Guess what? That system kept Europe in the dark ages for centuries.
Anybody who's interested in progress, in knowledge and enlightenment (it's a loaded word, but bear with me) through knowledge will denounce such practices.
And those who resist progress will be left behind.
You can hear it, but it's not static or hiss, just a general muted quality to the sound. It's pretty loud in 64kbps. It's subtler in 128kbps, but still present. It's almost gone by 192kbps, but still there. Personally (depending on the recording), I can tell the difference between 320kbps and 192kbps, but not between 320kbps and 256kbps. And I can't really tell the difference between lossless and 320kbps.
But I can tell the difference between listening to an orchestra live, and listening to one on CD. There are nuances, subtleties, that simply can't be reproduced with recorded music.
It's like listening to a Stradivarius. A person who plays the violin or hears it all the time can tell which one is better. A person who doesn't might be able to tell the difference, but not necessarily what's better. A person listening to a recording, hi-fidelity or otherwise, probably won't be able to tell.
What's preferred is subjective. So some people can prefer the lossy, "inferior" version over the lossless "superior" version. But as somebody else said, if people can tell which one they'd prefer, then they can tell the difference between them.
Agreed. No doubt, there's a snob factor involved in these things. But to stereotype everybody who's willing to pay a bit more (or who's able to), and to snub them collectively, just screams sour grapes to me (no pun intended).
Just because I can't appreciate the difference between something that costs $1000 and $100, doesn't mean that others can't. And just because I don't care, doesn't mean other people don't. Everybody's entitled to their thing, be it wine, spirits, music, or gadgets.
And a bit of food for othought, I'm sure the audiophiles and wine affecionados can say the same about buying a $600 graphics card or a $5000 gaming rig or a $700 phone. But I don't really hear them being condescending about it, and to be frank, that's already a point in my book over this crowd.
Your analogy is a little more difficult to draw. "Human rights" including child labor and other such things are concepts of the Western, developed world. They are our values and morals.
People do what they need to do to survive. Children will work for pennies if they have to, if that's what it takes to ensure that their family has food on the table every night.
Other governments don't provide financial safety nets for the poor. Maybe they should, and maybe Western governments should put pressure on 3rd world countries to do so. But, until that happens, people will do what they have to do.
You see it as exploitation, the people working probably see it as an opportunity. You see them making pennies to your dollar, but they probably see it as making an honest living, and sometimes, even a generous wage. In fact, if you start doing things like forcing workers to be of a certain wage, you may end up starving poorer families to death.
Now, if they abused their workers (beatings, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions--not unclean or otherwise poor, just unsafe, unpaid overtime), that's a different story. But as long as the treatment of workers remains humane and dignified, it's probably not as bad as you think, and not nearly as immoral as activists make it out to be.
If you want a Helvetica clone, take Arial; it has almost the same letterforms and exactly the same metrics, and was in fact designed to substitute directly for Helvetica.
I'm sorry, but this isn't right at all.
I would recommend you read up on Helvetica vs. Arial. Arial was used to replace Helvetica because of the licensing fees around the latter, but it's far from a clone.
All torrents are trackerless by default. You usually have to turn it.
And most major torrent programs support trackerless torrents by default. In fact, you might be using the trackerless component without actually knowing it.
So no, just having trackerless torrents means no more than having tracked torrents in terms of copyright infringement.
It's not criticism when somebody goes "La la la, you're a dickhead" in response to everything you say. And the moment you say, "I'm not a dickhead," he goes off to the teacher and tells on you for saying dickhead.
No, but there have recently been a rash of "if it looks like a minor" or "even if no child was harmed" or "stupid minor takes picture of self" cases where the result was more oppression. How does the excuse of preventing children from being harmed justify that?
Censorship is a slippery slope. Better that it doesn't happen at all, than try to stop somewhere halfway.
And nobody to take charge and responsibility for it all.
A project done well needs a strong leader who can manage both the needs of the users, the coders, and upper management. Only then can things happen. Without somebody like that, all you'll get out of it is an office tug-of-war between all of the interests. It's why leadership and direction are such important qualities in management, and why companies try to hire and keep the best.
In fact, it's why the CEO having a vision of where the company's going, and able to keep everybody sold on that vision, is so important. There are probably a million people with the kind of charisma and intelligence as Steve Jobs. But there's only one Steve Jobs, because he's the only one who knows where Apple is going--he's the only one who knows where he wants to go. He's made mistakes in the past perhaps, but only he's fully able to comprehend the lessons learned from those mistakes and meld it into his vision.
More likely, the code was written and documented badly in the first place, so it's not a matter of taking it and cutting it down into something more elegant. Instead, it's about trying to decipher exactly what's going on, then trying to figure out how to make it at least superficially better while trying to keep within the same crappy framework. This has to all be done within budget, or the work done will go to waste when the project's scrapped, and there won't be a budget for maintenance again.
Maintenance isn't a rewrite from scratch to do the same thing, as much as we'd like it to be. Production systems have to be kept up. Migration to new code has to be both backwards compatible and produce enough visible results to make it worthwhile. It can't be too big of a change, nor too little. It's hardly any wonder software developers don't get to, and managers don't want to do it.
The labels probably contract out a lot of the work done, and probably get a hefty discount as a result. So they'll still have a place in the post-digital revolution. They'll just have to make an honest living, and won't be able to rake in the dough off of other people's hard work.
If the time travel you're thinking were to happen, then it would be between possible universes. And the universe you'd end up in would have all along, had somebody (namely you) pop in from a different universe.
If the kind of time travel where to exist such that you couldn't change anything (think 12 Monkeys) then the universe would turn from non-deterministic to deterministic.
GP was being sardonic. You can't possibly "'not using a company's products and services' in order to prevent them from collecting data." unless you want to become a hermit.
Oh, and anyone who has access to your web browser history/cache.. but you knew that.
This is probably the only thing in your control. If you value your privacy, it'd be the first feature to go on disability of every web browser you install.
But the truth is, most of us just aren't that interesting to be monitored 24/7. And if you suspect you are, you may want to take certain precautions instead of merely complaining about how some third party is logging your searches.
(This wasn't directed at you per se, just "you" in general.)
That's pretty much the mentality you have to step into a car with--that at any time, anything can go wrong. It's not a big issue if your radio presets have been reset, but if your brakes go, or there's something stuck under your break pedal, or your accelerator is stuck, you have to be prepared for these situations before even thinking about driving. The most common thing is blowing a tire. People wouldn't be so aggressive if they drove thinking they could blow a tire at any given time.
I've had brakes fail on me twice, once the fluid lines, and the other time the pedal wouldn't go down. The solution's trivial, though slightly dangerous, and that's to hit the hand brake smoothly and forcefully.
I've had the accelerator stuck in the down position, and I had to kick it back up from underneath while braking with the other foot.
Mechanical, electrical, a car is still a machine, and the potential to malfunction is there regardless. A good driver is prepared for all such events from the first sound of cranking.
Slashdot Mirror
Guess what? That system kept Europe in the dark ages for centuries.
Anybody who's interested in progress, in knowledge and enlightenment (it's a loaded word, but bear with me) through knowledge will denounce such practices.
And those who resist progress will be left behind.
You can hear it, but it's not static or hiss, just a general muted quality to the sound. It's pretty loud in 64kbps. It's subtler in 128kbps, but still present. It's almost gone by 192kbps, but still there. Personally (depending on the recording), I can tell the difference between 320kbps and 192kbps, but not between 320kbps and 256kbps. And I can't really tell the difference between lossless and 320kbps.
But I can tell the difference between listening to an orchestra live, and listening to one on CD. There are nuances, subtleties, that simply can't be reproduced with recorded music.
It's like listening to a Stradivarius. A person who plays the violin or hears it all the time can tell which one is better. A person who doesn't might be able to tell the difference, but not necessarily what's better. A person listening to a recording, hi-fidelity or otherwise, probably won't be able to tell.
What's preferred is subjective. So some people can prefer the lossy, "inferior" version over the lossless "superior" version. But as somebody else said, if people can tell which one they'd prefer, then they can tell the difference between them.
Agreed. No doubt, there's a snob factor involved in these things. But to stereotype everybody who's willing to pay a bit more (or who's able to), and to snub them collectively, just screams sour grapes to me (no pun intended).
Just because I can't appreciate the difference between something that costs $1000 and $100, doesn't mean that others can't. And just because I don't care, doesn't mean other people don't. Everybody's entitled to their thing, be it wine, spirits, music, or gadgets.
And a bit of food for othought, I'm sure the audiophiles and wine affecionados can say the same about buying a $600 graphics card or a $5000 gaming rig or a $700 phone. But I don't really hear them being condescending about it, and to be frank, that's already a point in my book over this crowd.
listening to some Shostakovich
That about explains everything.
Sure; kowtowing doesn't require a chair todo.
Your analogy is a little more difficult to draw. "Human rights" including child labor and other such things are concepts of the Western, developed world. They are our values and morals.
People do what they need to do to survive. Children will work for pennies if they have to, if that's what it takes to ensure that their family has food on the table every night.
Other governments don't provide financial safety nets for the poor. Maybe they should, and maybe Western governments should put pressure on 3rd world countries to do so. But, until that happens, people will do what they have to do.
You see it as exploitation, the people working probably see it as an opportunity. You see them making pennies to your dollar, but they probably see it as making an honest living, and sometimes, even a generous wage. In fact, if you start doing things like forcing workers to be of a certain wage, you may end up starving poorer families to death.
Now, if they abused their workers (beatings, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions--not unclean or otherwise poor, just unsafe, unpaid overtime), that's a different story. But as long as the treatment of workers remains humane and dignified, it's probably not as bad as you think, and not nearly as immoral as activists make it out to be.
If you want a Helvetica clone, take Arial; it has almost the same letterforms and exactly the same metrics, and was in fact designed to substitute directly for Helvetica.
I'm sorry, but this isn't right at all.
I would recommend you read up on Helvetica vs. Arial. Arial was used to replace Helvetica because of the licensing fees around the latter, but it's far from a clone.
All torrents are trackerless by default. You usually have to turn it.
And most major torrent programs support trackerless torrents by default. In fact, you might be using the trackerless component without actually knowing it.
So no, just having trackerless torrents means no more than having tracked torrents in terms of copyright infringement.
It's not criticism when somebody goes "La la la, you're a dickhead" in response to everything you say. And the moment you say, "I'm not a dickhead," he goes off to the teacher and tells on you for saying dickhead.
Yes.
One can be for the good of the populace, in the case of a benevolent dictator. The other cannot.
No, but there have recently been a rash of "if it looks like a minor" or "even if no child was harmed" or "stupid minor takes picture of self" cases where the result was more oppression. How does the excuse of preventing children from being harmed justify that?
Censorship is a slippery slope. Better that it doesn't happen at all, than try to stop somewhere halfway.
And nobody to take charge and responsibility for it all.
A project done well needs a strong leader who can manage both the needs of the users, the coders, and upper management. Only then can things happen. Without somebody like that, all you'll get out of it is an office tug-of-war between all of the interests. It's why leadership and direction are such important qualities in management, and why companies try to hire and keep the best.
In fact, it's why the CEO having a vision of where the company's going, and able to keep everybody sold on that vision, is so important. There are probably a million people with the kind of charisma and intelligence as Steve Jobs. But there's only one Steve Jobs, because he's the only one who knows where Apple is going--he's the only one who knows where he wants to go. He's made mistakes in the past perhaps, but only he's fully able to comprehend the lessons learned from those mistakes and meld it into his vision.
More likely, the code was written and documented badly in the first place, so it's not a matter of taking it and cutting it down into something more elegant. Instead, it's about trying to decipher exactly what's going on, then trying to figure out how to make it at least superficially better while trying to keep within the same crappy framework. This has to all be done within budget, or the work done will go to waste when the project's scrapped, and there won't be a budget for maintenance again.
Maintenance isn't a rewrite from scratch to do the same thing, as much as we'd like it to be. Production systems have to be kept up. Migration to new code has to be both backwards compatible and produce enough visible results to make it worthwhile. It can't be too big of a change, nor too little. It's hardly any wonder software developers don't get to, and managers don't want to do it.
Which is why I think we need 4-year software engineering professional degrees, but then while we're at it maybe I could get a pony too..
Several schools have a 4-year Software Engineering degree, and more pop up every year. Ex.: http://www.se.rit.edu/
You can go back to hoping for that pony now.
Want to get rid of this ad permanently? Click here to buy (blank).
The labels probably contract out a lot of the work done, and probably get a hefty discount as a result. So they'll still have a place in the post-digital revolution. They'll just have to make an honest living, and won't be able to rake in the dough off of other people's hard work.
If the time travel you're thinking were to happen, then it would be between possible universes. And the universe you'd end up in would have all along, had somebody (namely you) pop in from a different universe.
If the kind of time travel where to exist such that you couldn't change anything (think 12 Monkeys) then the universe would turn from non-deterministic to deterministic.
Change that to a bong, and you've got yourself a winner there.
(With apologies to Robin Williams)
With a vista.
GP was being sardonic. You can't possibly "'not using a company's products and services' in order to prevent them from collecting data." unless you want to become a hermit.
Oh, and anyone who has access to your web browser history/cache.. but you knew that.
This is probably the only thing in your control. If you value your privacy, it'd be the first feature to go on disability of every web browser you install.
But the truth is, most of us just aren't that interesting to be monitored 24/7. And if you suspect you are, you may want to take certain precautions instead of merely complaining about how some third party is logging your searches.
(This wasn't directed at you per se, just "you" in general.)
I can't believe Africa just got compared to a cookie--for an entire thread, no less.
So I have to ask now, what kind of cookie is it? And is it crisp or soft?
That's pretty much the mentality you have to step into a car with--that at any time, anything can go wrong. It's not a big issue if your radio presets have been reset, but if your brakes go, or there's something stuck under your break pedal, or your accelerator is stuck, you have to be prepared for these situations before even thinking about driving. The most common thing is blowing a tire. People wouldn't be so aggressive if they drove thinking they could blow a tire at any given time.
I've had brakes fail on me twice, once the fluid lines, and the other time the pedal wouldn't go down. The solution's trivial, though slightly dangerous, and that's to hit the hand brake smoothly and forcefully.
I've had the accelerator stuck in the down position, and I had to kick it back up from underneath while braking with the other foot.
Mechanical, electrical, a car is still a machine, and the potential to malfunction is there regardless. A good driver is prepared for all such events from the first sound of cranking.
Make both screens multi-touch, and then you'll have something.
But if it ran Linux, would it still suck?
Wait a minute...