This is essentially what I asked Bruce Perens in the Slashdot Interview in July 2003. My question was modded +5, but sadly we never received the answers to those questions. I would have liked to hear his opinion on this topic.
If you want wide appeal, robots are the way to go. Anyone will watch a robot do stuff, and the geeks would love to learn to make one. My science teacher in Middle-of-nowhere, New Mexico was able to offer a high school robotics course, and the kids loved it.
Well, another poster recommended "sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll". How about have a robot building competition that with the stipulation that it must satisfy one or more of these criteria? What high-school kid wouldn't like an MP3 server robot that can roll joints, open beers, and perform sexual favors?
I _never_ had this problem. You can set it up so that the tabbar vanishes when you have only one tab open and with it the [X] vanishes. To really close the browser you have then to use the [X] from the window.
So can you then close that page, but leave the browser up? Nope, and that is what bugs me. Lets say I am reading Yahoo news, and I open up each news story I want to read in a new tab. Now I go through each tab, read the story, then close it (using a mouse gesture). When I am on the last story, if I do the "close window" mouse gesture, it closes the browser.
In Opera, it will close the tab but leave the browser up. If I want to open a new tab, I just double-click in the main (empty) window, and one opens. I can also double-click on the tab-bar to open a new tab. Can't do that in Firefox.
Do those clients have spyware running rampant? No, because the people that have local admin aren't idiots. I'm sure MS spends time educating non-techies on what to d/l and what not to. Its not surprising nor do I necessarily think its a bad thing for people to have local admin on their machines.
You think a company, ANY company, doesn't have its share of non-techno-savvy idiots installing spyware? I work with people who are somewhat tech savvy, yet they still get spyware. Do you actually think that a company the size of Microsoft is any better, if not worse? They have marketing people, they have sales people, they have non-tech related people. In fact, I would venture a guess that they are proportionally LESS tech-savvy than most small companies. They brought us Clippy for crying out loud!
I don't think that this is an unfair assessment of Microsoft at all, it shows their attitude towards software perfectly.
In this sense, Firefox has unwittingly upped the ante on application crashes, since you're more likely to have more pages browsed to at any given moment than with MSIE.
There are a few things that are keeping me on Opera. One of them is the ability to resume where you left off after a crash. Seeing that Opera crashes on occasion, this is a necessary thing. If you have 6 tabs open when it crashes, when you restart it you can choose to have it "continue from last time" and it will re-open all of those tabs.
Other things keeping Opera as my primary browser:
Mouse gestures - they just aren't as polished in Mozilla/Firefox.
Being able to close all tabs and not close the browser. I hate accidentally closing the last tab in Firefox and having the browser close.
Ability to identify itself as another browser - really only helpful from some asinine IE-only pages.
Configurability - I like the way in which Opera allows you to configure things.
Pop-ups. I like the way Opera does it better than Moz/Firefox.
Some things that Opera needs to work on:
Stability - still too many crashes. And it can freak out and eat all my CPU, and I have to kill it.
I do like the "line tracing" ability for Moz/Firefox mouse gestures. It is reinforcing to see them, so you don't get sloppy in using them.
Gripes for both:
Why did you move "Preferences" from under "Edit" to "Tools"? That is something that always bugged me about IE, now everyone does it. Arghh.
Sigh. Only in America would someone gripe about someone else referencing TV fiction while themselves referencing a sig on government/morality taken from...oh, I don't know...TV fiction????
Since you didn't post as AC, I'll respond. I get the jab, but my sig is about sarcasm/satire and merely a quote. The poster I replied to was referencing The West Wing as an illustration of what could happen with regards to China and Taiwan. Granted, I don't watch that show, but I know it is fiction. There are so many documented atrocities that ACTUALLY have happened, there is no need to point to some made-up story about it. It is a ridiculous thing to do, and a comment on the priorities of the US society in general. The West Wing episode was probably the only place people got any information about China and Taiwan, which is very sad indeed. At least have the decency to say "I don't know anything about that topic" instead of pointing to a fictional show and pretending to be educated.
My sig is just a quote, and doesn't reference anything in particular. I think it is quite poignant, which is why it is my sig. Compare that to the statement "The Simpsons episode where Bart is in a 'boy band' is a good example of the state of pop music today". Those are two totally different statements.
China: Giving new meaning to the phrase 'It's just a game.'
This isn't really suprising considering China's (belligerent) stance on anything and all things Taiwainese. Last weeks West Wing had a good example of these types of 'affronts' (although on a bigger scale) towards China regarding Taiwan.
Sigh. Only in America would someone reference a fictional TV show as a source of information on something like this.
It's not just corporate email. The "New York Times" now routinely spells "NASCAR" as "Nascar" as well as mangling other acronyms. I have written to them several times to find out what is going on but they haven't replied.
"Lissen here, boy. Wachoo doin' spellin NASCOORR wrong, huh? I tell you whut, yer fixin to get an ass whuppin ifn ya keep it up. Me n my cousin Jimmy'll road trip up to yer fancy-pants New York City and stomp a mudhole in yer yankee asses. NASSSCOOORRR Wooooooooo!"
But for the love of God, put away the engraved bowling ball before you start. (Trust me on this.)
That would be the "goatse game". I think I'll pass.
For our wedding, my wife and I registered for, and received, Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Operation, Connect Four, Mastermind, and a few other classic games. They are still fun. We are planning on having a party where you have different game stations, and everyone visits various stations. If you win, you stay at that station (and do a shot). If you lose, you have to go to a different station. (and probably do a shot) Games are much more fun when there is drinking involved.
The system is just horseshit. No responsibility, teachers can't teach, kids are a bunch of bastards, and the parents are taking absolutely no responsibility for the kids.
I believe that you are describing our society in general. We pretend to value our teachers (in word) yet we pay them peanuts. And don't give me that crap about "but they get summers off!". Our society has made it nearly impossible to live on a teachers salary, yet we demand so much of them. You should not have to be a "saint" to be a teacher, but that is what is required. It is no wonder that our teachers are notoriously not up to snuff, we as a society have made it so that they have no reason to teach. Many still do it because they love it, but that should not be the only reason you do a job. Teachers have to worry about being sued at every turn, dealing with overbearing or non-caring parents. Our society has placed such a high importance on wealth, status, and frivolous crap that I am surprised we still have the teachers that we do. I have known several people who have left teaching because they just couldn't take it anymore.
Not to mention that we are a quick-fix society. Why actually LEARN anything when you can just grow up to be Britney Spears and make millions!? It's all about "stuff".
For desktop use, yes, they are horribly slow by todays standards. But for simple embedded solutions, they can at times be considered overkill. Ex: When I get around to putting a mediapc under my drivers seat... I have no need or desire for a chip whose clock is measured in Ghz, simply because its far more power (heat and draw) than I need to play mp3s and basic custom software.
I am sure some people will advocate turning these PIIs into firewalls or whatnot. I have a couple PIIs at home, but didn't use them for my firewall. Why? Not necessary and too noisy. A firewall doesn't need the horsepower, and PIIs still have processor fans. I used an old Pentium for my firewall, as it doesn't need a cpu fan. It only has a heatsink on it. The only sound from the machine is from the power supply, which is very quiet.
But I have two PIIs that aren't doing anything, and I honestly don't know what to do with them. They aren't complete systems, so nobody really wants them as donations. I don't even think it is worth my time to auction them off on eBay. I also have a complete dual-Pentium mobo and gigantic 530W PS from a Compaq Proliant server.
Maybe in a year or two, I'll be able to build a complete mini-system inside those PII chips.:-)
Paleontologists don't think it is a dinosaur, NASA doesn't think it is a spacecraft, financial experts don't think it will have an adverse effect on the economy, lawyers could be preparing a lawsuit on behalf of Bigfoot for IP infringement, the FDA has said it could have adverse side effect, the White House has declined to comment. Currently the photo is on sale at eBay with the high bid at $785.
I did about the same thing at about the same time. I remember commercials for the first Survivor series just before I unhooked the antenna. I only hooked it back up again on September 11th, and had it unhooked by the time television started to somewhat return to normal. I also see what's on and think, "What the hell?! This crap sucks!"
TV does suck - but it is also great. I will admit, I do watch some crap. But I try to learn from it. There is a show out now called "Nanny 911". An English nanny (not hot) comes and stays with a family for a week. The family has horribly behaved kids, and it is usually the parents fault. She lays down some guidelines, they eventually learn, and la la la happy ending. Pure trash, right? Well, yes. But I am about to be a dad for the first time. I enjoy watching this show to see just how bad it could possibly get.:-) My wife and I watch this, and we talk about parenting stuff. Could we do this without TV? Of course, and we do. But I try to learn stuff from everything in life, including TV. I watch a lot of the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, The Learning Channel, and The Food Network. I have learned sooooo much from FoodTV. Even those channels run crap shows, but just because I watch TV doesn't mean I watch all TV. I turn it off - a lot.
But to the point of this article, let them run whatever they want, within some guidelines if need be. Censorship is NOT solving anything.
I agree, I never said Justice was their best, just their last really good album. GNR is a great example of what can happen to a band. Some of their later stuff was interesting, but didn't have the same feel as Appetite. I'll admit that I listened to lots of crap, like hair-bands, but I also liked Pantera, Sabbath, Ozzy (Randy Rhodes Tribute was cool), and hardcore stuff too. In the last few years I have found older bands that I love, like Corrosion of Conformity and Clutch. But I also listen to totally opposite music too when I am in the mood, like Enya or Avril Lavigne. I like all kinds of stuff. So when I say something sucks, I have usually given it a good honest listen.
Yes, I will agree that that "Black Album" was ther best, but that was released in 1991.
I have to state that I did NOT say that the Black Album was their best - I said it was their big commercial success. I said Master of Puppets was their best. I will agree that it seems that most bands seem to do their best work on their early albums. That isn't universally true, but the industry seems to just kill whatever "it" is that bands have. Guns-n-Roses is the perfect example. I had already worn out one tape of Appetite by the time they hit the public radar. While I still like some of their later stuff, nothing even compares to that album. Even bands like Aerosmith, who are still great, cannot seem to match what they used to be. IMO, Aerosmith didn't always produce the best stuff, but it was at least somewhat interesting. I think their "shark" album was Permanent Vacation. I listened to it a lot, but it was their sliding album.
Indeed, big-ticket acts like Metallica and Don Henley have famously denounced illegal file sharing.
If only the internet was around before Metallica's collective head outgrew this planet. I would love to hear their answer to this question in 1990 (provided the internet was then what it is today) Metallica became who they are because of "the word on the street". Once they hit it big, they steadily declined in quality, IMO. The Black Album was their big commercial success, and they haven't been the same since.
(I actually think they haven't been the same since And Justice For All... and the Black Album was them jumping the shark. It still rocked, but in more of a mainstream way. Give me Master of Puppets any day over that album.)
The artists that lose big are the big artists - but most artists are struggling. The big challenge for 98% of artists isn't combating theft, but rather getting their name and work known enough to be in demand. Personally, I believe that any artist looking to get recognized would be wise to put their work out on the peer-to-peer network, with links to their websites in the filename info. Unfortunately, people like the RIAA (who represent the other 2%) who are making this kind of thing difficult.
Let's not forget that a lot of artists sign deals with RIAA-affiliated labels, only to have the label decide not to "push" them. The label can just sit on their work, and the artist has no recourse. They can't release it on their own because the label owns it. They can only sign a label deal if they sign over the rights. If the label then decides that you aren't the "in" sound, you are basically dead in the water. They control the content and the delivery system. Hopefully with things like satellite radio and the internet, this can change.
No No No. You release the crappy movie first, THEN you release the crappy video game. Or have we just come full circle? Who knows. Who cares?! I am getting pretty sick of the word "franchise" anyway.
Nobody puts weight on the paper because everyone knows that schools do not prepare programmers for the real world.
Well, they can. I took one class that think got me a job out of college - software engineering. I got my CS degree in '93, so the environment may have been a little different, but not that much. I attended an Illinois university that was better known for its party atmosphere instead of academics, but the CS program was pretty good. I took a class in software engineering my senior year. There was ZERO coding. It was learning about requirements, budgets, planning, testing, mockups, etc. We worked in teams on projects, which was a whole new experience. One thing about going to a bigger university is the job fairs. Mine didn't have a very big one, but I had friends who went to U of I in Champaign. I took off on a weekend and drove up there and took about 100 resumes. I gave them all out. I got several interviews out of it, and it was how I got my job. I ended up in the Chicago area for Motorola. When I interviewed there, I brought my senior project for the software engineering class. While talking to the first interviewer, I showed it to her. She said "show this to every other person you talk to today". I went through 6 other people, and I found out later that that project impressed them. They said everyone else just had programming experience, but I had at least some experience with the software development lifecycle. I didn't realize how important that was at the time, but man have I learned it since. I am not currently in programming, I made the choice to go into software testing instead. But my software development background has served me well. My bottom line would be - don't just learn programming! Programmers are a dime a dozen. Learn about the software development lifecycle and what goes into it. In most companies, programming is just a small part of software development.
I was a kid in the mid to late 1970s and the culture has changed dramatically with regard to drugs. People used to smoke weed on downtown street corners, it certainly isn't that way anymore.
Slashdot Mirror
This is essentially what I asked Bruce Perens in the Slashdot Interview in July 2003. My question was modded +5, but sadly we never received the answers to those questions. I would have liked to hear his opinion on this topic.
Well, another poster recommended "sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll". How about have a robot building competition that with the stipulation that it must satisfy one or more of these criteria? What high-school kid wouldn't like an MP3 server robot that can roll joints, open beers, and perform sexual favors?
So can you then close that page, but leave the browser up? Nope, and that is what bugs me. Lets say I am reading Yahoo news, and I open up each news story I want to read in a new tab. Now I go through each tab, read the story, then close it (using a mouse gesture). When I am on the last story, if I do the "close window" mouse gesture, it closes the browser.
In Opera, it will close the tab but leave the browser up. If I want to open a new tab, I just double-click in the main (empty) window, and one opens. I can also double-click on the tab-bar to open a new tab. Can't do that in Firefox.
You think a company, ANY company, doesn't have its share of non-techno-savvy idiots installing spyware? I work with people who are somewhat tech savvy, yet they still get spyware. Do you actually think that a company the size of Microsoft is any better, if not worse? They have marketing people, they have sales people, they have non-tech related people. In fact, I would venture a guess that they are proportionally LESS tech-savvy than most small companies. They brought us Clippy for crying out loud!
I don't think that this is an unfair assessment of Microsoft at all, it shows their attitude towards software perfectly.
There are a few things that are keeping me on Opera. One of them is the ability to resume where you left off after a crash. Seeing that Opera crashes on occasion, this is a necessary thing. If you have 6 tabs open when it crashes, when you restart it you can choose to have it "continue from last time" and it will re-open all of those tabs.
Other things keeping Opera as my primary browser:
Mouse gestures - they just aren't as polished in Mozilla/Firefox.
Being able to close all tabs and not close the browser. I hate accidentally closing the last tab in Firefox and having the browser close.
Ability to identify itself as another browser - really only helpful from some asinine IE-only pages.
Configurability - I like the way in which Opera allows you to configure things.
Pop-ups. I like the way Opera does it better than Moz/Firefox.
Some things that Opera needs to work on:
Stability - still too many crashes. And it can freak out and eat all my CPU, and I have to kill it.
I do like the "line tracing" ability for Moz/Firefox mouse gestures. It is reinforcing to see them, so you don't get sloppy in using them.
Gripes for both:
Why did you move "Preferences" from under "Edit" to "Tools"? That is something that always bugged me about IE, now everyone does it. Arghh.
Since you didn't post as AC, I'll respond. I get the jab, but my sig is about sarcasm/satire and merely a quote. The poster I replied to was referencing The West Wing as an illustration of what could happen with regards to China and Taiwan. Granted, I don't watch that show, but I know it is fiction. There are so many documented atrocities that ACTUALLY have happened, there is no need to point to some made-up story about it. It is a ridiculous thing to do, and a comment on the priorities of the US society in general. The West Wing episode was probably the only place people got any information about China and Taiwan, which is very sad indeed. At least have the decency to say "I don't know anything about that topic" instead of pointing to a fictional show and pretending to be educated.
My sig is just a quote, and doesn't reference anything in particular. I think it is quite poignant, which is why it is my sig. Compare that to the statement "The Simpsons episode where Bart is in a 'boy band' is a good example of the state of pop music today". Those are two totally different statements.
Sigh. Only in America would someone reference a fictional TV show as a source of information on something like this.
"Lissen here, boy. Wachoo doin' spellin NASCOORR wrong, huh? I tell you whut, yer fixin to get an ass whuppin ifn ya keep it up. Me n my cousin Jimmy'll road trip up to yer fancy-pants New York City and stomp a mudhole in yer yankee asses. NASSSCOOORRR Wooooooooo!"
That would be the "goatse game". I think I'll pass.
For our wedding, my wife and I registered for, and received, Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Operation, Connect Four, Mastermind, and a few other classic games. They are still fun. We are planning on having a party where you have different game stations, and everyone visits various stations. If you win, you stay at that station (and do a shot). If you lose, you have to go to a different station. (and probably do a shot) Games are much more fun when there is drinking involved.
I believe that you are describing our society in general. We pretend to value our teachers (in word) yet we pay them peanuts. And don't give me that crap about "but they get summers off!". Our society has made it nearly impossible to live on a teachers salary, yet we demand so much of them. You should not have to be a "saint" to be a teacher, but that is what is required. It is no wonder that our teachers are notoriously not up to snuff, we as a society have made it so that they have no reason to teach. Many still do it because they love it, but that should not be the only reason you do a job. Teachers have to worry about being sued at every turn, dealing with overbearing or non-caring parents. Our society has placed such a high importance on wealth, status, and frivolous crap that I am surprised we still have the teachers that we do. I have known several people who have left teaching because they just couldn't take it anymore.
Not to mention that we are a quick-fix society. Why actually LEARN anything when you can just grow up to be Britney Spears and make millions!? It's all about "stuff".
Do a search for "linux" on google and on accoona.
Other searches provided just as useless results.
Linux on google:
www.linux.org/
www.linux.com/
www.redhat.com/
www.kernel.org/
www.debian.org/
www.linuxjourn
www.linux-mandrake.com/
www.linux-laptop
www.linuxtoday.com/
www.gentoo.org/
Linux on accoona:
http://software-linux.jovencitas-cachondas.org/
http://software-for-linux.jovencitas-cachondas.o
http://programas-para-linux.jovencitas-cachond
http://linux-software.jovencitas-cachondas.o
http://programas-en-linux.jovencitas-cachonda
http://linux.ittoolbox.com/
http://ie.mojolin
http://zh.mojolin.com/
http://uk.mojolin.c
http://au.mojolin.com/
I am sure some people will advocate turning these PIIs into firewalls or whatnot. I have a couple PIIs at home, but didn't use them for my firewall. Why? Not necessary and too noisy. A firewall doesn't need the horsepower, and PIIs still have processor fans. I used an old Pentium for my firewall, as it doesn't need a cpu fan. It only has a heatsink on it. The only sound from the machine is from the power supply, which is very quiet.
But I have two PIIs that aren't doing anything, and I honestly don't know what to do with them. They aren't complete systems, so nobody really wants them as donations. I don't even think it is worth my time to auction them off on eBay. I also have a complete dual-Pentium mobo and gigantic 530W PS from a Compaq Proliant server.
Maybe in a year or two, I'll be able to build a complete mini-system inside those PII chips. :-)
Paleontologists don't think it is a dinosaur, NASA doesn't think it is a spacecraft, financial experts don't think it will have an adverse effect on the economy, lawyers could be preparing a lawsuit on behalf of Bigfoot for IP infringement, the FDA has said it could have adverse side effect, the White House has declined to comment. Currently the photo is on sale at eBay with the high bid at $785.
You mean "The Hitler Channel". I swear, every time I flip past it, something is on about Hitler.
TV does suck - but it is also great. I will admit, I do watch some crap. But I try to learn from it. There is a show out now called "Nanny 911". An English nanny (not hot) comes and stays with a family for a week. The family has horribly behaved kids, and it is usually the parents fault. She lays down some guidelines, they eventually learn, and la la la happy ending. Pure trash, right? Well, yes. But I am about to be a dad for the first time. I enjoy watching this show to see just how bad it could possibly get. :-) My wife and I watch this, and we talk about parenting stuff. Could we do this without TV? Of course, and we do. But I try to learn stuff from everything in life, including TV. I watch a lot of the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, The Learning Channel, and The Food Network. I have learned sooooo much from FoodTV. Even those channels run crap shows, but just because I watch TV doesn't mean I watch all TV. I turn it off - a lot.
But to the point of this article, let them run whatever they want, within some guidelines if need be. Censorship is NOT solving anything.
I agree, I never said Justice was their best, just their last really good album. GNR is a great example of what can happen to a band. Some of their later stuff was interesting, but didn't have the same feel as Appetite. I'll admit that I listened to lots of crap, like hair-bands, but I also liked Pantera, Sabbath, Ozzy (Randy Rhodes Tribute was cool), and hardcore stuff too. In the last few years I have found older bands that I love, like Corrosion of Conformity and Clutch. But I also listen to totally opposite music too when I am in the mood, like Enya or Avril Lavigne. I like all kinds of stuff. So when I say something sucks, I have usually given it a good honest listen.
I have to state that I did NOT say that the Black Album was their best - I said it was their big commercial success. I said Master of Puppets was their best. I will agree that it seems that most bands seem to do their best work on their early albums. That isn't universally true, but the industry seems to just kill whatever "it" is that bands have. Guns-n-Roses is the perfect example. I had already worn out one tape of Appetite by the time they hit the public radar. While I still like some of their later stuff, nothing even compares to that album. Even bands like Aerosmith, who are still great, cannot seem to match what they used to be. IMO, Aerosmith didn't always produce the best stuff, but it was at least somewhat interesting. I think their "shark" album was Permanent Vacation. I listened to it a lot, but it was their sliding album.
Really? I choose not to care.
If only the internet was around before Metallica's collective head outgrew this planet. I would love to hear their answer to this question in 1990 (provided the internet was then what it is today) Metallica became who they are because of "the word on the street". Once they hit it big, they steadily declined in quality, IMO. The Black Album was their big commercial success, and they haven't been the same since.
(I actually think they haven't been the same since And Justice For All... and the Black Album was them jumping the shark. It still rocked, but in more of a mainstream way. Give me Master of Puppets any day over that album.)
Let's not forget that a lot of artists sign deals with RIAA-affiliated labels, only to have the label decide not to "push" them. The label can just sit on their work, and the artist has no recourse. They can't release it on their own because the label owns it. They can only sign a label deal if they sign over the rights. If the label then decides that you aren't the "in" sound, you are basically dead in the water. They control the content and the delivery system. Hopefully with things like satellite radio and the internet, this can change.
ObOnion reference: "Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television."
No No No. You release the crappy movie first, THEN you release the crappy video game. Or have we just come full circle? Who knows. Who cares?! I am getting pretty sick of the word "franchise" anyway.
Well, sure, if you want to call "architecture design" a feature.
Well, they can. I took one class that think got me a job out of college - software engineering. I got my CS degree in '93, so the environment may have been a little different, but not that much. I attended an Illinois university that was better known for its party atmosphere instead of academics, but the CS program was pretty good. I took a class in software engineering my senior year. There was ZERO coding. It was learning about requirements, budgets, planning, testing, mockups, etc. We worked in teams on projects, which was a whole new experience. One thing about going to a bigger university is the job fairs. Mine didn't have a very big one, but I had friends who went to U of I in Champaign. I took off on a weekend and drove up there and took about 100 resumes. I gave them all out. I got several interviews out of it, and it was how I got my job. I ended up in the Chicago area for Motorola. When I interviewed there, I brought my senior project for the software engineering class. While talking to the first interviewer, I showed it to her. She said "show this to every other person you talk to today". I went through 6 other people, and I found out later that that project impressed them. They said everyone else just had programming experience, but I had at least some experience with the software development lifecycle. I didn't realize how important that was at the time, but man have I learned it since. I am not currently in programming, I made the choice to go into software testing instead. But my software development background has served me well. My bottom line would be - don't just learn programming! Programmers are a dime a dozen. Learn about the software development lifecycle and what goes into it. In most companies, programming is just a small part of software development.
We grew up and smoke it in our own homes now.