Amen, brother! I've always felt having to use Word was my punishment for changing jobs. Reveal Codes was the #1 feature I missed. There is something kinda-sorta like it in Word, but pretty much worthless. I truly hate not knowing where attributes begin and end, probably some anal aspect of being a programmer all there years. As far as Word has advanced (tongue in cheek) it's always felt like an utter hack, and behaved like one too often to my dismay (yeah, I get paid whatever I'm doing, but some large part of my brain is dedicated to fully suffering while repeating any tedius task, particularly if it sucked the first time.
Smart move on the part of these two vendors and good for keeping competition alive.
Why back in the late 20th century, we had a series of netquakes we all blamed on SprintNet. It was a horrible time and the suffering was great, many a word was uttered in disgust, and a few out-loud. Why, the earth practically stood still as if we was all trapped in a limbo. When a traceroute succeeded, through Northern Michigan University, to Canada, to Rochester NY, then on through New York City and Maryland, then down to New Orleans, back up to St Louie and off to Kansas, we all knew there was a serious catastrophe around Chicago and the moanin' of lost souls was great. Eventually they recovered, but we loathed them old Cisco routers that SprintNet used, they was just itchin' for a major disaster. We'd pick up the peices, o' course, as what misfortune befell us didn't matter to they'uns. Them was tough old times. Your DoS attacks ain't never come close. 'Course we then got saddled with CIESIN and was sharing a T1 with another school, by gum, it could make a feller cry.
You think you has it good, but all we needs is a few WorldComs to twitch the switch and ya'll be right back there in '93. Yep.
...to utterly fill up disks like mad. I can just imagine some poor sap rotting in jail or on bail, while investigators pore over everything coming and going and waiting for his "speedy" trial.
"Eureka! We've got the evidence we need to convict! Too bad he died of old age a couple years ago..."
These would be very near and dear to my heart, I hope they're in development path:
Super Mario Doom: No more carts of jumping from platform to platform over mushrooms and barrels, its Mario goes a'Fragging.
M.U.L.E.'s revenge: The proletariate goes Marxist on Mechtrons, Gollumers, Packers, Bonzoids, Spheroids, Flappers, Leggites and Humans. No more colony tap-dancing contests, ever!
Bear Day Afternoon: Bentley rules these Cyrstal Castles with enough firepower to cut down even the surliest centipede, tree spirit or skeleton.
Cooking with the Iron-fisted Chef: Eventually everything looks like spaghetti and lots of it, marinara everywhere! Woo!
Star Wars: Attack of the Anaklones: If they could clone Jango Fett, imagine a clone army of twisted, anguished Anakin Skywalkers. May the force be with you, cause everyone else is on the last train out of town!
Living and Dying with Martha Stewart: Shrapnel and gore, but extra bonuses for tastefully arranging the recently departed. Watch for subpoena servers, though, they can bring down even the mightiest empire.
CowboyNeal's Duck Hunt: Point gun, hold down trigger, hours of entertainment or you could just tape down the button and leave for a while.
On the other hand, the screen resolution is 160x160 pixels.
Not that you could actually tell the difference in number of colors... I'd think 4,096 is probably sufficient, unless you have to view something with 200 shades of pink, which really threw my digital camera. I had some sort of chunks of pink, from photographing a hot-pink Fender HM-Strat, looked really bizarre, but some dithering would have been acceptable.
" He said a ruling against his company would "create a world of hurt," opening the floodgates for all types of suits, including contract and property claims from people whose domains are down for just a short while."
Or perhaps instances when the registrar refuses to transfer a domain as requested by the owner... grrr
You touch, indirectly, on what I see as the main point of such a concern. A ruling against a company which places itself directly in the path of communications and commerce, then can't be bothered with ethical concerns deserves a slap-down. I can imagine the words in this lawyers head as he addresses his client's concern... "Please, please don't let lightning strike me, please!" If Veri$ign wants to be in that business, let them embrace fully the responsibilities and liabilities, or get the fsck out.
Re:Spammers in China? Give me a break!
on
Haiku vs Spam
·
· Score: 2
Do you really think some people in China spamming Americans in US to sell goods from overseas? Although some spams are from China, the stuff they sell are all in US.
This month I did spend
Many hundreds of dollars
For BitCharG true love
It's A Whole New Paradigm
on
Haiku vs Spam
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Trust no CEO
Venture capital sees spam
A proven model
I wonder if the same litigants have a suit against the USPS for ads leading one to expect prompt service from courteous, competent employees.
Thanks for your insightful comment on the USPS, Timothy. It will certainly help keep the conversation intelligent and on topic.
I think Timothy was just using the USPS reference as an example of something obvious. Most post offices I have used do indeed have long lines and employees who don't give a shit.
And many actually do give a shit. Many actually do a pretty good job and I'm continually impressed how fast mail moves around this country, and I'm someone who receives and sends a lot. The USPS has a heck of a logistics operation and it actually works far better than just about anywhere else in the world. As for slow employees, well have you bothered to observe some of the crap people in line at the post office are trying to do, which slows the line down? Naw, of course not, it's easier to pick on the USPS employees. I've done a lot of business with the USPS in my area, at least four different offices, and to be quite fair, they do good work in a job far more complex than your average McD's or Safeway. (watch either of those lines slow down when someone want's a special order or needs a price-check, eh!)
Lastly, if you think there is a problem with your post office then write to your local postmaster about it. Be clear and state your observations and what you think could be done. If all you feel up to is shitting on people who do their jobs, even when some fscking nut was sending anthrax through the mail, then you're no improvement.
User Friendly looks like Funky Winkerbean meets Dilbert and has a kid who reads the Necronomicon, raises the corpse of Charles Shultz that marries Bill Keane and gives birth to an unholy creature that likes to scratch itself until it bleeds in the patterns approximating the strip you see.
Which, when you get right down to it, says that it really is it's own strip. And it's still more fun then a conference call or a Friday 4:00 PM meeting. I've been an avid comic strip fan since about 8 (Started on Walt Kelly's Pogo, nothing has since compared and it's been a long wait...) and I'm 42 now.
UF was a regular read when I wasn't so addicted to other sites, which I check in the morning, afternoon and evening. I just popped back in and read back a month and still find it an amusing strip, well worth the time it takes to read it.
I used to be a regular on rec...something...comics where epic battles were waged on the evils of Cathy and Garfield. Net: Cathy and Garfield are still in the papers, though the San Jose Murky has dropped Cathy from the Sunday section, good riddance, but I can't take any credit for that. Illiad does strike me as someone who is actually getting better. Banal? Naw, the problem is some people have higher expectations. Take them to greener pastures, leave UF to those who enjoy. It strikes me as a somewhat self-indulgent, coy, smug, at times, but still worth a regular read.
That said, I do find Penny Arcade pretty damn funny at times, but it's mutch edgier, and for that does have further to fall when the gag is flat. Much as I enjoy PA, I don't read it very often either.
I've been bothered by their proprietary approach to many things, over the past few years (memory stick, absurdly expensive expansion components to their computers, etc.) and was looking at portable LCD Tv's yesterday. Thing is, in my gut, I already flinch at the prospect of buying from Sony for the concern of being locked into something else of theirs where only they sell (due to heavy copyrighting/patenting) and lack of desire to support such a business.
I may just go with Casio. Seems like the strategy has backfired on this wallet.
Extremetech has an article about how HP has decided to use the spraying tech developed for inkjet printers to cool chips -- and has made a robot that'll wander around data centers, detecting too-hot chips and hosing them down.
Hmm. Imagine this going wrong..
Gang-bangers and wannabes get hold of these and guide robotic taggers through your 'hood.
I subscribed to Sirius a month ago. While driving around I think I'm actually finding locations of 802.11x networks, because my signal, normally strong, will just die regularly near some buildings. Maybe this is a way to find them, eh?
I've been hearing about this on the BBC for the past couple of days. The thought that occurred to me was this: if mass is moving from the poles to the equator, will the rotation of the earth slow, even a tiny amount, but enough that we have to adjust time in a few years?
The problem I saw for PC magazines was the explosion of stuff available and their inability to cover much of it adequately. I've heard it's as much as 90 days between writing an article and the mags appearing on racks in shops, a bit quicker if you're a subscriber, but only by a week.
Websites have been doing a much better job, due to the elimination of scheduling print/binding/shipping to distributors/getting to sellers.
One publication I miss is MicroTimes, which was published in the SF Bay area, but discontinued last year. A bit of a loss there.
It's a bit odd, looking at Computer Shopper, which was good for finding sellers of computer stuff, to see how thin it's become. I wonder how much longer they'll be in print. I can remember having stacks of those, one years worth about 2 feet thick, standing against the wall in my old office. Even in the Apple ][ clone days (Peach, Orange, etc.) It was thicker than it is now. The web has certainly taken a toll on some publications, if not all.
Another publication (not computer related) Bike, looks a bit lean, the last issue (for $3.99) I saw at the local book shop, at probably 40 pages. Even with the renewed interest in cycling brought on by Lance Armstrong/USPS Tour success doesn't seem to be helping them. Although CycleSport seems to be doing very well, same for VeloNews.
I hardly watch TV anymore as it is. Pop-up ads would finish that off completely. However, once they get wise to me not watching they'll probably find other ways to pester me, like:
Pop-up ads in books
Pop-out ads in scrub along the singletrack
Javascript pop-ups attached to all emails from Anglefire, Geocities, Tripod or any of those other ISPs that suck.
Ads playing on the LCD display on my new car stereo (hopefully never, but some of those units with a full screen probably will.)
Waterpipes specially tuned to play jingles instead of the usual whine while I'm taking a shower
Advertisements in parking lots which pop-up when you drive over a plate
Articles on slashdot promoting ThinkGeek (naw, it'd never happen, right?)
Note: those cards that fall out of magazines do that by design. The idea is it falls out and you have to pick it up and you'll see it, so they're probably the first incarnation of pop-up ads.
One good thing about being a vegetarian... when they have someone working in a grocery store offering samples of fried sausages I say, "No thanks, I don't eat dead animals, it's unhealthy." Just a little way to fight back... maybe if I started a line of clothing... yeah... "Espouse Pepsi!", "Do whatever, but all shoes are pretty much the same", "Make your own snacks! It's fun and they taste the way you want them to and nobody will ever change the recipe!" Nah.. too wordy.
More seriously, these lawsuits represent a serious threat to innovation in this country."
Hilarious.
I'm assuming you mean USA, but it could apply in many countries. IIRC the concept of patents and copyrights originated in the UK, to protect the business of player piano scrolls, no less, and between the brits, EU and rest of the world, the IP concept is dangerous everywhere.
Sunday I was lamenting the sad shape of internet audio and video. Proprietary standards abound, fragmentation and general unwillingness for all the players to adopt a universal standard and just work on creating the best player (yeah, I know, MS would make some PoS and bolt in it to Windows and try to leave nobody with a choice, like they do now with Windows Media)
If Bill Gates, Steve Balmer (I always want to say Embalmer, hmm), et al believe they represent true innovation, then I'd absolutely love to hear how they would have visualized the introduction of Radio and Television in the USA... 5 different standards, 5 different TV's to try watching broadcasts from stations who adopt a single standard.... Yuck. PAL/NTSC is bad enough, as it raises a barrier between world broadcasts and the people of the USA (note: I don't say USA market, because that commoditizes people and is demeaning) There's something like this for the bandspread of radio in Europe vs USA, but many inexpensive portable radios can be found which switch 9/10 (you just have to locate the little switch.)
The answer? Encourage adoption of open standards, write to your congresscretin and senatoadies. Express to them how and open and unified standard really encourage innovation.
In this post 9/11 PATRIOT Act Globalization Corporate Facism Goth/geek-profiling-from-Columbine-aftermath world (heh, I beat Jon Katz to the punch with THAT one) - there's EXCELLENT fodder for political commentary. Too bad the
spineless wussies will probably shelve that idea.
Typically it's been the Dems (conservative southerners?) going after Hollywood for making gratuitous violent/obsene/whatever movies just to rake in the bucks, while making sure enough high profile ones get enough campaign $$$ to ensure nothing which really sticks comes out of washington. Now, assume Hollywood _DID_ make a post 9/11 Batman vs. Superman, where W. is painted with the same brush that Reagan was in DK (Reagan was painted as a reckless warmonger who was the first to head to his bomb shelter when the Russians launched a nuclear counter-attack) and you can bet the next time some legislation concerning restricting TV/Games/Movies/Radio comes up, it'll have more support than Reps and moderates usually give it.
Batman is the coolest superhero ever. Why? No superpowers. Brains, altheticism, and a raging case of vengance. What can be more powerful than that?
If you recall when Batman first fought the leader of the Mutants gang, same 4 issue series, he got his butt kicked and barely got away. Next time he used his brains to win (also, just barely). Seems Bats relies a bit more on luck, as he pretty much needs to.
About there my reading of the whole thing ended, but in another setting (i.e. not during the era of a 60-something Batman) it would have to be something of a political nature, to make any sense and be somewhat consistent with the current direction of both comics, BUT(!), never rule out the possibility (and entire likelihood) that Hollywood comes through and places both characters completely at odds with everything they have been and pull some lame (i.e. Dallas' Bobby Ewing's death dream) story, which is totally full of holes and dismisses generations of fans opinion of "how things should be" (a la Mission Impossible movie, bleahh(!))
Now, what I'd like to know is when there's going to be an Aliens vs Predator movie (yeah, been comics and books, but it could still be pretty darn cool) if done well and with a decent director (paging Ridley Scot, paging Ridley Scott!) 8-)
Slashdot Mirror
Smart move on the part of these two vendors and good for keeping competition alive.
You think you has it good, but all we needs is a few WorldComs to twitch the switch and ya'll be right back there in '93. Yep.
That would be DNA and in Texas.
The irony of that is ... er ... ironic.
"Eureka! We've got the evidence we need to convict! Too bad he died of old age a couple years ago..."
Aye, noe I ha' warp power and the internet!
Is it too little, too late?
Super Mario Doom: No more carts of jumping from platform to platform over mushrooms and barrels, its Mario goes a'Fragging.
M.U.L.E.'s revenge: The proletariate goes Marxist on Mechtrons, Gollumers, Packers, Bonzoids, Spheroids, Flappers, Leggites and Humans. No more colony tap-dancing contests, ever!
Bear Day Afternoon: Bentley rules these Cyrstal Castles with enough firepower to cut down even the surliest centipede, tree spirit or skeleton.
Cooking with the Iron-fisted Chef: Eventually everything looks like spaghetti and lots of it, marinara everywhere! Woo!
Star Wars: Attack of the Anaklones: If they could clone Jango Fett, imagine a clone army of twisted, anguished Anakin Skywalkers. May the force be with you, cause everyone else is on the last train out of town!
Living and Dying with Martha Stewart: Shrapnel and gore, but extra bonuses for tastefully arranging the recently departed. Watch for subpoena servers, though, they can bring down even the mightiest empire.
CowboyNeal's Duck Hunt: Point gun, hold down trigger, hours of entertainment or you could just tape down the button and leave for a while.
Not that you could actually tell the difference in number of colors... I'd think 4,096 is probably sufficient, unless you have to view something with 200 shades of pink, which really threw my digital camera. I had some sort of chunks of pink, from photographing a hot-pink Fender HM-Strat, looked really bizarre, but some dithering would have been acceptable.
Or perhaps instances when the registrar refuses to transfer a domain as requested by the owner ... grrr
You touch, indirectly, on what I see as the main point of such a concern. A ruling against a company which places itself directly in the path of communications and commerce, then can't be bothered with ethical concerns deserves a slap-down. I can imagine the words in this lawyers head as he addresses his client's concern... "Please, please don't let lightning strike me, please!" If Veri$ign wants to be in that business, let them embrace fully the responsibilities and liabilities, or get the fsck out.
This month I did spend
Many hundreds of dollars
For BitCharG true love
Trust no CEO
Venture capital sees spam
A proven model
Commander Taco
Sees the new immitator
China, not Japan
Lastly, if you think there is a problem with your post office then write to your local postmaster about it. Be clear and state your observations and what you think could be done. If all you feel up to is shitting on people who do their jobs, even when some fscking nut was sending anthrax through the mail, then you're no improvement.
Which, when you get right down to it, says that it really is it's own strip. And it's still more fun then a conference call or a Friday 4:00 PM meeting. I've been an avid comic strip fan since about 8 (Started on Walt Kelly's Pogo, nothing has since compared and it's been a long wait...) and I'm 42 now.
UF was a regular read when I wasn't so addicted to other sites, which I check in the morning, afternoon and evening. I just popped back in and read back a month and still find it an amusing strip, well worth the time it takes to read it.
I used to be a regular on rec...something...comics where epic battles were waged on the evils of Cathy and Garfield. Net: Cathy and Garfield are still in the papers, though the San Jose Murky has dropped Cathy from the Sunday section, good riddance, but I can't take any credit for that. Illiad does strike me as someone who is actually getting better. Banal? Naw, the problem is some people have higher expectations. Take them to greener pastures, leave UF to those who enjoy. It strikes me as a somewhat self-indulgent, coy, smug, at times, but still worth a regular read.
That said, I do find Penny Arcade pretty damn funny at times, but it's mutch edgier, and for that does have further to fall when the gag is flat. Much as I enjoy PA, I don't read it very often either.
I may just go with Casio. Seems like the strategy has backfired on this wallet.
Hmm. Imagine this going wrong..
Gang-bangers and wannabes get hold of these and guide robotic taggers through your 'hood.
I subscribed to Sirius a month ago. While driving around I think I'm actually finding locations of 802.11x networks, because my signal, normally strong, will just die regularly near some buildings. Maybe this is a way to find them, eh?
I expect so.
It's fascinating, and yet depressing, how people with nothing to hide will go to great length to keep things from public eyes and ears.
Websites have been doing a much better job, due to the elimination of scheduling print/binding/shipping to distributors/getting to sellers.
One publication I miss is MicroTimes, which was published in the SF Bay area, but discontinued last year. A bit of a loss there.
It's a bit odd, looking at Computer Shopper, which was good for finding sellers of computer stuff, to see how thin it's become. I wonder how much longer they'll be in print. I can remember having stacks of those, one years worth about 2 feet thick, standing against the wall in my old office. Even in the Apple ][ clone days (Peach, Orange, etc.) It was thicker than it is now. The web has certainly taken a toll on some publications, if not all.
Another publication (not computer related) Bike, looks a bit lean, the last issue (for $3.99) I saw at the local book shop, at probably 40 pages. Even with the renewed interest in cycling brought on by Lance Armstrong/USPS Tour success doesn't seem to be helping them. Although CycleSport seems to be doing very well, same for VeloNews.
Rambus already is feeling the heat for this.
Pop-up ads in books
Pop-out ads in scrub along the singletrack
Javascript pop-ups attached to all emails from Anglefire, Geocities, Tripod or any of those other ISPs that suck.
Ads playing on the LCD display on my new car stereo (hopefully never, but some of those units with a full screen probably will.)
Waterpipes specially tuned to play jingles instead of the usual whine while I'm taking a shower
Advertisements in parking lots which pop-up when you drive over a plate
Articles on slashdot promoting ThinkGeek (naw, it'd never happen, right?)
Note: those cards that fall out of magazines do that by design. The idea is it falls out and you have to pick it up and you'll see it, so they're probably the first incarnation of pop-up ads.
One good thing about being a vegetarian... when they have someone working in a grocery store offering samples of fried sausages I say, "No thanks, I don't eat dead animals, it's unhealthy." Just a little way to fight back... maybe if I started a line of clothing... yeah... "Espouse Pepsi!", "Do whatever, but all shoes are pretty much the same", "Make your own snacks! It's fun and they taste the way you want them to and nobody will ever change the recipe!" Nah.. too wordy.
Hilarious.
I'm assuming you mean USA, but it could apply in many countries. IIRC the concept of patents and copyrights originated in the UK, to protect the business of player piano scrolls, no less, and between the brits, EU and rest of the world, the IP concept is dangerous everywhere.
Sunday I was lamenting the sad shape of internet audio and video. Proprietary standards abound, fragmentation and general unwillingness for all the players to adopt a universal standard and just work on creating the best player (yeah, I know, MS would make some PoS and bolt in it to Windows and try to leave nobody with a choice, like they do now with Windows Media)
If Bill Gates, Steve Balmer (I always want to say Embalmer, hmm), et al believe they represent true innovation, then I'd absolutely love to hear how they would have visualized the introduction of Radio and Television in the USA... 5 different standards, 5 different TV's to try watching broadcasts from stations who adopt a single standard.... Yuck. PAL/NTSC is bad enough, as it raises a barrier between world broadcasts and the people of the USA (note: I don't say USA market, because that commoditizes people and is demeaning) There's something like this for the bandspread of radio in Europe vs USA, but many inexpensive portable radios can be found which switch 9/10 (you just have to locate the little switch.)
The answer? Encourage adoption of open standards, write to your congresscretin and senatoadies. Express to them how and open and unified standard really encourage innovation.
Typically it's been the Dems (conservative southerners?) going after Hollywood for making gratuitous violent/obsene/whatever movies just to rake in the bucks, while making sure enough high profile ones get enough campaign $$$ to ensure nothing which really sticks comes out of washington. Now, assume Hollywood _DID_ make a post 9/11 Batman vs. Superman, where W. is painted with the same brush that Reagan was in DK (Reagan was painted as a reckless warmonger who was the first to head to his bomb shelter when the Russians launched a nuclear counter-attack) and you can bet the next time some legislation concerning restricting TV/Games/Movies/Radio comes up, it'll have more support than Reps and moderates usually give it.
If you recall when Batman first fought the leader of the Mutants gang, same 4 issue series, he got his butt kicked and barely got away. Next time he used his brains to win (also, just barely). Seems Bats relies a bit more on luck, as he pretty much needs to.
About there my reading of the whole thing ended, but in another setting (i.e. not during the era of a 60-something Batman) it would have to be something of a political nature, to make any sense and be somewhat consistent with the current direction of both comics, BUT(!), never rule out the possibility (and entire likelihood) that Hollywood comes through and places both characters completely at odds with everything they have been and pull some lame (i.e. Dallas' Bobby Ewing's death dream) story, which is totally full of holes and dismisses generations of fans opinion of "how things should be" (a la Mission Impossible movie, bleahh(!))
Now, what I'd like to know is when there's going to be an Aliens vs Predator movie (yeah, been comics and books, but it could still be pretty darn cool) if done well and with a decent director (paging Ridley Scot, paging Ridley Scott!) 8-)