I have to say, I was pretty disappointed by this invention after all the hype. I mean, it's a neat toy, but as revolutionary as the PC? I think not. The PC gave people the ability to do things they could not do before (i.e., run complex computations, video games), increased the efficiency of things they already did (word processors, spreadsheet programs), and allowed them access to new information mediums (the 'Net). This, on the other hand, is just another way to get from point A to point B. I can't even begin to list all the ways we have to do that. This invention won't even begin to affect society the way the PC did.
You're missing the point. You don't pay for the JVM, regardless of who it is written by. So, excluding the JVM doesn't help Sun or IBM or anyone else, because downloading their JVM isn't bringing any profit to their company. They produce the JVM purely as a service to the consumer. What the JVM provides is the ability to run programs written in Java on your machine. The reason Java is appealing is because it can run on any OS, as long as the machine running the OS has a JVM. Now, all of a sudden, imagine that no Microsoft desktop comes with a JVM. Yes, it is possible for the user to go out and download the JVM from somewhere, but why would average Joe User do that when he can just use a similar program written for Windows? And since the vast majority of desktops have Windows as their OS, this effectively cuts out most of the potential customer base for programs written in Java. Thus, companies are unlikely to write programs in Java.
Now why, you may ask, does Microsoft care what language a program is written in, as long as it is running on Windows? Here's the reason: if all programs were written in Java, a user could switch operating systems and still use all of the software he already had! Right now, part of the reason most people use Windows is because of the wide selection of software available for it which is not available for other operating systems (I know that's why I keep it around). If, heaven forbid, programs could run on any operating system, people could just use whatever operating system they thought worked best. It would even make it easier to interact with other computers running different operating systems. The market share of a particular operating system would then be based solely on its appeal to the consumer (well, that, and advertising/FUD campaigns). And that's something that Microsoft wants to avoid at all costs. I'm sure that quite a few people would continue using Windows were this to happen, but I know quite a few who would switch over to MacOS, or Linux, or FreeBSD, etc, were they able to run the same software on any of these systems. And, as you might imagine, Microsoft really doesn't want its market share to go down. So, it removes the JVM from Windows XP. Maybe Java would have taken off on the desktop, maybe not. But this pretty much assures that it won't. Of course, Microsoft still has those nasty embedded devices to worry about....
I thought overall it was pretty good, but for a "totally logical" being, the Vulcan on the ship sure showed a whole lot of emotions. Much of it was her feelings of superiority, and also her distaste for the assignment. A true Vulcan would have simply stated that chasing after a Klingon was not the most logical thing to do; they wouldn't have harped on how unevolved humans were, and kept rubbing their faces in it. Oh, and the opening music was awful. But, all in all, I was pleasently surprised. It definately has potential.
VNC is great. I started using it a couple of years ago because I wanted to connect remotely to X running off of a Linux box from a laptop running Windows for a particular project I was doing, but I wasn't going to be using it enough to pay for a solution. I found VNC and was very happy with how well it worked. Being able to start a program running from one computer and then connecting from another computer later to check out the results was nice, too. I'm glad to see AT&T is doing more with it.
The term "free software" is sometimes misunderstood--it has nothing to
do with price. It is about freedom. Here, therefore, is the
definition of free software: a program is free software, for you, a
particular user, if:
You have the freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
You have the freedom to modify the program to suit your needs.
(To make this freedom effective in practice, you must have access
to the source code, since making changes in a program without
having the source code is exceedingly difficult.)
You have the freedom to redistribute copies, either gratis
or for a fee.
You have the freedom to distribute modified versions of the program,
so that the community can benefit from your improvements.
The FSF has the freedom to add the acronymn GNU, followed by a slash, to the name of any product which includes, or borrows from, the program. This will most likely occur once the product has become more successful than our own equivalent product.
Much in the way the various Final Fantasy games all take place in different worlds with completely different characters, the movie in fact is not in any way based off of any of the games. The only thing they have in common is the name Final Fantasy, and the fact that the movie looks a lot like one of the FMVs for the more recent games. So it's nothing at all like Tomb Raider, which is actually based on the plot of a video game. It can't really have "fun with itself", because it's not just some cheesy video game plot brought to life. It's an original, standalone feature film. If you don't like it, that's fine, but don't try to compare it with a movie like Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat, or Street Fighter, all of which actually are based off of video game, because this one is not.
Hmm... if Microsoft is destined to go the way of Japan's economy, then the DOJ is worrying about antitrust for nothing!
Re:Anime is cartoon child porn
on
Tenchi Muyou 3?
·
· Score: 1
"The Japanese are known for their different outlook on sexuality..."? You're talking about a culture where it is considered impolite to kiss in public. You're living in a country where you can find people having sex in a movie theater. As for violence, American movies are easily as violent as anything you will see in anime. And considering Japan has very strict gun laws, and has a much lower crime rate than the U.S., obviously violence in the movies or on TV isn't as much of a concern there. As for the Western world, I assume you are referring to America, as a very large portion of Europe has a much more liberal outlook on sexuality than either the Americans or the Japanese. Anime is in Japan exactly what TV shows and movies are here. They don't think of them any differently than any other TV shows or movies, whereas we tend to think of them as "cartoons". There are just as many sexually explicit and violent TV shows and movies out here in the West as there are sexually explicit and violent anime. I'd also like to note that the people I know who enjoy anime are also some of the most decent, intelligent people I know. You might want to give that some thought, if you ever come down from the high horse you are riding.
I think simply saying "computers in the classroom are bad before such-and-such a time" is oversimplifying things a bit. I tought myself BASIC on a C64 back when I was in Kindergarten, and I certainly did not suffer from using a computer at that early an age. Teaching kids how to do things like program, or to use a word processor, seems to be a perfectly good use of computers, even as early as elementary school. Drawing programs are as good a way as any to influence a child's creativity. Certainly one does not want to teach a child that the way to find the answer to any question is to simply do a search for it on the internet and write down what one finds, and naturally it's important to balance computer education with other forms of education, but I see no reason why computers should not be used for educational purposes. A more primary concern should be training teachers to use computers productively within the classrooms. A computer is a tool, and like any tool, if used wisely, it can be very helpful, but if used poorly, it becomes a hindrance.
I noticed that no one asked what would happen if the servers run by HavenCo were cracked. Since they are on a territory which is not recognized by any of the world's nations, would any legal action against the cracker be possible, even if said cracker were caught? I think that eletronic assault against HavenCo is a much more realistic possibility than military action. I wonder what, if anything, they would be able to do about it, beyond attempting to close whatever security flaw the cracker had exploited.
Slashdot Mirror
I have to say, I was pretty disappointed by this invention after all the hype. I mean, it's a neat toy, but as revolutionary as the PC? I think not. The PC gave people the ability to do things they could not do before (i.e., run complex computations, video games), increased the efficiency of things they already did (word processors, spreadsheet programs), and allowed them access to new information mediums (the 'Net). This, on the other hand, is just another way to get from point A to point B. I can't even begin to list all the ways we have to do that. This invention won't even begin to affect society the way the PC did.
Polls with CowboyNeal as an option.
Now that I don't have to worry about being sued for libel, I'd just like to say that CowboyNeal wears army boots.
You're missing the point. You don't pay for the JVM, regardless of who it is written by. So, excluding the JVM doesn't help Sun or IBM or anyone else, because downloading their JVM isn't bringing any profit to their company. They produce the JVM purely as a service to the consumer. What the JVM provides is the ability to run programs written in Java on your machine. The reason Java is appealing is because it can run on any OS, as long as the machine running the OS has a JVM. Now, all of a sudden, imagine that no Microsoft desktop comes with a JVM. Yes, it is possible for the user to go out and download the JVM from somewhere, but why would average Joe User do that when he can just use a similar program written for Windows? And since the vast majority of desktops have Windows as their OS, this effectively cuts out most of the potential customer base for programs written in Java. Thus, companies are unlikely to write programs in Java.
Now why, you may ask, does Microsoft care what language a program is written in, as long as it is running on Windows? Here's the reason: if all programs were written in Java, a user could switch operating systems and still use all of the software he already had! Right now, part of the reason most people use Windows is because of the wide selection of software available for it which is not available for other operating systems (I know that's why I keep it around). If, heaven forbid, programs could run on any operating system, people could just use whatever operating system they thought worked best. It would even make it easier to interact with other computers running different operating systems. The market share of a particular operating system would then be based solely on its appeal to the consumer (well, that, and advertising/FUD campaigns). And that's something that Microsoft wants to avoid at all costs. I'm sure that quite a few people would continue using Windows were this to happen, but I know quite a few who would switch over to MacOS, or Linux, or FreeBSD, etc, were they able to run the same software on any of these systems. And, as you might imagine, Microsoft really doesn't want its market share to go down. So, it removes the JVM from Windows XP. Maybe Java would have taken off on the desktop, maybe not. But this pretty much assures that it won't. Of course, Microsoft still has those nasty embedded devices to worry about....
I thought overall it was pretty good, but for a "totally logical" being, the Vulcan on the ship sure showed a whole lot of emotions. Much of it was her feelings of superiority, and also her distaste for the assignment. A true Vulcan would have simply stated that chasing after a Klingon was not the most logical thing to do; they wouldn't have harped on how unevolved humans were, and kept rubbing their faces in it. Oh, and the opening music was awful. But, all in all, I was pleasently surprised. It definately has potential.
VNC is great. I started using it a couple of years ago because I wanted to connect remotely to X running off of a Linux box from a laptop running Windows for a particular project I was doing, but I wasn't going to be using it enough to pay for a solution. I found VNC and was very happy with how well it worked. Being able to start a program running from one computer and then connecting from another computer later to check out the results was nice, too. I'm glad to see AT&T is doing more with it.
Much in the way the various Final Fantasy games all take place in different worlds with completely different characters, the movie in fact is not in any way based off of any of the games. The only thing they have in common is the name Final Fantasy, and the fact that the movie looks a lot like one of the FMVs for the more recent games. So it's nothing at all like Tomb Raider, which is actually based on the plot of a video game. It can't really have "fun with itself", because it's not just some cheesy video game plot brought to life. It's an original, standalone feature film. If you don't like it, that's fine, but don't try to compare it with a movie like Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat, or Street Fighter, all of which actually are based off of video game, because this one is not.
Lawson's nikkumon is really good, too! It's a reasonably cheap way to fill yourself up fast, and if you are ever in Japan, I highly recommend it.
I dunno, LPC wasn't so bad, although some of the MUDlibs based off of it were god-awful.
Hmm... if Microsoft is destined to go the way of Japan's economy, then the DOJ is worrying about antitrust for nothing!
"The Japanese are known for their different outlook on sexuality..."? You're talking about a culture where it is considered impolite to kiss in public. You're living in a country where you can find people having sex in a movie theater. As for violence, American movies are easily as violent as anything you will see in anime. And considering Japan has very strict gun laws, and has a much lower crime rate than the U.S., obviously violence in the movies or on TV isn't as much of a concern there. As for the Western world, I assume you are referring to America, as a very large portion of Europe has a much more liberal outlook on sexuality than either the Americans or the Japanese. Anime is in Japan exactly what TV shows and movies are here. They don't think of them any differently than any other TV shows or movies, whereas we tend to think of them as "cartoons". There are just as many sexually explicit and violent TV shows and movies out here in the West as there are sexually explicit and violent anime. I'd also like to note that the people I know who enjoy anime are also some of the most decent, intelligent people I know. You might want to give that some thought, if you ever come down from the high horse you are riding.
I think simply saying "computers in the classroom are bad before such-and-such a time" is oversimplifying things a bit. I tought myself BASIC on a C64 back when I was in Kindergarten, and I certainly did not suffer from using a computer at that early an age. Teaching kids how to do things like program, or to use a word processor, seems to be a perfectly good use of computers, even as early as elementary school. Drawing programs are as good a way as any to influence a child's creativity. Certainly one does not want to teach a child that the way to find the answer to any question is to simply do a search for it on the internet and write down what one finds, and naturally it's important to balance computer education with other forms of education, but I see no reason why computers should not be used for educational purposes. A more primary concern should be training teachers to use computers productively within the classrooms. A computer is a tool, and like any tool, if used wisely, it can be very helpful, but if used poorly, it becomes a hindrance.
I noticed that no one asked what would happen if the servers run by HavenCo were cracked. Since
they are on a territory which is not recognized by any of the world's nations, would any legal action
against the cracker be possible, even if said cracker were caught? I think that eletronic
assault against HavenCo is a much more realistic possibility than military action. I wonder
what, if anything, they would be able to do about it, beyond attempting to close whatever
security flaw the cracker had exploited.