But do you know who really invented the automobile, for all practical purposes? That's right. Henry Ford, in 1908.
If by "right" you mean "entirely incorrect", sure. Who taught you that? All Ford did was introduce mass production methods to the automaking process, which had the result of making autos more affordable and more accessible, but in no way can be construed as "inventing" the auto.
(A better example might have been to question whether it was Tesla or Marconi that invented radio.)
Apple really didn't invent the hard drive based MP3 player. I was playing MP3s off my computer's hard drive, and people were taking their music with them on Diamond Rio's and the like for years before the iPod was introduced. (The few people that bought the Compaq-designed, Korea-manufactured Hango PJB-100 were even doing both as far back as 1999.) The iPod was a refinement, not a revelation.
The iPod shuffle, even more so. How different is this new-for-2005 device in concept than the original portable MP3 players of 1998?
'Linux fell short on common tasks such as installing new software.' This is the most important point.
Installing new software is a common task? I would have assumed most people, once past the initial setup of a system, spend their time USING software, not installing it.
But the point stands. In OS X, installing new software is usually just as easy as copying it to the Applications folder. Why do Linux and Windows make it so much more complicated?
Does this mean I'll be un-blacklisted from moderating now?
I've been posting here almost every weekday for three or four years. My karma has been consistently "Excellent". My "Willing to Moderate" box is checked, and I Meta-Moderate every time the chance is offered to me.
And yet, I haven't been given any mod points to spend in at least a year, probably more. The odds are against this being mere coincidence.
I was sent overseas so I never had the opportunity to make lots of money from it all.
Maybe I'm missing something, but how exactly were you going to make lots of money from having your ISP account terminated?
Are you suggesting you were going to take them to court and ask for damages? Even in the United States, such a suit would be dismissed almost immediately.
half a million each. That's not enough to retire on.
It isn't? An employee that makes US federal minimum wage and works 40 hour weeks for 50 years from high school graduation until Social Security retirement age will earn a sum total of about $515,000 in their entire lifetime (not adjusted for inflation).
Okay, maybe a Google engineer couldn't retire permanently with a standard of living they'd consider comfortable. But you COULD very easily take a 5 or 10 year semi-retirement.
whatever you do don't reward the Great Performers, that's unfair because it makes me feel bad.
It's so cute the way you think that there's a management structure anywhere in the world that can accurately determine who the Great Performers are.
Consider the boss you have at your current job (assuming you're not self- or un-employed). Say that THEIR boss went to them one day and said that your team had exceeded all expectations, and that someone was going to get a $1,000,000 stock bonus for it. No matter how nice your boss is, do you really think he/she wouldn't take some/all of the credit, and therefore the riches, for your team's work?
I'd rather not see the offices of the IT industry start to resemble something out of Glengarry Glen Ross.
[MSN Search] does have corrective facilities, but google works better.
At least right now it does. Google's been tracking popular search terms for years, and MSN has only recently opened itself to the world. I'd expect the corrective features to work better once Microsoft's engine has "learned" more about what people search for.
"Terrorism" is today what "Communism" was in the 50's. Smarten up, kids. You'll be living in a corporate controlled country when you grow up....just like the kids who were fed storied about Communism were in the 1950's?
Who cares about market share, monthly volumes and top-of-the-line performance when 90% of the features of an ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder card are NOT available on Linux?
You mean besides the >95% of the video card market that doesn't use Linux?
This article made a good point, but michael didn't have to add his flamebait last line.
Oh, come on. It wouldn't be Slashdot if michael didn't always tack some flamebait onto the last line of a story submission. He does it CONSTANTLY.
I think it's time for me to head over to my Preferences page and change them not to show any stories with michael in the byline. Long overdue, actually.
I have met plenty of renaissance people in this industry who are just as comfortable with code as they are with a graphic design tool like Photoshop. It's that kind of thinking that leads to the most creative solutions IMHO.
And, most of the time, user interface issues should not be solved with the most CREATIVE solutions, but rather with the most PEDESTRIAN solutions. Users shouldn't find any surprises in the interface of your site or application -- it should look and feel just like all the other sites and applications they're already familiar with.
Yes, back in the days of Da Vinci design and engineering overlapped quite a bit. And we all remember how well his helicopter designs functioned, right?
Fact of the matter is, if you read any Japanese gamer BBS, the PSP's defects are *extremely* widespread and rather bad.
Fact of the matter is, if you read any gamer BBS, you will be exposed to a disproportionate amount of complaining.
People rarely bother to post about their experiences when they are positive. "Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that my PSP is still working perfectly, just like yesterday."
"a law firm who sues said corporation for millions but gives the original plaintiffs a couple thousand bucks"
Uh.
The courts decide how much money the plaintiffs get, not the law firm. All in all, I think it's pretty generous for Mssrs. Eallonardo and COrey to get an additional few thousands bucks each for free, when it was the lawyers that did all the heavy lifting.
There was a story late last year about an elderly couple who tried to use a Scottish £20 note in woolworths. Not only did they not accept it, they called the police and held them there.
And then they came to the United States and went to Taco Bell and tried to pay with a $2 bill...
In China, all the freedoms they enjoy are granted to them by the government -- and while they may be quite laissez-faire at the moment, their freedom can be revoked at almost any time for almost any reason.
In the United States, our freedoms are held to be innate and self-evident. That means if our government wants to take our freedoms away, they have to move slowly enough that we don't notice.
1. If the average user can't be arsed to take 10 minutes to learn the concepts of primary and secondary mouse buttons, screw 'em. If a motorist drove in 2nd gear at highway speeds because he didn't know that there were higher gears available, who would you blame -- the car, or the driver?
2. It's very easy to confuse the actions of shift-clicking and option-clicking. Neither one has any mnemonic significance reminding the user how the key modifies the mouse click. And which one is the "option" key, anyway? The one with the anachronistic apple shape, or the one with the incomprehensible swirly thing? Apple keyboards can be stupefying.
Did the scientists working on the Manhattan Project remember theirs? How about all the other scientists that came up with new and improved ways for us to kill each other?
Scientists are not infallible enlightened creatures that propel us unfailingly towards Progress. They are human, just like you or I. (At least for the time being.)
That's not the scenario that the submitter wonders about, though.
What happens when a cop IS a criminal? Crooked police officers might carry these devices, and if the camcorder used by a concerned citizen to document their brutality Rodney King-style supported the blur requests, the officers involved would be slightly harder to identify.
This still isn't much of a problem to solve. For one, police officers make up a small portion of the public at large, so if a crime is perpetrated by a man in uniform, it wouldn't be THAT hard to narrow the field even without a visual ID>
For two, police departments could establish policies that police officers may not carry the blocking devices with them while on duty. Sure, they could disobey the policy, but that's a minor worry compared to peace officers beating the hell out of people.
Slashdot Mirror
I thought the purpose of ripping the media was to have a perfect (or near perfect) digital copy
No, silly. The purpose of ripping the media is to have a FREE* digital copy.
(* gratis, not libre)
The OP said "invented" when he probably should have said "popularised," but the intent it virtually the same.
"Invention" is engineering.
"Popularization" is marketing.
I would have thought that Slashdotters would be more aware of this distinction.
But do you know who really invented the automobile, for all practical purposes? That's right. Henry Ford, in 1908.
If by "right" you mean "entirely incorrect", sure. Who taught you that? All Ford did was introduce mass production methods to the automaking process, which had the result of making autos more affordable and more accessible, but in no way can be construed as "inventing" the auto.
(A better example might have been to question whether it was Tesla or Marconi that invented radio.)
Apple really didn't invent the hard drive based MP3 player. I was playing MP3s off my computer's hard drive, and people were taking their music with them on Diamond Rio's and the like for years before the iPod was introduced. (The few people that bought the Compaq-designed, Korea-manufactured Hango PJB-100 were even doing both as far back as 1999.) The iPod was a refinement, not a revelation.
The iPod shuffle, even more so. How different is this new-for-2005 device in concept than the original portable MP3 players of 1998?
'Linux fell short on common tasks such as installing new software.' This is the most important point.
Installing new software is a common task? I would have assumed most people, once past the initial setup of a system, spend their time USING software, not installing it.
But the point stands. In OS X, installing new software is usually just as easy as copying it to the Applications folder. Why do Linux and Windows make it so much more complicated?
Does this mean I'll be un-blacklisted from moderating now?
I've been posting here almost every weekday for three or four years. My karma has been consistently "Excellent". My "Willing to Moderate" box is checked, and I Meta-Moderate every time the chance is offered to me.
And yet, I haven't been given any mod points to spend in at least a year, probably more. The odds are against this being mere coincidence.
I was sent overseas so I never had the opportunity to make lots of money from it all.
Maybe I'm missing something, but how exactly were you going to make lots of money from having your ISP account terminated?
Are you suggesting you were going to take them to court and ask for damages? Even in the United States, such a suit would be dismissed almost immediately.
half a million each. That's not enough to retire on.
It isn't? An employee that makes US federal minimum wage and works 40 hour weeks for 50 years from high school graduation until Social Security retirement age will earn a sum total of about $515,000 in their entire lifetime (not adjusted for inflation).
Okay, maybe a Google engineer couldn't retire permanently with a standard of living they'd consider comfortable. But you COULD very easily take a 5 or 10 year semi-retirement.
whatever you do don't reward the Great Performers, that's unfair because it makes me feel bad.
It's so cute the way you think that there's a management structure anywhere in the world that can accurately determine who the Great Performers are.
Consider the boss you have at your current job (assuming you're not self- or un-employed). Say that THEIR boss went to them one day and said that your team had exceeded all expectations, and that someone was going to get a $1,000,000 stock bonus for it. No matter how nice your boss is, do you really think he/she wouldn't take some/all of the credit, and therefore the riches, for your team's work?
I'd rather not see the offices of the IT industry start to resemble something out of Glengarry Glen Ross.
[MSN Search] does have corrective facilities, but google works better.
At least right now it does. Google's been tracking popular search terms for years, and MSN has only recently opened itself to the world. I'd expect the corrective features to work better once Microsoft's engine has "learned" more about what people search for.
"Terrorism" is today what "Communism" was in the 50's. Smarten up, kids. You'll be living in a corporate controlled country when you grow up. ...just like the kids who were fed storied about Communism were in the 1950's?
Hm. I think I see your point.
Who cares about market share, monthly volumes and top-of-the-line performance when 90% of the features of an ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder card are NOT available on Linux?
You mean besides the >95% of the video card market that doesn't use Linux?
This article made a good point, but michael didn't have to add his flamebait last line.
Oh, come on. It wouldn't be Slashdot if michael didn't always tack some flamebait onto the last line of a story submission. He does it CONSTANTLY.
I think it's time for me to head over to my Preferences page and change them not to show any stories with michael in the byline. Long overdue, actually.
I have met plenty of renaissance people in this industry who are just as comfortable with code as they are with a graphic design tool like Photoshop. It's that kind of thinking that leads to the most creative solutions IMHO.
And, most of the time, user interface issues should not be solved with the most CREATIVE solutions, but rather with the most PEDESTRIAN solutions. Users shouldn't find any surprises in the interface of your site or application -- it should look and feel just like all the other sites and applications they're already familiar with.
Yes, back in the days of Da Vinci design and engineering overlapped quite a bit. And we all remember how well his helicopter designs functioned, right?
Isn't it time we dawn some sort of VR goggles or other similar display and perhaps a new input method?
Hey, yeah. I mean, Nintendo did so well in the past with the Virtual Boy and R.O.B., the Robotic Operating Buddy...
Or maybe it's "no" as in the Japanese possessive modifier? "MMU of ARM"?
Fact of the matter is, if you read any Japanese gamer BBS, the PSP's defects are *extremely* widespread and rather bad.
Fact of the matter is, if you read any gamer BBS, you will be exposed to a disproportionate amount of complaining.
People rarely bother to post about their experiences when they are positive. "Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that my PSP is still working perfectly, just like yesterday."
Win2K->WinXP was just a hideous facelift.
MAN TRUE.
If a hideous facelift is what you look for in an OS upgrade, might as well just migrate to KDGnomelinux!
"a law firm who sues said corporation for millions but gives the original plaintiffs a couple thousand bucks"
Uh.
The courts decide how much money the plaintiffs get, not the law firm. All in all, I think it's pretty generous for Mssrs. Eallonardo and COrey to get an additional few thousands bucks each for free, when it was the lawyers that did all the heavy lifting.
So this is what you get when you hire A+ grads from 'prestigeous' institutions.
Um, what?
Where did this come from? What did 'prestigeous' [sic] institutions ever do to you?
There was a story late last year about an elderly couple who tried to use a Scottish £20 note in woolworths. Not only did they not accept it, they called the police and held them there.
And then they came to the United States and went to Taco Bell and tried to pay with a $2 bill...
The difference?
In China, all the freedoms they enjoy are granted to them by the government -- and while they may be quite laissez-faire at the moment, their freedom can be revoked at almost any time for almost any reason.
In the United States, our freedoms are held to be innate and self-evident. That means if our government wants to take our freedoms away, they have to move slowly enough that we don't notice.
It is only a matter of time before some "media friendly" senator attaches a rider to an education package that bans open WiFi access.
Keep in mind that "a matter of time" can refer to any point between right now and the heat death of the universe...
The sky is not falling.
1. If the average user can't be arsed to take 10 minutes to learn the concepts of primary and secondary mouse buttons, screw 'em. If a motorist drove in 2nd gear at highway speeds because he didn't know that there were higher gears available, who would you blame -- the car, or the driver?
2. It's very easy to confuse the actions of shift-clicking and option-clicking. Neither one has any mnemonic significance reminding the user how the key modifies the mouse click. And which one is the "option" key, anyway? The one with the anachronistic apple shape, or the one with the incomprehensible swirly thing? Apple keyboards can be stupefying.
This is scientists, making our world better.
Remember, their job?
Did the scientists working on the Manhattan Project remember theirs? How about all the other scientists that came up with new and improved ways for us to kill each other?
Scientists are not infallible enlightened creatures that propel us unfailingly towards Progress. They are human, just like you or I. (At least for the time being.)
That's not the scenario that the submitter wonders about, though.
What happens when a cop IS a criminal? Crooked police officers might carry these devices, and if the camcorder used by a concerned citizen to document their brutality Rodney King-style supported the blur requests, the officers involved would be slightly harder to identify.
This still isn't much of a problem to solve. For one, police officers make up a small portion of the public at large, so if a crime is perpetrated by a man in uniform, it wouldn't be THAT hard to narrow the field even without a visual ID>
For two, police departments could establish policies that police officers may not carry the blocking devices with them while on duty. Sure, they could disobey the policy, but that's a minor worry compared to peace officers beating the hell out of people.