Slashdot Mirror

MCS writes "Shift Magazine announced that it is closing down after 10 years. Biggest reason is that within this 10 year period they only turned profit on one issue. I remember at one point that they even had their own TV show -- the magazine was different then it competitors (Wired) as it focused more on the impact of technology and the social generation of those who lived in it. This can be seen in such issues as 'The Simpson Generation' and 'Seven Days without Tech'. Many of these articles are available online at their website Shift.com "

spydink writes "The Radio Netherlands website http://www.rnw.nl has a good hour-by-hour listing of potential local time live webcasts from around the world. May be helpful for those who want to raise a glass to the New Year every hour on the hour." (And there's some good news about that, too.) Read on for a few more end-of-year items, which you'll no doubt be seeing more of besides.

SkeeterMac writes "CNN ran an article today listing the top dubious achievements in personal computing for the year... raising again the point that PC speed can not be measured only in megahertz! Too bad the author doesn't think so, because they slam Apple for pricing the iMac around $1,500 for "chugging along at 700 Mhz"..."

cwill1004 writes "Mary Jo Foley has written up a set of predictions for Microsoft in 2003. She suggests that the tablet PC will be a bust, MSN gaining on AOL, and Microsoft getting more flak for its DRM (digital rights management) offerings, much like it did for the Windows Product Activation. It's on Microsoft Watch."

angkor links to Shift's "stupid web moments of 2002."

And the good news -- sulli writes "Just in time for New Year's, the New York Times (register now, use a workaround, or forever hold your peace) discusses at length the health benefits of alcohol. Prevent heart attacks, not with drugs or diet, but with a good California Zinfandel! Avoid strokes with a Perfect Gin Martini! Just don't overdo it, and you'll be fine - too much alcohol, like too much caffeine, has well-known effects. But in moderation, bottoms up!"

Update: 01/01 01:07 GMT by T : Here's another. An anonymous reader submits: "The BBC News has an amusing article titled the 'E-cyclopedia's glossary of 2002'. One wonders what future generations will make of our 'Bollotics' and 'Euronating'... Even Slashdotting gets a mention."

angkor writes "The digital dark age--Will all the information from this computer age slowly vanish as our delicate hardrives expire? That's what it looks like. Better start printing everything out."

c64guy writes: "Okay, so we all know that the music labels launched their own digital music subscription services, and that the new for-pay Napster should be debuting any minute. Here's a particularly in-depth review that compares the nitty-gritty of the services. For example, with RealOne, you can only ever have 200 tracks activated on your system. Even if you've been subscribed for eight months and downloaded 1600 tracks, you can still only listen to 200 of them in one month."

nanuuq writes "Shift.com has got an interview with David Bowie. " Bowie's a genius. Interesting perspectives on where art, music and technology collide with each other.

gregbaker writes "Shift Magazine has an interesting article on bugs. They look at why commercial software has so many bugs and attempt to figure out why the software industry doesn't seem to have the same quality standards as other industries." Every Slashdot reader who manages commercial software projects should print this 8-page article out and glue it to his or her bathroom mirror and reread it every morning. But that's just my opinion - which is probably shared by another 100 million+ disgusted computer users worldwide who the commercial software industry seems to think should happily eat whatever garbage they want to throw at us.

gregbaker writes "Shift Magazine has an interesting article on bugs. They look at why commercial software has so many bugs and attempt to figure out why the software industry doesn't seem to have the same quality standards as other industries." Every Slashdot reader who manages commercial software projects should print this 8-page article out and glue it to his or her bathroom mirror and reread it every morning. But that's just my opinion - which is probably shared by another 100 million+ disgusted computer users worldwide who the commercial software industry seems to think should happily eat whatever garbage they want to throw at us.

gdbear writes "Found a very interesting article on digital corporations and the new work ethic of never leaving work. It's a bit disturbing. " Reading was deja vu all over again-live in the place, work in the place. The 20 foot commute is a boon and a curse. The perks of the lifestyle sometimes cover up the huge suck of your life that jobs like this take.