Then what the hell should I learn in CS at a university?
CS is to software development as physics is to engineering. You should get an understanding of basic principles, and learn the skills that let you program in any language and any environment.
A computer graphics professional should be able to protect his work, like any artist, against someone who creates a cheap rip-off. The Aqua interface (IMO) is beautiful, and the result of many hours of hard work, trial-and-error processes, refinements, etc.. That kind of investment doesn't deserve to be stolen by some mediocre photoshop kiddie who watched the MWSF keynote address and said "Hey, good idea, I think I'll swipe it."
If it come to that, most of the "new" graphical features in Aqua have featured in themes for E and other WMs. Rounded edes on windows is hardly the innovation Apple are making it out to be
And chances are the kiddies are using the Gimp. I can't be arsed checking.
All this could possibly refer to is the release of the latest version (4) of the file format and SDK. They tried to generate the exact same hype last year.
But the truth is that the SWF format is never going to be a usable Web format until it comes out from under Macromedia's control. As it stands, they can just change the format slightly any time competing development packages are released (hence no-one really has tried releasing a competing application to Flash). The Flash 4 plugin has been around for ages. Why hasn't the revised file format already been released?
One link of interest if you're looking into generating Flash under Linux is Paul Haeberli's library at http://reality.sgi.com/grafica/flash . Bear in mind that it doesn't come with source and it only outputs version 3 SWF.
If that were the case, surely there'd be extensive dune seas visible at the pole.
And another thing, why at www.marspolarlander.com does it mention looking for the parachute in order to find the lander? The parachute and carapace were meant to separate from the probe 1 and a half km from the surface! They'd be halfway to the other pole before they touched down!
You seemed to be pretty happy with the amazon experience when they were flogging your book in February (see here). Why the change of heart? Their business model hasn't changed. Could it be that you're just aping the actions of others? Do you ever do anything else?
(Currently playing around with a Nokia 7110.) The Nokia developer's kit is quite useful. I can't remember the URL offhand but you should be able to get to it from their main site.
One less-than-thrilling development with WAP in Ireland is that the two providers (Esat and Eircom) are only offering access to specific services through their gateways, as opposed to general access. I suppose eventually one of them will offer general access and the other will follow suit or die, but in the short term it's bound to hurt WAP uptake.
AFAIK the two services are going to be heavily publicised over Xmas, along with Ericsson and Nokia phones that support WAP. WAP phones are not yet easily available here, from what I've heard.
It strikes me that this is one piece of legislation that Ireland wouldn't view too favourably:
By the end of this year, Intel's cumulative investment in Ireland will be worth $2.5 billion (approximately IR£1.7 billion) and total direct employment by Intel currently is around 3,400.
(From their Irish website.) Mind you, this highlights the fact that this isn't another silly trade war thing. Intel are a global company, and a boycott would hurt European commerce as well.
Why not do an interview with Michael Hart? At the risk of being labelled a troll for the second time in a week, he'd be a lot more interesting than John Vranesevich.
> Things that are extra-ordinary, different, > outside the norm, that require effort to create, > can be found in Disneyworld. > That doesn't mean we should look down on > anything that isn't real, everyday > stuff. The world needs imagination.
When exactly does Disneyworld require you to use your imagination? It's all there in primary colours.
What exactly is outside the norm in Disneyworld? It's all just toned-down rehashing of elements of history or popular fantasy.
> Besides, if I visit a museum, all I'll see is a > bunch of art and paintings- art is just a > reflection of life, not the real thing.
If you go to a museum and pay attention to what you're seeing, you may come away with a better understanding of some aspect of life, even if it's just a glimpse into the artist's head. Disney has nothing to offer. You come away out of pocket, and if you're lucky, with a generic set of committee-created magical memories.
"Disneyworld is for people who can't cope with the real world"? Is it possible you are unaware the Disneyworld is in fact a THEME PARK?
You're right, I failed to make my point correctly. Theme parks, in general, are for people who aren't able to cope with the real world. Instead they want a carefully-controlled experience similar to the real world but with all the messy bits taken out.
You make the mistake of thinking that the real world is just the drab and dreary urban existence people seem to get themselves stuck in nowadays. It's not. From that viewpoint, I'd imagine that Disneyworld would look like an excellent holiday destination.
Also, I'm not talking about rollercoaster parks. Disney rides tend to suck by comparison (at least any I've been on).
One of Disney's many quirks was that even though he wrapped himself in Americanism and the flag, he was dubious about representative democracy and non-conformist individual expression.
Why not just say it plainly? The man was a fascist.
Nothing good ever came from Disney. Unless you count homogenized musical versions of world literature and planned communities as good things. Disneyworld is for people who can't cope with the real world. It's an inane asylum.
Is this yet another example of ST leading the way in technology or what?
What. Engines of Creation was published in 1986. Nanites showed up in TNG in 1989.
To be even more pedantic, Feynman gave his talk "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" in 1959, and the ideas behind nanotechnology were being widely discussed since the beginning of the eighties.
This sounds a lot like the history of the animal kingdom on earth...who is the "best designed" animal? The Big, Bad and Mean T-Rex or the small, fast and adaptable rat?
Door number 3. The crocodile. It ate sauropods, it eats rats, and it'll be around long after the rat breathes its last.
Yeah, you there, the guy using the mouse as a foot pedal!
Do you hate having to type in a shipping address every time you order on the Internet? Or worse, are you having trouble remembering your own address?
NO PROBLEM! Microsoft is here to help! We'll take care of all those pesky details for you. Our new Passport software is your ticket to a stress-free junk-filled life. The next version will even wax and declaw your cat for you!
How much would you pay for this amazing piece of ultra-modern technology? $50? $100? $1000? Well, hold on to your hat! Microsoft are giving away Passport for absolutely nothing!
That's right! In exchange for a complete personal profile, including address information, and credit history, which as we all know is worth absolutely nothing to anybody, Microsoft will give you Passport, a passport, if you will, to a future of black velvet elvis paintings at knockdown prices.
Worried about security? Don't be. Your most private personal details will be stored in the most secure form known to science, a "hard disk". This revolutionary device encodes information using the science of magneticism in a form far too small for the human eye to read. If a hacker were to gain access to this "hard disk", he or she would never be able to read the information it contained, even with a high-powered magnifying glass!
Just remember, Big Brother is watching you, and he cares!
[Insert standard EULA and disclaimers here, in really small writing so the suckers won't bother reading it, haha! - BG3]
The only reason for this kind of eugenics that stands up to any scrutiny is economics.
You can't argue for perpetuation of the species. The idea of a single well-defined species is an over-simplification, and even if it wasn't, an allele that causes one form of disability today could protect against who knows what in the future. "Over-specialise and you breed in weakness. It's slow death."
You can't argue that a disabled infant can never lead a normal life. To begin with, most disabled people do. Also, every year we push back the boundaries of medicine. An incurable condition today will probably be treatable in the future. If nanotechnology takes off in our lifetime, almost any medical condition will be trivial.
Finally, it comes down to economics. A disabled child costs its parents (and in more enlightened countries, the State) a lot more to raise and will probably never pay back that investment, in monetary terms at least. But if you have the resources to spare for carrier groups, you have them to spare for social welfare. The developed world is not so poor that it needs to divest itself of less functional human unit, especially considering the negative effects such a policy would have on society as a whole.
Slashdot Mirror
Then what the hell should I
learn in CS at a university?
CS is to software development as physics is
to engineering. You should get an understanding
of basic principles, and learn the skills that
let you program in any language and any
environment.
K.
-
A computer graphics professional should be able to protect his work, like any artist, against someone who creates a cheap rip-off. The Aqua interface (IMO) is beautiful, and the result of many hours of hard work, trial-and-error processes, refinements, etc.. That kind of investment doesn't deserve to be stolen by some mediocre photoshop kiddie who watched the MWSF keynote address and said "Hey, good idea, I think I'll swipe it."
If it come to that, most of the "new" graphical
features in Aqua have featured in themes for
E and other WMs. Rounded edes on windows is
hardly the innovation Apple are making it out to
be
And chances are the kiddies are using the Gimp.
I can't be arsed checking.
K.
-
There's an OSS (non-free) driver out for the
Neomagic NM2200 chipset (some Vaios, Thinkpads,
and I think Dell's laptops) that works pretty
well.
(This is specifically for laptops with the
Neomagic 256av soundcard, but without the
optional hardware soundblaster emulation)
K.
-
But the truth is that the SWF format is never going to be a usable Web format until it comes out from under Macromedia's control. As it stands, they can just change the format slightly any time competing development packages are released (hence no-one really has tried releasing a competing application to Flash). The Flash 4 plugin has been around for ages. Why hasn't the revised file format already been released?
One link of interest if you're looking into generating Flash under Linux is Paul Haeberli's library at http://reality.sgi.com/grafica/flash . Bear in mind that it doesn't come with source and it only outputs version 3 SWF.
K.
-
If that were the case, surely there'd be extensive dune seas visible at the pole.
And another thing, why at www.marspolarlander.com does it mention looking for the parachute in order to find the lander? The parachute and carapace
were meant to separate from the probe 1 and a half km from the surface! They'd be halfway to the other pole before they touched down!
K.
-
When you do interviews and such with the likes of ABC, do you seriously expect them to be anything other than sensationalist?
K.
-
You seemed to be pretty happy with the amazon experience when they were flogging your book in February (see here). Why the change of heart? Their business model hasn't changed. Could it be that you're just aping the actions of others? Do you ever do anything else?
K.
-
(Currently playing around with a Nokia 7110.)
The Nokia developer's kit is quite useful. I
can't remember the URL offhand but you should be
able to get to it from their main site.
One less-than-thrilling development with WAP in
Ireland is that the two providers (Esat and
Eircom) are only offering access to specific
services through their gateways, as opposed to
general access. I suppose eventually one of
them will offer general access and the other
will follow suit or die, but in the short term
it's bound to hurt WAP uptake.
AFAIK the two services are going to be heavily
publicised over Xmas, along with Ericsson and
Nokia phones that support WAP. WAP phones are
not yet easily available here, from what I've
heard.
K.
-
K.
-
Why not do an interview with Michael Hart? At
the risk of being labelled a troll for the
second time in a week, he'd be a lot more
interesting than John Vranesevich.
K.
-
> Things that are extra-ordinary, different,
> outside the norm, that require effort to create,
> can be found in Disneyworld.
> That doesn't mean we should look down on
> anything that isn't real, everyday
> stuff. The world needs imagination.
When exactly does Disneyworld require you to use
your imagination? It's all there in primary
colours.
What exactly is outside the norm in Disneyworld?
It's all just toned-down rehashing of elements
of history or popular fantasy.
> Besides, if I visit a museum, all I'll see is a
> bunch of art and paintings- art is just a
> reflection of life, not the real thing.
If you go to a museum and pay attention to what
you're seeing, you may come away with a
better understanding of some aspect of life,
even if it's just a glimpse into the artist's
head. Disney has nothing to offer. You come
away out of pocket, and if you're lucky, with a
generic set of committee-created magical memories.
K.
-
"Disneyworld is for people who can't cope with the real world"? Is it possible you are unaware the Disneyworld is in fact a THEME PARK?
You're right, I failed to make my point correctly.
Theme parks, in general, are for people who aren't
able to cope with the real world. Instead they
want a carefully-controlled experience similar
to the real world but with all the messy bits
taken out.
You make the mistake of thinking that the real
world is just the drab and dreary urban
existence people seem to get themselves stuck in
nowadays. It's not. From that viewpoint, I'd
imagine that Disneyworld would look like an
excellent holiday destination.
Also, I'm not talking about rollercoaster parks.
Disney rides tend to suck by comparison (at least
any I've been on).
K. (Visit a fscking museum already)
-
>inane (n-n)
>adj. inaner, inanest.
>Lacking sense or substance; empty: an inane >comment.
Thank you. I know what I said.
>I don't think he was as utterly communist as your
>comment would lend us to believe.
I think you'll find that I didn't imply he was a
communist at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.
K.
-
One of Disney's many quirks was that even though he wrapped himself in Americanism and the flag, he was dubious about representative democracy and non-conformist individual expression.
Why not just say it plainly? The man was a fascist.
Nothing good ever came from Disney. Unless you count homogenized musical versions of world
literature and planned communities as good things.
Disneyworld is for people who can't cope with
the real world. It's an inane asylum.
K.
-
Whatever about the truth of his allegations, he comes across as a complete nutter. My favourite
quote:
"It was the look of fear in the presenter's eyes
during a break when I showed her a graph of Microsoft based upon my analysis."
K.
-
Is this yet another example of ST leading the way in technology or what?
What. Engines of Creation was published in 1986.
Nanites showed up in TNG in 1989.
To be even more pedantic, Feynman gave his talk
"There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" in 1959,
and the ideas behind nanotechnology were being
widely discussed since the beginning of the eighties.
K.
-
This sounds a lot like the history of the animal
kingdom on earth...who is the "best designed"
animal? The Big, Bad and Mean T-Rex or the small,
fast and adaptable rat?
Door number 3. The crocodile. It ate sauropods,
it eats rats, and it'll be around long after the
rat breathes its last.
If you're perfect, why adapt?
K.
-
Hey you!
Yeah, you there, the guy using the mouse as a foot
pedal!
Do you hate having to type in a shipping address
every time you order on the Internet? Or worse,
are you having trouble remembering your own
address?
NO PROBLEM! Microsoft is here to help! We'll take
care of all those pesky details for you. Our new
Passport software is your ticket to a stress-free
junk-filled life. The next version will even wax
and declaw your cat for you!
How much would you pay for this amazing piece
of ultra-modern technology? $50? $100? $1000?
Well, hold on to your hat! Microsoft are giving
away Passport for absolutely nothing!
That's right! In exchange for a complete personal
profile, including address information, and credit
history, which as we all know is worth absolutely
nothing to anybody, Microsoft will give you
Passport, a passport, if you will, to a future
of black velvet elvis paintings at knockdown
prices.
Worried about security? Don't be. Your most
private personal details will be stored in
the most secure form known to science, a
"hard disk". This revolutionary device encodes
information using the science of magneticism
in a form far too small for the human eye to
read. If a hacker were to gain access to this
"hard disk", he or she would never be able
to read the information it contained, even with
a high-powered magnifying glass!
Just remember, Big Brother is watching you, and
he cares!
[Insert standard EULA and disclaimers here, in
really small writing so the suckers won't bother
reading it, haha! - BG3]
K.
-
stands up to any scrutiny is economics.
You can't argue for perpetuation of the species.
The idea of a single well-defined species is an
over-simplification, and even if it wasn't, an
allele that causes one form of disability today
could protect against who knows what in the
future. "Over-specialise and you breed in
weakness. It's slow death."
You can't argue that a disabled infant can never
lead a normal life. To begin with, most disabled
people do. Also, every year we push back the
boundaries of medicine. An incurable condition
today will probably be treatable in the future.
If nanotechnology takes off in our lifetime,
almost any medical condition will be trivial.
Finally, it comes down to economics. A disabled
child costs its parents (and in more enlightened
countries, the State) a lot more to raise and
will probably never pay back that investment,
in monetary terms at least. But if you have the
resources to spare for carrier groups, you have
them to spare for social welfare. The developed
world is not so poor that it needs to divest
itself of less functional human unit, especially
considering the negative effects such a policy
would have on society as a whole.
K.
-
Linux does not support important ease-of-use technologies such as Plug and Play, USB, and Power Management
K.
-
In order to prevent technology taking over your
life, you'd like to give a piece of techology
control of your life?
Idiot.
K.
-
Do you still think MS were in the right in
the recent IM battle?
K.
-
Why isn't there an entry for "free software"
in the Jargon Dictionary? Was this a
politically-motivated decision?
K.
-
..That RH was recently investing effort in
protecting the integrity of their trademark, but
now seem to be auctioning it off to the highest
bidder.
[looks over at laptop] Debian time for you.
K.
-
And, if you are going to be literal about things, it is perfectly accurate to characterise 3 years as 'several months'...
By that logic, it's no less accurate to
characterise the age of the universe as several
seconds. And I was only talking about volume 1.
K.
-