I used to work for a large biotech company. As we worked to develop new products and raise our profit, a new CFO came in. The first thing they did was restructure the company into subcompanies to reduce the overall tax rate. We also moved manufacturing, over a few years, to Puerto Rico. Why? Because the amount of tax savings to the company was the equivalent of A BLOCKBUSTER PRODUCT, with NO development risk! Why WOULDN'T a rational company do this?
The laws and rules are set up by governments. Corporations work within those laws to maximize their profits. As long as MSFT is not breaking any laws, you as a shareholder would demand and expect they work to maximize their profits.
Why do you think so many US companies have subsidiaries in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Singapore, etc.? Because those are low-tax locations. It is all perfectly legal. It also helps keep state governments honest, because any state or country competes for business on a world scale against others.
I live in California. I'm thinking of retiring. I may leave the state due to the onerous taxes here. That's my right! If I want to give CA the finger then let them suffer the consequences of their tax policies.
...that the power of the internet has caused us to rise to defeat this proposal. As a TWC subscriber myself, I'm out of DSL range and would have been SCREWED if this happened. I'm paying enough already at almost $50/month for my broadband.
TWC is very upset that they are becoming a utility and want to find a way to grow their $$ even while their traditional cable business is under pressure. I suspect this is not the end of ways they will try to feather their caps at our expense.
The real privacy policy is as follows (not intending to be humorous):
"Clear is putting a statement on the web that will soothe you. We really have no significant program, but in the even that a major breach occurs, we are willing to risk bankruptcy and we believe that this risk is outweighed by the benefits in getting major government contracts."
He was the best, and my favorite science fiction author. Somehow his passing is touching me very deeply. He touched me in ways I don't even understand myself by introducing me to the best that science fiction has to offer. Amazing - at the same time he passed a shuttle mission was continuing the construction of a space station. Not quite the station in 2001, but impressive anyway. Let's not forget the communications satellites and myriad other accomplishments.
Arthur, for you I hope you're with HAL, Issac, and Carl. We will miss you.
...because they're too busy working on the next Vista security patch.
I also heard that there was a chair throwing class that the lawyers were going to.
That must be it! I know if it is called "Krystal Kontent" that I'll be really happy about having my fair use rights taken away, my money collected multiple times, and my anus reamed out by the RIAA B***es.
Don't forget the rootkit!. There's also the mini-disc, the memory stick, and other attempts by Sony to lock you into their proprietary technologies. Shades of Microsoft, I put Sony right up there in the pinnacle of company ethics. Couldn't have happened to a *nicer* company (tongue in cheek).
for a while longer. The two spacecraft, launched in the mid 1970's, are almost 30 years old. And they're still working, 9 billion miles away. They're well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Now that's impressive. Not to take away from Mars Global Surveyor or the twin rovers.
Microsoft has dropped to a new low. What of substance has Microsoft invented anytime lately? Perhaps the XBox. They've been riding their early entry into the PC market for 20 years. Their software is nothing great, and their entire growth M.O. is to shut out competition by virtue of their monopoly on the Windows OS. They are scared shitless that Linux is going to eventually kill much of their business.
Microsoft did this to Netscape. They tried to kill Apple years ago and only let Apple survive to prove that they were not monopolists. They funded SCO through a back door third company in their lawsuit against Linux. Now that that has failed, Microsoft is going directly against Linux. In the meantime, very little innovation has been realized from the massive profits that the company generates.
Contrast with Apple. They first popularized the GUI. The 3.5 inch floppy. SCSI. PDA (Newton). Built-in networking. Hyperlinking. MP3 player with integrated software on the computer/synchronization paradigm. And they've translated their entire operating system and hardware line into a new technical architecture in less than half the time Microsoft has needed to upgrade their piss poor OS to a newer resource hogging OS with few significantly newer features.
What is so funny is that Microsoft coming out with the Zune! They see Apple with a big new music market. Microsoft wants a piece of this action! And they are going to fail, because Apple has a huge ecosystem of hardware, software, accessories, and ever car makers putting iPod interfaces in! Did you see that even the airlines are working on iPod interfaces for power, audio, and video in their airplanes?! Hahaha to Microsoft - Apple is doing the same thing to Microsoft that Microsoft has done to them in the PC OS! And I'm glad!
So I'm not usually highly emotional about these things, but Microsoft is scum! Microsoft - up yours!
You'd think by now that they would realize that thier image is going down. Instead of being protective, why don't they put that effort into innovation? I don't think it's in their DNA.
Microsoft is sort of like General Motors - they stick with their old program, and wonder why they keep getting bludgeoned on the head time after time.
Heard recently in the Microsoft boardroom:
Gates: "Why does this keep happening to us? I give away billions and Europe treats us so badly."
Ballmer: "I haven't thrown any chairs lately. I even went to charm school"
Gates: "I've been the chief software architect for years now. You'd think they would trust me".
Ballmer: "Bill, it's for you. The Vista team. They're not going to meet their Q1 2007 deadline...."
I was watching Steve's keynote. One of the MS VPs comes on stage and talks about the 5+ year committment to the Mac for MS Office. Yet MS is dropping WMP. Strange, eh?
The real killer was that only 10 minutes after MS comes on stage to talk about support for Apple, Steve runs a commercial on the Intel switch. It talks about how all those years Intel's chips had so much potential, but they were stuck running on "boring little computers". Now, of course, they're in Macs!
Kind of a snuff to Microsoft! You need to see it if you haven't already.
If they are focusing at coding, then they are missing the big picture.
Nobody would argue that coding is important, and that you'd like to have good individuals to code applications.
But if you look at Microsoft's products, and compare them to Apple, what are the differences? Coding?
No, the differences are: * a focus on integration of the hardware and software subsystem * a focus on ease of use, not quality or rapidity of coding * a focus on agility of teams. How many versions of Apple's OS have come out since the last Windows update?
I don't see a "coding contest" making a big difference. And it's not like Microsoft is running out of cash and has to shave costs by getting cheaper coders. They're doing it because they aren't growing enough. Cutting staff costs is treating the symptom. The actual disease is bloated code, not much creativity, integration, or elegance in their products. Coding contests aren't going to solve that.
Well, once you get through the tough problem of actually landing on the planet, you face a host of unknowns:
- the temperature is extremely cold, and thermal stresses could crack electronic solder joints and/or ruin components
- the batteries find it tough going at low temperatures
- the silicon solar cells degrade over time, losing efficiency
- an unknown amount of dust collects on the cells, how much and how long can you drive it? One of the surprises is that there are "dust devils" on Mars; some of these have actualy blown over the rovers and cleaned much dust off the solar cells! See the link
for an amazing time-lapse movie of such winds caught by the rover cameras!
Bottom line: when you have thousands of parts in a harsh environment, you just don't know. They built them tough but light, and thought they had a good chance of exceeding 90 days. Thankfully, luck has been on JPL's side, and they're still going! What a success story.
At almost the same time the rovers landed, a European probe was also to land. It was never heard from again, and presumably crashed.
Re:s/Stranger /Moon Is a Harsh Mistress/
on
Top 20 Geek Novels
·
· Score: 1
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" was the first missing book that came to my mind. I, like other posters, read "Stranger" after "Moon" (and after I had heard so many good things about "Stranger" and thought there was no comparison on the better book - it's "Moon"!
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was my favorite SF book of all time until I recently read "Ender's Game". Now those two are a tough choice, but "Ender" takes it.
Given that it appears it was a web survey, it's not surprising that the results are probably more the result of a popularity contest than anything else.
We should be thanking Sony. I mean, who could have hoped? If I could have designed an "anti-DRM" agenda I couldn't have done better:
- Windows users all over the place have turned off autoplay on their machines, so they won't get infected again
- Nerds everywhere will be posting ways to defeat whatever shows up in the future
- The whole industry (and Sony in particular, thank God) is trembling about taking the risk of the ire of the computer industry if they screw these things up again
- The fact that it took 6 months or more to discover this rootkit is a GOOD thing, as the damage done is now more noteworthy and it has caused more damage than if it was discovered quickly
- There's been a ton of bad press, meaning the awareness of 'fake' CDs that are really copy-protected disks has been raised, even in the minds of many non-technical people
How much money would it have cost to arrange for this ourselves? Way to go Sony! Your long-standing behavior toward proprietary and lock-in types of behavior (Betamax, Minidisc, Memory Stick, and now rootkits) has *really* hosed you up good this time!
I wonder how these bands whose CD-like disks have the Sony DRM on them are feeling right about now?
I would be feeling so screwed by Sony. My big chance at my music CD to make the big bucks, and not only does the RIAA skim a ton of my money, but then Sony does this and the market for my disk tanks.
Slashdot Mirror
I used to work for a large biotech company. As we worked to develop new products and raise our profit, a new CFO came in. The first thing they did was restructure the company into subcompanies to reduce the overall tax rate. We also moved manufacturing, over a few years, to Puerto Rico. Why? Because the amount of tax savings to the company was the equivalent of A BLOCKBUSTER PRODUCT, with NO development risk! Why WOULDN'T a rational company do this? The laws and rules are set up by governments. Corporations work within those laws to maximize their profits. As long as MSFT is not breaking any laws, you as a shareholder would demand and expect they work to maximize their profits. Why do you think so many US companies have subsidiaries in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Singapore, etc.? Because those are low-tax locations. It is all perfectly legal. It also helps keep state governments honest, because any state or country competes for business on a world scale against others. I live in California. I'm thinking of retiring. I may leave the state due to the onerous taxes here. That's my right! If I want to give CA the finger then let them suffer the consequences of their tax policies.
...that the power of the internet has caused us to rise to defeat this proposal. As a TWC subscriber myself, I'm out of DSL range and would have been SCREWED if this happened. I'm paying enough already at almost $50/month for my broadband. TWC is very upset that they are becoming a utility and want to find a way to grow their $$ even while their traditional cable business is under pressure. I suspect this is not the end of ways they will try to feather their caps at our expense.
The real privacy policy is as follows (not intending to be humorous): "Clear is putting a statement on the web that will soothe you. We really have no significant program, but in the even that a major breach occurs, we are willing to risk bankruptcy and we believe that this risk is outweighed by the benefits in getting major government contracts."
He was the best, and my favorite science fiction author. Somehow his passing is touching me very deeply. He touched me in ways I don't even understand myself by introducing me to the best that science fiction has to offer. Amazing - at the same time he passed a shuttle mission was continuing the construction of a space station. Not quite the station in 2001, but impressive anyway. Let's not forget the communications satellites and myriad other accomplishments. Arthur, for you I hope you're with HAL, Issac, and Carl. We will miss you.
...because they're too busy working on the next Vista security patch. I also heard that there was a chair throwing class that the lawyers were going to.
That must be it! I know if it is called "Krystal Kontent" that I'll be really happy about having my fair use rights taken away, my money collected multiple times, and my anus reamed out by the RIAA B***es.
Hopefully they're more live action than JarJar.
Don't forget the rootkit!. There's also the mini-disc, the memory stick, and other attempts by Sony to lock you into their proprietary technologies. Shades of Microsoft, I put Sony right up there in the pinnacle of company ethics. Couldn't have happened to a *nicer* company (tongue in cheek).
for a while longer. The two spacecraft, launched in the mid 1970's, are almost 30 years old. And they're still working, 9 billion miles away. They're well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Now that's impressive. Not to take away from Mars Global Surveyor or the twin rovers.
Microsoft did this to Netscape. They tried to kill Apple years ago and only let Apple survive to prove that they were not monopolists. They funded SCO through a back door third company in their lawsuit against Linux. Now that that has failed, Microsoft is going directly against Linux. In the meantime, very little innovation has been realized from the massive profits that the company generates. Contrast with Apple. They first popularized the GUI. The 3.5 inch floppy. SCSI. PDA (Newton). Built-in networking. Hyperlinking. MP3 player with integrated software on the computer/synchronization paradigm. And they've translated their entire operating system and hardware line into a new technical architecture in less than half the time Microsoft has needed to upgrade their piss poor OS to a newer resource hogging OS with few significantly newer features.
What is so funny is that Microsoft coming out with the Zune! They see Apple with a big new music market. Microsoft wants a piece of this action! And they are going to fail, because Apple has a huge ecosystem of hardware, software, accessories, and ever car makers putting iPod interfaces in! Did you see that even the airlines are working on iPod interfaces for power, audio, and video in their airplanes?! Hahaha to Microsoft - Apple is doing the same thing to Microsoft that Microsoft has done to them in the PC OS! And I'm glad!
So I'm not usually highly emotional about these things, but Microsoft is scum! Microsoft - up yours!
running Windows. No way they'd be at 1000 sols without a BSOD.
Has Microsoft EVER invented anything original?
You'd think by now that they would realize that thier image is going down. Instead of being protective, why don't they put that effort into innovation? I don't think it's in their DNA.
Microsoft is sort of like General Motors - they stick with their old program, and wonder why they keep getting bludgeoned on the head time after time.
Heard recently in the Microsoft boardroom:
Gates: "Why does this keep happening to us? I give away billions and Europe treats us so badly."
Ballmer: "I haven't thrown any chairs lately. I even went to charm school"
Gates: "I've been the chief software architect for years now. You'd think they would trust me".
Ballmer: "Bill, it's for you. The Vista team. They're not going to meet their Q1 2007 deadline...."
Gates: "Oh s*#%".
what will be finished first, the traversal or Windows Vista?
...than the code written by the Windows Vista team.
....if you want security through obscurity, why not eliminate the computer and do things the old way? That's even more secure.
I was watching Steve's keynote. One of the MS VPs comes on stage and talks about the 5+ year committment to the Mac for MS Office. Yet MS is dropping WMP. Strange, eh?
The real killer was that only 10 minutes after MS comes on stage to talk about support for Apple, Steve runs a commercial on the Intel switch. It talks about how all those years Intel's chips had so much potential, but they were stuck running on "boring little computers". Now, of course, they're in Macs!
Kind of a snuff to Microsoft! You need to see it if you haven't already.
If they are focusing at coding, then they are missing the big picture.
Nobody would argue that coding is important, and that you'd like to have good individuals to code applications.
But if you look at Microsoft's products, and compare them to Apple, what are the differences? Coding?
No, the differences are:
* a focus on integration of the hardware and software subsystem
* a focus on ease of use, not quality or rapidity of coding
* a focus on agility of teams. How many versions of Apple's OS have come out since the last Windows update?
I don't see a "coding contest" making a big difference. And it's not like Microsoft is running out of cash and has to shave costs by getting cheaper coders. They're doing it because they aren't growing enough. Cutting staff costs is treating the symptom. The actual disease is bloated code, not much creativity, integration, or elegance in their products. Coding contests aren't going to solve that.
use their $sys$gpscloak.
For business print quantities, they'll announce a "high capacity" ink cartridge. Printer - $150 Ink cartridge - $500 Somebody who'll buy this - Priceless
Toilet Humor? At Slashdot? I don't think that kind of humor runs around here.
- the temperature is extremely cold, and thermal stresses could crack electronic solder joints and/or ruin components
- the batteries find it tough going at low temperatures
- the silicon solar cells degrade over time, losing efficiency
- an unknown amount of dust collects on the cells, how much and how long can you drive it? One of the surprises is that there are "dust devils" on Mars; some of these have actualy blown over the rovers and cleaned much dust off the solar cells! See the link for an amazing time-lapse movie of such winds caught by the rover cameras!
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/me r_main.html
Bottom line: when you have thousands of parts in a harsh environment, you just don't know. They built them tough but light, and thought they had a good chance of exceeding 90 days. Thankfully, luck has been on JPL's side, and they're still going! What a success story.
At almost the same time the rovers landed, a European probe was also to land. It was never heard from again, and presumably crashed.
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" was the first missing book that came to my mind. I, like other posters, read "Stranger" after "Moon" (and after I had heard so many good things about "Stranger" and thought there was no comparison on the better book - it's "Moon"!
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was my favorite SF book of all time until I recently read "Ender's Game". Now those two are a tough choice, but "Ender" takes it.
Given that it appears it was a web survey, it's not surprising that the results are probably more the result of a popularity contest than anything else.
- Windows users all over the place have turned off autoplay on their machines, so they won't get infected again
- Nerds everywhere will be posting ways to defeat whatever shows up in the future
- The whole industry (and Sony in particular, thank God) is trembling about taking the risk of the ire of the computer industry if they screw these things up again
- The fact that it took 6 months or more to discover this rootkit is a GOOD thing, as the damage done is now more noteworthy and it has caused more damage than if it was discovered quickly
- There's been a ton of bad press, meaning the awareness of 'fake' CDs that are really copy-protected disks has been raised, even in the minds of many non-technical people
How much money would it have cost to arrange for this ourselves? Way to go Sony! Your long-standing behavior toward proprietary and lock-in types of behavior (Betamax, Minidisc, Memory Stick, and now rootkits) has *really* hosed you up good this time!
Us Slashdotters owe Sony a debt of gratitude.
I wonder how these bands whose CD-like disks have the Sony DRM on them are feeling right about now? I would be feeling so screwed by Sony. My big chance at my music CD to make the big bucks, and not only does the RIAA skim a ton of my money, but then Sony does this and the market for my disk tanks.