I liked the one issue I ever got. Then I think they dropped off my radar because they weren't available regularly and I quit looking. Too bad, I coulda been reading them all this time. I think their problem was lack of distribution and marketing. And to think, I've got the entire run of Wired in boxes in my closet.
Having just engaged in a spree of online shopping I noticed that it's not as great a deal as once thought. Sure, the price for my O'Reilly book is less than what I'd pay at the local B&N or Borders, or even from O'Reilly.com, but unless I "qualify" for free shipping, the cost of shipping negates the savings. Now with tax the savings are even less. So aside, from being able to find virtually anything I might be interested in buying in one place (the screen on my desk), what are the virtues of shopping online? Not only does it cost nearly the same, but I get to wait a few days to receive it.
Short of finding those rare collectibles and first editions on eBay or the like, I guess I'll start shopping locally.
What I noticed about nerds in high school (I was a stoner, almost as bad) was the incessant need to show how smart they were. Always correcting others in conversation, especially on obscure points. And with that Comic Book Guy tone of voice. It's not really about how smart, it's about social interaction.
I'm an advocate of interesting design in computer hardware, so I like this machine. Just like I like the iMac, and things like the new Dell Optiplex SX260s. In this day and age when we spend so much time in the presence, if not actually using our computer hardware,they should be appealing in appearance. We've come a long way from the strictly utilitarian beige boxes that the industry started out with, and I hope more manufacturers will jump on the aesthetic bandwagon.
This being Slashdot, I know there'll be the inevitable chorus of "I don't care what my computer looks like, just how it performs" from the hardcore crowd. And they're welcome to their opinon. Sheer horsepower over design has it's place, I guess. But the intimate relationship we have with our machines in our "digital lifestyle" now begs for beautiful industrial design. And I think companies like Alienware, and some of the server manufactuers have straddled the performance and design lines quite well. Heck, think of how pretty the Crays were. There's surely a desire in the market, look at all the casemod sites.
Now what we need to see is price, performance, and interesting/beautiful/even quirky design to converge and become standard.
"This post is a terrific example of why users hate developers.
It has been proven people learn and think differently. People (at least end users -- that is to say, people with lives) use the computer to get work done. It's a tool, just like a hammer. A carpenter can't keep re-learning how to use a hammer over and over. A writer or assistant or office worker can't afford to keep re-learning how to use their tools (like computers).
someone who can't figure out that the "align center" button has moved three places over
Oh, please. You are going out of your way to insult people. While some may have that trouble, you might be working with someone who learns best by location and spatial relationships. Was there any reason to change that interface?"
Horseshit! I'm not a developer, but I support an office full of "end users", and I can tell you that 99% of users won't make the intellectual equivalent of lifting a finger to try to understand the software they've been using for several years, much less something new. I write documentation explaining how to use their systems and they don't bother to even skim it. The "Help" menu seems to be invisible to them, and they'd rather bitch and moan about how hard it is to use the computer, rather than make an effort to learn how to use it.
If you ignore the sticker printed in 7 languages on the hammer that says to wear eye protection when using it because you think the effort is beneath you, then you deserve to get a scratched cornea when a splinter flies up and hits you in the eye.
I agree that developers should not radically change the way an application is used during a new version unless it's absolutely unavoidable. In fact there should be standards on that sort of thing, if there aren't already. On the other hand I have not a bit of pity for people who refuse to learn to use the tools necessary to do their jobs. You don't have to be an expert on hammer history and manufacturing to take the time to learn how to use it properly to build something with it.
Re:Bad customer service
on
Baked Apple
·
· Score: 1
What's your point? She bought a computer. It WAS a notebook computer, but now it'll need to be a desktop if she wants to use it without laying out the grand for repairs.
Bad customer service
on
Baked Apple
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
So, if it still works, why doesn't the guy call the lady up and tell her. She could buy an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse (that's less than $1000), and still have a computer that works. Instead of wasting the thousands of dollars that she spent on it completely.
Re:OLD soda cans, tennis balls and Aquanet
on
Potato Bazookas
·
· Score: 1
Heh. We used duct tape instead of solder, and butane. Jeez, I know what I'm doing this weekend. (Where's that first aid kit?)
Amen. Two words: Petro Fascist. The entire cabinet is made up of ex oil executives. Is it any wonder that we want a "war" with Iraq? And what about the big push to restrict our personal freedoms, Ministry of Homeland Security? Total Information Control. Don't be surprised if elections get cancelled because of a National emergency because of the "war".
At the risk of being flamed to death: While I kinda like the idea of the Segway, think about it, how many sidewalks in your city are wide enough to accomodate two segways passing each other in opposite directions? Now factor in room for the pedestrian traffic. Try walking down the sidewalk on Clark Street between Halsted and Diversey in Chicago sometime and imagine having Segways too. There's barely room enough for peds, and as it is you're dodging parking meters. And this is a hugely busy area with tons of shopping and lots of pedestrian traffic.
Basically for these things to work as a routine form of transportation, we'd need to create a Segway lane, either on the sidewalk, or in the street. And since the bicycle lane has barely been implemented, I doubt you're gonna get city governments to pony up the money to rebuild sidewalks, or add lanes in the streets.
Kamen must've had visions of those futuristic cities with wide boulevards and flying cars when he came up with the Segway. It's just not practical. Though we should use this technology for the people who need wheelchairs and the like.
I tried to switch users over to Mozilla in a small office of less than 30 machines, with a varied OS and machine set. The plan came to a screeching halt when I found I couldn't import peoples' (sometimes extensive and well organized) bookmarks reliably. This was version 1.2, I don't know if bookmark handling has gotten better.
"I must have downloaded/purchased hundrerds of Windows apps over the years and I have NEVER, let me say that again, NEVER found myself in a situation where I had to go "get" something to make that application run."
Dude you've never had a windows app missing a.dll, or that had a conflicting.dll? Never had to go download DirectX*.* to get something to work? Dude, how long ya been in the business again?
I didn't pay for.Mac 'cause I thought it redundant to the somewhat-clunky-but-included-with-the-fee features from my ISP. But to not have iTunes, or iPhoto...
Re:Spielberg Over the Hill?
on
Taken?
·
· Score: 1
Yeah, that must be it.
Re:Spielberg Over the Hill?
on
Taken?
·
· Score: 1
What bothers me about your argument PJ, is that you use pretty second rate movies to illustrate your points. There's no arguing that Star Wars and The Matrix were popular, and will be considered classics, but there are a plethora of movies that are much better that you could use to make your point. Blade Runner comes to mind, Forbidden Planet, Alien, 2001. But I suspect you'd like Aliens better than Alien, which would make me want to dismiss you summarily. Personally I like my movies to have a sense of wonder, bordering on fear when I think of SF. Mood, atmosphere. Compare the creepy scene in AI where the kid's trying to make Mom see him more as a kid and he eats the greens and his face starts to melt to the silly-ass rocket pack scene in Minority Report.
But I see your point. I liked 2010 better than 2001, it was more accessible. Then again, when I originally saw 2001, first run in the theatre, I was just a little kid. The videophone was amazing to me. I loved seeing the thing it was based on at the Museum of Science & Industry. But again, both movies have that sense of wonder at the unknown and danger. Movies nowadays are too predictable. They use special effects as crutch at the expense of good screen writing. How about Gattaca, or Smilla's Sense of Snow? Great ideas, good acting, good filmmaking.
That CEO is an insensitive clod! What a jerk! You oughta place a trashcan in the lobby (covertly) with a sign on it and see how many employees toss theirs in. Hmm, maybe not covertly, I wouldn't want to work at a place like that.
Anyway, all this complaining about bonuses...I work in higher education. We get a "holiday" party. Though it's not easy to be bitter about it. I chose to work in education, I have way better than average job security, good benefits, and a relatively low stress job. And an office with a door. I just don't make as much as people in business do. Then again, I have a job.
Re:Spielberg Over the Hill?
on
Taken?
·
· Score: 1
To continue the dairy analogy: Minority Report is Cheez Whiz, and AI an imported Stilton. Minority Report appeals to the unsophisticated gee-whiz-flashing-lights-pretty-colors-action movie crowd, and AI to the give-me-a-story-and-some-concepts-with-my-gee-whiz -flashing-lights-and-pretty-colors movie crowd. Both are cheese. Both will give you the runs if you're lactose intolerant. Either one's better when it sits on a Ritz.
Running Linux, 4th Edition By MattWelsh,Matthias KalleDalheimer,TerryDawson,LarKaufman 4th EditionDecember 2002 0-596-00272-6, Order Number: 2726 692 pages, $44.95 US, $69.95 CA, £31.95 UK
Essential System Administration, 3rd Edition By ÆleenFrisch 3rd EditionAugust 2002 0-596-00343-9, Order Number: 3439 1176 pages, $54.95 US, $85.95 CA, £38.95 UK
The SF (?) book I'd most like to see made into a movie at this point is Samuel Delany's Dhalgren. Very little SFX needed and a truly moody, strange, story. But it'd be difficult to mute the sexuality enough to make it viable for mainstream. And the homosexuality themes would make it too controversial for the average american to handle. Then again, Oz has had a good run on HBO.
Okay, Bill was excessively reserved. I realize the man must be much more busy than I am, but if he's not going to make an effort, why bother at all. All the questions presented seemed respectful, well-reasoned, and insightful, he could have given at least as much in his replies. It seemed like a blow-off. Doesn't he realize that/. is as valid a journalistic medium as any other he's likely to talk to these days. And you can argue that point all you want, but the dot scoops Wired all the time, and probably has more readers. It ain't the New York Times,...thank god. Barbara Walters wouldn't have let him get away with this.
And though I loathe anything in the Star Trek franchise post-TOS, I was looking forward to getting some insight into the captain. Kinda disappointing. (and I saw first episode when it originally aired on TV.)
Dang! I used to drive by there every once in a while and I always meant to check it out. What worries me is the phrase "The City of Chicago acquired most of the collection of The Time Museum, Rockford, Illinois in 1999, and the new National Time Museum of Chicago is on exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry . Some of the instruments are at the Adler Planetarium." Whaddaya mean "most"?! So that means the entire collection isn't intact. Dang! Guess I didn't care that much, since I didn't notice the Museum's demise until nearly three years later. Oh well.
"I'd like to see where they're getting this information. While I'm aware of some overlap, I just don't see a lot of Unix/Linux admins running Apples."
"IBooks at the O'Reilly P2P Conference by Tim O'Reilly Nov. 8, 2001
The ibook was definitely the laptop of choice at the O'Reilly P2P Conference in Washington DC. I didn't do any scientific sampling, but the darn things seemed to be everywhere. Nice bright screen, airport card neatly inside the case instead of sticking out, reasonably light weight and small size, and the best of the GUI and UNIX worlds. What's not to like? I think I might like the ibook even more than the platinum powerbook, which is also pretty darn cool (and heavily in evidence as well). That these machines were so heavily in use by this gathering of alpha geeks may suggest good things for Apple and OS X.
Tim O'Reilly is founder and president of O'Reilly & Associates and an activist for Internet standards and for open source software."
" Sorry, but that doesn't wash. From what I've seen, Macs are not immune to conflicts by any stretch (if they are, explain Conflict Catcher)...Ooops!!"
Oops, is right! Like they guy in the thread said, most people here bashing the Mac haven't used one ever, or in years. OS X, doesn't need conflict catcher since it doesn't use MacOS extensions or Control Panels, or whatever the other things were called(except in Classic, if you have that installed). I switched back in 95 to Linux & Win because of work and the hardware fiascos Apple was foisting on us. And I didn't switch back until OS X because I felt the newer versions of Windows (NT, 2000), and Linux, were less prone to crashing . That said, As soon as Apple looked viable again, (read OS X shipping), I jumped right back on the bandwagon.
Apple, and the programmers producing code for Macintosh, just do things a little better, more elegantly. For example, one of the FUDs against Apple has always been, "There's less software for Macs than PCs". And there's a reason for that. There's less pure useless crap applications out there for Mac. There's software out there to do everything a PC does, you just don't have to wade through so much garbage shareware to find it.
I will say this though, since Windows2000, PCs have been tons easier to deal with. I support an office full of PCs, and the Win2K machines are a breeze. Mostly.
Slashdot Mirror
"Is giving this front page coverage on slashdot.org going to help things?"
Probably not, but it sure is fun mocking clueless pundits.
I liked the one issue I ever got. Then I think they dropped off my radar because they weren't available regularly and I quit looking. Too bad, I coulda been reading them all this time. I think their problem was lack of distribution and marketing. And to think, I've got the entire run of Wired in boxes in my closet.
Having just engaged in a spree of online shopping I noticed that it's not as great a deal as once thought. Sure, the price for my O'Reilly book is less than what I'd pay at the local B&N or Borders, or even from O'Reilly.com, but unless I "qualify" for free shipping, the cost of shipping negates the savings. Now with tax the savings are even less. So aside, from being able to find virtually anything I might be interested in buying in one place (the screen on my desk), what are the virtues of shopping online? Not only does it cost nearly the same, but I get to wait a few days to receive it.
Short of finding those rare collectibles and first editions on eBay or the like, I guess I'll start shopping locally.
What I noticed about nerds in high school (I was a stoner, almost as bad) was the incessant need to show how smart they were. Always correcting others in conversation, especially on obscure points. And with that Comic Book Guy tone of voice. It's not really about how smart, it's about social interaction.
I'm an advocate of interesting design in computer hardware, so I like this machine. Just like I like the iMac, and things like the new Dell Optiplex SX260s. In this day and age when we spend so much time in the presence, if not actually using our computer hardware,they should be appealing in appearance. We've come a long way from the strictly utilitarian beige boxes that the industry started out with, and I hope more manufacturers will jump on the aesthetic bandwagon.
This being Slashdot, I know there'll be the inevitable chorus of "I don't care what my computer looks like, just how it performs" from the hardcore crowd. And they're welcome to their opinon. Sheer horsepower over design has it's place, I guess. But the intimate relationship we have with our machines in our "digital lifestyle" now begs for beautiful industrial design. And I think companies like Alienware, and some of the server manufactuers have straddled the performance and design lines quite well. Heck, think of how pretty the Crays were. There's surely a desire in the market, look at all the casemod sites.
Now what we need to see is price, performance, and interesting/beautiful/even quirky design to converge and become standard.
"This post is a terrific example of why users hate developers.
It has been proven people learn and think differently. People (at least end users -- that is to say, people with lives) use the computer to get work done. It's a tool, just like a hammer. A carpenter can't keep re-learning how to use a hammer over and over. A writer or assistant or office worker can't afford to keep re-learning how to use their tools (like computers).
someone who can't figure out that the "align center" button has moved three places over
Oh, please. You are going out of your way to insult people. While some may have that trouble, you might be working with someone who learns best by location and spatial relationships. Was there any reason to change that interface?"
Horseshit! I'm not a developer, but I support an office full of "end users", and I can tell you that 99% of users won't make the intellectual equivalent of lifting a finger to try to understand the software they've been using for several years, much less something new. I write documentation explaining how to use their systems and they don't bother to even skim it. The "Help" menu seems to be invisible to them, and they'd rather bitch and moan about how hard it is to use the computer, rather than make an effort to learn how to use it.
If you ignore the sticker printed in 7 languages on the hammer that says to wear eye protection when using it because you think the effort is beneath you, then you deserve to get a scratched cornea when a splinter flies up and hits you in the eye.
I agree that developers should not radically change the way an application is used during a new version unless it's absolutely unavoidable. In fact there should be standards on that sort of thing, if there aren't already. On the other hand I have not a bit of pity for people who refuse to learn to use the tools necessary to do their jobs. You don't have to be an expert on hammer history and manufacturing to take the time to learn how to use it properly to build something with it.
What's your point? She bought a computer. It WAS a notebook computer, but now it'll need to be a desktop if she wants to use it without laying out the grand for repairs.
So, if it still works, why doesn't the guy call the lady up and tell her. She could buy an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse (that's less than $1000), and still have a computer that works. Instead of wasting the thousands of dollars that she spent on it completely.
Heh. We used duct tape instead of solder, and butane. Jeez, I know what I'm doing this weekend. (Where's that first aid kit?)
Amen. Two words: Petro Fascist. The entire cabinet is made up of ex oil executives. Is it any wonder that we want a "war" with Iraq? And what about the big push to restrict our personal freedoms, Ministry of Homeland Security? Total Information Control. Don't be surprised if elections get cancelled because of a National emergency because of the "war".
At the risk of being flamed to death: While I kinda like the idea of the Segway, think about it, how many sidewalks in your city are wide enough to accomodate two segways passing each other in opposite directions? Now factor in room for the pedestrian traffic. Try walking down the sidewalk on Clark Street between Halsted and Diversey in Chicago sometime and imagine having Segways too. There's barely room enough for peds, and as it is you're dodging parking meters. And this is a hugely busy area with tons of shopping and lots of pedestrian traffic.
Basically for these things to work as a routine form of transportation, we'd need to create a Segway lane, either on the sidewalk, or in the street. And since the bicycle lane has barely been implemented, I doubt you're gonna get city governments to pony up the money to rebuild sidewalks, or add lanes in the streets.
Kamen must've had visions of those futuristic cities with wide boulevards and flying cars when he came up with the Segway. It's just not practical. Though we should use this technology for the people who need wheelchairs and the like.
I tried to switch users over to Mozilla in a small office of less than 30 machines, with a varied OS and machine set. The plan came to a screeching halt when I found I couldn't import peoples' (sometimes extensive and well organized) bookmarks reliably. This was version 1.2, I don't know if bookmark handling has gotten better.
"I must have downloaded/purchased hundrerds of Windows apps over the years and I have NEVER, let me say that again, NEVER found myself in a situation where I had to go "get" something to make that application run."
Dude you've never had a windows app missing a .dll, or that had a conflicting .dll? Never had to go download DirectX*.* to get something to work? Dude, how long ya been in the business again?
"Believe me dude, I'm a computer pro."
Dude, I believe you, I believe you.
Yeah, you're right, but not to have the most recent up to date... I'll pay, I'll pay!
I didn't pay for .Mac 'cause I thought it redundant to the somewhat-clunky-but-included-with-the-fee features from my ISP. But to not have iTunes, or iPhoto...
Yeah, that must be it.
What bothers me about your argument PJ, is that you use pretty second rate movies to illustrate your points. There's no arguing that Star Wars and The Matrix were popular, and will be considered classics, but there are a plethora of movies that are much better that you could use to make your point. Blade Runner comes to mind, Forbidden Planet, Alien, 2001. But I suspect you'd like Aliens better than Alien, which would make me want to dismiss you summarily. Personally I like my movies to have a sense of wonder, bordering on fear when I think of SF. Mood, atmosphere. Compare the creepy scene in AI where the kid's trying to make Mom see him more as a kid and he eats the greens and his face starts to melt to the silly-ass rocket pack scene in Minority Report.
But I see your point. I liked 2010 better than 2001, it was more accessible. Then again, when I originally saw 2001, first run in the theatre, I was just a little kid. The videophone was amazing to me. I loved seeing the thing it was based on at the Museum of Science & Industry. But again, both movies have that sense of wonder at the unknown and danger. Movies nowadays are too predictable. They use special effects as crutch at the expense of good screen writing. How about Gattaca, or Smilla's Sense of Snow? Great ideas, good acting, good filmmaking.
That CEO is an insensitive clod! What a jerk! You oughta place a trashcan in the lobby (covertly) with a sign on it and see how many employees toss theirs in. Hmm, maybe not covertly, I wouldn't want to work at a place like that.
Anyway, all this complaining about bonuses...I work in higher education. We get a "holiday" party. Though it's not easy to be bitter about it. I chose to work in education, I have way better than average job security, good benefits, and a relatively low stress job. And an office with a door. I just don't make as much as people in business do. Then again, I have a job.
To continue the dairy analogy: Minority Report is Cheez Whiz, and AI an imported Stilton. Minority Report appeals to the unsophisticated gee-whiz-flashing-lights-pretty-colors-action movie crowd, and AI to the give-me-a-story-and-some-concepts-with-my-gee-whiz -flashing-lights-and-pretty-colors movie crowd. Both are cheese. Both will give you the runs if you're lactose intolerant. Either one's better when it sits on a Ritz.
Running Linux, 4th Edition
By MattWelsh,Matthias KalleDalheimer,TerryDawson,LarKaufman
4th EditionDecember 2002
0-596-00272-6, Order Number: 2726
692 pages, $44.95 US, $69.95 CA, £31.95 UK
Essential System Administration, 3rd Edition
By ÆleenFrisch
3rd EditionAugust 2002
0-596-00343-9, Order Number: 3439
1176 pages, $54.95 US, $85.95 CA, £38.95 UK
O'Reilly, of course. And get a less than $5 distribution set on CDs. A good solid base.
The SF (?) book I'd most like to see made into a movie at this point is Samuel Delany's Dhalgren. Very little SFX needed and a truly moody, strange, story. But it'd be difficult to mute the sexuality enough to make it viable for mainstream. And the homosexuality themes would make it too controversial for the average american to handle. Then again, Oz has had a good run on HBO.
And though I loathe anything in the Star Trek franchise post-TOS, I was looking forward to getting some insight into the captain. Kinda disappointing. (and I saw first episode when it originally aired on TV.)
http://www.timemuseum.com/
"I'd like to see where they're getting this information. While I'm aware of some overlap, I just don't see a lot of Unix/Linux admins running Apples."
"IBooks at the O'Reilly P2P Conference
by Tim O'Reilly
Nov. 8, 2001
The ibook was definitely the laptop of choice at the O'Reilly P2P Conference in Washington DC. I didn't do any scientific sampling, but the darn things seemed to be everywhere. Nice bright screen, airport card neatly inside the case instead of sticking out, reasonably light weight and small size, and the best of the GUI and UNIX worlds. What's not to like? I think I might like the ibook even more than the platinum powerbook, which is also pretty darn cool (and heavily in evidence as well). That these machines were so heavily in use by this gathering of alpha geeks may suggest good things for Apple and OS X.
Tim O'Reilly is founder and president of O'Reilly & Associates and an activist for Internet standards and for open source software."
" Sorry, but that doesn't wash. From what I've seen, Macs are not immune to conflicts by any stretch (if they are, explain Conflict Catcher)...Ooops!!"
Oops, is right! Like they guy in the thread said, most people here bashing the Mac haven't used one ever, or in years. OS X, doesn't need conflict catcher since it doesn't use MacOS extensions or Control Panels, or whatever the other things were called(except in Classic, if you have that installed). I switched back in 95 to Linux & Win because of work and the hardware fiascos Apple was foisting on us. And I didn't switch back until OS X because I felt the newer versions of Windows (NT, 2000), and Linux, were less prone to crashing . That said, As soon as Apple looked viable again, (read OS X shipping), I jumped right back on the bandwagon.
Apple, and the programmers producing code for Macintosh, just do things a little better, more elegantly. For example, one of the FUDs against Apple has always been, "There's less software for Macs than PCs". And there's a reason for that. There's less pure useless crap applications out there for Mac. There's software out there to do everything a PC does, you just don't have to wade through so much garbage shareware to find it.
I will say this though, since Windows2000, PCs have been tons easier to deal with. I support an office full of PCs, and the Win2K machines are a breeze. Mostly.