Just take a look at professional athletes. They're bigger, stronger, and faster than even just two generations ago. We're starting to see more and more offspring of atheletes following in the footsteps of their parents. And to top it off, they make more money and have more prospects for reproducing.
Well, let's face it...they're going to keep doing this until we hit 'em where it hurts. Class-action suit, anyone?
Re:Our grandkids will hate us
on
Ballmer Sounds Off
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
No, I *have* heard of them, because they have a website. I found them on Google...maybe you've heard of it?
Anyway... I specifically prefer companies that have not gone out of their way to shove their products at me through advertising. I like to find small companies with good products on my own. Besides generally getting better quality products (because these companies don't spend a large portion of their revenue on advertising), I have more satisfaction in my purchases because of the fact that I researched them and discovered the best product *on my own*.
Because of my satifaction, I tell my friends about it. Gee, I guess those companies do advertise after all...they just don't (over)pay an advertising company to develop a stupid and annoying 30-second waste of space!
Admittedly, there are plenty of things that I buy that I don't research first...but I don't have to do any research to know that my local grocery store has fresh fruit. I just go in and, since I've taken the time to actually get to know the people that work there (*gasp* - what a concept!), I ask what the best, freshest stuff is.
Our grandkids will hate us
on
Ballmer Sounds Off
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
The question is: What's the value of an eyeball?
That really is the question, isn't it. Today advertising is where a large portion of the money is being made on the web.
It makes me want to go back in time and find and then murder the "clever" person who thought "I know, since we can't charge each listener for our radio program, we'll charge companies to advertise on our show!"
Advertising is a blight on our society. I can't even watch a frickin' movie that I paid to see without having advertising shoved down my throat...even in the damned movie!
Hasn't any business been paying attention?! People will actually spend money to avoid advertising. PVRs, DVD collections of TV shows, movie and music downloads...to a lot of people, it's not about "convenience", it's about not having to put up with commercials.
So to all the advertisers out there: FUCK OFF. When I want to find the best product for my money, I'll grab the nearest advertsing executive and beat it out of them.
Web apps should conform to the UNIX ideal: do *one* thing and do it well.
Desktop apps are the kinds of things people open once and work with for long stretches. I think of desktop apps as being like separate workspaces...my IDE is my workbench, Photoshop is my darkroom, etc. I go into these "places" to work on something where I need a vareity of tools that are centered around one type of activity and complement each other. I can use all of my desktop space (two monitors), and I have the speed and responsiveness I want.
Typically when I use a web app, it's because I'm on a computer that is not my laptop (library, friend's house, Internet cafe) and I want to do *one thing*, quickly; and I don't have access (or may not *want* access) to my usual suite of apps.
I see web applications as being all about the access from anywhere and being "good enough." They save me the hassle of taking my laptop with me everywhere I go.
As is, I have customers coming in asking me why we're more than the website, and why they should bother shopping at my store if I'm going to rip them off.
Then you shouldn't have any problem keeping them as customers. It's simple: ask them how much they will pay in shipping (I bet they'll be surprised that the website really isn't any cheaper after they add in shipping). Ask them if they prefer to wait 5-7 business days for their purchases.
Also, perhaps you should consider not stocking items for which people *are* willing to shop online, and concentrate on items which people are more likely to want to have immediately upon purchasing. I know that I'd hate to have to wait for my toilet paper to arrive via UPS ground.
The only way you talk about works is if you have perfect requirements written by some perfect master planner who has perfect knowledge of everything necessary.
I work in the real world, where it's often the case of "do what I mean, not what I say." The distinction is important, and I have *never* been on a project in 15 years of programming where this has not come up.
software sucks because it's a very literal realization of a detail-oriented person's conceptulization of a process as related by at least one intermediate person (or, more likely, a committee of people).
If you take a programmer with no practical knowledge of the context in which the software is supposed to work, don't give them time to learn anything past the very basics, keep them at a distance from the people who will actually use the software, and have all the decisions on the functionality of the software, the timeline for delivery, and prioritization of the various parts of the software made by a committee of middle managers, marketing wonks, and executives you will get exactly the kind of sotware we all know and hate.
The best examples of software that I've seen were either written by a programmer with experience in a certain field working closely with an expert, or someone brilliant in a particular field who had a great idea and then picked up programming in order to implement their idea.
So, DVD Jon is going into business to *sell* DRM?! And possibly at the expense of Apple?
That sound your just heard is thousands of Slashdotter heads asploding.
The drama abounds... Who will Apple sue first? Will anyone be brave enough to buy a third-party implementation of FairPlay? Will Apple try to thwart this by monkeying with FairPlay to cause compatibility problems, leading to a game of cat and mouse?
Congress is just upset that they can't effectively tax online gambling because most of the companies are offshore. It's a case of sour grapes - if we can't tax it, you can't do it!
Again, correlation != causation (how many time will we have to explain this to people?!)
It's just too easy to blame GTA because of the violent content. Would they be so quick to sue the video game makers if they had found out that he'd been obsessively playing "Barbie Fashion Designer" for six months before his psychotic break with reality?
they basically don't want to make any money off of offering movies over iTunes because of the chance that they won't be making as much as they possibly can. Never mind the fact that since nobody's actually making much money off of downloadable movies at the moment, they don't have any idea what the "sweet spot" for volume/unit cost is.
[sarcasm]Maybe they should adopt the diamond industry's business model and maintain an artificial scarcity to keep prices up.[/sarcasm]
These asshats don't have the first clue. I read this the other day.
The studios still hate [Apple's pricing of movies], because they think digital movie downloads should be priced higher than physical DVDs, even though there are no physical production, distribution or inventory costs. They should cost more, the reasoning goes, because of the added convenience to consumers.
The "added convenience" of DRM-encumbered files that I can't backup or watch on my other computers?! *cough, splutter*
I cling to the hope that the combined greed of Wal-Mart and the movie studios will reach critical mass and collapse into a metaphyscial black-hole that will take them both into the eternity they so richly deserve.
Just wait until some hapless teenager shares a song with his friend only to find out a couple days later he can't move it off his player.
"Dude, I just got Zuned!"
I can imagine that for most people, this would actually upset them.
People's memories are colored by everything from their state of mind at the time to associations with other experiences (that may not even seem related).
I think most people would be upset to find out just *how much* their cherished memory of an event differs from the actual thing as it was recorded.
I hate sites that require registration to access "free" content. Either publish your content to your "free" website, or charge me for it. I shouldn't have to tell you anything about myself to get access.
I know I'm jaded and cynical, but how much of the information that is entered into web site registration pages is genuine, anyway?
the MPAA and RIAA sue Microsoft? Since nobody could intentionally make software this insecure, it's obvious that Microsoft is in league with the pirates.
Come on people, this is America we're talking about here.
If you want to reduce dependence on foreign oil, make sure that advertisements, TV shows, and movies only associate automobiles with fat, ugly people. As it is right now, all the stars drive big cars - the less fuel efficient the better. Can you name me one automobile over $100,000 that gets at least 25 mpg?
Even better, someone whip up an astroturf campaign complete with "scientific studies" that show that fossil fuels cause impotence.
In order to create artificial intelligence, you have to define what "intelligence" is. People are *still* arguing about that one. Also, it would help with we actually understood our own intelligence; we've barely scraped the surface of that topic.
I see lots of people saying that the brain "isn't magic"... well, what if it's impossible to replicate? Can you think of anything else where we think we understand it pretty well, but can't duplicate it? (did someone say "gravity"?)
Here's something to think about: perhaps our brains are non-deterministic. This would preclude us from being able to emulate human thinking using computers or software.
Of course, this kind of philosophical objection is summarily dismissed by people who have already made up their minds on the issue. It's pointless to argue with the futurists and believers in the "singularity". They aren't scientists, they're cultists.
To an MBA, a "breakthrough" is anything that will make them more money (or in the case of marketing, anything that they *hope* will make them more money).
It probably would not surprise you to learn that people in America who own personal transportation (i.e., automobiles) are the least likely to use public transportation.
If you think that the reason they don't use public transportation is that they own a car, then you'd be wrong. Most of the people who own automobiles live in suburban and rural areas. The lack of public transportation in these areas means that they *can't* use public transportation and therefore *must* drive cars.
This is a classic case of correlation != causation. In order to show that file sharing has hurt music sales, you are going to have to control for a *lot* more variables than just owning a computer.
Slashdot Mirror
Just take a look at professional athletes. They're bigger, stronger, and faster than even just two generations ago. We're starting to see more and more offspring of atheletes following in the footsteps of their parents. And to top it off, they make more money and have more prospects for reproducing.
Our genetic upper-class is already here.
Well, let's face it...they're going to keep doing this until we hit 'em where it hurts. Class-action suit, anyone?
No, I *have* heard of them, because they have a website. I found them on Google...maybe you've heard of it?
Anyway... I specifically prefer companies that have not gone out of their way to shove their products at me through advertising. I like to find small companies with good products on my own. Besides generally getting better quality products (because these companies don't spend a large portion of their revenue on advertising), I have more satisfaction in my purchases because of the fact that I researched them and discovered the best product *on my own*.
Because of my satifaction, I tell my friends about it. Gee, I guess those companies do advertise after all...they just don't (over)pay an advertising company to develop a stupid and annoying 30-second waste of space!
Admittedly, there are plenty of things that I buy that I don't research first...but I don't have to do any research to know that my local grocery store has fresh fruit. I just go in and, since I've taken the time to actually get to know the people that work there (*gasp* - what a concept!), I ask what the best, freshest stuff is.
That really is the question, isn't it. Today advertising is where a large portion of the money is being made on the web.
It makes me want to go back in time and find and then murder the "clever" person who thought "I know, since we can't charge each listener for our radio program, we'll charge companies to advertise on our show!"
Advertising is a blight on our society. I can't even watch a frickin' movie that I paid to see without having advertising shoved down my throat...even in the damned movie!
Hasn't any business been paying attention?! People will actually spend money to avoid advertising. PVRs, DVD collections of TV shows, movie and music downloads...to a lot of people, it's not about "convenience", it's about not having to put up with commercials.
So to all the advertisers out there: FUCK OFF. When I want to find the best product for my money, I'll grab the nearest advertsing executive and beat it out of them.
My eyeballs are not for sale!
Web apps should conform to the UNIX ideal: do *one* thing and do it well.
Desktop apps are the kinds of things people open once and work with for long stretches. I think of desktop apps as being like separate workspaces...my IDE is my workbench, Photoshop is my darkroom, etc. I go into these "places" to work on something where I need a vareity of tools that are centered around one type of activity and complement each other. I can use all of my desktop space (two monitors), and I have the speed and responsiveness I want.
Typically when I use a web app, it's because I'm on a computer that is not my laptop (library, friend's house, Internet cafe) and I want to do *one thing*, quickly; and I don't have access (or may not *want* access) to my usual suite of apps.
I see web applications as being all about the access from anywhere and being "good enough." They save me the hassle of taking my laptop with me everywhere I go.
I can already get all the colors my eyes can see and almost infinite resolution, all from one device...it's called "outside." It even has games!
Then you shouldn't have any problem keeping them as customers. It's simple: ask them how much they will pay in shipping (I bet they'll be surprised that the website really isn't any cheaper after they add in shipping). Ask them if they prefer to wait 5-7 business days for their purchases.
Also, perhaps you should consider not stocking items for which people *are* willing to shop online, and concentrate on items which people are more likely to want to have immediately upon purchasing. I know that I'd hate to have to wait for my toilet paper to arrive via UPS ground.
You keep using that word; I don't think it means what you think it means.
Is the entertainment industry going to lobby Congress to make movies and songs into a currency?
5 out of the 20 were about different ways to advertise. One was about a way to automate product placement on TV shows and in movies.
There are a lot of technology-gone-horribly-wrong scenarios; the one that leaves me in a cold sweat is inescapable advertising.
So, if they are convicted...does that mean that pretexting is no longer "possibly" illegal, but is now a felony?
The only way you talk about works is if you have perfect requirements written by some perfect master planner who has perfect knowledge of everything necessary.
I work in the real world, where it's often the case of "do what I mean, not what I say." The distinction is important, and I have *never* been on a project in 15 years of programming where this has not come up.
I think Douglas Adams said it best:
I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg;
Ron stole Meggie's heart away
And I got Sidney's leg.
software sucks because it's a very literal realization of a detail-oriented person's conceptulization of a process as related by at least one intermediate person (or, more likely, a committee of people).
If you take a programmer with no practical knowledge of the context in which the software is supposed to work, don't give them time to learn anything past the very basics, keep them at a distance from the people who will actually use the software, and have all the decisions on the functionality of the software, the timeline for delivery, and prioritization of the various parts of the software made by a committee of middle managers, marketing wonks, and executives you will get exactly the kind of sotware we all know and hate.
The best examples of software that I've seen were either written by a programmer with experience in a certain field working closely with an expert, or someone brilliant in a particular field who had a great idea and then picked up programming in order to implement their idea.
So, DVD Jon is going into business to *sell* DRM?! And possibly at the expense of Apple?
That sound your just heard is thousands of Slashdotter heads asploding.
The drama abounds... Who will Apple sue first? Will anyone be brave enough to buy a third-party implementation of FairPlay? Will Apple try to thwart this by monkeying with FairPlay to cause compatibility problems, leading to a game of cat and mouse?
Congress is just upset that they can't effectively tax online gambling because most of the companies are offshore. It's a case of sour grapes - if we can't tax it, you can't do it!
Again, correlation != causation (how many time will we have to explain this to people?!)
It's just too easy to blame GTA because of the violent content. Would they be so quick to sue the video game makers if they had found out that he'd been obsessively playing "Barbie Fashion Designer" for six months before his psychotic break with reality?
[sarcasm]Maybe they should adopt the diamond industry's business model and maintain an artificial scarcity to keep prices up.[/sarcasm]
These asshats don't have the first clue. I read this the other day.
The "added convenience" of DRM-encumbered files that I can't backup or watch on my other computers?! *cough, splutter*
I cling to the hope that the combined greed of Wal-Mart and the movie studios will reach critical mass and collapse into a metaphyscial black-hole that will take them both into the eternity they so richly deserve.
Just wait until some hapless teenager shares a song with his friend only to find out a couple days later he can't move it off his player. "Dude, I just got Zuned!"
I can imagine that for most people, this would actually upset them.
People's memories are colored by everything from their state of mind at the time to associations with other experiences (that may not even seem related).
I think most people would be upset to find out just *how much* their cherished memory of an event differs from the actual thing as it was recorded.
I hate sites that require registration to access "free" content. Either publish your content to your "free" website, or charge me for it. I shouldn't have to tell you anything about myself to get access.
I know I'm jaded and cynical, but how much of the information that is entered into web site registration pages is genuine, anyway?
the MPAA and RIAA sue Microsoft? Since nobody could intentionally make software this insecure, it's obvious that Microsoft is in league with the pirates.
Come on people, this is America we're talking about here.
If you want to reduce dependence on foreign oil, make sure that advertisements, TV shows, and movies only associate automobiles with fat, ugly people. As it is right now, all the stars drive big cars - the less fuel efficient the better. Can you name me one automobile over $100,000 that gets at least 25 mpg?
Even better, someone whip up an astroturf campaign complete with "scientific studies" that show that fossil fuels cause impotence.
In order to create artificial intelligence, you have to define what "intelligence" is. People are *still* arguing about that one. Also, it would help with we actually understood our own intelligence; we've barely scraped the surface of that topic.
I see lots of people saying that the brain "isn't magic"... well, what if it's impossible to replicate? Can you think of anything else where we think we understand it pretty well, but can't duplicate it? (did someone say "gravity"?)
Here's something to think about: perhaps our brains are non-deterministic. This would preclude us from being able to emulate human thinking using computers or software.
Of course, this kind of philosophical objection is summarily dismissed by people who have already made up their minds on the issue. It's pointless to argue with the futurists and believers in the "singularity". They aren't scientists, they're cultists.
To an MBA, a "breakthrough" is anything that will make them more money (or in the case of marketing, anything that they *hope* will make them more money).
It probably would not surprise you to learn that people in America who own personal transportation (i.e., automobiles) are the least likely to use public transportation.
If you think that the reason they don't use public transportation is that they own a car, then you'd be wrong. Most of the people who own automobiles live in suburban and rural areas. The lack of public transportation in these areas means that they *can't* use public transportation and therefore *must* drive cars.
This is a classic case of correlation != causation. In order to show that file sharing has hurt music sales, you are going to have to control for a *lot* more variables than just owning a computer.