More than 80 percent of respondents across the country understood how to work a TV better than a computer, something for the computer industry to ponder long and hard.
What?? Where are the 20% of the people that are having a hard time with a TV? Definitely something that we need to ponder long and hard about because it just doesn't make sense.
I'm 23 to give you an idea of the era I grew up in - I was weaned on Atari and followed through with all of the Nintendo's up to the current Gamecube.
I played *all* the time with my friends when I was a kid and that was a great source of fun and comraderie. That *is* what got me interested in computers and the reason that I'm a programmer now.
At the same time though, I played basketball, baseball, swam, and ran track/cross country (even ran cross country in college).
Bottom line: there's plenty of time for social interaction, sports and intellectual stimulation in the life of a kid - there's just so much free time. I actually credit video games in some part to my athletic coordination - my parents weren't that athletic, so it must've been the hand-eye coordination from hours upon hours of Nintendo!
I bought the "Home" version of XP ($100) - and though it says "upgrade" on the box, you are able to install it on a freshly formatted computer. It just is missing some of the features of the $200 version.
After reading the list of the differences, I decided that I didn't need to pay an additional $100 for them - and I haven't missed them (can't remember what most of them were).
My copy of XP was $99.99 I believe. Taxes wouldn't make it much more than that. I think the difference in price is worth it for a product that will be compatible with all of my peripherals and have plenty of support. Who do I call if I have a problem with Linux?
"Stable enough" for me means that it hasn't crashed on me yet. I've only had it for about a month though, so maybe it will at some point?
As for the viruses, that is a symptom of Windows being at the top of the pecking order. As long as Linux remains under the radar, it won't be as exploited for virus attacks. If it ever becomes mainstream, expect to contend with viruses.
Lastly, I was blown away by the speed of XP when I installed it on my PC (granted, I had ME before). Is Linux this fast?
First of all - if you're filling up your free time in college trying to beef up your coding experience, you're doing something wrong. It's college! You need to spend that free time playing Quake on the LAN, drinking beer or chasing women, man! Develop those ever-important social skills - you'll never be in college again... and you'll have plenty of time to develop your coding skills later.
Now, this isn't to say that you should neglect your school work or your coding development. Definitely work extra hard in your programming classes - but if you keep up with the work or are just a super-duper-uber coder, the course work really shouldn't take up much time. Spend the rest of the time polishing up on your beer pong skills and use the summers for gaining more experience.
Second of all - probably the primary reason that I have the job that I have right now (I'm fresh out of college) is because of one freelance program that I did with a buddy of mine for a law firm. That experience and recommendation really impressed my boss and he still talks about it 4 months after I was hired. All of those people saying that open source development won't help your resume are definitely mistaken. It may not substitute for a full-time job, but it sure as heck is going to tip the scales in your favor against someone without "real world" programming skills.
I haven't tried a Linux distro in probably a little over a year, so Linux could've easily made great strides in that amount of time, but I have yet to see any advantages that Linux has over Windows aside from price and stability.
I thought Linux was free:
Lycoris Desktop/LX CD is currently priced at just $29.95. This includes 60 days of e-mail support and a 30-page installation guide. Desktop/LX Deluxe, which includes the source code and DevTools on two extra CD's, is currently priced at $39.95.
And the second advantage of Linux - stability - is now a moot point with the stability and speed of XP.
So, again - what are these "other benefits" that I don't know about? And that's not sarcasm - I really want to know what else Linux has to offer me so that I can try it out if I'm missing something that I don't know about.
First of all, I'm a geek - not an uber geek, but a geek nontheless (Software developer). Now, tell me - why should I use Linux?
Okay, I can think of one reason - so that Bill Gates won't take over the world. I have never been an anti-Microsoft person like all of my CS peers in college, but I'm starting to think that maybe he wouldn't be the best world leader if his desire to rule the world is realized.
Aside from that though, is there anything that Linux can give me that is better than Windows XP? Can Linux stand on its own merits?
I really want to have a reason to install it and use it, but I've never been able to get my PC to dual-boot with Windows without a floppy. LILO couldn't handle the size of my hard drive last I checked (though I think that might've been remedied). Here's your chance - convert me!
There was a backlight in older Game Boys? That's news to me.
I believe there was only one Game Boy that had backlighting and it had a very limited run (might've only been in Japan actually - I believe it was called the "Light Boy" and had a backlight that could be toggled on and off).
I, in fact, do agree that some people shouldn't be born:
- Crack babies should not be born.
- Babies with fetal alcohol syndrome should not be born.
- Babies with 5 siblings on welfare should not be born.
This is not to say that there aren't wonderful people that are born into families that are on welfare and already have 5 children... but do you really think it's responsible to bring another person into the world when the mother doesn't care enough to stop using drugs/alcohol/smoking? What if there isn't enough money to feed all of the children and buy them proper clothes?
As evil as this sounds - I think that one solution is to require mandatory birth control (such as norplant) for anyone when they receive their welfare check. Once they're off welfare - fine - no just wait for the norplant to wear off.
How can you argue with that? If they don't have enough money to support themselves, how can they support another human?
We are in a situation (in the West at least) where the intelligent, ambitious humans are reproducing much less than the impoverished, un-ambitious humans. We are in a state of reverse natural selection.
I would love a complete book on programming for Windows CE using embedded eVC++.
It shouldn't cover the basics of C++ - there are already plenty of good books for that - just the ins and outs of programming for a PocketPC using eVC++. This should include (but not limited to):
- Interface Development
- Today Plug-ins
- Pocket Outlook integration
- PocketPC Database Programming
How about 64MB's worth of NES & Gameboy ROMs for my Cassiopeia EM-500 (with 64MB SD memory card)?
Okay, I don't really have that many ROMs - I have to leave room for my photo album that's filled with the pictures I take with my digital camera. But if you don't think that being able to play classic Nintendo games with a portable system is cool, then you're not a true geek.
The reason you didn't even think about that is that Palms can't play Nintendo games or Gameboy games like my EM-500 (yeah, I know about the Gameboy emulator for Palms - how about that Palm joypad, eh?).
Bottom line: Nintendo isn't just for kids; it's simply not for people in the 14-25 age range.
I agreed with your post up to a point. But, being a 23-year-old, fresh-out-of-college professional, I feel that I have to carry the voice for my generation.
I was weened on the Atari 2600 and wholeheartedly embraced the NES (my friends and I used to have game design contests and make "baseball cards" of our favorite characters to show each other at lunch). After that, I went to the store every day for a week before the SNES was launched to make sure I was the first to get one. I remember being blown away by the echoes in the cave levels of Super Mario World.
My interest waned a little in high school - sports replaced most of my time. Then in college it was back to Nintendo with the N64 and its party games. There simply wasn't a better console for 4-player simultaneous games (Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, Pokemon Stadium - mini games!, Goldeneye, several wrestling games, F-zero, Smash Brothers, and the list goes on).
Now which console am I going to buy? Yep - the Gamecube. Where else am I going to get Metroid, Mario Kart, Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Smash Brothers, 2nd party Rare games, and any other Miyamoto masterpieces that might come along (Pikmin!).
Nintendo games are, in a word: FUN. If you can get over the fact that they use bright colors and there isn't any blood, then I think that you could actually end up enjoying yourself.
Well, if it's anything like the first Rogue Squadron with souped-up Graphics and Audio, then I'm all over it. I played that thing until I beat all of the missions with gold medals and then some. The only reason I stopped playing was because I think my cartridge was stolen by my former roommate!
Yeah, multi-player dog-fights would be nice, but as the other/. article today pointed out, most of us IT guys don't have any friends =)
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What?? Where are the 20% of the people that are having a hard time with a TV? Definitely something that we need to ponder long and hard about because it just doesn't make sense.
I'm 23 to give you an idea of the era I grew up in - I was weaned on Atari and followed through with all of the Nintendo's up to the current Gamecube.
I played *all* the time with my friends when I was a kid and that was a great source of fun and comraderie. That *is* what got me interested in computers and the reason that I'm a programmer now.
At the same time though, I played basketball, baseball, swam, and ran track/cross country (even ran cross country in college).
Bottom line: there's plenty of time for social interaction, sports and intellectual stimulation in the life of a kid - there's just so much free time. I actually credit video games in some part to my athletic coordination - my parents weren't that athletic, so it must've been the hand-eye coordination from hours upon hours of Nintendo!
If you could write well and thought of that about 75 years ago, you could've come out with a classic sci-fi anti-utopian book!
I bought the "Home" version of XP ($100) - and though it says "upgrade" on the box, you are able to install it on a freshly formatted computer. It just is missing some of the features of the $200 version.
After reading the list of the differences, I decided that I didn't need to pay an additional $100 for them - and I haven't missed them (can't remember what most of them were).
My copy of XP was $99.99 I believe. Taxes wouldn't make it much more than that. I think the difference in price is worth it for a product that will be compatible with all of my peripherals and have plenty of support. Who do I call if I have a problem with Linux?
"Stable enough" for me means that it hasn't crashed on me yet. I've only had it for about a month though, so maybe it will at some point?
As for the viruses, that is a symptom of Windows being at the top of the pecking order. As long as Linux remains under the radar, it won't be as exploited for virus attacks. If it ever becomes mainstream, expect to contend with viruses.
Lastly, I was blown away by the speed of XP when I installed it on my PC (granted, I had ME before). Is Linux this fast?
First of all - if you're filling up your free time in college trying to beef up your coding experience, you're doing something wrong. It's college! You need to spend that free time playing Quake on the LAN, drinking beer or chasing women, man! Develop those ever-important social skills - you'll never be in college again ... and you'll have plenty of time to develop your coding skills later.
Now, this isn't to say that you should neglect your school work or your coding development. Definitely work extra hard in your programming classes - but if you keep up with the work or are just a super-duper-uber coder, the course work really shouldn't take up much time. Spend the rest of the time polishing up on your beer pong skills and use the summers for gaining more experience.
Second of all - probably the primary reason that I have the job that I have right now (I'm fresh out of college) is because of one freelance program that I did with a buddy of mine for a law firm. That experience and recommendation really impressed my boss and he still talks about it 4 months after I was hired. All of those people saying that open source development won't help your resume are definitely mistaken. It may not substitute for a full-time job, but it sure as heck is going to tip the scales in your favor against someone without "real world" programming skills.
Well over $100? How much is the tax in your state?
I haven't tried a Linux distro in probably a little over a year, so Linux could've easily made great strides in that amount of time, but I have yet to see any advantages that Linux has over Windows aside from price and stability.
I thought Linux was free:
And the second advantage of Linux - stability - is now a moot point with the stability and speed of XP.
So, again - what are these "other benefits" that I don't know about? And that's not sarcasm - I really want to know what else Linux has to offer me so that I can try it out if I'm missing something that I don't know about.
First of all, I'm a geek - not an uber geek, but a geek nontheless (Software developer). Now, tell me - why should I use Linux?
Okay, I can think of one reason - so that Bill Gates won't take over the world. I have never been an anti-Microsoft person like all of my CS peers in college, but I'm starting to think that maybe he wouldn't be the best world leader if his desire to rule the world is realized.
Aside from that though, is there anything that Linux can give me that is better than Windows XP? Can Linux stand on its own merits?
I really want to have a reason to install it and use it, but I've never been able to get my PC to dual-boot with Windows without a floppy. LILO couldn't handle the size of my hard drive last I checked (though I think that might've been remedied). Here's your chance - convert me!
There was a backlight in older Game Boys? That's news to me.
I believe there was only one Game Boy that had backlighting and it had a very limited run (might've only been in Japan actually - I believe it was called the "Light Boy" and had a backlight that could be toggled on and off).
I, in fact, do agree that some people shouldn't be born:
... but do you really think it's responsible to bring another person into the world when the mother doesn't care enough to stop using drugs/alcohol/smoking? What if there isn't enough money to feed all of the children and buy them proper clothes?
- Crack babies should not be born.
- Babies with fetal alcohol syndrome should not be born.
- Babies with 5 siblings on welfare should not be born.
This is not to say that there aren't wonderful people that are born into families that are on welfare and already have 5 children
As evil as this sounds - I think that one solution is to require mandatory birth control (such as norplant) for anyone when they receive their welfare check. Once they're off welfare - fine - no just wait for the norplant to wear off.
How can you argue with that? If they don't have enough money to support themselves, how can they support another human?
We are in a situation (in the West at least) where the intelligent, ambitious humans are reproducing much less than the impoverished, un-ambitious humans. We are in a state of reverse natural selection.
Now, that is a scary thought!
I would love a complete book on programming for Windows CE using embedded eVC++.
It shouldn't cover the basics of C++ - there are already plenty of good books for that - just the ins and outs of programming for a PocketPC using eVC++. This should include (but not limited to):
- Interface Development
- Today Plug-ins
- Pocket Outlook integration
- PocketPC Database Programming
How about 64MB's worth of NES & Gameboy ROMs for my Cassiopeia EM-500 (with 64MB SD memory card)?
Okay, I don't really have that many ROMs - I have to leave room for my photo album that's filled with the pictures I take with my digital camera. But if you don't think that being able to play classic Nintendo games with a portable system is cool, then you're not a true geek.
The reason you didn't even think about that is that Palms can't play Nintendo games or Gameboy games like my EM-500 (yeah, I know about the Gameboy emulator for Palms - how about that Palm joypad, eh?).
Bottom line: Nintendo isn't just for kids; it's simply not for people in the 14-25 age range.
I agreed with your post up to a point. But, being a 23-year-old, fresh-out-of-college professional, I feel that I have to carry the voice for my generation.
I was weened on the Atari 2600 and wholeheartedly embraced the NES (my friends and I used to have game design contests and make "baseball cards" of our favorite characters to show each other at lunch). After that, I went to the store every day for a week before the SNES was launched to make sure I was the first to get one. I remember being blown away by the echoes in the cave levels of Super Mario World.
My interest waned a little in high school - sports replaced most of my time. Then in college it was back to Nintendo with the N64 and its party games. There simply wasn't a better console for 4-player simultaneous games (Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, Pokemon Stadium - mini games!, Goldeneye, several wrestling games, F-zero, Smash Brothers, and the list goes on).
Now which console am I going to buy? Yep - the Gamecube. Where else am I going to get Metroid, Mario Kart, Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Smash Brothers, 2nd party Rare games, and any other Miyamoto masterpieces that might come along (Pikmin!).
Nintendo games are, in a word: FUN. If you can get over the fact that they use bright colors and there isn't any blood, then I think that you could actually end up enjoying yourself.
Well, if it's anything like the first Rogue Squadron with souped-up Graphics and Audio, then I'm all over it. I played that thing until I beat all of the missions with gold medals and then some. The only reason I stopped playing was because I think my cartridge was stolen by my former roommate!
/. article today pointed out, most of us IT guys don't have any friends =)
Yeah, multi-player dog-fights would be nice, but as the other