I'm sorry, maybe I'm not seeing the forest due to all the trees, but... so what? I don't care about lawyer-babble. In my eyes, we use Mozilla like this: a) free, b) don't try to sell it. Full stop.
Who cares about some or other minor legal detail, as long as the result stays as we know it?
Well, while Python is definitively an interesting language, the original teaching language (created to teach programming, and taught before the first compiler for it existed) is Pascal. The original Pascal is of course somewhat outdated by now, but the useful version was pushed onto the PC by Borland in the form of 'Turbo Pascal' (dirt cheap, graphics capable, screamingly fast - in '86!). The language (later called 'Delphi' under Windoze) managed to stay around for a long time despite Borlands best efforts at lousy support. I still use it quite a bit, especially as the compiler is still extremely fast.
These days you'd want something like FreePascal using the Lazarus interface (http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/), which is not only free but runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. A 'Hello World' is done within minutes by an absolute beginner, who can then concentrate on the code itself instead of the interface:)
Yes, but city maps often are quite close to reality - and there's always the option to distort the maps slightly, making them fit better over the Google Maps...
I remember, sometime before I entered the university (in '86 - yes, I'm an old fart) I was working as a programmer for a small computer shop called 'Computer Warehouse', selling primarly PCs in Cape Town, South Africa.
The boss showed me some software which had been delivered together with a sample PC: Windows 1.0. He asked my opinion, as in how useful for us, and if the customers would want it. After fiddling with it for a while (hey, the frames don't even overlap!) I decided that the ground idea is neat, but the fat frames simply eat up to much screen space - this program would never see real usage, looks more like some kind of demo, especially with that low-res text resolution....yeah, I've been wrong before.
Sorry, chaps - I've been blocking ads from the moment it was possible.
It's not just security. It's not just CPU speed loss thanks to Flash. It's not just the irritating distraction of bouncy whatevers making irritating sounds... it's adverts themselves. See, I don't have a TV. Or a radio. Secondary reason is the lack of content (I *do* buy DVDs to watch on my largish monitors), but primarily it's the adverts. Always keep in mind that 50% of all humans are of sub-average intelligence. Add to this that many watch TV tired and with their minds turned off. The logical conclusion is to create adverts aimed at these people. Aimed at idiots.
Sounds massively arrogant, I know. Sorry. But over 95% of all adverts (TV, radio, newspapers, roadsigns, internet) seem to be aimed at people who do not ask any questions, who simply believe.
Mind you, I am quite willing to support a good web site. Their data is valuable to me, so you're actually welcome to make Google-like ads: a simple bold header text, followed by one, max. two (short) lines of text, complete with a link. Just text, no more. Does not desperately try to attract my attention, does not irritate me, does not distract me, does not eat up my screen space... go ahead. I might even sniff on them (yup, actually happened to me;)
But any of this animated, colorful, flashy, noisy crap, and the adblock goes right up again... and if your survival depends on such crap, well, good bye then.
PS: So ars technica is complaining? Follow that forum link. Turn off the ad blocker. First thing you'll notice are two animated, very colorful ads at the top, which instantly caused me to loose the last drop of sorry I might have felt.
I wanted to buy BioShock, I really did. These days, I can get it dirt cheap in the supermarkets, just a couple of bucks. However, thanks to the moronic DRM, I'm not even going to touch it if I get it for free. Without the DRM, I'd have been willing to pay 45 euros.
Bioshock 2 has that crap, too? Thanks for the warning - won't buy that, either.
No, of course they won't learn from this. These DRM ideas don't come from programmers or people with >50% brain, they come from managers. Managers usually have a reality contact problem, and lower sales will simply being explained by 'not enough DRM'...
This is a government saying this. A government. A bunch of bureaucrats with a complete loss of contact to the world. Do you think them capable of tying their own shoelaces, let along find useful information?
They're the ones using it. They did create some very good games, but I'm not buying anything with SecuROM in it, no matter how good the game. Now they want to add 'needs permanent net access'? If I wasn't already blocking them on my shopping list, I'd be doing it now...l
Another nice thing came out in the late 80s for the Mac: ChipWits. (Obviously I now have to point to my free PC version in the sig, although that's not the point of this post) You programmed a ChipWit robot to drink coffee and avoid bugs by a simple icon-based language. Great fun:)
Well, I guess one can get used to ads if you see enough of them. I, however, didn't: no TV. No Radio. Always, always an Adblocker on the net. German highways: no adverts allowed.
And... why should I allow advertisers space on my monitors? I buy high-res systems because I need that, and see no sense in giving a good part of that away for some stuff aimed at morons...
Well... it's been about 25 years since I heard about the Paperless Office Coming Real Soon. High time we hear about it again.
Look, we don't really *need* all these printouts. But our bosses do. They print out everything, put it in binders, place these in a huge bookshelf, and are happy. When a program is done, they print another copy of all that stuff, and give it to the customer, who's bosses are also happy. Bingo.
Besides... I am officially an Old Fart, and thus use LaTeX to write all letters and reports;)
While I do agree with you, it has certain advantages: when I buy this game for real cheap in two years, my PC is powerful enough to set it to max/max/max. Then I have a nice game with good graphics for a low price.
What, you think I'd buy a brand-new game? Full of bugs? Idiotic copy protections? Ridiculously high prices? Needing much more CPU/GPU power than my high-end PC offers? You must be joking.
> When I spent time in Germany, I noticed that their homes really are quite similar to ours.
They are?
Well, I lived for quite some time in Africa, USA and America. And the one thing I really noticed was the american housing - you guys use a *lot* of wood, while the europeans use stones or concrete. Stones are quite a bit better in insulation than wood, and insulation as such is a very major thing in Europe, and apparently of no particularly high interest in the USA...
Yes... but as all things these days, profit this quarter is the only thing which matters.
And thus we see horrible data on the so-called safe storage of used rods, a long list of near-accidents in the stations themselves, and several rather nasty accidents, with Chernobyl being just one of them. Yes, yes, we were told that the chances of such a thing happening are minute. Well, they did happen. And if they happen again (this time in the US), you'll be kinda upset if you have to clear about half of a state, declaring it completely useless for the next few thousand years.
Thinking in a purely profit-orientated way, nuclear power is even more dangerous than before.
Furthermore, the most basic problem is that these nuclear rods are a limited resource. Yes, there are quite a few around, for a while still - but they're limited, like oil. Find something unlimited today, such as sunlight, wind and water movement. Yes, lots more to do, but these are the only definite power-sources for our future.
Well, the americans have always been a little, um, weird about sex.
If your US-version of amazon starts getting all worried about sex information, how about skipping to an european one? For example. the german version (www.amazon.de) also sells english books, and you don't need to know german at all to be able to order it...
(And yes, the english version of "Virtually Normal" showed up on the search)
Hmmm... I don't see your point. Yes, GWB was the worst president you guys have ever had, but - was his rule incompetent?
Look at the whole thing from his side. Imagine that he couldn't care less about the blindly obedient, nicely patriotic public. What DID he want? Help out his friends by making them stinking rich? Getting himself stinking rich? Worked great, really well, probably quite a bit better than could be expected.
So... while he appeared to be pretty low-IQ, his whole group made an exceptional amount of money. If you look at the $ per minute earned, it was spectacular.
No true sign of incompetence, just different work than expected by the gullible public.
Or a beheading? After all, when the french revolution was so very busy killing people left, right and center, they found the guillotine to be the most efficient and quick system...
> I'm quite glad, as an European, that the US didn't have the same revenge and hate mindset back after WW2.
Actually, they did. No, this is not taught in history lessons these days, but back then there were long, serious discussions on what do with the eeeeevil german citizens. Amongst the (quite seriously discussed) ideas were things like country-wide castration to make sure they died out. Or removing/destroying every and all industry, forbidding their recreation, making sure the entire country turns into farmers. What saved us in the end was - the industry. Coca Cola and friends simply made sure that this nice, large market was not destroyed.
Don't believe me? Read some Joachim Fernau, he's created some very nice and well-written history books: "Disteln für Hagen", "Rosen für Apoll", "Deutschland, Deutschland... über alles", "Cäsar lässt grüssen", "Goethes letzte Liebe", "Sprechen wir über Preußen", and so on. Sorry, german titles - don't know the english translations.
A website which actually refuses to show you absolutely anything unless you have Flash 10. Well done. At least it made sure I didn't have to see myself how ugly this site is;)
While I fully agree that we (or rather, you - medicare is rather different and quite a bit more efficient here in Germany) need NICE, I do not quite agree with your point on poor cancer treatment.
See, some people respond to certain cancer treatments better than others - and being promised twice as much life *is* something very valuable. And, yes, I do know what I'm talking about. In 2003 a diffuse Astrocytoma was found in my brain. I am still alive today, doing very well (no, really), but have suddenly realized that every single day is a gift. Enjoy it. You have a certain number of days, and then you're gone. Do something with them, don't just let them pass in boredom and a bone-standard-every-day-is-the-same kind of life.
Thus: I'd agree to pain if it gave me three more months.
The one I have my hands on right now: 3. Feb. 1989 I have seven of them. One at work, one at home, and the rest as spares, just in case.
Some of my cow-orkers came into my office: "Wow, that keyboard is noisy". "Yes." And that was it. I tried all kinds of fancy (and quite expensive) keyboards, and I always came back to the M. Thus now I'm sticking with it, and do not wish to try anything else. I also truly approve the lack of Windoze-keys, which use I have never really understood (instead of merely wasting space on a relatively tight area).
They do have the faint disadvantage that you have to clean them once a year instead of simply throwing them away, but that's kinda worth it;)
> police can enter the domain without judges under certain circumstances
However, getting a judges permission is absolutely trivial. I read an interesting number as in the percentage of such requests approved by a judge - I do not remember the exact number, but it was over 95%.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sorry, maybe I'm not seeing the forest due to all the trees, but... so what?
I don't care about lawyer-babble. In my eyes, we use Mozilla like this: a) free, b) don't try to sell it. Full stop.
Who cares about some or other minor legal detail, as long as the result stays as we know it?
Well, while Python is definitively an interesting language, the original teaching language (created to teach programming, and taught before the first compiler for it existed) is Pascal. The original Pascal is of course somewhat outdated by now, but the useful version was pushed onto the PC by Borland in the form of 'Turbo Pascal' (dirt cheap, graphics capable, screamingly fast - in '86!).
The language (later called 'Delphi' under Windoze) managed to stay around for a long time despite Borlands best efforts at lousy support. I still use it quite a bit, especially as the compiler is still extremely fast.
These days you'd want something like FreePascal using the Lazarus interface (http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/), which is not only free but runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. A 'Hello World' is done within minutes by an absolute beginner, who can then concentrate on the code itself instead of the interface :)
"fill out a report" ... "they promise not to release location data" ...
Yeah, right. Sure I'll help you. For free, too. Seeing how well you're taking care of business for us, the citizens.
Yes, but city maps often are quite close to reality - and there's always the option to distort the maps slightly, making them fit better over the Google Maps...
I remember, sometime before I entered the university (in '86 - yes, I'm an old fart) I was working as a programmer for a small computer shop called 'Computer Warehouse', selling primarly PCs in Cape Town, South Africa.
The boss showed me some software which had been delivered together with a sample PC: Windows 1.0. He asked my opinion, as in how useful for us, and if the customers would want it. After fiddling with it for a while (hey, the frames don't even overlap!) I decided that the ground idea is neat, but the fat frames simply eat up to much screen space - this program would never see real usage, looks more like some kind of demo, especially with that low-res text resolution. ...yeah, I've been wrong before.
Sorry, chaps - I've been blocking ads from the moment it was possible.
It's not just security. It's not just CPU speed loss thanks to Flash. It's not just the irritating distraction of bouncy whatevers making irritating sounds... it's adverts themselves.
See, I don't have a TV. Or a radio. Secondary reason is the lack of content (I *do* buy DVDs to watch on my largish monitors), but primarily it's the adverts. Always keep in mind that 50% of all humans are of sub-average intelligence. Add to this that many watch TV tired and with their minds turned off. The logical conclusion is to create adverts aimed at these people. Aimed at idiots.
Sounds massively arrogant, I know. Sorry. But over 95% of all adverts (TV, radio, newspapers, roadsigns, internet) seem to be aimed at people who do not ask any questions, who simply believe.
Mind you, I am quite willing to support a good web site. Their data is valuable to me, so you're actually welcome to make Google-like ads: a simple bold header text, followed by one, max. two (short) lines of text, complete with a link. Just text, no more. Does not desperately try to attract my attention, does not irritate me, does not distract me, does not eat up my screen space... go ahead. I might even sniff on them (yup, actually happened to me ;)
But any of this animated, colorful, flashy, noisy crap, and the adblock goes right up again... and if your survival depends on such crap, well, good bye then.
PS: So ars technica is complaining? Follow that forum link. Turn off the ad blocker. First thing you'll notice are two animated, very colorful ads at the top, which instantly caused me to loose the last drop of sorry I might have felt.
Thus: my hands are off this.
I wanted to buy BioShock, I really did. These days, I can get it dirt cheap in the supermarkets, just a couple of bucks.
However, thanks to the moronic DRM, I'm not even going to touch it if I get it for free.
Without the DRM, I'd have been willing to pay 45 euros.
Bioshock 2 has that crap, too? Thanks for the warning - won't buy that, either.
No, of course they won't learn from this. These DRM ideas don't come from programmers or people with >50% brain, they come from managers. Managers usually have a reality contact problem, and lower sales will simply being explained by 'not enough DRM'...
This is a government saying this. A government. A bunch of bureaucrats with a complete loss of contact to the world.
Do you think them capable of tying their own shoelaces, let along find useful information?
They're the ones using it.
They did create some very good games, but I'm not buying anything with SecuROM in it, no matter how good the game. Now they want to add 'needs permanent net access'? If I wasn't already blocking them on my shopping list, I'd be doing it now...l
Actually, it can be relatively simple.
Have a look at Omega, brought out in 1989: http://www.mobygames.com/game/omega_
A game teaching you how to program a tank.
Another nice thing came out in the late 80s for the Mac: ChipWits. :)
(Obviously I now have to point to my free PC version in the sig, although that's not the point of this post)
You programmed a ChipWit robot to drink coffee and avoid bugs by a simple icon-based language. Great fun
Ciao,
Klaus
Well, I guess one can get used to ads if you see enough of them.
I, however, didn't: no TV. No Radio. Always, always an Adblocker on the net. German highways: no adverts allowed.
And... why should I allow advertisers space on my monitors? I buy high-res systems because I need that, and see no sense in giving a good part of that away for some stuff aimed at morons...
Well... it's been about 25 years since I heard about the Paperless Office Coming Real Soon. High time we hear about it again.
Look, we don't really *need* all these printouts. But our bosses do. They print out everything, put it in binders, place these in a huge bookshelf, and are happy. When a program is done, they print another copy of all that stuff, and give it to the customer, who's bosses are also happy. Bingo.
Besides... I am officially an Old Fart, and thus use LaTeX to write all letters and reports ;)
Ciao,
Klaus
While I do agree with you, it has certain advantages: when I buy this game for real cheap in two years, my PC is powerful enough to set it to max/max/max.
Then I have a nice game with good graphics for a low price.
What, you think I'd buy a brand-new game? Full of bugs? Idiotic copy protections? Ridiculously high prices? Needing much more CPU/GPU power than my high-end PC offers?
You must be joking.
All it means that there will be even more pirated versions of a 'proper' Windows 7 going around...
> When I spent time in Germany, I noticed that their homes really are quite similar to ours.
They are?
Well, I lived for quite some time in Africa, USA and America.
And the one thing I really noticed was the american housing - you guys use a *lot* of wood, while the europeans use stones or concrete. Stones are quite a bit better in insulation than wood, and insulation as such is a very major thing in Europe, and apparently of no particularly high interest in the USA...
Yes... but as all things these days, profit this quarter is the only thing which matters.
And thus we see horrible data on the so-called safe storage of used rods, a long list of near-accidents in the stations themselves, and several rather nasty accidents, with Chernobyl being just one of them.
Yes, yes, we were told that the chances of such a thing happening are minute. Well, they did happen. And if they happen again (this time in the US), you'll be kinda upset if you have to clear about half of a state, declaring it completely useless for the next few thousand years.
Thinking in a purely profit-orientated way, nuclear power is even more dangerous than before.
Furthermore, the most basic problem is that these nuclear rods are a limited resource. Yes, there are quite a few around, for a while still - but they're limited, like oil. Find something unlimited today, such as sunlight, wind and water movement. Yes, lots more to do, but these are the only definite power-sources for our future.
Well, the americans have always been a little, um, weird about sex.
If your US-version of amazon starts getting all worried about sex information, how about skipping to an european one? For example. the german version (www.amazon.de) also sells english books, and you don't need to know german at all to be able to order it...
(And yes, the english version of "Virtually Normal" showed up on the search)
Hmmm... I don't see your point.
Yes, GWB was the worst president you guys have ever had, but - was his rule incompetent?
Look at the whole thing from his side. Imagine that he couldn't care less about the blindly obedient, nicely patriotic public. What DID he want?
Help out his friends by making them stinking rich? Getting himself stinking rich? Worked great, really well, probably quite a bit better than could be expected.
So... while he appeared to be pretty low-IQ, his whole group made an exceptional amount of money. If you look at the $ per minute earned, it was spectacular.
No true sign of incompetence, just different work than expected by the gullible public.
Or a beheading? After all, when the french revolution was so very busy killing people left, right and center, they found the guillotine to be the most efficient and quick system...
> I'm quite glad, as an European, that the US didn't have the same revenge and hate mindset back after WW2.
Actually, they did.
No, this is not taught in history lessons these days, but back then there were long, serious discussions on what do with the eeeeevil german citizens.
Amongst the (quite seriously discussed) ideas were things like country-wide castration to make sure they died out. Or removing/destroying every and all industry, forbidding their recreation, making sure the entire country turns into farmers.
What saved us in the end was - the industry. Coca Cola and friends simply made sure that this nice, large market was not destroyed.
Don't believe me? Read some Joachim Fernau, he's created some very nice and well-written history books: "Disteln für Hagen", "Rosen für Apoll", "Deutschland, Deutschland... über alles", "Cäsar lässt grüssen", "Goethes letzte Liebe", "Sprechen wir über Preußen", and so on. Sorry, german titles - don't know the english translations.
It was even better for me - "Flash 10 required".
A website which actually refuses to show you absolutely anything unless you have Flash 10. Well done. ;)
At least it made sure I didn't have to see myself how ugly this site is
While I fully agree that we (or rather, you - medicare is rather different and quite a bit more efficient here in Germany) need NICE, I do not quite agree with your point on poor cancer treatment.
See, some people respond to certain cancer treatments better than others - and being promised twice as much life *is* something very valuable.
And, yes, I do know what I'm talking about. In 2003 a diffuse Astrocytoma was found in my brain. I am still alive today, doing very well (no, really), but have suddenly realized that every single day is a gift. Enjoy it. You have a certain number of days, and then you're gone. Do something with them, don't just let them pass in boredom and a bone-standard-every-day-is-the-same kind of life.
Thus: I'd agree to pain if it gave me three more months.
The one I have my hands on right now: 3. Feb. 1989
I have seven of them. One at work, one at home, and the rest as spares, just in case.
Some of my cow-orkers came into my office: "Wow, that keyboard is noisy". "Yes." And that was it.
I tried all kinds of fancy (and quite expensive) keyboards, and I always came back to the M. Thus now I'm sticking with it, and do not wish to try anything else.
I also truly approve the lack of Windoze-keys, which use I have never really understood (instead of merely wasting space on a relatively tight area).
They do have the faint disadvantage that you have to clean them once a year instead of simply throwing them away, but that's kinda worth it ;)
> police can enter the domain without judges under certain circumstances
However, getting a judges permission is absolutely trivial. I read an interesting number as in the percentage of such requests approved by a judge - I do not remember the exact number, but it was over 95%.
From politicians with quotes like "How can we stop people from accessing websites outside of Germany?", what do you expect?
And, no, this wasn't some door watchmen, it was Ms Zypries, one of the (so-called) leaders.