"Before OS X I had to switch over to Windows for my development work, but it was the OS X dock that made me switch to Windows (and alternately, Linux) for my personal stuff."
"I have a 4 mp digital camera and I can get prints out of it that look as good as any film camera."
No you don't.
Your camera is a joke compared to a medium format camera (ie: a real fucking pro camera, not the 35mm photojournalism toys) and your camera's quality should not even be mentioned in the same paragraph with a large format camera.
And that's only talking about resolution, just one factor out of several that determine the quality of an image.
I'd like to see more work done toward reducing digital image edge effects. Way to many digital images I see betray their heritage by looking too much like they were pulled off of videotape.
I own a couple digital cameras myself (and use them) but I'm not going to kid myself about their quality.
I use Linux at home, too (a server and a workstation), so I'm also a Linux fan. However...
I suspect that if each of us kept an accurate log we would be surprised at how we actually spend our time.
For instance, being techie-types, I'm sure that you and I both "fiddle" with our systems, tweaking them. That counts, I think. Fiddle, fiddle (break!), fix, fiddle.
On the other hand, there is absolutely no doubt that this guy is getting exactly what he deserves by running Windows.
"All the same there's only one thing worse than a sore loser and that's an ungracious winner. There's really no need to go strutting and preening and engaging in dominance poses about it. It shows quite a bit more class to just win and then be decent about it."
Hmmm. American football players and fans come to mind.
"Ugh. So frustrating. So many updates to iTunes, yet I still cannot purchase music. If the retailers aren't careful, they might forget that they are excluding 1/2 the world's market by not permitting EC, UK, Canadian and Asian countries from participating."
Well, I'm sure it's a small consolation but I really don't think that they WANT to exclude countries besides the US. You know: money = good, no money = bad.
It's a royal bitch negotiating with a company for the rights to publish their music so can you imagine how bad it must be to do the same thing with five companies -- simultaneously?
Songs that employ profanity suck almost every single time, anyway. It's almost a convenient signpost, in a way.
That's just an opinion, of course, but it is one shared by many. It's worth noting that not only do weak musical performers (I refuse to call most musical performers "musicians" because they cannot by any stretch of the imagination be confused with real musicians) but also weak authors include profanity to add drama to their products. It's a juvenile cop-out.
Except Chris Rock. That mother-fucker is always funny.
A long time ago, I was a carpenter. I imagine when geeks drive by a construction job sites many of them probably figure that they are better than the carpenters, or at least that they are happier in their work than carpenters.
They would be wrong. Carpenters love their work. Like programmers, when carpenters are done with their job, they can stand back and be proud of their handywork. And some days are better than others.
Oh, most programmers nowadays have college degrees and other pretty bits of paper, but today, as in the old days -- and like today's carpenters -- programming is a craft that requires practice, practice, practice.
Schooling is nice, but you aren't worth dick to a construction foreman or a software project manager if you can't demonstrate your ability.
Good analogy.
--Richard
PS: When I drive by construction sites today, I still get a kick out of the scent of fresh lumber.
I started receiving DirecTV service last September, in time for football season, after being away from the service for several years.
I don't know what's changed but the quality of my DirecTV video images absolutely suck now. Think of the worst web-hosted video stream you've ever seen... it's just a little better than that on some channels, especially the local ones.
The degradation you refer to would be undetectable on my system, I assure you.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe I've become spoiled to DVD image quality over the years. Still, the pixilization I see coming off my DirecTV tuner is amazingly bad.
As much as I hate cable, it has me second-guessing myself.
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Are you familiar with the applications that are certified to run on Sun workstations? Not all have been ported to Linux.
--Richard
"Before OS X I had to switch over to Windows for my development work, but it was the OS X dock that made me switch to Windows (and alternately, Linux) for my personal stuff."
You have your principles, I'll grant you that.
"I have a 4 mp digital camera and I can get prints out of it that look as good as any film camera."
No you don't.
Your camera is a joke compared to a medium format camera (ie: a real fucking pro camera, not the 35mm photojournalism toys) and your camera's quality should not even be mentioned in the same paragraph with a large format camera.
And that's only talking about resolution, just one factor out of several that determine the quality of an image.
I'd like to see more work done toward reducing digital image edge effects. Way to many digital images I see betray their heritage by looking too much like they were pulled off of videotape.
I own a couple digital cameras myself (and use them) but I'm not going to kid myself about their quality.
--Richard
Don't dread learning PHP. I applied myself to PHP last spring and, I have to say, it was refreshing and a damn lot of fun.
--Richard
The next case of investigative journalism needs to be about false coloring of biological images!
"...why is this such a big deal?"
Well, you point out something that is a very big deal that I hadn't realized:
Big Mac didn't take five years to plan and implement. Over four years less, I think.
Time is money. Isn't that a big deal? It would be a big deal to me if it was my time and my money.
Thanks for pointing this out -- I really didn't know the development time for Earth Simulator.
--Richard
"I wish I knew what OSX was like firsthand, because I sure as hell can't afford a mac with what I get paid."
If you can afford a PC then you can afford a Mac.
Why are you bothering everyone with you worthless post?
"When has Apple targeted the average consumer? Never? Ah, right then. Moving along."
How short our memories are... How about the very expensive and long lived "Switch" campaign?
They targeted Windoze users and, last I checked, a Windoze user is pretty close to average.
Apple also targets schools, which are neither affluent or aesthetically oriented.
What's your point, again?
"Macs aren't cheap."
Oh, yes they are.
"Time shifting is both obvious and trivial, and hence any patent issued is invalid. Score another clunker for the USPTO."
You are absolutely right.
I'm wondering if the day will ever arrive that possessing a patent will actually become a liability.
Last I read, 50% of the patent claims "defended" in court are lost.
--Richard
PS: I'm a satisfied Tivo owner.
"I don't see the iPod mini being a runaway success, however - for another $50, you can get the (new) 15 GB version..."
Apple was thinking the same thing!
I'm curious... What's your philosophy about using shift keys?
"No color????? Cripes. How much did the damned thing cost and NO COLOR?"
Funny. You have MTV expectations.
"should'nt the dust storms have worn them down to sand by now?"
Or exposed them.
"I expected more from them [the news media]."
For the life of me, I cannot fathom why you would expect that.
This is DEFINITELY not "high res".
I use Linux at home, too (a server and a workstation), so I'm also a Linux fan. However...
I suspect that if each of us kept an accurate log we would be surprised at how we actually spend our time.
For instance, being techie-types, I'm sure that you and I both "fiddle" with our systems, tweaking them. That counts, I think. Fiddle, fiddle (break!), fix, fiddle.
On the other hand, there is absolutely no doubt that this guy is getting exactly what he deserves by running Windows.
--Richard
"All the same there's only one thing worse than a sore loser and that's an ungracious winner. There's really no need to go strutting and preening and engaging in dominance poses about it. It shows quite a bit more class to just win and then be decent about it."
Hmmm. American football players and fans come to mind.
--Richard
"Ugh. So frustrating. So many updates to iTunes, yet I still cannot purchase music. If the retailers aren't careful, they might forget that they are excluding 1/2 the world's market by not permitting EC, UK, Canadian and Asian countries from participating."
Well, I'm sure it's a small consolation but I really don't think that they WANT to exclude countries besides the US. You know: money = good, no money = bad.
It's a royal bitch negotiating with a company for the rights to publish their music so can you imagine how bad it must be to do the same thing with five companies -- simultaneously?
Songs that employ profanity suck almost every single time, anyway. It's almost a convenient signpost, in a way.
That's just an opinion, of course, but it is one shared by many. It's worth noting that not only do weak musical performers (I refuse to call most musical performers "musicians" because they cannot by any stretch of the imagination be confused with real musicians) but also weak authors include profanity to add drama to their products. It's a juvenile cop-out.
Except Chris Rock. That mother-fucker is always funny.
"PHP Dev David Sklar implemented this over a year ago: http://www.sklar.com/page/article/myphp"
Cool. Very cool. But those execution times are pretty bad. You certainly would want to plan carefully how you used this.
--Richard
A long time ago, I was a carpenter. I imagine when geeks drive by a construction job sites many of them probably figure that they are better than the carpenters, or at least that they are happier in their work than carpenters.
They would be wrong. Carpenters love their work. Like programmers, when carpenters are done with their job, they can stand back and be proud of their handywork. And some days are better than others.
Oh, most programmers nowadays have college degrees and other pretty bits of paper, but today, as in the old days -- and like today's carpenters -- programming is a craft that requires practice, practice, practice.
Schooling is nice, but you aren't worth dick to a construction foreman or a software project manager if you can't demonstrate your ability.
Good analogy.
--Richard
PS: When I drive by construction sites today, I
still get a kick out of the scent of fresh lumber.
"If Mac's were as popular as windows boxes, Macs would have as much or more problems with virii and other malicious programs."
Got some statistics to support that wild assertion? Any at all? Not even one fucking number?
I thought not. Troll.
"The briQ is a much pimper... :) And just as expensive...."
And way, way, way faster.
--Richard
I'm afraid you just touched a sore spot with me.
I started receiving DirecTV service last September, in time for football season, after being away from the service for several years.
I don't know what's changed but the quality of my DirecTV video images absolutely suck now. Think of the worst web-hosted video stream you've ever seen... it's just a little better than that on some channels, especially the local ones.
The degradation you refer to would be undetectable on my system, I assure you.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe I've become spoiled to DVD image quality over the years. Still, the pixilization I see coming off my DirecTV tuner is amazingly bad.
As much as I hate cable, it has me second-guessing myself.