The problem with nanotechnology is that we don't really understand why much of it works, and we don't have any idea how the special properties it has will affect our bodies. Nano-whiskers? Great - I'm sure they help keep stains from getting on clothes. But what the *hell* are they going to do in my lungs?
Maybe they'll do the same for your lungs, and smoking will no longer be dangerous. I am sure the tobacco industry is already testing this out on baby kittens.
So for example: 5 or 6 days ago I downloaded a plugin for some blog package or other, written in php or perl I think... it had a name like Exercise or Expendable, I forget... Now I need to find it. What do I remember about it? That I saved it to the Desktop.
If it was on my Linux system it would be in/pkgs. If on my Windows system, c:\pkgs. That is just the way I decided to do things, and I have stuck with it. It works for me. I wouldn't want to search for MP3s or photos every time I want one either. I have a general structure where I keep those as well. I know where things are without having to think about where they are.
I can see how this technology might come in handy at times, but I would want the option to use it. On a Linux system, locate combined with grep is hard to beat. And maybe find once in a while.
I wouldn't go that far. Simpsons has evolved, but I wouldn't say it's stopped being funny. There's a reason it's still around. It's because people watch it and are entertained by it. Matt Groening has had the foresight to keep the Simpsons a "living" thing by changing it slightly with the times. I think a movie has big potential as long as they don't let someone else take the reigns.
I have found over the years that episodes are better the 2nd time I see them. I'll see a new episode, adn think "Hmm, it was just OK." Then I'll see it a year or so later in re-runs, and I like it more. Some of the episodes that I just thought were OK from several seasons ago are hilarious to me now. I don't really know what to attribute this to, but it has been pretty consistent to me. Once in particular was the Tomacco episode. I just thought it was OK when it first ran. Of course, my favorite episode has always been Selma's Choice, where Homer eats the rotten sandwich, and the kids go to Duff Gardens. Absolutely hilarious. Behind the Laughter is really good too, as well as their 138th Episode Spectacular. Too many good ones to list.
Microsoft built a suite of integrated Office applications with built-in functionality that allows seamless transfer of data between the apps.
Bzzzzzzt. They were not an integrated suite in 1990. They were separate products. What allowed them to be integrated into a suite? Maybe ideas like the one this guy patented and Microsoft infringed upon.
If you don't mind changing your email address now and then, more power to you, but I'm damned if I'll give the bastards the satisfaction.
Or if you don't have a choice. I used to use my work email for all my usenet stuff back in the late 90s. Then I left that job, and started using my own email address. That provider changed domain names, then I dropped them altogether when they took away all shell accounts. Then I had Earthlink for several years. I then moved across the country, and now have a new provider. So I have changed my email address, but only about every 3 or 4 years or so. But I have had a Yahoo account for about 5 or 6 years now, and I don't get much spam at all on it.
I think it all comes down to not giving out your email account. But even then, you don't have much control. At my last job, I ONLY used my work email account for work, I never sent email to anyone that wasn't work related. Then some dope at work got their laptop infected, and all of a sudden I was getting spam (my address was in their address book). Or if you get people who use that "send this news story to a friend" link to send you news stories and crappy little animated doo-dads that they find funny. ARGHHH!
Your name in the posting is a link that resolves directly to your email address.
I always wondered this. OK, Bill Gates gets a lot of email just because of who he is. But why do "everyday" people get hundereds of SPAM messages a day? I don't get it. Are you just handing out your email to everyone? Are these unfiltered messages on your own mail server? I just don't get how you can possibly get that many SPAMs in a day. I have 5 email accounts at various providers, and I get maybe 5-10 a day TOTAL. Are my providers just much better at filtering? Am I just more careful about who gets my email address?
I have to think that if you get that many SPAMs a day, it is because you are loose and easy with the address, or have a high-profile address.
I think you'll find that true communism in the spirit of Marx doesn't have anything to do with censorship.
It is amazing how powerful group-think can be. Last year, when Farenheit 9/11 was out in the video store, I heard two guys talking in line waiting for checkout. One asked the other if he had seen it, and the other said he wouldn't watch anything from that commie.
Commie? What about Michael Moore is communist? It doesn't make any sense. Do people even have a clue what Communism is? And why the fear of it? I have heard others use the word "commie" to refer to something as un-American. I am 35, but I still don't understand it. Why do we, as Americans, hate Communists again? Because our government told us to? I suppose "terrorist" is the new "commie".
You must be a real jewel in life, eh? Soooo much anger towards the US. So much hate for corporations. So much stupidity. Enjoy what remains of your sad pitiful life, k?
I have a great life, thank you. So are you clairvoyant? You sure seem to be able to jump to conclusions without much real information. If you were halfways intelligent, and had travelled outside of your trailer park, you would know that Microsoft is seen as an EVIL US Corporation in the rest of the world. (and yes, here in the US too) Because they are. They ruined companies with their tactics. But I digress. Yes, I am an American, I was born and raised here. I love what this country is supposed to be, and and sorely disappointed in it for how it behaves on the world stage. It is somewhat embarassing. But you probably don't understand, as your worldliness probably consists of NASCAR. It's not your fault, you are probably just ignorant. But you really should get out more. Really. Ahh, but you are a Coward, aren't you.
How much do you want to bet that this issue will slowly be pushed into the background and eventually disappear? Microsoft has always found a way out of such situations.
But at some point, someone will want to be made (somewhat) famous as the person who stood up to Microsoft. The evil US Corporation. Lots of people have backed down, few have prevailed. I would think that in and of itself, that would be a pretty big motivator.
It's not so much that you have to wait, it's more like you decide what you want to spend on a card, and that money always buys the same thing. Like so: You want ot spend $400? Fine, you may have a top of the line brand new card. You want to spend 200? Then you may have a mid range card, which was last year's top range card. For $100 You get the card that was top of the line 18 months ago.
Exactly. I used to work with a gamer dude. He was buying all "top of the line" stuff, but he had serious work ethic issues (I say "used to" work with him because he was fired for slacking off). Anyway, I was placing an order with Newegg for some stuff. He wanted to get in on the order, and bought a new hard drive. If I remember right, it was a brand new 80GB drive and was going to run about $200. They were the latest and greatest, and he was very excited about it.
6 months later, he hadn't gotten around to installing his new drive. I think around that time I purchased a 120GB drive for $125.
Now I know that technology always changes, and it is hard to get the best bang for the buck because it will change. I paid $150 for my CD burner that is 12x, or $100 for my 4x DVD burner. But I got good use out of them, and I didn't buy them the day they came on the market. But if I were to buy a new optical drive, I would have to check out the latest and greatest - not to see if I want to get it now, but to see if it is worth waiting for it.:)
Case 1: Owner of desktop (custom or not) - wants new Athlon64 CPU. Orders CPU + mobo for $250 from NewEgg.
Does anyone do this anymore? I always believed in the upgradeability of the PC, but have never seen it work. I guess I upgrade on too long of a cycle. Because I always have to buy new memory, power supply, CPU cooler (let's not forget that, those CPUs don't cool themselves, and you don't want a cheap cooler). Not to mention that you would then have to dispose of the parts you replace. If it is worth the hassle of eBay for you, great. For me, it has always been less of a hassle and easier to just build a new PC. Maybe if I upgraded sooner than every 5 years this wouldn't be a problem.
Someone who buys a nice video card today to play games that come out today are responsible for all the horrible marketing that goes on and are just plain idiots for buying nice stuff. Errr, you lost me there.
First off, I didn't say you were an idiot, I said "maybe you are a sucker".
Maybe you are so caught up in being a good little consumer that you'd be willing to spend a couple hundred extra for a disproportionate amount of performance. Maybe you can afford it, maybe you save up for it, I don't really care. There is just such a "must have it now" attitude that I think is just silly. It's hype, it's fluff. Gaming is just part of it, not the whole problem. The gaming industry has certainly succumbed to the wiles of the marketing droids. Xbox 360 launch on MTV? Ha. Things don't stand on their own merit, they stand on how well they can be sold. Things may LAST on their own merit, but nowadays everything seems to be gauged on how much it can sell within the first week or month. Admittedly, tech people usually look at things with a more critical eye, but not always.
Look, you don't have to wait a year or two to buy a video card that will play the latest games. You can buy several right now. Will you buy one that is a year old or the latest and greatest in order to get that extra 5 fps? I think it isn't just the 5 fps, it is some kind of chest-puffing bragging rights. To me that just doesn't make sense. Sorry you feel I am an asshole for pointing all this out, I guess I touched a nerve. If you really didn't care, you would say "I spend my money on what I want to spend it on" and leave it at that.
The argument that "in a year or two the card will be half price" is absolute crap. Yeah, it will be half price... in a friggin YEAR OR TWO. How about now? What about those of us that want to play games TODAY, and we want to play them at 60+fps?
You pay the price, literally and figuratively. If you can't wait to play a game, then you get what you deserve. If you have to wait in line to see a movie on opening night, that is your choice. But you help create that system of dependency and feed it. Maybe if people didn't do this, we wouldn't see every movie referred to as a "blockbuster" before it is even released. Maybe TV shows wouldn't be called "television events". Maybe "hit new singles" or "smash hit" will never be uttered again. Maybe you are just a sucker that laps up whatever is excreted by the marketing machine. There is a price to that, some in money, some in other things.
If you just want to play a new game, and it needs new hardware, you shouldn't be offended by the above statments.
I ran Half-Life 2 on my 1600x1200 flat panel at its native resolution with no problems on my Radeon 9600 Pro (128MB). I paid more than $100 for it at the time, but it now sells for about $75-$80 on Newegg.
But that card would have been around $300 if you would have bought it in anticipation of HL2. I *almost* bought that very card. Then I took a step back and said to myself "Are you nuts?". I knew in a year or two the card would be half the price, the game would be fully tested, and I wouldn't be missing out on anything. In fact, the game release was delayed several more months, and by the time it came out the card was $100 cheaper. I am sure there were gamers all over that were kicking themselves. Or probably more likely, cursing Valve for some reason. I still haven't bought the game, and am not sure I want to with the whole Steam debacle.
I got Half-Life only 3 years ago. It was "old" by gaming standards. But I could play it with my cheap hardware, there were walkthoughs online for when I got stuck, and as soon as I finished I was able to install and play several user-mods that were a blast. For me, it was worth the wait. I don't get the whole buy-it-at-12:01-on-release-date mentality.
The existing Office document formats are all pretty well documented by 3rd parties. It hasn't even scratched Microsoft's sales. Microsoft's vision on this takes several forms. First, Office is a suite of programs that interoperate. You can embed your spreadsheet in your Word doc or your PowerPoint presentation. Update your spreadsheet and it also updates wherever those numbers also exist. Their second angle is for developers. They want you to use.NET for your in house development. Your user needs to send out a letter? Your program will pull up a document and prefill nearly everything. Thirdly, the now have something they can take to governments and other organizations that are demanding open formats. Finally, no matter how well it's documented, there will be dozens of odd little quirks. But that's ok, so long as you're using the tools that Microsoft provides. Proprietary formats get cracked, quickly and easily. Microsoft wants an end to end lock in.
They actually have some good ideas about this stuff. All the functions you mention would be REALLY helpful in the business world. What peeves me is that they can't just live off of their good ideas, they have to go for that lock-in. If they could do all of the things you mention above, businesses would use it because it is... useful. But they can't just leave it at that. I think eventually, this will lead to their downfall.
If you don't like the price that something's being offered at, then you just don't have to buy it.
There's no legal obligation that car dealers have to give everybody the same lowest price that they ever sold a car for.
I'm not sure about the idea mentioned in the article that regular customers will get lower prices though - surely it should work the other way around. You get the customers landed with cheap prices and as they keep coming back you gradually tap them up until their visits start to drop off and then you start to lower them back down.
And sometimes, paying a higher price can be better. The big guys can usually lower their prices more than the little guys. There *IS* an overhead that merchants and suppliers incur, even in online stores. They may not be trying to screw you, they might just be trying to make a decent profit. Just because Wal*Mart can offer you the lowest price, does that mean you should shop there? I don't. I don't like the way they do business, so I avoid them. Lowest price does not always mean best for the customer.
I work in the online retail business, and e-tailers know that there are several factors in getting and retaining customers. One of them is price. Pricing for internet retailers is very very complex, and prices may change daily because of a variety of factors. Each retailer may have their own methods, so to say "the industry" does something is somewhat misleading.
It's supposed to be eye candy, not give you a doctorate in comparative theology or high-energy physics.
I would rather sat through a comparative theology or high-energy physics lecture than watch EPI or EPII again.
I'll admit, I was suckered in with EPI and was sorely disappointed. I waited, and finally gave in and rented EPII. Thank god for the FFWD button. It took me about 45 minutes to watch it, and it was still bad without all the love scenes. When people say "remember how bad scene X was in EPII?" I can honestly say "no". And it wasn't bad like Showgirls bad, because Lucas actually thinks what he makes is good. I would rather watch Showgirls or somthing like Starship Troopers than Lucas' tripe. You say it is supposed to be eye candy, but he thinks it is something much bigger. The first few movies were fun, these last ones were just.... bad.
There is no way I am seeing EPIII in the theater. Lucas gets no special privledge in my book just because he make a couple of good movies, long long ago. Fool me once, shame... shame on you.....If fooled... can't get fooled again.
Oh Yea. ..Necessity is the mother of invention. Had he remembered that then he would realize that the source of innovation in a 100% Open Source world would be new things that are required and not some desired cash as things stand now.
I agree, but this doesn't just happen with Open Source software. There are closed-source applications out there that are free (beer) that have tons of features. One example I like to use is Irfanview. It is a free image program that IMO has no equal. It is light, fast, and has tons of features. It is Windows only, and is closed-source. But there is no trial period, no ads, no gimmicks. And it gets updates often. If you use Windows, try it out. It is really good software. I believe that it has been somewhat innovative, and has things in there that I need. A few things that it has that I use:
Single keys to do certain tasks - F (fit image to screen), R (rotate image), (previous/next image)
What's running on it you ask? Windows 2000 Professional. I use it 5 days a week - and heavily too.
Install XP, then get back to us. I don't think anyone has had too many problems with Win2k as a desktop OS. I know I haven't. And although XP doesn't crash, per se, it still needs to be rebooted often. I use it at work, and have a nice dual monitor setup. Lots of windows open. But it still needs to be rebooted often either because of security updates (don't you install those? They require a reboot) or because *something* causes it to just come to a crawl. I haven't figured it out yet, and it has happened to me in the past on other work computers too.
No BSOD does not necessarily mean "stable".
To speak to Macs, I just don't get it. I am not saying I don't recognize the quality of the whole package, it just isn't for me. It all doesn't make sense to me. I have a G5 with OSX sitting on my desk at work (for testing out stuff with Mac browsers) and I hate when I have to use it. I just don't like the way it feels and the way things happen on it. It just isn't for me. I can see why some people might like it, but not me.
Personally, I run Linux when I can. It makes sense to me. I know it, I like it, and I am used to it. I can see why everyone wouldn't though, and I am OK with that. I don't have much desire to force people to like what I like. I have no desire for Linux to take over the desktop. I just want to use it. As long as I can do that, everyone else can use what they want. My machine is usually up 24/7. Current uptime is only 9 days, I had a hard drive issue. But it has been has high as the 300s. I find that I usually only have problems upon rebooting, for some reason. But nothing that has happened, and things happen with computers, that makes me want to switch to something else. Linux has made me angry, Windows has infuriated me, and Macs make me feel kind of creepy.
Torrents wouldn't be so bloody popular unless the current distribution model for media was a source of widespread dissatisfaction. Despite a plethora of laws passed to uphold aging business models, the number of Americans (just Americans) engaging in illegal downloading activity passed more than an estimated *70 million* last month. When a quarter of your citizens consistently and repeatedly break the law despite the imposition of relatively harsh (even ludicrous) prison sentences then there's something seriously wrong with the law - by definition. The citizens supposedly define the law, and if a good chunk of them ignore it (with the numbers rising every month) it's a fair bet that the law they're dismissing doesn't reflect their own interests or goals.
I absolutely agree. But we don't define the laws. We elect the people, who as a group, write and pass the laws. The laws only serve the interest of those who write them, and are able to pass them. And they are passed in very dishonest ways, usually by lumping them with other laws that are sure to pass. Note the recent passing of a law requiring national ID cards. It was tacked onto a military spending bill at the last minute. Someone doesn't vote for it, they can be easily labeled as anti-American for voting against sending money to fund our stupid war.
But I would rather have the ??AA attack people who are breaking the law than those who aren't. I would rather that they shut down sites trafficking in illegal copies of works instead of trying to pass laws to outlaw P2P applications. There are ways to fight back, and breaking the law is usually not the BEST way to do it. Sometimes it is the only way to do it, but I don't think it is in this case. All the ??AA wants is money and power. They need to be shown how to make money via P2P because their power is slipping. They also need to realize that we don't need them. We don't need movies and music - we want them. In fact, many might argue that we need movies and music because they (the ??AA) created a culture where they are necessary. They created the "more more more" culture, and now the people are wanting more - and getting it however they can. So I don't sympathize with the ??AA at all, they are reaping what they have sown. And I actually think that people have opened their eyes a little.
Torrenters dealing in illegal wares should be shut down. If more and more sites use it for legitimate uses, then Bittorrent will survive. If it is only used for illegal stuff, then there are better chances that it will be attacked.
So they shut down a site that was trading in illegal stuff. What is the big deal? (other than the fact that the feds are concerned with THIS and not so much things that really hurt human beings)
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe they'll do the same for your lungs, and smoking will no longer be dangerous. I am sure the tobacco industry is already testing this out on baby kittens.
No, that would suck.
Or Windows touting the CLI.
If it was on my Linux system it would be in /pkgs. If on my Windows system, c:\pkgs. That is just the way I decided to do things, and I have stuck with it. It works for me. I wouldn't want to search for MP3s or photos every time I want one either. I have a general structure where I keep those as well. I know where things are without having to think about where they are.
I can see how this technology might come in handy at times, but I would want the option to use it. On a Linux system, locate combined with grep is hard to beat. And maybe find once in a while.
I have found over the years that episodes are better the 2nd time I see them. I'll see a new episode, adn think "Hmm, it was just OK." Then I'll see it a year or so later in re-runs, and I like it more. Some of the episodes that I just thought were OK from several seasons ago are hilarious to me now. I don't really know what to attribute this to, but it has been pretty consistent to me. Once in particular was the Tomacco episode. I just thought it was OK when it first ran. Of course, my favorite episode has always been Selma's Choice, where Homer eats the rotten sandwich, and the kids go to Duff Gardens. Absolutely hilarious. Behind the Laughter is really good too, as well as their 138th Episode Spectacular. Too many good ones to list.
No way it can touch Three's Company. That was crap TV at its finest.
Bzzzzzzt. They were not an integrated suite in 1990. They were separate products. What allowed them to be integrated into a suite? Maybe ideas like the one this guy patented and Microsoft infringed upon.
Or if you don't have a choice. I used to use my work email for all my usenet stuff back in the late 90s. Then I left that job, and started using my own email address. That provider changed domain names, then I dropped them altogether when they took away all shell accounts. Then I had Earthlink for several years. I then moved across the country, and now have a new provider. So I have changed my email address, but only about every 3 or 4 years or so. But I have had a Yahoo account for about 5 or 6 years now, and I don't get much spam at all on it.
I think it all comes down to not giving out your email account. But even then, you don't have much control. At my last job, I ONLY used my work email account for work, I never sent email to anyone that wasn't work related. Then some dope at work got their laptop infected, and all of a sudden I was getting spam (my address was in their address book). Or if you get people who use that "send this news story to a friend" link to send you news stories and crappy little animated doo-dads that they find funny. ARGHHH!
I always wondered this. OK, Bill Gates gets a lot of email just because of who he is. But why do "everyday" people get hundereds of SPAM messages a day? I don't get it. Are you just handing out your email to everyone? Are these unfiltered messages on your own mail server? I just don't get how you can possibly get that many SPAMs in a day. I have 5 email accounts at various providers, and I get maybe 5-10 a day TOTAL. Are my providers just much better at filtering? Am I just more careful about who gets my email address?
I have to think that if you get that many SPAMs a day, it is because you are loose and easy with the address, or have a high-profile address.
One of these days, people will notice OSS.
It is amazing how powerful group-think can be. Last year, when Farenheit 9/11 was out in the video store, I heard two guys talking in line waiting for checkout. One asked the other if he had seen it, and the other said he wouldn't watch anything from that commie.
Commie? What about Michael Moore is communist? It doesn't make any sense. Do people even have a clue what Communism is? And why the fear of it? I have heard others use the word "commie" to refer to something as un-American. I am 35, but I still don't understand it. Why do we, as Americans, hate Communists again? Because our government told us to? I suppose "terrorist" is the new "commie".
I have a great life, thank you. So are you clairvoyant? You sure seem to be able to jump to conclusions without much real information. If you were halfways intelligent, and had travelled outside of your trailer park, you would know that Microsoft is seen as an EVIL US Corporation in the rest of the world. (and yes, here in the US too) Because they are. They ruined companies with their tactics. But I digress. Yes, I am an American, I was born and raised here. I love what this country is supposed to be, and and sorely disappointed in it for how it behaves on the world stage. It is somewhat embarassing. But you probably don't understand, as your worldliness probably consists of NASCAR. It's not your fault, you are probably just ignorant. But you really should get out more. Really. Ahh, but you are a Coward, aren't you.
You sound like the angry one.
But at some point, someone will want to be made (somewhat) famous as the person who stood up to Microsoft. The evil US Corporation. Lots of people have backed down, few have prevailed. I would think that in and of itself, that would be a pretty big motivator.
Exactly. I used to work with a gamer dude. He was buying all "top of the line" stuff, but he had serious work ethic issues (I say "used to" work with him because he was fired for slacking off). Anyway, I was placing an order with Newegg for some stuff. He wanted to get in on the order, and bought a new hard drive. If I remember right, it was a brand new 80GB drive and was going to run about $200. They were the latest and greatest, and he was very excited about it.
6 months later, he hadn't gotten around to installing his new drive. I think around that time I purchased a 120GB drive for $125.
Now I know that technology always changes, and it is hard to get the best bang for the buck because it will change. I paid $150 for my CD burner that is 12x, or $100 for my 4x DVD burner. But I got good use out of them, and I didn't buy them the day they came on the market. But if I were to buy a new optical drive, I would have to check out the latest and greatest - not to see if I want to get it now, but to see if it is worth waiting for it. :)
Does anyone do this anymore? I always believed in the upgradeability of the PC, but have never seen it work. I guess I upgrade on too long of a cycle. Because I always have to buy new memory, power supply, CPU cooler (let's not forget that, those CPUs don't cool themselves, and you don't want a cheap cooler). Not to mention that you would then have to dispose of the parts you replace. If it is worth the hassle of eBay for you, great. For me, it has always been less of a hassle and easier to just build a new PC. Maybe if I upgraded sooner than every 5 years this wouldn't be a problem.
First off, I didn't say you were an idiot, I said "maybe you are a sucker".
Maybe you are so caught up in being a good little consumer that you'd be willing to spend a couple hundred extra for a disproportionate amount of performance. Maybe you can afford it, maybe you save up for it, I don't really care. There is just such a "must have it now" attitude that I think is just silly. It's hype, it's fluff. Gaming is just part of it, not the whole problem. The gaming industry has certainly succumbed to the wiles of the marketing droids. Xbox 360 launch on MTV? Ha. Things don't stand on their own merit, they stand on how well they can be sold. Things may LAST on their own merit, but nowadays everything seems to be gauged on how much it can sell within the first week or month. Admittedly, tech people usually look at things with a more critical eye, but not always.
Look, you don't have to wait a year or two to buy a video card that will play the latest games. You can buy several right now. Will you buy one that is a year old or the latest and greatest in order to get that extra 5 fps? I think it isn't just the 5 fps, it is some kind of chest-puffing bragging rights. To me that just doesn't make sense. Sorry you feel I am an asshole for pointing all this out, I guess I touched a nerve. If you really didn't care, you would say "I spend my money on what I want to spend it on" and leave it at that.
You pay the price, literally and figuratively. If you can't wait to play a game, then you get what you deserve. If you have to wait in line to see a movie on opening night, that is your choice. But you help create that system of dependency and feed it. Maybe if people didn't do this, we wouldn't see every movie referred to as a "blockbuster" before it is even released. Maybe TV shows wouldn't be called "television events". Maybe "hit new singles" or "smash hit" will never be uttered again. Maybe you are just a sucker that laps up whatever is excreted by the marketing machine. There is a price to that, some in money, some in other things.
If you just want to play a new game, and it needs new hardware, you shouldn't be offended by the above statments.
But that card would have been around $300 if you would have bought it in anticipation of HL2. I *almost* bought that very card. Then I took a step back and said to myself "Are you nuts?". I knew in a year or two the card would be half the price, the game would be fully tested, and I wouldn't be missing out on anything. In fact, the game release was delayed several more months, and by the time it came out the card was $100 cheaper. I am sure there were gamers all over that were kicking themselves. Or probably more likely, cursing Valve for some reason. I still haven't bought the game, and am not sure I want to with the whole Steam debacle.
I got Half-Life only 3 years ago. It was "old" by gaming standards. But I could play it with my cheap hardware, there were walkthoughs online for when I got stuck, and as soon as I finished I was able to install and play several user-mods that were a blast. For me, it was worth the wait. I don't get the whole buy-it-at-12:01-on-release-date mentality.
They actually have some good ideas about this stuff. All the functions you mention would be REALLY helpful in the business world. What peeves me is that they can't just live off of their good ideas, they have to go for that lock-in. If they could do all of the things you mention above, businesses would use it because it is ... useful. But they can't just leave it at that. I think eventually, this will lead to their downfall.
And sometimes, paying a higher price can be better. The big guys can usually lower their prices more than the little guys. There *IS* an overhead that merchants and suppliers incur, even in online stores. They may not be trying to screw you, they might just be trying to make a decent profit. Just because Wal*Mart can offer you the lowest price, does that mean you should shop there? I don't. I don't like the way they do business, so I avoid them. Lowest price does not always mean best for the customer.
I work in the online retail business, and e-tailers know that there are several factors in getting and retaining customers. One of them is price. Pricing for internet retailers is very very complex, and prices may change daily because of a variety of factors. Each retailer may have their own methods, so to say "the industry" does something is somewhat misleading.
I would rather sat through a comparative theology or high-energy physics lecture than watch EPI or EPII again.
I'll admit, I was suckered in with EPI and was sorely disappointed. I waited, and finally gave in and rented EPII. Thank god for the FFWD button. It took me about 45 minutes to watch it, and it was still bad without all the love scenes. When people say "remember how bad scene X was in EPII?" I can honestly say "no". And it wasn't bad like Showgirls bad, because Lucas actually thinks what he makes is good. I would rather watch Showgirls or somthing like Starship Troopers than Lucas' tripe. You say it is supposed to be eye candy, but he thinks it is something much bigger. The first few movies were fun, these last ones were just .... bad.
There is no way I am seeing EPIII in the theater. Lucas gets no special privledge in my book just because he make a couple of good movies, long long ago. Fool me once, shame... shame on you.....If fooled... can't get fooled again.
I agree, but this doesn't just happen with Open Source software. There are closed-source applications out there that are free (beer) that have tons of features. One example I like to use is Irfanview. It is a free image program that IMO has no equal. It is light, fast, and has tons of features. It is Windows only, and is closed-source. But there is no trial period, no ads, no gimmicks. And it gets updates often. If you use Windows, try it out. It is really good software. I believe that it has been somewhat innovative, and has things in there that I need. A few things that it has that I use:
Single keys to do certain tasks - F (fit image to screen), R (rotate image), (previous/next image)
Create panoramic images
Create slideshows of images (SCR or EXE)
Screen or window capture
Image manipulations (using plugins)
More complete list
Install XP, then get back to us. I don't think anyone has had too many problems with Win2k as a desktop OS. I know I haven't. And although XP doesn't crash, per se, it still needs to be rebooted often. I use it at work, and have a nice dual monitor setup. Lots of windows open. But it still needs to be rebooted often either because of security updates (don't you install those? They require a reboot) or because *something* causes it to just come to a crawl. I haven't figured it out yet, and it has happened to me in the past on other work computers too.
No BSOD does not necessarily mean "stable".
To speak to Macs, I just don't get it. I am not saying I don't recognize the quality of the whole package, it just isn't for me. It all doesn't make sense to me. I have a G5 with OSX sitting on my desk at work (for testing out stuff with Mac browsers) and I hate when I have to use it. I just don't like the way it feels and the way things happen on it. It just isn't for me. I can see why some people might like it, but not me.
Personally, I run Linux when I can. It makes sense to me. I know it, I like it, and I am used to it. I can see why everyone wouldn't though, and I am OK with that. I don't have much desire to force people to like what I like. I have no desire for Linux to take over the desktop. I just want to use it. As long as I can do that, everyone else can use what they want. My machine is usually up 24/7. Current uptime is only 9 days, I had a hard drive issue. But it has been has high as the 300s. I find that I usually only have problems upon rebooting, for some reason. But nothing that has happened, and things happen with computers, that makes me want to switch to something else. Linux has made me angry, Windows has infuriated me, and Macs make me feel kind of creepy.
I absolutely agree. But we don't define the laws. We elect the people, who as a group, write and pass the laws. The laws only serve the interest of those who write them, and are able to pass them. And they are passed in very dishonest ways, usually by lumping them with other laws that are sure to pass. Note the recent passing of a law requiring national ID cards. It was tacked onto a military spending bill at the last minute. Someone doesn't vote for it, they can be easily labeled as anti-American for voting against sending money to fund our stupid war.
But I would rather have the ??AA attack people who are breaking the law than those who aren't. I would rather that they shut down sites trafficking in illegal copies of works instead of trying to pass laws to outlaw P2P applications. There are ways to fight back, and breaking the law is usually not the BEST way to do it. Sometimes it is the only way to do it, but I don't think it is in this case. All the ??AA wants is money and power. They need to be shown how to make money via P2P because their power is slipping. They also need to realize that we don't need them. We don't need movies and music - we want them. In fact, many might argue that we need movies and music because they (the ??AA) created a culture where they are necessary. They created the "more more more" culture, and now the people are wanting more - and getting it however they can. So I don't sympathize with the ??AA at all, they are reaping what they have sown. And I actually think that people have opened their eyes a little.
So they shut down a site that was trading in illegal stuff. What is the big deal? (other than the fact that the feds are concerned with THIS and not so much things that really hurt human beings)