I can't think of a single intriguing interesting or useful piece of mainstream software that has come out in the commercial sector in the past 4 years.
The retail world has been doing nothing for the last god knows however long. The only interesting things I see being done now are in the open source world.
For most software used in offices your statement may be partly true. But the claim that the retail world has doen nothing lately is just plain dumb.
Take Propellerhead Software's Reason for instance. It's a studio in a box, complete with simulated wiring, works just like the real thing (I should know, I have the real thing.) There simply isn't anything in the open source community which even begins to compare. Sure, there are lot's of apps, but nothing as polished and self contained as Reason. Reason is even being used to teach people how to work in real studios.
Now this may be a niche market example, but don't state that the retail world's been doing nothing when it's been doing lots. I'm not saying open source is bad, but it's not the only game in town.
Maybe Finnish cars are different... but it sounds like you're just not terribly good at parallel parking.
Finnish cars are really no different, altough show can mess things up from time to time. But your observation was accurate, I'm not that good (not that I'm awful either;)
IMHO. This is totally overkill for a car that drives like a golf cart.
In Your Humbe Opinion indeed. The presumption that every Toyota drives like a golf cart is just about as correct as presuming that every Ford Explorer ever made is a death trap.
But I respect your opinion, obviously.
PS. Not that I'm a Toyota fan, I drive a Subaru myself;)
And now for the major limitation: The system works only in situations where the car can continuously back up into a space -- not for those tight spots where you must inch your way into a space by going back and forth, wrestling with the wheel.
I'm not sure about the physics involved, but my experience tells me that the going back and forth technique seems to have rather diminishing returns... often I find that redoing the whole thing (driving back out on the street and revising my entrance vector) is more worthwhile. The fact that most cars only have wheels which turn in the front could be significant.
So maybe the major limitation is not that major after all? I might be seriously wrong though;)
PS. Offtopic sidenote: It's nice to see the Linux big boys in here with random Finnish coders like myself:)
I realize I may be threading deeper into the mud here, but I started this little offshot so I may as well bite the bullet and attempt to finish it;)
Last time I checked the goal of any military was to protect the country and it's government, at any means necessary.
Then you checked through rose-colored glasses.
Were the Koreans about to attack the United States? Were the Vietnamese? The Iraqis (then or now)? Was Panama? Was Granada?
I respect and second your opinion, but I do think you made a rather over-enthusiastic job of making me sound like a U.S.-loving militarist, when I'm actually not much of the sort.
My original comment was refering to the remark made by a previous poster: Just because the ultimate goal of the military is to kill people
I felt compelled to comment on this, but jumping to the conclusion that I would support the U.S. military's actions is a little rushed. Fact is, most of the time, I'm rather on the opposite side of the compass.
I believe this is a good idea, from a branding standpoint.
The loss of the BSD daemon may be unfortunate, but looking at major brands it's pretty clear recognition doesn't require a cool mascot. To name a few: Nike, Adidas, Mercedez-Benz and Nokia all have rather simple comporate symbols.
If the NetBSD project wishes to look more professional in the eyes of marketeers, this is a good move.
I heard about something like this a few years back, as I understood it then the thing is that at low enough temperatures atoms break down into a "soup" of protons, neutrons and electrons all behaving like a liquid.
It was a (Swedish) magazine article, so no links I'm afraid. Is this the same thing or entierly different?
Just because the ultimate goal of the military is to kill people, doesn't mean everything associated with them is evil.
Last time I checked the goal of any military was to protect the country and it's government, at any means necessary. Killing people may be the means, but not the end.
The thought of shelling out ~$1000 for a box that does so much fills me with slight dread <snip> When it breaks at best you lose a lot of stuff while it is repaired under warranty - which still costs you mony (time, shipping) - at least if it was just your PS2 or your DVR that broke you could entertain yourself in the meantime. Not to mention the fact that as seperate parts it would probably be cheaper...
Then again, a lot of people simply don't want to tweak/assemble their own hardware. They want a box which does what it does, and they don't want to know how it does it.
Judging from the sales, Sony seems to have delivered.
Stop sending signals to the homes of non-subscribers and you will absolutely never have this problem again. You are not allowed to take away basic rights of perception in order to save a few bucks.
Stop sending the signals... um... how? If you have even the faintest idea how broadcasting networks work you know that this is not feasible.
The signals are encrypted for a reason, you pay for a service, and get the decryption harware as part of the deal. If you decrypt the signal by other means you're stealing off a service you haven't paid for.
the lack of standards in IM protocols, as well as the preception that the distracting nature of IM precludes it from being a more useful communications medium
It's too bad that the Jabber project has been largely dismissed as a chat-thingy, when it could solve real problems in a workplace.
Say you're spellchecking a document at work, and your wordprocessor doesn't recognize a deparment name. Your word processor could use Jabber to check other word processors in your organization if they know of the word in question.
Try starting a hobby which will force you to leave the house a couple of times a week... maybe start going to the gym or take a class on some subject. Whatever leads you to spend time with a group of people outside of your house.
I myself have a couple of friends who all make sure each and every one ends up in the gym at least once a week. We have a random schedule, made up as the week evolves. Works for both the social aspects as well as the health benefits.
"A quick google search on the words "referrer spam" confirmed my suspicions, this was indeed a widespread practice, and not new at all. In fact, Wired had an article on the subject dating almost a year back."
Thats not clue enough that maybe your lack of knowing about this isn't newsworthy?
My lack of knowing about it may also be an indication of this being a legitimate issue despite of being less than common knowledge. By managing to get this article published I may have raised public awareness of this issue, and thereby affecting the odds that something will be done about it.
The article also provided me with good ideas on how to battle this issue, benefiting both me and probably others as well.
Personally I don't like people tracking my referrer links. Mind your own business. If you want to see who is linking you, you can do that with google.
True, but if you get a spike in visits, your referrer logs can often tell you who linked to you... I like to know whats happening, when it's happening;)
I know people disagree, since your website is your business. But I don't like being monitored that closely.
As was already said, then block your referrer:)
BTW, this story has been seen on Slashdot before.
Maybe it has, but the Slashdot search engine failed to find it for me... and the editors published it, didn't they?
I run a very small site, and get about 20 to 50 visits a day, until I posted a link to it on Slashdot.
He handles the load pretty well now, it is probably because he carefully prepared for the assault;-)
"The assault" consisted of around 20 people who visited my page so far;) Actually, one of my stories was featured on the front page, and even then there was only minor traffic.
Then again, in neither story was my site in the actual focus.
Looking at the specs for the rendering cluster... The coolest thing is the fact that power like that will be at anyone's disposal in the forseeable future.
Then all I need is an AI to make up for my lack of skill...
From the article: The vehicle is designed as a guess at what transportation in the year 2025 might look like.
This might be pretty darn accurate. The thing that sets this apart from the Segway is one crucial element: Speed. If a Segway malfunctions you're not going wery fast... but with a vehicle like this you're pretty much doomed if there is a serious malfunction. At the very least the car behind you will run you over.
Current vehicles like cars and motorcycles can be stopped safely if you run out of power/propulsion, but something like this has to have safeguards which keeps that from happening.
Back to the whole 2025 thing: In order to make this stuff safe it requires testing, testing and some more testing. An that requires time.
Don't get me wrong... I love the idea, but it has to be done correctly and without compromises.
If you were a sound engineer charged with producing fx, how would YOU react to the sound description of a typical office building flying through space, to pick one example?:-)
That's easy. First you take the sound of a freight traing passing at moderate speed. You play that back at 2/3 speed, filtering out some highs, and adding hall reverb and flange.
Then you combine that with the sound of typing and paper shredding.
Finally add a standard-issue-starship-enterprise-warp-core-hum and we're all done!
Slashdot Mirror
I can't think of a single intriguing interesting or useful piece of mainstream software that has come out in the commercial sector in the past 4 years.
The retail world has been doing nothing for the last god knows however long. The only interesting things I see being done now are in the open source world.
For most software used in offices your statement may be partly true. But the claim that the retail world has doen nothing lately is just plain dumb.
Take Propellerhead Software's Reason for instance. It's a studio in a box, complete with simulated wiring, works just like the real thing (I should know, I have the real thing.) There simply isn't anything in the open source community which even begins to compare. Sure, there are lot's of apps, but nothing as polished and self contained as Reason. Reason is even being used to teach people how to work in real studios.
Now this may be a niche market example, but don't state that the retail world's been doing nothing when it's been doing lots. I'm not saying open source is bad, but it's not the only game in town.
Maybe Finnish cars are different... but it sounds like you're just not terribly good at parallel parking.
;)
Finnish cars are really no different, altough show can mess things up from time to time. But your observation was accurate, I'm not that good (not that I'm awful either
Only on Slashdot is parallel parking described in terms of an "entrance vector."
;)
I wondered if there was a better word, but a vector is a vector is a vector, right?
IMHO. This is totally overkill for a car that drives like a golf cart.
;)
In Your Humbe Opinion indeed. The presumption that every Toyota drives like a golf cart is just about as correct as presuming that every Ford Explorer ever made is a death trap.
But I respect your opinion, obviously.
PS. Not that I'm a Toyota fan, I drive a Subaru myself
Offtopic sidenote: It's nice to see the Linux big boys in here with random Finnish coders like myself :)
;)
Look closer - his user name is "Eric S RayRNond". I think you've been had.
Quite so... I wonder how Eric would react to this? Something to do with firearms, I would presume
And now for the major limitation: The system works only in situations where the car can continuously back up into a space -- not for those tight spots where you must inch your way into a space by going back and forth, wrestling with the wheel.
;)
:)
I'm not sure about the physics involved, but my experience tells me that the going back and forth technique seems to have rather diminishing returns... often I find that redoing the whole thing (driving back out on the street and revising my entrance vector) is more worthwhile. The fact that most cars only have wheels which turn in the front could be significant.
So maybe the major limitation is not that major after all? I might be seriously wrong though
PS. Offtopic sidenote: It's nice to see the Linux big boys in here with random Finnish coders like myself
I realize I may be threading deeper into the mud here, but I started this little offshot so I may as well bite the bullet and attempt to finish it ;)
Last time I checked the goal of any military was to protect the country and it's government, at any means necessary.
Then you checked through rose-colored glasses.
Were the Koreans about to attack the United States? Were the Vietnamese? The Iraqis (then or now)? Was Panama? Was Granada?
I respect and second your opinion, but I do think you made a rather over-enthusiastic job of making me sound like a U.S.-loving militarist, when I'm actually not much of the sort.
My original comment was refering to the remark made by a previous poster: Just because the ultimate goal of the military is to kill people
I felt compelled to comment on this, but jumping to the conclusion that I would support the U.S. military's actions is a little rushed. Fact is, most of the time, I'm rather on the opposite side of the compass.
I believe this is a good idea, from a branding standpoint.
The loss of the BSD daemon may be unfortunate, but looking at major brands it's pretty clear recognition doesn't require a cool mascot. To name a few: Nike, Adidas, Mercedez-Benz and Nokia all have rather simple comporate symbols.
If the NetBSD project wishes to look more professional in the eyes of marketeers, this is a good move.
I think what you're describing is a Bose-Einstein condensate, which is something entirely different.
;)
Yep, the Wikipedia entry confirmed your suspicions, I was indeed referring to a Bose-Einstein condensate, in my own crude manner
Thanks!
I heard about something like this a few years back, as I understood it then the thing is that at low enough temperatures atoms break down into a "soup" of protons, neutrons and electrons all behaving like a liquid.
It was a (Swedish) magazine article, so no links I'm afraid. Is this the same thing or entierly different?
I realize I'm off topic here, but anyway...
Just because the ultimate goal of the military is to kill people, doesn't mean everything associated with them is evil.
Last time I checked the goal of any military was to protect the country and it's government, at any means necessary. Killing people may be the means, but not the end.
The thought of shelling out ~$1000 for a box that does so much fills me with slight dread <snip> When it breaks at best you lose a lot of stuff while it is repaired under warranty - which still costs you mony (time, shipping) - at least if it was just your PS2 or your DVR that broke you could entertain yourself in the meantime. Not to mention the fact that as seperate parts it would probably be cheaper...
Then again, a lot of people simply don't want to tweak/assemble their own hardware. They want a box which does what it does, and they don't want to know how it does it.
Judging from the sales, Sony seems to have delivered.
You seem to be trolling, but anyway...
Stop sending signals to the homes of non-subscribers and you will absolutely never have this problem again. You are not allowed to take away basic rights of perception in order to save a few bucks.
Stop sending the signals... um... how? If you have even the faintest idea how broadcasting networks work you know that this is not feasible.
The signals are encrypted for a reason, you pay for a service, and get the decryption harware as part of the deal. If you decrypt the signal by other means you're stealing off a service you haven't paid for.
the lack of standards in IM protocols, as well as the preception that the distracting nature of IM precludes it from being a more useful communications medium
It's too bad that the Jabber project has been largely dismissed as a chat-thingy, when it could solve real problems in a workplace.
Say you're spellchecking a document at work, and your wordprocessor doesn't recognize a deparment name. Your word processor could use Jabber to check other word processors in your organization if they know of the word in question.
I recently read Peer-to-Peer - Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies. An excellent book, containing, among other things, a chapter on Jabber.
"All good things must come to an end."
Not that I'd hope this is the way it goes, but it's entierly possible it does. Has happened before and will happen again.
Try starting a hobby which will force you to leave the house a couple of times a week... maybe start going to the gym or take a class on some subject. Whatever leads you to spend time with a group of people outside of your house.
I myself have a couple of friends who all make sure each and every one ends up in the gym at least once a week. We have a random schedule, made up as the week evolves. Works for both the social aspects as well as the health benefits.
"A quick google search on the words "referrer spam" confirmed my suspicions, this was indeed a widespread practice, and not new at all. In fact, Wired had an article on the subject dating almost a year back."
Thats not clue enough that maybe your lack of knowing about this isn't newsworthy?
My lack of knowing about it may also be an indication of this being a legitimate issue despite of being less than common knowledge. By managing to get this article published I may have raised public awareness of this issue, and thereby affecting the odds that something will be done about it.
The article also provided me with good ideas on how to battle this issue, benefiting both me and probably others as well.
Personally I don't like people tracking my referrer links. Mind your own business. If you want to see who is linking you, you can do that with google.
;)
:)
True, but if you get a spike in visits, your referrer logs can often tell you who linked to you... I like to know whats happening, when it's happening
I know people disagree, since your website is your business. But I don't like being monitored that closely.
As was already said, then block your referrer
BTW, this story has been seen on Slashdot before.
Maybe it has, but the Slashdot search engine failed to find it for me... and the editors published it, didn't they?
I run a very small site, and get about 20 to 50 visits a day, until I posted a link to it on Slashdot.
;-)
;) Actually, one of my stories was featured on the front page, and even then there was only minor traffic.
He handles the load pretty well now, it is probably because he carefully prepared for the assault
"The assault" consisted of around 20 people who visited my page so far
Then again, in neither story was my site in the actual focus.
Looking at the specs for the rendering cluster... The coolest thing is the fact that power like that will be at anyone's disposal in the forseeable future.
Then all I need is an AI to make up for my lack of skill...
What we need is a unified desktop that represents the real objects we work on, in a way that mirrors the manner in which we actually use them.
Putting my money where my mouth is, we're working on a prototype that will be unleashed on the world sometime early next year.
You're too late.
NONE! ... Shall pass...
From the article: The vehicle is designed as a guess at what transportation in the year 2025 might look like.
This might be pretty darn accurate. The thing that sets this apart from the Segway is one crucial element: Speed. If a Segway malfunctions you're not going wery fast... but with a vehicle like this you're pretty much doomed if there is a serious malfunction. At the very least the car behind you will run you over.
Current vehicles like cars and motorcycles can be stopped safely if you run out of power/propulsion, but something like this has to have safeguards which keeps that from happening.
Back to the whole 2025 thing: In order to make this stuff safe it requires testing, testing and some more testing. An that requires time.
Don't get me wrong... I love the idea, but it has to be done correctly and without compromises.
I wonder how many of these innovations are "protected" by patents which will make sure that above all, money can be sucked out of them.
It's not necessarily a bad thing (in all cases anyway), but I'd guess pretty much each one is.
If you were a sound engineer charged with producing fx, how would YOU react to the sound description of a typical office building flying through space, to pick one example? :-)
That's easy. First you take the sound of a freight traing passing at moderate speed. You play that back at 2/3 speed, filtering out some highs, and adding hall reverb and flange.
Then you combine that with the sound of typing and paper shredding.
Finally add a standard-issue-starship-enterprise-warp-core-hum and we're all done!