While I'm sure this woman has the money to cover this just from control of assets, I don't like the precedent it sets; what if this happens to someone that CAN'T foot the bill?
If they find you and you can't pay, then they put you back.
Precious "Steamboat Willie" is more egregious. It contains little original material, and was - in fact - a pleasant cartoon recasting of the now classic "Steamboat Bill Junior [wikipedia.org]", by Buster Keaton.
Ah, Steamboat Bill Jr... The last independent film Buster Keaton made for United Artists, signaling the peak of his career. Everything after this would be downhill for him. He'd get kicked around Hollywood and become an alcoholic for decades after this. By contrast, after Steamboat Willie, everything would be up, up, up for Disney.
Month 1: Developer A writes a relatively complicated Java program. Developer A compiles it to bytecode, runs it through Orto and deploys resulting Javascript to company's webserver. Developer A writes no documentation.
Months 2-6: Developer A continues to write no documentation concerning his work in Month 1.
Month 7: Developer A quits, resigns, is fired, or otherwise disappears.
Month 8: Developer B -- Developer A's replacement -- is asked to fix several bugs in the company's web pages. Developer B opens up the Javascript and freaks out while looking at auto-generated Javascript. Developer B slowly but surely makes his way through the Javascript and makes required non-trivial changes, updates and modifications.
Month 9: Developer B flees the scene.
Month 10: Developer C -- Developer B's replacement -- is asked to fix several more bugs in the company's web page. Developer C opens up the original Java program. Developer C opens up the company's deployed web pages with embedded Javascript. Developer C spends several hours looking from one to the other and then back again. Developer C submits the resulting mess to thedailywtf.com and then runs screaming from the building.
To all potential Developer C's out there: Start running!
There's an funny blog I just saw a link to a few days ago called The Comics Curmudgeon (joshreads.com) where every day the author takes a few of the daily comic strips and complains about how lame the are (usually in a genuinely funny way).
I was curious to see what he thought of Dilbert and ran into this post concerning comic strips that have outlived their day (yes, Dilbert is one of them): http://joshreads.com/?p=924.
The best paragraph was describing For Better or Worse: "Trapped between a huge, dim, slavishly-devoted audience and a self-satisfied, ham-handed Stalinist author, this strip is creatively as dead as they come. Yet it will run on and on as a Frankenstein's monster stitched up from Mike's mewling brats and zombies from the Good Old Days, glued up with glop from that 'novel.'"
Oh, but the best are the new musical commercials about the "Big Old Expensive" phone company.
One of the sillier moments in those ads is where they have the "Big Old Expensive" phone company people singing about how they are sure that the TV service they provide is going to be fantastic even though they (as phone people) know next to nothing about television service.
Okay, fair enough. But they're making the argument about the phone company not knowing enough about TV to provide good TV service... in the middle of an ad where the cable television company is saying that they can provide great telephone service. Did no one spot the obvious logical flaw in their attack?!
The Daily WTF published an article very similar to this, where a web site's "security" model involved simply having a user fill in their username and password (which was processed by client-side javascript) and then forwarding them to an unsecured URL. WTF Security.
When the article's author pointed out to the company how bad their security was, he was accused of "hacking" in. A very, very funny article...
Agreed. Half of the stuff on the so-called Extinction Timeline looks like it was put on there to a) cause controversy b) be silly and light-hearted.
Land-line telephones gone by 2011? Can anyone see that happening?
Retirement? Gone before 2020? What does that even mean? We're going to pull people out of nursing homes and stick them back into their factory jobs?
Lunch will be gone by 2030?
The phrase "thank you" will be gone by 2013? Are they anticipating us all switching over to LOLCAT talk by then and ending conversations with: "KTHXBYE"?
Libraries will be RIP when you can browse any book / periodical / reasearch paper etc online.
And I mean any periodical, the microfilm of a 1972 NY times to a book thats been out of print for 20 years.
To expand on your point, it's good to remember that just because something is available on the Internet, it does not necessarily follow that it is automatically better/easier to view than something that it available at your library.
For example, most (if not all) of the New York Times archives are available on-line... but for a fee. The New York Times charges $3.95 for a single archive or $15.95 for a ten-pack of articles. Compare this to a archive of the newspaper in a bricks-n-mortar library which will allow you to look through their records for free as long as your willing to work the microfilm reader.
If, for example, you're a sports writer who is researching contemporary coverage of the 1972 Mets, you'd end up paying quite a lot more to do your research over the Internet as things stand now.
If she had sensitive data on there, she should have pulled the HD first. Sux to be her.
But you can't expect an average computer user to be pulling apart pieces of hardware before having repairs done; it simply isn't feasible. Besides, if she did pull the HD, Best Buy would probably turn around and claim she violated the terms of her warranty and that they won't fix it.
(Alternatively, the computer "expert" behind the counter will claim (after two months) to have found the real source of the problem: the HD is missing.)
The price is too high; we should be able to buy the movie for less than half that, then download it immediately (no DRM, of course). That would lower the costs of doing business - no discs to produce, no need to send anything by mail. Joel might even make more money doing it that way. He is relying on the Internet for marketing, as Mike Nelson has done very successfully with the help of that somethingawful guy, so why not also rely on the Internet for distribution too?
Actually, the Cinematic Titanic group intend to do exactly this. They planned on the first release being both downloadable and also on sale as a physical DVD at the same time. Unfortunately, there were some rights issues involved and they couldn't do that simultaneously (although they still plan on releasing this way in the not-too-distant future...)
From the Cinematic Titanic website:
Also, for the time being, this feature is only being made available as an actual DVD. We found out in the eleventh hour of negotiating with Sam Sherman that only the DVD rights are available right now, with the 'download to burn' rights becoming available in the spring. Sorry about that chiefs. Our survey indicated that four out of five of you prefer DVD anyway. But this download thing- We suspect there's a future to it.
they're rebels and good 'merkins who'll do the opposite of what people say "because they can".
Fortunately, Darwin takes care of most of these people the first time they take a car out on the freeway and decide to drive on the wrong side of the road "because they can".
Think of it as a combination of every gadget you could ever want for your car with the simplicity of a single-button user interface.
Think of it as a poorly-implemented waste of money.
I tend to agree with you. However, there is one feature that seems pretty neat. If they detect your airbag deploying and they are unable to contact you, then they automatically alert emergency services.
That's the one part of OnStar I'd actually be interested in using... but they don't appear to offer only that service. You have to pay an outrageous amount of money to get all the other "features" that come bundled with it.
(And, of course, I can't find any information as to whether the service is any actual good or not. How much of a collision can the OnStar device itself stand? The only information I can find in a quick google search is OnStar's advertising or "reviews" which look to be quickly re-written OnStar press releases...)
Slashdot Mirror
If they find you and you can't pay, then they put you back.
Ah, Steamboat Bill Jr... The last independent film Buster Keaton made for United Artists, signaling the peak of his career. Everything after this would be downhill for him. He'd get kicked around Hollywood and become an alcoholic for decades after this. By contrast, after Steamboat Willie, everything would be up, up, up for Disney.
Hollywood just isn't fair, is it?
What would you do,
If the labels said they'd sue,
Would you freak out and pay them their fee?
Send me a judge,
And he'll interpret the law,
And he won't put you under lock and key.
Month 1: Developer A writes a relatively complicated Java program. Developer A compiles it to bytecode, runs it through Orto and deploys resulting Javascript to company's webserver. Developer A writes no documentation.
Months 2-6: Developer A continues to write no documentation concerning his work in Month 1.
Month 7: Developer A quits, resigns, is fired, or otherwise disappears.
Month 8: Developer B -- Developer A's replacement -- is asked to fix several bugs in the company's web pages. Developer B opens up the Javascript and freaks out while looking at auto-generated Javascript. Developer B slowly but surely makes his way through the Javascript and makes required non-trivial changes, updates and modifications.
Month 9: Developer B flees the scene.
Month 10: Developer C -- Developer B's replacement -- is asked to fix several more bugs in the company's web page. Developer C opens up the original Java program. Developer C opens up the company's deployed web pages with embedded Javascript. Developer C spends several hours looking from one to the other and then back again. Developer C submits the resulting mess to thedailywtf.com and then runs screaming from the building.
To all potential Developer C's out there: Start running!
Remember, if the aliens don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
There's an funny blog I just saw a link to a few days ago called The Comics Curmudgeon (joshreads.com) where every day the author takes a few of the daily comic strips and complains about how lame the are (usually in a genuinely funny way).
I was curious to see what he thought of Dilbert and ran into this post concerning comic strips that have outlived their day (yes, Dilbert is one of them): http://joshreads.com/?p=924.
The best paragraph was describing For Better or Worse: "Trapped between a huge, dim, slavishly-devoted audience and a self-satisfied, ham-handed Stalinist author, this strip is creatively as dead as they come. Yet it will run on and on as a Frankenstein's monster stitched up from Mike's mewling brats and zombies from the Good Old Days, glued up with glop from that 'novel.'"
"Too many people had the suss,
Too many people support us,
An unlimited amount,
Too many outlets in and out,
Who?
E.M.I.! E.M.I.! E.M.I.!"
-- "E.M.I.", The Sex Pistols, 1977.
One of the sillier moments in those ads is where they have the "Big Old Expensive" phone company people singing about how they are sure that the TV service they provide is going to be fantastic even though they (as phone people) know next to nothing about television service.
Okay, fair enough. But they're making the argument about the phone company not knowing enough about TV to provide good TV service... in the middle of an ad where the cable television company is saying that they can provide great telephone service. Did no one spot the obvious logical flaw in their attack?!
With apologies to the Marx Brothers...
Salesman: This network is so easy to administer, an 11-year-old child could do it!
Groucho: Great! [quietly, to his aides] Quick, someone run out and get me an 11-year-old child; I can't make heads or tails of this O'Reilly guide!
This has to be a lost Monty Python sketch, right?
"I'm sure in 1985 plutonium is available at every corner drugstore, but in 1955 it's a little hard to come by!"
The Daily WTF published an article very similar to this, where a web site's "security" model involved simply having a user fill in their username and password (which was processed by client-side javascript) and then forwarding them to an unsecured URL. WTF Security.
When the article's author pointed out to the company how bad their security was, he was accused of "hacking" in. A very, very funny article...
I just noticed that according to this timeline, Swiss Army knives went extinct in 2001. So, er, what's this, then?
Agreed. Half of the stuff on the so-called Extinction Timeline looks like it was put on there to a) cause controversy b) be silly and light-hearted.
Land-line telephones gone by 2011? Can anyone see that happening?
Retirement? Gone before 2020? What does that even mean? We're going to pull people out of nursing homes and stick them back into their factory jobs?
Lunch will be gone by 2030?
The phrase "thank you" will be gone by 2013? Are they anticipating us all switching over to LOLCAT talk by then and ending conversations with: "KTHXBYE"?
To expand on your point, it's good to remember that just because something is available on the Internet, it does not necessarily follow that it is automatically better/easier to view than something that it available at your library.
For example, most (if not all) of the New York Times archives are available on-line... but for a fee. The New York Times charges $3.95 for a single archive or $15.95 for a ten-pack of articles. Compare this to a archive of the newspaper in a bricks-n-mortar library which will allow you to look through their records for free as long as your willing to work the microfilm reader.
If, for example, you're a sports writer who is researching contemporary coverage of the 1972 Mets, you'd end up paying quite a lot more to do your research over the Internet as things stand now.
(Alternatively, the computer "expert" behind the counter will claim (after two months) to have found the real source of the problem: the HD is missing.)
Actually, the Cinematic Titanic group intend to do exactly this. They planned on the first release being both downloadable and also on sale as a physical DVD at the same time. Unfortunately, there were some rights issues involved and they couldn't do that simultaneously (although they still plan on releasing this way in the not-too-distant future...)
From the Cinematic Titanic website:
http://cinematictitanic.com/wpmu/blog/2007/12/21/its-on/
I love it when Joel puts fan letters up on Still-Store...
Indeed. The headline would be just as accurate if it terminated after only the first three words.
Fortunately, Darwin takes care of most of these people the first time they take a car out on the freeway and decide to drive on the wrong side of the road "because they can".
That's the one part of OnStar I'd actually be interested in using... but they don't appear to offer only that service. You have to pay an outrageous amount of money to get all the other "features" that come bundled with it.
(And, of course, I can't find any information as to whether the service is any actual good or not. How much of a collision can the OnStar device itself stand? The only information I can find in a quick google search is OnStar's advertising or "reviews" which look to be quickly re-written OnStar press releases...)