I actually like my application menus at the top of the screen; it's actually very intuitive for me and past studies have shown it to be as well for others. BUT -- and this is a huge ass BUT -- it's not right for Gnome apps or Linux apps over all.
See, Mac applications are different from how pretty much all other OS' handle their applications. MacOS is *document* focused where Windows and Linux is *application* focused. On Mac, the windows represents a single document within that application (or is supposed to be; some apps break the paradigm) where on Windows and Linux the window represents the *application* itself.
It's a subtle, but huge difference. It's one of the old beefs with MacOS that when you close that last window, the application is still actually running. But it made sense to have a unified menu bar for the entire application and the top of the screen made the most sense.
And really, ergonomically? Relax your eyes, which way do they go? They go up. It's same reason I don't even like my Win7 task bar at the bottom. To each their own, though.
But, back on point, Linux applications are not like Mac applications and the window represents the app, not a single document, so the unified menu bar is not part of that paradigm.
I think that is a bit unfair. I love python; after years of Perl and various shell languages I came to find Python and was blown away by the language. But...it has it's warts too. Lately (in the last year or so) I have learned Ruby, and for more than just Rails. I've done games, a couple gui apps, and an IRC chat-bot in Ruby. (Incidently, it was the first version of this bot that I used as my "learning app" in Python.) Y'know what I found? Both languages have their strong points and have their warts. Right now, I'm a bit split on which I like better, but leaning a -bit- towards Ruby simply due to syntax preferences. (I -like- "end" keywords, which I found out when I was learning Lua.) Python is still more readable in my opinion, but Ruby allows me to get the code ideas outta my head and into the machine faster and sometimes, more elegantly (especially with case/end blocks that are still lacking in current Python (though I am aware it's soon to be had.))
Saying you can't get past Hello World, I know, is a purposeful stretch, but I say play fair. ^.^
Broadcom chips suck, no doubt about it, but I've had good luck using ndiswrapper. Sure, you have to use the Win32 driver files, but not that big a deal, really. I got my linksys usb wireless adapter working just fine on my writing machine (x-less box away from the distraction of my gaming machines, I write in ne) that I use quite frequently to do research and stream my audio to the player (via KDE's fish:// ioslave). I've only had -one- burp, which ended up requiring rebooting the wireless router, not the usb adapter. ndiswrapper can be a bit to set up if you are not comfortable with the command-line, but there is a lot of help out there for it.
Good point, but...there is a flip-side to that as well. The color, the look and feel, etc, of your desktop can, and probably does, have a direct impact on your ability to do work. Personally, I prefer bright orange and warm colors on my desktop (regardless of OS) as I find it stimulates my mind. The oh-so-default blue desktops make me sleepy. So, sure, I am -working- in the windows, but the impact of what is around them can't be ruled out either.
And if you think your average user doesn't care, you should have heard the hooplah when our IT department changed the default corporate build of XP to a very drab, very boring green motif and not allowing the colors to be changed. Not surprisingly, that was reversed and although the new builds still use the ugly theme, users are now allowed to change them and almost everyone I've worked with has done so.
If it's just for Xwindows, I'd suggest an nVidia 5200FX card, because right now, they are very cheap/budget friendly. I use it currently at home and it runs UT2004 and other OpenGL apps/games/screensavers beautifully. I'd not rec'd it for windows games anymore, though, but for linux, it's been a beauty of a card.
Blame the Content Producers, not the Content Distributors (aka the Cable/Satellite companies.) For instance, it is *not* possible for a cable company to just get ESPN or just MTV. If you want those popular channels, you *have* to accept what the Producers bundle with it, hence it then being forced onto the channel line-up. It's the #1 reason why the Producers are so set against an ala-cart legislation being passed, forcing them to allow Distributors to pick-n-choose (and thus allowing the same for their subscribers) which channels to carry.
I've been using Gentoo for well over a year now. I switched to it from RedHat (a system that was pre-Fedora) which at the time had a paid-in-full RedHat Network acess for updates. However, the problem with RH at the time was that I am also a KDE user. (No stupid flame-wars, please, to each their own, choices are good, etc, etc...) Even getting the latest stable KDE installed via rpms was a royal pain, to say the least. Almost like getting updated, stable packages from non-experimental Debian at the time.;-) (Again, no flames, read on, pilgrim...)
I decided to try Gentoo 1.4 out on my desktop here at home, since overall, I'd lose nothing but time if it got botched. Now, I have read many times that all installing Gentoo teaches you is how to follow instructions. I disagree, to a point, since if you are a curious geek like I was, you wonder *why* things are how they are. For that, I really loved Gentoo because it *did* teach *me* some thing about Linux I had not known previously -- I compiled my first custom-kernel in Gentoo. I never had to do that in RH. There were many, many firsts for me in playing with my Gentoo system. And Portage, I loved it...it actually had *updates*. The Gentoo community absolutely rocked (and still does, imho) when I did have trouble......but then, I wanted to upgrade KDE to the latest again. Anyone who has done this in Gentoo knows the pain; even with unsermake it took a full day on my little box to compile. So, I decided to try the pre-compiled packages, but this is not the "Gentoo way" and I agree with that sentiment to an extent, because there *are* benefits (even if small) to compiling everything natively. Well, let's just say my pre-compiled packages caused more gray hair and the wife noticed. (Seriously, no kidding.:-/ )
So, after hearing good things about Ubuntu, I got curious, but had *just* gotten my Gentoo box set back up just the way I liked it and really, I was not a Gnome fan. (Just a preference, choice is good, put down the torches...) So, I held back, even after my nvidia opengl stopped working. Finally, I heard about Kubuntu and got curious again. After a vacation to Thailand, I had to come back a two weeks earlier than my wife (we were visiting her family) and I got bored without a wife around to find *other* things for me to do...and/home partition was on it's own partition...so I said "Screw this, I'm installing Kubuntu." So I did...
Now, to be honest, I have *always* liked apt-get and Debian in general, but the lack of up-to-date software outside of the 'stable' repos was really frustrating. This is my desktop, I don't mind taking *some* risks in my installation of software. Now, however, thanks to the hard-work of the (k)ubuntu crews and the 'universe' repos, I had compiled binaries of the software I wanted that was still mostly up-to-date.
I love Gentoo, as much as someone can love a Linux distro, because it *was* very educational to me and for the tinkerer, I still think it's the best distro if you have the time for it. My problem is, I don't have time anymore, and although I still tinker in my coding projects, I want my software updated today, not compiling over night. In a way, I am just a *bit* sad that I won't get to try out the new Gentoo install and see what is new in it, but maybe in the next life... Heh.
My wife works at the local Panera. Not only do we also have the fireplace and couches, but I can vouch that they actively invite people to sit and hang-out. Overall, I would think, people who do so *also* purchase food and drinks.
That said, I've heard the local WiFi doesn't work quite often, but it's not the WiFi router, but their local 'Net connection.
For a sample of true communism, that works, you have to go back to the basics, food and shelter. Take a look at the Kala Hari bushmen.
No, for *modern* communism, sure, I agree with you -- but that is not true communism either, since as you yourself pointed out, it's often forced upon people, and people are lazy, etc, etc...
"If Microsoft integrates a browser with a file manager, or hints at integrating a media player or anything else in the OS, everyone cries foul, so why is that considered good practice in the major *nix environments?"
But KDE *does not* tie the browser to the OS, it ties the browser to the *desktop* and there is a *HUGE* difference in that. I can't think of any part of Konqueror that directly makes calls to kernel functions (though admittingly I have not dove deep into the code.)
MSIE is a beast that is *tied* to the kernel, uses kernel internals, and thus, is bad. I have yet to see *any* *nix desktop/window manager that does such a thing.
Some people would call such functionality within the desktop 'bloat'. I think before anybody says that, they first need to get themselves into the modern age. As the article mentioned, I find the fish:// handler to be one of the most oft-used handlers. Sure, I could scp remote files to the local machine, but it saves a lot of time to simply use fish:// in the file dialogs and such.
And it works *great* in Amarok, my audio player of choice. I no longer have to keep porting around my mp3 collection: I simply fish to my server and play them from there -- from anywhere. The only downfall, is that I need to force it to go to the next track after it gets to the end of a track, instead of automatically doing so, but it's a minor compared to the above ease-of-use.
> 1) why do I need to include 'self' as the first parameter of each method definition?
I was *just* discussing this a few weeks ago with a friend. I *like* that python enforces the 'self' syntax. Where in other languages, like C++, 'this' is just there. For someone *reading* python code, you *see* where 'self' is given, not having to guess where it came from.
Not sure if Ruby allows this, but using that syntax then allows me to also call the Class directly, using my Instance as an argument *if* I need to for some reason.
Keep in mind, I have never really looked at Ruby, but I am interested, but the above is something that I have, over the years of learning python, have come to enjoy about it.
Being married to a Thai wife, that is easier said than done. As much as English sucks sometimes, at least "good" means "good" no matter how you pronounce it. About the only word I know I get right is "ting tong" which means silly. Tonal langauges are ting tong.
Re:Some classic Christian D&D FUD
on
D&D Is 30
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I've DM'd since the early 80's, rarely ever been a player.
I once played AD&D 2nd Ed. with group of gamers that included a catholic priest. That pretty much erased such irrational notions from my mother's head at the time. And, may I go on record as saying, he played the best damn drunkern dwarven cleric I have ever seen.
Potential wise-cracks aside, he had great story-telling talent to go along with his role-playing. That group is the first to really show me what kind of good role-playing can happen when you have good, pro-story, non-powergaming, players.
It's something that any computer RPG has yet to capture.
Advanced D&D -- more rules and more money to buy the rules (gawd help you if you were the DM -- ya needed to have ALL of this). Simple enough for ya?
Ugh. That is a simply fallacy that the publishers want people to think. I have DM'd since I was 14 (16 years) with very little money. Even today, now playing D&D 3rd Ed, I use the DM's Guide, Player's Guide, and MM I & II. That's it. The rest comes from my imagination and a little elbow work in creating my own content, monsters, and such. For me, at least, that is the fun of being a DM. I like to devise the settings and threats, and watch how the players handle it within their character's abilities. Sometimes, I am suprised by their own creativity in solving problems. We have a wonderful balance of actual role-playing (sometimes, whole sessions dealing with a major npc) and action.
All the books in the world is not going to help that.
Slashdot Mirror
Wait... Wil Wheaton is a god?
I actually like my application menus at the top of the screen; it's actually very intuitive for me and past studies have shown it to be as well for others. BUT -- and this is a huge ass BUT -- it's not right for Gnome apps or Linux apps over all.
See, Mac applications are different from how pretty much all other OS' handle their applications. MacOS is *document* focused where Windows and Linux is *application* focused. On Mac, the windows represents a single document within that application (or is supposed to be; some apps break the paradigm) where on Windows and Linux the window represents the *application* itself.
It's a subtle, but huge difference. It's one of the old beefs with MacOS that when you close that last window, the application is still actually running. But it made sense to have a unified menu bar for the entire application and the top of the screen made the most sense.
And really, ergonomically? Relax your eyes, which way do they go? They go up. It's same reason I don't even like my Win7 task bar at the bottom. To each their own, though.
But, back on point, Linux applications are not like Mac applications and the window represents the app, not a single document, so the unified menu bar is not part of that paradigm.
"I wonder if their end goal is a fascist state, or if they're simply trying to preserve their economic advantage."
Yes.
Not CmdrTaco. Just sayin'.
Likewise...I can't even access youtube anymore. :(
:D)
;)
Oh, and...
Hello Remus!
(Duskrunner from alt.db and Jeffryn from EQ1 -- if you remember either of those.
Even on slashdot, it's a small world.
I think that is a bit unfair. I love python; after years of Perl and various shell languages I came to find Python and was blown away by the language. But...it has it's warts too. Lately (in the last year or so) I have learned Ruby, and for more than just Rails. I've done games, a couple gui apps, and an IRC chat-bot in Ruby. (Incidently, it was the first version of this bot that I used as my "learning app" in Python.) Y'know what I found? Both languages have their strong points and have their warts. Right now, I'm a bit split on which I like better, but leaning a -bit- towards Ruby simply due to syntax preferences. (I -like- "end" keywords, which I found out when I was learning Lua.) Python is still more readable in my opinion, but Ruby allows me to get the code ideas outta my head and into the machine faster and sometimes, more elegantly (especially with case/end blocks that are still lacking in current Python (though I am aware it's soon to be had.))
...and the difference really is what again? :D
.ST.
Saying you can't get past Hello World, I know, is a purposeful stretch, but I say play fair. ^.^
print "Hello World!" # Python
puts "Hello World!" # Ruby
Aroo?
I'm running several RoR sites using Apache2 with fast_cgi. So, doesn't run at all? Which distro? I'm using Ubuntu and it's been working -great-.
Broadcom chips suck, no doubt about it, but I've had good luck using ndiswrapper. Sure, you have to use the Win32 driver files, but not that big a deal, really. I got my linksys usb wireless adapter working just fine on my writing machine (x-less box away from the distraction of my gaming machines, I write in ne) that I use quite frequently to do research and stream my audio to the player (via KDE's fish:// ioslave). I've only had -one- burp, which ended up requiring rebooting the wireless router, not the usb adapter. ndiswrapper can be a bit to set up if you are not comfortable with the command-line, but there is a lot of help out there for it.
Good point, but...there is a flip-side to that as well. The color, the look and feel, etc, of your desktop can, and probably does, have a direct impact on your ability to do work. Personally, I prefer bright orange and warm colors on my desktop (regardless of OS) as I find it stimulates my mind. The oh-so-default blue desktops make me sleepy. So, sure, I am -working- in the windows, but the impact of what is around them can't be ruled out either.
And if you think your average user doesn't care, you should have heard the hooplah when our IT department changed the default corporate build of XP to a very drab, very boring green motif and not allowing the colors to be changed. Not surprisingly, that was reversed and although the new builds still use the ugly theme, users are now allowed to change them and almost everyone I've worked with has done so.
If it's just for Xwindows, I'd suggest an nVidia 5200FX card, because right now, they are very cheap/budget friendly. I use it currently at home and it runs UT2004 and other OpenGL apps/games/screensavers beautifully. I'd not rec'd it for windows games anymore, though, but for linux, it's been a beauty of a card.
Blame the Content Producers, not the Content Distributors (aka the Cable/Satellite companies.) For instance, it is *not* possible for a cable company to just get ESPN or just MTV. If you want those popular channels, you *have* to accept what the Producers bundle with it, hence it then being forced onto the channel line-up. It's the #1 reason why the Producers are so set against an ala-cart legislation being passed, forcing them to allow Distributors to pick-n-choose (and thus allowing the same for their subscribers) which channels to carry.
I've been using Gentoo for well over a year now. I switched to it from RedHat (a system that was pre-Fedora) which at the time had a paid-in-full RedHat Network acess for updates. However, the problem with RH at the time was that I am also a KDE user. (No stupid flame-wars, please, to each their own, choices are good, etc, etc...) Even getting the latest stable KDE installed via rpms was a royal pain, to say the least. Almost like getting updated, stable packages from non-experimental Debian at the time. ;-) (Again, no flames, read on, pilgrim...)
...but then, I wanted to upgrade KDE to the latest again. Anyone who has done this in Gentoo knows the pain; even with unsermake it took a full day on my little box to compile. So, I decided to try the pre-compiled packages, but this is not the "Gentoo way" and I agree with that sentiment to an extent, because there *are* benefits (even if small) to compiling everything natively. Well, let's just say my pre-compiled packages caused more gray hair and the wife noticed. (Seriously, no kidding. :-/ )
/home partition was on it's own partition...so I said "Screw this, I'm installing Kubuntu." So I did...
I decided to try Gentoo 1.4 out on my desktop here at home, since overall, I'd lose nothing but time if it got botched. Now, I have read many times that all installing Gentoo teaches you is how to follow instructions. I disagree, to a point, since if you are a curious geek like I was, you wonder *why* things are how they are. For that, I really loved Gentoo because it *did* teach *me* some thing about Linux I had not known previously -- I compiled my first custom-kernel in Gentoo. I never had to do that in RH. There were many, many firsts for me in playing with my Gentoo system. And Portage, I loved it...it actually had *updates*. The Gentoo community absolutely rocked (and still does, imho) when I did have trouble...
So, after hearing good things about Ubuntu, I got curious, but had *just* gotten my Gentoo box set back up just the way I liked it and really, I was not a Gnome fan. (Just a preference, choice is good, put down the torches...) So, I held back, even after my nvidia opengl stopped working. Finally, I heard about Kubuntu and got curious again. After a vacation to Thailand, I had to come back a two weeks earlier than my wife (we were visiting her family) and I got bored without a wife around to find *other* things for me to do...and
Now, to be honest, I have *always* liked apt-get and Debian in general, but the lack of up-to-date software outside of the 'stable' repos was really frustrating. This is my desktop, I don't mind taking *some* risks in my installation of software. Now, however, thanks to the hard-work of the (k)ubuntu crews and the 'universe' repos, I had compiled binaries of the software I wanted that was still mostly up-to-date.
I love Gentoo, as much as someone can love a Linux distro, because it *was* very educational to me and for the tinkerer, I still think it's the best distro if you have the time for it. My problem is, I don't have time anymore, and although I still tinker in my coding projects, I want my software updated today, not compiling over night. In a way, I am just a *bit* sad that I won't get to try out the new Gentoo install and see what is new in it, but maybe in the next life... Heh.
Okay, slightly off-topic...
My Panera fave: A sierra turkey, extra chipotle mayo, ask for tomato (since it comes without) on the onion-focacia bread.
My absolute fave was the Roma Tomato, but it's seasonal.
My wife works at the local Panera. Not only do we also have the fireplace and couches, but I can vouch that they actively invite people to sit and hang-out. Overall, I would think, people who do so *also* purchase food and drinks.
That said, I've heard the local WiFi doesn't work quite often, but it's not the WiFi router, but their local 'Net connection.
Yanno, when I use Windows, I *do* feel like I'm in a sphere, just like one of those hamster balls.
Um, no.
For a sample of true communism, that works, you have to go back to the basics, food and shelter. Take a look at the Kala Hari bushmen.
No, for *modern* communism, sure, I agree with you -- but that is not true communism either, since as you yourself pointed out, it's often forced upon people, and people are lazy, etc, etc...
"If Microsoft integrates a browser with a file manager, or hints at integrating a media player or anything else in the OS, everyone cries foul, so why is that considered good practice in the major *nix environments?"
But KDE *does not* tie the browser to the OS, it ties the browser to the *desktop* and there is a *HUGE* difference in that. I can't think of any part of Konqueror that directly makes calls to kernel functions (though admittingly I have not dove deep into the code.)
MSIE is a beast that is *tied* to the kernel, uses kernel internals, and thus, is bad. I have yet to see *any* *nix desktop/window manager that does such a thing.
I could not specify a fish://location as a source dir to scan, unfortunately.
Some people would call such functionality within the desktop 'bloat'. I think before anybody says that, they first need to get themselves into the modern age. As the article mentioned, I find the fish:// handler to be one of the most oft-used handlers. Sure, I could scp remote files to the local machine, but it saves a lot of time to simply use fish:// in the file dialogs and such.
And it works *great* in Amarok, my audio player of choice. I no longer have to keep porting around my mp3 collection: I simply fish to my server and play them from there -- from anywhere. The only downfall, is that I need to force it to go to the next track after it gets to the end of a track, instead of automatically doing so, but it's a minor compared to the above ease-of-use.
> 1) why do I need to include 'self' as the first parameter of each method definition?
I was *just* discussing this a few weeks ago with a friend. I *like* that python enforces the 'self' syntax. Where in other languages, like C++, 'this' is just there. For someone *reading* python code, you *see* where 'self' is given, not having to guess where it came from.
Not sure if Ruby allows this, but using that syntax then allows me to also call the Class directly, using my Instance as an argument *if* I need to for some reason.
Keep in mind, I have never really looked at Ruby, but I am interested, but the above is something that I have, over the years of learning python, have come to enjoy about it.
From Yahoo:
Prev Close: 4.20
I think that is quite telling, considering the company, and probably the source of their business strategy.
Being married to a Thai wife, that is easier said than done. As much as English sucks sometimes, at least "good" means "good" no matter how you pronounce it. About the only word I know I get right is "ting tong" which means silly. Tonal langauges are ting tong.
I'm having flashbacks of alt.devilbunnies.
[nervous look]
What?!?
I've DM'd since the early 80's, rarely ever been a player.
I once played AD&D 2nd Ed. with group of gamers that included a catholic priest. That pretty much erased such irrational notions from my mother's head at the time. And, may I go on record as saying, he played the best damn drunkern dwarven cleric I have ever seen.
Potential wise-cracks aside, he had great story-telling talent to go along with his role-playing. That group is the first to really show me what kind of good role-playing can happen when you have good, pro-story, non-powergaming, players.
It's something that any computer RPG has yet to capture.
Advanced D&D -- more rules and more money to buy the rules (gawd help you if you were the DM -- ya needed to have ALL of this). Simple enough for ya?
Ugh. That is a simply fallacy that the publishers want people to think. I have DM'd since I was 14 (16 years) with very little money. Even today, now playing D&D 3rd Ed, I use the DM's Guide, Player's Guide, and MM I & II. That's it. The rest comes from my imagination and a little elbow work in creating my own content, monsters, and such. For me, at least, that is the fun of being a DM. I like to devise the settings and threats, and watch how the players handle it within their character's abilities. Sometimes, I am suprised by their own creativity in solving problems. We have a wonderful balance of actual role-playing (sometimes, whole sessions dealing with a major npc) and action.
All the books in the world is not going to help that.