Scifi channel may have cancelled it, but the show does still exist and is still sindicated (in Canada anyways).
They're still showing already filmed episodes in Canada.
That's very different from it still being alive. Sci-Fi was one of the main financial backers of the show, and without them puttin in their $750,000 per episode, it's dead.
I like how all this lobbying started right about when the anti-trust suits started rolling in. Hell, they even set up a "Washington lobbying office". It seems that it might have worked, considering no one really knows what their 'punishment', if any, is.
Funny isn't it?
It's also an amazing correlation how Netscape and KPCB's lobbying started a little while before the anti-trust suits started rolling in?
Don't imagine for a minute that this is a one sided thing. The political lobbying industry has two businesses;
1. Squeezing money out of people to get action started. 2. Squeezing money out of other people to get action stopped.
Ulimately all it does is maintain the status quo -- and drain a whole shitload of money into the pockets of those who run and oil the political machine, from interests on both sides of the fence.
Honestly, it's pathetic. But that's business in the U.S. political system.
The venture capital firm behind Netscape, Oracle, Sun, Apple, etc etc etc etc...?
Until halfway through the antitrust trial, Microsoft's donations were nearly negligible. Compare and contrast that with the above. Don't forget to include the members of the boards of directors of these companies as individuals, as well as their spouses and immediate family when looking up their donations.
You may be surprised. Microsoft is very new at this game; Silicon Valley has been doing it for YEARS.
It devalues the work of the Free Software community when proprietary developers rip their code and then use it to make a proprietary product, while giving nothing back to the free community. It also gives proprietary developers an unfair advantage over developers of Free Software, as they can use Free Software in their proprietary programs, but Free Software developers can't use proprietary code in their Free Software. The GPL corrects this unfair imbalance.
What imbalance?
You had a choice when you signed up; release your software however you want to.
You picked "give it away for free".
Note: that means you gave it away. For free. It also doesn't mean that others who use it - however they use it - owe you anything. It was your choice. Your decision. You weighed up the pro's and con's and made that choice.
But no, you're talking about giving it away for Free. The big capital F at the beginning coming with its own footnote and small print attached. Which means "Yes, I'm giving it away for free -- look how altruistic I am! I'm an upstanding member of the community! Look at how wonderful I am! Oh, and by the way, if you don't do the same, I'll take you to court and do you so hard that you'll be bleeding for years."
That's the difference.
Stop stealing the word "Free" for your own use. It's not Free, or Freedom, or anything like that. It's nothing more than a mechanism for pushing your agenda. If it was truly free, there would be no restrictions.
[F]ree: as in, you don't have to pay anything for it, but if you use it in certain ways, you have to give away your work too.
I'm just glad that the GPL doesn't cover things like content/data. "Oh yes, I used EMACS to write my business proposal yesterday. But unfortunately, if I give it to anyone else, I have to let everyone else use it for free."
I mean, think carefully about that scenario for a second. Preposterous, no? But people who use your word-processor/tcp-ip stack/webserver/operating system are still profiting from your work. So what's the difference here?
Well, apparently, the difference is that those people aren't software developers, whereas people who would use your source code to build on are.
How many of those desktop Windows users you want to convert to Linux out there would actually "give back" to the Free Software community?
A small comment on your 99% to 1% example: if a programmer is unwilling to rewrite 1% of their code in order to achieve ownership, one must assume that 1% was *extremely* valuable. If the programmer wishes to use some other license and can't replace that 1% him or herself, then he or she should start shopping for replacement code and negotiate licenses and prices with those who *can* replace that code.
The GPL covers derivative works. In what universe do you live where just 'rewriting something' makes it non-derivative?
Or are you thinking of a complete clean-room implementation? In which case the original programmer can't even see the GPL'd work in the first place - interface and all?
Sure, you might say, this is an exaggeration. But is it? When was the last time you tested the meaning of 'derivative' in court?
Nothing prevents Microsoft from using GPL'ed code. Just make the source available to their customers. Oh, that prevents MS from screwing their customers and selling shitty software? Well, exxcccuuuusseee me. Don't steal my code then.
Were you being deliberately ambiguous?
They have to make the source of the GPL'd code available to their customers - plus all of the code that they wrote.
Not "They can use GPL'd code. Just make the source available to their customers"
That's right, Microsoft actually has less cash on hand than would be necessary to buy all of Bill Gates' shares, which, as of Oct 21 2002, are worth 59 billion dollars. Microsoft only has $40 billion in cash on hand, so the $2 billion/year interest figure is actually a conservative estimate.
Oh, that's a classic.
Are you telling me you're so naive as to believe that he could actually cash that $59billion in?
That's $59b on paper. Liquid assets, maybe $10b - max. Possibly a lot less.
Stocks are great if you're a grunt. If you're seen as the head of a company, YOU CANNOT SELL THEM. Not in large quantities -- it sinks the stock value, and sinks the company. Hey presto, what was once $59b suddenly becomes worth $1M.
If the BBC lost this case, they could always send Dr. Who back in time to trademark the police box before the 1960-ties... Another question is... which Dr. Who?
[nerd mode] It's The Doctor, not Dr. Who. Dr. Who is the show; The Doctor is the main character. [/nerd mode]
Software is digital. Its only non-negligible cost is its creation cost.
Presumably you're also including maintenance costs there.
Not to mention that it's one fucking hell of a non-negligible cost. You're talking considerable chunks of a person's LIFE just to get a piece of code out the door. Especially when you run into projects on the order of 100s of man years. Or 1000s. Or millions.
Sounds to me like you do not understand the GPL and probably are watching it rain outside your office window on One Microsoft Way.
As much as you enjoy jerking off while watching Microsoft through your special Microsoft Webcam feed, I think you'll find that it's actually foggy and is not raining today on the Microsoft campus. It'll boil off in about an hour or so, so enjoy it while you can. And now, news from Jimmy Stewart.
The most recent example of this was a set of nice Java random variable distribution libraries that I found and wanted to use for some code I was writing. However, they were under the GPL (as opposed to the LGPL which would have allowed me to use library calls), so that meant that even though they were libraries, I couldn't even call them from a commercial product. If they had been in a BSD style license, I could have used them. So I ended up spending some time implementing the ones I needed
Just rewrite them in C. Algorithms shouldn't be patentable, or copyrightable, and therefore the GPL must be referring to that specific implementation.
So just rewrite them in C.
And if they complain to you about GPL violation, point them at bad software patents.;-)
1.) Do you find certain social situations difficult or awkward?
2.) Do you feel out of place sometimes?
3.) Do you have bizarre certain interests that no on cares about? *computers cough cough
4.) Do you feel smart in certain area's but lack knowledge sometimes of other different area's?
5.) Do you find expressing emotions difficult even though you have them?
6.) Do you feel yourself to be somewhat clumsy ?
7.) As a kid did you feel more interested in complex things like science or weather rather then playing GI joe ?
8.) Do you find yourself to be somewhat compulsive?
Chances are you may be mildly autistic
Scientologists use this mechanism; They ask you to fill in a questionnaire with questions like "do you read the dictionary for pleasure?" or "do you feel sad and cry during movies?".
Questions which 99% of people will answer YES to.
They then put you in a white room with a guy in a labcoat who marks your paper for you... then comes in and puts his hand on yours, and says "But it's ok... we can help you"
But let's analyze this:
Question 1: Do you find certain social situations difficult or awkward?... because you had the shit beaten out of you by certain classmates with an IQ less than 50 because you were different?
Question 2: Do you feel out of place sometimes?... like when you go somewhere you've never been before? Or when you go somewhere on your own, without anyone you know? Or just because you've been beaten up because you were different and learned not to socialize because it was dangerous?
Question 3: Do you have bizarre certain interests that no on cares about?... like weird esoteric scientific subjects which no-one else understands and therefore don't care about? Did you retreat into books at an early age because others would beat you up and tease you?
Question 4: Do you feel smart in certain area's but lack knowledge sometimes of other different area's?
This one's just classic. Let's see your options: A. Answer No: This means you know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING. Or think you do. Which makes you a conceited idiot. B. Answer Yes: This means that you know enough to know that you DON'T know everything. Which if anything makes you honest about where you are in the scheme of things. How many electrical engineers do you know who can tell you the best way to make duck breast in duck confit?
Question 5: Do you find expressing emotions difficult even though you have them?... if so, Scientology can help!
Sorry... lost the plot there. Do people have trouble expressing emotions? Sure - all the time. That's because they're emotions. Feelings cannot be easily expressed because they just *are* - they have no meaning other than how they feel. There is no referent. You're somewhere between not at all and extremely on the sad/happy/angry/jealous/upset/whatever axes. These things lend to poetry more than anything else -- which is why people have difficulty expressing them; after all, not many people can write poetry.
Question 6: Do you feel yourself to be somewhat clumsy ?
Clumsiness is for the most part a learned skill. It's spatial awareness, observation, remembering your body's space and limits, and body-eye coordination.
Question 7: As a kid did you feel more interested in complex things like science or weather rather then playing GI joe?
Where you a conscientious objector in the back-yard wars?
Did your playmates call you a commie?
Did they lock you up and stick a white feather in your hair?
Some people don't like playing with dolls. Sorry. And some people have an interest in complex things *and* play games. Like pretending you have super powers. Or building traps in the back yard and having your very own Indiana Jones style base called Trapmania.
Question 8: Do you find yourself to be somewhat compulsive?
I'm a smoker. Yes. I go on shopping sprees when the discounts are on at Macy's. Yes. I just can't be seen dead outside the house without putting on my makeup and toenail polish. Yes. I watch Survivor every week. Yes.
I have both conditions that match autism and aspergers so I am unique. For example I can easily handle most social situations but I am clumsy and have poor eye and hand coordination. To this day I can not play a piano with two hands. The mechanism in the brain that divides the signals to my hands does not work properly. My left hand will play the rhythm of my right and my right would play the rhythms of my left.
Congratulations. That also happens to the rest of the population the older they are when they try to learn the piano. It also applies to juggling -- there is a hump you have to get over, after which it becomes easy. But getting over that hump is the hard part.
In complex situations like in relationships, I can notice my difficulties. I do not do well when women are not real direct about how they feel. Why do women do this?
To confuse men. Try listening to a men-orientated talk radio show some time. You'll see that you are not alone.
Good God, don't get me started. I have a strong feeling that the social breakdown in North America is largely due to that fact. Women's lib, minority rights, etc.. etc.. Sure we all have rights, but if the rights of the few cancel the rights of the many, there's a BIG problem.
It's an even bigger problem if the rights of the many cancel the rights of the few.
Take slavery for example.
Or the holocaust.
Or the separation of church and state.
Or phone, sewer and electricity service for people who live outside a major city.
Actually, that error is caused by someone displaying the code returned from GetLastError() when no error has actually occurred. The only error is that the programmer didn't check the error codes correctly and see that there wasn't really one.:)
But those who think themselves "poor" or just scraping by (with the "help" of %18 credit card debt and a huge house they shouldn't have bought and a care that isn't 15 years old) -- those people should know the value of money, cause they've managed to run out of it.
Just for the record... 15 year old cars cost more to run than a brand new car -- if you don't know much about cars.
When I first moved to the states in late 1997, I ended up with a 1983 Plymouth Horizon.
Within less than 6 months, I'd already sank $2,000 of my less than $40,000 a year paycheck (in Washington DC) into it. I paid $1000 for it. My boss sold it to me. All round, I got screwed on the deal.
If you know and understand how cars work - and have the time and space to work on one - you can keep a 15 year old car running. But frankly, even paying off a 5 year loan on a cheap Dodge Neon is *cheaper* than that if you're not a trained auto mechanic.
Me? I'm a software developer. Not an auto mechanic.
Nearly all of these use screens. You look at the screen, you're not looking a the road. All of these use button interfaces, which increases the possiblity of distraction / loss of control. To make a truly useful car computer, you need a fully audio interface.
If you'd clicked on any of the links in the article, you would have seen that the control interface is voice-based as well as pushbutton.
While you're at it disable Remote Registry while you are at it. It truly amazes what services Microsoft deems the average user needs running. I find the whole concept of Remote Registry particularly disturbing.
"Cool this service allows people to modify my registry remotely, sweet!"
You do realize that you have to provide authentication (ie. username/pwd) for this to work, don't you? You can't just wander around networks checking out others' systems.
How could he possibly name them if they are secret?
How can anyone decide if he's making it up or not?
If you take that logic path, you're going to have problems. If it's a secret, then it's just as likely that they don't use any APIs, and he just doesn't know what he's talking about.
Any good developer can mimic IEs behavior exactly. With equal performance. The only difference is that typically Microsoft pays people to make it work fast -- when most other copmanies are just happy if something ships before marketing blows a gasket.
that's all anyone ever does. Gateway with their commercial of their computer jumping over imacs, ms copying apple's switcher ads, everyone comparing their MP3 players to an ipod... if nothing else, apple innovates...
Um, djcatnip, you did know that the iPod was Apple's version of Creative's Nomad, didn't you?
The only new thing here is that Creative are finally able to use the ultra-small drives, unlike previous models which used laptop 2.5" drives.
You could drop $100-$2000 on your development system for a product that's limited to few languages, doesn't support C anymore, and can't run anywhere but Windows, and has a UI that keeps changing, rendering old skills obsolete.
1. If you're that worried about the UI changing, use the command-line compile tools.
2. It does support C. Try compiling some C some time and see.
3. Yes, I don't know about you, but it's really important that my compiler run on an Acorn Archimedes. That, after all, is my day-to-day workstation -- I only use a PC on my coffee breaks.
A class that provides VC++ examples is fine. But one that requires you to write "VC++" code rather than C++ code, is a waste of time.
Bear in mind that the original poster could be describing the language he's programming in as "VC++", in much the same way that people call ECMAScript "Javascript", or that some people will describe their email client as "Windows".
Slashdot Mirror
Wrong wrong wrong.
Scifi channel may have cancelled it, but the show does still exist and is still sindicated (in Canada anyways).
They're still showing already filmed episodes in Canada.
That's very different from it still being alive. Sci-Fi was one of the main financial backers of the show, and without them puttin in their $750,000 per episode, it's dead.
Simon
I like how all this lobbying started right about when the anti-trust suits started rolling in. Hell, they even set up a "Washington lobbying office". It seems that it might have worked, considering no one really knows what their 'punishment', if any, is.
Funny isn't it?
It's also an amazing correlation how Netscape and KPCB's lobbying started a little while before the anti-trust suits started rolling in?
Don't imagine for a minute that this is a one sided thing. The political lobbying industry has two businesses;
1. Squeezing money out of people to get action started.
2. Squeezing money out of other people to get action stopped.
Ulimately all it does is maintain the status quo -- and drain a whole shitload of money into the pockets of those who run and oil the political machine, from interests on both sides of the fence.
Honestly, it's pathetic. But that's business in the U.S. political system.
So where's the report on KPCB?
The venture capital firm behind Netscape, Oracle, Sun, Apple, etc etc etc etc...?
Until halfway through the antitrust trial, Microsoft's donations were nearly negligible. Compare and contrast that with the above. Don't forget to include the members of the boards of directors of these companies as individuals, as well as their spouses and immediate family when looking up their donations.
You may be surprised. Microsoft is very new at this game; Silicon Valley has been doing it for YEARS.
Simon
It devalues the work of the Free Software community when proprietary developers rip their code and then use it to make a proprietary product, while giving nothing back to the free community. It also gives proprietary developers an unfair advantage over developers of Free Software, as they can use Free Software in their proprietary programs, but Free Software developers can't use proprietary code in their Free Software. The GPL corrects this unfair imbalance.
What imbalance?
You had a choice when you signed up; release your software however you want to.
You picked "give it away for free".
Note: that means you gave it away. For free. It also doesn't mean that others who use it - however they use it - owe you anything. It was your choice. Your decision. You weighed up the pro's and con's and made that choice.
But no, you're talking about giving it away for Free. The big capital F at the beginning coming with its own footnote and small print attached. Which means "Yes, I'm giving it away for free -- look how altruistic I am! I'm an upstanding member of the community! Look at how wonderful I am! Oh, and by the way, if you don't do the same, I'll take you to court and do you so hard that you'll be bleeding for years."
That's the difference.
Stop stealing the word "Free" for your own use. It's not Free, or Freedom, or anything like that. It's nothing more than a mechanism for pushing your agenda. If it was truly free, there would be no restrictions.
[F]ree: as in, you don't have to pay anything for it, but if you use it in certain ways, you have to give away your work too.
I'm just glad that the GPL doesn't cover things like content/data. "Oh yes, I used EMACS to write my business proposal yesterday. But unfortunately, if I give it to anyone else, I have to let everyone else use it for free."
I mean, think carefully about that scenario for a second. Preposterous, no? But people who use your word-processor/tcp-ip stack/webserver/operating system are still profiting from your work. So what's the difference here?
Well, apparently, the difference is that those people aren't software developers, whereas people who would use your source code to build on are.
How many of those desktop Windows users you want to convert to Linux out there would actually "give back" to the Free Software community?
My guess: very few, if any.
A small comment on your 99% to 1% example: if a programmer is unwilling to rewrite 1% of their code in order to achieve ownership, one must assume that 1% was *extremely* valuable. If the programmer wishes to use some other license and can't replace that 1% him or herself, then he or she should start shopping for replacement code and negotiate licenses and prices with those who *can* replace that code.
The GPL covers derivative works. In what universe do you live where just 'rewriting something' makes it non-derivative?
Or are you thinking of a complete clean-room implementation? In which case the original programmer can't even see the GPL'd work in the first place - interface and all?
Sure, you might say, this is an exaggeration. But is it? When was the last time you tested the meaning of 'derivative' in court?
Are you willing to do it now? On your own dime?
I'm not.
Nothing prevents Microsoft from using GPL'ed code. Just make the source available to their customers. Oh, that prevents MS from screwing their customers and selling shitty software? Well, exxcccuuuusseee me. Don't steal my code then.
Were you being deliberately ambiguous?
They have to make the source of the GPL'd code available to their customers - plus all of the code that they wrote.
Not "They can use GPL'd code. Just make the source available to their customers"
Simon
And half the time he is talking about you.
And if you really believed that, you'd post it under your own name.
Whenever you see such an elaborate and literate defense of Microsoft here think Astroturfing.
Whenever you see such a claim posted by an Anonymous Coward, it's probably Joe Barr posting it.
Simon
That's right, Microsoft actually has less cash on hand than would be necessary to buy all of Bill Gates' shares, which, as of Oct 21 2002, are worth 59 billion dollars. Microsoft only has $40 billion in cash on hand, so the $2 billion/year interest figure is actually a conservative estimate.
Oh, that's a classic.
Are you telling me you're so naive as to believe that he could actually cash that $59billion in?
That's $59b on paper. Liquid assets, maybe $10b - max. Possibly a lot less.
Stocks are great if you're a grunt. If you're seen as the head of a company, YOU CANNOT SELL THEM. Not in large quantities -- it sinks the stock value, and sinks the company. Hey presto, what was once $59b suddenly becomes worth $1M.
Simon
If the BBC lost this case, they could always send Dr. Who back in time to trademark the police box before the 1960-ties...
Another question is... which Dr. Who?
[nerd mode]
It's The Doctor, not Dr. Who. Dr. Who is the show; The Doctor is the main character.
[/nerd mode]
Software is digital. Its only non-negligible cost is its creation cost.
Presumably you're also including maintenance costs there.
Not to mention that it's one fucking hell of a non-negligible cost. You're talking considerable chunks of a person's LIFE just to get a piece of code out the door. Especially when you run into projects on the order of 100s of man years. Or 1000s. Or millions.
Simon
Sounds to me like you do not understand the GPL and probably are watching it rain outside your office window on One Microsoft Way.
As much as you enjoy jerking off while watching Microsoft through your special Microsoft Webcam feed, I think you'll find that it's actually foggy and is not raining today on the Microsoft campus. It'll boil off in about an hour or so, so enjoy it while you can. And now, news from Jimmy Stewart.
The most recent example of this was a set of nice Java random variable distribution libraries that I found and wanted to use for some code I was writing. However, they were under the GPL (as opposed to the LGPL which would have allowed me to use library calls), so that meant that even though they were libraries, I couldn't even call them from a commercial product. If they had been in a BSD style license, I could have used them. So I ended up spending some time implementing the ones I needed
;-)
Just rewrite them in C. Algorithms shouldn't be patentable, or copyrightable, and therefore the GPL must be referring to that specific implementation.
So just rewrite them in C.
And if they complain to you about GPL violation, point them at bad software patents.
Shouldn't the primary test be "how well does this benefit *citizens* who are paying for the development?"
Proprietary software developers are citizens too.
Scientology 101:
... because you had the shit beaten out of you by certain classmates with an IQ less than 50 because you were different?
... like when you go somewhere you've never been before? Or when you go somewhere on your own, without anyone you know? Or just because you've been beaten up because you were different and learned not to socialize because it was dangerous?
... like weird esoteric scientific subjects which no-one else understands and therefore don't care about? Did you retreat into books at an early age because others would beat you up and tease you?
... if so, Scientology can help!
For the geeks reading this:
1.) Do you find certain social situations difficult or awkward?
2.) Do you feel out of place sometimes?
3.) Do you have bizarre certain interests that no on cares about? *computers cough cough
4.) Do you feel smart in certain area's but lack knowledge sometimes of other different area's?
5.) Do you find expressing emotions difficult even though you have them?
6.) Do you feel yourself to be somewhat clumsy ?
7.) As a kid did you feel more interested in complex things like science or weather rather then playing GI joe ?
8.) Do you find yourself to be somewhat compulsive?
Chances are you may be mildly autistic
Scientologists use this mechanism;
They ask you to fill in a questionnaire with questions like "do you read the dictionary for pleasure?" or "do you feel sad and cry during movies?".
Questions which 99% of people will answer YES to.
They then put you in a white room with a guy in a labcoat who marks your paper for you... then comes in and puts his hand on yours, and says "But it's ok... we can help you"
But let's analyze this:
Question 1:
Do you find certain social situations difficult or awkward?
Question 2:
Do you feel out of place sometimes?
Question 3:
Do you have bizarre certain interests that no on cares about?
Question 4:
Do you feel smart in certain area's but lack knowledge sometimes of other different area's?
This one's just classic. Let's see your options:
A. Answer No: This means you know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING. Or think you do. Which makes you a conceited idiot.
B. Answer Yes: This means that you know enough to know that you DON'T know everything. Which if anything makes you honest about where you are in the scheme of things. How many electrical engineers do you know who can tell you the best way to make duck breast in duck confit?
Question 5:
Do you find expressing emotions difficult even though you have them?
Sorry... lost the plot there. Do people have trouble expressing emotions? Sure - all the time. That's because they're emotions. Feelings cannot be easily expressed because they just *are* - they have no meaning other than how they feel. There is no referent. You're somewhere between not at all and extremely on the sad/happy/angry/jealous/upset/whatever axes. These things lend to poetry more than anything else -- which is why people have difficulty expressing them; after all, not many people can write poetry.
Question 6:
Do you feel yourself to be somewhat clumsy ?
Clumsiness is for the most part a learned skill. It's spatial awareness, observation, remembering your body's space and limits, and body-eye coordination.
Question 7:
As a kid did you feel more interested in complex things like science or weather rather then playing GI joe?
Where you a conscientious objector in the back-yard wars?
Did your playmates call you a commie?
Did they lock you up and stick a white feather in your hair?
Some people don't like playing with dolls. Sorry. And some people have an interest in complex things *and* play games. Like pretending you have super powers. Or building traps in the back yard and having your very own Indiana Jones style base called Trapmania.
Question 8:
Do you find yourself to be somewhat compulsive?
I'm a smoker. Yes.
I go on shopping sprees when the discounts are on at Macy's. Yes.
I just can't be seen dead outside the house without putting on my makeup and toenail polish. Yes.
I watch Survivor every week. Yes.
I have both conditions that match autism and aspergers so I am unique. For example I can easily handle most social situations but I am clumsy and have poor eye and hand coordination. To this day I can not play a piano with two hands. The mechanism in the brain that divides the signals to my hands does not work properly. My left hand will play the rhythm of my right and my right would play the rhythms of my left.
Congratulations. That also happens to the rest of the population the older they are when they try to learn the piano. It also applies to juggling -- there is a hump you have to get over, after which it becomes easy. But getting over that hump is the hard part.
In complex situations like in relationships, I can notice my difficulties. I do not do well when women are not real direct about how they feel. Why do women do this?
To confuse men. Try listening to a men-orientated talk radio show some time. You'll see that you are not alone.
Good God, don't get me started. I have a strong feeling that the social breakdown in North America is largely due to that fact. Women's lib, minority rights, etc.. etc.. Sure we all have rights, but if the rights of the few cancel the rights of the many, there's a BIG problem.
It's an even bigger problem if the rights of the many cancel the rights of the few.
Take slavery for example.
Or the holocaust.
Or the separation of church and state.
Or phone, sewer and electricity service for people who live outside a major city.
Actually, that error is caused by someone displaying the code returned from GetLastError() when no error has actually occurred. The only error is that the programmer didn't check the error codes correctly and see that there wasn't really one. :)
But those who think themselves "poor" or just scraping by (with the "help" of %18 credit card debt and a huge house they shouldn't have bought and a care that isn't 15 years old) -- those people should know the value of money, cause they've managed to run out of it.
Just for the record... 15 year old cars cost more to run than a brand new car -- if you don't know much about cars.
When I first moved to the states in late 1997, I ended up with a 1983 Plymouth Horizon.
Within less than 6 months, I'd already sank $2,000 of my less than $40,000 a year paycheck (in Washington DC) into it. I paid $1000 for it. My boss sold it to me. All round, I got screwed on the deal.
If you know and understand how cars work - and have the time and space to work on one - you can keep a 15 year old car running. But frankly, even paying off a 5 year loan on a cheap Dodge Neon is *cheaper* than that if you're not a trained auto mechanic.
Me? I'm a software developer. Not an auto mechanic.
Simon
Nearly all of these use screens. You look at the screen, you're not looking a the road. All of these use button interfaces, which increases the possiblity of distraction / loss of control. To make a truly useful car computer, you need a fully audio interface.
If you'd clicked on any of the links in the article, you would have seen that the control interface is voice-based as well as pushbutton.
While you're at it disable Remote Registry while you are at it. It truly amazes what services Microsoft deems the average user needs running. I find the whole concept of Remote Registry particularly disturbing.
"Cool this service allows people to modify my registry remotely, sweet!"
You do realize that you have to provide authentication (ie. username/pwd) for this to work, don't you? You can't just wander around networks checking out others' systems.
Simon
How could he possibly name them if they are secret?
How can anyone decide if he's making it up or not?
If you take that logic path, you're going to have problems. If it's a secret, then it's just as likely that they don't use any APIs, and he just doesn't know what he's talking about.
Any good developer can mimic IEs behavior exactly. With equal performance. The only difference is that typically Microsoft pays people to make it work fast -- when most other copmanies are just happy if something ships before marketing blows a gasket.
Simon
that's all anyone ever does. Gateway with their commercial of their computer jumping over imacs, ms copying apple's switcher ads, everyone comparing their MP3 players to an ipod... if nothing else, apple innovates ...
Um, djcatnip, you did know that the iPod was Apple's version of Creative's Nomad, didn't you?
The only new thing here is that Creative are finally able to use the ultra-small drives, unlike previous models which used laptop 2.5" drives.
Simon
You could drop $100-$2000 on your development system for a product that's limited to few languages, doesn't support C anymore, and can't run anywhere but Windows, and has a UI that keeps changing, rendering old skills obsolete.
1. If you're that worried about the UI changing, use the command-line compile tools.
2. It does support C. Try compiling some C some time and see.
3. Yes, I don't know about you, but it's really important that my compiler run on an Acorn Archimedes. That, after all, is my day-to-day workstation -- I only use a PC on my coffee breaks.
A class that provides VC++ examples is fine. But one that requires you to write "VC++" code rather than C++ code, is a waste of time.
Bear in mind that the original poster could be describing the language he's programming in as "VC++", in much the same way that people call ECMAScript "Javascript", or that some people will describe their email client as "Windows".
Simon
The disk compression technology was 'lifted', if I dismember correctly, from STAC Electronics...
You don't remember correctly. It was a patent infringement case.
You know, like that JPEG patent recently? Except this one covered compressing on the fly to disk.
Think of it as an early equivalent of 1-click ordering. ie. something a completely newbie could invent in 5 minutes.
Simon