Thumb bands will be worn by those who care. The rest will ignore it and text on. Nothing new to see here, move on please.
Over here in Rightpondia (at least in the local jurisdiction) the police do not check mobile phones after incidents and accidents - as a policy. Mustn't offend the chattering classes. IMO classifying any mobile phone usage as negligence would do a lot to end the problem - imagine if insurance companies could refuse to be involved if e.g. someone had texted and caused an accident. Even better, if in possession of a mobe at the time of impact the burden of proof would fall on the possessor and guilt would be presumed. *That* would bring home the message, hitting the general public in the one organ it cares about the most - the wallet. A few high-profile cases where ordinary people are fleeced for damages and people would catch on that mobe usage in a car is bad for your health. "Pour encourager les autres" is such an effective approach... :-)
What facts? The facts the journalists have chosen to find? The facts their bosses have permitted them to publish? At least 'merkin journos are honest about what they're doing - they're entertainers...
I didn't care at all. I was mightily entertained. Who cares if it's real - it's entertainment! Suspension of disbelief and all that. Also, there's real inventiveness and musical skill displayed regardless of purpose. You ever go to the movies...?
The interesting thing is that as this information is related to sexual preferences, at least here in Rightpondia it is a lot more protected than mere buying behaviour. Trying to coerce the information from an ISP, or giving out the information if you're an ISP, could carry very stiff penalties. I wonder if anyone has explored that particular defensive approach...?
They've totally lost sight of who the real customer is. News services have always served eyeballs to advertisers - providing news and entertainment is only a means to that end. Introducing paywalls is high-precision foot-shooting.
Erm... how is logging in through power.com different from using a browser with plugins for e.g. remembering passwords and stripping/changing certain features? I don't see the difference. But then again, I'm still stuck in Web 1.0 and quite happy about it.
I would never work with anyone who'd run a botnet. Not because they might be dumb s'kiddies but because they've been a**holes. Botnets are for robbing other people or vandalizing. I don't care about doing time and coming out with a clean slate - if you want to be trusted to work with security you walk the straight and narrow path from the beginning.
> There is also the issue of "journalistic standards." Yes, I know that nobody believes that those exist (or perhaps ever existed) around here
Oh they existed alright, they've just been destroyed by the rush for gold that's pervading "journalism" everywhere.
As for the profession policing itself - get outta here. The yellow press has won the war. The only thing that counts these days is "how many eyeballs can we get ads to?", in print, broadcast or digitally. This is like the lawyer profession - 90% are ruining it for the rest. Journalists are arrogant tossers to think that they're still owed any respect. If it wasn't for the last 10% we'd be better off without them, but unfortunately a democratic society needs that 10% so we'll have to live with the rest.
I write for a living. Code, that is. If it's not worth money, I don't get paid. And I don't bitch about open source, I like it but mostly ignore it as the quality is usually not very high. My customers know that too so they happily pay my bills, knowing that what they get is what they need.
Visit the Intartubes? Read mail? No. I deliberately bought my latest phone without those misfeatures. I'm sick and tired of phone calls being 5 menu items into some list - it's what the bloody thing is for! So now I can call and just barely write SMS (no dictionary - really old sk00l!) and I'm amazingly happy with it. No more emails from $BOSS in the middle of my off-time walking the dogs. SMS me and I can legally answer "yes", "no" or "email me" because everyone now knows it's too cumbersome for me to write any more. Bliss...
Erm... so what about the speculative patents so popular in the software world? Nothing has been built, nothing has been brought to market but an idea is locked down for the next n years. Sounds suspiciously like "I've had a good hard think on this - now pay me", doesn't it?
About GoDaddy: I might be an old cynic but isn't GoDaddy benefitting enormously by registering domains for s[cp]ammers, many of them using .cn sites? This story doesn't sit well with me. There must be something fishy going on that we just haven't seen yet. Are they afraid of a crackdown on their criminal customers followed by the burning light of the Daystar on their own dealings?
On the post: Can Handing Out 'Txting Kills' Thumb Bands Stop People From Texting While Driving?
Preaching to the choir?
Over here in Rightpondia (at least in the local jurisdiction) the police do not check mobile phones after incidents and accidents - as a policy. Mustn't offend the chattering classes. IMO classifying any mobile phone usage as negligence would do a lot to end the problem - imagine if insurance companies could refuse to be involved if e.g. someone had texted and caused an accident. Even better, if in possession of a mobe at the time of impact the burden of proof would fall on the possessor and guilt would be presumed. *That* would bring home the message, hitting the general public in the one organ it cares about the most - the wallet. A few high-profile cases where ordinary people are fleeced for damages and people would catch on that mobe usage in a car is bad for your health. "Pour encourager les autres" is such an effective approach... :-)
On the post: City Paper Mocks Competitors For 'Policies' Over Stewart/Colbert Rallies
Re:
On the post: A Publicity Stunt Or Viral Ad -- Or Just A Band Connecting With Fans?
Re:
On the post: Denying The Public Domain Has A Very Real Cost
Re:
Right, so Justin Bieber trumps the entire Project Gutenberg in sheer value. Indeedy...
Next time try being a little more subtle. We can all see the chains to [MP|RI] Ass. of America trailing behind you.
On the post: Drug Rep Accidentally Admits There's No Justification For Massive Markup Over Generics
Re: Pharma without patents
Yeah, and it looks like brand name companies don't do it either. To market stuff like Prozac etc. for light depression is just inexcusable.
On the post: Bizarre Indian Anti-Piracy Group Says It Does DoS Attacks On File Sharing Operations
Seems like a short-term business plan
2. ???
3. Profit!
This will be entertaining. :-)
On the post: Why Are Gay Porn Producers So Quick To Get Involved In Shakedown Copyright Pre-Settlement Schemes?
On the post: Debunking The Logic In Favor Of Paywalls
On the post: Court Rules That The Pirate Bay Must Block Dutch Users... Again... But ISPs Don't Have To Block
"there is no evidence that the majority of the customers are using The Pirate Bay to infringe copyright"
is run through funnytranslator.com this comes out:
"There is evidence that most customers use violation Pirate Bay"
Yup, that's how lawyers hear it alright.
On the post: Could Accessing Your Own Data On Facebook Make You Criminally Liable?
On the post: SCO Loses Yet Again; Is It Finally Over?
@IT Expert: I take it you don't get out much? SCO is generally reviled out here in the real world for even trying to lock down all things Linux.
On the post: Script Kiddie Botnet Operators Ask For Jobs From Security Company That Shut Them Down
On the post: If Astronomers Can Happily Share The Business With Amateurs, Why Do Some Journalists Get So Upset?
Oh they existed alright, they've just been destroyed by the rush for gold that's pervading "journalism" everywhere.
As for the profession policing itself - get outta here. The yellow press has won the war. The only thing that counts these days is "how many eyeballs can we get ads to?", in print, broadcast or digitally. This is like the lawyer profession - 90% are ruining it for the rest. Journalists are arrogant tossers to think that they're still owed any respect. If it wasn't for the last 10% we'd be better off without them, but unfortunately a democratic society needs that 10% so we'll have to live with the rest.
I write for a living. Code, that is. If it's not worth money, I don't get paid. And I don't bitch about open source, I like it but mostly ignore it as the quality is usually not very high. My customers know that too so they happily pay my bills, knowing that what they get is what they need.
On the post: Australian Gov't Delays Vote On Latest Censorship Proposal
Why they try again?
On the post: Germany "Horrified" That Google's Collecting Publicly-Available Data
Ahem
http://www.theonion.com/video/google-opt-out-feature-lets-users-protect-privacy,14358/
Must be correct then - they ARE out to get us.
On the post: As Murdoch Puts Times Online Behind A Paywall, Competitors Happily Plan To Stay Free
Mixed feelings
On the post: Mobile Phones Suck... But Isn't It Amazing That They Exist?
On the post: More On The Gene Patent Ruling: What Happens Next
Re: Had to jump in here...
On the post: GoDaddy Stops Offering Chinese Domains
Let's stay on topic, please
On the post: Olympics Threaten ICANN, Saying Its Trademark Concerns Outweigh Any Benefits From New TLDs
Say again?
Ha. Haha. HahahahaHAHAH... urg. My hernia. Sorry.
But since when has ICANN been anything but a bunch of sissies whenever some Vested Interest has had a beef with them?
Next >>