America in the lead? What, are we going to 'own' Mars now? Nevermind that people from other countries also read slashdot, American egocentric thinking has just gone too far if this is the way people are thinking. I think when we start leaving the confines of our planet is about the time we should grow up and learn to share the sandbox with the other kiddies.
The economics of spacetravel wouldn't be as much of a burden if we could all learn to see eye-to-eye on this. A concerted effort of industrial powers would be able to fund one shuttle mission much more efficiently than just one (especially one who keeps stabbing leaks in its own financial boat by continuing to wander around the pontoon in high heels). Frell, it *might* even help to unite humanity.
Hah, I so couldn't say that last statement with a straight face . . .
And how!
I mean, anyone who actually thinks this is a good idea, please, for the love of all that's holy, go rent the Corporation. Then come back and read this article. And then die a little inside like the rest of us.
The reason I found this weird is that it would seem that the results from such rules would be inherently askew. For instance, what happens if an entire household is out visiting someone else at that time? Do they consider that household vacant now? And does the place their visiting get to include all those people for taxation purposes? If so, everyone come over my place.
The electronic form version is a good idea, as it would eliminate a lot of these irregularities. People could just jump online from wherever, fill it out accurately, and then go on their way. Way to go, Australia.
The strange thing about the Australian census is they're really strict about it. I'm an exchange student here right now, and despite the fact that I'm not an Australian citizen and may never be, I have just as much obligation to fill this out and fast. We get like, 1 or 2 days to fill it out and turn it in or we're charged fines of $100/day until it's done. Makes you wonder what happens to people traveling who can't even get the paperwork, nevermind to somewhere that they can drop it off.
. . . you could just send the US to hell in a handbasket and look overseas. Australia, for instance. They might even trade the US a Koala for you if you're an IT guy (or girl).
There are a plethora of other choices for browsers out there, not just Opera or Firefox or what have you. My apologies that I can't think of any particular ones offhand (but if you know of or use a little-known alternative browser, please post links in reply).
If Firefox screws this one up (read: gets screwed in the fine print by RealNetworks) and ends up bundling the software together, then g33ky people such as us will simply do to it what we did to IE. And don't think the people at Mozilla don't know that. Don't sweat - you the user will win out in the end.
My biggest problem with DRM is that, if I shell out the money for their product, I should be able to do pretty much whatever the hell I want with it after that as long as I'm not making money off it. Whether or not I should care if what I'm doing is 'costing the company money' is debateable, because the legality of that has not been fully dredged out.
It's already annoying that I can only change the region encoding on my laptop DVD drive a limited number of times. I can't think of any logical reasoning behind that besides trying to pigeon-hole me into a market segment. How is that good for me as the consumer? "The more you tighten your grip, the more starsystems will slip through your fingers." It's true here, as well. IMHO, the more ridiculous restrictions goverments/corporations put on media via DRM, the stronger (and likely, smarter) the piracy movement will become, because people will no longer want to deal with it. And I'd say downloading an mp3 or ripping a rented DVD arguably falls under the domain of civil disobedience.
As far as mp3's in particular go, why should I pay roughly the same price for compressed, often proprietary audio as I'm paying for unadulterated WAV files on a CD that also include cover art and liner notes? Wired had it right a few years ago: slash the prices on mp3's and they'll make it up in volume.
Forgive my overly-caffienated editing skills (or lack thereof):
The idea of not having to suffer through proprietary add-on pieces (a la what Acer does) that sit like pimples on a the visage of a great idea.
Should read:
The idea of not having to suffer through proprietary add-on pieces (a la what Acer does) that sit like pimples on a the visage of a great idea is like a brand new tube of Clearasil to a teenaged boy.
I have to say that the only - and I mean ONLY - reason why Vista is attractive to me is because they have finally, FINALLY learned not to seperate the best parts of their OS into fractional peices. Now, if I so choose, I can buy one Windows OS and have all the comforts of Media Center and, most importantly, their Tablet PC functions. The idea of not having to suffer through proprietary add-on pieces (a la what Acer does) that sit like pimples on a the visage of a great idea. (That they're deciding to splinter the OS in an equally quizzical way is certainly a headscratcher, though.)
What is clearly NOT affecting my purchase of a PC operating system is how the case looks. It's like judging your Christmas presents on the quality of the wrapping paper. It scares me that so many people may actually be led to think that a prettier case means a better computer. If I want a 'pretty' computer, I'll give Alienware or Voodoo PC a ring. If they can get it to me cheap, I say let Joe's Custom Computers (or whomever) build it in any case they want, and as long as the system offers the performance I'm expecting.
Hmm . . . now to figure out how to do those Tablet functions in Linux . . .:>
Indeed, much like only the US (and the places it thereby influences) pronounces the letter 'z' as 'zee' or uses feet and pounds. What a wacky bunch we are.
This has nothing to do with your post, except for the fact that I was tickled pink by your use of Battlestar Galatica termonology ('fracking').
That is all. Move along.
Slashdot Mirror
America in the lead? What, are we going to 'own' Mars now? Nevermind that people from other countries also read slashdot, American egocentric thinking has just gone too far if this is the way people are thinking. I think when we start leaving the confines of our planet is about the time we should grow up and learn to share the sandbox with the other kiddies. The economics of spacetravel wouldn't be as much of a burden if we could all learn to see eye-to-eye on this. A concerted effort of industrial powers would be able to fund one shuttle mission much more efficiently than just one (especially one who keeps stabbing leaks in its own financial boat by continuing to wander around the pontoon in high heels). Frell, it *might* even help to unite humanity. Hah, I so couldn't say that last statement with a straight face . . .
And how! I mean, anyone who actually thinks this is a good idea, please, for the love of all that's holy, go rent the Corporation. Then come back and read this article. And then die a little inside like the rest of us.
The reason I found this weird is that it would seem that the results from such rules would be inherently askew. For instance, what happens if an entire household is out visiting someone else at that time? Do they consider that household vacant now? And does the place their visiting get to include all those people for taxation purposes? If so, everyone come over my place. The electronic form version is a good idea, as it would eliminate a lot of these irregularities. People could just jump online from wherever, fill it out accurately, and then go on their way. Way to go, Australia.
The strange thing about the Australian census is they're really strict about it. I'm an exchange student here right now, and despite the fact that I'm not an Australian citizen and may never be, I have just as much obligation to fill this out and fast. We get like, 1 or 2 days to fill it out and turn it in or we're charged fines of $100/day until it's done. Makes you wonder what happens to people traveling who can't even get the paperwork, nevermind to somewhere that they can drop it off.
. . . you could just send the US to hell in a handbasket and look overseas. Australia, for instance. They might even trade the US a Koala for you if you're an IT guy (or girl).
There are a plethora of other choices for browsers out there, not just Opera or Firefox or what have you. My apologies that I can't think of any particular ones offhand (but if you know of or use a little-known alternative browser, please post links in reply).
If Firefox screws this one up (read: gets screwed in the fine print by RealNetworks) and ends up bundling the software together, then g33ky people such as us will simply do to it what we did to IE. And don't think the people at Mozilla don't know that. Don't sweat - you the user will win out in the end.
My biggest problem with DRM is that, if I shell out the money for their product, I should be able to do pretty much whatever the hell I want with it after that as long as I'm not making money off it. Whether or not I should care if what I'm doing is 'costing the company money' is debateable, because the legality of that has not been fully dredged out.
It's already annoying that I can only change the region encoding on my laptop DVD drive a limited number of times. I can't think of any logical reasoning behind that besides trying to pigeon-hole me into a market segment. How is that good for me as the consumer? "The more you tighten your grip, the more starsystems will slip through your fingers." It's true here, as well. IMHO, the more ridiculous restrictions goverments/corporations put on media via DRM, the stronger (and likely, smarter) the piracy movement will become, because people will no longer want to deal with it. And I'd say downloading an mp3 or ripping a rented DVD arguably falls under the domain of civil disobedience.
As far as mp3's in particular go, why should I pay roughly the same price for compressed, often proprietary audio as I'm paying for unadulterated WAV files on a CD that also include cover art and liner notes? Wired had it right a few years ago: slash the prices on mp3's and they'll make it up in volume.
Should read:
The idea of not having to suffer through proprietary add-on pieces (a la what Acer does) that sit like pimples on a the visage of a great idea is like a brand new tube of Clearasil to a teenaged boy.
Mah b.
I have to say that the only - and I mean ONLY - reason why Vista is attractive to me is because they have finally, FINALLY learned not to seperate the best parts of their OS into fractional peices. Now, if I so choose, I can buy one Windows OS and have all the comforts of Media Center and, most importantly, their Tablet PC functions. The idea of not having to suffer through proprietary add-on pieces (a la what Acer does) that sit like pimples on a the visage of a great idea. (That they're deciding to splinter the OS in an equally quizzical way is certainly a headscratcher, though.)
:>
What is clearly NOT affecting my purchase of a PC operating system is how the case looks. It's like judging your Christmas presents on the quality of the wrapping paper. It scares me that so many people may actually be led to think that a prettier case means a better computer. If I want a 'pretty' computer, I'll give Alienware or Voodoo PC a ring. If they can get it to me cheap, I say let Joe's Custom Computers (or whomever) build it in any case they want, and as long as the system offers the performance I'm expecting.
Hmm . . . now to figure out how to do those Tablet functions in Linux . . .
Indeed, much like only the US (and the places it thereby influences) pronounces the letter 'z' as 'zee' or uses feet and pounds. What a wacky bunch we are.
This has nothing to do with your post, except for the fact that I was tickled pink by your use of Battlestar Galatica termonology ('fracking'). That is all. Move along.