Comment Re:We do a lot unconsciously (Score 1) 168
This may be automatic processing, but the fact that you're aware of it means that it's not subconscious.
Comment me (Score 1) 228
I keep one month's email on my IMAP server, and pop everything to my main machine.
Comment Re:OS X is THE superior OS (Score 0) 540
Slashdot community, how is an anti-Apple post rated 5 Insightful, and an Apple defence post rated 0 Troll?
Comment AeroPress is in a class by itself (Score 1) 584
AeroPress makes the best coffee of any method I've tried, hands down. Benefits? Very low cost (under $40). Lower brewing temperature (85'C recommended) means less bitterness.
I've abandoned my Delonghi, and now drink coffee only at home. Everything else tastes terrible.
Comment Re:Guns without Ammo? (Score 2) 570
The obsession of some Americans with owning arms strikes much of the rest of the world as strange. It's a holdover from a revolutionary era. The net result of increased gun ownership is increased gun deaths.
Your sense of security from your ammunition is delusional.
Comment Re:Let the bitching begin.... (Score 1) 558
Yes, they would be... I've looked but found none. Trade secrets!
Comment Re:Let the bitching begin.... (Score 1) 558
$5.5 billion paid to developers is 70% of the total raked in, which is (5.5/70%) = $7.85 billion. 30% of that is about $2.4 billion.
It's a fantastic market Apple provides for developers, no argument there. My point is only that it's a very good little business for Apple. Personally I think 30% is a bit rich--20% or 25% would be fairer. But Apple dictates the terms--developers don't exactly have a choice if they want to develop for iOS.
Comment Re:Let the bitching begin.... (Score 1) 558
$2.4 billion, 500,000 apps... are you suggesting it costs on the order of $4,800 in wages to approve an app?
Comment Re:Let the bitching begin.... (Score 1) 558
You are confusing gross with net. They have considerably expenses in running the app store.
I made no claims of net vs gross... but if their curation and hosting costs are even close to $2.4 billion, they're doing something very wrong!
Comment Re:Let the bitching begin.... (Score 1) 558
Apple makes good money from their App store. Their earnings report for 2012 Q3 states they've paid (cumulatively) $5.5 billion to app developers, which means $2.4 billion in commissions to Apple--hardly chump change. It does look small, however, in comparison to the outrageous profits they rake in from hardware sales.
However, Apple has indeed managed to broadly slash the perceived value of software, a neat way of squeezing Microsoft. MS has seen the light, and it's why they're also going the ecosystem/integrated hardware/software route.
It does give pause about what the state of open computing will be in ten years...
Submission + - Political Party's Leadership Election Attacked by DDoS (www.cbc.ca)
lyran74 writes: Saturday's electronic leadership vote for Canada's New Democratic Party was plagued by delays caused by a botnet DDoS attack, coming from over 10,000 machines. Details are still scarce, but Scytl, who provided electronic voting services, will have to build more robust systems in the future in anticipation of such attacks. Party and company officials say an audit proved the systems and integrity of the vote were not compromised.
Comment Re: closed systems (Score 1) 469
It's a bit anachronistic to say people hated closed systems--as you said, everything was closed. Only in retrospect does it look so quaint.
Comment UK mags rock (Score 5, Insightful) 562
Twenty years ago I was amazed at the quality of the UK magazines, in my case, Amiga computing & gaming rags, that came with floppy disks chocked full of stuff--barely a sector free. The value was far greater than what's available this side of the pond, and nothing has changed.
RIAA To Stop Prosecuting Individual File Sharers 619
debatem1 writes "According to the Wall Street Journal, the RIAA has decided to abandon its current tactic of suing individuals for sharing copyrighted music. Ongoing lawsuits will be pursued to completion, but no new ones will be filed. The RIAA is going to try working with the ISPs to limit file-sharing services and cut off repeated users. This very surprising development apparently comes as a result of public distaste for the campaign." An RIAA spokesman is quoted as saying that the litigation campaign has been "successful in raising the public's awareness that file-sharing is illegal."
What Restrictions Should Student Laptops Have? 1117
An anonymous reader writes "We're a school district in the beginning phases of a laptop program which has the eventual goal of putting a Macbook in the hands of every student from 6th to 12th grade. The students will essentially own the computers, are expected to take them home every night, and will be able to purchase the laptops for a nominal fee upon graduation.
Here's the dilemma — how much freedom do you give to students? The state mandates web filtering on all machines. However, there is some flexibility on exactly what should be filtered. Are things like Facebook and Myspace a legitimate use of a school computer? What about games, forums, or blogs, all of which could be educational, distracting or obscene? We also have the ability to monitor any machine remotely, lock the machine down at certain hours, prevent the installation of any software by the user, and prevent the use of iChat. How far do we take this?
While on one hand we need to avoid legal problems and irresponsible behavior, there's a danger of going so far to minimize liability that we make the tool nearly useless. Equally concerning is the message sent to the students. Will a perceived lack of trust cripple the effectiveness of the program?"
