The basic message is that MS can't do Jack Shit to OEMs, except of course to force them to pay the proper price for Windows licences, and not receive any bonuses.
This would make the OEMs less able to compete, price-wise with their fellow scum-sucking OEMs.
Well, boo hoo, why should I care what happens to these unscrupulous box-shifters?
Look at the facts: extended warranties of doom, badly-configured machines with the wrong drivers installed, corners cut to keep the price down (Tom's did a thing on OEMs recently, pointing out that they like to push the main specs like Pentium 4 1.8!!!! And then not mention the crappy $15 video card etc., which is true), help-lines that don't even when you get through to them, incompetence on all levels....
Plus, just think- these OEMs aren't doing anything to earn their money- just employing people very little money to assemble pcs, man help-lines etc.
I know I am going to get modded down as -1 flamebait for this because The Common Man moderates, but seriously, to paraphrase Monty Python: "What have the OEMs ever done for us?"
You had to "mine" stars by shooting them to collect bits of smart missiles to smack sinistar with and the movement model was like "Thrust".
I think the original is in a Williams arcade pack for the pc they made ages ago: you also got defender, some defender sequal and a lamo bonus game where you walked round as an insect/teapot/some J Random Surreal thing and avoided stuff and collected other stuff.
And yes, I've been up for 25 hours, can't type and have 50 karma, so I don't care.
"Cancer research? I've yet to see a viable distributed project for cancer research. By that, I mean an organized effort with real data, a complete and concise goal, and a clean method for reaching that goal. "
http://members.ud.com/home.htm
This is real research, worked on by United Devices, helped by the University of Oxford, Intel and the National Foundation for Cancer Research.
It meets all your criteria- this is from their site:
"The research centers on proteins that have been determined to be a possible target for cancer therapy. Through a process called "virtual screening", special analysis software will identify molecules that interact with these proteins, and will determine which of the molecular candidates has a high likelihood of being developed into a drug. The process is similar to finding the right key to open a special lock--by looking at millions upon millions of molecular keys."
There has been a JavaOS. I remember downloading it years ago for the x86 platform. You had to boot into it from DOS. I can't remember whether it ran on top of dos or not, but the OS itself was very basic- think of a crappy desktop with a few token things like a calculator.
Basically it was just a shell for graphically launching java programs, which I thought was cool at the time because it meant you could run java progs without windows.
But then I tried to run java progs with it and changed my mind...
"... just someone get finished on an x-box emulator and be done with it... i wanna play halo!!!"
Halo is supposed to be coming out for the PC. (Probably once MS are convinced that no-one else is going to buy an xbox because there's no other way to play Halo).
And hell, it's not *that* good anyway. Certainly not the "killer app" you have to buy the console just to play it... It does work better than any other fps I have seen on a console, and has good production values (polished, like Half-Life) but there better fps on pc.
"gee, will computers get faster? (hint, the answer starts with a 'Y')"
Yes, computers will get faster, but it's all relative. By the time Java is fast enough to program games of type/graphics quality X then no-one will want to play them-
e.g. you say:
"In 10 years it will probably be easy to run RTCW on any machine,"
I don't want to play RTCW in 10 years, much as I don't want to play Wolf 3D today.
And, as many people have already pointed out, games with lesser graphics, such as the isometric 3D used for sim, strategy, turn-based battle etc. very often have extremely cpu-intensive game logic, which is precisely why they don't write them in full 3d...
The only game I can think of that does a lot of "thinking" and remain playable in 3d is Black and White.
"In some cases, Java runs faster than native code"
WTF? Java runs FASTER than native code? Where is this ? Inside a black hole ? In a dream ? On Gosling's whiteboard ?
I think you meant to say that it can run in some cases faster than the native code produced by a c compiler, though even this is going it a bit in the wishful-thinking department.
"Male Status Symbols: Men have a tendency to display their cell phones more proudly, using them to display their aggression in front of other men, and almost like a mating ritual in front of women. "
WTF? they use their phones to "display their aggression"????
LOOK AT MY FUCKING SAMSUNG FLIP-PHONE. I SAID LOOK AT IT YOU FUCKING CUNT! LOOK AT IT OR I'LL SMASH YOUR FUCKING FACE UP, YOU FUCKING GAYLORD!
"when you torture a cat or dog keeping it locked up in a house, and over feed it, then modify its behavior with gadgets like this, i just feel its wrong"
In the house all the time ? Over-feeding ? Change its life with gadgets ?
If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for the cats...
Before you know it the cat will get fucked off at all these cameras, tunnels, heat-sensitive pressure pads and so forth and will post a story to/.
From the "concerned-cat-dept": "I mean, it's just such an invasion of privacy, scanning and probing me just so I can get in the house, which I have a God-given American right to do. Imagine, assuming all us felines are rodent and bird-murdering scum! And hey- even if I *did* happen to attack some small creature, wouldn't it be less cruel if we let it die inside in the warmth instead of out in the cold? Anyways, what next- ID cards?!?!?!?!?"
graspee
Re:Learning Database Systems
on
Beginning SQL?
·
· Score: 2
And you can get the complete SQL server 2000 documentation here
That's all the documentation I ever use, apart from a crappy wrox book on sql server 7.
"Seems like you'd have to be really careful not to exclude the color blind. And the actually blind. Or just those with bad vision, or really poor visual memories."
And the dead- don't forget the dead.
Just because someone is no longer living doesn't mean they no longer have the right to log in to their computer.
There are important issues here. Let's examine recent ideas of identity verification and how they affect the long dead, recently-deceased and undead:
1) Fingerprint recognition: Bad- the flesh on your fingers may have all decomposed by now.
2) Retinal scan- As above- eyeballs may be decayed or too badly damaged to scan, depending on your method of death.
3) Voice recognition: Again, bad.
Computer: "Please speak your name for identification."
You: "Urrrrreeeeeuuuurgggghhhhhhh"
Computer: "Not recognized"
4) Clicking on parts of pictures. Hmm, may run into same problems as the blind due to loss of eyeballs, and let's face it, if you're a zombie, do you really want to sit there pissing about with a mouse?
5) Traditional keyboard entry of password. Excellent. Undead have 'leet typing skillz, as immortalized in the game "THE TYPING OF THE DEAD"
"Users would have to be fools to "click" their password unless they are positively alone in the room. The current standard at least has masked text on screen"
So we just make the mouse pointer temporarily invisible. Problem solved.;)
Bill Gates got sued by the CoC for using the copyrighted entity "Xenix"; he hasn't abandoned plans to make Xenix the #1 OS- what he is doing right now is trying to make enough money to become OTIII so the CoC will let him use the name...
Slashdot Mirror
The basic message is that MS can't do Jack Shit to OEMs, except of course to force them to pay the proper price for Windows licences, and not receive
any bonuses.
This would make the OEMs less able to compete, price-wise with their fellow scum-sucking OEMs.
Well, boo hoo, why should I care what happens to these unscrupulous box-shifters?
Look at the facts: extended warranties of doom, badly-configured machines with the wrong drivers installed, corners cut to keep the price down (Tom's did a thing on OEMs recently, pointing out that they like to push the main specs like Pentium 4 1.8!!!! And then not mention the crappy $15 video card etc., which is true), help-lines that don't even when you get through to them, incompetence on all levels....
Plus, just think- these OEMs aren't doing anything to earn their money- just employing people very little money to assemble pcs, man help-lines etc.
I know I am going to get modded down as -1 flamebait for this because The Common Man moderates, but seriously, to paraphrase Monty Python: "What have the OEMs ever done for us?"
graspee
cool. I remember it well.
"RUN, COWARD! HAHAHAHAHAH"
You had to "mine" stars by shooting them to collect bits of smart missiles to smack sinistar with and the movement model was like "Thrust".
I think the original is in a Williams arcade pack for the pc they made ages ago: you also got defender, some defender sequal and a lamo bonus game where you walked round as an insect/teapot/some J Random Surreal thing and avoided stuff and collected other stuff.
And yes, I've been up for 25 hours, can't type and have 50 karma, so I don't care.
graspee
"Cancer research? I've yet to see a viable distributed project for cancer research. By that, I mean an organized effort with real data, a complete and concise goal, and a clean method for reaching that goal. "
http://members.ud.com/home.htm
This is real research, worked on by United Devices, helped by the University of Oxford, Intel and the National Foundation for Cancer Research.
It meets all your criteria- this is from their site:
"The research centers on proteins that have been determined to be a possible target for cancer therapy. Through a process called "virtual screening", special analysis software will identify molecules that interact with these proteins, and will determine which of the molecular candidates has a high likelihood of being developed into a drug. The process is similar to finding the right key to open a special lock--by looking at millions upon millions of molecular keys."
graspee
Yes, OK, whatever, but you missed my point-
HOW CAN IT RUN FASTER THAN NATIVE CODE? !!!
I mean, does Java auto-overclock your computer or something, or turn into a quantum computing device?
graspee
"While we're still waiting for the Java OS"
There has been a JavaOS. I remember downloading it years ago for the x86 platform. You had to boot into it from DOS. I can't remember whether it ran on top of dos or not, but the OS itself was very basic- think of a crappy desktop with a few token things like a calculator.
Basically it was just a shell for graphically launching java programs, which I thought was cool at the time because it meant you could run java progs without windows.
But then I tried to run java progs with it and changed my mind...
graspee
"... just someone get finished on an x-box emulator and be done with it ... i wanna play halo!!!"
Halo is supposed to be coming out for the PC. (Probably once MS are convinced that no-one else is going to buy an xbox because there's no other way to play Halo).
And hell, it's not *that* good anyway. Certainly not the "killer app" you have to buy the console just to play it... It does work better than any other fps I have seen on a console, and has good production values (polished, like Half-Life) but there better fps on pc.
graspee
"gee, will computers get faster? (hint, the answer starts with a 'Y')"
Yes, computers will get faster, but it's all relative. By the time Java is fast enough to program games of type/graphics quality X then no-one will want to play them-
e.g. you say:
"In 10 years it will probably be easy to run RTCW on any machine,"
I don't want to play RTCW in 10 years, much as I don't want to play Wolf 3D today.
And, as many people have already pointed out, games with lesser graphics, such as the isometric 3D used for sim, strategy, turn-based battle etc. very often have extremely cpu-intensive game logic, which is precisely why they don't write them in full 3d...
The only game I can think of that does a lot of "thinking" and remain playable in 3d is Black and White.
graspee
"In some cases, Java runs faster than native code"
WTF? Java runs FASTER than native code? Where is this ? Inside a black hole ? In a dream ? On Gosling's whiteboard ?
I think you meant to say that it can run in some cases faster than the native code produced by a c compiler, though even this is going it a bit in the wishful-thinking department.
graspee
And a lot of GP3 was written in assembler, though we all know how buggy that turned out...
graspee
I personally right-click stuff and then select "open" on the context menu, but then I am a freeeeeeek.
And, BTW, in case you didn't know, Mozilla has a quick-start, aka terminate-and-continue-to-hog-memory mode now, so it starts up pretty fast...
graspee
"Nothing CAUSES mutations"
Phew, no cancer for me then. Where's my smokes ?
graspee
"Even keyboard-weenies use the cursor keys, which are usually on the right!"
Real men used WSAD for FPS so they can mouse with the right hand.
Waaassssssaaaaaaaaddddddd !
graspee
Well the real root of the word is latin.
Mutatus (noun)- a change or alteration.
So don't go giving them C14th dudes too much credit- they were just a bunch of IP freeloaders.
"Dude, I got some great new latin words on Kazaa!"
"Cool- let me copy them too. 'Mutatus'- woah, wicked"
graspee
" This amazes me. I can't see why they can't type properly - surely it would be the pragmatic thing to do to learn."
It's because if they decided to learn to touch-type they would initially be a lot slower than before and would have difficulty doing their job.
I picked a quiet time to switch to touch-typing dvorak from fast keyboard-watching qwerty, and at first it was like a character every five seconds...
graspee
"Somehow, I don't think you could call everyone a cancerous growth.. Not unless you were feeling somewhat antisocial."
Or were an AI agent trying to piss Morpheus off after tying him to a chair and beating him up.
graspee
"Male Status Symbols: Men have a tendency to display their cell phones more proudly, using them to display their aggression in front of other men, and almost like a mating ritual in front of women. "
WTF? they use their phones to "display their aggression"????
LOOK AT MY FUCKING SAMSUNG FLIP-PHONE. I SAID LOOK AT IT YOU FUCKING CUNT! LOOK AT IT OR I'LL SMASH YOUR FUCKING FACE UP, YOU FUCKING GAYLORD!
graspee
"Then where did the aliens come from?"
Duh, Outer Space.
graspee
"when you torture a cat or dog keeping it locked up in a house, and over feed it, then modify its behavior with gadgets like this, i just feel its wrong"
In the house all the time ?
Over-feeding ?
Change its life with gadgets ?
If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for the cats...
graspee
" or walk backwards through the door."
If the cat's arse resembles its face well enough to trigger the door then it needs to be inside so the other cats don't laugh at it...
graspee
Before you know it the cat will get fucked off at all these cameras, tunnels, heat-sensitive pressure pads and so forth and will post a story to /.
From the "concerned-cat-dept":
"I mean, it's just such an invasion of privacy, scanning and probing me just so I can get in the house, which I have a God-given American right to do. Imagine, assuming all us felines are rodent and bird-murdering scum! And hey- even if I *did* happen to attack some small creature, wouldn't it be less cruel if we let it die inside in the warmth instead of out in the cold? Anyways, what next- ID cards?!?!?!?!?"
graspee
That's all the documentation I ever use, apart from a crappy wrox book on sql server 7.
graspee
"Seems like you'd have to be really careful not to exclude the color blind. And the actually blind. Or just those with bad vision, or really poor visual memories."
And the dead- don't forget the dead.
Just because someone is no longer living doesn't mean they no longer have the right to log in to their computer.
There are important issues here. Let's examine recent ideas of identity verification and how they affect the long dead, recently-deceased and undead:
1) Fingerprint recognition: Bad- the flesh on your fingers may have all decomposed by now.
2) Retinal scan- As above- eyeballs may be decayed or too badly damaged to scan, depending on your method of death.
3) Voice recognition: Again, bad.
Computer: "Please speak your name for identification."
You: "Urrrrreeeeeuuuurgggghhhhhhh"
Computer: "Not recognized"
4) Clicking on parts of pictures. Hmm, may run into same problems as the blind due to loss of eyeballs, and let's face it, if you're a zombie, do you really want to sit there pissing about with a mouse?
5) Traditional keyboard entry of password. Excellent. Undead have 'leet typing skillz, as immortalized in the game "THE TYPING OF THE DEAD"
graspee
"Users would have to be fools to "click" their password unless they are positively alone in the room. The current standard at least has masked text on screen"
;)
So we just make the mouse pointer temporarily invisible. Problem solved.
graspee
oops - that should have been CoS- CoC is "Call of Cthulhu" (yeah I could never spell it- hence the acronym).
And who the hell modded me informative? Someone with a sense of humour, or an extremely gullible person?
graspee
Bill Gates got sued by the CoC for using the copyrighted entity "Xenix"; he hasn't abandoned plans to make Xenix the #1 OS- what he is doing right now is trying to make enough money to become OTIII so the CoC will let him use the name...
graspee