I'm too lazy to read more information (hehe, I leave that to other/.er's), but he mentioned that this was only a trial balloon. So what's the deal, lift a balloon up really high and then launch something off of it, or simply use the balloon to float most of the way and then propel itself with something else out of the atmosphere. Seems like an interesting idea, but the difference in altitudes between what a balloon in air can go and the orbiting radius are pretty huge...
Isn't the whole point of this thing to be somewhat democratic? I admit that the editors already wield a good deal of power over what goes on the page, but should we give them more?
At any rate, in this interview it was nice to see a question answered by a one-liner in the midst of several questions answered by pages of text, it was a couple less pages to read. It's also nice to see how someone replies to humour...especially someone who's in the position that Kevin Mitnick is in.
Not that I'd expect the clueless slashidiots to understand
Yeh, nobody reading this site has any insight into what good coding practice is. I assume that anyone writing kernel code for anything is probably a better coder than I am, and I would hope that they could also take a joke too.
yeh, I'm marking c++ lab exercises now, and I can tell ya, people that don't comment enough surely don't make it easy on those people that have to understand their code.
This is just great...I can't believe they want to combine the human interface guidelines into one document for everyone. What's happening to the open source community, people? Let's start a new project aimed at making things back the way they are supposed to be, with a different interface for every window, just like the command line has different forms for every command.
it's a bummer that sarcasm is so hard to write via text
Re:Open source + government interest = ?
on
Corporate KDE
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· Score: 3, Insightful
I guess it is possible that a good chunk of development dollars could go into these projects, but I am not sure what kind of bad things you could expect to come out of this. If the software is covered by a GPL-type license, than it doesn't really matter who is directing development in one way or another, as eventually those things that are determined to be generally good will probably stick around in a few peoples distributions or software projects.
Besides, the direction that government takes software development into will probably be good from a human standpoint, as a lot of these countries point to open document standards and the like, such that poublic documents will be readible for a long time to come. This can only be a good thing.
January 29th, 2003, AP
Rumours of major re-organization in California today from Media Baron George Lucas' Lucasfilm company. Merging four distinct entertainment entities into one, this easily allows Lucas to command his armies of creative types into the future battlefield of the digital frontier. Also, in a related story, sales of white plastic one-size-fits-all suits has increased dramatically nation-wide.
I can tell from your wording that you don't speak english as a native language (or you don't use a grammar/spellchecker). That probably makes you irresponsible too.
The stuff grows naturally, has like, zero nicotine, tastes better than regular cigarettes, and it even makes you feel good. Support your local amish hydroponic operation today...buy pot!
Your point about people simply entertaining themselves while rome is burning around them is kind of interesting. Although, all of this entertainment does bring us together in some ways.
As an example, I know many people who seem to be able to "hit it off" with other people quite easily due to the fact that they watch the same television shows on a regular basis. Eliminate the common entertainment experience(which, I assume, they enjoy), and they might not be able to interact in as quick a fashion. Similarly, I can assume that there are a large bunch of like-minded indivduals who I can discuss things like this with over long distances. Also, in the days before all of this internet enabled entertainment were we surrounded by people to a larger degree, or for a longer period of time? I'm not totally sure about that one.
The second thing I'd like to bring up is the idea that everyone is too busy having fun to realize that things around them are bad. While I would guess that for a large chunk of the technologically enabled population this would be true, there are still going to be people trying to keep the flames down, not because that's what they love to do with their time, but because a stable society means a profitable society which means that these people will get paid to be the fire legion, in whatever form that may take.
Thanks. I'll try and contribute as best I can...although my prediction of good discussion for this topic doesn't really seem to have happened to the degree that it has happened on some other stories, but what the hay...it's my first posted story...
It seems to me that it's kind of lame to be presenting software that's supposed to be running on Linux at a Linuxworld conference on a windows machine. I guess people must trust those sales guys when they tell them that it runs fine on Linux.
But, the fact that they are making cross-platform software in the first place bodes pretty well for the open source effort. Here's hoping to an eventful 2003.
that some scientists aren't beholden to politicians or businessmen. Granted, the cost for these techniques is in the prohibitive range for any normal person, but you can get a few like minded people (i.e. not requiring politicians to determine their work) together, and they can do a fair bit. This is more of a testament to the human need to do something, simply because it's something that hasn't been done before.
am I ever glad I bought the cube...my friends who bought playstations are gonna be underwriting some games development for my system, and my friends who bought the xbox's are bored with now that they have finished Halo...
I am a Stanislaw Lem fan. I really enjoyed the book, and I thought the russian film (definitely harder to swallow than the new one) was also good. What I am having a hard time grasping is your insistence that Hollywood should be dumbing stories down to the lowest common denominator.
I think This adaptation was a good piece of work, admirable for its own merits. I am happy that someone in hollywood is trying to make a film that challenges the audience every once in a while. dumbing it down is disrespectful to Lem, and its disrespectful to the audience, but hey, that's just why I try to keep my hollywood movie watching to a minimum...
Should open source software developers be bothered to care about their software becoming 'mainstream'?
My Answer: It's their prerogative. I use open source software because I like the philosophy, and I am computer literate enough to handle its inherent insanity, but I also know people that like the philosphy behind the free software movement, yet don't want to use it because it sucks(i.e. isn't as easy to use).
does this bother me? Yeh it kind of does, but I understand the rationale behind my choices, and I also understand the rationale behind theirs. Since this is all about freedom (isn't it?) shouldn't the developers also choose what they want to focus on, as though they want to use their code themselves? Damn straight they should.
I see the occasiaonal annoying post on here that goes along the lines of 'why don't we have a unified linux?', 'why don't we have easy to use this, or easy to use that?' The reason is simple. Freedom. If you want mainstream acceptance, go to a commercial software vendor and try to prvoide a product more people want to use, and use the money they pay you to make it better.
This is another one of the benefits of the open source software movement. Microsoft reduces its costs to the consumer, which is a good thing, or am I wrong?
Large Scale developments...
on
Virtual Simerica
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I haven't played the sims before, but the more that I read about it and think about it, this sims online has some seriously cool potential...I might have to check it out. Here's hoping transgaming get's it going for me, eh?
I also would like to ponder the possibility of some really large scale cooperation / non-cooperation type activities going on here...yeh that's right baby, I'm talking capitalism versus socialism.
People could join large groups that let them do particular things because every pitches in something...y'know, like they carry around a card which signifies them as a member of a large club (some of whom in the club, they don't even know)...and they can flash it around to others, getting into certain private clubs and stuff. I don't know if I'm making sense, but I'll have to keep an eye on this one.
Sure we could buy off a senator, get him to pass some sort of anti spam law, spend more taxes to have these laws enforced, and then finally realize that, whammo, he's moved to Canada or Europe, or someplace where the law won't affect him, whereupon he can start spamming again. I'm sorry to let you down on this one, but spam and spam-like activities are here to stick.
Why? That's easy, it's because it must work already in order for this guy to be getting paid for it. If it didn't actually work, then it wouldn't be worth these peoples while to spam like mad.
Laws like the ones you are suggesting do nothing more than cripple peoples abilities to do what they want with the internet, an ostensibly (although not for long) free and open medium for information exchange. If you don't like spam, get a joke email to give out, or better yet, spend your twenty dollars supporting someone who is fighting these people on a technological grounds. You're guaranteed to never win, but as cases continue to show, passing laws to restrict this or that activity on such a fast changing medium as the internet are not effective either.
I agree with you for the most part, but I think this is an example of the kind of branding that really stinks. The idea that eating greasy virtual Burgers probably won't directly impact a normal persons eating habits, but those of children...hmm...it makes me wonder.
The great things is, that there are those people out there that understand that some people play games for the same reasons some people play soccer; the gameplay is basically the same, but every encounter is different, and even greater (for me;) are those people that understand that some of us will want to play a game for the same reason that we want to read a book or watch a movie (Halo, anyone).
So, considering this, those guys who are building better and better engines are actually going to be helping out both of the above types of game developer, and surely more as well.
I am waiting for the day in the not-so-distant future, where someone releases a game with a story and characters compelling enough (decent engine too) that it causes the larger audience of people to realize that games aren't just for kids. The next thing after that is Sex in games. Wait, that's here already, but wait until it gets even more real.
I was thrown into a project that was written completely in fortran, and considering that my native language is C++, I was a bit nonplussed at first. I find, though, that it really isn't that much different than writing procedural C or something like that. I suppose you can complain about it for certain things (memory allocation is a bit of a pain in the butt), but for the most part (for what I'm using it for, Computational Electromagnetics), it works absolutely fine.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyways, I'd send a bottle if I had one.
At any rate, in this interview it was nice to see a question answered by a one-liner in the midst of several questions answered by pages of text, it was a couple less pages to read. It's also nice to see how someone replies to humour...especially someone who's in the position that Kevin Mitnick is in.
Yeh, nobody reading this site has any insight into what good coding practice is. I assume that anyone writing kernel code for anything is probably a better coder than I am, and I would hope that they could also take a joke too.
yeh, I'm marking c++ lab exercises now, and I can tell ya, people that don't comment enough surely don't make it easy on those people that have to understand their code.
it's a bummer that sarcasm is so hard to write via text
Besides, the direction that government takes software development into will probably be good from a human standpoint, as a lot of these countries point to open document standards and the like, such that poublic documents will be readible for a long time to come. This can only be a good thing.
January 29th, 2003, AP Rumours of major re-organization in California today from Media Baron George Lucas' Lucasfilm company. Merging four distinct entertainment entities into one, this easily allows Lucas to command his armies of creative types into the future battlefield of the digital frontier. Also, in a related story, sales of white plastic one-size-fits-all suits has increased dramatically nation-wide.
Is it just me, or have there been more posts from wired today than any other day?
I can tell from your wording that you don't speak english as a native language (or you don't use a grammar/spellchecker). That probably makes you irresponsible too.
The stuff grows naturally, has like, zero nicotine, tastes better than regular cigarettes, and it even makes you feel good. Support your local amish hydroponic operation today...buy pot!
As an example, I know many people who seem to be able to "hit it off" with other people quite easily due to the fact that they watch the same television shows on a regular basis. Eliminate the common entertainment experience(which, I assume, they enjoy), and they might not be able to interact in as quick a fashion. Similarly, I can assume that there are a large bunch of like-minded indivduals who I can discuss things like this with over long distances. Also, in the days before all of this internet enabled entertainment were we surrounded by people to a larger degree, or for a longer period of time? I'm not totally sure about that one.
The second thing I'd like to bring up is the idea that everyone is too busy having fun to realize that things around them are bad. While I would guess that for a large chunk of the technologically enabled population this would be true, there are still going to be people trying to keep the flames down, not because that's what they love to do with their time, but because a stable society means a profitable society which means that these people will get paid to be the fire legion, in whatever form that may take.
Just my two cents.
Thanks. I'll try and contribute as best I can...although my prediction of good discussion for this topic doesn't really seem to have happened to the degree that it has happened on some other stories, but what the hay...it's my first posted story...
But, the fact that they are making cross-platform software in the first place bodes pretty well for the open source effort. Here's hoping to an eventful 2003.
that some scientists aren't beholden to politicians or businessmen. Granted, the cost for these techniques is in the prohibitive range for any normal person, but you can get a few like minded people (i.e. not requiring politicians to determine their work) together, and they can do a fair bit. This is more of a testament to the human need to do something, simply because it's something that hasn't been done before.
am I ever glad I bought the cube...my friends who bought playstations are gonna be underwriting some games development for my system, and my friends who bought the xbox's are bored with now that they have finished Halo...
I am a Stanislaw Lem fan. I really enjoyed the book, and I thought the russian film (definitely harder to swallow than the new one) was also good. What I am having a hard time grasping is your insistence that Hollywood should be dumbing stories down to the lowest common denominator. I think This adaptation was a good piece of work, admirable for its own merits. I am happy that someone in hollywood is trying to make a film that challenges the audience every once in a while. dumbing it down is disrespectful to Lem, and its disrespectful to the audience, but hey, that's just why I try to keep my hollywood movie watching to a minimum...
My Answer: It's their prerogative. I use open source software because I like the philosophy, and I am computer literate enough to handle its inherent insanity, but I also know people that like the philosphy behind the free software movement, yet don't want to use it because it sucks(i.e. isn't as easy to use).
does this bother me? Yeh it kind of does, but I understand the rationale behind my choices, and I also understand the rationale behind theirs. Since this is all about freedom (isn't it?) shouldn't the developers also choose what they want to focus on, as though they want to use their code themselves? Damn straight they should.
I see the occasiaonal annoying post on here that goes along the lines of 'why don't we have a unified linux?', 'why don't we have easy to use this, or easy to use that?' The reason is simple. Freedom. If you want mainstream acceptance, go to a commercial software vendor and try to prvoide a product more people want to use, and use the money they pay you to make it better.
This is another one of the benefits of the open source software movement. Microsoft reduces its costs to the consumer, which is a good thing, or am I wrong?
I also would like to ponder the possibility of some really large scale cooperation / non-cooperation type activities going on here...yeh that's right baby, I'm talking capitalism versus socialism.
People could join large groups that let them do particular things because every pitches in something...y'know, like they carry around a card which signifies them as a member of a large club (some of whom in the club, they don't even know)...and they can flash it around to others, getting into certain private clubs and stuff. I don't know if I'm making sense, but I'll have to keep an eye on this one.
Yeh people...these are computers we're talking about here...they aren't supposed to be fun or funny, whatsoever...no exceptions...
Why? That's easy, it's because it must work already in order for this guy to be getting paid for it. If it didn't actually work, then it wouldn't be worth these peoples while to spam like mad.
Laws like the ones you are suggesting do nothing more than cripple peoples abilities to do what they want with the internet, an ostensibly (although not for long) free and open medium for information exchange. If you don't like spam, get a joke email to give out, or better yet, spend your twenty dollars supporting someone who is fighting these people on a technological grounds. You're guaranteed to never win, but as cases continue to show, passing laws to restrict this or that activity on such a fast changing medium as the internet are not effective either.
Also the possibility of connecting Seattle and Vancouver exists. Although I guess that would cause security problems.
I agree with you for the most part, but I think this is an example of the kind of branding that really stinks. The idea that eating greasy virtual Burgers probably won't directly impact a normal persons eating habits, but those of children...hmm...it makes me wonder.
So, considering this, those guys who are building better and better engines are actually going to be helping out both of the above types of game developer, and surely more as well.
I am waiting for the day in the not-so-distant future, where someone releases a game with a story and characters compelling enough (decent engine too) that it causes the larger audience of people to realize that games aren't just for kids. The next thing after that is Sex in games. Wait, that's here already, but wait until it gets even more real.
I was thrown into a project that was written completely in fortran, and considering that my native language is C++, I was a bit nonplussed at first.
I find, though, that it really isn't that much different than writing procedural C or something like that. I suppose you can complain about it for certain things (memory allocation is a bit of a pain in the butt), but for the most part (for what I'm using it for, Computational Electromagnetics), it works absolutely fine.