that's why to me all those congressional hearing are just a big farce.
Everyone is playing with the semantics and technicalities and NO TRUTH ever, EVER comes out of those hearings. All party involved is just playing a show for the public to see, acting like they cared.
to me, today's announcement and event are so underwhelming. I am quite disappointed. iPad could have been so much more if they open it up, but instead they close it down.
However, as pointed out to me by another commentator in that other post, for most people, this could be just good enough. I can totally see my parents using this device with ease. They both use laptop right now, but they don't have enough knowledge to use all the functionalities. All they do is read webpage/email/watch youtube. The other day one of them want to send a photo attachment in an email. I have such a hard time teaching them about desktops/folders/saving pictures/attachments. This thing could potentially simplify all that for them.
I am just torn. It both SUCKS (for me) and GOOD (for my parents)...
The other day I was listening to the radio and they had a commerical for a local big Honda (or was that Toyota) dealership.
This particular commercial caught my attention because it goes along the line of this...
Announcer1: Come to our dealership to check out our newsest 2010 Toyota models.
Announcer2: Hold on announcer1, are you sure that's safe to say. Perhaps we should better check.
Announcer1: Well, our line up for 2010 will definately not disappoint you, book a test drive and you'll see
Announcer2: well announcer1, we surely should have check that before we say it, but regardless, come to our dealship and look at our new Toyota models, this year's model will surely impress you.
The above back-and-forth would make absolutely NO SENSE, if it weren't for the face that the stupid government granted VANOC special trademark protection for Vancouver2010, Vancouver olympics, 2010...etc, anything to do with 2010.
I applaud the dealer for daring to put this kind of commercial on air. Let's hope they really did check with VANOC before they air it *end sarcasm*
=====Olympic Rant================
I live in GVRD and the Olympic is really pissing me off.
I take transit and everyday I see more and more and more ad display case being set up on each of the stop. It's like they are cramming them in every space possible, even if it'll be esthetically displeasing. It's a balant commercialism that has nothing to do with sports or the original olympic spirits. The biggest irony is with all those "selling out" behaviour, the city, the province and Canada are probably going to lose millions of dollars still and we'll be paying for them for years to come. And who gets to walk away clean? The IOC and those corporate sponsors.
being a Canadian, swearing is not really in my daily vocabulary but I couldn't help but call those ppl F*****G BAST***S.
reminds me of the futurama episode, "How Hermes requisitioned his groove back". In that episode, they have this institution called the "Central Bureaucracy".
In the building, there is something called "The Master In-Pile", which is a pile of pneumatic tube capsules about 5-6 floors high...
Hermes was punished for finish sorting out the master in-pile two seconds early, with the notable quote, "a good bureaucrat never finishes early"
"Fools! by creating these 'applications' you have played right into our hands! Now we'll just hack into these surveillance apps and track the movement of our targets. Or we can hack into the system and mislead investigators into the wrong directions! MWAHAHAHAHAHA~~"
For me, my BIGGEST fear is if (and likely) Apply locked down the upcoming table just like they did with the iPhone.
All the rumor mill is pointing to a tablet as "an iPhone with steriod". However, one of the major factor that I am resisting buying an iPhone is simply because it's too locked down. It's not really based on principle (although I am against DRM in principle). It's just a locked multimedia device does not fit my purpose.
I watch many Japanese animation and cartoons. They come in various different codecs and format. I also read a lot of Chinese novels, which are in unprotect, non PDF, simple unicode text files. In addition, I read Japanese/Chinese manga too, which are in either jpeg/gif/png.
So my need
1. watch video of any codec
2. read unicode text file
3. view large, sequencial images
so how iPhone does not allow me to do the abover three easily
1. all video need to be in a VERY SPECIFIC codec and bitrate and format. Because iPhone is locked, you can't install a third party program that'll do this easily, without converting
2. iPhone does not allow "uploading" to your space. Where the hell am I suppose to put my text file. And also there is no easy way to read a text file, not to mention a unicode text file containing Chinese
3. you must manage all photo/images through iTunes. If the iPhone is not locked, I could just upload my images as folders and view it with a simple photo viewer navigating through folder structure. But alas, I can't.
Now, if the tablet is just as bad as the iPhone, then
1. I can't install VLC, which is my preferred mac version of media player for viewing anime/cartoon/video
2. I can't upload my unicode text files for reading purposes, with my choice of reading application
3. I can't upload my manga images easily because it's locked and you must go through iTune or some propriatery program and I can't view it with my choice of application
These are really my deal breakers. If the tablet is locked down as badly as the iPhone/Touch, I'll be looking into one of the win7 tablet that was presented at CES. And to be honest, they look quite good AND you get the freedom of able to do whatever you want with the win7 OS.
Let's face it, iTune may be great, but it's starting to feel a fatty. Okay, music and video is fine, and it does a good job, but starting with the apps it's like Apple trying to CRAM everything into iTunes, no matter if it fit or not. If it's true that Apple have some publisher/news agency deal to deliver text content, they'll probalby CRAM that into iTunes too.
Forget about the mess, I would rather suffer a little and have my freedom then having Apple and Jobs tell me what I can do with my property. On a win7 tablet I'll be able to do whatever I please, in whatever way I want. Look, just because Apple/Jobs feel that it should "work that way" doesn't meant they are right or it fits the use/purpose of 100% of people.
Steve, you KILLED Apple once with your maniac control of everything, and almost killed the entire company. Now you are on track again, don't you kill yourself again with your freakish control fetish.
as a Canadian, let's just say that I have avoided entering or pass through the US in the last 8 years when I travel. All the hassle, stress, delays just not worth the money that I could save by flying out US or pass through US airports.
Guess the US economy is probably never going to see a cent from me again.
One thing I learned from Dogbert is that when presenting choices to management type, always present "the idea you want" and two "obviously bad idea".
Like this
-document the problem and solve it internally
-send press release to all major news outlet, apologize to public and pay everyone for damages
-destroy all humanity so no one finds out
However, this WILL sometime backfire when they choose 3.
i was thinking about the exact same thing because once I read a Japanese manga(comic as we call it here) where it had a terrorist swallow a remote detonated bomb and... you know the rest.
If a comic writer can come up with something like that, why can't the terrorist think of something even more clever?
With the current trend, full cavity search is not going to be far off.
It is part of the security process, it is likely something to be added into the manual as part of the process. It shouldn't be online, it shouldn't even be discussed.
wow, that's such an ignorant statement about security. ANY security expert would be able to tell you that "Security by Obscurity" does not work and creates a FALSE sense of security which makes you LAZY which in term EXPOSE you to even more security issues.
What's stopping the terrorist from going on multiple trips to compile data on TSA regulations and figure out what's going on? If it's done to the public, the public will know. It's like saying letting someone eat a dish at a restaurant but don't tell him the dish's name or what ingredients are in there. That person is GOING to know what it is. He may not know the exact recipe, but he'll know enough.
By not discussing security measure, you have no idea where the weakness is. There are many smart people out there. Let say one regular guy who's just browsing government websites discovered a LOOP HOLE in the Pentagon network but is discouraged to discuss about it. If he know, probably some other people out of 6,755,987,239 on earth knows about it. Now, what if one of them is a terrorist and start exploiting the system?
If it's so secret, it shouldn't be send out as a mass email to all employees. Heck, all the server that email went through has a copy of it. It should be written on self-destruct paper and handed to each employee. After they read it you kill them to keep the secret because when they start patting down those customers, everyone would know what's going on.
Actually, come to think of it, I think you are a terrorist, or at least working for them. I think you know something that we don't about the loop holes of the current TSA practice. I think you are trying to convince us not to review it so we won't fix the hole which you and your friend are going to use to sneak bombs on the plane.
Have you ever heard of Robert Dziekanski? He was also tasered for resisting and "combative", at least in the police report. Then he died.
If it weren't for a video taken by a bystander, no one would have know that the RCMP basically went in, "tried" to talk to someone who does not speak English for, uhh, 30 secs, tasered him 6 times, then tackled him, hold down his neck till his face turned purple and died on the floor in the Vancouver airport.
Not to mentine RCMP tried to confiscate and hide the tape, refusing to return it. During the inquiry, we find that the police officer on hand TOTALLY falsified the reports.
I do agree that most police meant well, but to have a "non-lethal" weapon doesn't mean you can just use it anyways you want. The fact that it's labeled "non-lethal" makes police lazy and use it whatever chance they get without guilt or responsibility. In that case above, while on route, the police officers was joking about "getting there there, taser him a few times and go home"
So the above ruling is good news to all of us, because it would put a mental barrier to force the officers to THINK before they take actions, instead of just default to taser.
Oh yeah, how about the 9 year girl that got tasered for making a scene? That could be "combative" and "resist arrest".
unrelated, but I always hold the opinion that if an automated script or a "bot" can play a game for you, there is something seriously wrong with the game design/play.
"We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."
It's a Rebellion against the Australian Government, see?
What I think is important to this story is that after years of standoff, one of the biggest publishers for games seems to be showing signs of acceptance. Of course as some comments points out, whether EA means it or not is another question, but at LEAST they are willing to ADMIT that there has to be a better way. That's a step forward, and hopefully in the right direction.
On the post: NBC Universal Boss Jeff Zucker Lies To Congress About Boxee
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Everyone is playing with the semantics and technicalities and NO TRUTH ever, EVER comes out of those hearings. All party involved is just playing a show for the public to see, acting like they cared.
It's a farce.
On the post: Artist Sues Photographer For Transformative Photo Of Public Artwork, Even Though Photographer Took Down The Photo
In this case, he doesn't own the copyright anymore isn't it?
On the post: Wait, Who Wants A Proprietary, Locked Down Device That Limits What You Can Do?
However, as pointed out to me by another commentator in that other post, for most people, this could be just good enough. I can totally see my parents using this device with ease. They both use laptop right now, but they don't have enough knowledge to use all the functionalities. All they do is read webpage/email/watch youtube. The other day one of them want to send a photo attachment in an email. I have such a hard time teaching them about desktops/folders/saving pictures/attachments. This thing could potentially simplify all that for them.
I am just torn. It both SUCKS (for me) and GOOD (for my parents)...
On the post: Google Routes Around App Store On The iPhone... Others Can Too
On the post: Vancouver Olympics 'Brand Protection Guidelines' Almost Entirely Arbitrary
This particular commercial caught my attention because it goes along the line of this...
Announcer1: Come to our dealership to check out our newsest 2010 Toyota models.
Announcer2: Hold on announcer1, are you sure that's safe to say. Perhaps we should better check.
Announcer1: Well, our line up for 2010 will definately not disappoint you, book a test drive and you'll see
Announcer2: well announcer1, we surely should have check that before we say it, but regardless, come to our dealship and look at our new Toyota models, this year's model will surely impress you.
The above back-and-forth would make absolutely NO SENSE, if it weren't for the face that the stupid government granted VANOC special trademark protection for Vancouver2010, Vancouver olympics, 2010...etc, anything to do with 2010.
I applaud the dealer for daring to put this kind of commercial on air. Let's hope they really did check with VANOC before they air it *end sarcasm*
=====Olympic Rant================
I live in GVRD and the Olympic is really pissing me off.
I take transit and everyday I see more and more and more ad display case being set up on each of the stop. It's like they are cramming them in every space possible, even if it'll be esthetically displeasing. It's a balant commercialism that has nothing to do with sports or the original olympic spirits. The biggest irony is with all those "selling out" behaviour, the city, the province and Canada are probably going to lose millions of dollars still and we'll be paying for them for years to come. And who gets to walk away clean? The IOC and those corporate sponsors.
being a Canadian, swearing is not really in my daily vocabulary but I couldn't help but call those ppl F*****G BAST***S.
On the post: Obama Calls The Patent Office Embarrassing For Its Outdated Workflow
In the building, there is something called "The Master In-Pile", which is a pile of pneumatic tube capsules about 5-6 floors high...
Hermes was punished for finish sorting out the master in-pile two seconds early, with the notable quote, "a good bureaucrat never finishes early"
On the post: China Google Hack Shows Security Gaps... Or Issues In Online Surveillance Apps?
I can just see some crimal/terrorist now
On the post: The Killer Feature I Would Design Into An Apple Tablet
the fear of a DRM'ed tablet
All the rumor mill is pointing to a tablet as "an iPhone with steriod". However, one of the major factor that I am resisting buying an iPhone is simply because it's too locked down. It's not really based on principle (although I am against DRM in principle). It's just a locked multimedia device does not fit my purpose.
I watch many Japanese animation and cartoons. They come in various different codecs and format. I also read a lot of Chinese novels, which are in unprotect, non PDF, simple unicode text files. In addition, I read Japanese/Chinese manga too, which are in either jpeg/gif/png.
So my need
1. watch video of any codec
2. read unicode text file
3. view large, sequencial images
so how iPhone does not allow me to do the abover three easily
1. all video need to be in a VERY SPECIFIC codec and bitrate and format. Because iPhone is locked, you can't install a third party program that'll do this easily, without converting
2. iPhone does not allow "uploading" to your space. Where the hell am I suppose to put my text file. And also there is no easy way to read a text file, not to mention a unicode text file containing Chinese
3. you must manage all photo/images through iTunes. If the iPhone is not locked, I could just upload my images as folders and view it with a simple photo viewer navigating through folder structure. But alas, I can't.
Now, if the tablet is just as bad as the iPhone, then
1. I can't install VLC, which is my preferred mac version of media player for viewing anime/cartoon/video
2. I can't upload my unicode text files for reading purposes, with my choice of reading application
3. I can't upload my manga images easily because it's locked and you must go through iTune or some propriatery program and I can't view it with my choice of application
These are really my deal breakers. If the tablet is locked down as badly as the iPhone/Touch, I'll be looking into one of the win7 tablet that was presented at CES. And to be honest, they look quite good AND you get the freedom of able to do whatever you want with the win7 OS.
Let's face it, iTune may be great, but it's starting to feel a fatty. Okay, music and video is fine, and it does a good job, but starting with the apps it's like Apple trying to CRAM everything into iTunes, no matter if it fit or not. If it's true that Apple have some publisher/news agency deal to deliver text content, they'll probalby CRAM that into iTunes too.
Forget about the mess, I would rather suffer a little and have my freedom then having Apple and Jobs tell me what I can do with my property. On a win7 tablet I'll be able to do whatever I please, in whatever way I want. Look, just because Apple/Jobs feel that it should "work that way" doesn't meant they are right or it fits the use/purpose of 100% of people.
Steve, you KILLED Apple once with your maniac control of everything, and almost killed the entire company. Now you are on track again, don't you kill yourself again with your freakish control fetish.
BAH!
On the post: NY Times Finds An 8-Year-Old On TSA Flight Watch List
Guess the US economy is probably never going to see a cent from me again.
On the post: UK Ministers 'Concede' Some Ridiculous Points in Digital Economy Bill In Attempt To Get Other Ridiculous Measures
the sandwich method
One thing I learned from Dogbert is that when presenting choices to management type, always present "the idea you want" and two "obviously bad idea".
Like this
-document the problem and solve it internally
-send press release to all major news outlet, apologize to public and pay everyone for damages
-destroy all humanity so no one finds out
However, this WILL sometime backfire when they choose 3.
On the post: Explaining The Copyright Bubble... And Why Big Corporations Want To Keep ACTA Secret
Congratulations! You have graduated! :)
On the post: Post TSA's New Security Rules And Get A Visit And Subpoena From Homeland Security
Re: Pat down would have been worthless, of course
If a comic writer can come up with something like that, why can't the terrorist think of something even more clever?
With the current trend, full cavity search is not going to be far off.
On the post: Post TSA's New Security Rules And Get A Visit And Subpoena From Homeland Security
Re: Re: Re: A nice rant, but...
wow, that's such an ignorant statement about security. ANY security expert would be able to tell you that "Security by Obscurity" does not work and creates a FALSE sense of security which makes you LAZY which in term EXPOSE you to even more security issues.
What's stopping the terrorist from going on multiple trips to compile data on TSA regulations and figure out what's going on? If it's done to the public, the public will know. It's like saying letting someone eat a dish at a restaurant but don't tell him the dish's name or what ingredients are in there. That person is GOING to know what it is. He may not know the exact recipe, but he'll know enough.
By not discussing security measure, you have no idea where the weakness is. There are many smart people out there. Let say one regular guy who's just browsing government websites discovered a LOOP HOLE in the Pentagon network but is discouraged to discuss about it. If he know, probably some other people out of 6,755,987,239 on earth knows about it. Now, what if one of them is a terrorist and start exploiting the system?
If it's so secret, it shouldn't be send out as a mass email to all employees. Heck, all the server that email went through has a copy of it. It should be written on self-destruct paper and handed to each employee. After they read it you kill them to keep the secret because when they start patting down those customers, everyone would know what's going on.
Actually, come to think of it, I think you are a terrorist, or at least working for them. I think you know something that we don't about the loop holes of the current TSA practice. I think you are trying to convince us not to review it so we won't fix the hole which you and your friend are going to use to sneak bombs on the plane.
'Fess up! Are you a terrorist?!
On the post: Appeals Court Says Tasers Can Be Excessive Force
Re: Re:
Have you ever heard of Robert Dziekanski? He was also tasered for resisting and "combative", at least in the police report. Then he died.
If it weren't for a video taken by a bystander, no one would have know that the RCMP basically went in, "tried" to talk to someone who does not speak English for, uhh, 30 secs, tasered him 6 times, then tackled him, hold down his neck till his face turned purple and died on the floor in the Vancouver airport.
Not to mentine RCMP tried to confiscate and hide the tape, refusing to return it. During the inquiry, we find that the police officer on hand TOTALLY falsified the reports.
I do agree that most police meant well, but to have a "non-lethal" weapon doesn't mean you can just use it anyways you want. The fact that it's labeled "non-lethal" makes police lazy and use it whatever chance they get without guilt or responsibility. In that case above, while on route, the police officers was joking about "getting there there, taser him a few times and go home"
So the above ruling is good news to all of us, because it would put a mental barrier to force the officers to THINK before they take actions, instead of just default to taser.
Oh yeah, how about the 9 year girl that got tasered for making a scene? That could be "combative" and "resist arrest".
On the post: Zynga Threatens Mafia Wars Auto Play Script Over Copyright Violations...
On the post: Vancouver Olympics Unhappy With 'Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 and 2011 Edition' Slogan
The IOC is currently the biggest bully around town, and they are the one to talk about sportsmanship?
On the post: Director Of New Moon Says Jailing Of Girl For Snippets Of Video Of His Movie Is 'Terribly Unfair'
Re:
Let me take 1 min segments 4 times every 1/2 hour during the movie to "pirate" it and then sell you for a few bucks.
Would you buy? Would you EVEN download that?
Not to mention it probably only have 50-25% of the movie screen since she's filming her sister, not the movie.
On the post: Can Someone Explain How Making French Cultural Works More Available Takes Away French Heritage?
Re: So the truth comes out!
Part of it is a politician trying to create/raise a common enemy for personal gain.
It's like in the state whenever there is a problem you use the word "terrorist".
Look at how familiar these two sentences could be
"We won't let ourselves be stripped of our heritage to the benefit of a big company, no matter how friendly, big or American it is."
"We won't be defeated in our homeland by our enemy, no matter how relentless and brutal those terrorists are"
On the post: Game Developer Won't Edit 'Aliens vs. Predator' To Appease Australian Censors
It's a Rebellion against the Australian Government, see?
sorry I couldn't resist. XD
On the post: EA CEO Continues To Appeal To Pirates, Rather Than Attack Them
Just throwing in Kübler-Ross model as a bonus material, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model. What stage you think we are at now?
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