The obvious (and possibly hotly debated) one is ease-of-use. In the school of interface design and usability, Mac wins. They've pretty much always won. If you take a person who has never used a computer before and sit them in front of Gnome, KDE, or Microsoft's latest offering, they're going to choke. (I know it has been pounded into the ground, but who would honestly think "I should click 'start' in order to shut down my computer"?) I've seen it. Take that same person and stick them in front of a Mac, they'll be intimidated for a few moments perhaps, but when things act as they expect them to act, they'll be relieved and comforted. No right clicks, no middle clicks... (yes I know MacOS supports these functions, but it doesn't need them, especially for what a brand new user wants). Simple baby steps. Yes, I know there have been "studies" done comparing these interfaces. Unfortunately none of these that I have seen has been done by a person who has never used a computer before. I'd be interested to see one, but I imagine I know what the result would be.
I would be interesting in the results of this too, from an academic perspective. But from a practical standpoint, there aren't that many people out there like that. I suspect that's why the studies are done including people who have used windows at least a little before -- they represent a very large demographic.
I disagree with the common case that "all games today are eye candy and the real innovation was in the 80's etc."
I'm mostly in agreement with your position, but I think this part is something of a strawman. Lots of the games from '80s were fun without being "innovative". I hear mostly that people miss game play (and replay value) more than innovation.
Bottom line is that the crowd with the real money (adults with real jobs) is only going to pay for something they will want to listen for a long time and "BackStreat's Back" is NOT it.
I spend less on music now that I have a real job. Maybe I'm just happy with my collection now. (Just speaking for myself; I don't know what the trend is.)
Suppose it turns out that an engineer in Microsoft illegally copied gzip into Windows, and then Microsoft distributed Windows under their proprietary license. The FSF would have cause for a copyright infringement suit, and they would win. But could they demand a judgment that Microsoft release Windows under the GPL as a result? No. The best they could do would be to demand financial damages plus the removal of their code from the Windows source tree.
Who would get the money for these finacial damages? The FSF?
It may be suprising to you that his job depends on ensuring corporate standards are in place and enforced on IT infrestructure.
I understand a user wanting to run thier own show on the workstation assigned to them, but if a major problem with Linux surfaces and the sysadmin didn't do anything about a non-standard installation that they knew about, that's akin to dereliction of duty, and they should be fired.
I think the original poster was trolling, in retrospect. I'm pretty sure anyone who formats someone's drive for the offense of running unauthorized software would be fired at my workplace. The network exists to facilitate work, not the other way around.
i don't deal much with desktops (i'm a server guy), but if i did "stumble across" unauthorized linux desktops, they'd be formatted with extreme prejudice. they almost certainly would have no antivirus software, no agents for our desktop license management, and almost certainly wouldn't be keeping up with security updates.
I suspect that the risk of virus infection is still lower with the Linux box, regardless. There probably aren't any user liscenses to manage. Do you think the computers are vulnerable to something more malicious than wiping out entire harddrives?
the users don't own their machines - the company does. if they want to piss around with _any_ os, let them do it on their own time, on their own network, and on their own equipment.
It may come as a shock to you - but the IT guys don't actually own the PCs either.
Say I was to make around $25/hr. That says nothing about all the other hidden costs/tradeoffs going on. I could be making that much, but the corp. I work for could be billing for my time at a rate of $1000/day. If they have a substantial backlog of contracts, they basically are loosing out on that much money if I don't work for a day.
Now lets do some math.
Step 1: Assume people are worth $300,000 a year. Step 2: Math Step 3: Bullshit!
If there's an opportunity for paying someone $50k and reaping $300k, your company should stop thinking about spam and start hiring more people.
Granted, used car prices have gone way down, but it's almost cheaper to buy a new car considering the things they put into gasoline nowadays will just destroy anything older than a '95.
What things? Alcohol was rough on some specific engines, but I don't think there's a generalization there.
I'm still driving an '81 LTD (with 223,000 miles).
Been using it for about 9 months... Trust me it works great. Especially if you have a nice flatscreen. Between the improved look and feel and the "real" XML integration this is truly the first office upgrade thats worth it since office 97.
Does it work less well on a CRT? I'm not seeing the connection.
Technically Mallrats is a prequil to Clerks, Julie Dwyer died in the pool the night before Mallrats takes place and Randal and Dante went to her funeral the day after that. There's also a timeline of events in the booklet in the Chasign Amy DVD.
I don't think that implies one should watch them in chronological order. Watch Clerks first, because it's the best film, IMHO.
Would you recommend watching the Star Wars movies starting with episode 1?
I have a cousin working for a company that sells, among other things, a mainframe based spreadsheet app. He claims that the market for applications is drying up, and I have to agree.
The fact of the matter is that the various open source or free products are good enough. As the software consumers become better educated, the market for traditional applications shrinks. OpenOffice.org is good enough that anyone who knows better won't buy MS Office. Opera is as good as any browser out there and can be run free of charge - with only a minor banner ad. One by one any major "shrink wrap" product will feel the pinch.
I don't think the application market is dead. It's just that a software company can't make money recreating applications with decades-old functionality. The spreadsheet is solved. Move along. People will still pay for software -- just not the same software over and over.
Or so it appears. If that's the case, then there's not much point in criticizing the book's plot, since in literary fiction, plot is usually secondary to other concerns.
Because they made the plot suck on purpose, it's invalid to point it out? Bah!
I think the point of the review on Slashdot is to help us decide whether or not we want to read the book, not to conduct an academic exercise.
So, I've actually wondered why we don't just build a huge nucelar power complex in Nevada someplace on land already owned by the federal government and then ship that power nationwide.
I visited SCO's download portion of their website. I'm looking at the license for same random windows software, not there Unix code, but it's still fun.
Here's the license:
LIMITED WARRANTY
Caldera Systems warrants that upon Your receipt of the Product and for a period of 90 calendar days thereafter, the media, if any, on which the Software is embedded will be free of defects in material and workmanship under normal use. Caldera Systems does not warrant that (i) the Software and any related Updates will be free of defects, (ii) the Software will satisfy all of Your requirements or (iii) the use of the Software will be uninterrupted or error-free.
In case of breach of warranty related to the quality of the media, You must return at Your expense and no later than 10 days after the expiration of the warranty period, the Product to Caldera Systems or its local authorized representative, together with a copy of Your dated Proof of Purchase. Caldera Systems or its representative will replace any defective media, or if not practicable, may terminate this Agreement and refund to You the amount paid for the Product. You acknowledge that this Paragraph sets forth Your exclusive remedy and Caldera Systems' exclusive liability for any breach of warranty or other duty related to the quality of the Product.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Except for the caldera systems warranty set out above, or otherwise expressly provided in a separate agreement with caldera systems or your supplier, all warranties, terms, conditions, representations, indemnities and guarantees with respect to the software, whether express or implied, arising by law, custom, prior oral or written statements by caldera systems, its licensors or representatives or otherwise (including, but not limited to any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or any implied warranty of non-infringement of third party intellectual property rights) are hereby overridden, excluded and disclaimed. Some states or countries do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state or country to country.
Under no circumstances will caldera systems or its licensors or representatives be liable for any consequential, indirect, special, punitive, or incidental damages, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable, based on your claims or those of your customers (including but not limited to, claims for loss of data, goodwill, profits, use of money or use of the products, interruption in use or availability of data, stoppage of other work or impairment of other assets), arising out of breach or failure of express or implied warranty, breach of contract, misrepresentation, negligence, strict liability in tort or otherwise, except only in the case of personal injury where and to the extent that applicable law requires such liability. In no event will the aggregate liability which caldera systems or its licensors may incur in any action or proceeding exceed the total amount actually paid by you for the specific product that directly caused the damage.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of exclusion of liability for indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages so the above limitation may not apply to you.
I think the '2' formation is just a codified asinine sloppiness. Imagine actually making a Q clockwise from the bottom, but not lifting your pen to make the tail. But then it's as if people got to lazy to connect the bottom of the circle to the top.
I suspect we would have more legible "cursive" if we just went about our normal printing and weren't too careful about lifting our pens.
f you're still writing individual letters separately by the time you sit written exams, you'll write at about half the speed of someone with good joined-up handwriting.
This is not the case for me. I can print slightly faster than I can write in cursive. I find it is possible for me to write slightly longer before my hand tires out.
May I suggest you try timing yourself for a few minutes?
I find imdb's phrasing with the passive voice incredible. "It was reported that Keanu Reeves volunteered to give up a claim to a share of ticket sales amounting to around $38 million when producers feared that the film would never recoup the cost of the special effects." It was report by whom? Someone who thinks Reeves is a moron, apparently. The film made almost that the first weekend:
The Warner Bros. sequel to 1999's "The Matrix" took in an estimated $93.3 million from Friday through Sunday, capturing 59.8 percent of the total gross of the weekend's top 12 films, according to studio estimates.
The original film grossed more than $400 million. I'd bet that they expect to (and will) make a truck-load of money on this film.
The background white noise in an analog phone call is artificially inserted ("comfort" noise). Studies showed users were not comfortable with a "dead" line, where the static reassures them the connection is still active.
And where did the callers get the idea that noise was a good thing? From years of of using analog lines. I think they add the white noise into digital calls to simulate the experience of an analog line.
I don't think it's "dumping". It's just a reality of selling copies of information. Microsoft, when faced with the prospect of collecting $0, will be happy to collect $x. Dumping laws are meant to prevent a well-funded company from driving out its competition through low prices, and then raising prices in the long term. It's not like OSS is going out of business. And geez, the OSS folk are giving away the software, so I don't think it's fair to fault MS for their low prices.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm mostly in agreement with your position, but I think this part is something of a strawman. Lots of the games from '80s were fun without being "innovative". I hear mostly that people miss game play (and replay value) more than innovation.
I spend less on music now that I have a real job. Maybe I'm just happy with my collection now. (Just speaking for myself; I don't know what the trend is.)
Who would get the money for these finacial damages? The FSF?
I think the original poster was trolling, in retrospect. I'm pretty sure anyone who formats someone's drive for the offense of running unauthorized software would be fired at my workplace. The network exists to facilitate work, not the other way around.
I suspect that the risk of virus infection is still lower with the Linux box, regardless.
There probably aren't any user liscenses to manage.
Do you think the computers are vulnerable to something more malicious than wiping out entire harddrives?
It may come as a shock to you - but the IT guys don't actually own the PCs either.
$76.50 at bookpool.
Step 1: Assume people are worth $300,000 a year.
Step 2: Math
Step 3: Bullshit!
If there's an opportunity for paying someone $50k and reaping $300k, your company should stop thinking about spam and start hiring more people.
It's $4.50 cheaper at bookpool.
They're also doing a free shipping deal.
What things? Alcohol was rough on some specific engines, but I don't think there's a generalization there.
I'm still driving an '81 LTD (with 223,000 miles).
Sorry, go fish.
The DVI standard includes a digital mode and this player is using it.
Does it work less well on a CRT? I'm not seeing the connection.
I don't think that implies one should watch them in chronological order. Watch Clerks first, because it's the best film, IMHO.
Would you recommend watching the Star Wars movies starting with episode 1?
What are the other third? Sendmail administrators?
What a weird question.
I don't think the application market is dead. It's just that a software company can't make money recreating applications with decades-old functionality. The spreadsheet is solved. Move along. People will still pay for software -- just not the same software over and over.
Because they made the plot suck on purpose, it's invalid to point it out? Bah!
I think the point of the review on Slashdot is to help us decide whether or not we want to read the book, not to conduct an academic exercise.
And thus the hunger problem. They can't cook anything.
P=(i^2)R
I visited SCO's download portion of their website. I'm looking at the license for same random windows software, not there Unix code, but it's still fun.
Here's the license:
LIMITED WARRANTY
Caldera Systems warrants that upon Your receipt of the Product and for a period of 90 calendar days thereafter, the media, if any, on which the Software is embedded will be free of defects in material and workmanship under normal use. Caldera Systems does not warrant that (i) the Software and any related Updates will be free of defects, (ii) the Software will satisfy all of Your requirements or (iii) the use of the Software will be uninterrupted or error-free.
In case of breach of warranty related to the quality of the media, You must return at Your expense and no later than 10 days after the expiration of the warranty period, the Product to Caldera Systems or its local authorized representative, together with a copy of Your dated Proof of Purchase. Caldera Systems or its representative will replace any defective media, or if not practicable, may terminate this Agreement and refund to You the amount paid for the Product. You acknowledge that this Paragraph sets forth Your exclusive remedy and Caldera Systems' exclusive liability for any breach of warranty or other duty related to the quality of the Product.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Except for the caldera systems warranty set out above, or otherwise expressly provided in a separate agreement with caldera systems or your supplier, all warranties, terms, conditions, representations, indemnities and guarantees with respect to the software, whether express or implied, arising by law, custom, prior oral or written statements by caldera systems, its licensors or representatives or otherwise (including, but not limited to any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or any implied warranty of non-infringement of third party intellectual property rights) are hereby overridden, excluded and disclaimed. Some states or countries do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state or country to country.
Under no circumstances will caldera systems or its licensors or representatives be liable for any consequential, indirect, special, punitive, or incidental damages, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable, based on your claims or those of your customers (including but not limited to, claims for loss of data, goodwill, profits, use of money or use of the products, interruption in use or availability of data, stoppage of other work or impairment of other assets), arising out of breach or failure of express or implied warranty, breach of contract, misrepresentation, negligence, strict liability in tort or otherwise, except only in the case of personal injury where and to the extent that applicable law requires such liability. In no event will the aggregate liability which caldera systems or its licensors may incur in any action or proceeding exceed the total amount actually paid by you for the specific product that directly caused the damage.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of exclusion of liability for indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages so the above limitation may not apply to you.
I think the '2' formation is just a codified asinine sloppiness. Imagine actually making a Q clockwise from the bottom, but not lifting your pen to make the tail. But then it's as if people got to lazy to connect the bottom of the circle to the top.
I suspect we would have more legible "cursive" if we just went about our normal printing and weren't too careful about lifting our pens.
This is not the case for me. I can print slightly faster than I can write in cursive. I find it is possible for me to write slightly longer before my hand tires out.
May I suggest you try timing yourself for a few minutes?
The original film grossed more than $400 million. I'd bet that they expect to (and will) make a truck-load of money on this film.
And where did the callers get the idea that noise was a good thing? From years of of using analog lines. I think they add the white noise into digital calls to simulate the experience of an analog line.
I don't think it's "dumping". It's just a reality of selling copies of information. Microsoft, when faced with the prospect of collecting $0, will be happy to collect $x. Dumping laws are meant to prevent a well-funded company from driving out its competition through low prices, and then raising prices in the long term. It's not like OSS is going out of business. And geez, the OSS folk are giving away the software, so I don't think it's fair to fault MS for their low prices.