> Apple only helped put linux on mac (MkLinux) because people would > do it anyway,
And people did do it anyway, if the box of Suse Linux for the Power PC sitting on the shelf of my local CompUSA is any indication.
> But apple doesn't want to create linux as a real competitor to MacOS.
Why would they care what OS a person is running? The OS and all the software they develop has only one purpose: selling the hardware by adding value to it. There is no Mac OS tax, since they make it themselves. Run whatever you like.
> And in order to compete it has to run mac software (possible, for > older stuff, using emulation) and it absolutely must have quicktime.
Why? Aren't there Linux applications out there that are just as good? If there aren't, either work to fix it, or dual boot with an OS that can run that app. QuickTime has two competitors: Real and the Windows Media Player (evil). Either get one of those two to work, or win the lottery and finance Apple's porting efforts.
> Apple has, in a practical sense, OS monopoly on the Mac
Yep, and Linux has an evil OS monopoly on the Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. Boo! Hiss! (And of course it is a very nice little OS with a very pretty GUI - not OS X mind you, but the best I've ever seen on a PDA.;)
> to the extent that 99% of the mac world will use only Apple-produced > operating systems on their macs. They don't consider linux to be a > real thing.
Somehow I doubt CompUSA would carry an OS that only runs on 1% of hardware run by 4-5% of the desktop market.
> Never mind that linux/PPC may actually be more stable than MacOSX.
I don't know, I never tried Linux/PPC. I have three Macs running OS X (this one since OS X was first released), and I have to say it has been many months since I've seen a crash. The older Linux box downstairs could never say that. Granted it was more Netscape's fault than Linux, but I frequently landed in single user mode to repair my hard drive after a crash. I love OS X, it is everything I've ever wanted in an OS and more.
> This is the same sense in which windows has a monopoly... not exactly, > but so damn close as makes almost no difference.
Windows is used on over 92% of the desktop machines on the planet. Microsoft got that monopoly by playing dirty, and kept it through brutal tyranny. It has left a broad trail of broken and bloody corpses of companies. Apple was nearly one of them, thanks to Windows 95 (and Motorola's chip delays and their own stupid greed).
Apple and Microsoft are nothing alike now. Microsoft's way is for computers (and OSs and software) to be a way to capture and contain customers, forcing them to pay and pay. Apple's way is to combine beautiful design, industrial strength Unix, and the best of open standards, open source and the traditional Mac culture to build elegant, powerful tools that empower the user to do whatever they want to do with a computer. Apple has taken stands for royalty free web standards, and against some of the obnoxious behavior of the RIAA and MPAA (Gateway has now followed in their footsteps).
If Linux wants on the desktop, look to Apple. They've shown you how to take an open source Unix and make it a success on the desktop. Follow their lead... everyone else does.;)
On December 14, 1996, Mothra resurrected a charred Apple sapling ("Mosura" 1996). On December 14, 2001, Mothra returned to see its fruit ("Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidora: Daikaiju Soukougeki"). OS X: the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
MS *had* non-voting stocks. They dumped them onto the market in the fall of 2000. That, plus a couple of blunders/mis-timings Apple made, plus the impending industry-wide disaster made Apple stumble badly that quarter. During the victory party for Apple's supposed demise, the earnings warnings started to come in as the computer makers one by one fell on their collective faces. Apple bounced back to profitability the very next quarter. The rest of the industry was not so fortunate.
Don't worry about MS influencing Apple anymore. The five year contract was a one time deal to give Apple the cash to get back on their feet. The deal is up in August, and both parties seem happy to return to Microsoft's former role as 3rd party developer/OS competitor.
"Mothra, you are Life Eternal! Hear the prayers of your servants. Come back to us from out of the legend. Come and save us with your power of Life!" - From the US release of "Mothra" May 10, 1962 (Interesting that the last day of the WWDC falls on Mothra's 40th anniversary in America.)
> (Power reactors elsewhere in the world use completely different > designs, (non-positive void coefficients, or additional safety > mechanisms) and can't catch fire.)
Perhaps not, but safety measures have to be kept in place to be effective. The September 1999 accident in Tokai Japan (Japan's worst ever, though not as bad as Chernobyl) was due to a complete lack of safety mechanisms. To save money, somebody got the bright idea of preparing nuclear fuel by mixing it with nitric acid in a really big open bucket. None of the recommended cooling procedures were in place to make this remotely safe. Of course nuclear fission started in the open acid vat, and did a nice job of irradiating the neighborhood. It took a while to contain it, and there were fatalities. Needless to say, Japan is no longer fond of "safe" nuclear power.
Funny thing is, this plant was filmed by Toho to be the subject of an attack by Godzilla in an upcoming movie. The movie mentioned Chernobyl by name (and the mention was by an actress born in Hiroshima) as Godzilla's attack on Tokai would have a similar effect. After most, if not all, the film was in the can, the accident occured. Three months later, "Godzilla 2000 Millenium" opened in Japan. The next summer it opened in the US as "Godzilla 2000".
Nuclear plants are only as safe as the people who run them. When the people who run them are imbeciles, Godzilla will pay a visit sooner or later. Live and in person!
Godzilla, Godzilla! God of Radioactive Fire: Come and save us! Please don't stomp us!
> Without going into a huge rant here, I'll express my thankfulness that > this did not happen. > > THERE IS A GOD.
Indeed, we must give thanks and praise to the Dreaded God who rose out of Tokyo Bay in December of 1999 to roar in his divine wrath at Microsoft, and put his sacred foot down on this deal.
After what happened in Tokai three months earlier (search Google for "Tokai", "nuclear" and "accident"), I doubt even the mighty Nintendo would refuse to listen to Godzilla.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
Having just bought myself a Zaurus, I have to say I am impressed with how well Linux has come along. I don't see any reason Linux can't succeed on the desktop, and it should succeed. We don't need one replacement for Windows; we need several with open standards so they can work together. It is high time people had some real choices. The type of work to be performed, personal preference, and available budget should dictate which OS or computer system is used, not some monopoly in Redmond who only cares about it's own ever growing appetite for money and power.
> You claim that I should try Mac? Why would I bother spending 3 times > more on an equally fast PC
I found it amusing that when Popular Science had a shoot out between Sony and Apple for best "digital hub" (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/computers/article/0, 12543,230272,00.html), they picked a Sony that was nearly twice the price of the top of the line iMac they reviewed. The Sony had more memory, and more hard drive space. It won by two points (out of 55 total: 42 to 40 -- and I would argue a few of their points). I guess one might as well go with the cheaper of the two -- the Apple.;)
> that I can't upgrade or customize?
I have an iBook and two iMacs. They all have memory upgrades and Airport cards. I have more firewire drives and various USB and Firewire peripherals than you can shake a stick at. Upgrading is not much of an issue with them. If you have the money, the big G4 towers have a very nice latch that opens the case to let you do what you please inside (like PC's bought from major manufacturers, some of what you please may violate your warranty, but that's life). Even with the iMacs, I have yet to run into a situation where I said "Darn, I can't do that because I can't upgrade my iMac."
> Why would I want to goto a platform that has a limited amount of > software?
Limited?!? Mac OS X?!? You've got to be joking. Most Mac apps run under Classic. There's more OS X apps and games every day (hey, even Photoshop is out for OS X!). Most pure Java 2 apps run nicely. There are a few big porting project feverishly porting everything released for Linux or BSD under an Open Source license. Since Apple made their development tools free we have no shortage of developers. Check out VersionTracker.com to see what all is really out there.
If that isn't enough software, go grab an emulator and run anything you want (including Windows if you must).
> Why would I want to goto an inferior platform?
OS X is based on BSD. It comes with and runs Apache, vi and Emacs, basically all the much loved Unix software. It is not an inferior platform. It blows Windows completely out of the water. If it's not for you, great. Enjoy your Linux desktop.:)
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
There is nothing honest about it. Once upon a time pirates roamed the seas, stealing everything they could get and enslaving anybody they didn't kill. The RIAA don't do murder (that I know of), and they've traded in their swords for lawyers and ropes for contracts, but there is little difference otherwise. Now that they have the work for hire law that they wanted, they don't even have to pretend that an artist's creation is the artist's property anymore.
> Why artists are accepting this? They are making the music so they > should can just say no and go to this companys who would get them > 90% of profit. Why its not hapening?
Some of them are protesting, but you have to understand. The RIAA is a cartel, all of their members abide by the same practices. For many years there was no other place to go.
Today, that has changed. Today any ordinary person can march into a CompUSA store and get CD mastering software for their Macintosh for a couple hundred dollars. They can pick up sound proofing from a hardware store, go online to get everything else they need, and set up a recording studio in their basement. With the internet, distribution is not a problem. We don't need the RIAA anymore. A cottage recording industry would serve the artists far better (and not enslave them).
> It would be ilegal?
The RIAA's practices should be illegal, but the government turning a blind eye keeps the campaign contributions coming in.
That these sharks would then insist on American taxpayer money being used to hunt down what they call "pirates" is unbelievable arrogance.
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'
Our plan understands the sea; we can wait for her coming." From the song "Infant Girl" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
> It's the CIA telling us about it. It is your duty as a Real and Patriotic > American to take these threats seriously and to be afraid of the > Enemies of Freedom at all times.
I know you were joking, but what you said makes a very valid point. Beyond the usual issue of whatever organization with a three letter acronym crying wolf yet again, there is the more important issue of how these "calls to panic" are in fact doing the terrorists work for them. Al Quada in particular have an easy job of it. They don't have to take the risks of actually trying an attack anymore, all they have to do is have their jailed members lie. It gets hyped by the media, and people panic nicely. If the media had half a brain, they would have realized by now that the only people in Al Quada that know about an attack before hand are Bin Laden and the guy leading it.
The duty of Americans is not to "be afraid of the Enemies of Freedom at all times". It is to be vigilant and kick their cans, if indeed they are evil. It is also the duty of Americans to stand up for our rights and the rights of others.
It is the sad results of a false patriotism that has pale pink and white rags proudly flying from yards and cars, poor filthy flags lying in the road, a capital overgrown with stinkweed politicians, and a loss of real freedom. Firewalls, strip searches, etc. aren't going to come and save us. It's the compassionate heart that saves a stranger's life in a disaster, the courageous heart that defends liberty, and the wise heart that cherishes happiness. Heart alone can conquer terror and restore peace and freedom.
America, what happened to your heart?!?
"Heart can reach where hand cannot. Climb over any wall..." Mothra (via Moll) "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
> They also moan about iPhoto not having the facilities of Photoshop > Elements - duh, go buy Photoshop Elements then.
Heck, get Photoshop 7. Considering the price difference between the two, a top of the line iMac + Photoshop 7 would still be cheaper than the Sony and absolutely blow it away on photos and graphics!
The movie "Godzilla 2000" pretty much functioned as a similar showdown between a tiny Sony laptop and Macs. The only good feature of the Sony is that it fit in the back pocket for sliding down the elevator of a skyscraper as the Millenium alien destroyed it top down (not a circumstance most people find themselves in on a daily basis). Otherwise, use of the Sony generally makes people call you an "imbecile". The Sony was the first computer hacked by the alien. Use of any Windows software carried a severe risk of being stomped by the star. The non-imbecilic good guys used Macs.;)
The truely amusing thing: Tristar, a division of Sony, is the American distributor (and occasionally clueless dubber) of the film. They added some of the "imbecile" references to the Sony using character.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
> I think that foghorn666 submitting this story is further evidence of > Satan's profound influence over the Macintosh community.
Mothra, the heroic wonder-working Goddess that parted the Pacific and resurrected herself after 130 million years entombed in the Egg of Eternity, is the protector, savior, and forever friend of Apple. She would never let such an evil being within a hundred miles of Apple.
If you are a recent Apple convert, you might want to see these legendary old Macs in action. They appeared in the following Japanese movies:
"Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2". Mothra had a cameo, but it was cut.
"Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla". Mothra has a cameo.
"Godzilla vs Destroyer". Godzilla dies. Apple would soon follow.
"Rebirth of Mothra 2". Fairy lands on a Mac, signifying Mothra's blessing. Mothra transforms into Rainbow and Aqua forms. Five months after the movie's release, Apple announces the iMac and the coming of OS X.
The following are also important in Mac history:
"Rebirth of Mothra 1". No Macs, just one scorched Apple sapling, and the Goddess who came and saved it. Days after its release in Japan (as "Mosura" on December 14, 1996), Apple announced the return of Steve Jobs.
"Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") marked the first appearance of the iMac in kaiju eiga. When a store full of iMacs were menaced by the Millenium alien (the kaiju incarnation of Microsoft's Millenium research project, now marketed as.Net), Godzilla appeared in Tokyo Bay to save them.
> But even further: Just look at the whole vi/emacs war. All the vi > people simply refuse to bend to emacs (LOL, obviously they don't > know lisp!) and the emacs people generally ignore the vi people > (which isn't all together unwarrented - just rude). This isn't helping > anyone. All the vi people should start putting work into Emacs, maybe > making a compatibility mode, so we could have one large, perfect > piece of software, instead of two half-assed implementations.
I honestly don't know where you've been all this time, but I was using Emacs in vi mode back around 1989-1990. Before the web, before Linux, in Windows' infancy, Emacs had a vi emulation mode. I just checked my version of Emacs that runs under Aqua on OS X and guess what, it has three vi emulators to choose from!
Emacs is a complex programming environment from the command line only days. It is extremely powerful. Vi is a nimble little editor that is great for making quick changes to things (without killing your hands with a lot of control key antics). BBEdit is a wonderful Mac editor with great html and perl support. Project Builder may skimp a bit on features, but makes it very easy to make OS X programs quickly. I use them all and love them all.
The only time there is a real question of either/or is if one of the choices is the tool of an evil empire like Microsoft's Visual Studio.net. Anything else is a matter of an individual's personal preferences, and should probably be respected. Unless, of course, the "war" is strictly for fun.;)
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity." "Mosura", 1961
> It's about fear and control, nothing else. It's funny, and a little scary > to watch them scrambling like this: it can only help the competition.
The phrase you are looking for is "Terror Marketing". Microsoft did this (mostly to businesses) before 9/11. I was wondering how long it would be before they started up again.
The time has come for our schools to dump Microsoft en masse and move to Macs (where they can afford them) and Linux (to recycle their existing PCs). School money is needed for teaching kids, not to fatten greedy and cruel sharks like Microsoft!
"Lola, kindness is not enough, look for the reason of hatred and anger. When you find and understand that, love becomes the strongest power; stronger than courage or wisdom." Belabera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
> You can trace the decline the the use of the name 'longhorn' to the > decline. > > Never, never, never use a slaughter animal as a product codename.
Especially when your competition is unleashing the most powerful feline predator in the western hemisphere: the Jaguar (Apple's code name for the next version of OS X that is probably going to come out this summer)!
The Jaguar is beautiful and powerful. He is the master of tree branches, water, and the forest floor alike (the tiger also likes water). He looks strong enough to tackle an ox, let alone a longhorn. He crushes the skull of his prey with one mighty bite. Lesser animals he can kill with a single blow of his paw to the face.
For more info on Jaguar the animal, http://users.netropolis.net/nahury1/jaguar.htm has a nice article.
For more info on OS X: Jaguar, check out the "Apple Announces WWDC Keynote Topics" thread over in the Apple section of Slashdot.
Given the recent Unix ad, I bet that either IE will not be the default browser in Jaguar, or it will not be the only browser.;)
"It'll soak up every last bit of data." Miasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millenium
> Apple has always survived by soliciting the fringe crowd. They > recognize that average users are not interested in changing OSs, and > certainly not to make a political statement.
Which of course explains why 40% of the poeple who have bought the new G4 iMac, the hottest selling computer in Amazon's history, are first time Mac buyers. Then again, the iMac has always been a consumer computer, aimed at ordinary people who might not be computer savvy, and who might have never owned a computer before.
BTW, the G4 iMac may be the star, but the other Macs get their fair share over at Amazon. When the G4 iMac came out and shot up the charts, 10 of the top 25 selling computers at Amazon were Macs. Of course it is easy for the Macs to get high on the charts now. The PC industry has fallen on its collective nose, and the only computers with serious appeal (and an OS that is both beautiful and powerful) are Macs.
Face it, Apple is back to stay. They are not going after the fringe, they are going after Microsoft's precious monopoly of the desktop PC market, and the commercial UNIX vendors to boot. They are telling the MPAA and the RIAA sharks where to go with their ridiculous schemes. They are empowering their users with great computers and the best that the Mac, NEXT, UNIX, Open Source, and Java worlds have to offer. They are even volunteering for an environmental impact study that the rest of the PC industry refused to do.
In short, they are making Mothra one very, very happy and proud kaiju deity.;)
> Why is it people don't realize this ad is an attack on Commercial UNIX,
Of course the ad is aimed at Commercial UNIX. Apple now sells UNIX machines, and is trumpeting its entry into that market.
> not on Microsoft?
In the December 3rd, 2001 issue of Time magazine, right inside the front cover, was an Apple ad that proudly proclaimed "The only thing we have a monopoly on is compliments." The ad was similar to the one this story is about, only the quotes were all from reviewers, praising OS X and damning Windows XP. After five years of quietly rebuilding itself, Apple was back in the fight for the desktop!
On December 14, 1996, Mothra resurrected a charred Apple sapling ("Mosura" 1996). On December 14, 2001, Mothra returned to see its fruit ("Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidora: Daikaiju Soukougeki"). OS X: the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
> It's actually very expensive to set yourself up as a scientist. The > problem is, while there's still cheap equipment around, much of the > cutting-edge research can no longer be done on it. As our > understanding of what makes our environment operate gets deeper, > we've the unfortunate habit of requiring more complex equipment.
Depends on the science. There are some areas of astronomy that can be very cheap. Take meteor counting for instance. You can begin with a paper, a pencil, a timepiece and your eyes. Big spenders might opt for a clipboard, a red flashlight, a tape recorder and perhaps a mechanical counter. Those who prefer to live in the lap of luxury may opt for a comfy lounge chair.;)
And yes, you can perform real science doing this. After all, who is going to be caught funding the research grant for big name scientists to sit out in the cold and count meteors?
If you are really interested in doing this, check out:
http://www.astrosociety.org/pubs/mercury/1101pr/ le onidsidebar.html
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity." "Mosura", 1961
> Someone mod this idiot down. Bob was a desktop shell
Bob was the software that introduced the whole concept of having a little animated assistant to hold your hand (er, drive you nuts) and guide you through the difficult and dangerous process of writing letters, etc.
When Bob went belly up, the assistants were evacutated and relocated to their new home: Office.
> and Clippy was an office assistant.
Clippy *is* an office assistant. It is still in Office XP, just not enabled by default. Probably a case of their not being able to ship a version of Office without Clippy & co. bundled.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
> I expect Gamecube to actually have victory, > so far it has the best games, the cheapest > price, and the best graphics > > its not even listed?!
Don't worry, help is on the way! Godzilla and Mothra noted that the little Gamecube was going up against nasty old Microsoft and convinced a dozen of their friends and enemies to lend a hand. The help will come this fall (November?) in the form of "Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee". Unlike most Godzilla games, this one is made by a US company (working with Toho to get it right), and will have a global release. Gamespot and others have screenshots.
This game alone will cause me to buy a Gamecube.:)
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
> I know for a fact that most people walking into > PC World (the UKs largest Computer chain) for an > Apple iMac get talked into buying a cheap PC > because their sales staff make more commission > on cheap PCs
I don't know about sales commissions, but I do know what I see in my local CompUSA (in the US). Their staff used to do the same thing. Two things happened to change that: OS X and Windows XP. Now if you can get the staff to talk about PCs, it is what a nightmare XP has been to them. OS X, well they will happily sing its praises all the day long.;) The last time I was in, a dozen people where crowded in the Mac section, looking at the computers and watching someone give a demonstration of iDVD and iPhoto. Looking over at the PC's, there were all of two people, looking very bored.
As for PS2 vs. X-box, that was pretty much a slam dunk too. The store X-box one week was displaying a message crying for a service technician. During the weeks it was turned off (ie. broke), Final Fantasy X came out and was demoed on the PS2. So which would you buy? Another broke wonder from Microsoft, or a PS2 showing Fantasy X's amazing graphics? (The weeks CompUSA waited for their demo to be serviced might have something to do with retailers not liking the X-box.;)
> Why do people repeat this nonsense? Don't you > realize how rediculous a statement that is?
Ridiculous, perhaps, but true. Microsoft did patent the DRMOS, after the SSSCA first came up last fall. They clearly intend to use that patent and the law to cement their monopoly. That is just one of many reasons that stupid legislation needs to be stopped.
> Even Bush's "kinder and gentler" Justice > Department would be all over that for anti-trust > reasons, among others.
It isn't Bush's DoJ, it's Ashcroft's. And Ashcroft was bought, by Microsoft. Before his current post, he ran for the US senate, and was one of the candidates to receive campaign contributions from Microsoft (who paid more than Enron in the 2000 elections). Last I heard, the DoJ was speaking in defense of Microsoft in the same trial in which they are supposed to be the prosecutor!
> So please: If some stupid law passes requiring > DMR in the OS, Microsoft will lose any (possibly > non-existant) patents concerning that.
The patent is #6,330,670. Check http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html if you don't believe it exists.
Even if you are right about Microsoft loosing the patent, they still have the advantage of being ahead of the competition. And what about Linux? It's advantage lies in it being open source. You can buy one CD (or download for free if you have broadband) and put it on multiple machines. Will the DRM technology be open source? If it is proprietary, does Linux loose its advantages? Will the DRM conflict with the GPL?
The longer Linux has to wrangle over how to comply with the law, the bigger the risk will be that Microsoft will be grand-fathered in as the solution. I've done quite a bit of work with programs that have to meet federal and state regulations. Being first to submit your product for review matters big time! Being first frequently means that your competitors have to redo theirs from scratch to match how you did yours in order to be accepted. This law would work a lot like the stuff I've worked on. Patent or no, Microsoft will be first to apply. Getting the patent will only mean that the only other ones accepted will be paying Microsoft for the privilege!
Worse yet, when it comes to granting licenses to use patented technology, Microsoft can always say "No!".
If the so-called Department of "Justice" knew the meaning of the word, it would act to stop the using of laws and FDA regulations to gain competitive advantage. It would definitely act to break up the music and movie industry cartels that want to severely damage the much larger computer and electronic industries for their own gain.
Nope, no Justice here. A little short on Liberty too. Just a bunch of greedy sharks!
"Mothra, you are Life Eternal! Hear the prayers of your servants. Come back to us from out of the legend. Come and save us with your power of Life!" - From the US release of "Mothra" May 10, 1962
> Bill Gates/Micheal Dell/Steve Jobs steps up to a podium. He holds out > a plain white mouse in one hand. Then swiftly, he closes his hand upon > it. The rodent makes a sharp, shrill sqeak that booms in the > ampitheatre...
Steve Jobs would never do that! Mice are sacred to Mothra, due to the heroic antics of Shiro ("Mothra" 1961) and Kimi-chan ("Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks" 1998).
> In all seriousness, doesn't Microsoft have orders of magnitude more > LIQUID CASH than the Movie/Record industries make per annum? > Why don't they just crush these ninnies, remind them that their place > is to entertain us, not create laws in which to enslave us.
Microsoft is now sitting on a DRMOS patent. Any law like the SSSCA would benefit them enormously by essentially giving their monopoly force of law. The one you can look to for help with this is Steve Jobs. When he accepted a Grammy for Apple this year, he told off the RIAA on their silly obsession over DRM. He said that 80% of the people would happily buy if they made their products convenient and affordable. Due to Apple's contributions to both the music and the movie industries, and his being the head of Pixar, Steve Jobs is the one man they might actually listen to.
If they don't listen to him, they can argue point with Typhoon #8, now equipped with a stinger. Yep, Mothra, nemesis of the MPAA and RIAA, is on her way to America, and this time, she's not alone. Baragon is quite upset to hear about our "war on terror" resulting in the destruction of wild life santuaries and "clean" coal being seen an a solution to our energy "problems". Godzilla has had it up to here ("here" being 60 meters up, his current height) with Microsoft, not to mention the US government's attempts at trivializing the use of nuclear weapons (that leaked memo). King Ghidora, well he's happy to fight with Godzilla and cause destruction.;)
"Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidora: Giant Monster All Out Attack" is due in American theatres possibly as early as this summer! Repent and shape up, for the end is pretty seriously nigh!
> KaZaA is a program used exclusively to steal music, movies, and > software.
I wouldn't know about that, having (thankfully) never used it. I get my mp3's off my extensive CD collection (Manilow, Mozart, Mothra, etc. -and that's just the M's;).
> Windows XP is an operating system. It can be used for legitimate > purposes.
Juno can be used for legitimate purposes. It started a distributed computing plan that required the user's computer to remain on at all times and connect to Juno regularly (at the user's expense if their access number was a toll number). That created a real storm of controversy.
Google can be used for legitimate purposes. Its toolbar is also a distributed computing application.
And please, do not think for a minute that Microsoft is far behind. Microsoft Research had a project called "Millenium" that called for distributed computing among other things. Millenium's marketing name appears to be ".Net". Ever heard of it?
If you have Windows XP, you have agreed to let Microsoft install any "upgrade" it wants to on your computer. That's all they need to sneak one of these applications on your computer and start harvesting CPU cycles, if they haven't already.
Ultimately, Millenium is to be a global super-cluster of all the Windows computers (if not all the computers period) in the world. Your data and applications will be stored where ever Millenium wants them to be stored (maybe even on one of your competitor's hard drives?!?). Both applications and multimedia content will run on a pay as you use basis (with digital rights management). The file system will be a universal data store based on SQL Server (say bye-bye to your favorite standard file formats). You will boot your new PC with the Millenium disk, and after a process similar to today's product activation, your computer will join (be assimilated by) the Millenium network. About the only thing different between.Net (the reality so far) and Millenium (the research project) is that Java (the Millenium Java VM was called "Borg") has been replaced by C#.
The above post is ***not*** an April Fools joke. It is based in part on documentation available on Microsoft's web site (http://www.research.microsoft.com/research/os/Mil lennium/mgoals.html and http://www.research.microsoft.com/research/sn/). The only "fool" is the person who sits by and lets Microsoft use this to gain control of the entire computing industry on this planet forever (or at least the thousand year kingdom that is what the word "Millenium" means).
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn! See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
> So it's okay for a Senator's aide to illegally download a movie from the > internet, and for the Senator to show this movie to her friends > without any reprocussions.
Even more amusing, at the Senate hearing held by Hollings, Eisner (president? of Disney) showed a pirated Sony movie. Presumably without permission.
> My bet is that they are doing the same thing at home behind closed > doors themselves. Sometimes the blatant hypocracy just boggles the > mind!
That and the blatant greed. They don't care about the law, piracy, or what is right. This is only about them milking as much money as possible out of people.
I actually know someone like this. He runs a small technology company. He happily downloads mp3s, can't be bothered to pay for legal copies of libraries incorporated into his software, doesn't care a bit about the IP of others. When it comes to his software, patents, etc., it is a far different story. His precious IP has to have a EULA, and be copy protected, and sued over, etc. It is all about greed.
Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay! New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
Sure they can. Why back in 2000, John Ashcroft ran against Mel Carnahan for US senator in Missouri. Mr. Carnahan died before the election, which was held anyway. Mr. Carnahan won, and his wife became our senator (how I have no idea). Don't feel too sorry for Mr. Ashcroft though, he's now the US Attorney General and head of the DoJ.
Rumor has it that Mr. Truman, also from Missouri, will again be running for president in 2004.;)
> Save some money and solve the problem of tyranny (from that rep at > least) once and for all.
Killing a congress person would only land you in jail and a world of grief. The people aren't the problem, the corruption in the system is. Killing any one (or dozen or more) wouldn't change anything for the better. More people would just take up their jobs, get sucked up in the system, and make more stupid laws. Waking up the real American people and getting them off their duffs to do something about it is about the only hope we have.
The only way to wake them up about this is to let them know all about the joys of being unable to tape the Superbowl without a license. Tell them about how much fun it will be to have a charge appear on their credit card for every time they play any of the mp3s they downloaded.
Oh, and don't forget, the absolute joy of seeing a blue screen of death in Windows (the only legal OS in the USA cause Microsoft patented the DRMOS) and rebooting to find all those licenses they paid for vanish like smoke! Just think boys and girls, it can all be yours if we passed this law. Be sure to buy all new everything, because everything you now own will be illegal!!!
Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay! New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
> Did you know that neither cmdrTaco nor anyone else on the slashdot > moderation crew knows calculus?
Don't know about anyone else, but I have moderator points right now and I have 13 hours of calculus.:b
> That fact alone should deter anyone from slashdot.
Calculus knowlege is only useful in threads on calculus. This is a thread on MacWorld Tokyo. Do the math.;)
To get back on topic: I don't have a problem with Apple's iMac price raise. But that could be that my G4 iMac is currently in the hands of FedEx, and hopefully will be here tomorrow. Yippee!
Slashdot Mirror
drinkypoo wrote:
;)
... everyone else does. ;)
> Apple only helped put linux on mac (MkLinux) because people would
> do it anyway,
And people did do it anyway, if the box of Suse Linux for the Power PC sitting on the shelf of my local CompUSA is any indication.
> But apple doesn't want to create linux as a real competitor to MacOS.
Why would they care what OS a person is running? The OS and all the software they develop has only one purpose: selling the hardware by adding value to it. There is no Mac OS tax, since they make it themselves. Run whatever you like.
> And in order to compete it has to run mac software (possible, for
> older stuff, using emulation) and it absolutely must have quicktime.
Why? Aren't there Linux applications out there that are just as good? If there aren't, either work to fix it, or dual boot with an OS that can run that app. QuickTime has two competitors: Real and the Windows Media Player (evil). Either get one of those two to work, or win the lottery and finance Apple's porting efforts.
> Apple has, in a practical sense, OS monopoly on the Mac
Yep, and Linux has an evil OS monopoly on the Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. Boo! Hiss! (And of course it is a very nice little OS with a very pretty GUI - not OS X mind you, but the best I've ever seen on a PDA.
> to the extent that 99% of the mac world will use only Apple-produced
> operating systems on their macs. They don't consider linux to be a
> real thing.
Somehow I doubt CompUSA would carry an OS that only runs on 1% of hardware run by 4-5% of the desktop market.
> Never mind that linux/PPC may actually be more stable than MacOSX.
I don't know, I never tried Linux/PPC. I have three Macs running OS X (this one since OS X was first released), and I have to say it has been many months since I've seen a crash. The older Linux box downstairs could never say that. Granted it was more Netscape's fault than Linux, but I frequently landed in single user mode to repair my hard drive after a crash. I love OS X, it is everything I've ever wanted in an OS and more.
> This is the same sense in which windows has a monopoly... not exactly,
> but so damn close as makes almost no difference.
Windows is used on over 92% of the desktop machines on the planet. Microsoft got that monopoly by playing dirty, and kept it through brutal tyranny. It has left a broad trail of broken and bloody corpses of companies. Apple was nearly one of them, thanks to Windows 95 (and Motorola's chip delays and their own stupid greed).
Apple and Microsoft are nothing alike now. Microsoft's way is for computers (and OSs and software) to be a way to capture and contain customers, forcing them to pay and pay. Apple's way is to combine beautiful design, industrial strength Unix, and the best of open standards, open source and the traditional Mac culture to build elegant, powerful tools that empower the user to do whatever they want to do with a computer. Apple has taken stands for royalty free web standards, and against some of the obnoxious behavior of the RIAA and MPAA (Gateway has now followed in their footsteps).
If Linux wants on the desktop, look to Apple. They've shown you how to take an open source Unix and make it a success on the desktop. Follow their lead
On December 14, 1996, Mothra resurrected a charred Apple sapling ("Mosura" 1996).
On December 14, 2001, Mothra returned to see its fruit ("Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidora: Daikaiju Soukougeki").
OS X: the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
norwoodites wrote:
> MS has non voting stocks.
MS *had* non-voting stocks. They dumped them onto the market in the fall of 2000. That, plus a couple of blunders/mis-timings Apple made, plus the impending industry-wide disaster made Apple stumble badly that quarter. During the victory party for Apple's supposed demise, the earnings warnings started to come in as the computer makers one by one fell on their collective faces. Apple bounced back to profitability the very next quarter. The rest of the industry was not so fortunate.
Don't worry about MS influencing Apple anymore. The five year contract was a one time deal to give Apple the cash to get back on their feet. The deal is up in August, and both parties seem happy to return to Microsoft's former role as 3rd party developer/OS competitor.
"Mothra, you are Life Eternal! Hear the prayers of your servants. Come back to us from out of the legend. Come and save us with your power of Life!"
- From the US release of "Mothra" May 10, 1962
(Interesting that the last day of the WWDC falls on Mothra's 40th anniversary in America.)
AJWM wrote:
> (Power reactors elsewhere in the world use completely different
> designs, (non-positive void coefficients, or additional safety
> mechanisms) and can't catch fire.)
Perhaps not, but safety measures have to be kept in place to be effective. The September 1999 accident in Tokai Japan (Japan's worst ever, though not as bad as Chernobyl) was due to a complete lack of safety mechanisms. To save money, somebody got the bright idea of preparing nuclear fuel by mixing it with nitric acid in a really big open bucket. None of the recommended cooling procedures were in place to make this remotely safe. Of course nuclear fission started in the open acid vat, and did a nice job of irradiating the neighborhood. It took a while to contain it, and there were fatalities. Needless to say, Japan is no longer fond of "safe" nuclear power.
Funny thing is, this plant was filmed by Toho to be the subject of an attack by Godzilla in an upcoming movie. The movie mentioned Chernobyl by name (and the mention was by an actress born in Hiroshima) as Godzilla's attack on Tokai would have a similar effect. After most, if not all, the film was in the can, the accident occured. Three months later, "Godzilla 2000 Millenium" opened in Japan. The next summer it opened in the US as "Godzilla 2000".
Nuclear plants are only as safe as the people who run them. When the people who run them are imbeciles, Godzilla will pay a visit sooner or later. Live and in person!
Godzilla, Godzilla! God of Radioactive Fire:
Come and save us! Please don't stomp us!
Tokerat wrote:
> Without going into a huge rant here, I'll express my thankfulness that
> this did not happen.
>
> THERE IS A GOD.
Indeed, we must give thanks and praise to the Dreaded God who rose out of Tokyo Bay in December of 1999 to roar in his divine wrath at Microsoft, and put his sacred foot down on this deal.
After what happened in Tokai three months earlier (search Google for "Tokai", "nuclear" and "accident"), I doubt even the mighty Nintendo would refuse to listen to Godzilla.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
An AC writes:
, 12543,230272,00.html), they picked a Sony that was nearly twice the price of the top of the line iMac they reviewed. The Sony had more memory, and more hard drive space. It won by two points (out of 55 total: 42 to 40 -- and I would argue a few of their points). I guess one might as well go with the cheaper of the two -- the Apple. ;)
:)
> Linux on the desktop IS a viable solution,
Having just bought myself a Zaurus, I have to say I am impressed with how well Linux has come along. I don't see any reason Linux can't succeed on the desktop, and it should succeed. We don't need one replacement for Windows; we need several with open standards so they can work together. It is high time people had some real choices. The type of work to be performed, personal preference, and available budget should dictate which OS or computer system is used, not some monopoly in Redmond who only cares about it's own ever growing appetite for money and power.
> You claim that I should try Mac? Why would I bother spending 3 times
> more on an equally fast PC
I found it amusing that when Popular Science had a shoot out between Sony and Apple for best "digital hub" (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/computers/article/0
> that I can't upgrade or customize?
I have an iBook and two iMacs. They all have memory upgrades and Airport cards. I have more firewire drives and various USB and Firewire peripherals than you can shake a stick at. Upgrading is not much of an issue with them. If you have the money, the big G4 towers have a very nice latch that opens the case to let you do what you please inside (like PC's bought from major manufacturers, some of what you please may violate your warranty, but that's life). Even with the iMacs, I have yet to run into a situation where I said "Darn, I can't do that because I can't upgrade my iMac."
> Why would I want to goto a platform that has a limited amount of
> software?
Limited?!? Mac OS X?!? You've got to be joking. Most Mac apps run under Classic. There's more OS X apps and games every day (hey, even Photoshop is out for OS X!). Most pure Java 2 apps run nicely. There are a few big porting project feverishly porting everything released for Linux or BSD under an Open Source license. Since Apple made their development tools free we have no shortage of developers. Check out VersionTracker.com to see what all is really out there.
If that isn't enough software, go grab an emulator and run anything you want (including Windows if you must).
> Why would I want to goto an inferior platform?
OS X is based on BSD. It comes with and runs Apache, vi and Emacs, basically all the much loved Unix software. It is not an inferior platform. It blows Windows completely out of the water. If it's not for you, great. Enjoy your Linux desktop.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
Vladimir Pizdenko wrote:
> Do you think it is honest to pay so small?
There is nothing honest about it. Once upon a time pirates roamed the seas, stealing everything they could get and enslaving anybody they didn't kill. The RIAA don't do murder (that I know of), and they've traded in their swords for lawyers and ropes for contracts, but there is little difference otherwise. Now that they have the work for hire law that they wanted, they don't even have to pretend that an artist's creation is the artist's property anymore.
> Why artists are accepting this? They are making the music so they
> should can just say no and go to this companys who would get them
> 90% of profit. Why its not hapening?
Some of them are protesting, but you have to understand. The RIAA is a cartel, all of their members abide by the same practices. For many years there was no other place to go.
Today, that has changed. Today any ordinary person can march into a CompUSA store and get CD mastering software for their Macintosh for a couple hundred dollars. They can pick up sound proofing from a hardware store, go online to get everything else they need, and set up a recording studio in their basement. With the internet, distribution is not a problem. We don't need the RIAA anymore. A cottage recording industry would serve the artists far better (and not enslave them).
> It would be ilegal?
The RIAA's practices should be illegal, but the government turning a blind eye keeps the campaign contributions coming in.
That these sharks would then insist on American taxpayer money being used to hunt down what they call "pirates" is unbelievable arrogance.
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'
Our plan understands the sea; we can wait for her coming."
From the song "Infant Girl" in the Japanese version of Mothra (1961).
Bearpaw wrote:
> It's the CIA telling us about it. It is your duty as a Real and Patriotic
> American to take these threats seriously and to be afraid of the
> Enemies of Freedom at all times.
I know you were joking, but what you said makes a very valid point. Beyond the usual issue of whatever organization with a three letter acronym crying wolf yet again, there is the more important issue of how these "calls to panic" are in fact doing the terrorists work for them. Al Quada in particular have an easy job of it. They don't have to take the risks of actually trying an attack anymore, all they have to do is have their jailed members lie. It gets hyped by the media, and people panic nicely. If the media had half a brain, they would have realized by now that the only people in Al Quada that know about an attack before hand are Bin Laden and the guy leading it.
The duty of Americans is not to "be afraid of the Enemies of Freedom at all times". It is to be vigilant and kick their cans, if indeed they are evil. It is also the duty of Americans to stand up for our rights and the rights of others.
It is the sad results of a false patriotism that has pale pink and white rags proudly flying from yards and cars, poor filthy flags lying in the road, a capital overgrown with stinkweed politicians, and a loss of real freedom. Firewalls, strip searches, etc. aren't going to come and save us. It's the compassionate heart that saves a stranger's life in a disaster, the courageous heart that defends liberty, and the wise heart that cherishes happiness. Heart alone can conquer terror and restore peace and freedom.
America, what happened to your heart?!?
"Heart can reach where hand cannot. Climb over any wall..." Mothra (via Moll) "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
jweatherley wrote:
;)
> They also moan about iPhoto not having the facilities of Photoshop
> Elements - duh, go buy Photoshop Elements then.
Heck, get Photoshop 7. Considering the price difference between the two, a top of the line iMac + Photoshop 7 would still be cheaper than the Sony and absolutely blow it away on photos and graphics!
The movie "Godzilla 2000" pretty much functioned as a similar showdown between a tiny Sony laptop and Macs. The only good feature of the Sony is that it fit in the back pocket for sliding down the elevator of a skyscraper as the Millenium alien destroyed it top down (not a circumstance most people find themselves in on a daily basis). Otherwise, use of the Sony generally makes people call you an "imbecile". The Sony was the first computer hacked by the alien. Use of any Windows software carried a severe risk of being stomped by the star. The non-imbecilic good guys used Macs.
The truely amusing thing: Tristar, a division of Sony, is the American distributor (and occasionally clueless dubber) of the film. They added some of the "imbecile" references to the Sony using character.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
Microsift wrote:
.Net), Godzilla appeared in Tokyo Bay to save them.
> I think that foghorn666 submitting this story is further evidence of
> Satan's profound influence over the Macintosh community.
Mothra, the heroic wonder-working Goddess that parted the Pacific and resurrected herself after 130 million years entombed in the Egg of Eternity, is the protector, savior, and forever friend of Apple. She would never let such an evil being within a hundred miles of Apple.
If you are a recent Apple convert, you might want to see these legendary old Macs in action. They appeared in the following Japanese movies:
"Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2". Mothra had a cameo, but it was cut.
"Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla". Mothra has a cameo.
"Godzilla vs Destroyer". Godzilla dies. Apple would soon follow.
"Rebirth of Mothra 2". Fairy lands on a Mac, signifying Mothra's blessing. Mothra transforms into Rainbow and Aqua forms. Five months after the movie's release, Apple announces the iMac and the coming of OS X.
The following are also important in Mac history:
"Rebirth of Mothra 1". No Macs, just one scorched Apple sapling, and the Goddess who came and saved it. Days after its release in Japan (as "Mosura" on December 14, 1996), Apple announced the return of Steve Jobs.
"Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") marked the first appearance of the iMac in kaiju eiga. When a store full of iMacs were menaced by the Millenium alien (the kaiju incarnation of Microsoft's Millenium research project, now marketed as
All praise to Mothra, forever friend of the Mac!
Brontosaurus Jim wrote:
;)
> But even further: Just look at the whole vi/emacs war. All the vi
> people simply refuse to bend to emacs (LOL, obviously they don't
> know lisp!) and the emacs people generally ignore the vi people
> (which isn't all together unwarrented - just rude). This isn't helping
> anyone. All the vi people should start putting work into Emacs, maybe
> making a compatibility mode, so we could have one large, perfect
> piece of software, instead of two half-assed implementations.
I honestly don't know where you've been all this time, but I was using Emacs in vi mode back around 1989-1990. Before the web, before Linux, in Windows' infancy, Emacs had a vi emulation mode. I just checked my version of Emacs that runs under Aqua on OS X and guess what, it has three vi emulators to choose from!
Emacs is a complex programming environment from the command line only days. It is extremely powerful. Vi is a nimble little editor that is great for making quick changes to things (without killing your hands with a lot of control key antics). BBEdit is a wonderful Mac editor with great html and perl support. Project Builder may skimp a bit on features, but makes it very easy to make OS X programs quickly. I use them all and love them all.
The only time there is a real question of either/or is if one of the choices is the tool of an evil empire like Microsoft's Visual Studio.net. Anything else is a matter of an individual's personal preferences, and should probably be respected. Unless, of course, the "war" is strictly for fun.
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity."
"Mosura", 1961
IamTheRealMike wrote:
> It's about fear and control, nothing else. It's funny, and a little scary
> to watch them scrambling like this: it can only help the competition.
The phrase you are looking for is "Terror Marketing". Microsoft did this (mostly to businesses) before 9/11. I was wondering how long it would be before they started up again.
The time has come for our schools to dump Microsoft en masse and move to Macs (where they can afford them) and Linux (to recycle their existing PCs). School money is needed for teaching kids, not to fatten greedy and cruel sharks like Microsoft!
"Lola, kindness is not enough, look for the reason of hatred and anger. When you find and understand that, love becomes the strongest power; stronger than courage or wisdom."
Belabera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"
An AC wrote:
;)
> You can trace the decline the the use of the name 'longhorn' to the
> decline.
>
> Never, never, never use a slaughter animal as a product codename.
Especially when your competition is unleashing the most powerful feline predator in the western hemisphere: the Jaguar (Apple's code name for the next version of OS X that is probably going to come out this summer)!
The Jaguar is beautiful and powerful. He is the master of tree branches, water, and the forest floor alike (the tiger also likes water). He looks strong enough to tackle an ox, let alone a longhorn. He crushes the skull of his prey with one mighty bite. Lesser animals he can kill with a single blow of his paw to the face.
For more info on Jaguar the animal, http://users.netropolis.net/nahury1/jaguar.htm has a nice article.
For more info on OS X: Jaguar, check out the "Apple Announces WWDC Keynote Topics" thread over in the Apple section of Slashdot.
Given the recent Unix ad, I bet that either IE will not be the default browser in Jaguar, or it will not be the only browser.
"It'll soak up every last bit of data." Miasaka, Godzilla 2000 Millenium
czardonic wrote:
;)
> Apple has always survived by soliciting the fringe crowd. They
> recognize that average users are not interested in changing OSs, and
> certainly not to make a political statement.
Which of course explains why 40% of the poeple who have bought the new G4 iMac, the hottest selling computer in Amazon's history, are first time Mac buyers. Then again, the iMac has always been a consumer computer, aimed at ordinary people who might not be computer savvy, and who might have never owned a computer before.
BTW, the G4 iMac may be the star, but the other Macs get their fair share over at Amazon. When the G4 iMac came out and shot up the charts, 10 of the top 25 selling computers at Amazon were Macs. Of course it is easy for the Macs to get high on the charts now. The PC industry has fallen on its collective nose, and the only computers with serious appeal (and an OS that is both beautiful and powerful) are Macs.
Face it, Apple is back to stay. They are not going after the fringe, they are going after Microsoft's precious monopoly of the desktop PC market, and the commercial UNIX vendors to boot. They are telling the MPAA and the RIAA sharks where to go with their ridiculous schemes. They are empowering their users with great computers and the best that the Mac, NEXT, UNIX, Open Source, and Java worlds have to offer. They are even volunteering for an environmental impact study that the rest of the PC industry refused to do.
In short, they are making Mothra one very, very happy and proud kaiju deity.
OS X: the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
An AC wrote:
> Why is it people don't realize this ad is an attack on Commercial UNIX,
Of course the ad is aimed at Commercial UNIX. Apple now sells UNIX machines, and is trumpeting its entry into that market.
> not on Microsoft?
In the December 3rd, 2001 issue of Time magazine, right inside the front cover, was an Apple ad that proudly proclaimed "The only thing we have a monopoly on is compliments." The ad was similar to the one this story is about, only the quotes were all from reviewers, praising OS X and damning Windows XP. After five years of quietly rebuilding itself, Apple was back in the fight for the desktop!
On December 14, 1996, Mothra resurrected a charred Apple sapling ("Mosura" 1996).
On December 14, 2001, Mothra returned to see its fruit ("Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidora: Daikaiju Soukougeki").
OS X: the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
alister wrote:
;)
/ le onidsidebar.html
> It's actually very expensive to set yourself up as a scientist. The
> problem is, while there's still cheap equipment around, much of the
> cutting-edge research can no longer be done on it. As our
> understanding of what makes our environment operate gets deeper,
> we've the unfortunate habit of requiring more complex equipment.
Depends on the science. There are some areas of astronomy that can be very cheap. Take meteor counting for instance. You can begin with a paper, a pencil, a timepiece and your eyes. Big spenders might opt for a clipboard, a red flashlight, a tape recorder and perhaps a mechanical counter. Those who prefer to live in the lap of luxury may opt for a comfy lounge chair.
And yes, you can perform real science doing this. After all, who is going to be caught funding the research grant for big name scientists to sit out in the cold and count meteors?
If you are really interested in doing this, check out:
http://www.astrosociety.org/pubs/mercury/1101pr
"The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity."
"Mosura", 1961
An AC wrote:
> Someone mod this idiot down. Bob was a desktop shell
Bob was the software that introduced the whole concept of having a little animated assistant to hold your hand (er, drive you nuts) and guide you through the difficult and dangerous process of writing letters, etc.
When Bob went belly up, the assistants were evacutated and relocated to their new home: Office.
> and Clippy was an office assistant.
Clippy *is* an office assistant. It is still in Office XP, just not enabled by default. Probably a case of their not being able to ship a version of Office without Clippy & co. bundled.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
HanzoSan wrote:
:)
> I expect Gamecube to actually have victory,
> so far it has the best games, the cheapest
> price, and the best graphics
>
> its not even listed?!
Don't worry, help is on the way! Godzilla and Mothra noted that the little Gamecube was going up against nasty old Microsoft and convinced a dozen of their friends and enemies to lend a hand. The help will come this fall (November?) in the form of "Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee". Unlike most Godzilla games, this one is made by a US company (working with Toho to get it right), and will have a global release. Gamespot and others have screenshots.
This game alone will cause me to buy a Gamecube.
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
An AC wrote:
;) The last time I was in, a dozen people where crowded in the Mac section, looking at the computers and watching someone give a demonstration of iDVD and iPhoto. Looking over at the PC's, there were all of two people, looking very bored.
;)
> I know for a fact that most people walking into
> PC World (the UKs largest Computer chain) for an
> Apple iMac get talked into buying a cheap PC
> because their sales staff make more commission
> on cheap PCs
I don't know about sales commissions, but I do know what I see in my local CompUSA (in the US). Their staff used to do the same thing. Two things happened to change that: OS X and Windows XP. Now if you can get the staff to talk about PCs, it is what a nightmare XP has been to them. OS X, well they will happily sing its praises all the day long.
As for PS2 vs. X-box, that was pretty much a slam dunk too. The store X-box one week was displaying a message crying for a service technician. During the weeks it was turned off (ie. broke), Final Fantasy X came out and was demoed on the PS2. So which would you buy? Another broke wonder from Microsoft, or a PS2 showing Fantasy X's amazing graphics? (The weeks CompUSA waited for their demo to be serviced might have something to do with retailers not liking the X-box.
OS X: the Apple of Mothra's Aqua eye.
Rakarra wrote:
> Why do people repeat this nonsense? Don't you
> realize how rediculous a statement that is?
Ridiculous, perhaps, but true. Microsoft did patent the DRMOS, after the SSSCA first came up last fall. They clearly intend to use that patent and the law to cement their monopoly. That is just one of many reasons that stupid legislation needs to be stopped.
> Even Bush's "kinder and gentler" Justice
> Department would be all over that for anti-trust
> reasons, among others.
It isn't Bush's DoJ, it's Ashcroft's. And Ashcroft was bought, by Microsoft. Before his current post, he ran for the US senate, and was one of the candidates to receive campaign contributions from Microsoft (who paid more than Enron in the 2000 elections). Last I heard, the DoJ was speaking in defense of Microsoft in the same trial in which they are supposed to be the prosecutor!
> So please: If some stupid law passes requiring
> DMR in the OS, Microsoft will lose any (possibly
> non-existant) patents concerning that.
The patent is #6,330,670. Check http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html if you don't believe it exists.
Even if you are right about Microsoft loosing the patent, they still have the advantage of being ahead of the competition. And what about Linux? It's advantage lies in it being open source. You can buy one CD (or download for free if you have broadband) and put it on multiple machines. Will the DRM technology be open source? If it is proprietary, does Linux loose its advantages? Will the DRM conflict with the GPL?
The longer Linux has to wrangle over how to comply with the law, the bigger the risk will be that Microsoft will be grand-fathered in as the solution. I've done quite a bit of work with programs that have to meet federal and state regulations. Being first to submit your product for review matters big time! Being first frequently means that your competitors have to redo theirs from scratch to match how you did yours in order to be accepted. This law would work a lot like the stuff I've worked on. Patent or no, Microsoft will be first to apply. Getting the patent will only mean that the only other ones accepted will be paying Microsoft for the privilege!
Worse yet, when it comes to granting licenses to use patented technology, Microsoft can always say "No!".
If the so-called Department of "Justice" knew the meaning of the word, it would act to stop the using of laws and FDA regulations to gain competitive advantage. It would definitely act to break up the music and movie industry cartels that want to severely damage the much larger computer and electronic industries for their own gain.
Nope, no Justice here. A little short on Liberty too. Just a bunch of greedy sharks!
"Mothra, you are Life Eternal! Hear the prayers of your servants. Come back to us from out of the legend. Come and save us with your power of Life!"
- From the US release of "Mothra" May 10, 1962
Vidmaster Steve wrote:
;)
> Bill Gates/Micheal Dell/Steve Jobs steps up to a podium. He holds out
> a plain white mouse in one hand. Then swiftly, he closes his hand upon
> it. The rodent makes a sharp, shrill sqeak that booms in the
> ampitheatre...
Steve Jobs would never do that! Mice are sacred to Mothra, due to the heroic antics of Shiro ("Mothra" 1961) and Kimi-chan ("Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks" 1998).
> In all seriousness, doesn't Microsoft have orders of magnitude more
> LIQUID CASH than the Movie/Record industries make per annum?
> Why don't they just crush these ninnies, remind them that their place
> is to entertain us, not create laws in which to enslave us.
Microsoft is now sitting on a DRMOS patent. Any law like the SSSCA would benefit them enormously by essentially giving their monopoly force of law. The one you can look to for help with this is Steve Jobs. When he accepted a Grammy for Apple this year, he told off the RIAA on their silly obsession over DRM. He said that 80% of the people would happily buy if they made their products convenient and affordable. Due to Apple's contributions to both the music and the movie industries, and his being the head of Pixar, Steve Jobs is the one man they might actually listen to.
If they don't listen to him, they can argue point with Typhoon #8, now equipped with a stinger. Yep, Mothra, nemesis of the MPAA and RIAA, is on her way to America, and this time, she's not alone. Baragon is quite upset to hear about our "war on terror" resulting in the destruction of wild life santuaries and "clean" coal being seen an a solution to our energy "problems". Godzilla has had it up to here ("here" being 60 meters up, his current height) with Microsoft, not to mention the US government's attempts at trivializing the use of nuclear weapons (that leaked memo). King Ghidora, well he's happy to fight with Godzilla and cause destruction.
"Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidora: Giant Monster All Out Attack" is due in American theatres possibly as early as this summer! Repent and shape up, for the end is pretty seriously nigh!
generic-man wrote:
;).
.Net (the reality so far) and Millenium (the research project) is that Java (the Millenium Java VM was called "Borg") has been replaced by C#.
l lennium/mgoals.html and http://www.research.microsoft.com/research/sn/). The only "fool" is the person who sits by and lets Microsoft use this to gain control of the entire computing industry on this planet forever (or at least the thousand year kingdom that is what the word "Millenium" means).
> KaZaA is a program used exclusively to steal music, movies, and
> software.
I wouldn't know about that, having (thankfully) never used it. I get my mp3's off my extensive CD collection (Manilow, Mozart, Mothra, etc. -and that's just the M's
> Windows XP is an operating system. It can be used for legitimate
> purposes.
Juno can be used for legitimate purposes. It started a distributed computing plan that required the user's computer to remain on at all times and connect to Juno regularly (at the user's expense if their access number was a toll number). That created a real storm of controversy.
Google can be used for legitimate purposes. Its toolbar is also a distributed computing application.
And please, do not think for a minute that Microsoft is far behind. Microsoft Research had a project called "Millenium" that called for distributed computing among other things. Millenium's marketing name appears to be ".Net". Ever heard of it?
If you have Windows XP, you have agreed to let Microsoft install any "upgrade" it wants to on your computer. That's all they need to sneak one of these applications on your computer and start harvesting CPU cycles, if they haven't already.
Ultimately, Millenium is to be a global super-cluster of all the Windows computers (if not all the computers period) in the world. Your data and applications will be stored where ever Millenium wants them to be stored (maybe even on one of your competitor's hard drives?!?). Both applications and multimedia content will run on a pay as you use basis (with digital rights management). The file system will be a universal data store based on SQL Server (say bye-bye to your favorite standard file formats). You will boot your new PC with the Millenium disk, and after a process similar to today's product activation, your computer will join (be assimilated by) the Millenium network. About the only thing different between
The above post is ***not*** an April Fools joke. It is based in part on documentation available on Microsoft's web site (http://www.research.microsoft.com/research/os/Mi
What happens when you embrace and extend Godzilla? Nuclear heartburn!
See "Godzilla 2000" (released in Japan as "Godzilla 2000 Millenium") for details.
R.D. Clark wrote:
> So it's okay for a Senator's aide to illegally download a movie from the
> internet, and for the Senator to show this movie to her friends
> without any reprocussions.
Even more amusing, at the Senate hearing held by Hollings, Eisner (president? of Disney) showed a pirated Sony movie. Presumably without permission.
> My bet is that they are doing the same thing at home behind closed
> doors themselves. Sometimes the blatant hypocracy just boggles the
> mind!
That and the blatant greed. They don't care about the law, piracy, or what is right. This is only about them milking as much money as possible out of people.
I actually know someone like this. He runs a small technology company. He happily downloads mp3s, can't be bothered to pay for legal copies of libraries incorporated into his software, doesn't care a bit about the IP of others. When it comes to his software, patents, etc., it is a far different story. His precious IP has to have a EULA, and be copy protected, and sued over, etc. It is all about greed.
Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay!
New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
An AC wrote:
;)
> Dead people can't hold public office.
Sure they can. Why back in 2000, John Ashcroft ran against Mel Carnahan for US senator in Missouri. Mr. Carnahan died before the election, which was held anyway. Mr. Carnahan won, and his wife became our senator (how I have no idea). Don't feel too sorry for Mr. Ashcroft though, he's now the US Attorney General and head of the DoJ.
Rumor has it that Mr. Truman, also from Missouri, will again be running for president in 2004.
> Save some money and solve the problem of tyranny (from that rep at
> least) once and for all.
Killing a congress person would only land you in jail and a world of grief. The people aren't the problem, the corruption in the system is. Killing any one (or dozen or more) wouldn't change anything for the better. More people would just take up their jobs, get sucked up in the system, and make more stupid laws. Waking up the real American people and getting them off their duffs to do something about it is about the only hope we have.
The only way to wake them up about this is to let them know all about the joys of being unable to tape the Superbowl without a license. Tell them about how much fun it will be to have a charge appear on their credit card for every time they play any of the mp3s they downloaded.
Oh, and don't forget, the absolute joy of seeing a blue screen of death in Windows (the only legal OS in the USA cause Microsoft patented the DRMOS) and rebooting to find all those licenses they paid for vanish like smoke! Just think boys and girls, it can all be yours if we passed this law. Be sure to buy all new everything, because everything you now own will be illegal!!!
Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have gotta pay!
New Kirk calling Mothra, we need you today!
An AC wrote:
> 2 months and 1400 dollars to get the cheapest desktop Mac is really
> quite pathetic.
The cheapest Mac is the $800 G3 iMac. No supply problems that I know of.
My G4 iMac took about 4 weeks to get shipped from the online Apple Store.
Happy Birthday, King Shisa! (1974-2002)
An AC wrote:
:b
;)
> Did you know that neither cmdrTaco nor anyone else on the slashdot
> moderation crew knows calculus?
Don't know about anyone else, but I have moderator points right now and I have 13 hours of calculus.
> That fact alone should deter anyone from slashdot.
Calculus knowlege is only useful in threads on calculus. This is a thread on MacWorld Tokyo. Do the math.
To get back on topic: I don't have a problem with Apple's iMac price raise. But that could be that my G4 iMac is currently in the hands of FedEx, and hopefully will be here tomorrow. Yippee!
Happy Birthday, King Shisa! (1974-2002)