I always get a kick out of protestors in the US protesting that they're not allowed to protest. They do this from street corners, flyers, newspapers, radio and television broadcasts, and every townhall meeting they can get to. This is proof that freedom is alive and well in the US.
You're joking right? CDE is evidence that Sun doesn't know they first thing about interfaces. The fact that they're slowly moving away from it indicates that they may still be some small hope left for them.
Further evidence: their GUI installer. Ack, ack, ack. It's the single worst interface I've ever seen (rivaling even the GTK2 file dialog, if such is possible). Then there's the various GUI configuration dialogs in their various syadmin tools. Ack, ack, ack.
Two is that within those who contributed the the UI discussion there was a surprising lack not only of experience in the HCI field (ok, I had just started out there myself) but also a strong resistance to pick up the vast literature available or trust in actual end-user studies.
Why does the GNOME community treat Havoc Pennington like the god of usability, when he has himself stated he isn't an expert in this area?
The difference between Apple and GNOME is that Apple has professional designers, while GNOME just has a bunch of people who read webpages about usability.
It's not that difficult to create a usable interface (which is a different thing from creating an innovative interface). All it takes is the time to understand how the user works and the discipline to make the interface fit that. Slavish adherence to POOMA rules found on a website is NOT usability. GNOME does take the time to do their interfaces, but they don't take the time to understand the actual user. They've designed their interfaces around a fictional newbie user, but can't seem to understand that the actual users of Unix desktops are technically proficient people with high levels of computer literacy.
I completely agree. When the UN and EU wanted to wrest control of the internet from ICANN, we all told them "just set up your own root domain servers." This is just another example of that. If a few corporations don't like the way the internet works, they're free to go make their own network.
They should, however, be aware of the consequences. Setting up a competing network that charges by use rather than access will be an interesting experiment, but I don't think the result will be what they expect.
p.s. For those of you arguing that these companies are monopolies, stop and consider that the government has given them that monopoly status. We wouldn't need all these special rules for monopolies if the government didn't create them in the first place.
It was never meant to be the begin-all-end-all reference.
Have you read the article? Of course not, so let me tell you one of the points made: Wikipedia wouldn't have such a bad reputation among non-Wikipedians if it simply had a different name. It's name suggests that it is an encyclopedia of sorts, that it aspires to encyclopedia-like attributes, that it is a repository of trustworthy information. Wikipedia has a bad reputation because it fails to live up to its name.
If instead it had been called "Bob's Collection of Interesting Stuff", or "Everything You Wanted to Know", or "The Geek Hivemind", or "Wikistuff", then there wouldn't have been a problem. No one would expect it to be an authoritative reference work akin to an encyclopedia.
Wikipedia would have a better reputation if it wasn't so freaking pretentious.
There is a stream in California called "Nigger Creek", named after an early pioneer. A small blue wildflower that grows in the area is called "Niggertoes". In the 1970's the state officially renamed it to "Negro Creek."
All industries are after lots of money. Grow up and get a clue. What makes Merck wrong in this instance is that they decided that the money was more important than the ethics.
I could care less how you or anyone else makes money, so long as you do it legally and honestly.
Frankly, I kind of prefer a more static web anyway. I don't want everythign to behave like a locally installed application. Loading another page or refreshing won't kill me.
I second that sentiment. I'm sick and tired of hearing about how the web will be the platform of the future. If the browser will be my platform, then what platform will I run the browser on?
Here's a clue: No matter when "these days" are, the music has always sucked "these days". My great grandpa complained about Glenn Miller and Les Brown. My grandpa complained about Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. My dad complained about the Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix. I'm complaining about whatever that whiny noise is coming from kid's boomboxes these days.
Whatever music teenagers are listening to these days, one of the main reasons for its popularity is its ability to annoy adults.
While the Japanese business culture has an excessive sense of honor, it is unfortunately coupled with an excessive sense of duty and an excessive sense of loyalty. The price for honest executives is a culture where your employer replaces and becomes your family. If Japanese business was organized crime, it would closely resemble the Mafia.
This means that the refreshing sight of two executives admitting their company's mistake will be coupled with some poor schmucks falling on their swords. With this amount of money, those swords might very well be literal.
I guess there is only so much money to go around in the economy, if Google is making a huge profit, someone else is getting less.
That is a myth. The economy is not a zero sum game. Everytime you create something that someone else values, you have created new value.
Google and other search engines are creating new value by offering services that would not otherwise exist. There is a value to online news stories from European publishers, but there is more value in the market when they are combined with the search engines to find them. The former does not lose money when the latter makes money.
Of course, the publishers still need to stay current and remain flexible. Just because there is now more value in the market doesn't mean an individual publisher is guaranteed a piece of it.
For that matter, another horrific flaw in the American system is that trials are not bidirectional.
You are correct. This case is extremely bidirectional. On one side there is puny insignificant de-listed SCO, and on the other is huge massive bureaucratic ex-monopolist IBM.
Don't let your hatred of SCO blind you to the fact that this trial is extremely unbalanced.
Our last truly local radio station sold out last year
In my area there are several talk radio stations, over a dozen music stations, a few sports stations, several non-English stations, and a half dozen news stations. While some of them are sell-outs, you cannot claim they all are.
My radio alarm is set to a local news station which has local news twenty four hours a day (interspersed with world/national news at the top of the hour, finance news at the bottom of the hour, and sports news at:15 and:45. This station has a competitor which is much the same. The talk radio stations also do local news before 10:00am and between programs.
Of course, this is a major metropolitan area. In my mom's hometown in the rural boondocks there's only a couple dozen stations that can be picked up, two of which happen to be the SAME local stations they always have been.
Maybe the last local station in YOUR area sold out, but they're still around elsewhere in the country.
Slashdot Mirror
I always get a kick out of protestors in the US protesting that they're not allowed to protest. They do this from street corners, flyers, newspapers, radio and television broadcasts, and every townhall meeting they can get to. This is proof that freedom is alive and well in the US.
You're joking right? CDE is evidence that Sun doesn't know they first thing about interfaces. The fact that they're slowly moving away from it indicates that they may still be some small hope left for them.
Further evidence: their GUI installer. Ack, ack, ack. It's the single worst interface I've ever seen (rivaling even the GTK2 file dialog, if such is possible). Then there's the various GUI configuration dialogs in their various syadmin tools. Ack, ack, ack.
An interface that does not let me do what I want to do because the designers thought it was too advanced for mere mortals, is a dumb interface.
Why shouldn't they be alike? Stuff doesn't happen on mailing lists, stuff happens because someone rolls up their sleeves and does something.
Yet Sun still has the reputation for the world's worst interfaces.
Two is that within those who contributed the the UI discussion there was a surprising lack not only of experience in the HCI field (ok, I had just started out there myself) but also a strong resistance to pick up the vast literature available or trust in actual end-user studies.
Why does the GNOME community treat Havoc Pennington like the god of usability, when he has himself stated he isn't an expert in this area?
The freedom of choice that we enjoy as users of the operating system is among its finest attributes.
Linus never said otherwise. He was only stating his opinion and his reasoning behind them.
The difference between Apple and GNOME is that Apple has professional designers, while GNOME just has a bunch of people who read webpages about usability.
It's not that difficult to create a usable interface (which is a different thing from creating an innovative interface). All it takes is the time to understand how the user works and the discipline to make the interface fit that. Slavish adherence to POOMA rules found on a website is NOT usability. GNOME does take the time to do their interfaces, but they don't take the time to understand the actual user. They've designed their interfaces around a fictional newbie user, but can't seem to understand that the actual users of Unix desktops are technically proficient people with high levels of computer literacy.
People who don't think are stupid people.
I completely agree. When the UN and EU wanted to wrest control of the internet from ICANN, we all told them "just set up your own root domain servers." This is just another example of that. If a few corporations don't like the way the internet works, they're free to go make their own network.
They should, however, be aware of the consequences. Setting up a competing network that charges by use rather than access will be an interesting experiment, but I don't think the result will be what they expect.
p.s. For those of you arguing that these companies are monopolies, stop and consider that the government has given them that monopoly status. We wouldn't need all these special rules for monopolies if the government didn't create them in the first place.
It was never meant to be the begin-all-end-all reference.
Have you read the article? Of course not, so let me tell you one of the points made: Wikipedia wouldn't have such a bad reputation among non-Wikipedians if it simply had a different name. It's name suggests that it is an encyclopedia of sorts, that it aspires to encyclopedia-like attributes, that it is a repository of trustworthy information. Wikipedia has a bad reputation because it fails to live up to its name.
If instead it had been called "Bob's Collection of Interesting Stuff", or "Everything You Wanted to Know", or "The Geek Hivemind", or "Wikistuff", then there wouldn't have been a problem. No one would expect it to be an authoritative reference work akin to an encyclopedia.
Wikipedia would have a better reputation if it wasn't so freaking pretentious.
You're wrapping an insult with layers of platitudes. At the core you are still saying that the fault lies with the user.
If there's a problem - well, the user must be stupid!
I'll probably be modded down for saying so, but that one sentence nicely sums up Wikipedia's philosophy.
One is that Seigenthaler should have corrected the entry himself...
See, they even blamed Seigenthaler for the libel against him!
That the reason I don't use the term "African-American". What do I call my friend from Nigeria who hasn't gotten his citizenship yet? African-African?
There is a stream in California called "Nigger Creek", named after an early pioneer. A small blue wildflower that grows in the area is called "Niggertoes". In the 1970's the state officially renamed it to "Negro Creek."
All industries are after lots of money. Grow up and get a clue. What makes Merck wrong in this instance is that they decided that the money was more important than the ethics.
I could care less how you or anyone else makes money, so long as you do it legally and honestly.
Which president? Both Clinton and Bush strongly asserted that Iraq had WMDs during their tenure.
Frankly, I kind of prefer a more static web anyway. I don't want everythign to behave like a locally installed application. Loading another page or refreshing won't kill me.
I second that sentiment. I'm sick and tired of hearing about how the web will be the platform of the future. If the browser will be my platform, then what platform will I run the browser on?
if you walk forward do you walk towards yourself?
If you are the center of the universe, like I am, then the answer is yes.
THE MUSIC SUCKS THESE DAYS
Here's a clue: No matter when "these days" are, the music has always sucked "these days". My great grandpa complained about Glenn Miller and Les Brown. My grandpa complained about Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. My dad complained about the Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix. I'm complaining about whatever that whiny noise is coming from kid's boomboxes these days.
Whatever music teenagers are listening to these days, one of the main reasons for its popularity is its ability to annoy adults.
While the Japanese business culture has an excessive sense of honor, it is unfortunately coupled with an excessive sense of duty and an excessive sense of loyalty. The price for honest executives is a culture where your employer replaces and becomes your family. If Japanese business was organized crime, it would closely resemble the Mafia.
This means that the refreshing sight of two executives admitting their company's mistake will be coupled with some poor schmucks falling on their swords. With this amount of money, those swords might very well be literal.
You can also say "flbgrtyu", but why would you want to?
I guess there is only so much money to go around in the economy, if Google is making a huge profit, someone else is getting less.
That is a myth. The economy is not a zero sum game. Everytime you create something that someone else values, you have created new value.
Google and other search engines are creating new value by offering services that would not otherwise exist. There is a value to online news stories from European publishers, but there is more value in the market when they are combined with the search engines to find them. The former does not lose money when the latter makes money.
Of course, the publishers still need to stay current and remain flexible. Just because there is now more value in the market doesn't mean an individual publisher is guaranteed a piece of it.
For that matter, another horrific flaw in the American system is that trials are not bidirectional.
You are correct. This case is extremely bidirectional. On one side there is puny insignificant de-listed SCO, and on the other is huge massive bureaucratic ex-monopolist IBM.
Don't let your hatred of SCO blind you to the fact that this trial is extremely unbalanced.
Our last truly local radio station sold out last year
:15 and :45. This station has a competitor which is much the same. The talk radio stations also do local news before 10:00am and between programs.
In my area there are several talk radio stations, over a dozen music stations, a few sports stations, several non-English stations, and a half dozen news stations. While some of them are sell-outs, you cannot claim they all are.
My radio alarm is set to a local news station which has local news twenty four hours a day (interspersed with world/national news at the top of the hour, finance news at the bottom of the hour, and sports news at
Of course, this is a major metropolitan area. In my mom's hometown in the rural boondocks there's only a couple dozen stations that can be picked up, two of which happen to be the SAME local stations they always have been.
Maybe the last local station in YOUR area sold out, but they're still around elsewhere in the country.