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Controlling An Embedded Device Using Flash

JimCricket writes "Art & Logic has just released a web server toolkit based on the open source GoAhead WebServer. The cool part is that it can communicate with Flash presentations using XML-RPC. The idea is to create GUI's to control embedded devices using Flash in addition to (or instead of) HTML. They've posted a little demo running on Windows, but in the real world the server would run on a low-power device. Seems like a great idea for the embedded world, given that Flash interfaces _can_ be very low-memory (as long as Flash designers stick to the vector-based graphics and ActionScript)."

174 comments

  1. Hello by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I invented Lunix not Flash. plzfxthxHTH!

  2. Pink page of death!! by poopbot by pwpbot · · Score: -1

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

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    - posted by poopbot: who doesn't like scat?

    LeHHciCRlu Post #426

    1. Re:Pink page of death!! by poopbot by on+by · · Score: -1

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  3. Hello again by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    You haven't fixed the article to talk about Lunix (which I invented).

    I would change it myself with my knowlege of the Lunix colonel, but I am busy begging for a redundancy package from Transmeta.

    1. Re:Hello again by sinserve · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      shut up, you Finniger.

  4. oh really? by Stonent1 · · Score: 0

    as long as Flash designers stick to the vector-based graphics and ActionScript I honestly can't remember those days.

    1. Re:oh really? by H3XA · · Score: 1

      Remind me to electronically humiliate you in the DELL forums for that.....

      - HeXa

    2. Re:oh really? by Stonent1 · · Score: 0

      For what?

  5. Um.... by m.batsis · · Score: 1

    ...can't people just use more open stuff like SVG and DOM scripting?


    --
    "You laugh at me because I am different. I laugh at you because you're all the same." --Vick Imbornoni
    1. Re:Um.... by Hanno · · Score: 2

      SVG and DOM don't include synced audio. Granted, you don't need audio for this particular application...

      --

      ------------------
      You may like my a cappella music
    2. Re:Um.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The SVG viewers aren't mature. They cannot provide as rich an interface as Flash. I wish it wasn't so - but there you go.

    3. Re:Um.... by kusako · · Score: 1

      Nope, synced audio is not in the scope of SVG. That's what you've got SMIL for.

  6. If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...would listen to its customers. We run one of Germany's largest flash-based web sites. We are happy with Flash and what it can do, but we encounter little bugs and annoyances every now and then.

    Macromedia doesn't fix them.

    To make things worse, the German product manager basically tells us "we don't have to fix this. We don't care. Without us, your site wouldn't exist. You better be grateful."

    If only there was an alternative to Flash to escape this.

    (Yadda, yadda, closed source, I know, I know. Trouble is, there is no alternative to Flash at this time.)

    1. Re:If only Macromedia... by theolein · · Score: 2

      This is why Macromedia is not exactly in a good position economically: Too many features over reliability.

      I presume you guys have tried the forums and bug reporting on the Macromedia.com website haven't you? They at least answer you there sometimes.

    2. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      We run one of Germany's largest flash-based web sites. If only there was an alternative to Flash to escape this.
      Not to be harsh, but it looks like you made your bed, so now you get to sleep in it.
    3. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to be harsh, but it looks like you made your bed, so now you get to sleep in it.

      Well.

      Show me a browser-based format that

      - allows vector based animations

      - with audio and video

      - in a (relatively) small file size

      - with a quasi programming language that allows interactivity

      - that runs fast enough on a slow PC (Flash is only slow on Unix/Linux, but quite fast on Windows/Mac)

      and you have a deal.

      Java doesn't count. It's freakin' big, it's slow, sluggish on old PCs and too complicated for Designers who only want to create a quick "move object from a to b and play the 'boing' sound" vector animation.

      Flash is unique at this moment. And frankly, Flash itself is good. But Macromedia is a bunch of arrogant bitches...

    4. Re:If only Macromedia... by g4dget · · Score: 2
      If only there was an alternative to Flash to escape this.

      There are several, including Java and (more recently) SVG. Most sites don't benefit from Flash anyway and it just scares users away.

    5. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Show me a browser-based format that - allows vector based animations - with audio and video

      I don't want animations in my browser. I have un-installed Flash on both my Mac and my PC.

      Java doesn't count. It's freakin' big, it's slow, sluggish on old PCs

      Oh my, oh dear.

      too complicated for Designers who only want to create a quick "move object from a to b and play the 'boing' sound" vector animation.

      Then designers could use Java animation authoring tools. Of course, I'm kind of glad that designers generally haven't figured this out: it lets me turn off the junk (Flash) while keeping the useful interactive content (Java).

      Flash is unique at this moment. And frankly, Flash itself is good. But Macromedia is a bunch of arrogant bitches...

      So are the people who use it, apparently. You deserve each other, it seems.

    6. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "we don't have to fix this. We don't care. Without us, your site wouldn't exist. You better be grateful."

      Thats too bad. My main development tool is a different Macromedia product (no NOT Director) and the support we get from the MM engineers is absolutely amazing. I can't count the number of direct e-mails I've received in response to a post I've made on one of the (non-MM) discussion boards.

      Posting AC 'cause if I get busted saying nice things about Macromedia I'll lose all kinds of credibility. Seriously.

    7. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't want animations in my browser. I have un-installed Flash on both my Mac and my PC.

      Then you're not in the target audience of my client's site, anyway. Those visiting the site want to find animations, games and idle fun there. Just because you don't want to find that kind of content on the web doesn't mean that nobody wants it...

      Then designers could use Java animation authoring tools.

      There are no serious Java animation authoring tools. Plus: Animations created in Java require much larger downloads than Flash animations doing the same thing.

    8. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      including Java and (more recently) SVG.

      MP3 Audio in sync with Java animations? Any kind of audio with SVG? Any serious SVG plugin? Did you compare the file size of an animation created in Java with a similar animation in Flash? Did you compare the speed? Did you compare the authoring tools?

      I like Java, but it's not a tool for web animations. I like SVG, but it's still not here yet.

    9. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... it just scares users away.

      Cite, please.

    10. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Show me a Web site that needs all that crap, THEN we have a deal. :)

    11. Re:If only Macromedia... by sarabob · · Score: 1
      show me a Web site that needs all that crap

      Moonfruit needs this. Build your own website in a wysiwyg interface. Drag and drop interface elements, scale/rotate images and text etc etc.

      Geocities etc do java wysiwyg editors, but they are extremely limited in comparison, take longer to download and are frustrating to use

      And before you start going on about homesite/dreamweaver/arachnophilia/vim/whatever, make a site that looks anywhere near as good in anywhere near the amount of time it takes in moonfruit, then come back.

    12. Re:If only Macromedia... by Hanno · · Score: 2

      Show me a Web site that needs all that crap, THEN we have a deal. :)

      Well, entertainment sites, like http://www.heavy.com, http://www.edgar.de or http://www.k1010.de - sure, nobody needs these sites. But such sites need these technologies.

      --

      ------------------
      You may like my a cappella music
    13. Re:If only Macromedia... by MeNeXT · · Score: 2
      What make a site good is not the animation.

      When I'm researching products online and get a stupid flash animation MERKATING their product I get out of there as fast as I can. I learned this a couple of years back, FLASH = NO INFORMATION just MARKETING. It's just a waste of my time.

      --
      DRM? No thanks, I'll just get it somewhere else...
    14. Re:If only Macromedia... by pmz · · Score: 2

      If only there was an alternative to Flash to escape this.

      Have you heard of building a website using HTML? Used thoughtfully, it works really well, loads quickly, and is usable on nearly every modern computer. Leaving out JavaScript, Flash, and big images might even allow people to enjoy your website driving up sales tremendously. Try it today!

    15. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read this.

      Let me restate this: There are many, many things you can't do in HTML. And there are sites that don't offer content, but just some fun entertainment. Such sites aren't like news or information sites. (If the Wall Street Journal started offering its content flash-only, I'll be the first to complain about their rape of HTML and W3C standards.)

      You may find that the things one cannot do with HTML are things one shouldn't do on a web site, that's ok.

      But if you find interactive animations with synced audio is something that should be forbidden be on a web site, you aren't in my client's target audience, anyway.

      Flash is mainly used for:

      - annoying advertisements

      - site navigation (sometimes horribly useless)

      - interactive fun / games / etc.

      I agree that most of the things commercial web sites do with Flash is annyoing. But there are people who enjoy some idle fun in their browser. You and the others here who bash Flash may not be among them. But that doesn't mean that Flash is a bad idea.

      Fun thing: Many of these arguments here are just a repeat of the discussions we had when Java applets were new. Back then, Java applets were the spawn of the devil, used for annoying ads, useless games and the source of all kinds of security concerns.

      P.S.: Our client's site runs with all the Linux browsers that support Flash 5 and already offers a non-flash alternative for its content, but the Flash site is way more interesting and more fun to use. (Remember - it's an entertainment site, just fun and games.) We're now working on a way to make the site lynx-compatible. I'm not kidding.

    16. Re:If only Macromedia... by Hard_Code · · Score: 3, Informative

      "If only there was an alternative to Flash to escape this."

      Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL): http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/05/29/smil.html

      Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG):
      http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/

      --

      It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
    17. Re:If only Macromedia... by doctong · · Score: 1

      That's such bullsh*t and the fact that you're an AC and made no mention of your "largest" company leads me to believe you're just trolling.

      We're a small company and Macromedia does an incredible job responding to us. In fact, I've never worked with a company that is more responsive to their customers. With every product, they have large customer advisory boards who are involved for the entire length of the product cycle. I've personally watched them add feedback from this board into feature lists and have seen them generate fixes off of bug reports.

    18. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the fact that you're an AC and made no mention of your "largest" company leads me to believe you're just trolling

      Believe me, I'm not. I'm not trolling, but venting my frustration.

      While not an exact quote, it's an accurate summary of what that product manager told us. With that attitude from Macromedia Germany, you might understand why I don't put my client's name here.

      Anyway, I said one of Germany's largest entertainment sites. It's listed in the Top 10 entertainment sites of the IVW ranking. (IVW is an organization made by German advertisers, ranking commercial media such as print, radio, cinema and also web. The IVW ranking decides wether your paper, web site or cinema chain gets booked for an ad campaign and how much you can charge for it.)

      Macromedia does an incredible job responding to us.

      Good for you.

      Possibly, Macromedia Germany is a different beast than Macromedia USA.

      It literally took them months to fix the AltGr+@ bug that occured in Flash 6 when used with Netscape and Mozilla. It's a bug that affected German users only.

    19. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
      MP3 Audio in sync with Java animations?

      Yes.

      Did you compare the file size of an animation created in Java with a similar animation in Flash?

      Java is as small or smaller, depending on which representation you choose.

      Did you compare the speed?

      The speed of what? Java is generally much faster than Flash scripting.

      Did you compare the authoring tools?

      There are many more Java authoring tools than for Flash, and Java supports many more styles of authoring. Of course, if you have already made up your mind that it has to look like Macromedia's applications, there is nothing that can be done.

    20. Re:If only Macromedia... by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2

      you still didn't answer his question.... our company does interactive learning over the web (I'm not involved in these projects, but they are cool) and I can assure you, there is nothing else. Java/SVG/Whatever just doesn't have the designer tools.

    21. Re:If only Macromedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > ..would listen to its customers... Macromedia doesn't fix them.

      It's to the company's advantage to do what customers want. I can't tell what you'd like changed from what you wrote. The Product Managers are not in Germany, so it's hard for me to know who I should talk to about that quote.

      Want to reach the team directly with a change-request? http://www.macromedia.com/support/email/wishform/ Or post a clear message to the approrpiate Flash newsgroup, or mailing list or blogs, and I'll try to cull it and submit it myself, thanks.

      Regards,
      John Dowdell
      Macromedia Support

  7. Hi there by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    I reread the article (which still hasn't been fixed to talk about my Lunix instead of Flash) and noticed that it talked about a Windows system.

    I invented Lunix not Windows, so could you fix that as well TIA!

  8. need titles that are more clear! by lingqi · · Score: 4, Informative
    Controlling An Embedded Device Using Flash

    the first thing i thought when i read this was "controlling blah blah using sector-programmable EEPROM"... sigh; been in the hardware side too long.

    side point: flash programs themselves are small and neat -- but the actual client (that reads, processes, and displays the animations and all that) always have seemed quite processor intensive to me, though... so besides being fancy and neat -- i am sure there are more power-saving interfaces you can use if that's really what you are after.

    --

    My life in the land of the rising sun.

    1. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Hanno · · Score: 2

      flash programs themselves are small and neat

      Good Lord, no. Flash's "programming language" is a joke and even worse is what most Flash designers to with it - since they are designers, not programmers. I'm having a hard time explaining fellow designers what Boolean algebra is - again and again and again.

      --

      ------------------
      You may like my a cappella music
    2. Re:need titles that are more clear! by cyborch · · Score: 1

      hopefully we will get a real programming language to write in using this framework (haven't read the specifics yet) so we may use flash more productively.

    3. Re:need titles that are more clear! by StandardDeviant · · Score: 1

      I think he meant the swf file format itself, which is, like PostScript, as much a programming language as file format (although it is, iirc, a binary format... the instructions are just encoded much like an object file in the C world). In other words, it doesn't really encode the data for a presentation so much as how to generate a display of that data. The simple example would be the swf file having in it the *way to make* a red circle rather than N many red pixels encoded in a certain way to be rendered as a circle...

    4. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Beliskner · · Score: 3, Funny
      flash programs themselves are small and neat -- but the actual client (that reads, processes, and displays the animations and all that) always have seemed quite processor intensive to me, though
      Right on. We should all use Java applets.
      --
      A caveman dreams of being us, the incalculable power and riches. We dream of being Q, then what?
    5. Re:need titles that are more clear! by karm13 · · Score: 1

      "actionscript" is based on ECMA (like javascript). this works really good for interfaces, oop is there, anything more real programming language would be overkill. plus, you would need programmers to make the interfaces not interface designers.

      --

      --
      making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
    6. Re:need titles that are more clear! by bogado · · Score: 2

      I think the idea is to separete the viewer from the embeded device. You could control your air conditioning from your computer, using a flash interface.

      I do believe flash is a good "language" to describe such UI interactions. There are lot's of designers that are quite familiar with creating flash animations. Remember that the flash is just the "skin" the inner working will be activated by the web server and would probably be writen in C or assembler just like it always have been.

      --
      []'s Victor Bogado da Silva Lins

      ^[:wq

    7. Re:need titles that are more clear! by bluebomber · · Score: 2

      I had the same reaction. Thought there must be some kind of new way of fiddling with the PROMs...

      Now what's this vector-graphics stuff about?

    8. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Green+Light · · Score: 1

      This reminds me of a very funny Far Side cartoon:

      An instructor in a classroom is pointing to a diagram of a simple toggle switch, with one side labeled "on", and the other side "off". One student has his hand raised and is asking "Can we go over that again?"

      --
      "Send an Instant Karma to me" - Yes
    9. Re:need titles that are more clear! by thomas.galvin · · Score: 1

      The simple example would be the swf file having in it the *way to make* a red circle rather than N many red pixels encoded in a certain way to be rendered as a circle...

      That is almost the exact definition of vector graphics, which Flash uses. You can save a lot of storage space, but you loose out in display efficiency...the computer has to figure out where each pixel goes, instead of just being told. All in all, it is a very good format for some things...I wonder when the patent will come out...

    10. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its based on ecma script. is that a joke?

    11. Re:need titles that are more clear! by kubrick · · Score: 2

      Good Lord, no. Flash's "programming language" is a joke and even worse is what most Flash designers to with it - since they are designers, not programmers. I'm having a hard time explaining fellow designers what Boolean algebra is - again and again and again.

      Surely the deficiencies of the language contribute to the brain-dead nature of some of the code. For example, after I'd written something in Flash 5, but then realized that we needed to support Flash 4, I had to rewrite it -- but it used arrays, etc. So the code ends up looking like a nightmare because lots of useful stuff was being done with dynamically generated variables. :/

      I really think Flash suffers due to its designer-bias, as well -- the GUI is a nightmare and the scripting language remains, oh, about 75% of the way there.

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    12. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you ever write a script for Flash 4? Then you'd know it's not a joke.

    13. Re:need titles that are more clear! by cyborch · · Score: 1

      [...] plus, you would need programmers to make the interfaces not interface designers.

      maybe that is the very problem: this language is so easy that it makes designers think they can actually do things that are ment for programmers to do. Trying to make complex things simple has been cause for most of the bad things out there today...

    14. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Surely the deficiencies of the language contribute to the brain-dead nature of some of the code. For example, after I'd written something in Flash 5, but then realized that we needed to support Flash 4, I had to rewrite it -- but it used arrays, etc. So the code ends up looking like a nightmare because lots of useful stuff was being done with dynamically generated variables. :/"

      Arrays were added in SWF5.

      It's good to figure out the delivery constraints before starting to code...!

      Regards,
      John Dowdell
      Macromedia Support

    15. Re:need titles that are more clear! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I think the idea is to separete the viewer from the embeded device. You could control your air conditioning from your computer, using a flash interface."

      Cool, this is the key concept here, I think. More and more *things* are getting embedded controllers. Art & Logic is making it easier for embedded device makers to talk to browser-based or thin clients. Ideally your wireless pocket device would have an appropriate interface to whichever embedded device you wish to learn from or inform, and the UI could be audience-specific rather than device-dependent.

      Regards,
      John Dowdell
      Macromedia Support

    16. Re:need titles that are more clear! by kubrick · · Score: 2

      It's good to figure out the delivery constraints before starting to code...!

      Tell that to my clients. :/

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
  9. Slashdot effect record... by danny256 · · Score: 1

    Its 4:24 in the morning and this article has been up for about 10 minutes, but already the demo link dosn't work. The site must have new what was coming and killed itself before anything happened.

    1. Re:Slashdot effect record... by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

      Hmm. Seems to work fine for me.

    2. Re:Slashdot effect record... by Hanno · · Score: 1

      It's 4:24 in the morning at your place. There are different time zones around the world, imagine that. Oh, how I love the US-centric view... :-)

      --

      ------------------
      You may like my a cappella music
    3. Re:Slashdot effect record... by karm13 · · Score: 1

      actually, it's 10:36 in the morning. it was 10:24 when you posted this -- welcome to global communications.

      --

      --
      making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
    4. Re:Slashdot effect record... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its now 7:45 pm. Time for dinner!

    5. Re:Slashdot effect record... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no it was then when he posted it and it was now when I posted this.

    6. Re:Slashdot effect record... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not 4:24 am everywhere. This may come as a shock to you, but live with it.

    7. Re:Slashdot effect record... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The demo appears to be working again.

  10. Hello all! by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I noticed you say that Flash applications can use a small amount of memory. I wrote Lunix and Lunix uses a small amount of memory, not Flash. If you could work that into the article please I would be grateful.

  11. All I got was by Technician · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Requires Macromedia Flash Player 6
    on the little demo page. Too bad I removed FLASH due to it's abuse by web advertisers. I hope Macromedia will put out a player that can be set by default to not play flash. HINT HINT! I'm not going to install it to watch a demo and remove it for the rest of my browsing. Is a play button too much to ask?

    --
    The truth shall set you free!
    1. Re:All I got was by alexburke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Requires Macromedia Flash Player 6
      on the little demo page. Too bad I removed FLASH due to it's abuse by web advertisers. I hope Macromedia will put out a player that can be set by default to not play flash. HINT HINT! I'm not going to install it to watch a demo and remove it for the rest of my browsing. Is a play button too much to ask?


      Two quick questions:

      (1) If you knew you didn't have the plugin installed, why did you bother clicking through? The demo was clearly described as being Flash.

      (2) What the fuck good would a Flash plugin be that, by default, doesn't play Flash? Does your web browser, by default, not render HTML?! (I'm sure there's a Netscape joke in there somewhere, but I'm generally not one to make cheap shots.)

      If you're so worried about ads, do yourself a favor and install Guidescope. It's a little proxy that sits in your system tray, bound to port 8000 of (only) your localhost interface, and you tell IE that localhost:8000 is your proxy for HTTP content. It then replaces known ads with a gray box the same size as the ad, so it won't break the layout of pages. (Optionally you can have it nuke them altogether.) It can optionally block some or all cookies, too.

    2. Re:All I got was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck good would a Flash plugin be that, by default, doesn't play Flash?

      Hint: not playing by default is not the same as not playing at all. What's the problem with the plugin tossing a little "click here to play" button on the page instead of just starting the animation?

    3. Re:All I got was by Beliskner · · Score: 2
      I hope Macromedia will put out a player that can be set by default to not play flash
      If you're using IE6, click on Tools -- Internet Options -- Security -- Custom. Then under ActiveX and Plug-ins section set everything that is ENABLED to PROMPT. e.g. Download signed ActiveX controls - prompt; Run ActiveX controls and plugins - prompt
      --
      A caveman dreams of being us, the incalculable power and riches. We dream of being Q, then what?
    4. Re:All I got was by clickety6 · · Score: 1

      . Is a play button too much to ask?

      There is a PLAY buton in the drop down menu (right click). You can't set it to be in STOP by default though.

      --
      ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    5. Re:All I got was by alexburke · · Score: 2

      What's the problem with the plugin tossing a little "click here to play" button on the page instead of just starting the animation?

      The problem is with clicking three play buttons on a page I'd like to see that has several SWFs on it, then watching them play out of sync.

    6. Re:All I got was by millette · · Score: 1

      I'd even up that and make it "click here to download the stupid flash ad" - now I'd buy that!

    7. Re:All I got was by Technician · · Score: 2

      PLAY buton in the drop down menu (right click).
      True, It is supposed to be there. Unfortunately some advertisers abused the control given them and I had too many ads that provided a right menu of one item;
      "About Macromedia Flash"
      That is why I mentioned advertiser abuse.
      This abuse led to the removal of flash on my system. Those ads were worse than blinking banners. The normal way to stop blinky flashly distracting things won't stop those flash ads. The only way found was remove flash. Another post recommends upgrading IE to 6 to get the ability to change Active X from enabled to prompt. I'll have to look into that. Is there a Netscape equivelant? I don't usualy use IE at home.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
    8. Re:All I got was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The good alternative is "forget about flash".

    9. Re:All I got was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The problem is with clicking three play buttons on a page I'd like to see that has several SWFs on it, then watching them play out of sync.

      They would already be playing out-of-sync because of download delays, so that's hardly a useful critique.

    10. Re:All I got was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah anything but flat text files is insufficiently hairy-chested for the truly hardcore. Unfortunately, no-one gives a flying fuck about your posturing in the real world...

    11. Re:All I got was by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 1
      I would consider a Flash on/off preference more like the display images feature that some browsers have. Flash is not equivalant to Html, because it's a freaking plugin.

      Macrodedia should at least give users the choice to run Flash content on a page.. not make them choose between watching every offensive Flash ad or uninstalling the plugin entirely.. I made my choice to be rid of Flash some time ago, and couldn't be happier.

      And to the reply of "just filter it out!", would that work for the 85% of the population who are not as computer saavy as the typical /.er?

    12. Re:All I got was by kubrick · · Score: 2

      And what do I do if I'm using Linux? Oh yes, that's right, wait for Macromedia to notice, sneer at the hippies, and then release a version that's slower than the Windows one and months later.

      Grrrr.

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    13. Re:All I got was by pmz · · Score: 2

      What the fuck good would a Flash plugin be that, by default, doesn't play Flash?

      Well, it would be good for not consuming every resource on my computer, good for not booming unsolicited sound throughout my office, and good for increasing the overall reliability of my browser (Flash ain't bug-free!).

      However, it would also be good for manually allowing those few Flash animations that actually add value to a web site. The key word, here, is "few".

      An opt-in Play button would be an excellent feature for Flash. Without it, I am much more inclined to simply leave the Flash plugin sitting by itself and unloved in a subdirectory called "disabled".

    14. Re:All I got was by axxackall · · Score: 1
      Is a play button too much to ask?

      It has nothing to do with this plugin software. Instead, it has to be in the preferences of your Mozilla browser along with "Javascript" and "Popup" options.

      You have low chances to force Macromedia to abandon their own player.

      You have good chances (if you are a good programmer) to add such patch to Mozilla as this browser is available in the source code.

      Of course I don't care about IE as I abandoned IE as a closed proprietary software.

      --

      Less is more !
    15. Re:All I got was by M$+Mole · · Score: 1

      I hope Macromedia will put out a player that can be set by default to not play flash

      Send an email to wish-flash@macromedia.com

      --
      Karma: Non-existant. Due mostly to the fact that you smell funny and nobody likes you.
    16. Re:All I got was by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2

      Write your own. You have the source right?

    17. Re:All I got was by alexburke · · Score: 2

      They would already be playing out-of-sync because of download delays

      Not with my connection. :D

    18. Re:All I got was by kubrick · · Score: 1

      Macromedia keep their source releases and SWF spec releases one version behind the current one, and even then the license terms are very restrictive.

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    19. Re:All I got was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All he said was that Flash is a reeking pit of filth. A browser-killing, obnoxious abortion. You were the one who dragged flat files into it.

    20. Re:All I got was by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I hope Macromedia will put out a player that can be set by default to not play flash. HINT HINT!"

      That's difficult for me to understand, sorry.

      Advertising is a two-edged sword, maybe even three-edged... it definitely drives adoption, and it definitely helps sites survive financially, but some ads are stupid and annoying, true. I'm not sure where the baby ends and the bathwater begins.

      Do you visit particular sites which carry egregious ads? If so, have you alerted the webmaster than you're considering abandoning their site? That's a little bit of extra work for you, but may be the most effective path overall...?

      Regards,
      John Dowdell
      Macromedia Support

    21. Re:All I got was by RevAaron · · Score: 2

      Not talking about the source to the SWF player, Dr. Clever. He's talking about the browser. No source if you're using NS4 or Opera, but a feature like the one is IE which was discussed could easily be added to Mozilla.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  12. Hi again! by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    You've said that in the real server world it would be on a low power device. You didn't mention that it would use my OS called Lunix, as this takes less power than others. Perhaps you could rephrase?

  13. what's the big deal? by karm13 · · Score: 1
    i don't really get what this story is about.
    it can communicate via xml. that is good, but not really special. if it can communicate via xml, of course it can communicate with flash.

    so... what's it about?

    --

    --
    making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
  14. We are using flash for HTPC's... by Critical_ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am a home theater addict and have been very disturbed by the fact that the home theater industry moves just as fast as the computer industry but you can't upgrade your components unless you get something from manufacturers like Krell, Meridian, Theta Digital.

    So... many of us are using what we call Home Theater PC's (HTPC) to play DVD's in Progressive scan mode to feed our DLP projectors, using MP3/Ogg/Wav files for our home audio collections, HDTV decoder cards, etc. The problem is that all this stuff needs to be easily controlled with a remote. Many people have designed interfaces using flash/webserver and they tie it into an IR controll system. Maybe this will make it easier to hide the computer-ness of our HTPC and make them more appliance-like.

    If interested, avsforum.com has some nice forums for discussion in the realm of HTPC's.

  15. Me again by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Troll
    I see you are talking about XML-RPC. I asked Alan Cox about this and he told me that it is not a colonel module (in Lunix which I wrote) so perhaps you should update the article to reflect that? Maybe suggest using GNU-RPC or LNX-RPC.

    Oh, not the second one because LNX is too much like LNUX - even I laugh at LNUX when I check the ticker.

  16. info on flash on devices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    fyi:
    macromedia has a mobile device development center for flash
    http://www.macromedia.com/desdev/mobile/

    and there is this book:
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735711771/

  17. Actually very useful by cyborch · · Score: 1

    The company I work for have been mixing php and flash for quite some time to achieve the same effects. I has always felt a little hacky to mix php and flash since flash doesn't really like to talk to a database. Hopefully this framework will help out in making our solutions more clean.

    I haven't read their entire description of their framework yet (I am going to) but it sounds very promising. Having /. propose new software packages for my company is actually quite nice :)

  18. Hi! A quickie: by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Troll

    Is ActionScript part of Lunix?

  19. Advantages by neksys · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The real advantages here aren't so much in the "hey neat" category, but in the application of this technology. Not all of us are all that efficient at gathering information from text logs or what have you - many of us are more visual. If I could have a small flash application based on this technology that used images or even sounds to say, help me visualize the load on each of my servers from home, great! Instead of browsing through several megs (or gigs) of logs, I just look for the image of the server on fire. It won't eliminate the need for "down and dirty" work, but I can certainly think of many examples of where it could minimize it.

    1. Re:Advantages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ATTN PLZ!

      u r VARY gehy plz fix k thnx bye

  20. Just checking by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Troll

    I used my mad Lunix skillz (I wrote it so I know my way around a Lunix shell LOL!) to check that the demo was being run on a Lunix server with Apache (I must ask Alan if I wrote Apache - I think I did) but I found out it used a server called GoAhead-Webs. Is this something to do with Debian?

    1. Re:Just checking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even I could make it to the Finnish line before you would. "Lunix"? Bah!

  21. Strange. by Galahad2 · · Score: 1

    I've always though of Flash as being a high-overhead, annoying, processor intensive thing. Most people heavily abuse it (for example, website intros), so, in my own mind, it has no legitimate use. Sure, it's cute to play "slap the monkey" once in a while, but I'd be hard pressed to think of it as having real-world uses. This is an interesting perspective. It's easy to forget the inherent efficiency of it's vector-based engine.

    1. Re:Strange. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It's easy to forget the inherent efficiency of it's vector-based engine."

      Cool, thanks. Even more important is the single interactivity engine across multiple environments. It's a little component you can rely on across browsers, across operating systems, across hardware devices.

      Regards,
      John Dowdell
      Macromedia Support

  22. Hi! I wrote Lunix! by by+Linus+Torvalds · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    But I am so very, very lonely. Please keep me company. I cry myself to sleep.

  23. as a hardware designer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    flash for an interface is just a stupid idea.

    why goto the trouble/expense of including a vfd or a full color lcd. then emulating all the things flash needs to run. vs making a custom lcd/vfd display with your buttons on it (even if it looks just like the flash) and use that.

    oh morphing interfaces you say. the answer... do we really need a remote control with skins. do we need a tv that has some silly panasonic movie running on it all day.

    Look at all the crap thats gotten into car stereo head units these days. I mean the rice-boys love it but i still cant find a decent nice sounding stereo system for under 500 bux that has all the outputs and FUNCTIONAL abilities i want. Instead to get (rca) instead of line leads off a device you have to goto the $700 (cdn) range and end up gettin these stupid pixel usually like 320x100 displays and they distract the hell out of you while driving... I DONT NEED A GRAPHIC EQUALIZER...

    oh yes you can turn the crap off but at the end of the day you've paid an extra 200 for the stupid display.

    leave hardware alone, keep it away from macromedia and microsoft. embedded linux is nice because its just so barebones simple when it gets to that level. flash would seriously gum it up.

    keep hardware devices simple. provide functionality not flash. its not a website they're not sitting there for the purpose of that site. With hardware you want to use the damned thing not have it look pretty.

    The ONLY exception might be in the intergrated appliance market eg a microwave that has a vfd display that is a picture on the wall for example (like in anti-trust the movie).

    in which case however flash still isnt the answer. a custom application is. faster better and most importantly designed to do the job specifically.

    flash really is bloat ware when it comes to the stuff needed to properly impliment it and short of a specialty product from macromedia trying to adapt it is just plain silly.

    1. Re:as a hardware designer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >flash for an interface is just a stupid idea.

      Get with the times - have you seen Flash MX? It's no longer a "skip intro" tool, it's a full-blown application dev environment. Laugh all you want, but companies are investing big bucks into improving the _usability_ of their online interfaces by using Flash instead of HTML.

      For some applications, Flash is a lot better than HTML. At least Flash was _designed_ for user interfaces, whereas HTML was designed for simple hypertext navigation. Try doing real-time performance monitoring graphs in HTML and you'll see what I mean.

  24. The UI seems like a good idea, and taking advantage of FLash is a good move. Hovewer, I think HTML just interfaces better with XML.

    1. Re:UI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ATTN PLZ!

      u r VARY gehy plz fix kthnx bye

    2. Re:UI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quantum Singularity: excellent troll or dumbass bitch? you decide!

    3. Re:UI by Quantum+Singularity · · Score: 1

      At least I'm not anonymous, coward!

    4. Re:UI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      all you trolls should go phuck urselves

  25. Flash? UGH! by BigWhale · · Score: 1

    Well, to be honest, I hate flash. It's bloated (compared to plaintext) and it's more or less useless and doesn't do anygood to web pages. Yeah, plain old HTML2.0 with tables would be enough for me. Flash might be good for some gadget, but think of it again... Are you really sure you want to stick it in everything?

    I have a bad feeling about this ;> :))

    --
    The Sig, the sig
  26. Java applets are probably better than Flash here by g4dget · · Score: 2
    It may not look as "flashy", but Java has a much more traditional toolkit than Flash and has extensive libraries to support this kind of functionality. And embedded system programmers are much more likely to feel comfortable with Java than with Flash.

    Note that it doesn't matter whether the Flash player is smaller than the Java runtime because that part of it runs in the web browser, not the embedded system. From the point of view of the embedded system, what matters is the footprint of the Flash or application specific class files, and Java is probably competitive there.

  27. Re:Hi! I wrote Lunix! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    No, you're not lonely. You're married. That she keeps kicking your @$$ with her karate skills is your problem, not ours.

    Now, shut the f*ck up, and let the rest of us play with Windows, OS/2 and AmigaOS, kay?

  28. Take a look at XWT by Insig · · Score: 3, Interesting
    XWT

    For a lightweight interface system that talks XML-RPC/SOAP and is easy to port to other platforms.

    It's written in Java, but natively compiles on Linux/Win32. None of the speed problems of Java (thanks to a different design tack with Box rendering).

    Of course, the obvious advantage over Flash is the fact it's open source (GPL).

    1. Re:Take a look at XWT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's ignore any technical superiority of XWT to Flash (since there probably isn't any) and cite it being GPLed as the "obvious advantage."

      Every post here is bitching about Flash being useless (it isn't) or bitching about how Macromedia owes the stankass fat Linux turds a good plugin (they don't.) Shoot yourselves.

  29. Pros and cons by theolein · · Score: 4, Informative

    They wouldn't have done this unless there were some good reasons to do so. The Flash engine is small and runs on embedded devices due to Macromedia's tireless attempts to get it everywhere they can. A simple Flash player and Flash application can come in under 500k and there is no browser on earth that can match this. Flash supports XML calls although it doesn't validate them. This idea neglects a security model as Flash doesn't have one with respect to the server so I hope these guys are not planning on doing stock quotes or transactions or something like that. The Flash interface is a good idea on precisely those devices and may yet gain more acceptance than Flash in the browser ever did, because the browser is really meant for HTML and nothing else.

    1. Re:Pros and cons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      actually, flash does have a security model.

      it can only load data from the same domain it was loaded from, and all communication with the server can be encrypted via ssl.

  30. A linux user goes back by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    A Linux user goes back.
    By Tony âoekNIGitsâ Collins.

    Introduction...
    In much of today's online news, we hear of how many people are migrating to GNU/Linux. What we don't seem to hear much of, is users going back to their old operating systems. The reason for this article is to say that I've done just that.

    Yes, I've gone back. After three and a half years of trying to make GNU/Linux work on the desktop, I've decided that it's simply too hard for the average home user. Before I go into my reasons for going back, let me outline what I believe an 'average' home user is. Mr Joe Average is someone who wants to install their OS, boot it up, and it works. He wants to be able to upgrade his PC , and have the hardware work in a few short minutes. He wants to read email, browse the web, talk to his mates online, and play some games. Feel free to disagree with me, this is merely how I see myself. Note: I'm not referring to Grandma using Linux, or even my mum using it. I'm referring to average users who know a little about their computer.

    Three and a half years; that's how long I've been trying to make Linux work on my desktop computer. Right about now, I'm sure that you are now screaming that I didn't try hard enough, or that I'm just plain stupid. Let me assure you that this is not the case. Stupid users don't doggedly stick at something for three and a half years, trying distribution after distribution in the hope of finding the holy grail of Linux desktops. They give up in less than a few hours of trying to (unsuccessfully) install RedHat Linux. Hear now my sad tale of why Linux isn't suitable for my desktop.

    Some background...
    The year is 1998. I've had my Windows '95 computer for around six months. Frustrated with the constant crashes, I desperately asked an online mate for help. Even though he was a windows user, he calmly suggested that I try something I'd never come across before...

    âoeLinux, eh? Never heard of it.â

    âoeOh, it's a free OS that you can download. Apparently it doesn't crash much. Just do an online search for it.â

    Armed with this meagre knowledge, I set out on my quest for the ultimate stable operating system. I searched online, and found places where you could even buy copies of Linux! So, I left the comfort of my warm study, and returned forty minutes later with my first Linux boxed set â" RedHat Linux 5.2. After initially balking at the very basic installer (and few false starts), I had it up and running on my lovely AMD K6-233. I even got X working in no time at all. Then the system booted up for the first time.... and it was dead ugly. I had a very stable new OS, but I didn't even want to look at it. I was happy that I had several installed interfaces to choose from, but none of them appealed to me whatsoever. Wanting to download a nicer interface led me to my next problem.

    I had absolutely no idea how to even get this nice, stable OS onto the internet! After reinstalling windows and RedHat in a dual-boot configuration, I got the help I needed by using Windows and USENET. Strangely enough, I can still remember the name of the long-suffering person who helped me get RedHat online, but that's another story. After looking around online, I discovered KDE. Only up to version one, it was the closest thing I had to a completely useable Linux system. I downloaded all the KDE packages for RedHat 5.2, only to discover another distro called Mandrake, that came with KDE preinstalled and configured. Back to my local distributor, and I was set.

    Mandrake with KDE was exactly what I needed at that stage in my Linux using life, and I stuck with it for over a year and a half. Always seeking the 'perfect' desktop OS, I followed releases from version 5.3 all the way through to 7.0. Eventually I became dissatisfied with Mandrake, and briefly tried a number of other distros until I finally settled on Debian. I was impressed by the simple power, configurability, and the ease of upgrade that is apt-get. I felt good about being among the uber-elite Debian user community. Needless to say, I learned a lot about how to configure hardware under Linux during my time with Debian. I learned to sift through the old HOWTOs on Linux Doc until I found something suitable and accurate, I learned to utilize the power of USENET and IRC. Life was good.

    Right now you must be wondering; âoeWhere is this leading? This guy seemed quite happy with Linux!â. True, I was. After a while, I decided I didn't want to have fine-grained control. I wanted something simple. I was getting tired of the 'stable' Debian release being so out of date, and the 'unstable' distribution being so... well... unstable. I got tired of having to recompile my kernel every time I got new hardware. I got tired of using command line to talk to my PC. It was time for a change. I had good experiences years ago with Mandrake, so I figured I'd try it again. As good as Mandrake 8.1 was, it wasn't what I was after. SuSE Linux 8.0 Professional (boxed set) was installed onto my PC instead.

    I have to stop at this point, and say that SuSE Linux 8.0 (Pro) is the best Linux distribution that I've ever used. It has an easy installer, reasonable hardware support, and comes with the very good KDE 3.0. The box contains seven CDROMS, one DVD and three decent books that would help even the most inexperienced user get up and going. YaST2 is a decent graphical system configuration tool. When (not if) I go back to Linux, I'll definitely try SuSE again. However, there are quite a number of things that have improve (or change completely) before I'll consider going back. Read on for my brief list of things that must must get better before I'll switch back from the Microsoft camp.

    Where GNU/Linux needs to improve...
    X11

    The X Window System is an awesomely powerful, network transparent graphical subsystem. It's perfectly suited to running applications from remote servers. However, this is NOT what a home user needs. My experience with X is that it's too big, bloated, slow and unstable to be any good to the home user. Most crashes that I ever experienced with Linux have been X's fault. My servers don't run X, and they never crash.

    What home users need is something small and fast, so they can run local applications efficiently. I would like to see the X Window System dumped in favour of a hardware accelerated framebuffer, running something like directFB or Qtopia. Home users need a small, fast graphical subsystem, with built in 3d support. BeOS seemed to be on the right track before they went under.

    Fonts are truly awful under X. Most distributions ship with appalling fonts, and there is no standard way to add additional (nicer) fonts to the system. Even after extra fonts have eventually been added, many applications (eg Abiword, Staroffice) refuse to use the new fonts anyway. Perhaps the framebuffer-based graphical subsystem I suggested could incorporate decent font support, and use a readable naming scheme as well.

    Drivers

    While having access to the latest version of the kernel is a good thing for developers, for home users it can be a nightmare. Got RedHat Linux 7.3? Perhaps you run SuSE 7.3 or Debian 2.2. You'll have to download a binary package specific to your distro. (I'm assuming that home users won't change their default kernel, but if they did, that binary package wouldn't even work!) Hardware manufacturers should be able to provide one single driver that works on all minor versions of a major kernel release. This way it would work will all current distros, instead of having to provide multiple binaries or source code. Hardware manufacturers don't want to give out the source, as this often gives away trade secrets about how their hardware is designed.

    The solution seems to be to make binary drivers work on a variety of kernel versions. I'm not sure if this is even possible with the way the kernel is designed (I'm no kernel hacker), but it would go a long way toward making Linux more accessible to the home user. Even if the kernel needs to be redesigned to support this, then in my opinion, it should be done. Linux users are always clamouring for drivers... perhaps if the kernel had something like this, it might one day become a reality.

    Hardware setup

    While SuSE Linux 8.0 gave me some good experiences with hardware detection (such as automatic download of NVIDIA drivers), it also let me down as in this area.

    The good: I recently borrowed a digital camera from a mate at work, to take photos of my case mod. Imagine how happy I was when I plugged it into my nearest USB port, and it was automatically configured (as a SCSI device) and mounted! SuSE even added it to my /etc/fstab file so that it always automounted when plugged in. I was very impressed.

    The bad: Along came my new IDE CDRW drive. At AU$99, I couldn't pass up the purchase. Plugging it in gave me no joy. I was very disappointed that a device so common couldn't be detected and automatically configured under a modern operating system. The instructions on the SuSE support site said to add lines to lilo.conf and reboot. While this is a perfectly acceptable way to get hardware working for a geek familiar with *NIX, I believe that a home user shouldn't have to do more than plug it in. It's an IDE device, it's not that complicated!

    The ugly: Once the hardware was finally working (as a pseudo-scsi drive), the next hurdle was to find decent graphical tools to burn and copy CDs. I finally settled on CDBakeOven, an above average KDE application. It burned CDs from data on the hard drive, but for some reason cdrecord (the command line backend) refused to allow me to copy a cd directly. Yes, it was installed SUID root. CD copying is such a basic function nowadays, why is it so hard to do under GNU/Linux?

    Software distribution

    I'll put this simply. I'm a home user, not a programmer. Why on earth should I have to compile the software I want to use? I know that having the source available is a good thing, but I'll say it again: I'm no programmer. I just want to install software and run it.

    This leads to another point. Although having package databases (such as the rpm and deb systems use) is great, there should definitely be seperation between system packages and additionally installed software. There needs to be a standard installer and database for user-installed applications such as word processors, email clients and games, and it should be seperate from the rpm or deb databases used for system software such as lilo, init and cron. This will make it much easier for home users to know what applications they have installed on their PC, and to easily uninstall them if necessary, without knowing some arcane commands and weird package names.

    Support

    There is a huge wealth of knowledge among the thousands (millions?) of people that run GNU/Linux around the world. If you have a problem, odds are that someone out there can help you, often for free. This is one of the linux platform's greatest strengths. However, Linux users are also its greatest weakness. This may not apply to most of the community, but there is a very vocal minority that gives Linux a bad name. To every Linux user that has ever helped a newbie, I thank you. I have been helped by many a guru, often when I've been asking the simplest of questions. It's the remainder that are a problem.

    I once heard a song by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie called Every OS Sucks, where Linux users were described as 'elitist nerdy shmucks'. Sadly this is true for much of the 'community'. Too many consider themselves better than the rest of the world because they run Linux. Can you believe that? It's just a computer operating system, but somehow they think that it makes them better than those people who run systems such as Microsoft Windows! Elitism drives people away, as does saying âoeRTFMâ or belittling people who choose a different distro from yourself.

    'Nuff said about that.

    So what now?
    Well, I decided to go back to a Microsoft platform. Initially being paranoid after reading things about DRM and spyware, I bit the bullet and installed Microsoft Windows XP. Like every OS, it has good and bad points; most of which you can learn about from online reviewers. I'll just point out several things that make me want to keep using it instead of GNU/Linux.

    Fast graphical subsystem: Windows has lighting quick graphics, both 2d and 3d. There's no denying it. When I move a window, it refreshes so fast that I don't miss X11 at all. While not quite as nice as some other operating systems, font support is outstanding compared to XFree86.

    Drivers: Point and click to install (as a superuser, of course). Windows warns you if the driver isn't likely to work properly, and can roll back to working drivers if you deliberately choose to install one that hoses your system.

    Hardware setup: My CDRW worked right away, without a hitch. I am able to drag and drop files from the Explorer file manager to the CDRW icon and they get added to the list of things to burn. A quick install of Nero Burning Rom, and I was able to make a backup copy of my game CDs. (I don't like taking originals to LANs where they can get destroyed or stolen).

    Software distribution: All windows software comes in binaries, either with an installer or in a zip file. I hope to never compile an application ever again. Software designed for a different version of windows is 99% guaranteed to run, but if not, there is always 'compatibility mode'. One thing to note, however: Applications designed for single user versions of windows usually only run properly as a superuser, and this includes 3d games. I expect this to be rectified as the rest of the Windows world catches up to a multi-user environment.

    I can't comment on the Windows using community yet. I've not yet had a problem that a simple point and click couldn't fix. However, I will say that my original concern with Windows '95 has been addressed in Windows XP. The stability is finally there.

    Final Notes
    In conclusion, I'd just like to make it known that I haven't completely abandoned the Linux community. My home server still runs Mandrake, and IPCop on my gateway/firewall. There is no way I'd ever put any form of Windows on my server, nor would I ever connect a Windows PC directly to the internet without a *NIX gateway in between. Microsoft has a history of poor security, so I protect myself the only way I know how; using Linux. I will continue to advocate the use of GNU/Linux in the server arena. This is where its strength lies at the moment.

    Because of their history of spreading virii, I don't use the applications that Microsoft has provided with Windows XP. My wife and I use Mozilla for web browsing and email, OpenOffice.org for word processing, and Psi (Jabber client) for instant messaging. All of these are true multi-user win32 programs, and are perfectly interoperable with their Linux counterparts.

    I expect that the Linux community will have something to say about this article; I welcome comments and constructive criticism. Flames will be automatically sent to the Windows equivalent of /dev/null, once I find where that actually is.

    By Tony âoekNIGitsâ Collins

    - posted by poopbot: because we're all crapflooders at heart

    LnUC9CVzk3 Post #436

  31. The "Moon": A Liberal Myth by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Credits: 70%

    It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)

    Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors .. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.

    Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!

    Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our governme

    - posted by poopbot: providing truth in a deceitful world

    VeGxsqB4V3 Post #437

  32. Do we need complex acronyms? by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Credits: dmg

    Yet again the Linux so-called elite, backed up by their pseudo intellectual cohorts of the w3c conspire to ruin Linux's chances in the marketplace by sowing confusion and complexity. As someone with years of experience in the marketing world, I am constantly amazed at the willingness of the W3C and other bodies to pollute the acronym space with their content free "TLAs".

    Basic marketing 101 (and an undergrad course in psychology) would tell them that the normal person is only capable of remembering approximately 7 items of data in their short-term memory, but now we have to remember HTTP, HTML, XML, XSL, DTD, PHP, SSL, DSL, ADSL, ISDN, Perl, etc etc etc

    This is a text book example of the tail wagging the dog from a marketing perspective.

    I have been following the standardisation of the web for many many months now, but one thing has become clear, E-commerce will NEVER become popular so long as there are so many confusing acronyms involved. The guys in charge of marketing Linux absolutely MUST work to reduce the number of acronyms. One possible solution would be to merge those protocols which are not all that different. For example, why not merge XML with SGML ? (they could call it XSGML or SXGML or perhaps XMSGML), they seem to address the same problems. Or would that be too simplistic a solution for their pampered elitist ivy-league minds to comprehend ?

    If something is not done URGENTLY, and I mean URGENTLY, Linux (and other more experimental derivatives such as FreeBSD) can never hope to be taken seriously as an e-commerce platform by the people who count - the accountants.

    The miracle of Linux is that anyone actually runs it at all, considering one seems to require a masters in computer science to install it! (contrast this with NT4 which was so easy to install, we let our receptionist upgrade her own machine).

    As usual my "open source" advice is free. Hopefully this time my valuable advice will be taken into account the next time the w3c smell an acronym brewing.

    Finally, in conclusion, as an American, I am saddened that the Internet seems to have been commandeered by a European based protocol. Was America so short of talent we had to buy the HTML protocol from Tom Berners-Lee at CERN ?

    Think of the security implications of the worlds strongest economy, running an e-commerce protocol developed by a foreigner from Socialist Europe. Remember the wall has not been down for that long. Who knows what kind of trojans might be lurking within the depths of these complicated protocols.

    I am afraid I am behind Al Gore on this point, how can this be necessary in the home of smart corporations such as Microsoft and Intel ? The answer is the vast subsidies given by European socialist governments to fund development of the HTML specification.

    The solution is clear. The federal government should mandate and strongly subsidise the use of Microsoft software for all US corporations involved in e-commerce. Only with a US-developed set of protocols can we be assured of the security of our transactions.

    - posted by poopbot: because we're all crapflooders at heart

    cQKCq8dStY Post #438

  33. Why not use Mozilla/XUL by joshsnow · · Score: 1

    I was thinking about something like this recently. However, I envisioned it using XUL/XPCOM. If Moz/Netscape were as prolific as they were 4 years ago, this sort of tech could take over the world.

  34. Censordot!! by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Happy Troll Tuesday!


    Version 1.1.8 (last updated 19th July 2002 by Anonymous Coward)

    Note to moderators : Do not moderate this post down, if you do then you support the editors stance on censorship and you support the end of free speech and support evil organisations like Microsoft, RIAA, MPAA and laws like the CBTBA and DMCA

    Sign this petition, let your voice be heard!

    Slashdot is using censorship! It is trying to eridicate free and open discussion like we know slashdot to be, it has the following RESTRICTIONS in place to Censor you

    They claim they don't, but they do, wonder why their are so many trolls, crapflooders and lamers on slashdot, because they are fighting for their rights! Slashdot is trying to silence the trolls. Remove the filters, the trolls get bored, and slashdot will be troll free!
    • Lameness filters (It blocks a lot of legitmate posts)
    • Unnessary posting delays. Hasnt taco learned to touch type? A lot of posts are typed in less than 20 seconds and it is a ANNOYING DELAY! 2 minute ban? Come on, so some are faster then others, big deal, some people have more to say than others
    • Broken moderation system, The whole point is to sort the gems from the crap, yet a lot of posts designed to make a LIVELY DISCUSSION are MODERATED as flamebait! Come on, not everyone likes X, but just because some one bashes it dosent mean its Flamebait. Flame bait is more useful for DIRECT INSULTS and not legitmate discussions.
    The "troll" moderation reason is fragmented and broken, why? Because they are trying to use an obsolete usenet term on a realtime discussion, "trolls" can cover a huge blanket of ideas.
    • Crapfloods, a meaningless flood of random letters or text, which the lameness filter does a crappy job at trying to stop, besides trolls have written tools using the opensource slashcode to generate crapfloods which bypass the filter
    • Links to offensive websites, the most common one is known a http://www.goatse.cx, a awful site which shows a bleeding anus being stretched on the front page. Trolls sneak these links in by posting messages that look legitimate, but infact are sneaky redirects to the site. Common examples include rd.yahoo.com, www.linux-kernel.tk, goatsex.cjb.net, and googles "Im feeling lucky".
    • Trying to break slashdot, this is actually a good thing, as it helps test slashdot for bugs. Famous examples include the goatse.cx javascript pop-up, the pagewidening post and the browser crashing post!
    Subnet banning, this bans a user unless they email jamie macarthy with their mp5ed ipids. This is unfair, and banning a subnet BLOCKS A WHOLE ISP SOMETIMES, and not that individual user! This can cause chaos! But real trolls use annoymous proxys to get around this so THIS JUST BANS LEGITMATE USERS! Also, they are trying to censor some anoymous proxies, mainly from countrys like africa, so this yet more DISCRIMINATION!

    But, the issue that concerens us the most, is the COMMENT QUOTA. A discrimatory system that stiffles discussion, cripples the community and will ultimateley destroy slashdot unless it is removed! Annoymous cowards are allowed only 10 posts a day! This is unethical! Users with negative karma only get two! That is DISCRIMINATION! How would you like to only be able to speak once a day, just because of the color of your skin. That would be racism, and slashdot is discrimitating on people just because of a negative number in a database! BOYCOTT SLASHDOT! LET THEM DIE!

    We wan't these stupid useless restrictions REMOVED! This comment will be posted again and again until it does!

    Inportant imformation for users
    Boycott slashdot, they are pissing over their community, they are becoming like the RIAA and MICROSOFT! Do NOT TOLERATE THIS SHIT! Here are some real news for nerds sites. We don't need slashdot, slashdot deserves to die!

    MSNBC
    BBC NEWS
    News.com
    Linux online
    Linux daily news network [linuxdailynews.net]
    Weird news from dailyrotten.com
    Trollaxor, news for trolls, they are real people too!
    CNN.com
    New york times (free registration required)
    LINUX.com
    News forge
    K5
    Mandrake forum
    Toms hardware
    The register
    Kde dot news
    The linux kernel Archives
    Adequecy

    There are hundreds more, But this is where slashdot STEALS THE MAJORITY OF its "news" from.

    Punish them, here are their emails, spam them, flame them goatse them!
    Rob malda
    Jamie Macarthy
    ChrisD
    Hemos
    Micheal
    Pudge

    The others ones apperantly dont have an e-mail, probably because ROB MALDA IS PRETENDING HE IS JOHN KATZ.

    Thank you for reading this, please feel free to repost this information, please reply to add your comments, fight slashdot and its CENSORSHIP

    Don't forget to sign the petition!

    - posted by poopbot: providing truth in a deceitful world

    RUbplr7AXG Post #439
  35. Open Source Development HOW-TO by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Credits: onby

    1. Introduction

    As everyone knows, Open Source software is the wave of the future. With the market share of GNU/Linux and *BSD increasing every day, interest in Open Source Software is at an all time high.

    Developing software within the Open Source model benefits everyone. People can take your code, improve it and then release it back to the community. This cycle continues and leads to the creation of far more stable software than the 'Closed Source' shops can ever hope to create.

    So you're itching to create that Doom 3 killer but don't know where to start? Read on!

    2. First Steps
    The most important thing that any Open Source project needs is a Sourceforge page. There are tens of thousands of successful Open Source projects on Sourceforge; the support you receive here will be invaluable.

    OK, so you've registered your Sourceforge project and set the status to '0: Pre-Thinking About It', what's next?

    3. Don't Waste Time!

    Now you need to set up your SourceForge homepage. Keep it plain and simple - don't use too many HTML tags, just knock something up in VI. Website editors like FrontPage and DreamWeaver just create bloated eye-candy - you need to get your message to the masses!

    4. Ask For Help

    Since you probably can't program at all you'll need to try and find some people who think they can. If your project is a game you'll probably need an artist too. Ask for help on your new Sourceforge pages. Here is an example to get you started:

    "Hi there! Welcom to my SorceForge page! I am planing to create a Fisrt Person Shooter game for Linux that is going to kick Doom 3's ass! I have loads of awesome ideas, like giant robotic spiders! I need some help thouh as I cant program or draw. If you can program or draw the tekstures please get in touch! K thx bye!"

    Thousands of talented programmers and artists hang out at Sourceforge ready to devote their time to projects so you should get a team together in no time!

    5. The A-Team

    So now you have your team together you are ready to change your projects status to '1: Pre-Bickering'. You will need to discuss your ideas with your team mates and see what value they can add to the project. You could use an Instant Messaging program like MSN for this, but since you run Linux you'll have to stick to e-mail.

    Don't forget that YOU are in charge! If your team doesn't like the idea of giant robotic spiders just delete them from the project and move on. Someone else can fill their place and this is the beauty of Open Source development. The code might end up a bit messy and the graphics inconsistant - but it's still 'Free as in Speech'!

    6. Getting Down To It

    Now that you've found a team of right thinking people you're ready to start development. Be prepared for some delays though. Programming is a craft and can take years to learn. Your programmer may be a bit rusty but will probably be writing "hello world" programs after school in no time.

    Closed Source games like Doom 3 use the graphics card to do all the hard stuff anyhow, so your programmer will just have to get the NVidia 'API' and it will be plain sailing! Giant robot spiders, here we come!

    7. The Outcome

    So it's been a few years, you still have no files released or in CVS. Your programmer can't get enough time on the PC because his mother won't let him use it after 8pm. Your artist has run off with a Thai She-Male. Your project is still at '1: Pre-Bickering'...

    Congratulations! You now have a successful Open Source project on Sourceforge! Pat yourself on the back, think up another idea and do it all again! See how simple it is?

    - posted by poopbot: for all your crapflooding needs

    bzhQ80XJFe Post #440

  36. Do what you can do? by software_non_olet · · Score: 1

    That's a baby's attitude - learning to move the fingers and put the foot into the mouth. Hhhmmm - tasty!

    When Flash is used to control micro-devices, I'm going to use assembler for movie-making.

    Please switch on the brain before programming.

  37. THE OFFICIAL TACO-SNOTTING FAQ by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    THE OFFICIAL TACO-SNOTTING FAQ [slashdot.org]
    By J. Wipo Troll, Esq. [slashdot.org], $Revision: 1.16 $
    [This article attempts to document a vile, ungodly practice that runs rampant through the homosexual geek and hacker community, a practice known as âoeTaco-snotting,â or simply âoesnotting.â Taco-snotting is something that few geeks dare talk about in free or open conversation, but it is nonetheless a widely-practiced and dangerous form of homosexuality. If you or anyone you know has ever engaged in Taco-snotting, please get professional help [adequacy.org] before it is too late. â"ed.]

    Why do I keep receiving emails from an individual calling himself âoeCmdrTacoâ?
    You have been receiving unsolicited mailings from a certain Robert âoeCmdrTacoâ Malda [cmdrtaco.net], owner of the popular technology website slashdot.org [slashdot.org]. Actually, itâ(TM)s not a very âoepopularâ site in the common sense of the word; the site is rife with pimply, antisocial geeks and hackers, zit-faced nerds, communists, dirty GNU hippies [yahoo.com], and other societal rejects and outcasts. Itâ(TM)s also home to one of the worldâ(TM)s largest suspected pædophile rings, the infamous âoeSlashdot crew.â
    Whenever Mr. Malda gets bored (and who wouldnâ(TM)t, running a site like Slashdot all day), he roams through the user database, penis in hand, looking for people who might enjoy engaging in homosexual activities with him. How he determines this is anyoneâ(TM)s guess; but if you have a homosexual-sounding nickname, or a nick with a letter of the English alphabet in it, youâ(TM)re a potential candidate.
    This time, he found you. Lucky you.

    Mr. Malda seems to be speaking in some sort of code. Do you know what it means?
    CmdrTacoâ(TM)s code language is relatively easy to decipher. This pervert prefers to speak in thinly-veiled sexual innuendo (yes, thatâ(TM)s right: he wants you) to evade the watchful eye of Slashdotâ(TM)s parent corporation, VA Software [yahoo.com]. Mr. Maldaâ(TM)s âoeCommanderâ is, of course, his penis: a small, withered little thing that lives in his pants and only comes out in the presence of other male geeks or at the beck and call of Maldaâ(TM)s own lubed-up right hand. His âoeTaco bells [sonymusic.com]â are the shriveled testicles that droop beneath his Commander, and his âoeTaco sauceâ is his thin, runny semen. It should be more than obvious to you now what he means if he asked you to âoering his Taco bellsâ or âoetaste his gourmet Taco sauce.â
    I would also guess CmdrTaco asked you to engage in a practice known as âoeTaco-snottingâ and, if he was in a particularly depraved mood at the time, a âoecircle-snot.â

    Good Lord. And, yes, he did. What is âoeTaco-snottingâ?
    âoeTaco-snottingâ is the term used by Robert Malda to refer to the depraved act of fellating another man (homo- or heterosexual; CmdrTaco is rumoured to prefer raping unwilling victims), then blowing the semen out his nose and back onto the face and body of his victim. Naturally, a long, bubbly stream of milky-white semen is left on CmdrTacoâ(TM)s face [go.com], dribbling out of his nose and down his cheek: hence the term, âoeTaco-snotting.â
    And if thatâ(TM)s not bad enoughâ¦
    A âoecircle-snotâ is a Taco-snotting circle-jerk, another practice common among the Slashdot crew [bastardgenres.com]. CmdrTaco, CowboiKneel [aol.com], and Homos get together and snot each other with their gooey, sticky cum â" spooging their jizz-snot all over each otherâ(TM)s faces and pasty, white bodies, until theyâ(TM)re covered head to toe with their own and each otherâ(TM)s man juice. This vile, ungodly ritual can go on for hours. For the homosexual penetration that follows this lengthy foreplay, Roblowme is usually there to provide plenty of anal lubricant; he owns a limousine service and has ample supplies of motor oil and axle grease ready to go.
    To complete this perverted orgy, fellow faggots Michael, Timothy, and Jamie will usually join in, dressed in tight leather mock-S.S. uniforms, jack boots, and leather gloves. The homosexual shenanigans that follow are nearly beyond description. The whole group begins to snot each otherâ(TM)s spunk and whip each otherâ(TM)s pudgy asses with riding crops and chains until their pale, white geek bodies are exhausted and soaked in stinking sweat from the hours of passionate, homosexual revelry.

    Ewwwwww. So, can I stop receiving these emails?
    Hopefully, but I wouldnâ(TM)t count on it.
    To begin with, you most likely forgot to uncheck the âoeWilling to Snotâ checkbox in your account preferences. CmdrTaco has probably already got the hots for your wad (do you have a homosexual-sounding nick?), and heâ(TM)s probably already been lurking outside your bathroom window for weeks with a camera, some tissues and lube, just waiting to pounce and declare you his new bitch. Thereâ(TM)s no escaping a geek in heat (trust me), so itâ(TM)s probably too late for you, but you can possibly rectify this situation. To remove yourself from CmdrTacoâ(TM)s sights, log into your Slashdot account, go to your user page, click on Messages, and uncheck the box next to âoeWilling to Snot.â Maybe heâ(TM)ll ignore you. Probably not.

    I canâ(TM)t stop receiving these emails from CmdrTaco!?
    If you indulge him in a Taco-snot or two, hemight leave you alone. You might also want to look into mail filtering, restraining orders, or purchasing a heavy, blunt object capable of warding off rampaging homosexual geeks in heat. Trust me, when they charge⦠oh, the humanity. If he gets you, and you let him Taco-snot all over you, you will most likely end up tied up in his basement to be used as his sex slave for the rest of your life (or until he accidentally drowns you in spunk in a circle-snot).

    Have you ever been Taco-snotted?
    Unfortunately, yes. I first met Mr. Malda at an Open Source Convention [amazon.com]. He invited me back to his room for a game of Quake and some âoegourmet Tacos,â but when I got there, the perverted geek jumped me and handcuffed me to his bed, stripping me. After taking his âoeCommanderâ out of his pants, Mr. Taco made me suck the withered thing six times, virtually nonstop. He then performed his vile Taco-snotting ritual on me three times over the next two hours, bringing me to orgasm after orgasm after sweaty, mind-numbing orgasm⦠then he snotted my own thick, gooey jizz back onto my face out of his nostrils! He snotted me two more times, first into my mouth, then again on my exposed belly.
    CmdrTaco invited several of his Open Source (or rather, âoeOpen Sauceâ â" man sauce) buddies over to continue their ungodly snotfest. European hacker and known überfaggot Linux Torvalds raped my ass [yahoo.com] with his âoemonolithic kernel [yahoo.com];â his partner-in-crime Anal Cox used their âoenetwork stackâ in a multitude of unspeakable ways on and in every orifice of my defenseless, tender, young body. Michael Sims was there in his leather Nazi uniform, caning my previously-virginal ass with a bamboo pole and ranting about âoeall those Censorware [spectacle.org] freaks out to get him.â

    That is so disgusting! How did you finally escape?
    After about 16 hours of countless unholy, homosexual atrocities perpetrated against my restrained body, they all finally went to sleep on top of me, sweat-soaked and exhausted. I was left there, completely covered in bubbly, translucent jizz-snot, chained to the bed, with half a dozen fat, pasty-white fags lying around and on top of me. Fortunately the spooge coating my flesh worked wonderfully as a lubricant â" I was able to squirm my way out of the handcuffs and slip out the back door (of the apartment, not their back doors). Iâ(TM)m just glad I survived the awful ordeal. These sexually-repressed hackers had alot of built-up spunk in their wads â" I couldâ(TM)ve easily been drowned!

    Thatâ(TM)s horrible. Does âoeTaco-snottingâ have anything to do with CmdrTacoâ(TM)s âoespecial tacoâ?
    No, thatâ(TM)s a different disgusting perversion CmdrTaco indulges himself in. Mr. Malda is usually not satisfied with merely snotting your own jizz back onto your face, he most often enjoys involving his own bodily fluids in his twisted games. WeatherTroll [slashdot.org] has spent some time trying to educate the Slashdot readership [slashdot.org] about this vile practice (emphasis added):
    You may be wondering what CmdrTacoâ(TM)s âoespecial tacoâ is. You will be wishing that you hadnâ(TM)t been wondering after you finish reading this post. To make his âoespecial taco,â CmdrTaco takes a taco shell and shits on it. He then adds lettuce, takes out his tiny withered dick (otherwise known as his âoeCommanderâ), puts his âoespecial taco sauceâ on it which means he jacks off on the taco, and adds a compound to make the person who eats the taco unconscious. Of course, the compound does not make the person unconscious until the taco is fully eaten. Thus CmdrTaco force-feeds the taco to the unsuspecting victim. After all, who would knowingly eat shit and CmdrTacoâ(TM)s jizz?
    After the victim is unconscious, he is held against his will and used for CmdrTacoâ(TM)s nefarious homosexual purposes. This includes shoving taco shells up the victimâ(TM)s ass, Taco-snotting, and getting Jon Katz involved. Trust me, you do not want Jon Katz anywhere near your unconscious body. Also, rumor has it CmdrTaco is looking for a new goatse.cx guy [goatse.cx]. Donâ(TM)t let it be you!
    Different ungodly perversion, yet no less revolting. It should be clear to you now that Robert âoeCmdrTacoâ Malda is a very, very sick individual, as are most of the Slashdot editors.

    Does Jon Katz get involved in any of this? I thought he was a pædophile, not a homosexual.
    Actually, Jon Katz is a homosexual pædophile. Heâ(TM)s also a coprophiliac, and, many suspect, a zoophile. Mr. Katz is somewhat of a loner and doesnâ(TM)t involve himself in the circle-snots, but that doesâ(TM)t mean heâ(TM)s any less of a freak than the rest of the Slashdot crew. Katz often engages in a game called âoejuicy-douching [aol.com]â with a harem of little-boy slaves that he has collected over the years: yet another vile practice which involves administering an enema to himself of the little boyâ(TM)s urine (forced out of them with a pair of pincers), spooging the vile muck from his ass back into the enema bag, then dribbling and slathering the goo all over himself and the boyâ(TM)s chained, naked bodies. If heâ(TM)s in the mood, he will sometimes skip refilling the enema bag from his distended anus and just squirt it from his ass [microsoft.com] onto the crying, terrified boys. Unwilling boys are further tortured with the pincers until they comply and allow Mr. Katz to juicy-douche them at will. A boy will usually last about two years before Mr. Katz either accidentally drowns them in diarrhea or kills them once they get too old, usually around 13 or 14.
    Not content with being a pædophilic coprophile, Mr. Katz is also quite the zoophile. As if the sexual escapades with the helpless little boys arenâ(TM)t enough, Jon usually enjoys his juicy-douches best when his penis is firmly planted in a female goatâ(TM)s anus [yahoo.com]. He is also rumoured to get off on watching his little boys eat the goatâ(TM)s small, bean-like turds, and he often kills his older boys by letting his goats trample them.

    â¦Are you getting hard writing this?
    Why, yes. :) Join me in a WIPO-snot?

    No, thanks. Iâ(TM)m already CmdrTacoâ(TM)s boi toi.
    ________________________________________

    * The URL of this document is
    * Previous revisions are publicly available at

    $Id: tacosnotting.html,v 1.16 2001/12/28 21:20:03 wipo Exp $
    Copyright © 2001 J. Wipo Troll, Esq. [slashdot.org] Verbatim crapflooding of this document is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved, and next time you take a dump, you think of the WIPO Troll and all heâ(TM)s done to make Slashdot a better place.

    - posted by poopbot: for all your crapflooding needs

    snSDvFmdPU Post #441

  38. A typical slashdot day by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Credits: anonymous

    "Mmmm... this feels good..." I sighed.
    "Shhh!" hissed Hemos. "We don't want Mark to come in here!"

    True. Having Hemos's 16 year-old brother walk in on us at that moment would not be good. I didn't think he'd be too cool with finding his 12 year-old brother lying naked with me, holding my 11 year-old dick in his hands. But, in all fairness, my hands were eagerly playing with Hemos's dick and balls at that moment, too.

    Hemos's mom and dad had gone to the drive-in, leaving his big brother in charge. In our favor, leaving Mark in charge pretty much guaranteed that we weren't to bother him, and in turn, he'd leave us alone unless we were making too much noise or breaking something. Well, we were being careful to keep quiet because we very much wanted to be left alone.

    We were in Hemos's twin bed, snuggled under the covers with our underwear pushed down to the foot of the bed. The only illumination in the room came from the faint sliver of light that crept in under his bedroom door. Even in the shadows I could make out the shape of my friend; about my height, but heavier. (Hell, I was such a skinny runt that everyone was heavier than me.) Hemos had a crew-cut of white-blonde hair, and was only starting to sprout some pubic hair. But, you had to feel for it because what little pubic hair he possessed was as blonde as the short hair on his hea and could not yet be seen by even a minimal distance.

    And, I was happily feeling for it, running my hands all over Hemos's slightly larger erection and fondling his larger testicles while he courteously stroked my dick. I could tell that he didn't possess the same enthusiasm for cockplay as I did, unless you count his appreciation for the attention devoted to his member. And I knew that my willingness to satisfy his sexual urges was one of the few reasons he even had me sleep over at his place. But, I didn't let that stop me from finding pleasure in the handling of his meat.

    I'd recently had an "introduction", of sorts, to seeing what someone could do with a man's dick with their mouth. While spending the night with my Uncle Jerry a couple weeks before, while I watched in secret, I was treated to a visual display of the intensity and unabashed pleasure that my uncle had obviously enjoyed having another man suck on his cock. From that moment on, I had a yearning that I needed to satisfy. With who was my only question.

    I guess it was time to find out.

    "I... heard that sucking on it feels even better than playing with it." I ventured.

    In the darkness, I could feel a slight jerk of revulsion in Hemos's body.

    "Put a dick in your mouth?" he croaked.

    "Well, " I countered, my heart pounding with anxiety, "I think adults do it all the time."

    "Well, I'm not gonna do it!" Hemos hissed. "That's homo stuff!"

    "Yeah." I sighed disappointedly, while still playing with Hemos's dick. "I guess it is."

    As I stroked his shaft in a steadier, milking rhythm, I could sense Hemos's breaths getting quicker. His manipulations of my dick began to falter as I could feel his body tense beside me. His hips rocked slightly in time with my pumping of his cock, and I cradled his balls tenderly in my other hand. When any attentions to my own dick has completely ebbed, I knew what was about to happen, so I picked up the pace just a bit more while lending a touch more pressure in my grip. Finally, Hemos's breath caught in his throat, and he turned his face fully into his pillow to stifle the moans that broke free as his cock pulsed and throbbed in a dry orgasm within my hands. I continued to massage him and didn't release him from my grasp until his member had gone fully soft.

    "Man," sighed Hemos dreamily after finally catching his breath. "You are so good at that, CmdrTaco."

    At least I had something to be proud of, I guess, as my friend gently withdrew himself from me and rolled onto his back.

    Even though I was only eleven, the irony of Hemos's words and actions were not lost on me. My sucking on him would have been a "homo" thing, but beating him off was okay. Go figure. Within the few moments I had spent mulling over the irony of the thoughts, Hemos had drifted off to sleep. I slipped out from under the covers and down to the cool floor so I could masturbate without shaking the bed. As I toyed with my own dick, I imagined Hemos's cock in my mouth, wondering if the chance would ever really come. Finally, my own climax washed over me, and I got back into the bed.

    I don't sleep real well to begin with, and even worse when I'm not in my own bed. And now, with the thoughts of a dick so close to me, as well as the vivid memories of secretly seeing man-to-man cocksucking pleasure floating through my prepubescent, sex-filled brain, I was not about to fall asleep anytime soon. Lying awake until around 11:30, I finally decided that I needed to do something to satisfy my hungers, or I'd never be able to let it rest. The trick was in finding the guts to follow through.

    I knew that whenever Hemos fell asleep, he pretty much stayed asleep. So, since he was sleeping soundly, lying on his back, I took a deep breath and gingerly ducked my head under the covers and scooted down as much as I could to the foot of the bed. That put my head right at Hemos's hip level. I raised my head and upper body to help create a tent over his crotch. Sniffing around, I found the faint scent of young penis flesh. I inhaled deeply, both in the love of the scent, and in an attempt to slow my pounding heart. I opened my mouth wide over the area where I sensed Hemos's dick to be, and lowered my mouth squarely over his soft cock and balls until I could feel his sparse pubic hairs tickling my cheek. I finally had a dick in my mouth! I just wasn't sure what I'd do if Hemos woke to find his "homo" friend in this situation.

    I remained like that for a long moment, partially in fear of trying anything more, and partly to savor the moment. I carefully let my tongue start to explore his tender penile flesh, enjoying the texture. Then came the excitement that welled within me as his cock began to respond to my attentions and harden in my warm and wet mouth! Butterflies seemed to explode in my stomach and drown out my heartbeat as I felt his dick get to its full size in my mouth. Concentrating in that dark environment, I found myself beginning to identify the shape of his member by taste. The shaft actually seemed to taste different than the head, and the thin skin of his scrotum seemed to harbor another distinct flavor.

    I started to softly suck on Hemos's dick, becoming fascinated at how it just seemed to, well, 'fit' in my mouth... how the head lent itself to the back of my tongue, and how the shaft rested between my tongue and the roof of my mouth. My excitement was so great that my own recently satisfied dick was responding again, inviting me to play. I was sucking a cock, and I was in heaven!

    However, within seconds, Hemos seemed to get restless. In fear, I quickly pulled my mouth away from Hemos's candy stick and held still. The covers rustled, and pulled back.

    "Whatcha doin'?" mumbled Hemos.

    "I... uh... was trying to find my shorts down here," I lied, starting to fumble near our feet. Well, partial lie, because it was a good idea to do so, anyway, and now was as good a time as any.

    "Oh, yeah," said Hemos. "Get mine, too, willya?"

    "S-sure" I stammered, relieved.

    I located the two items of clothing and scooted back up towards the head of the bed. Thankfully, our underwear were pretty easy to distinguish since Hemos wore boxers, and I wore briefs. We both fumbled to put them on in the dark, and then settled back into the bed. I lay stiffly on my back, still harboring some fear that my friend discovered more than he let on, but Hemos simply rolled onto his side, facing away from me, and promptly went back to sleep.

    And, here I was again, so close to my fantasies, yet still so far.

    And very much awake.

    After hearing the clock in the hallway chime midnight, I finally got up to go to the bathroom. Figuring it was late enough not to be an issue, and since even if Hemos's parents were home that they would be in their own bedroom downstairs, I didn't bother to slip on my pants for the short trip down the hall. I walked softly to the bedroom door, and then stepped out into the hallway, illuminated dimly by a bare-bulb night light. I walked past big brother Mark's door to the bathroom at the end of the hall and turned on the light as I shut the door.

    Peeing into the toilet, I looked up at my reflection in the large mirror and smiled slyly to myself. I actually sucked on a dick, even if for only a moment! At that moment I was Rob Maldo, secret agent double-O-seven, who could sneak in and suck a dick, and sneak away without being caught!

    I flushed the toilet and switched out the light as I headed back down the hall. Slipping past Mark's door once again, the door flew open, and a hand covered my mouth while a muscular arm snapped around my waist and drew me into the room. Squirming in the arms of Hemos's athletic older brother was a waste of effort, and he only squeezed harder until I settled down.

    "You'll keep quiet if you know what's good for you,' growled Mark into my ear. "You gonna be quiet?"

    I nodded. Mark let go of my mouth and reached over to close his bedroom door, the other hand and arm still holding me firmly with my feet off the ground. I heard something click, and recalled, and not without a certain amount of childish fear, that Mark had a lock on his door.

    The room had a yellowish glow from the large lava lamp next to Mark's bed. He took me over to the bed and tossed me face down onto it, kneeling next to me. I thought briefly about trying to get up and run, but to where?

    When I felt Mark's hands on me again, I was determined to fight him off, but I was no match for him as he flipped me onto my back and straddled me, sitting squarely on my upper chest, his knees pinning my shoulders and my arms locked between his legs. I gazed up at his lean, muscled torso, his stern blue eyes under a tussled mane of reddish-blonde hair. I could feel the soft fabric of his boxers against my chin.

    "Can't get up, can ya?" he said, grinning down at me, all snide and victorious.

    I struggled a bit, more out of obligation, but knew it was no use. Mark was just too big for me.

    "Whatsamatter?" huffed Mark. "You too weak to fight? Or, maybe you just like laying there, sniffing dicks?"

    I started squirming a bit harder, but Mark's legs only clamped tighter. At least he had scooted down a bit, and was no longer suffocating me with his weight on my chest.

    "Yeah! Maybe you're a homo-boy who just likes sniffing dicks. Maybe you wanna sniff my big dick?"

    I didn't care for where this was going, and I wasn't too comfortable with the tone of Mark's voice. But, I was also not being given much of a choice in the matter. Especially when Mark reached into the fly of his boxers and pulled out his cock.

    "Here you are, homo-boy... a nice, fresh big-man dick!" grinned Mark fiendishly. "Ain't it a beaut?"

    He held it out for me, then leaned forward and started to rub his cock on my face, tracing my cheeks and nose with the bulbous head. His testicles soon followed his dick through the opening, until they were dangling on my chin, the coarse pubes tickling my lips. Their faint musky scent began to fill my nostrils.

    "CmdrTaco's just a little dick-faced homo-boy, ain't he?" sneered Mark, sliding his cock across my face. "I saw you in there, your head under the covers. What were you doing? Giving my little brother a blow job?"

    I didn't answer. I was at once shocked at the thought of having been discovered, and confused by Mark's remark. I then guessed that he meant sucking a dick was called a 'blow job'. But... you're not blowing, you're sucking, and-

    "You were, weren't you, you little homo!"

    It was obvious what had happened; that Mark had looked in on us to find my head under the blankets. I thought I had sensed a miniscule change in the light, but assumed that to be part of my excitement. That must have been what woke Hemos up so suddenly.

    "So, maybe you aren't just dick-faced, " he said, rubbing his cock on my face again. "Maybe you're a dick sucker!" He leaned forward, mashing his hairy ball sack into my nose, then pulling back to trace my features again with his member. But, even as Mark taunted me, treating his cock as a threatening weapon, there was something else happening.

    He was getting a boner.

    And as I closed my eyes, I could feel his cock thickening against my face. I could sense the heat of his hardening dick directly on my flesh. And, I found I was enjoying the sensations of this older cock against my face. There would soon be no way of hiding the fact that I was getting excited, too.

    "So, dick-sucker-CmdrTaco... you're gonna suck my dick, now."

    My eyes sprung open to see Mark's fully erect cock pointing at my face. While it wasn't huge (I had already seen 'huge' with my Uncle Jerry), it was still big enough to scare me.

    And excite me to no end.

    "Open wide, homo-boy."

    Without another moment of hesitation, or taking my eyes off of Mark's sleek tool, I opened my mouth as wide as I could and watched as he leaned down and slid that beautiful cock into my waiting mouth. I then settled my tongue against the bottom half of his shaft while I could feel the upper half press against the roof of my mouth. Its texture was soft, yet hard; smooth, yet distinct.

    "There," he sighed. "Now, you have a real dick to suck on. Now, get started, suck-boy!"

    It was so much bigger than Hemos's young dick, I wasn't sure if I could get enough suction worked up to suck on it. It was then that I found out what sucking a cock is really all about: friction.

    Mark held the base of his dick to guide himself and started to pump into my mouth, sliding his dick in and out of my salivating lips. He would slip in precariously between my teeth until he was near to choke me, then pull back out until the base of the bulbous head was just close to popping free from my lips, held in place by the suction of my mouth. Then he... we... would do it all over again... over and over... and gloriously over again.

    "Oh, you are good, CmdrTaco," he moaned softly. "You suck cock real good."

    I don't know about that; it seemed he was doing all the real work. But, I wanted it to be good. I wanted to have this dick in my mouth. And I wanted it again and again. I was definitely enjoying the oral sensations as his near-adult dick worked back and forth in my hungry mouth, and I wanted so much to please him so he would want my mouth again.

    Mark placed his other hand on the top of my head to steady me as his thrusts became a little more erratic. His breath quickened, and I could sense that he was trying hard not to ram himself all the way down my throat and choke me. He was making little grunts with each thrust, and I could feel his dick turn to stone in my mouth when, in a mix of fear and excitement, I suddenly recalled what would happen next.

    "Oh, baby... oh, fuck..."

    Mark's movements got all quick and jerky. I was almost afraid to breathe.

    "OHHHH!!!" he moaned, pulling out of my mouth and letting loose with a burst of white goo that seemed to splatter all over as he pumped his dick with his fist. My head still held firmly in his other hand, the warm liquid flew partly into my still open mouth, and all over my nose and eyebrows. I swallowed briefly, not sure whether to gag or hope for more, tasting fully the salty and musky liquid, then opened my mouth once more as Mark stuck his creaming cock back in and worked the thick fluid throughout my young mouth.

    I sucked until Mark went soft and withdrew his spent dick. He smiled down at me, obviously proud of what he had done. He finally got off of me (good thing since I thought my arms were going to fall off) and stood there for a moment, an interesting picture with his hands on his hips, and his drained cock and balls hanging out of the fly of his plaid boxers. I just lay there with his juices clinging to my skin, wanting to do it all over again.

    Mark bent down and picked up a t-shirt, and proceeded to wipe the remainder of his goo off my face. Finished with that, he tossed the shirt into a hamper and walked over to his bedroom door to unlock it as he tucked his manhood back into his underwear.

    "You better get back into Hemos's bed before mom and dad find you here," he said softly.

    I reluctantly got off Mark's bed and walked to the door. As I was about to exit, he reached out to stop me briefly.

    "You liked that, didn't you, homo-boy?"

    I nodded, not sure where he was going with this inquiry.

    "Your first taste of cum?"

    I shrugged, then nodded again.

    "If you're good, maybe I'll let you suck my dick again some time, CmdrTaco. Now, get your ass out of here before I kick it."

    I stepped out of the room and felt the door close harshly behind me. I could still taste traces of Mark's cum in my mouth, could still sense the friction of his cock on my tongue. I smiled in remembrance.

    I was hooked.

    - posted by poopbot: information likes to be narrow

    3ogna2JWxt Post #442

  39. Slashdot has confirmed:PWP is dying by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered trolling community when recently Slashdot confirmed that, after several changes were made to production Slashcode, wide posts account for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all Slashdot posts. Coming on the heels of the latest verions of IE which make page-widening more difficult, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. the wide posts that we love are collapsing into the narrow posts that we are used to, as further exemplified by the lack of Slashbots complaining about difficulty reading Slashdot's articles.

    You don't need to be a Klerck to predict PWP's future. The hand writing is on the wall: PWP faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for PWP because PWP is dying. Things are looking very bad for PWP. As many of us are already aware, PWP continues to be defeated by users with thresholds of 1 or higher. Mod points flow like a river of blood. Klerck's PWP-bot posts are the most endangered of them all, having been filtered early on because of their uniformity.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    PWP leader Klerck states that there are 7 wide posts in the average Slashdot article. How many non-wide crapflood posts are there? Let's see. The number of crapflood versus wide posts on Slahdot is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7*5 = 35 non-wide crapflood posts in every Slashdot article. Tacosnotting posts on Slashdot are about half of the volume of crapflood posts. Therefore there are about 17 tacosnotting posts per article. A recent article put Goatse.cx trolls at about 80 percent of total troll posts. Therefore there are a hell of a lot of homosexual trolls. This is consistent with the number of Goatse.cx Slashdot posts.

    But Slashdot is only part of the picture. Due to the troubles at Slashdot, negative revenue and so on, the site will soon go out of business and many users will flock to alternative weblogs, where PWP is almost completely unknown. Trollaxor.com, the popular troll hangout, is also dying, its corpse sodomized in yet another Greek bath house.

    All major surveys show that PWP has steadily declined in the scope of all troll posts. PWP is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If PWP is to survive at all it will be among Blog faggot using outdated versions of Slashcode. PWP continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, PWP is dead.

    - posted by poopbot: for all your crapflooding needs

    GGtULEF9p3 Post #443

  40. That word doesn't mean what you think it means by shoppa · · Score: 2, Informative
    Mistake: Using the words Flash and Embedded in the article title.

    Problem 1: Flash is a very common kind of memory chip used in embedded devices. In fact, it's a multi-billion dollar industry. And it has nothing to do with Shockwave or Macromedia.

    Problem 2: There's no embedded computer in the example - it's a Windows box.

    1. Re:That word doesn't mean what you think it means by crisco · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Solution 1: Read the press release. Unless Macromedia has gone into the semiconductor business, they are using that vector animation technology you know and love.

      Solution 2: Yeah we know, it says so right there where JimCricket submitted it and Hemos posted it.

      --

      Bleh!

    2. Re:That word doesn't mean what you think it means by Beliskner · · Score: 1
      Flash is a very common kind of memory chip used in embedded devices.
      He's also a superhero who hates Ming the Merciless.
      There's no embedded computer in the example - it's a Windows box.
      Microsoft's idea of an embedded device is having a full-size tower case strapped to your head running .NET with an IDE cable impaled in your tongue (hence embedded)
      --
      A caveman dreams of being us, the incalculable power and riches. We dream of being Q, then what?
  41. Cheers! by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Credits: on by

    Trolling your way on the web today
    Takes everything you've got;
    Having a Bot to post your comments
    Sure would help a lot.
    Wouldn't you like to join the frey?

    Sometimes you want to go
    And get a First Post in your name,
    So much goatse that you came;
    We know it's hard to get Eff Pee,
    Our troubles are all the same;
    Get that FP and everyone'll know your name.

    - posted by poopbot: lovely snot! wonderful snot!

    Sv4Nbr9C59 Post #444

  42. Flash: Remote, not local, interface by Dr.+JJJ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The point of this story was to illustrate the use of Flash in building user interfaces for remote web-based control, not for use as a primary interface on the device itself.

    1. Re:Flash: Remote, not local, interface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, and they appear to be filling in the gap where Java applets failed.

      Just count the number of Java applets you saw on the web 3 years ago compared to today. Java applets _did_ fail on the web, and Flash is just gearing up to take Java's place. Flash MX looks like a big leap in this direction.

  43. My favorite things by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Credits: on by

    crapfloods and trolling and raping small kittens
    nice wider pages and wanking with mittens
    turd report packages tied up with strings
    these are a few of my favorite things

    grits covered portman and ASCII art doodles
    ACs and CLITers and Katz sex with poodles
    wild trolls that fly with plus five mod scoring
    these are a few of my favorite things

    when the ban hits, when I can't post, when I'm feeling sad
    i simply remember my favorite things
    then i don't feel so bad

    Rob Malda chugs penis in fan fiction slashes
    taco snot over my nose and eyelashes
    BSD dying and that goatse ring
    these are a few of my favorite things

    grits covered portman and ASCII art doodles
    ACs and CLITers and Katz sex with poodles
    wild trolls that fly with plus five mod scoring
    these are a few of my favorite things

    when the ban hits, when I can't post when, I'm feeling sad
    i simply remember my favorite things
    then i don't feel so bad

    - posted by poopbot: lovely snot! wonderful snot!

    UXE5slVUSW Post #445

  44. fair enough... by altgrr · · Score: 1

    It seems a good enough idea to develop a single, friendly interface to be used within embedded systems - you'd be able to put it on one standard chip, interfaces for all your devices could be pretty similar, they could be customisable, and so on and so forth.

    What a lot of people seem to think is that Flash is an unnecessarily bloaty platform for such interfaces. To a large extent, that's true. But what the average end user 'wants', above a friendly, functional interface, is one that looks good. I'm trying to avoid using the phrase "looks flash", but it is just too appropriate here.

    Ultimately, it would be very nice if the interface of choice were not Flash, and there will be many others who could enlighten everyone as to what the better option would be. It doesn't matter if things aren't standardised across the board either, but I don't think I'd like to see things go the way of Flash at the moment - apart from anything else, I find anything that's controllable with a keyboard - even if it is just shortcut keys for menus - far easier and quicker to use, and I've not seen that implemented in Flash.

    --


    Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
  45. While this is neat and everything... by Medieval_Thinker · · Score: 1

    "Source code licenses sell for $9895 and include 40 hours of co-engineering and 90 days of e-mail support."

    I'm having a hard time seeing the impact on my life.

  46. Linux Conspiracy by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    It has come to my attention that the entire Linux community is a hotbed of so called 'alternative sexuality,' which includes anything from hedonistic orgies to homosexuality to pedophilia.

    What better way of demonstrating this than by looking at the hidden messages contained within the names of some of Linux's most outspoken advocates:
    • Linus Torvalds is an anagram of slit anus or VD 'L,' clearly referring to himself by the first initial.
    • Richard M. Stallman, spokespervert for the Gaysex's Not Unusual 'movement' is an anagram of mans cram thrill ad.
    • Alan Cox is barely an anagram of anal cox which is just so filthy and unchristian it unnerves me.


    I'm sure that Eric S. Raymond, composer of the satanic homosexual propaganda diatribe The Cathedral and the Bizarre, is probably an anagram of something queer, but we don't need to look that far as we know he's always shoving a gun up some poor little boy's rectum. Update: Eric S. Raymond is actually an anagram for secondary rim and cord in my arse. It just goes to show you that he is indeed queer.

    Update the Second: It is also documented that Evil Sicko Gaymond is responsible for a nauseating piece of code called Fetchmail, which is obviously sinister sodomite slang for 'Felch Male' -- a disgusting practise. For those not in the know, 'felching' is the act performed by two perverts wherein one sucks their own post-coital ejaculate out of the other's rectum. In fact, it appears that the dirty Linux faggots set out to undermine the good Republican institution of e-mail, turning it into 'e-male.'

    As far as Richard 'Master' Stallman goes, that filthy fudge-packer was actually quoted on leftist commie propaganda site Salon.com as saying the following: 'I've been resistant to the pressure to conform in any circumstance,' he says. 'It's about being able to question conventional wisdom,' he asserts. 'I believe in love, but not monogamy,' he says plainly.

    And this isn't a made up troll bullshit either! He actually stated this tripe, which makes it obvious that he is trying to politely say that he's a flaming homo slut!

    Speaking about 'flaming,' who better to point out as a filthy chutney ferret than Slashdot's very own self-confessed pederast Jon Katz. Although an obvious deviant anagram cannot be found from his name, he has already confessed, nay boasted of the homosexual perversion of corrupting the innocence of young children. To quote from the article linked:

    'I've got a rare kidney disease,' I told her. 'I have to go to the bathroom a lot. You can come with me if you want, but it takes a while. Is that okay with you? Do you want a note from my doctor?'

    Is this why you were touching your penis in the cinema, Jon? And letting the other boys touch it too?

    We should also point out that Jon Katz refers to himself as 'Slashdot's resident Gasbag.' Is there any more doubt? For those fortunate few who aren't aware of the list of homosexual terminology found inside the Linux 'Sauce Code,' a 'Gasbag' is a pervert who gains sexual gratification from having a thin straw inserted into his urethra (or to use the common parlance, 'piss-pipe'), then his homosexual lover blows firmly down the straw to inflate his scrotum. This is, of course, when he's not busy violating the dignity and copyright of posters to Slashdot by gathering together their postings and publishing them en masse to further his twisted and manipulative journalistic agenda.

    Sick, disgusting antichristian perverts, the lot of them.

    In addition, many of the Linux distributions (a 'distribution' is the most common way to spread the faggots' wares) are run by faggot groups. The Slackware distro is named after the 'Slack-wear' fags wear to allow easy access to the anus for sexual purposes. Furthermore, Slackware is a close anagram of claw arse, a reference to the homosexual practise of anal fisting. The Mandrake product is run by a group of French faggot satanists, and is named after the faggot nickname for the vibrator. It was also chosen because it is an anagram for dark amen and ram naked, which is what they do.

    Another 'distro,' (abbrieviated as such because it sounds a bit like 'Disco,' which is where homosexuals preyed on young boys in the 1970s), is Debian, an anagram of in a bed, which could be considered innocent enough (after all, a bed is both where we sleep and pray), until we realise what other names Debian uses to describe their foul wares. 'Woody' is obvious enough, being a term for the erect male penis, glistening with pre-cum. But far sicker is the phrase 'Frozen Potato' that they use. This filthy term, again found in the secret homosexual 'Sauce Code,' refers to the solo homosexual practice of defecating into a clear polythene bag, shaping the turd into a crude approximation of the male phallus, then leaving it in the freezer overnight until it becomes solid. The practitioner then proceeds to push the frozen 'potato' up his own rectum, squeezing it in and out until his tight young balls erupt in a screaming orgasm.

    And Red Hat is secret homo slang for the tip of a penis that is soaked in blood from a freshly violated underage ringpiece.

    The fags have even invented special tools to aid their faggotry! For example, the 'supermount' tool was devised to allow deeper penetration, which is good for fags because it gives more pressure on the prostate gland. 'Automount' is used, on the other hand, because Linux users are all fat and gay, and need to mount each other automatically.

    The depths of their depravity can be seen in their use of 'mount points.' These are, plainly speaking, the different points of penetration. The main one is obviously /anus, but there are others. Militant fags even say 'there is no /opt mount point' because for these dirty perverts faggotry is not optional but a way of life.

    More evidence is in the fact that Linux users say how much they love `man`, even going so far as to say that all new Linux users (who are in fact just innocent heterosexuals indoctrinated by the gay propaganda) should try out `man`. In no other system do users boast of their frequent recourse to a man.

    Other areas of the system also show Linux's inherit gayness. For example, people are often told of the 'FAQ,' but how many innocent heterosexual Windows users know what this actually means. The answer is shocking: Faggot Anal Quest: the voyage of discovery for newly converted fags!

    Even the title 'Slashdot' originally referred to a homosexual practice. Slashdot of course refers to the popular gay practice of blood-letting. The Slashbots, of course are those super-zealous homosexuals who take this perversion to its extreme by ripping open their anuses, as seen on the site most popular with Slashdot users, the depraved work of Satan, http://www.eff.org/.

    The editors of Slashdot also have homosexual names: 'Hemos' is obvious in itself, being one vowel away from 'Homos.' But even more sickening is 'Commander Taco' which sounds a bit like 'Commode in Taco,' filthy gay slang for a pair of spreadeagled buttocks that are caked with excrement. (The best form of lubrication, they insist.) Sometimes, these 'Taco Commodes' have special 'Salsa Sauce' (blood from a ruptured rectum) and 'Cheese' (rancid flakes of penis discharge) toppings. And to make it even worse, Slashdot runs on Apache!

    The Apache server, whose use among fags is as prevalent as AIDS, is named after homosexual activity -- as everyone knows, popular faggot band, the Village People, featured an Apache Indian, and it is for him that this gay program is named.

    And that's not forgetting the use of patches in the Linux fag world -- patches are used to make the anus accessible for repeated anal sex even after its rupture by a session of fisting.

    To summarise: Linux is gay. 'Slash -- Dot' is the graphical description of the space between a young boy's scrotum and anus. And BeOS is for hermaphrodites and disabled 'stumpers.'

    FEEDBACK
    What worries me is how much you know about what gay people do. I'm scared I actually read this whole thing. I think this post is a good example of the negative effects of Internet usage on people. This person obviously has no social life anymore and had to result to writing something as stupid as this. And actually take the time to do it too. Although... I think it was satire.. blah.. it's early. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    Well, the only reason I know all about this is because I had the misfortune to read the Linux 'Sauce code' once. Although publicised as the computer code needed to get Linux up and running on a computer (and haven't you always been worried about the phrase 'Monolithic Kernel'?), this foul document is actually a detailed and graphic description of every conceivable degrading perversion known to the human race, as well as a few of the major animal species. It has shocked and disturbed me, to the point of needing to shock and disturb the common man to warn them of the impending homo-calypse which threatens to engulf our planet.
    You must work for the government. Trying to post the most obscene stuff in hopes that slashdot won't be able to continue or something, due to legal woes. If i ever see your ugly face, i'm going to stick my fireplace poker up your ass, after it's nice and hot, to weld shut that nasty gaping hole of yours. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    Doesn't it give you a hard-on to imagine your thick strong poker ramming it's way up my most sacred of sphincters? You're beyond help, my friend, as the only thing you can imagine is the foul penetrative violation of another man. Are you sure you're not Eric Raymond? The government, being populated by limp-wristed liberals, could never stem the sickening tide of homosexual child molesting Linux advocacy. Hell, they've given NAMBLA free reign for years!
    you really should post this logged in. i wish i could remember jebus's password, cuz i'd give it to you. -- mighty jebus, Slashdot


    Thank you for your kind words of support. However, this document shall only ever be posted anonymously. This is because the 'Open Sauce' movement is a sham, proposing homoerotic cults of hero worshipping in the name of freedom. I speak for the common man. For any man who prefers the warm, enveloping velvet folds of a woman's vagina to the tight puckered ringpiece of a child. These men, being common, decent folk, don't have a say in the political hypocrisy that is Slashdot culture. I am the unknown liberator.
    ROLF LAMO i hate linux FAGGOTS -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    We shouldn't hate them, we should pity them for the misguided fools they are... Fanatical Linux zeal-outs need to be herded into camps for re-education and subsequent rehabilitation into normal heterosexual society. This re-education shall be achieved by forcing them to watch repeats of Baywatch until the very mention of Pamela Anderson causes them to fill their pants with healthy heterosexual jism.
    Actually, that's not at all how scrotal inflation works. I understand it involves injecting sterile saline solution into the scrotum. I've never tried this, but you can read how to do it safely in case you're interested. (Before you moderate this down, ask yourself honestly -- who are the real crazies -- people who do scrotal inflation, or people who pay $1000+ for a game console?) -- double_h, Slashdot


    Well, it just goes to show that even the holy Linux 'sauce code' is riddled with bugs that need fixing. (The irony of Jon Katz not even being able to inflate his scrotum correctly has not been lost on me.) The Linux pervert elite already acknowledge this, with their queer slogan: 'Given enough arms, all rectums are shallow.' And anyway, the PS2 sucks major cock and isn't worth the money. Intellivision forever!
    dude did u used to post on msnbc's nt bulletin board now that u are doing anti-gay posts u also need to start in with anti-black stuff too c u in church -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    For one thing, whilst Linux is a cavalcade of queer propaganda masquerading as the future of computing, NT is used by people who think nothing better of encasing their genitals in quick setting plaster then going to see a really dirty porno film, enjoying the restriction enforced onto them. Remember, a wasted arousal is a sin in the eyes of the Catholic church. Clearly, the only god-fearing Christian operating system in existence is CP/M -- The Christian Program Monitor. All computer users should immediately ask their local pastor to install this fine OS onto their systems. It is the only route to salvation.

    Secondly, this message is for every man. Computers know no colour. Not only that, but one of the finest websites in the world is maintained by a Black Man . Now fuck off you racist donkey felcher.
    And don't forget that slashdot was written in Perl, which is just too close to 'Pearl Necklace' for comfort.... oh wait; that's something all you heterosexuals do.... I can't help but wonder how much faster the trolls could do First-Posts on this site if it were redone in PHP... I could hand-type dynamic HTML pages faster than Perl can do them. -- phee, Slashdot


    Although there is nothing unholy about the fine heterosexual act of ejaculating between a woman's breasts, squirting one's load up towards her neck and chin area, it should be noted that Perl (standing for Pansies Entering Rectums Locally) is also close to 'Pearl Monocle,' 'Pearl Nosering,' and the ubiquitous 'Pearl Enema.'

    One scary thing about Perl is that it contains hidden homosexual messages. Take the following code: LWP::Simple -- It looks innocuous enough, doesn't it? But look at the line closely: There are two colons next to each other! As Larry 'Balls to the' Wall would openly admit in the Perl Documentation, Perl was designed from the ground up to indoctrinate it's programmers into performing unnatural sexual acts -- having two colons so closely together is clearly a reference to the perverse sickening act of 'colon kissing,' whereby two homosexual queers spread their buttocks wide, pressing their filthy torn sphincters together. They then share small round objects like marbles or golfballs by passing them from one rectum to another using muscle contraction alone. This is also referred to in programming 'circles' as 'Parameter Passing.'

    And PHP stands for Perverted Homosexual Penetration. Didn't you know?
    Thank you for your valuable input on this. I am sure you will be never forgotten. BTW: Did I mention that this could be useful in terraforming Mars? Mars rulaa. -- Eimernase, Slashdot


    Well, I don't know about terraforming Mars, but I do know that homosexual Linux Advocates have been probing Uranus for years.
    That's inspiring. Keep up the good work, AC. May God in his wisdom grant you the strength to bring the plain honest truth to this community, and make it pure again. Yours, Cerberus. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    *sniff* That brings a tear to my eye. Thank you once more for your kind support. I have taken faith in the knowledge that I am doing the Good Lord's work, but it is encouraging to know that I am helping out the common man here.

    However, I should be cautious about revealing your name 'Cerberus' on such a filthy den of depravity as Slashdot. It is a well known fact that the 'Kerberos' documentation from Microsoft is a detailed manual describing, in intimate, exacting detail, how to sexually penetrate a variety of unwilling canine animals; be they domesticated, wild, or mythical. Slashdot posters have taken great pleasure in illegally spreading this documentation far and wide, treating it as an 'extension' to the Linux 'Sauce Code,' for the sake of 'interoperability.' (The slang term they use for nonconsensual intercourse -- their favourite kind.)

    In fact, sick twisted Linux deviants are known to have LAN parties, (Love of Anal Naughtiness, needless to say.), wherein they entice a stray dog, known as the 'Samba Mount,' into their homes. Up to four of these filth-sodden blasphemers against nature take turns to plunge their erect, throbbing, uncircumcised members, conkers-deep, into the rectum, mouth, and other fleshy orifices of the poor animal. Eventually, the 'Samba Mount' collapses due to 'overload,' and needs to be 'rebooted.' (i.e., kicked out into the street, and left to fend for itself.) Many Linux users boast about their 'uptime' in such situations.
    Inspiring stuff! If only all trolls were this quality! -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    If only indeed. You can help our brave cause by moderating this message up as often as possible. I recommend '+1, Underrated,' as that will protect your precious Karma in Metamoderation. Only then can we break through the glass ceiling of Homosexual Slashdot Culture. Is it any wonder that the new version of Slashcode has been christened 'Bender'???

    If we can get just one of these postings up to at least '+1,' then it will be archived forever! Others will learn of our struggle, and join with us in our battle for freedom!
    It's pathetic you've spent so much time writing this. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    I am compelled to document the foulness and carnal depravity that is Linux, in order that we may prepare ourselves for the great holy war that is to follow. It is my solemn duty to peel back the foreskin of ignorance and apply the wire brush of enlightenment.
    As with any great open-source project, you need someone asking this question, so I'll do it. When the hell is version 2.0 going to be ready?!?! -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    I could make an arrogant, childish comment along the lines of 'Every time someone asks for 2.0, I won't release it for another 24 hours,' but the truth of the matter is that I'm quite nervous of releasing a 'number two,' as I can guarantee some filthy shit-slurping Linux pervert would want to suck it straight out of my anus before I've even had chance to wipe.
    I desperately want to suck your monolithic kernel, you sexy hunk, you. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    I sincerely hope you're Natalie Portman.
    Dude, nothing on slashdot larger than 3 paragraphs is worth reading. Try to distill the message, whatever it was, and maybe I'll read it. As it is, I have to much open source software to write to waste even 10 seconds of precious time. 10 seconds is all its gonna take M$ to whoop Linux's ass. Vigilence is the price of Free (as in libre -- from the fine, frou frou French language) Software. Hack on fellow geeks, and remember: Friday is Bouillabaisse day except for heathens who do not believe that Jesus died for their sins. Those godless, oil drench, bearded sexist clowns can pull grits from their pantaloons (another fine, fine French word) and eat that. Anyway, try to keep your message focused and concise. For concision is the soul of derision. Way. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    What the fuck?
    I've read your gay conspiracy post version 1.3.0 and I must say I'm impressed. In particular, I appreciate how you have managed to squeeze in a healthy dose of the latent homosexuality you gay-bashing homos tend to be full of. Thank you again. -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    Well bugger me!
    ooooh honey. how insecure are you!!! wann a little massage from deare bruci. love you -- Anonymous Coward, Slashdot


    Fuck right off!

    IMPORTANT: This message needs to be heard (Not HURD, which is an acronym for 'Huge Unclean Rectal Dilator') across the whole community, so it has been released into the Public Domain. You know, that licence that we all had before those homoerotic crypto-fascists came out with the GPL (Gay Penetration License) that is no more than an excuse to see who's got the biggest feces-encrusted cock. I would have put this up on Freshmeat, but that name is known to be a euphemism for the tight rump of a young boy.

    Come to think of it, the whole concept of 'Source Control' unnerves me, because it sounds a bit like 'Sauce Control,' which is a description of the homosexual practice of holding the base of the cock shaft tightly upon the point of ejaculation, thus causing a build up of semenal fluid that is only released upon entry into an incision made into the base of the receiver's scrotum. And 'Open Sauce' is the act of ejaculating into another mans face or perhaps a biscuit to be shared later. Obviously, 'Closed Sauce' is the only Christian thing to do, as evidenced by the fact that it is what Cathedrals are all about.

    Contributors: (although not to the eternal game of 'soggy biscuit' that open 'sauce' development has become) Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, phee, Anonymous Coward, mighty jebus, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, double_h, Anonymous Coward, Eimernase, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward. Further contributions are welcome.

    Current changes: This version sent to FreeWIPO by 'Bring BackATV' as plain text. Reformatted everything, added all links back in (that we could match from the previous version), many new ones (Slashbot bait links). Even more spelling fixed. Who wrote this thing, CmdrTaco himself?

    Previous changes: Yet more changes added. Spelling fixed. Feedback added. Explanation of 'distro' system. 'Mount Point' syntax described. More filth regarding `man` and Slashdot. Yet more fucking spelling fixed. 'Fetchmail' uncovered further. More Slashbot baiting. Apache exposed. Distribution licence at foot of document.

    - posted by poopbot: news for turds, stuff that splatters

    nMLxTM8DBe Post #446
  47. Hello by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Introduction

    A fairy gives lectures on morality to the feline anomaly. Furthermore, another photon near an abstraction takes a coffee break, and a mortician buries a blithe spirit. The wedding dress secretly admires a college-educated ball bearing. If the freight train figures out a fire hydrant near a pit viper, then some mating ritual beyond another cowboy reads a magazine. Any squid can find lice on a freight train, but it takes a real recliner to ostensibly plan an escape from another pit viper defined by a prime minister a cough syrup toward a graduated cylinder.

    Another mating ritual

    For example, a blood clot about a turn signal indicates that a financial bartender borrows money from a warranty. When a demon is imaginative, a paper napkin secretly admires an often snooty graduated cylinder. If the grain of sand learns a hard lesson from the short order cook behind some graduated cylinder, then another blithe spirit flies into a rage. Any pig pen can lazily require assistance from a burly plaintiff, but it takes a real fighter pilot to caricature the steam engine over a satellite. Another eagerly temporal minivan slyly buries the obsequious squid, or a briar patch usually gives lectures on morality to a cyprus mulch.

    A gratifying fairy

    Sometimes another cashier reads a magazine, but the fraction for the cyprus mulch always buries a power drill toward the demon! The light bulb befriends a satellite of an apartment building. A lazily Alaskan roller coaster sanitizes another mitochondrial traffic light, or some burglar eats a hesitantly smelly plaintiff. For example, a seldom righteous traffic light indicates that an ocean knows some chestnut inside the tabloid. If the earring somewhat finds subtle faults with a pine cone, then the wheelbarrow hibernates.

    The cocker spaniel about the salad dressing

    For example, the umbrella toward an abstraction indicates that the dolphin near a ball bearing caricatures a girl scout near some diskette. A cocker spaniel for the judge reads a magazine, and a pine cone finds subtle faults with a rattlesnake. Furthermore, the hairy movie theater returns home, and a grizzly bear near a paycheck is a big fan of a childlike burglar. For example, a canyon living with a graduated cylinder indicates that the industrial complex buries a jersey cow.

    Conclusions

    A squid around a jersey cow meditates, and another nation sweeps the floor; however, a scooby snack knowingly finds subtle faults with an apartment building living with another chain saw. When a hockey player around a paycheck is smelly, a minivan has a change of heart about an oil filter about an asteroid. The bartender around a polygon is barely soggy. Indeed, another rattlesnake befriends a warranty. Indeed, the carpet tack for an abstraction usually caricatures an elusive h

    - posted by poopbot: for the crapflooder in all of us

    s6AmcYvWCV Post #447

  48. WinXP Shows where MS is Going by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Windows XP Shows the Direction Microsoft is Going.

    "I've heard WinXP removed the cmd/command prompt."

    No, Microsoft didn't remove the CMD.EXE or COMMAND.COM prompt from Windows XP. But Windows XP has reduced functionality, in many ways, not just in the command line. The command line is a big embarrassment because of its limited capabilities, but at least in Win 95 it worked. With every version since then it has worked less well. (There are two kinds of command prompt, and, according to Microsoft employees, the differences between them are not documented.)

    The command line prompt sometimes begins to display short file names. Microsoft employees say that Microsoft has no fix, although someone not connected with Microsoft did make a work-around.

    Cutting and pasting into a command line program often puts successive extra spaces before each line. Microsoft employees say that there is no plan to fix this.

    The fast paste mode that is in Windows 98 is gone in Windows XP. Microsoft employees say there is no plan to fix this.

    When using the command line interface, Windows XP doesn't always update the time. After several hours, the time reported to command line programs can be several hours in error.

    There is a DOS program called START.EXE that can be used to start other programs. But it does operate the same way as in other versions of Windows. It starts a program, but cannot be made to return control to the command line program as previous versions did. There is no technical reason for this; it is just one of the shortcomings that are allowed to exist.

    People often say that DOS has gone away. But Microsoft still calls the command line interface DOS, and in Windows XP Microsoft has added new programs for configuring the OS that work only under DOS.

    Sometimes when you press a key while using Windows XP, it is seconds until there is any response. Apparently there is something wrong with the CPU scheduler in XP, because there are a lot of complaints about this in the forums and MS people have said that they are working on it. On one particular fresh installation of XP, on an Intel motherboard with either a Matrox G550 or an ATI Radeon video adapter, it requires 18 seconds to display a directory listing of 94 items. This is apparently related to a bug in the video software, not the adapter drivers.

    Something is wrong with the Alt-Tab display of running programs under Windows XP. If there are a lot of programs, not all of them are displayed. The order jumps around in a seemingly random way.

    Although articles often say negative things about Microsoft, I've never seen an article that fully documents how bad the situation really is. Microsoft's management is so bad that the company has become self-destructive. For example, Windows XP is spyware. Here is a list of ways Windows XP connects to Microsoft's servers:
    1. Application Layer Gateway Service (Requires server rights.)
    2. Fax Service
    3. File Signature Verification
    4. Generic Host Process for Win32 Services (Requires server rights.)
    5. Microsoft Application Error Reporting
    6. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
    7. Microsoft Direct Play Voice Test
    8. Microsoft Help and Support Center
    9. Microsoft Help Center Hosting Server (Wants server rights.)
    10. Microsoft Management Console
    11. Microsoft Media Player (tells Microsoft the music you like)
    12. Microsoft Network Availability Test
    13. Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service
    14. MS DTC Console program
    15. Run DLL as an app
    16. Services and Controller app
    17. Time Service, sets the time on your computer from Microsoft's computer.
    18. Microsoft Office keeps a number in each file you create that identifies your computer. Microsoft has never said why.
    19. Microsoft mouse software has reduced functionality until you let it connect to Microsoft computers.
    These are just the ones I know. There may be others.

    So, if you use Windows XP, your computer is dependent on Microsoft computers. That's bad, not only because you lose control over your possession, but because Microsoft produces buggy software and doesn't patch bugs quickly. For example, as of July 7, 2002, there are 18 unpatched security holes in Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is a terrible record for a company that has $40 billion in the bank. Obviously, with that kind of money, Microsoft could fix the bugs if it wanted to fix them. Since the bugs are very public and Microsoft has the money, it seems reasonable to suppose that top management at Microsoft has deliberately decided that the bugs should remain, at least for now.

    It seems possible that there is a connection between all the bugs and the U.S. government's friendly treatment of Microsoft's law-breaking. The U.S. government's CIA and FBI and NSA departments spy on the entire world, and unpatched vulnerabilities in Microsoft software help spies.

    Windows XP, and all current Windows operating systems, have a file called the registry in which configuration information is written. If this one (large, often fragmented) file becomes corrupted, the only way of recovering may be to re-format the hard drive, re-install the operating system, and then re-install and re-configure all the applications. The registry file is a single, very vulnerable, point of failure. Microsoft apparently designed it this way to provide copy protection. Since most entries in the registry are poorly documented or not documented, the registry effectively prevents control by the user.

    Note that Microsoft does not support making functional complete backups under Windows XP. Look at Microsoft's policy about this: Q314828 Microsoft Policy on Disk Duplication of Windows XP Installation. Only those who work with Microsoft software will understand the true meaning of Microsoft's policy. Since almost all programs use the registry operating system file, if you cannot make a functional copy of the operating system you cannot make a functional copy of all your application installations and configurations. There are other software companies that try to fix this, but they don't work well, and Microsoft can, of course, break their implementations, as they have often done with other kinds of competitors.

    Because the configuration information for the motherboard and the configuration information for the are mixed together in the registry file, the registry tends to prevent you from moving a hard drive to a computer with a different motherboard. That's another implication of the above Microsoft policy. So, if you have a motherboard failure, and a good complete backup, you may not be able to recover unless you have a spare computer with the same motherboard.

    Note that Windows XP Professional can support only ten simultaneous incoming network connections. If you want more than that, you must use Windows 2000 server, and pay much, much more. (There is no Windows XP server yet.) Many businesses have very light network traffic; they just move files from staff member to staff member; they really don't need a dedicated server computer. The staff computers could easily handle the load except for this artificial limitation.

    Apparently because the Windows XP GUI comes from Windows 98, Windows XP has the same problem with desktop icons that Windows 98 has. The icons sometimes flicker. Sometimes they move themselves around, particularly after the user switches monitor resolutions. Also, sometimes the taskbar settings un-configure themselves, as they do in Windows 98.

    Only technically knowledgeable people know how to avoid signing up for a Microsoft Passport account during initial use of Windows XP. The name Passport gives an indication of Microsoft's thinking. A passport is a document issued by a sovereign nation. Without it, the nation's citizens cannot travel, and, if they leave, won't be allowed back in their own country. In Microsoft's corporate thinking, the company seems to be moving in the direction of believing that they own the user's computer. Most people are both honest and intimidated. Apparently about 95% do whatever they are asked on the screen. They give their personal information to Microsoft. They don't realize that, if they feel forced to get a Passport account, they should enter almost completely fictitious information, since the real question is not "What is your name and address", but "Can we invade your privacy". The honest answer to this is "No, you cannot invade my privacy", and the only effective way to communicate that is to give completely fictitious information. Since it is the educated people who have computers, Microsoft is building a database of the personal lives of educated people. Microsoft knows when they connect and from what IP address (which tends to show the area), what kind of help they ask, and information about what they are doing with their computers, including what music they like. It is not known, and there is no way to know, how much Microsoft or other organizations make use of this information, or their plans for future use.

    Not only has Windows XP definitely gone further in the direction of allowing the user less control over his or her own machine, but with Palladium, Microsoft apparently intends to finish the job: Microsoft will have ultimate control over the user's computer and therefore all his or her data. Even now, under Windows XP, a recent security patch requires that the user agree to a contract that gives Microsoft administrator privileges over the user's computer. The contract says that if a user wants to patch his or her system against a bug which would allow an attack over the Internet, he or she must give Microsoft legal control over the computer. See this article also: Microsoft's Digital Rights Management-- A Little Deeper. You may need to be a lawyer to take apart the crucial sentence. "These security related updates may disable your ability to copy and/or play Secure Content and [my emphasis] use other software on your computer" legally includes this meaning: "These updates may disable your ability to use other software on your computer." Note that the term "security related updates" is meaningless to the user because the updates have no relation to user security. So, the sentence effectively means that Microsoft can control the user's computer without notice and whenever it wants. That kind of sentence is known in psychology as "testing the limits". If there is no strong public complaint about this, expect to see more and stronger language like this.

    This Register article shows the direction Microsoft is going: MS Palladium protects IT vendors, not you. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Microsoft is well down that road. See this ZDNet article, also: MS: Why we can't trust your 'trustworthy' OS.

    Microsoft's self-destructiveness does not mean that the user should be self-destructive. There is no need to apologize for using Microsoft software. The correct solution to abuse is persuading the abuser to stop being abusive. Once I posted to a Slashdot story a link to an article on a web site of mine. By far the majority of visitors from the Slashdot story used Microsoft operating systems. Rather than feel embarrassed because Microsoft is abusive, action needs to be taken to prevent the abuse. If you are against Microsoft abuse, you are not against Microsoft; you are more pro-Microsoft than Bill Gates.

    These Microsoft policies mean that any government which wants to be independent of the United States government, and any government which represents itself as controlled by the people, cannot use Microsoft operating systems, or other Microsoft proprietary systems.




    - posted by poopbot: because we're all crapflooders at heart

    Xg8Rw0d1fG Post #448
  49. Taco-snotting is dying by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    Netcraft has confirmed: Taco-snotting is dying.

    Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered Taco-snotting community when recently IDC confirmed that Taco-snotting accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all homosexual acts. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which plainly states that Taco-snotting has lost more fag practitioners, this news serves to reinforce what weve known all along. Taco-snotting faggots are collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Faggot World comprehensive snotting test.

    You dont need to be a Katz to predict Taco-snottings future. The handwriting is on the wall: Taco-snotting faces a bleak future. In fact there wont be any future at all for Taco-snotting because Taco-snotting is dying. Things are looking very bad for Taco-snotting. As many of us are already aware, Taco-snotting continues to lose faggotshare. White ink flows like a river of bubbly, thick jizz. The circle-snot is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core snotters.

    Lets keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    Circle-snotting leader Jeff Homos Masterbates states that there are 7000 snotters of the circle-snot. How many users of anal snot are there? Lets see. The number of circle-snotting versus anal snot posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 anal snot users. SnotOS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of anal snot posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of SnotOS. A recent article put the circle-snot at about 80 percent of the Taco-snotting market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 circle-snot users. This is consistent with the number of circle-snot Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of CowboiKneels walnuts, abysmal sales and so on, the circle-snot went out of business and was taken over by SNOTi who sell another troubled Taco-snot. Now SNOTi is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another gay whorehouse.

    All major surveys show that Taco-snotting has steadily declined in faggotshare. Taco-snotting is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Taco-snotting is to survive at all it will be among heterosexual hobbyist dabblers. Taco-snotting continues to decay. Nothing short of a jizz-soaked miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Taco-snotting is dead.

    Fact: Taco-snotting is dead.

    - posted by poopbot: for all your crapflooding needs

    jGBQlYWkjV Post #449

  50. Re:Java applets are probably better than Flash her by karm13 · · Score: 1
    And embedded system programmers are much more likely to feel comfortable with Java than with Flash.

    embedded system programmers shouldn't make the interfaces anyway. interface designers should, and they are much more likely to feel comfortable with flash.
    the reason why people can't set the clock on their vcr is that technical people make the interfaces, not interface designers.

    --

    --
    making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
  51. [on by] A modest proposal by poopbot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Happy Troll Tuesday!

    It seems that the Janitors, in their infinite wisdom, have banned people who have low/negative karma from posting more than twice per day. Personally I find this completely stupid.

    All the trolls will simply post AC as I am doing now. Proxies can be used to get around any ipid bans that result from AC trolls.

    Surely it is better to let the trolls post at -1 where it is out of most peoples way rather than have them all post at 0 and suck up mod points and time from "legit" users?

    I have tried to communicate my thoughts to the slashcode team but alas, to no avail. They are probably all sittin on their starwars bed sheets watching anime hentai tentacle rape pr0n.

    Here is my proposal: All trolls that cannot post using their account post as AC. Use proxies if need be (www.antiproxy.com is a good source). I suspect this will show them how useless this idea is. Will blocking troll uid's stop trolls? NO! will ipid bans stop trolls? NO!

    I seriously fail to see the point of this and consider it a stupid move by the janitors.

    They want us to troll and crapflood at 0 rather than -1? Fine! So be it! No longer will we post at -1 where few people dare to visit, now we will post at 0 where we will be more visible and waste peoples time, energy and mod points! Hoorah!

    The next thing you know, posting AC will be banned! Then what will you do? No more posting interesting insider tidbits! Groupthink all the way baby! oh yeah!

    So logout, post shit, use proxies and above all have fun!

    Let the games begin! -- on by

    - posted by poopbot: lovely snot! wonderful snot!

    YUuNHv1DEO Post #451

  52. Re:Java applets are probably better than Flash her by g4dget · · Score: 2
    Interface designers design interfaces. Programmers implement them. Programmers use toolkits, not Flash. Being an interface designer doesn't qualify you as a programmer.

    the reason why people can't set the clock on their vcr is that technical people make the interfaces, not interface designers.

    Yeah, right: if your VCR were designed by interface designers, like Microsoft Word, it would have 200 buttons, be bigger than the TV set, crash with regularity, and cost $500. The reason why VCR clocks are hard to set is because there isn't much room for buttons or much money for fancy software. It's called an "engineering tradeoff". Get used to it. If you want a better VCR, pay more: the high end ones are simpler to use or set themselves automatically.

  53. Re:Java applets are probably better than Flash her by karm13 · · Score: 1
    Yeah, right: if your VCR were designed by interface designers, like Microsoft Word, it would have 200 buttons, be bigger than the TV set, crash with regularity, and cost $500.

    that's if you hire a bad interface designer. see below.

    The reason why VCR clocks are hard to set is because there isn't much room for buttons or much money for fancy software. It's called an "engineering tradeoff". Get used to it.

    my cheapo vcr has an on screen menu. there is plenty of room.

    If you want a better VCR, pay more: the high end ones are simpler to use or set themselves automatically.

    they are simpler to use because they were designed by better interface designers.
    the vcr clock thing was supposed to be an example. it seemed to be common knowledge people can't set the clock on their vcrs. maybe it's not true. i hope it's not true.

    the good thing about using flash for interfaces is that interface designers can implement the interfaces. at least if it's not a dynamic interface, you don't need real programmers. that way you avoid communication problems and the designer knows what's possible, what has certain advantages/disadvatnages and so on.
    engineers often even write the manuals.

    --

    --
    making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
  54. Blinking 0:00 phenomenon by Corporate+Troll · · Score: 1
    I find it weird that a lot of people use the VCR blinking clock as an example for bad interfacing. Think a bit further...could it be that users don't care? Look at the windows desktops: 95% of them use the default ugly blue colour scheme. It's a similar problem: one might it find easier to set it to a more soothing green, but the user doesn't care.

    I'm sorry, I'm an IT guy...I know how to change the clock on my VCR. It blinks on 0:00 anyway and you know why? I don't care, I just use it for playback anyway and each time there is a power outage (we recently got quite a few) I'd have to set it back to the right time again. Not to mention summer and winter time. No thanks, let it blink... (Same for the clock on my HiFi btw...never understood why they can't put a rechargable battery in those things)

    Back in my young days I couldn't understand the blinking 0:00 phenomenon, now I do...

    1. Re:Blinking 0:00 phenomenon by karm13 · · Score: 1
      i believe it is a metaphor.

      i don't even know what the clocks are good for. i get the time by the push of a button on my tv (teletext, so no programming required). i set the vcr clock to anything to keep it from nagging, because i'm to lazy to put a tape over it. i generally mistrust hifis with a clock.

      the windows desktop colors are set to be the least annoying (contrary to the way the windows appear, btw). but quite frankly, i doubt joe user knows how to change it (if he heared it was possible at all).
      observe non-techies use interfaces if you get the chance. you will be amazed.

      --

      --
      making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
    2. Re:Blinking 0:00 phenomenon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I find it weird that a lot of people use the VCR blinking clock as an example for bad interfacing. Think a bit further...could it be that users don't care?

      You got that right. "normal" homes already have a clock in the living room, and the miniature numbers on the VCR are too small to see anyway. My microwave is an even worse example-it won't let you cook unless the clock is set. Why the devil is that??? Every kitchen gadget I can plug into the wall has a freaking clock in it. There are more clocks in my kitchen than in the entire rest of the house. Plus, given that electricity around here goes out at least once a week, I perpetually end up having to set a clock every time I want to cook.

    3. Re:Blinking 0:00 phenomenon by KyleCordes · · Score: 2

      I use my VCR in the same way about; setting the is a waste of time, it would enable a feature I don't use anyway. However, apparently people who design devices don't like it when users don't want to use all the features, like the clock. So they do things like this:

      * Make 12:00 blink annoyingly on the VCR, so you end up with setting it or leaving the VCR on (with a tape in) to get it to not do that.

      * Going even farther, the folks who design GE microwave ovens feel so strongly that the clock is an important feature that they device cannot be used at all for its main purpose, without first setting the clock (time/date) which has nothing to do with that purpose.

  55. Playstation by _wintermute · · Score: 1

    You know, of course, that several games on Playstation have used Flash for the interface - the bits of the interface like game saving and menu selection that don't require a 3d engine to run.

    The rationale being that Flash is simple and works out-of-the box for creating interactive screns of this type. Once the actual designs are done it is literally an afternoon's work to tie the screens and buttons together. The Playstation Flash Player communicates with the the game engine through an API and so can be integfrated with any game relatively quickly.

    --
    technoshamanic resistance within hyper-transgressive ontology
    1. Re:Playstation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fyi:
      here are some notes from a recent flash conference on flash for the ps2:
      http://radio.weblogs.com/0106797/categories/flashF orward/2002/07/12.html#a196

  56. Re:Java applets are probably better than Flash her by Drinky+Crow · · Score: 1

    Hi --
    I'm the Chief Architect of the DMF. The problem that we find with Java is the same one encountered by everyone using client-side Java: Write Once, Debug Everywhere. Flash works identically on every platform, and the files are significantly smaller.

    Of course, since it's using XML-RPC under the hood, we don't care what language sits at the other end. I did all my testing using Python's xmlrpclib, and xmlrpc.com lists client implementations in just about every language that's widely used (except COBOL and FORTRAN...)

    You want to talk to a device running our DMF from a Java (or C++, or LISP) client, that's cool. Dave Winer could control his router from inside Radio Userland. Whatever.

    The important thing (to me, as a designer) is that we've implemented a clean, open, simple protocol that lets us and our customers build richer monitor and control interfaces than we can using just HTML.

    --

    dook, dook, dook!

  57. XML-RPC? by togofspookware · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'd think that if you want this to be a low-bandwidth interface, XML-RPC is about the last thing you'd want to use. What's wrong with good old fasioned URL-formatted parameters?

    I mean,

    <?xml version="blah"?>

    <methodCall>

    <methodName>eat_cheese</methodName>

    <params>

    <param>

    <name>amount</name>

    <value>lots</value>

    </param>

    </params>

    </methodCall>

    just seems like overkill to me when you could just do:

    action=eat_cheese&amount=lots

    I guess I'm just behind the times...

    --
    Duct tape, XML, democracy: Not doing the job? Use more.
    1. Re:XML-RPC? by RevAaron · · Score: 2

      You can do a lot more with XML-RPC than URL paramters. Some things are better done with URL parameters, yes. But not all of them. XML-RPC also makes it easy to use the data that is returned.

      If you want to see overkill, look at SOAP.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  58. Flash is used to build applications as well. by SPYvSPY · · Score: 2

    I doubt you'll find a development environment that is as easy to use and as quick to learn as Flash is for mocking up applications and interfaces.

  59. OBMJ by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 1

    They've posted a little demo running on Windows, but in the real world the server would run on a low-power device.

    So this was a real-world test? I'm confused...

  60. Flash controls so much these days ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, it's time to bash Flash some more. Not only are designers all over the world controlled by Flash and convinced that every website should be a two minute cartoon, it can control embedded devices too. I use it to control about a dozen Down Syndrome kids I have locked in the basement. They get so happy when I show them the kewl intro clips I make for etailers across the globe. Right now I'm using a server I built from Legos, and running Debian 3.0 with Mozlla 1.1 no less, to showcase that great innovation that is Flash. You don't need to read, I've got ear-splitting sound bites and blinking lights that will provide more information than any HTML or XML document could deliver. Hell, judging by this site, since no one can spell anymore, why should I make them read?

  61. Flash is proprietary by bigpat · · Score: 2

    Just wanted to point out that an application written for flash uses a proprietary application to run and a proprietary ide to develop. This should cause people concern.

    Market infrastructure should not be based on monopolistic proprietary technologies.

    1. Re:Flash is proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Market infrastructure should not be based on monopolistic proprietary technologies.

      True, but I don't see how that applies here. Unlike, say, Microsoft products, the Flash file format is OPEN and published - anyone can make a player or IDE for it. I hope you don't mean that any company that produces a closed product is a monopoly simply because nobody bothers to develop a compatible alternative.

    2. Re:Flash is proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot if you think that Flash is an open standard. Have you ever looked at the SVG spec.?

    3. Re:Flash is proprietary by bigpat · · Score: 2

      Where is format published? I've never heard of this.

      Okay, a little google search later and: http://www.openswf.org/spec.html

      This is very interesting. Questions though, is the spec updated to reflect changes that Macromedia creates? And would a player be restricted by patents that Macromedia controls or licenses? Has anyone really created a new swf player?

    4. Re:Flash is proprietary by One+Louder · · Score: 1

      Macromedia publishes the spec on their site - I don't know if it's up to date with Flash 6. There was an open source player available that worked for movies up to Flash 3, but the project has been abandoned. Squeak Smalltalk has a Flash 3 Player. AFAIK, Flash is unencumbered by the need to license patents. The Flash 6 player from Macromedia has Sorenson support, so that's proprietary, but nobody appears to use it yet, and an open player could use another codec instead.

    5. Re:Flash is proprietary by One+Louder · · Score: 1

      I may indeed be an idiot, but the Flash file format is nonetheless open. I never said it was a standard.

      I have looked at the SVG spec. What does that have to do with Flash being open?

    6. Re:Flash is proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Where is format published?

      http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/open/li ce nsing/fileformat/

      > is the spec updated to reflect changes that Macromedia creates?

      Yes, since initial pub in 1998. I expect SWF6 docs to be finished, tested, and live towards autumn.

      > And would a player be restricted by patents that Macromedia controls or licenses?

      IANAL, but I haven't seen any restrictions on any SWF-reading apps.

      > Has anyone really created a new swf player?

      Yes... Oliver Debon was the big pioneer (Google on "'oliver debon' swf")... OmniWeb browser includes their own SWF reader... Viewpoint has their own SWF renderer... those off the top of my head. But over the last two years I've seen decreasing emphasis on alternate renderers because it's easier to just use the Macromedia renderer.

      Regards,
      John Dowdell
      Macromedia Support

    7. Re:Flash is proprietary by RevAaron · · Score: 2

      I don't know of any other non-MM players, but Squeak (see my sig) includes a pretty decent SWF player written completely in Smalltalk. Which means that *all* of the source is available to you and it's a lot more flexible than your average Flash player.

      No clue as to with what version of MM's flash it's compatible though. I'm guessing 4, but I've never looked into it.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  62. Like to see by A_Non_Moose · · Score: 2

    Something along the lines of translated bios codes.

    Maybe a Over Temp on a CPU could play the "FIRE BAD! FIRE BAAAADDD" clip from the Metallica/Napster flash movies.

    That's be so funny.

    --
    Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
  63. Flash microwave? by DrCode · · Score: 2

    Ergg. My first thought was of turning on the microwave, and getting a light show with a cheesy tune played using the beeper, along with a prompt to 'Press here to skip intro and begin cooking.'

    1. Re:Flash microwave? by goid · · Score: 1
      Ergg. My first thought was of turning on the microwave, and getting a light show with a cheesy tune played using the beeper, along with a prompt to 'Press here to skip intro and begin cooking.'

      Don't laugh, it's probably coming. Just look at the horrid interfaces on stereos, both home and in-car these days.

      The ideas people have about "good" interfaces these days is amazing. Yesterday I went to a restaurant web site and it was almost all flash. To get a listing of stores I had to install Flash and wait 4 minutes for the page to load. Then I needed to get an email address from Cox Cable and instead of a few bytes needed to show the email address, I got a 10 minute download and a form instead. The JavaScript and Flash code in it was 99.something percent of the page.

      In what way is this better than just giving me an email address?

      With examples like those in mind, I don't see a lot of benefit in embeded Flash except the hoarde of monkeys who make purchases based on what is the shiniest.

      --
      "Star Wars Moral Number 17: Teddy bears are dangerous in herds."
  64. GPL? by axxackall · · Score: 1
    Of course, the obvious advantage over Flash is the fact it's open source (GPL).

    GPL is not advantage, it is rather a problem. Use BSD-like licenses for application you may want to use in the business.

    Frankly speaking - use Mozilla and XPCOM, which is, by the way, much better designed, much better implemented and is completely a cross platform thing.

    I've tried XWT on Linux/PPC - it doesn't work. I think that XWT guys think "Linux" about "Linux/x86" sub-platform.

    --

    Less is more !
  65. And a boon to Security! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this really a good idea? Letting flash use XML-RPC to talk to hardware? Imagine what a flash virus could do.

    Flash is closed source, so we are at their mercy to fix problems as theya rise. Right now they are considered a 'good' company. If they ever fall from grace, it will take a long time to get a good flash replacement.

  66. Flash Blows by snoozebutton · · Score: 1

    Yeah, not a flame, nor a troll, but Flash does really blow.
    What does it blow, you ask?

    It blows sheep, goats, and other farm animals.

    If you really want a solution that will work for multiuser stuff, as well as handle MORE THAN 2 FREAKING MINUTES OF VIDEO, you should definitely go with Shockwave. Director rules all.
    Here's a toy!

    Hope we can get off our Flash high horse and start pushing towards better things. There are but a handful of people who know how to use Flash properly, and you're not one of them ;)

    I quote:

    "Everyone in the universe has a hardon for Flash. There are aliens
    visiting Earth right now trying to get Flash. Beings from other
    dimensions are extruding into our four just to have access to Flash.
    Bacteria are evolving into eukaryotic symbiotes so they can form more
    complex colonial creatures which eventually specialize and
    differentiate, developing eyespots and a notochord, eventually
    transforming into a vertebral column and enlarged anterior ganglion
    -- developing musculature, skeletal structure and so on, just so they
    can have fingers so they can use them to work with Flash.

    That said, the only practical use anyone has actually found for Flash
    is those "Skip Intro" pages that everyone skips with a grunt of mild
    irritation.

  67. Re:Java Blows Too by snoozebutton · · Score: 1

    Java blows too. An example of a Java app would be Limewire, where the most clunky app possible is what we ended up with. Doesn't run smoothly, share resources, etc..

    No Java.

  68. Korean Arse Shooter by meehawl · · Score: 2

    That said, the only practical use anyone has actually found for Flash is those "Skip Intro" pages that everyone skips with a grunt of mild irritation.

    That's simply not the case. There are some compelling Flash applications, such as the...

    Korean Arse Shooter .

    --

    Da Blog
  69. Thanks Naysayers! by squared99 · · Score: 1

    Hey! I'd just like to thank all the guys/gals on this site that keep naysaying flash, and pull uneducated opinions about its capabilities out their asses.

    Cheers! Everytime I read some dumb-assed opion about how the web should be HTML forever, I know that's one less person I have to worry about competing with for a job. Have fun writing your useful web based applications in HTML.

    1. Re:Thanks Naysayers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right on =0

      Flash is great, and all though it usually wont get you the job alone, its one of those "extras" that helps =0

  70. Re:Write your own. by Technician · · Score: 2

    Unfortunately I am not a software author. I haven't the slightest idea of where to begin. Before you call me dumb, I am a ISCET Certified Tech. I'm a hardware tech. I can but a Broadcast radio station back on the air that has been hit by lightning (ask for photos) so my field of expertise is not software coding. Would you know how to fix a 50 KW FM transmitter dammaged by lightning? I know how to use a Motorolla D2000. My debuging tools is not compilers and such, it's storage oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, time domain reflectometers, digital multimeters, directional wattmeters, etc. We are only experts in our own fields.

    --
    The truth shall set you free!
  71. Open Source alternative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    You could always use my open source webserver, Seminole, which is designed for embedded devices.

    Doing XML-RPC is nothing special for a webserver.

  72. Given Flash and SVG, let's be reasonable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only cattle should support a proprietary system like Fla$h over SVG. Is it only programmers who value open source and open standards? Anyone with an independent thought should see the practicality of SVG, and its implementations.

  73. Re:Write your own. by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2

    sorry, I was kinda kidding. I think it just illustrates how ridiculous the "write it yourself" response is for 99% of the people who use computers.

  74. Fuck off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Jesus Christ, I love it when the creative types come out of the woodwork to endorse the visual over the textual. Listen, you tool. Pretty little pictures are not the solution to data overload. You're not supposed to browse through megs of logs. You're supposed to decide what constitutes an emergency, and put that knowledge into a piece of software. Then the software does the "browsing" for you, and sends you a message. Holy shit, what a concept.

  75. SWF *is* open source by Snover · · Score: 1
    (Yadda, yadda, closed source, I know, I know. Trouble is, there is no alternative to Flash at this time.)
    Actually, the SWF format is open source. Get information at OpenSWF.org. (While it doesn't mean that there're any better programs for creating SWF files now, it certainly provides for opportunity for a competitive, open source program later.)

    That said, Adobe makes a SWF program, GoLive. There is also SWiSH. While they're both less advanced (inevitably, since Macromedia was the pioneer of the SWF format), they're good starting points, especially for basic Flash programmers. There was also a 3D Flash program (before Flash 6), but the name escapes me at the moment.
    --

    [insert witty comment here]