It's just an extension of the analogy. If the body is the product of a bunch of selfish genes, then (simplistically) the mind is the product of a bunch of selfish memes. Unfortunately this is a misinterpretation of the analogy, as minds are considered the foodsource of memes as opposed to their vehicles (any form of media).
K. - How come there's an "open source" entry in the
I took your advice and got a frigging girlfriend. Now I have two. However, I'm having trouble keeping them in the same habitat, as they tend to fight. Is there anything I can do to prevent this, short of getting another tank?
Yours sincerely, Confused but Carnally Sated in Wolverhampton. How come there's an "open source" entry in the Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
My guess would be that they're looking at the ripper/encoder software. If they could add encryption that uses a hardware code (like a hard disk identifier or a portable player's serial number) then an encrypted file would be tied to a single computer/player. The problem with doing this is controlling the ripper software.
If this is the way they plan to go, they should start leaning on authors of ripping progs soon. Get your copies while you can (I may be being a bit melodramatic here). How come there's an "open source" entry in the Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Funnily enough I was looking at this last night. I'd have to say that for me the first on the todo list would be morphing. Its absence makes up lot of the animations out there unwatchable.
K.
How come there's an "open source" entry in the Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Netscape 3 had a kiosk mode that did exactly that.
Netscape 4 also has a kiosk mode, but it's a secured feature. You have to allow it via the privilegeManager object first.
This is as it should be. It would be quite easy to create a Windows-like full-screen view in Netscape 4 that could fool the average luser. See rive.boxybutgood.com's WindowMaker simulation for a non-full-screen example.
K. - How come there's an "open source" entry in the Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
The file specification they released for Flash was incomplete. The parser source code they released was buggy. They've been promising an SDK forever. Basically, they've been stringing along the open standards-loving Web community so as to prevent a real open standard from getting off the ground, IMHO.
That said, they may have read the writing on the wall. And it is a pretty decent format - if only it were more accessible programmatically.
K. - How come there's an "open source" entry in the Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Actually, it's often easier to write code to implement a complicated interface, since it puts more responsibility on the user to manage things. I don't know what the situation is here, of course:-)
The problem is, once you expose the implementation, people write to the implementation rather than the interface. Say you change the implementation but keep the interface. Code that depends on, say, the internal structure of an opaque context previously accessible only through API calls, can be broken.
Of course in a perfect world, developers wouldn't do this, but we don't live in a perfect world.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
'Ballmer hinted that one area would concern portions of the code that related to database connectivity, which many developers find "complicated and difficult to understand." '
Open source is exactly the wrong way to go about solving this problem. If the interface is complicated and messy, what's the code like?
Unless they're encouraging people to work on said code, and folding any changes back into the code, they're wasting their time. And I for one would not work for free for the world's richest corporation. (Not that they'd want my meagre skills, but there you go.)
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
I suppose you could just about call any junkmail you get 'unsolicited' by that argument, since really any time you give your snail and/or email address to someone you can expect to receive spam.
I don't see how that follows. It's like saying that mugging someone is legal if they're walking in an area where you can expect to be mugged.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
...but is it? It's not unsolicited advertisement, in the sense that people will presumably be aware that the ads come with the product.
One point that'll act agaist this idea is that it'll negatively affect the software's usefulness. If this is the case, market pressures will probably kill the producers, or at least maul them slightly.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
What drove HAL crazy? Being programmed to tell the truth and being told to lie.
Society on the Internet is *in general* a meritocracy. You're judged by your ability to communicate, by your intelligence. But then when you go to school, those attributes become irrelevant, or worse, are turned against you. You're ostracised for the very same things that are an advantage on the Internet. This does not lead to a stable mentality.
I didn't have too much trouble in my school, mostly because I was a sarcastic little bastard who'd verbally rip anyone to shreds who tried to mess with me - and I had biker friends:) (and a high threshold for pain:(). But I accepted quite a bit of the grief that came my way because that was the way things were. If it had been pointed out to me that there were other ways for things to be, I wouldn't have been so quick to accept the hassle.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
"Not long ago, a recording industry executive equated MP3 with the atom bomb, so great is its potential impact on the music business. But it might have been more accurate to compare MP3 to a neutron bomb, since -- like the N-bomb -- MP3 just kills the artists, but leaves their prior work intact."
Thing is, there isn't any real evidence of mp3s 'killing' artists. It's undoubtedly hurting the revenue streams of larger artists, and of back catalogues, but it'd take a lot to kill the Mariah Careys and Corrs of this world. And smaller groups are flocking to what is effectively a free worldwide distribution channel.It might be nibbling away at the profits of record companies, but it's only doing good things for music.
Microsoft's new format's already been technically rebutted in this thread, but one more criticism that could be added, relating to its marketing. Mp3 has a young and funky, vaguely risque quality that is a marketing exec's wet dream when it comes to selling to teens and young adults. A format that places emphasis on things like digital watermarking and copyright protection is doomed in the 13-30 bracket.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
...happened to a friend working for a company specialising in telco software. She was put on a nine-week project when she joined, as a junior programmer. The project was their first contract for N****l, and their reputation hinged on it.
Eighteen months later, she was in charge of the self-same project, everyone else involved with it having either quit or had a nervous breakdown.
Two years later, she left it still chugging along and moved into sales.
The company's since been bought out for their IP. Oh how I laughed.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
Yet another old fogey...
on
Generations
·
· Score: 1
"Pull the footstool a little closer child, and settle the shawl around my back!"
Reasons why I didn't like this article:
1) Longwinded 2) In love with itself and its spongy prose 3) It's not a new subject 4) Its point is invalid - I know plenty of old IT types who've kept abreast of technological development over the past 30-odd years.
One more article like this and it's into the filter with you!
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
The only thing remarkable about this story is the fact that it's considered worthy of being told. Hands up anyone reading this who hasn't skulked around in classrooms on their own, worked in shitty jobs, gotten involved with the 'wrong crowd', etc., etc., etc.
This is life, unless you're a breeder. It may be news to Jon Katz, but it's nothing new to me. And it's hard to see his romanticisation as anything other than patronizing. The fact that the Dreary Duo don't realize this is not to their credit.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
You need to work on writing abstracts that relate to your chosen topics. I'd sketched out a lovely flame hinging on pgp-signed packages and now it's gone to waste.
K. -
-- To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
First off, what was the point of author filters if you're just going to append Katz' articles to other slightly more deserving ones?
Secondly, personally I don't think there'll be such a thing as a paperless office in the near future. Instead, the paper will get smarter. It'll acquire a wireless network link and a memory. It will reclaim its place as the world's greatest input/output device.
>Translation: "I don't trust people. I do trust machines."
And your point is?
You can trust a computer to do what it's told. You can't trust people as far as you can throw them (and I've got a typical geek physique so that's not very far).
>Think of a news site like Slashdot without a >guy like me, or a group of guys at the center. >One where the best comments become the articles >on the homepage. If we could make that work... >wow.
It has been made work. It's called Usenet (+ killfiles).
I thought filters were a good idea. They let you choose what you wanted to read. But I don't think much of other people deciding that for me. The ability to filter out keywords in the subjects of comments would have helped to eliminate a lot of flames from view. It would certainly be better then letting an anonymous group with random agendas loose on your site.
Slashdot Mirror
It's just an extension of the analogy. If the
body is the product of a bunch of selfish genes,
then (simplistically) the mind is the product of
a bunch of selfish memes. Unfortunately this
is a misinterpretation of the analogy, as minds
are considered the foodsource of memes as opposed
to their vehicles (any form of media).
K.
-
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
So why don't you build a garden shed/lean-to
and stick your big fuck-off dish in there?
K.
-
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Dear Anonymous Coward,
I took your advice and got a frigging girlfriend.
Now I have two. However, I'm having trouble
keeping them in the same habitat, as they tend
to fight. Is there anything I can do to
prevent this, short of getting another tank?
Yours sincerely,
Confused but Carnally Sated in Wolverhampton.
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
My guess would be that they're looking at
the ripper/encoder software. If they could add
encryption that uses a hardware code (like a
hard disk identifier or a portable player's
serial number) then an encrypted file would
be tied to a single computer/player. The problem
with doing this is controlling the ripper
software.
If this is the way they plan to go, they should
start leaning on authors of ripping progs soon.
Get your copies while you can (I may be being
a bit melodramatic here).
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Funnily enough I was looking at this last night.
I'd have to say that for me the first on the
todo list would be morphing. Its absence makes up
lot of the animations out there unwatchable.
K.
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Netscape 3 had a kiosk mode that did exactly that.
Netscape 4 also has a kiosk mode, but it's a
secured feature. You have to allow it via the
privilegeManager object first.
This is as it should be. It would be quite
easy to create a Windows-like full-screen
view in Netscape 4 that could fool the average
luser. See rive.boxybutgood.com's WindowMaker
simulation for a non-full-screen example.
K.
-
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
The file specification they released for Flash
was incomplete. The parser source code they
released was buggy. They've been promising an SDK
forever. Basically, they've been stringing along
the open standards-loving Web community so as to
prevent a real open standard from getting off
the ground, IMHO.
That said, they may have read the writing on the
wall. And it is a pretty decent format - if only
it were more accessible programmatically.
K.
-
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Jargon File, when there isn't a "free software" one?
Actually, it's often easier to write code to implement a complicated interface, since it puts more :-)
responsibility on the user to manage things. I don't know what the situation is here, of course
The problem is, once you expose the implementation, people write to the implementation rather than the interface. Say you change the implementation but keep the interface. Code that depends on, say, the internal structure of an opaque context previously accessible only through API calls, can be broken.
Of course in a perfect world, developers wouldn't do this, but we don't live in a perfect world.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
'Ballmer hinted that one area would concern portions of the code that related to database connectivity, which many developers find "complicated and difficult to understand." '
Open source is exactly the wrong way to go about solving this problem. If the interface is complicated and messy, what's the code like?
Unless they're encouraging people to work on said code, and folding any changes back into the code, they're wasting their time. And I for one would not work for free for the world's richest corporation. (Not that they'd want my meagre skills, but there you go.)
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
Three free links on Slashdot's
front page. Kudos to whoever
thought of that one.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
Write your principal indeed - if they were reasonable people and open to debate there wouldn't be a problem in the first place.
Form geek clubs my arse - all that'll accomplish is to make you easier to find.
The only solution is to grow up, move away, and never ever look back.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
...and your enemies closer. Remember CSS! Viva los Halloween Memos!
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
I don't see how that follows. It's like saying that mugging someone is legal if they're walking in an area where you can expect to be mugged.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
...but is it? It's not unsolicited advertisement, in the sense that people will presumably be aware that the ads come with the product.
One point that'll act agaist this idea is that it'll negatively affect the software's usefulness. If this is the case, market pressures will probably kill the producers, or at least maul them slightly.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
I'm sorry, but I have a slightly higher opinion of the Slashdot audience than yours.
But yes, he definitely had issues. And very poorly written exception handling.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
What drove HAL crazy? Being programmed to tell
:) (and a high threshold for pain :(). But I accepted quite a bit of the grief that came my way because that was the way things were. If it had been pointed out to me that there were other ways for things to be, I wouldn't have been so quick to accept the hassle.
the truth and being told to lie.
Society on the Internet is *in general* a meritocracy. You're judged by your ability to communicate, by your intelligence. But then when you go to school, those attributes become irrelevant, or worse, are turned against you. You're ostracised for the very same things that are an advantage on the Internet. This does not lead to a stable mentality.
I didn't have too much trouble in my school, mostly because I was a sarcastic little bastard who'd verbally rip anyone to shreds who tried to mess with me - and I had biker friends
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
"Not long ago, a recording industry executive equated MP3 with the atom bomb, so great is its potential impact on the music business. But it might have been more accurate to compare MP3 to a neutron bomb, since -- like the N-bomb -- MP3 just kills the artists, but leaves their prior work intact."
Thing is, there isn't any real evidence of
mp3s 'killing' artists. It's undoubtedly hurting
the revenue streams of larger artists, and
of back catalogues, but it'd take a lot to
kill the Mariah Careys and Corrs of this world.
And smaller groups are flocking to what is
effectively a free worldwide distribution
channel.It might be nibbling away at the
profits of record companies, but it's only
doing good things for music.
Microsoft's new format's already been
technically rebutted in this thread, but one
more criticism that could be added, relating
to its marketing. Mp3 has a young and funky,
vaguely risque quality that is a marketing exec's
wet dream when it comes to selling to teens
and young adults. A format that places
emphasis on things like digital watermarking
and copyright protection is doomed in the
13-30 bracket.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
...happened to a friend working for a
company specialising in telco software.
She was put on a nine-week project when
she joined, as a junior programmer.
The project was their first contract for
N****l, and their reputation hinged on
it.
Eighteen months later, she was in charge
of the self-same project, everyone else
involved with it having either quit or
had a nervous breakdown.
Two years later, she left it still
chugging along and moved into sales.
The company's since been bought out for
their IP. Oh how I laughed.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
"Pull the footstool a little closer child,
and settle the shawl around my back!"
Reasons why I didn't like this article:
1) Longwinded
2) In love with itself and its spongy prose
3) It's not a new subject
4) Its point is invalid - I know plenty of
old IT types who've kept abreast of
technological development over the past
30-odd years.
One more article like this and it's into the
filter with you!
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
The only thing remarkable about this story is
the fact that it's considered worthy of being told. Hands up anyone reading this who hasn't skulked around in classrooms on their own, worked in shitty jobs, gotten involved with the 'wrong crowd', etc., etc., etc.
This is life, unless you're a breeder. It may be news to Jon Katz, but it's nothing new to me. And it's hard to see his romanticisation as anything other than patronizing. The fact that the Dreary Duo don't realize this is not to their credit.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
You need to work on writing abstracts that relate
to your chosen topics. I'd sketched out a lovely flame hinging on pgp-signed packages and now it's gone to waste.
K.
-
--
To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
First off, what was the point of author filters
if you're just going to append Katz' articles
to other slightly more deserving ones?
Secondly, personally I don't think there'll be
such a thing as a paperless office in the near
future. Instead, the paper will get smarter.
It'll acquire a wireless network link and a
memory. It will reclaim its place as the
world's greatest input/output device.
All hail the paper! The paper is your friend!
K.
-
Why not concentrate on ADSL (or VDSL for that matter) and leverage existing cable?
K.
-
>Translation: "I don't trust people. I do trust machines."
And your point is?
You can trust a computer to do what it's told.
You can't trust people as far as you can throw
them (and I've got a typical geek physique so
that's not very far).
K.
-
>Think of a news site like Slashdot without a
>guy like me, or a group of guys at the center.
>One where the best comments become the articles
>on the homepage. If we could make that work...
>wow.
It has been made work. It's called Usenet
(+ killfiles).
I thought filters were a good idea. They let you
choose what you wanted to read. But I don't think
much of other people deciding that for me. The
ability to filter out keywords in the subjects of
comments would have helped to eliminate a lot
of flames from view. It would certainly be better
then letting an anonymous group with random
agendas loose on your site.
K.
-