The movie had me until the two main characters managed to get thier planes in the air during the attack on Pearl... something that never happened in reality. We never got a plane off the ground.
It pisses me off that these two fictional characters are getting the credit for shooting down seven Zeros that were actually shot down by real, live, breathing men in uniform... real heros.
It pisses me off that this corps of fictional Army pilots also get credited for the attack on Tokyo by the real Dolittle Raiders, some of whom were executed after being captured by that Japanese. They didn't even have the decency to find the name of the real copilot who flew with James Dolittle... he gets credited only as "Dolittle Copilot".
At least they did have the character of Doris "Dorie" Miller, a real hero of Pearl Harbor... The black cook who took to the 50 cal in the attack... but they barely followed his character, inserting him in as though he were out of place and not giving him the credit for all that he really did.
I spent nine years in the Navy... I've been to the Arizona Memorial.
All I have to say about this film is: It pissed me off.
However, this is an exception, not a rule. Unfortunately, my dictionary (www.dictionary.com) does not trace the date of the first usage of this peice of slang (which is what I am sure it was at the time of it's first usage.
I can imagine someone sluring "It's eight of the clock" into "It's eight o'clock" in a scottish, irish, or cockney accent quite easily.
I think a better argument than the mere spelling of email would be for standards in email construction.
For instance, should you avoid indenting paragraphs in email? I always do. What about capitilization or sans-capitalization? Should one place a space between paragraphs as I often do, or let the whole un-indented body of text merge together?
I gave up reading the article after the first page. Wired really tires me out with it's constant use of buzzwords like "Digirati" and the like.
Yes, maybe I should have finished the article before posting my comment. As far as "Wired Style" goes, maybe I was wrong. I got that book for Christmas a few years back when I was still working as a Journalist with the U.S. Navy.
This is the kind of article on slashdot where very few people are actually going to take the time to read the article. Personal opinions on this matter are more important then what Wired says about it anyway.
However, because this is true, I should have made doubly sure to be factually acurate in my comment. I went by memory (because my copy of 'Wired Style' is 40 miles away and hidden among a stack of hundreds of books in the top of my bedroom closet.
Actually, I have wanted for a while to get a new copy of the "Associated Press Stylebook". I haven't seen a copy since the 1994 edition and I would like to see how it has delt with many of the terms that have become so popular due to the internet over the last few years.
e'mail would not work as a contraction. Contractions follow the style of using the complete first word and than adding an apostrophe and a contracted form of the last word. Therefore electronic'l would be a more correct contracted form.
"E-mail" works. I prefer email and I prefer it as a new word. We are on the virge of a new emerging evolution of the English language. English has always been an evolving language, a language that changes to meet the needs of the people who are speeking it. This is why there are so many differences in proper English, Austrailian English, American English and the various dialects (southern English is definately different from Northern.)
Read a copy of "Beowulf" in the original tongue. Old English is barely recognizable to us today. Then read a few passages from the King James Bible of 1611. The language of the "King's English" is also remote to us (though easy to interpret.) Now read a copy of "Grapes of Wrath" and you will see that even this book, which is less than 100 years old, uses language that at times seems a bit odd. Now read "Snowcrash" and you will be reading something that seems modern to us.
It won't be long before our language accepts the new terminology into it's vernacular as new words and not contractions of two seperate words. E-mail will become email. And little children who see the book "Charlotte's Web" sitting on the shelf will assume first that it is a book about technology.
Yes, I prefer 'email'. it is simpler. Almost elegant. It is forward-looking. E-mail makes you think of a letter sent electronically. But email is word that is open and transcends the old concepts of mail.
A few years ago the editors over at "Wired" put out a guide to word usage for it's writers (similar to the Associated Press Stylebook" used by journalist around the U.S.
Thier stylebook dictates that the proper usage is "email". No dash, lowercase 'e'. The "Jargon File" also seems to prefer this usage.
I find that this makes good sense. If you write "electronic mail", you don't capitilize the 'e', so why should you capitilize it in the abbreviation?
Of course... Wired doesn't always get everthing right now do they?
I remember buying a CDROM full of games from Activision that were for originally written for the Commodore 64. That was several years ago.
The CDROM included a frontend program and an emulator that would allow you to play these games under Windows. It was a great idea, and the CDROM was priced rather cheap.
I think that it is an absolutely great idea for gaming companies to release thier old titles via emulation. Especially if the price is affordable. However, I would rather see some of these companies release some of their older games, that have lost almost all of their capacity to produce cashflow, into the public domain, source and all (ID software has led the way with source releases of many of its top titles.)
I read a recent article that stated that the computer gaming industry has outgrown the motion picture industry by leaps and bounds. If the Academy of Motion Pictures has setup a film-preservation society, why doesn't someone setup a software preservation society (needs to start now before some of the real treasures of the software industry disappear!)
The uptime on my Linux LAPTOP is current at 53 days (since I upgraded to Mandrake 7.1). I never turn my laptop off, I simply go into suspend mode while I travel between work and home. This is with normal computing, games, internet, lots of instances of god-awful, bug-ridden Sun Microsystems StarOffice documents open all over the place... So... what is your point?
And no! I am not saying that Linux is so much better then Windows. If Windows is working for you and you are happy with what you have... that is fine with me. Yes. I have used NT. The OS is simply a TOOL to get things done. I use Linux because I prefer to get things done without spending a lot of money.
As far as NT or 2000 being as stable as any Linux distro, maybe so. However, I have never had to reboot my laptop when the network settings have changed (I can go to any new location and reset my network settings on the fly) I don't have to reboot when I install new software. Yes, I have had my laptop lockup on me, usually something hangs in X when this happens. I simply plug a cat5 cable into my laptop and telnet (ssh for you security freaks) to it from another workstation and kill whatever process has caused the problem.
On the other hand, I have a Winnt4.0 laptop that is currently sitting at a BSOD because it didn't like the "Designed for Windows NT 4.0" network card that I installed using the manufacturer's software (I get the screen to 'press ctrl alt del to logon', at which point ctrl+alt+del=instant BSOD)
Actually, the BSOD frequently experienced with NT is almost always the fault of either a hardware problem or a poorly written device driver.
I have frequently received the BSOD when trying to incorporate an old SCSI card into an NT workstation. You know the type: ISA card originally packaged with some type of scanner for use on Windows 3.1. NT doesn't come with a driver for the card so you end up searching the web to find a driver, and when you finally find it, the manufacturer gives you the disclaimer of "This may or may not work, either way, we no longer support this hardware but only provide the driver for your convenience.
This is wonderfull news. I never felt that there was any real closure to the end of U-571. The next time I watch the movie, I'll be able to walk away with a smile, and perhaps even a comment to myself: "maybe we will win the war after all."
Actually, I use NT4.0 all the time at work. I am even an MCP. I really don't have a really big problem with Microsoft Operating Systems. For most people, a Microsoft Windows operating system meets all of their needs.
I do, however, prefer Linux. I use it at home and at work whenever possible. Linux may not be the best OS out there in the world. In fact, there are many areas where MS Windows is in fact superior to Linux (on the User side.) And any one of the BSDs may be technically superior.
What do I like about Linux then? It's the License. The GPL, in and of itself, is a work of art. When I read the GPL for the first time back in 1993, it was a great awakening withen me. This is the way software SHOULD be developed and licensed.
I love the way that Linux is being developed. I really believe that the developement model that is in use here will allow Linux to excel. Linux may not be the best solution today, but it will be one day.
Umm... I think what I was trying to point out that it is actually cost effective for a small time hardware reseller to bundle his/her machines with a free operating system versus a proprietary alternative.
Personally, I have no problems with BeOS or Windows 2000 (except that BeOS does not recognize my video adapter and that I have never, and probably will never, use Win2000 so I can not make an educated recomendation for that operating system.)
I do some ocassional work for friends and aquaintences fixing their PCs when their proprietary operating system has crashed. Where possible, I make a recomendation to switch to a non-proprietary free operating system (depending on the software being used, this is not always the best option for my 'customers.')
I have a physician for a customer who is very much dependent on his AOL. For him, switching to another operating system would not be the best solution (until AOL for linux is available.)
My father-in-law, however, is now using Linux and is able to work quite well with it using a KDE interface.
If BeOS or Win2000 meets your needs, then by all means use it! For me, there is nothing out there in userland that I need that cannot be done with GNU/Linux.
Absolutely! OEMs should follow Microsoft's advice and install an operating system on every PC that leaves their doors.
I am sure that if these OEMs were SHOWN how Linux/BSD (or name your other FREE OS here) could be configured to be an easy to use Internet ready solution, maybe this could happen.
"all our computers leave the shop 'clothed' in FREEDOS."
I only put the second sentence in there to illustrate that you, like most Slashdotters, like to talk a lot but don't really have much real knowledge of what they talk about.
Simply because I have never had any hands on knowledge of the Apple II does not negate the fact that VisiCALC was the first spreadsheet program available on a computer (which was all that I was trying to say). Therefore, your illustration that I "don't have much real knowledge" is null. Who cares if I have used an Apple II? It has nothing to do with the meat of my comment TO YOU.
In fact, why you would use a quote from a comment that I made to someone else about what is essentially a different subject then the one in which we were conversing is beyond me.
Your comment asked the question "how do all you OSS people know about streaming audio?" (I took the liberty of correcting your spelling). My comment was simply an answer to say, somewhat sarcasticly, "just because something is closed source/commercial doesn't mean that OSS can't duplicate the results."
And no, my comment was not intended to imply that you are a youngster. It was intended to imply that your comment hinted at a certain amount of naivity (or perhaps I was just smelling a troll). I'm 30. How about you?
I have never personally used an Apple II (except at the Computer Museum of America's booth at the California Computer Expos in '96 and '97) I grew up in a culture heavily dominated by the Commodore 64.
I cannot personally testify whether or not the Apple II's success was due to it's technical excellence. I think you are right, at least partly, in your assumption.
I don't think that the Apple II's success can be linked entirely to VisiCalc. I think that VisiCalc and the Apple II's successes can be contributed to the fact that they both managed to fill voids that people had previously not even realized existed.
The Apple II was really the first product of its kind. It also managed to outlast the "early adopter" phaze (this may be due largely to the emergence of VisiCALC.) In the long-run, the Apple II did managed to compete well with the many offerings of it's competitors by remaining a viable alternative to the vic20, C64, TRS80, Sinclair, TI, and even the original IBM PC. This was pretty good considering that it was so much earlier to the market then the others.
I would tend to believe that the Apple II's success can be linked to a number of factors. It was technically a good machine (it did what users wanted it to do) and it managed to develop a large user base very quickly (in those days, when you went shopping for a computer, you made sure to buy the same type of machine as your neighbors so you could 'borrow' a copy of their software and run it on your machine.)
Streaming MP3 can be done using Open Source Software.
How did you know about open source? I thought you had a closed mind.
Gnumeric is an Open Source (GPL'd) spreadsheet program. Just because the first spreadsheet program (VisiCalc, you wouldn't recall it. It ran on the Apple II) was closed source and commercial software doesn't mean that the Open Source community isn't going to produce an Open Source implementation of the same functionality.
Of course the record company wants to collect royalties!
The development and adoption of the Internet as a medium surpases anything ever seen with either Radio or Television. The RIAA is looking at the Internet as the biggest cash cow to hit the world EVER.
You have to expect the recording industry to do everthing in their power to get their fist into our pockets. It makes good business sense.
A lot of people claim that the RIAA is trying to shutdown Napster, Scour, etc. because they "Don't get it." This is not the case. The Recording Industry "Gets it" probably more than anyone else (slashdotters like me included.)
The RIAA is going to continue to appear to fight "internet technologies" like streaming webcasts of music, file sharing and the like BECAUSE they are great technologies. The RIAA just wishes that they had developed them first so they could be the ones making the profits.
The RIAA will, of course, try and shut them all down so that in a few years, when they are ready with their business plan, they can mimic the exact same technologies themselves. And make the money from them.
Now that is something I did not know. When you change your sig, it changes it EVERYWHERE on slashdot? I do not like that Sam I Am.
Actually. I have known about the fact that you can post without the +1 bonus for a while, I just haven't been using it until recently.
I realized that the bonus was unfairly allowing some of my stupidest comments to get moderated up (I made a single comment concerning the recent "worst day of the week poll" and with that comment (and replies to other people who had posted comments about my comment) I racked up a +15 Karma bonus and hit my head on slashdots 50 karma point glass ceiling.
I would have never thought that a one sentence comment (that wasn't that funny) would have been moderated up to a 5. But I guess that is the problem when the comment is posted originally as a 2... more people see it.
Usually, when I talk about karma, it is pretty much tongue-in-cheek. Usually, when I get moderated down (which doesn't happen that often) I really deserve it. The fact that I had to post a follow up to correct my own spelling error is probably a good indicator that "overrated" was a well deserved moderation.
And thanks for the clue about those SIGs!
This "loser" would have seen your post anyway because I always check back on my comments to see if anyone has replied to any of my comments. This is how good discussions get started.
If you would read my comment once more, you might see that there was a certain degree of sarcasm associated with my post. Yes. I realize that my sense of humour is not often understood by many people. Perhaps if you take some time to read the "J. Random Hacker" apendice to "The Jargon File" (do a search with google) you will see that this is a often a common trait.
My reply to my own comment was not intended to defend it from moderation but rather to say "Hey look! I'm stupid, I misspelled server."
I guess that my comment was affective at least in that it got your attention. But please don't call me a "whiney looser" I prefer "stupid whiner."
As far a your "seeing my sig" all over the place, you can check with ALL of my other posts to slashdot and see that the post in question is the ONLY time that I ever used that sig. My comments almost always are appended with the sig "Brought to you by Frobozz Magic Penguin Fodder" (a remark that harkens back to the Interactive Fiction classic "Zork" and my use of the Linux operating system.
Should my comment have been moderated down? Probably so. It really didn't add much to the discussion to begin with. And it had a spelling error to boot.
Am I a looser? I don't know. And I honestly don't care.
Did I enjoy responding to your comment: Yes. I don't often get admonished by someone who hasn't posted as an anonymous coward.
(and just for you. I have posted with "No Score +1 Bonus)
I love when moderation works so well!
Someone decided that they had moderator points but they did not need to read the slashdot FAQ.
My original comment was rated a "2" because of my +1 KARMA BONUS! I have high Karma, so I get a little extra point!
Of course, another theory is that I was moderated down for a VERY BLATANT spelling error. What the hell is a "surver" anyway? STUPID ME, STUPID ME, STUPID ME.
What is this little "Preview Button" thingy for?
Slashdot Mirror
It's right on the page for today's show Taco! With a link to the real audio file. http://freshair.npr.org/dayFA.cfm?todayDate=curren t
The movie had me until the two main characters managed to get thier planes in the air during the attack on Pearl... something that never happened in reality. We never got a plane off the ground. It pisses me off that these two fictional characters are getting the credit for shooting down seven Zeros that were actually shot down by real, live, breathing men in uniform... real heros. It pisses me off that this corps of fictional Army pilots also get credited for the attack on Tokyo by the real Dolittle Raiders, some of whom were executed after being captured by that Japanese. They didn't even have the decency to find the name of the real copilot who flew with James Dolittle... he gets credited only as "Dolittle Copilot". At least they did have the character of Doris "Dorie" Miller, a real hero of Pearl Harbor... The black cook who took to the 50 cal in the attack... but they barely followed his character, inserting him in as though he were out of place and not giving him the credit for all that he really did. I spent nine years in the Navy... I've been to the Arizona Memorial. All I have to say about this film is: It pissed me off.
Amen to that, brother!
It's not that I can't spell definitive, it's just that I didn't spell it correctly.
:-)
Yes. You get a +1 for Irony.
Okay. You have a point with the o'clock thing.
However, this is an exception, not a rule. Unfortunately, my dictionary (www.dictionary.com) does not trace the date of the first usage of this peice of slang (which is what I am sure it was at the time of it's first usage.
I can imagine someone sluring "It's eight of the clock" into "It's eight o'clock" in a scottish, irish, or cockney accent quite easily.
I think a better argument than the mere spelling of email would be for standards in email construction.
For instance, should you avoid indenting paragraphs in email? I always do. What about capitilization or sans-capitalization? Should one place a space between paragraphs as I often do, or let the whole un-indented body of text merge together?
Well.
I gave up reading the article after the first page. Wired really tires me out with it's constant use of buzzwords like "Digirati" and the like.
Yes, maybe I should have finished the article before posting my comment. As far as "Wired Style" goes, maybe I was wrong. I got that book for Christmas a few years back when I was still working as a Journalist with the U.S. Navy.
This is the kind of article on slashdot where very few people are actually going to take the time to read the article. Personal opinions on this matter are more important then what Wired says about it anyway.
However, because this is true, I should have made doubly sure to be factually acurate in my comment. I went by memory (because my copy of 'Wired Style' is 40 miles away and hidden among a stack of hundreds of books in the top of my bedroom closet.
Actually, I have wanted for a while to get a new copy of the "Associated Press Stylebook". I haven't seen a copy since the 1994 edition and I would like to see how it has delt with many of the terms that have become so popular due to the internet over the last few years.
e'mail would not work as a contraction. Contractions follow the style of using the complete first word and than adding an apostrophe and a contracted form of the last word. Therefore electronic'l would be a more correct contracted form.
"E-mail" works. I prefer email and I prefer it as a new word. We are on the virge of a new emerging evolution of the English language. English has always been an evolving language, a language that changes to meet the needs of the people who are speeking it. This is why there are so many differences in proper English, Austrailian English, American English and the various dialects (southern English is definately different from Northern.)
Read a copy of "Beowulf" in the original tongue. Old English is barely recognizable to us today. Then read a few passages from the King James Bible of 1611. The language of the "King's English" is also remote to us (though easy to interpret.) Now read a copy of "Grapes of Wrath" and you will see that even this book, which is less than 100 years old, uses language that at times seems a bit odd. Now read "Snowcrash" and you will be reading something that seems modern to us.
It won't be long before our language accepts the new terminology into it's vernacular as new words and not contractions of two seperate words. E-mail will become email. And little children who see the book "Charlotte's Web" sitting on the shelf will assume first that it is a book about technology.
Yes, I prefer 'email'. it is simpler. Almost elegant. It is forward-looking. E-mail makes you think of a letter sent electronically. But email is word that is open and transcends the old concepts of mail.
A few years ago the editors over at "Wired" put out a guide to word usage for it's writers (similar to the Associated Press Stylebook" used by journalist around the U.S. Thier stylebook dictates that the proper usage is "email". No dash, lowercase 'e'. The "Jargon File" also seems to prefer this usage. I find that this makes good sense. If you write "electronic mail", you don't capitilize the 'e', so why should you capitilize it in the abbreviation? Of course... Wired doesn't always get everthing right now do they?
I hope that this post is intentionally sarcastic and not serious.
I remember buying a CDROM full of games from Activision that were for originally written for the Commodore 64. That was several years ago.
The CDROM included a frontend program and an emulator that would allow you to play these games under Windows. It was a great idea, and the CDROM was priced rather cheap.
I think that it is an absolutely great idea for gaming companies to release thier old titles via emulation. Especially if the price is affordable. However, I would rather see some of these companies release some of their older games, that have lost almost all of their capacity to produce cashflow, into the public domain, source and all (ID software has led the way with source releases of many of its top titles.)
I read a recent article that stated that the computer gaming industry has outgrown the motion picture industry by leaps and bounds. If the Academy of Motion Pictures has setup a film-preservation society, why doesn't someone setup a software preservation society (needs to start now before some of the real treasures of the software industry disappear!)
Ah! But are we truly created beings?
God is BUILDING his Bride, the New Jerusalem using living stones. Certainly, God created the stones, but he did not create his Bride. He built her.
(okay, okay, so I'm nitpicking. You have a good argument.)
The uptime on my Linux LAPTOP is current at 53 days (since I upgraded to Mandrake 7.1). I never turn my laptop off, I simply go into suspend mode while I travel between work and home. This is with normal computing, games, internet, lots of instances of god-awful, bug-ridden Sun Microsystems StarOffice documents open all over the place... So... what is your point? And no! I am not saying that Linux is so much better then Windows. If Windows is working for you and you are happy with what you have... that is fine with me. Yes. I have used NT. The OS is simply a TOOL to get things done. I use Linux because I prefer to get things done without spending a lot of money. As far as NT or 2000 being as stable as any Linux distro, maybe so. However, I have never had to reboot my laptop when the network settings have changed (I can go to any new location and reset my network settings on the fly) I don't have to reboot when I install new software. Yes, I have had my laptop lockup on me, usually something hangs in X when this happens. I simply plug a cat5 cable into my laptop and telnet (ssh for you security freaks) to it from another workstation and kill whatever process has caused the problem. On the other hand, I have a Winnt4.0 laptop that is currently sitting at a BSOD because it didn't like the "Designed for Windows NT 4.0" network card that I installed using the manufacturer's software (I get the screen to 'press ctrl alt del to logon', at which point ctrl+alt+del=instant BSOD)
Actually, the BSOD frequently experienced with NT is almost always the fault of either a hardware problem or a poorly written device driver.
I have frequently received the BSOD when trying to incorporate an old SCSI card into an NT workstation. You know the type: ISA card originally packaged with some type of scanner for use on Windows 3.1. NT doesn't come with a driver for the card so you end up searching the web to find a driver, and when you finally find it, the manufacturer gives you the disclaimer of "This may or may not work, either way, we no longer support this hardware but only provide the driver for your convenience.
This is wonderfull news. I never felt that there was any real closure to the end of U-571. The next time I watch the movie, I'll be able to walk away with a smile, and perhaps even a comment to myself: "maybe we will win the war after all."
Libertarian candidate Harry Browne has answered this question on his web site.
There is a 60 second realmedia commercial available that gives a very quick overview of candidate Browne's position on the issue.
Actually, I use NT4.0 all the time at work. I am even an MCP. I really don't have a really big problem with Microsoft Operating Systems. For most people, a Microsoft Windows operating system meets all of their needs. I do, however, prefer Linux. I use it at home and at work whenever possible. Linux may not be the best OS out there in the world. In fact, there are many areas where MS Windows is in fact superior to Linux (on the User side.) And any one of the BSDs may be technically superior. What do I like about Linux then? It's the License. The GPL, in and of itself, is a work of art. When I read the GPL for the first time back in 1993, it was a great awakening withen me. This is the way software SHOULD be developed and licensed. I love the way that Linux is being developed. I really believe that the developement model that is in use here will allow Linux to excel. Linux may not be the best solution today, but it will be one day.
Umm... I think what I was trying to point out that it is actually cost effective for a small time hardware reseller to bundle his/her machines with a free operating system versus a proprietary alternative. Personally, I have no problems with BeOS or Windows 2000 (except that BeOS does not recognize my video adapter and that I have never, and probably will never, use Win2000 so I can not make an educated recomendation for that operating system.) I do some ocassional work for friends and aquaintences fixing their PCs when their proprietary operating system has crashed. Where possible, I make a recomendation to switch to a non-proprietary free operating system (depending on the software being used, this is not always the best option for my 'customers.') I have a physician for a customer who is very much dependent on his AOL. For him, switching to another operating system would not be the best solution (until AOL for linux is available.) My father-in-law, however, is now using Linux and is able to work quite well with it using a KDE interface. If BeOS or Win2000 meets your needs, then by all means use it! For me, there is nothing out there in userland that I need that cannot be done with GNU/Linux.
Absolutely! OEMs should follow Microsoft's advice and install an operating system on every PC that leaves their doors.
I am sure that if these OEMs were SHOWN how Linux/BSD (or name your other FREE OS here) could be configured to be an easy to use Internet ready solution, maybe this could happen.
"all our computers leave the shop 'clothed' in FREEDOS."
I only put the second sentence in there to illustrate that you, like most Slashdotters, like to talk a lot but don't really have much real knowledge of what they talk about.
Simply because I have never had any hands on knowledge of the Apple II does not negate the fact that VisiCALC was the first spreadsheet program available on a computer (which was all that I was trying to say). Therefore, your illustration that I "don't have much real knowledge" is null. Who cares if I have used an Apple II? It has nothing to do with the meat of my comment TO YOU.
In fact, why you would use a quote from a comment that I made to someone else about what is essentially a different subject then the one in which we were conversing is beyond me.
Your comment asked the question "how do all you OSS people know about streaming audio?" (I took the liberty of correcting your spelling). My comment was simply an answer to say, somewhat sarcasticly, "just because something is closed source/commercial doesn't mean that OSS can't duplicate the results."
And no, my comment was not intended to imply that you are a youngster. It was intended to imply that your comment hinted at a certain amount of naivity (or perhaps I was just smelling a troll). I'm 30. How about you?
I have never personally used an Apple II (except at the Computer Museum of America's booth at the California Computer Expos in '96 and '97) I grew up in a culture heavily dominated by the Commodore 64.
I cannot personally testify whether or not the Apple II's success was due to it's technical excellence. I think you are right, at least partly, in your assumption.
I don't think that the Apple II's success can be linked entirely to VisiCalc. I think that VisiCalc and the Apple II's successes can be contributed to the fact that they both managed to fill voids that people had previously not even realized existed.
The Apple II was really the first product of its kind. It also managed to outlast the "early adopter" phaze (this may be due largely to the emergence of VisiCALC.) In the long-run, the Apple II did managed to compete well with the many offerings of it's competitors by remaining a viable alternative to the vic20, C64, TRS80, Sinclair, TI, and even the original IBM PC. This was pretty good considering that it was so much earlier to the market then the others.
I would tend to believe that the Apple II's success can be linked to a number of factors. It was technically a good machine (it did what users wanted it to do) and it managed to develop a large user base very quickly (in those days, when you went shopping for a computer, you made sure to buy the same type of machine as your neighbors so you could 'borrow' a copy of their software and run it on your machine.)
I don't want anybody sticking anything in my pockets...
...This is exactly why so many geeks fail to produce offspring.
(This has been my one lame attempt at humour for the day.)
Streaming MP3 can be done using Open Source Software.
How did you know about open source? I thought you had a closed mind.
Gnumeric is an Open Source (GPL'd) spreadsheet program. Just because the first spreadsheet program (VisiCalc, you wouldn't recall it. It ran on the Apple II) was closed source and commercial software doesn't mean that the Open Source community isn't going to produce an Open Source implementation of the same functionality.
Of course the record company wants to collect royalties! The development and adoption of the Internet as a medium surpases anything ever seen with either Radio or Television. The RIAA is looking at the Internet as the biggest cash cow to hit the world EVER. You have to expect the recording industry to do everthing in their power to get their fist into our pockets. It makes good business sense. A lot of people claim that the RIAA is trying to shutdown Napster, Scour, etc. because they "Don't get it." This is not the case. The Recording Industry "Gets it" probably more than anyone else (slashdotters like me included.) The RIAA is going to continue to appear to fight "internet technologies" like streaming webcasts of music, file sharing and the like BECAUSE they are great technologies. The RIAA just wishes that they had developed them first so they could be the ones making the profits. The RIAA will, of course, try and shut them all down so that in a few years, when they are ready with their business plan, they can mimic the exact same technologies themselves. And make the money from them.
Now that is something I did not know. When you change your sig, it changes it EVERYWHERE on slashdot? I do not like that Sam I Am. Actually. I have known about the fact that you can post without the +1 bonus for a while, I just haven't been using it until recently. I realized that the bonus was unfairly allowing some of my stupidest comments to get moderated up (I made a single comment concerning the recent "worst day of the week poll" and with that comment (and replies to other people who had posted comments about my comment) I racked up a +15 Karma bonus and hit my head on slashdots 50 karma point glass ceiling. I would have never thought that a one sentence comment (that wasn't that funny) would have been moderated up to a 5. But I guess that is the problem when the comment is posted originally as a 2... more people see it. Usually, when I talk about karma, it is pretty much tongue-in-cheek. Usually, when I get moderated down (which doesn't happen that often) I really deserve it. The fact that I had to post a follow up to correct my own spelling error is probably a good indicator that "overrated" was a well deserved moderation. And thanks for the clue about those SIGs!
This "loser" would have seen your post anyway because I always check back on my comments to see if anyone has replied to any of my comments. This is how good discussions get started.
If you would read my comment once more, you might see that there was a certain degree of sarcasm associated with my post. Yes. I realize that my sense of humour is not often understood by many people. Perhaps if you take some time to read the "J. Random Hacker" apendice to "The Jargon File" (do a search with google) you will see that this is a often a common trait.
My reply to my own comment was not intended to defend it from moderation but rather to say "Hey look! I'm stupid, I misspelled server."
I guess that my comment was affective at least in that it got your attention. But please don't call me a "whiney looser" I prefer "stupid whiner."
As far a your "seeing my sig" all over the place, you can check with ALL of my other posts to slashdot and see that the post in question is the ONLY time that I ever used that sig. My comments almost always are appended with the sig "Brought to you by Frobozz Magic Penguin Fodder" (a remark that harkens back to the Interactive Fiction classic "Zork" and my use of the Linux operating system.
Should my comment have been moderated down? Probably so. It really didn't add much to the discussion to begin with. And it had a spelling error to boot.
Am I a looser? I don't know. And I honestly don't care.
Did I enjoy responding to your comment: Yes. I don't often get admonished by someone who hasn't posted as an anonymous coward.
(and just for you. I have posted with "No Score +1 Bonus)
I love when moderation works so well! Someone decided that they had moderator points but they did not need to read the slashdot FAQ. My original comment was rated a "2" because of my +1 KARMA BONUS! I have high Karma, so I get a little extra point! Of course, another theory is that I was moderated down for a VERY BLATANT spelling error. What the hell is a "surver" anyway? STUPID ME, STUPID ME, STUPID ME. What is this little "Preview Button" thingy for?