marketing speak and aren't always 100% "correct." however, there's some "substance" to it because he is *heard* and his opinions/ideas/thoughts are *valued* and *sought after* by others.
it's like the blog madness - most of them aren't worth crap, in terms of content. but if you can command an audience, even if the contents are crap, it's "worth" something...arguably worth "more" than other blogs with better contents but no audience.
i'm not saying open source has no voice. rather, i'm saying that just because what he says isn't all correct, doesn't mean what he says is worthless. he does command some "worth" just because people listen to what he has to say.
it's not the importance - it's the excitement. considering science is about aqcuiring knowledge, it's a bit more enticing when you know the data is "virgin."
scientists do not think they are owed money. they realize what they do is very self-motivated and not the most "benefit" yielding in terms of "real world" uses. so what. what is wrong with spending a tiny fraction (esp. compared to defense spending, at least in the u.s.) of the budget for pure scientific exploration? if you think money should only be spent on things that yield quick "tangible" benefits, i think the culture would be a very unfilling one.
i think the population that had their iPods bought (it is quite expensive, afterall) - teens, college kids with well to do parents - and i'm sure there are lots of them - have no particular affinity towards windows. it's something they have because it was something gotten for them.
when they are ready for an upgrade, i'd imagine some of them will be curious what Mac will be like and look at Mac mini and iBook. if their parents can be convinced, which has been made easier with $499 Mac mini, they will switch no problem - and they probably won't have much trouble adjusting either. (and the details like Mac mini has no keyboard/mouse will not matter much, i'm pretty sure they are used to buying from dell, being lured by $299 desktops after rebate, but then talked into buying $100s in upgrades.)
>is it much like the iPod, and just another fashion accessory with secondary consideration given to functions?
can you explain how iPod is "form over function"? i find it to be the most usable mp3 player out there. about the only thing i feel it's missing is a radio.
in any case, Mac mini - what you see is what you get. if you want expansion, then it's "form over function" for you and the machine will not serve you well. otherwise, it's as capable as any other desktops out there - it's got USB ports, firewire ports, DVI (VGA adapter included), Combo drive, etc. (i personally don't consider lack of p/s, parallel or serial ports "lack of function" as much as keeping the legacy ports. similarly for floppy disk.)
well, it took me 5. two of which were spent taking classes. then roughly a half to 3/4 of a year spent writing my thesis. so that left around 3 to 4 years of real research. so 5 1/2 years would affect a good portion of two generations of graduate students.
surely there will always be ways around something like this, just like some kids will manage to get pr0n videos or buy alcohol.
for most online purchases, credit card is used. and if you have a credit card, you are not a minor. so i don't believe it's as easy as the orig. poster made it out to be to get M-rated video games online if you are a minor.
needless to say, 65 months is 5 1/2 years. that's roughly two generations of graduate students who will not see any "live" data but instead, will work on "re-analysis" of data taken years ago. much less exciting...
on the other hand, some of those students will get to work on building the new scope itself - which is an opportunity rarely available.
interesting dilemma for the future graduate students.
indications are that she was not violating copyright.
if she was alive, she probably would have had to settle (i.e. pay RIAA money) because if she's like most people, she wouldn't be able to afford to go to the court simply to defend herself.
it wasn't meant to be a perfect analogy. i just used it as an example of where i wouldn't (personally) use the word "deserve" to describe it, no matter the reason - no one "deserve" to be murdered, or spammed, in the context of this story.
>It may be dificult, it may be annoying and time consuming, but no one is without options. To simply do nothing at all is irresponsible, and indefensible.
you said it yourself - it may be difficult/annoying/time consuming, etc. that's why i don't think anyone "deserve" it. that's all i'm saying.
i didn't advocate asking spammers to stop, per se. no kidding that won't work. i was stating how "deserve" sounds a bit off. would you say someone living in a poor neightborhood and gets murdered "deserve" it too?
10 seconds per email isn't that far off. if you were using pine and all the spams came consecutively, sure, it only takes 1 second to hold down "D" and erase them.
but if you were using more complicated email programs, highlighting spam, clicking delete, throughout the day, 10 seconds per spam deleted (which is* not* the same thing 10 seconds per deleting a spam) doesn't sound that unreasonable.
i'm sorry, but this is such an awful attitude. spam is being inflicted on millions by a handful of greedy spammers. no one "deserves" to be harmed by it.
is there a compelling benefit for the players to play (traditional) games on linux? as an OS, i can understand how linux is a great alternative to windows - stability, cost, security, etc.
but i think gaming is fairly well covered by consoles (cheap, easily accessible) and PCs running windows (highly optimized hardware support, abundance of games).
why linux? (other than providing competition... which i won't dispute is a bad thing.)
i won't dispute your overall sentiment - i agree with you that the traditional commercial financing method is probably fast becoming obsolete.
one is enough to get it on the p2p, you say... and you are right. but p2p is another piece of technology majority of content buyers will not be familiar with, or can easily be "scared" into not using by companies threatening lawsuits, don't you think?
as the computer literacy increases in general, i completely agree with you that hacking will become more common and people will use p2p (or other tools) to get around whatever (stupid, i feel) restcitions these content providers put. but i don't think we are there yet.
>because I make them change it too often (every 90 days)
no kidding they have to use simple passwords. making them change password every three month does not improve security at all. if it gets hacked, you'd know it immediately - so why make people change every 3 months?
the key is to make everyone come up with a secure password they get to keep.
Slashdot Mirror
i think the submitter should be requested to use past tense ("had") when linking to a video. ;)
mac mini is a budget mac. and at $499, it *is* a budget machine. get with the program. you expect a G5 for $499?
it's like the blog madness - most of them aren't worth crap, in terms of content. but if you can command an audience, even if the contents are crap, it's "worth" something...arguably worth "more" than other blogs with better contents but no audience.
i'm not saying open source has no voice. rather, i'm saying that just because what he says isn't all correct, doesn't mean what he says is worthless. he does command some "worth" just because people listen to what he has to say.
scientists do not think they are owed money. they realize what they do is very self-motivated and not the most "benefit" yielding in terms of "real world" uses. so what. what is wrong with spending a tiny fraction (esp. compared to defense spending, at least in the u.s.) of the budget for pure scientific exploration? if you think money should only be spent on things that yield quick "tangible" benefits, i think the culture would be a very unfilling one.
it's got an USB hub built in too. a nice touch, esp. with the proliferation of keychain memories.
when they are ready for an upgrade, i'd imagine some of them will be curious what Mac will be like and look at Mac mini and iBook. if their parents can be convinced, which has been made easier with $499 Mac mini, they will switch no problem - and they probably won't have much trouble adjusting either. (and the details like Mac mini has no keyboard/mouse will not matter much, i'm pretty sure they are used to buying from dell, being lured by $299 desktops after rebate, but then talked into buying $100s in upgrades.)
can you explain how iPod is "form over function"? i find it to be the most usable mp3 player out there. about the only thing i feel it's missing is a radio.
in any case, Mac mini - what you see is what you get. if you want expansion, then it's "form over function" for you and the machine will not serve you well. otherwise, it's as capable as any other desktops out there - it's got USB ports, firewire ports, DVI (VGA adapter included), Combo drive, etc. (i personally don't consider lack of p/s, parallel or serial ports "lack of function" as much as keeping the legacy ports. similarly for floppy disk.)
$pAM 1O1?
well, it took me 5. two of which were spent taking classes. then roughly a half to 3/4 of a year spent writing my thesis. so that left around 3 to 4 years of real research. so 5 1/2 years would affect a good portion of two generations of graduate students.
for most online purchases, credit card is used. and if you have a credit card, you are not a minor. so i don't believe it's as easy as the orig. poster made it out to be to get M-rated video games online if you are a minor.
on the other hand, some of those students will get to work on building the new scope itself - which is an opportunity rarely available.
interesting dilemma for the future graduate students.
enough said.
then there are those who think the one who noticed is an idiot and explain so... and on and on...
literally!
if she was alive, she probably would have had to settle (i.e. pay RIAA money) because if she's like most people, she wouldn't be able to afford to go to the court simply to defend herself.
>It may be dificult, it may be annoying and time consuming, but no one is without options. To simply do nothing at all is irresponsible, and indefensible.
you said it yourself - it may be difficult/annoying/time consuming, etc. that's why i don't think anyone "deserve" it. that's all i'm saying.
i didn't advocate asking spammers to stop, per se. no kidding that won't work. i was stating how "deserve" sounds a bit off. would you say someone living in a poor neightborhood and gets murdered "deserve" it too?
but if you were using more complicated email programs, highlighting spam, clicking delete, throughout the day, 10 seconds per spam deleted (which is* not* the same thing 10 seconds per deleting a spam) doesn't sound that unreasonable.
with that many digits, i think "DOLLARS" would have been fine, that extra "TRILLION" doesn't add much to the IMPACT. :P
i'm sorry, but this is such an awful attitude. spam is being inflicted on millions by a handful of greedy spammers. no one "deserves" to be harmed by it.
MS had been using Yahoo engine for searching until recently, i believe. the new MSN search uses MS developed search engine/algorithm.
but i think gaming is fairly well covered by consoles (cheap, easily accessible) and PCs running windows (highly optimized hardware support, abundance of games).
why linux? (other than providing competition... which i won't dispute is a bad thing.)
one is enough to get it on the p2p, you say... and you are right. but p2p is another piece of technology majority of content buyers will not be familiar with, or can easily be "scared" into not using by companies threatening lawsuits, don't you think?
as the computer literacy increases in general, i completely agree with you that hacking will become more common and people will use p2p (or other tools) to get around whatever (stupid, i feel) restcitions these content providers put. but i don't think we are there yet.
i think the key is, it's not all (or even most), but only some would hack.
no kidding they have to use simple passwords. making them change password every three month does not improve security at all. if it gets hacked, you'd know it immediately - so why make people change every 3 months?
the key is to make everyone come up with a secure password they get to keep.