Information wants to be free... except my information! File sharing with the consent of copyright holder isn't really stealing, but a benefit to them... but getting my information after I agree to the terms of service is stealing and provides no benefit that I like!
What walking contradictions we've become. The fact is we want machines that learn our preferences, language, desires and attitudes, and are excited by things like Siri and recommendation engines. But when push comes to shove on anyone actually using the necessary metrics to accomplish any of that, we flip out about it.
"They didn't pay me for this," is the RIAA/MPAA claim. "I didn't consent," means the person didn't read their terms of service. And we say "sell my information" as if we had that information in the first place, when in fact, we voluntarily helped generate the information via collaboration with the 3rd party.
I'm not saying it should be field day, but it's/. hypocrisy to decry the RIAA/MPAA for defending what they clearly own, but declare jihad against anyone reversing the equation on us. And the most ironic part is that our positions are less about principals than they are about self-interest... the same things motivation the companies.
A few days ago, I just went on about how I block all ads, and don't see advertising. However... I'd allow "acceptable" ads.
Without ads, there would be no Google, no Facebook, no free internet. There would be 1,000 Wikipedias, begging for money. You can't build billions of dollars worth of data centers on sunshine and ponies.
I use Spiceworks. It would be worth millions to their company, able to charge hundreds per copy if they chose. But it's 100% free. I specifically have enabled ads on their web based tools. Why? #1 - I want to support them. #2 - The ads aren't garbage, they are relevant. Very very relevant. I learn about new IT offerings and products through the ads.
Now granted, there are those who will never click an ad. And companies are learning, consumers want ads relevant to them and unobtrusive. I run ad blocking myself, but I'm not 100% behind the idea that I don't want to see any ads. Right now, it's an all or nothing, or manually turning on each site. I want to do the right thing AND have utter crap held at bay.
This is why I think this is a great tool. Rather than saying, "No ads, never, no way!" This is saying to advertisers, "Do a better job, and don't annoy the shit out of people or track them when they don't want to be tracked... and people are willing to see and click on those."
You can try to fight a war of attrition against ads. Or, they can be encouraged to be better.
And so I can't take the position that there's a vast conspiracy of subliminal trash being force fed into our minds by greedy corporations. I'm sure that's true especially in mass media.
But as Sigmund Freud might say, "Sometimes an ad is just an ad."
Gullibility is often accompanied by confidence because they lack the ability to question surface appearances. If they are told they are safe, they just believe it.
I'm one of those "spoiled brats". I'm curious what lesson I learned. I left Netflix and left loudly. So... not sure how it got worse. The service price exceeded benefit. People left. Netflix lost.
Netflix didn't lose money to whining. Netflix lost money because people left. And having left, why do we care one iota if it becomes worse or is bought by Verizon or the People's Republic of China.
Let me nail this point for you: we don't care.
All you are saying is, "Hah! See, the price went up, and you left! Now the service is going to get worse because you left! Aren't you sorry you left now!"
Well, um... no. I'm actually pretty satisfied with my decision. You see, the problem here is that you love Netflix, and you don't want to go to Verizon. And you blame us, because we don't. So you are throwing a tantrum because we all left you like it was MySpace and your baby is bought by the big bad corporation, though it is by Verizon this time, not Rupert Murdoch.
You say that whining made people leave. FYI: Most Netflix subscribers don't read Slashdot. But they did see their bill jump up at least 60%, a minimum of $6, not $2. Don't rant if you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
If you think Netflix lost 800,000 customers because of Slashdot or bloggers... You're a moron, a certified moron. Strike that, you're a troll. How you were ever modded insightful is beyond me. Maybe sympathy for your pity party nobody else wants to attend.
Good! After all the whining of a measly $2/month increase in price brought on Netflix by the movie studios, I'd say the spoiled brats that make up TEH BLAGOSPHERE needed a cold, hard lesson in "shut your fucking trap and learn to appreciate what you've got or someone might make it worse"! If it weren't for their incessant, self-centered whining*, Netflix wouldn't have lost quite so many customers and money and would've still looked too expensive for Verizon to absorb! So, congrats on digging too deep, guys! All hail Verizon!:-D
*: You may point out that, by definition, whining is already inherently self-centered. To that I say, well, touche.
Haha, exactly. I just hate it when I order a Sprite and I get a Sierra Mist. Or I order a Mr. Pibb and get Dr. Pepper. Or I order a Big Mac and the stupid lady at Burger King gives me a Whopper.;)
Then again, it doesn't have to be good, it has to be short. iPad is easier to say than a Samsung Evo Touch G1 Plus Z. Android name courtesy of http://androidphonenamegenerator.com/
No, I don't use the "Disable Advertising" feature here that comes with people with "Excellent" karma. I don't need to. It's all OpenDNS and Chrome plugins that block the ads.
A lot of ad blocking software works by altering DNS, but not all. Content can be blocked per site per type. For most, blocking a few sites works. Then a few, like Youtube, try to play hardball.
It's because it's widely used enough that they react faster.
Filename filters, file extension filters, file content filters, javascript rewriting. No matter what Youtube or Slashdot or others do, the DIY blockers can iterate faster, and it's a game of losing for advertisers. Most of the time, a single function call or function break kills an entire script, so it's not really that hard. I don't think they care, though, unless someone else is getting that revenue.
If there was a sure fire way to ensure ads showed up, they'd already be using it.
On another note, I'm not sure what you are talking about on Slashdot, because I can't remember the last time I saw an ad on here.
This will ensure the hashtags make it to trending topics. If the hashtags in question are something like #FuckingLiarPutin, doesn't really matter what they add to it. Let's hope the hashtags themselves say enough, like Jeff Jarvis' #fuckyouwashington that went viral quickly.
At least the parent was considerate, thoughful and thought provoking. I know what f*ck means, but seeing f*uck, I know instantly that the parent poster has a much more defined vocabulary, and therefore smarter, than myself. I can't imagine why they weren't instantly set to +1 insightful.
The White House condemned the move, calling Iran's internet policies 'an electronic curtain of surveillance and censorship around its people.
Really? REALLY? F*UCK YOU U.S. You are EVERYTHING that is wrong with the world. Go f*cking away and stop crying about people why just want to live their lifes peacefully. You worthless pieces of shit who attack other countries and everyone who doesn't like your limited religious views. You are the scumbag of earth. Go eat your shit. You want to know why we dont like you? BECAUSE YOU TRY TO TELL US WHAT TO DO TO, YOU STUPID SCUMBAGS.
I completely agree. But for those users that do stay with the Netflix DVD plan, Netflix will increase their profit margin. Let's say you and I agree how badly it sucks, and we leave. Well, I want 2 or 3 movies per week, and maybe you do, too. But Netflix doesn't make money on us as DVD customers, they lose money. Grandma, who is happy to get 1 DVD per week, is who makes them money. Grandma, unlike us, doesn't want to use the Redbox kiosk or its too far or what have you. Maybe she got a movie, and forgot to take it back for a week, and when she saw a $10 charge, her grandson set her up on Netflix DVD.
Similarly, some people like loaning out movies. For instance, I know two sisters who both have netflix, and like trading their movies, before sending them back. They get twice the movies like with a larger plan, but they get to pick their own. With a kiosk, the extra night instantly doubles the cost, and is impractical for DVD sharers.
All hypothetical, but can happen.
The question is, how many customers will stay with the plan? Without enough customers, the DVD delivery and warehousing infrastructure will cost too much to maintain, and even if the profit margin is high enough, it may be insignificant.
I've been railing against Netflix, just check my history. But, I still must say, the USPS changes are a total benefit to them. They never wanted customers like you or I anyways.
"you'll see that some Ask Slashdot questions have their own sponsors; the sponsors don't pick the questions, but experts from each sponsor will stick around for the discussion"
So, this could become a free version of Experts Exchange? I don't know if this is a good thing or not. If the quality of answers is high, specifically if the sponsors are tech companies, then this is good for users. However, Experts Exchange is pay for a reason, and that's to ensure very high quality. So if the quality is low, this will just become the geek version of Yahoo Answers.
I think Slashdot should possibly test an alternate Karma system just for answers. Just because someone is +5 Funny doesn't make them an expert.
Because the USPS is slowing down on their delivery times, Netflix's DVD service will benefit by delaying the delivery and return of DVDs and BluRay disks. The slower the mail runs, the fewer disks per month a user can receive. This includes not just the reduced number of days that the USPS will deliver by eliminating weekends, but also not guaranteeing next day deliveries.
Assuming Netflix sends a DVD on Monday, and you receive it on Wednesday (slower USPS) and immediately watch it, it will be picked up Thursday, and arrive at Netflix Monday (slower USPS and no weekend deliveries). They can immediately send you a new DVD, but it is still a full week round trip, limiting you to 4 DVDs per month per # of DVDs on your plan.
Slashdot Mirror
The hell of it is... it was an online poll.
Information wants to be free... except my information!
File sharing with the consent of copyright holder isn't really stealing, but a benefit to them... but getting my information after I agree to the terms of service is stealing and provides no benefit that I like!
What walking contradictions we've become. The fact is we want machines that learn our preferences, language, desires and attitudes, and are excited by things like Siri and recommendation engines. But when push comes to shove on anyone actually using the necessary metrics to accomplish any of that, we flip out about it.
"They didn't pay me for this," is the RIAA/MPAA claim. "I didn't consent," means the person didn't read their terms of service. And we say "sell my information" as if we had that information in the first place, when in fact, we voluntarily helped generate the information via collaboration with the 3rd party.
I'm not saying it should be field day, but it's /. hypocrisy to decry the RIAA/MPAA for defending what they clearly own, but declare jihad against anyone reversing the equation on us. And the most ironic part is that our positions are less about principals than they are about self-interest... the same things motivation the companies.
Come on people, it's not that bad! I know being on Facebook is hard, but there is help. It's called Google+. Switch before it's too late.
A few days ago, I just went on about how I block all ads, and don't see advertising. However... I'd allow "acceptable" ads.
Without ads, there would be no Google, no Facebook, no free internet. There would be 1,000 Wikipedias, begging for money. You can't build billions of dollars worth of data centers on sunshine and ponies.
I use Spiceworks. It would be worth millions to their company, able to charge hundreds per copy if they chose. But it's 100% free. I specifically have enabled ads on their web based tools. Why? #1 - I want to support them. #2 - The ads aren't garbage, they are relevant. Very very relevant. I learn about new IT offerings and products through the ads.
Now granted, there are those who will never click an ad. And companies are learning, consumers want ads relevant to them and unobtrusive. I run ad blocking myself, but I'm not 100% behind the idea that I don't want to see any ads. Right now, it's an all or nothing, or manually turning on each site. I want to do the right thing AND have utter crap held at bay.
This is why I think this is a great tool. Rather than saying, "No ads, never, no way!" This is saying to advertisers, "Do a better job, and don't annoy the shit out of people or track them when they don't want to be tracked... and people are willing to see and click on those."
You can try to fight a war of attrition against ads. Or, they can be encouraged to be better.
And so I can't take the position that there's a vast conspiracy of subliminal trash being force fed into our minds by greedy corporations. I'm sure that's true especially in mass media.
But as Sigmund Freud might say, "Sometimes an ad is just an ad."
While we're at it, let's install key loggers on all PCs. You know, just in case they need it for "enforcement proceedings".
Gullibility is often accompanied by confidence because they lack the ability to question surface appearances. If they are told they are safe, they just believe it.
I'm one of those "spoiled brats". I'm curious what lesson I learned. I left Netflix and left loudly. So... not sure how it got worse. The service price exceeded benefit. People left. Netflix lost.
Netflix didn't lose money to whining. Netflix lost money because people left. And having left, why do we care one iota if it becomes worse or is bought by Verizon or the People's Republic of China.
Let me nail this point for you: we don't care.
All you are saying is, "Hah! See, the price went up, and you left! Now the service is going to get worse because you left! Aren't you sorry you left now!"
Well, um... no. I'm actually pretty satisfied with my decision. You see, the problem here is that you love Netflix, and you don't want to go to Verizon. And you blame us, because we don't. So you are throwing a tantrum because we all left you like it was MySpace and your baby is bought by the big bad corporation, though it is by Verizon this time, not Rupert Murdoch.
You say that whining made people leave. FYI: Most Netflix subscribers don't read Slashdot. But they did see their bill jump up at least 60%, a minimum of $6, not $2. Don't rant if you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
If you think Netflix lost 800,000 customers because of Slashdot or bloggers... You're a moron, a certified moron. Strike that, you're a troll. How you were ever modded insightful is beyond me. Maybe sympathy for your pity party nobody else wants to attend.
Besides, you stole your rant from RWW: http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/10/stop-whining-about-netflix-and.php and at least he had a real point.
Good! After all the whining of a measly $2/month increase in price brought on Netflix by the movie studios, I'd say the spoiled brats that make up TEH BLAGOSPHERE needed a cold, hard lesson in "shut your fucking trap and learn to appreciate what you've got or someone might make it worse"! If it weren't for their incessant, self-centered whining*, Netflix wouldn't have lost quite so many customers and money and would've still looked too expensive for Verizon to absorb! So, congrats on digging too deep, guys! All hail Verizon! :-D
*: You may point out that, by definition, whining is already inherently self-centered. To that I say, well, touche.
Haha, exactly. I just hate it when I order a Sprite and I get a Sierra Mist. Or I order a Mr. Pibb and get Dr. Pepper. Or I order a Big Mac and the stupid lady at Burger King gives me a Whopper. ;)
We are the 99, err... 98%!
Sorry, but that's incorrect. Here's a picture to clear it up for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Public_key_signing.svg
Around here, all dark soda drinks are "coke".
Then again, it doesn't have to be good, it has to be short. iPad is easier to say than a Samsung Evo Touch G1 Plus Z. Android name courtesy of http://androidphonenamegenerator.com/
They found the world's oldest porn hidden under those world's oldest beds.
No, I don't use the "Disable Advertising" feature here that comes with people with "Excellent" karma. I don't need to. It's all OpenDNS and Chrome plugins that block the ads.
A lot of ad blocking software works by altering DNS, but not all. Content can be blocked per site per type. For most, blocking a few sites works. Then a few, like Youtube, try to play hardball.
It's because it's widely used enough that they react faster.
Filename filters, file extension filters, file content filters, javascript rewriting. No matter what Youtube or Slashdot or others do, the DIY blockers can iterate faster, and it's a game of losing for advertisers. Most of the time, a single function call or function break kills an entire script, so it's not really that hard. I don't think they care, though, unless someone else is getting that revenue.
If there was a sure fire way to ensure ads showed up, they'd already be using it.
On another note, I'm not sure what you are talking about on Slashdot, because I can't remember the last time I saw an ad on here.
Rat outside cage talking to rat inside cage, "U mad bro?"
I dunno it seems to work well for selling virtual clothes in Second Life. I found a cute leather thong for my well endowed furry avatar. /sarcasm
This will ensure the hashtags make it to trending topics. If the hashtags in question are something like #FuckingLiarPutin, doesn't really matter what they add to it. Let's hope the hashtags themselves say enough, like Jeff Jarvis' #fuckyouwashington that went viral quickly.
FTA: "(mac only at the moment)"
At least the parent was considerate, thoughful and thought provoking. I know what f*ck means, but seeing f*uck, I know instantly that the parent poster has a much more defined vocabulary, and therefore smarter, than myself. I can't imagine why they weren't instantly set to +1 insightful.
The White House condemned the move, calling Iran's internet policies 'an electronic curtain of surveillance and censorship around its people.
Really? REALLY? F*UCK YOU U.S. You are EVERYTHING that is wrong with the world. Go f*cking away and stop crying about people why just want to live their lifes peacefully. You worthless pieces of shit who attack other countries and everyone who doesn't like your limited religious views. You are the scumbag of earth. Go eat your shit. You want to know why we dont like you? BECAUSE YOU TRY TO TELL US WHAT TO DO TO, YOU STUPID SCUMBAGS.
I sure as hell am not going to use W or X. What is left besides Y? Z? Not a chance.
Brilliant system! It works great on all sorts of things!
Windows, OSX, Ubutnu, BeOS
Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Guacamole
Engadget, Mashable, Slashdot, PCWorld
But is it better than Adamantium?
I completely agree. But for those users that do stay with the Netflix DVD plan, Netflix will increase their profit margin. Let's say you and I agree how badly it sucks, and we leave. Well, I want 2 or 3 movies per week, and maybe you do, too. But Netflix doesn't make money on us as DVD customers, they lose money. Grandma, who is happy to get 1 DVD per week, is who makes them money. Grandma, unlike us, doesn't want to use the Redbox kiosk or its too far or what have you. Maybe she got a movie, and forgot to take it back for a week, and when she saw a $10 charge, her grandson set her up on Netflix DVD.
Similarly, some people like loaning out movies. For instance, I know two sisters who both have netflix, and like trading their movies, before sending them back. They get twice the movies like with a larger plan, but they get to pick their own. With a kiosk, the extra night instantly doubles the cost, and is impractical for DVD sharers.
All hypothetical, but can happen.
The question is, how many customers will stay with the plan? Without enough customers, the DVD delivery and warehousing infrastructure will cost too much to maintain, and even if the profit margin is high enough, it may be insignificant.
I've been railing against Netflix, just check my history. But, I still must say, the USPS changes are a total benefit to them. They never wanted customers like you or I anyways.
"you'll see that some Ask Slashdot questions have their own sponsors; the sponsors don't pick the questions, but experts from each sponsor will stick around for the discussion"
So, this could become a free version of Experts Exchange? I don't know if this is a good thing or not. If the quality of answers is high, specifically if the sponsors are tech companies, then this is good for users. However, Experts Exchange is pay for a reason, and that's to ensure very high quality. So if the quality is low, this will just become the geek version of Yahoo Answers.
I think Slashdot should possibly test an alternate Karma system just for answers. Just because someone is +5 Funny doesn't make them an expert.
Because the USPS is slowing down on their delivery times, Netflix's DVD service will benefit by delaying the delivery and return of DVDs and BluRay disks. The slower the mail runs, the fewer disks per month a user can receive. This includes not just the reduced number of days that the USPS will deliver by eliminating weekends, but also not guaranteeing next day deliveries.
Assuming Netflix sends a DVD on Monday, and you receive it on Wednesday (slower USPS) and immediately watch it, it will be picked up Thursday, and arrive at Netflix Monday (slower USPS and no weekend deliveries). They can immediately send you a new DVD, but it is still a full week round trip, limiting you to 4 DVDs per month per # of DVDs on your plan.
Hey, good job on the hack. But how many people own a PlayBook?
All 5 of them are super excited!