This is good news for them.
If they do this, their software will meet the Massachusetts requirement, and everyone can be happy. I can continue to use OpenOffice.org without having to convert to MS to send to people.
Microsoft can continue to sell their products to people who want the features it has to offer.
The end result is that those consumers will be able to choose the office suite of their choice.
I applaud the move as I file documents in the commonwealth from time to time.
A benefit of Open Office files is that they are generally smaller files that MS files. And, more importantly, being able to file.pdfs helps eliminate one of the great threats inherent in.doc files. That is the hidden parts of the document. The stuff that was once part of the document, but was removed in editing.
I have opened many a.doc file in a simple text or hex editor and found some very interesting revisions or other information. One file mysteriously had a persons application for benefits in it. This included SS#. It is hard to be certain that you've eliminated these dregs when using Word.
Hopefully this will lead to a more secure America.
Another benefit of the.pdf is What You Sent Is What They Get. WYSIWTG. You can never be sure that all your pretty formatting will survive when your.doc file is opened on the other side.
Flash has become rather commonplace.
And, regrettably, many sites are trying to require you to use it in order to view their sites. I prefer substance over flash. I also have refused to install their software for many years. Sites that will not allow me to navigate without flash do not get visited by me. There is almost always another site where I can purchase an item, or view the information.
Let's hope this causes a number of slashdotters to remove Flash, or at least not install any new versions.
I used to laugh at a Microsoft poster showing some guy who looked like a middle-management drone saying something to the effect of. '90% of hiring managers find Microsoft certification helpful in the making hiring decisions.'
I felt like scribbling, "and the other 10% realise they are totally worthless."
If you parse the former statement, you'll realise they are not saying managers won't hire someone without certification, just that it was "helpful." In fact, they way it was worded made me suspicious as to what the question was that they submitted to these "hiring managers." Anyone who has looked at how survey can be manipulated know that the wording of a question can have a serious influence on the results. This survey could have even had the 0 - 5 range of answers, with only 0 counting as "not at all helpful." If that was the case, then 10% of hiring managers choosing that option is significant.
Back in the tech boom I know of non-techies that went and got MCSEs. I personally worked with someone who got their MCSE from a certification mill. Nice enough guy, but he didn't know squat about configuring systems.
"He said they refer to technologies like VoIP as "TechCom" and fully expect it to replace Telecom as time goes on - and the market of incompatable technologies is just because the technology is in it's infancy [VHS vs Beta, Laserdisk, VCD, DVD, Blu-ray vs HD-DVD would make a string of good examples] and that overtime they'll eventually all become cross-compatable."
VOIP already has a fair amount of compatibility. The problem with Vonage is that the sell users locked ATAs but tell the customer their not locked into a contract. Well yeah, it's not a contract, but what the customer bought looks just like what others are selling, but will not be allowed to work with others.
Vonage even had the habit of locking users ATA's that were purchased outside of the Vonage system.
I used them 2 years ago and went from being a supporter and getting people signed up to someone who now warns others of their habits. The way they treated their customers back then was inexcusable. I doubt they are much better now. Read Broadband Reports to get more info on them.
There was a book from 1961 called "The Unsleep" It featured the drug Sta-Awake." It is a good read if you can find a copy of it. Authors were Diana and Meir Gillon. I have a copy somewhere having read it about 10 years ago. It still pops up in my mind these days.
In the wide awake world of the future, beds become known only for its non-sleep purpose, and people have to find ways to use up their extra time they have available. The social impact of all of this is explored.
I won't say anything more to spoil the story if you can find it.
$5 dialup also requires a phone line, and is still miserably slow. Many low income people have difficulties with the phone companies for various reasons making it difficult, if not impossible for them to get a phone line.
I had a friend who could not get a phone line through Verizon because of charges made by a former room mate after he moved out.
It is worth seeing how much this will cost, and what the expected return will be. Remember, there will be many intangibles in this.
Amigas with 300 baud modems? Unlikely. By the time the Amiga came out 1200 was already the bottom end. 2400 and higher was more common. The VIC-20 was two generations before it, and that was the old 300 baud days. Sometimes you'd dial in at 150 baud if the messed up characters got to be too much. We got pretty good at reading words and sentences that had messed up characters in them. You got to knowing what were the common errors.
As I read the comments, I couldn't help but notice how similiar the system is to the old BBS days.
Yes, we now have graphics all over, and thread organization, but the rudiments of that was there even back then. We had ASCII art, and especially ATASCII art for us Atari users. Most BBS's had some organization to the thread.
Perhaps the biggest difference would be scope. Then, most BBS's were local. You made a local call and got on. The ones that were visited at greater distances tended to be Phreaker boards since one needed a way to call them without breaking the piggy bank. Now, we can reach blogs all around the world, with some exceptions. We also have greater scope in terms of interest. Most BBS material was the type that would interest those investing in the new technologies. A 300 baud modem was still an expensive toy when I got into it, and 1200 baud was way too pricey. One good thing about 300 baud was that you could read the messages as they passed by on the screen.
Only thing I miss from the good old days was the sense of community that existed. This was also found on the internet until AOL let "them" On the Loose.
Doesn't biodiesel come at least partially from petroleum?
I'd like to see the OPs data showing what he really gets, not the digested data he's giving out.
Anyone recall when they first saw PocketPCs that make call related notes? I see this one was filed in January of 2005. If anyone not under an NDA saw that feature before January 2004, Microsoft's goose is cooked. The US is almost the only country that allows you to file a patent a year after you first publicly displayed it. Most other countries do not allow you that grace period. The PocketPC phone I purchased last year had that feature, but I did not buy it until Q4.
Anyone see a demo at a trade show or Microsoft event?
That looks like the Bahnhof in Hamburg. Is it?
I swear I recognize the building. Although it has been 12 years since I've been there.
The picture is fantastic in terms of resolution.
This whole thing sounds like a good way for Verisign to make more money. Tell me they won't be selling the ability to target ads based upon the age and gender of the keyholder.
Further, if this is to have any security in the form of being able to cancel stolen keys, the key will have to be linked to the student it was given to. So, although the key itself might not hold the students personal information, Verisign will have it.
Given Verisign's past abuses of information in its possession, I find it hard to believe they won't start selling some form of access to this. It may be as simple as allowing "advertisers" to offer something directly to the child. Since the information was previously obtained, they could argue that they do not need the parent's permission since they are not gathering the info, only using it.
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This is good news for them. If they do this, their software will meet the Massachusetts requirement, and everyone can be happy. I can continue to use OpenOffice.org without having to convert to MS to send to people. Microsoft can continue to sell their products to people who want the features it has to offer. The end result is that those consumers will be able to choose the office suite of their choice.
I applaud the move as I file documents in the commonwealth from time to time. A benefit of Open Office files is that they are generally smaller files that MS files. And, more importantly, being able to file .pdfs helps eliminate one of the great threats inherent in .doc files. That is the hidden parts of the document. The stuff that was once part of the document, but was removed in editing.
I have opened many a .doc file in a simple text or hex editor and found some very interesting revisions or other information. One file mysteriously had a persons application for benefits in it. This included SS#. It is hard to be certain that you've eliminated these dregs when using Word.
Hopefully this will lead to a more secure America.
Another benefit of the .pdf is What You Sent Is What They Get. WYSIWTG. You can never be sure that all your pretty formatting will survive when your .doc file is opened on the other side.
Flash has become rather commonplace. And, regrettably, many sites are trying to require you to use it in order to view their sites. I prefer substance over flash. I also have refused to install their software for many years. Sites that will not allow me to navigate without flash do not get visited by me. There is almost always another site where I can purchase an item, or view the information. Let's hope this causes a number of slashdotters to remove Flash, or at least not install any new versions.
You got it!
I used to laugh at a Microsoft poster showing some guy who looked like a middle-management drone saying something to the effect of. '90% of hiring managers find Microsoft certification helpful in the making hiring decisions.'
I felt like scribbling, "and the other 10% realise they are totally worthless."
If you parse the former statement, you'll realise they are not saying managers won't hire someone without certification, just that it was "helpful." In fact, they way it was worded made me suspicious as to what the question was that they submitted to these "hiring managers." Anyone who has looked at how survey can be manipulated know that the wording of a question can have a serious influence on the results. This survey could have even had the 0 - 5 range of answers, with only 0 counting as "not at all helpful." If that was the case, then 10% of hiring managers choosing that option is significant.
Back in the tech boom I know of non-techies that went and got MCSEs. I personally worked with someone who got their MCSE from a certification mill. Nice enough guy, but he didn't know squat about configuring systems.
"He said they refer to technologies like VoIP as "TechCom" and fully expect it to replace Telecom as time goes on - and the market of incompatable technologies is just because the technology is in it's infancy [VHS vs Beta, Laserdisk, VCD, DVD, Blu-ray vs HD-DVD would make a string of good examples] and that overtime they'll eventually all become cross-compatable." VOIP already has a fair amount of compatibility. The problem with Vonage is that the sell users locked ATAs but tell the customer their not locked into a contract. Well yeah, it's not a contract, but what the customer bought looks just like what others are selling, but will not be allowed to work with others. Vonage even had the habit of locking users ATA's that were purchased outside of the Vonage system. I used them 2 years ago and went from being a supporter and getting people signed up to someone who now warns others of their habits. The way they treated their customers back then was inexcusable. I doubt they are much better now. Read Broadband Reports to get more info on them.
It is not illegal to record HD. I do it all the time with my DVHS. Granted they are almost impossible to acquire, but they work great.
Here's a link to the reuters story so you don't have to register with the NYT. http://today.reuters.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?t ype=technologyNews&storyID=2005-08-24T080642Z_01_D IT429146_RTRIDST_0_TECH-JAPAN-HITACHI-DC.XML
The quote on the front from none other thatn Athur C. Clarke is. "Both an amusing fantasy and a serious warning of the 24-hour a day future."
There was a book from 1961 called "The Unsleep" It featured the drug Sta-Awake." It is a good read if you can find a copy of it. Authors were Diana and Meir Gillon. I have a copy somewhere having read it about 10 years ago. It still pops up in my mind these days. In the wide awake world of the future, beds become known only for its non-sleep purpose, and people have to find ways to use up their extra time they have available. The social impact of all of this is explored. I won't say anything more to spoil the story if you can find it.
$5 dialup also requires a phone line, and is still miserably slow. Many low income people have difficulties with the phone companies for various reasons making it difficult, if not impossible for them to get a phone line. I had a friend who could not get a phone line through Verizon because of charges made by a former room mate after he moved out. It is worth seeing how much this will cost, and what the expected return will be. Remember, there will be many intangibles in this.
Amigas with 300 baud modems? Unlikely. By the time the Amiga came out 1200 was already the bottom end. 2400 and higher was more common. The VIC-20 was two generations before it, and that was the old 300 baud days. Sometimes you'd dial in at 150 baud if the messed up characters got to be too much. We got pretty good at reading words and sentences that had messed up characters in them. You got to knowing what were the common errors.
As I read the comments, I couldn't help but notice how similiar the system is to the old BBS days. Yes, we now have graphics all over, and thread organization, but the rudiments of that was there even back then. We had ASCII art, and especially ATASCII art for us Atari users. Most BBS's had some organization to the thread. Perhaps the biggest difference would be scope. Then, most BBS's were local. You made a local call and got on. The ones that were visited at greater distances tended to be Phreaker boards since one needed a way to call them without breaking the piggy bank. Now, we can reach blogs all around the world, with some exceptions. We also have greater scope in terms of interest. Most BBS material was the type that would interest those investing in the new technologies. A 300 baud modem was still an expensive toy when I got into it, and 1200 baud was way too pricey. One good thing about 300 baud was that you could read the messages as they passed by on the screen. Only thing I miss from the good old days was the sense of community that existed. This was also found on the internet until AOL let "them" On the Loose.
Doesn't biodiesel come at least partially from petroleum? I'd like to see the OPs data showing what he really gets, not the digested data he's giving out.
Anyone recall when they first saw PocketPCs that make call related notes? I see this one was filed in January of 2005. If anyone not under an NDA saw that feature before January 2004, Microsoft's goose is cooked. The US is almost the only country that allows you to file a patent a year after you first publicly displayed it. Most other countries do not allow you that grace period. The PocketPC phone I purchased last year had that feature, but I did not buy it until Q4. Anyone see a demo at a trade show or Microsoft event?
That looks like the Bahnhof in Hamburg. Is it? I swear I recognize the building. Although it has been 12 years since I've been there. The picture is fantastic in terms of resolution.
This whole thing sounds like a good way for Verisign to make more money. Tell me they won't be selling the ability to target ads based upon the age and gender of the keyholder. Further, if this is to have any security in the form of being able to cancel stolen keys, the key will have to be linked to the student it was given to. So, although the key itself might not hold the students personal information, Verisign will have it. Given Verisign's past abuses of information in its possession, I find it hard to believe they won't start selling some form of access to this. It may be as simple as allowing "advertisers" to offer something directly to the child. Since the information was previously obtained, they could argue that they do not need the parent's permission since they are not gathering the info, only using it.