Maybe they'll make a really useful and accessible Jabber client, which, with some marketing, will actually get significant marketshare?
Maybe they will even propose extensions to the Jabber standard, which are made public and adopted by all the other actively developed Jabber clients, because they're useful extensions?
Apparently you're afraid Google will develop Microsoftian tendencies. If it does, won't we (as in Slashdotters) be the first to notice? I think you're raising the alarm a bit too soon, personally.
Yes, then they would find out that all your email contacts seemingly have nothing to do with terrorism, so you and your contacts must be really hiding it well, right?
Not that I do agree that if Google were to decide to become "evil", they'd be able to get to a running start with the information they could be collecting right now (I don't know if they actually do collect it).
Anyway, I've read the page about signing up with a mobile phone, and they state that even if you don't choose to associate your number to your account, they'll still keep the number, to keep track of how many accounts are created for each number.
Now, the paranoid among you might get your panties all in a twist about this, but there is actually a perfectly legitimate explanation for this: they use the numbers as hash/db keys, i.e.:
phone number | # of accounts 555-1234 | 1 555-2345 | 1 555-3456 | 2 555-4567 | 1
As you can see, the numbers aren't associated with any specific accounts, only with the number of accounts created for each number.
Of course, this is no guarantee. They might actually have a super-secret table associating the numbers with the accounts anyway, but we can't see whether or not that is true.
I think the "computers READ your email to give you targeted advertising!" hysteria way overblown. It's a computer program that picks out some words in your emails, and picks some adverts that match those words. Who cares that some computer program "knows" your emails (that aren't that private, since you let some company store them for you)? It's a (probably pretty simple) program, not a person!
Yeah, there's this Flash movie of an old video game animation, which is really badly translated from Japanese, and the evil guy says "All your base are belong to us", and then there are lots of photoshopped photos with that text photoshopped into them photographically, and it's all like OMFGPWNZOR ALL YOUR BASE IRLBBQ!!!11one
It probably appeared on Slashdot before, I'd guess...
By way of analogy - if new cars only cost a grand, you'd replace your car long before anything serious went wrong with it. About the time the ashtrays were full, a flat tire would be just the excuse you'd need to go shopping for the Latest Greatest Leetest Carxen.
Yeah, everybody knows there's only 80 bucks worth of steel in them;-)
Ever noticed how when you try to make a screenshot of a movie paused in your favourite media player (such as WMP (version 6.0 is alright IMHO) or even Mplayer (better), the movie frame comes out black?
This is due to a technique called video overlay, which allows for higher performance, but it does make it impossible to make screenshots while it is activated.
Those publishing companies could use that to thwart most of your screenshots attempts (until you find a way around it...)
a) Normal inflation: monsters drop more gold over time, merchant prices increase with the same percentage. People with lots of gold in the bank will find their gold to depreciate in value over time.
b) Negative interest: banks take a small percentage of the gold in the account, so large amounts of gold will depreciate in value over time. Essentially the same as (a), and simpler to implement, but the players will probably get angrier over this.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe they'll make a really useful and accessible Jabber client, which, with some marketing, will actually get significant marketshare?
Maybe they will even propose extensions to the Jabber standard, which are made public and adopted by all the other actively developed Jabber clients, because they're useful extensions?
Apparently you're afraid Google will develop Microsoftian tendencies. If it does, won't we (as in Slashdotters) be the first to notice? I think you're raising the alarm a bit too soon, personally.
That would be a perfectly reasonable statement, were you a Muslim.
That makes it impossible to just call that phone, yes. But the phone's IMEI number doesn't change, and that's what can be used to track it as well.
Yes, then they would find out that all your email contacts seemingly have nothing to do with terrorism, so you and your contacts must be really hiding it well, right?
Not that I do agree that if Google were to decide to become "evil", they'd be able to get to a running start with the information they could be collecting right now (I don't know if they actually do collect it).
Anyway, I've read the page about signing up with a mobile phone, and they state that even if you don't choose to associate your number to your account, they'll still keep the number, to keep track of how many accounts are created for each number.
Now, the paranoid among you might get your panties all in a twist about this, but there is actually a perfectly legitimate explanation for this: they use the numbers as hash/db keys, i.e.:
phone number | # of accounts
555-1234 | 1
555-2345 | 1
555-3456 | 2
555-4567 | 1
As you can see, the numbers aren't associated with any specific accounts, only with the number of accounts created for each number.
Of course, this is no guarantee. They might actually have a super-secret table associating the numbers with the accounts anyway, but we can't see whether or not that is true.
I think the "computers READ your email to give you targeted advertising!" hysteria way overblown. It's a computer program that picks out some words in your emails, and picks some adverts that match those words. Who cares that some computer program "knows" your emails (that aren't that private, since you let some company store them for you)? It's a (probably pretty simple) program, not a person!
It's the site's lameness filter.
Yeah, there's this Flash movie of an old video game animation, which is really badly translated from Japanese, and the evil guy says "All your base are belong to us", and then there are lots of photoshopped photos with that text photoshopped into them photographically, and it's all like OMFGPWNZOR ALL YOUR BASE IRLBBQ!!!11one
It probably appeared on Slashdot before, I'd guess...
No, they found an exploit in the wild for a security hole that was supposed to be secret.
Overlay.
Ever noticed how when you try to make a screenshot of a movie paused in your favourite media player (such as WMP (version 6.0 is alright IMHO) or even Mplayer (better), the movie frame comes out black?
This is due to a technique called video overlay, which allows for higher performance, but it does make it impossible to make screenshots while it is activated.
Those publishing companies could use that to thwart most of your screenshots attempts (until you find a way around it...)
No, I'll find another source of fire, or make my own, and YOU will freeze.
Sounds more like a prepaid phone to me...
Actually, considering the distance, you'd get something from microseconds ago :-P
They made the trains run on time? :: looks at the BSOD screens in the train station, which are supposed to list the departure times ::
Yep, it's GEM alright. Some of those screenshots look suspiciously like Atari ST screenshots (the Atari ST was first sold in 1985).
Or he's been watching too much Stargate SG-1... :-P
AFAIK, the game had been rated 18+ in The Netherlands all along. Gee, why would that be? Perhaps because of the extreme violence?
For one, it'll pay for itself quickly if you look at the power usage.
My (Thunderbird) New Mail sound is the "You've got mail! It's not spam!" soundbite ;-)
Okay, then how about either:
a) Normal inflation: monsters drop more gold over time, merchant prices increase with the same percentage. People with lots of gold in the bank will find their gold to depreciate in value over time.
b) Negative interest: banks take a small percentage of the gold in the account, so large amounts of gold will depreciate in value over time. Essentially the same as (a), and simpler to implement, but the players will probably get angrier over this.
That's probably why Dawn of War, which has as a minimum requirement a 1.4GHz Intel or AMD processor, runs just fine on my 1.0GHz Pentium III...
Isn't optimizing at the cost of correctness a mortal sin for compiler designers, or something?
The fact that the intruders put a phishing website on SirJorgelOfBorgel's machine, perhaps?
What does reading have to do with this? Or do you even know what that means?
Erm, didn't they already ban toothbrushes in England ages ago? :: ducks ::
HOW DARE YOU INSULT XBILL LIKE THAT!?!?!?!
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.