*sigh* Another crappy OS from Microsoft. C'mon, who's really surprised?
A friend of mine has installed ME recently (morbid fascination, I guess), and among the multitude of bugs he's encountered is a problem with the MOUSE CURSOR algorythms. If you move the cursor left and right very quickly, it starts to go up and down! You'd think they'd figured out that crap by now...
Also pretty humerous was the ZDTV on-air attempt at installing the OS. One wanted to install from scratch, the other was upgrading. Neither one could accomplish the task. Yeesh. ---
As most of us already know, countries at war tend to engage in a weapon-countermeasure-countercountermeasure-etc. exchange. One builds a tank, the other builds anti-tank guns, hence the anti-missile tank, and then the anti-armor missile.
What's interesting is that we now have an example of such a stand-off inside our own country, between its citizens and the government! Government monitors e-mail, citizens encrypt e-mail, etc... Not a good sign for the continuing solidity of our nation, I do believe. ---
An interesting idea, but I fear it pales in comparison to the PS2, what with its DVD movie and gaming options. Add that to Sony's ability to sell at below cost for the system, and you can get a portable MP3 player, game system, and DVD player for less.
Yet another attempt to make a cheap PC, which ends up as a *gasp* CHEAP PC. ---
All right! Now we've replaced the band, we've replaced the DJ... In a few years, we'll finally be able to replace those blasted dancers! Behold, the party of the future: perfect and pristine. ---
Just thought of a variation on my other idea: how a bout tracking users, via their IP address in each session, and determining whether or not they jump back to the search page immediately after following a link?
If a user is still searching after a minute or two, he or she obviously didn't find what they were looking for. ---
How about a 'vote' icon? Not for each and every click, as no one will do that, but rather a 'demote' button next to a link. You can keep on organizing results by the number of people who click on the link, but if someone clicks through and finds something other than what they're looking for they'll be heading back to the search anyway, so they can give a 'demote' button a quick click as they continue down the list. If you made such a system immediately detract 100 clicks from that site, misleading links would soon be phased to the bottom.
After all, more people like to complain about a bad link than to promote a good one. Let human nature work in our favor, for once. ---
Here's an idea: rotate the criteria between several open-source methods of sorting. Design each to both low-score attempts at exploiting the other methods, while still maintaining an adequate order for people doing searches.
So, at best, a company could be really popular on occasion, but suck the rest of the time. ---
I'm aware this is mildly offtopic, but as we're discussing the replacement of keyboards, I was curious if anyone knew where I could get a good one.
Mine, I suspect, contains enough fossils to fuel a car, and I want a new one. But, as an old-school XT'er, I'm accustomed to a good 'ol "clicky" keyboard. Y'know, the ones that make it sound like you're really DOING something at work, even when you're just replying to Slashdot articles. ^_^
I went to Fry's (just to test, not to purchase, of course), and couldn't find any I liked in their entire aisle. Who here remembers those incredible, 5lbs IBM-made tanks that took a semi truck to damage, could survive a case of orange soda, and gave a bullhorn-augmented typewriter a run for its money in audible response? I _loved_ those things!
Anyways, just curious if anyone had any info on companies still producing a "man's keyboard".
I used to have one of those plastic things on my keyboard. But after one too many jokes about how my keyboard needed a 'splashguard' for when my door was closed, I decided I'd rather just replace the damn thing when it got dirty. ---
Why do they still call it a 'radio' show, when it's no longer using radio waves as a means of communication? Shouldn't it be an 'audio program', or something? ^_- ---
"The dotcom world has really started to see that people aren't always online via visual browsers," says Stuart Patterson, SpeechWorks' CEO.
So, we go from text-only browsing using the blissfully stable Lynx, to relatively usable Netscape and IE with some graphics spattered around, to completely bug-ridden surfing through graphics-heavy and content-free crap, and then back full-circle to text-only browsing?
How weird. I never expected the 'retro' craze to take hold in the mainstream computer industry. And certainly not by AOL... ---
I'm not sure I understand what's being described here. The only use of said technology, at least from my standpoint, is to print items with some sort of invisible-ink 'barcode'. That the barcode is encoded with information originally described in some jock's DNA is a moot marketing point.
They appear, however, to describe a process by which they extract the DNA directly into the ink, but with the typically press-friendly vagueness. Were it actual strands, how would a 'small portable reader' pick them up?
In the end, I can see only three options:
The technology doesn't exist, and this is all a scare tactic. That LA company merely sells a method to frighten people into subservience.
The technology doesn't work anything even remotely close to the way it's described (marketing people describing complex concepts - *shudder*)
They actually have a cool technology here, light-years ahead of everything else, and are using it to stamp plush toys instead of cure cancer.
I don't know which option is most frightening.
Although, now that I think about it, it would be pretty neat to have your PGP encryption code loosely based on some strands of your DNA. Completely useless, but still kinda cool. ---
*sigh* Billions of dollars of research, uncountable hours of programming, 20+ years of innovation... and the web falls short of your average box of crayons.
And last time I checked, crayons tasted better, too. ---
"Many Iowa residents have been left behind by high-speed Internet providers simply because of where they live," said Pederson. "Without high-speed Internet access, we can't expect many of those communities to survive."
Well, it has been a while since grade school, but last I remember, the basic necessities were 'food, water, shelter'. The Internet is pretty cool, but I don't think the sudden removal of 24-access to pr0n is gonna finish off a handful of farmers.
Although, on second though, that would explain why my hamsters keep dying. I gave them a home, clean water, and plenty of food, but I forgot to drop them a DSL line! *sniff* Poor little Boo, if only I'd known... ---
When our server crashed last week, in a fit of desperation, I sacrificed a goat. No more blue screens; everything worked fine. Just a slight, Gates-esque cackle on the edges of perception.
I... uh... don't go in the server room anymore. As of tomorrow, you can find me three miles away from the nearest signs of civilization, lying under a rock with my blankie and crying uncontrollably.
On second though... Ah, what the Hel (sic), I'll just keep sacrifing goats. I've heard that Windows 2000 requires black goats, so I think we'll wait to upgrade. ---
Now, are we _sure_ that this report is real? I've not been on Slashdot too long, but I've seen more retracted/inaccurate stories listed here than I feel comfortable to admit. Don't get me wrong, love the site, but I'm afraid I need to take it with a whole grain of salt - make that a whole shaker.
I'm going to have nightmares of a midget being torn from a cylindrical, beeping robot, screaming about one pound heatsinks and producing robot offspring... ---
X-box: best of both worlds, or worst of 'em all?
on
Salon on the XBox
·
· Score: 1
Are we really ready for a Microsoft-based console system? For me, the single biggest draw of playing on the Playstation, N64, or any of their numerous peers and predecessors, was the the blissful absense of system crashes. Guaranteed, non-upgradable hardware has its advantages.
But with Microsoft in the fray... Hmmm, I've always wondered what a blue screen of death would look like on my TV.
I'll stick with the PC for RTS, FPS, and other higher-level games, and PS2/NCube for well-crafted distractions and quasi-RPGs, ala FF8. (And any other abbreviations I can think of.) ---
Slashdot Mirror
First, all of human life. Now, Linux.
All the really cool stuff starts in Africa.
^_^
---
*sigh* Another crappy OS from Microsoft. C'mon, who's really surprised?
A friend of mine has installed ME recently (morbid fascination, I guess), and among the multitude of bugs he's encountered is a problem with the MOUSE CURSOR algorythms. If you move the cursor left and right very quickly, it starts to go up and down! You'd think they'd figured out that crap by now...
Also pretty humerous was the ZDTV on-air attempt at installing the OS. One wanted to install from scratch, the other was upgrading. Neither one could accomplish the task. Yeesh.
---
As most of us already know, countries at war tend to engage in a weapon-countermeasure-countercountermeasure-etc. exchange. One builds a tank, the other builds anti-tank guns, hence the anti-missile tank, and then the anti-armor missile.
What's interesting is that we now have an example of such a stand-off inside our own country, between its citizens and the government! Government monitors e-mail, citizens encrypt e-mail, etc... Not a good sign for the continuing solidity of our nation, I do believe.
---
An interesting idea, but I fear it pales in comparison to the PS2, what with its DVD movie and gaming options. Add that to Sony's ability to sell at below cost for the system, and you can get a portable MP3 player, game system, and DVD player for less.
Yet another attempt to make a cheap PC, which ends up as a *gasp* CHEAP PC.
---
All right! Now we've replaced the band, we've replaced the DJ... In a few years, we'll finally be able to replace those blasted dancers! Behold, the party of the future: perfect and pristine.
---
Just thought of a variation on my other idea: how a bout tracking users, via their IP address in each session, and determining whether or not they jump back to the search page immediately after following a link?
If a user is still searching after a minute or two, he or she obviously didn't find what they were looking for.
---
How about a 'vote' icon? Not for each and every click, as no one will do that, but rather a 'demote' button next to a link. You can keep on organizing results by the number of people who click on the link, but if someone clicks through and finds something other than what they're looking for they'll be heading back to the search anyway, so they can give a 'demote' button a quick click as they continue down the list. If you made such a system immediately detract 100 clicks from that site, misleading links would soon be phased to the bottom.
After all, more people like to complain about a bad link than to promote a good one. Let human nature work in our favor, for once.
---
Here's an idea: rotate the criteria between several open-source methods of sorting. Design each to both low-score attempts at exploiting the other methods, while still maintaining an adequate order for people doing searches.
So, at best, a company could be really popular on occasion, but suck the rest of the time.
---
Hey, you could claim to have the first mouse hooked up to your computer!
---
I'm aware this is mildly offtopic, but as we're discussing the replacement of keyboards, I was curious if anyone knew where I could get a good one.
Mine, I suspect, contains enough fossils to fuel a car, and I want a new one. But, as an old-school XT'er, I'm accustomed to a good 'ol "clicky" keyboard. Y'know, the ones that make it sound like you're really DOING something at work, even when you're just replying to Slashdot articles. ^_^
I went to Fry's (just to test, not to purchase, of course), and couldn't find any I liked in their entire aisle. Who here remembers those incredible, 5lbs IBM-made tanks that took a semi truck to damage, could survive a case of orange soda, and gave a bullhorn-augmented typewriter a run for its money in audible response? I _loved_ those things!
Anyways, just curious if anyone had any info on companies still producing a "man's keyboard".
Thanks!
---
I used to have one of those plastic things on my keyboard. But after one too many jokes about how my keyboard needed a 'splashguard' for when my door was closed, I decided I'd rather just replace the damn thing when it got dirty.
---
I dunno... I'm not sure I like that 'crank' idea:
Me: "Damn, batteries out again. Well let's try this crank thingy... *grunt* Wow, this is tough. *grunt* *heave* *whiirrrrrrr* *grunt*"
Housemate: "Martin, what ya doin' in there?"
Me: "Just turnin' the old Palm crank."
Housemate: "Uh, have fun..."
My reputation is bad enough after the hamster incident, thank you very much.
---
"duel-booting"?
I was about to correct your spelling, but then I realized that you may have hit on a much more appropriate term...
---
Why do they still call it a 'radio' show, when it's no longer using radio waves as a means of communication? Shouldn't it be an 'audio program', or something? ^_-
---
So, after a 'slashback', she's now a he?
Ouch...
---
How weird. I never expected the 'retro' craze to take hold in the mainstream computer industry. And certainly not by AOL...
---
They appear, however, to describe a process by which they extract the DNA directly into the ink, but with the typically press-friendly vagueness. Were it actual strands, how would a 'small portable reader' pick them up?
In the end, I can see only three options:
- The technology doesn't exist, and this is all a scare tactic. That LA company merely sells a method to frighten people into subservience.
- The technology doesn't work anything even remotely close to the way it's described (marketing people describing complex concepts - *shudder*)
- They actually have a cool technology here, light-years ahead of everything else, and are using it to stamp plush toys instead of cure cancer.
I don't know which option is most frightening.Although, now that I think about it, it would be pretty neat to have your PGP encryption code loosely based on some strands of your DNA. Completely useless, but still kinda cool.
---
I don't know if he's gonna be thrilled with the '5 million dollars per set' pricetag, though...
---
*sigh* Billions of dollars of research, uncountable hours of programming, 20+ years of innovation... and the web falls short of your average box of crayons.
And last time I checked, crayons tasted better, too.
---
Although, on second though, that would explain why my hamsters keep dying. I gave them a home, clean water, and plenty of food, but I forgot to drop them a DSL line! *sniff* Poor little Boo, if only I'd known...
---
When our server crashed last week, in a fit of desperation, I sacrificed a goat. No more blue screens; everything worked fine. Just a slight, Gates-esque cackle on the edges of perception.
I... uh... don't go in the server room anymore. As of tomorrow, you can find me three miles away from the nearest signs of civilization, lying under a rock with my blankie and crying uncontrollably.
On second though... Ah, what the Hel (sic), I'll just keep sacrifing goats. I've heard that Windows 2000 requires black goats, so I think we'll wait to upgrade.
---
They should send the money with PayPal...
^_^
---
Now, are we _sure_ that this report is real? I've not been on Slashdot too long, but I've seen more retracted/inaccurate stories listed here than I feel comfortable to admit. Don't get me wrong, love the site, but I'm afraid I need to take it with a whole grain of salt - make that a whole shaker.
I'm going to have nightmares of a midget being torn from a cylindrical, beeping robot, screaming about one pound heatsinks and producing robot offspring...
---
Are we really ready for a Microsoft-based console system? For me, the single biggest draw of playing on the Playstation, N64, or any of their numerous peers and predecessors, was the the blissful absense of system crashes. Guaranteed, non-upgradable hardware has its advantages.
But with Microsoft in the fray... Hmmm, I've always wondered what a blue screen of death would look like on my TV.
I'll stick with the PC for RTS, FPS, and other higher-level games, and PS2/NCube for well-crafted distractions and quasi-RPGs, ala FF8. (And any other abbreviations I can think of.)
---
http://www.fuckedcompany.com
Just don't melt. ^_^