When ya set up a server, ya build a tank.
Metal seats, olive drab - big and powerful, but not exactly luxury.
When ya set up yer own machines, ya build a gold-plated lowrider tank. (Just like in that rap video...you know the one.)
Still big and powerful, but with overstuffed velvet seats, furry trim and 15" subs in the back.
There's no real point to this reply, I just saw a good chance to reference the gold-plated tank
(Which I think is one of the most important innovations of the 20th century. Only a gold-plated lowrider 747 could be better)...
The integration into the web browser is at best in pre alpha stage. Try resizing a.swf under Netscape in Linux and you crash within a few seconds. Under IE5 keyboard navigation on a web page becomes impossible (For people who can't use a mouse this is really a problem).
Hardly anyone who does Flash even knows about, let alone cares about Linux support.
The two major consumer platforms are well supported (and exploited, now!;),
and Linux still holds a tiny amount of market share.
Not to mention hardcore Linux users will occasionally drop into 'doze or MacOS to browse,
simply because Netscape sucks SO much.
(Konqueror, on the other hand, is really getting there. Even supports Flash.:P)
IIRC, keyboard navigation *IS* possible in Flash, but it has to be authored in, which most people neglect to do.
-Viewing web pages with flash content is almost unbearable on a remote X11 display and eats up the complete bandwidth. It especially pisses me off if people have flash web banners on their pages like f.ex. sharkyextreme.com.
Once again, the average Flash author will prolly think 'X' is some pr0n reference.
X platforms simply don't have enough market share for Random Webdesigner to care about - as long as (s)he hits the target audience and gets paid, (s)he's happy.
The Flash player is definately a buggy piece of software, but I've had far less
lockups and far more speed with Flash than with Java, so I really can't bitch about stability too much.
The buffer overflow is *extremely* careless tho...hopefully Macromedia will fix it soon.
Already this is happening... most designer-y fixed-column-width web pages look like a huge amount of suck on X platforms.
Oh, come on. *Everything* looks like a huge amount of suck on X.
Well, everything except Xterms, of course.
X was not designed for pretty graphics...And it shows.
So what? Unless you're into amateur radio (which has very different regs about content than broadcast, BTW)
the FCC isn't going to grant you a license anyway if/when LPFM is killed by congress.
Why buy something that's just for looks when you can get the Ursus Mark VI hardsuit.
It doesn't have any real weapons to speak of, but
you could prolly graft a M60 on there pretty easily.
Yes...there are things that interest me here, but they are becoming less and less.
Then don't read the damn site. Simple, huh?
This seems like a really hard concept for slashbots to grasp.
If you just want tech news go to The Register or C|Net...If you want trolls, flames and frippery, read slashdot.
And quit bitching. It annoys people much more than the stupid RMS/ESR/GPL articles.
I thought everybody got over this browser superiority bit when they realized
that every browser sucks in it's own special way.
And don't give me this crap about Nutscrape being 'standards compliant', they did their share of embrace and extend.
This idiot needs to get a clue - don't exclude browsers, just write compliant HTML,
and if you're gonna take a stand against standards
violation, do it in a way that affects the company violating the standards, not the user that
may contribute to your project. A stupid 'denied' page is not going to get me to switch browsers -
it's just going to make me hit the 'Back' button.
'Nother little story:
My nVidia card has never done 3D in Linux - the only thing their 'detonator' drivers do is 'detonate' my system.
Hard freeze after about 5 seconds of video.
Sure the drivers might be great for the lucky, but I know I'll never buy an nVidia card for a Linux box.
The greatest thing is there's no chance of someone outside nVidia fixing the problem. Thanks nVidia!
You *can* use the Linux version of QuakeIII on other platforms.
I found a copy (at Media Play, of all places...) and tried to get it working under Linux, but
because of my poorly-supported nVidia card, I could never actually *play* it under Linux.
So, I installed the demo under windoze, replaced the data files with the ones from the CD, and
installed the point release. Works perfectly fine.
It also can be installed in a similar way on MacOS9/X.
The only thing you really *need* on the install CD is the data files...The client is freely available for all supported platforms.
I'm curious as to why I should hold this with any higher regard than any other opinion piece.
Near as I can tell, he's just a programmer that doesn't like the way antialiasing looks, and
happened to write a rant about why he dislikes it...
While I appreciate a good rant, I don't see this article as being anything more than a rant.
[...] but at a low resolution like 640x480 (or even 800x600), it looks like barf. [...]
And I use those resolutions for what? Gaming?
Before you flame me, keep in mind one thing: Autodesk has not and most likely will not implement anti-aliasing in AutoCAD.
So what? The things I do most involve text and raster graphics.
It really doens't matter what's best for CAD guys - I'm not one of them.
Not to mention line algorithms on bitmap displays are naturally lossy due to downsampling...
Don't like antialiasing? Don't use it and quit bitching.
About goddamn time X started getting more advanced graphics features, like alpha channels and such.
These features are needed in a modern graphics system.
I'm sick of people bitching about how much memory
or processor an alpha channel or AA will use - it's optional.
If it bogs down your P133, the solution is simple - don't run it.
No one is forcing this on you, and work like this
is definately not a waste of time.
Maybe now it won't be such a shock going from OSX to X...;)
I ran OSX with 64 meg on my G3 for a while,
and the only thing that was really painfully slow was Classic. All the new stuff ran fine.
Besides, 128Mb isn't all that 'high end' any more...
A 128Mb PC(100|133) DIMM is going for ~$60 nowadays, and many consumer-level machines are shipping with that much anyway.
As for disk requirements, I don't remember what the base
install took exactly, but I don't think it was 1.5Gb.
Prolly more like 700Mb to 1G, if that.
And, like memory, disk is cheap. IIRC, 10Gb drives go for significantly under $100 now.
There was one where a chef soaked a fish liver in liquor, then covered it with chocolate and served it with ice cream.
The "ohgoddoihavetoeatthat" looks on the taster's faces were just great.
Nasty stuff like that is the reason to watch Iron Chef!
The only thing missing from this show is a geek element. True, it does involve gadgets, but they seem to be the kind of gadgets that big, sweaty greasy mechanic guys would enjoy, not the kind of gadgets that Slashdotters would enjoy.
I dunno, I'm a 'geek', I write code for a living and wear shirts that say things only a hardcore nerd would understand,
but sometimes playing around with 'big iron' (in the most basic sense) is fun too.
Especially when it involves 'hacking' a piece of equipment to do something it was never intended to do.
(Which is exactly what goes on in 'Junkyard Wars')
Just because you're a computer geek doesn't mean you can't have interests outside of computers.
Hell, sometimes it's nice to have a break *from* computers, especially if you work with them all the time.
--K ---
IIRC, they do some 'seeding' of the junk pile beforehand with a few objects that are necessary,
but possibly not in the random junk...
I think it's a pretty reasonable thing to do, and doesn't really detract from the fun.
From the ZDNet UK article:
Intel's new Pentium 4 "Willamette" processor (Willy for short) will become public news: it's really not worth buying. At a clock speed of 1.5 GHz -- Guy Kewney says it's barely faster than a Pentium 3 at 1 GHz Intel, in short, has a little Willy. Go to AnchorDesk UK for the news comment.
"...The land of hack-er ya-yas,
the land where you can't write code,
the land where large SCSI drives still hang proudly,
like testicles from RAID controllers..."
Seriously.
AFAIK, X(At least the free variant) has no support for color balance, calibration, matching or, well, anything.
(X might do gamma, but that's it.)
Linux is a great OS, but it can't do *everything*.
There are some areas where Macs and even Windoze beat the hell out of it.
One of those areas is graphics.
BTW, OSX beta/rocks/. Check it out if you get a chance.
I'm not a UI theorist, but from personal experience,
a 'button' based UI is more efficiently navigated
than a nested menu on pen-based, small screened hardware.
On my Visor, the 'hot zone' for a launcher is a ~.5 x ~.75 inch box,
whereas on a winCE device, it's at least two ~.25x1.5 inch boxes.
I find the 'square' targets to be easier to hit when I'm in a hurry.
I think that on a small device, particularly one that is designed
for instant access to data, the added speed of easier to hit
targets outweighs the added capacity of nested menus.
Like I said, I'm not a UI theorist, so my conclusions may be completely off-base, but
I personally find the Palm icon view to be much quicker.
(Disclaimer: I've owned both platforms.)
Ok, the QtP screenshots are cool. Really cool.
But haven't people realized that start menus on palmtops are not a Good Thing! Why does this UI metaphor keep popping up in places it shouldn't?!
While I can see some of his justification,
what annoyed me is that just about every hardware
question is effectively replied to with
"I won't tell you because you're not smart enough to build it".
Of course, after getting my mailbox filled with stupid
questions from stupid g4m3r k1dd!3z, I would prolly start to have the same attitude.;)
It should be noted that the Torino scale is the probability of a 1970's Ford Gran Torino station wagon being propelled into low Earth orbit, if the impact were to occur.
Slashdot Mirror
So, what yer saying is...
When ya set up a server, ya build a tank.
Metal seats, olive drab - big and powerful, but not exactly luxury.
When ya set up yer own machines, ya build a gold-plated lowrider tank. (Just like in that rap video...you know the one.)
Still big and powerful, but with overstuffed velvet seats, furry trim and 15" subs in the back.
There's no real point to this reply, I just saw a good chance to reference the gold-plated tank
(Which I think is one of the most important innovations of the 20th century. Only a gold-plated lowrider 747 could be better)...
--K
The integration into the web browser is at best in pre alpha stage. Try resizing a .swf under Netscape in Linux and you crash within a few seconds. Under IE5 keyboard navigation on a web page becomes impossible (For people who can't use a mouse this is really a problem).
;),
:P)
Hardly anyone who does Flash even knows about, let alone cares about Linux support.
The two major consumer platforms are well supported (and exploited, now!
and Linux still holds a tiny amount of market share.
Not to mention hardcore Linux users will occasionally drop into 'doze or MacOS to browse,
simply because Netscape sucks SO much.
(Konqueror, on the other hand, is really getting there. Even supports Flash.
IIRC, keyboard navigation *IS* possible in Flash, but it has to be authored in, which most people neglect to do.
-Viewing web pages with flash content is almost unbearable on a remote X11 display and eats up the complete bandwidth. It especially pisses me off if people have flash web banners on their pages like f.ex. sharkyextreme.com.
Once again, the average Flash author will prolly think 'X' is some pr0n reference.
X platforms simply don't have enough market share for Random Webdesigner to care about - as long as (s)he hits the target audience and gets paid, (s)he's happy.
The Flash player is definately a buggy piece of software, but I've had far less
lockups and far more speed with Flash than with Java, so I really can't bitch about stability too much.
The buffer overflow is *extremely* careless tho...hopefully Macromedia will fix it soon.
--K
Already this is happening ... most designer-y fixed-column-width web pages look like a huge amount of suck on X platforms.
Oh, come on. *Everything* looks like a huge amount of suck on X.
Well, everything except Xterms, of course.
X was not designed for pretty graphics...And it shows.
--K
So what? Unless you're into amateur radio (which has very different regs about content than broadcast, BTW)
the FCC isn't going to grant you a license anyway if/when LPFM is killed by congress.
--K
---
Why buy something that's just for looks when you can get the Ursus Mark VI hardsuit.
It doesn't have any real weapons to speak of, but
you could prolly graft a M60 on there pretty easily.
Hey, it's only $150k...
--K
---
Is it a law that all industry trade groups have to be complete jerks?
--K
---
Yes...there are things that interest me here, but they are becoming less and less.
Then don't read the damn site. Simple, huh?
This seems like a really hard concept for slashbots to grasp.
If you just want tech news go to The Register or C|Net...If you want trolls, flames and frippery, read slashdot.
And quit bitching. It annoys people much more than the stupid RMS/ESR/GPL articles.
--K
---
Jesus, that is *so* 1997.
I thought everybody got over this browser superiority bit when they realized
that every browser sucks in it's own special way.
And don't give me this crap about Nutscrape being 'standards compliant', they did their share of embrace and extend.
This idiot needs to get a clue - don't exclude browsers, just write compliant HTML,
and if you're gonna take a stand against standards
violation, do it in a way that affects the company violating the standards, not the user that
may contribute to your project. A stupid 'denied' page is not going to get me to switch browsers -
it's just going to make me hit the 'Back' button.
--K
---
'Nother little story:
My nVidia card has never done 3D in Linux - the only thing their 'detonator' drivers do is 'detonate' my system.
Hard freeze after about 5 seconds of video.
Sure the drivers might be great for the lucky, but I know I'll never buy an nVidia card for a Linux box.
The greatest thing is there's no chance of someone outside nVidia fixing the problem. Thanks nVidia!
--K
---
You *can* use the Linux version of QuakeIII on other platforms.
I found a copy (at Media Play, of all places...) and tried to get it working under Linux, but
because of my poorly-supported nVidia card, I could never actually *play* it under Linux.
So, I installed the demo under windoze, replaced the data files with the ones from the CD, and
installed the point release. Works perfectly fine.
It also can be installed in a similar way on MacOS9/X.
The only thing you really *need* on the install CD is the data files...The client is freely available for all supported platforms.
--K
---
I'm curious as to why I should hold this with any higher regard than any other opinion piece.
Near as I can tell, he's just a programmer that doesn't like the way antialiasing looks, and
happened to write a rant about why he dislikes it...
While I appreciate a good rant, I don't see this article as being anything more than a rant.
--K
---
[...] but at a low resolution like 640x480 (or even 800x600), it looks like barf. [...]
And I use those resolutions for what? Gaming?
Before you flame me, keep in mind one thing: Autodesk has not and most likely will not implement anti-aliasing in AutoCAD.
So what? The things I do most involve text and raster graphics.
It really doens't matter what's best for CAD guys - I'm not one of them.
Not to mention line algorithms on bitmap displays are naturally lossy due to downsampling...
Don't like antialiasing? Don't use it and quit bitching.
--K
Don't mind me, I like feeding the trolls.
---
About goddamn time X started getting more advanced graphics features, like alpha channels and such.
;)
These features are needed in a modern graphics system.
I'm sick of people bitching about how much memory
or processor an alpha channel or AA will use - it's optional.
If it bogs down your P133, the solution is simple - don't run it.
No one is forcing this on you, and work like this
is definately not a waste of time.
Maybe now it won't be such a shock going from OSX to X...
--K
---
...are a bit exaggerated.
I ran OSX with 64 meg on my G3 for a while,
and the only thing that was really painfully slow was Classic. All the new stuff ran fine.
Besides, 128Mb isn't all that 'high end' any more...
A 128Mb PC(100|133) DIMM is going for ~$60 nowadays, and many consumer-level machines are shipping with that much anyway.
As for disk requirements, I don't remember what the base
install took exactly, but I don't think it was 1.5Gb.
Prolly more like 700Mb to 1G, if that.
And, like memory, disk is cheap. IIRC, 10Gb drives go for significantly under $100 now.
--K
---
There was one where a chef soaked a fish liver in liquor, then covered it with chocolate and served it with ice cream.
The "ohgoddoihavetoeatthat" looks on the taster's faces were just great.
Nasty stuff like that is the reason to watch Iron Chef!
--K
---
The only thing missing from this show is a geek element. True, it does involve gadgets, but they seem to be the kind of gadgets that big, sweaty greasy mechanic guys would enjoy, not the kind of gadgets that Slashdotters would enjoy.
I dunno, I'm a 'geek', I write code for a living and wear shirts that say things only a hardcore nerd would understand,
but sometimes playing around with 'big iron' (in the most basic sense) is fun too.
Especially when it involves 'hacking' a piece of equipment to do something it was never intended to do.
(Which is exactly what goes on in 'Junkyard Wars')
Just because you're a computer geek doesn't mean you can't have interests outside of computers.
Hell, sometimes it's nice to have a break *from* computers, especially if you work with them all the time.
--K
---
IIRC, they do some 'seeding' of the junk pile beforehand with a few objects that are necessary,
but possibly not in the random junk...
I think it's a pretty reasonable thing to do, and doesn't really detract from the fun.
--K
---
From the ZDNet UK article:
Intel's new Pentium 4 "Willamette" processor (Willy for short) will become public news: it's really not worth buying. At a clock speed of 1.5 GHz -- Guy Kewney says it's barely faster than a Pentium 3 at 1 GHz Intel, in short, has a little Willy. Go to AnchorDesk UK for the news comment.
--K
---
"...The land of hack-er ya-yas,
:P
the land where you can't write code,
the land where large SCSI drives still hang proudly,
like testicles from RAID controllers..."
--K
Sorry. First thing I thought of.
---
Seriously.
/rocks/. Check it out if you get a chance.
AFAIK, X(At least the free variant) has no support for color balance, calibration, matching or, well, anything.
(X might do gamma, but that's it.)
Linux is a great OS, but it can't do *everything*.
There are some areas where Macs and even Windoze beat the hell out of it.
One of those areas is graphics.
BTW, OSX beta
--K
---
I'm not a UI theorist, but from personal experience,
a 'button' based UI is more efficiently navigated
than a nested menu on pen-based, small screened hardware.
On my Visor, the 'hot zone' for a launcher is a ~.5 x ~.75 inch box,
whereas on a winCE device, it's at least two ~.25x1.5 inch boxes.
I find the 'square' targets to be easier to hit when I'm in a hurry.
I think that on a small device, particularly one that is designed
for instant access to data, the added speed of easier to hit
targets outweighs the added capacity of nested menus.
Like I said, I'm not a UI theorist, so my conclusions may be completely off-base, but
I personally find the Palm icon view to be much quicker.
(Disclaimer: I've owned both platforms.)
--K
---
Ok, the QtP screenshots are cool. Really cool.
But haven't people realized that start menus on palmtops are not a Good Thing!
Why does this UI metaphor keep popping up in places it shouldn't?!
--K
---
While I can see some of his justification,
;)
what annoyed me is that just about every hardware
question is effectively replied to with
"I won't tell you because you're not smart enough to build it".
Of course, after getting my mailbox filled with stupid
questions from stupid g4m3r k1dd!3z, I would prolly start to have the same attitude.
--K
---
Well GEEE mr, if you have a PowerPC, Alpha or Sparc i'm sure you can certainly afford a PC from gateway.
Let's see...I have 3 PPCs, 1 MIPS, and 1 Sparc.
Yet I can't afford a new G4. (Let alone the dual...)
Point? Surplus hardware is cheap. New hardware isn't.
--K
Ironically, my NT4 disc says that it *supports* MIPS, Alpha, PPC in addition to x86.
---
It should be noted that the Torino scale is the probability of a 1970's Ford Gran Torino
station wagon being propelled into low Earth orbit, if the impact were to occur.
--K
Hey. It had to be said.
---