Once you've polished off Beowulf (whoever's translation you choose) - I recommend Seamus Heaney's award winning translation if you are scared of Tolkien - you should find the Silmarillion more of the same. I doubt that Tolkien wrote it as anything other than the equivalent of Beowulf in terms of scope, style, and historical significance to the people of Middle Earth. In the case of Tolkien's work, the old epic is history rather than merely literature as Beowulf is to us (unless of course you believe that Beowulf is a historical account, in whole or in part).
From what I've heard, the Silmarillion (which I haven't read, but could borrow from my fiance) is similar in style to Beowulf (which I have read, and am the proud owner of Seamus Heaney's translation). The influences of Beowulf are actually very obvious, particularly in the Rohan. The names, social structure, even the hall in the capital itself are very much like Hrothulf's kingdom.
I would expect that Beowulf inspired the flavor of the Silmarillion much moreso than Tolkien's writing style would substantially influence his translation of Beowulf. If you were able to get through the Silmarillion then you should be able to get through Beowulf. It is an epic tale, very much worth reading. There is quite a bit of literature derived from the battles between Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon.
Once you've polished off Beowulf (whoever's translation you choose) - I recommend Seamus Heaney's award winning translation if you are scared of Tolkien.
I'm talking about an Apple-provided Linux native version of Quicktime. Compatibility hacks such as mplayer or Codeweavers aside, Apple shows Linux no love.
That is a fear, a suspicion, certainly not a fact. It may be a fact that you worry about this coming to pass, but what is the credibility of an AC? Heh.
Anyways, I'd be more worried about cross-platform compatibility for anything with a Mac OS preference or that Apple is the vendor for. Quicktime, anyone? I'd sure love it is Apple would release Quicktime for Linux. Microsoft has a stronger record of cross-platform compatible products that some. They have to, by law. There are bigger and better things for them to crush (Java lawsuits with Sun being a good example), which is why they do paradoxical things like hand Apple a barrel of cash to stay afloat.
Don't think that is the main motivation of any ISP. A data carrier is not responsible for the contents of the data transmitted, stopping customers from breaking copyright protects the customers (unless you are in Canada, where there is law on the books introducing ISP liability for caching of material... see
Tariff 22 will be the death of Canadian Internet Radio and Intellectual Property laws meet the modern age for discussion on the issue).
Cable internet services are designed for downstream data at high rates, as are the cable plants (the RF networks themselves). Upstream is a huge problem, and P2P represents a substantial portion of network traffic... scaling to meet the demand placed on the network by a small segment of users (P2P bandwidth hogs) does not make good business sense. Ask any cable operator, look at specs for cable equipment, do a little research and you'll see that limiting upstream, specifically going after P2P usage, is a coming trend that makes sense. This massive upstream used by a small proportion of users is the same as running a high traffic FTP server on a residential service. It is abuse. Whether it is illegal or not isn't relevant, P2P costs ISPs money and hurts other customers by degrading network performance.
They are doing far more damage to their bottom line by these petty holy wars against P2P than P2P could do, even if the claims that people no longer buy music could be supported.
What is happening is that the industry is bludgeoning the public with their short-sightedness, forcing everyone to realize that far too much money gets page to music publishers, far too little rights actually belong to the artists themselves, and the big sell-outs like Metallica (s/big/has-been/) who jump on the "STOP THIEF!" bandwagon even damage and (prematurely?) end their own careers due to the PR fiasco.
Its time the recording industry focused on making music and less on making headlines.
They aren't just asking for cash, they are appealing for people to purchase their products and services because they are trying to stay afloat. Read the history of the company. It is no secret that they dug a hole branching into the ill-fated e-learning initiative during the tech boom at the behest of Vulture Capitalists.
If you like Mandrake and believe in Linux then the only way to show it is by actually supporting the products to believe are valuable. Free software, unless you mean free-beer, doesn't alleviate the producers of a product or service from the realities of economics. If you do not believe Mandrake is viable, despite liking their products, then don't purchase a MandrakeClub membership or box. If you do believe in the products, then support them.
I've got a shiny new Mandrake 9 PowerPack, and I'm happy with it. I've replaced MS Office with StarOffice. Those who value the products should do the same, and those who don't value the products should not. I think Mandrake has a chance to get back into the black, and I've voted with my $.
Actually, I'd have to say that Gigabit ethernet is useless for 99% of users, other than for bragging rights. Mac or no Mac has nothing to do with it. Sure, it sounds cool to have, but unless you also want to invest in a gig switch for your Mac LAN, you are paying for something of relatively little value (like Firewire a year or so ago).
Apple could really carve themselves a bigger market if they'd carve more off prices. The UNIXy goodness in Mac OS X actually makes me wish that I had a new Mac to play with, and that is saying something. I was an Apple user back before the Mac launched, but deviated slightly before and saw no compelling reason to take the platform seriously until Mac OS X.
It will take lower costs of pre-built systems, or greater availability of DIY hardware to get me to re-expand my horizons beyond Intel/AMD based workstations and Intel/AMD/Sparc based servers. Otherwise, Apple simply offers no wins to lure my money or my recommendation for budget in the corporate world.
Could he countersue for defamation in a situation like this? Can something she did be seen as criminal?
There is no justice unless there is a way to go after her and her family in criminal and civil court. It will be easy to establish damages, she has already confessed to destroying the man's career. Justice demands restitution.
Aside from the good ol' take them down with you ethic, some blame for these types of situations has to rest on the prosecution. Why would a case like this go forward if "reasonable doubt" exists at the outset?
The should have choosen better in the first place!
on
NWN Linux Client Delayed
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
... especially considering that until relatively close to the release of the game this summer, BioWare was promising a simultaneous release of the game for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. This was stated in their FAQ, press release, etc. Shortly before the release of the Windows-only version of the game, BioWare changed their site to indicate that the Mac version would be taken care of by a third party and the Linux version would be ported in house but release "soon after the Windows release".
And now we are seeing another estimate change. Why? Sound and movies. Fair enough, the game should be quality and complete for any platform if we are to spend money on it, but don't you think it would have been at least half-ways intelligent to pick solutions for sound and movies in the game that weren't tied to any particular platform or at least have a solution in mind for Linux that they could have been working on?
The Linux port of this game is vaporware. I used to be really optimistic about it, supportive of BioWare's efforts, patient for its delayed release in the Fall. Now we're told Winter 2002, which actually means Q1 2003 or later. I feel like BioWare was lying outright when they sent out press releases bragging about simultaneous cross-platform development and release of the title. Did they even know what they were doing when they said that, or was it simply a statement made by some marketing drone without bothering to check to see if that was realistic? Whatever the reason, the "we don't have a solution that works for Linux" is garbage. If you didn't have a solution when it was being developed originally, supposedly simultaneously with Windows and Mac, then you should have just STFU about anything other than the platforms you could actually cope with. The Linux community would have been overjoyed to have the game released as a surprise, but instead you've set Linux gamers up for a huge dissapointment, one that is entirely your (BioWare) fault.
A general flame to Marketing weenies: never forget, you have no product to get fat commissions off without engineers to build it. BS empty promises based on a cocain-fueled press release writing frenzy do nothing but hurt the company you work for, your credibility, and the credibility of your industry.
This is not a troll, but over-sensitive Trek geeks might think it is...
Are there are reviews by NON-fans of the whole Trek thing? The only thing that attracts me about Nemesis is that I hear that it is about as non-Trek as you can get in the franchise. I'd like to know what someone who doesn't want to see Yet Another Trek Movie thinks. I'm sick of the preachiness of Star Trek and would like some Sci Fi that is a little bit innovative.
Does anyone remember a sci-fi short story from the 70s called "Common Denominator" or something like that? It had excellent descriptions of ship-to-ship combat in space, used rocket propelled missles, some sort of nasty beetle creatures were the enemies. I can't remember exactly what the story was called or who wrote it, but I think it would make an excellent flick. There is just something very tired and "blah" about the whole Star Trek thing that makes me crave something new...
Anyways, I might as well try to say something half-ways intelligent...
We often take technology for granted, assuming that lack of understanding is some sort of mental or cultural deficiency, whereas our general and almost complete in ability to survive if left in the middle of a rain forest without help is somehow a noble mark of civilization. Those who hunt and provide for their own food are somehow throwbacks in a technological society.
To ensure that this ties into News for Nerds, I'd like to point out that the juxtaposition of high and low technology is one of the central concepts to Firefly. I find it funny when people complain about the rediculousness of low-tech firearms on a spaceship... on the frontiers of civilization.
What accounts for the purchasing of systems from Dell or Gateway and the challenges of Linux on the desktop is that most end users are cheap and dumb. The "dumb" bit lets companies which provide services that do everything for you prosper.
Most end users are impatient and lazy. (Not in the derogative sense; I, too, am impatient and lazy, and chances are you are too.) They run Windows or Mac OS for the same reason that they buy their computers pre-assembled: because they can get up and running faster and with less work.
That is pretty much my point, "dumb", as I've used it, includes "lazy" and potentially includes "impatient", however I think the point that most end users don't want to learn something new and challenging needs to be made. Its just a fact, not a value judgement (well, not entirely).
I don't now... but the tongue in combination with the green skin really sucks when trying to pickup at the club... I hear. I mean a friend has that problem... I mean... oh, piss off.
The average Internet user is proof enough that it does. We're picking up the EM (light) with our eyes rather than getting bathed in it with wireless.
I like the though of wild propagation of wireless. The potential for increased mutaton rate alone is worth it, I hope I get good mutant powers like superhealing or flying or something and not a sucky one like a super long tongue and green skin. Mutation is such a crap shoot... =)
Please stand by at your present location, a unit has been dispatched to discuss your terrorist *cough* I mean seditionist *cough* er... your anti-Big-Tobacco thoughts.
If you question Chris Carter, then the anti-anti-Big-Tobaccanists have already won.
The whole idea of saving money by getting a non-Intel chip is what let Cyrix exist for so long and let AMD move past the cheap alternative to serious competitor.
The sub-average user sees the dollar savings as a real benefit without even understanding the performance implications. Look at the Celeron and Duron... sure, some enthuiasts grabbed onto the bargain cachetarded chips to save money and overclock the hell out of them, but lots of people bought them because a chip is a chip, and cost savings is a quantifiable win.
Other than that, do people in the US really care as little as they appear to about what is happening in Canada? I know we're not even a terribly significant trading partner, but we share a border dammit =)
I believe in giving credit when it is due, but Jobs managing to get UNIX as the core of his shiny new OS and getting the few Mac desktop users to buy it are two separate things. I think Sun deserves credit for selling UNIX. I think Jobs deserves credit for sneaking UNIX into a mainstream ease-of-use centric OS.
The majority of Apple customers won't know, care, or be capable of taking advantage of the strengths of Darwin (by the same token, the vast majority of Windows users aren't able to take advantage of the POSIX "compatibility" in Windows XP, a shiny ease-of-use/multimedia/gaming centric desktop). What is the point? Sun customers are buying UNXI and enterprise class hardware. Apple customers are buying the new pretty desktop since their old one is at the end of its life cycle. There is a big difference.
That being said, I'd like to see some numbers comparing the desktop penetration of Mac OS X and single UNIX variants. The last numbers I saw regarding Linux seemed to suggest it had or was about to overtake Mac OS in sheer number of users, however that doesn't compare Red Hat (for example) to Mac OS X.
Like I suggested before, I like the banners. They are honest advertising.
I'm not naive, nor do I wear a tinfoil hat, nor do I live life with my head stuck in the sand. Websites cost money to operate, business needs to be transacted. Without the commercial influence this Internet that we all thrive on would not exist as we know it. It would still be an obscure network for academics, which isn't to say quality of information wouldn't be better, but it sure wouldn't be as empowering for the general population.
Banners are honest advertising, they are visible, they do the job. Popups are evil, so don't let your company use them. The insidious little links at the sides of the stories are sneaky and I don't like them. By all means, get in my face with your products, but do it with some respect.
Those who can't handle a little bit of advertising are hippocrats. They need to stop trying to live in 1991 and let the last 10 years help them mature.... in other words, suck it up, buttercup!
Slashdot can't exist without generating some revenue. If you don't like it, hit the smaller less professional sites and see how that works out for you. Build another Slashdot so you can discover that eventually you either stagnate or you general revenue to grow. Money is not inherently evil, people trying to transact business are not inherently evil, and there is nothing wrong with an information portal trying to generate the resources (i.e., money to pay for other resources) so they can survive.
Slashdot Mirror
I won't give up on Firefly yet, despite Fox being a bunch of asschimps for cancelling the show (I guess it is a little too high-brow for Fox, in retrospect)... rather than some fan flicks, I'd rather see fans put effort into saving the series by getting it onto another network like UPN.
Once you've polished off Beowulf (whoever's translation you choose) - I recommend Seamus Heaney's award winning translation if you are scared of Tolkien - you should find the Silmarillion more of the same. I doubt that Tolkien wrote it as anything other than the equivalent of Beowulf in terms of scope, style, and historical significance to the people of Middle Earth. In the case of Tolkien's work, the old epic is history rather than merely literature as Beowulf is to us (unless of course you believe that Beowulf is a historical account, in whole or in part).
From what I've heard, the Silmarillion (which I haven't read, but could borrow from my fiance) is similar in style to Beowulf (which I have read, and am the proud owner of Seamus Heaney's translation). The influences of Beowulf are actually very obvious, particularly in the Rohan. The names, social structure, even the hall in the capital itself are very much like Hrothulf's kingdom.
I would expect that Beowulf inspired the flavor of the Silmarillion much moreso than Tolkien's writing style would substantially influence his translation of Beowulf. If you were able to get through the Silmarillion then you should be able to get through Beowulf. It is an epic tale, very much worth reading. There is quite a bit of literature derived from the battles between Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon.
Once you've polished off Beowulf (whoever's translation you choose) - I recommend Seamus Heaney's award winning translation if you are scared of Tolkien.
I'm talking about an Apple-provided Linux native version of Quicktime. Compatibility hacks such as mplayer or Codeweavers aside, Apple shows Linux no love.
Anyways, I'd be more worried about cross-platform compatibility for anything with a Mac OS preference or that Apple is the vendor for. Quicktime, anyone? I'd sure love it is Apple would release Quicktime for Linux. Microsoft has a stronger record of cross-platform compatible products that some. They have to, by law. There are bigger and better things for them to crush (Java lawsuits with Sun being a good example), which is why they do paradoxical things like hand Apple a barrel of cash to stay afloat.
Cable internet services are designed for downstream data at high rates, as are the cable plants (the RF networks themselves). Upstream is a huge problem, and P2P represents a substantial portion of network traffic... scaling to meet the demand placed on the network by a small segment of users (P2P bandwidth hogs) does not make good business sense. Ask any cable operator, look at specs for cable equipment, do a little research and you'll see that limiting upstream, specifically going after P2P usage, is a coming trend that makes sense. This massive upstream used by a small proportion of users is the same as running a high traffic FTP server on a residential service. It is abuse. Whether it is illegal or not isn't relevant, P2P costs ISPs money and hurts other customers by degrading network performance.
What is happening is that the industry is bludgeoning the public with their short-sightedness, forcing everyone to realize that far too much money gets page to music publishers, far too little rights actually belong to the artists themselves, and the big sell-outs like Metallica (s/big/has-been/) who jump on the "STOP THIEF!" bandwagon even damage and (prematurely?) end their own careers due to the PR fiasco.
Its time the recording industry focused on making music and less on making headlines.
If you like Mandrake and believe in Linux then the only way to show it is by actually supporting the products to believe are valuable. Free software, unless you mean free-beer, doesn't alleviate the producers of a product or service from the realities of economics. If you do not believe Mandrake is viable, despite liking their products, then don't purchase a MandrakeClub membership or box. If you do believe in the products, then support them.
I've got a shiny new Mandrake 9 PowerPack, and I'm happy with it. I've replaced MS Office with StarOffice. Those who value the products should do the same, and those who don't value the products should not. I think Mandrake has a chance to get back into the black, and I've voted with my $.
Apple could really carve themselves a bigger market if they'd carve more off prices. The UNIXy goodness in Mac OS X actually makes me wish that I had a new Mac to play with, and that is saying something. I was an Apple user back before the Mac launched, but deviated slightly before and saw no compelling reason to take the platform seriously until Mac OS X.
It will take lower costs of pre-built systems, or greater availability of DIY hardware to get me to re-expand my horizons beyond Intel/AMD based workstations and Intel/AMD/Sparc based servers. Otherwise, Apple simply offers no wins to lure my money or my recommendation for budget in the corporate world.
Sounds like a girlfriend destined to never become a fiancé... =P
There is no justice unless there is a way to go after her and her family in criminal and civil court. It will be easy to establish damages, she has already confessed to destroying the man's career. Justice demands restitution.
Aside from the good ol' take them down with you ethic, some blame for these types of situations has to rest on the prosecution. Why would a case like this go forward if "reasonable doubt" exists at the outset?
And now we are seeing another estimate change. Why? Sound and movies. Fair enough, the game should be quality and complete for any platform if we are to spend money on it, but don't you think it would have been at least half-ways intelligent to pick solutions for sound and movies in the game that weren't tied to any particular platform or at least have a solution in mind for Linux that they could have been working on?
The Linux port of this game is vaporware. I used to be really optimistic about it, supportive of BioWare's efforts, patient for its delayed release in the Fall. Now we're told Winter 2002, which actually means Q1 2003 or later. I feel like BioWare was lying outright when they sent out press releases bragging about simultaneous cross-platform development and release of the title. Did they even know what they were doing when they said that, or was it simply a statement made by some marketing drone without bothering to check to see if that was realistic? Whatever the reason, the "we don't have a solution that works for Linux" is garbage. If you didn't have a solution when it was being developed originally, supposedly simultaneously with Windows and Mac, then you should have just STFU about anything other than the platforms you could actually cope with. The Linux community would have been overjoyed to have the game released as a surprise, but instead you've set Linux gamers up for a huge dissapointment, one that is entirely your (BioWare) fault.
A general flame to Marketing weenies: never forget, you have no product to get fat commissions off without engineers to build it. BS empty promises based on a cocain-fueled press release writing frenzy do nothing but hurt the company you work for, your credibility, and the credibility of your industry.
Are there are reviews by NON-fans of the whole Trek thing? The only thing that attracts me about Nemesis is that I hear that it is about as non-Trek as you can get in the franchise. I'd like to know what someone who doesn't want to see Yet Another Trek Movie thinks. I'm sick of the preachiness of Star Trek and would like some Sci Fi that is a little bit innovative.
Does anyone remember a sci-fi short story from the 70s called "Common Denominator" or something like that? It had excellent descriptions of ship-to-ship combat in space, used rocket propelled missles, some sort of nasty beetle creatures were the enemies. I can't remember exactly what the story was called or who wrote it, but I think it would make an excellent flick. There is just something very tired and "blah" about the whole Star Trek thing that makes me crave something new...
Anyways, I might as well try to say something half-ways intelligent...
We often take technology for granted, assuming that lack of understanding is some sort of mental or cultural deficiency, whereas our general and almost complete in ability to survive if left in the middle of a rain forest without help is somehow a noble mark of civilization. Those who hunt and provide for their own food are somehow throwbacks in a technological society.
To ensure that this ties into News for Nerds, I'd like to point out that the juxtaposition of high and low technology is one of the central concepts to Firefly. I find it funny when people complain about the rediculousness of low-tech firearms on a spaceship... on the frontiers of civilization.
LinuXP?
I don't now... but the tongue in combination with the green skin really sucks when trying to pickup at the club... I hear. I mean a friend has that problem... I mean... oh, piss off.
... or at least have him ghost write for Katz!
I like the though of wild propagation of wireless. The potential for increased mutaton rate alone is worth it, I hope I get good mutant powers like superhealing or flying or something and not a sucky one like a super long tongue and green skin. Mutation is such a crap shoot... =)
If you question Chris Carter, then the anti-anti-Big-Tobaccanists have already won.
The sub-average user sees the dollar savings as a real benefit without even understanding the performance implications. Look at the Celeron and Duron... sure, some enthuiasts grabbed onto the bargain cachetarded chips to save money and overclock the hell out of them, but lots of people bought them because a chip is a chip, and cost savings is a quantifiable win.
Other than that, do people in the US really care as little as they appear to about what is happening in Canada? I know we're not even a terribly significant trading partner, but we share a border dammit =)
The question we ought to be asking is "Who at Sun did Theo piss of now?!?".
The majority of Apple customers won't know, care, or be capable of taking advantage of the strengths of Darwin (by the same token, the vast majority of Windows users aren't able to take advantage of the POSIX "compatibility" in Windows XP, a shiny ease-of-use/multimedia/gaming centric desktop). What is the point? Sun customers are buying UNXI and enterprise class hardware. Apple customers are buying the new pretty desktop since their old one is at the end of its life cycle. There is a big difference.
That being said, I'd like to see some numbers comparing the desktop penetration of Mac OS X and single UNIX variants. The last numbers I saw regarding Linux seemed to suggest it had or was about to overtake Mac OS in sheer number of users, however that doesn't compare Red Hat (for example) to Mac OS X.
Like I suggested before, I like the banners. They are honest advertising.
I'm not naive, nor do I wear a tinfoil hat, nor do I live life with my head stuck in the sand. Websites cost money to operate, business needs to be transacted. Without the commercial influence this Internet that we all thrive on would not exist as we know it. It would still be an obscure network for academics, which isn't to say quality of information wouldn't be better, but it sure wouldn't be as empowering for the general population.
Banners are honest advertising, they are visible, they do the job. Popups are evil, so don't let your company use them. The insidious little links at the sides of the stories are sneaky and I don't like them. By all means, get in my face with your products, but do it with some respect.
Those who can't handle a little bit of advertising are hippocrats. They need to stop trying to live in 1991 and let the last 10 years help them mature.... in other words, suck it up, buttercup!
Slashdot can't exist without generating some revenue. If you don't like it, hit the smaller less professional sites and see how that works out for you. Build another Slashdot so you can discover that eventually you either stagnate or you general revenue to grow. Money is not inherently evil, people trying to transact business are not inherently evil, and there is nothing wrong with an information portal trying to generate the resources (i.e., money to pay for other resources) so they can survive.