probably because Iran has openly stated its desire to wipe Israel off the map should it ever have the means to do so. I'm not a big fan of US foreign policy, but I don't recall them ever making such statements."
"former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age."
Ref1,
Ref2
The potential for abuse here is pretty high. If the controlling government (Read: whoever controls the Internet connection and licensing servers, so maybe a corporation) wants to keep the people in line, they can just threaten to turn everyone's laptop off
They can also selectively shut-off laptops - just enter the serial numbers of laptops in a village that didn't vote for you, into the license server...
"Stop writing malicious scripts."
Sony only got fined $175 maximum per incident, and they didn't get banned from the internet
"yet there's no apparent replacement for Outlook & Exchange. For a huge number of folk in business, having an open office suite is useless if they don't have calendar sharing, resource scheduling and email/contact sharing amongst groups. Is this really so difficult to achieve?"
So imagine free-sofware folks with web-based CMS, groupware, wikis, ical servers, mailing lists, etc. all working nicely like free software does with all the standards-based communication between them all so you've got loads of options for each component
Then compare it to the Exchange/Outlook solution, which just about does the job [if the job is extremely simple] but is a PITA to use and a nightmare to configure
Is it any wonder that they didn't decide to replicate the awful system, when they have much better tools?
"If you don't want to pay that much, then don't bid that high!"
What if you want to pay the market price?
p.s. how come ebay allows people to retract bids - doesn't that expose the "secret" highest price and invalidate their auction system?
"The fact that he did it off the clock hardly seems like his boss' fault."
Sounds like a massive overtime claim going in though, if they say that he was working for the department during those hours at home...
"Oh, you agree that that devlopment was classed as work for hire? I'd like to claim 3500 hours overtime."
Wouldn't the metric system use temperatures in kelvin?
"Meanwhile, their 'extra validation' CPS states that they offer no warranties or guarantees, nor any detail about what they DO do to make extra super sure they don't issue certificates to some random Joe."
You're assuming that they're in the business of being secure and trustworthy, as they claim. It makes more sense if you think about their business as taking a toll on e-commerce websites.
"Pay us money, or Internet Explorer will tell your customers not to trust you"
Would it matter to them if a load of people got incorrecly certified? So long as business need to pay them before their site is "trusted" by the default browser, I can't imagine them being too bothered about actual security (other than for appearance).
"Does Best Buy have to have legislation to ask for your ID when you pay by credit card? No. Do they? Yes. Why? Business policies. Do stores have to have national laws enacted when they enforce their return policies? No. Do they? Yes. Why? Business policies."
Do people who ask themselves rhetorical questions sound like they have an axe to grind? Yes!
You talk like Michael Moore
"computers can nowadays compare fingerprints with ease"
How many distinct combinations exist? It had better be more than a few tens of billion (that need to always vary between individuals, never vary for the same individual, and all be recognisable as different by this computer.
e.g. surely if you took a monochrome scanner, simply counting bits would indicate that a 100,000x100,000 pixel scanner would be required to even satisfy the condition that everyone has a unique pattern (and that would be if everyone had a random scattering of dots on their finger that correspond exactly to pixels, rather than recognisable patterns that change size) - meaning that if any feature on anyones fingerprint changes by 100nm or more then the system can't be used to accurately identify people.
Or looking at it the other way, a 400x400 pixel "perfect in every possible way" scanner could only narrow you down to a choice of about 30,000 possible people.
"Well, you shouldn't use a Q-tip to clean your ear. It shoves the earwax further in, and does far more damage than good. No doctor would ever recommend Q-tips for ear cleaning."
They should stop selling them then, if they can't safely be used for the task they're designed for
but i noticed this on a Pineapple: "Suitable for vegetarians"
In Tesco supermarkets in the UK, the red peppers have a label "as seen on TV"
"And how many people really go to Dell to buy a computer and DON'T want windows on it?"
None obviously, because Dell won't sell them such a computer. That's a bit of a circular argument ("why do none of my customers buy something I don't sell")
b.t.w. don't Dell already support Windows XP Home, Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Media Centre Edition, Windows Vista Pro, Windows Vista Home, and a load of corporate special-options? Surely your argument (that adding a choice of operating systems requires Dell to add support for it in their assembly line) has already been solved.
"I don't understand why you would state in your license agreement that it would be covered by future licenses anyway"
You trust the FSF to make changes carefully
All those people who say they won't try free software because "it means learning a new interface" or "we'd have to convert all our files" or "they teach Office XP in school" or "it would require retraining" or "the TCO of switching is too high" - we now know what they actually mean.
"We want microsoft software at any cost"
Otherwise, all those arguments mean that they cannot use the latest version of Word.
"The one surprise though is that the brown Zune is apparently not only being bought, but more popular than the white model."
It's the Ubuntu users - they like brown...
"Compare the number of bird deaths from those windfarms"
Given that (a) they're not fast-spinning (b) not on land, and (c) not in the flight-path for a certain type of rare bird, it's difficult to imagine why you're using data from the Altamont Pass turbines to evaluate this project?
As the RSPB say, "The available evidence suggests that appropriately positioned wind farms do not pose a significant hazard for birds"
The problem with wind energy is that it's output is unreliable
Not when the wind turbines are in different places
and unlikely to match demand
Cold winds -> lots of electricity to heat houses. Plus, UK houses can turn their heating on and off when the electricity company sends them a radio signal, which means you can modify the demand whenever you want.
Essentially, this means that wind farms have to be backed up with other, reliable, fast-switching power sources.
Like Dinorwig power station? (hydroelectric, very rapid switching). You can also do it with a building full of fuel cells.
This, of course, means you've still not solved the energy problem - what do these other plants run on?
Does it matter? You already said they only need to match the difference in demand, to cover short-term fluctuations. And as mentioned above, those plants can run on electricity from the wind turbines if you want.
"Right, because your grand-daddy's rifle is really going to help against tanks and automatic weaponry."
It only needs to help against the police - if you're fighting for a true american cause, then your sons in the army will be back with their tank and automatic weaponry to fight with you...
besides, what part of the second amendment precludes you from owning tanks and automatic weaponry yourself? it doesn't mention any limit (and it's not like the people who wrote it didn't know about long range and crew-served weapons -- they chose not to add any such limits)
"Seriously. BFD."
You said that when they started tracking people by cellphones too, that it was no worse than being able to follow people around.
You'll probably say the same thing when they put tagging collars on people. "they can track you anyway through your ipod, so what's new? BFD"
"I don't know if YOU'RE trolling, but wtf does "Linux doesn't seem set up to save power" mean?"
My IBM Thinkpad: 2.5 hours battery life with Windows, less (much less) than 1 hour with Ubuntu.