I agree that more informed choice among browsers among consumer users is a good thing. But that wasn't my point - My observation was that these companies are jockeying for *position* in a list, which implies that they recognize that, for some significant portion of users, it'll end up being essentially a random choice.

I figure people will fall into three categories: 1) Tech-savvy users who know exactly which browser they want - My guess that this will come out probably favoring Mozilla, 2) Casual users who haven't really thought about browser choice will probably be slightly confused by this screen, but don't want to make a totally random choice - My guess is that most will recognize 'Microsoft' and pick that by association, and 3) People who will just click 'Next' and take whatever's selected by default (essentially a random selection).

Point is that all this scheme does is to chip away at Microsoft's market share via group #3 - the totally clueless people who really, really don't care what browser they use (or maybe even know what a browser is). These are the people that'll end up complaining to their friends (and Microsoft) that their Interwebs are different and weird because they randomly selected, say, Opera on the ballot screen.

Anyways, I'm really really interested in seeing how the selection rates come out.

My assertion isn't contradicted by evidence.

That is clearly not "the only possible explanation", it doesn't matter if it is the most probable or the one favored by the investigators or even the actual correct explanation there are a bunch of others that are still possible explanations

I hate every ape I see,
From chimpan-A to chimpan-Z.
No you'll never make a monkey out of me!
Oh my god, I was wrong.
It was Earth all along.
You finally made a monkey
Yes, we finally made a monkey
Yes, you finally made a monkey out of me

I already posted a lengthy reply below, but I worked as a game reviewer for over a decade, and I can tell you that the numbers you have posted there actually show the complete opposite of what you think. The only game in that list supporting the console market as a whole is GTA. The rest except for a small amount of bleed over with SMB and Kart, are casual games that do not require a "console" proper or involve a handheld. With the current super high costs of game development and marketing that list solidifies the death of console gaming. The "hardcore" market is a sham perpetuated by the industry and has been for a number of years now to keep things afloat, I saw the writing on the walls 5-6 years ago, as did many in the field and the bottom is falling out. Handhelds are being replaced by media players, and derivative and complex games are on the way out. It's sad but true, and the numbers you see there are proof positive.

I think you're bringing up an unrelated subject.

My point was that if Wii Soccer != "real" soccer, then slashdot != "real" conversation. This is the natural extension of the OP.

I don't believe it to be the case, but the irony of the OP gave me a good chuckle.

Wait till you get a phone call asking you what to do with that box, for the third time, today, from the same person.

Because people could then use self-signed certs and we know those are only used for evil.

And then the admins get to deal with documents that can't be handled by the converter. I had one last month, had to install 2007 to open it. I forgot to check Open Office first though. 2007 isn't as bad as the problems '97 caused, but it still causes some.

errno is completely thread-safe on all modern platforms. errno is allowed to be a macro, and often looks like

#define errno (*get_pointer_to_per_thread_errno())

i.e. there's a function which returns a pointer to a static, but per-thread thread-local, errno variable. The errno macro dereferences this pointer, so that reading from and assigning to "errno" still works as expected, but is a completely thread-safe manner.

http://www.pageflip.com/Pricing.html, $350. Wireless button operated/foot peddle. I'm sure you could rig it up somehow on a timer so say every three seconds the page is turned picture taken, rinse and repeat.

Only if the guy routinely samples the water and counts condoms.

Similarly, there is no observable correlation between cycles of the moon and crime.

I don't know either, but whoever did is very upset right now, and I bet so is their IT support.

Some sort of Recording Industry Association, then?

There is "indie" music which is just as commercial as the popular music genre. Siouxsie and the Banshees comes to mind as something that is "indie" but really pretty mainstream.

Then there is indie music which is really independent. The guy with the Fender down at the tavern or the guy with his Ibanez out on the sidewalk or the crazy New Age woman with long unkempt hair singing at the bottom of the stairs in the subway are all "artists" that come to mind when I think of indie artists.

The difference between these two types is simply the quality of their music. The latter being mostly a mass of untalented hacks.

So when I hear that indie musicians are being somehow screwed out of money, I have to wonder how much money they are really missing out on. Who are their customers? Are there any really good indie artists?

Although I think that pretending that only the "initiated" can understand the data is ridiculous, I would be cautious about putting the matter to a public vote in order to make up our minds.

The truth isn't democratic. If it was, we would be doomed into a big standstill defined by what the majority of people believe. The ones that bring progress often discard what the majority of people think and even some of what their predecessors thought. Take Einstein as an example if you need one.