Slashdot Mirror

In this room sit two very different computers:

• A P3 Thinkpad laptop
• A P4 Prescott desktop

I still love using that Thinkpad, because it hardly even needs a fan, whereas the desktop is practically heating the room.

Just thinking about it makes me want to sell my desktop on ebay and use the money to stock up on old Thinkpads to save for the future.

Flash's absolute hugest problem though is its potential for abuse. Well, I suppose it's not really 'potential' any more. It's REAL. Flashblock for Firefox is an absolute must-have, unless you like being surprised by buzzing mosquitoes and crazy frogs in flash ads. And am I right in thinking that Last Measure used some flash?

Unfortunately, this necessity means that sites that depend heavily on flash look like crap until the user enables all the flash on them.

I just noticed that all four zoo.pl icons appear next to your name from my account. It looks like a military decoration.

Trying to force anyone to be interested in things they simply aren't is morally wrong...
....not something that should be fought

You're using some very inappropriately strong words to describe what's being done here. Why is that? Are you scared of something?

Traits and interests are not the same. Men and women have naturally different traits, that much is obvious. But interests? My favourite example here is skateboarding, as described in this essay (mirror).

Describing the attitudes of male skaters towards women:

they explained the lack of female participation as a natural inability or as a choice of women not to skate. It appeared that dominant ideology of sex- typed behavior was an assumption of these skaters
...
Skaters expressed the assumptions that women either exclude themselves by choosing not to skate (act masculine) or that women naturally would not be interested in skating (in acting masculine)

Skateboarding is a typical female model of sport: it is cooperative, anti-competitieve, a means of self-expression, a means of self-control, it lacks rules, and it lacks a hierarchal structure. In addition, the skills involved are typically seen as feminine such as grace, coordination, and balance. It is not a sport that is based on muscle-bound power.

Correlation does not imply cause. The fact that an interest or activity is male-dominated does not necessarily mean that it's a result of the differences between mens' and womens' natural traits.

I've prepared a simple diagram to demonstrate to you exactly why you have been added to my fictional list of People Whose Opinions on Linux Aren't Worth Shit.

Krita and GIMP turn the usual KDE/GNOME relationship on its head. Krita is a KDE app whose UI is easier to understand than its GNOME counterpart. It even has less features, and is less configurable.

You're right that there ought to be a slider, but you're wrong about the current menu being hard to find

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Wrong again, fatty. I hate everything equally.

First, a rewrite. Changes are highlighted in bold:

"Microsoft kills off support for Windows 98 and Windows ME today, and nobody is reporting that the move will boost demand for Windows 2000 on bittorrent . Unlike two years ago -- when support for Win98 was extended because so many people complained about the early cutoff -- this time it seems there is no turning back."

Seriously, my PIII laptop has 'Designed for Windows 98' on it, and can run Windows 2000 and Windows XP just fine, but the mainstream Linux distros are too bloaty to even install: the Ubuntu and Fedora installers literally hang, and SUSE and Mandriva are too slow even on my other machine in the +2GHz range.

Linux can't pick up the slack when MS turns off support for old OSes, because the top Linux distros stopped catering for that level of hardware years ago. And with KDE/GNOME being so indispensable for everyday desktop usage, their near-elitist disregard for anything below mid-high range hardware is infuriating.

In fact, here is the quote ZDNet is using to support their claim:

"I suspect that Microsoft's original extension of the Windows 98 support date a couple of years ago was, in part, to make sure Linux was not brought in to replace these systems."

Words cannot express just how much of a non-story this is.

Personally I'd just like Google to drop Ebay's ridiculous ads.

PHP seems to be one of those red-button topics on Slashdot. If the word even appears in the text of the story, the topic at hand is dropped entirely in favour of having a big wanking session and patting each other on the back for knowing a 'superior' language, or for having been into Linux 'before it was cool', or whatever the general topic happens to be.

And not only is this stuff offtopic, it's also just so painfully redundant. I swear, that Slashdot story generator page from a while back was pretty impressive, but I'm starting to think maybe I could cook up a Slashdot comment generator as an add-on.

// Wooooooooo! Watch out for magic quotes!
if(get_magic_quotes_gpc())
{
echo 'FUK U U FUKKEN DIKKED WEBHOST I AIN RUNNEN NO FUKKEN SITE WIV NO FUKKEN MAGIC QUOTES' . "\n";
exit;
}

// And now for a basic example of some comment generation
if (strpos($story, 'DRM'))
{
echo 'DRM is bad.' . "\n";
while (strrpos(date('l'), 'y') === 0) // what a FUKKEN MESS111
{
echo 'Yes, DRM is very, very bad indeed.' . "\n";
}
}

I've tried to knock together a bit of a scale map to help visualise some of the proportions.

The shameless self-promotion on Slashdot and Digg (and probably elsewhere) kind of grates, but you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette. You have to swallow your pride a little when you're starting out, so please give them a break on this. Think of it like this: we're getting a chance to get in early while the contribution:pageview ratio is skewed, and we have an opportunity to perhaps make a little money.

But then again, it's not exactly the first advert in history to offer me a 'chance to make real money'. Apparently I could be making $2000/hour just by filling out surveys online!

It is, however, the most Web2.0-compliant site I've ever seen. If it is at all possible to compete with or even oust YouTube, 'eefoof' certainly seems to be the site for the job.

Horizontal scrollbar madness! Won't somebody please think of the 800x600 users?!

Please do, for the good of the community, and the joy of all. Seriously I want to see that comic.

Having just looked at pictures of an exploding laptop, and been warned to "avoid actually using a laptop on your lap", here I am happily typing away with my laptop sat in my lap as ever (with the usual book underneath to keep the CPU from burning out).

But then mine is a fairly old thinkpad that runs quite cool, usually ~45 degrees. The one that exploded looks more modern (it is a Dell, after all).

There, nicely rationalised away so as I can get back to my life

I have prepared a prototype.

I noticed in this article that they're treading on our acronyms.

SDL - Security Development Lifecycle
Relatively inconspicuous. Simple DirectMedia Layer has nothing to fear from this in terms of mindshare. But then again, they knew that SDL was in use. Why not show a bit of cooperation?

RMS - Rights Management Something
This one is amazing, because it's basically DRM named after Richard Stallman. Someone at Microsoft either has a sense of humor, or is a complete prick. I really doubt that this was accidental.

It's superficial, but I think both examples are very symbolic.

And let me introduce you to something called the personal infinitive.

linvir (henry@linuxvirus.net) said:

Perhaps Rob should run an editorial on antislash and give us some examples of complex queries that give interesting insults. I'm sure thousands and thousands of us would be interested in seeing the results, over and over again.

Are you actually admitting that CmdrTaco deliberately posts mean links to take down sites? Oh wait, that's what all Slashdot editors do!

You just n00bed all over yourself, Henry. You should get a towel.

Try to spot the one authentic story

It's vastly outnumbered by Firefox, but IE is still one of the two or three main browsers used by Slashdotters. The usual explanation is the sheer amount of people visiting from locked-down work PCs.

It's no good burying your heads in the sand. Cyberterrorism is VERY real

1. Little originality, sometimes with a loss of elegance.
   Bla bla Apple bla bla
2. Price.
   Vista will be the first expensive Microsoft product in history
3. Version control.
   He hates the Regular/Diet/New/Classic thing
4. Installation takes forever.
   title == body
5. Faulty assumption on the Start Menu.
   Menu usability issue
6. Media Center isn't all there and falls flat.
   Driver issues
7. Lack of Windows Sidebar Gadgets.
   People haven't written enough 'Gadgets' yet
8. Problems without solutions.
   New error reporting system feels very one-way
9. Windows Defender Beta 2 is buggy.
   title == body
10. Where are the file menus?
    A menu has moved
11. Display settings have changed for no apparently good reason.
    A menu has moved
12. Too many Network Control Panel applets, wizards and dialogs.
    Bad network menu usability
13. Network settings user experience went backwards.
    A menu has moved
14. Windows peer networking is still balky.
    Peer to peer networking is still iffy
15. Some first-blush networking peeves.
    A menu has moved
16. No way to access the Administrator account in Vista Beta 2.
    title == body
17. Two words: Secure Desktop.
    Five words: He doesn't like Secure Desktop
18. User Account Controls $#^%!~\!!!.
    Another 'Proceed' button to click
19. Aero stratification will cause businesses woe.
    UI gripes
20. Minimum video system requirements are more like maximum.
    Hardware requirements are high.
    (Welcome to the world of tomorrow!)

Macradobe Flash was the only affordable animation software

Here's what Captain Planet has to say

I know! I even pooed on this myself in a journal post.

To be fair to me, I did try to do an IE graphic too. I only said I didn't think it could be done because I couldn't figure this out.

The winning design is perfectly capable of rendering with serif fonts, if your browser is configured that way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some font settings to change back.

There's been a few comments about minor preferences, such as whether the body uses serif or sans-serif. These kind of things should be easily customized without having to sign in.

Konqueror

I don't think you can do it in IE. Most Slashdotters use IE. Haha!

There's been a few comments about minor preferences, such as whether the body uses serif or sans-serif. These kind of things should be easily customized without having to sign in.

Konqueror

I don't think you can do it in IE. Most Slashdotters use IE. Haha!

O wise master! I have emptied my cup! Please teach me your mysterious ways!

I'm not asking for anything... ...because Windows utilizes it?

I think that the reason that consistency falls so far behind Windows is that open source projects tend to be very inward-looking. In a menu comparison that I posted a while back, there's another good example of these little details. Apparently the singular 'Filter' is the KDE standard, despite the plural 'Filters' making more sense and already being more familiar because of the ubiquity of the GIMP. These tiny insignifiant details mount up really quickly as well. Lack of interaction between GNOME and KDE is to blame for this one.

Dear me, I do wish they would let me put a big foot icon in my posts. But then again, would anyone even notice?

And Yahoo can keep eBay for all I care. eBay's ads are irrelevant bullshit, and don't fit in with Google's stricter relevancy for other companies. I posted this image a while back (so if you must mod this up, make it Funny so I don't get karma from the same thing twice) , though it's not exclusively eBay.

One thing though - I can see it being a loss for Google. I bet that it's a pretty sweet deal they have there, using eBay links as filler when no more relevant ads are available.

And do we really need that much whitespace on a news page?

I had a mouth full of coffee when I clicked on that image. You owe me a keyboard.

But if you are a software developer, you need to get into group one, where I am.

And do we really need that much whitespace on a news page? I know about that whole '10 words per line' usability mantra, but it looks fucking ridiculous. Why can't all the other website owners just think exactly like me?

Wow, look at all that rebuking. Do I win Slashdot?
(IAJAFSS (I Am Just Another Fucking Smartass Student))

It seems to slip below the radar every fucking time, so I've created a graphical illustration of how to spot a foot icon and what it means.

Two perfect typos, I couldn't resist.

A lot of stuff has changed since then. My site has a new URL, it now carries a basic doctype and a lone meta tag.

I've developed my ideas a lot since then, through discussion about this issue on Slashdot, coincidentally, but my overall opinion is still that if the HTML is of a good quality and it renders right in about half a dozen major browsers, my job is done. My opinion of standards is that they aren't black and white. There are two layers to almost every rule and standard: the beautiful theoretical layer, and the beaten and twisted practical layer. My 'validators' are the very programs people will use to view my work. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Konqueror and so on.

I think people like the W3C validator because it pats them on the back and gives them big green 'YOU WIN' feedback. It's a way to have something tell you that you made a good site without taking into account the content and aesthetics, which for some people is a crutch.

Obviously there's a balance between these two sides, one which I have yet to reach. My experience is that the real experts don't tend to have extreme views on stuff like this. An extreme view impairs your ability to know when to use the tool for its intended purpose.

Some people will do the typical Slashdot thing with this, which is to take everything you disagree with as a sign that the person who said it is evil or a dickhead. The reality is that there are different kinds of pathetic nerd. Some enjoy the inital creation almost exclusively, and others get equal enjoyment out of the refining stage at the end. I'm the first kind, the typical lazy programmer who prefers writing cool new features to debugging. So please take a deep breath if you're thinking of singling me out as the cause of all evil in society.

I compiled some more

They've realised their mistake alright, but they still haven't fixed it completely yet. I literally took this screenshot right now for the purpose of this post (and I realise that I'm giving away a lot of extra info in it)

But no, this is pretty boring stuff. Instead of refining their target selection, they're working on increasing their dishonesty technology. Spam programmers are evil.

There, at least now people can have something nice to look at while they fantasise about being motivated enough to do anything about them!

Nope, it wouldn't be possible to display: none the ads. I think they use the exact same divs. Maybe there's a way to hide flash in CSS, but the perl wizards of Slashdot can easily ban that. Banning ads is trivial anyway.