1) There is not, and never has been, an Ubuntu version 1.0.
2) I don't know how old you are. If you are old enough, you may recall a period in human (and computing) history referred to as "the Nineties." It was a rough-and-tumble era in which browsers fought and bled and died, when this whole newfangled "dot com" thing happened and people all around the globe started using all kinds of intertubes-type stuff. Windows XP, by the way, was not around back then.
Granted, it was not discovered that the Internet was, in fact, a series of tubes until the eminent Ted Stevens presented his groundbreaking research in the mid-2000s, but the tubes were already in heavy operation by then.
I consider that in no government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it. If a sovereign oppresses his people to a great degree, they will rise and cut off his head. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government.
I'm wondering how many millennia of human history dispute that claim.
That's because the guy at McDonald's is running one application, and that application is all multiple choice questions.
Touch interfaces are great for simulating virtual buttons. They are great for when you're doing something else and you need to quickly switch to a computer task, then go back. You don't need to reorient your fingers to, say, a keyboard.
But the minute you need to use the touch interface for an extended task, or if you need to type or exercise more fine-grained control than pushing a "COMBO NUMBER 16" button, then they start to severely suffer in comparison to traditional input methods.
Not to be nitpicky, but the dictionary isn't necessarily our best reference here. If I invent something---say, a hovercar---but I don't offer it commercially, it's not a product and therefore not patentable under the definition you just gave. Likewise, patent law is usually considered to also cover, say, a physical transformation---e.g., if I develop a process to turn lead into gold, it's patentable. In that sense, saying that the only things that are patentable are the things you refer to as "products" is too narrow.
But then again, if you say that a product is anything that is provided commercially, then it also includes services. You might say Google's algorithms are patentable, when they're used as a service. (I would not, but let's let that lie for the sake of discussion.) For instance, if I started a commercial service for improving Slashdot submitters' karma scores, and could reduce my process for doing so to a well-defined series of steps (Step 1: Bash Microsoft, Step 2: Promote Linux, etc.), then the process would be patentable.
Saying that a patent is something that somehow is involved in a "product" only muddles the issue.
What's a product? Is a product something physical, like a telephone? Is a product something intangible, like a set of instructions for a machine, or an educational curriculum?
The fact that people would even still use C at all for anything anywhere ever shocks me.
I started writing device drivers in Ruby, and have never looked back.
In order to get Ruby to run on my system, I run it in an interpreter. The interpreter is written in Java, which is a much faster language and therefore more suitable as an interpreter.
The JVM on my system is written in C#. I know that C# is comparable to Java in terms of efficiency, but since this is a Windows machine, I figure it's "closer to the metal."
The implementation of the.NET framework on my computer (and the Windows operating system itself) is written in Ruby. Since I already have a Ruby interpreter on my system, this presents no problems.
"FUCK YOU! I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!...MOTHERFUCKER!"
(The rest of this comment is just filler text so that I can get the above quote past Slashdot's caps-lock filter. Yes, it is supposed to be all-caps. Yes, it's like yelling. It is supposed to be like yelling.)
Slashdot Mirror
1) There is not, and never has been, an Ubuntu version 1.0.
2) I don't know how old you are. If you are old enough, you may recall a period in human (and computing) history referred to as "the Nineties." It was a rough-and-tumble era in which browsers fought and bled and died, when this whole newfangled "dot com" thing happened and people all around the globe started using all kinds of intertubes-type stuff. Windows XP, by the way, was not around back then.
Granted, it was not discovered that the Internet was, in fact, a series of tubes until the eminent Ted Stevens presented his groundbreaking research in the mid-2000s, but the tubes were already in heavy operation by then.
I consider that in no government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it. If a sovereign oppresses his people to a great degree, they will rise and cut off his head. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government.
I'm wondering how many millennia of human history dispute that claim.
No, this is Slashdot. An order of magnitude is either 2x, 8x, or 16x.
That's because the guy at McDonald's is running one application, and that application is all multiple choice questions.
Touch interfaces are great for simulating virtual buttons. They are great for when you're doing something else and you need to quickly switch to a computer task, then go back. You don't need to reorient your fingers to, say, a keyboard.
But the minute you need to use the touch interface for an extended task, or if you need to type or exercise more fine-grained control than pushing a "COMBO NUMBER 16" button, then they start to severely suffer in comparison to traditional input methods.
Quick, someone quote Lord Acton!
Not to be nitpicky, but the dictionary isn't necessarily our best reference here. If I invent something---say, a hovercar---but I don't offer it commercially, it's not a product and therefore not patentable under the definition you just gave. Likewise, patent law is usually considered to also cover, say, a physical transformation---e.g., if I develop a process to turn lead into gold, it's patentable. In that sense, saying that the only things that are patentable are the things you refer to as "products" is too narrow.
But then again, if you say that a product is anything that is provided commercially, then it also includes services. You might say Google's algorithms are patentable, when they're used as a service. (I would not, but let's let that lie for the sake of discussion.) For instance, if I started a commercial service for improving Slashdot submitters' karma scores, and could reduce my process for doing so to a well-defined series of steps (Step 1: Bash Microsoft, Step 2: Promote Linux, etc.), then the process would be patentable.
Saying that a patent is something that somehow is involved in a "product" only muddles the issue.
That's not really a productive comment, and if I had mod points and hadn't already commented, I'd mod it flamebait.
To GP---if you do want discussions outside of Slashdot, the place to look is the current SCOTUS case on In Re Bilski, which concerns patentability.
What's a product? Is a product something physical, like a telephone? Is a product something intangible, like a set of instructions for a machine, or an educational curriculum?
Is a product a Slashdot post?
Clearly, "The Hobbit" needs a Bollywood-style dance number.
To be fair, the entire plot of "The Hobbit" was them searching for a boatload of cash.
Hell, the only reason they recruited Bilbo was because he was small and sneaky and could hopefully just grab-and-run with the money.
Disclaimer: Don't try that. Those things are heavy.
Also, I wasn't born.
I remember those. We used to have to carry them around in the snow, uphill both ways. ;-)
The fact that people would even still use C at all for anything anywhere ever shocks me.
I started writing device drivers in Ruby, and have never looked back.
In order to get Ruby to run on my system, I run it in an interpreter. The interpreter is written in Java, which is a much faster language and therefore more suitable as an interpreter.
The JVM on my system is written in C#. I know that C# is comparable to Java in terms of efficiency, but since this is a Windows machine, I figure it's "closer to the metal."
The implementation of the .NET framework on my computer (and the Windows operating system itself) is written in Ruby. Since I already have a Ruby interpreter on my system, this presents no problems.
Can I nominate parent for the Slashdot "Whoosh of the Year" award?
Yes, GP is discriminating against the fantasy authors who wrote Genesis, the Quran, the Vedas...
Oh, don't worry about it. Whatever happens to the rest of the country, our troopers will be certain to have the latest toys.
After all, the moon needs democracy, too.
I'm going to argue that the United States is not an empire. The more appropriate word is "hegemony."
Honestly, though, I think most people recognize that the country's global influence has peaked. If the US is an empire, it's not Rome, it's Byzantium.
But what about interference from the LEDs on your monitor?
I mean sure, I guess this would be great for the people who can use a Braille interface...
...and now they do.
Sucks for them, but hey, props to Ubisoft for educating the customer.
Good is good, better is better.
You bastard, you
Yeah, I know. In 1992, they started giving us *grades* in school, like the big kids got.
"FUCK YOU! I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME! ...MOTHERFUCKER!"
(The rest of this comment is just filler text so that I can get the above quote past Slashdot's caps-lock filter. Yes, it is supposed to be all-caps. Yes, it's like yelling. It is supposed to be like yelling.)
There's only one solution. Bring a boom-box to the bus stops, and start blasting Dr. Dre like it's 1992.
Take that, old farts!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
*sigh*
You couldn't have started talking BS about hangovers on a Friday?