You'd be suprised (ok, maybe not) at how many people (including math-type people... no.. make that ESPECIALLY math-type people) who don't understand what it's really a proof of (eg. why you can't divide by zero).
I wanted to see it, because it seemed somewhat "interesting." However, I missed it because I was hacking up some code and forgot all about it. Damn coding habbits. Damn. Damn. Damn.
Oh well.. was it anything like that "Alien Autopsy" thing? I missed that too, so... umm.. was it anything like FOX's real-life car chase shows... umm.. whatever they're called..
Jeez.. I watch TV about one hour a week or so. I'm so out of the loop. Man.
Besides, it was on FOX. Its not like the Discovery channel is broadcasting this shit.
Ok. ---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b; 2b=b;2=1
W3C? Pfft. They don't even have the word 'STANDARD' in theire name... what do they know about standards. Jeez.
Seriously though, you bring up a very good point. I'd like to see the W3's stance on this issue which, afaik, is that you choose a DOCTYPE for your HTML and STICK TO IT. Most people are using 3.x or 4/transitional. Few use 4/strict because it is too strict (whereas trans allows 3.x browsers to be supported).
If you were designing a website targeted at issues for blind people you may suddenly realize how useless that IMG tag is. OTOH, if you are designing a website for some modern art culture magazine you're going to simply overdo the IMG tag. And, if you are IBM designing the olympic webpage, you'll remember that (for BACKWARDS COMPATABILITY) there is an ALT tag that satisfies both worlds.
Whats my point? Know your audience. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither should your webpage. Understand the demographics that will be visiting your website and adjust your style accordingly. There is no such thing as a one-site-fits-all website; each site is targeted at a specific audience. Your job as a web developer is to understand this audience and work with it.
While your working on that 40 level deep nested table, please remember that you did set out to say something... right?
What this does show is that these execs are greedy bastards. Sure, blame the person who uses CD-R media for daily system backups or other many legitamite uses (including making custom mixes and cd backups) and make us pay for what is "supposedly" happening illegally. I'm not trying to promote piracy, but taxing legitamite users isn't either. I'd like to know why I have to pay Metallica a small fee so that I may burn my Natile Portman porn to a CD-R. If _anything_, I should have to pay Natile Portman a tax... umm.. you get what I'm saying?
The only thing this tax proves is that these people are greedy. ---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b; 2b=b;2=1
Time to fire up the CVS!
on
Freshmeat II
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· Score: 2
Hook up a project on Sourceforge and link it from freshmeat and get that CVS tree going.. this could be a goldmine project.
pfft.;)
What makes Wintel better than anything else...
on
Digital Doodling
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· Score: 2
IBM did it with Mainframes to buig buisness before Microsoft and Intel did it to us. Its very simple and yet, at the same time, it can be difficult to pull off. Marketing.
When the Apple first came out, everyone was using IBM. Somehow big buisness was accustomed to getting everything from IBM. Actually they were more than just accustomed to IBM they were clung to the image of professionalism and power. IBM was the largest (and perhaps only?) big manufactuer of Mainframe systems. Companies trusted IBM with making the best systems and, for the most part, they did deliver on that. In time, companies would take the stance of: if it's not IBM it's not coming in here. It could have also been something with IBM's licensing agreements, but I like the romantic idea of an actual relationship between companies.
Along came the personal computer. Woz and Jobs got a great idea from Homebrew that real world people just might be able to benifit from computers. Things like games (well, maybe not yet), personal finance, word processing, etc, without having to wait in line for processing time on some university or company IBM mainframe. Also, you may not be able to do PERSONAL things on an academic or corporate system - something you CAN do with a personal computer. Jobs probably jerked off that night thinking of all the money that they could bring in. Bill Gates was probably failing a test or something and didn't really have a clue... not yet anyway.
Anyhow, Woz and Jobs sell these personal computers and they take off very well. Except for one big problem. Those little Apples didn't have the three most important things at that time to be accepted into buisness. Those three things were the letters I.B.M. on the cover. Woz and Jobs proved one thing: there was _money_ to be made, and IBM eventually wanted a part of it.
Buisness turned to IBM and said "Hey, those Apples might be useful... we'd like some way to sucker people into working at the office and at home... what do you have for us?" IBM quickly ran out and (quite literally) overnight built what has become known as the Personal Computer (or IBM PC).
So why this long boring history lesson that's probably half wrong? Well, the part that's right is the big buisness acceptance. Buisnesses standardized on the PC not because it was better, but because it came from the bigger company.
In time, Apple has proven to lead the way to innovation - the GUI for example. But buisness was always oriented around the PC. Once IBM had that engrained into their corporate culture then the war was over.
Think of it this way. IE vs Netscape. Who won? IE. Not because it was necessarily better than Netscape, but simply because the company that owned it had more market share and more money to throw at it. Who cares if Netscape was there first or was better (better is an opinion), IE had the BIG company behind it to back it in the minds of the average consumer.
Since most people used PCs at work, they eventually wanted to use them at home too. The Apple got sidelined as everyone got the PC. Incedently, the PC is cheeper than the Mac, simply because there is competiton on the hardware side of things.
The Mac lost because Apple wasn't a big company. No one in big buisness trusted the two kids from a garage. Apple was first. Apple was better. Apple just didn't matter.
The problem is that with more users on the PC, more developers came along for it. More developers means more applications and more applications means more choice for the end user.
Sadly Microsoft found a way to monopolize the basic software component of the IBM PC and bilked IBM and the rest of us for over 10 years. Sigh.
Again, the Mac may be better technologically speaking, but the PC has more application and more support. It's more widely used and accepted and, for the present time, the tide isn't changing. I respect Apple for starting the PC industry in the same way I respect Netscape for starting the WWW. Unfortunatly I'm typing this note on Internet Explorer running on Windows 98 on my IBM latpop. Sad really. Just plain sad.
Maybe they'll get back on their feet. Maybe they'll find a way to destory the PC market. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow... Blah, this is getting stupid.. L8r.
The article seems to focus and dwindle on summing up whats been happening in a more digestable format. I would have liked to see more about how Microsoft will convert shrink-wrap into on-tap delivery and how, since it controls the tap, buisness could be crippled if Microsoft decides that they should be (rasing the level of entry bar).
What I don't like is the attitude of Microsoft of embracing and extending the _standard_ internet protocols into their own proprietary formats. This is already happening with IE, Kerbos, and Java and soon they will ensure that the "Internet" only works with Windows clients.
I think it is a good summation about what the current situation is but I would like a bit more of an editorial from this person. Especially with that hint at the end about it helping projects like Linux (how? why? etc).
Since you were in what appears to be a very serious accident with a very serious idoit, do you feel that the drunk driving laws are good/bad and what do you think could/should be done to prevent accidents like the one you were involved with (if anything)? Also, what do you feel are the effects of alchohol on the average geek mind?
2.8 You acknowledge and agree that you are purchasing the Equipment and in the event you terminate the Services, Sprint will have no obligation to remove the Equipment from the Premises. However, if you terminate your Services prior to the end of the Term, and if you fail to pay the Termination Fee as provided in Section 3 below, Sprint will have the right, but not the obligation, to remove and resell or reuse the Equipment.
You buy the equipment but if you fail to pay the termination fee (of $299) you down't own the equipment. In other words, you don't actually own the equipment, you are borrowing it. This claus allows them, however, to refute any repair or service to the device (typically if you lease or loan the equipment, repairs and replacements are gratis).
Another:
5.SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS.
5.1 Although Sprint will make commercially reasonable efforts to
maintain the Services, you may experience service interruptions. Sprint assumes no responsibility or
liability for interruption of the Services, whether due to (without limiting
the generality of the foregoing):
5.1.1. failure or of any part of
the Services for any reason, whether related to hardware, software, wiring or
any other equipment;
5.1.2. interruptions due to periodic testing or system alterations,
including modifications to Equipment;
5.1.3. power failures, riots, civil unrest, acts of war, or acts of God,
including hurricanes, floods, ice, wind, lightning, and accidents; or
5.1.4. regulations, orders,
decisions or acts of any lawfully constituted authority or court.
In other words: don't expect any kind of refunds for any kind of downtime.
Everything else seems pretty standard: you, the client, can't do anything except browse their homepage and they aren't required to enforce anything. Really, its all the same as everyone elses... until...
.4 THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND
Hrmm.. I've never seen "as available" basis before. I think they've learned from the cable companies...
10.7 With email notification, Sprint reserves the right to charge for customer calls into technical support or for on-site technical support.
Nice one.. charge 'em for tech-support.. lower the monthly bill then please.
10.16 You grant to Sprint or any appointed subcontractors an irrevocable license to enter into or onto your Premises during normal business hours, Monday through Saturday, in order to install, repair, replace or remove Equipment. This license will survive termination or cancellation of this Agreement and will run with the land and inure to the parties' successors and assigns.
What the FUCK is that? I have never seen anything like this before. And it will survive termination or cancellation of the agreement AND, even if you move, they can still enter the premesis. I would really like to see this one get tested. That can't be right, not at all. They _should_ have reasonable access during scheduled appointments but I don't want some sprint dork on my porch demanding entry. That is unfair and plain wrong.
Oh well, maybe it's just me... But at least I know I'm not signing up for sprint...
I guess this proves one thing: Obscurity is not a form of Security.
Battle.net uses *obscurity* to implement it's security. It seems to trust the client too much. Worse yet it seems that a simple logic flaw has cost Blizzard it's reputation. Ack.
Another thing this proves is that the more obsure something is, the more complicated the system is, etc. It lends into being more of a challenge for 'hackers' and 'crackers' to break, which only fuels the fire. Though, if the system was open and exploits available and commonly known, you get the scr1pt k1ddies comming. Sheesh.
Much as there are haves and have-nots in the modern world, the future will lend to the know and the know-nots. Our society will be divided into those who know how to control technology and harness its power for their advantage and those who fall in line and become the numbers in our system.
The great dividing line will be prominent over society. People who know how to manipulate and profit from technology will begin to dominate and control those who don't understand it. Society will fragment and the fustrated geeks will begin to control everything from underground operation centres. Technology will become the heroin of the future.
Simple technology: microwaves, televisions, cars, pdas, etc, will become more advanced yet easier to use. The interface will be waterd down to a point where manipulation of data on a lower level will become next to impossible for the average user. Compare this to the beginnings of computer technology where only the elite few had even access to such technology - but all who had access understood the inner workings of what they were using.
Some people walk around nowadays with toys that are more powerfull than the computer that calculated the trajectory used to land on the moon. Yet the average person treats this powerful technology with no respect or understanding of its capabilities.
Worse yet, people will become slaves to themselves and almost completly exist inside their own homes. With everything available at home, whats the point of _going_ somewhere? We will return to caves of technology and isolate ourselves from society. Society will disintegrate and degenerate from what it is today. We will become islands and countries unto ourselves.
From this sess-pool of isolation someone will stand up and look back. This person will ask "how did this happen?" The answer is, of course, that we let a small group of people control the technology and power that went with it. Because the average person didn't understand or care about technological advance, they became easily manipluated and controled by those with power and understanding. It is therefore our mission to encourage learning and understanding amoung our fellow human beings. Not just sharing knowledge and source code but helping others to actually learn about that technology which will control their lives. To the end that they contorl the technology instead of the other way around.
The other problem I have is that the site is not navigatable - you can't DO anything but call them. Something tells me that if they have been around since 1995, they'd have a bit of a better website.
And take a look at this:
That's right, sign up before
DECEMBER 1st and get 50% OFF , on the first and on all your future months
He didn't even REGISTER the domain name before december 1st. Besides, 50% of $6,000 is still $3,000... too rich for my blood;-).
Dude: Welcome to the real world. 99.9999999% of all people are sheep. What's worse, if given the opportunity, 99.99999% of them will choose slavery over freedom. Where do you think the various socialisms (fascism, marxism, stalinism, leninism, maoism) get their serfs?
Sorry for being a dreamer; someone who, for some fucked up reason, thinks that the world could be more than it is. A scary thing may be that I believe in text-book socalisim (a dream that can never be realized) and dream of world peace. No, I'm no tree-hugging flower child, but I wouldn't mind a bit of peace now and then.
I do tech-support. I do it because it makes me happy and makes me feel like I contribute something. Too bad most people seem to be stuck in that "take-take", "me-me," mode. Bah, but I don't let them get to me.
Freedom exists in your mind; you just have to know where to look.
It's not that Linux is any harder to learn than Windows is. It's different and people are learning Windows - not Linux. Tell someone that everything they learned is (basically) useless and that they will now need to learn a new system. Yes, some basic things will carry over, but apples and oranges here.
As for running as "root" (which I checked, and I haved logged in as root twice)... another thing that needs to be hidden from the average user.
Case in point:
A ITSS (Information Technology Support Services) course at the school just got Windows 2000 on their systems (as a beta group) and they had to move from 95 (their last year system) to 2000. Most of these people were knowledgabe 95 users with good technical and troubleshooting skills - under 95. Simply moving to 2000 gave them A LOT of problems. Hell, they have to install NT 4 as part of their course and they are having troubles with THAT (and I don't mean crashing - I mean figuring out how to partition, choose options, etc). If the transition between 95/98 to 2000 is difficult for them, imagine how moving from 95/98 to Linux would be!
Let me say that I am a proud Linux zealot. I plaster penguin stickers all over the place and try to get people interested in the various packages out there and what they can DO with it. But it comes down to the fact that people have FINALLY gotten around to accepting computers as a household tool and are now hesitating about switching to something new.
I like Linux and use it at home myself. I would like to see it succeed, but as I said - I'm not the person to do it. My belief/hope/vision/etc is that if you look at Linux as it could be - maybe, just maybe, it could actually become that.
The thing is, do we WANT Linux to superceed Windows? Sure, us geeks would like the corporate giant to fall to the idealistic environment (for us), but I'm sure many non-computer-geek people would prefer to stagnate in mediocracy (sp).
Microsoft provides a relativly complete system geared for the home user. Linux is simply not this...
Linux __IS__ a better choice for servers and performance apps. Comparing Windows 9x to Linux is like comparing a Crysler Acclaim to a 18-Wheel Mac Truck - they are both "vehicles" but anyone can tell you that they are designed to do completly different things.
I don't think Linux will "get" the Desktop, nor do I really think it should go there. The interface is simply not oriented for users. BeOS, Aqua, etc, _are_ user oriented and desktop driven. Linux is a sandbox for technology - look at all the crap being thrown into the kernel, most of which the average joe does not need/have/want in their system. Again, great for geeks, bad for the average person.
It's sad that money makes the world go around, but it's a fact. We are led to believe, when we are young, that if we do what we are interested in then we will be happier and more productive. Its sad when people don't heed this advice.
You're right: if they make it easier, more people pass. More people passing means more money for the school. Sadly, this perpetuates (ugh) the problem of un-interested parties and removes the challenge from the course.
Life should be a challenge... if it was all easy then what would the point be?
I think the cool thing about having Linux in the office would be the availability of remote X terms. Basically, setup all the computers as little more than dumb terminals and beef up the central servers. Users would simply open x-term windows and their programs would run on the central (and controlled) servers. Even better would the be the ability for someone to go to ANY computer and have all of their programs available - most Windows places require you to install your apps on each computer locally before using - eg. WinINSTALL.
On the tech-support side, x-term windows would let support people get a better view of the users desktop - PCAnywhere does a good job for PCs, but I personally thing that X is much more flexable for this.
There still would be a massive re-training of users required - definatly factoring into any corporate decesion to switch. With Windows being the _current_ de facto desktop standard, and most people having experience in it, it will be a big risk to switch. How much of a risk is not for me to say - it depends on the staff and who the users are. A web company may find advantages where a buisness office may find dis-advantages.
It boils down to getting people to remember that no one system is a "universal" solution. Every system (yes, even Windows) has its useful place. The advantage of Linux is that it can be re-tooled and re-packaged for different environments..
I dunno.. maybe I've been banging my head against the wall too much lately...;)
Yay, a chance to rant about something that has been bugging me for a while. First, I took a "UNIX" course last year and we had the option of installing and learning a bit about Linux. 4 of us (class of ~30) took the challenge and played around with it, but got no support or guidance - and I'm paying tuition for this remember. The course focused more on Digital UNIX and turned out to be more of a primer and even more of a disapointment. Which leads me to my rant.
Ever since "computers" and "technology" has become more prominent and all these agencies scrounging for IT workers, a new trend has developed. I look around my class and see people who are not so much interested in technology as much as the jobs that they will find. They are not interested or curious in even the slightest sense and take the joy out of playing with computer technology. It saddens me to see our instructors to teach to the LCD and not even TRY to encourage people to branch out and THINK for themselves.
Maybe I chose the wrong place to study so I would like to ask the/. crowd about their experiences with other students. Is there a growing trend with people intrested solely in the possible monetary gain and less about learning and experiencing cool computer tech?
Thats true, except a lot of people muck around in ways they should not. Say in Windows, a user deletes a file - I can direct them to check the recycle bin and recover from there (90% of Windows "users" don't empty their trash). Under Linux? Uhrm. ugh. sorry, it's *gone*. =).
But it's not the corp backup we need. What we need is something for the average HOME user. The average HOME user doesn't want to wait on the phone for tech support, doesn't want the hassle of learning something new, and doesn't want to change from what they are now familiar with.
Linux et al are not fighting against Microsoft, so much as we have to fight against the market saturation that it has. I guess a similar analogy would be going from an automatic transmission to a manual when driving. Most people now-a-days drive auto and couldn't care less about changing the gears as they go - Linux is more manual than Windows.
I'm not saying that it's impossible, just somewhere that we are not at just yet. Don't worry, we'll get there someday;).
I'm not going to claim to be an authority on this, just gonna give my two cents and let the slashdot crowd tell me if I'm off my rocker here.
Linux is good. It's not great, yet, but good. I can name several big institutions that run their entire network with Linux, FreeBSD, and DU. It's a great system for computer enthusiasts, "hackers" (not necessarily the malicious kind), and geeks. It is still not ready, however, for the average computer user. I know this because I work support for the average computer user and have a good understanding of what users want.
Users DO NOT want to spend days figuring out how to setup a device. Nor do they care about kernel level optimizations or text-file configurations. They, as their name implies, USE the computer to play games, browse the Internet, process documents, and draw pictures. Linux HAS all of this, except it is missing the components that keep the low level "tech" from them. Case in point: most Windows users will stare at you blankly if you ask them ANYTHING about the "command prompt" or "dos-mode". Isn't that something they got rid of a long time ago? Wasn't it something only used when computers were a geek toy? The answer is YES. Windows, for the most part, does not require the user to operate the CLI at all. Linux, OTOH, almost requires the user to have at least some familarity with the console and text-files, directory structure and conf file locations. Why do some "personal" versions of Linux come pre-installed with a web-server? Huh? It's still AIMED at people interested in computers.
Maybe a splinter group (or is there one out there?) should focus on adapting Linux to the common person - one that my mother could use, and one that I don't have to spend days massaging (note that I enjoy playing with Linux on a lower level, so this isn't really a concern for me).
I think, at the present time, Linux can NOT replace Windows on the average desktop - and possibly not for at least another year. Add to that the fact that Linux/X is a much different experience than Windows.
BeOS, OTOH, is a much better direction in terms of something to de-throne the giant.
Slashdot Mirror
You'd be suprised (ok, maybe not) at how many people (including math-type people... no.. make that ESPECIALLY math-type people) who don't understand what it's really a proof of (eg. why you can't divide by zero).
; 2b=b;2=1
ugh.
:)
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
Nope, you made a mistake there, you see: (a-b)=0. So you can prove any figure equals any other figure, after that little trick.
; 2b=b;2=1
--
Yes, I know.
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
I wanted to see it, because it seemed somewhat "interesting." However, I missed it because I was hacking up some code and forgot all about it. Damn coding habbits. Damn. Damn. Damn.
; 2b=b;2=1
Oh well.. was it anything like that "Alien Autopsy" thing? I missed that too, so... umm.. was it anything like FOX's real-life car chase shows... umm.. whatever they're called..
Jeez.. I watch TV about one hour a week or so. I'm so out of the loop. Man.
Besides, it was on FOX. Its not like the Discovery channel is broadcasting this shit.
Ok.
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
W3C? Pfft. They don't even have the word 'STANDARD' in theire name... what do they know about standards. Jeez.
; 2b=b;2=1
Seriously though, you bring up a very good point. I'd like to see the W3's stance on this issue which, afaik, is that you choose a DOCTYPE for your HTML and STICK TO IT. Most people are using 3.x or 4/transitional. Few use 4/strict because it is too strict (whereas trans allows 3.x browsers to be supported).
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
::
Sorry, you're going to need to upgrade your browser so we can tell you to upgrade your browser so... (ad nauseum)
::
to understand recursion we must first understand recursion. or something like that.
:)
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
If you were designing a website targeted at issues for blind people you may suddenly realize how useless that IMG tag is. OTOH, if you are designing a website for some modern art culture magazine you're going to simply overdo the IMG tag. And, if you are IBM designing the olympic webpage, you'll remember that (for BACKWARDS COMPATABILITY) there is an ALT tag that satisfies both worlds.
; 2b=b;2=1
Whats my point? Know your audience. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither should your webpage. Understand the demographics that will be visiting your website and adjust your style accordingly. There is no such thing as a one-site-fits-all website; each site is targeted at a specific audience. Your job as a web developer is to understand this audience and work with it.
While your working on that 40 level deep nested table, please remember that you did set out to say something... right?
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
What this does show is that these execs are greedy bastards. Sure, blame the person who uses CD-R media for daily system backups or other many legitamite uses (including making custom mixes and cd backups) and make us pay for what is "supposedly" happening illegally. I'm not trying to promote piracy, but taxing legitamite users isn't either. I'd like to know why I have to pay Metallica a small fee so that I may burn my Natile Portman porn to a CD-R. If _anything_, I should have to pay Natile Portman a tax... umm.. you get what I'm saying?
; 2b=b;2=1
The only thing this tax proves is that these people are greedy.
---
a=b;a^2=ab;a^2-b^2=ab-b^2;(a-b)(a+b)=b(a-b);a+b=b
Hook up a project on Sourceforge and link it from freshmeat and get that CVS tree going.. this could be a goldmine project.
;)
pfft.
IBM did it with Mainframes to buig buisness before Microsoft and Intel did it to us. Its very simple and yet, at the same time, it can be difficult to pull off. Marketing.
When the Apple first came out, everyone was using IBM. Somehow big buisness was accustomed to getting everything from IBM. Actually they were more than just accustomed to IBM they were clung to the image of professionalism and power. IBM was the largest (and perhaps only?) big manufactuer of Mainframe systems. Companies trusted IBM with making the best systems and, for the most part, they did deliver on that. In time, companies would take the stance of: if it's not IBM it's not coming in here. It could have also been something with IBM's licensing agreements, but I like the romantic idea of an actual relationship between companies.
Along came the personal computer. Woz and Jobs got a great idea from Homebrew that real world people just might be able to benifit from computers. Things like games (well, maybe not yet), personal finance, word processing, etc, without having to wait in line for processing time on some university or company IBM mainframe. Also, you may not be able to do PERSONAL things on an academic or corporate system - something you CAN do with a personal computer. Jobs probably jerked off that night thinking of all the money that they could bring in. Bill Gates was probably failing a test or something and didn't really have a clue... not yet anyway.
Anyhow, Woz and Jobs sell these personal computers and they take off very well. Except for one big problem. Those little Apples didn't have the three most important things at that time to be accepted into buisness. Those three things were the letters I.B.M. on the cover. Woz and Jobs proved one thing: there was _money_ to be made, and IBM eventually wanted a part of it.
Buisness turned to IBM and said "Hey, those Apples might be useful... we'd like some way to sucker people into working at the office and at home... what do you have for us?" IBM quickly ran out and (quite literally) overnight built what has become known as the Personal Computer (or IBM PC).
So why this long boring history lesson that's probably half wrong? Well, the part that's right is the big buisness acceptance. Buisnesses standardized on the PC not because it was better, but because it came from the bigger company.
In time, Apple has proven to lead the way to innovation - the GUI for example. But buisness was always oriented around the PC. Once IBM had that engrained into their corporate culture then the war was over.
Think of it this way. IE vs Netscape. Who won? IE. Not because it was necessarily better than Netscape, but simply because the company that owned it had more market share and more money to throw at it. Who cares if Netscape was there first or was better (better is an opinion), IE had the BIG company behind it to back it in the minds of the average consumer.
Since most people used PCs at work, they eventually wanted to use them at home too. The Apple got sidelined as everyone got the PC. Incedently, the PC is cheeper than the Mac, simply because there is competiton on the hardware side of things.
The Mac lost because Apple wasn't a big company. No one in big buisness trusted the two kids from a garage. Apple was first. Apple was better. Apple just didn't matter.
The problem is that with more users on the PC, more developers came along for it. More developers means more applications and more applications means more choice for the end user.
Sadly Microsoft found a way to monopolize the basic software component of the IBM PC and bilked IBM and the rest of us for over 10 years. Sigh.
Again, the Mac may be better technologically speaking, but the PC has more application and more support. It's more widely used and accepted and, for the present time, the tide isn't changing. I respect Apple for starting the PC industry in the same way I respect Netscape for starting the WWW. Unfortunatly I'm typing this note on Internet Explorer running on Windows 98 on my IBM latpop. Sad really. Just plain sad.
Maybe they'll get back on their feet. Maybe they'll find a way to destory the PC market. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow... Blah, this is getting stupid.. L8r.
The article seems to focus and dwindle on summing up whats been happening in a more digestable format. I would have liked to see more about how Microsoft will convert shrink-wrap into on-tap delivery and how, since it controls the tap, buisness could be crippled if Microsoft decides that they should be (rasing the level of entry bar).
;)
What I don't like is the attitude of Microsoft of embracing and extending the _standard_ internet protocols into their own proprietary formats. This is already happening with IE, Kerbos, and Java and soon they will ensure that the "Internet" only works with Windows clients.
I think it is a good summation about what the current situation is but I would like a bit more of an editorial from this person. Especially with that hint at the end about it helping projects like Linux (how? why? etc).
Oh well.
Since you were in what appears to be a very serious accident with a very serious idoit, do you feel that the drunk driving laws are good/bad and what do you think could/should be done to prevent accidents like the one you were involved with (if anything)? Also, what do you feel are the effects of alchohol on the average geek mind?
Blah.
You buy the equipment but if you fail to pay the termination fee (of $299) you down't own the equipment. In other words, you don't actually own the equipment, you are borrowing it. This claus allows them, however, to refute any repair or service to the device (typically if you lease or loan the equipment, repairs and replacements are gratis).
Another:
In other words: don't expect any kind of refunds for any kind of downtime.
Everything else seems pretty standard: you, the client, can't do anything except browse their homepage and they aren't required to enforce anything. Really, its all the same as everyone elses... until...
Hrmm.. I've never seen "as available" basis before. I think they've learned from the cable companies...
Nice one.. charge 'em for tech-support.. lower the monthly bill then please.
What the FUCK is that? I have never seen anything like this before. And it will survive termination or cancellation of the agreement AND, even if you move, they can still enter the premesis. I would really like to see this one get tested. That can't be right, not at all. They _should_ have reasonable access during scheduled appointments but I don't want some sprint dork on my porch demanding entry. That is unfair and plain wrong.
Oh well, maybe it's just me... But at least I know I'm not signing up for sprint...
That is kind of funny actually. Heh. Just thought of the simpson kids begging homer to get them a pool (in unison). Can we have a pool dad?
I'm a dork. plain and simple..
Here comes the sig train...
I see why you remained anonymous.
I said: when it's closed you attract hackers and crackers and when it's open you attract script kiddies. Either way we, the end users, get fsck'd.
Never did I say "If Blizzard went open source, this never would have happened."
Grow a brain.
I guess this proves one thing: Obscurity is not a form of Security.
Battle.net uses *obscurity* to implement it's security. It seems to trust the client too much. Worse yet it seems that a simple logic flaw has cost Blizzard it's reputation. Ack.
Another thing this proves is that the more obsure something is, the more complicated the system is, etc. It lends into being more of a challenge for 'hackers' and 'crackers' to break, which only fuels the fire. Though, if the system was open and exploits available and commonly known, you get the scr1pt k1ddies comming. Sheesh.
Or maybe it's just me..
Much as there are haves and have-nots in the modern world, the future will lend to the know and the know-nots. Our society will be divided into those who know how to control technology and harness its power for their advantage and those who fall in line and become the numbers in our system.
The great dividing line will be prominent over society. People who know how to manipulate and profit from technology will begin to dominate and control those who don't understand it. Society will fragment and the fustrated geeks will begin to control everything from underground operation centres. Technology will become the heroin of the future.
Simple technology: microwaves, televisions, cars, pdas, etc, will become more advanced yet easier to use. The interface will be waterd down to a point where manipulation of data on a lower level will become next to impossible for the average user. Compare this to the beginnings of computer technology where only the elite few had even access to such technology - but all who had access understood the inner workings of what they were using.
Some people walk around nowadays with toys that are more powerfull than the computer that calculated the trajectory used to land on the moon. Yet the average person treats this powerful technology with no respect or understanding of its capabilities.
Worse yet, people will become slaves to themselves and almost completly exist inside their own homes. With everything available at home, whats the point of _going_ somewhere? We will return to caves of technology and isolate ourselves from society. Society will disintegrate and degenerate from what it is today. We will become islands and countries unto ourselves.
From this sess-pool of isolation someone will stand up and look back. This person will ask "how did this happen?" The answer is, of course, that we let a small group of people control the technology and power that went with it. Because the average person didn't understand or care about technological advance, they became easily manipluated and controled by those with power and understanding. It is therefore our mission to encourage learning and understanding amoung our fellow human beings. Not just sharing knowledge and source code but helping others to actually learn about that technology which will control their lives. To the end that they contorl the technology instead of the other way around.
Or maybe it's just me.
What gets me is this claim:
Now there are 2 problems with this statement:
The other problem I have is that the site is not navigatable - you can't DO anything but call them. Something tells me that if they have been around since 1995, they'd have a bit of a better website.
And take a look at this:
He didn't even REGISTER the domain name before december 1st. Besides, 50% of $6,000 is still $3,000... too rich for my blood ;-).
verbatim
Sorry for being a dreamer; someone who, for some fucked up reason, thinks that the world could be more than it is. A scary thing may be that I believe in text-book socalisim (a dream that can never be realized) and dream of world peace. No, I'm no tree-hugging flower child, but I wouldn't mind a bit of peace now and then.
I do tech-support. I do it because it makes me happy and makes me feel like I contribute something. Too bad most people seem to be stuck in that "take-take", "me-me," mode. Bah, but I don't let them get to me.
Freedom exists in your mind; you just have to know where to look.
bah... whatever... enough happy shit for one day.
/me scans his desktop and sees the trash icon
;)
heh.. never noticed that
It's not that Linux is any harder to learn than Windows is. It's different and people are learning Windows - not Linux. Tell someone that everything they learned is (basically) useless and that they will now need to learn a new system. Yes, some basic things will carry over, but apples and oranges here.
As for running as "root" (which I checked, and I haved logged in as root twice)... another thing that needs to be hidden from the average user.
Case in point:
A ITSS (Information Technology Support Services) course at the school just got Windows 2000 on their systems (as a beta group) and they had to move from 95 (their last year system) to 2000. Most of these people were knowledgabe 95 users with good technical and troubleshooting skills - under 95. Simply moving to 2000 gave them A LOT of problems. Hell, they have to install NT 4 as part of their course and they are having troubles with THAT (and I don't mean crashing - I mean figuring out how to partition, choose options, etc). If the transition between 95/98 to 2000 is difficult for them, imagine how moving from 95/98 to Linux would be!
Let me say that I am a proud Linux zealot. I plaster penguin stickers all over the place and try to get people interested in the various packages out there and what they can DO with it. But it comes down to the fact that people have FINALLY gotten around to accepting computers as a household tool and are now hesitating about switching to something new.
Oh well.
;)
Hrmm.
;).
I like Linux and use it at home myself. I would like to see it succeed, but as I said - I'm not the person to do it. My belief/hope/vision/etc is that if you look at Linux as it could be - maybe, just maybe, it could actually become that.
The thing is, do we WANT Linux to superceed Windows? Sure, us geeks would like the corporate giant to fall to the idealistic environment (for us), but I'm sure many non-computer-geek people would prefer to stagnate in mediocracy (sp).
Microsoft provides a relativly complete system geared for the home user. Linux is simply not this...
Linux __IS__ a better choice for servers and performance apps. Comparing Windows 9x to Linux is like comparing a Crysler Acclaim to a 18-Wheel Mac Truck - they are both "vehicles" but anyone can tell you that they are designed to do completly different things.
I don't think Linux will "get" the Desktop, nor do I really think it should go there. The interface is simply not oriented for users. BeOS, Aqua, etc, _are_ user oriented and desktop driven. Linux is a sandbox for technology - look at all the crap being thrown into the kernel, most of which the average joe does not need/have/want in their system. Again, great for geeks, bad for the average person.
Again, personal opinions
It's sad that money makes the world go around, but it's a fact. We are led to believe, when we are young, that if we do what we are interested in then we will be happier and more productive. Its sad when people don't heed this advice.
You're right: if they make it easier, more people pass. More people passing means more money for the school. Sadly, this perpetuates (ugh) the problem of un-interested parties and removes the challenge from the course.
Life should be a challenge... if it was all easy then what would the point be?
I think the cool thing about having Linux in the office would be the availability of remote X terms. Basically, setup all the computers as little more than dumb terminals and beef up the central servers. Users would simply open x-term windows and their programs would run on the central (and controlled) servers. Even better would the be the ability for someone to go to ANY computer and have all of their programs available - most Windows places require you to install your apps on each computer locally before using - eg. WinINSTALL.
;)
On the tech-support side, x-term windows would let support people get a better view of the users desktop - PCAnywhere does a good job for PCs, but I personally thing that X is much more flexable for this.
There still would be a massive re-training of users required - definatly factoring into any corporate decesion to switch. With Windows being the _current_ de facto desktop standard, and most people having experience in it, it will be a big risk to switch. How much of a risk is not for me to say - it depends on the staff and who the users are. A web company may find advantages where a buisness office may find dis-advantages.
It boils down to getting people to remember that no one system is a "universal" solution. Every system (yes, even Windows) has its useful place. The advantage of Linux is that it can be re-tooled and re-packaged for different environments..
I dunno.. maybe I've been banging my head against the wall too much lately...
Yay, a chance to rant about something that has been bugging me for a while. First, I took a "UNIX" course last year and we had the option of installing and learning a bit about Linux. 4 of us (class of ~30) took the challenge and played around with it, but got no support or guidance - and I'm paying tuition for this remember. The course focused more on Digital UNIX and turned out to be more of a primer and even more of a disapointment. Which leads me to my rant.
/. crowd about their experiences with other students. Is there a growing trend with people intrested solely in the possible monetary gain and less about learning and experiencing cool computer tech?
Ever since "computers" and "technology" has become more prominent and all these agencies scrounging for IT workers, a new trend has developed. I look around my class and see people who are not so much interested in technology as much as the jobs that they will find. They are not interested or curious in even the slightest sense and take the joy out of playing with computer technology. It saddens me to see our instructors to teach to the LCD and not even TRY to encourage people to branch out and THINK for themselves.
Maybe I chose the wrong place to study so I would like to ask the
Bah. end-of-rant.
Thats true, except a lot of people muck around in ways they should not. Say in Windows, a user deletes a file - I can direct them to check the recycle bin and recover from there (90% of Windows "users" don't empty their trash). Under Linux? Uhrm. ugh. sorry, it's *gone*. =).
;).
But it's not the corp backup we need. What we need is something for the average HOME user. The average HOME user doesn't want to wait on the phone for tech support, doesn't want the hassle of learning something new, and doesn't want to change from what they are now familiar with.
Linux et al are not fighting against Microsoft, so much as we have to fight against the market saturation that it has. I guess a similar analogy would be going from an automatic transmission to a manual when driving. Most people now-a-days drive auto and couldn't care less about changing the gears as they go - Linux is more manual than Windows.
I'm not saying that it's impossible, just somewhere that we are not at just yet. Don't worry, we'll get there someday
I'm not going to claim to be an authority on this, just gonna give my two cents and let the slashdot crowd tell me if I'm off my rocker here.
;)
Linux is good. It's not great, yet, but good. I can name several big institutions that run their entire network with Linux, FreeBSD, and DU. It's a great system for computer enthusiasts, "hackers" (not necessarily the malicious kind), and geeks. It is still not ready, however, for the average computer user. I know this because I work support for the average computer user and have a good understanding of what users want.
Users DO NOT want to spend days figuring out how to setup a device. Nor do they care about kernel level optimizations or text-file configurations. They, as their name implies, USE the computer to play games, browse the Internet, process documents, and draw pictures. Linux HAS all of this, except it is missing the components that keep the low level "tech" from them. Case in point: most Windows users will stare at you blankly if you ask them ANYTHING about the "command prompt" or "dos-mode". Isn't that something they got rid of a long time ago? Wasn't it something only used when computers were a geek toy? The answer is YES. Windows, for the most part, does not require the user to operate the CLI at all. Linux, OTOH, almost requires the user to have at least some familarity with the console and text-files, directory structure and conf file locations. Why do some "personal" versions of Linux come pre-installed with a web-server? Huh? It's still AIMED at people interested in computers.
Maybe a splinter group (or is there one out there?) should focus on adapting Linux to the common person - one that my mother could use, and one that I don't have to spend days massaging (note that I enjoy playing with Linux on a lower level, so this isn't really a concern for me).
I think, at the present time, Linux can NOT replace Windows on the average desktop - and possibly not for at least another year. Add to that the fact that Linux/X is a much different experience than Windows.
BeOS, OTOH, is a much better direction in terms of something to de-throne the giant.
Bah, but what do I know anyhow?