I think you're mistaken. First, you're thinking of a particular portion of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996: Title V, the Communications Decency Act.
When asked what he thought about the ban, Gingrich said "It's probably illegal under our Constitution." He goes on to say that it's perfectly acceptable for advertisers to refuse to do business with radio stations that broadcast songs glorifying violence against women.
> An 80% accuracy rate has got to beat any number of the pollsters and pundits who have been shouting at us since last August, no?
No. Stephen Colbert noted last night that everyone who was featured on his segment "Better Know A District" won last night. I think a humorous 100% is better than an indefensible 80%.
How terribly frustrating it must be to nightweed.com for you to find their site and plagiarize the contents verbatim! You included even their links but failed to so much as link to them. Therefore I frown upon your undeserved +5 Insightful.
1) Make Firefox display OpenDocument formats by default. 2) Make a standalone MS Office to OpenDocument translator from the OpenOffice code. 3) Take out the MS Office compatibility from OpenOffice. ...these are exactly the type of strategies that Microsoft used to get their desktop dominance.
No it's not. Internet Explorer doesn't display Office formats by default and never has. There is no standlone other-to-Office translator and there never has been. And Microsoft initially had strong support for just about all of the competing formats so that people had upgrade options.
People are going to criticise this as unrealistic
No, I'm going to criticise you as desperately uninformed and woefully undeserving of the +4 Interesting you currently have.
No, Word is the "editor" of doc files, you see the difference? Windows Explorer is the current "type manager" of.doc files.
It's not about the type of data being managed it's about ease of which you can share that data with other people
Good job, you saw the word "iTunes" and thought he was talking about music. In the article, the author concludes with further examples of what he's talking about, such as Valve's Steam (game manager), many MAME frontends (ROM manager), as well as others.
Yes, people love to share, but that's not the same thing as managing. I want to have all of my music categorized and tagged. I want all of my photos organized with captions and tags. I want all of my email properly filed and readily accessible. There is no way a file manager can properly manage all of those different file types (not even you, Emacs). Thus, the author seems to be suggesting that specialized file managers, each appropriate to the types of data it's designed for, are a better management interface than a simple file manager with applications to edit individual files.
As for your statements about sharing, I would argue that sharing is an example of exporting. Exporting, meanwhile, is something that happens in a management interface. I can export my songs to an audio, MP3, or data CD; my photos can be exported to CD, to Gallery, to Flickr, etc. I wouldn't want my file manager to handle all of those possible export options; it would be a mess (I'm looking at you, Konqueror).
I don't want to see [Firefox] become "what you have to use whether you like it or not", because we've been down that road.
There's a difference - Microsoft has a big stake in ensuring that their browser does not adhere to the standard. If Internet Explorer has a large share of the browser market, nothing else works properly. If Firefox and Opera have a large share of the browser market and developers are coding standards-compliant code for them, everyone except Microsoft benefits (at which point Microsoft may fix their decade-old problems, bringing us back to "everyone benefits").
I, for one, code my site around the standards. If it doesn't render properly in Internet Explorer, tough. It's a personal website, and my IE-using readers will get over it (although IE accounts for only ~25% of my traffic, so I can more easily pull stunts like that).
What is nice to see is that users of alternative browsers do make more than single-digit percentages
You know, it's exactly that attitude of "alternates get to play, but never get full recognition" that keeps the public opinion uninformed. I would like to see a day where browsers are chosen for their merits, not accepted by default. Calling superior browsers like Firefox and Opera "alternates" or "up-and-coming" just reinforces the concept that there is one true browser.
A friend of mine actually cancelled his account at LaSalle Bank - their incompetent website programmer made browser sniffing fail on step 5 of 6 of their online banking registration form. It's a well-known problem at LaSalle, but they refuse to fix it (they offered to register for him, since it works fine after registration).
He cancelled his account, a move I've considered. Banks are commodities.
MySpace does the best job of 'bringing it all together', though (blogs, message boards, friends, profiles
I won't argue the kudos for bringing it all together. Nonetheless, MySpace has done a breathtakingly poor job on every individual component. Blogs are better handled at Blogger and elsewhere, photos are best shared at Flickr and elsewhere...
MySpace consolidates poorly implemented technologies into a single package, but I have little confidence that good integration is better than good implementation (of individual technologies).
That documentation exists through extensive reverse engineering. While nice, it is by no means authoritative, and Microsoft has no obligation to stick to that protocol in the next version of MSN Messenger. MSN's protocol is not an open specification, and that alone makes it wholly unacceptable.
Educational software such as Blackboard is too specialized to have much competition in the first place. It's because of this specialization that they can get away with terrible technology and interfaces. It solves a problem that a small population faces, and even though the solution is ugly and painful, institutions snap it up, desperate for anything.
Here's to Moodle taking all of Blackboard's marketshare.
No kidding. I once had a professor come into class on the first day (he's about 60 years old) with a PDF he had generated on a Unix box. He used SSH to copy the file to the Windows desktop, double-clicked on it, and then stood there for a while. Eventually he left the room, returning with another professor.
This second professor used the mouse to show the first how to use the arrow buttons above and below the scrollbar. "I just usually click on these arrows to show more of the file."
While there is utility in having a system that integrates all classes into a single interface, these are poorly designed products. It's the same problem that plagues the medical software industry: there's no real innovation in the product, and poor developer competence. (I work at my school's health service, in addition to being a student).
Several professors refuse to use Blackboard because the information that they'd like to have in the open is bottled up in a proprietary, locked-down system. They'd like to have the PDFs and code/slide downloads available for the world, but they can't using Blackboard.
Further, Blackboard doesn't support feeds, my prefered method to get to all of the information I regularly check. If you ignore the terrible technology, though, it's got an awful interface. I wish they would hire some monkeys to do a redesign - the monkeys could probably whip together something more friendly than their developers have.
XMPP is documented. MSN and Yahoo's protocols aren't. A single IM protocol shared among the big players doesn't help people like me out who don't use the official chat clients. Don't settle for less.
I have yet to see Microsoft do anything that puts Google on the defensive. Thus far, Google has been several steps ahead of Microsoft, which continually has to hoof it to even keep Google in sight. Google has never struck me as a company that gets put on the defensive - they just keep doing great things.
I think that the two of them competing is great, because I'll wind up with better stuff.
For a time, but Microsoft has proven that they only compete for a short time before using questionable tactics to "beat" the competition. Most consumers lose out because Microsoft refuses to compete for any extended period of time.
I would compare it to the Tortoise Vs. the Hare. First the Hare gets a reasonable head start, and then promptly finds a tree to fall asleep under. Eventually the Tortoise passes the Hare (who rarely sees the Tortoise coming). After a while, the Hare plays catch-up for a while and then calls a taxi to drive him to the finish line.
He makes sure to hit the Tortoise on his way past, too.
They never fit into the site. If the ad was tailored to the site, I might not have a problem. If the ad was a static image, I might not have a problem. If the ad looked reputable, I might not have a problem.
Do you view internet ads as different from say, TV ads?
Absolutely. I'm actively working to remember to mute the TV nowadays, and one day I hope to set up a Linux-based TiVo equivalent, but TV ads fit into the content quite seamlessly because they are of the same material as the content. Just as flash-based internet ads detract from the textual content I'm after, a TV ad with only a logo and some text would interrupt and detract from my TV experience.
Do you not buy a magazine because it has too many?
No. I don't buy magazines because they don't have any content. Do you seriously expect me to pay to read Dvorak's insane opinions?;)
what solution do you have that allows for 2048 bit key RSA to be solved in this year? In fact, lets make it 128 bit.
Those numbers aren't interchangeable like that. 2048-bit asymmetric keys are considerably different than 128-bit symmetric keys because of the math behind them. Saying "Break my 2048-bit encryption! Wait, I'll go easy on you and make it only 128-bit" doesn't work.
Yeah, but there are certain occasions where Internet Explorer is of no help (e.g., standards-compliant web pages, CSS stuff, etc.). A world-class browser that introduced proper MIME handling, didn't have extensive rendering bugs, and exposed a W3C-compliant DOM tree would tremendously cut down on some of the major headaches that many web designers are currently experiencing. All without having to sacrifice security, too.
Don't get me wrong, I love Internet Explorer as much as the next malware author, but don't we all want a world-class browser for our friends as well?
Slashdot Mirror
I think you're mistaken. First, you're thinking of a particular portion of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996: Title V, the Communications Decency Act.
When asked what he thought about the ban, Gingrich said "It's probably illegal under our Constitution." He goes on to say that it's perfectly acceptable for advertisers to refuse to do business with radio stations that broadcast songs glorifying violence against women.
Later, in another interview, he also said "[The Amendment] is clearly a violation of free speech and it's a violation of the right of adults to communicate with each other. I don't agree with it."
It appears that your conclusion - "Newt Gingrich doesn't believe in free speech" - is not supported by the details you provided.
> An 80% accuracy rate has got to beat any number of the pollsters and pundits who have been shouting at us since last August, no?
No. Stephen Colbert noted last night that everyone who was featured on his segment "Better Know A District" won last night. I think a humorous 100% is better than an indefensible 80%.
How terribly frustrating it must be to nightweed.com for you to find their site and plagiarize the contents verbatim! You included even their links but failed to so much as link to them. Therefore I frown upon your undeserved +5 Insightful.
Most of the parent's post is available at nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html
Michael: Kitty, did you type up those papers for me? ...so I've heard.
Kitty: No, I've been Googling your father.
Michael:
*Both laugh awkwardly*
1) Make Firefox display OpenDocument formats by default.
...these are exactly the type of strategies that Microsoft used to get their desktop dominance.
2) Make a standalone MS Office to OpenDocument translator from the OpenOffice code.
3) Take out the MS Office compatibility from OpenOffice.
No it's not. Internet Explorer doesn't display Office formats by default and never has. There is no standlone other-to-Office translator and there never has been. And Microsoft initially had strong support for just about all of the competing formats so that people had upgrade options.
People are going to criticise this as unrealistic
No, I'm going to criticise you as desperately uninformed and woefully undeserving of the +4 Interesting you currently have.
Microsoft Word is the "type manager" of doc files
.doc files.
No, Word is the "editor" of doc files, you see the difference? Windows Explorer is the current "type manager" of
It's not about the type of data being managed it's about ease of which you can share that data with other people
Good job, you saw the word "iTunes" and thought he was talking about music. In the article, the author concludes with further examples of what he's talking about, such as Valve's Steam (game manager), many MAME frontends (ROM manager), as well as others.
Yes, people love to share, but that's not the same thing as managing. I want to have all of my music categorized and tagged. I want all of my photos organized with captions and tags. I want all of my email properly filed and readily accessible. There is no way a file manager can properly manage all of those different file types (not even you, Emacs). Thus, the author seems to be suggesting that specialized file managers, each appropriate to the types of data it's designed for, are a better management interface than a simple file manager with applications to edit individual files.
As for your statements about sharing, I would argue that sharing is an example of exporting. Exporting, meanwhile, is something that happens in a management interface. I can export my songs to an audio, MP3, or data CD; my photos can be exported to CD, to Gallery, to Flickr, etc. I wouldn't want my file manager to handle all of those possible export options; it would be a mess (I'm looking at you, Konqueror).
It is about the data, stupid.
Simpsons did it first!
I don't want to see [Firefox] become "what you have to use whether you like it or not", because we've been down that road.
There's a difference - Microsoft has a big stake in ensuring that their browser does not adhere to the standard. If Internet Explorer has a large share of the browser market, nothing else works properly. If Firefox and Opera have a large share of the browser market and developers are coding standards-compliant code for them, everyone except Microsoft benefits (at which point Microsoft may fix their decade-old problems, bringing us back to "everyone benefits").
I, for one, code my site around the standards. If it doesn't render properly in Internet Explorer, tough. It's a personal website, and my IE-using readers will get over it (although IE accounts for only ~25% of my traffic, so I can more easily pull stunts like that).
What is nice to see is that users of alternative browsers do make more than single-digit percentages
You know, it's exactly that attitude of "alternates get to play, but never get full recognition" that keeps the public opinion uninformed. I would like to see a day where browsers are chosen for their merits, not accepted by default. Calling superior browsers like Firefox and Opera "alternates" or "up-and-coming" just reinforces the concept that there is one true browser.
A friend of mine actually cancelled his account at LaSalle Bank - their incompetent website programmer made browser sniffing fail on step 5 of 6 of their online banking registration form. It's a well-known problem at LaSalle, but they refuse to fix it (they offered to register for him, since it works fine after registration).
He cancelled his account, a move I've considered. Banks are commodities.
At 11.5 percent, it's still got a long way to go to reach Internet Explorer's 85.5 percent
No it doesn't. (85.5-11.5)/2 = 37.7% Firefox only need another 37.7% to surpass Internet Explorer's illegal market share.
MySpace does the best job of 'bringing it all together', though (blogs, message boards, friends, profiles
I won't argue the kudos for bringing it all together. Nonetheless, MySpace has done a breathtakingly poor job on every individual component. Blogs are better handled at Blogger and elsewhere, photos are best shared at Flickr and elsewhere...
MySpace consolidates poorly implemented technologies into a single package, but I have little confidence that good integration is better than good implementation (of individual technologies).
That documentation exists through extensive reverse engineering. While nice, it is by no means authoritative, and Microsoft has no obligation to stick to that protocol in the next version of MSN Messenger. MSN's protocol is not an open specification, and that alone makes it wholly unacceptable.
competition generally drives innovation
Educational software such as Blackboard is too specialized to have much competition in the first place. It's because of this specialization that they can get away with terrible technology and interfaces. It solves a problem that a small population faces, and even though the solution is ugly and painful, institutions snap it up, desperate for anything.
Here's to Moodle taking all of Blackboard's marketshare.
professors just aren't good with computers
No kidding. I once had a professor come into class on the first day (he's about 60 years old) with a PDF he had generated on a Unix box. He used SSH to copy the file to the Windows desktop, double-clicked on it, and then stood there for a while. Eventually he left the room, returning with another professor.
This second professor used the mouse to show the first how to use the arrow buttons above and below the scrollbar. "I just usually click on these arrows to show more of the file."
While there is utility in having a system that integrates all classes into a single interface, these are poorly designed products. It's the same problem that plagues the medical software industry: there's no real innovation in the product, and poor developer competence. (I work at my school's health service, in addition to being a student).
Several professors refuse to use Blackboard because the information that they'd like to have in the open is bottled up in a proprietary, locked-down system. They'd like to have the PDFs and code/slide downloads available for the world, but they can't using Blackboard.
Further, Blackboard doesn't support feeds, my prefered method to get to all of the information I regularly check. If you ignore the terrible technology, though, it's got an awful interface. I wish they would hire some monkeys to do a redesign - the monkeys could probably whip together something more friendly than their developers have.
You can get Adium from Adiumx.com.
Not XMPP, but good enough for me
XMPP is documented. MSN and Yahoo's protocols aren't. A single IM protocol shared among the big players doesn't help people like me out who don't use the official chat clients. Don't settle for less.
this is to put Google on the defensive.
I have yet to see Microsoft do anything that puts Google on the defensive. Thus far, Google has been several steps ahead of Microsoft, which continually has to hoof it to even keep Google in sight. Google has never struck me as a company that gets put on the defensive - they just keep doing great things.
I think that the two of them competing is great, because I'll wind up with better stuff.
For a time, but Microsoft has proven that they only compete for a short time before using questionable tactics to "beat" the competition. Most consumers lose out because Microsoft refuses to compete for any extended period of time.
I would compare it to the Tortoise Vs. the Hare. First the Hare gets a reasonable head start, and then promptly finds a tree to fall asleep under. Eventually the Tortoise passes the Hare (who rarely sees the Tortoise coming). After a while, the Hare plays catch-up for a while and then calls a taxi to drive him to the finish line.
He makes sure to hit the Tortoise on his way past, too.
why do you block ads?
;)
They never fit into the site. If the ad was tailored to the site, I might not have a problem. If the ad was a static image, I might not have a problem. If the ad looked reputable, I might not have a problem.
Do you view internet ads as different from say, TV ads?
Absolutely. I'm actively working to remember to mute the TV nowadays, and one day I hope to set up a Linux-based TiVo equivalent, but TV ads fit into the content quite seamlessly because they are of the same material as the content. Just as flash-based internet ads detract from the textual content I'm after, a TV ad with only a logo and some text would interrupt and detract from my TV experience.
Do you not buy a magazine because it has too many?
No. I don't buy magazines because they don't have any content. Do you seriously expect me to pay to read Dvorak's insane opinions?
Look! Another Microsoft innovation.
this story is not only newsworthy, but will be duped sometime later today.
By Zonk, again. If there's one thing I know, it's that you can never give people too little credit.
what solution do you have that allows for 2048 bit key RSA to be solved in this year? In fact, lets make it 128 bit.
Those numbers aren't interchangeable like that. 2048-bit asymmetric keys are considerably different than 128-bit symmetric keys because of the math behind them. Saying "Break my 2048-bit encryption! Wait, I'll go easy on you and make it only 128-bit" doesn't work.
If you're not allowed to install Firefox, you might be able to run it off of a USB key -- investigate Portable Firefox.
It exists.
Don't get me wrong, I love Internet Explorer as much as the next malware author, but don't we all want a world-class browser for our friends as well?