Most of you don't want free speech, you want to have unlimited personal rights and freedoms and to restrict those same rights and priviledges to people you don't like or disagree with.
Free Speech is only "free" when it does not infringe upon MY rights as a private individual. If you come into my yard at 3AM and start yelling "CAR FOR SALE, CAR FOR SALE"... I will call the police. They will tell you to stop. If you do not, they take you to jail for disturbing the peace.
Did they infringe upon your 1st amendment rights? Hell no, and no court in the land would say they did. My rights as a individual OUT WEIGH your right to yell in my face uncontrollably.
If I were on public property, then I would not be able to stop you directly, I could just leave.
My inbox is NOT public property and NO ONE has the right to invade it yelling and screaming without me having legal repercussions.
I support this law 100% especially since I live in Virginia -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
For the people above who are equating SPAM with other forms of mass advertising (flyers, junk snail mail, phone calls) there is one key difference. There is a TANGIBLE COST to spam for the receiver and their providers. This cost is usually more per piece than the person sending it is paying! This is why Fax SPAM is illegal, because it costs more to RECEIVE a fax than it does to SEND one. (Paper is not free, especially thermal paper.) There is a FEDERAL LAW against SPAM faxes, why should email be any different?
This law is not about limiting advertising options or free speech, it's about PROTECTING the bank accounts of anyone who receives SPAM. Personal freedom NOT to be paying for someone else's advertising comes WAY before an advertiser's freedom to advertise with SPAM.
If there was a way for me to get SPAM without me having to pay for it (ISP charges, per minute connection fees, server space, etc.) that is fine.. but there IS no way for me to get SPAM without incurring one or more of these costs directly and indirectly!
What if all of your junk mail came POSTAGE DUE and you had no choice but to accept it? What if all your phone solicitors called COLLECT and you could only accept the charges? This is what SPAM is, it's about what it costs the receiving party... and it is wrong.
I'm proud that the state I live in has adopted such a harsh stance on this issue. I'll support it 100% -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
If the threshold system was ONLY used to filter AC's from registered users, you would only see scores of O and 1 but this isn't the case.
Any comment a moderator (and how many are there and who?) doesn't like gets downgraded below the default threshold and effectively deleted since most people never change the default.
You also see some posts boosted to a score of 2 and 3 sometimes (most recently, Jon Katz's "hail" to slashdot for selling more of his books in a hour than he could in an entire lifetime). What does this prove, kiss Rob's ass and he wont delete your posts.
So you see, it's not an AC vs Registered User thing, it's a "we'll only show what we want people to see" thing. That can be considered a form of censorship. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I totally agree with the threshold issue. Saying "we don't delete stuff, we just hide it away so 90% of people don't see it" is crap. It's the exact same reason many people here oppose IE being bundled with Windows, we know that 85-90% of users use whatever default that is set, and when the default threshold is 0, that's what they all use!
I've even had a message set to -2! What is up with that?!
Censorship by any other name is still censorship. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I would just like to comment on this "less than $50" from this excerpt comment. Anyone who is an Amazon affiliate (like me) knows that you get 5% to 15% of a book's sale price, if they sold "hundreds" of books, that is still more than $50 by a long shot. Here are the real stats:
In one of my many emails to Mr. Katz on this issue, I questioned his math with real documented numbers and he did not respond. Unfortunately instead of giving out the real numbers, he chose to downplay them to his advantage. He also said that he as the writer only gets around a dollar a book. Looks like he'd make more money selling his own book than writing it.
My question is this: If so many more people like Katz than hate him, where are they? Why aren't they posting? Any why hasn't there been a REAL poll about keeping him? The only poll I saw was by Katz himself where he and only he got emailed the results.
Put your money where your mouth is, if so many people like you and want you here, put it to a public vote.
I also found it interesting that Katz and Taco complain about how people responded publicly to Katz yet their own private responses to me were the same type of "14 year old pimple faced geek" insult types as everyone else. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
Whores sell themselves, not other people. And have you noticed the bannr ads at the top of every screen? They've been selling our eyeballs for a while. How else do you expect them to pay for this place and have time to maintain it?
Two flaws in your logic:
1- Actually PIMPS sell most whores, usually against their will. When our visits and attention is sold against our will, we are whored out. 2- Banner ads are not disguising as legitimate news stories. Most of us ignore the banner ads all together and look just at the stories. When the stories are masked ads themselves, what does that leave? The slashdot.org info-mercial network.
Yes, I'm sure you are wracked by grief. You'd love it if we abandoned this site in droves and began frequenting dabuzz.net.
Why would I want anyone to rush to DaBuzz.net? I don't cover much of the things you guys are interested in anyway, I've also barely posted any news lately at all. It makes a lot of sense for me to want to send thousands of people to a mostly stale site, you've caught on to my plan. You're pure genius.
Wrong again. You should probably see a shrink about your paranoia problem. Seriously.
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get me.
This sounds a lot like Saddam Hussein in 1990, declaring victory and pulling out of Kuwait. He's nuts, too
Hemos contended that there was no "pay off" for posting this story. Jon Katz's own post shows that this is blatantly untrue and shows the true movtive being the story's posting. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I'm wondering how the 50,000 slashdot readers per day feel to be sold to the highest bidder (Jon Katz).
This "kickback" Rob and Jeff will now receive is all the proof needed to show that they no longer post what they feel is important, they post what will hype the site and make money.
How truly sad.
I also find it humorous that Katz's post is scored at a 2 instantly and this one will probably gain a -1 within minutes of it's posting.
To all the people who bashed me above for questioning the motives behind this story (Hemos included)... sit back and now enjoy your crow, you deserve it. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
So THIS is why Katz was made a contributing editor here... to build a name (good or bad) then promote his book. I wouldn't doubt it one bit if there was some under the table transaction behind this whole ordeal. Ever wonder how Rob makes it without a job? I don't anymore.
This all smells to high heaven. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I think that even the first generation Celerons will do better than the PIII's will. The only way the PIII's will catch on is if Intel dries up the PII supplies AND AMD makes a SERIOUS mistake in their K-7 efforts (which I hope they don't). -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 54% of them use Windows. How ironic.
All definitions of the word "keynote" I can find references something that is FIRST or CENTRAL. The idea that someone is giving "a" keynote implies that there are many keynotes and this is inaccurate.
If he's keynoting a splinter Linux-COMDEX style event then that's fine, just say that but the fact is that Bill Gates is giving THE keynote address at COMDEX and Rick Roscitt from AT&T is giving the keynote address for "Windows World".
Linus is giving the keynote for the "Linux Global Summit" which is a "two-day conference, held concurrently with COMDEX/Spring and WINDOWS WORLD". This is not COMDEX itself, simply a concurrent event.
I guess slashdot is learning it's better to "spin" a story to their own favor just like other main stream media organizations rather than tell it how it really is and let the reader decide. Oh well. -----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 54% of them use Windows. How ironic.
This was posted MANY months ago right here on slashdot.
However, being a big PDA user, it is nice to relive it. *grin*. 340MB in a CF form factor will rock with CE 2.11 that plays MP3's. Every CE device will become a RIO!
I think I'll patent posting to a geek-centric website via my Internet connection. Now all of you/. posters need to pay me.25 per post!
The sad thing is, the patent and trademark office is so clueless that they'll patent anything they don't understand simply because they have no knowledge to fight it's stupidity.
(BTW, why'd the/. font go to Times Roman... BLAH!)
Go down to CompUSA and take the check that you pay for your equipment with and wrap it in a brown paper bag and seal it. On the outside, write "BY OPENING THIS BAG, YOU AGREE THAT THE AMOUNT INSIDE IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN THE AGREED UPON PURCHASE PRICE OF THE EQUIPMENT BEING PURCHASED". Make sure you write the check for $1. On the back of the check write "Possession and presentation for payment of this check indicates your agreement with the conditions stated on the sealed packaging it was delivered with. These terms are NON-NEGOTIABLE."
When CompUSA refuses to take it, tell them "Well why would you ask me to agree to the contract inside your box that I have not read when you wont agree to the contract inside my bag that you have not read?"
That should make a nice public scene... and then get you thrown out of the store. *grin*
The term "Anonymous Coward" is the biggest hypocritical aspect of slashdot. I've even asked Rob on IRC why he doesn't just change it to something less insulting. His answer was "it was tongue and cheek originally and not even my idea" so basically he passes the buck on making any decision. He always claims "this is my site, I'll do what I want" but when an issue comes up that he doesn't want to deal with, he pawns it off on others. That's integrity if I ever saw it. What's next, "PGP Pussies" and "Crypto Cocksuckers"? You defend anonymity then abuse anyone who agrees with you buy practicing it.
That's all fine and good for trying to save face in the wake of a massive boycott but it doesn't change the problem! When I'm FORCED to toggle it BACK ON just to dial into my ISP to "make sure no one is stealing my account" then I will blame INTEL. When I'm forced to turn it BACK ON just to download the latest Windows '98 patches (you can damn well bet that Microsoft LOVES this idea!), I will blame INTEL. The only solution to this problem is the removal of the ID all together. End of story.
Based on my experience in this industry. I have had MANY dealings with Mac users over the years, even co-hosted a radio talk show about computers and was the service manager for a major local systems vendor which did mac repairs as well as PC.
My statements come from the many years that I have spent supporting the general public's computing needs, both PC and mac. I have nothing against mac users, I am just fully aware of the typical skill level of each group.
Slashdot Mirror
Most of you don't want free speech, you want to have unlimited personal rights and freedoms and to restrict those same rights and priviledges to people you don't like or disagree with.
Free Speech is only "free" when it does not infringe upon MY rights as a private individual. If you come into my yard at 3AM and start yelling "CAR FOR SALE, CAR FOR SALE"
Did they infringe upon your 1st amendment rights? Hell no, and no court in the land would say they did. My rights as a individual OUT WEIGH your right to yell in my face uncontrollably.
If I were on public property, then I would not be able to stop you directly, I could just leave.
My inbox is NOT public property and NO ONE has the right to invade it yelling and screaming without me having legal repercussions.
I support this law 100% especially since I live in Virginia
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
For the people above who are equating SPAM with other forms of mass advertising (flyers, junk snail mail, phone calls) there is one key difference. There is a TANGIBLE COST to spam for the receiver and their providers. This cost is usually more per piece than the person sending it is paying! This is why Fax SPAM is illegal, because it costs more to RECEIVE a fax than it does to SEND one. (Paper is not free, especially thermal paper.) There is a FEDERAL LAW against SPAM faxes, why should email be any different?
This law is not about limiting advertising options or free speech, it's about PROTECTING the bank accounts of anyone who receives SPAM. Personal freedom NOT to be paying for someone else's advertising comes WAY before an advertiser's freedom to advertise with SPAM.
If there was a way for me to get SPAM without me having to pay for it (ISP charges, per minute connection fees, server space, etc.) that is fine
What if all of your junk mail came POSTAGE DUE and you had no choice but to accept it? What if all your phone solicitors called COLLECT and you could only accept the charges? This is what SPAM is, it's about what it costs the receiving party
I'm proud that the state I live in has adopted such a harsh stance on this issue. I'll support it 100%
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
Any comment a moderator (and how many are there and who?) doesn't like gets downgraded below the default threshold and effectively deleted since most people never change the default.
You also see some posts boosted to a score of 2 and 3 sometimes (most recently, Jon Katz's "hail" to slashdot for selling more of his books in a hour than he could in an entire lifetime). What does this prove, kiss Rob's ass and he wont delete your posts.
So you see, it's not an AC vs Registered User thing, it's a "we'll only show what we want people to see" thing. That can be considered a form of censorship.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I totally agree with the threshold issue. Saying "we don't delete stuff, we just hide it away so 90% of people don't see it" is crap. It's the exact same reason many people here oppose IE being bundled with Windows, we know that 85-90% of users use whatever default that is set, and when the default threshold is 0, that's what they all use!
I've even had a message set to -2! What is up with that?!
Censorship by any other name is still censorship.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I would just like to comment on this "less than $50" from this excerpt comment. Anyone who is an Amazon affiliate (like me) knows that you get 5% to 15% of a book's sale price, if they sold "hundreds" of books, that is still more than $50 by a long shot. Here are the real stats:
5% of $14 is $.70
15% of $14 is $2.10
100: $70-$210
200: $140-$420
300: $210-$630
400: $280-$840
500: $350-$1,050
(and so on)
In one of my many emails to Mr. Katz on this issue, I questioned his math with real documented numbers and he did not respond. Unfortunately instead of giving out the real numbers, he chose to downplay them to his advantage. He also said that he as the writer only gets around a dollar a book. Looks like he'd make more money selling his own book than writing it.
My question is this: If so many more people like Katz than hate him, where are they? Why aren't they posting? Any why hasn't there been a REAL poll about keeping him? The only poll I saw was by Katz himself where he and only he got emailed the results.
Put your money where your mouth is, if so many people like you and want you here, put it to a public vote.
I also found it interesting that Katz and Taco complain about how people responded publicly to Katz yet their own private responses to me were the same type of "14 year old pimple faced geek" insult types as everyone else.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
Two flaws in your logic:
1- Actually PIMPS sell most whores, usually against their will. When our visits and attention is sold against our will, we are whored out.
2- Banner ads are not disguising as legitimate news stories. Most of us ignore the banner ads all together and look just at the stories. When the stories are masked ads themselves, what does that leave? The slashdot.org info-mercial network.
Yes, I'm sure you are wracked by grief. You'd love it if we abandoned this site in droves and began frequenting dabuzz.net.
Why would I want anyone to rush to DaBuzz.net? I don't cover much of the things you guys are interested in anyway, I've also barely posted any news lately at all. It makes a lot of sense for me to want to send thousands of people to a mostly stale site, you've caught on to my plan. You're pure genius.
Wrong again. You should probably see a shrink about your paranoia problem. Seriously.
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get me.
This sounds a lot like Saddam Hussein in 1990, declaring victory and pulling out of Kuwait. He's nuts, too
Hemos contended that there was no "pay off" for posting this story. Jon Katz's own post shows that this is blatantly untrue and shows the true movtive being the story's posting.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
This "kickback" Rob and Jeff will now receive is all the proof needed to show that they no longer post what they feel is important, they post what will hype the site and make money.
How truly sad.
I also find it humorous that Katz's post is scored at a 2 instantly and this one will probably gain a -1 within minutes of it's posting.
To all the people who bashed me above for questioning the motives behind this story (Hemos included)
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I guess this proves the point
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
This all smells to high heaven.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 55% of them use Windows. How ironic.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 54% of them use Windows. How ironic.
Do you still need me to explain the "spin" that Rob has explained himself with his update?
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 54% of them use Windows. How ironic.
All definitions of the word "keynote" I can find references something that is FIRST or CENTRAL. The idea that someone is giving "a" keynote implies that there are many keynotes and this is inaccurate.
If he's keynoting a splinter Linux-COMDEX style event then that's fine, just say that but the fact is that Bill Gates is giving THE keynote address at COMDEX and Rick Roscitt from AT&T is giving the keynote address for "Windows World".
Linus is giving the keynote for the "Linux Global Summit" which is a "two-day conference, held concurrently with COMDEX/Spring and WINDOWS WORLD". This is not COMDEX itself, simply a concurrent event.
I guess slashdot is learning it's better to "spin" a story to their own favor just like other main stream media organizations rather than tell it how it really is and let the reader decide. Oh well.
-----
Only 28% of slashdot readers use Linux or *nix, while 54% of them use Windows. How ironic.
I believe Dell has been supporting Linux on their servers for longer than IBM and Dell sells more PC's.
finally-one-more-big-one dept would be more appropriate.
The people who run the US Patent and Tradmark Office are comlete and utter DOLTS. This is just another example of it.
Is the domain USPTOSucks.com domain taken?
This was posted MANY months ago right here on slashdot.
However, being a big PDA user, it is nice to relive it. *grin*. 340MB in a CF form factor will rock with CE 2.11 that plays MP3's. Every CE device will become a RIO!
Sun is part of the Online Privacy Alliance
I think I'll patent posting to a geek-centric website via my Internet connection. Now all of you
The sad thing is, the patent and trademark office is so clueless that they'll patent anything they don't understand simply because they have no knowledge to fight it's stupidity.
(BTW, why'd the
Go down to CompUSA and take the check that you pay for your equipment with and wrap it in a brown paper bag and seal it. On the outside, write "BY OPENING THIS BAG, YOU AGREE THAT THE AMOUNT INSIDE IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN THE AGREED UPON PURCHASE PRICE OF THE EQUIPMENT BEING PURCHASED". Make sure you write the check for $1. On the back of the check write "Possession and presentation for payment of this check indicates your agreement with the conditions stated on the sealed packaging it was delivered with. These terms are NON-NEGOTIABLE."
When CompUSA refuses to take it, tell them "Well why would you ask me to agree to the contract inside your box that I have not read when you wont agree to the contract inside my bag that you have not read?"
That should make a nice public scene
I think Geocities and Yahoo have the same demographic. First time and intermediate Internet users who don't know any better.
4+ billion is a lot of bank though, must be nice to not clear a profit yet but be able to purchase something like that.
Either way, I don't usually go to either so it won't make a difference to me.
The term "Anonymous Coward" is the biggest hypocritical aspect of slashdot. I've even asked Rob on IRC why he doesn't just change it to something less insulting. His answer was "it was tongue and cheek originally and not even my idea" so basically he passes the buck on making any decision. He always claims "this is my site, I'll do what I want" but when an issue comes up that he doesn't want to deal with, he pawns it off on others. That's integrity if I ever saw it. What's next, "PGP Pussies" and "Crypto Cocksuckers"? You defend anonymity then abuse anyone who agrees with you buy practicing it.
That's all fine and good for trying to save face in the wake of a massive boycott but it doesn't change the problem! When I'm FORCED to toggle it BACK ON just to dial into my ISP to "make sure no one is stealing my account" then I will blame INTEL. When I'm forced to turn it BACK ON just to download the latest Windows '98 patches (you can damn well bet that Microsoft LOVES this idea!), I will blame INTEL. The only solution to this problem is the removal of the ID all together. End of story.
I made a banner at DaBuzz.net that anyone can use (steal) if they want.
Enjoy.
Fight the oppression of the music industry!
Compression standards don't create piracy, inflated prices and anti-consumer companies do!
Based on my experience in this industry. I have had MANY dealings with Mac users over the years, even co-hosted a radio talk show about computers and was the service manager for a major local systems vendor which did mac repairs as well as PC.
My statements come from the many years that I have spent supporting the general public's computing needs, both PC and mac. I have nothing against mac users, I am just fully aware of the typical skill level of each group.
But how many typical Mac users have ever RE-INSTALLED their OS after they got their system? I can venture a guess of not very many at all.