I'm not saying that it's better for robots to work the help desk, just that it's inevitable if the droids can do a good enough job for less money than people would cost.
The whole point of automation is that it can do things that are difficult for us to do by hand.
Or things that are unpleasant or that there aren't enough people willing to do for money. Arguably, interacting with people who can't use a word processor might fall into one of those categories.
> Explorer cannot keep the display configuration per folder that > I set it - not if I edit a parent folder (with the 'inherit' > checkbox cleared, obviously).
I think this is a long-running bug from XP and earlier. The "per-folder" configuration stores configuration entries for a fixed maximum number of folders, which I imagine you are more likely to have exceeded if you are running Vista.
There may be a registry hack, but I just turn the feature off because it annoys me when it works.
Well, the thing about "Cloud Computing" being a buzzword is that there are thousands of developers who have been doing it for 5, 10, 15, or 20 years, it just wasn't called "Cloud Computing" for all of that time.
Asking for 5 years of.Net experience in 2001 was stupid, but asking for 5 years of cloud computing experience in 2008 is not. The difference is that.Net refers to a specific product line, "Cloud Computing" does not.
Likewise, if anyone asks for Web 2.0 experience, I've been doing it for 10 years, even though my experience with some of the products used to do the same thing these days is considerably less.
Reminds me of "This program cannot be installed on Windows NT 4.0 unless service pack 2 has been installed", after installing service pack 3. Who hires these people?!
Sadly, my land was hypothetical. My real position is more like yours, only I'm (probably) older, having left Uni a long time ago. And technically, I have less than no money.
Say, does anybody actually read posts this long after the original article?
> Oh please don't go bleat on about having the right to food, housing or medical. Those things are important, yes, but, if they are so important than shouldn't you be willing to work for them?
And if the gp wants some land to work on, he/she can work on my land, which is mine because somebody stuck a flag in it 200 years ago.
I'm a capitalist, but the gp has a point.
You could say wealth & resources are available to anyone who works hard enough. But the amount of wealth available to someone who works hard in the Congo is quite different from the wealth available to someone who works hard in the UK.
If you're willing to accept the benefits bestowed on you by your forefathers, perhaps you should be willing to accept responsibility for previous generations' injustices.
When they auction off the computer that was allegedly used to breach copyright, are they going to wipe the hard drive, or arrest the sucker that buys the computer at auction for being in possession of an unlicensed/underlicensed copy of Windows.
>>What is "available memory" anyway? It this your total amount of RAM, >>the amount of RAM still unused after you boot your OS, or what is >>left after you start your browser and some other applications? >>In many cases, only the user knows in which context GIMP will be used. >Now you're getting silly. Anyone with an ounce of common sense will >assume that "available memory" is the amount of memory that is >available, not your total amount of RAM. In other words, the amount >of memory that is not being used by any other programs at the time >that you start GIMP.
Next time I'm using your operating system, remind me to start all of my applications in the correct order, based on how much RAM I want them to use.
Using Hungarian notation to indicate that a variable is an integer may be pointless, but using a prefix to indicate that a variable represents an integral number of twips rather than pixels, or to distinguish between string variables which hold sql strings and string variables which hold html strings is useful. Even more so if you are coding in a language that doesn't support typedefs.
...Also, what if the "porn" being censored is actually a web site which explains how AIDS is spread. Filters have a lower IQ than the people recommending them.
> No. She cannot and will not be added > to any sex offender lists or any other > governmentally maintained lists because > of this. She is not a sex offender.
She is already on a sex offender list. What? That's not her name on the list?
Non-nerds don't *have* to use anything, any more than I do.
I don't know how to drive a car. I *demand* that all cars be self driving so that I don't need to learn how to drive one.
Seriously, I don't believe in making things *arbitrarily* more difficult than they have to be, but knowing how to use something is not an entitlement received at birth.
I'm not for copyright infringement - my means of making a living ultimately relies on the existence of copyright. However, compare the maximum penalty for making an unlicensed copy of Spiderman 3 vs the maximum penalty for speeding.
If we are going to have statutory penalties for copyright infringement, let's make them 2 or 3 times the retail value of the item copied, not $1000's per song/movie.
Or here's an even better suggestion: introduce compulsory licensing, as is already done in some areas.
If I write a song, Sony can get one of their artists to record it without obtaining my explicit permission, and I would get paid pennies per copy produced. But somehow it's a crime if I make copies of that recording without obtaining explicit permission from Sony.
Maybe we should file annual returns declaring which songs/movies we copied during the year and pay $0.50 per song, and $4 per movie.
LOL. I've been thinking of making my next software purchase with "premium dollars". The agreement could be printed on the seal of a transparent plastic pouch that contains the actual currency. It would start with "By removing the currency from this pouch, I agree to the terms of this End Retailer Agreement."
Of course, here in au, we already have a pretty good End Retailer Agreement. It's called the "Trade Practices Act 1974".
Slashdot Mirror
As long as this doesn't victimize legitimate users.
It's like any form of sadomasochism. If it's consensual, there's no victim.
I'm not saying that it's better for robots to work the help desk, just that it's inevitable if the droids can do a good enough job for less money than people would cost.
The whole point of automation is that it can do things that are difficult for us to do by hand.
Or things that are unpleasant or that there aren't enough people willing to do for money. Arguably, interacting with people who can't use a word processor might fall into one of those categories.
"It wasn't me your honor. It must have been that government official to whom I gave my password."
> Explorer cannot keep the display configuration per folder that
> I set it - not if I edit a parent folder (with the 'inherit'
> checkbox cleared, obviously).
I think this is a long-running bug from XP and earlier. The "per-folder" configuration stores configuration entries for a fixed maximum number of folders, which I imagine you are more likely to have exceeded if you are running Vista.
There may be a registry hack, but I just turn the feature off because it annoys me when it works.
Well, the thing about "Cloud Computing" being a buzzword is that there are thousands of developers who have been doing it for 5, 10, 15, or 20 years, it just wasn't called "Cloud Computing" for all of that time.
Asking for 5 years of .Net experience in 2001 was stupid, but asking for 5 years of cloud computing experience in 2008 is not. The difference is that .Net refers to a specific product line, "Cloud Computing" does not.
Likewise, if anyone asks for Web 2.0 experience, I've been doing it for 10 years, even though my experience with some of the products used to do the same thing these days is considerably less.
Reminds me of "This program cannot be installed on Windows NT 4.0 unless service pack 2 has been installed", after installing service pack 3. Who hires these people?!
Sucks to be a vendor of software that isn't included in the price of a new computer.
Sadly, my land was hypothetical. My real position is more like yours, only I'm (probably) older, having left Uni a long time ago. And technically, I have less than no money.
Say, does anybody actually read posts this long after the original article?
Adelle.
I consider showing off how smart you are to be a basic human right. "IP" laws interfere with peoples' ability to exercise that right.
Adelle.
> Oh please don't go bleat on about having the right to food, housing or medical. Those things are important, yes, but, if they are so important than shouldn't you be willing to work for them?
And if the gp wants some land to work on, he/she can work on my land, which is mine because somebody stuck a flag in it 200 years ago.
I'm a capitalist, but the gp has a point.
You could say wealth & resources are available to anyone who works hard enough. But the amount of wealth available to someone who works hard in the Congo is quite different from the wealth available to someone who works hard in the UK.
If you're willing to accept the benefits bestowed on you by your forefathers, perhaps you should be willing to accept responsibility for previous generations' injustices.
Adelle.
When they auction off the computer that was allegedly used to breach copyright, are they going to wipe the hard drive, or arrest the sucker that buys the computer at auction for being in possession of an unlicensed/underlicensed copy of Windows.
They're breaching the EULA, which specifically states that Windows Server 2003 is not licensed to be used as a desktop OS.
>>What is "available memory" anyway? It this your total amount of RAM,
>>the amount of RAM still unused after you boot your OS, or what is
>>left after you start your browser and some other applications?
>>In many cases, only the user knows in which context GIMP will be used.
>Now you're getting silly. Anyone with an ounce of common sense will
>assume that "available memory" is the amount of memory that is
>available, not your total amount of RAM. In other words, the amount
>of memory that is not being used by any other programs at the time
>that you start GIMP.
Next time I'm using your operating system, remind me to start all
of my applications in the correct order, based on how much RAM
I want them to use.
Adelle.
Using Hungarian notation to indicate that a variable is an integer may be pointless, but using a prefix to indicate that a variable represents an integral number of twips rather than pixels, or to distinguish between string variables which hold sql strings and string variables which hold html strings is useful. Even more so if you are coding in a language that doesn't support typedefs.
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Wrong.html
Adelle.
but you get what you pay for. Helvetica sells for $24.
...Also, what if the "porn" being censored is actually a web site which explains how AIDS is spread. Filters have a lower IQ than the people recommending them.
> No. She cannot and will not be added
> to any sex offender lists or any other
> governmentally maintained lists because
> of this. She is not a sex offender.
She is already on a sex offender list. What? That's not her name on the list?
Yeah, she's already branded, just not by MySpace.
Adelle.
> Remember, non-nerds have to use this stuff,
Non-nerds don't *have* to use anything, any more than I do.
I don't know how to drive a car. I *demand* that all cars be self driving so that I don't need to learn how to drive one.
Seriously, I don't believe in making things *arbitrarily* more difficult than they have to be, but knowing how to use something is not an entitlement received at birth.
Adelle.
I'm not for copyright infringement - my means of making a living ultimately relies on the existence of copyright. However, compare the maximum penalty for making an unlicensed copy of Spiderman 3 vs the maximum penalty for speeding.
If we are going to have statutory penalties for copyright infringement, let's make them 2 or 3 times the retail value of the item copied, not $1000's per song/movie.
Or here's an even better suggestion: introduce compulsory licensing, as is already done in some areas.
If I write a song, Sony can get one of their artists to record it without obtaining my explicit permission, and I would get paid pennies per copy produced. But somehow it's a crime if I make copies of that recording without obtaining explicit permission from Sony.
Maybe we should file annual returns declaring which songs/movies we copied during the year and pay $0.50 per song, and $4 per movie.
Adelle.
they are still leaving the bulk of the internet available? Citing potential misinformation as a reason seems disingenuous.
which is why their download link requires Javascript.
> Since when do we, as Americans, allow witch hunts in order to save failing court cases?
For as long as you have had "grand juries".
Adelle.
for leeching bandwidth. As for the license violation, an appropriate response would have been to send a Cease and Desist letter to MySpace.
LOL. I've been thinking of making my next software purchase with "premium dollars". The agreement could be printed on the seal of a transparent plastic pouch that contains the actual currency. It would start with "By removing the currency from this pouch, I agree to the terms of this End Retailer Agreement."
Of course, here in au, we already have a pretty good End Retailer Agreement. It's called the "Trade Practices Act 1974".