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Regarding HS Junior Sean Sheeley:

From what I've read about the situation you've mishandled the case with this kid. If you are unable to allow the bullied kid back into school you should at least discipline the bullies. He wasn't on the clock tower with a rifle - he was intimidated. He was the victim.

BTW - "What's a Slashdot?" Slashdot.org is full of literally millions of very intelligent people that drive the US economy and make your modern life possible. And almost every one of them would hang out with *Sean* if they went to your High School.

A link you might find interesting - http://www.aclu.org/news/2000/n112100b.html

Thanks and do the right thing....

[my name]
[impressive title #1]
[impressive title #2]

& former high school geek


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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

rumors are flying about the new G4 powerbook and the long delay - it's not just the chips people are saying. word is that they almost had it ready to go this summer but a serious 'structural' flaw was found and they had to hold off. that says to me that it's going to have a radically different design - if it looked like a standard powerbook or iMac they would have had no problem physically building it.

i've compiled some of the rumors for the new powerbook G4 and commented on their likeliness them based on my own personal thoughts and research:

1) G4 processor running at about 500mhz (for sure)
2) firewire, usb, airport, VGA, ethernet on back (for sure)
3) new enclosure with hints of iBook, but still primarily black (probably)
4) use of clear plastics in case, like new mouse and monitors (probably)
4) letterbox 15.5" cinema display (very possible)
5) elongated, clear trackpad (if the screen is letterbox)
6) full size keyboard (again, if screen is letterbox)
7) some form of handwriting recognition with stylus on trackpad (probably not until OS X)
8) wireless detachable or fold behind keyboard(unlikely, but possible, especially with #7)
9) built in Palm-sync port (unlikely on powerbook - maybe on new G4 desktop?)

overall, there is a good chance that apple will release another show-stopper with the new G4 powerbook. it's styling will be very modern-apple without losing the current Powerbook lines (that are envied everywhere and all over tv). they might go all out with the flip/detach screen thing but i'd say it's unlikely at this point.

one thing's for sure, the powerbook has been the most attractive notebook computer for some time now, and anyone who has sat it next to any other machine (even with better specs) you can see the powerbook's lines are like that of a classic european car next to the camaros from Dell, Sony, etc. i doubt apple would let that lead slip with the new design.


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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

You have made a good point, but I feel like some clarification is necessary.

First off, the comment "which they had both ripped off from Xerox anyway" gets used way too often and is misguided. Apple didn't "rip-off" Xerox' GUI - they saw it working at Xerox, liked the idea, and went back and redesigned it. It was all legal, BTW - they gave Xerox millions in stock to let Jobs and a few Apple engineers walk around Xerox' labs for a few hours. At that point Xerox Inc. had no intention of selling the product. Apple wanted to complete the idea Xerox started so they developed their own OS from the ground up and made it a complete, sellable OS.

So yes, Apple did *see* a GUI working first at Xerox. But to say the "ripped it off" is not correct. It was a legal swap of ideas and Apple put 3 more years of development into it. The MacOS had no shred of Xerox code in it whatsoever. It wasn't even a port - the entire subsytem and API was different. And the GUI's really weren't even that similar. About the only similarities was that it *WAS* a GUI on a personal computer, it used a mouse (invented in the 60's before Xerox), and it ran on Motorola chips. Xerox was the "inspration" for the MacOS.

Microsoft, on the other hand, was Apple's primary application developer when the Mac was being developed and signed all kinds of NDA's saying they wouldn't tell competitors about what Apple was working on. Bill G found the loophole (as he always does) and is rumored to have yelled at his engineers "I want it be like a Mac on a PC!!" when developing Windows 1. When Jobs found out about Windows development he flipped and the two have hated each other since.

The lawsuit was Apple's attempt to stop Windows from looking like the MacOS. Trust me, if it wasn't for that lawsuit the start bar would probably be in the top left, the close box would be on the top left, the menu wouldbe fixed on the top of the screen, and the windows would probably look the same.

Of course history is written by the winners and I've heard younger folks tell me that the Mac is a Windows rip off. Plus the marketplace has forced them to practically look the same anyways, so the whole issue is just an interesting history lesson at this point.



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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

actually, if i remember right, the apple II was by far the most popular home computer in the early 80's beyond the "toys" of commodore, atari, and others. [not a troll - i had and loved my atari XL, but it was not a business machine at all].

the apple II had visicalc (the first spreadsheet) , was everywhere in schools and starting to show up in corporations by 1980. that's why IBM hurredly released the PC in early 1981. apple was so bold at this point that they took out a full page ad in the NYTimes sarcastically welcoming IBM to the market.

they never released the apple 1 in any useable form. the II came out in 1976 (i think) and is generally considered the first useable personal computer.

finally, the mac was introduced in january 1984 with tons of hype but never really got a full head of steam because of lack of software and lack of hardware power (up until the mac II in 1988). i think the peak of the mac's market share was around 1990 (maybe the quadra years?) with about 25% of the desktop market. it also hit about 20% when they released the first power pc macs in 1994. it dropped down to about 5% around 97, and is now hovering around 10-15% with iMacs, G4's, iBooks, and powerbooks. (all market share figures depend on who you ask, naturally).


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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

American Beauty might have been slightly overrated but it was still better than the Matrix. I loved the Matrix but it was as geek-fest therefore shouldn't have expected many big awards. This is still Hollywood. And most importantly ---

THE MATRIX STARRED KEANU REEVES.

The day Keanu stars in the "best picture", something is terribly wrong with the system. They shoulda got Freddy Prinze Jr, Ben Afleck or someone else young (Chris O'Donnell), not Keanu, my god.

Regarding teen tits - I completely believed he wouldn't bang that chick. In fact I was surprised he went as far as he did. I was happy to see that I am not the only one who starts to think more clearly as clothes start coming off. It's always been more about the chase then the conclusion for me, and seeing a 16 year old girl in front of me all nervous and *young* I woulda snapped out of teensex.com-induced idiocy and realized what the hell I was about to do and stop it.

That is why this movie was so real and so loved. The characters had great depth and of course Kevin Spacey kicked ass, but that goes without saying.

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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

how about a stamp showing a young stock broker doing a line of coke off a strippers ass? that would be a fitting representation of the 80's from what i've heard (i was a freshman in high school when the 80's expired).

seriously, how about a fishbone stamp? then you can party at ground zero for $.33.

and btw - fishbone has a new record coming out next month and if you liked their 80's stuff you will really like it. trust me.

raz

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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

another story on slashdot about a speedbump and some new colors, yet whenever apple does something interesting (like things with OS X, Darwin, new features in OS9, etc) it gets no mention here on slashdot. i offer up my services to be the official Mac-editor here so we can run the stroies that matter and ignore the marketing speak and the minor product upgrades. i love macs but i sure wouldn't want to read about "Dell announces 50mhz speed increase and wonderful new internet keyboard" or whatever accounts for exciting new products on the wintel side.

raz

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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

So, Apple still can't make a computer that is a good home computer so they sue the fist set of PC's that even remotely look like the failed iMac.

This comment takes the cake for the single most ignorant line on Slashdot today. The iMac is not only the biggest selling mac of all time, it is the best selling personal computer OF ALL TIME! If that is a failure what is a success?

Note for those wanting details: the sales figures are gotten by combining the 5 colors of iMac into one model. Some have a problem with this, wanting to count them as 5 seperate models. I say then that each and every PC with a different spec sheet should be counted as a separate model.

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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com

This just in - Microsoft has announced their newest product, ready for release in October of 1999 - Winux 1.0. It is a UNIX based OS featuring the time tested multi-tasking, stability, and power of Linux. It will be "Open-Sourced", meaning you can look at the code and submit improvements to Microsoft.com. However, you are not allowed to post code to any other sites. It features the Window Manager WindowsKD, as well as Office 2000 for Winux. Most impressively, Winux can run existing Windows applications natively.

Winux comes packaged in a black box featuring the Microsoft penguin named "Nome" wearing a red beret. It will be available on CD-ROM worldwide in October for a street price of $59.99. It is 100% incompatible with Linux and features the Microsoft-proprietary variation of TCP/IP known as MS-IP, as to which only Windows 98 and NT curently have drivers for. Microsoft has no plans to announce licensing of MS-IP to any outside parties.

When asked about the similarities to Linux, Microsoft President Steve Balmer said "We are aware of Linux and the strides it's made in the marketplace. We feel that by offering a Windows version to our customers they can capitalize on the benefits of Linux without suffering from the lack of software. Linux is a nice product but we feel Winux beats it in every category." Ballmer went on to introduce the project manager for Winux, a gentleman by the name of Linus Torwindous.

Winux is expected to ship 3 million copies in it's first 2 months, and pass up Linux distribution by mid-2000.


...do you really believe that Red Hat and every other legal organization with ties to Linux wouldn't sue immediately? Apple has every right to sue - the iMac and it's design is their lifeblood until Mac OS X ships.



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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com