Another issue that has not yet been mentioned is time. Print magazines have a 2-3 month lead time at best. I run a small Australian video games web site, and I found it interesting that we were covering E3 the major games magazine, Hyper, which came out during E3 won't have any coverage until next month.
Video games, web, and technology all move too fast for that sort of print schedule. We can have articles up in 20 - 30 seconds, with links to further information, etc.
To the poster above who said tech journalism is failing because it's just regurgitated press releases I agree. And gaming journos are on the leading edge of the leading edge of that failure. I wrote about that in my last editorial.
English is a bad example, because it's so complex and fundamentally broken. "Studied" or not the English language follows neither rhule nor ryme. It's inkonsistent in everything from punch ew ation to grandma.
Other spoken languages, such as Japanese (the only other language I know well enough to comment on) are far more logical, far more internally consistent, and far more distinct in terms of synonyms, etc.
Don't get me wrong, a computer program will never replace true understanding of a language. At best it's going to be a "near enough" cludge, like babelfish (the website translator, not the vastly superior language eating fish). Some things suffer translation badly if at all, like idiom, irony, social conventions, slang, etc.
But suggesting that if something is not going to work with English then it's not going to work at all is a little misleading.
This is a very valid question. My host (liquidweb.com) has quite old versions.
My guess is that most hosts won't offer it for quite a while, at least, not in the neatly packaged cPanel interface I've become used to. Will take a while for cPanel, etc, to update.
Of course, it depends on your hosting plan, etc. If you've got a dedicated server your chances of convincing them to upgrade are OK. If you're sharing a virtual server, you've got no chance.
I like the way Apple have done a lot of things, but the lemming-like parade to call them "innovative" seems to me vastly overdone.
It seems bizarre to me that people are so impressed with Apple's dressing up of existing technologies. I remember watching a news report (one of those morning shows) where someone was ranting about how cool this "new" iPod was, and how amazing it was that you could fit 10,000 songs on it. And I wondered (and still wonder) how the hell the iPod became such a "new" thing when it was pretty much exactly the same as a Creative Nomad Jukebox, which were out years before.
Don't get me wrong, the iPod is a far better product in every way, but to suggest Apple innovated in digital music is like saying Honda innovate by making good cars.
What Apple do is take existing concepts and do them... better. They also (especially thanks to the iPod) have distribution channels that aren't open to other manufacturers. Sure e-duck, goldBerg, Sanyung, etc, might have better products. But without actually searching them out, where do you find them?
Apple have a habit of not messing things up. Despite lesser technical specs, they tend to one-up the competition in usability, and in just not having aspects that suck.
As a good example, the PSP is far better for video than the new iPods, with a bigger, higher detail screen. But good luck actually getting video onto the damn thing, and there's no TV-out. And the Creative Vision is a great idea, but marred by being... well... awful. I spent the weekend playing with one, and it's very ordinary, despite the potential.
While the competition keeps playing the game with their shoes tied together, there will continue to be a market for Apple.
They don't have to innovate. They just have to continue to get things pretty much right.
Cars are a danger, and a menace. Our cities and our lives are built around cars, rather than the other way around.
That's the way our society works, though. Immediate gratification of the individual, regardless of the long-term or greater good.
That being said, though, if we're going to have the damn things around I don't realy think automating them is a bad idea. I'm not saying I'm 100% comfortable with it either, but cars kill more people than anything, and surely that would be 95% or more driver error, NOT mechanical failure.
Americans are amazingly opposed to "legislating" anything.
I'm not talking about things like the Patriot Act, etc. I'm talking about Seat Belts, Motorcycle Helmets, etc.
Smokers seem to think their habit doesn't affect other people. That the choice is their own to make.
Not true. I will consider smoking acceptable when ALL of the following is no longer a factor.
Smokers stepping off a bus or train and lighting up sending that first big puff my way.
Smokers standing outside buildings, creating a toxic cloud at the entrance that I have to walk through.
Smokers throwing their cigarette butts out of the car into bushland where it can start fires. I'm in Australia, and this is a MAJOR problem.
Smokers throwing cigarette butts on the ground. It's filthy. If I did that with my coke bottles or gum wrappers I'd be considered a filthy pig. Same rule applies. Don't do it.
Smoking causes death. Sorry, but that's a fact. And while I don't actually care that smokers die I DO care about the drain they place on a healthcare system that could be better used to treat people who don't deserve what they get. Sorry to sound harsh, but if you still smoke now, you DESERVE lung cancer. You've been warned enough.
I personally think smoking should be outlawed. Banned altogether. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it will happen any time soon, but I DO think it will happen eventually.
In Australia, for example, in 2007 it will be illegal to smoke in Bars and Clubs. I believe they're looking at extending that to public parks and gardens as well. Good.
Smoking is a clutching remnant of a long dead time. It's addictiveness is the ONLY reason it is still accepted in a society that views even butter as unhealthy, and "double dipping" as unclean.
Sorry, but this is silly. MS software is a valid option. I'm a graphic/web designer. I need network access. Clearly Linux/Unix is NOT an option for me (Photoshop), nor is it for a large number of users.
I will concede that the Windows family has more exploits and holes than every other OS combined by far. But that's because everyone and their pet goat is using it. And if everyone is using it... it needs access.
I'm assuming you're talking about end-users, not about e-week's central server setup. If you were, and I've missed your point, ignore me. I do that a lot.
This is network security management, not a small latin american country. Dictatorship is an entirely valid system in this case. This enables the more knowledgable person who is responsible for securing the systems to "dictate" how things have to be.
Granted in all cases where systems have to be changed some dialog is necessary to establish reasons for existing security flaws, etc, but when considering that the needs of both parties might sometimes clash there's still no good reason compromises cannot be made in some cases. It's simply up to the admin what he/she can and can't compromise on.
This is what I immediately thought too. Also Creative make one (Nomad Jukebox NX Xtra or something). It's 60 gig, but a little bigger than iRiver's H140 (40 gig, and my personal pick) or the iPod. Though the "cheaper" alternatives aren't really cheaper any more, since apple's price drops, and the lower the price, generally the size increases with the capacity (using notebook drives, etc).
Hell, depending on how much space you need exactly, the iPod Mini packs 4 gig of storage into a really small size, though ditto the cheaper 4 gig equivalents from Creative, et al.
Personally I prefer something like an iPod over dedicated portable storage. Largely because... well... you can listen to stuff. I mean, if you're going to have to lug something around, it might as well be cool, and it might as well have some Radiohead choons on it.:)
I think the point he was making was that the percentage of the population that even knows what md5 IS, let alone cares about a possible close collision, is miniscule.
When you think about it, a near collision between an asteroid and the EARTH barely makes the paper.:D
Not a criticism, by the way. This is a specialist site, for specialists. However, this particular bit of news is (quite rightly) particularly specialized, even for Slashdot.:)
This is clearly NOT what the hollywood people want. Who would? That's nonsense.
What they want to do is protect their investments and their assets. Don't get me wrong, I am not putting in my blanket support of DRM. What I'm trying to say is that I DO believe Hollywood, music producers, etc, have a right to protect their assets.
To suggest that "information wants to be free" and then include the latest Britney Spears album in that is pretty much an offense to Jefferson and any other "Founder" you want to mention.
The consumer wants everything. Free and on demand, no protection, no limits. The content producers want everything paid for, limited, and locked down. Somewhere there has to be a middle ground providing consumer-friendly digital access to IP properties, while still requiring those properties to be paid for and protected.
Sorry, but I don't happen to believe you SHOULD be able to download the latest DVD movies or albums for free just because you want to.
This IS true. You can install them to where you want. I meant more a matter of "by default". Granted that not every situation would please everyone, but.... oh well. At least I would be happy, and that's really all that counts.:)
BTW, I'm not a warez hound at all, I buy all my titles. Which is why I usually wait for the Mac port to be released...
While not intending to mock your choice of gaming platform (yet;)) I don't really see a causative link of any kind there. You buy your titles because you wait for Mac ports? Couldn't you just buy the PC version? Software piracy on the PC might be common, but it's not actually compulsory. I just don't quite get it.
No, it would have to be something not connected to the maker of the program. A database listing, presumably run by MS. A quick lookup of a text string and maybe some sort of "possibly bad" flag. Granted this doesn't solve all problems, as that would require connectivity, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
IMHO Microsoft needs to address spyware, adware, junkware issues with a greater urgency than worms and viruses. Viruses (someone told me Virii is wrong) affect a lot of people, but proportionally, not all THAT many. Spyware and junkware affect a much higher number of people, though to a less catastrophic degree.
While I would disagree on principle with anything that says the Mac is any good at all (joking), this does raise some valid points.
Windows machines DO get slower with time. Proper maintenance, uninstalling spyware, removing unneeded TSR programs, regularly updating windows, etc, can assist in this, it is FAR too difficult for the average user.
"Stuff that starts when Windows starts" needs to be given a higher priority to the user. Even most experienced users I know aren't aware you can use msconfig to modify or remove all the CRAP that gets installed.
This important a tool to be hidden like that is ridiculous. Microsoft claims that 80% of their support now is for problems related to spyware. Good. Then make it easier for (L)users to see what their computer is actually DOING and why. Don't call them "processes" and list all the windows processes as well. And put some information with them. Knowing that OSCDX is running means nothing to most people. (I made it up. It IS nothing.) But some sort of connection should be made between a process name, and a descriptive text. "Loader program for Gator advertising software", for example. Have a button to connect to a DB and FIND the file if need be.
Additionally, we need education. People need to know that the 14 things they have running in their system tray are slowing the computer down. Why can XP tell you that you have icons on your desktop you haven't used, but can't pop up a window as you start saying "I notice you have a large number of programs running from startup. These slow your computer down. Click here to select ones you're not using to remove them."
Another thing that bothers me about software is inconsistency of installation. For example, if you install 3 games, each of them will decide to be in a different folder. I HATE that. I hate having to remember "is this game by EA? Or Maxis? Or Fox Interactive? Valve? Vivendi?" just to be able to play it. If I install "Doom 3" I want the link to be in "Start - All Programs - Games - Doom3". Games - Half Life 2. Games - Sims 2. Don't make us remember the publishers, you stupid bastards. We don't care. Oh, and you're allowed to install an icon to the desktop, to tempt me to play when I'm supposed to be working. But only ONE. Do not link to your exe, help file, a web link, uninstall file, etc.
Oh, and the top of the start bar is NOT an acceptable place for software to install to. ICQ I'm looking at you.
I'm not an American, but I have to say that I think some of the amendments have a certain amount of validity. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to a trial by jury, etc, are all fundamental human rights. The fact that they are AMENDMENTS rather than original parts of the constitution is interesting. Frankly, if you're ditching amendments, start with the "right to bear arms". Shudder.
Suggesting senators and delegates not get paid is probably the worst suggestion I've ever heard though. Then they basically HAVE to take the big bucks from special interests. I know what you're saying about the day jobs, though. The concept of politicians who actually WORK for a living is an appealing one.
And yes, I would certainly agree about governments supporting big business instead of the people. Australia has the same problem.
My personal view is that no political system works.
Monarchy relies on the assumption that hereditary leaders will not be incompetent (and sane). Socialism relies on altruism and self-sacrifice for the greater good. Democracy relies on the (incorrect) assumption that the public is worthy of an opinion. I could go on.
There's just one exception. Capitalism. Capitalism relies only on people's greed. And THAT is a definite winner. Relying on people's greed and selfishness will ALWAYS work.
A quick search on google shows that this is a photoshop job. Just a damn good one.
It's from Worth1000.com, a website that is worth ANYONE'S time, for it's brilliant imagery. Worth1000 images are all photoshop modified, and by the best. They're rarely intended to "fool" the viewer, rather they are all made to fit a theme, to win a competition.
Am not sure what the specific competition here was, but the following graphic http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/outreach/mastodon/ aerial-views.html clearly shows the same area that is in the giant skeleton pic. Insert diggers and a human skeleton closeup and you're there.
Oh, and to answer your question, I couldn't tell you what's wrong with this pic either, other than the unlikely content. Clearly this was created by a VERY skilled photoshopper. Props to whoever did it.
More like comparing an Audi to a Peugot, or a BMW. Both luxury performance products with preferences being largely subjective.
That being said, for the price of your Audi I'd prefer a Suburu WRX ST-i:)
Also, I have no idea what a Geo Metro is, so I may be talking out my ass. I assume it's a low end car?
Anyway, the Creative Nomad Zen is a good product. Very good. The 60 Gig NX model sells for less than a 20 gig iPod. Sorry, less than it DID. Not counting the price drop.
It looks (and this is subjective) far cooler than the iPod, in brushed aluminium, and is far less Mac-centric. It also doesn't wipe itself if you try to use it in a different computer.
It plays WMA (which is important to me) and MP3. All the reviews I've seen are very positive on it. There's just one major difference.
It's just too big. Considering the technology is IDENTICAL to the iPod (same hard drive, etc), why is it so much bigger?
The phrasing of some of these statistics is so iffy.
57% actually imitated porn So what does that mean. They saw a girl tied up in a magazine so they tied a girl up in the same way? It's not like that the porn contributed to the rape. Just some of the details therein.
91 percent of the males and 82 percent of the females admitted having been exposed to X-rated, hard-core pornography. Um. So? Exposed how? They got into their dad's (or mum's, let's be honest) porno collection? Or some dirty old man sat them down and forced them to watch while they cried, appalled and upset? I suspect the first one.
31 percent of the males and 18 percent of the females admitted actually doing some of the things they had seen in the pornography within a few days after exposure. So what they're saying, if I read correctly is that thirty one percent of males and 18 percent of females got laid? Talk about mixing up cause and effect.
"When the trees sway back and forth... that's what makes the wind."
Give teenagers SOME credit. They were rooting long before surveys, and long before porn.
Indeed. "Affordable" is an iffy term. It's entirely subjective. When is it affordable for YOU? Well, right about the time you decide you want one enough to stick your money on the counter.
And yeah, I don't really see the price of these things going down. Much like computers. We'll see the prices stay the same, but the features, performance (read: storage space) go up. A lot.
No, the drive inside is a hard drive (with aforementioned moving parts). You're possibly thinking of the Microdrive Iomega sold (and I think were made by IBM) which, just like this, were a standard (though small) spinning platter, mounted and built in such a way as to connect to the CF format. Not the same thing.
Kind of like those horribly expensive Ram Drive things are just large sticks of ram bunged into a format that means they can be attached like a hard drive. That doesn't MAKE them a hard drive. It's the same thing. Well... the exact opposite technically.
I actually think this is a little harsh. My flatmate just got a new phone, a 3G phone on the 3 network (here in Australia, UK, and a few other places).
It's the Sony Ericssen (sp?) Z1010010100101. Can't remember. Something binary. Anyway, it's an awesome phone. It's worth pointing something out to the people complaining about too many features. Yes, if you want them there SHOULD be phones with simpler features around. Not everyone needs a camera. Not everyone needs bluetooth. Not everyone needs an MP3 player. But in my personal opinion, if I'm going to be carrying around some sort of electronic device, the more it can do, the better. It can play MP3s? Great. I'll listen to it on the bus on the way to work. It can take pictures? Great, I'll take pictures while I'm out partying and send them to my mates to make them jealous. It can play movie trailers? It can play games? Great! Oh... wait. They're shit. Oh well. I have a Gameboy for now.
The point to me is that not everyone using these features is a 15 year old girl. I'm 28 myself. I just like toys. And I figure if I have to carry around something, I want to get the most benefit out of it I can. If my cool phone means I don't need to buy/carry an mp3 player, bargain! If my cool phone means I can take sneaky pictures down girls tops on the bus... um... forget I said that.
Slashdot Mirror
Another issue that has not yet been mentioned is time. Print magazines have a 2-3 month lead time at best. I run a small Australian video games web site, and I found it interesting that we were covering E3 the major games magazine, Hyper, which came out during E3 won't have any coverage until next month.
Video games, web, and technology all move too fast for that sort of print schedule. We can have articles up in 20 - 30 seconds, with links to further information, etc.
To the poster above who said tech journalism is failing because it's just regurgitated press releases I agree. And gaming journos are on the leading edge of the leading edge of that failure. I wrote about that in my last editorial.
One of my all time favourite quotes is VERY applicable here:
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.
The reason this was done as a live bot exersize instead of a simulation? Wisdom.
Given the success of World of Warcraft EA might see this as more of a cash cow than a sacrificial lamb.
English is a bad example, because it's so complex and fundamentally broken. "Studied" or not the English language follows neither rhule nor ryme. It's inkonsistent in everything from punch ew ation to grandma.
Other spoken languages, such as Japanese (the only other language I know well enough to comment on) are far more logical, far more internally consistent, and far more distinct in terms of synonyms, etc.
Don't get me wrong, a computer program will never replace true understanding of a language. At best it's going to be a "near enough" cludge, like babelfish (the website translator, not the vastly superior language eating fish). Some things suffer translation badly if at all, like idiom, irony, social conventions, slang, etc.
But suggesting that if something is not going to work with English then it's not going to work at all is a little misleading.
Agreed - row (as opposed to full table) locking + full-text would be nice. They're both handy features, and it's a pity they're mutually exclusive. :(
This is a very valid question. My host (liquidweb.com) has quite old versions.
My guess is that most hosts won't offer it for quite a while, at least, not in the neatly packaged cPanel interface I've become used to. Will take a while for cPanel, etc, to update.
Of course, it depends on your hosting plan, etc. If you've got a dedicated server your chances of convincing them to upgrade are OK. If you're sharing a virtual server, you've got no chance.
Here here.
I like the way Apple have done a lot of things, but the lemming-like parade to call them "innovative" seems to me vastly overdone.
It seems bizarre to me that people are so impressed with Apple's dressing up of existing technologies. I remember watching a news report (one of those morning shows) where someone was ranting about how cool this "new" iPod was, and how amazing it was that you could fit 10,000 songs on it. And I wondered (and still wonder) how the hell the iPod became such a "new" thing when it was pretty much exactly the same as a Creative Nomad Jukebox, which were out years before.
Don't get me wrong, the iPod is a far better product in every way, but to suggest Apple innovated in digital music is like saying Honda innovate by making good cars.
What Apple do is take existing concepts and do them... better. They also (especially thanks to the iPod) have distribution channels that aren't open to other manufacturers. Sure e-duck, goldBerg, Sanyung, etc, might have better products. But without actually searching them out, where do you find them?
Apple have a habit of not messing things up. Despite lesser technical specs, they tend to one-up the competition in usability, and in just not having aspects that suck.
As a good example, the PSP is far better for video than the new iPods, with a bigger, higher detail screen. But good luck actually getting video onto the damn thing, and there's no TV-out. And the Creative Vision is a great idea, but marred by being... well... awful. I spent the weekend playing with one, and it's very ordinary, despite the potential.
While the competition keeps playing the game with their shoes tied together, there will continue to be a market for Apple.
They don't have to innovate. They just have to continue to get things pretty much right.
I agree in large part.
Cars are a danger, and a menace. Our cities and our lives are built around cars, rather than the other way around.
That's the way our society works, though. Immediate gratification of the individual, regardless of the long-term or greater good.
That being said, though, if we're going to have the damn things around I don't realy think automating them is a bad idea. I'm not saying I'm 100% comfortable with it either, but cars kill more people than anything, and surely that would be 95% or more driver error, NOT mechanical failure.
Lost Race is right. It's a little long, but it's valid.
High cromulence rating.
Americans are amazingly opposed to "legislating" anything.
I'm not talking about things like the Patriot Act, etc. I'm talking about Seat Belts, Motorcycle Helmets, etc.
Smokers seem to think their habit doesn't affect other people. That the choice is their own to make.
Not true. I will consider smoking acceptable when ALL of the following is no longer a factor.
I personally think smoking should be outlawed. Banned altogether. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it will happen any time soon, but I DO think it will happen eventually.
In Australia, for example, in 2007 it will be illegal to smoke in Bars and Clubs. I believe they're looking at extending that to public parks and gardens as well. Good.
Smoking is a clutching remnant of a long dead time. It's addictiveness is the ONLY reason it is still accepted in a society that views even butter as unhealthy, and "double dipping" as unclean.
Sorry, but this is silly. MS software is a valid option. I'm a graphic/web designer. I need network access. Clearly Linux/Unix is NOT an option for me (Photoshop), nor is it for a large number of users.
I will concede that the Windows family has more exploits and holes than every other OS combined by far. But that's because everyone and their pet goat is using it. And if everyone is using it... it needs access.
I'm assuming you're talking about end-users, not about e-week's central server setup. If you were, and I've missed your point, ignore me. I do that a lot.
This is network security management, not a small latin american country. Dictatorship is an entirely valid system in this case. This enables the more knowledgable person who is responsible for securing the systems to "dictate" how things have to be.
Granted in all cases where systems have to be changed some dialog is necessary to establish reasons for existing security flaws, etc, but when considering that the needs of both parties might sometimes clash there's still no good reason compromises cannot be made in some cases. It's simply up to the admin what he/she can and can't compromise on.
This is what I immediately thought too. Also Creative make one (Nomad Jukebox NX Xtra or something). It's 60 gig, but a little bigger than iRiver's H140 (40 gig, and my personal pick) or the iPod. Though the "cheaper" alternatives aren't really cheaper any more, since apple's price drops, and the lower the price, generally the size increases with the capacity (using notebook drives, etc).
:)
Hell, depending on how much space you need exactly, the iPod Mini packs 4 gig of storage into a really small size, though ditto the cheaper 4 gig equivalents from Creative, et al.
Personally I prefer something like an iPod over dedicated portable storage. Largely because... well... you can listen to stuff. I mean, if you're going to have to lug something around, it might as well be cool, and it might as well have some Radiohead choons on it.
I think the point he was making was that the percentage of the population that even knows what md5 IS, let alone cares about a possible close collision, is miniscule.
:D
:)
When you think about it, a near collision between an asteroid and the EARTH barely makes the paper.
Not a criticism, by the way. This is a specialist site, for specialists. However, this particular bit of news is (quite rightly) particularly specialized, even for Slashdot.
Jesus americans are paranoid sometimes.
This is clearly NOT what the hollywood people want. Who would? That's nonsense.
What they want to do is protect their investments and their assets. Don't get me wrong, I am not putting in my blanket support of DRM. What I'm trying to say is that I DO believe Hollywood, music producers, etc, have a right to protect their assets.
To suggest that "information wants to be free" and then include the latest Britney Spears album in that is pretty much an offense to Jefferson and any other "Founder" you want to mention.
The consumer wants everything. Free and on demand, no protection, no limits. The content producers want everything paid for, limited, and locked down. Somewhere there has to be a middle ground providing consumer-friendly digital access to IP properties, while still requiring those properties to be paid for and protected.
Sorry, but I don't happen to believe you SHOULD be able to download the latest DVD movies or albums for free just because you want to.
This IS true. You can install them to where you want. I meant more a matter of "by default". Granted that not every situation would please everyone, but.... oh well. At least I would be happy, and that's really all that counts. :)
BTW, I'm not a warez hound at all, I buy all my titles. Which is why I usually wait for the Mac port to be released...
While not intending to mock your choice of gaming platform (yet;)) I don't really see a causative link of any kind there. You buy your titles because you wait for Mac ports? Couldn't you just buy the PC version? Software piracy on the PC might be common, but it's not actually compulsory. I just don't quite get it.
No, it would have to be something not connected to the maker of the program. A database listing, presumably run by MS. A quick lookup of a text string and maybe some sort of "possibly bad" flag. Granted this doesn't solve all problems, as that would require connectivity, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
IMHO Microsoft needs to address spyware, adware, junkware issues with a greater urgency than worms and viruses. Viruses (someone told me Virii is wrong) affect a lot of people, but proportionally, not all THAT many. Spyware and junkware affect a much higher number of people, though to a less catastrophic degree.
While I would disagree on principle with anything that says the Mac is any good at all (joking), this does raise some valid points.
Windows machines DO get slower with time. Proper maintenance, uninstalling spyware, removing unneeded TSR programs, regularly updating windows, etc, can assist in this, it is FAR too difficult for the average user.
"Stuff that starts when Windows starts" needs to be given a higher priority to the user. Even most experienced users I know aren't aware you can use msconfig to modify or remove all the CRAP that gets installed.
This important a tool to be hidden like that is ridiculous. Microsoft claims that 80% of their support now is for problems related to spyware. Good. Then make it easier for (L)users to see what their computer is actually DOING and why. Don't call them "processes" and list all the windows processes as well. And put some information with them. Knowing that OSCDX is running means nothing to most people. (I made it up. It IS nothing.) But some sort of connection should be made between a process name, and a descriptive text. "Loader program for Gator advertising software", for example. Have a button to connect to a DB and FIND the file if need be.
Additionally, we need education. People need to know that the 14 things they have running in their system tray are slowing the computer down. Why can XP tell you that you have icons on your desktop you haven't used, but can't pop up a window as you start saying "I notice you have a large number of programs running from startup. These slow your computer down. Click here to select ones you're not using to remove them."
Another thing that bothers me about software is inconsistency of installation. For example, if you install 3 games, each of them will decide to be in a different folder. I HATE that. I hate having to remember "is this game by EA? Or Maxis? Or Fox Interactive? Valve? Vivendi?" just to be able to play it. If I install "Doom 3" I want the link to be in "Start - All Programs - Games - Doom3". Games - Half Life 2. Games - Sims 2. Don't make us remember the publishers, you stupid bastards. We don't care. Oh, and you're allowed to install an icon to the desktop, to tempt me to play when I'm supposed to be working. But only ONE. Do not link to your exe, help file, a web link, uninstall file, etc.
Oh, and the top of the start bar is NOT an acceptable place for software to install to. ICQ I'm looking at you.
I'm not an American, but I have to say that I think some of the amendments have a certain amount of validity. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to a trial by jury, etc, are all fundamental human rights. The fact that they are AMENDMENTS rather than original parts of the constitution is interesting. Frankly, if you're ditching amendments, start with the "right to bear arms". Shudder.
Suggesting senators and delegates not get paid is probably the worst suggestion I've ever heard though. Then they basically HAVE to take the big bucks from special interests. I know what you're saying about the day jobs, though. The concept of politicians who actually WORK for a living is an appealing one.
And yes, I would certainly agree about governments supporting big business instead of the people. Australia has the same problem.
My personal view is that no political system works.
Monarchy relies on the assumption that hereditary leaders will not be incompetent (and sane). Socialism relies on altruism and self-sacrifice for the greater good. Democracy relies on the (incorrect) assumption that the public is worthy of an opinion. I could go on.
There's just one exception. Capitalism. Capitalism relies only on people's greed. And THAT is a definite winner. Relying on people's greed and selfishness will ALWAYS work.
Though that depends how you define "working".
Matt
A quick search on google shows that this is a photoshop job. Just a damn good one.
/ aerial-views.html clearly shows the same area that is in the giant skeleton pic. Insert diggers and a human skeleton closeup and you're there.
It's from Worth1000.com, a website that is worth ANYONE'S time, for it's brilliant imagery. Worth1000 images are all photoshop modified, and by the best. They're rarely intended to "fool" the viewer, rather they are all made to fit a theme, to win a competition.
Am not sure what the specific competition here was, but the following graphic http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/outreach/mastodon
Oh, and to answer your question, I couldn't tell you what's wrong with this pic either, other than the unlikely content. Clearly this was created by a VERY skilled photoshopper. Props to whoever did it.
Matt
Not really a fair comparison.
:)
More like comparing an Audi to a Peugot, or a BMW. Both luxury performance products with preferences being largely subjective.
That being said, for the price of your Audi I'd prefer a Suburu WRX ST-i
Also, I have no idea what a Geo Metro is, so I may be talking out my ass. I assume it's a low end car?
Anyway, the Creative Nomad Zen is a good product. Very good. The 60 Gig NX model sells for less than a 20 gig iPod. Sorry, less than it DID. Not counting the price drop.
It looks (and this is subjective) far cooler than the iPod, in brushed aluminium, and is far less Mac-centric. It also doesn't wipe itself if you try to use it in a different computer.
It plays WMA (which is important to me) and MP3. All the reviews I've seen are very positive on it. There's just one major difference.
It's just too big. Considering the technology is IDENTICAL to the iPod (same hard drive, etc), why is it so much bigger?
The phrasing of some of these statistics is so iffy.
57% actually imitated porn So what does that mean. They saw a girl tied up in a magazine so they tied a girl up in the same way? It's not like that the porn contributed to the rape. Just some of the details therein.
91 percent of the males and 82 percent of the females admitted having been exposed to X-rated, hard-core pornography. Um. So? Exposed how? They got into their dad's (or mum's, let's be honest) porno collection? Or some dirty old man sat them down and forced them to watch while they cried, appalled and upset? I suspect the first one.
31 percent of the males and 18 percent of the females admitted actually doing some of the things they had seen in the pornography within a few days after exposure. So what they're saying, if I read correctly is that thirty one percent of males and 18 percent of females got laid? Talk about mixing up cause and effect.
"When the trees sway back and forth... that's what makes the wind."
Give teenagers SOME credit. They were rooting long before surveys, and long before porn.
Indeed. "Affordable" is an iffy term. It's entirely subjective. When is it affordable for YOU? Well, right about the time you decide you want one enough to stick your money on the counter.
And yeah, I don't really see the price of these things going down. Much like computers. We'll see the prices stay the same, but the features, performance (read: storage space) go up. A lot.
No, the drive inside is a hard drive (with aforementioned moving parts). You're possibly thinking of the Microdrive Iomega sold (and I think were made by IBM) which, just like this, were a standard (though small) spinning platter, mounted and built in such a way as to connect to the CF format. Not the same thing.
Kind of like those horribly expensive Ram Drive things are just large sticks of ram bunged into a format that means they can be attached like a hard drive. That doesn't MAKE them a hard drive. It's the same thing. Well... the exact opposite technically.
*note: may be utterly wrong.
I actually think this is a little harsh. My flatmate just got a new phone, a 3G phone on the 3 network (here in Australia, UK, and a few other places).
It's the Sony Ericssen (sp?) Z1010010100101. Can't remember. Something binary. Anyway, it's an awesome phone. It's worth pointing something out to the people complaining about too many features. Yes, if you want them there SHOULD be phones with simpler features around. Not everyone needs a camera. Not everyone needs bluetooth. Not everyone needs an MP3 player. But in my personal opinion, if I'm going to be carrying around some sort of electronic device, the more it can do, the better. It can play MP3s? Great. I'll listen to it on the bus on the way to work. It can take pictures? Great, I'll take pictures while I'm out partying and send them to my mates to make them jealous. It can play movie trailers? It can play games? Great! Oh... wait. They're shit. Oh well. I have a Gameboy for now.
The point to me is that not everyone using these features is a 15 year old girl. I'm 28 myself. I just like toys. And I figure if I have to carry around something, I want to get the most benefit out of it I can. If my cool phone means I don't need to buy/carry an mp3 player, bargain! If my cool phone means I can take sneaky pictures down girls tops on the bus... um... forget I said that.
Matt