I know everyone on Slashdot hates PDF (I don't), but its a dandy presentation format. Acrobat Reader supports fullscreen transisitions and even if you don't like Acrobat - other PDF viewers suffice. Plus it works on most any Unix platform (Adobe natively supports AIX, HPUX, Linux and Mac).
Anyone who has had to support applications written in Java would probably disagree with you. I had to support a java based server application. Getting it to run on the app server (jboss, websphere, etc) for clients often meant doing it for them either remotely or onsite and even then it was a huge pain in the arse.
But why would someone go out of their way to continue to use it? I can understand practical and pragmatic answers like "It's still functional for me" or "I just like it better and I haven't had any problems". But are there other reasons?
If you wanted the "ultimate" in computer security you might use a C64. For example - if you were a terrorist and the cia/fbi picked up your C64 how many of them do you think could use the file system on a C64 (classic example - how do you rename or copy a file using Basic and a 1541)? I barely remember, and I used one for nearly 10 years. How many people could even load a program on the C64 to read said data? (and yes I say that in quotes because its a big joke sure...)
Modern disk drives won't read 5.25 commodore DOS disks.
And if you don't buy that - the C64/C128 is still a rather functional computer. I mean you can dial bbs's and shell based internet access points, download files, type reports using word processors, store information in databases, and play games. In fact in the early 90's I used to dial into a Sun mini computer and browse the net with Gopher and later on Lynx on my C128 at 9600 baud using desterm.
(and for the fbi/cia reading this post - to rename a file its "OPEN 15,8,15,"C0:new name=existing name":CLOSE 15" - I assume its probably easier on a 1571).
The 500, while still a cool box, wasn't a great technological leap forward. It was merely a mass-marketing-wrapped version of the 1000. (And Commodore poorly mass-marketed it!) As the easter egg hidden inside one of the later versions of Workbench said: "We made Amiga, they [Commodore] f*cked it up".
Actually the firmware that has that message stored inside it is pretty rare - as the message was discovered by the public shortly after the launch of the A1000. You'd have to have an early model A1000 as Commodore management recalled most of them. The A500 was in fact designed by the West Chester group probably because of that incident and most certianly wouldn't have contained roms that had that particular message in it.
Re:Flash as an Application Development Platform? N
on
The Future of Flash
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· Score: 1
Actually saying it is not an API is like saying it cannot be done. Fact is you can develop nearly any app you like in Flex using the Flash API's.
One of my favorite apps is an email client running ontop of jboss. My next favorite is a C64 emulator. Check it out > http://codeazur.com.br/stuff/fc64_final/ (note: it does require flash player 9)
The irony here is - I have a G5 - nowhere visably on the machine does it say "Apple" or "Macintosh" or anything in fact - its just a grey mass of computer.
I currently do technical support research for a really big well known software company - it pays really well and the benefiets are quite good, but in the process I had to do some really crappy jobs along the way. One of the hardest was front line technical support, but without it I wouldn't have gained the respect to get the job I have now. I think I have a knack for solving problems:).
Along the way I've tried picking up programming - I'm learning, but its a long and slow process. I'm sure actual classes in school would help quite a bit.
The other thing is Sony does add new features to it. For instance it supports two different video codecs, and they added wma and flash support via firmware update.
Also the original psp didn't have a web browser feature - that was added as a firmware update.
It just so happens that fonts have varying degrees of security. If these security flags are honored applications will refuse to embed these fonts (as Acrobat does for example). Most fonts are licensed to be subsetted but not embedded. You'll probably find nearly all Adobe PDF files have subsetted fonts.
Subsetting means that if your doc only has the letters "abcde" the only part of that font that is embedded into the PDF is "adbde
And yes - Adobe has got in trouble before for minor bugs in Distiller and Acrobat for fully embeding fonts into PDF files (see the case Agfa vs. Adobe Systems - where they settled out of court).
I think ECS' employees take great pride in their hard work, even though they are getting paid very little in comparison to bloated unionized factories in North America.
They make it sound like a good thing! Unions get little credit (even in China) for the 40 hour work week, paid time off, or time off at all.
In the call center I worked in - if you told me you were recording my call I had to tell you I was going to disconnect the call unless you agreed to stop the recording.
I've worked in call centers though - they really do train you make it sound like to the customer there's no other choice. In my case it was to make it sound like if they wanted technical support there was no other choice other than to buy a support contract.
He may have been out of line, but I garentee he was following his call centers company policy.
The reason for this is that AOL support (like most support) is outsourced. The outsourcer gets some sort of kickback for retention so its in their best interests - not AOL's to go to extremes to get that kickback - even at the cost of AOL's business.
"I get any resistance, and I will imply very strongly that the rep is placing himself at very strong risk of personal legal expense."
Which is great - because in every call center I've worked in any threat of legal action is met with an immediate "I'm afraid I'm going to have to refer this issue to our legal department". Its great because you've just helped me lower my aht:).
Well thats just it - first you ebrace pdf files by making drivers for office apps.
Then you extend them with your own software (in this case - maybe extensions that Acrobat doesn't work with) so that everyone who wants to use office pdf's in their full capacity has to have ms's pdf viewer. (this is how IE shut out netscape...)
Then you push XPS using your large installations of office and windows software and make pdf more and more irrelevant.
None of these free pdf tools can do what PDFMaker (the Office add-in that comes with Acrobat Standard or Pro) can do. PDFMaker can make tagged, bookmarked and linked PDFs automatically from Office document markup.
Problem I think is that Microsoft's new plugin does all this too. Microsoft has in effect shut Adobe out of a market where Acrobat faired pretty well.
Slashdot Mirror
Until then there's always Foxnews.
I know everyone on Slashdot hates PDF (I don't), but its a dandy presentation format. Acrobat Reader supports fullscreen transisitions and even if you don't like Acrobat - other PDF viewers suffice. Plus it works on most any Unix platform (Adobe natively supports AIX, HPUX, Linux and Mac).
Anyone who has had to support applications written in Java would probably disagree with you. I had to support a java based server application. Getting it to run on the app server (jboss, websphere, etc) for clients often meant doing it for them either remotely or onsite and even then it was a huge pain in the arse.
But why would someone go out of their way to continue to use it? I can understand practical and pragmatic answers like "It's still functional for me" or "I just like it better and I haven't had any problems". But are there other reasons?
If you wanted the "ultimate" in computer security you might use a C64. For example - if you were a terrorist and the cia/fbi picked up your C64 how many of them do you think could use the file system on a C64 (classic example - how do you rename or copy a file using Basic and a 1541)? I barely remember, and I used one for nearly 10 years. How many people could even load a program on the C64 to read said data? (and yes I say that in quotes because its a big joke sure...)
Modern disk drives won't read 5.25 commodore DOS disks.
And if you don't buy that - the C64/C128 is still a rather functional computer. I mean you can dial bbs's and shell based internet access points, download files, type reports using word processors, store information in databases, and play games. In fact in the early 90's I used to dial into a Sun mini computer and browse the net with Gopher and later on Lynx on my C128 at 9600 baud using desterm.
(and for the fbi/cia reading this post - to rename a file its "OPEN 15,8,15,"C0:new name=existing name":CLOSE 15" - I assume its probably easier on a 1571).
Safari fails all of these - even though it seems to pass the "acid" test.
The 500, while still a cool box, wasn't a great technological leap forward. It was merely a mass-marketing-wrapped version of the 1000. (And Commodore poorly mass-marketed it!) As the easter egg hidden inside one of the later versions of Workbench said: "We made Amiga, they [Commodore] f*cked it up".
Actually the firmware that has that message stored inside it is pretty rare - as the message was discovered by the public shortly after the launch of the A1000. You'd have to have an early model A1000 as Commodore management recalled most of them. The A500 was in fact designed by the West Chester group probably because of that incident and most certianly wouldn't have contained roms that had that particular message in it.
Actually saying it is not an API is like saying it cannot be done. Fact is you can develop nearly any app you like in Flex using the Flash API's.
One of my favorite apps is an email client running ontop of jboss. My next favorite is a C64 emulator. Check it out > http://codeazur.com.br/stuff/fc64_final/ (note: it does require flash player 9)
The irony here is - I have a G5 - nowhere visably on the machine does it say "Apple" or "Macintosh" or anything in fact - its just a grey mass of computer.
I guess labels are uncool.
Have you ever eaten a tree before?
I currently do technical support research for a really big well known software company - it pays really well and the benefiets are quite good, but in the process I had to do some really crappy jobs along the way. One of the hardest was front line technical support, but without it I wouldn't have gained the respect to get the job I have now. I think I have a knack for solving problems :).
Along the way I've tried picking up programming - I'm learning, but its a long and slow process. I'm sure actual classes in school would help quite a bit.
The other thing is Sony does add new features to it. For instance it supports two different video codecs, and they added wma and flash support via firmware update.
Also the original psp didn't have a web browser feature - that was added as a firmware update.
Company I work for uses google search for everything for our enterprise.
I only heard about it yesterday on CBC news - as did I suspect the article submitter.
It just so happens that fonts have varying degrees of security. If these security flags are honored applications will refuse to embed these fonts (as Acrobat does for example). Most fonts are licensed to be subsetted but not embedded. You'll probably find nearly all Adobe PDF files have subsetted fonts.
o bat/sdk/FontPolicies.pdf
Subsetting means that if your doc only has the letters "abcde" the only part of that font that is embedded into the PDF is "adbde
And yes - Adobe has got in trouble before for minor bugs in Distiller and Acrobat for fully embeding fonts into PDF files (see the case Agfa vs. Adobe Systems - where they settled out of court).
Anyhow you can read more about embedding opentype fonts in this pdf doc > http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/acr
So yes - while it seems Adobe apps are inserting fonts into documents - they really aren't - fully at least.
Teamsters are certianly an exception. They've done little to help the cause of labour in the past.
However - for every union abuse I can find 10 management abuses.
I think ECS' employees take great pride in their hard work, even though they are getting paid very little in comparison to bloated unionized factories in North America.
They make it sound like a good thing! Unions get little credit (even in China) for the 40 hour work week, paid time off, or time off at all.
In the call center I worked in - if you told me you were recording my call I had to tell you I was going to disconnect the call unless you agreed to stop the recording.
I've worked in call centers though - they really do train you make it sound like to the customer there's no other choice. In my case it was to make it sound like if they wanted technical support there was no other choice other than to buy a support contract.
He may have been out of line, but I garentee he was following his call centers company policy.
The reason for this is that AOL support (like most support) is outsourced. The outsourcer gets some sort of kickback for retention so its in their best interests - not AOL's to go to extremes to get that kickback - even at the cost of AOL's business.
"I get any resistance, and I will imply very strongly that the rep is placing himself at very strong risk of personal legal expense."
:).
Which is great - because in every call center I've worked in any threat of legal action is met with an immediate "I'm afraid I'm going to have to refer this issue to our legal department". Its great because you've just helped me lower my aht
I have an Xbox 360 and have no had any power supply issues. Its warm to the touch, but only when its on. I still wouldn't consider it a fire hazzard.
Its 49$ - and most people get it through OEM's (like dell).
Thats not a default install - I'm talking about all the stuff included with the OS including programs.
A lot of the stuff that comes with Vista is in fact application software you'd probably buy or install anyhow.
Well thats just it - first you ebrace pdf files by making drivers for office apps.
Then you extend them with your own software (in this case - maybe extensions that Acrobat doesn't work with) so that everyone who wants to use office pdf's in their full capacity has to have ms's pdf viewer. (this is how IE shut out netscape...)
Then you push XPS using your large installations of office and windows software and make pdf more and more irrelevant.
None of these free pdf tools can do what PDFMaker (the Office add-in that comes with Acrobat Standard or Pro) can do. PDFMaker can make tagged, bookmarked and linked PDFs automatically from Office document markup.
Problem I think is that Microsoft's new plugin does all this too. Microsoft has in effect shut Adobe out of a market where Acrobat faired pretty well.
Ditto for OS/X.
Not true at all. The default install for my G5 was well over 10 gigs on OSX 10.4.x.