Seriously, how many people do you know personally who don't have satellite or cable? Every one. Personally, I don't know anyone who has satellite or cable for TV. What country do you live in?
My wife and children watch TV, I don't and I wouldn't care, but there's less crying if there's a TV around.
Torrents are for stealing !! Get use to it !! Blizzard uses an early version of the bittorrent code for their "Blizzard Downloader", I am told. Anything that reduces the download time of something I've paid for, like the online BC upgrade or update patches seems like a win to me.
It's a pity they're going closed source, but it wouldn't be unfair for Blizzard to toss a few gold pieces back their way given all the money Blizzard is making.
Maybe because the people who would care don't allow Flash to run on their systems? What kind of crap does Flash do? Is there any reason to install it or enable it?
There is nothing unsanitary about walking a few feet without shoes, especially on a dry, hard surface. You can't spread any diseases that way. Oh yeah? Then why do they force you to walk across the Hoof & Mouth disease mat at check points?
The policy there is ludicrous though. Hoof & Mouth disease is a problem in parts of the Philippines, but the only time you are forced to walk across the special mat (between SFO and NAIA) is deplaning at NAIA. While waiting for your baggage in SFO, the homeland security monitor has a short video on it, but there is no screening coming into the U.S.
Yeah, and he also used to frequent stripper bars, but Dr. Feynman was a scientist, not an engineer. Science has never been known as a high-paying profession.
One counter-example does not make an argument, but turn your statement around - how many engineers can you name had only liberal arts training in college?
All technical degree programs require a fair amount of liberal arts electives to fill out graduation requirements. No liberal arts programs require any substantial technical coursework.
It's all crap. Microsoft Windows XP has all of the stability and (relative) performance of a development Linux 1.3 kernel + userland environment. My 20+ year old AT&T Unix PC had a similar but prettier and far more productive user interface.
I do care about a level playing field when buying equipment. I do not wish to be forced to pay for a license for software that I will never use.
I do care about a level playing field when it comes to interfaces. Standards must be open and drivel like render this paragraph like 1996 Microsoft Word running on a Macintosh just doesn't cut it.
Mod me down, Microsoft Fan Boys, bring it on. I've spent the last few months attempting to appreciate Microsoft Windows XP, but fortunately my employer has relented and will now allow me to install Linux on the company notebook.
Richard Stallman -... I couldn't believe it when I noticed you actually bothered to reply to my e-mail when I asked you something about X window system. Spamming for a donation to the League for Programming Freedom doesn't count.
You have a strange list. You left out the most important kernel programmer ever - Ken Thompson, you also left out Dennis Ritchie (first C compiler, designer of the first Unix file system), and for promoting excellent modern programming practices and teaching us all how to program the right way - Brian Kernighan and PJ Plauger.
And what about Larry Wall for Perl? John McCarthy for Lisp (say what you want about Lisp, but it's the only language that has survived with programming mindshare for over half a century)? The lead engineer of the group at IBM who wrote the first high level language compiler for Fortran, proving that assembly language wasn't the end-all for efficient programming? Donald Knuth for his programming books and TeX?
Are they completely aware the program won't do one damned thing to solve any problem Which problem are they trying to solve? A few hours ago we had an article on Malaysia using "anti-terrorist" laws to crack down on dissidents.
But perhaps the real answer is that they are really the vapid stupid people they appear to be when you meet them. Technology has nothing to do with it.
Reread the part in the article and my posting about the targeting of ads. I vaguely recall the machine you refer to, can you remember how they chose the ads their users were forced to endure and the other terms?
Gmail as invasive as it is sometimes, also really shines sometimes. I recall asking a friend regarding US suppliers of Linux notebook computers, he replied that he wasn't sure about [insert the location where I am presently] and the top sponsored ad on the right was an ad for Linux notebook computers.
I also recall a recent thread on lkml (read through gmail) which was a truly awful, fugly set of patches that should have just been buried in the desert or something. One of the gmail ads with the introductory part 0 of XX patch was for a product to eliminate dog urine problems in front yards. Hilarious and oh so appropriate.
So I reiterate, if the targeting is as good as the patent says it is, the ads will not be nearly so much a barrier as they might have been earlier.
Note to advertisers (I'm looking at you Google, but mainly you Yahoo!): do not advertise for mail order brides. Period. I'm so tired of that crap when I write to my wife overseas from the US.
That wiki is incomplete. There was a variant introduced in the 1970s in the USCF magazine that had 8 pawns positioned on the 2nd rank for both sides and the first 8 moves were to place the major pieces on the back rank after which the game proceeded according to the usual rules. No restrictions on placing the king anywhere, no restrictions on whether your bishops were placed on opposite colored squares. In other words a full 16! (sixteen factorial) or is it 8! * 8!, I've always been bad at combinatorics, different possibilities of starting positions.
Sad that the former madman of San Marino could get a so much weaker version into usage.
They randomise starting back-rank positions now in some tournaments, to stave off the eventual "book death" that has already conquered checkers. Randomize or start with the pieces off the board? When I was still a member of the USCF in the 1970s, someone introduced a chess variant similar to that. Each side starts with 8 pawns on the 2nd on the board and the back rank empty. White still moves first, but the first 8 moves for each side must be to put the major pieces on the 1st rank. This eliminates the memorized opening book openings too and emphasizes chess middle game play which is what the game is about anyway IMO. This adds 16! different starting positions and maybe makes the game complex enough that it can never be solved deterministically in a useful amount of time, I hope so.
I'm not surprised that checkers has been solved. As a programmer and an engineer, I cheer in the fact that a difficult problem has been solved, as a human being, I'm sad in a way. Computers are tools, humans are well, humans. There must remain some ways we can think better.
Language abuse is a serious matter. Example: `Rugby' in my wife's culture is the brand of glue of choice for those who would abuse such things, hence `doing rugby' means sniffing glue not playing a team sport with a ball.
This battle was lost ages ago, yes I actually used to care about it, too. Why? I have no idea. It's clear from context what the word means. Context includes who you are talking to, what you're talking about, etc. True the battle was lost a long time ago, but context is cultural too. I've given up trying to explain the difference to my wife who is not a native English speaker. I do consider it a big deal though and I will make sure my kids know the difference.
Why do you care so much about these things? Because it was our word first. There was an idiot no-name blogger who had an article posted here a few months ago who was trying to coopt the term "superuser" as a synonym for virus writing criminal who should be shot, IMO.
Now... if Microsoft were to come out with an OS that was free as in beer in exchange for taking a percentage of your screen for ads That's exactly how it would work. Give away a free computer with a free O/S + applications in exchange for hosting the ad software. The advertising could probably be made targeted enough that they could pay people to use such systems and turn a profit. After all, plenty of people in the US buy into the "Who cares about privacy, I have nothing to hide" line.
The only thing interesting to me about this article is whether the patent is general enough that malicious viral adware now constitutes a patent violation. Along the same lines, I wish Microsoft had patented email spam so they could now be suing email spammers for patent violations.
Just as the automobile can co-exist with the airplane, ODF and Open XML can and should co-exist, the team writes. They go on to imply that standards agencies should not place themselves in a role similar to restricting transportation solely to the ground level. Since they're likening themselves to an airplane, does this mean they will expect users to take off their shoes, empty their pockets, etc. and go through a metal detector and X-ray search before using their Open XML format? Inquiring minds want to know...
Other than the widely regarded as fact belief that M$ is intent on doing evil, they could be patenting such an idea so no one else is able to implement such a terrible idea, thus saving the world from an ad-based OS. At least it's nice to dream. What color is the sky on the planet you live on?
If you don't like it, don't buy it.
Let me spell it out to you. The web browser (Internet Explorer) is the O/S. When you browse the Internet you will be pummeled with ads unless you take proactive steps to block them on any O/S. How is the computer-illiterate Joe-sixpack who normally buys Microsoft infected computers and leaves the O/S on them going to be able to tell any difference?
Sigh. I have been trolled, hope I have a nice day.
CDMA handsets I believe are really only in use in Korea and North America, no? No. I used a CDMA phone in Japan as far back as 1999. All of the subway stations have CDMA cells so that the phones work underground too.
And then? Those problems have dozens of people who wish to solve them. How is that going to "reinvent" computing any more than Prolog did to "reinvent" computer languages? A quantum computer is not going to run a conventional general purpose O/S.
Now, if they could do something useful like keeping FPS up in the middle of an epic battle, then they would make interesting engines for graphics cards. But factoring large numbers, cryptography, etc. the average user just plain isn't going to care.
a home quantum computer - Dreaming (Not possible yet - maybe never) Even if they were possible, what problems would they solve? Would quantum computers have as great an impact on computing as Prolog did? Just asking.
Anyway, can you imagine a Beowolf Cluster of these things?
That's a completely different situation. There is absolutely zero chance that you can go out and kill a bear in the woods somewhere and have it drop a pair of skis, or a better gun, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
My wife and children watch TV, I don't and I wouldn't care, but there's less crying if there's a TV around.
It's a pity they're going closed source, but it wouldn't be unfair for Blizzard to toss a few gold pieces back their way given all the money Blizzard is making.
Maybe because the people who would care don't allow Flash to run on their systems? What kind of crap does Flash do? Is there any reason to install it or enable it?
What are some of the first things you do once you get to Outlands, bomb throwing on the Path of Glory to name one.
The Gryphon bombing run is repeatable. Quick, round up everyone who has done that quest more than a couple of times.
The policy there is ludicrous though. Hoof & Mouth disease is a problem in parts of the Philippines, but the only time you are forced to walk across the special mat (between SFO and NAIA) is deplaning at NAIA. While waiting for your baggage in SFO, the homeland security monitor has a short video on it, but there is no screening coming into the U.S.
I regret to inform you that your position no longer exists. You have until the end of the day to clean out your desk. :-(
:-)
Go down to HR to pick up your severance package.
Yeah, and he also used to frequent stripper bars, but Dr. Feynman was a scientist, not an engineer. Science has never been known as a high-paying profession.
One counter-example does not make an argument, but turn your statement around - how many engineers can you name had only liberal arts training in college?
All technical degree programs require a fair amount of liberal arts electives to fill out graduation requirements. No liberal arts programs require any substantial technical coursework.
It's all crap. Microsoft Windows XP has all of the stability and (relative) performance of a development Linux 1.3 kernel + userland environment. My 20+ year old AT&T Unix PC had a similar but prettier and far more productive user interface.
I do care about a level playing field when buying equipment. I do not wish to be forced to pay for a license for software that I will never use.
I do care about a level playing field when it comes to interfaces. Standards must be open and drivel like render this paragraph like 1996 Microsoft Word running on a Macintosh just doesn't cut it.
Mod me down, Microsoft Fan Boys, bring it on. I've spent the last few months attempting to appreciate Microsoft Windows XP, but fortunately my employer has relented and will now allow me to install Linux on the company notebook.
You have a strange list. You left out the most important kernel programmer ever - Ken Thompson, you also left out Dennis Ritchie (first C compiler, designer of the first Unix file system), and for promoting excellent modern programming practices and teaching us all how to program the right way - Brian Kernighan and PJ Plauger.
And what about Larry Wall for Perl? John McCarthy for Lisp (say what you want about Lisp, but it's the only language that has survived with programming mindshare for over half a century)? The lead engineer of the group at IBM who wrote the first high level language compiler for Fortran, proving that assembly language wasn't the end-all for efficient programming? Donald Knuth for his programming books and TeX?
But perhaps the real answer is that they are really the vapid stupid people they appear to be when you meet them. Technology has nothing to do with it.
Reread the part in the article and my posting about the targeting of ads. I vaguely recall the machine you refer to, can you remember how they chose the ads their users were forced to endure and the other terms?
Gmail as invasive as it is sometimes, also really shines sometimes. I recall asking a friend regarding US suppliers of Linux notebook computers, he replied that he wasn't sure about [insert the location where I am presently] and the top sponsored ad on the right was an ad for Linux notebook computers.
I also recall a recent thread on lkml (read through gmail) which was a truly awful, fugly set of patches that should have just been buried in the desert or something. One of the gmail ads with the introductory part 0 of XX patch was for a product to eliminate dog urine problems in front yards. Hilarious and oh so appropriate.
So I reiterate, if the targeting is as good as the patent says it is, the ads will not be nearly so much a barrier as they might have been earlier.
Note to advertisers (I'm looking at you Google, but mainly you Yahoo!): do not advertise for mail order brides. Period. I'm so tired of that crap when I write to my wife overseas from the US.
That wiki is incomplete. There was a variant introduced in the 1970s in the USCF magazine that had 8 pawns positioned on the 2nd rank for both sides and the first 8 moves were to place the major pieces on the back rank after which the game proceeded according to the usual rules. No restrictions on placing the king anywhere, no restrictions on whether your bishops were placed on opposite colored squares. In other words a full 16! (sixteen factorial) or is it 8! * 8!, I've always been bad at combinatorics, different possibilities of starting positions.
Sad that the former madman of San Marino could get a so much weaker version into usage.
I'm not surprised that checkers has been solved. As a programmer and an engineer, I cheer in the fact that a difficult problem has been solved, as a human being, I'm sad in a way. Computers are tools, humans are well, humans. There must remain some ways we can think better.
Merriam Webster http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary says that variant of hack dates from the 1600s and comes from the British word `hackney', or taxi driver.
Language abuse is a serious matter. Example: `Rugby' in my wife's culture is the brand of glue of choice for those who would abuse such things, hence `doing rugby' means sniffing glue not playing a team sport with a ball.
The only thing interesting to me about this article is whether the patent is general enough that malicious viral adware now constitutes a patent violation. Along the same lines, I wish Microsoft had patented email spam so they could now be suing email spammers for patent violations.
Oh I wonder when
Ubiquitous computing
Will be popular?
If you don't like it, don't buy it.
Let me spell it out to you. The web browser (Internet Explorer) is the O/S. When you browse the Internet you will be pummeled with ads unless you take proactive steps to block them on any O/S. How is the computer-illiterate Joe-sixpack who normally buys Microsoft infected computers and leaves the O/S on them going to be able to tell any difference?
Sigh. I have been trolled, hope I have a nice day.
That's not true. Even the jungles of the Philippines have GSM cell phone coverage (at least in the places where there is a power grid).
And then? Those problems have dozens of people who wish to solve them. How is that going to "reinvent" computing any more than Prolog did to "reinvent" computer languages? A quantum computer is not going to run a conventional general purpose O/S.
Now, if they could do something useful like keeping FPS up in the middle of an epic battle, then they would make interesting engines for graphics cards. But factoring large numbers, cryptography, etc. the average user just plain isn't going to care.
Anyway, can you imagine a Beowolf Cluster of these things?
That's a completely different situation. There is absolutely zero chance that you can go out and kill a bear in the woods somewhere and have it drop a pair of skis, or a better gun, etc.