I remember seeing a well circulated jpeg of clippy that someone had tweaked. It summed my feelings up about the monstrosity entirely.
(Apologies for language)
Clippy says, "I see you're writing a letter"
Responses:
- Get help with writing it.
- Just fuck off and leave me alone.
I'd always plump for option number 2..... This is not a sad loss.. and I can't say I use Micro$oft stuff much these days anyway....
M.
My summary, after a week or so of usage.....
on
OS X
·
· Score: 3
Well, I've had it on my iBook (466Mhz, 10GB/HD, 192MB Ram) and I have to say that it's all been pretty painless.
Installation was easy. Bung in CD. Wait 20 mins. Reboot.
Stability is good. No kernel panics (yet).
To me, startup time is irrelevant (within reason). I put the machine to sleep when I don't use it, anyway, so startup time is approximately 2 seconds.
I spent the weekend getting as much carbonised stuff as I could in replacement for the Classic stuff I'd been running before, which has meant that I've been able to get underway with most things. True Classic really does hog resources, but the long term plan is that you won't be running it much any more. Just some 'old favourites' that don't get updated will stay running under Classic. It wouldn't surprise me if in a few years time, Classic is dropped.
Games run OK too. Played the Sims with no noticable problems. (Apart from the dock trying to pop up when you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, but you can quickly sort that out...)
True, it loves RAM, but this is all short term stuff. Computing power and RAM is on the up, and this is a new release. I'm going to put as much RAM in my machine as I can (320MB, I think) and I should hope things should kick along nicely. I guess that this is the chance you take when being an early adopter. RAM prices have nosedived recently, so I'll be upgrading.
I'd just like the right printer driver for my HP printer now... (not included in the set that was shipped on the CD, unfortunately). This means I've got to reboot under 9.1 to print, but as I only print about 3 documents a week, it's not a big issue.
Only real gripe - some of the apps are fairly ropey (Mail in particular), but that's not an operating system problem. I think we shall be given a good few updates in the next few months. Fine by me.
Generally, I'm pretty happy with it. Apple did the right thing releasing it early (*). Only then can developers start running apps on it.
(* - Early is a subjective term. We should have been using this 4 years ago....)
M.
P.S. OS X on a Visor - Pah. Damn article posted on April Fools day.....
...I'd just like to be able to print! The Beta had no real support at all....
Printing support seems to be really sorely lacking. I've not heard HP say anything (yet) about releasing carbonised or X native drivers, so it looks like that dual boot is going to be very well used.
Chance are that I'll install it and not touch it much until sufficient support comes my way.
Here's a thought for you.
The police have had cases in the past where fabrication of evidence have come to light.
What's to stop a manager of these DNA systems fabricating a DNA 'print' to fit the crime circumstances ? This could be particularly dodgy, especially in cases that grab the public wish to find a suspect.... and there have certainly been a few of those recently.
A DNA print is no more than a slightly higher-tech fingerprint, and in my opinion , just as subject to fabrication. Are you, the suspect, going to be able to stand over the police to ensure that they do things 'by the book' ? Course not.
Unfortunately, the current government have done more in the last two years to eat into the freedoms of the individual than any other government in the past..... ...and I certainly don't regard this, "If you're not an offender, you have nothing to worry about", comment either. Us Brits should get off our backsides and do something, but considering the apathy about the RIP bill, I doubt it'll happen until it's much too late.
M.
It's amusing that there are at least 42 links back to Netscape, because if you own the Mac version of Nutscoop 6, that's 42 different pages that don't display correctly.
The browser does not work *at all*. Did anyone test this before releasing it ?
Having used it for the sum total of an hour, I have to agree.
It doesn't seem to display a single web page. Most pages come up blank. It seems even more stupid that netscape.com doesn't display...
The app takes about 10 seconds on my iBook (G3/466) to fire up. Totally unacceptable.
I've been using Communicator 4.7x for what seems like an eternity. I think I'll stick with it.
This is a real slap in the face for Mac users. This product in my opinion is a total turkey. If you can't actually use it to browse, what's the point. This also seems ironic, because most Mac users were the ones who stood by Netscape as it's market share got munched into by IE. Quite frankly, I think that IE is a better browser (lower memory usage too), but as I'm lazy and like one application to handle everything, I'll stick with Nutscoop 4.7x.
Finally, I can't seem to get rid of that initial customisation window that comes up.
Netscape has shot itself in the foot bigtime.... time to find a good alternative, I think.
Re:People Are Impatient and Content to be Ignorant
on
The New Mediascape
·
· Score: 1
I guess before we have an educated "populice", we need an educated populace... eh ?:-)
Perhaps we should educate them first on the merits of spell checkers.....
Nice to see no mention of Mr Jefferson for a week.:-)
Personally, whilst I'm a Brit, I think some of the same rules apply. I check out BBC News a couple times per day (usually whilst at work) and I get the headlines sent to my mobile phone (costs nothing). In short, this means I really don't have any need to watch TV news. Most news is several hours old by then, why would I bother ?
The headlines are what's important - I'm not fussed in details.
In contrast, I have to say that the BBC's television news coverage is really good (in contrast to what's been said here about the US coverage), and if I had time to sit down and watch, I would. It's near an hour of uninterrupted (read:advert free) news, which I do like. To be honest, I don't even watch TV much any more (maybe 1 hr a week). I've got more fun things to do.
M.
I'm a sceptic at heart, and I always sigh when I see predictions about what we'll be doing in about ten years time. The fact is, nobody really knows. 10 Years in computing terms is beyond imagination, so why try ?
"We'll all be living in the sky in silver plastic suits!"
"We'll be travelling in flying cars and have disease won't exist!"
Actually, I have to say that the picture of this future machine looked a little bit too much like something copied out of Star Trek.
As for operating systems, there's just no point in getting excited here. Expect Windows 2010 to exist or V5 of your friendly Linux Kernel with V10 of KDE/Gnome. True, they'll probably do some funky new things, but these predictions are always way out. There will still be loads of old code lying around there....
Finally, as one poster has already commented, I do actually like to use a keyboard or mouse sometimes. Why remove them ? An intelligent design would use these as a backup input mode in case that oh-so-good voice recognition goes pear shaped.
Whilst we know that Apple rumour sites are usually pretty lame, this does have a string of credibility to it.
Apple have been unable to keep up in the MHz race. Whilst those of us in the know can preach that it's not a real comparison to go on about MHz, the lay-person sees these numbers and really does equate these with speed - meaning that Apple starts to lose out in the consumer market because Joe Consumer thinks that a 500Mhz G4 is slower than say, a 600Mhz Pentium (which isn't the case).
Sales of iMacs (apparently) have started to flag, and Apple has received criticism that it isn't updating the processors in the range quick enough, which is indeed true. Some haven't been updated for about nine months. The production problems behind Motorolas G4, and the fact they can't seem to increase the speed that quickly have really been problematic - no doubt spurring on the decision by Apple to plump for IBM, who seem to have much better processor fabrication techniques.
So - what we'll probably see is a bit of spin from an Apple show about how they've put a funky newer processor in the iMacs and that they've nearly doubled the clock speed. Those in the know again will realise that this doesn't mean the machine is running twice as quick, but the consumer will be bought over... and iMac sales will probably pick up again. Apple has to do it to stop it's flagship machine (i.e. the machine that picked it up out of the gutter) from falling off it's mast.
I think this is a particularly dangerous ruling, mainly because the author of a perfectly innocent piece of code could be attacked for having their code reused by someone else in a program with a malicious intent.
Daft. Take this example.
"This comb is perfectly harmless."
"No it's not, when you attach it to a chainsaw."
I think it brings into question whether people would want to share their code or not. If this is the case, not, I would say.
Is it me, or can our good friend Mr Katz not resist a mention of 'Jefferson' or 'Corporate' in here each week ? I'm sure there are others too, but it immediately stops me from reading as soon as I see that....
Perhaps he should 'vi katzarticle.cpp' and modify the code chunk marked 'buzzwords.h'
I've been there, and I understand what you're on about. I work in an development department, and sometimes whilst I know what I've got to do, and the basics of how to do something, I can't actually seem to *do* it. The brain just shuts down, and it can be self perpetuating. You can't think about the job in hand, but when you get home that night, you spend all your remaining hours thinking about it and lose sleep over it. You come back tired and your performance is worse. In such a circumstance, the best thing to do is just to get some time out and do as little as possible. I find that sleep deprivation is what seems to screw up my mind. Go and get some fresh air - do something totally different - have a bit of fun. Don't even think of code. Put that book down - revision will get you nowhere, because your brain isn't in the correct state to accept or correctly process the information. It needs a break. When you get back to work after your break, think logically - hell, even resort to writing a specification if you have to (wow!). Think about how far you've got with the task and what remains to be done. Break the entire job into subtasks. Think about the processing behind the subtasks, and write it (using that archaic invention - the paper and pen) in such a manner that no matter what language you coded in, you could follow it. Break your subtasks down further if you need to, but don't ever get to writing code on paper. Once you have your list of subtastks, start to actually *program* by converting your subtasks into code. Use discernible milestones to record achievements and take breaks when you hit the milestones. You don't want to burn out again. Don't O.D. on caffeine - your brain will explode. I hope this has helped to some degree, I'm sure many of us on/. have been there and sympathise with you. Good luck. M.
For once, Katz is starting to speak some sense. What essentially we see here is the the gradual reduction of the power in the individual. The individual isn't important any more. As long as Corporations continue to get their revenue/profits from the generally ignorant buying public, what do they care ? I view Ultra Capitalism (which is the stage we are soon approaching - most markets now have a limited amount of major players) to be as harmful as Communism. The individual loses choice. I cannot choose who gets my money... and the choices are starting to become harder now. It's a matter of picking the lesser of evils. I suspect in under 5 years that we shall start to get total monopolies in most sectors. Governments will be seen as minor inconveniences - a multinational will just up-sticks and go somewhere else. This will probably proliferate through to the 'net. Corporations and Governments will endeavour to place further legislation on net users, effectively regulating it and removing the free spirit. Katz actually gets something right for once - the walls will come up. The only way to crush this is to effectively group together and destroy what we've created - whilst looking at an alternative media for free expression. The problem is, I don't think that enough people have the balls to group together like that and protest. The others don't understand what's going on. Yes, this is a really pessimistic attitude to take of the future for the 21st Century, but I think it's inevitable. M.
One interesting thing I do note is that you can get a 500Mhz dual processor G4 Mac for the same price as the old G4, which is smart. My only criticism/question is this : is the dual processor controlled at a hardware level (meaning that all apps get the benefit) or is this going to require some wacky extension ? If it's the first, I'll jump for it.. if it's the second, I won't. A good idea really, not much of a surprise though, considering that Apple may consider that the 1Ghz machines are leaving the 500Mhz G4s behind..... M.
Before everyone mods me down for being a troll, I'm not, honest, just trying to be objective. Here goes. I largely agree with the article. My Powerbook G3 is split in two. I've got MacOs on one side and LinuxPPC on the other. My machine is merely a tool, and I'll use the best app/OS for the job. I shan't even bother to open the gate to the path that is computer evangelism. It's a computer - use it, get on with your tasks. Shut up. It's a tool. Remember that. I've had LinuxPPC on my machine for about 3 months. I've got most of the popular productivity apps on there, but I have to say, whilst on the whole it's pretty damn stable, the window environment is somewhat disappointing. A Gnome user, I have to say that this *is* just a kludge up of something that looks Win98/Mac-esque. Sad really. I really do think that a cut-off point should be established, and that the whole system ought to be dissected. It should then have significant amounts of time spared to be made more efficient (cut down on the code line count) and reassembled, because if it isn't already, the whole X system is merely going to turn into bloatware, equally full of the same bloat that we decry when we see all the little Easter eggs that exist in Windows. A couple of the core components don't look any different to when I used X Windows V1.0 for AIX all those years ago.... (and that was about 10 years ago) Don't get me wrong, I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised that the open source community has produced something that is pleasantly useable, but to me it lacks true (dare I say it, Mr Gates) innovation . It doesn't present things in a new and exciting manner - it's looks like Windoze. The window furniture is pretty much the same, the behaviour of the window managers seems the same, and all it is trying to do is hide the same layers of complexity from the user that certain other Window Systems are doing. It's a bit like drinking Coke or having the Happy Shopper brand - you know which one you really want, if all you want is a pretty GUI. I mainly use it because of it's stability. Oh yeah, and it's free.:) I suppose this is what happens when trying to put into the computing mainstream. I may jump to Mac Os X when it comes out though.... M.
Pizza Hut apparently paid 1 Million $ for their logo to appear on the side of the rocket. The image is here: It seems like corporate sponsorship of space programs is going to be on the increase. In the current issue of the New Scientist, there is an interview with one of the head honchos for MirCorp, who seems to suggest that it won't be long before each of the Mir modules is corporately sponsored. Suggestions anyone. Perhaps Hoover should sponsor the module that lost pressure ? I should think it's a pretty good vacuum in there....:-) M.
This is a great idea, but being the sceptic I am, I have no doubt that another technology would be invented to 'remove' the anonymity that this tries to preserve. It's all a bit like the arms race. I'll make an anti-missle-missile and then you can make something on your missile that jams my anti-missile missile.. etc.... I can't see this set of protocols being implemented, because it isn't in bu$inesses/governments interest to have total anonymity and whether we like to admit it or not, that's the driving force behind the internet these days. M.
These rumours have been around for a while. Amusing. If it has any factual base, then we can expect to see iBooks with big black Mickey Mouse ears attached to the casing and a black nose where the Apple Logo is.... M.
Working in London, I'm convinced of this theory, that London has it's own weather system. On most days, there is a very large grey cloud over the city, which I'm pretty sure does at least two things: 1) Increases the temperature/humidity (not pleasant). 2) Increases the chances of thunderstorms. (We're getting quite a few here now) I actually live about 70miles north of London, and the weather is *totally* different there. It's consistently reasonable. Rain is fairly infrequent, but then again, if it did rain a lot, we'd probably disappear off the map (it's all fairly low, flat land). I'm sure that the London temperature is about 2 degrees higher than other places in a 100 mile radius. I for one would like to see more green measures being taken in London. The excess vehicles without a doubt are contributing to increased temperatures and smog (after just two hours in the city, I find my nose going black - cyclists have to wear masks). The problem is that the current tube (or Subway system, if you want to call it that) has so many passengers it's going to croak (I think it's near the 1BN passengers/yr mark..). Air conditioning, whilst nice, is a pretty ungreen thing to have - if you pump all that heat outside, what's going to happen to it ? And, of course, you used energy to get it there..... M.
If you read the New Scientist at all, you might have seen an article in it about the e-bomb, which basically is a cheap (and easily) constructed weapon that uses microwave radiation to generate a set of pulses to frizzle electronic hardware. My immediate thoughts are that a misdirected beam of microwave radiation could be fatal, frizzling the internal circuitry of the craft, should it ever get into space. I just guess that they'll have to provide some pretty effective shielding. Impressive nonetheless, though. M.
{meep meep!} I'm having this "acme jet boot" moment.... As worn by Wile e Coyote Watch out for that unexpected cliff or railway tunnel! {/meep meep!} M.
Slashdot Mirror
I remember seeing a well circulated jpeg of clippy that someone had tweaked. It summed my feelings up about the monstrosity entirely.
(Apologies for language)
Clippy says, "I see you're writing a letter"
Responses:
- Get help with writing it.
- Just fuck off and leave me alone.
I'd always plump for option number 2..... This is not a sad loss.. and I can't say I use Micro$oft stuff much these days anyway....
M.
Well, I've had it on my iBook (466Mhz, 10GB/HD, 192MB Ram) and I have to say that it's all been pretty painless.
Installation was easy. Bung in CD. Wait 20 mins. Reboot.
Stability is good. No kernel panics (yet).
To me, startup time is irrelevant (within reason). I put the machine to sleep when I don't use it, anyway, so startup time is approximately 2 seconds.
I spent the weekend getting as much carbonised stuff as I could in replacement for the Classic stuff I'd been running before, which has meant that I've been able to get underway with most things. True Classic really does hog resources, but the long term plan is that you won't be running it much any more. Just some 'old favourites' that don't get updated will stay running under Classic. It wouldn't surprise me if in a few years time, Classic is dropped.
Games run OK too. Played the Sims with no noticable problems. (Apart from the dock trying to pop up when you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, but you can quickly sort that out...)
True, it loves RAM, but this is all short term stuff. Computing power and RAM is on the up, and this is a new release. I'm going to put as much RAM in my machine as I can (320MB, I think) and I should hope things should kick along nicely. I guess that this is the chance you take when being an early adopter. RAM prices have nosedived recently, so I'll be upgrading.
I'd just like the right printer driver for my HP printer now... (not included in the set that was shipped on the CD, unfortunately). This means I've got to reboot under 9.1 to print, but as I only print about 3 documents a week, it's not a big issue.
Only real gripe - some of the apps are fairly ropey (Mail in particular), but that's not an operating system problem. I think we shall be given a good few updates in the next few months. Fine by me.
Generally, I'm pretty happy with it. Apple did the right thing releasing it early (*). Only then can developers start running apps on it.
(* - Early is a subjective term. We should have been using this 4 years ago....)
M.
P.S. OS X on a Visor - Pah. Damn article posted on April Fools day.....
http://www.bluesapphires.net/
A friend of mine runs it. Seems to be quite popular.
M.
...I'd just like to be able to print! The Beta had no real support at all....
Printing support seems to be really sorely lacking. I've not heard HP say anything (yet) about releasing carbonised or X native drivers, so it looks like that dual boot is going to be very well used.
Chance are that I'll install it and not touch it much until sufficient support comes my way.
M.
Here's a thought for you. The police have had cases in the past where fabrication of evidence have come to light. What's to stop a manager of these DNA systems fabricating a DNA 'print' to fit the crime circumstances ? This could be particularly dodgy, especially in cases that grab the public wish to find a suspect.... and there have certainly been a few of those recently. A DNA print is no more than a slightly higher-tech fingerprint, and in my opinion , just as subject to fabrication. Are you, the suspect, going to be able to stand over the police to ensure that they do things 'by the book' ? Course not. Unfortunately, the current government have done more in the last two years to eat into the freedoms of the individual than any other government in the past..... ...and I certainly don't regard this, "If you're not an offender, you have nothing to worry about", comment either. Us Brits should get off our backsides and do something, but considering the apathy about the RIP bill, I doubt it'll happen until it's much too late.
M.
In short: definitely.
It's amusing that there are at least 42 links back to Netscape, because if you own the Mac version of Nutscoop 6, that's 42 different pages that don't display correctly.
The browser does not work *at all*. Did anyone test this before releasing it ?
M.
Having used it for the sum total of an hour, I have to agree.
It doesn't seem to display a single web page. Most pages come up blank. It seems even more stupid that netscape.com doesn't display...
The app takes about 10 seconds on my iBook (G3/466) to fire up. Totally unacceptable.
I've been using Communicator 4.7x for what seems like an eternity. I think I'll stick with it.
This is a real slap in the face for Mac users. This product in my opinion is a total turkey. If you can't actually use it to browse, what's the point. This also seems ironic, because most Mac users were the ones who stood by Netscape as it's market share got munched into by IE. Quite frankly, I think that IE is a better browser (lower memory usage too), but as I'm lazy and like one application to handle everything, I'll stick with Nutscoop 4.7x.
Finally, I can't seem to get rid of that initial customisation window that comes up.
Netscape has shot itself in the foot bigtime.... time to find a good alternative, I think.
I guess before we have an educated "populice", we need an educated populace... eh ? :-)
Perhaps we should educate them first on the merits of spell checkers.....
M.
Nice to see no mention of Mr Jefferson for a week. :-)
Personally, whilst I'm a Brit, I think some of the same rules apply. I check out BBC News a couple times per day (usually whilst at work) and I get the headlines sent to my mobile phone (costs nothing). In short, this means I really don't have any need to watch TV news. Most news is several hours old by then, why would I bother ?
The headlines are what's important - I'm not fussed in details.
In contrast, I have to say that the BBC's television news coverage is really good (in contrast to what's been said here about the US coverage), and if I had time to sit down and watch, I would. It's near an hour of uninterrupted (read:advert free) news, which I do like. To be honest, I don't even watch TV much any more (maybe 1 hr a week). I've got more fun things to do.
M.
I'm a sceptic at heart, and I always sigh when I see predictions about what we'll be doing in about ten years time. The fact is, nobody really knows. 10 Years in computing terms is beyond imagination, so why try ?
"We'll all be living in the sky in silver plastic suits!"
"We'll be travelling in flying cars and have disease won't exist!"
Actually, I have to say that the picture of this future machine looked a little bit too much like something copied out of Star Trek.
As for operating systems, there's just no point in getting excited here. Expect Windows 2010 to exist or V5 of your friendly Linux Kernel with V10 of KDE/Gnome. True, they'll probably do some funky new things, but these predictions are always way out. There will still be loads of old code lying around there....
Finally, as one poster has already commented, I do actually like to use a keyboard or mouse sometimes. Why remove them ? An intelligent design would use these as a backup input mode in case that oh-so-good voice recognition goes pear shaped.
Just my 2p.
M.
Perhaps you've missed the point of what I was saying.
"Many a true word spoken in jest".
M.
Whilst we know that Apple rumour sites are usually pretty lame, this does have a string of credibility to it.
Apple have been unable to keep up in the MHz race. Whilst those of us in the know can preach that it's not a real comparison to go on about MHz, the lay-person sees these numbers and really does equate these with speed - meaning that Apple starts to lose out in the consumer market because Joe Consumer thinks that a 500Mhz G4 is slower than say, a 600Mhz Pentium (which isn't the case).
Sales of iMacs (apparently) have started to flag, and Apple has received criticism that it isn't updating the processors in the range quick enough, which is indeed true. Some haven't been updated for about nine months. The production problems behind Motorolas G4, and the fact they can't seem to increase the speed that quickly have really been problematic - no doubt spurring on the decision by Apple to plump for IBM, who seem to have much better processor fabrication techniques.
So - what we'll probably see is a bit of spin from an Apple show about how they've put a funky newer processor in the iMacs and that they've nearly doubled the clock speed. Those in the know again will realise that this doesn't mean the machine is running twice as quick, but the consumer will be bought over... and iMac sales will probably pick up again. Apple has to do it to stop it's flagship machine (i.e. the machine that picked it up out of the gutter) from falling off it's mast.
M.
I think this is a particularly dangerous ruling, mainly because the author of a perfectly innocent piece of code could be attacked for having their code reused by someone else in a program with a malicious intent.
Daft. Take this example.
"This comb is perfectly harmless."
"No it's not, when you attach it to a chainsaw."
I think it brings into question whether people would want to share their code or not. If this is the case, not, I would say.
M.
Is it me, or can our good friend Mr Katz not resist a mention of 'Jefferson' or 'Corporate' in here each week ? I'm sure there are others too, but it immediately stops me from reading as soon as I see that....
Perhaps he should 'vi katzarticle.cpp' and modify the code chunk marked 'buzzwords.h'
M.
I've been there, and I understand what you're on about. I work in an development department, and sometimes whilst I know what I've got to do, and the basics of how to do something, I can't actually seem to *do* it. The brain just shuts down, and it can be self perpetuating. You can't think about the job in hand, but when you get home that night, you spend all your remaining hours thinking about it and lose sleep over it. You come back tired and your performance is worse. In such a circumstance, the best thing to do is just to get some time out and do as little as possible. I find that sleep deprivation is what seems to screw up my mind. Go and get some fresh air - do something totally different - have a bit of fun. Don't even think of code. Put that book down - revision will get you nowhere, because your brain isn't in the correct state to accept or correctly process the information. It needs a break. When you get back to work after your break, think logically - hell, even resort to writing a specification if you have to (wow!). Think about how far you've got with the task and what remains to be done. Break the entire job into subtasks. Think about the processing behind the subtasks, and write it (using that archaic invention - the paper and pen) in such a manner that no matter what language you coded in, you could follow it. Break your subtasks down further if you need to, but don't ever get to writing code on paper. Once you have your list of subtastks, start to actually *program* by converting your subtasks into code. Use discernible milestones to record achievements and take breaks when you hit the milestones. You don't want to burn out again. Don't O.D. on caffeine - your brain will explode. I hope this has helped to some degree, I'm sure many of us on /. have been there and sympathise with you. Good luck. M.
For once, Katz is starting to speak some sense. What essentially we see here is the the gradual reduction of the power in the individual. The individual isn't important any more. As long as Corporations continue to get their revenue/profits from the generally ignorant buying public, what do they care ? I view Ultra Capitalism (which is the stage we are soon approaching - most markets now have a limited amount of major players) to be as harmful as Communism. The individual loses choice. I cannot choose who gets my money... and the choices are starting to become harder now. It's a matter of picking the lesser of evils. I suspect in under 5 years that we shall start to get total monopolies in most sectors. Governments will be seen as minor inconveniences - a multinational will just up-sticks and go somewhere else. This will probably proliferate through to the 'net. Corporations and Governments will endeavour to place further legislation on net users, effectively regulating it and removing the free spirit. Katz actually gets something right for once - the walls will come up. The only way to crush this is to effectively group together and destroy what we've created - whilst looking at an alternative media for free expression. The problem is, I don't think that enough people have the balls to group together like that and protest. The others don't understand what's going on. Yes, this is a really pessimistic attitude to take of the future for the 21st Century, but I think it's inevitable. M.
One interesting thing I do note is that you can get a 500Mhz dual processor G4 Mac for the same price as the old G4, which is smart. My only criticism/question is this : is the dual processor controlled at a hardware level (meaning that all apps get the benefit) or is this going to require some wacky extension ? If it's the first, I'll jump for it.. if it's the second, I won't. A good idea really, not much of a surprise though, considering that Apple may consider that the 1Ghz machines are leaving the 500Mhz G4s behind..... M.
Before everyone mods me down for being a troll, I'm not, honest, just trying to be objective. Here goes. I largely agree with the article. My Powerbook G3 is split in two. I've got MacOs on one side and LinuxPPC on the other. My machine is merely a tool, and I'll use the best app/OS for the job. I shan't even bother to open the gate to the path that is computer evangelism. It's a computer - use it, get on with your tasks. Shut up. It's a tool. Remember that. I've had LinuxPPC on my machine for about 3 months. I've got most of the popular productivity apps on there, but I have to say, whilst on the whole it's pretty damn stable, the window environment is somewhat disappointing. A Gnome user, I have to say that this *is* just a kludge up of something that looks Win98/Mac-esque. Sad really. I really do think that a cut-off point should be established, and that the whole system ought to be dissected. It should then have significant amounts of time spared to be made more efficient (cut down on the code line count) and reassembled, because if it isn't already, the whole X system is merely going to turn into bloatware, equally full of the same bloat that we decry when we see all the little Easter eggs that exist in Windows. A couple of the core components don't look any different to when I used X Windows V1.0 for AIX all those years ago.... (and that was about 10 years ago) Don't get me wrong, I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised that the open source community has produced something that is pleasantly useable, but to me it lacks true (dare I say it, Mr Gates) innovation . It doesn't present things in a new and exciting manner - it's looks like Windoze. The window furniture is pretty much the same, the behaviour of the window managers seems the same, and all it is trying to do is hide the same layers of complexity from the user that certain other Window Systems are doing. It's a bit like drinking Coke or having the Happy Shopper brand - you know which one you really want, if all you want is a pretty GUI. I mainly use it because of it's stability. Oh yeah, and it's free. :) I suppose this is what happens when trying to put into the computing mainstream. I may jump to Mac Os X when it comes out though.... M.
Pizza Hut apparently paid 1 Million $ for their logo to appear on the side of the rocket. The image is here: It seems like corporate sponsorship of space programs is going to be on the increase. In the current issue of the New Scientist, there is an interview with one of the head honchos for MirCorp, who seems to suggest that it won't be long before each of the Mir modules is corporately sponsored. Suggestions anyone. Perhaps Hoover should sponsor the module that lost pressure ? I should think it's a pretty good vacuum in there.... :-) M.
As my wife has just cunningly pointed out. Take a letter or two from each: DIsney APplE pixaR (note case) Diaper. Should appeal to the kids.... M.
This is a great idea, but being the sceptic I am, I have no doubt that another technology would be invented to 'remove' the anonymity that this tries to preserve. It's all a bit like the arms race. I'll make an anti-missle-missile and then you can make something on your missile that jams my anti-missile missile.. etc.... I can't see this set of protocols being implemented, because it isn't in bu$inesses/governments interest to have total anonymity and whether we like to admit it or not, that's the driving force behind the internet these days. M.
These rumours have been around for a while. Amusing. If it has any factual base, then we can expect to see iBooks with big black Mickey Mouse ears attached to the casing and a black nose where the Apple Logo is.... M.
Working in London, I'm convinced of this theory, that London has it's own weather system. On most days, there is a very large grey cloud over the city, which I'm pretty sure does at least two things: 1) Increases the temperature/humidity (not pleasant). 2) Increases the chances of thunderstorms. (We're getting quite a few here now) I actually live about 70miles north of London, and the weather is *totally* different there. It's consistently reasonable. Rain is fairly infrequent, but then again, if it did rain a lot, we'd probably disappear off the map (it's all fairly low, flat land). I'm sure that the London temperature is about 2 degrees higher than other places in a 100 mile radius. I for one would like to see more green measures being taken in London. The excess vehicles without a doubt are contributing to increased temperatures and smog (after just two hours in the city, I find my nose going black - cyclists have to wear masks). The problem is that the current tube (or Subway system, if you want to call it that) has so many passengers it's going to croak (I think it's near the 1BN passengers/yr mark..). Air conditioning, whilst nice, is a pretty ungreen thing to have - if you pump all that heat outside, what's going to happen to it ? And, of course, you used energy to get it there..... M.
If you read the New Scientist at all, you might have seen an article in it about the e-bomb, which basically is a cheap (and easily) constructed weapon that uses microwave radiation to generate a set of pulses to frizzle electronic hardware. My immediate thoughts are that a misdirected beam of microwave radiation could be fatal, frizzling the internal circuitry of the craft, should it ever get into space. I just guess that they'll have to provide some pretty effective shielding. Impressive nonetheless, though. M.
{meep meep!} I'm having this "acme jet boot" moment.... As worn by Wile e Coyote Watch out for that unexpected cliff or railway tunnel! {/meep meep!} M.