"... are you talking about apps on linux for photoshop monkeys? (as a programmer I of course think all those involved in graphical design are the lice in the pelt of the human race) "
No one is reaching out to the graphic design community. While they also have a tradition of copyleft, free fonts, and royalty free no cost photography, the two communities simply don't talk to each other.
(Which really isn't all that surprising since both of them tend to look down on each other as worthless parasites.)
I'm sorry, it looks good enough for programmers, but it doesn't look good. And there's a difference, especially if you want the masses to adopt it.
Unfortunately, it's been my experience that too many programmers and users think Open Source really means "free as in beer". Too many of them don't even understand the difference between BSD and GPL licenses. And what I find amazing is that there is no one selling a service or writing books devoted to training employees and mangers about all the difference licenses and their obligations.
If it was just a question of Apache or BSD licenses, I think people would be as quick to adopt as they are to share music files, but the GPL is a lot more scary than even Microsoft's EULA. You pray to God no programmer in your shop has tweaked something GPL in order to make a project work. It's one of those cases where you would be a lot happier if they didn't have access to the source.
Now we know why this is, Slashdot programmers want to protect their intellectual property rights from Microsoft even more than the RIAA wants to protect it's copyrights from Slashdot programmers. And that's perfectly understandable. But it makes for slow adoption. When the very act of bugfixing a GPL project on your spare time, may make some other code of yours "derivitive" of that project, you have to ask yourself if being able to see the code is a good thing or not.
So Corporations treat Open Source very carefully, and as a result people treat it very carefully at home. After all, it's very hard to trust people for whom distrust seems to be a second nature.
Nice subtle threat there. Good to see people who want to keep their mod points reacting to it.
"This is physics, people, not YRO. You're either right or wrong in this case. Please do some basic research, please, before modding a post up, just because it sounds intelligent and is well written."
Actually no, it isn't physics. It may be considered metaphysics, but it definately isn't physics. And physics isn't about being right or wrong, it's about models which can be proven or disproven. The model simply has to produce accurate results, it doesn't actually have to have anything to do with the reality in question. In fact it's better if it's so simplistic that it has nothing to do with the reality in question.
Luckily for you, it appears that the mods listened to your threat, not your advice.
Since what you're looking for is about as broad as the universe, I figured I'd point you to the man who set me straight back in 8th grade. Godel, Escher, Bach not only taught me much about the arts, sciences, and mathematics, but it rekindled a passion for learning that the education system had done it's best to beat to a pulp. And that's a passion I still have today thanks to him.
Whose specs? Theirs? Why? Who really cares? The groups that do take them seriously are the exception, not the rule. For all intents and purposes, w3.org is the Pope of the net: outspoken, clueless, talked about, but for the most part, ignored.
Web designers are not paid by w3.org. Their clients (who do pay them) don't care about w3.org. The clients customers have probably never heard of w3.org. The vast majority of the net simply doesn't care.
I coded sites to existing standards 3 years ago. Those sites no longer meet standards today simply because I haven't updated them on a regular basis just to keep up with an ever changing set of "standards". I attemped to code to existing CSS "standards" 2 years ago only to discover that the browser interpretation of those "standards" was so unpredictable as to make the attempt pointless. And now you want an accessability standard? Why? In a year it will be gone and forgotten.
When w3.org reads the cluetrain manifesto, and gets it, let me know. Until then I'll do what I should have done years ago and ignore them like I do the Pope.
Or in some cases, when a standard is so ill-defined as to allow for multiple incompatible interpretations, making it impossible to figure out if you've followed it.
Historically, browsers have consistantly been incompatible, plug-ins have been required to accomplish those things the browsers didn't accomplish, and the goal of content over form has been lost since the <b> tag stuck it's elbow in the <em> tag''s face.
Web site developers, meanwhile, are not only ignorant of the standards, but would be actively encouraged to ignore them by their client even if they knew. The people who build these sites do not care about accessability any more than spammers really care about those people who get mad at the e-mails.
At this point, testing with normal browsers has become impossible, since there are multiple versions of IE, both Mac and PC, on the streets, all of them rendering CSS differently, Mozilla has split yet again, Safari is trying to gain market share, and Opera is still causing web developers to pull their hair out.
And now you want an accessability standard?
I've been a beta tester. I've been a web designer. And I've had an internet account for a decade now. The industry is incapable of following the standards it currently has. It doesn't need new ones. It sure as heck isn't going to follow them. If someone needs an accessabilty guideline, they can use Section 508 for now. It'll do the job until the industry can get it's act together.
By calculating the population of my neighborhood and assuming that my neighborhood has average distribution...
From the article: That number was then multiplied by the number of similar sized strips needed to cover the entire sky, Driver said, and then multiplied again out to the edge of the visible universe.
I wonder if this sort of "science" is how hardware manufacturers get their numbers?
Since the formats for a.swf file are publicly available from Macromedia.com or openswf.com and since people and companies outside of macromedia have written software that creates and plays.swf files, how closed is closed? Is it the fact that the format is actually owned by someone and enforced by a license?
If so, we might as well say that Linux is a "closed technology" because of the GPL.
If we have to have FUD, can we at least keep it off the main page?
Considering that there are a number of companies with much deeper pockets who would have no problem moving into a micropayments area, I think you're overrating paypal.
First Data Corporation, which handles credit and debit card transactions, owns a couple of networks, and owns Western Union as well strikes me as a company that would be willing to acquire or build their own micropayment division, provided the right business case came along.
Looks like he's not flying in or out of the country. http://www.politechbot.com/p-04973.html - "Suspected Terrorist" button. http://freetotravel.org/ - inside the US
So, someone is creating an OO script/language for vector graphics...
Now that you've approaching Flash 5, can you please explain what you're hoping to accomplish? Since their plug-in is commonly installed, their standards and documentation are apparently about as open and propriatory as yours, and since the number of people who can tell the difference between flash and dhtml is minimal, I'm not sure what the actual goal here is.
According to the normal timetable, Flash 7 should be released before the year is out and that seems to be your primary competitor. Unfortunately it also offers video, sound, raster graphics, and a good lead on a decent OO scripting langage. Oh wait, that's Flash 6.
Is there something new you're offering (other than a different set of lawyers) that we should be noticing?
In the corporate enviroment, using a password as an tracking device is probably the worst move you can do. In many enviroments the person using the machine is not the person who first logged into the machine. This is especially true on larger enviroments where the start up time is prohibitively long. No one wants to log off and log on again, especially with products line Norton Zenworks and other launchers which, in the course of delivering constant updates to the system also deliver constant reboots.
You would be much better off using keycards or similar devices for tracking purposes as the changing of the user in that respect is a per-application change and the user is much more likely to take the card with them when they leave the workstation. (It's relitively painless and therefore a trainable behavior, where logging off and logging on is often painful and therefore avoided.)
The real answer is "If it takes a locksmith less than 2 minutes to get your keys out of the car for you, why did you lock it in the first place? Didn't you realize that a criminal can do the exact same thing a locksmith does, only faster?"
Locking a car is often a pointless task. It's much better at preventing casual entry by children then by actually deterring theives. In a corporate enviroment, the task should be to secure access to the hardware.
If you can keep the building secure, the only people who can penetrate the security system are the people who penetrated building security. Since anyone within the building usually has free reign to wander around until they find a PC that's still logged in, the final security measure of a log-in is relatively worthless.
Of course, the real test to keep in mind is the courts. If someone else's data is stored on the machine and that machine is not password protected, expect to lose the lawsuit. In the modern world, it's still important to do something after the horses have left the barn.
Once upon a time there was something called the Disfunctional Family Circus. And it made it's way over to Amazon. While most of those wonderful reviews are now gone, apparently the spirt has been kept alive.
I Just Dropped Grandma! (Family Circus) "This is a tragic tale in which the beloved Granny is exposed to a radioactive meteorite which causes her shrink quite rapidly. The children think she is a doll, unfortunately, and stuff her into clothes and make her go to the mall in her Barbie (r) convertible, and to play WWF Wrestling. But tragedy occurs when they "accidently" drop her out the window. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wave Granny goodbye!"
The Family Circus Sings Christmas Songs "This lost classic of America's favorite family moves beyond the limits of the time, space and tempo. Thel and the clan bring new meaning to these classic tunes by changing the words of classic Xmas songs we have loved through the ages. You'll love Billy's version of "We wish you a hare krishna!", and Dolly's sensitive new version of "Oh Come All Ye Fat-holes," and tears will roll with 'ol Gandpa's "I'll Be Dead For Christmas."
These songs will take on a new meaning for America in the post-9/11 world, as we try and link our past with the new world each 9/11 brings us"
Unquestionably the Family Circus "This book makes profound statements in the form of a question, when Jeffy and Barfy get hooked on Jeopardy and grandma gambles the family savings on one Final Jeopardy question.
They think they are sure to win once they see the Final Jeopardy category is "Dead Grandpas Look'n Down From Heaven," so they bet it all. During the commercial break, "Not Me", "Ida Know" and "Just B. Cause" whisper in Jeffy's left ear that the question is sure to be: "Who is Aaron Carter?"
Poor Jeffy! When the answer is: "He's really burning in heck! He's not up in heaven after all." Jeffy panics and doesn't write "Who is 'ol Grandpa" and goes with Aaron Carter. The Circus clan loses their home in a side wager that Grandma had placed in Las Vegas and they all end homeless.
A beautiful tale, with something for the whole family (dogs and all)."
If I can see you having sex as I ride by in a car is that my fault or yours? If I can see you having sex as I ride by in a car provided I'm using glasses is that my fault or yours? How about if I use a pair of binoculars? How about a telescope?
Why wardriving are listening to telephones with a ham radio are probably both socially repugnant the flip side is that one group of people are BROADCASTING on public airwaves. If they don't want people listening to those broadcasts, maybe they shouldn't be broadcasting on a public frequency.
It always amazes me how people can form an negitive opinion of something they've never experienced based on their own misconceptions.
If you have an interest in Science and Technology, there's enough real science at the worldcon to keep you happy.
But then again, anyone who enjoys posting their opinions using the words "dorks", "pretentious", "dumb", etc. probably lives in such a depressing world, that they would have a bad time, simply because they would be looking for one.
Slashdot Mirror
Question: What's Missing from Free Software
Answer: X
Reply: Then add it yourself, scumbag!
Ah, sweet loveable Slashdot. What would I do without you?
Try reading the other replies to this comment:
"... are you talking about apps on linux for photoshop monkeys? (as a programmer I of course think all those involved in graphical design are the lice in the pelt of the human race) "
No one is reaching out to the graphic design community. While they also have a tradition of copyleft, free fonts, and royalty free no cost photography, the two communities simply don't talk to each other.
(Which really isn't all that surprising since both of them tend to look down on each other as worthless parasites.)
I'm sorry, it looks good enough for programmers, but it doesn't look good. And there's a difference, especially if you want the masses to adopt it.
Unfortunately, it's been my experience that too many programmers and users think Open Source really means "free as in beer". Too many of them don't even understand the difference between BSD and GPL licenses. And what I find amazing is that there is no one selling a service or writing books devoted to training employees and mangers about all the difference licenses and their obligations.
If it was just a question of Apache or BSD licenses, I think people would be as quick to adopt as they are to share music files, but the GPL is a lot more scary than even Microsoft's EULA. You pray to God no programmer in your shop has tweaked something GPL in order to make a project work. It's one of those cases where you would be a lot happier if they didn't have access to the source.
Now we know why this is, Slashdot programmers want to protect their intellectual property rights from Microsoft even more than the RIAA wants to protect it's copyrights from Slashdot programmers. And that's perfectly understandable. But it makes for slow adoption. When the very act of bugfixing a GPL project on your spare time, may make some other code of yours "derivitive" of that project, you have to ask yourself if being able to see the code is a good thing or not.
So Corporations treat Open Source very carefully, and as a result people treat it very carefully at home. After all, it's very hard to trust people for whom distrust seems to be a second nature.
"(I metamod about three times a day)"
Nice subtle threat there. Good to see people who want to keep their mod points reacting to it.
"This is physics, people, not YRO. You're either right or wrong in this case. Please do some basic research, please, before modding a post up, just because it sounds intelligent and is well written."
Actually no, it isn't physics. It may be considered metaphysics, but it definately isn't physics. And physics isn't about being right or wrong, it's about models which can be proven or disproven. The model simply has to produce accurate results, it doesn't actually have to have anything to do with the reality in question. In fact it's better if it's so simplistic that it has nothing to do with the reality in question.
Luckily for you, it appears that the mods listened to your threat, not your advice.
It's about time someone brought back the Checker Cab.
A list of his books
Since what you're looking for is about as broad as the universe, I figured I'd point you to the man who set me straight back in 8th grade. Godel, Escher, Bach not only taught me much about the arts, sciences, and mathematics, but it rekindled a passion for learning that the education system had done it's best to beat to a pulp. And that's a passion I still have today thanks to him.
"code to the specs"
Whose specs? Theirs? Why? Who really cares? The groups that do take them seriously are the exception, not the rule. For all intents and purposes, w3.org is the Pope of the net: outspoken, clueless, talked about, but for the most part, ignored.
Web designers are not paid by w3.org. Their clients (who do pay them) don't care about w3.org. The clients customers have probably never heard of w3.org. The vast majority of the net simply doesn't care.
I coded sites to existing standards 3 years ago. Those sites no longer meet standards today simply because I haven't updated them on a regular basis just to keep up with an ever changing set of "standards". I attemped to code to existing CSS "standards" 2 years ago only to discover that the browser interpretation of those "standards" was so unpredictable as to make the attempt pointless. And now you want an accessability standard? Why? In a year it will be gone and forgotten.
When w3.org reads the cluetrain manifesto, and gets it, let me know. Until then I'll do what I should have done years ago and ignore them like I do the Pope.
When no one follows it.
Or in some cases, when a standard is so ill-defined as to allow for multiple incompatible interpretations, making it impossible to figure out if you've followed it.
Historically, browsers have consistantly been incompatible, plug-ins have been required to accomplish those things the browsers didn't accomplish, and the goal of content over form has been lost since the <b> tag stuck it's elbow in the <em> tag''s face.
Web site developers, meanwhile, are not only ignorant of the standards, but would be actively encouraged to ignore them by their client even if they knew. The people who build these sites do not care about accessability any more than spammers really care about those people who get mad at the e-mails.
At this point, testing with normal browsers has become impossible, since there are multiple versions of IE, both Mac and PC, on the streets, all of them rendering CSS differently, Mozilla has split yet again, Safari is trying to gain market share, and Opera is still causing web developers to pull their hair out.
And now you want an accessability standard?
I've been a beta tester. I've been a web designer. And I've had an internet account for a decade now. The industry is incapable of following the standards it currently has. It doesn't need new ones. It sure as heck isn't going to follow them. If someone needs an accessabilty guideline, they can use Section 508 for now. It'll do the job until the industry can get it's act together.
By calculating the population of my neighborhood and assuming that my neighborhood has average distribution...
From the article:
That number was then multiplied by the number of similar sized strips needed to cover the entire sky, Driver said, and then multiplied again out to the edge of the visible universe.
I wonder if this sort of "science" is how hardware manufacturers get their numbers?
Since the formats for a .swf file are publicly available from Macromedia.com or openswf.com and since people and companies outside of macromedia have written software that creates and plays .swf files, how closed is closed? Is it the fact that the format is actually owned by someone and enforced by a license?
If so, we might as well say that Linux is a "closed technology" because of the GPL.
If we have to have FUD, can we at least keep it off the main page?
Considering that there are a number of companies with much deeper pockets who would have no problem moving into a micropayments area, I think you're overrating paypal.
First Data Corporation, which handles credit and debit card transactions, owns a couple of networks, and owns Western Union as well strikes me as a company that would be willing to acquire or build their own micropayment division, provided the right business case came along.
Looks like he's not flying in or out of the country.
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04973.html - "Suspected Terrorist" button.
http://freetotravel.org/ - inside the US
So, someone is creating an OO script/language for vector graphics...
Now that you've approaching Flash 5, can you please explain what you're hoping to accomplish?
Since their plug-in is commonly installed, their standards and documentation are apparently about as open and propriatory as yours, and since the number of people who can tell the difference between flash and dhtml is minimal, I'm not sure what the actual goal here is.
According to the normal timetable, Flash 7 should be released before the year is out and that seems to be your primary competitor. Unfortunately it also offers video, sound, raster graphics, and a good lead on a decent OO scripting langage. Oh wait, that's Flash 6.
Is there something new you're offering (other than a different set of lawyers) that we should be noticing?
In the corporate enviroment, using a password as an tracking device is probably the worst move you can do. In many enviroments the person using the machine is not the person who first logged into the machine. This is especially true on larger enviroments where the start up time is prohibitively long. No one wants to log off and log on again, especially with products line Norton Zenworks and other launchers which, in the course of delivering constant updates to the system also deliver constant reboots.
You would be much better off using keycards or similar devices for tracking purposes as the changing of the user in that respect is a per-application change and the user is much more likely to take the card with them when they leave the workstation. (It's relitively painless and therefore a trainable behavior, where logging off and logging on is often painful and therefore avoided.)
The real answer is "If it takes a locksmith less than 2 minutes to get your keys out of the car for you, why did you lock it in the first place? Didn't you realize that a criminal can do the exact same thing a locksmith does, only faster?"
Locking a car is often a pointless task. It's much better at preventing casual entry by children then by actually deterring theives. In a corporate enviroment, the task should be to secure access to the hardware.
If you can keep the building secure, the only people who can penetrate the security system are the people who penetrated building security. Since anyone within the building usually has free reign to wander around until they find a PC that's still logged in, the final security measure of a log-in is relatively worthless.
Of course, the real test to keep in mind is the courts. If someone else's data is stored on the machine and that machine is not password protected, expect to lose the lawsuit. In the modern world, it's still important to do something after the horses have left the barn.
Do a quick search on Bill Keane.
Once upon a time there was something called the Disfunctional Family Circus. And it made it's way over to Amazon. While most of those wonderful reviews are now gone, apparently the spirt has been kept alive.
I Just Dropped Grandma! (Family Circus)
"This is a tragic tale in which the beloved Granny is exposed to a radioactive meteorite which causes her shrink quite rapidly. The children think she is a doll, unfortunately, and stuff her into clothes and make her go to the mall in her Barbie (r) convertible, and to play WWF Wrestling. But tragedy occurs when they "accidently" drop her out the window. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wave Granny goodbye!"
The Family Circus Sings Christmas Songs
"This lost classic of America's favorite family moves beyond the limits of the time, space and tempo. Thel and the clan bring new meaning to these classic tunes by changing the words of classic Xmas songs we have loved through the ages. You'll love Billy's version of "We wish you a hare krishna!", and Dolly's sensitive new version of "Oh Come All Ye Fat-holes," and tears will roll with 'ol Gandpa's "I'll Be Dead For Christmas."
These songs will take on a new meaning for America in the post-9/11 world, as we try and link our past with the new world each 9/11 brings us"
Unquestionably the Family Circus
"This book makes profound statements in the form of a question, when Jeffy and Barfy get hooked on Jeopardy and grandma gambles the family savings on one Final Jeopardy question.
They think they are sure to win once they see the Final Jeopardy category is "Dead Grandpas Look'n Down From Heaven," so they bet it all. During the commercial break, "Not Me", "Ida Know" and "Just B. Cause" whisper in Jeffy's left ear that the question is sure to be: "Who is Aaron Carter?"
Poor Jeffy! When the answer is: "He's really burning in heck! He's not up in heaven after all." Jeffy panics and doesn't write "Who is 'ol Grandpa" and goes with Aaron Carter. The Circus clan loses their home in a side wager that Grandma had placed in Las Vegas and they all end homeless.
A beautiful tale, with something for the whole family (dogs and all)."
It was the magical "collapse sections" button.
WTF that does I'll never know, but it needed to be checked. Maybe that's why there are almost no replies to this thread...
My main page shows the Pi article (same section, almost the same time) but not this article.
I realize I've been gone for awhile and there are a bunch of features I've never seen before but this is bugging me.
It's probably been mentioned, but the Pepsi machine, complete with Pepsi products is already in the game. Why are you getting all upset now?
If I can see you having sex as I ride by in a car is that my fault or yours?
If I can see you having sex as I ride by in a car provided I'm using glasses is that my fault or yours?
How about if I use a pair of binoculars?
How about a telescope?
Why wardriving are listening to telephones with a ham radio are probably both socially repugnant the flip side is that one group of people are BROADCASTING on public airwaves. If they don't want people listening to those broadcasts, maybe they shouldn't be broadcasting on a public frequency.
If you want privacy, pull the digital shades.
Probably not. No one ever takes the black helicopters seriously. Why would they take wardrivers seriously?
And it's more fun to play with than pitch.
You've never been to a worldcon have you?
It always amazes me how people can form an negitive opinion of something they've never experienced based on their own misconceptions.
If you have an interest in Science and Technology, there's enough real science at the worldcon to keep you happy.
But then again, anyone who enjoys posting their opinions using the words "dorks", "pretentious", "dumb", etc. probably lives in such a depressing world, that they would have a bad time, simply because they would be looking for one.
Photo reception on one end. Light emission on the other.
Was this not obvious to anyone a decade ago?