Re:Accountability
by CauseWithoutARebel (1312969)

It is available, but it is obtuse. A nice place to find such information is OpenSecrets.org [opensecrets.org]

And the accountability? It's with you. With me. With our neighbors and fellow slashdotters. We are a Democratic Republic, we are supposed to keep our elected officials in check by removing them or not re-electing them when they become corrupt or simply stop representing our interests, which means one of two things is in play here:

1) The American people, generally, support wiretapping without oversight and don't want to see telecoms punished even if their support of the program was illegal

or, more likely:

2) The American people do not fully educate themselves on these sorts of matters and don't have a full grasp of the implications involved in allowing it. They have abdicated their responsibility of oversight of the government.

Do they?
by Junta (36770)

I could see Tivo in the past implementing it as they thought it was inevitable, but probably once it was determined as not inevitable, a company in a competitive marketplace can't afford to screw their customers. The networks probably offered Tivo some money to honor the flag and Tivo may have decided the better business move would be that the money wouldn't be worth the lost sales.

Meanwhile MS is not accustomed to such a situation. To them, the end-users have been a foregone conclusion, MS expects to get that money no matter how crappy they treat those users. So when the networks come to them with an offer, it's a no-brainer. This is what a monopolistic viewpoint does. In the DVR space, you would think they would realize they are not a monopoly and not act this way, but until this incident, they hadn't had their situation tested.

defective by design...
by advocate_one (662832)

shows just who the real "customer" here is... not you... you are the product, delivered to the media conglomerates...

Never got why people like Guitar Hero
by Anonymous Coward

I must be the only one, but I never understood why people (and gaming society as a whole) goes ape-shit over this game?

Re:Never got why people like Guitar Hero
by Karma Sink (229208)

Because it's an amazing rhythm game that gives a vague impression of playing awesome guitar riffs.

In turn, playing awesome guitar riffs is one of the most bad-ass feelings in the world. There are just few things that are cooler than pulling off anything on a guitar, really.

It's basically DDR for people who don't like dancing and don't want to put in as much physical effort to play. And, of course, for people who like to rock.

Not prepared to back up financially
by DTemp (1086779)

The General's answer to the third question ("Accept, Retain, Solicit good people?") clearly shows that his answer to "Usually the outside industry pays quite well for the good ones. Are you prepared to financially compete for the best?" is "No."

So, US Government, please let us know when you're ready to put your money where your mouth is, and we'll subsequently give you the best damn computer security on Planet Earth. Until then, you're just another employer trying to get more than he's paid for out of his staff.

Re:Good way to turn a positive thing negative
by e4g4 (533831)

Bah, you're so far off it's not even funny. I'm running a native terminal on my iPhone. It's got Ruby, Python, and (horrors) Java running on it - each with Objective C bridges (except Ruby). I have root on my phone, for the first time ever. So, yeah - the iPhone does not officially support the hacker/tinkerer ethic - so fucking what? Unofficially supporting it is good enough for me - it is by far the best *nix based phone on the market (oh wait, it's the *only* *nix based phone on the market - that actually works).

The 2.0 software may break the current jailbreak methods, but again, so what, I've already got 3rd party apps on my phone.

Re:Big Mistake
by Forthac4 (836529)

Saying there is too much order in the universe for it to be random chance is like a puddle remarking at how well a pot hole conforms to its shape.

Don't throw it away... Recycle it...
by FellowConspirator (882908)

If it's a commercial failure, then why bury it. Just make the spec, tools, etc. free without license. There's a huge market for a low-cost high-capacity storage and video medium. Toshiba could make HD-DVD free to everyone. Blu-Ray can't beat that. Sure, the MPAA members will only ship Blu-Ray, but if it costs nothings to add to your drive, why wouldn't a vendor throw it on top just because. Home video and amateur cinematographers will have a reasonable format for producing, sharing, and storing footage, there'll be an HD replacement for VHS, and the cost for the blank media will plummet.

Then let's see who wins in the long run. Toshiba can still ship HD-DVD recorders, media, etc. Being fully open, the platform will reach every corner that Blu-Ray doesn't, by design. Blu-Ray is a very consumer-hostile format as-is; it's designed to limit the medium. Toshiba should give up not by burying it, but by becoming the antithesis of its competitor.

Intellectuals in politics
by routerl (976394)

Let me preface this comment by saying I am not an American, but an observer of American politics and culture. It is a sad testament to the strength of anti-intellectualist tendencies in American culture that American politicians tend to have little academic expertise on the issues pertaining to the policies they espouse (e.g. Ted Stevens' "internet = series of tubes"). The benefit provided by academic expertise is not simply the number of degrees one acquires, but dialogical engagement with other experts who dedicate themselves to finding fault in arguments (via journals, conferences, etc). Thus, the arguments presented by an academic to the general public may well be bastardized (because simplified) versions of the arguments they would present within academia, but we (the public) can assure ourselves that those arguments could be elucidated in ways that stand up to some level of harsh criticism. To put one's faith in the honesty of a politician whose views and arguments arose in an academic setting, then, is a better bet than putting one's faith in the honesty of a politician who may only be concerned with rhetorically covering up his/her true influences (e.g. pressure by lobbyists or campaign contributions). Lessig for congress is, in my eyes, a good move regardless of how much/little I may agree with him politically. This is simply because the development of his views and arguments is well documented in his books and articles, and with reference to an academic context which is accessible to anyone interested in putting the time into investigating it. As I see it, this would be a move towards transparency in government, which is a prerequisite for true democracy.

Re:I like Microsoft direction.
by trolltalk.com (1108067)

If the end-using customer is their first thought, then please explain DRM.

Simple - their customers are the studios, MPAA, RIAA, etc. They want to sell them the idea of using MicrosoftWindowsDRM on their products.

What - you thought you were Microsofts' customer? You're a consumer, not a customer. And you'll consume whatever they feed you, until you get sick of it and either die or switch.

Re:What happens...
by aaronl (43811)

I had the same trouble with my Thinkpad T61p. Get the alternate install disc and use that to install. Then you have to...[SNIP]. Hope this helps!

Re:What happens...
by Adams4President (849082)

[SNIP]....you can see by that post why Microsoft still has nothing to fear from Linux...even "user-friendly" Ubuntu. "get the latest beta driver"?? "install by hand in text mode"?? "start sshd and do it remotely"?? You might as well ask the typical user to perform brain surgery on himself.

Re:What happens...
by ivan256 (17499)

Listen to yourself.

This is the same crap you have to do to install Windows. It comes up in some low-res crap graphics mode if you're lucky, and then you have to go to nvidia's site, download drivers, acknowledge the HQL deficiency, and hope everything goes well instead of bluescreening.

Three levels of truth
by gillbates (106458)

Yes, being able to correct mistakes is the glory of science. But being right the first time is the glory of religion.

When religion doesn't get it right, people abandon it completely. When science doesn't get it right, they say, "well, that's just part of the process..."

Each particular method has its strengths and weaknesses:

Translation
by acvh (120205)

"We make more money this way."

you have the choice (Score:5, Insightful)
by yagu (721525) *

You have the choice to:

* Not use the google service
* encrypt your data you choose to store online with them
* use some other service

Seriously, the issues raised are the same as with the other on-line storage services. And, this move by Google mostly integrates/consolidates what they already offer, albeit with the extension of storing any kind of data. I think it's great, I've started storing much of my data on line in various forums and I love the internet access. At your parents house and need a file? Download from the clouds. Got a special inside track on a new job and they need your resume, quick? From the clouds. Serenity now!

If you've got data you think sensitive, encrypt it, or figure out a different way to store it. Personally, from anecdotal, but plentiful, observation, those who store their data "in"/on the internet:

* are far less likely to lose data
* have much more universal access to their data
* will probably spend less overall (no upgrades to disk drives) to store their data

Re:The secret to smart kids?? easy...
by sukotto (122876)

I recall reading about a Nobel prize winner's acceptance speech that included this anecdote.

Once, when he was very young, he spilled a pitcher of juice (milk?) all over the kitchen while trying to serve himself a drink. Instead of yelling at him, his mother helped him clean it up. She then filled the pitcher with water and took him outside and told him "The way you did it before didn't work very well, how else can you hold and pour so you don't spill?" ... encouraging him to experiment.

In the speech, he thanked his mother for helping him win the science prize by teaching him to try new approaches when his attempts failed... and not to fear mistakes.

I really liked that story when I first heard it (and try hard to practice the same type of teaching with my own children). I wish I knew which prize winner it was so I could read or listen to his entire acceptance speech (and see if I'm remembering that story correctly)