Go back and re-read the first two Discworld books. There was the same disjointed and bizarre style, lots of fantasy elements being tossed around rather higgledy-piggledy, not much of a plot per se, but just a bunch of stuff happening... I think the criticism is valid. Not to say they aren't bad... they're decent books that I really enjoyed and set the stage for much better work. However, it wasn't until "Equal Rites" that he made the quantum leap to the level of quality we've enjoyed since.
You're all a bunch of liars who should be ashamed of yourselves. I, on the other hand, learned a little something called integrity and truthfulness back when I was going through astronaut training.
Really? I never met you, although my night job as a neurosurgeon kinda limited my social life.
This has been true for years. Microsoft isn't a software company, they're a monopoly company, and have been for about a decade (although the real monopolistic behavior goes back almost a decade more (remember all the undocumented stuff in Windows 3?).
Having purchased two laptops with Vista (which were promptly upgraded to Kubuntu, which while is far from perfect makes Vista look like, well, Vista), my Vista experience has been nothing but awful. It turns a moderately powerful machine into a complete slug, Explorer is as buggy as ever. The security stuff drives me crazy: I've run this program 100 times, why do I need to keep explicitly giving it permission to run?! I can't find the Recycle Bin and have resorted to deleting recycled files manually. It doesn't run a bunch of my apps. It takes 3 minutes to boot, and frequently looks locked up for seconds at a time.
I only get one message from Microsoft from Vista, "We hate you." Half the time I can't even delete folders without it simply saying "it failed" and would I like to "try again" without giving any real explanation (and I'm not talking about that absurd issue where if any process still running ever accessed the folder you can't delete it, which has been around as long as NT). The UI is downright confusing and inconsistent (the start panel totally sucks compared with XP, IMO). The shiny, chromey stuff is at least not eye-gougingly ugly like the XP Playskool theme (wasn't its code name "Ipecac"?), is still overly busy and nowhere near as nice as a tweaked KDE desktop (and that's without Compiz, etc).
Microsoft is like the RIAA. They just hate their customers. They resent the fact that they can't continue being a monopoly without actually providing product. They are insanely angry that they just can't beat us up and take our money and Vista just oozes this resentment... if they can't get our money for nothing, then by gosh we're gonna suffer for it. "Here take a big, deep sniff of this steaming pile of upgrade, and you PAID for it. HAW HAW! What are ya gonna do, USE LINUX?! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
OK, maybe this isn't really how it is, but it sure explains their behavior, and its results, far better than any other scenario.
You know this kind of clear thinking isn't going to get you anywhere around here. This is certainly one of the most insightful posts I've read in a long time.
Oh, and don't let the cat out of the bag on Marx... a lot of people haven't caught that headline yet. ("1848 called. They want their ideas back.")
It depends on the monitor, the user and maybe the lighting conditions.
I have something like 20/10 vision and ClearType looks better to me for the most part, especially with the tuning thingy. YMMV, but to me, ClearType is the definition of a good feature: something that most people think is useful, but is optional for those who don't.
Imagine, new features that at least some people think are useful, but can be turned off. I wish Vista had more of those.
Exactly. Modern psychological medicine isn't much further along than smacking your TV set to improve the reception (a metaphor that is becoming more and more archaic). They sometimes know what works. When it works, they sometimes know why. But I imagine they don't often know what caused it in the first place.
Knowing the exceptions exist is half the battle. Really, a CS degree is good, but like someone said above, if the lowest language you've programmed in in school Java or some derivative then there's no way you should hny kind of degree with the word "computer" in it. I would say the same for C although it's infinitely better than Java for learning how to program, IMO. (In other words, learning how to avoid the problems Java, etc., supposedly helps prevent will make you a better programmer... I don't care what anyone says).
If you have done at least some assembly, turn in your nerd card on the way out. Writing an assembler would be good, but that was never required of me (BS CS, Va. Tech, 1987) so I guess I can't hold it against people.
However, in terms of looking for a software developer, I would place a high value on finding someone who has done coding for fun, learning or some other non-profit motive outside of work or education. Those are the people who _want_ to learn, and therefore are much more likely _to_ learn.
There are exceptions to this, but frankly I can't think of any offhand.
I can: Terry Pratchett.
While the Discworld books have evolved significantly from essentially a ripoff of Douglas Adams to the best fantasy humor ever written to painstaking social commentary and satire, even a spinoff into children's stories that are largely as good as the "main" series, after something close to 30 books, I think he's still doing a great job. Of course, they're not coming out twice a year, each thicker (and better) than the last like they were in the 90's, but I think man is still on a roll.
It's almost like he didn't do any fact-checking before going public with it...
You don't fact-check what you consider dogma. He set out to discredit Bush, everything else was subservient to that goal.
He made a career of doing things like that... and his audience largely _wants_ that kind of reporting.
As far as I'm concerned, what he was talking about with Bush really did happen, but it doesn't give Rather the tiniest iota of credibility given the way he handled the whole thing.
He's so desperate to be relevant again. Sucks to go out as a shill for a political candidate, but it's well-deserved for a long career of slanting the news to suit his bias.
Oh, mighty Oracle, ye have the wind at yer back and yer lines tied tight and yer parrot always relieves himself in the garderobe and not on yer jerkin. Might I impore ye about this new ray *fnzownt*... ZOT!!!
I would imagine there are also weight limits. I'm 6' 4" too, but at about 280 I would probably lose on that fact as well. Would a computer science degree count?
If you want to use DRM-sporting content, do so, if you don't then don't and it won't affect you
I would guess that's how it's supposed to work. The problem is that the DRM has to be embedded so close to the metal that you'll never escape its effects.
The fact that the HD DRM issue is so complex people can't understand is, itself, an indictment that Windows (and anything pertaining to multimedia) has reached a point where it no longer serves the consumer, even if it actually works, which as we've seen, is often not the case.
I can't imagine wanting to get into the whole HD thing, it seems rife with unforeseen pitfalls, misleading marketing, devices with built-in crippling that can be turned on at random by the vendor, arbitrary and capricious limitations and a general air of out-of-control bureaucracy with the consumer at the mercy of people who treat him like a criminal. (A lot like Vista now that I think of it.)
I'll keep my 18-year-old 26" RCA TV and low-end Toshiba DVD player... it works just fine, thank you.
Isn't Norway the country that had to specifically pass a law that you couldn't be required to pay more income tax in a year than you actually made? Seems to me it balances out in the end. Guaranteed paycheck, but they're still much smaller than most places.
Come on... if that kind of technological pipe dream existed wouldn't all the major labels be using it? It would transform music distribution and sales, and we certainly haven't seen that happening.
(Actually, I avidly follow the grammar and spelling posts. As an avid reader (of BOOKS, not just the intartubes) I find the general level of communication among supposedly educated people appalling.)
Thanks, AC spelling Nazi. I'm glad there is someone standing up for us goose-stepping book-readers and our desire to rule the world through precise communication.
Slashdot Mirror
Go back and re-read the first two Discworld books. There was the same disjointed and bizarre style, lots of fantasy elements being tossed around rather higgledy-piggledy, not much of a plot per se, but just a bunch of stuff happening... I think the criticism is valid. Not to say they aren't bad... they're decent books that I really enjoyed and set the stage for much better work. However, it wasn't until "Equal Rites" that he made the quantum leap to the level of quality we've enjoyed since.
You're all a bunch of liars who should be ashamed of yourselves. I, on the other hand, learned a little something called integrity and truthfulness back when I was going through astronaut training.
Really? I never met you, although my night job as a neurosurgeon kinda limited my social life.
+1 sarcasm (I hope).
D'Oh! Um, er, it was a test. _Real_ nerds would know what I meant. Congratulations, you passed.
This has been true for years. Microsoft isn't a software company, they're a monopoly company, and have been for about a decade (although the real monopolistic behavior goes back almost a decade more (remember all the undocumented stuff in Windows 3?).
Having purchased two laptops with Vista (which were promptly upgraded to Kubuntu, which while is far from perfect makes Vista look like, well, Vista), my Vista experience has been nothing but awful. It turns a moderately powerful machine into a complete slug, Explorer is as buggy as ever. The security stuff drives me crazy: I've run this program 100 times, why do I need to keep explicitly giving it permission to run?! I can't find the Recycle Bin and have resorted to deleting recycled files manually. It doesn't run a bunch of my apps. It takes 3 minutes to boot, and frequently looks locked up for seconds at a time.
I only get one message from Microsoft from Vista, "We hate you." Half the time I can't even delete folders without it simply saying "it failed" and would I like to "try again" without giving any real explanation (and I'm not talking about that absurd issue where if any process still running ever accessed the folder you can't delete it, which has been around as long as NT). The UI is downright confusing and inconsistent (the start panel totally sucks compared with XP, IMO). The shiny, chromey stuff is at least not eye-gougingly ugly like the XP Playskool theme (wasn't its code name "Ipecac"?), is still overly busy and nowhere near as nice as a tweaked KDE desktop (and that's without Compiz, etc).
Microsoft is like the RIAA. They just hate their customers. They resent the fact that they can't continue being a monopoly without actually providing product. They are insanely angry that they just can't beat us up and take our money and Vista just oozes this resentment... if they can't get our money for nothing, then by gosh we're gonna suffer for it. "Here take a big, deep sniff of this steaming pile of upgrade, and you PAID for it. HAW HAW! What are ya gonna do, USE LINUX?! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
OK, maybe this isn't really how it is, but it sure explains their behavior, and its results, far better than any other scenario.
You know this kind of clear thinking isn't going to get you anywhere around here. This is certainly one of the most insightful posts I've read in a long time.
Oh, and don't let the cat out of the bag on Marx... a lot of people haven't caught that headline yet. ("1848 called. They want their ideas back.")
It depends on the monitor, the user and maybe the lighting conditions.
I have something like 20/10 vision and ClearType looks better to me for the most part, especially with the tuning thingy. YMMV, but to me, ClearType is the definition of a good feature: something that most people think is useful, but is optional for those who don't.
Imagine, new features that at least some people think are useful, but can be turned off. I wish Vista had more of those.
Exactly. Modern psychological medicine isn't much further along than smacking your TV set to improve the reception (a metaphor that is becoming more and more archaic). They sometimes know what works. When it works, they sometimes know why. But I imagine they don't often know what caused it in the first place.
Knowing the exceptions exist is half the battle. Really, a CS degree is good, but like someone said above, if the lowest language you've programmed in in school Java or some derivative then there's no way you should hny kind of degree with the word "computer" in it. I would say the same for C although it's infinitely better than Java for learning how to program, IMO. (In other words, learning how to avoid the problems Java, etc., supposedly helps prevent will make you a better programmer... I don't care what anyone says).
If you have done at least some assembly, turn in your nerd card on the way out. Writing an assembler would be good, but that was never required of me (BS CS, Va. Tech, 1987) so I guess I can't hold it against people.
However, in terms of looking for a software developer, I would place a high value on finding someone who has done coding for fun, learning or some other non-profit motive outside of work or education. Those are the people who _want_ to learn, and therefore are much more likely _to_ learn.
There are exceptions to this, but frankly I can't think of any offhand.
I can: Terry Pratchett.
While the Discworld books have evolved significantly from essentially a ripoff of Douglas Adams to the best fantasy humor ever written to painstaking social commentary and satire, even a spinoff into children's stories that are largely as good as the "main" series, after something close to 30 books, I think he's still doing a great job. Of course, they're not coming out twice a year, each thicker (and better) than the last like they were in the 90's, but I think man is still on a roll.
Hmmm... maybe the ultimate UI would be two rocks to bang together. :-)
On the other hand, it would be TV ratings gold!
It's almost like he didn't do any fact-checking before going public with it...
You don't fact-check what you consider dogma. He set out to discredit Bush, everything else was subservient to that goal.
He made a career of doing things like that... and his audience largely _wants_ that kind of reporting.
As far as I'm concerned, what he was talking about with Bush really did happen, but it doesn't give Rather the tiniest iota of credibility given the way he handled the whole thing.
He's so desperate to be relevant again. Sucks to go out as a shill for a political candidate, but it's well-deserved for a long career of slanting the news to suit his bias.
Oh, mighty Oracle, ye have the wind at yer back and yer lines tied tight and yer parrot always relieves himself in the garderobe and not on yer jerkin. Might I impore ye about this new ray *fnzownt*... ZOT!!!
I would imagine there are also weight limits. I'm 6' 4" too, but at about 280 I would probably lose on that fact as well. Would a computer science degree count?
Wait... wait... I've got an idea here.
So we've got these computer connected right? What if... what if...
What if you could use those computers to send messages to other people through their computers.
This is dynamite. It could affect even more than the music industry.
If you want to use DRM-sporting content, do so, if you don't then don't and it won't affect you
I would guess that's how it's supposed to work. The problem is that the DRM has to be embedded so close to the metal that you'll never escape its effects.
And the hackers will still break it in a week.
The fact that the HD DRM issue is so complex people can't understand is, itself, an indictment that Windows (and anything pertaining to multimedia) has reached a point where it no longer serves the consumer, even if it actually works, which as we've seen, is often not the case.
I can't imagine wanting to get into the whole HD thing, it seems rife with unforeseen pitfalls, misleading marketing, devices with built-in crippling that can be turned on at random by the vendor, arbitrary and capricious limitations and a general air of out-of-control bureaucracy with the consumer at the mercy of people who treat him like a criminal. (A lot like Vista now that I think of it.)
I'll keep my 18-year-old 26" RCA TV and low-end Toshiba DVD player... it works just fine, thank you.
you *still* get the money
Isn't Norway the country that had to specifically pass a law that you couldn't be required to pay more income tax in a year than you actually made? Seems to me it balances out in the end. Guaranteed paycheck, but they're still much smaller than most places.
Come on... if that kind of technological pipe dream existed wouldn't all the major labels be using it? It would transform music distribution and sales, and we certainly haven't seen that happening.
I'm sure somebody else has done it... after all this _is_ Slashdot.
:-)
Anyhow, thanks for noticing.
You people argue two much.
(Actually, I avidly follow the grammar and spelling posts. As an avid reader (of BOOKS, not just the intartubes) I find the general level of communication among supposedly educated people appalling.)
Clipper Ballmer Gates, how many times have I told you I am not writing a letter and don't want any help?
Thanks, AC spelling Nazi. I'm glad there is someone standing up for us goose-stepping book-readers and our desire to rule the world through precise communication.