Microsoft decided that fonts ought to be able to play music, video, scripts, and connect to web sites. Then they made the format executable. Oh, go ahead, mod me down, it's not like they did it with text files, help files, sound files, and video files already.
Ok, let's see... the media claimed that some anonymous member of an amorphous group threatened a drug cartel. Now the media claims that that anonymous person changed his mind. Sure, whatever...
This is true. Some people are still using little plastic platters to transfer data? No respect, granny, get an intertubes already. The whole outrage against Netflix is from people who still think plastic platters sent by snailmail are a pretty good idea. Funky.
Are they going to be broadcasting over the internet? 'Cause, I don't know, are there still a lot of you guys who use old-fashioned TVs and radios? Who, exactly, is even going to know about the "emergency"?
>You think it's easy cramming $100.000 worth of technology into a $2,495 machine ?
Err. Yes. Yes, I do. Do you know how I know that you haven't been around for very long? Any of us who have worked with computers for any length of time have seen our bright, shiny, woefully expensive top-of-the-line technology decay into junk that you can't even give away to a thrift store, in maybe a decade. There is little enough in the world that depreciates as rapidly as technology. It's been a whirlwind tour...
'They are a personnel management agency, they are not a technology company, and this clearly demonstrates that they don't have the technology skills to be able to do this.'
Pure FUD. If the problem was that all the toilets were always blocked up, you wouldn't accept an excuse that the company is clearly not a plumbing company, and doesn't have the skills to manage basic plumbing. That could be resolved with a simple phone call to folks that do actually have some experience with that field. Now, if you want to say that the management is too drooling stupid to figure that out... well, it's the Government, so that's not entirely implausible, but that's an entirely different statement than what has been made.
There seems to be universal confusion on this point. May I point out that, just because a currency is legal tender, that does not make it mandatory? If someone wants to sell me a DVD for three boxes of noodles, that does not mean I can force him accept paper money instead.
Fascinating. A complete case of "whoosh!" and it gets modded +5 insightful?
The word is "paid", not "payed", by the way. It's a four-letter word you should know and love.
It's the fault of the "Free Market", where there is enormous incentive for companies to lie and cheat. The more successful a company the more money it will have with which to purchase power. The more power it has, the more it will push de-regulation
The what, now? Big companies never push deregulation. They want as much regulation as possible, the better to punish anyone else trying to enter the same market. It's called "rent seeking".
but I worked for a company such as this, once. They were eager to have me as soon as possible, and when I got there, they had no computer for me. A few days later, they managed to dredge up a pitiful antique that didn't have a network card, so I had to beg other employees to copy the files I needed to floppies. No one blinked an eye. It turned out to be standard behavior for the company.
That sort of grotesque mismanagement should send red flags shooting up in all directions.
Polish your resume and prepare to abandon ship.
Would the alleged editors please pay just a little attention? "It's not entirely clear at this point if the memo is authentic... This could be a flat-out hoax or a statistical anomaly or... " or anything but a story. Have some shame.
I think it's encouraging news that they're finally going to let go of legacy stuff, that really is the root of so many issues. They really have to draw the line sometime.
New kid, eh? I take it you don't yet have any programs that have been forced into retirement by Microsoft's latest and greatest marketing visions. You'll learn.
64-bit Windows doesn't support 16-bit programs. Odd. On Linux, you can run almost any old DOS program using DosEmu. On Windows, you can get part of the way there with DosBox. It's not like you can't get there from here. It is like, if you make it easy for people to keep using their existing software, you can't get them to pay for a shiny new version of the same old thing.
Backwards compatibility should be assumed, automatic. You can emulate a 1985 IBM PC entirely in software, these days, with trivial costs in memory and processing power. So... why isn't it just there in 64-bit Windows?
Virtual machines are going to wreak havoc with Microsoft's captive market. Enforced incompatibility? No problem. Add an XP VM, add a Linux VM, add a DOS VM. The OS is increasingly just another piece of installable software. It doesn't have to own your machine.
You don't buy anything with taxes. Taxes are arbitrary amounts of money confiscated from you, used to purchase goods you quite likely didn't want and would have been happy to pay not to have. Taxes suck the blood out of civilizations.
...are we being intentionally obtuse or just trolling?
It's true that lending someone the original copyrighted CD you purchased is not an infringement of copyright. Making someone a new CD, however, is exactly that. Copy... right, get it? The author has control over copies of his and/or her work.
You had me until "Especially during such a precarious time in our nation's history." I do hope you're under 16 and this still seems like a new trope to you. O tempora, o mores.
Err... why the scare quotes? Are they, or are they not, polio vaccines?
Assuming you meant real polio vaccinations, do they even give those out any more? The vaccine is certain to be more dangerous than the disease, which basically doesn't exist any more.
Government... "services". Ya, about that.
It decides what we "need", forces us to use it, makes the competition illegal, and charges us whatever it thinks it can get away with.
There are certainly useful things that a government does, but most of its attention is spent "servicing" us.
"If man were meant to fly, he'd have been given wings?"
Get serious. People are immensely robust. Technology shouldn't scare you so readily, it's mostly harmless.
TV, movies, and 3D stereoscopy have all been around for more than a few decades. We see no evidence of harm. If it makes you happy to wear a tinfoil hat, be aware that they're not considered stylish-- but hey, marketing opportunity. Maybe if you paste a little lizard on it.
Apparently, "most knowledgeable on-line users" have developed photosynthetic skin and no longer need to eat. I'm quite aware of the dubious business practices of PayPal but, they own the universal money transfer market. If you can do better, build that thing and make your fortune. In the meantime, boycotting PayPal is a fine luxury for the sea-kitten crowd.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft decided that fonts ought to be able to play music, video, scripts, and connect to web sites. Then they made the format executable. Oh, go ahead, mod me down, it's not like they did it with text files, help files, sound files, and video files already.
That is all.
Ok, let's see... the media claimed that some anonymous member of an amorphous group threatened a drug cartel. Now the media claims that that anonymous person changed his mind. Sure, whatever...
This is true. Some people are still using little plastic platters to transfer data? No respect, granny, get an intertubes already. The whole outrage against Netflix is from people who still think plastic platters sent by snailmail are a pretty good idea. Funky.
Are they going to be broadcasting over the internet? 'Cause, I don't know, are there still a lot of you guys who use old-fashioned TVs and radios? Who, exactly, is even going to know about the "emergency"?
Err. Yes. Yes, I do. Do you know how I know that you haven't been around for very long? Any of us who have worked with computers for any length of time have seen our bright, shiny, woefully expensive top-of-the-line technology decay into junk that you can't even give away to a thrift store, in maybe a decade. There is little enough in the world that depreciates as rapidly as technology. It's been a whirlwind tour...
'They are a personnel management agency, they are not a technology company, and this clearly demonstrates that they don't have the technology skills to be able to do this.' Pure FUD. If the problem was that all the toilets were always blocked up, you wouldn't accept an excuse that the company is clearly not a plumbing company, and doesn't have the skills to manage basic plumbing. That could be resolved with a simple phone call to folks that do actually have some experience with that field. Now, if you want to say that the management is too drooling stupid to figure that out... well, it's the Government, so that's not entirely implausible, but that's an entirely different statement than what has been made.
There seems to be universal confusion on this point. May I point out that, just because a currency is legal tender, that does not make it mandatory? If someone wants to sell me a DVD for three boxes of noodles, that does not mean I can force him accept paper money instead.
We can only hope. Most of the problem is the governments, which tend to exist to reap the citizens for the benefit of Dear Leader.
Butthead Astronomer Telescope. I like it. BAT it is.
Fascinating. A complete case of "whoosh!" and it gets modded +5 insightful? The word is "paid", not "payed", by the way. It's a four-letter word you should know and love.
It just beeped and gave me a nanobot sandwich.
It's the fault of the "Free Market", where there is enormous incentive for companies to lie and cheat. The more successful a company the more money it will have with which to purchase power. The more power it has, the more it will push de-regulation
The what, now? Big companies never push deregulation. They want as much regulation as possible, the better to punish anyone else trying to enter the same market. It's called "rent seeking".
but I worked for a company such as this, once. They were eager to have me as soon as possible, and when I got there, they had no computer for me. A few days later, they managed to dredge up a pitiful antique that didn't have a network card, so I had to beg other employees to copy the files I needed to floppies. No one blinked an eye. It turned out to be standard behavior for the company. That sort of grotesque mismanagement should send red flags shooting up in all directions. Polish your resume and prepare to abandon ship.
Would the alleged editors please pay just a little attention? "It's not entirely clear at this point if the memo is authentic... This could be a flat-out hoax or a statistical anomaly or... " or anything but a story. Have some shame.
[quote]My first through when reading this[/quote] You can't afford to risk losing another single brain cell.
I think it's encouraging news that they're finally going to let go of legacy stuff, that really is the root of so many issues. They really have to draw the line sometime.
New kid, eh? I take it you don't yet have any programs that have been forced into retirement by Microsoft's latest and greatest marketing visions. You'll learn.
64-bit Windows doesn't support 16-bit programs. Odd. On Linux, you can run almost any old DOS program using DosEmu. On Windows, you can get part of the way there with DosBox. It's not like you can't get there from here. It is like, if you make it easy for people to keep using their existing software, you can't get them to pay for a shiny new version of the same old thing.
Backwards compatibility should be assumed, automatic. You can emulate a 1985 IBM PC entirely in software, these days, with trivial costs in memory and processing power. So... why isn't it just there in 64-bit Windows?
Virtual machines are going to wreak havoc with Microsoft's captive market. Enforced incompatibility? No problem. Add an XP VM, add a Linux VM, add a DOS VM. The OS is increasingly just another piece of installable software. It doesn't have to own your machine.
You don't buy anything with taxes. Taxes are arbitrary amounts of money confiscated from you, used to purchase goods you quite likely didn't want and would have been happy to pay not to have. Taxes suck the blood out of civilizations.
...are we being intentionally obtuse or just trolling? It's true that lending someone the original copyrighted CD you purchased is not an infringement of copyright. Making someone a new CD, however, is exactly that. Copy... right, get it? The author has control over copies of his and/or her work.
You had me until "Especially during such a precarious time in our nation's history." I do hope you're under 16 and this still seems like a new trope to you. O tempora, o mores.
Err... why the scare quotes? Are they, or are they not, polio vaccines? Assuming you meant real polio vaccinations, do they even give those out any more? The vaccine is certain to be more dangerous than the disease, which basically doesn't exist any more.
Government... "services". Ya, about that. It decides what we "need", forces us to use it, makes the competition illegal, and charges us whatever it thinks it can get away with. There are certainly useful things that a government does, but most of its attention is spent "servicing" us.
"If man were meant to fly, he'd have been given wings?" Get serious. People are immensely robust. Technology shouldn't scare you so readily, it's mostly harmless. TV, movies, and 3D stereoscopy have all been around for more than a few decades. We see no evidence of harm. If it makes you happy to wear a tinfoil hat, be aware that they're not considered stylish-- but hey, marketing opportunity. Maybe if you paste a little lizard on it.
So it's come to this point. Microsoft has started sucking its own Slurm.
Apparently, "most knowledgeable on-line users" have developed photosynthetic skin and no longer need to eat. I'm quite aware of the dubious business practices of PayPal but, they own the universal money transfer market. If you can do better, build that thing and make your fortune. In the meantime, boycotting PayPal is a fine luxury for the sea-kitten crowd.