Like lame Slashdotters who post before reading the article, SCO's lawyers appear to have not even bothered to read the GPL before declaring it illegal.
Well, that's cool. But I really want the entire platform to be capable of wireless connectivity, out of the box. Then the games will (hopefully) be aimed more toward the multiplayer experience.
I bought a GameCube because multiplayer games for it tend to be more common than those on PS2. (The PS2 doesn't even have 4 controller ports out of the box!?)
When talking about this with friends, I had board games in mind. Risk, Monopoly, chess, scrabble, battleship, etc.
Funny... some friends and I were just discussing local, wireless (bluetooth) gaming, and the lack thereof, just this week. I didn't realize the N-gage had bluetooth connectivity.
But, who wants their gaming platform and their cell phone to be on the same device? The last 2 cell phones I bought had games on them, but that wasn't the reason I bought them, nor was I very impressed when I finally poked around at them. Not that it couldn't be done... but when you combine devices, the interface has to become the lowest common denominator.
I think I'll pass on the n-gage, and wait 'til Nintendo or Sony implements bluetooth gaming.
... for a good QT plugin for playing OGG Vorbis files. One exists, but it apparantly wants to read the whole file before beginning to play, making it unbearably slow. (especially when streaming over 802.11)
Re:Ugh! Another $129 x 2 Machines!
on
Jaguar is Over
·
· Score: 1
Glad I'm not the only one...
My first computer was a Mac Classic, but I quickly moved away from Macs for Windows, then Linux because each gave me more access to the core of the system.
With OSX, I can still get that core access, AND have the default, out-of-the-box behavior be something easy, useful, and *pretty*.
It's sad, but UT already *has* unique IDs for each of its students. I'm holding my UT student ID card in my hand, and I've got a 16-digit number and a barcode printed plain as day on the front of it.
On tests @ UT, it's common to have to write your full name and SSN on the front of the test when you turn it in. In all my time there, only ONE professor ever asked for the number from our ID cards. Only in small classes or discussion sections did I hand in tests without my SSN.
I'm betting that, even though someone was bright enough to know that using SSNs for IDs was a bad idea and came up with new ID#s to print on student ID cards... there's too much legacy code to manage the 50k+ students that relies on their SSNs.
Create music playlists on the fly (MoodLogic doesn't count)
I wrote a nice little TCL/TK program to do this. It searches on path names, which include things like artist, song name, and genre.
Categorize work files
mv myfile.doc ~/docs/work/proposals/... first, mark files as "windows native"...
You could just as easily do this by making a list of "windows native" files, then backing up everything not in the list. Something like an incremental backup.
Metadata is a nice idea, but it's far simpler to *not* tie your FS to a DB, and all of the examples here can be accomplished with today's filesystems. Also, having metadata capability doesn't solve the poorly named/organized files problem -- the same people who can't name a file well won't input metadata.
I was really tempted to buy a TiVo until I realiezd 1) I don't have a land line @ home. 2) ReplayTV will work with my broadband connection.
There are a couple things that are keeping me from buying RealPlay TV, though. 1) I haven't heard nearly as much about it as I have about TiVo.
2) It doesn't sound like it does any sort of preference-tracking. The thumbs-up/thumbs-down feature that lets TiVo pick new shows for you is one of the reasons I really wanted one. I never know what's on TV until I'm flipping channels.
3) It costs a bit more. Not much more.. but the TiVo was just barely in my budget.
I don't think that's quite what he meant. This is more of an elaboration on the need for open file formats. I work doing programming, sysadmin, and "web stuff" and luckily get to use Linux at work. But our clients always try to send us stuff in Word documents. (graphics, tables, sometimes things that would have done just fine as plain text.)
Sure, it makes more sense for everyone to run the same software within a company for support reasons. (Especially if it's free and doesn't require a license for each copy.) But, should a company be required to buy MS software because another company uses it?
Well, considering OGG's cheapness to license, you'd think that it would be quite an attractive deal to hardware manufacturers.
Once we get past the "wait and see" period, while they make sure that the format will be around & in use long enough, I expect we'll see a few players with OGG support come out.
A friend and I have recently become infatuated with finding a way to implement a free wireless WAN. I wonder if we should sue these companies for stealing our idea. Oh, damn, didn't patent it.:p
Anyway, anyone interested can find a bit of documentation here.
There is no way these type of statistics are going to be accurate.
First, there's the question of what constitutes a security hole. some might say allowing rampant JavaScript popups is a security hole. Others might require that binary code actually be executed on the machine, or that the HD is modified.
Second, the number of security holes found, in the case of closed-source browsers, is the number of security holes that its company wants to bother telling you about. It's entirely possible that there are hundreds of security holes in IE that MS knows about and hasn't divulged. Maybe they were quietly fixed in previous IE patches. Maybe they're left unfixed so MS can look like it's making speedy repairs when someone finally finds the bug on their own and tells the press. Again, there's no way of knowing how many of the bugs are being reported.
Finally, the number of security holes found may correlate strongly with how insecure a browser is. But it could also be that said browser is just used more. Or its code is readable, so such bugs can be found. Or it is actively being developed by coders who care about security. Or no one uses the browser and it's insecure as hell but nobody cares.
Too many variables. Any study on the number of security holes known is only going to tell you one thing: the number of security holes *known*.
... a TiVo like device that is open source and/or uses open protocols to download TV listings and data from my choice of modem or ethernet.
This way I am not tied to a service, should the service provider go out of business. I am not subject to this type of thing because as soon as a content provider "recommends" programming for me that I feel is inappropriate, I just change a configuration file and download program info. from someone else. I could even write a script to serve my own.
Imagine, communities of TiVo users starting a watching preferences Database. tivo.slashdot.org users find that people who like Evolution on PBS also liked Such-and-such program on Discovery.
etc, etc, etc. When you open the protocol, you get much more exciting features than you could have programmed yourself.
I would *definately* pay more up front for this type of hardware. (hint, hint) (No, really.) (... Anyone listening?)
I still don't get this. Why the HELL do I want IM integrated into my browser? Sometimes I'm on the internet *gasp* WITHOUT a browser open. Sometimes I open and close my browser dozens of times.
Is it really SO difficult to have a separate application to handle IM?
My boss has had extensive hardware problems with Dell.
The good part is that they fix the problem for free each time.
The bad part is that each time, it's the same problem. (Bad connection to the screen.) Each time, she has to go through the whole "process" (tech support script) to finally get a shipping address to get it repaired. Each time she's out a laptop which is sortof essential to her job, until it's shipped back. and Each time (3 now) it's shipped back... only to have the SAME PROBLEM in a few months.
Not only is she having the same problem over and over again, but I've seen two other Dell laptops with similar symptoms. This is obviously a problem with their laptops that Dell should know about and, perhaps, FIX?
One problem I see with tech support is that they water it down to the lowest common denominator. This is probably in part due to the need to have a set script for the non-technical staff to read through to catch the most common problems, and partly to handle a lot of the customers that call in wanting to know how to turn on their computer.
I've called tech support a few times with connectivity problems, and they always want to step you through the most minute of details. (Click on the start button. Click 'control pannel'. Click Networking. etc.) If the support had any respect for the end user, they might first ask, "Do you have DHCP enabled?" and then proceed with details if the user says "Huh?"
Perhaps, to cut costs, software and hardware companies should take a hint from the open source community.
1. Write useful documentation.
2. When someone asks a question that is covered in the documentation, ask if they have read it.
2a. If No: Politely (This is where we stray from the OSS model. Try asking stupid questions in #linux. I dare you.) direct the caller to the correct documentation, and ask them to call back if it does not solve the problem or they still have problems.
2b: If Yes: Continue the call to find out what the caller didn't understand, or what may have differed from the documentation.
This would save lots of time, and at the same time teach users that, yes, they can learn to fix these things on their own.
Slashdot Mirror
Like lame Slashdotters who post before reading the article, SCO's lawyers appear to have not even bothered to read the GPL before declaring it illegal.
What, you have to have something marketed directly at you?
I don't think I've seen any of them titled "Windows HowTo: Don't read me if you know anything about Linux"
Face it, if you're going from Linux to Windows, you're in a pretty small minority.
Well, that's cool. But I really want the entire platform to be capable of wireless connectivity, out of the box. Then the games will (hopefully) be aimed more toward the multiplayer experience.
I bought a GameCube because multiplayer games for it tend to be more common than those on PS2. (The PS2 doesn't even have 4 controller ports out of the box!?)
When talking about this with friends, I had board games in mind. Risk, Monopoly, chess, scrabble, battleship, etc.
Funny... some friends and I were just discussing local, wireless (bluetooth) gaming, and the lack thereof, just this week. I didn't realize the N-gage had bluetooth connectivity.
But, who wants their gaming platform and their cell phone to be on the same device? The last 2 cell phones I bought had games on them, but that wasn't the reason I bought them, nor was I very impressed when I finally poked around at them. Not that it couldn't be done... but when you combine devices, the interface has to become the lowest common denominator.
I think I'll pass on the n-gage, and wait 'til Nintendo or Sony implements bluetooth gaming.
... for a good QT plugin for playing OGG Vorbis files. One exists, but it apparantly wants to read the whole file before beginning to play, making it unbearably slow. (especially when streaming over 802.11)
Glad I'm not the only one...
My first computer was a Mac Classic, but I quickly moved away from Macs for Windows, then Linux because each gave me more access to the core of the system.
With OSX, I can still get that core access, AND have the default, out-of-the-box behavior be something easy, useful, and *pretty*.
I'm quickly becoming an Apple fan again.
It's sad, but UT already *has* unique IDs for each of its students. I'm holding my UT student ID card in my hand, and I've got a 16-digit number and a barcode printed plain as day on the front of it.
On tests @ UT, it's common to have to write your full name and SSN on the front of the test when you turn it in. In all my time there, only ONE professor ever asked for the number from our ID cards. Only in small classes or discussion sections did I hand in tests without my SSN.
I'm betting that, even though someone was bright enough to know that using SSNs for IDs was a bad idea and came up with new ID#s to print on student ID cards... there's too much legacy code to manage the 50k+ students that relies on their SSNs.
I wrote a nice little TCL/TK program to do this. It searches on path names, which include things like artist, song name, and genre.
mv myfile.doc ~/docs/work/proposals/
You could just as easily do this by making a list of "windows native" files, then backing up everything not in the list. Something like an incremental backup.
Metadata is a nice idea, but it's far simpler to *not* tie your FS to a DB, and all of the examples here can be accomplished with today's filesystems. Also, having metadata capability doesn't solve the poorly named/organized files problem -- the same people who can't name a file well won't input metadata.
There's Kurso de Esperanto (A Windows program with multimedia files to help with pronunciation.)
You can also find free online courses (with a tutor via e-mail).
There have *got* to be better ways to avoid buffer overflows than by moving to VMs / interpreted languages. I like my computer to run, not crawl.
From 2.5 to 7.3 in one day!?
That's one hell of an all-night coding session!
Some people have way too much time on their hands.
I was really tempted to buy a TiVo until I realiezd 1) I don't have a land line @ home. 2) ReplayTV will work with my broadband connection.
There are a couple things that are keeping me from buying RealPlay TV, though.
1) I haven't heard nearly as much about it as I have about TiVo.
2) It doesn't sound like it does any sort of preference-tracking. The thumbs-up/thumbs-down feature that lets TiVo pick new shows for you is one of the reasons I really wanted one. I never know what's on TV until I'm flipping channels.
3) It costs a bit more. Not much more.. but the TiVo was just barely in my budget.
I don't think that's quite what he meant. This is more of an elaboration on the need for open file formats. I work doing programming, sysadmin, and "web stuff" and luckily get to use Linux at work. But our clients always try to send us stuff in Word documents. (graphics, tables, sometimes things that would have done just fine as plain text.)
Sure, it makes more sense for everyone to run the same software within a company for support reasons. (Especially if it's free and doesn't require a license for each copy.) But, should a company be required to buy MS software because another company uses it?
That Eppisode II had been released to theaters. I was never a fan of S.W. and after seeing Ep. 1 had _NO_ inclination to see Ep. 2.
Why do people keep buying this stuff?
Well, considering OGG's cheapness to license, you'd think that it would be quite an attractive deal to hardware manufacturers.
:)
Once we get past the "wait and see" period, while they make sure that the format will be around & in use long enough, I expect we'll see a few players with OGG support come out.
I'll have my check card ready.
A friend and I have recently become infatuated with finding a way to implement a free wireless WAN. I wonder if we should sue these companies for stealing our idea. Oh, damn, didn't patent it. :p
Anyway, anyone interested can find a bit of documentation here.
Doh. "Plain Text" apparantly isn't.
should read
<a href="URL">blah</a>
into:
blah (URL)
... What's the regular expression to change
blah
into:
blah (URL)
There is no way these type of statistics are going to be accurate.
First, there's the question of what constitutes a security hole. some might say allowing rampant JavaScript popups is a security hole. Others might require that binary code actually be executed on the machine, or that the HD is modified.
Second, the number of security holes found, in the case of closed-source browsers, is the number of security holes that its company wants to bother telling you about. It's entirely possible that there are hundreds of security holes in IE that MS knows about and hasn't divulged. Maybe they were quietly fixed in previous IE patches. Maybe they're left unfixed so MS can look like it's making speedy repairs when someone finally finds the bug on their own and tells the press. Again, there's no way of knowing how many of the bugs are being reported.
Finally, the number of security holes found may correlate strongly with how insecure a browser is. But it could also be that said browser is just used more. Or its code is readable, so such bugs can be found. Or it is actively being developed by coders who care about security. Or no one uses the browser and it's insecure as hell but nobody cares.
Too many variables. Any study on the number of security holes known is only going to tell you one thing: the number of security holes *known*.
... a TiVo like device that is open source and/or uses open protocols to download TV listings and data from my choice of modem or ethernet.
This way I am not tied to a service, should the service provider go out of business. I am not subject to this type of thing because as soon as a content provider "recommends" programming for me that I feel is inappropriate, I just change a configuration file and download program info. from someone else. I could even write a script to serve my own.
Imagine, communities of TiVo users starting a watching preferences Database. tivo.slashdot.org users find that people who like Evolution on PBS also liked Such-and-such program on Discovery.
etc, etc, etc. When you open the protocol, you get much more exciting features than you could have programmed yourself.
I would *definately* pay more up front for this type of hardware. (hint, hint) (No, really.) (... Anyone listening?)
I still don't get this. Why the HELL do I want IM integrated into my browser? Sometimes I'm on the internet *gasp* WITHOUT a browser open. Sometimes I open and close my browser dozens of times.
Is it really SO difficult to have a separate application to handle IM?
... he's suggesting a bit of hot between-the-sheets action results in something new and/or unexpected.
Science. Gotta love it.
My boss has had extensive hardware problems with Dell.
The good part is that they fix the problem for free each time.
The bad part is that each time, it's the same problem. (Bad connection to the screen.) Each time, she has to go through the whole "process" (tech support script) to finally get a shipping address to get it repaired. Each time she's out a laptop which is sortof essential to her job, until it's shipped back. and Each time (3 now) it's shipped back... only to have the SAME PROBLEM in a few months.
Not only is she having the same problem over and over again, but I've seen two other Dell laptops with similar symptoms. This is obviously a problem with their laptops that Dell should know about and, perhaps, FIX?
One problem I see with tech support is that they water it down to the lowest common denominator. This is probably in part due to the need to have a set script for the non-technical staff to read through to catch the most common problems, and partly to handle a lot of the customers that call in wanting to know how to turn on their computer.
I've called tech support a few times with connectivity problems, and they always want to step you through the most minute of details. (Click on the start button. Click 'control pannel'. Click Networking. etc.) If the support had any respect for the end user, they might first ask, "Do you have DHCP enabled?" and then proceed with details if the user says "Huh?"
Perhaps, to cut costs, software and hardware companies should take a hint from the open source community.
1. Write useful documentation.
2. When someone asks a question that is covered in the documentation, ask if they have read it.
2a. If No: Politely (This is where we stray from the OSS model. Try asking stupid questions in #linux. I dare you.) direct the caller to the correct documentation, and ask them to call back if it does not solve the problem or they still have problems.
2b: If Yes: Continue the call to find out what the caller didn't understand, or what may have differed from the documentation.
This would save lots of time, and at the same time teach users that, yes, they can learn to fix these things on their own.