Domain: thinkdigit.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to thinkdigit.com.
Comments · 13
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Re:An ugly spreadsheet that plays music.
A hierarchical display, like the column browser?
As for search, the full-library keyword search is more than enough 99% of the time I'm looking to jump to an artist/album, but if you want to get more complex, smart playlists let you search your library for files using just about any criteria and combination you can imagine (no regex though, not that I've ever found need to regex search my music). Smart playlists are seriously iTunes' most powerful feature and I've never seen it satisfactorily duplicated in any other music player.
iTunes' database/spreadsheetness is it's most powerful feature - you're not limited to just one set folder hierarchy for navigating your music. iTunes gives the user a myriad ways to look at their data; sometimes too many, really. TBH, all the newer UI views that make iTunes "pretty" instead of looking like a spreadsheet are simply more silly and time-consuming to navigate. Fortunately they've left the spreadsheet-style views available for people who aren't afraid of data.
iTunes certainly has lots of issues, especially on Windows where it's buggy and (from what I hear) slow, and it suffers terribly from a decade of feature-creep and try-to-be-everything-for-interfacing-with-iOS, but if you simply use it as a music library/player it can be fantastic. -
Re:It's cache
Why do you say that? According to this guy, passmark scores 44MB/s read / 157 MB/s write on the iPhone 5s, which is very impressive. I am skeptical of the strange imbalance though, but according to the actual passmark website, the 5s earns 19,288 DiskMarks. I don't know what a "DiskMark" is, but for comparison the iPhone 3G scored 586 diskmarks, so the "disk" in the 5s is 33x faster. For sure it's not just a soldered-on MicroSD.
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Re:GTA V - No PC version
...It turns out that Rockstar is not going to release it on the PC...
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Designed for browsing on a phone
There is no shortage of these lists.
International Buisness Times http://www.ibtimes.com/biggest-tech-flops-2012-top-5-failures-facebook-ipo-microsoft-surface-977488
Think Digit http://www.thinkdigit.com/General/The-5-biggest-tech-failures-of-2012_11866.html
Read Write http://readwrite.com/2012/12/14/top-10-epic-tech-gadget-failures ...
Why pick the one that is designed for a tablet..or one that doesn't mention Windows 8; Windows Phone 8...or Surface. -
Re:So they are not dead
That's probably your gpu not being challenged, gpu's have exceeded game requirements in recent years by quite a wide margin (also you failed to mention your cpu load)... there does seem to be a bunch of confusion on the issue, so here's a great link on the subject: http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/hardware-q/154674-what-role-cpu-gpu-relation-gaming.html
Now, going back to my previous statement: unless you run a p4, you're probably fine on the cpu and the gpu is what does the heavy lifting.
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Twitter is no friend of freedom
Despite the fact that twitter played a part in several "revolutions", twitter never had freedom in its DNA. Just look at some of their actions:
Country specific censorship controls
I also have a friend that was an organizer for OWS in NY during its inception, and he claimed that several of his tweets were removed.
LS
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Re:Am I the only one who is confused...
I predict that Canonical is gonna quickly get tired of Linus and all the other kernel devs (who are all being paid by SERVER vendors BTW) and simply fork the kernel away from him.
This would be the same Linus Torvalds who is on record as saying that desktop performance is more important than server performance, yes?
If you want to see why Linux is a bad joke on the desktop you might want to read this, but be prepared to be pissed when you find out nice features that would have given you a MUCH better desktop experience were thrown away by Linus and his pals because they would cost a few percent on a server benchmark.
It is not wise to accept everything an aggrieved party says at face value.
Linus and pals are a rough crowd, yes, but at some point if you want to play with that crowd you have to learn how it does things, and Kolivas wasn't willing or able to. He took criticism of his code and algorithms and insistence on better testing as personal attacks rather than good software engineering practice, and got progressively whinier and melodramatic, culminating in the giant "I QUIT" hissycow. Which he made sure that everyone in the world knew about.
In other words, he was being a drama queen.
In the end little was lost because someone else who knew how to get shit done reimplemented the important ideas from Con's scheduler.
Linux on the desktop isn't a bad joke because of the kernel. It's a bad joke because of things on top of it. Start with the X server. By the time you get done fixing all the problems in the upper layers, maybe Torvalds will have come around on the one part of the kernel which he is obstinate about and needs to change in order for Linux to have widespread desktop success: stable non-GPL binary interfaces for kernel modules.
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Re:Am I the only one who is confused...
Hi Mr AC! I sell MSFT because Apple is worse with their walled garden and crazy high prices? And don't even say Linux, because Linux on the desktop is like a bad joke. Crazy 6 month upgrade cycle, no stable hardware ABI so half the time the upgrade breaks drivers, frankly it is just a total mess. I predict that Canonical is gonna quickly get tired of Linus and all the other kernel devs (who are all being paid by SERVER vendors BTW) and simply fork the kernel away from him.
If you want to see why Linux is a bad joke on the desktop you might want to read this, but be prepared to be pissed when you find out nice features that would have given you a MUCH better desktop experience were thrown away by Linus and his pals because they would cost a few percent on a server benchmark. It is as I've been saying: There is a reason why MSFT and Apple have separate server and desktop products, it is because what is good for one is often bad for the other. I'm afraid the Linux guys just don't "get it" yet, maybe having Canonical fork the whole mess away from the server guys will change things. Until then I'm afraid you product doesn't even rate up there with WinXP, much less Win 7. Sorry.
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Re:Tell you what
Wasting mod points without having the BALLS to actually debate me, or is it you simply don't have a way to refute A SINGLE POINT I've made? How about instead of trying to hide me for pointing out the emperor has no clothes, you try to actually debate? Well here it is again, enjoy!
Actually I would say with the KDE interface Linux is every bit as nice as the Windows desktop, to some maybe even better. That ain't the problem, it is when stuff goes wrong that is the problem. Let me give an example that is a pretty everyday thing: No driver. In Windows 7 you can just right click in device manager and pick "update driver", that is of course if you get that far, because most of the time Action Center will pop up and say "Hey, did you know you don't have a driver for foo? Want me to find one for you?" and if it is under 4 years old odds are it will. Under 3 years old and it is pretty much 100%.
Now compare to Linux: No driver? Spend lots of time in Google, if you are lucky you find the right forum (this is written from a new user perspective, which is what you'd have if it actually started gaining share) and ask for help. Most likely get called a noob or talked down to like a child if you don't know the EXACT hardware model, make, and rev, which frankly I can't name that off on half the hardware in mine and I built the damned thing, I doubt a home user would have a clue. Get given a bunch of CLI commands, which the user will probably fuck up, to find out the above, and then be given yet ANOTHER set of CLI commands, that frankly I've found rarely work unless you "tweak" them for the specific hardware, which again, the odds a home user could do this? About zero. Then add in the "update foo broke my hardware" fun of not having a stable hardware ABI and the kernel constantly be tweaked by Linus (who says Linux is not designed, but evolves like a virus) and like most of the kernel guys doesn't care about desktop user)and I'm afraid you have a trainwreck.
The best thing for Linux desktop adoption would be to fork the kernel AWAY from Linus and the other kernel server devs, add a stable hardware ABI and desktop enhancements, and make desktop and server two separate products.
As for TFA, might work for SMBs, won't work for home user. They really should have come up with a replacement for Works for low end and OEM. Now that slot will be taken by Open Office if this whole LibreOffice/Open Office forking mess don't kill things, which just shows lack of any forward thinking in the company.
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Re:Tell you what
Actually I would say with the KDE interface Linux is every bit as nice as the Windows desktop, to some maybe even better. That ain't the problem hoss, it is when stuff goes wrong that is the problem. Let me give an example that is a pretty everyday thing: No driver. In Windows 7 you can just right click in device manager and pick "update driver", that is of course if you get that far, because most of the time Action Center will pop up and say "Hey, did you know you don't have a driver for foo? Want me to find one for you?" and if it is under 4 years old odds are it will. Under 3 years old and it is pretty much 100%.
Now compare to Linux: No driver? Spend lots of time in Google, if you are lucky you find the right forum (this is written from a new user perspective, which is what you'd have if it actually started gaining share) and ask for help. Most likely get called a noob or talked down to like a child if you don't know the EXACT hardware model, make, and rev, which frankly I can't name that off on half the hardware in mine and I built the damned thing, I doubt a home user would have a clue. Get given a bunch of CLI commands, which the user will probably fuck up, to find out the above, and then be given yet ANOTHER set of CLI commands, that frankly I've found rarely work unless you "tweak" them for the specific hardware, which again, the odds a home user could do this? About zero. Then add in the "update foo broke my hardware" fun of not having a stable hardware ABI and the kernel constantly be tweaked by Linus (who says Linux is not designed, but evolves like a virus) and like most of the kernel guys doesn't care about desktop user )and I'm afraid you have a trainwreck. The best thing for Linux desktop adoption would be to fork the kernel AWAY from Linus and the other kernel server devs, add a stable hardware ABI and desktop enhancements, and make desktop and server two separate products.
As for TFA, might work for SMBs, won't work for home user. They really should have come up with a replacement for Works for low end and OEM. Now that slot will be taken by Open Office if this whole LibreOffice/Open Office forking mess don't kill things, which just shows lack of any forward thinking in the company.
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Re:Which OS?
Yeah no shit. You know why I call them FLOSSies? And for the mods: Do you push FLOSS even when it makes NO sense for the situation? Do you believe the ONLY software that should be allowed has to have "the four freedoms"? if not, you are NOT a FLOSSie, you are a FLOSS user, there is a difference. I call them FLOSSies because any talking to them while using logic is like arguing religion with those that believe the world is 6000 years old. The amount of logic hoop jumping they'll go through to ensure the answer is ALWAYS 'Use FLOSS" is so incredible that any attempt at intelligent conversation is a waste of breath.
I'm personally sick and tired of
/. groupthink and have enough karma so as not to give a shit, so I call it like I see it and here are some facts for FLOSSies: FACT- Linux does NOT run on anything, okay? Have fun with that Broadcom modem? How about that Aetheros chipset everyone told you to buy, that worked before but don't now? Linux works good on SERVERS because those corps will jump through hoops and put up with Linus's bullshit (BTW did you know that Linus says Linux isn't designed, it "grows like a virus"? Yeah, THAT GUY is the one you need making important decisions on the way the kernel supports users. See this article on how the bad attitude and bullshit of kernel developers being paid by SERVER COMPANIES make Linux desktops suck) but those same OEMs aren't gonna waste time hoop jumping for a desktop.FACT TWO: Linux is NOT A DESKTOP OS full stop. See the second link above for what happens when someone tries to submit patches that would give you a decent desktop experience. What happens? He gets cock blocked by the kernel developers who are paid by server companies and only give a shit about SERVER benchmarks and I/O performance. And THAT is why you get the "fun" of video/audio glitches, the "fun" of "update foo broke my" hardware thanks to lack of a hardware ABI. The same scheduler that would benefit a desktop user might cost 1/10th of a second on a server benchmark, and server companies DON'T CARE about how having a lack of hardware ABI affects the desktop, but they know it would mean changing the way they do things now and for big corps change is nearly always bad, okay? This is why if anyone was serious about desktop Linux they would fork the kernel AWAY from Linus and the server developers and concentrate on desktop performance and adding a hardware ABI so you could "write once, run anywhere" like you can with Windows.
Now I'm sure this will be modded down, just as my parent post was, for daring to say anything other than "Gee Biff, isn't Linux swell? It sure is Chip, why Linus is a genius who never does anything wrong and RMS is a God!". But ass kissing never makes anything get better, and the links above show what is wrong with Linux on the desktop from the man Linus himself, and one of the former kernel developers. Unlike the FLOSSie, who only cares about "sticking to the M$ man" and running Linux in his basement, I actually want Linux to succeed, I really do. I remember the days of the Amiga and GEOS and would truly love a "third way" that would light a fire under the big two and give us real choices and innovation. But the way to get to that point, where Linux machines are in every Walmart and mom&pop shop like mine, is NOT to act like a FLOSSie and accept the "turd sandwich" approach, where they say "Here is a free meal" and when they hand you a turd sandwich get told 'you can't complain, it's free!". Bullshit, total bullshit. Everyone here CAN and SHOULD complain! The should flood the kernel mailing list with complaints on desktop being treated like the red headed stepchild, they should demand that changes that would help desktop users either be mainlined or the kernel be split between server and desktop (which is why companies like MSFT have separate server and des
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Re:Webcam support?
Cute but I was hoping someone on slashdot could give a more realistic idea.
If UVC is open esp on Linux and HTML5 is open where is the open source broadcasting?
The dev has a few codecs, the webcams and html5.
Nobody has a device tag timeline?
http://devworks.thinkdigit.com//Internet/Native-webcam-support-to-come-with-HTML5_3834.html
"HTML5 is treading further further into Flash's domain, yet with nearly a decade to go till the specification becomes formalized, Adobe isn't going to be sleeping." -
Re:Coal.. Kettle?
That's right, the company that is still banging the patent drum against open source now has it's own 501c open source foundation.
As far as I've noticed, MS has just protected *other* patent-trolls by getting the patents what they need. I haven't noticed any misuse by them (if they have, please inform me too
:)Considering how they continue to attack Linux and open source will anyone take them seriously?
How have they actually attacked Linux? The same way that Linux attackes Windows, aka competition? Competition is good and will only improve products.
Just because Microsoft's main business model is in closed source, it doesn't mean a company that big cant contribute to open source at all. Their Bing search engine actually ignored MSN's Live platform, while providing that service to Facebook and Twitter.
The interesting thing is that MS really seems like trying to change their old ways, and if you look at it they're been pretty successful. Looks like they're dividing their different business aspects; Windows, xbox360, games, Bing.. They all are quite separate and are getting even more so, with only minor links between them.