Huh? So you don't think that an Adobe boardroom conference had the sentence "We need to send a message to those evil h4x0rs..."
Adobe pulled the trigger. They don't get to be sorry now that the bullet hit something. Their actions caused this chain of events to occur. They are not absolved of responsibility.
Much better to just hush up and let him think that he's right. Wouldn't do to have the people out there expressing themselves. That's what revolutions are made of, and how can important network consultants and journalists make a living if there's a revolution on?
So you've never bought a name-brand PC? Good for you. Here's your sticker proclaiming your membership in a most exclusive fraternity. For everybody else, not being able to get a PC without paying Microsoft is sort of a pain.
Your point about Sklyarov is well taken...but don't you see that the kind of power Adobe is wielding could be used by any large (like Microsoft) company? Wouldn't it be a good idea to put some strictures on these juggernauts' behaviour?
No, it'll be MUCH better to have one company that will tell you everything you can or can't buy for your computer.
Oh, wait...
(Yes, I am ignoring the Free Software movement. Microsoft has destroyed the business of creating and selling many classes of PC software...and that's bad.)
The atmosphere is not deep enough for the meteorite to reach its terminal velocity. (in other words, it's going to be decelerating all the time, never reaching equilibrium). It's coming in REALLY REALLY fast, and even when it dumps a bunch of mass into the atmosphere, and slows down a lot, it's still going to be going REALLY fast.
It would indeed slow down to some terminal velocity, but not the terminal velocity associated with people falling out of airplanes. Since the rock has a much higher mass per cross sectional area than a person does, and it is carrying a large amount (a VERY large amount) of kinetic energy into the atmosphere with it, the terminal velocity is going to be VERY high. The actual terminal velocity would be a function of density, the initial velocity, and the thermodynamic properties of the incoming meteorite. The thing would be ablating all the way down, so your energy balance gets exciting...
Hmm. If I put my mind to it, I could probably do a numerical simulation, but what it would tell you is this: the atmosphere is not deep enough, nor does it have a long enough chord line tangent to the Earth's surface, to bring the thing down to its terminal velocity (which, again, would still be really fast. Like, many times the speed of sound.)
Not so. Terminal velocity derives from the force balance of an object with (more or less) zero kinetic energy falling towards earth, and the drag force that object encounters.
Essentially, your energy balance looks like this:
PEinitial=KEfinal+Edrag
where Edrag is the total energy lost over the fall due to drag (IE integrate the drag over the distance fallen).
PEinitial is a function of height above ground (OK, fine, distance from the center of the earth, but it's a difference so your zero point doesn't matter...you get the idea.)
KEfinal is equal to.5*M*V^2, where M is mass and V is the final velocity of the object. Since drag varies as the square of velocity (for a relatively flat plate normal to the free stream) your velocity goes up to some rather modest figure, and then stabilizes at the so-called terminal velocity.
A meteorite is coming into the atmosphere at Ludicrous Speed, and basically doesn't give a fuck about what the atmosphere thinks about it. : ) The meteorite ablates, producing a VERY impressive light show, and makes shock waves in the atmosphere (which do slow it down rather quickly)...but it never slows down to a piddly 200mph.
Also note that 200mph is a not-bad estimate for terminal velocity of a person, but since a rock has substantially higher mass per surface area (wing loading, if you will) the terminal velocity will be much much higher. (Basically, weight force is larger compared to drag force).
Ummm...guess they'll just have to run their apps through a different compiler. Woo. Doesn't sound like the end of the world to me.
It's funny...so many people around here are yapping about a Hacker Ethic, making things work for the sheer joy of doing so...yet when a company like Palm tries to upgrade their hardware, we're supposed to hate 'em because some app developers might have to do some work. With Palm's track record, it'll be a TRIVIAL amount of work, with ENORMOUS dividends. This is bad...why?
Keep in mind that despite the fact that Microsoft has utterly failed to make this sort of a transition work well, it has been done. Apple's emulation of 68k processors on PowerPC was pretty damn bulletproof. The overwhelming majority of software out at the time just kept on workin', with only modest speed penalties. After a recompile, it was off to the races.
This can be done, and done well. I just hope they don't spank their battery life (PalmOS's single hugest advantage) moving to this gee-whiz new processor.
Thanks for the cogent reply. It's been many years since I read the book, and I had forgotten that important distinction. I just remembered that the math guy annoyed me in both incarnations. : )
I'm not going to cry any crocodile tears for Crichton. He sodomized his own (pretty good) novel Jurassic Park by magically resurrecting the most obnoxious character, just so they could hire Jeff "I Only Play Goofy Slightly Charismatic Scientists" Goldblum for JP2.
Don't suppose you've ever heard of "civil disobedience", have you? I'd argue that it is my civic duty to not obey immoral and unjust laws...just as it would be my honor-bound duty not to obey illegal orders if I was in the military.
Just because it's the law, doesn't mean it's right.
The Chooser IS miserable user interface. They did some things oh so very right, the were totally brain dead for others. : )
Funny you mention shortcut keys. One thing I like so much about the original Mac shortcut keys, is that they were all designed to be operated with the left hand, so your right could stay on your mouse. That was a very clever bit of thinking on their part.
Those in power don't WANT common ground. They want the populace apathetic, and divided. The politics of divisiveness have been well understood since Machiavelli, and they're working PERFECTLY right now.
To the detriment of everybody save the politicians.
For you, and for me, I agree. My PC mouse has five buttons, and my Mac mouse has four buttons. However, you and I are in the VANISHING minority of people who grok computers. For the rest of the people out there (the set includes my grandfather), the introduction to computers, and a large fraction of their daily use, would be made clearer and simpler with a one-button mouse. I'm not saying it's the ideal solution, but it IS the ideal solution for beginning users.
Advanced users will customize the interface to their liking. Beginners need somebody else to think a lot about what they need, and then provide it to them. Good way to make money.
You are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Your elitist attitude exemplifies much of what is wrong with this world today. How would you feel if your car mechanic, or the guy who built the building where you work, thought about you the way you think about them?
My issue is that if you're going to copy somebody, at least copy a GOOD user interface.
I'm not going to argue that Macs are good computers. (I happen to think they are.) I'm certainly not going to argue that Apple is doing Good Things for the computer industry right now. (Although I think they're driving some interesting trends.)
I will argue that the original Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines are the best and most comprehensive discussion and exploration of how computer user interfaces should work for optimum clarity.
(yes, that DOES mean that I like the idea of ONE MOUSE BUTTON.)
Wing Commander III for the Macintosh doesn't NEED no stinkin' speech accessory pack. WC3 was the first of the "Interactive Movie" WC games, with like real actors and stuff. (well, if you count Mark Hamill...)
WC4 Mac was also pretty damn cool. Just wish I could have talked Origin into letting me keep the Power Mac 9500 I was testing it on...darnit.
"O Lord give me the sincerity to accept the things I cannot change The courage to change the things I can And the wisdom to know the difference."
Reinhold Niebuhr 1892 - 1971
Tolerance, serenity, and power all in one easy to use package. Sounds to me like you had a run in with some Christians, and your judgement has been colored. You're painting with a pretty broad brush there, amigo.
Slashdot Mirror
Huh? So you don't think that an Adobe boardroom conference had the sentence "We need to send a message to those evil h4x0rs..."
Adobe pulled the trigger. They don't get to be sorry now that the bullet hit something. Their actions caused this chain of events to occur. They are not absolved of responsibility.
So what planet do you live on that you can call Microsoft and get support on HyperTerminal?
Much better to just hush up and let him think that he's right. Wouldn't do to have the people out there expressing themselves. That's what revolutions are made of, and how can important network consultants and journalists make a living if there's a revolution on?
Please.
So you've never bought a name-brand PC? Good for you. Here's your sticker proclaiming your membership in a most exclusive fraternity. For everybody else, not being able to get a PC without paying Microsoft is sort of a pain.
Your point about Sklyarov is well taken...but don't you see that the kind of power Adobe is wielding could be used by any large (like Microsoft) company? Wouldn't it be a good idea to put some strictures on these juggernauts' behaviour?
No, it'll be MUCH better to have one company that will tell you everything you can or can't buy for your computer.
Oh, wait...
(Yes, I am ignoring the Free Software movement. Microsoft has destroyed the business of creating and selling many classes of PC software...and that's bad.)
The atmosphere is not deep enough for the meteorite to reach its terminal velocity. (in other words, it's going to be decelerating all the time, never reaching equilibrium). It's coming in REALLY REALLY fast, and even when it dumps a bunch of mass into the atmosphere, and slows down a lot, it's still going to be going REALLY fast.
It would indeed slow down to some terminal velocity, but not the terminal velocity associated with people falling out of airplanes. Since the rock has a much higher mass per cross sectional area than a person does, and it is carrying a large amount (a VERY large amount) of kinetic energy into the atmosphere with it, the terminal velocity is going to be VERY high. The actual terminal velocity would be a function of density, the initial velocity, and the thermodynamic properties of the incoming meteorite. The thing would be ablating all the way down, so your energy balance gets exciting...
Hmm. If I put my mind to it, I could probably do a numerical simulation, but what it would tell you is this: the atmosphere is not deep enough, nor does it have a long enough chord line tangent to the Earth's surface, to bring the thing down to its terminal velocity (which, again, would still be really fast. Like, many times the speed of sound.)
Hokay?
Ease down. He was making fun of reporters. We can all agree that we get to make fun of reporters. : )
Not so. Terminal velocity derives from the force balance of an object with (more or less) zero kinetic energy falling towards earth, and the drag force that object encounters.
.5*M*V^2, where M is mass and V is the final velocity of the object. Since drag varies as the square of velocity (for a relatively flat plate normal to the free stream) your velocity goes up to some rather modest figure, and then stabilizes at the so-called terminal velocity.
Essentially, your energy balance looks like this:
PEinitial=KEfinal+Edrag
where Edrag is the total energy lost over the fall due to drag (IE integrate the drag over the distance fallen).
PEinitial is a function of height above ground (OK, fine, distance from the center of the earth, but it's a difference so your zero point doesn't matter...you get the idea.)
KEfinal is equal to
A meteorite is coming into the atmosphere at Ludicrous Speed, and basically doesn't give a fuck about what the atmosphere thinks about it. : ) The meteorite ablates, producing a VERY impressive light show, and makes shock waves in the atmosphere (which do slow it down rather quickly)...but it never slows down to a piddly 200mph.
Also note that 200mph is a not-bad estimate for terminal velocity of a person, but since a rock has substantially higher mass per surface area (wing loading, if you will) the terminal velocity will be much much higher. (Basically, weight force is larger compared to drag force).
Now you are enlightened. : )
Yup. MoooOOOF!
Ummm...guess they'll just have to run their apps through a different compiler. Woo. Doesn't sound like the end of the world to me.
It's funny...so many people around here are yapping about a Hacker Ethic, making things work for the sheer joy of doing so...yet when a company like Palm tries to upgrade their hardware, we're supposed to hate 'em because some app developers might have to do some work. With Palm's track record, it'll be a TRIVIAL amount of work, with ENORMOUS dividends. This is bad...why?
Somebody draw me a diagram.
Keep in mind that despite the fact that Microsoft has utterly failed to make this sort of a transition work well, it has been done. Apple's emulation of 68k processors on PowerPC was pretty damn bulletproof. The overwhelming majority of software out at the time just kept on workin', with only modest speed penalties. After a recompile, it was off to the races.
This can be done, and done well. I just hope they don't spank their battery life (PalmOS's single hugest advantage) moving to this gee-whiz new processor.
Thanks for the cogent reply. It's been many years since I read the book, and I had forgotten that important distinction. I just remembered that the math guy annoyed me in both incarnations. : )
I'm not going to cry any crocodile tears for Crichton. He sodomized his own (pretty good) novel Jurassic Park by magically resurrecting the most obnoxious character, just so they could hire Jeff "I Only Play Goofy Slightly Charismatic Scientists" Goldblum for JP2.
Guess what...he still sucked. : )
Don't suppose you've ever heard of "civil disobedience", have you? I'd argue that it is my civic duty to not obey immoral and unjust laws...just as it would be my honor-bound duty not to obey illegal orders if I was in the military.
Just because it's the law, doesn't mean it's right.
Do you have anything to substantiate your opinion? I'm serious...I'm fascinated by the concept of UI usability, and I'd love to read about KDE's.
The Chooser IS miserable user interface. They did some things oh so very right, the were totally brain dead for others. : )
Funny you mention shortcut keys. One thing I like so much about the original Mac shortcut keys, is that they were all designed to be operated with the left hand, so your right could stay on your mouse. That was a very clever bit of thinking on their part.
Those in power don't WANT common ground. They want the populace apathetic, and divided. The politics of divisiveness have been well understood since Machiavelli, and they're working PERFECTLY right now.
To the detriment of everybody save the politicians.
For you, and for me, I agree. My PC mouse has five buttons, and my Mac mouse has four buttons. However, you and I are in the VANISHING minority of people who grok computers. For the rest of the people out there (the set includes my grandfather), the introduction to computers, and a large fraction of their daily use, would be made clearer and simpler with a one-button mouse. I'm not saying it's the ideal solution, but it IS the ideal solution for beginning users.
Advanced users will customize the interface to their liking. Beginners need somebody else to think a lot about what they need, and then provide it to them. Good way to make money.
You are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Your elitist attitude exemplifies much of what is wrong with this world today. How would you feel if your car mechanic, or the guy who built the building where you work, thought about you the way you think about them?
My issue is that if you're going to copy somebody, at least copy a GOOD user interface.
I'm not going to argue that Macs are good computers. (I happen to think they are.) I'm certainly not going to argue that Apple is doing Good Things for the computer industry right now. (Although I think they're driving some interesting trends.)
I will argue that the original Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines are the best and most comprehensive discussion and exploration of how computer user interfaces should work for optimum clarity.
(yes, that DOES mean that I like the idea of ONE MOUSE BUTTON.)
*dons asbestos grape smuggler*
Bring it on. : )
Nope. Not just a first impression. The whole of Texas is a blasted wasteland, with the conspicuous exception of Austin, which is a great town.
Lived in Dallas for almost 20 years...can't wait to graduate college and move to, well, Alaska or somewhere. Somewhere with a WINTER.
-another transplanted Californian
*raises hand*
I'll bring the engineering textbooks. Gotta be better than having a sacrificial burning...
Wing Commander III for the Macintosh doesn't NEED no stinkin' speech accessory pack. WC3 was the first of the "Interactive Movie" WC games, with like real actors and stuff. (well, if you count Mark Hamill...)
WC4 Mac was also pretty damn cool. Just wish I could have talked Origin into letting me keep the Power Mac 9500 I was testing it on...darnit.
"O Lord give me the sincerity to accept the things I cannot change The courage to change the things I can And the wisdom to know the difference."
Reinhold Niebuhr 1892 - 1971
Tolerance, serenity, and power all in one easy to use package. Sounds to me like you had a run in with some Christians, and your judgement has been colored. You're painting with a pretty broad brush there, amigo.