While I agree that it's common to try and absolve responsibility, and that people need to take responsibility for looking after themselves and staying in shape, I don't think it's as black and white as you make out.
For example, if you accept that the majority of people do not get enough recreational exercise (I think that's quite a reasonable postulation), then any circumstance that reduces necessary exercise is likely to be associated with weight gain. No, it's not a _direct_ cause, no it's not the _only_ cause, but I think it's likely to be _a_ cause.
I think many people have an intuitive understanding that urban planning has an affect on shaping the society that emerges there. If this wasn't the case, then people wouldn't care where they lived, and the brand-new whiz-bang idylic housing developments wouldn't be popular.
That's about as disingenious as saying that cigarettes don't kill people, it's the smoking that does. It might be technically true, but there's certainly a facilitation that's occuring.
I think the main difference between eMusic and iTunes is that iTunes makes it easy for you to find and buy a hit song, whereas eMusic makes it easy to discover new music. Depends on your preference I guess, but I prefer the latter. I had a gift certificate on iTunes and found it difficult to spend, because I couldn't find anything. I've found lots of great music on eMusic.
There are many things about eMusic that are not perfect - their download clients are crappy - but there's an excellent open-source Linux client - not all downloads are available in all countries
But there are many excellent aspects too. - Once you've bought a song, it can be downloaded repeatedly. - They're high quality mp3s (LAME, -APS) - no DRM! - cheap - Lots of variety
What nonsense. You are saying that it's impossible to make an informed and reasoned decision that nuclear power is not the best solution.
The _fact_ is that there _are_ other alternatives, and the merits of all options, and their _total_ costs, should be considered when deciding which to pursue.
Don't be so glib, and don't assume that everyone who thinks renewable energies are worth examining is a NIMBYer.
As for this: "When used correctly..." as Einstein said: "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
"Actually being paid to write open source code is a better analogy."
That's nice, and not a bad idea. The question is, how many people are prepared to pay a musician to commision a piece of music?
It is something I've thought about though. A musician could have a website with a few of their songs on there, and say "if you like these, then please send me some money. I'll use the money to write and record more songs, which will be released on a Creative Commons license"
As an amateur musician myself, this is something I've thought about doing...
who the hell are we to tell people how they _ought_ to make their living? What a croc! I suppose, therefore, that the proponents of this idea go and see every local concert of every band they've pirated? not likely!
Imagine if someone said to you that you couldn't make money writing code - you could only have an income from hitting the road, 'touring', and providing computer support along the way. You'd tell them to fuck off - and rightly so!
Note: I think DRM is crap, and I never buy from the big labels (I shop on eMusic), but there is a balance somewhere, between mass-marketing of saccharine crap with DRM, and fair sales of online music - where people don't tend to pirate music because they _want_ to support the artist.
"a millionaire prepared to spend lots of his own money with no prospect of short-term return?"
I'm confused.. are you talking about Ubuntu or Mircosoft?
From my experience they are already doing both. I studied biomedical engineering, and to a fair degree the kind of education one received depended on what one sought. There were those that rote learned the material (and did too damn well, in my opinion), and those that tried to understand it.
Then there were those that did neither. A year or two ago, I had one graduate ask me to "clarify" the difference between AC and DC... There should be a mechanism to revoke degrees...
What's more, it seems like RIAA doesn't care whose music if actually is! It's as if "music" is theirs, regardless of who has made it - whether or not they're even signed to an RIAA company!
And I love this quote - it's priceless:
"The association makes no distinction between counterfeit CDs and unlicensed compilations like those that DJ Drama is known for"
I don't give a toss what they think - we supposedly live in countries that are ruled by law!
While I basically agree with your comment, I don't really think this is the time to make it.
I haven't RTFA but, in general, if someone gives you something with conditions then it's reasonable to expect you to understand and honour those conditions - otherwise, don't take it in the first place!*
In this case, Cicso has (according to the summary) used GPL code, and hasn't fulfilled it's share of the bargain. It doesn't sound like a business "getting completely strangled by... IP rights" to me!
*I think the GPL is different to an EULA... (my personal bias shining through)
I think you're right, but I think it's part of a larger problem of entrenched sexism.
This is getting a bit offtopic, but it still surprises me how many 'professional' men form little boys' clubs, and are somewhat disdainful (or at least are cool) to women in the workplace.
Even in supposedly non-sexist people, just look at the double standards that are attached to (for example) sleeping around. I think there's a strong correlation between homophobia and sexism, and were I a woman, I'd never date a homophobic guy.
Maybe it's because we expect, as a society, that we really should have dealt with this by now - and can't quite accept that it hasn't happened...
You seem to be knowledgable about economics - perhaps you can answer another question:-)
I've read of computer economic models that examine wealth distribution in society. The conclusion of these models is independent of the starting conditions, and is true for a large variety of system rules where there is free trade. The conclusion is that there will be one or two extreemly individuals, with the rest of society living in poverty.
To my (perhaps naive) understanding, this seems similar to Gamblers Ruin, since the more money one has, the more likely one is to be able to ride out and capitalise on tough economic times, whereas people with less money are less able to do so.
Another thing I often hear from free-trade proponents is: "free trade makes everyone more wealthy - it's just that people who are wealthy to start with get wealthier more quickly" - to me this sounds like free trade will make people with less money, end up with a comparatively smaller slice of the global economic pie (and hence are poorer).
I'd love to read some comments on this, because at the moment it feels to me like the world is rushing down a path that is going to be detrimental to 99.9% of the population...
One of these puppies would make a great media pc - could stream audio and photos to it.. (maybe not video though..)
Hope it has a headphone jack!:-)
But I reckon it will change the marketplace in other ways - if you can buy a sub-notebook for $200 in the West, that will have to affect the market. Also, what about things like those digital photo frames..
I have to agree with you. I have an iBook with Tiger, and I love it. But it's the little things - package management in Linux is so much better. There aren't problems cutting/pasting in Linux (Aqua/X11 in OSX is still a little odd sometimes).
Having said that - I'm running recent Gnome on an X2 AMD64 with 2gb RAM, and it doesn't feel fast! My 800 Mhz G4 feels just as quick, in general.
But horses for courses - open source programs, packaged for Aqua (eg, Adium, VNC, LyX) are, in general, fantastic.
OSX is certainly a wonderful OS, but I feel like some of the more powerful aspects of the OS are obfuscated. I'm quite comfortable mucking around in/etc in Linux, but I wouldn't do it in OSX!!!;-)
I reckon it's amazing that 50% of Americans live more than 20 miles from work. That's a damn long way, and means they must spend a lot of time commuting.
My ideal distance would be about 7 - 10 miles - makes for a nice bike ride here in Australia;-)...whatever does it for you, I guess...
The OS is Linux, so it will run anything that runs on Linux (subject to computing power, RAM, etc).
no recompiling required
There will (hopefully) be hundreds of millions of these machines. I think someone can make binaries for the kiddies if they want.
Linux desktop is getting nowhere, despite it's technical excellence, because it lacks key apps (i.e., Office).
Ahhh! so you really mean commercial applications. I don't see why 'perfect' compatibility with Word documents is so important to children.
Look - it comes with applications: Broswer, RSS reader, text editor, and others. And it has a compiler, so kids can write their own applications. This computer is about liberating these kids, and giving them computer expertise - it's not about making them consumers of software. Difficult to understand, I know.
I like to repeat myself every time an OLPC story is posted
Well, saying the same thing many times doesn't make it more true or relevant.
IANAL, but my rough understanding is that MS _must_ actively protect their patent, or it becomes invalid. Hence, we'll quickly see what their intentions are as people start using the plugins without using Novell. If MS make a lot of noise, but don't sue, then doesn't the patent become invalid?
Maybe someone with more knowledge can clarify this
Yeah... not to make a judgment or anything... but..
It's possible that the dude with the SUV, hunting lights and a rifle rack isn't on the way to his local philosophy/literary group to discuss the presence of post-modern thought in the books of Charlotte Bronte.;-)
Slashdot Mirror
While I agree that it's common to try and absolve responsibility, and that people need to take responsibility for looking after themselves and staying in shape, I don't think it's as black and white as you make out.
For example, if you accept that the majority of people do not get enough recreational exercise (I think that's quite a reasonable postulation), then any circumstance that reduces necessary exercise is likely to be associated with weight gain. No, it's not a _direct_ cause, no it's not the _only_ cause, but I think it's likely to be _a_ cause.
I think many people have an intuitive understanding that urban planning has an affect on shaping the society that emerges there. If this wasn't the case, then people wouldn't care where they lived, and the brand-new whiz-bang idylic housing developments wouldn't be popular.
>>NO, it does not "cause" it
That's about as disingenious as saying that cigarettes don't kill people, it's the smoking that does. It might be technically true, but there's certainly a facilitation that's occuring.
As a subscriber to eMusic, I disagree with you.
I think the main difference between eMusic and iTunes is that iTunes makes it easy for you to find and buy a hit song, whereas eMusic makes it easy to discover new music. Depends on your preference I guess, but I prefer the latter. I had a gift certificate on iTunes and found it difficult to spend, because I couldn't find anything. I've found lots of great music on eMusic.
There are many things about eMusic that are not perfect
- their download clients are crappy - but there's an excellent open-source Linux client
- not all downloads are available in all countries
But there are many excellent aspects too.
- Once you've bought a song, it can be downloaded repeatedly.
- They're high quality mp3s (LAME, -APS) - no DRM!
- cheap
- Lots of variety
personally, I think eMusic beats iTunes...
What nonsense. You are saying that it's impossible to make an informed and reasoned decision that nuclear power is not the best solution.
The _fact_ is that there _are_ other alternatives, and the merits of all options, and their _total_ costs, should be considered when deciding which to pursue.
Don't be so glib, and don't assume that everyone who thinks renewable energies are worth examining is a NIMBYer.
As for this: "When used correctly..." as Einstein said:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
"Actually being paid to write open source code is a better analogy."
That's nice, and not a bad idea. The question is, how many people are prepared to pay a musician to commision a piece of music?
It is something I've thought about though. A musician could have a website with a few of their songs on there, and say "if you like these, then please send me some money. I'll use the money to write and record more songs, which will be released on a Creative Commons license"
As an amateur musician myself, this is something I've thought about doing...
.. and further to this:
who the hell are we to tell people how they _ought_ to make their living? What a croc! I suppose, therefore, that the proponents of this idea go and see every local concert of every band they've pirated? not likely!
Imagine if someone said to you that you couldn't make money writing code - you could only have an income from hitting the road, 'touring', and providing computer support along the way. You'd tell them to fuck off - and rightly so!
Note: I think DRM is crap, and I never buy from the big labels (I shop on eMusic), but there is a balance somewhere, between mass-marketing of saccharine crap with DRM, and fair sales of online music - where people don't tend to pirate music because they _want_ to support the artist.
"a millionaire prepared to spend lots of his own money with no prospect of short-term return?" I'm confused.. are you talking about Ubuntu or Mircosoft?
From my experience they are already doing both. I studied biomedical engineering, and to a fair degree the kind of education one received depended on what one sought. There were those that rote learned the material (and did too damn well, in my opinion), and those that tried to understand it.
Then there were those that did neither. A year or two ago, I had one graduate ask me to "clarify" the difference between AC and DC... There should be a mechanism to revoke degrees...
What's more, it seems like RIAA doesn't care whose music if actually is! It's as if "music" is theirs, regardless of who has made it - whether or not they're even signed to an RIAA company!
And I love this quote - it's priceless:
"The association makes no distinction between counterfeit CDs and unlicensed compilations like those that DJ Drama is known for"
I don't give a toss what they think - we supposedly live in countries that are ruled by law!
While I basically agree with your comment, I don't really think this is the time to make it.
... IP rights" to me!
I haven't RTFA but, in general, if someone gives you something with conditions then it's reasonable to expect you to understand and honour those conditions - otherwise, don't take it in the first place!*
In this case, Cicso has (according to the summary) used GPL code, and hasn't fulfilled it's share of the bargain. It doesn't sound like a business "getting completely strangled by
*I think the GPL is different to an EULA... (my personal bias shining through)
You're confounding two issues:
1) global climate change
2) global trade
and you're wrong, too:
"the worst offenders get a free pass"
The USA and Australia _are_ the worst offenders, and neither are signing Kyoto.
I hope you don't mean 'we' collectively as a species. Lots of countries are changing behaivours now.
The USA and Australia are almost the only countries doing nothing. It's a damn shame, since they're the biggest polluters..
I think you're right, but I think it's part of a larger problem of entrenched sexism.
This is getting a bit offtopic, but it still surprises me how many 'professional' men form little boys' clubs, and are somewhat disdainful (or at least are cool) to women in the workplace.
Even in supposedly non-sexist people, just look at the double standards that are attached to (for example) sleeping around. I think there's a strong correlation between homophobia and sexism, and were I a woman, I'd never date a homophobic guy.
Maybe it's because we expect, as a society, that we really should have dealt with this by now - and can't quite accept that it hasn't happened...
You seem to be knowledgable about economics - perhaps you can answer another question :-)
I've read of computer economic models that examine wealth distribution in society. The conclusion of these models is independent of the starting conditions, and is true for a large variety of system rules where there is free trade. The conclusion is that there will be one or two extreemly individuals, with the rest of society living in poverty.
To my (perhaps naive) understanding, this seems similar to Gamblers Ruin, since the more money one has, the more likely one is to be able to ride out and capitalise on tough economic times, whereas people with less money are less able to do so.
Another thing I often hear from free-trade proponents is: "free trade makes everyone more wealthy - it's just that people who are wealthy to start with get wealthier more quickly" - to me this sounds like free trade will make people with less money, end up with a comparatively smaller slice of the global economic pie (and hence are poorer).
I'd love to read some comments on this, because at the moment it feels to me like the world is rushing down a path that is going to be detrimental to 99.9% of the population...
As an American sick and tired of every little country bitching about how the US doesn't give them enough money/respect/tech/whatever
Care to give some examples of countries whining about unjust treatment?
One of these puppies would make a great media pc - could stream audio and photos to it.. (maybe not video though..)
Hope it has a headphone jack!
But I reckon it will change the marketplace in other ways - if you can buy a sub-notebook for $200 in the West, that will have to affect the market. Also, what about things like those digital photo frames..
I have to agree with you. I have an iBook with Tiger, and I love it. But it's the little things - package management in Linux is so much better. There aren't problems cutting/pasting in Linux (Aqua/X11 in OSX is still a little odd sometimes).
/etc in Linux, but I wouldn't do it in OSX!!! ;-)
Having said that - I'm running recent Gnome on an X2 AMD64 with 2gb RAM, and it doesn't feel fast! My 800 Mhz G4 feels just as quick, in general.
But horses for courses - open source programs, packaged for Aqua (eg, Adium, VNC, LyX) are, in general, fantastic.
OSX is certainly a wonderful OS, but I feel like some of the more powerful aspects of the OS are obfuscated. I'm quite comfortable mucking around in
I reckon it's amazing that 50% of Americans live more than 20 miles from work. That's a damn long way, and means they must spend a lot of time commuting.
;-) ...whatever does it for you, I guess...
My ideal distance would be about 7 - 10 miles - makes for a nice bike ride here in Australia
Where are the apps for this platform?
The OS is Linux, so it will run anything that runs on Linux (subject to computing power, RAM, etc).
no recompiling required
There will (hopefully) be hundreds of millions of these machines. I think someone can make binaries for the kiddies if they want.
Linux desktop is getting nowhere, despite it's technical excellence, because it lacks key apps (i.e., Office).
Ahhh! so you really mean commercial applications. I don't see why 'perfect' compatibility with Word documents is so important to children.
Look - it comes with applications: Broswer, RSS reader, text editor, and others. And it has a compiler, so kids can write their own applications. This computer is about liberating these kids, and giving them computer expertise - it's not about making them consumers of software. Difficult to understand, I know.
I like to repeat myself every time an OLPC story is posted
Well, saying the same thing many times doesn't make it more true or relevant.
Cool idea and all, but how would you distinguish between a robot that's "pretending" and one that is actually sentient?
;-)
I reckon, if it can pass a Turing test, then it's sentient - you can't cheat by looking at the source!
>> Now I'm moderated troll for pointing out the parent was blatantly wrong?
Hmm.. A lot of people haven't figured out that expressing an opinion with authority/conviction doesn't make it correct.
"Hydrogen requires a completely different infrastructure that has never been massively developed."
So what?? Have you ever thought about what a technological miricle the extraction, processing and distribution of oil is?
Ahh, I see. Thank you.
Seems a bit silly really, doesn't it?
IANAL, but my rough understanding is that MS _must_ actively protect their patent, or it becomes invalid. Hence, we'll quickly see what their intentions are as people start using the plugins without using Novell. If MS make a lot of noise, but don't sue, then doesn't the patent become invalid?
Maybe someone with more knowledge can clarify this
Yeah... not to make a judgment or anything... but..
;-)
It's possible that the dude with the SUV, hunting lights and a rifle rack isn't on the way to his local philosophy/literary group to discuss the presence of post-modern thought in the books of Charlotte Bronte.
I could be wrong though...