I'm pretty sure QuickTime still forces itself to be default without ever giving you the option. I notice an iTunes update was available this morning so I guess I'll find out for sure when I go home tonight and install it . . .
I think that's pretty common, even where I work. However the following question often arises:
What is the difference between a "minor" bug fix or new feature and a "major" bug fix or new feature?
It seems like a purely subjective issue. Perhaps a coder spent hours tracking down a bug and implementing an ingenious fix that he considers a "major revision" while those who market the project label it "minor." To add futher complexity, do "major" and "minor" differ depending on target market segment? Why not just use a single version number that gets incremented by one every time there is a code change?
Admittedly the last suggestion is silly for a constantly changing codebase such as Windows, but it is a question I have been asked before.
Well if we assume for a moment that it DOES pass, then ISPs will probably hike up their rates to "deal with all the traffic" caused by the removal of bandwidth caps.
Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic, but the apparent win for consumers is likely to be short lived.
Maybe it's just me, but the attitude in technology journalism today is "Microsoft can never does anything good. Ever" and "Apple never does anything bad. Ever."
Even sources you would think would be pro-Microsoft such as the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT network rarely have much good to say about any Microsoft products. While sometimes Microsoft (and Apple) do things that are somewhat ridiculous, they do a lot more good. Still the majority seems dead set on spinning anything that Microsoft says or does to make it look awful and like the evil empire is at it again.
I went through the same thing a couple of years ago right before I graduated. I can't tell you what is best for you, but here is my experience.
I decided to work full time and get my Master's part-time starting the next fall. As a bonus, the company pays for it so long as I get a B or better. I figured it was a pretty good deal: work experience plus an essentially free Master's degree.
I, too, majored in computer engineering as an undergrade and am doing computer engineering for my Master's because I wanted to learn more about it. What I've discovered, though, is that graduate school is nothing like undergrad. You might think "hey I've been at this for four years and it's not so bad, I can do two more." But as a grad student, I have spent most of my classes reading academic papers, usually about some really dry and boring stuff. So far I've had no labs and only one class (a math class) where I actually had to solve problems that didn't consist of parroting back points from a paper or making unsubstantiated guesses about things. Plus, as a part time student at a university's satellite campus, you will really get shafted in terms of course availability.
Finally I have to admit that part of my motivation was to be more competitive a candidate should I decide to switch careers. I can't say if this has or will pay off since I've only had one job though.
Bottom line: as many have said before me, I think you have to really want to learn more to do your Master's. I am still interested in finishing my degree and learning more about computer architecture, but it is nothing like I expected. Work experience is invaluable; I have learned a lot in about 2.5 years on the job that they don't even touch in school.
As mentioned in the article summary above, SMS also uses a channel that isn't used for much else other than miscellaneous call and signal strength data. It is also my impression that text messages have no guaranteed timeframe for delivery, as said miscellaneous data takes precedence. So it seems to me that since SMS takes advantage of facilities that would still exist in its absence, charging $0.20 per message (or even anything at all) is akin to a ripoff.
See also: http://gthing.net/the-true-price-of-sms-messages/
It seems that Microsoft takes the heat for forcing its products to be the default browser/media player/whatever, but whenever I get an iTunes/QuickTime update, QuickTime doesn't give me the option of choosing whether or not it is the default media player and proceeds to take over my machine.
Furthermore I, like many posters before me, was given the option during IE8's install process of whether or not I wanted it to be the default browser. Of course I do custom/manual Windows updates. Perhaps those who use Express update are met with a different result?
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I'm pretty sure QuickTime still forces itself to be default without ever giving you the option. I notice an iTunes update was available this morning so I guess I'll find out for sure when I go home tonight and install it . . .
I think that's pretty common, even where I work. However the following question often arises:
What is the difference between a "minor" bug fix or new feature and a "major" bug fix or new feature?
It seems like a purely subjective issue. Perhaps a coder spent hours tracking down a bug and implementing an ingenious fix that he considers a "major revision" while those who market the project label it "minor." To add futher complexity, do "major" and "minor" differ depending on target market segment? Why not just use a single version number that gets incremented by one every time there is a code change?
Admittedly the last suggestion is silly for a constantly changing codebase such as Windows, but it is a question I have been asked before.
Perhaps so, but when was the last time you didn't feel ripped off by your cable company/ISP?
Well if we assume for a moment that it DOES pass, then ISPs will probably hike up their rates to "deal with all the traffic" caused by the removal of bandwidth caps. Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic, but the apparent win for consumers is likely to be short lived.
Maybe it's just me, but the attitude in technology journalism today is "Microsoft can never does anything good. Ever" and "Apple never does anything bad. Ever."
Even sources you would think would be pro-Microsoft such as the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT network rarely have much good to say about any Microsoft products. While sometimes Microsoft (and Apple) do things that are somewhat ridiculous, they do a lot more good. Still the majority seems dead set on spinning anything that Microsoft says or does to make it look awful and like the evil empire is at it again.
I went through the same thing a couple of years ago right before I graduated. I can't tell you what is best for you, but here is my experience.
I decided to work full time and get my Master's part-time starting the next fall. As a bonus, the company pays for it so long as I get a B or better. I figured it was a pretty good deal: work experience plus an essentially free Master's degree.
I, too, majored in computer engineering as an undergrade and am doing computer engineering for my Master's because I wanted to learn more about it. What I've discovered, though, is that graduate school is nothing like undergrad. You might think "hey I've been at this for four years and it's not so bad, I can do two more." But as a grad student, I have spent most of my classes reading academic papers, usually about some really dry and boring stuff. So far I've had no labs and only one class (a math class) where I actually had to solve problems that didn't consist of parroting back points from a paper or making unsubstantiated guesses about things. Plus, as a part time student at a university's satellite campus, you will really get shafted in terms of course availability.
Finally I have to admit that part of my motivation was to be more competitive a candidate should I decide to switch careers. I can't say if this has or will pay off since I've only had one job though.
Bottom line: as many have said before me, I think you have to really want to learn more to do your Master's. I am still interested in finishing my degree and learning more about computer architecture, but it is nothing like I expected. Work experience is invaluable; I have learned a lot in about 2.5 years on the job that they don't even touch in school.
they are a business, they care about profit.
It's true. Look at those people at Apple turning out trash and naming their own price because there are no competitors! Oh wait . . .
As mentioned in the article summary above, SMS also uses a channel that isn't used for much else other than miscellaneous call and signal strength data. It is also my impression that text messages have no guaranteed timeframe for delivery, as said miscellaneous data takes precedence. So it seems to me that since SMS takes advantage of facilities that would still exist in its absence, charging $0.20 per message (or even anything at all) is akin to a ripoff. See also: http://gthing.net/the-true-price-of-sms-messages/
It seems that Microsoft takes the heat for forcing its products to be the default browser/media player/whatever, but whenever I get an iTunes/QuickTime update, QuickTime doesn't give me the option of choosing whether or not it is the default media player and proceeds to take over my machine. Furthermore I, like many posters before me, was given the option during IE8's install process of whether or not I wanted it to be the default browser. Of course I do custom/manual Windows updates. Perhaps those who use Express update are met with a different result?