Two of the three best programmers I know have no interest in role playing games, or game coding. They work primarily with hardware interface/control and embedded systems.
However, I can imagine game programming talent might benefit from RP playing.
About the only thing I've disliked about Apple/Mac over the years is the cost associated with being a "closed" architecture. Linux is great for the hobbiest/hacker and large organizations that can maintain a knowledgable IT staff. The basic home user lacks the technical skills, and even the desire to learn something so different.
"The company wants future PCs to contain a security technology called Palladium, and is in discussions with Intel Corp. and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to develop the chips..."
According to Mario Juarez, group product manager for the content security business unit at Microsoft; "We're talking here about rearchitecting the PC platform."
Many end-users will surely dislike Palladium's DRM features, but "if you're the Hollywood people, you're thrilled," said Martin Reynolds, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn. (Reynolds was briefed on Palladium by Microsoft.)
When asked whether users would be required to run Windows in order to take advantage of Palladium's features, Juarez replied, "The short answer is 'yeah.'"
In a related note, Microsoft was recently awarded a U.S. patent on a "digital rights management operating system".
One thing to remember is they will be debugging only "currently supported" products. All those individuals and small companies still running Win95 and Win 3.x for compatibility and/or financial reasons are still screwed.
How about the injuries and thefts?
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This is IT?
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· Score: 1
The first time someone clips a curb, or loses balance and falls into traffic the lawsuits and recalls will start flying. Seventeen miles per hour top speed? Ride a bicycle at 17 MPH and see how quickly you can stop. Now imagine you're riding a "Segway" and a car suddenly pulls out of a driveway. Better be wearing your MedicAlert bracelet!
Bicycle theft is a huge problem. These things will be easier to snatch and far more profitable for thieves. The diagram/pics show no obvious means for securing the thing to a bike rack, telephone pole, etc..
They made great break-away walls for smashing my Hot Wheels into. As far as a construction toy, yeah, they're severely limited. Good for the really young -- no tiny screws and nuts to swallow.
Advertisers are not receiving adequate response for the amount of money they sink into online ads. The proliferation of in-your-face pop-up ads was their first response. Those still don't generate the desired traffic. They mistakenly believe that this is caused by ad blocking software. Marketing types can't believe that anyone can possibly resist their clever, highly targeted advertising campaigns. Therefore, too many folks must be blocking the ads -- if they see the ads, they won't be able to resist them. The marketers fail to realize that the largest group of ad-blocking users are people like us. We're not going to click on the ads even if they are forced upon us. If anything, we are less likely to as a form of protest.
Like any publicly traded company, Microsoft's only real requirement is to make money for it's investors. Now, most any other firm does that by providing a better product/service than their competitors, thus gaining market share and increasing revenue. Obviously, there is no additional market share for Microsoft to grab. Until now, Microsoft has relied on upgrade-churn for much of their revenue. Their upgrade releases have come closer and closer together, relying on the many customers that always want the latest version (regardless of need). Now they've hit the wall -- they're releasing new versions before customers have time to roll-out the last one. Customers have responded by not rushing out and embracing XP. What's left for MS? This latest licensing scheme is an act of desparation.
I've been warning friends and customers for a couple of years now to avoid getting caught in the Microsoft trap. I'm happy to say I've managed to save at least a couple of small businesses from this insanity.
There is a cost associated with running a computer, either you pay it with time learning how to run/configure/maintain it, or you pay it with dollars paying the consultant to take care of it for you.
This is generally true. However, for those without the money many public libraries offer free use of PCs with internet access.
In his address to the nation September 20, the President asked for cooperation with other countries' intelligence agencies, police, and banking systems. I see this raising the issue of the so-called "New World Order" repudiated by so many radical militant groups here in America. Do we now have to fear terrorist acts from these groups? Would they strike against only political and military facilities? Of course, "political facilities" are public buildings, therefore many civilians would be directly involved. Certainly the FBI tracks the activities of radical groups of all types, so I have to believe that they're watching closely for this possibility. However, I have not seen any recent coverage in the newspapers or television.
I would be very interested in seeing a comparison to other sites statistics.
Re:Time for some highly unpopular opinion...
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Handling the Loads
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Thanks NMerriam. I've been feeling much the same sentiment, but couldn't quite put it all together so succinctly. While I don't necessarily agree with your exact words, it's really just semantics. It is really a classic case of "damned if we do, damned if we don't".
More realistic information
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Nanotech at Work
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· Score: 2, Informative
I release software as open source because I learned so much from other people's work (and still do). I was extremely fortunate to have several very intelligent people help me learn programming. Source code was passed around without a second thought. We learned from each other. The openness made us more productive -- three or four brains working on one problem. Perhaps above all, it makes programming fun!
Best of luck with your meeting! For a Congressman to actively seek opinions from "one of us" gives me some hope.
This is one of the first steps in Microsoft's HailStorm initiative.
In my opinion Microsoft's ultimate desire is to have every personal computer's (nay, every device with a microprocessor) power switch replaced with a credit card reader.
Yet another urban legend
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Duct Tape
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Neither the NRC nor the EPA show any record of Golf Manor (the city in which this supposedly occurred), nor of David Hahn. (There is a David Hahn-Baker listed as a member of an advisory board.)
Re:Take this with a grain of salt.
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Pentium IV study
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"There is no way that one of our systems is going to overheat the P4 and cause it to slow down."
How about they actually produce a better product for a reasonable cost to consumers?
"Better product"? He's talking marketing here, not products. I won't even get into the whole "better products" and "Microsoft" issue.
I just find it constantly amazing how anyone who can even entertain the notion that freedom and computing have ANY relationship to Apple Corp. Bash Microsoft all you like, but let's not forget that it was those evil folks that made it possible for the seperation of the hardware from the OS. No, some mainframe at MIT doesn't count either, nor does some kit machine. Before MS-DOS hit the streets, darn near any machine available to us consumer types had a closed architecture with a closed OS.
Microsoft did not create MS-DOS. MS bought rights to Seattle Computer Products' 86-DOS. The only software that MS ever truly created (as far as I can determine) is BASIC.
If any group is to be credited with opening up computing to the masses, I have to say it was IBM. IBM's decision to build an "open architecture" machine is why the PC world exists as it does.
Slashdot Mirror
Two of the three best programmers I know have no interest in role playing games, or game coding. They work primarily with hardware interface/control and embedded systems.
However, I can imagine game programming talent might benefit from RP playing.
About the only thing I've disliked about Apple/Mac over the years is the cost associated with being a "closed" architecture.
Linux is great for the hobbiest/hacker and large organizations that can maintain a knowledgable IT staff. The basic home user lacks the technical skills, and even the desire to learn something so different.
A related story presented by Computerworld, Microsoft plans security chip for next Windows , raises as many questions as it provides answers.
"The company wants future PCs to contain a security technology called Palladium, and is in discussions with Intel Corp. and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to develop the chips..."
According to Mario Juarez, group product manager for the content security business unit at Microsoft; "We're talking here about rearchitecting the PC platform."
Many end-users will surely dislike Palladium's DRM features, but "if you're the Hollywood people, you're thrilled," said Martin Reynolds, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn. (Reynolds was briefed on Palladium by Microsoft.)
When asked whether users would be required to run Windows in order to take advantage of Palladium's features, Juarez replied, "The short answer is 'yeah.'"
In a related note, Microsoft was recently awarded a U.S. patent on a "digital rights management operating system".
One thing to remember is they will be debugging only "currently supported" products. All those individuals and small companies still running Win95 and Win 3.x for compatibility and/or financial reasons are still screwed.
We've got customers still sending us data on 9-track. Guess they'll be stocking up!
You need to check SmartHome.com
Wires, Cables, Jacks
Guide to Cable Types
The first time someone clips a curb, or loses balance and falls into traffic the lawsuits and recalls will start flying. Seventeen miles per hour top speed? Ride a bicycle at 17 MPH and see how quickly you can stop. Now imagine you're riding a "Segway" and a car suddenly pulls out of a driveway. Better be wearing your MedicAlert bracelet!
Bicycle theft is a huge problem. These things will be easier to snatch and far more profitable for thieves. The diagram/pics show no obvious means for securing the thing to a bike rack, telephone pole, etc..
It's possible for the same reasons we always see when Microsoft gets involved. They corrupted HTML, C++, JAVA, etc. Why should POP be any different?
What took so long for these guys to speak up? I just hope the sentiment spills over to the consumer market.
GREED!
Building Erector set models certainly helped me learn about bracing load bearing structures. I've bent more than a few Erector girders.
Also, I'm sure those science class molecular models originally started with Tinker Toys.
They made great break-away walls for smashing my Hot Wheels into. As far as a construction toy, yeah, they're severely limited. Good for the really young -- no tiny screws and nuts to swallow.
Advertisers are not receiving adequate response for the amount of money they sink into online ads. The proliferation of in-your-face pop-up ads was their first response. Those still don't generate the desired traffic. They mistakenly believe that this is caused by ad blocking software. Marketing types can't believe that anyone can possibly resist their clever, highly targeted advertising campaigns. Therefore, too many folks must be blocking the ads -- if they see the ads, they won't be able to resist them. The marketers fail to realize that the largest group of ad-blocking users are people like us. We're not going to click on the ads even if they are forced upon us. If anything, we are less likely to as a form of protest.
I've been warning friends and customers for a couple of years now to avoid getting caught in the Microsoft trap. I'm happy to say I've managed to save at least a couple of small businesses from this insanity.
He really got the jump on Microsoft!
There is a cost associated with running a computer, either you pay it with time learning how to run/configure/maintain it, or you pay it with dollars paying the consultant to take care of it for you.
This is generally true. However, for those without the money many public libraries offer free use of PCs with internet access.
The full text of the President's speech is here.
I would be very interested in seeing a comparison to other sites statistics.
Thanks NMerriam. I've been feeling much the same sentiment, but couldn't quite put it all together so succinctly. While I don't necessarily agree with your exact words, it's really just semantics. It is really a classic case of "damned if we do, damned if we don't".
Scientific American devoted most of the September issue to nanotechnology. Including specific topics such as medicine, computer circuitry, and nano-scale machines (a.k.a., nanobots)
http://www.sciam.com/nanotech
Best of luck with your meeting! For a Congressman to actively seek opinions from "one of us" gives me some hope.
You may find some helpful information from the following articles:
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Freeware Creators Eye Corporate Users
In my opinion Microsoft's ultimate desire is to have every personal computer's (nay, every device with a microprocessor) power switch replaced with a credit card reader.
Neither the NRC nor the EPA show any record of Golf Manor (the city in which this supposedly occurred), nor of David Hahn. (There is a David Hahn-Baker listed as a member of an advisory board.)
So you haven't actually TESTED it yet, eh?
"Better product"? He's talking marketing here, not products. I won't even get into the whole "better products" and "Microsoft" issue.
I just find it constantly amazing how anyone who can even entertain the notion that freedom and computing have ANY relationship to Apple Corp. Bash Microsoft all you like, but let's not forget that it was those evil folks that made it possible for the seperation of the hardware from the OS. No, some mainframe at MIT doesn't count either, nor does some kit machine. Before MS-DOS hit the streets, darn near any machine available to us consumer types had a closed architecture with a closed OS.
Microsoft did not create MS-DOS. MS bought rights to Seattle Computer Products' 86-DOS. The only software that MS ever truly created (as far as I can determine) is BASIC.
If any group is to be credited with opening up computing to the masses, I have to say it was IBM. IBM's decision to build an "open architecture" machine is why the PC world exists as it does.
Care for a few links on the subject?