"Say what you want about the command line and editing the config file, and how users shouldn't have to do it, but at least the option is available. Any idea if the same can be done under windows?"
Yes. You can boot up into safe mode and get a fully functional GUI at VGA resolution so that you can launch whatever gui / wizard non-command line xorg.conf editing program you need to get your desktop back.
Granted, only tech-savvy people would know how to boot up into safe mode. But I still give this one to Windows. Ubuntu could include a "safe mode / recovery" option in Grub that boots up into X with VGA resolution and a **USABLE** GUI and there's no reason they couldn't also keep a command-line recovery mode for people who prefer / need it.
Another crtique that I have for Ubuntu is that they give weird (at least to non-tech-savvy people) names to their boot options in Grub with the kernel version etc. To a geek that information is very important but to a new user it's confusing. A new user who installeda dual boot would expect to see something like "Linux ~ Windows XP ~ Linux (Recovery Mode)" or something. I remember seeing this same critique on Brainstorm so hopefully they'll do something about that.
MS's biggest competitor has always been the previous versions of their products.
I remember about 10 - 15 years ago when people would whine about how bad Windows 9x/ME was people would respond with "MS *has* to make those products crummy otherwise why would you upgrade ?"
It does make sense when you have a monopoly. Now that MS actually has made a product that people actually enjoy and they have further competition from a growing Apple and, to a lesser extent, Linux they're in a sticky situation. They need to actually focus on making a high-quality product that satisfies their users needs and demands. What I don't get is how they "got it" with 2K / XP (and for those saying how bad XP was compared to 2K just think about going from 9x/ME to XP) but they completely dropped the ball with Vista. It's a little funny, actually. Like they were going back in time to try their original strategy as if it was going to somehow work with XP and OSX to compete with.
There is simply no reason for Dell to be offering XP other than their customers are demanding it. I'm sure Dell will include some sort of disclaimer regarding the product being un-supported.
They could redirect customers to the Ubuntu offerings but if customers are asking for XP then it's a no-brainer for Dell.
How exactly do you model something like that ? Did they model just a specific class of worker (sysadmin / programmer etc.) or did they assume that everyone in their model required x amount of data transfer ?
Because most of the jobs that I can think of that could be performed at home on a computer don't require a lot of Internet access. Maybe transferring one or two files from the office network but not any kind of constant data transfer back / forth.
Then you factor in that with so many people at home they'll probably be spending more time slacking off / surfing the net. But people do that at work anyway (I'm a webmaster and I see traffic spikes Monday morning after a weekend slowdown which suggests that people spend most of their time surfing the net from work) so I'm just wondering how you even begin to go about modeling something like that ?
When analyzing the acoustic oscillations scientists discovered something quite striking. The sine wave was exactly identical to the master recording of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time".
"Yes, you are nothing more than a stupid communist open-sores loving fucktard who should go slit your fucking wrists. Not across, but down your fucking wrists so there will be one less fucktard in the gene pool."
Google had spent a couple weeks developing HuddleChat but then they read this Slashdot story on Monday and realized that they are all/mostly introverts and really don't like Chat and IM programs after all.
The 37Signals story is just a cover-up so they don't look silly.
They say "exaggerated fears of threats from others"... but what constitutes a "threat" ?
Personally I'm paranoid that every time I go out in public some passerby is going to cough on me and give me a cold. I know that this is illogical as the more viruses I'm exposed to the better my immune system will be at fighting them off and the less colds I will get, yet I still hate getting sick *so* much due to the added stress imposed that I will go out of my way to avoid putting myself in the position where I'm around others who will potentially make me ill.
That's something that I consider to be a "threat". Not that someone will be a terrorist or pick a fight etc. (although when I go out drinking I find myself often taking inventory of the room to gauge who I feel is the most likely to start trouble so that I can avoid them, I'm not sure if that's 'paranoia' or 'common sense').
"well, consoles are getting pretty darn similar to PCs these days"
Yup. Similar in usability and price.
I'm a HUGE GTA fan and when San Andreas came out I bought a PS2 just for that game. I think I paid around $200 CAD for both the game and the system.
GTA 4 comes out later this month and with the PS3 and XBox 360 at $400 + there is simply no freakin' way I can justify shelling out the cash, and I'm heart broken because I've been looking forward to it since like 2004 after I finished San Andreas.
On the other hand, my PC is a great gaming machine and I have a lot of PC games that I love to play. If GTA 4 were available on the 29th for the PC then I would consider buying it. Although I found that San Andreas was much more enjoyable on the PS2 so I'm afraid that the same may be true for GTA 4.
Anyway my point is, while everyone keeps saying "consoles are just as powerful as PCs these days so why not game on your console ?" my answer is "because I already paid $400 + for a PC and I don't feel like I should have to shell out my hard earned cash for another one that can only play games (well besides surfing the net and playing DVDs but my PC and DVD player do those just fine too tyvm)".
The attractiveness of consoles (to me anyway) were their relatively low price (compared to a computer) and the better gaming experience offered by controllers as oppose to keyboards / joysticks / mice etc. But you can get gamepads for the PC (hell using an I-PAC you can even build an arcade control panel for your PC for about 1/5 the price the console will cost you) and now they're just as expensive as entry level PCs. Assuming you already have a PC for work / internet etc. you can add a decent video card and up your RAM and CPU (if necessary) for cheaper than the PS3 or Xbox 360.
... that we'll be dressing up the Yahoo! logo as a borg ?
That'd actually be pretty sweet.
You know, despite being a Yahoo! mail user since the 90's who hates Microsoft as much as the next slashdotter, I actually hope they do merge now just so I can see that.
Your problem is that you are too smart to understand the business model.
I am a webmaster and I run a few high traffic web sites. I see people hitting my sites all the time who type in www.mydomain.com into GOOGLE rather than their address bar.
Not to mention the search engine possibilities. While having pizza.com does not guarantee that you'll be #1 for the search term "pizza" it will help a lot. Especially with the PR it's getting it wouldn't surprise me if it's already #1 due to all the news sites linking to it.
Also, while I am not a domain squatter, I have read up on the business model. It's not uncommon for people to type things like "bubblegum.com" into their address bar just to see what happens. I heard that the guy who owns bubblegum.com or gum.com or something makes a grand / DAY just having a spam page up (might be a myth but imagine having a few thousand such domains making SOMETHING every day even it's pennies).
So yeah, 2.6M for pizza.com is a steal, and it's pennies for a big chain like Pizza Hut. And as for your "it's still going to cost something in advertising", assuming it is a big chain that bought the domain, all they have to do is change their flyers and tv ads so that instead of "pizzahut.com" it prints "pizza.com". Their ad budget stays the same.
Slashdot Mirror
"Say what you want about the command line and editing the config file, and how users shouldn't have to do it, but at least the option is available. Any idea if the same can be done under windows?"
Yes. You can boot up into safe mode and get a fully functional GUI at VGA resolution so that you can launch whatever gui / wizard non-command line xorg.conf editing program you need to get your desktop back.
Granted, only tech-savvy people would know how to boot up into safe mode. But I still give this one to Windows. Ubuntu could include a "safe mode / recovery" option in Grub that boots up into X with VGA resolution and a **USABLE** GUI and there's no reason they couldn't also keep a command-line recovery mode for people who prefer / need it.
Another crtique that I have for Ubuntu is that they give weird (at least to non-tech-savvy people) names to their boot options in Grub with the kernel version etc. To a geek that information is very important but to a new user it's confusing. A new user who installeda dual boot would expect to see something like "Linux ~ Windows XP ~ Linux (Recovery Mode)" or something. I remember seeing this same critique on Brainstorm so hopefully they'll do something about that.
MS's biggest competitor has always been the previous versions of their products.
I remember about 10 - 15 years ago when people would whine about how bad Windows 9x/ME was people would respond with "MS *has* to make those products crummy otherwise why would you upgrade ?"
It does make sense when you have a monopoly. Now that MS actually has made a product that people actually enjoy and they have further competition from a growing Apple and, to a lesser extent, Linux they're in a sticky situation. They need to actually focus on making a high-quality product that satisfies their users needs and demands. What I don't get is how they "got it" with 2K / XP (and for those saying how bad XP was compared to 2K just think about going from 9x/ME to XP) but they completely dropped the ball with Vista. It's a little funny, actually. Like they were going back in time to try their original strategy as if it was going to somehow work with XP and OSX to compete with.
There is simply no reason for Dell to be offering XP other than their customers are demanding it. I'm sure Dell will include some sort of disclaimer regarding the product being un-supported.
They could redirect customers to the Ubuntu offerings but if customers are asking for XP then it's a no-brainer for Dell.
It's a no-brainer ... I mean ... ZERO GRAVITY !!!
How exactly do you model something like that ? Did they model just a specific class of worker (sysadmin / programmer etc.) or did they assume that everyone in their model required x amount of data transfer ?
Because most of the jobs that I can think of that could be performed at home on a computer don't require a lot of Internet access. Maybe transferring one or two files from the office network but not any kind of constant data transfer back / forth.
Then you factor in that with so many people at home they'll probably be spending more time slacking off / surfing the net. But people do that at work anyway (I'm a webmaster and I see traffic spikes Monday morning after a weekend slowdown which suggests that people spend most of their time surfing the net from work) so I'm just wondering how you even begin to go about modeling something like that ?
You gotta pwn his home BSD box. It works every time. ESPECIALLY if he's running OpenBSD. He'll never call you an idiot again.
When analyzing the acoustic oscillations scientists discovered something quite striking. The sine wave was exactly identical to the master recording of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time".
... that "that stuff" has been right here in the possession of my own peers and friends all this time !?
And to think of all the times I had to drive half way across town !
Wait, what are we talking about ?
...
I heard "Microsoft" and "exclude from"
I once told my grandpa "c'mon man you old people seriously exaggerate with how bad you had it".
:\
Then he hit me with...
"Yup 'cause having German snipers shooting at me on Omaha was just as much fun as tugging it to almost naked girls on Youtube".
Shut me right up
Who stole the Heart of Gold !?
"Babies? Heck they are babies, they don't know any better. It is the adults that make the flights hell."
..."
Agreed.
There's nothing worse than having to listen to a crying baby AND having to listen to the qwack mother trying to get it to STFU.
"Oh why is my wittle baby cwying ? What's da matter sweetie it's ok sush shush hush
Ugh I want to punch them both.
"Yes, you are nothing more than a stupid communist open-sores loving fucktard who should go slit your fucking wrists. Not across, but down your fucking wrists so there will be one less fucktard in the gene pool."
If I do it I expect a "Thank-you card".
"Sam Ramji is an acronym for"
Bah, typo! I meant Anagram. Stupid me.
Sam Ramji is an acronym for
"I am Sam jr"
There you have it. Microsoft is pure evil !
We need to get out while we still can !
"I call bullshit. Name one category of software that would not have been developed without patents and name a few specific products."
PNG, Ogg Vorbis etc.
So no Yahoo! logo dressed up as a borg then ? :(
Google had spent a couple weeks developing HuddleChat but then they read this Slashdot story on Monday and realized that they are all/mostly introverts and really don't like Chat and IM programs after all.
The 37Signals story is just a cover-up so they don't look silly.
"Btw, for the same reason, this type of laser is completely useless as a weapon."
:(
Thanks. Another slashdotter crushes another one of my hopes and dreams. Jerk
"Nothing in the newer 3 movies was there anything as memorable as Stormtroopers. Am I wrong??"
... for worse. Definitely for worse. Still, more memorable.
For better or worse I think that Jar Jar Binx is more memorable.
mmmm
I'm curious as to paranoid about what ?
... but what constitutes a "threat" ?
They say "exaggerated fears of threats from others"
Personally I'm paranoid that every time I go out in public some passerby is going to cough on me and give me a cold. I know that this is illogical as the more viruses I'm exposed to the better my immune system will be at fighting them off and the less colds I will get, yet I still hate getting sick *so* much due to the added stress imposed that I will go out of my way to avoid putting myself in the position where I'm around others who will potentially make me ill.
That's something that I consider to be a "threat". Not that someone will be a terrorist or pick a fight etc. (although when I go out drinking I find myself often taking inventory of the room to gauge who I feel is the most likely to start trouble so that I can avoid them, I'm not sure if that's 'paranoia' or 'common sense').
"well, consoles are getting pretty darn similar to PCs these days"
Yup. Similar in usability and price.
I'm a HUGE GTA fan and when San Andreas came out I bought a PS2 just for that game. I think I paid around $200 CAD for both the game and the system.
GTA 4 comes out later this month and with the PS3 and XBox 360 at $400 + there is simply no freakin' way I can justify shelling out the cash, and I'm heart broken because I've been looking forward to it since like 2004 after I finished San Andreas.
On the other hand, my PC is a great gaming machine and I have a lot of PC games that I love to play. If GTA 4 were available on the 29th for the PC then I would consider buying it. Although I found that San Andreas was much more enjoyable on the PS2 so I'm afraid that the same may be true for GTA 4.
Anyway my point is, while everyone keeps saying "consoles are just as powerful as PCs these days so why not game on your console ?" my answer is "because I already paid $400 + for a PC and I don't feel like I should have to shell out my hard earned cash for another one that can only play games (well besides surfing the net and playing DVDs but my PC and DVD player do those just fine too tyvm)".
The attractiveness of consoles (to me anyway) were their relatively low price (compared to a computer) and the better gaming experience offered by controllers as oppose to keyboards / joysticks / mice etc. But you can get gamepads for the PC (hell using an I-PAC you can even build an arcade control panel for your PC for about 1/5 the price the console will cost you) and now they're just as expensive as entry level PCs. Assuming you already have a PC for work / internet etc. you can add a decent video card and up your RAM and CPU (if necessary) for cheaper than the PS3 or Xbox 360.
... that we'll be dressing up the Yahoo! logo as a borg ?
That'd actually be pretty sweet.
You know, despite being a Yahoo! mail user since the 90's who hates Microsoft as much as the next slashdotter, I actually hope they do merge now just so I can see that.
Your problem is that you are too smart to understand the business model.
I am a webmaster and I run a few high traffic web sites. I see people hitting my sites all the time who type in www.mydomain.com into GOOGLE rather than their address bar.
Not to mention the search engine possibilities. While having pizza.com does not guarantee that you'll be #1 for the search term "pizza" it will help a lot. Especially with the PR it's getting it wouldn't surprise me if it's already #1 due to all the news sites linking to it.
Also, while I am not a domain squatter, I have read up on the business model. It's not uncommon for people to type things like "bubblegum.com" into their address bar just to see what happens. I heard that the guy who owns bubblegum.com or gum.com or something makes a grand / DAY just having a spam page up (might be a myth but imagine having a few thousand such domains making SOMETHING every day even it's pennies).
So yeah, 2.6M for pizza.com is a steal, and it's pennies for a big chain like Pizza Hut. And as for your "it's still going to cost something in advertising", assuming it is a big chain that bought the domain, all they have to do is change their flyers and tv ads so that instead of "pizzahut.com" it prints "pizza.com". Their ad budget stays the same.
"Ah well. I have faith in humanity!"
Can you please give me the contact info for your drug dealer ? I want some of whatever the hell you're on.