An open platform means more games, more programmers, and, more importantly, more sales.
Unlike PC makers, console makers actually take a loss on console sales. They make it up by developing software (Crash Bandicoot etc.), selling devkits, and licensing the patent rights.
Something that linguists agree is fast, easy, and not redundant (this a huge problem for most languages, especially English).
Fast: A typical paragraph in English is generally up to 30% shorter than in other European languages.
Easy: I see your point there, but check out this reformed English, called Baanzish.
Redundant: The brain needs a lot of redundancy in language (it's somewhat of an error-correcting code); otherwise, noisy channels (try to talk in a subway?) will present too much interference for effective communication.
CDNow: Uses TroubleClick for banner ads, and they 404 me if I'm blocking ad.doubleclick.net in/etc/hosts
Barnes & Noble: Oh, there it is! And with short snips of the first five tracks, there's hardly a chance that a fella will unwittingly buy a disc full of shit.
Verdict: BN.com rocks.
I'm blue. If I was green, I would die. If I was green, I would die...
IANAL, but I think Diamond Rio the country band and Diamond Rio the MPEG audio player might collide in the trademark namespace. Are brands of music and brands of music equipment separate namespaces?
RMS hates UCITA because it nullifies NO WARRANTY
on
Fighting UCITA
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· Score: 1
RMS wrote a paper on why we must fight UCITA. He writes that free software cannot disclaim warranty because its license is not a shrinkwrap license.
I do see a way around this: the first time a user runs the program (during the install phase, or when it's creating it's.ini file or dot-folder), present the "ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY" section of the GNU GPL and add "In using this software, you agree to so-and-so clause of the GNU GPL; if you do not agree, uninstall this software."
Re:Let me take that one farther...
on
Fighting UCITA
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· Score: 1
I don't understand the logic of people who support FTP. Its sole purpose is to allow the free exchange of software over the internet, so it is designed to pirate software, making it illegal. There are absolutely no arguments supporting FTP, and the "online community" bull is just a transparent excuse to defend piracy. FTP is illegal and therefore should be banned. Also, I'm surprised that more universities haven't banned FTP, considering its effect on bandwidth. My brother says that his dorm's T3 line is slower than his modem because of all the people dowloading pirated software. If you want software for free, then get it from some open-source project, don't steal it from someone else. And don't complain about the price. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
See how silly your argument is? Napster technology is just a distribution medium. It was originally designed for your "amateur groups," but users abuse it and trade audio clips without authorization.
Would it help bands if the band though of Napster as a form of broadcast medium, like radio
You're thinking of MPEG radio systems such as Shoutcast and Icecast systems. Even if Napster is like the radio (I do see the connection), broadcast is still "public performance" under the law and is exclusively controlled by the copyright holder except for fair use and compulsory license.
Perhaps release albums as MP3 with adverts in them even? Make some money that way?
AMP3.com already does this. Actually, in locations with weak copyright laws, the success of a media product depends on product-placement advertising (think "I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch").
If a CD has three listenable songs, I buy it. I hate artists who release an album with seven listenable minutes and sixty minutes of pure $#!+ and then charge $20 for what amounts to a single.
ask yourself how many ("non-techy") people you know who can name an office suite other than MS Office.
That's a marketing issue, not a technology issue. MS just has the funds to put on more commercials than Sun and Applix combined. Nevertheless, last time I checked, there was the AppleWorks suite from Apple Computer Inc. It has word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation (like the other guys' office suite), but it adds basic database function and simple vector and paint graphics. And it's surprisingly unbloated. Version 6 is already out on Mac OS and is coming within a month to Windows; if they don't port it to UNIX® OS-like systems, Wine might handle it.
The US has a law where a patent can be filed up to one year after being published. This is what happened with LZW; Welch sent it to the journal, it got published, Uni$ys patented it.
software that conforms to the Linux API generally conforms to the Unix API (sorry, I meant the UNIX® Operating System's Application Programming Interface).
"UNIX® system API" would be fine by the Open Group (they just want a noun after the trademark), but I think I realized (looking at it from an API perspective) that the UNIX system API is just the POSIX API. Checking the Patent Office's trademark search engine, I find that POSIX® is a registered trademark of IEEE. I didn't see any off-the-wall trademark guidelines on IEEE's web site.
Remember Linux laundry detergent? What about Philips audiovisual equipment vs. Phillips milk of magnesia vs. Phillips screwdrivers? What about Sonic the hedgehog vs. Sonic drive-in restaurant? Different fields of business have different namespaces for trademarks, and they hardly overlap unless the trademark is especially strong.
So what's the generic term for "operating systems that imitate System V"? According to the Open Group's guidelines (PDF here), NetBSD's "UNIX-like" is an abuse of the Trade Mark. There are several abuses and their alternatives listed, but "UNIX-like" is the only abuse listed without an alternative. I've been dropping the U and calling them "*Nix" systems, or simply "Nix" systems.
I need a PDA which will be on as soon as i flip the cover
That's not boot time; that's wakeup time. When a fella "turns off" a palmtop, it doesn't actually shut down; it simply turns off the screen and peripheral devices, puts the CPU in a low power "wait for interrupt" mode (select() anyone?), and keeps running the RAM refresh (just barely taking any juice). When it's "turned back on," the interrupt reaches the CPU, it turns the screen back on, and it brings up what you were doing when you put it to sleep.
Mac OS 10 is not a UNIX® system. If it complied with the "single UNIX" spec, it might be.
and the only credible non-windows desktop platform out there
Mac hardware does not have a character cell mode; it cannot be run in non-windows mode. Even if you are using "windows" to mean a Windows system, are you implying GNU/Linux (which also runs on G3/G4 hardware) is not credible?
Perhaps not most, but the core is. Think of all those shell commands you use all the time (ls, rm, mkdir, etc.). Try running them with a --version argument; they're taken from GNU. A Linux distro includes GNU fileutils, textutils, sh-utils, grep, sed, etc., not the BSD or UNIX® versions. The compiler and related binutils are also straight out of GNU, and so is libc.
Slashdot Mirror
what would possess someone to posts excerpts without adding any insight to said excerpts?
Protection against the Slashdot Effect. Even if the site gets Slashdotted, the basics are here so that we can get the gist of the article.
that information is one click away.
That is, until the site experiences the distributed denial of service commonly referred to as "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters."
An open platform means more games, more programmers, and, more importantly, more sales.
Unlike PC makers, console makers actually take a loss on console sales. They make it up by developing software (Crash Bandicoot etc.), selling devkits, and licensing the patent rights.
Was it the GoToWorld IE-engine browser?
Eric S. Raymond edits the Jargon File and keeps a mirror at his home page.
What, you mean babelfish.altavista.com isn't GOOD enough for you??
If you're translating something other than Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, or German, the current version of the Babel Fish page does nothing.
Something that linguists agree is fast, easy, and not redundant (this a huge problem for most languages, especially English).
CDNow, Amazon, etc, etc.
Verdict: BN.com rocks.
I'm blue. If I was green, I would die. If I was green, I would die...IANAL, but I think Diamond Rio the country band and Diamond Rio the MPEG audio player might collide in the trademark namespace. Are brands of music and brands of music equipment separate namespaces?
RMS wrote a paper on why we must fight UCITA. He writes that free software cannot disclaim warranty because its license is not a shrinkwrap license.
I do see a way around this: the first time a user runs the program (during the install phase, or when it's creating it's .ini file or dot-folder), present the "ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY" section of the GNU GPL and add "In using this software, you agree to so-and-so clause of the GNU GPL; if you do not agree, uninstall this software."
RMS doesn't seem to agree.
when instead of going out and buying the latest Eifel 65 album they just grab it off of the net.
Going out where? I have never seen Eiffel 65 in any local record store; otherwise, I would already have added the CD to my collection.
I don't understand the logic of people who support FTP. Its sole purpose is to allow the free exchange of software over the internet, so it is designed to pirate software, making it illegal. There are absolutely no arguments supporting FTP, and the "online community" bull is just a transparent excuse to defend piracy. FTP is illegal and therefore should be banned. Also, I'm surprised that more universities haven't banned FTP, considering its effect on bandwidth. My brother says that his dorm's T3 line is slower than his modem because of all the people dowloading pirated software. If you want software for free, then get it from some open-source project, don't steal it from someone else. And don't complain about the price. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
See how silly your argument is? Napster technology is just a distribution medium. It was originally designed for your "amateur groups," but users abuse it and trade audio clips without authorization.
Would it help bands if the band though of Napster as a form of broadcast medium, like radio
You're thinking of MPEG radio systems such as Shoutcast and Icecast systems. Even if Napster is like the radio (I do see the connection), broadcast is still "public performance" under the law and is exclusively controlled by the copyright holder except for fair use and compulsory license.
Perhaps release albums as MP3 with adverts in them even? Make some money that way?
AMP3.com already does this. Actually, in locations with weak copyright laws, the success of a media product depends on product-placement advertising (think "I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch").
If a CD has three listenable songs, I buy it. I hate artists who release an album with seven listenable minutes and sixty minutes of pure $#!+ and then charge $20 for what amounts to a single.
What a ripoff.
That's a marketing issue, not a technology issue. MS just has the funds to put on more commercials than Sun and Applix combined. Nevertheless, last time I checked, there was the AppleWorks suite from Apple Computer Inc. It has word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation (like the other guys' office suite), but it adds basic database function and simple vector and paint graphics. And it's surprisingly unbloated. Version 6 is already out on Mac OS and is coming within a month to Windows; if they don't port it to UNIX® OS-like systems, Wine might handle it.
The US has a law where a patent can be filed up to one year after being published. This is what happened with LZW; Welch sent it to the journal, it got published, Uni$ys patented it.
software that conforms to the Linux API generally conforms to the Unix API (sorry, I meant the UNIX® Operating System's Application Programming Interface).
"UNIX® system API" would be fine by the Open Group (they just want a noun after the trademark), but I think I realized (looking at it from an API perspective) that the UNIX system API is just the POSIX API. Checking the Patent Office's trademark search engine, I find that POSIX® is a registered trademark of IEEE. I didn't see any off-the-wall trademark guidelines on IEEE's web site.
Remember Linux laundry detergent? What about Philips audiovisual equipment vs. Phillips milk of magnesia vs. Phillips screwdrivers? What about Sonic the hedgehog vs. Sonic drive-in restaurant? Different fields of business have different namespaces for trademarks, and they hardly overlap unless the trademark is especially strong.
So what's the generic term for "operating systems that imitate System V"? According to the Open Group's guidelines (PDF here), NetBSD's "UNIX-like" is an abuse of the Trade Mark. There are several abuses and their alternatives listed, but "UNIX-like" is the only abuse listed without an alternative. I've been dropping the U and calling them "*Nix" systems, or simply "Nix" systems.
I need a PDA which will be on as soon as i flip the cover
That's not boot time; that's wakeup time. When a fella "turns off" a palmtop, it doesn't actually shut down; it simply turns off the screen and peripheral devices, puts the CPU in a low power "wait for interrupt" mode (select() anyone?), and keeps running the RAM refresh (just barely taking any juice). When it's "turned back on," the interrupt reaches the CPU, it turns the screen back on, and it brings up what you were doing when you put it to sleep.
it will be the largest single UNIX distributor
Mac OS 10 is not a UNIX® system. If it complied with the "single UNIX" spec, it might be.
and the only credible non-windows desktop platform out there
Mac hardware does not have a character cell mode; it cannot be run in non-windows mode. Even if you are using "windows" to mean a Windows system, are you implying GNU/Linux (which also runs on G3/G4 hardware) is not credible?
Perhaps not most, but the core is. Think of all those shell commands you use all the time (ls, rm, mkdir, etc.). Try running them with a --version argument; they're taken from GNU. A Linux distro includes GNU fileutils, textutils, sh-utils, grep, sed, etc., not the BSD or UNIX® versions. The compiler and related binutils are also straight out of GNU, and so is libc.
what exactly is the "THX sound effect"?
Go on Napster and look for song title: THX
I would have included a URL but Napster doesn't have a TCP/IP Service Name; otherwise, it'd be napster:thx
the upcoming MPEG-4 standard
Is based on Apple's QuickTime technology last time I checked. Fat chance of seeing QT support on any system other than Mac OS and Windows.
and for simplicity of a GUI they have that as well. A single button to launch scroll out menus that collapse when you select something
GNOME has the foot menu, which is enough like the Start menu.