FTA: I also don't condone uploading videos and pics onto websites like youtube.com and sending the links to me. This is a very bad thing to do. Naughty naughty....Buttttttttttttttttt since youtube is a public website I will post any video that is on there....of course if there was a issue with the legality of the video, then that would be youtube's responsibility to remove.
Uh... so you're not sure if the stuff people are sending you is legal, but you're posting it anyway?
That's definitely not legal in the US, and even in Sweden it could cause you a lot of trouble. Just ask these guys.
Some people just don't know when to quit while they're ahead.
> Actually in both cases you get exactly the same reward - absolutely nothing.
That's not entirely correct either. With neither a closed-source nor an OSS OS do you *get* any direct profit on the sale of that software. But at least with an OSS one you don't *lose* the hundreds of dollars you spend on it.
In both cases, you *get* a decently functioning operating system. But your *reward* for purchasing Vista is bugs, viruses, and probably a decent one-way connection to the government/**AA spy agency of your choice.
If they want to have a closed-source OS, then Microsoft can hire their own monkeys to beta-test it instead of treating its own users and customers like drones.
They see it as they are LOSING $520/month in sales on me alone, when they don't realize that it is BECAUSE OF the low prices that I'm spending anything AT ALL - because I couldn't afford it otherwise.
Well, actually, you're both right.
Companies are always trying to find the perfect balance between charging more for more profit per sale, and charging less for a greater quantity of sales.
A couple of years back, there was a guy interviewed on TechTV's "The ScreenSavers" who talked about the holy grail of profitability: charging each person a different price, based on how much they're willing to pay.
With all these cards for this-points and that-points, they can keep track of what you buy, and how much you pay for it. For example, do you only buy the bulk packs of adult diapers when they're priced at $13.99, instead of the regular $17.99 (at which point you're not lazy enough to get up from in front of your computer)?
The key is with coupons. Set the price at $17.99, then send "$4 off" coupons to those cheap, sick bastards who will only buy them for fourteen bucks. You *don't* send the coupons to those who buy them regularly. That way, the company gets the added benefit of more sales, but doesn't lose the profit from the colonoscopy veterans who buy this product regularly out of their settlement with the Suicide Dynamite Spicy Chili Co.
FTA: "If you log onto the Bigelow Aerospace Web portal, you will have a chance to actually see your item floating by!"
I think that what they really mean is:
"If you log onto the Bigelow Aerospace Web portal, you will have a chance to actually see a whole bunch of GoldenPalace.com merchandise floating by!"
- RG>
Re:Men/Women Ratio? Dr. Strangelove wants to know
on
Back to the Bunker
·
· Score: 1
Actually, if your goal is to repopulate, and you only have room for, say, a thousand people, then it would make sense to have as many of them as possible who can produce offspring, at least in the first generation or so.
OTOH, studies of teenagers in arts high schools have shown that any concentration of people with a f:m ratio of anything over 3:1 results in a high degree of homosexuality, counteracting any strategic advantage of a high female population.
Because in the US, politics are inherited. Here's how it works:
The dominant Republican gene (though it's name has changed over the years) pushes the carrier to use fear, hatred, "patriotism", and idols (including religious, political, and American Idols) to further their agenda, and propogate those who carry the Republican gene.
Occasionally, two Republicans who both carry the recessive democratic allele will breed, and a political albino will be created.
Scientists have been tracking Ross Perot for many years, trying to identify the source of the mysterious Fringe gene.
This is why Bloomberg, a republican, is so supportive of Science: he wants Science (which he uses rhetorically as an "idol", see above) to learn more about his political opponents, and design them intelligently out of the political ecosystem.
This isn't such a surprising strategy. If you can convince the masses to do something to the least favoured members of society, then you can start to gradually argue the case for doing it to everyone.
That's what they're doing with criminalization. Taking some liberties on the specifics, once you're charged with a felony (like possession of marijuana?), in the US you are no longer allowed to vote. It therefore becomes harder for those people who are marginalized by oppressive laws to seek change in those who are creating and enforcing them, because these people can't vote (something like a quarter of black men, but that statistic was from '99).
From a technological standpoint, I don't have a problem with the government keeping tabs on pedophiles and those who are a serious potential threat to society (and your run-of-the-mill immigrant, I say, is not). What I do have a problem with is using a technology like RFID that anyone with an RFID receiver could theoretically use against the person. This leads to vigilantism and keeps the person from even having a chance at re-entering society.
When the government monitors dangerous people, in theory (I know, I know...) the public should be able to hold them to account. When vigilantes do it, not only does the government have to protect the public from potentially threatening people, but from vigilantes as well!
Every day, everywhere, bureaucrats and politicians think of new things to tax--to raise money.
Taxes are meant as TOOLS either to offset costs for government (like how gas taxes are supposed to offset the costs of building and maintaining roads, police, etc.) or to discourage harmful behaviour (like smoking or... well, smog again).
When someone in the government says, "we need to raise money. What's not being taxed (enough)?", the obvious answer is stupidity.
Hey, I keep hearing about this but can't find some actual proof. Do you have a link?
Why is the original anti-MS claim modded 5, informative, but the response that points out there is no citation for the claim modded only 2--below most people's filters?
I also googled for support on this claim, and found nada, but it shouldn't be up to me to prove someone else's claim as being true or false, and certainly the moderators shoudln't be tasked with this, either! If/when someone does provide support, I'd love to hear it so I can refer to it.
Thanks for writing this. Although I'm well versed in OOo, there are many times I'm reading something on/. and, although all the comments seem to imply that it's something very important, I haven't a bloody clue what they mean.
Well, 12% of the economy of Canada's capital (Ottawa) is based on the High Tech Sector. Maybe this is why they call it Silicon Valley North?
Keep in mind that about half of the jobs here are government ones, too, so you could say that the 12% figure is artificially low, too.
Dell just added a thousand jobs to their call centre here because of all the highly qualified tech people who lost their jobs after the tech bubble burst.
The problem with software is with the software market. You only know whether you like it after you buy it, and if you don't like it, tough.
I went to one store to buy a web cam, and when it didn't do what I wanted it to, I returned it and got another webcam from a different store.
If I buy an OS (or any other software) from a store and it bugs me, then I try to return it, they would laugh at me for trying to return opened software. If I want to buy or use other software, then not only will I have wasted my time and money on the first program, but I will have to spend more time and/or money on installing and learning a new one.
From the vendor's point of view, they've already made the money off of me, and they're not giving it back. The next version is different or "better", and after waiting 5-7 years (:P) customers will have forgotten how frustrated they got the last time. Since closed-source software companies tend to not release bug data, it's really a gamble when I purchase the software in the first place as to whether I would be satisfied.
Did lessthan0 write the article, or just the article summary? It's in the first person, so it appears that he wrote it, but I can't tell.
If he didn't write the article, then it looks like he's taking credit for it.
The Linux books that I found most helpful when learning Linux were... oh wait, this Ubuntu live CD is still sitting on my desk. I'll have to get around to that sometime...
Oh, sure, the *band* would want it, but the *record companies/industry* wants to get their hands on every penny they possibly can (evidently taking 70+ cents from every iTunes dollar when the artist only gets 4.5 cents isn't enough for them).
I think that Pearl Jam is simply the first major artist to convince/cajole their label into doing it.
Oh, come on. Not only are the laws applied in a very partial manner, but they are *designed* that way.
For example, in the US crack cocaine abuse laws are more harshly enforced, then, oh, say Oxycontin abuse laws. Or even, for that matter, other forms of cocaine. It's simply because crack cocaine is cheaper than the other drugs. Rich guys in suits snort heroin on their lunch breaks, then go to court the same day to prosecute black people for carrying a couple of rocks on them.
As the famous saying goes, "neither the rich man nor the poor man may sleep under the bridge."
I saw a show about the very topic of magnetic field reversal on TV about one year ago.
Oh, yeah? Well *I* saw a show a few years back where they travelled to the sun and took pictures of themselves. And they didn't suffer at all, except Arnold wished he hadn't come to school that day, and they had to change the tires on the Magic School Bus the next week.
Gimme a break; cite your sources. Otherwise you're just spreading weak rumours.
Whatever the outcome, I'm sure the loser will be entitled to use the SaddyFace.
Excuse me, but my name is Bill Saddey, from Despair, inc., and I have the trademark on the SaddyFace, and would appreciate you not using it. If you do, you will hear from my lawyer.
I suggest you have your students read--and write to--newspapers.
Whether it's writing up stories for the student newspaper, or writing letters to the editor of the region's broadsheet, your students will not only learn how to write things concisely, but they will also see how professional editors polish the things they have written.
By reading newspapers, they will also hopefully be able to imitate the concise, but varied, style of a newspaper column that will keep their reader interested.
I am of the belief that once you see your name in print once, you will try hard to see it again--it is through this process of trial and error that they will learn writing skills.
Of course, that requires having something to write about. Nobody can teach that!
Slashdot Mirror
FTA: I also don't condone uploading videos and pics onto websites like youtube.com and sending the links to me. This is a very bad thing to do. Naughty naughty....Buttttttttttttttttt since youtube is a public website I will post any video that is on there....of course if there was a issue with the legality of the video, then that would be youtube's responsibility to remove.
Uh... so you're not sure if the stuff people are sending you is legal, but you're posting it anyway?
That's definitely not legal in the US, and even in Sweden it could cause you a lot of trouble. Just ask these guys.
Some people just don't know when to quit while they're ahead.
- RG>
> Actually in both cases you get exactly the same reward - absolutely nothing.
That's not entirely correct either. With neither a closed-source nor an OSS OS do you *get* any direct profit on the sale of that software. But at least with an OSS one you don't *lose* the hundreds of dollars you spend on it.
In both cases, you *get* a decently functioning operating system. But your *reward* for purchasing Vista is bugs, viruses, and probably a decent one-way connection to the government/**AA spy agency of your choice.
If they want to have a closed-source OS, then Microsoft can hire their own monkeys to beta-test it instead of treating its own users and customers like drones.
- RG>
When I first saw the picture, I thought to myself, "Wow! There's enough extra space to put in a numeric keypad!"
Then I realized there already was one!
- RG>
They see it as they are LOSING $520/month in sales on me alone, when they don't realize that it is BECAUSE OF the low prices that I'm spending anything AT ALL - because I couldn't afford it otherwise.
Well, actually, you're both right.
Companies are always trying to find the perfect balance between charging more for more profit per sale, and charging less for a greater quantity of sales.
A couple of years back, there was a guy interviewed on TechTV's "The ScreenSavers" who talked about the holy grail of profitability: charging each person a different price, based on how much they're willing to pay.
With all these cards for this-points and that-points, they can keep track of what you buy, and how much you pay for it. For example, do you only buy the bulk packs of adult diapers when they're priced at $13.99, instead of the regular $17.99 (at which point you're not lazy enough to get up from in front of your computer)?
The key is with coupons. Set the price at $17.99, then send "$4 off" coupons to those cheap, sick bastards who will only buy them for fourteen bucks. You *don't* send the coupons to those who buy them regularly. That way, the company gets the added benefit of more sales, but doesn't lose the profit from the colonoscopy veterans who buy this product regularly out of their settlement with the Suicide Dynamite Spicy Chili Co.
- RG>
Maybe they should have bought their tools from Wal-Mart?
(but seriously, please don't buy from Wal-Mart).
- RG>
FTA: "If you log onto the Bigelow Aerospace Web portal, you will have a chance to actually see your item floating by!"
I think that what they really mean is:
"If you log onto the Bigelow Aerospace Web portal, you will have a chance to actually see a whole bunch of GoldenPalace.com merchandise floating by!"
- RG>
Actually, if your goal is to repopulate, and you only have room for, say, a thousand people, then it would make sense to have as many of them as possible who can produce offspring, at least in the first generation or so.
OTOH, studies of teenagers in arts high schools have shown that any concentration of people with a f:m ratio of anything over 3:1 results in a high degree of homosexuality, counteracting any strategic advantage of a high female population.
- RG>
Why is this guy a repulican[?]
Because in the US, politics are inherited. Here's how it works:
The dominant Republican gene (though it's name has changed over the years) pushes the carrier to use fear, hatred, "patriotism", and idols (including religious, political, and American Idols) to further their agenda, and propogate those who carry the Republican gene.
Occasionally, two Republicans who both carry the recessive democratic allele will breed, and a political albino will be created.
Scientists have been tracking Ross Perot for many years, trying to identify the source of the mysterious Fringe gene.
This is why Bloomberg, a republican, is so supportive of Science: he wants Science (which he uses rhetorically as an "idol", see above) to learn more about his political opponents, and design them intelligently out of the political ecosystem.
- RG>
I can't see it, and I must have pressed "reload" at least 20 times in three tabs in the last five minutes!
- RG>
This isn't such a surprising strategy. If you can convince the masses to do something to the least favoured members of society, then you can start to gradually argue the case for doing it to everyone.
That's what they're doing with criminalization. Taking some liberties on the specifics, once you're charged with a felony (like possession of marijuana?), in the US you are no longer allowed to vote. It therefore becomes harder for those people who are marginalized by oppressive laws to seek change in those who are creating and enforcing them, because these people can't vote (something like a quarter of black men, but that statistic was from '99).
From a technological standpoint, I don't have a problem with the government keeping tabs on pedophiles and those who are a serious potential threat to society (and your run-of-the-mill immigrant, I say, is not). What I do have a problem with is using a technology like RFID that anyone with an RFID receiver could theoretically use against the person. This leads to vigilantism and keeps the person from even having a chance at re-entering society.
When the government monitors dangerous people, in theory (I know, I know...) the public should be able to hold them to account. When vigilantes do it, not only does the government have to protect the public from potentially threatening people, but from vigilantes as well!
- RG>
Every day, everywhere, bureaucrats and politicians think of new things to tax--to raise money.
... well, smog again).
Taxes are meant as TOOLS either to offset costs for government (like how gas taxes are supposed to offset the costs of building and maintaining roads, police, etc.) or to discourage harmful behaviour (like smoking or
When someone in the government says, "we need to raise money. What's not being taxed (enough)?", the obvious answer is stupidity.
- RG>
Hey, I keep hearing about this but can't find some actual proof. Do you have a link?
Why is the original anti-MS claim modded 5, informative, but the response that points out there is no citation for the claim modded only 2--below most people's filters?
I'm as anti-Microsoft and pro-ODF as the next OpenOffice.org Marketing Volunteer, but rumours only serve to discredit the community.
I also googled for support on this claim, and found nada, but it shouldn't be up to me to prove someone else's claim as being true or false, and certainly the moderators shoudln't be tasked with this, either! If/when someone does provide support, I'd love to hear it so I can refer to it.
- RG>
Thanks for writing this. Although I'm well versed in OOo, there are many times I'm reading something on /. and, although all the comments seem to imply that it's something very important, I haven't a bloody clue what they mean.
- RG>
Well, 12% of the economy of Canada's capital (Ottawa) is based on the High Tech Sector. Maybe this is why they call it Silicon Valley North?
Keep in mind that about half of the jobs here are government ones, too, so you could say that the 12% figure is artificially low, too.
Dell just added a thousand jobs to their call centre here because of all the highly qualified tech people who lost their jobs after the tech bubble burst.
You know...
Just sayin'.
- RG>
Although I'm not one to mail-order a computer anyway, I'd hope that whatever Google software they install isn't one that involves advertising revenue.
Both Dell and Google appear to be companies that actually pay attention to customers, so this likely wouldn't be the case...but we'll see.
- RG>
The problem with software is with the software market. You only know whether you like it after you buy it, and if you don't like it, tough.
I went to one store to buy a web cam, and when it didn't do what I wanted it to, I returned it and got another webcam from a different store.
If I buy an OS (or any other software) from a store and it bugs me, then I try to return it, they would laugh at me for trying to return opened software. If I want to buy or use other software, then not only will I have wasted my time and money on the first program, but I will have to spend more time and/or money on installing and learning a new one.
From the vendor's point of view, they've already made the money off of me, and they're not giving it back. The next version is different or "better", and after waiting 5-7 years (:P) customers will have forgotten how frustrated they got the last time. Since closed-source software companies tend to not release bug data, it's really a gamble when I purchase the software in the first place as to whether I would be satisfied.
- RG>
Did lessthan0 write the article, or just the article summary? It's in the first person, so it appears that he wrote it, but I can't tell.
If he didn't write the article, then it looks like he's taking credit for it.
The Linux books that I found most helpful when learning Linux were... oh wait, this Ubuntu live CD is still sitting on my desk. I'll have to get around to that sometime...
- RG>
Oh, sure, the *band* would want it, but the *record companies/industry* wants to get their hands on every penny they possibly can (evidently taking 70+ cents from every iTunes dollar when the artist only gets 4.5 cents isn't enough for them).
I think that Pearl Jam is simply the first major artist to convince/cajole their label into doing it.
- RG>
In the version of Encyclopaedia Britannica that I have, "Indiannapolis - Istanbul" is about the thinnest volume.
- RG>
Oh, come on. Not only are the laws applied in a very partial manner, but they are *designed* that way.
For example, in the US crack cocaine abuse laws are more harshly enforced, then, oh, say Oxycontin abuse laws. Or even, for that matter, other forms of cocaine. It's simply because crack cocaine is cheaper than the other drugs. Rich guys in suits snort heroin on their lunch breaks, then go to court the same day to prosecute black people for carrying a couple of rocks on them.
As the famous saying goes, "neither the rich man nor the poor man may sleep under the bridge."
- RG>
I saw a show about the very topic of magnetic field reversal on TV about one year ago.
Oh, yeah? Well *I* saw a show a few years back where they travelled to the sun and took pictures of themselves. And they didn't suffer at all, except Arnold wished he hadn't come to school that day, and they had to change the tires on the Magic School Bus the next week.
Gimme a break; cite your sources. Otherwise you're just spreading weak rumours.
- RG>
Whatever the outcome, I'm sure the loser will be entitled to use the SaddyFace.
Excuse me, but my name is Bill Saddey, from Despair, inc., and I have the trademark on the SaddyFace, and would appreciate you not using it. If you do, you will hear from my lawyer.
[/bullshit]
- RG>
I suggest you have your students read--and write to--newspapers.
Whether it's writing up stories for the student newspaper, or writing letters to the editor of the region's broadsheet, your students will not only learn how to write things concisely, but they will also see how professional editors polish the things they have written.
By reading newspapers, they will also hopefully be able to imitate the concise, but varied, style of a newspaper column that will keep their reader interested.
I am of the belief that once you see your name in print once, you will try hard to see it again--it is through this process of trial and error that they will learn writing skills.
Of course, that requires having something to write about. Nobody can teach that!
- RG>
It learns by trial and error, eh?
How many dead babybots does it take to learn to use Windows?
- RG>
I always knew not to trust the weatherman, but you're telling me to trust the cell phone people now? I don't think I can handle *that*.
- RG>