Unless you live in the UK, in which case if you use BT as your Internet provider they intercept all your communications. They then break down your data by protocol, using "deep packet inspection", and profile each subscriber for advertising purposes. All totally illegal yet done to tens of thousands of subscribers without their knowledge, not that BT cared. You can read more here.
Learning to fly a plane is not a criminal offence. I'm sure the terrorists rationalised the not landing bit at the time (eg next set of lessons when they have more cash). It's tough trying to spot trends in data, and mass surveillance just throws up more false positives than real leads. This is why targetting investigations, warranted phone tapping, undercover infiltration, and other traditional police methods are still the best. The variables are so complex we still need a human mind making the judgement calls.
They got the court injunction to prevent Samsung sales in the crucial run up to Christmas. Mission accomplished. They don't care that it's now thrown out of court.
I put on Unity on to try it out, whilst installing my usual kde-desktop at the same time, and I actually like Unity quite a lot once you've gone through the forums and worked out how to turn the auto-hide off. Otherwise it's unusable, eg every time you want to click back on the browser the task bar pops up and covers the button. There is still a way to go, the disappearing scroll bars are odd and the mac-os "menu at the top" takes a while to get used to, but overall I like it. It will stay my primary desktop as long as it keeps moving forwards.
How ironic. I remember back in the 80s/90s you walked into a PC store and the sales person would direct you a PC running Windows. If you wanted a PC running another OS, or even something other than a whitebox PC such as an Acorn, then the sales person would be patronising and gently steer you back towards Windows. I wonder if they are looking at the mobile market going, "It's not fair", much like every other PC manufacturer did in past decades as Microsoft exploited its monopoly.
Hey, I liked my E71 in its day! It was a Blackberry-lite, slimmer and without the lock-in. It was back in the days of when a phone was a phone, not a media centre. Much as I love my Galaxy S2, it make even the most ardent iPhone lover green with envy, I still miss the keyboard of the E71. Both of them sync contacts to Google so I can keep it as my back-up phone, and being old-style Nokia it can take a battering other phones can't. You can still pick up a cheap Nokia E71 off eBay, I'd rank it as a good student phone.
Pretty much shows Samsung is going to win and Apple are on the ropes. The S2 is faster, thinner, lighter, has better reception, bigger and brighter screen, and an OS supported by now nearly all manufacturers. Oh and a hell of a lot cheaper (got mine for under $50 with short contract).
With Android it is the carrier, not the manufacturer, that updates it. In most cases the manufacturer provides plenty of updates. Most people are happy with the stock Android that comes with their phone, but geeks get the option to install the latest and greatest.
Your argument, however, makes no sense. You suggest that the Android manufacturers have no incentive to update their phones, yet Apple has the incentive of "maintaining good will"? If the latter is a good business model then Android manufacturers have the same incentive. It is also based on the false premis that consumers are better off with an iPhone than an Android phone, when the reality is clearly the other way around.
Look at every Android owner salivating over the next device. It's an endless cycle of planned obsolescence.
Wow, only you could make the amazing leaps in technology and the fantastic added value it brings to consumers sound like a bad thing. Now I have a 8mpx camera in my phone, I hope they don't ever bring out a better one!!! And that is a total abuse of the word obsolescence. Every GSM phone since they first came out will still work. When something is obsolete you have to junk it. With your android phone you can choose to upgrade or you can continue to use it as long as the networks support GSM which is set to be for quite some time.
As for Nokia, they have been absolutely screwed by Microsoft and been gutted from the inside out. They are dead in the water and pretty much worthless apart from an old brand name. Microsoft might as well wait until they are bankrupt and pick them up for pennies.
In England they have closed down most community centers, places that used to be used for playing football have been turned into office buildings or parking, nobody wants to go for a run as the air is polluted, the roads are so congested it makes cycling dangerous, travel is expensive, taking up a hobby like photography will probably get you arrested, and why bother learning an instrument as one day you will be able to karaoke to Robbie Williams on stage and become instantly famous without any of that icky hard work?
People do just turn off the television where I live in France. But then they have put in cycle lanes everywhere, cheap transport so 1e will take you anywhere, there are free football pitches, basketball courts, tennis (nearly free), and the council is always organising events and spectaces. One of the biggest days of the year is "Fete de la Musique" where everybody takes to the streets and plays an instrument or sings in any style they want. There is a web site "On va sortir" where anybody can spontaneously propose an event (poker night, dance lesson, walk in the countryside, whatever) and anybody can register to join in, which is very successful.
We could do worse than steal ideas from the neighbour across the pond.
It's actually worse than you think. It's not just filling brains with mush and turning people into passive vegetables, it actually shapes the aspirations of society. Who wants to work hard and become an astronaut when you can just do nothing all your life then suddenly sing or dance on a stage and become the most desired person in the country? In the UK the contestants in this show "Big Brother" have actually become celebrities in their own right! It's ridiculous, they have contributed nothing of value.
Back in UK for Christmas and I was shocked at how long the adverts last. Looking at ITV2 tonight, Oceans Twelve runs from 10pm to 12.30pm. IMDB tells me run time is 125 minutes. So 1/2hr, or 20%, of the film is adverts. Makes it impossible to enjoy a film.
I find Django the best environment. I use it for in-house projects. For clients I still use PHP as clients are reassured they can find plenty of coders to maintain/extend after I hand over. For templating I use TinyButStrong. If it's a basic site, I prefer to write a theme/plugin for Joomla/Drupal/Wordpress as then you don't have any worries about maintaining/upgrading the CMS and the client has a wide selection of plugins they can use for free.
This isn't a good analogy. If the percentage of cars stolen rises with the percentage of the market share that car has, then implies there could be an even distribution of stolen cars across models correlating to availability to the thief. This is actually supporting the hypothesis of SJHillman rather than refuting it.
Of course car analogies aren't very useful when comparing to the digital world. Copyright infringement doesn't deprive anybody of anything, whereas stealing a car drives sales as the owner needs to buy a replacement.
As for doing away with car keys, it's about convenience. The more difficult you make it for somebody to buy a car, the more chance they will buy a stolen car. The point people are making, however, is that the software industry and completely lost the plot when it comes to DRM. Those that want to pirate will do so irregardless of how draconian the DRM. Just a light DRM will put off 99% of casual gamers and make it easier to buy the game rather than break it themselves. The worse the DRM the more people are actually pushed to piracy by the publisher themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a large percentage of people that buy the game but run the pirate version anyway (especially games that require you to keep the original CD in the drive at all times).
If you want to take snaps, I recommend getting a Samsung Galaxy S2 or Note. The pictures are fantastic. I now use it instead of my Canon EOS 350D. You aren't going to take any close-ups or artistic photos but for outdoor portraits or landscapes whilst on the go it is superb. Over Christmas I took some videos using the S2 just for fun, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the quality was also amazingly good.
(Jethro: Ireland? Might need the tablet for a rainy day;-))
Agreed. People were protective over G+ and apt to complain because they expected everybody to move wholesale from Facebook to G+. Now G+ is dead in the water there isn't much point bitching. Diaspora is took disorganised and immature. You will just have to wait until the next alternative to Facebook comes along. Patience.
How is the parent Insightful? The whole industry is NOT doing the same thing all over. ONLY Apple is launching lawsuits worldwide to prevent consumers from choosing rival products. And for absurd reasons (claiming exclusivity on black rectangles with rounded corners, highlighting phone numbers in text to dial, etc).
Of course they can tell it apart, they are different sizes and shapes. I presume the lawyers were being lawyers, not wanting to set a precedent of having to recognise a device from greater and greater distances. Consumers judge a device when it is in their hands or in front of them.
I was thinking the same. If you like over-priced hardware then why not over-priced software too? Why get something for free on Android when you can pay for it via iTunes and get that "spending buzz" shoppers can get addicted to.
Microsoft are still the same. Trolling, extortion, dirty tricks. Just because Apple have now become the most despised company in the world doesn't mean Microsoft has changed its spots. From funding SCO to close down Linux, to threatening potential Linux users with patent litigation whilst refusing to reveal a single one of their patents they believe may be relevant, to extortion on handset manufacturers via Android. The fact all but one of their patents were thrown out, and one accepted by the ITU but rejected by the EPO, shows they are worth fighting rather than acquiescing.
On the other hand their extortion will only work to the sum the market will bear. It's not as despicable as Apple trying to suppress all competition, and screw over consumers world-wide.
You are wrong about everybody else doing it. IBM isn't. Google isn't. Most innovative companies don't. They use their patent portfolios as defensive, not offensive. The looters in London thought it was ok to pillage because "everybody else is doing" it, but the fact is they aren't and it's not acceptable behaviour.
Slashdot Mirror
Unless you live in the UK, in which case if you use BT as your Internet provider they intercept all your communications. They then break down your data by protocol, using "deep packet inspection", and profile each subscriber for advertising purposes. All totally illegal yet done to tens of thousands of subscribers without their knowledge, not that BT cared. You can read more here.
Phillip.
Learning to fly a plane is not a criminal offence. I'm sure the terrorists rationalised the not landing bit at the time (eg next set of lessons when they have more cash). It's tough trying to spot trends in data, and mass surveillance just throws up more false positives than real leads. This is why targetting investigations, warranted phone tapping, undercover infiltration, and other traditional police methods are still the best. The variables are so complex we still need a human mind making the judgement calls.
Phillip.
They got the court injunction to prevent Samsung sales in the crucial run up to Christmas. Mission accomplished. They don't care that it's now thrown out of court.
Phillip.
I put on Unity on to try it out, whilst installing my usual kde-desktop at the same time, and I actually like Unity quite a lot once you've gone through the forums and worked out how to turn the auto-hide off. Otherwise it's unusable, eg every time you want to click back on the browser the task bar pops up and covers the button. There is still a way to go, the disappearing scroll bars are odd and the mac-os "menu at the top" takes a while to get used to, but overall I like it. It will stay my primary desktop as long as it keeps moving forwards.
Phillip.
How ironic. I remember back in the 80s/90s you walked into a PC store and the sales person would direct you a PC running Windows. If you wanted a PC running another OS, or even something other than a whitebox PC such as an Acorn, then the sales person would be patronising and gently steer you back towards Windows. I wonder if they are looking at the mobile market going, "It's not fair", much like every other PC manufacturer did in past decades as Microsoft exploited its monopoly.
Phillip.
Hey, I liked my E71 in its day! It was a Blackberry-lite, slimmer and without the lock-in. It was back in the days of when a phone was a phone, not a media centre. Much as I love my Galaxy S2, it make even the most ardent iPhone lover green with envy, I still miss the keyboard of the E71. Both of them sync contacts to Google so I can keep it as my back-up phone, and being old-style Nokia it can take a battering other phones can't. You can still pick up a cheap Nokia E71 off eBay, I'd rank it as a good student phone.
Phillip.
Isn't that what Spideroak does? Personally I use Dropbox for sharing photos I don't care about, and Spideroak for storing documents.
Phillip.
Pretty much shows Samsung is going to win and Apple are on the ropes. The S2 is faster, thinner, lighter, has better reception, bigger and brighter screen, and an OS supported by now nearly all manufacturers. Oh and a hell of a lot cheaper (got mine for under $50 with short contract).
Phillip.
With Android it is the carrier, not the manufacturer, that updates it. In most cases the manufacturer provides plenty of updates. Most people are happy with the stock Android that comes with their phone, but geeks get the option to install the latest and greatest.
Your argument, however, makes no sense. You suggest that the Android manufacturers have no incentive to update their phones, yet Apple has the incentive of "maintaining good will"? If the latter is a good business model then Android manufacturers have the same incentive. It is also based on the false premis that consumers are better off with an iPhone than an Android phone, when the reality is clearly the other way around.
Phillip.
Look at every Android owner salivating over the next device. It's an endless cycle of planned obsolescence.
Wow, only you could make the amazing leaps in technology and the fantastic added value it brings to consumers sound like a bad thing. Now I have a 8mpx camera in my phone, I hope they don't ever bring out a better one!!! And that is a total abuse of the word obsolescence. Every GSM phone since they first came out will still work. When something is obsolete you have to junk it. With your android phone you can choose to upgrade or you can continue to use it as long as the networks support GSM which is set to be for quite some time.
As for Nokia, they have been absolutely screwed by Microsoft and been gutted from the inside out. They are dead in the water and pretty much worthless apart from an old brand name. Microsoft might as well wait until they are bankrupt and pick them up for pennies.
Phillip.
In England they have closed down most community centers, places that used to be used for playing football have been turned into office buildings or parking, nobody wants to go for a run as the air is polluted, the roads are so congested it makes cycling dangerous, travel is expensive, taking up a hobby like photography will probably get you arrested, and why bother learning an instrument as one day you will be able to karaoke to Robbie Williams on stage and become instantly famous without any of that icky hard work?
People do just turn off the television where I live in France. But then they have put in cycle lanes everywhere, cheap transport so 1e will take you anywhere, there are free football pitches, basketball courts, tennis (nearly free), and the council is always organising events and spectaces. One of the biggest days of the year is "Fete de la Musique" where everybody takes to the streets and plays an instrument or sings in any style they want. There is a web site "On va sortir" where anybody can spontaneously propose an event (poker night, dance lesson, walk in the countryside, whatever) and anybody can register to join in, which is very successful.
We could do worse than steal ideas from the neighbour across the pond.
Phillip.
It's actually worse than you think. It's not just filling brains with mush and turning people into passive vegetables, it actually shapes the aspirations of society. Who wants to work hard and become an astronaut when you can just do nothing all your life then suddenly sing or dance on a stage and become the most desired person in the country? In the UK the contestants in this show "Big Brother" have actually become celebrities in their own right! It's ridiculous, they have contributed nothing of value.
Phillip.
Back in UK for Christmas and I was shocked at how long the adverts last. Looking at ITV2 tonight, Oceans Twelve runs from 10pm to 12.30pm. IMDB tells me run time is 125 minutes. So 1/2hr, or 20%, of the film is adverts. Makes it impossible to enjoy a film.
Phillip.
I find Django the best environment. I use it for in-house projects. For clients I still use PHP as clients are reassured they can find plenty of coders to maintain/extend after I hand over. For templating I use TinyButStrong. If it's a basic site, I prefer to write a theme/plugin for Joomla/Drupal/Wordpress as then you don't have any worries about maintaining/upgrading the CMS and the client has a wide selection of plugins they can use for free.
Phillip.
I can't wait for Battlefield 3 to make it to Steam, it's the only reason I haven't bought it yet.
Phillip.
This isn't a good analogy. If the percentage of cars stolen rises with the percentage of the market share that car has, then implies there could be an even distribution of stolen cars across models correlating to availability to the thief. This is actually supporting the hypothesis of SJHillman rather than refuting it.
Of course car analogies aren't very useful when comparing to the digital world. Copyright infringement doesn't deprive anybody of anything, whereas stealing a car drives sales as the owner needs to buy a replacement.
As for doing away with car keys, it's about convenience. The more difficult you make it for somebody to buy a car, the more chance they will buy a stolen car. The point people are making, however, is that the software industry and completely lost the plot when it comes to DRM. Those that want to pirate will do so irregardless of how draconian the DRM. Just a light DRM will put off 99% of casual gamers and make it easier to buy the game rather than break it themselves. The worse the DRM the more people are actually pushed to piracy by the publisher themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a large percentage of people that buy the game but run the pirate version anyway (especially games that require you to keep the original CD in the drive at all times).
Phillip.
If you want to take snaps, I recommend getting a Samsung Galaxy S2 or Note. The pictures are fantastic. I now use it instead of my Canon EOS 350D. You aren't going to take any close-ups or artistic photos but for outdoor portraits or landscapes whilst on the go it is superb. Over Christmas I took some videos using the S2 just for fun, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the quality was also amazingly good.
(Jethro: Ireland? Might need the tablet for a rainy day ;-))
Phillip.
Agreed. People were protective over G+ and apt to complain because they expected everybody to move wholesale from Facebook to G+. Now G+ is dead in the water there isn't much point bitching. Diaspora is took disorganised and immature. You will just have to wait until the next alternative to Facebook comes along. Patience.
Phillip.
I agree. The best way to keep a social media site clean is to ensure there are no people.
Phillip.
How is the parent Insightful? The whole industry is NOT doing the same thing all over. ONLY Apple is launching lawsuits worldwide to prevent consumers from choosing rival products. And for absurd reasons (claiming exclusivity on black rectangles with rounded corners, highlighting phone numbers in text to dial, etc).
The solution is to boycott Apple.
Phillip.
Of course they can tell it apart, they are different sizes and shapes. I presume the lawyers were being lawyers, not wanting to set a precedent of having to recognise a device from greater and greater distances. Consumers judge a device when it is in their hands or in front of them.
Phillip.
You do realize this is to support mobile search right?
Never has a missing comma been so apt.
Phillip.
There already plenty of televisions that are black with rounded corners. Who will they sue?
Phillip.
I was thinking the same. If you like over-priced hardware then why not over-priced software too? Why get something for free on Android when you can pay for it via iTunes and get that "spending buzz" shoppers can get addicted to.
Phillip.
Microsoft are still the same. Trolling, extortion, dirty tricks. Just because Apple have now become the most despised company in the world doesn't mean Microsoft has changed its spots. From funding SCO to close down Linux, to threatening potential Linux users with patent litigation whilst refusing to reveal a single one of their patents they believe may be relevant, to extortion on handset manufacturers via Android. The fact all but one of their patents were thrown out, and one accepted by the ITU but rejected by the EPO, shows they are worth fighting rather than acquiescing.
On the other hand their extortion will only work to the sum the market will bear. It's not as despicable as Apple trying to suppress all competition, and screw over consumers world-wide.
You are wrong about everybody else doing it. IBM isn't. Google isn't. Most innovative companies don't. They use their patent portfolios as defensive, not offensive. The looters in London thought it was ok to pillage because "everybody else is doing" it, but the fact is they aren't and it's not acceptable behaviour.
Phillip.