similarly, the fact that we like to root for the underdog...
Or more likely, we've either been f*cked over by a lawyer in the past, or know someone who has been. There's a BIG difference between the law and justice, and the law as currently practiced is often unjust.
It also explains all the lawyer jokes:
Like, "Deep down, lawyers are okay - preferrably at least 6 feet down."
... and...
Q. what do you call 1000 lawyers buried up to their necks in sand?
A. Not enough sand.
No that's stillnot right. The correct sentence structure would be
"I bought a soda for my wife and another for myself, so she wouldn't feel guilty drinking it.
You stil don't have it right. "I bought a soda for your wife, and a double shot of rum for myself, because your wife is so fugly that even drunk, she scares me!"
And as I pointed out, if you're using YOUR laptop, you have more freedom to customize. That's the whole idea behind using your own laptop, rather than what the office supplies.
Also, as I wrote originally:
Newer laptops probably have at least the same ram and hd space as a developer's desktop from a couple of years ago, so if you're a dev, you might want to use your lappy nowadays. Also, you have more freedom to customize your machine...
... today's middle-of-the-road laptop kicks the ass of a lot of 2-year-old desktops. At this rate, desktops are pretty much going to be relegated to servers in a few years. Now that you can run 3 or 4 LCDs from a single laptop, you've got gobs of ram, good performance, lots of hd storage, the "desktop" of the future will be whatever LCDs are hanging around when you sit down, plus your lappy.
As I pointed out, customizable to a developer usually means software, not hardware.
Running your own distro, your own servers, etc.; your choice to add enough ram and hd. But let's take a look at my relatively el cheapo laptop. 17", 4 usb (and you don't need usb for either the kbd or mouse), integrated speakers (so no need for wires for speakers), webcam (again, no usb port needed - so we've saved 3 usb ports) firewire, multiple video out, remote control, lightscribe 8x dvd burner, lan and wireless connectivity, multple video out...
I can run 2 LCDs off it, as well as the lappy's screen, as is (no ExpressCard expansion card needed). What's more to want if you're a developer concerned with screen real estate?
If you're using 2 external LCDs, you don't need your laptop except for the processing, disk storage, and the interconnects. Use an external kb and mouse, and you're all set. Or, if your driver allows it, just rotate ONLY the LCD screens, and have 3-screen goodness.
"Customization", to a developer, usually means installing your own tool chains, setting up your own way of doing things, using your preferred distro, etc.
Also, being able to slap in 4 gigs of ram and a second hard drive for a couple of hundred bucks after the sale, instead of having to fork out the $$$ in advance, is nice.
As for extending the hardware, a lot of the things users would have added in the past are now included - web cam, stereo mics, firewire, multiple usb, svideo out, lcd out, card readers, etc. Many laptops have ExpressCArd/34 or ExpressCard/54 slots, and at 2.5 gb/sec. I/O, it's certainly "fast enough" for most applications, including tv tuners.
I agree with the OP that portrait is best. After all, it is anti-social to write code or text more than 80 columns wide.
Which pretty much explains why java's naming system, with "ThisIsAClassNameThatIsSoLongBecauseItIsSomeFactoryAdaptorClass.andThisIsTheMethodWithTheReallyLongName()" is so offensive. You *NEED* a widescreen.
Any option to turn these monitors sideways, and use them as an extra high monitor? I know I saw a few CRTs that were extra tall at the newspaper where my step-dad used to work. I know most video cards provide options for rotating the monitor in software, but I'm not sure how many monitors have support for it in the the way they are mounted to the base.
My suppliers got problems getting the normal LCD screens ; they are all widescreen.
I've been forced to buy 2 widescreen LCD's because none of my suppliers could get me decent 20/22" non-widescreen LCDs.
Pretty annoying when coding overnight through a secure shell session, I must say...
Tilt the LCDs on their sides, and you have "better-than-page-at-a-time" view. Guys in finance do that all the time - to widescreen lcds turned sideways, then using the video driver to rotate the output to match.
As another poster pointed out, there's nothing to prevent you from plugging in a larger screen. Heck, get one with TV/Flatpanel out as well as vga out, and you can plug in 2 external screens, and extend your desktop across both of them.
Newer laptops probably have at least the same ram and hd space as a developer's desktop from a couple of years ago, so if you're a dev, you might want to use your lappy nowadays. Also, you have more freedom to customize your machine...
You can have my soylent green when you pry it from my cold dead... ummm, on second thought...
So, PETA's offering a million bucks. Chump change compared to what it's worth.
Anyone remember the sci-fi story with "chicken little" - that one piece of repeatedly cloned, vat-grown chicken flesh that was made into chicken breast, leg, etc.? If they could throw in some Octopus genes, everyone'd get a drumstick!
The L'Oreal case was back in the late '70's or (very early) '80's. L'Oreal (plaintiff) decided to switch IT providers. Defendant then shut down their use of the programs necessary to access their data. "You can have the raw data, but you can't have the programs to read it unless you pay us more $$$." Digital blackmail. Very unprofessional, and the court ruled that the IT company was illegally preventing L'Oreal from accessing the data they owned.
End result was that the only safe course of action is to make sure that there's either an "export to.." option for all data (docs, databases, binary data) or a free reader. Besides, it's just "good business."
Data is not considered just the raw text - formatting, embedded tables and images, etc., are all part of *your* data. If you just wanted the raw text, you'd just run "strings $FILE_NAME > my.data.txt".
Access, in this case, means machine-readable form. In other words, you have to be able to export it, even after any "subscription" expires that allows you to create or modify new data in that format.
In your example, you saved your document in Albanian. There's nothing preventing you from reloading that document in
Albanian.
Also, it turns out it's also illegal in the US - L'Oreal Corp. sued one of their IT suppliers who turned off all access to their data after they switched contractors. The courts ruled that the data belonged to L'Oreal, not the contractor, and that the contractor had to make the data available in machine-readable form, even if L'Oreal could no longer create additional data records with the product.
Up here, it's illegal to make it impossible for a person to access their own data. Therefore, while they are allowed to prevent you from making new documents, spreadsheets, etc., they cannot disable the "read-only" features of the software.
Slashdot Mirror
Better you than me, mate!
I for one welcome Arthur C. Clarke's Overlords (Childhoods' End)
I'm calling PETA and the *SPCA on you! If you hate your 'gators so much, why not just put them to sleep instead of torturing them?
similarly, the fact that we like to root for the underdog...
Or more likely, we've either been f*cked over by a lawyer in the past, or know someone who has been. There's a BIG difference between the law and justice, and the law as currently practiced is often unjust.
It also explains all the lawyer jokes:
Like, "Deep down, lawyers are okay - preferrably at least 6 feet down."
Q. what do you call 1000 lawyers buried up to their necks in sand?
A. Not enough sand.
You stil don't have it right. "I bought a soda for your wife, and a double shot of rum for myself, because your wife is so fugly that even drunk, she scares me!"
You call this "civilization?" Get your hands off me, you dirty ape!
In other news, aliens consider Stephen Hawking unlikely.
You remember them? Gee, that's going back a LOOOONG time.
How about Clem Kadiddlehopper?
And as I pointed out, if you're using YOUR laptop, you have more freedom to customize. That's the whole idea behind using your own laptop, rather than what the office supplies.
Also, as I wrote originally:
Not even pigs in space, since there isn't much pork on this pork-barrel.
In other words ... "When pigs fly!"
There's a big difference between "make(ing) great software for no money" and "making great software for no money that someone else will control."
NASA - "Need A Space Agency"
As I pointed out, customizable to a developer usually means software, not hardware.
Running your own distro, your own servers, etc.; your choice to add enough ram and hd. But let's take a look at my relatively el cheapo laptop. 17", 4 usb (and you don't need usb for either the kbd or mouse), integrated speakers (so no need for wires for speakers), webcam (again, no usb port needed - so we've saved 3 usb ports) firewire, multiple video out, remote control, lightscribe 8x dvd burner, lan and wireless connectivity, multple video out ...
I can run 2 LCDs off it, as well as the lappy's screen, as is (no ExpressCard expansion card needed). What's more to want if you're a developer concerned with screen real estate?
If you're using 2 external LCDs, you don't need your laptop except for the processing, disk storage, and the interconnects. Use an external kb and mouse, and you're all set. Or, if your driver allows it, just rotate ONLY the LCD screens, and have 3-screen goodness.
"Customization", to a developer, usually means installing your own tool chains, setting up your own way of doing things, using your preferred distro, etc.
Also, being able to slap in 4 gigs of ram and a second hard drive for a couple of hundred bucks after the sale, instead of having to fork out the $$$ in advance, is nice.
As for extending the hardware, a lot of the things users would have added in the past are now included - web cam, stereo mics, firewire, multiple usb, svideo out, lcd out, card readers, etc. Many laptops have ExpressCArd/34 or ExpressCard/54 slots, and at 2.5 gb/sec. I/O, it's certainly "fast enough" for most applications, including tv tuners.
Or, in c or c++, just make a macro to hide all the typing :-)
The two biggest mistakes with java: no macros, and "everything is a class".
Which pretty much explains why java's naming system, with "ThisIsAClassNameThatIsSoLongBecauseItIsSomeFactoryAdaptorClass.andThisIsTheMethodWithTheReallyLongName()" is so offensive. You *NEED* a widescreen.
2 words: Duct Tape.
Tilt the LCDs on their sides, and you have "better-than-page-at-a-time" view. Guys in finance do that all the time - to widescreen lcds turned sideways, then using the video driver to rotate the output to match.
As another poster pointed out, there's nothing to prevent you from plugging in a larger screen. Heck, get one with TV/Flatpanel out as well as vga out, and you can plug in 2 external screens, and extend your desktop across both of them.
Newer laptops probably have at least the same ram and hd space as a developer's desktop from a couple of years ago, so if you're a dev, you might want to use your lappy nowadays. Also, you have more freedom to customize your machine ...
You can have my soylent green when you pry it from my cold dead ... ummm, on second thought ...
So, PETA's offering a million bucks. Chump change compared to what it's worth.
Anyone remember the sci-fi story with "chicken little" - that one piece of repeatedly cloned, vat-grown chicken flesh that was made into chicken breast, leg, etc.? If they could throw in some Octopus genes, everyone'd get a drumstick!
The L'Oreal case was back in the late '70's or (very early) '80's. L'Oreal (plaintiff) decided to switch IT providers. Defendant then shut down their use of the programs necessary to access their data. "You can have the raw data, but you can't have the programs to read it unless you pay us more $$$." Digital blackmail. Very unprofessional, and the court ruled that the IT company was illegally preventing L'Oreal from accessing the data they owned.
End result was that the only safe course of action is to make sure that there's either an "export to .." option for all data (docs, databases, binary data) or a free reader. Besides, it's just "good business."
Data is not considered just the raw text - formatting, embedded tables and images, etc., are all part of *your* data. If you just wanted the raw text, you'd just run "strings $FILE_NAME > my.data.txt".
We're not just talking about MS-Office here ... Microsoft *does* sell server software.
Access, in this case, means machine-readable form. In other words, you have to be able to export it, even after any "subscription" expires that allows you to create or modify new data in that format.
In your example, you saved your document in Albanian. There's nothing preventing you from reloading that document in Albanian.
Also, it turns out it's also illegal in the US - L'Oreal Corp. sued one of their IT suppliers who turned off all access to their data after they switched contractors. The courts ruled that the data belonged to L'Oreal, not the contractor, and that the contractor had to make the data available in machine-readable form, even if L'Oreal could no longer create additional data records with the product.
Up here, it's illegal to make it impossible for a person to access their own data. Therefore, while they are allowed to prevent you from making new documents, spreadsheets, etc., they cannot disable the "read-only" features of the software.