My first reaction was "I think what Bill G is really saying is 'our realeses suck ass anyway, just buck up and pay to be a beta tester'." But after readting the article:
...Microsoft will release updates every six to eight weeks until the product is finished, said Tom Rizzo, director of product management for SQL Server.
...Because of the change in the license and the quality of the code, Microsoft expects 50,000 customers to move production applications onto the beta versions of Visual Studio 2005 and the.Net Framework, the software needed to run applications.
Oh, I get it... five years ago every body signed annual licence contracts, paid out the whazoo to get the next version 'free', but the next versions never came out. So now we have a new license where you get to spend a lot of money, and this time you really really will get some updates!
FWIW, I know that I feel much better after four hours of sleep than I do after six; I always assumed that the reason the extra sleep left me groggy was that I was being jarred awake from deep sleep (details here). I find sleep fascinating, and always enjoy reading the disussions on it -- especially on how to get the most out of it. It seems like quite a safe tuning parameter to optimize, and a lot easier to get into than nootropics.
I gladly, and with out hesitation, welcome our brain-monitoring alarm clock overlords.
No, this is about effective communication. When was the last time an HTML email conveyed something other than the poor taste and color blindness of the sender? How well does your cell phone render blinking periwinkle Comic Sans on a light grey background? And how much time is your secetary going to waste while she diligintly changes each letter to a different color of the rainbow?
It is not about being anachronstic; it is about being practical. Email is a technology best limited to text/plain in 7 bit ASCII (for English speaking users at least).
Unfortunatly, you can't rely on ASCII art 'cause retarded MUAs (like gmail) won't display messages in a mono-spaced font. That is a feature I've been requesting for ages.
And your argument of using style for structured communication is bunk. What does colors and fonts have to do with your message, and how are they going to render in pine? Bullet points? What's wrong with an asterik?
If you want to sell me something, send me the URL of a webpage. If you want to effectivly communcate with me, send me a plain ASCII email. If you need back up images, send links to web page, but for the love of god don't email them to me.
So, AOL brought a ton of "Me, Too!"'s to USENET. I suppose slashdot's contribution of banality to the internet is "mod up!" comments, which I even see on mailing lists these days:-/
Curious that the "first image on the web" is a JPEG with over 77 thousand colors... especially as Mosaic didn't get inline.jpg support until Spring '95, if I recall correctly.
People looking to rewrite history should do their homework first:-)
Sp2 is great for the average Joe who uses his box for email and pr0n, but if you are using your computer as a scientific instrument, then installing Sp2 changes (and breaks) too many things.
Maybe the lab is using the wrong tools... if everyone will generally agree that "XP is the best MS has done so far, but really isn't revolutionary otherwise", do you really need a mouse cursor with drop shadows on a lab instrument? Wouldn't a purpose-specific OS -- or at the very least a much more basic OS -- be ideal?
Or at the very least, isolate the fuck out of these computers. If the hardware driver says "works with Windows XP and XP SP1", then realize that these computers will never be updated: disable the god damn web browser, kill IIS and every other service, throw them on their own firewalled subnet. If the lab techs need email & web access, provide them with dedicated computers just for that purpose.
I mean really... your lab instuments shouldn't be downloading "fixes" for "changing the default music store link", adding support for languages no one in your company can read, or installing the latest Media Player.
Last summer I had to explain this to my new 24-year-old coworker, who thought it was funny that one of our computer labs was full of old computers that bragged (with the above logo) about being "digital"
Response #1: "Why, sonny, you just just be thankful you weren't here last year... when we had all those micro computers!"
Response #2: "When I was your age, we all had three-button optical mice!"
Response #3: "Son, you say another ingorant thing like that that and I'll replace your desktop with a VT100 connected to a VAX running VMS."
Uhm, no. Everything in a base install, even if not turned on, has undergone a code audit... I'm fairly certain that the OpenBSD versions of sendmail, bind, and "the webserver formerly known as Apache" have all had many security-related patches applied, not all of which were accepted back into their respective main code branches.
Anyway, for a Cluefull User I highly recommend OpenBSD - the documentation kicks ass, and the user community is great at helping those that help themselves (i.e. as long as you've done your homework, they've always been quick to help).
Once in a blue moon I have to explain to someone that no, not everyone has FooBarBaz market research organizer, since for most the $800 license cost for it would be more beneficially used for other things, and they will probably need to examine such data files once in their career, if that.
I know it's illegal, but there was a torrent for the latest FooBarBaz on SuprNova just before it got shot down... you may be able to still find it out there.
Slashdot Mirror
Then silently nod your head and move on to the next post.
And be thankfull that there isn't a -1 "Me, Too!" mod.
My first reaction was "I think what Bill G is really saying is 'our realeses suck ass anyway, just buck up and pay to be a beta tester'." But after readting the article:
Oh, I get it... five years ago every body signed annual licence contracts, paid out the whazoo to get the next version 'free', but the next versions never came out. So now we have a new license where you get to spend a lot of money, and this time you really really will get some updates!
FWIW, I know that I feel much better after four hours of sleep than I do after six; I always assumed that the reason the extra sleep left me groggy was that I was being jarred awake from deep sleep (details here). I find sleep fascinating, and always enjoy reading the disussions on it -- especially on how to get the most out of it. It seems like quite a safe tuning parameter to optimize, and a lot easier to get into than nootropics.
I gladly, and with out hesitation, welcome our brain-monitoring alarm clock overlords.
Wait a second, we're missing an important point here:
You go to a bar where you can buy a beer for a buck? Where is this little slice of heaven?
No, this is about effective communication. When was the last time an HTML email conveyed something other than the poor taste and color blindness of the sender? How well does your cell phone render blinking periwinkle Comic Sans on a light grey background? And how much time is your secetary going to waste while she diligintly changes each letter to a different color of the rainbow?
It is not about being anachronstic; it is about being practical. Email is a technology best limited to text/plain in 7 bit ASCII (for English speaking users at least).
Unfortunatly, you can't rely on ASCII art 'cause retarded MUAs (like gmail) won't display messages in a mono-spaced font. That is a feature I've been requesting for ages.
And your argument of using style for structured communication is bunk. What does colors and fonts have to do with your message, and how are they going to render in pine? Bullet points? What's wrong with an asterik?
If you want to sell me something, send me the URL of a webpage. If you want to effectivly communcate with me, send me a plain ASCII email. If you need back up images, send links to web page, but for the love of god don't email them to me.
GM may be scrapping their electric cars, but by weeks end I should have my '80s vintage RC-10 up and running again.
Dear Troll,
Are you refering to the money that DARPA un-donated to OpenBSD? If so, kindly provide some information to back your claims.
My grandparents are dead, you insensitive clod!
So, AOL brought a ton of "Me, Too!"'s to USENET. I suppose slashdot's contribution of banality to the internet is "mod up!" comments, which I even see on mailing lists these days :-/
Why, you'll want your Master Certified Web Professional Certification, of course.
Sure was... if they were using IE back in '92 ::snicker::
Curious that the "first image on the web" is a JPEG with over 77 thousand colors... especially as Mosaic didn't get inline .jpg support until Spring '95, if I recall correctly.
People looking to rewrite history should do their homework first :-)
Dammit. Let me correct that:
How did you find that porn?
Yeah? How did you find that port?
Maybe the lab is using the wrong tools... if everyone will generally agree that "XP is the best MS has done so far, but really isn't revolutionary otherwise", do you really need a mouse cursor with drop shadows on a lab instrument? Wouldn't a purpose-specific OS -- or at the very least a much more basic OS -- be ideal?
Or at the very least, isolate the fuck out of these computers. If the hardware driver says "works with Windows XP and XP SP1", then realize that these computers will never be updated: disable the god damn web browser, kill IIS and every other service, throw them on their own firewalled subnet. If the lab techs need email & web access, provide them with dedicated computers just for that purpose.
I mean really... your lab instuments shouldn't be downloading "fixes" for "changing the default music store link", adding support for languages no one in your company can read, or installing the latest Media Player.
s/ or / and /g
How is that any more unethical than having a sticker on a store-brand product that reads "If you like `Famous Brand', try this!"?
Sure, it sucks when someone looking for Widget realizes that Wagitt is a viable alternative, but I certainly don't see anything wrong with it.
Jebus Chrisp, man, you've just created a copy protection circumvention device! Off to the gallows with you!
fuck! Gotta go change it now...
Response #1: "Why, sonny, you just just be thankful you weren't here last year... when we had all those micro computers!"
Response #2: "When I was your age, we all had three-button optical mice!"
Response #3: "Son, you say another ingorant thing like that that and I'll replace your desktop with a VT100 connected to a VAX running VMS."
Uhm, no. Everything in a base install, even if not turned on, has undergone a code audit... I'm fairly certain that the OpenBSD versions of sendmail, bind, and "the webserver formerly known as Apache" have all had many security-related patches applied, not all of which were accepted back into their respective main code branches.
Anyway, for a Cluefull User I highly recommend OpenBSD - the documentation kicks ass, and the user community is great at helping those that help themselves (i.e. as long as you've done your homework, they've always been quick to help).
I don't need to know how far south of me my enemy is in order to hate him.
Jon Katz? Didn't he set us up the bomb?
Dammit, where's my "-1, Strained Pun" mod?
I know it's illegal, but there was a torrent for the latest FooBarBaz on SuprNova just before it got shot down... you may be able to still find it out there.