I heard a newsbite this morning where Ballmer said that "the entire tech industry, including Microsoft, is overvalued in the market". To me, that sounds like an oblique reference to possible lower-than-expected earnings coming up for MS in one of the next quarters. Is the 800-lb about to go on a diet? ---
Hopefully a default window manager that we know works well with GNOME and we have enough influence over to "sync" with our release and be sure it has an interface we can live with.
I'm well aware that the needs of the home market drive the supply of the business market, in fact, I said so in another thread.
My point is that it is the money of the business market that makes the cheap home market possible. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Clearly thin-client is not for home-users. But think about this: If the EOMs split the market by creating thin-client for business and fat for home, they get less money for two reasons:
Thin-client costs less
Business PC purchases would no longer be driving Home PC development. That means that Home PC prices (or volume) would have to rise to pick up the slack
--- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Don't compare 1975 technology to 1999 tech, obviously 1999 is better.
Instead you need to ask, what were the strengths and weakness of server vs client based in 1975 and has that change in 1999? My opinion is that nothing substantial has changed and that desktops are here to stay (for some applications).
The only place I can see server-based computing working is in situations where the user is voiceless (socio-politically, not literally). Data-entry clerks, Internet kiosks, etc. Home users don't want it (for good reason) and home users drive PC hardware. Don't believe me? Look how many business desktops have sound cards and 8MB video cards. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
...a business has to show a profit which means it has to get results CHEAPLY. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
While I hate the idea of commercial interests controlling Luna, it appears to be the only way we'll ever get there. NASA is too concerned with PR and politics to do things right. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Does anyone else think it's ironic that an operating system with designs on "world domination" is being embraced wholeheartedly by governments around the world? --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
What do you mean, "slow". It's turn-based, so how fast could it be?
...with serious bugs...
I only came across one bug (and I'm not sure it was: Wonders didn't play the movie from the CD. But they played fine right after the install, so I may have done something wrong. In any case, this wasn't a "serious" bug.
...that is barely playable on a Celeron 300 w/ 64 MB.
My 350 ran just fine--and I was running multiple Netscape windows, email, compilers, etc on other desktops.
All this for a 2D game that would have been revolutionary in the late 80's.
Why does a game need to be revolutionary to be worth buying and playing? In any case, I'm sick of 3D shoot-em-ups (speaking of revolutionary in the late 80's, look at the latest Wolfenstein clone: Quake II or III or whatever that drivel is up to). --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
"Jupiter Has Big Red Spot" "Mercury Closest Planet to Sun" "Life Discovered: On Earth!"
Seriously, how new is this "news"? Haven't we known about water on Europa for quite a while now? --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
"I don't care if you turn stuff off. It won't hurt my feelings at all!"
The people who complain about the point system aren't complaining because they don't like to look at the numerals 0-9, so turning it off won't assuage them. Their complaint is that certain people can't be heard because of
Insufficient time spent on/.
An unwillingness to reveal their name/address OR lie about it
Bad moderation
Other
Obviously the users who complain can still view those comments, but that's not the issue. The issue is that Slashdot is a forum and if, for any reason, certain people can't be heard from then the forum becomes self-defeating.
Now then, at this point I'd like you to re-read my subject line. "Devil's Advocate" means I don't necessarily hold these views myself. As it happens I did and to some extent still do. But I've come to realize that high noise levels defeat the forum as well and something had to be done.
However, I think it is important to remember that we don't have to create rules just to have rules. Nor do we have to create rules just to have something to write a program about. All that said, I have a comment about M2.
I don't think we need it. Bad Moderators have only one effect: Lowering the scores of good comments. The solution is two-fold:
Have "default score viewing level" be a criterion for choosing moderators (i.e. pick some moderators who read at the -1 level)
Increase the number of moderators
The first step ensures that there are moderators who are reading the unfairly moderated comments at the -1 level. And the second step ensures that there are enough moderators to raise those scores up. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
I've thought this for years so I wouldn't be surprised.
On a similar note, many geeks (particularly moderately to very successful ones) probably have mild cases of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find myself diagnosed with this (which is different than actually having it).
It all boils down to "What's normal?" When my roommates and I argued about dishes in the sink and socks on the floor, was it because I was too anal or because they were too sloppy? When I correct people's grammar, it is because I feel they have been imprecise--but they don't feel that way. Who's right? As a character in Greg Egan's book "Distress" notes, the next big social battle will be over the two H's: Health and Humanity. Do people with "disorders" but who are otherwise fully functional have a right to stay that way? His example of autistics hits home right here, I suggest you all check it out (although the plot isn't directly concerned with this topic). --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Third, why in the world would anyone call a secret NSA key "NSAKEY." Lots of people have access to source code within Microsoft; a conspiracy like this would only be known by a few people. Anyone with a debugger could have found this "NSAKEY." If this is a covert mechanism, it's not very covert.
I don't think this point is all that strong. Given that MS has made it possible for ANYONE to replace the crypto routines, arguments from "they aren't that stupid" don't hold any water. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
First, the examples given are a little misleading. What, exactly, does it mean for a computer to be "creative"? Clearly they didn't "program human psychology" into a desktop PC and have it spit back out "bullet-shaped cars suggest speed". More likely they just created a computerized version of a madlib. Get a bunch of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Pull at random. Evaluate the "idea" thus produced.
Which brings me to my second comment: This type of "creativity" is exactly analogous to biological evolution. The ideas generated by the computer map to mutations in a genome. The humans doing the actual selecting (note the word!) of good from bad map to natural selection. I suspect the hit rate of the computer is probably on the same order of magnitude of the chances of a random mutation being beneficial.
It is well-known that mutations role in evolution is not all that big--selection does all the real work while mutation just provides (some of) the raw material. Conclusions to draw are left as an exercise for the reader. --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Apple (NASDAQ: SUX) announced a bold new technology today: iColor monitors. Unlike the old-style of monitor that shows colors based on the red/blue/green primary colors, the new iColor technology uses previously unknown colors. Said Apple Technology Guy Steve "I-Should-Be-Fired-From-My" Job, "It's really amazing! No one knew these colors even existed and we've been able to incorporate them into a revolutionary product!"
Apple downplayed rumors that the new iColor display colors were not compatible with the human eye, forcing many users to upgrade to proprietary eye formats. "While it is true that legacy eyes will not be able view the iColor monitors, we feel that many users will be happy to choose from a wide array of eye-vendors for their future seeing needs" said the Apple spokesperson, although a list of eye vendors has yet to appear.
When asked, critics were quick to point out that proprietary eye design is not the worst issue. Said one critic, "They've obsoleted the entire electromagnetic spectrum! Lightbulbs, radios, magnets, basic electronic theory: it's all out and we'll be crushed under the heel of Apple's tyranny!" An Apple spokesperson replied by noting that "We have not obsoleted the entire electromagnetic spectrum--only the visible portion has been upgraded to Light 2.0". --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Hardcoded separation of levels is only going to lead to confusion and ugly code. Instead, why not do this:
For moderators only, show a history of moderation action for each comment. This could be a 2D chart with history being vertical and different moderation "levels" being horizontal. So if I became a moderator I'd see something like this:
(I hope the sense of this comes through the formatting) Each "decision" can be moderated individually. A moderator is allocated a certain number of points, say 10. For a cost of 2 points each then can moderate a "base comment". For a cost of 1 point each they can moderate anything above that level.
On a totally different topic: Why are we spending time on esoteric oddities like meta-moderation when simple features like the below need working on?
Spell checking
Link checking
Anti-/. Effect Mirroring
Basic uptime issues
Non-retroactive signature changes
--- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Hardcoded separation of levels is only going to lead to confusion and ugly code. Instead, why not do this:
For moderators only, show a history of moderation action for each comment. This could be a 2D chart with history being vertical and different moderation "levels" being horizontal. So if I became a moderator I'd see something like this:
Score: 2 | Insightful +1 | | Troll -1 | Stupid Moderator -1 | | Interesting +1 | (I hope the sense of this comes through the formatting) Each "decision" can be moderated individually. A moderator is allocated a certain number of points, say 10. For a cost of 2 points each then can moderate a "base comment". For a cost of 1 point each they can moderate anything above that level.
On a totally different topic: Why are we spending time on esoteric oddities like meta-moderation when simple features like the below need working on?
Spell checking
Link checking
Anti-/. Effect Mirroring
Basic uptime issues
Non-retroactive signature changes
--- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
"All software that requires no costly payments is good software."
And how do you know that StarOffice will continue to not require costly payments? --- Put Hemos through English 101! "An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Slashdot Mirror
I heard a newsbite this morning where Ballmer said that "the entire tech industry, including Microsoft, is overvalued in the market". To me, that sounds like an oblique reference to possible lower-than-expected earnings coming up for MS in one of the next quarters. Is the 800-lb about to go on a diet?
---
Hopefully a default window manager that we know works well with GNOME and we have enough influence over to "sync" with our release and be sure it has an interface we can live with.
... I use WindowMaker or Sawmill, not E.
Some versions of E do some things slowly.
Sounds like E and RH are about to part ways.
---
So this would be something like Chevy Chase tripping over a network cable?
---
I'm well aware that the needs of the home market drive the supply of the business market, in fact, I said so in another thread.
My point is that it is the money of the business market that makes the cheap home market possible.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Are sigs copyrightable?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Don't compare 1975 technology to 1999 tech, obviously 1999 is better.
Instead you need to ask, what were the strengths and weakness of server vs client based in 1975 and has that change in 1999? My opinion is that nothing substantial has changed and that desktops are here to stay (for some applications).
The only place I can see server-based computing working is in situations where the user is voiceless (socio-politically, not literally). Data-entry clerks, Internet kiosks, etc. Home users don't want it (for good reason) and home users drive PC hardware. Don't believe me? Look how many business desktops have sound cards and 8MB video cards.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
...a business has to show a profit which means it has to get results CHEAPLY.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
While I hate the idea of commercial interests controlling Luna, it appears to be the only way we'll ever get there. NASA is too concerned with PR and politics to do things right.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
The OS upon which the sun never sets.
Does anyone else think it's ironic that an operating system with designs on "world domination" is being embraced wholeheartedly by governments around the world?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
CTP is a slow game...
...with serious bugs...
...that is barely playable on a Celeron 300 w/ 64 MB.
What do you mean, "slow". It's turn-based, so how fast could it be?
I only came across one bug (and I'm not sure it was: Wonders didn't play the movie from the CD. But they played fine right after the install, so I may have done something wrong. In any case, this wasn't a "serious" bug.
My 350 ran just fine--and I was running multiple Netscape windows, email, compilers, etc on other desktops.
All this for a 2D game that would have been revolutionary in the late 80's.
Why does a game need to be revolutionary to be worth buying and playing? In any case, I'm sick of 3D shoot-em-ups (speaking of revolutionary in the late 80's, look at the latest Wolfenstein clone: Quake II or III or whatever that drivel is up to).
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
"Jupiter Has Big Red Spot"
"Mercury Closest Planet to Sun"
"Life Discovered: On Earth!"
Seriously, how new is this "news"? Haven't we known about water on Europa for quite a while now?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
The people who complain about the point system aren't complaining because they don't like to look at the numerals 0-9, so turning it off won't assuage them. Their complaint is that certain people can't be heard because of
Obviously the users who complain can still view those comments, but that's not the issue. The issue is that Slashdot is a forum and if, for any reason, certain people can't be heard from then the forum becomes self-defeating.
Now then, at this point I'd like you to re-read my subject line. "Devil's Advocate" means I don't necessarily hold these views myself. As it happens I did and to some extent still do. But I've come to realize that high noise levels defeat the forum as well and something had to be done.
However, I think it is important to remember that we don't have to create rules just to have rules. Nor do we have to create rules just to have something to write a program about. All that said, I have a comment about M2.
I don't think we need it. Bad Moderators have only one effect: Lowering the scores of good comments. The solution is two-fold:
The first step ensures that there are moderators who are reading the unfairly moderated comments at the -1 level. And the second step ensures that there are enough moderators to raise those scores up.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
I've thought this for years so I wouldn't be surprised.
On a similar note, many geeks (particularly moderately to very successful ones) probably have mild cases of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find myself diagnosed with this (which is different than actually having it).
It all boils down to "What's normal?" When my roommates and I argued about dishes in the sink and socks on the floor, was it because I was too anal or because they were too sloppy? When I correct people's grammar, it is because I feel they have been imprecise--but they don't feel that way. Who's right? As a character in Greg Egan's book "Distress" notes, the next big social battle will be over the two H's: Health and Humanity. Do people with "disorders" but who are otherwise fully functional have a right to stay that way? His example of autistics hits home right here, I suggest you all check it out (although the plot isn't directly concerned with this topic).
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
I know this is going to kill my karma, but I'm past caring.
How can someone who uses the words "salient" and "screed" ALSO misspell "argument" and "supercede"?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Error code 404
Access denied, or file does not exist
WN/1.15.1
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Third, why in the world would anyone call a secret NSA key "NSAKEY." Lots of people have access to source code within Microsoft; a conspiracy like this would only be known by a few people. Anyone with a debugger could have found this "NSAKEY." If this is a covert mechanism, it's not very covert.
I don't think this point is all that strong. Given that MS has made it possible for ANYONE to replace the crypto routines, arguments from "they aren't that stupid" don't hold any water.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
First, the examples given are a little misleading. What, exactly, does it mean for a computer to be "creative"? Clearly they didn't "program human psychology" into a desktop PC and have it spit back out "bullet-shaped cars suggest speed". More likely they just created a computerized version of a madlib. Get a bunch of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Pull at random. Evaluate the "idea" thus produced.
Which brings me to my second comment: This type of "creativity" is exactly analogous to biological evolution. The ideas generated by the computer map to mutations in a genome. The humans doing the actual selecting (note the word!) of good from bad map to natural selection. I suspect the hit rate of the computer is probably on the same order of magnitude of the chances of a random mutation being beneficial.
It is well-known that mutations role in evolution is not all that big--selection does all the real work while mutation just provides (some of) the raw material. Conclusions to draw are left as an exercise for the reader.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
lwn.net/daily
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
Apple (NASDAQ: SUX) announced a bold new technology today: iColor monitors. Unlike the old-style of monitor that shows colors based on the red/blue/green primary colors, the new iColor technology uses previously unknown colors. Said Apple Technology Guy Steve "I-Should-Be-Fired-From-My" Job, "It's really amazing! No one knew these colors even existed and we've been able to incorporate them into a revolutionary product!"
Apple downplayed rumors that the new iColor display colors were not compatible with the human eye, forcing many users to upgrade to proprietary eye formats. "While it is true that legacy eyes will not be able view the iColor monitors, we feel that many users will be happy to choose from a wide array of eye-vendors for their future seeing needs" said the Apple spokesperson, although a list of eye vendors has yet to appear.
When asked, critics were quick to point out that proprietary eye design is not the worst issue. Said one critic, "They've obsoleted the entire electromagnetic spectrum! Lightbulbs, radios, magnets, basic electronic theory: it's all out and we'll be crushed under the heel of Apple's tyranny!" An Apple spokesperson replied by noting that "We have not obsoleted the entire electromagnetic spectrum--only the visible portion has been upgraded to Light 2.0".
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
/. very slow: always (even w/ new servers)
/. temporarily unreachable: once every 3-4 days
/. totally unreachable: once per week
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
For moderators only, show a history of moderation action for each comment. This could be a 2D chart with history being vertical and different moderation "levels" being horizontal. So if I became a moderator I'd see something like this:
Score: 2
| Insightful +1 |
| Troll -1 | Stupid Moderator -1 |
| Interesting +1 |
(I hope the sense of this comes through the formatting) Each "decision" can be moderated individually. A moderator is allocated a certain number of points, say 10. For a cost of 2 points each then can moderate a "base comment". For a cost of 1 point each they can moderate anything above that level.
On a totally different topic: Why are we spending time on esoteric oddities like meta-moderation when simple features like the below need working on?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
For moderators only, show a history of moderation action for each comment. This could be a 2D chart with history being vertical and different moderation "levels" being horizontal. So if I became a moderator I'd see something like this:
Score: 2
| Insightful +1 |
| Troll -1 | Stupid Moderator -1 |
| Interesting +1 |
(I hope the sense of this comes through the formatting) Each "decision" can be moderated individually. A moderator is allocated a certain number of points, say 10. For a cost of 2 points each then can moderate a "base comment". For a cost of 1 point each they can moderate anything above that level.
On a totally different topic: Why are we spending time on esoteric oddities like meta-moderation when simple features like the below need working on?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein
"All software that requires no costly payments is good software."
And how do you know that StarOffice will continue to not require costly payments?
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert Heinlein