The next interesting advantage that Calc has is the ability to give a substitute name for columns and rows. In other words, instead of column "G" you can name it "the column formerly known as G" or "sales reports" or whatever is relevant to the data in that column. This makes it a little easier to keep track of what you're doing in your equations.
The notion that "much of this wealth was a result of being in the right place at the right time" is patently absurd (although I guess it might make one feel better about not being rich). Luck may have a factor in presenting rare opportunities, but it is still up to individuals and organizations to take advantage of them. Merely coming up with the idea for a GUI interface or e-commerce model isn't, of itself, the greatest contribution to society - it takes someone to turn that idea into a reality.
In a $10 trillion US economy, a 0.5% increase in worker productivity (a lowball estimate of computer-industry contributions) translates into a $50 billion gain for the country each year. Extend those gains to other countries, and across the last two decades, and you're talking big bucks.
What bothers me is there is no conceivable way these individuals could have performed over a billion dollars worth of labor, ever.
For those individuals who made their wealth instead of inheriting it, by definition the wealth they've amassed is the "worth" of their labor (minus investment gains, of course). Whether you like MS or not, they've been a major player in the mass acceptance of PC's, which has led to gigantic productivity gains around the world over the last two decades. And as any economist can tell you, the single greatest factor in the creation of wealth is rising productivity.
What leads you to believe that these are hackers "doing it on an ad-hoc basis, not as part of a government-sponsored attack"? If the Chinese government was behind it, I highly doubt they'd serve it up from official websites! If anything, I would think that what you pointed out might bolster Taiwan's claims...
I'm sure the plaintiffs will contend that merely rating the game as mature doesn't absolve the defendants of responsibility. They would propose that further steps could have been taken...
Oops... except it's not the parents who are suing - it's the victims and their families.
That said, the obvious point is that suing the parents serves no purpose. Suing megacorporations over something which has no possible positive PR value will result in a nice-sized settlement.
A solution, of course, is readily available. At my work we have a regular supply of "screen wipes", basically towlettes moistened with isopropyl alcohol. Before cleaning my screen, I wipe off my cell (and regular) phones first. I just think it doesn't occur to most people that these things need to be cleaned...
Maybe so, but the burden of identifying the users gets much more complicated under that scenario. By going after the ISP's like they have been, they can scoop up name, address & phone number all in one place.
The thing to remember is that the only news here is that this is going to trial. There is an opportunity here for the court to validate reverse engineering, not just viscerate it...
This only pays based on CD/DVD burning - whereas most usage would occur when downloaded MP3's are played on the computer itself. I know I haven't burned more than a handful of CD's, instead using my PC as jukebox...
and just think of what this could do for the beer-goggling scene. Once you get her back home and realize what you've gotten into, just overlay her with the Asia Carerra program and off you go...
Well, for one, you can't dictate a minimum wage across a hundred countries that have free floating currencies. The exchange rates change constantly.
Secondly, the whole argument of what is "unfair" is hard to define. Low wages from a US perspective can be damned good money in dozens of countries. Labor and safety standards are best set on a country-by-country basis, reflecting the preferences and priorities of those people. That is why democracy, in the long run, is the best political mechanism towards achieving equitable international trade. Let each country decide the conditions of their own workplaces, balancing competitive advantage against the preference for a clean environment or safer working conditions. These sorts of tradeoffs are made every day in every country of the world.
I'd highly recommend taking a look at "Development As Freedom" by Amartya Sen, a Noble winning economist. I'd provide a link, but just don't have the time right now...
Reminds me of a joke from SNL, to the effect that this year's updated list of worst jobs had just come out. Last year's winner, Crack Whore, has been topped by a new #1, Assistant Crack Whore...
The question is, what do you put the tariff on??? A tariff is a tax on an imported good. When a US-based insurance company contracts with an offshore development firm for application development and maintenance, what's the import?
The bottom line here is that international competition is finally coming to IT, while other workers have been dealing with it for decades, and many are unprepared.
And your idea that US firms should abide by federal law for their offshore labor is one of the dumbest I've seen in a long time. The first effect (which I presume you want) would be that foreign workers would get cut and jobs would come back home. Hooray! Oops, that's a whole lotta jobs coming back, which is going to put a major strain on the labor markets. Watch as labor costs soar and inflation fires up to insane levels. Meanwhile, companies based in Europe and Asia sweep in and scoop up the cheap labor that has become even more desparate for paying work, thus giving them a gigantic competitive advantage against their US competitors. Within a few years, nobody in their right minds would invest in US-based corporations, and capital flows out of the country - the currency loses strength on the global markets and domestic inflation soars ever higher. Wow, what a dream scenario!
Wow, a Slashdot-trifecta! A parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent of ill-informed, knee-jerk comments that somehow get modded up.
First, how would one set up tariffs to prevent IT outsourcing? What exactly would you tax? And who pays tariffs, anyways? THE AMERICAN CONSUMER. The importing firm simply builds tariffs into their costs and the end consumer pays the bill.
Secondly, I wouldn't say in the general case that "Our corporations are protected from offshore corporate competition by high tariffs." Trade barriers have consistently trended downwards over the past several decades, although significant barriers still remain in agriculture, for example. "Our" corporations (the rise of multinationals pretty much wipes out that idea) are more exposed than ever to the global marketplace, which provides both great opportunity and great challenges.
Third, the US government is by/off/for the people. The problem is that the vast majority can't bother themselves to get off the couch and actually get engaged in the process, and therefore get what they deserve.
I agree, this list was none too impressive - mostly based around satellites. The only one that peaked my interest (alternative sources of energy) was so vague that it didn't carry any weight.
Any informed spectators care to elaborate on the energy-from-space ideas, and how viable they might be?
One thing I'd like to find out is mileage driven as related to income. My hunch is that "the poor" drive less than others, since they're not as likely to live out in the burbs where you have to drive everywhere. That said, I still don't have a problem with this - the goal is to modify behavior and capture some revenue to pay for the costs to the general public such as environmental effects and road maintenance, not to mention the strategic effects of a heavy reliance on foreign oil.
And I definitely know where you're coming from on the big clunkers. Back in high school, I drove a '76 Cadillac Eldorado, that in its later years got 7mpg! Man I loved that car...
Crippling??? Puh-lease... I get so sick of hearing people complain about the price of gas. Over the labor day weekend, one of the generic TV anchors here in Indy made a comment like, "yeah, with prices this high I'm staying home this weekend."
I'm sorry, but the price of gas has very little to do with the total cost of going on a trip. Let's say you've got a car that gets 20 mpg, and you want to head to the beach for the weekend (say, 800 mile round trip). You're looking at 40 gallons of gas, so if the price jumped 50 cents a gallon, you're out a whopping $20. Will that make or break your vacation plans? Hardly.
For all the moaning and groaning, the bottom line is that people's habits haven't really changed much. Look at fuel economy standards, which haven't really gone anywhere in the last 15 years. I say, creep up the gas tax until habits change and people actually start focusing on fuel economy. There are plenty of good things that money could go towards (reducing budget deficits, improving & investing in civil infrastructure, etc.).
I was somewhat luckier. On the same day, I got a notice from a small long-distance telephone company saying I had an account that was being sent to collections, as well as another note saying that the account had been closed and that no further action was necessary. When I called, it turned out someone had used a credit card number in my name to set up an account and wrack up charges, and was eventually recognized as a fraud and everything was closed out.
The scary part was that if I hadn't called these guys up, I never would have known about the identity theft. How often does something like that occur, where the situation gets resolved but the intended victim is never informed???
Slashdot Mirror
The next interesting advantage that Calc has is the ability to give a substitute name for columns and rows. In other words, instead of column "G" you can name it "the column formerly known as G" or "sales reports" or whatever is relevant to the data in that column. This makes it a little easier to keep track of what you're doing in your equations.
The notion that "much of this wealth was a result of being in the right place at the right time" is patently absurd (although I guess it might make one feel better about not being rich). Luck may have a factor in presenting rare opportunities, but it is still up to individuals and organizations to take advantage of them. Merely coming up with the idea for a GUI interface or e-commerce model isn't, of itself, the greatest contribution to society - it takes someone to turn that idea into a reality.
In a $10 trillion US economy, a 0.5% increase in worker productivity (a lowball estimate of computer-industry contributions) translates into a $50 billion gain for the country each year. Extend those gains to other countries, and across the last two decades, and you're talking big bucks.
What bothers me is there is no conceivable way these individuals could have performed over a billion dollars worth of labor, ever.
For those individuals who made their wealth instead of inheriting it, by definition the wealth they've amassed is the "worth" of their labor (minus investment gains, of course). Whether you like MS or not, they've been a major player in the mass acceptance of PC's, which has led to gigantic productivity gains around the world over the last two decades. And as any economist can tell you, the single greatest factor in the creation of wealth is rising productivity.
The money was not earned, it was stolen.
Spoken like a true loser.
What leads you to believe that these are hackers "doing it on an ad-hoc basis, not as part of a government-sponsored attack"? If the Chinese government was behind it, I highly doubt they'd serve it up from official websites! If anything, I would think that what you pointed out might bolster Taiwan's claims...
Fines are OK, but I would have expected much better from the British. Say, something like the end of Braveheart???
I'm sure the plaintiffs will contend that merely rating the game as mature doesn't absolve the defendants of responsibility. They would propose that further steps could have been taken...
Oops... except it's not the parents who are suing - it's the victims and their families.
That said, the obvious point is that suing the parents serves no purpose. Suing megacorporations over something which has no possible positive PR value will result in a nice-sized settlement.
The only real winners here will be the lawyers.
A solution, of course, is readily available. At my work we have a regular supply of "screen wipes", basically towlettes moistened with isopropyl alcohol. Before cleaning my screen, I wipe off my cell (and regular) phones first. I just think it doesn't occur to most people that these things need to be cleaned...
Maybe so, but the burden of identifying the users gets much more complicated under that scenario. By going after the ISP's like they have been, they can scoop up name, address & phone number all in one place.
The thing to remember is that the only news here is that this is going to trial. There is an opportunity here for the court to validate reverse engineering, not just viscerate it...
But the true ass-numbing potential of TV was realized with the development of the remote control. Anybody know who came up with that?
I'd much prefer bounties.
This only pays based on CD/DVD burning - whereas most usage would occur when downloaded MP3's are played on the computer itself. I know I haven't burned more than a handful of CD's, instead using my PC as jukebox...
file sharing isn't a crime, though - it's a civil offense for which the RIAA sues your butt off...
and just think of what this could do for the beer-goggling scene. Once you get her back home and realize what you've gotten into, just overlay her with the Asia Carerra program and off you go...
All I know is, this whole thread could have been in English, German, or Swedish for all I know!
Well, for one, you can't dictate a minimum wage across a hundred countries that have free floating currencies. The exchange rates change constantly.
Secondly, the whole argument of what is "unfair" is hard to define. Low wages from a US perspective can be damned good money in dozens of countries. Labor and safety standards are best set on a country-by-country basis, reflecting the preferences and priorities of those people. That is why democracy, in the long run, is the best political mechanism towards achieving equitable international trade. Let each country decide the conditions of their own workplaces, balancing competitive advantage against the preference for a clean environment or safer working conditions. These sorts of tradeoffs are made every day in every country of the world.
I'd highly recommend taking a look at "Development As Freedom" by Amartya Sen, a Noble winning economist. I'd provide a link, but just don't have the time right now...
Reminds me of a joke from SNL, to the effect that this year's updated list of worst jobs had just come out. Last year's winner, Crack Whore, has been topped by a new #1, Assistant Crack Whore...
The question is, what do you put the tariff on??? A tariff is a tax on an imported good. When a US-based insurance company contracts with an offshore development firm for application development and maintenance, what's the import?
The bottom line here is that international competition is finally coming to IT, while other workers have been dealing with it for decades, and many are unprepared.
And your idea that US firms should abide by federal law for their offshore labor is one of the dumbest I've seen in a long time. The first effect (which I presume you want) would be that foreign workers would get cut and jobs would come back home. Hooray! Oops, that's a whole lotta jobs coming back, which is going to put a major strain on the labor markets. Watch as labor costs soar and inflation fires up to insane levels. Meanwhile, companies based in Europe and Asia sweep in and scoop up the cheap labor that has become even more desparate for paying work, thus giving them a gigantic competitive advantage against their US competitors. Within a few years, nobody in their right minds would invest in US-based corporations, and capital flows out of the country - the currency loses strength on the global markets and domestic inflation soars ever higher. Wow, what a dream scenario!
Wow, a Slashdot-trifecta! A parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent of ill-informed, knee-jerk comments that somehow get modded up.
First, how would one set up tariffs to prevent IT outsourcing? What exactly would you tax? And who pays tariffs, anyways? THE AMERICAN CONSUMER. The importing firm simply builds tariffs into their costs and the end consumer pays the bill.
Secondly, I wouldn't say in the general case that "Our corporations are protected from offshore corporate competition by high tariffs." Trade barriers have consistently trended downwards over the past several decades, although significant barriers still remain in agriculture, for example. "Our" corporations (the rise of multinationals pretty much wipes out that idea) are more exposed than ever to the global marketplace, which provides both great opportunity and great challenges.
Third, the US government is by/off/for the people. The problem is that the vast majority can't bother themselves to get off the couch and actually get engaged in the process, and therefore get what they deserve.
I agree, this list was none too impressive - mostly based around satellites. The only one that peaked my interest (alternative sources of energy) was so vague that it didn't carry any weight.
Any informed spectators care to elaborate on the energy-from-space ideas, and how viable they might be?
One thing I'd like to find out is mileage driven as related to income. My hunch is that "the poor" drive less than others, since they're not as likely to live out in the burbs where you have to drive everywhere. That said, I still don't have a problem with this - the goal is to modify behavior and capture some revenue to pay for the costs to the general public such as environmental effects and road maintenance, not to mention the strategic effects of a heavy reliance on foreign oil.
And I definitely know where you're coming from on the big clunkers. Back in high school, I drove a '76 Cadillac Eldorado, that in its later years got 7mpg! Man I loved that car...
Crippling??? Puh-lease... I get so sick of hearing people complain about the price of gas. Over the labor day weekend, one of the generic TV anchors here in Indy made a comment like, "yeah, with prices this high I'm staying home this weekend."
I'm sorry, but the price of gas has very little to do with the total cost of going on a trip. Let's say you've got a car that gets 20 mpg, and you want to head to the beach for the weekend (say, 800 mile round trip). You're looking at 40 gallons of gas, so if the price jumped 50 cents a gallon, you're out a whopping $20. Will that make or break your vacation plans? Hardly.
For all the moaning and groaning, the bottom line is that people's habits haven't really changed much. Look at fuel economy standards, which haven't really gone anywhere in the last 15 years. I say, creep up the gas tax until habits change and people actually start focusing on fuel economy. There are plenty of good things that money could go towards (reducing budget deficits, improving & investing in civil infrastructure, etc.).
Yeow... I don't ever remember The Ropers being that deep!
I was somewhat luckier. On the same day, I got a notice from a small long-distance telephone company saying I had an account that was being sent to collections, as well as another note saying that the account had been closed and that no further action was necessary. When I called, it turned out someone had used a credit card number in my name to set up an account and wrack up charges, and was eventually recognized as a fraud and everything was closed out.
The scary part was that if I hadn't called these guys up, I never would have known about the identity theft. How often does something like that occur, where the situation gets resolved but the intended victim is never informed???