Yeah, that worked out exactly as well as you would expect: a colossal failure where the bikes were quickly stolen and sold for drug money. Guess what? Communism doesn't work. See also: The Tragedy of the Commons. This is the result of scarcity. If there is an abundance of bicycles that anyone can use, the monetary value of the bike based on its scarcity is zero. The value of the bike in terms of its actual usefulness to get you from one place to the other remains, having absolutely nothing to do with the number of bikes in existence. If you only put 100 free bikes on the streets in a major city, that's only a tiny fraction of the total number of bikes, so the impact on the monetary value of a given bike is nil. Therefore they still have monetary value, and are a target for theft. If you put 100,000 bikes into a major city, their monetary value would be nil because they are everywhere, and not worth stealing because individual ownership of a bike becomes unnecessary. You may say that there would be an incentive to steal the bikes and bring them to a place where they are scarce and therefore still have monetary value. This will happen if the abundance is localized, but not if there is abundance everywhere. Collective property can only work when there is global abundance, or when there is serious deterrent to theft/misuse. People may still abuse the bikes, which is a separate issue, but a program like this will obviously require maintenance anyway.
This is one of the most perfect examples I have seen of engineers coming up with something undeniably stupid and useless. How the hell is a talking robot going to make someone happy? Unless the driver is mentally retarded or a child, this is not going to work, and the last time I checked they don't let those people drive. This is right up there with internet-connected refrigerators that e-mail you when you are out of milk. Note to engineers: run your ideas through a common sense filter BEFORE you start development.
I think this phrase is to make a distinction between a case which would set an important precedent versus one that would not. If a case does not establish a new precedent, it would change little "outside of the courtroom," i.e. it would not effect much outside of those involved in the case directly. If I go to court to contest a parking ticket and I still have to pay, nothing is happening "outside the courtroom." If I contest a parking ticket and it sets in motion a series of decisions saying that parking tickets are unconstitutional, there would be a profound effect "outside the courtroom."
In my mind, the real test of how successful this experiment is depends entirely on the total amount of money ultimately made, not how many legal downloads (with zero or non-zero price paid), not how many bittorrent downloads, not even the average amount paid. If the band's take is higher or equal to their last album I think you can say it was a success. The key thing is that with the record companies out of the loop, you would probably only need to pull in about $1-2 per legal download to match a traditional album release in terms of money going directly to the band, assuming there were as many paid downloads as would otherwise have been CD sales.
I mean Factory-top I'm so confused now, don't you mean Factory-bottom? Maybe I have a dirty mind but after reading these posts I'm now envisioning two factories having anal, er, I mean receiving-dock sex.
Politicians and bureaucrats love to throw money at education... Where do you live and is there any room for me? Seriously, politicians and bureaucrats these days love nothing more than to cut, cut, then cut some more. Tuition through the roof in higher education, cutbacks in local education, "unnecessary" programs cut, like music and art, etc. I'm sure they prefer to spend the money on computers rather than salaries (capital investment good, talented staff bad) but there is definitely no money being thrown at education, more like grudgingly given.
Chinese students are scared to death of failing because that means it's right back to China where they'll end up assigned as the Third Assistant Injection Molding Technician in a plastic bucket factory in Shanghai. I've often wondered what I would consider a perfect hell to be. Thank you for articulating it.
Very good point. I'm nearing completion of an EE PhD. The key thing for me is that I do something that moves humanity forward, so I'd like to continue doing research after I finish, to increase human knowledge. Could I make a lot of money doing something else, like corporate law or real estate? Sure, but if I was forced to make a living doing either of these things I'd probably shoot myself in the face.
I'm with you on this one. I've been working on a PhD in EE for the last 5 years, hoping to finish early next year. I'm intellectually way beyond where I was when I finished my BS. I'm hoping to eventually get a faculty position at a decent institution. The grandparent post was way off base.
Captchas could be changed so that in order to pass, you have to demonstrate ability to read in addition to just matching symbols. Except that the XO is designed to combat illiteracy! Oh noes!
Re:Dell hardware only works with Ubuntu!
on
The Next Leap for Linux
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Dude, calm down. You're seriously going to get all pissed about Dell shipping a binary network driver? I think it's a legitimate concern. I'm a proud owner of a Dell Inspiron that came with Ubuntu pre-installed. I don't know if the network hardware is proprietary on it. Nevertheless, with binary drivers, sure it works now, but what about with a later version of Ubuntu? What if Dell stops supporting it? Open source/specifications is not just a fell-good concept, it directly effects usability and longevity of hardware.
We south of the border have lowered the value of our currency so you folks up there won't feel so inferior. Could we ask that in exchange you ease up on the cold fronts? Thanks a bunch. Oh, and buy our stuff!
And that is really Freedom Zero. The Right to be Wrong. Huh, and all this time I thought Bush's professed love of "freedom" was empty, cynical sloganeering. He's been exercising Freedom Zero his entire life!
No doubt the cell phone industry in the U.S. has some serious problems. However, Apple is the only phone manufacturer that I am aware of that is usable on only a single provider's network. Nokia, Motorola, etc. all make phones for all of the various major carriers. So while Apple is not responsible for the hardware lock-in situation, they have embraced it more thoroughly than any other manufacturer.
Not that I am promoting such things, but there are potentially pretty serious military advantages to having a persistent presence on the moon. Surveillance satellites in earth orbit are very vulnerable to destruction, much harder to take out one on or orbiting the moon. Also, you could conceivably launch giant projectiles towards the earth from the moon that would be essentially impossible to stop. Think it is hard to shoot down an ICBM? Try shooting down a meteor.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think I've ever seen a rant so well backed up by meticulous technical detail.
Clearly you didn't WTFV.
This is one of the most perfect examples I have seen of engineers coming up with something undeniably stupid and useless. How the hell is a talking robot going to make someone happy? Unless the driver is mentally retarded or a child, this is not going to work, and the last time I checked they don't let those people drive. This is right up there with internet-connected refrigerators that e-mail you when you are out of milk. Note to engineers: run your ideas through a common sense filter BEFORE you start development.
Awesome Paranoia reference. I played a session this summer, before that I hadn't played it in 15 years.
I think this phrase is to make a distinction between a case which would set an important precedent versus one that would not. If a case does not establish a new precedent, it would change little "outside of the courtroom," i.e. it would not effect much outside of those involved in the case directly. If I go to court to contest a parking ticket and I still have to pay, nothing is happening "outside the courtroom." If I contest a parking ticket and it sets in motion a series of decisions saying that parking tickets are unconstitutional, there would be a profound effect "outside the courtroom."
In my mind, the real test of how successful this experiment is depends entirely on the total amount of money ultimately made, not how many legal downloads (with zero or non-zero price paid), not how many bittorrent downloads, not even the average amount paid. If the band's take is higher or equal to their last album I think you can say it was a success. The key thing is that with the record companies out of the loop, you would probably only need to pull in about $1-2 per legal download to match a traditional album release in terms of money going directly to the band, assuming there were as many paid downloads as would otherwise have been CD sales.
Will this finally be the Year of the Linux Server?
Now if they can just definitively show that masturbation does not cause blindness, geeks will finally be able to live worry-free.
Laser! Apply directly to the forehead!
Laser! Apply directly to the forehead!
Laser! Apply directly to the forehead!
Laser is available without a prescription at research institutions nationwide.
I'll bet you these guys are from Iapetus.
Very good point. I'm nearing completion of an EE PhD. The key thing for me is that I do something that moves humanity forward, so I'd like to continue doing research after I finish, to increase human knowledge. Could I make a lot of money doing something else, like corporate law or real estate? Sure, but if I was forced to make a living doing either of these things I'd probably shoot myself in the face.
I'm with you on this one. I've been working on a PhD in EE for the last 5 years, hoping to finish early next year. I'm intellectually way beyond where I was when I finished my BS. I'm hoping to eventually get a faculty position at a decent institution. The grandparent post was way off base.
Silly canuck, no need to specify that the pennies are Canadian or U.S.
http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=USD&to=CAD&submit=Convert
We south of the border have lowered the value of our currency so you folks up there won't feel so inferior. Could we ask that in exchange you ease up on the cold fronts? Thanks a bunch. Oh, and buy our stuff!
What do you call it when I drag the U.S. software patent system behind my car until it is an unrecognizable bloody mess?
Sorry for the graphic imagery, but I'm really getting sick of this crap.
The parent company of Aurora Technology is called Shanda Entertainment. 'Shanda' is the Yiddish word for "shame or embarrassment."
No doubt the cell phone industry in the U.S. has some serious problems. However, Apple is the only phone manufacturer that I am aware of that is usable on only a single provider's network. Nokia, Motorola, etc. all make phones for all of the various major carriers. So while Apple is not responsible for the hardware lock-in situation, they have embraced it more thoroughly than any other manufacturer.
Not that I am promoting such things, but there are potentially pretty serious military advantages to having a persistent presence on the moon. Surveillance satellites in earth orbit are very vulnerable to destruction, much harder to take out one on or orbiting the moon. Also, you could conceivably launch giant projectiles towards the earth from the moon that would be essentially impossible to stop. Think it is hard to shoot down an ICBM? Try shooting down a meteor.