>We've discussed this with you in the past, Steve- Open Source is worthless if it isn't >legal and doesn't credit the inventor.
Yeah, I remember. There's just something about this "I want recognition" thing that rubs me the wrong way. Either you're giving away free software or you aren't. I don't really care who writes it, or why. There's always going to be some anonymous kid in a basement writing the next free piece of software just for fun.
So if you/really/ want to write free software, by all means, please do - I enjoy it immensely. If you want to avoid legal hassles, then indulge your hobby anonymously. Or, don't, and then enjoy the legal hassles. It's time to face facts - the guys with a monetary stake in/selling/ software are constantly going to be at war with people who want to give away the same product for free. Most freeware making folks don't have the resources to win those kinds of fights. So why fight?
I've never understood all the hooplah about this open source stuff and taking grief from the corporations. If you want to write free software and give it away to the world for free, no problem - just do it anonymously and all of this patent headache goes away.
I looked into Pre-Pay, with TracPhone, but it was a rip-off. The minutes expire whether you use them or not. In the end, it would cost you about $30/month to have an equivalent of what I was paying $40/month for with a "regular" plan. Not a deal.
I would only be interested in Pre-Pay if my minutes never expired.
I checked into Pre-Pay when I dumped the cell phones. I looked at TracPhone (or however you spell it).
The scam going on with pre-pay is that your minutes expire whether you use them or not. I ran the numbers with TracPhone and it came out about $30/month - might as well get a normal subscription plan.
Now if I could buy $100 worth of minutes and they were good/forever/, I would consider it. But as long as minutes expire I'm not interested.
No offense meant, mate - it's just that going to Canada is like staying home - it looks the same. I went to Toronto a few years ago. Might as well have been in Boston.
I don't know if you will ever see this, but I just wanted to say your post was the most succinct definition of "proof" and mathematics that I have ever seen.
>One simple solution would be to REQUIRE sellers to leave feedback to get their Paypal money. Once they've gotten paid I've held up my end of the bargain.
Screw that. I never leave feedback unless it's negative. I don't give kudos to people for doing proper business. I once got hounded half a dozen times from some seller to leave feedback for them. Screw that. It's a business transaction. You got my money, I got my product, now shut up and leave me alone.
It costs a lot of money to travel. Even if you had unlimited vacation, it costs a lot of money to travel. We can't just drive or take a train or bus to other countries - we usually have to fly, and usually a long ways, too, unless you want to go to Canada (yawn) or Mexico (third world).
I've been overseas on vacation now 3 or 4 times. But cost has always been the deciding factor, not time off.
I cancelled my family's cell phones because with the price of gasoline we couldn't afford an extra $80/month, Verizon's cheapest plan at the time, for two cell phones. So I cancelled them and we went back to a "land line" via Vonage for $27/month. Yes this is on top of our $50/month for broadband but I'll cancel everything before the broadband connection.
It's amazing how little I miss having a cell phone. Of course I still keep the phones in the cars in case of emergencies - all cell phones will dial 911 for free.
I won't consider cell phone service again until it's around $10/month.
Keep the bells and whistles - give me Third World cell phone prices. If they can have it, so should I.
I do not think pricing was the issue. Let's face it - most people who are travelling on a commercial airline probably are prepared for some $100 or more in incidental fees as part of their journey, to cover overpriced airport food, cabs, tips, baggage carts, etc. I don't think an extra $30 for entertainment on the airplane would be an issue for most people.
I believe lack of access was the issue. Most people don't have a notebook computer. If they had free wireless portable tablets they could hand out to passengers like pillows, I think they would have gotten a lot more takers for their service.
You could do a lot with those terminals - watch the movie of your choice (rather than whatever santized offering is playing overhead, if anything), listen to music, surf the web, or buy things from their "Skymiles" catalog, whatever.
>If you're sitting there saying "stupid pilots should know not to fly into restricted airspace", >keep in mind that the number of restricted spaces EXPLODED in the last few years because >of You Know When...and these spaces are frequently around insignificant things like, >say, a major grain processing plant that Homeland Insecurity classified as "critical >infrastructure". Things that are NOT marked on charts. They're also frequently date/time >specific (ie, some big concert is going on somewhere, and DoHiS issues a restriction just >for the event. There are a half dozen KINDS of restricted airspaces, with all sorts of >varying altitude limits and such.
Aren't GPS units pretty cheap these days? I would think there should be some centralized database at the FAA, kept continuously up-to-date, that lists all restricted airspaces. When filing a flight plan, you should be able to log into the internet and download this data into your GPS unit. And then when you fly anywhere your GPS unit should tell you if you have or you are about to violate a restricted area.
I would think this would be a simple-to-implement kind of thing and the market for such devices would be huge. Imagine the peace of mind as a general aviator knowing that you will be safe from flying into restricted areas.
>Put an address tag on it and a solid lock. I know many people who travel and a few have had issues with their luggage, >but if they had proper identifying info on it, they got it... just a few days late.
TSA/will/ cut the locks off of any luggage they want to search.
>Two, what's going to be the Next Big Thing in the minimum-wage kitchen
That's easy! I can't believe you didn't see it.
We now have (supposedly) a system that can automatically manage input and output decisions.
Today, these decisions are implemented by kitchen workers.
The next big thing? Eliminate the kitchen workers by replacing them with automated equipment.
If the machinery now exists to make decisions about input and output, it is now just a matter of having mechanisms in place to auto-load, auto-cook, auto-clean, and auto-deliver the products.
I can see it now - a semi backs up to the store with palletized food items that bulk-offloaded into a robotically operated refrigerated storage unit. The robotic unit pulls food out of storage as dictated by the supply computer, processes the food, and delivers it to the customer.
Completely automated food processing - freezer to paper bag.
>The real cash is in services, services, services.
And to that end, it is most beneficial to insure that the software is as complex as possible, so as to make anyone who wants to use it dependant on those services, services, services.:)
You cannot have a long tail when the price of every song is the same. When the price of every song is the same, marketing will drive purchase choices.
But when unpopular songs only cost $.05, as opposed to $.99 for the "hits", there will be a lot of people who suddenly are driven, by price, to investigate, and (gasp) might even like, "unpopular" songs.
Even in the record stores, when I used to shop at them, I was always very glad of my affinity for classical music. My music was always in the bargain bin.
Of course all of this is up against the fact that much music, especially the "hits", are available for free on P2P networks.
I already googled after my post and found out what it was, and then it hit me that the title of this slashdot article gives the definition also, but I didn't make the connection.
Yes, many of the previous posts that met my threshold prior to mine did mention DDR, but only "DDR", and did not say what it was. I had never heard of DDR before.
On one of my rare walks through Walmart yesterday, I noticed a DVD player for $34.00.
It's hard to imagine that there is $1200 worth of electronics in the new Dell computer I just got at work. As cell phones and iPod-like devices become ever-more powerful at sub-$200 prices, it's going to cast an ever-more powerful spotlight on the PC market. I've thought for some time that we are on the verge of seeing PC's become commoditized like calculators.
This latest blurb from Mircosoft is an attempt to stop PCs from becoming generic commodities - because once they start to look like that consumers will expect them to be priced like that.
>But when things like this become available to the average joe, >there's will be a lot more people interested in where the mayor's >car goes than the other way round.
I'm sure the people in power will make sure that certain license plates are exempted from being displayed.
Slashdot Mirror
>We've discussed this with you in the past, Steve- Open Source is worthless if it isn't
/really/ want to write free software, by all means, please do - I enjoy it immensely. If you want to avoid legal hassles, then indulge your hobby anonymously. Or, don't, and then enjoy the legal hassles. It's time to face facts - the guys with a monetary stake in /selling/ software are constantly going to be at war with people who want to give away the same product for free. Most freeware making folks don't have the resources to win those kinds of fights. So why fight?
>legal and doesn't credit the inventor.
Yeah, I remember. There's just something about this "I want recognition" thing that rubs me the wrong way. Either you're giving away free software or you aren't. I don't really care who writes it, or why. There's always going to be some anonymous kid in a basement writing the next free piece of software just for fun.
So if you
Steve
I've never understood all the hooplah about this open source stuff and taking grief from the corporations. If you want to write free software and give it away to the world for free, no problem - just do it anonymously and all of this patent headache goes away.
Steve
...the other white meat!
Steve
p.s. feel free to insert other racial jokes as appropriate.
I have to say, I have been seeing references to "snakes on a plane" on the net now, and around here, for, it seems like, months.
I assumed that it was to do with something that _already_happened_.
When I saw the trailer for the movie, it somehow seemed "old" to me rather than something new and interesting to see.
Steve
I looked into Pre-Pay, with TracPhone, but it was a rip-off. The minutes expire whether you use them or not. In the end, it would cost you about $30/month to have an equivalent of what I was paying $40/month for with a "regular" plan. Not a deal.
I would only be interested in Pre-Pay if my minutes never expired.
Steve
I checked into Pre-Pay when I dumped the cell phones. I looked at TracPhone (or however you spell it).
/forever/, I would consider it. But as long as minutes expire I'm not interested.
The scam going on with pre-pay is that your minutes expire whether you use them or not. I ran the numbers with TracPhone and it came out about $30/month - might as well get a normal subscription plan.
Now if I could buy $100 worth of minutes and they were good
Steve
No offense meant, mate - it's just that going to Canada is like staying home - it looks the same. I went to Toronto a few years ago. Might as well have been in Boston.
Steve
I don't know if you will ever see this, but I just wanted to say your post was the most succinct definition of "proof" and mathematics that I have ever seen.
Steve
>One simple solution would be to REQUIRE sellers to leave feedback to get their Paypal money. Once they've gotten paid I've held up my end of the bargain.
Screw that. I never leave feedback unless it's negative. I don't give kudos to people for doing proper business. I once got hounded half a dozen times from some seller to leave feedback for them. Screw that. It's a business transaction. You got my money, I got my product, now shut up and leave me alone.
Steve
It costs a lot of money to travel. Even if you had unlimited vacation, it costs a lot of money to travel. We can't just drive or take a train or bus to other countries - we usually have to fly, and usually a long ways, too, unless you want to go to Canada (yawn) or Mexico (third world).
I've been overseas on vacation now 3 or 4 times. But cost has always been the deciding factor, not time off.
Steve
...is price.
I cancelled my family's cell phones because with the price of gasoline we couldn't afford an extra $80/month, Verizon's cheapest plan at the time, for two cell phones. So I cancelled them and we went back to a "land line" via Vonage for $27/month. Yes this is on top of our $50/month for broadband but I'll cancel everything before the broadband connection.
It's amazing how little I miss having a cell phone. Of course I still keep the phones in the cars in case of emergencies - all cell phones will dial 911 for free.
I won't consider cell phone service again until it's around $10/month.
Keep the bells and whistles - give me Third World cell phone prices. If they can have it, so should I.
Steve
I do not think pricing was the issue. Let's face it - most people who are travelling on a commercial airline probably are prepared for some $100 or more in incidental fees as part of their journey, to cover overpriced airport food, cabs, tips, baggage carts, etc. I don't think an extra $30 for entertainment on the airplane would be an issue for most people.
I believe lack of access was the issue. Most people don't have a notebook computer. If they had free wireless portable tablets they could hand out to passengers like pillows, I think they would have gotten a lot more takers for their service.
You could do a lot with those terminals - watch the movie of your choice (rather than whatever santized offering is playing overhead, if anything), listen to music, surf the web, or buy things from their "Skymiles" catalog, whatever.
Steve
>If you're sitting there saying "stupid pilots should know not to fly into restricted airspace",
>keep in mind that the number of restricted spaces EXPLODED in the last few years because
>of You Know When...and these spaces are frequently around insignificant things like,
>say, a major grain processing plant that Homeland Insecurity classified as "critical
>infrastructure". Things that are NOT marked on charts. They're also frequently date/time
>specific (ie, some big concert is going on somewhere, and DoHiS issues a restriction just
>for the event. There are a half dozen KINDS of restricted airspaces, with all sorts of
>varying altitude limits and such.
Aren't GPS units pretty cheap these days? I would think there should be some centralized database at the FAA, kept continuously up-to-date, that lists all restricted airspaces. When filing a flight plan, you should be able to log into the internet and download this data into your GPS unit. And then when you fly anywhere your GPS unit should tell you if you have or you are about to violate a restricted area.
I would think this would be a simple-to-implement kind of thing and the market for such devices would be huge. Imagine the peace of mind as a general aviator knowing that you will be safe from flying into restricted areas.
Steve
>Put an address tag on it and a solid lock. I know many people who travel and a few have had issues with their luggage,
/will/ cut the locks off of any luggage they want to search.
>but if they had proper identifying info on it, they got it... just a few days late.
TSA
Steve
No one can afford to do that, which is why we eat, and will continue to eat even more, processed food.
Steve
>Two, what's going to be the Next Big Thing in the minimum-wage kitchen
That's easy! I can't believe you didn't see it.
We now have (supposedly) a system that can automatically manage input and output decisions.
Today, these decisions are implemented by kitchen workers.
The next big thing? Eliminate the kitchen workers by replacing them with automated equipment.
If the machinery now exists to make decisions about input and output, it is now just a matter of having mechanisms in place to auto-load, auto-cook, auto-clean, and auto-deliver the products.
I can see it now - a semi backs up to the store with palletized food items that bulk-offloaded into a robotically operated refrigerated storage unit. The robotic unit pulls food out of storage as dictated by the supply computer, processes the food, and delivers it to the customer.
Completely automated food processing - freezer to paper bag.
Steve
>The real cash is in services, services, services.
:)
And to that end, it is most beneficial to insure that the software is as complex as possible, so as to make anyone who wants to use it dependant on those services, services, services.
Steve
>Are you an idiot, or do you just play one on the Internet?
Are you a rude prick, or do you just play one when posting anonymously on the Internet?
Steve
You cannot have a long tail when the price of every song is the same. When the price of every song is the same, marketing will drive purchase choices.
But when unpopular songs only cost $.05, as opposed to $.99 for the "hits", there will be a lot of people who suddenly are driven, by price, to investigate, and (gasp) might even like, "unpopular" songs.
Even in the record stores, when I used to shop at them, I was always very glad of my affinity for classical music. My music was always in the bargain bin.
Of course all of this is up against the fact that much music, especially the "hits", are available for free on P2P networks.
Steve
I already googled after my post and found out what it was, and then it hit me that the title of this slashdot article gives the definition also, but I didn't make the connection.
Yes, many of the previous posts that met my threshold prior to mine did mention DDR, but only "DDR", and did not say what it was. I had never heard of DDR before.
Steve
>What's wrong with just launching it into the sun?
Nothing, until you find out something useful or necessary to do with all that waste you've launched into the sun...
Steve
Because what is DDR? I've never heard of it...
Steve
On one of my rare walks through Walmart yesterday, I noticed a DVD player for $34.00.
:)
It's hard to imagine that there is $1200 worth of electronics in the new Dell computer I just got at work. As cell phones and iPod-like devices become ever-more powerful at sub-$200 prices, it's going to cast an ever-more powerful spotlight on the PC market. I've thought for some time that we are on the verge of seeing PC's become commoditized like calculators.
This latest blurb from Mircosoft is an attempt to stop PCs from becoming generic commodities - because once they start to look like that consumers will expect them to be priced like that.
I already do.
Steve
>The biggest sellers are always the most heavily advertised/talked about.
When all songs cost basically the same (say, $.99 as most do on iTunes), that's true.
But what if the "hits" cost $.99 and the "old stuff" cost, say, $.50?
How many people would sort by price and suddenly start buying on PRICE instead of what the latest advertising is pushing?
When all songs cost the same, there is no tail.
Steve
>But when things like this become available to the average joe,
>there's will be a lot more people interested in where the mayor's
>car goes than the other way round.
I'm sure the people in power will make sure that certain license plates are exempted from being displayed.
Steve