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Comment: Re: Bah (Score 2) 209

by staalmannen (#47015061) Attached to: How Predictable Is Evolution?
not imaginative enough. Life in outer space would be less similar to us than bacteria on Earth is (so bird-like and octupus like is too "tellocentric"). Having said that, certain body plans are likely to reoccur like light sensors (eyes have developed several times independently on Earth) likely close to the proccesing unit ("brain", could also be distributed like in an octopus) and feeding organs.

Comment: Re:Zombie plants? (Score 1) 38

by staalmannen (#46703297) Attached to: Zombie Plants Help To Spread Bacterial Pathogen


In this case, she is a Cereal killer

Comment: Re:Different views on a free market (Score 1) 223

by staalmannen (#46683329) Attached to: Why There Are So Few ISP Start-Ups In the U.S.
Standards is just one of the regulations in place to ensure a Free market (a market with choice for the consumer). In terms of ISPs it could be that there would be antitrust regulations and requirements that competing companies should be able to sell their services over the exising connections. Ideally the "network providers" and "service providers" are kept sepparate, and the "network providers" only billing the "service providers". This is how stuff works with electricity and gas, at least in the 2 countries where I have lived.

Comment: Different views on a free market (Score 3, Interesting) 223

by staalmannen (#46682013) Attached to: Why There Are So Few ISP Start-Ups In the U.S.
I often see to very different views on the concept of a free market. One is "free from intervention" and is producer-focused, which often leads to one or a few domninant players due to network effects and/or scale advantages. The second one can be interpreted as "optimal competition" and is consumer-focused, where regulations (antitrust, enforced standards, consumer protection etc) try to make sure that the consumer always has a choice and that a market can not stagnate into its stable state of one or a few dominant players. I think the telecom market in the US vs EU (and probably most of the world) is a good example. In most places, the government has mandated a single standard (for example GSM) and rules for roaming on a network. This has led to a big market of small service providers on a few networks (there is for example stiff competition on prepaid SIMs). What I have understood from the US, differing standards between the providers coupled with a subsidized payment plan for the phone effectively causes a lock-in situation for the consumer. I am definitely leaning in favour of the "optimal competition" interpretation of a free market (how can a market be free if the consumer does not have a choice?).

Comment: Re:Either gnu libc is hideously slow and bloated.. (Score 3, Insightful) 134

by staalmannen (#46533917) Attached to: GNU C Library Alternative Musl Libc Hits 1.0 Milestone

+ - musl libc hits 1.0 milestone 3

Submitted by dalias

