Here in Japan, a standard office has the boss's desk up a the front and everyone else in several long rows side by side. There's no privacy, or expectation thereof. The result I've observed (only personal experience, mind you) is that productivity is increased, but even more so the *appearance* of productivity is increased, since no one has the personal space to goof off, but is expected to look like they're working constantly. From looking at my co-workers, I would definitely NOT recommend it as a way to increase employee satisfaction or reduce stress, however...
Globalization brings countries together. How can you go to war with a country that sells you the products you need, and buys the technology you produce, and imports raw materials from you, and exports engineers to you, etc etc etc.
Prior to the First World War, this was exactly why most people thought that a general conflict would never break out in Europe. We all know how that turned out...
I agree with almost all of your post, I just had to take issue with your lumping "Drugs" in with "REAL criminal cases" The so-called "War on Drugs" was just the government's previous smokescreen for gradually eroding the people's rights. It's rather disturbing to hear someone clearly see through the "War on Piracy" nonsense but then reflexively invoke the phantom menace of an earlier era as the REAL bogeyman.
IMHO the greatest threat to our peace and freedom is not criminals at all; Criminals may hurt individual citizens, and should certainly be caught and punished, but they have never been a large-scale threat to the nation at large. The real threat is corporations that have the power to not only tread on individual citizens, but buy exemptions to the Law from the government.
In my experience, the parents who would be responsible enough to use such a feature don't need it anyways. The problem is the parents who want their kids lifeless in front of the Xbox (or the TV) so they'll be "out of their hair".
other methods of communication like email, msn, icq, snail mail etc. are also potentially capable of leaking national secrets.
I agree completely, and I think its high time we limit government bureaucrats' access to these potentially damaging technologies. To this end, we should isolate them in in a sealed room without any outside access. Futhermore, since communication is possible via sound waves that travel across air, we should take the precaution of pumping all the air out of these rooms, thus ensuring our national secrets are inviolably safe.
I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but a lot of those old games that I remember so fondly don't hold up when I dust them off and play them again. In my experience, it's fun and novel for a little while, and then you remember why you stopped playing in the first place, because the novelty eventually wore off and it wasn't interesting enough to keep you playing. Granted, there are some old games I *do* still play, but those are few and far between.
Just because you have fond memories of them doesn't mean they were so much better than today's games. If they were that great you'd still be playing them.
It's like that telescreen in the living room, the point isn't that you are being watched all the time, but that you could be being watched at any time.
I could be dead wrong about this, but aren't patents a matter of public record? Couldn't someone just look up all the patents held by Microsoft and try to identify which ones are being "infringed" upon?
The first thing that popped into my mind when I read the description, for some reason, was the world of Charn from the Chronicles of Narnia, with this huge, dim red sun in the sky.
Sorry, but your history is way off here. The Late Baroque was the time of Bach, Haydn, Vivaldi, etc. The high period of the troubadours was much earlier, in the Middle Ages. Look up Wolfram von Eschenbach or Oswald von Wolkentstein for examples. Furthermore, while the most famous of the troubadour knights did play for kings and nobles, there were an abundance of bards and troubadours who were commoners and played secular music for common people, in taverns, fairs, etc.
Aside from the very specific European troubadour tradition, though, popular (i.e. non-religious) music has been around as long as people have. It was common in Roman times and before in Europe and is common in just about every non-European culture, too. Even in societies where there are no "professional" musicians people sing and make music with their families and communities.
As a side note, I've seen a couple interviews with Marilyn Manson and he comes across as surprisingly intelligent and well-spoken, even while still wearing the freaky makeup.
I think most of the people saying "Well, why don't they just send it over the Net?" are missing the point here. We're not talking about P2P kid-in-a-basement "piracy" this is with reference to real, commercial piracy. These aren't burned discs they're looking for, these are real, pressed DVDs from a factory in China, the kind you see sold by guys on a blanket in Chinatown. They're "real" DVDs, but they are an unauthorized copy of the film in question.(This is a huge industry, BTW)
The utility of these sniffer dogs is to check cargo containers, not passenger luggage. If the manifest doesn't list DVDs but the dogs find it, it's a good bet that it's being imported illegally and is probably pirated (that would have to be confirmed by a human search, of course)
Exactly what I was going to say. I think one thing people haven't realized just yet is that the Internet has made pictures of static famous things obsolete, since there is bound to be a much nicer professional picture of it out there somewhere. It's the pictures of you and your friends that count, and more importantly the memories that those pictures will bring back to you.
Problem is, the studios typically don't make anything on the box office anymore; In fact, they expect to post a loss on ticket sales, and make their profit on DVDs. The theater has basically become a giant marketing project for the DVD.
That sort of "dazzle factor" is never going to be seen again from effects
That I have to disagree with. I just don't think we can conceive of what the next-generation effects will be like. Which is exactly why they will wow us. Just imagine if that star destroyer, instead of appearing to come up over your head, actually popped out of the screen and DID... I'd be dazzled.
Solid capacitors also last longer with an average lifetime of 23 years compared to only three for electrolytic capacitors, according to Gigabyte
I guess a longer lifespan is good, but do I really need a motherboard to last for 23 years? I just might get around to upgrading the processor in that time frame...
Slashdot Mirror
Here in Japan, a standard office has the boss's desk up a the front and everyone else in several long rows side by side. There's no privacy, or expectation thereof. The result I've observed (only personal experience, mind you) is that productivity is increased, but even more so the *appearance* of productivity is increased, since no one has the personal space to goof off, but is expected to look like they're working constantly. From looking at my co-workers, I would definitely NOT recommend it as a way to increase employee satisfaction or reduce stress, however...
I already live in Japan... I wonder if I will have to do this if I go on vacation and am coming back home?
Prior to the First World War, this was exactly why most people thought that a general conflict would never break out in Europe. We all know how that turned out...
Is it just me, or does this sound like the opening setup of a FPS game?
"Deep in an underground laboratory, something has gone wrong... terribly wrong."
I agree with almost all of your post, I just had to take issue with your lumping "Drugs" in with "REAL criminal cases" The so-called "War on Drugs" was just the government's previous smokescreen for gradually eroding the people's rights. It's rather disturbing to hear someone clearly see through the "War on Piracy" nonsense but then reflexively invoke the phantom menace of an earlier era as the REAL bogeyman.
IMHO the greatest threat to our peace and freedom is not criminals at all; Criminals may hurt individual citizens, and should certainly be caught and punished, but they have never been a large-scale threat to the nation at large. The real threat is corporations that have the power to not only tread on individual citizens, but buy exemptions to the Law from the government.
In my experience, the parents who would be responsible enough to use such a feature don't need it anyways. The problem is the parents who want their kids lifeless in front of the Xbox (or the TV) so they'll be "out of their hair".
I agree completely, and I think its high time we limit government bureaucrats' access to these potentially damaging technologies. To this end, we should isolate them in in a sealed room without any outside access. Futhermore, since communication is possible via sound waves that travel across air, we should take the precaution of pumping all the air out of these rooms, thus ensuring our national secrets are inviolably safe.
I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but a lot of those old games that I remember so fondly don't hold up when I dust them off and play them again. In my experience, it's fun and novel for a little while, and then you remember why you stopped playing in the first place, because the novelty eventually wore off and it wasn't interesting enough to keep you playing. Granted, there are some old games I *do* still play, but those are few and far between.
Just because you have fond memories of them doesn't mean they were so much better than today's games. If they were that great you'd still be playing them.
But it's not the counselor being sued (although it should be). In fact, it sounds like he is claiming damages as well.
It's like that telescreen in the living room, the point isn't that you are being watched all the time, but that you could be being watched at any time.
I could be dead wrong about this, but aren't patents a matter of public record? Couldn't someone just look up all the patents held by Microsoft and try to identify which ones are being "infringed" upon?
There's plenty of solid scientific evidence behind Scientology; just listen to the compelling testimony from this "scientician"
(apologies to Simpsons)
The first thing that popped into my mind when I read the description, for some reason, was the world of Charn from the Chronicles of Narnia, with this huge, dim red sun in the sky.
Sorry, but your history is way off here. The Late Baroque was the time of Bach, Haydn, Vivaldi, etc. The high period of the troubadours was much earlier, in the Middle Ages. Look up Wolfram von Eschenbach or Oswald von Wolkentstein for examples. Furthermore, while the most famous of the troubadour knights did play for kings and nobles, there were an abundance of bards and troubadours who were commoners and played secular music for common people, in taverns, fairs, etc.
Aside from the very specific European troubadour tradition, though, popular (i.e. non-religious) music has been around as long as people have. It was common in Roman times and before in Europe and is common in just about every non-European culture, too. Even in societies where there are no "professional" musicians people sing and make music with their families and communities.
The article only said heavy metal listeners were more intelligent...
As a side note, I've seen a couple interviews with Marilyn Manson and he comes across as surprisingly intelligent and well-spoken, even while still wearing the freaky makeup.
I think most of the people saying "Well, why don't they just send it over the Net?" are missing the point here. We're not talking about P2P kid-in-a-basement "piracy" this is with reference to real, commercial piracy. These aren't burned discs they're looking for, these are real, pressed DVDs from a factory in China, the kind you see sold by guys on a blanket in Chinatown. They're "real" DVDs, but they are an unauthorized copy of the film in question.(This is a huge industry, BTW)
The utility of these sniffer dogs is to check cargo containers, not passenger luggage. If the manifest doesn't list DVDs but the dogs find it, it's a good bet that it's being imported illegally and is probably pirated (that would have to be confirmed by a human search, of course)
Exactly what I was going to say. I think one thing people haven't realized just yet is that the Internet has made pictures of static famous things obsolete, since there is bound to be a much nicer professional picture of it out there somewhere. It's the pictures of you and your friends that count, and more importantly the memories that those pictures will bring back to you.
but they really need to work harder on their arguments about why DRM is good
Haven't you heard the old saying that "You can't polish a turd"?
Also, the vast majority will be films *of* Houston's yoni...
I'd love to mod this +1. Horrifying
Problem is, the studios typically don't make anything on the box office anymore; In fact, they expect to post a loss on ticket sales, and make their profit on DVDs. The theater has basically become a giant marketing project for the DVD.
That sort of "dazzle factor" is never going to be seen again from effects
That I have to disagree with. I just don't think we can conceive of what the next-generation effects will be like. Which is exactly why they will wow us. Just imagine if that star destroyer, instead of appearing to come up over your head, actually popped out of the screen and DID... I'd be dazzled.
On top of all those benefits, I hear it's really easy to get laid! Especially if you're skinny and white...
But seriously, while all those things may be "free" you pay the rather significant price non-monetary price of not being free yourself.
Solid capacitors also last longer with an average lifetime of 23 years compared to only three for electrolytic capacitors, according to Gigabyte
I guess a longer lifespan is good, but do I really need a motherboard to last for 23 years? I just might get around to upgrading the processor in that time frame...