I'm in partial agreement with you here-- XP/someLinuxFlavor on my old machines, Vista/Ubuntu dual boot on the newest one-- but, having played with Windows 7, I think that those of us with Vista may see a "real" reason to upgrade. As has been widely reported, the beta version is pretty solid and performs well on older hardware/with/ the glitz features like Aero. Assuming this holds true for the release as well, I expect a fair percentage of those using Vista will indeed upgrade.
Not if he delivers on his promises within a reasonable window of time or can defer blame for his lack of delivery to a reticent congress. The very fact that we're talking about his prospects for re-election _10 days_ after he assumed office illustrates why it's so difficult for politicians to do anything meaningful. Yes, no one's life is magically better because Obama is now in power. This is in no way a surprise.
Re:Why people watch movies..
on
Daemon
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· Score: 1
Yep, and on Mythbusters, the expert taster actually got the order of quality correct on the first go.Interestingly, the Mythbusters themselves did not fare so well-- as I recall, one of them picked the absolute cheapest as the best.
Open groups are exactly that-- open. If you enter a zone and are not already in a group, you will see an icon that informs you of the presence of open groups in your area. Clicking it, you can join one of these groups without an invite. This is particularly useful for Public Quests, large scale quests which you may automatically and repeatably participate in just by moving into an area. Now, they can still kick you, and one personal gripe that I have is that/all/ groups start open, which definitely isn't my preferred option when tooling around with a few friends, but those are relatively small reservations.
Given that they're claiming that it's going to be "significantly less expensive than current Hybrids", even matching the Prius in that regard might make this a winner.
While this is certainly true, having physical ballots allows for a meaningful recount, assuming nobody's actually destroying the ballots in question. While it's true that an electronic machine will produce a 'ticker tape'(analogous to the receipt tape in a cash register), presumably the altered software on such a machine would alter this output as well. Therefore, by decoupling the act of casting the vote from the act of recording a vote, you add the potential for more reliable consistency checks.
See, this is what/really/ should've been visualized in the Minority Report movie...Millions of office workers rolling to work in their powered office chairs, whisked up buildings and directly to their desks to toil...Silently sliding up to the bar at the end of the day...Ugh. I think I've just visualized the end of legs.
Yes, exactly. A well coached individual isn't going to be anxious when they're executing a plan. "Stage Fright" happens/before/ you go on-stage. Once you're there, especially if things are going smoothly, you aren't nervy, you're just executing. I'd imagine that the same is true of a professional operative of any kind-- nervous until go time, cool once you're moving, maybe/after/ you're done. IMO, therefore, you're going to catch the amateurs, not the ones that you really care about.
Re:SPOILER - Really, it is...
on
Batman Discussion
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· Score: 2, Informative
Cillian Murphy(Scarecrow) has survived both modern Batman movies now, both in them and in real life.
Vista does do this. I haven't piddled with it enough to know how useful its metrics are, but it can calculate a "Windows Experience Index"(which has subscores in various categories, including graphics performance), upon which it bases some recommendations like whether one should be using Aero or not. Games that have chosen to integrate this information actually can list these category recommendations, so if I click, for instance, Civilization IV, it will tell me that the recommended system rating is '3.0', which informs me of how well the game might run on my system. Presumably, there's also a pre-install method for checking these scores.
This is probably a part of the overall Games For Windows initiative, and it would likely be more useful were most of the world not still running XP.
I think that depends on where you are-- employers may still be reluctant to take that kind of action in some communities where the IT(or whatever) community is tight knit as it can impact their ability to recruit other local talent. Even really negligent employees that I've worked with typically have "normal" notice-- in my experience, you'd have to do something like violate a major conduct policy to just be/gone/ one morning.
That's just a reflection of where I am, though-- there's a derth of talent here and a large number of employers due to strong banking/finance ties. Burning bridges with your employees can hurt the bottom line unless they're actually pulling their presence from the area. So, in places like this? I expect it to persist, because the reverse is also true here-- I could get a bad reputation in certain quarters that could affect my employability. Here, that's not as hopelessly naive a perspective as it is some places I've been, and I expect two week notice to survive as a courtesy...In some of the more nasty markets? Absolutely not, you're crazy if you expect them to do anything/but/ drag you out of the building. You're a risk the moment you decide to leave, from the perspective of the company.
That's completely true, or can be-- the right small company actually really/must/ be loyal to key employees to maintain the continuity that allows it to itself thrive. Corporate culture typically works to enforce that on both ends. I myself worked for the same small IT shop for 7 years before my current gig, and it was downright painful to leave despite the relative inconvenience of working there in the end.
Now, I work for one of the largest banks in the world. I have security because of my overt value to the company, but I have no expectation of/loyalty/ from them-- if it became more convenient to hire a younger, cheaper person to do my job, they would. If I had a more attractive offer elsewhere, I'd leave. I have a sense of professionalism that would make me see my current project through to its logical conclusion, but that's about me and my ethics/pride cocktail, not my employer.
All in all, good for you-- big business can mean bigger bucks, but the small company gigs are a lot more fun.
If everything you use is on the approved list, presumably your IT staff will be managing patch levels, etc, to assure that there aren't any significant security holes. "Being more security aware" doesn't necessarily translate to "being aware of all risks of having particular software installed".
Wait, wait wait-- how is preventing a competing browser from functioning on their platform not/worse/ than what MSFT did to Netscape? At least Netscape would execute on their OS, even if it was squeezed out by bundling. If Apple is winning because it has "good products", great, but if they're not interested in "kneecapping" the competition, why no Firefox/Opera on the iPhone? Why does Apple get a pass on this?
That's surprising. I got a card for a month of XBL access when they returned my machine w/o my even having to argue about it...Inconsistent customer service, perhaps?
I think that including Scalzi's best known novel is a good sign in this regard; it was well enough received to have spawned a number of sequels/prequels, most of which have had decently sized hardback runs. I wouldn't be totally shocked to see some well-known-but-older-titles available...Ender's Game, anyone?
Yeah, I was thinking this as well-- that's astoundingly bad design. Barring a sudden launch of the iDesk complete with Air-friendly power cable notch, this coupled with the very mediocre battery life would be a deal breaker for me...If I can't plug it in when I'm inevitably stuck in the Charlotte airport on my most regular air commute, it's a loser.
I was also somewhat intrigued by the '8"-11"' comperable ultraportable statement...I'd think you'd have to put this in the class with the Fujitsu Lifebook S for a proper comparison. Despite its thinness, this thing is wide and deep enough that it seems like a more natural grouping.
I'm curious-- did your friend check the build date prior to purchase? You can actually check this with a closed package, or could with mine when I purchased it...I had two die on me, but the latest one, produced this summer/with the new heat system, seems far more stable. While it could be luck of the draw, I've heard a similar story from others.
I totally agree that it's ridiculous...At least the return program is pretty easy to deal with?
Yeah, but I'm talking more at the executive level than the peon...What I've found is that you tend to wind up with highly specialized groups that have insane degrees of specialized knowledge that feed to a still higher level that squats spider-like over the whole thing, pushing widgets around. There's a lot of available detail underlying each widget, but, from great heights, all that's abstracted away. You're looking at summary numbers for a/bunch/ of units, which you push around. Individuals in those units make it all work...It's not unlike Civ IV or, better yet, Europa Universalis.:)
I say this partly because of my own experience shifting through the ranks of the monolithic corp I'm working for now...The further up I've gone, the more widget-twiddling-like the whole thing's felt. In IT, you've still got to have that brain loaded with factual goo, but even then, a large part of my current duties involve maintaining the big picture for the team I lead, moving those under me into the right positions, and then contextualizing things for those a bit further up the chain. Our business is far, far too large for the whole picture to fit into any one sack of neurons...Now, we're probably an extreme example because we're freakin' ginormous, but I have to imagine that the same holds true for any mid->large sized company, at least, and likely on towards gov't etc.
Yes, totally agreed-- the public non-reaction to warrantless wiretapping was disheartening to say the least. I'm definitely not suggesting that USA > Germany in this ongoing madness, but was rather trying to point out to the OP that there are worse things than secrecy from your government
Were I a German citizen, my concern would be whether or not the laws are passed in the face of the protests. As it is, I suspect that we're all in for troubling times ahead where many of our most basic principles are tested. As I said before, it is nice that our government still fears us in some ways...It is less nice that our public does not fear the degradation of their rights so much as terrorism.
If the situation in Iraq were more stable, I have to wonder just how much we would tolerate in the name of security.
I actually think the fact that this could potentially be done/without/ secrecy more worrisome. Keeping secrets generally implies an acknowledgement by the government that the populace will not be pleased if they discover the reality of the situation. In fact, this has actually been the case. There're wire tapping apologists, certainly, but there're reasons that the Shrub's approval rating is so low, and that program is one of them.
My point is, concealing the facts generally implies that there is some fear of the popular reaction. A country in which the government/doesn't/ fear the backlash from such invasive techniques is a far scarier place to live, IMO.
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I'm in partial agreement with you here-- XP/someLinuxFlavor on my old machines, Vista/Ubuntu dual boot on the newest one-- but, having played with Windows 7, I think that those of us with Vista may see a "real" reason to upgrade. As has been widely reported, the beta version is pretty solid and performs well on older hardware /with/ the glitz features like Aero. Assuming this holds true for the release as well, I expect a fair percentage of those using Vista will indeed upgrade.
Not if he delivers on his promises within a reasonable window of time or can defer blame for his lack of delivery to a reticent congress. The very fact that we're talking about his prospects for re-election _10 days_ after he assumed office illustrates why it's so difficult for politicians to do anything meaningful. Yes, no one's life is magically better because Obama is now in power. This is in no way a surprise.
#2 = yet another reason why They Live is the best movie ever.
Yep, and on Mythbusters, the expert taster actually got the order of quality correct on the first go.Interestingly, the Mythbusters themselves did not fare so well-- as I recall, one of them picked the absolute cheapest as the best.
Open groups are exactly that-- open. If you enter a zone and are not already in a group, you will see an icon that informs you of the presence of open groups in your area. Clicking it, you can join one of these groups without an invite. This is particularly useful for Public Quests, large scale quests which you may automatically and repeatably participate in just by moving into an area. Now, they can still kick you, and one personal gripe that I have is that /all/ groups start open, which definitely isn't my preferred option when tooling around with a few friends, but those are relatively small reservations.
Given that they're claiming that it's going to be "significantly less expensive than current Hybrids", even matching the Prius in that regard might make this a winner.
While this is certainly true, having physical ballots allows for a meaningful recount, assuming nobody's actually destroying the ballots in question. While it's true that an electronic machine will produce a 'ticker tape'(analogous to the receipt tape in a cash register), presumably the altered software on such a machine would alter this output as well. Therefore, by decoupling the act of casting the vote from the act of recording a vote, you add the potential for more reliable consistency checks.
See, this is what /really/ should've been visualized in the Minority Report movie...Millions of office workers rolling to work in their powered office chairs, whisked up buildings and directly to their desks to toil...Silently sliding up to the bar at the end of the day...Ugh. I think I've just visualized the end of legs.
Welcome to /. :)
Yes, exactly. A well coached individual isn't going to be anxious when they're executing a plan. "Stage Fright" happens /before/ you go on-stage. Once you're there, especially if things are going smoothly, you aren't nervy, you're just executing. I'd imagine that the same is true of a professional operative of any kind-- nervous until go time, cool once you're moving, maybe /after/ you're done. IMO, therefore, you're going to catch the amateurs, not the ones that you really care about.
Cillian Murphy(Scarecrow) has survived both modern Batman movies now, both in them and in real life.
This is probably a part of the overall Games For Windows initiative, and it would likely be more useful were most of the world not still running XP.
That's just a reflection of where I am, though-- there's a derth of talent here and a large number of employers due to strong banking/finance ties. Burning bridges with your employees can hurt the bottom line unless they're actually pulling their presence from the area. So, in places like this? I expect it to persist, because the reverse is also true here-- I could get a bad reputation in certain quarters that could affect my employability. Here, that's not as hopelessly naive a perspective as it is some places I've been, and I expect two week notice to survive as a courtesy...In some of the more nasty markets? Absolutely not, you're crazy if you expect them to do anything /but/ drag you out of the building. You're a risk the moment you decide to leave, from the perspective of the company.
Now, I work for one of the largest banks in the world. I have security because of my overt value to the company, but I have no expectation of /loyalty/ from them-- if it became more convenient to hire a younger, cheaper person to do my job, they would. If I had a more attractive offer elsewhere, I'd leave. I have a sense of professionalism that would make me see my current project through to its logical conclusion, but that's about me and my ethics/pride cocktail, not my employer.
All in all, good for you-- big business can mean bigger bucks, but the small company gigs are a lot more fun.
If everything you use is on the approved list, presumably your IT staff will be managing patch levels, etc, to assure that there aren't any significant security holes. "Being more security aware" doesn't necessarily translate to "being aware of all risks of having particular software installed".
True, but he is more likely to be able to explain the difference between the tubes and the trucks coherently.
Wait, wait wait-- how is preventing a competing browser from functioning on their platform not /worse/ than what MSFT did to Netscape? At least Netscape would execute on their OS, even if it was squeezed out by bundling. If Apple is winning because it has "good products", great, but if they're not interested in "kneecapping" the competition, why no Firefox/Opera on the iPhone? Why does Apple get a pass on this?
Good point-- it's very true that the ring of death issues are being handled as an exception case.
That's surprising. I got a card for a month of XBL access when they returned my machine w/o my even having to argue about it...Inconsistent customer service, perhaps?
I think that including Scalzi's best known novel is a good sign in this regard; it was well enough received to have spawned a number of sequels/prequels, most of which have had decently sized hardback runs. I wouldn't be totally shocked to see some well-known-but-older-titles available...Ender's Game, anyone?
I was also somewhat intrigued by the '8"-11"' comperable ultraportable statement...I'd think you'd have to put this in the class with the Fujitsu Lifebook S for a proper comparison. Despite its thinness, this thing is wide and deep enough that it seems like a more natural grouping.
I totally agree that it's ridiculous...At least the return program is pretty easy to deal with?
I say this partly because of my own experience shifting through the ranks of the monolithic corp I'm working for now...The further up I've gone, the more widget-twiddling-like the whole thing's felt. In IT, you've still got to have that brain loaded with factual goo, but even then, a large part of my current duties involve maintaining the big picture for the team I lead, moving those under me into the right positions, and then contextualizing things for those a bit further up the chain. Our business is far, far too large for the whole picture to fit into any one sack of neurons...Now, we're probably an extreme example because we're freakin' ginormous, but I have to imagine that the same holds true for any mid->large sized company, at least, and likely on towards gov't etc.
Were I a German citizen, my concern would be whether or not the laws are passed in the face of the protests. As it is, I suspect that we're all in for troubling times ahead where many of our most basic principles are tested. As I said before, it is nice that our government still fears us in some ways...It is less nice that our public does not fear the degradation of their rights so much as terrorism.
If the situation in Iraq were more stable, I have to wonder just how much we would tolerate in the name of security.
My point is, concealing the facts generally implies that there is some fear of the popular reaction. A country in which the government /doesn't/ fear the backlash from such invasive techniques is a far scarier place to live, IMO.