De-regulation, by itself, is not necessarily a long term problem. In fact, the free-market theory works very, very, very well over a sufficiently long timeline. Criminal behavior is weeded out, and value will eventually normalize to the correct nominal level.
However, what de-regulation and free-market theory fails to address is human nature, and corruption in the short term. Free market normalization is not a fast process. It is very easy for the selfishness of a few, the willingness of a few to game the system to their own short-term profit, to ruin everything for a large number of honest people.
Cases in point. Major de-regulation and the fascination with Wall St. basically started with Reaganomics. Since then, every major economic calamity in the US has been a result of the short term greed and borderline criminality I described in the above paragraph. And in each of those calamities, free market theory did not have an answer.
- Savings & Loan scandals, a la Keating 5 etc.
- 2001 Dot Com bubble
- 2007 Financial collapse
Just to name a few of the major ones. All results of a specific group of greed-crazed people who gamed the system where little or no regulation existed. If the Free Market were allowed to correct these over-zealous maneuvers, it would have had to do so at great expense to everyone else.
All that said, I am not a proponent of that much regulation. I think the responsibility also lies in the hands of all the shareholders and bondholders out there who invested their money in these questionable securities. Most people violated the very first rule of investing (at least to me): If you don't understand how you're going to get your profit, or you don't understand how the company you're investing in makes its money, don't invest.
If you get taken by a con-man, chances are you weren't paying enough attention.
Very little research in today's age is not suspect. Research costs money, and far too often than not, the desire behind the money bleeds into the results. Then you have to also account for the bias of the media outlet that's reporting on the research.
Of course, there is a lot of independent, unbiased research, but there is more than enough junk science and politically motivated altering of science that it taints anything one can read about it outside of closed industry journals.
Certainly I'm no expert in Icelandic contract law, but frankly, why is this any different than any other form of reseller?
If I am a local grocer (the MCP) in a town, and I have just bought 10 tons of corn from the local farm (Microsoft) on agreement to pay for the corn over the next 3 years, but then suddenly all the area folks (other local businesses) cannot afford to buy corn from me anymore - what kind of nonsense suddenly absolves me of having to pay for the corn?
Sure, maybe Microsoft could be doing more negotiating on the contracts to help keep people in business - but guess what? They're a business too. Just because you don't like them doesn't make their contracts any less valid. Just because it's software and not a commodity doesn't make the contracts any less valid.
If you take on the risk (the agreement to pay over 3 years, assuming you have revenue to pay for those 3 years), and your risk goes sour - you damned well better have to eat your sour grapes.
Incidentally, that's what is wrong with the bailouts in the US - the US goverment - ie, G W "Idiotboy" Bush and his Republican cronies told all the Wall Street CEOs - take on all the risk you want with other peoples' money, we got your back if it goes bad.
I don't even own one of these "televisions"...
on
Why TV Lost
·
· Score: 1
I have a computer and I have a projector. With the advent of services online like Hulu and Netflix Watch Instantly, I see no reason to ever have Cable Television service again.
My projector cost me $1200 about 3 years ago (which means my max is 1080i, 1080p wasn't mainstream yet). It's 1700 lumens, bright enough for daytime watching in a room with curtains drawn, and is natively XGA resolution. I have my computer and PS3 hooked into it, and it's displaying on my wall at around 80" diagonal.
With that, online content is a far superior delivery mechanism than over-air or cable providers.
Tell me where I could find a "television" that would provide all that, and would virtually disappear in my room when it's not on?
Television is long dead in my house. (Note: a big concern about projectors is lamp life and replacement cost. Incidentally, I've run my original lamp through 2 3000hr cycles by resetting the projector counter, and I have yet to experience a noticeable loss of quality.)
I hereby declare that Jack Thompson has officially "thrown the chair".
I realize this is/. so it's probably not well known in this community, Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight has already laid claim to "thrown the chair.";)
Actually, at the risk of promoting Microsoft software, Visual Studio 2005 makes using simple windows controls and putting together simple windowed apps pretty darn easy. I'm not sure it could get much more simple without having to attach the Playskool name to it...;)
It's a broad, scattergun approach, and I can't help but think that one could do a far better job with a large database and some social networking software.
The power of the consumer. These companys shilling DRM out like we can't live without their technology... treating everyone like pirates just because their sales drop off by a quarter of a percent... It's beautiful to see the consumer body avoiding crap like this because of the potential hassles.
Power to the people!:)
Hey, at least Leiberman is unlikely to get back to Congress from Connecticut. There's one panty-twisting game-hound out of the government who supported Jack-off Thompson.
Well that, and that to the majority of the population, just [i]finding[/i] your "favorite Linux distro" is more effort than they're willing to put forth.
Sure, to the truly tech-savvy crowd, Linux is a little more stable, a little more secure, a little more geeky... but the average PC owner doesn't care about that on their home system. Windows CAN be safe enough for the average user if you use it right.
Dangerous thing to say on Slashdot, I know... but as a typical, home-user operating system, Linux is the last of the big three I'd ever recommend.
Yes, Linux is great to run as your DNS server's OS. No, it's not so great for giving to Jenny on her 16th birthday so she can do her homework and play her games and chat with her friends.
I find it frustrating and tiring to continually listen to/read about dinosaurs pressing for legislation to protect their business model. Essentially, the RIAA is anti-capitalistic.:P
Sony has clearly shown us that even "trusted" sources and "knowing" what you're running can result in unintentional rootkit installation without your knowledge. After all, isn't Sony a "trusted" source and we knew playing their CDs wouldn't be harmful, right?
I bought that CD from a store legitimately. There's no way I'd get a rootkit problem from that, right?
Slashdot Mirror
We use Apache because our Data Security won't allow anyone to run an IIS server in our network. =)
De-regulation, by itself, is not necessarily a long term problem. In fact, the free-market theory works very, very, very well over a sufficiently long timeline. Criminal behavior is weeded out, and value will eventually normalize to the correct nominal level.
However, what de-regulation and free-market theory fails to address is human nature, and corruption in the short term. Free market normalization is not a fast process. It is very easy for the selfishness of a few, the willingness of a few to game the system to their own short-term profit, to ruin everything for a large number of honest people.
Cases in point. Major de-regulation and the fascination with Wall St. basically started with Reaganomics. Since then, every major economic calamity in the US has been a result of the short term greed and borderline criminality I described in the above paragraph. And in each of those calamities, free market theory did not have an answer.
- Savings & Loan scandals, a la Keating 5 etc.
- 2001 Dot Com bubble
- 2007 Financial collapse
Just to name a few of the major ones. All results of a specific group of greed-crazed people who gamed the system where little or no regulation existed. If the Free Market were allowed to correct these over-zealous maneuvers, it would have had to do so at great expense to everyone else.
All that said, I am not a proponent of that much regulation. I think the responsibility also lies in the hands of all the shareholders and bondholders out there who invested their money in these questionable securities. Most people violated the very first rule of investing (at least to me): If you don't understand how you're going to get your profit, or you don't understand how the company you're investing in makes its money, don't invest.
If you get taken by a con-man, chances are you weren't paying enough attention.
Very little research in today's age is not suspect. Research costs money, and far too often than not, the desire behind the money bleeds into the results. Then you have to also account for the bias of the media outlet that's reporting on the research. Of course, there is a lot of independent, unbiased research, but there is more than enough junk science and politically motivated altering of science that it taints anything one can read about it outside of closed industry journals.
I can see a point where the United States becomes a lawsuit-based economy
Me too. I think it was around the 1992-95 area.
Certainly I'm no expert in Icelandic contract law, but frankly, why is this any different than any other form of reseller?
If I am a local grocer (the MCP) in a town, and I have just bought 10 tons of corn from the local farm (Microsoft) on agreement to pay for the corn over the next 3 years, but then suddenly all the area folks (other local businesses) cannot afford to buy corn from me anymore - what kind of nonsense suddenly absolves me of having to pay for the corn?
Sure, maybe Microsoft could be doing more negotiating on the contracts to help keep people in business - but guess what? They're a business too. Just because you don't like them doesn't make their contracts any less valid. Just because it's software and not a commodity doesn't make the contracts any less valid. If you take on the risk (the agreement to pay over 3 years, assuming you have revenue to pay for those 3 years), and your risk goes sour - you damned well better have to eat your sour grapes.
Incidentally, that's what is wrong with the bailouts in the US - the US goverment - ie, G W "Idiotboy" Bush and his Republican cronies told all the Wall Street CEOs - take on all the risk you want with other peoples' money, we got your back if it goes bad.
I have a computer and I have a projector. With the advent of services online like Hulu and Netflix Watch Instantly, I see no reason to ever have Cable Television service again.
My projector cost me $1200 about 3 years ago (which means my max is 1080i, 1080p wasn't mainstream yet). It's 1700 lumens, bright enough for daytime watching in a room with curtains drawn, and is natively XGA resolution. I have my computer and PS3 hooked into it, and it's displaying on my wall at around 80" diagonal.
With that, online content is a far superior delivery mechanism than over-air or cable providers.
Tell me where I could find a "television" that would provide all that, and would virtually disappear in my room when it's not on?
Television is long dead in my house. (Note: a big concern about projectors is lamp life and replacement cost. Incidentally, I've run my original lamp through 2 3000hr cycles by resetting the projector counter, and I have yet to experience a noticeable loss of quality.)
You pay for your graphics drivers?
I hereby declare that Jack Thompson has officially "thrown the chair".
/. so it's probably not well known in this community, Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight has already laid claim to "thrown the chair." ;)
I realize this is
Actually, at the risk of promoting Microsoft software, Visual Studio 2005 makes using simple windows controls and putting together simple windowed apps pretty darn easy. I'm not sure it could get much more simple without having to attach the Playskool name to it... ;)
It's a broad, scattergun approach, and I can't help but think that one could do a far better job with a large database and some social networking software.
:P
Are you suggesting GoogleMusic?
I also did page loading benchmarks using FireFox in XP and IE7 in Vista. I found IE7 rendered pages at least twice as fast in most cases.
Gee, sounds almost like an ODBC "wait loop" maneuver...
The power of the consumer. These companys shilling DRM out like we can't live without their technology... treating everyone like pirates just because their sales drop off by a quarter of a percent... It's beautiful to see the consumer body avoiding crap like this because of the potential hassles. Power to the people! :)
Duh.
My speakers have an off switch. :)
She won't bite... :o
:o
Only if you fail to play your cards right...
In short, the summary on this article wildly exaggerates its content.
What? You mean, on Slashdot?!
Don't you see? They're an astronomers Union. More planets = more jobs for astronomers! :P
:P
It's all part of Bush's reformed science plan. Take all those stem cell scientists and give them telescopes.
Hey, at least Leiberman is unlikely to get back to Congress from Connecticut. There's one panty-twisting game-hound out of the government who supported Jack-off Thompson.
Well that, and that to the majority of the population, just [i]finding[/i] your "favorite Linux distro" is more effort than they're willing to put forth.
Sure, to the truly tech-savvy crowd, Linux is a little more stable, a little more secure, a little more geeky... but the average PC owner doesn't care about that on their home system. Windows CAN be safe enough for the average user if you use it right.
Dangerous thing to say on Slashdot, I know... but as a typical, home-user operating system, Linux is the last of the big three I'd ever recommend.
Yes, Linux is great to run as your DNS server's OS. No, it's not so great for giving to Jenny on her 16th birthday so she can do her homework and play her games and chat with her friends.
Reminds me of the MAD TV diving competition skit.
Literally.
Seriously, what does the headline mean? How mark of chaos is RTS warhammer? Huh?
I find it frustrating and tiring to continually listen to/read about dinosaurs pressing for legislation to protect their business model. Essentially, the RIAA is anti-capitalistic. :P
Sony has clearly shown us that even "trusted" sources and "knowing" what you're running can result in unintentional rootkit installation without your knowledge. After all, isn't Sony a "trusted" source and we knew playing their CDs wouldn't be harmful, right?
I bought that CD from a store legitimately. There's no way I'd get a rootkit problem from that, right?
If you don't like the way Sony is implementing something they wish to sell you, uhm... don't buy it.
At least, that's the way I answer most questions that begin with the word "how".