I watched and enjoyed the original show back when I was a kid, but frankly I can't see the point of this new project, particularly if it's going to have only a tenuous link to the original (what, no Servalan? *grin*) Sounds to me like a blatant attempt to extract money from die-hard fans, rather like what the BBC have been doing with Dr Who for the last decade...
As Slave would have put it - `I'm sorry to report, sir, this project is going to bomb!!!`:-)
This is particularly disturing in that he as more than a passing resemblance to Rumsfield.
That's not fair - Mr Rumsfeld is far more wrinkled than Davros, plus he can't pass off dud comments at press conferences by claiming his Voice Modulator acted up...:-)
Re:don't you mean wolverine/logan?
on
Weapon-X Mice
·
· Score: 1
What he said! Remember, the first two W's are for World Wide.
The only people who seem to have a problem with webpage caching are either legal flacks working in CYA Mode, or webmasters who can't be bothered to mark up their pages and add robots.txt files to make sure that only public information goes out of their websites.
First off, Google News is still in Beta at the moment.
Second, the Google News database only goes back a month or so, probably by design.
Third, I was able to search for 'site:slashdot.org microsoft oregon' on Google just fine this morning. Got 243 results, and the Google Cache has copies of the first three pages returned, which relate directly to the Oregon bill you use as your example.
It also got them: Zero revenue. Hundreds of headaches and bugs. Negative media coverage in the anti-trust trial.
Not worth it, IMO.
Ah, but you forgot about
Persuade people to stick with the browser that comes with Windows, rather than using another one.
On that level, IE is a stunning success.
Music and content thru DRM and encrypted audio could be less than 1% of the total music market. Setting a standard in a niche segment doesn't count for much.
For now. But if DRM does take off, Microsoft has that base covered. That's the plan, as I see it.
First, MS has only been successful in things that they can bind to Windows (prime example is MS Office which generates about 40% of MS revenues, a phyrric victory is IE which generates no revenue but was also pushed by the Windows domination), everything else is losing money.
No argument there.
All the following projects have been canceled:
- Windows/Mips - Windows/PowerPC - Windows/Alpha - "HomeR" Project - Modular Windows - "Otto" Project (SW for cars; 1992) - MMOSA (Set-Top-boxes Operating System - WebTV - Blackbird/Internet Studio (1995) - proprietary MSN (Microsoft should have become the sole ISP, remember?) - COOl (C++ Object Orientated Language) - PenWindows - Microsoft Bob - Ultimate TV - Hailstorm (2001 - 2002)
Most of these were not so much products, but rather blocking moves by MS, designed to head off possible threats to the Windows cash-cow. Admittedly, some of them were better thought out than others. *grin* PenWindows did succeed in its real purpose, that of stopping Go Corp from building a viable competitor to Windows for what was at the time thought to be the Next Big Thing. Other products you mention have been recycled into other projects - COOL eventually became C#, while Internet Studio's technology found its way into Microsoft's development tools, particularly Visual Interdev.
If you look at the big picture, MS is currently being stripped off everything except their core business (x86-desktop). And wether MS is really able to make the 64-Bit transition is questionable. They are so incompetent in producing something 64Bit that they will lose a lot of people to Linux/Athlon64, even on the desktop.
Based on past history, the deciding factor will not be whether or not Microsoft succeeds, but rather whether or not the competition falters or dithers long enough for Microsoft to come through with a credible bodge-job that can woo potential customers.
Not so laughable, if you consider how they got from MS BASIC to Windows XP. Pick up a copy of 'Barbarians Led By Bill Gates' (Jennifer Edstrom, Marlin Eller, 1999) if you're interested in (some of) the gory details...
Oh yeah, hah hah, right. The system is broken so just pile on even more crap to fix it (MFC).
Go ahead, flounder in your nonsensical API goodness! Revel in 3rd-party hacks to shitty OS design! Bask in the glory that is MFC42.dll! Roll in the ecstascy of monthly MSDN update CD's!
Not me. I use Borland Delphi for all my code, so I don't have to worry about making the right Win32 API calls - the VCL does all that for me.
Sheesh. I dunno, seems to me like the 'new generation' of computer nerds just don't get it... If you can't guess half the API after having read 10% of it, then it's NOT A GOOD DESIGN!
Well, as I'm approaching 35 this year I don't think that I really qualify for the 'new generation'. I can still remember reading up the Advanced User Guide for the BBC Micro way back in the early 80's. But back then such knowledge was the only way to get at most of the non-trivial functions of the machine. Nowadays we have frameworks and suchlike to enable us to spend less time grapling with the OS and more time writing our applications. Of course, if you want to code directly to the Win32 API, that is your choice, but if you don't actually need to do so, why go down that route?
Oh, okay, I give up. I only ever used LoadLibrary() a couple hundred times, personally, and even then, only to get incompatible API functions loaded from various copies of the same.DLL found all over C:\WINDOWS, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32, C:\WINDOWS\WINNT, etc.
Sounds to me like the problem actually resides between the chair and the computer. There is a reason for things like MFC and ATL in Visual C++, and VCL and CLX in Borland Delphi/Kylix...
Why does Microsoft feel the need to code-name everything before its official release? I mean, we know the OS will be called Windows 2003 or Windows QF or something. Why does it matter to them that we don't know exactly what it'll be called?
Probably because Management are paranoid about Developers talking about their work to one another outside of the office, and others picking up on the conversations if the words 'Microsoft' and 'Windows' crop up.
I have a feeling that they'll use some of the stuff they acquired from Connectix to provide a Compatibility box to run older Win32 apps in. Let's face it, they won't shift many copies if customers can't run their existing applications on it...
Like, if another company were to provide the same 8k routines they could, albeit with less performance, run any and all win32 applications (on different hardware, under different OS, etc.).
Something tells me that the cost of getting access to the source code will rise in inverse proportion to its decrease in size... *grin*
From reading the company spiel about this CDR-ROM, it appears to me that these discs will be either pre-recorded and closed by the manufacturer (serial-numbered discs, slipstream latest service pack and patches, personalisation, etc.), or will be part of a vertical application, where a CD-writer will be part of the end-user requirement, and the writing software will be supplied on the pressed part of the disc.
Those are the only scenarios that I can think of where this disc would be practical. Using them for general-purpose software is going to be very problematic, as not every potential customer will have access to a CD-writer, and in any case once they have the disc the manufacturer has no real control over what the end-user puts on the recordable part of the disc, no matter what the EULA may say.
But if you're not, then you should shut the fuck up, because there are plenty of people giving evidence to the contrary [nthellworld.com]!
Ah, this would be the `yeah, our arguments are weaker than yours, but there's loads of us, and only the one of you!` line.:)
Believe me, I've heard all of this stuff several times over, and it is OLD! Hell, people were complaining about `crap service` and threatening to jump ship since way back when the UK's public internet consisted of Demon Internet, Direct Connection, Cix, the tidbits that CompuServe made available, plus those lucky or devious enough to get access from work or university... funny how the whining cries stayed the same as the ISP market waxed and waned over time.
Of course, some things have changes. Back in the day, it was just grumbling and flamage on ISP newsgroups. Now, the `protest` against this new NTL policy has managed to get column inches in this morning's `Metro London` !!
Feel free to rip up your NTL contract and move on, if you feel that strongly about it. With a bit of luck, response times for/. should improve if you do.:)
Slashdot Mirror
`Ozzy & Drix`, now playing in your lower intestine. :-)
I wonder if it'll have a beowolf cluster of Oracs this time?
:-)
Sorry, it had to be said..
DON'T! One of them was insufferable enough...
Its be like remaking Space 1999
:-)
Frankly, given the situation on Moonbase Alpha in the original, the chances of them doing a Next Generation are looking pretty slim!
I watched and enjoyed the original show back when I was a kid, but frankly I can't see the point of this new project, particularly if it's going to have only a tenuous link to the original (what, no Servalan? *grin*) Sounds to me like a blatant attempt to extract money from die-hard fans, rather like what the BBC have been doing with Dr Who for the last decade...
:-)
As Slave would have put it - `I'm sorry to report, sir, this project is going to bomb!!!`
This is particularly disturing in that he as more than a passing resemblance to Rumsfield.
:-)
That's not fair - Mr Rumsfeld is far more wrinkled than Davros, plus he can't pass off dud comments at press conferences by claiming his Voice Modulator acted up...
Spot the comic-book pedant. :-)
What he said! Remember, the first two W's are for World Wide.
The only people who seem to have a problem with webpage caching are either legal flacks working in CYA Mode, or webmasters who can't be bothered to mark up their pages and add robots.txt files to make sure that only public information goes out of their websites.
First off, Google News is still in Beta at the moment.
Second, the Google News database only goes back a month or so, probably by design.
Third, I was able to search for 'site:slashdot.org microsoft oregon' on Google just fine this morning. Got 243 results, and the Google Cache has copies of the first three pages returned, which relate directly to the Oregon bill you use as your example.
So, where is the problem?
That doesn't stop a serious discussion from being spammed by irrelevent and obvious jokes.
/.ers do you reckon were taught any medieval history?
:-)
No fair! It had a Movable Type in it (hence, on-topic, sorta), plus how many
You're just pissed because he got the gag in before you did...
Ignore the clown - the http://www.hektor.ch/ link is correct, albeit in a shambolic state at the moment...
s/rootabegger/rutabaga/
'Cool Robot That's Still Working Next Week'
:-)
Might end up being a short list, though.
'Nuff said.
It also got them:
Zero revenue.
Hundreds of headaches and bugs.
Negative media coverage in the anti-trust trial.
Not worth it, IMO.
Ah, but you forgot about
Persuade people to stick with the browser that comes with Windows, rather than using another one.
On that level, IE is a stunning success.
Music and content thru DRM and encrypted audio could be less than 1% of the total music market. Setting a standard in a niche segment doesn't count for much.
For now. But if DRM does take off, Microsoft has that base covered. That's the plan, as I see it.
The days of big Microsoft advances are over.
First, MS has only been successful in things that they can bind to Windows (prime example is MS Office which generates about 40% of MS revenues, a phyrric victory is IE which generates no revenue but was also pushed by the Windows domination), everything else is losing money.
No argument there.
All the following projects have been canceled:
- Windows/Mips
- Windows/PowerPC
- Windows/Alpha
- "HomeR" Project
- Modular Windows
- "Otto" Project (SW for cars; 1992)
- MMOSA (Set-Top-boxes Operating System
- WebTV
- Blackbird/Internet Studio (1995)
- proprietary MSN (Microsoft should have become the sole ISP, remember?)
- COOl (C++ Object Orientated Language)
- PenWindows
- Microsoft Bob
- Ultimate TV
- Hailstorm (2001 - 2002)
Most of these were not so much products, but rather blocking moves by MS, designed to head off possible threats to the Windows cash-cow. Admittedly, some of them were better thought out than others. *grin* PenWindows did succeed in its real purpose, that of stopping Go Corp from building a viable competitor to Windows for what was at the time thought to be the Next Big Thing. Other products you mention have been recycled into other projects - COOL eventually became C#, while Internet Studio's technology found its way into Microsoft's development tools, particularly Visual Interdev.
If you look at the big picture, MS is currently being stripped off everything except their core business (x86-desktop). And wether MS is really able to make the 64-Bit transition is questionable. They are so incompetent in producing something 64Bit that they will lose a lot of people to Linux/Athlon64, even on the desktop.
Based on past history, the deciding factor will not be whether or not Microsoft succeeds, but rather whether or not the competition falters or dithers long enough for Microsoft to come through with a credible bodge-job that can woo potential customers.
Not so laughable, if you consider how they got from MS BASIC to Windows XP. Pick up a copy of 'Barbarians Led By Bill Gates' (Jennifer Edstrom, Marlin Eller, 1999) if you're interested in (some of) the gory details...
Oh yeah, hah hah, right. The system is broken so just pile on even more crap to fix it (MFC).
... If you can't guess half the API after having read 10% of it, then it's NOT A GOOD DESIGN!
Go ahead, flounder in your nonsensical API goodness! Revel in 3rd-party hacks to shitty OS design! Bask in the glory that is MFC42.dll! Roll in the ecstascy of monthly MSDN update CD's!
Not me. I use Borland Delphi for all my code, so I don't have to worry about making the right Win32 API calls - the VCL does all that for me.
Sheesh. I dunno, seems to me like the 'new generation' of computer nerds just don't get it
Well, as I'm approaching 35 this year I don't think that I really qualify for the 'new generation'. I can still remember reading up the Advanced User Guide for the BBC Micro way back in the early 80's. But back then such knowledge was the only way to get at most of the non-trivial functions of the machine. Nowadays we have frameworks and suchlike to enable us to spend less time grapling with the OS and more time writing our applications. Of course, if you want to code directly to the Win32 API, that is your choice, but if you don't actually need to do so, why go down that route?
Oh, okay, I give up. I only ever used LoadLibrary() a couple hundred times, personally, and even then, only to get incompatible API functions loaded from various copies of the same .DLL found all over C:\WINDOWS, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32, C:\WINDOWS\WINNT, etc.
Sounds to me like the problem actually resides between the chair and the computer. There is a reason for things like MFC and ATL in Visual C++, and VCL and CLX in Borland Delphi/Kylix...
Why does Microsoft feel the need to code-name everything before its official release? I mean, we know the OS will be called Windows 2003 or Windows QF or something. Why does it matter to them that we don't know exactly what it'll be called?
Probably because Management are paranoid about Developers talking about their work to one another outside of the office, and others picking up on the conversations if the words 'Microsoft' and 'Windows' crop up.
I have a feeling that they'll use some of the stuff they acquired from Connectix to provide a Compatibility box to run older Win32 apps in. Let's face it, they won't shift many copies if customers can't run their existing applications on it...
Like, if another company were to provide the same 8k routines they could, albeit with less performance, run any and all win32 applications (on different hardware, under different OS, etc.).
Something tells me that the cost of getting access to the source code will rise in inverse proportion to its decrease in size... *grin*
While fewer APIs is good, I would like to know if anyone has heard if Longhorn is going to be open sourced like MS did with CE
Do you really need to ask that question?
Windows (x86, Win32) is one of their cash cows. CE most definitely ain't - yet. You figure out the rest.
Speaking with my software duplicator's hat on...
From reading the company spiel about this CDR-ROM, it appears to me that these discs will be either pre-recorded and closed by the manufacturer (serial-numbered discs, slipstream latest service pack and patches, personalisation, etc.), or will be part of a vertical application, where a CD-writer will be part of the end-user requirement, and the writing software will be supplied on the pressed part of the disc.
Those are the only scenarios that I can think of where this disc would be practical. Using them for general-purpose software is going to be very problematic, as not every potential customer will have access to a CD-writer, and in any case once they have the disc the manufacturer has no real control over what the end-user puts on the recordable part of the disc, no matter what the EULA may say.
How much does SmallScript have to pay Microsoft for the use of the # in S#? :)
But if you're not, then you should shut the fuck up, because there are plenty of people giving evidence to the contrary [nthellworld.com]!
:)
/. should improve if you do. :)
Ah, this would be the `yeah, our arguments are weaker than yours, but there's loads of us, and only the one of you!` line.
Believe me, I've heard all of this stuff several times over, and it is OLD! Hell, people were complaining about `crap service` and threatening to jump ship since way back when the UK's public internet consisted of Demon Internet, Direct Connection, Cix, the tidbits that CompuServe made available, plus those lucky or devious enough to get access from work or university... funny how the whining cries stayed the same as the ISP market waxed and waned over time.
Of course, some things have changes. Back in the day, it was just grumbling and flamage on ISP newsgroups. Now, the `protest` against this new NTL policy has managed to get column inches in this morning's `Metro London` !!
Feel free to rip up your NTL contract and move on, if you feel that strongly about it. With a bit of luck, response times for