or people will just go back to small, live performances.
I hate to point it out, but this assumes that the Mass Market is able to pull themselves away from the mass-media-pushed entertainment.
The reality is that we don't like what is going on here, but the Mass Market is (1) oblivious to it, and (2) susceptible to the Big Media "message".
Britannie (sp? whatever) didn't become tops because she makes good music. Neither did 95% of the "chart toppers".
So we can believe that it will all collapse on itself, but we can't rely on it. The cold reality is that restrictions are pushed on the market and consumers tend to buy it up.
Divx didn't fail because "people can't stand being restricted". It failed because it appeared to bring very little benefit to the consumer (and was in essence wasteful; it's biggest "pro" was "don't return the disc, throw it away").
If Divx had brought some "eye-candy" to the market that was not available elsewhere (i.e. if they had beat DVD to the scene by a few years), then I am quite sure that it would stay.
So, how does DRM/SDMI/etc... successfully get rolled out? The makers put one team into developing the rights-technology and one team into adding "selling features".... oh, yeah, and twelve teams lining pockets...
They're still comparing OS X to 2 to 5 year old Windows versions.
Well, then we need to argue over the definition of FUD.
I don't think it is FUD to say "hey, those guys burned you; come take a look at what we've got".
It is FUD if they say "those guys burned you, they've got nothing better to show for it, and we kick their @ss".
Besides, those ads are great: people waving their hands in the air, looking all confused, pointing at nothing at all yet you still know exactly what they're talking about...Most non-technical computer users know exactly what they're talking about.
I mean, yes, you could make a case that BSOD would be an issue if Microsoft were still trying to peddle WinME on the public, but they aren't.
I don't find the ad to be FUD. The ad is aimed at people trying to upgrade old systems. If you have a 2 to 5 year old system, it is running Win9x/ME and you are very close acquaintances with BSOD.
I wish it was that simple. There are hordes of people out there who have jobs where if they install anything...
...it automatically installs IE.
They're called "MS-Windows developers"....
Re:Slashdot: News for thieves. Like ethics matter.
on
What Free Cable?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
This is like producing one CD for all of your products, shipping it off whenever one of your customers buys an application you made
I can't completely buy this analogy. If I have cable coming into my house, I am allowed to hook up one device to it. Just because I can splice it and run cable to other sets in my house doesn't mean that I legally can.
So, you have a cable modem hooked up to your cable. This doesn't mean that you are allowed to splice that cable and run it to another device.
I had been coding full-time for a few years when I started noticing my CTS. The pain was growing almost weekly it seemed, so I got myself a foam pad (and later a gel pad). The pain's growth slowed, noticably so, but it still did grow.
I finally got to a point where I couldn't type properly at all. That's when I got serious, started doing wrist stretches every few hours, and got rid of the pad. The biggest change was the fact that I no longer rest my wrists on anything at all. That, IMO, is the truly ergonomic way to protect yourself.
Having your arms/wrists resting on anything for hours at a time is bad and will reduce circulation. I have gone back to my grade 9 typing class [God Bless, Ms. West] and sit with feet flat, elbows bent 90 degrees, back straight.
I've been pain free now for 2 years.
So, I agree that the positioning has something to do with it, but I believe the best answer it to not rest the wrists at all.
99% of the people who complain about SO/OOo and Word documents are complaining because they have the wrong fonts installed!
Though the fonts may differ, that typically isn't the root of the problem. The real problem is that people don't know how to use word processors!.
WYSIWYG does not mean that you can ignore the tools that you are using. A document should never have more than 2 adjacent spaces; people should learn the difference between hard- and soft-returns (paragraph breaks vs. line breaks); etc.
This is the same problem as we see on the Web. HTML "developers" are fighting the system trying to force a particular look to their pages.
Let the viewer/browser/client do the layout!
So what if a document repaginates differently in one word processor over another? The document will look good given any font (though radically different sizes may look awkward). If the document is formatted properly, it will Just Work.
If you care about exact layout, then a word processor is the wrong tool. That's what
page layout programs are for.
However, when the project manager sends complex doc based templates expecting you to edit these for the task and then send them back you are stuck.
No, you're not stuck...you're a MS-Word user.
Other word processors makers hope to create a product that is compatible with MS-Word, not a product that is MS-Word. If your project manager is demanding that level of MS-Word-specific stuff done, then use MS-Word or tell him/her that you don't work that way.
No one can ever drive anyone or force anyone into suicide...
You've never been bullied much, have you? Or faced inescapable injustice?
I agree with the basis of your statement, but not the qualification. People can push others to very desperate acts. Even a very strongly willed individual has their breaking point.
But I do not believe that the case in this article falls into this scope.
No its not. We aren't talking about simply the ability to download patches from a website. Ximian is still offering this at the same price as Microsoft is.
We're talking about Priority Access to patches and new releases. This is comparable to, say, the Microsoft Select program. Now, how much does that cost per year?
I do not believe that this service is aimed specifically at consumers. It is priced too high (in my opinion) for casual consumers. However, for a business (SOHO or larger), this price is quite reasonable.
How much does a SOHO pay for MS software similar to what you get with the Ximian suite?
Can a SOHO get legitimate copies of MS software and its updates for free at all? They can with Ximian.
Re:not as easy as you might think - VERY EASY
on
al Qaeda Hacks XP?
·
· Score: 3, Funny
My standard practice is to never install a Microsoft OS until it has been "in the field" for -at least- a year
The actual problem with all of this metaphor stuff is that it is a mask over the inner-workings of the computer.
For the average user (and even for the power user!), they typically don't want to deal with the organization of data in order to satisfy the parameters imposed by the computer.
We need a new UI paradigm; remove the need for a user to create directories, name files, type URLs.
The popular PC has been around for 20-some years. Remember the problems people had with keeping floppies organized? That problem still exists...except now they have to *really understand* the inner-workings of computers in order to move files between machines.
The computer is a tool with LOTS of power. Instead of making it so that users have to know more about the computer, we need the next generation machines to know more about us. We shouldn't need a manual, the computer should be asking us for help so it can serve us better.
I also don't see announcements of FreeBSD beta, only RELEASES. And it should stay that way.
If we stopped posting about Linux betas and devel releases, then the only OS we'd hear about non-production-ready builds would be MS-Windows...arguably, every MS-Windows story is about non-production ready builds;-)
some renegade company pirate (yes I said *pirate*) your work and make it closed work
"Renegade company"? Well, I guess you ignore the fact that Sunspire is the collection of people who created the software, who wrote the overwhelming majority (all?) of the software, designed the overwhelming (all?) of the graphics, sounds, levels...yes, these guys are pirates!
So create a folder called "mystuff" and keep everything in it...
That might work fine for you, but when your pin-headed manager or PFY find out about this cache of documents, you can bet your bottom dollar they'll add a link off their homepage or some brilliant location like that.
You mightn't link to it...but someone eventually will.
Also, realize that many robots don't guess at URLs...but it would be trivial to create a 'bot which did just hack away.
for i in `strings/usr/lib/aspell/* | sort -u`
do
wget "http://www.3l33tsyt.kom/$i"
done
Slashdot Mirror
Which one song: the first side or the second side?
With DSOTM on CD, it is just one song...a very close second to Echoes (the original song...they released no albums after 1982...)
BLOODY HELL!! Molson Canadian?? That smiley had better mean "[sarcasm]...[/sarcasm]".
I mean, Upper Canada Dark, Big Rock Ale, heck even Alexander Keith's...but Molson Canadian?
I hate to point it out, but this assumes that the Mass Market is able to pull themselves away from the mass-media-pushed entertainment.
The reality is that we don't like what is going on here, but the Mass Market is (1) oblivious to it, and (2) susceptible to the Big Media "message".
Britannie (sp? whatever) didn't become tops because she makes good music. Neither did 95% of the "chart toppers".
So we can believe that it will all collapse on itself, but we can't rely on it. The cold reality is that restrictions are pushed on the market and consumers tend to buy it up.
Divx didn't fail because "people can't stand being restricted". It failed because it appeared to bring very little benefit to the consumer (and was in essence wasteful; it's biggest "pro" was "don't return the disc, throw it away").
If Divx had brought some "eye-candy" to the market that was not available elsewhere (i.e. if they had beat DVD to the scene by a few years), then I am quite sure that it would stay.
So, how does DRM/SDMI/etc... successfully get rolled out? The makers put one team into developing the rights-technology and one team into adding "selling features". ... oh, yeah, and twelve teams lining pockets...
Well, then we need to argue over the definition of FUD.
I don't think it is FUD to say "hey, those guys burned you; come take a look at what we've got". It is FUD if they say "those guys burned you, they've got nothing better to show for it, and we kick their @ss".
Besides, those ads are great: people waving their hands in the air, looking all confused, pointing at nothing at all yet you still know exactly what they're talking about...Most non-technical computer users know exactly what they're talking about.
I don't find the ad to be FUD. The ad is aimed at people trying to upgrade old systems. If you have a 2 to 5 year old system, it is running Win9x/ME and you are very close acquaintances with BSOD.
They're called "MS-Windows developers"....
So, you have a cable modem hooked up to your cable. This doesn't mean that you are allowed to splice that cable and run it to another device.
A lot of the cost of those cartridges seems to be markup at the HP level...
supplies for deskjet 1120c (just to pick a random inkjet).
The pain, however, once it sets in, is quite Not Fun. Quite.
I had been coding full-time for a few years when I started noticing my CTS. The pain was growing almost weekly it seemed, so I got myself a foam pad (and later a gel pad). The pain's growth slowed, noticably so, but it still did grow.
I finally got to a point where I couldn't type properly at all. That's when I got serious, started doing wrist stretches every few hours, and got rid of the pad. The biggest change was the fact that I no longer rest my wrists on anything at all. That, IMO, is the truly ergonomic way to protect yourself.
Having your arms/wrists resting on anything for hours at a time is bad and will reduce circulation. I have gone back to my grade 9 typing class [God Bless, Ms. West] and sit with feet flat, elbows bent 90 degrees, back straight. I've been pain free now for 2 years.
So, I agree that the positioning has something to do with it, but I believe the best answer it to not rest the wrists at all.
Though the fonts may differ, that typically isn't the root of the problem. The real problem is that people don't know how to use word processors!.
WYSIWYG does not mean that you can ignore the tools that you are using. A document should never have more than 2 adjacent spaces; people should learn the difference between hard- and soft-returns (paragraph breaks vs. line breaks); etc.
This is the same problem as we see on the Web. HTML "developers" are fighting the system trying to force a particular look to their pages.
So what if a document repaginates differently in one word processor over another? The document will look good given any font (though radically different sizes may look awkward). If the document is formatted properly, it will Just Work.If you care about exact layout, then a word processor is the wrong tool . That's what page layout programs are for.
Argh! It's NOT math...it's arithmetic.
Most of us stopped calling spelling "english" when we were in grade 5. Why do people still call arithmetic "math" ??
No, you're not stuck...you're a MS-Word user.
Other word processors makers hope to create a product that is compatible with MS-Word, not a product that is MS-Word. If your project manager is demanding that level of MS-Word-specific stuff done, then use MS-Word or tell him/her that you don't work that way.
I try not to give Slashdot any more hits after they keep posting dupes, so here's the story as posted on Yahoo! http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=7 0&e=3&cid=70&u=/cn/20020415/tc_cn/google_tests_sea rch_tools_for_developers.
Aye...but there's the rub. When you're down and still being beaten, it is extremely hard to think your way out.
Reading the posts thus far, has no one actually used this?
You've never been bullied much, have you? Or faced inescapable injustice?
I agree with the basis of your statement, but not the qualification. People can push others to very desperate acts. Even a very strongly willed individual has their breaking point.
But I do not believe that the case in this article falls into this scope.
And how has your user community accepted this?
How much was invested for training?
How have you been finding it w.r.t. scalability and concurrent use?
Just curious. Having worked for a now defunct Web-based CM product, CM acceptance is not dictated by programmers anymore ;-)
[I hate everything, I just hate Linux less.]
No its not. We aren't talking about simply the ability to download patches from a website. Ximian is still offering this at the same price as Microsoft is.
We're talking about Priority Access to patches and new releases. This is comparable to, say, the Microsoft Select program. Now, how much does that cost per year?
I do not believe that this service is aimed specifically at consumers. It is priced too high (in my opinion) for casual consumers. However, for a business (SOHO or larger), this price is quite reasonable.
How much does a SOHO pay for MS software similar to what you get with the Ximian suite? Can a SOHO get legitimate copies of MS software and its updates for free at all? They can with Ximian.
My policy is half of that: the first half!
For the average user (and even for the power user!), they typically don't want to deal with the organization of data in order to satisfy the parameters imposed by the computer.
We need a new UI paradigm; remove the need for a user to create directories, name files, type URLs.
The popular PC has been around for 20-some years. Remember the problems people had with keeping floppies organized? That problem still exists...except now they have to *really understand* the inner-workings of computers in order to move files between machines.
The computer is a tool with LOTS of power. Instead of making it so that users have to know more about the computer, we need the next generation machines to know more about us. We shouldn't need a manual, the computer should be asking us for help so it can serve us better.
In order to do that, they'd have to be competent web developers/admins.
However, they are ... consultants.
"Renegade company"? Well, I guess you ignore the fact that Sunspire is the collection of people who created the software, who wrote the overwhelming majority (all?) of the software, designed the overwhelming (all?) of the graphics, sounds, levels...yes, these guys are pirates!
BTW: the games is still Open Sourced.
That might work fine for you, but when your pin-headed manager or PFY find out about this cache of documents, you can bet your bottom dollar they'll add a link off their homepage or some brilliant location like that.
You mightn't link to it...but someone eventually will.
Also, realize that many robots don't guess at URLs...but it would be trivial to create a 'bot which did just hack away.