Regex Coach is a great free tool for learning about regular expressions and constructing them interactively. Both Linux and Windows versions are available.
Unfortunately, better taste is much less likely to make money for the producer, unless it is a radical improvement. This example, for instance, would allow coffee producers to eliminate a fairly costly step in the production of decaf coffee. Will the price go down? Unlikely, which means instant profits for the coffee companies. This stuff will probably be patented, as well, so the availability will be restricted to those willing to pay.
Look at tomatoes, as well. "Regular" tomatoes in the supermarket are mealy and bland. We now have vine-ripened tomatoes (started appearing 5-10 years ago, I think, at about twice the cost), which are somewhat better. They are still a pale shadow of the taste of a home garden-grown tomato. Your "tomato experience":-) has been driven by the shippability of the tomatoes, not the taste.
Most people just buy things that don't taste bad; they don't actively seek out things that taste good. I do, but I think that you and I are relatively unusual. The result is that taste is driven toward the average - not bad, but not good.
At the risk of drifting too far off-topic, I'd have to agree with you (though I like the latest album quite a bit). She's good on hypocrisy (which seems to be what this whole SCO/IBM thing boils down to, at least on SCO's part).
I saw her in concert last summer, and she really does rock.
The original post didn't make that clear at all, so I think that there wasn't the point to miss (unless the subject, "Ironic" was the point). In any case, the point is moot, since adding SMP support to the Linux kernel does not violate any law. Only the physical act of exporting the SMP code would be a crime -- and I think that the fact that it originated outside the U.S. (as you said) would render the export regulations inapplicable. Of course, bureaucracy has its own "logic", so it's entirely possible that the relevant agency would try to prosecute someone for re-exporting something that was imported in the first place.
This post looks like one of the best summaries of the IP aspects of the case so far. The "violation of federal export controls" aspect will be hard for SCO to win, given that they were engaged in the same behavior, and even more directly.
...SMP is in the Linux kernel as a *direct* result of Caldera's actions.
Even so, that doesn't buy them any copyright/ownership rights to the source in question, unless Cox signed a "work for hire" contract as a part of the deal to get the motherboard. Seems a tad unlikely, don't you think?
One of the best exchanges in the history of Western Civilization. BTW, this was the Black Knight and Arthur, King of the Britons, in MPatHG, not SCO and IBM.
Bored of the Rings is great, but I really wish that they had republished the original illustrations in the new edition. I really miss them. I also wish that I could find my copy (bought in 1977 or 1978) with the pictures. Envision the sheepriders...
As was said elsewhere, by the time DNF ships, the current bleeding edge cards will be available for $25 or so.
The reality of the video card market is that there is a lot of money chasing the latest and greatest models. That's the only thing that allows them to charge the prices that they do. Just glad it's not my money that's flying out.:-)
I've saved a lot of money not buying bleeding edge cards. Right now, I'm really enjoying my Radeon 8500DV. I've been playing with video and such, and I love the remote control that comes with it. I've run video cables all over the place, and I can sit in the living room and control the computer in the den. Even nicer than a Tivo, IMO. I've about decided to rewire the whole house with video (inline amps a must), network cables, and audio.:-)
I wouldn't frown on looking ahead, but I look at it in a tactical sense. If I'm buying hardware against what I'll need six months down the road, I'm going to wait until that time to evaluate how well it performs with the actual software. The price will almost certainly be lower, the drivers will have fewer bugs, and hardware "gotchas" will be out in the open.
The flip side of the competition in benchmarks is price competition. In the Christmas buying season, I would expect to see some price cuts by one or both of these companies.
My buying habits are somewhat different from those that drive the video card wars. I have never bought a bleeding-edge video card, mostly because they just seem so overpriced. And, after a couple of heavily hyped stinkers, I never buy a game without reading a review (and verifying that it will run well on my hardware). Fortunately, with 'Net reviews, the lag time is much less than, for instance, when I was looking at TIE Fighter.
Finally, leading edge performance is not that important to me. Even with a next-to-best card, small changes to the quality settings, and decreasing the resolution, will let me run at a much more than adequate frame rate. And it doesn't decrease the quality of the game.
Part of this is distribution media keeping pace with fixed storage media. Back in 1985, fixed disks were 5-10MB, and distribution media (5.25" floppies) were 360K. You could fill up your 10 MB disk with 28 floppies.
Today, your 120GB disk would require over 170 CDs (at 700MB each) to fill up (leaving compression aside, this is just a back-of-the-envelope estimate). By contrast, a 4GB DVD brings the ratio to 30 disks. Roughly comparable to the numbers 18 years ago. Of course, we are moving on to larger disks; 250GB is now the top end.
Due to the antics of copyright holders and media/drive maker "consortiums", the rate of expansion of distribution media has fallen behind that of fixed storage media. The DVD has still not become the accepted distribution format, despite the fact that DVD drives are nearly as cheap as CD drives, and DVD writers are becoming affordable.
It's time for the computer and software manufacturers to get their act together and move to the next logical step for distribution.
So, a truthful review would say "It does not really matter which card you buy at this time, because most games do not take advantage of the high-end features. By the time that games actually utilize the advanced capabilities of this generation of graphics cards, there will be a new generation, with a new set of (unused) features."
I have a distinct memory of Mr. Baldwin saying that he would leave the county if Bush was eleected on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the summer of 2000 (August-September time frame, I think). I could be mistaken, though, as it was a long time ago, and late at night.
I had a weird moment in Rainbow Six, I think it was, where a character repeated a line verbatim from another character, in another conversation, five or six chapters previously. And it was not a common phrase or sentiment. Clancy really needs a good editor. It would probably do him good to kill off Jack Ryan (not that he will). Of course, look what happened to Sherlock Holmes when Doyle killed him off (resurrection, for those unfamiliar with the story).
Jordan's current problem is that he can't be seriously edited. Like Tom Clancy and Stephen King. And Jordan really needs a good editor. The books are getting slower and slower. Of course, I'm still hooked on the series (working on Crossroads of Twilight now).
Goodkind as a ripoff of Jordan? No way, unless you are going to say that they both ripped off Frank Herbert's Dune series (or Shakespeare and the Bible, for that matter). Goodkind's thesis is much different from Jordan's, IMO, and Goodkind is a better writer (if a bit naive, as someone mentioned above).
Terry Pratchett RULES! He's on my "buy it in hardcover as soon as I see it" list.
P.C. Hodgell and Patricia McKillip write very imaginative fantasy as well. Hodgell's work is difficult to find, but worth the trouble. Her God Stalk is one of the two or three best fantasy works that I have read.
A Very Good Far-Future Virus/Hacker Tale..
on
A Good Summer Read?
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· Score: 2, Informative
From the article: "Microsoft said Internet connections failed immediately for an unspecified number of more than 600,000 computers using Windows XP who downloaded and installed the update. Consumers could reconnect only by removing the update, which promised to improve reliability for types of secure Internet connections commonly used by corporations."
Of course, there is also the telephone.
It's a bit of a no-brainer for me: install update, internet connection breaks. What to do, what to do? Hmmm, it's a long shot, but I think that I will try removing the update. Assuming that the update can be removed, which seems to be the case for this one.
QA for something like this needs to be much better than we are clearly seeing from Microsoft.
According to the article, "Because the software update was considered a security improvement and not an urgent repair, it was available only to customers who specifically visited the Windows Update site Friday. Other repairing patches can be delivered automatically to consumers." This one was not automatically installed.
Which is not to say that automatic update is not a potential source of major problems. QA needs to be really good for something like this, which it clearly was not.
Slashdot Mirror
Regex Coach is a great free tool for learning about regular expressions and constructing them interactively. Both Linux and Windows versions are available.
Unfortunately, better taste is much less likely to make money for the producer, unless it is a radical improvement. This example, for instance, would allow coffee producers to eliminate a fairly costly step in the production of decaf coffee. Will the price go down? Unlikely, which means instant profits for the coffee companies. This stuff will probably be patented, as well, so the availability will be restricted to those willing to pay.
:-) has been driven by the shippability of the tomatoes, not the taste.
Look at tomatoes, as well. "Regular" tomatoes in the supermarket are mealy and bland. We now have vine-ripened tomatoes (started appearing 5-10 years ago, I think, at about twice the cost), which are somewhat better. They are still a pale shadow of the taste of a home garden-grown tomato. Your "tomato experience"
Most people just buy things that don't taste bad; they don't actively seek out things that taste good. I do, but I think that you and I are relatively unusual. The result is that taste is driven toward the average - not bad, but not good.
This article makes for some interesting reading. Are they really after Open Source? Or is the MS version ("Shared Source") their aim?
At the risk of drifting too far off-topic, I'd have to agree with you (though I like the latest album quite a bit). She's good on hypocrisy (which seems to be what this whole SCO/IBM thing boils down to, at least on SCO's part).
I saw her in concert last summer, and she really does rock.
I think that it's more "Chasing dragons with plastic swords". :-) Or maybe "Bottom feeder, insincere".
The original post didn't make that clear at all, so I think that there wasn't the point to miss (unless the subject, "Ironic" was the point). In any case, the point is moot, since adding SMP support to the Linux kernel does not violate any law. Only the physical act of exporting the SMP code would be a crime -- and I think that the fact that it originated outside the U.S. (as you said) would render the export regulations inapplicable. Of course, bureaucracy has its own "logic", so it's entirely possible that the relevant agency would try to prosecute someone for re-exporting something that was imported in the first place.
This post looks like one of the best summaries of the IP aspects of the case so far. The "violation of federal export controls" aspect will be hard for SCO to win, given that they were engaged in the same behavior, and even more directly.
...SMP is in the Linux kernel as a *direct* result of Caldera's actions.
Even so, that doesn't buy them any copyright/ownership rights to the source in question, unless Cox signed a "work for hire" contract as a part of the deal to get the motherboard. Seems a tad unlikely, don't you think?
"You're a looney."
One of the best exchanges in the history of Western Civilization. BTW, this was the Black Knight and Arthur, King of the Britons, in MPatHG, not SCO and IBM.
Bored of the Rings is great, but I really wish that they had republished the original illustrations in the new edition. I really miss them. I also wish that I could find my copy (bought in 1977 or 1978) with the pictures. Envision the sheepriders...
I can't quarrel with your tactics in that instance. Sounds like you got it just right. My last Voodoo card is still in an old computer.
My impression is that the majority of the money chasing the bleeding-edge cards is from much less thoughtful and intelligent buyers, though.
As was said elsewhere, by the time DNF ships, the current bleeding edge cards will be available for $25 or so.
:-)
The reality of the video card market is that there is a lot of money chasing the latest and greatest models. That's the only thing that allows them to charge the prices that they do. Just glad it's not my money that's flying out.
I've saved a lot of money not buying bleeding edge cards. Right now, I'm really enjoying my Radeon 8500DV. I've been playing with video and such, and I love the remote control that comes with it. I've run video cables all over the place, and I can sit in the living room and control the computer in the den. Even nicer than a Tivo, IMO. I've about decided to rewire the whole house with video (inline amps a must), network cables, and audio. :-)
I wouldn't frown on looking ahead, but I look at it in a tactical sense. If I'm buying hardware against what I'll need six months down the road, I'm going to wait until that time to evaluate how well it performs with the actual software. The price will almost certainly be lower, the drivers will have fewer bugs, and hardware "gotchas" will be out in the open.
The flip side of the competition in benchmarks is price competition. In the Christmas buying season, I would expect to see some price cuts by one or both of these companies.
My buying habits are somewhat different from those that drive the video card wars. I have never bought a bleeding-edge video card, mostly because they just seem so overpriced. And, after a couple of heavily hyped stinkers, I never buy a game without reading a review (and verifying that it will run well on my hardware). Fortunately, with 'Net reviews, the lag time is much less than, for instance, when I was looking at TIE Fighter.
Finally, leading edge performance is not that important to me. Even with a next-to-best card, small changes to the quality settings, and decreasing the resolution, will let me run at a much more than adequate frame rate. And it doesn't decrease the quality of the game.
Part of this is distribution media keeping pace with fixed storage media. Back in 1985, fixed disks were 5-10MB, and distribution media (5.25" floppies) were 360K. You could fill up your 10 MB disk with 28 floppies.
Today, your 120GB disk would require over 170 CDs (at 700MB each) to fill up (leaving compression aside, this is just a back-of-the-envelope estimate). By contrast, a 4GB DVD brings the ratio to 30 disks. Roughly comparable to the numbers 18 years ago. Of course, we are moving on to larger disks; 250GB is now the top end.
Due to the antics of copyright holders and media/drive maker "consortiums", the rate of expansion of distribution media has fallen behind that of fixed storage media. The DVD has still not become the accepted distribution format, despite the fact that DVD drives are nearly as cheap as CD drives, and DVD writers are becoming affordable.
It's time for the computer and software manufacturers to get their act together and move to the next logical step for distribution.
So, a truthful review would say "It does not really matter which card you buy at this time, because most games do not take advantage of the high-end features. By the time that games actually utilize the advanced capabilities of this generation of graphics cards, there will be a new generation, with a new set of (unused) features."
Ah. Likely what I remember was Baldwin revisiting the controversy with O'Brien. Thanks for the link.
I have a distinct memory of Mr. Baldwin saying that he would leave the county if Bush was eleected on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the summer of 2000 (August-September time frame, I think). I could be mistaken, though, as it was a long time ago, and late at night.
True. With twelve million shares outstanding, and a float of less than four million, a lot of the money would go to insiders. That would be bad.
:-)
OK, then, let's all sell the stock short.
The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book. Definitely alternate history, as well as being whimsical and very funny.
I had a weird moment in Rainbow Six, I think it was, where a character repeated a line verbatim from another character, in another conversation, five or six chapters previously. And it was not a common phrase or sentiment. Clancy really needs a good editor. It would probably do him good to kill off Jack Ryan (not that he will). Of course, look what happened to Sherlock Holmes when Doyle killed him off (resurrection, for those unfamiliar with the story).
Jordan's current problem is that he can't be seriously edited. Like Tom Clancy and Stephen King. And Jordan really needs a good editor. The books are getting slower and slower. Of course, I'm still hooked on the series (working on Crossroads of Twilight now).
Goodkind as a ripoff of Jordan? No way, unless you are going to say that they both ripped off Frank Herbert's Dune series (or Shakespeare and the Bible, for that matter). Goodkind's thesis is much different from Jordan's, IMO, and Goodkind is a better writer (if a bit naive, as someone mentioned above).
Terry Pratchett RULES! He's on my "buy it in hardcover as soon as I see it" list.
P.C. Hodgell and Patricia McKillip write very imaginative fantasy as well. Hodgell's work is difficult to find, but worth the trouble. Her God Stalk is one of the two or three best fantasy works that I have read.
C. S Friedman's This Alien Shore .
Also, I would second the Daniel Keyes Moran titles cited earlier.
How much would you contribute to buying up SCO stock and firing the current management?
From the article: "Microsoft said Internet connections failed immediately for an unspecified number of more than 600,000 computers using Windows XP who downloaded and installed the update. Consumers could reconnect only by removing the update, which promised to improve reliability for types of secure Internet connections commonly used by corporations."
Of course, there is also the telephone.
It's a bit of a no-brainer for me: install update, internet connection breaks. What to do, what to do? Hmmm, it's a long shot, but I think that I will try removing the update. Assuming that the update can be removed, which seems to be the case for this one.
QA for something like this needs to be much better than we are clearly seeing from Microsoft.
According to the article, "Because the software update was considered a security improvement and not an urgent repair, it was available only to customers who specifically visited the Windows Update site Friday. Other repairing patches can be delivered automatically to consumers." This one was not automatically installed.
Which is not to say that automatic update is not a potential source of major problems. QA needs to be really good for something like this, which it clearly was not.