perhaps this is off-topic - oh well - but, here are a few suggestions for other "fun" things to do with Slashdot for April Fool's day:
Caesar Cypher (3-letter shift of all posts/comments/articles)
Post everything backwards (either, all words printed in the reverse order that they should be, or actually spell each word backwards and then also place them in reverse order)
If you had a good way to do it.. flip Slashdot's entire page horizontally (so it looks like we're looking at it from the "backside")
reduce it to text only (ASCII Slashdot - News for Terminals, Stuff that Bytes (well, it is, after all, April Fool's Day.. nothing bad implied))
as someone else mentioned, binary only mode
Hexadecimal, anyone?
oo, I know,... write it all in (pick any, all, or one):
C
C++
Perl
PHP
HTML tags showing (ew)
PASCAL
Basic
Assembly
Fortran
Something evil: make, for all/part of the day (only April 1st, though.. any more, and we'll die of the agony) Slashdot a link to Microsoft.com (ok, maybe this one is a bit troll..)
we shoulda pulled a "late" Y2K trick...
suddenly make everyone an AC
Well, I ran out of good ideas, but you get the point. Maybe next year.....
That's exactly the problem with monopolies: When you are your only real competition, you tend to get fat and lazy, and the consumer suffers.
I agree, and not only that, but I think that when you're your own competition, your sense of innovation, if you have any, quickly declines because you begin to think, "Hey, they're alright with what they've got. It works. Why bother making something new?" The more new products you make, the more opportunities for someone to:
break them
make them
copy them (similar to making.. but, eh...)
find fault with them
investigate your practices - you'll draw attention to yourself. which can be good, can be bad.
make more money
give others an opportunity to challenge your monopoly, because to make many products, you either have to hire a lot more staff to make them all well, or you have to make them all but lower your standards
Therefore, it's easier to say "screw innovation" when you're a monopoly.
Or, you don't say "screw innovation" - yet you run out of ideas when all the people in your company are the same today as they were yesterday. They've still got the same ideas, the same terms of how they think things should go, the same problems to hash out, etc. So you hire new people. ok, fine. But still, if you're the only one out there in that market, what's your challenge? Where's the need for innovation when you've got no one to outsmart?
I thought I've heard before that *nices have to be POSIX compatible to be considered a *nic.. or is that just a recommended aspect of the OS? (or is it just a standard for Linux distros?)
I personally am not looking forward to any of these devices. Not only do I find them frivolous, but, as you mentioned, "Just think what a stalker could find out about you if they could easily hack your house."
I find these devices more inconvenient to use, because it would involve me making myself give up doing things that I normally and naturally do myself. I don't want some gadget to tell me what to eat or how to cook it. Some people may, however. Another thing I figure is that set up of all of this stuff would be an annoyance, if I'm to transfer my recipes, etc. to that fridge gizmo, etc, etc.
Show me a valid reason why these things are necessary, and I'll shut up. Til then, I'm going to keep bashing these things as making/inticing people to be lazy, wreaking havoc, hampering the security of homes, and generally wasting the money of those who buy them.
From the article, it sounds like they're having the trial all over again, which, I realize, is [part of] the point. However, I thought they were basically testing to see if the DNA-based evidence could/couldn't convict Dr. Sheppard. Yet, the article said:
Gilbert used video footage from Sheppard's first trial in 1954 and slides to illustrate his points, while prosecutors used a computer-generated model to give a virtual representation of the path the doctor claimed to have taken the morning of the murder.
So, why don't they just cut to the DNA sequencing and focus on that, since if that is proven to be conclusive, they can just ignore the rest and go ahead and make the Dr. innocent. That way, they'll also know that if the DNA evidence proves he's guilty (or, is inconclusive) they can either end the trial there and say he's a bad man or they can continue with the rest of their evidence and fight it out that way. The way they seem to be conducting the trial, it appears as though they're just making a drawn-out scene of it all...
I'm going to assume, by that little smiley face of yours, that you didn't mean anything against religion in your post - and neither do I in mine (i'm certainly not going for the flamewar side of life...) but...
I feel the urge to ask: why not for religion? I mean, for pete's sake, there are awards for all sorts of other fields, which are as valid for an award as religion. I wish that religion (among other fields, I'm sure... since I usually leave something out) wasn't such a "taboo"/uncommon field that we'd be tempted to say things like "especially in religion." In the name of investigation and intellectual pursuit (without, of course, detriment), I'm all for it. Go religion!
CT mentioned how you can rewind live tv. That is because the Tivo is constantly recording into a half hour buffer. This is a great feature, but there is no way to save this buffer.
I wonder if there could be a way that you could program/write a program that saves this buffer - you know, an open source project/hack to save the day?
Which brings up another question - how to get the program to work with the software that TiVo runs on (which I don't know anything about... oops). I realize that my questions are a bit muttled; I'm not sure of all that I'm talking about. I'm just assuming that there's somebody who is/could work on writing a program that could somehow "sneak in" and write that buffer to disk - say, an external drive that you connect somehow to the TiVo (via the modem ? does it have a network card? hmmm..)
IBM's betting the farm on the future of Linux and Open Source ideals taking off. Big Risk. Linux as fully mainstream does have a long way to go, but with big guns like IBM making so much noise, it allows Linux and similar efforts to ride on the PR coattails.
Yeah, it's possibly a big risk now (and my following observation may be heavily biased by hearing about Linux a lot through frequenting/.) but...
I'm thinking that it's not _that_ big of a deal, and that IBM isn't really (and knows that it isn't) sticking its proverbial neck out for Linux here. I mean, sure, Linux hasn't [completely] taken over "the desktop" yet, but we all know that Linux has been getting publicized a lot lately, and that a lot of people at least know about it, etc. Therefore, yes, go IBM! but I wouldn't sit there and give them a rubber cookie for their efforts..
To make it Jedicentric would disembowel a potentially rich and diverse universe.
I would think that to become a jedi knight would be a feat that would require much working up through the ranks, and much skill/test of knowledge, etc. I'm going to assume that somehow, somewhere, they'll have a Jedi who can initiate/train other Jedi, (because you've got to get your example of Jedi-ship from somewhere) but I obviously don't know how they'll choose that person. Maybe, as my first thought was, they'll have one of the creators begin the game a a Jedi,and, over time and as worthy individuals arise, new Jedi will emerge, and then the original can either continue or, if so chosen, retire from the position/die (if they have other things to do besides continue the game, etc...) Anyways, it's an interesting idea. Kudos if they get it working well.
I'm sure they have neato stuff, but I've only got one mp3 that came from that site (and I didn't get it myself) and I know it came from there because at the beginning of the song, there's an audio message that says "the best mp3s on the planet a mp3 dot com"
blah on them! do they still do that? I'm guessing no, since they're being recommended here, but if they do.. then what do you use to edit that clip away?
after all he's running a business in a cut-throat environment
Yep, that's right.. which brings us back to why we're posting these comments about Mr. Bezos: he patented a system so that he could have a competitive advantage in this cut-throat business he's in. So, in one way, I think the patents are really mean/dumb/unnecessary/etc.. but we can also say, "well, he's just looking out for himself."
And I agree, he's not likely to base his actions on/. and what we think. But perhaps we can help, so then our meager bickerings will not have been in vain.
The real elite of Linux understand the power of the system is its flexibilty.
I see your point in arguing that Linux is used by many and should therefore reach out to accomodate them, but I feel that the point you're posting in response to is the one with more support for it because Linux was created as an alternative by a person/small group who wanted it for themselves and figured it wouldn't get far. They never really dreamed (I think, but heck, i'm not sure) that they would end up making an OS that would achieve such wide usage or great acclaim. Still, hearken back to why it was created; and the fact that the creator/s never asked for such acceptance, nor did they shun it either. Delving into the world of Linux was primarily been a "if you wanna do it, go ahead. no one's going to do it for you." Thus the "if you think it's broke, fix it yourself" kind of attitude, etc. (sorry if my generalizations are wrong.) Therefore, if you think that developers of linux/oss should make "intuitive" interfaces as a service to their numerous users, I think you're wrong. I don't think they have to just to forward their cause. I think that yes, it could be a very good idea, as the article mentioned, if they want the popularity to continue. But if popularity is what's important now, then I think the spirit of Linux has been lost and we're now into the commercialization/winning the popularity contest over windows realm, which I think linux never intended to veer into. Furthermore, Linux is a "by the people, for the people" thing; yep, it was pretty much created by those who'll use it. However, I do realize that bunches and bunches of people use linux who didn't create it and couldn't have if they wanted to (me included.) I know i'm not the only one, but I'm not complaining. Sure, somebody probably is (otherwise, this debate wouldn't exist), but to begin to cater to those who can't pick it up just by glancing at it, you're compromising the spirit & operations of Linux.
on making a name that's well suited for its purpose.
on an off-topic note, the word "multiplex" brings to mind images of movie theaters (you know.. they're called multiplex's because they have multiple screens, yaddy yaddy ya....)
of course most of the people that use linux despise M$
Then again, some of the linux user base/newer linux user base could be people who're switching to linux because of external influence (i.e. someone said "aww, come on, try it" or something) and they may want to be able to keep their windows apps because they're just stubborn that way (or, if M$ had already ported it/made it available on the CD as either for win or linux), and they'd use it da dee da. Therefore, this might appeal to people who are already accustomed to Microsoft's product/interface and they like it/don't feel the need to find something new, or maybe they're just new to linux from the windows world and would rather have some small piece of windows familiarity. Of course, if I were the target audience, I wouldn't want the product, but i'm not everybody..
i've played nanosaur, and i'll admit it can be entertaining, but, in the grand scheme of things, is it really that worthwhile/fun a game? Then again, numerous games have that effect on people; it depends upon the person.
Therefore, my official idea is, "yeah, this is a good thing."
More software for linux always seems like a good idea to me (unless you want to get technical and talk about viruses, etc........)
maybe they should take note of the quote on./ for today: "People disagree with me. I just ignore them. -- Linus Torvalds, regarding the use of C++ for the Linux kernel"
and use that to teach c/c++ , if you're going to take the stance you have regarding quake code. Then again, I wouldn't know how complex (or simple, perhaps) code for the linux kernel is, so I wouldn't know how feasible that is. The thing to remember is that it's all in the name of good ol' learning, but, now that I think of it, they could start some kind of cool linux/OSS-based class(es) using linux kernel code, etc (i.e. code from other OSS projects) and analyze it, etc. Yet, as we all know, the vast majority of learning comes from experience/having to do something yourself.
Precisely so. The thing about artists and writers and creative people is that they have the license to create at their free will. If the Oscar people didn't like the song the way it is/was, then why did they nominate it?
Furthermore, to censor the song would be to alter it from its original & pure state, and to thus make a new entity of it, a lesser entity that doesn't represent the inspiration of Trey's that made him make it.
Darn upon censorship and those anal retentive peoples....
I just wonder how it is that (yes, I realize, among _other_ things) a resistor is 'integral' to making the card be a RAID controller... what's so important about the resistor that apparently allows it to wield such power?
Is it just that it impedes power to the part of the card that controls RAID? Also.. um, why make a card that can be used for RAID controlling, when you're not selling it as a RAID card? You know that someone's going to find out how to fix it sometime or other..
(If these questions were answered in the article, oops...........)
I, along with several others who I noted have replied below, have had experience with a Cyrix chip. My Compaq laptop runs on a Cyrix 233 chip MMX and the only thing I don't like about it is that it's slower than I'd like it to be. Sure, I'm not the expert and so I wouldn't be able to properly compare chips, but it performs well enough to do what I want it to do (run *cringe* Winamp, apps like word processors and Paint shop and da dee da). I'd like more RAM to help it out, but that's not possible right now. I will admit that, yes, it's slow.. considerably, but then again, when compared to, say, a Celeron, I would pick the Cyrix anyday because the Celeron has hang-ups (well, at least, the one I'm thinking of does). Yeah, I realize that Celerons, as a whole, aren't good processors (as far as I know), but.. that's just an example of at least one processor to prefer after a Cyrix....
Well, what about XMMS? I'm certainly not the expert here, but if it's got all the plugins that winamp does (and/or more), then I'll bet there's a plugin for XMMS that alows you to watch.rm files. Which would make Realplayer unnecessary for Linux unless it's just a better product. However, I'm not saying to not use Realplayer for Linux because we all want choice, right? That's all part of the open source ideal, no? So, I guess what I'm asking here is: How does Realplayer compare to XMMS/what we've already got? (realizing, of course, that XMMS isn't the only thing we've got for multimedia under Linux/Unix/etc....)
I agree. Yeah, sure.. a lot of people get through medical school nowadays, etc.. without much in the way of nutrition, and i didn't mean that he was an expert in nutrition, just that he has about as much of an idea of what he's talking about as the "average"/. user (if there is such)...
Slashdot Mirror
dangit, I got logged out before this comment posted.. I wrote that.. sorry guys.. (grr.. *mumble under breath* )
Well, I ran out of good ideas, but you get the point. Maybe next year.....
I agree, and not only that, but I think that when you're your own competition, your sense of innovation, if you have any, quickly declines because you begin to think, "Hey, they're alright with what they've got. It works. Why bother making something new?" The more new products you make, the more opportunities for someone to:
Therefore, it's easier to say "screw innovation" when you're a monopoly.
Or, you don't say "screw innovation" - yet you run out of ideas when all the people in your company are the same today as they were yesterday. They've still got the same ideas, the same terms of how they think things should go, the same problems to hash out, etc. So you hire new people. ok, fine. But still, if you're the only one out there in that market, what's your challenge? Where's the need for innovation when you've got no one to outsmart?
So, poo on Microsoft. blah.
I thought I've heard before that *nices have to be POSIX compatible to be considered a *nic.. or is that just a recommended aspect of the OS? (or is it just a standard for Linux distros?)
hmmm.......
I personally am not looking forward to any of these devices. Not only do I find them frivolous, but, as you mentioned, "Just think what a stalker could find out about you if they could easily hack your house."
I find these devices more inconvenient to use, because it would involve me making myself give up doing things that I normally and naturally do myself. I don't want some gadget to tell me what to eat or how to cook it. Some people may, however. Another thing I figure is that set up of all of this stuff would be an annoyance, if I'm to transfer my recipes, etc. to that fridge gizmo, etc, etc.
Show me a valid reason why these things are necessary, and I'll shut up. Til then, I'm going to keep bashing these things as making/inticing people to be lazy, wreaking havoc, hampering the security of homes, and generally wasting the money of those who buy them.
But I guess that's just me.
From the article, it sounds like they're having the trial all over again, which, I realize, is [part of] the point. However, I thought they were basically testing to see if the DNA-based evidence could/couldn't convict Dr. Sheppard. Yet, the article said:
Gilbert used video footage from Sheppard's first trial in 1954 and slides to illustrate his points, while prosecutors used a computer-generated model to give a virtual representation of the path the doctor claimed to have taken the morning of the murder.
So, why don't they just cut to the DNA sequencing and focus on that, since if that is proven to be conclusive, they can just ignore the rest and go ahead and make the Dr. innocent. That way, they'll also know that if the DNA evidence proves he's guilty (or, is inconclusive) they can either end the trial there and say he's a bad man or they can continue with the rest of their evidence and fight it out that way. The way they seem to be conducting the trial, it appears as though they're just making a drawn-out scene of it all...
Especially for Religion :)
I'm going to assume, by that little smiley face of yours, that you didn't mean anything against religion in your post - and neither do I in mine (i'm certainly not going for the flamewar side of life...) but...
I feel the urge to ask: why not for religion? I mean, for pete's sake, there are awards for all sorts of other fields, which are as valid for an award as religion. I wish that religion (among other fields, I'm sure... since I usually leave something out) wasn't such a "taboo"/uncommon field that we'd be tempted to say things like "especially in religion." In the name of investigation and intellectual pursuit (without, of course, detriment), I'm all for it. Go religion!
CT mentioned how you can rewind live tv. That is because the Tivo is constantly recording into a half hour buffer. This is a great feature, but there is no way to save this buffer.
I wonder if there could be a way that you could program/write a program that saves this buffer - you know, an open source project/hack to save the day?
Which brings up another question - how to get the program to work with the software that TiVo runs on (which I don't know anything about... oops). I realize that my questions are a bit muttled; I'm not sure of all that I'm talking about. I'm just assuming that there's somebody who is/could work on writing a program that could somehow "sneak in" and write that buffer to disk - say, an external drive that you connect somehow to the TiVo (via the modem ? does it have a network card? hmmm..)
Just curious, you know.
IBM's betting the farm on the future of Linux and Open Source ideals taking off. Big Risk. Linux as fully mainstream does have a long way to go, but with big guns like IBM making so much noise, it allows Linux and similar efforts to ride on the PR coattails.
/.) but...
Yeah, it's possibly a big risk now (and my following observation may be heavily biased by hearing about Linux a lot through frequenting
I'm thinking that it's not _that_ big of a deal, and that IBM isn't really (and knows that it isn't) sticking its proverbial neck out for Linux here. I mean, sure, Linux hasn't [completely] taken over "the desktop" yet, but we all know that Linux has been getting publicized a lot lately, and that a lot of people at least know about it, etc. Therefore, yes, go IBM! but I wouldn't sit there and give them a rubber cookie for their efforts..
To make it Jedicentric would disembowel a potentially rich and diverse universe.
I would think that to become a jedi knight would be a feat that would require much working up through the ranks, and much skill/test of knowledge, etc. I'm going to assume that somehow, somewhere, they'll have a Jedi who can initiate/train other Jedi, (because you've got to get your example of Jedi-ship from somewhere) but I obviously don't know how they'll choose that person.
Maybe, as my first thought was, they'll have one of the creators begin the game a a Jedi,and, over time and as worthy individuals arise, new Jedi will emerge, and then the original can either continue or, if so chosen, retire from the position/die (if they have other things to do besides continue the game, etc...)
Anyways, it's an interesting idea. Kudos if they get it working well.
I'm sure they have neato stuff, but I've only got one mp3 that came from that site (and I didn't get it myself) and I know it came from there because at the beginning of the song, there's an audio message that says "the best mp3s on the planet a mp3 dot com"
blah on them!
do they still do that? I'm guessing no, since they're being recommended here, but if they do.. then what do you use to edit that clip away?
after all he's running a business in a cut-throat environment
/. and what we think. But perhaps we can help, so then our meager bickerings will not have been in vain.
Yep, that's right.. which brings us back to why we're posting these comments about Mr. Bezos: he patented a system so that he could have a competitive advantage in this cut-throat business he's in. So, in one way, I think the patents are really mean/dumb/unnecessary/etc.. but we can also say, "well, he's just looking out for himself."
And I agree, he's not likely to base his actions on
The real elite of Linux understand the power of the system is its flexibilty.
I see your point in arguing that Linux is used by many and should therefore reach out to accomodate them, but I feel that the point you're posting in response to is the one with more support for it because Linux was created as an alternative by a person/small group who wanted it for themselves and figured it wouldn't get far. They never really dreamed (I think, but heck, i'm not sure) that they would end up making an OS that would achieve such wide usage or great acclaim.
Still, hearken back to why it was created; and the fact that the creator/s never asked for such acceptance, nor did they shun it either. Delving into the world of Linux was primarily been a "if you wanna do it, go ahead. no one's going to do it for you." Thus the "if you think it's broke, fix it yourself" kind of attitude, etc. (sorry if my generalizations are wrong.) Therefore, if you think that developers of linux/oss should make "intuitive" interfaces as a service to their numerous users, I think you're wrong. I don't think they have to just to forward their cause. I think that yes, it could be a very good idea, as the article mentioned, if they want the popularity to continue. But if popularity is what's important now, then I think the spirit of Linux has been lost and we're now into the commercialization/winning the popularity contest over windows realm, which I think linux never intended to veer into. Furthermore, Linux is a "by the people, for the people" thing; yep, it was pretty much created by those who'll use it. However, I do realize that bunches and bunches of people use linux who didn't create it and couldn't have if they wanted to (me included.) I know i'm not the only one, but I'm not complaining. Sure, somebody probably is (otherwise, this debate wouldn't exist), but to begin to cater to those who can't pick it up just by glancing at it, you're compromising the spirit & operations of Linux.
on making a name that's well suited for its purpose.
on an off-topic note, the word "multiplex" brings to mind images of movie theaters (you know.. they're called multiplex's because they have multiple screens, yaddy yaddy ya....)
of course most of the people that use linux despise M$
Then again, some of the linux user base/newer linux user base could be people who're switching to linux because of external influence (i.e. someone said "aww, come on, try it" or something) and they may want to be able to keep their windows apps because they're just stubborn that way (or, if M$ had already ported it/made it available on the CD as either for win or linux), and they'd use it da dee da.
Therefore, this might appeal to people who are already accustomed to Microsoft's product/interface and they like it/don't feel the need to find something new, or maybe they're just new to linux from the windows world and would rather have some small piece of windows familiarity. Of course, if I were the target audience, I wouldn't want the product, but i'm not everybody..
They didnt "loose" the tanks. The tanks were placed in an extreemly low geosyncronous orbit in advance of final component assembly.
Either that, or they were undergoing performance tests in the field to demonstrate the rigorous construction of the tanks.
i've played nanosaur, and i'll admit it can be entertaining, but, in the grand scheme of things, is it really that worthwhile/fun a game? Then again, numerous games have that effect on people; it depends upon the person.
Therefore, my official idea is, "yeah, this is a good thing."
More software for linux always seems like a good idea to me (unless you want to get technical and talk about viruses, etc........)
maybe they should take note of the quote on ./ for today:
"People disagree with me. I just ignore them. -- Linus Torvalds, regarding the use of C++ for the Linux kernel"
and use that to teach c/c++ , if you're going to take the stance you have regarding quake code. Then again, I wouldn't know how complex (or simple, perhaps) code for the linux kernel is, so I wouldn't know how feasible that is. The thing to remember is that it's all in the name of good ol' learning, but, now that I think of it, they could start some kind of cool linux/OSS-based class(es) using linux kernel code, etc (i.e. code from other OSS projects) and analyze it, etc. Yet, as we all know, the vast majority of learning comes from experience/having to do something yourself.
No, wait, it says we need DirectX 6.0, but we're running NT! Where's that 486 I saw the other day....
Precisely so. The thing about artists and writers and creative people is that they have the license to create at their free will. If the Oscar people didn't like the song the way it is/was, then why did they nominate it?
Furthermore, to censor the song would be to alter it from its original & pure state, and to thus make a new entity of it, a lesser entity that doesn't represent the inspiration of Trey's that made him make it.
Darn upon censorship and those anal retentive peoples....
I just wonder how it is that (yes, I realize, among _other_ things) a resistor is 'integral' to making the card be a RAID controller... what's so important about the resistor that apparently allows it to wield such power?
Is it just that it impedes power to the part of the card that controls RAID?
Also.. um, why make a card that can be used for RAID controlling, when you're not selling it as a RAID card? You know that someone's going to find out how to fix it sometime or other..
(If these questions were answered in the article, oops...........)
My idea had, at first, been a silly one.. but now that I think about it:
Is Ebay buying the company or the building that Sotheby's uses (assuming that they own a building that they hold their auctions in).
So, it's a dumb question. Sue me. You won't get much, I'm poor.
I, along with several others who I noted have replied below, have had experience with a Cyrix chip. My Compaq laptop runs on a Cyrix 233 chip MMX and the only thing I don't like about it is that it's slower than I'd like it to be. Sure, I'm not the expert and so I wouldn't be able to properly compare chips, but it performs well enough to do what I want it to do (run *cringe* Winamp, apps like word processors and Paint shop and da dee da). I'd like more RAM to help it out, but that's not possible right now. I will admit that, yes, it's slow.. considerably, but then again, when compared to, say, a Celeron, I would pick the Cyrix anyday because the Celeron has hang-ups (well, at least, the one I'm thinking of does). Yeah, I realize that Celerons, as a whole, aren't good processors (as far as I know), but.. that's just an example of at least one processor to prefer after a Cyrix....
Well, what about XMMS? I'm certainly not the expert here, but if it's got all the plugins that winamp does (and/or more), then I'll bet there's a plugin for XMMS that alows you to watch .rm files. Which would make Realplayer unnecessary for Linux unless it's just a better product. However, I'm not saying to not use Realplayer for Linux because we all want choice, right? That's all part of the open source ideal, no? So, I guess what I'm asking here is: How does Realplayer compare to XMMS/what we've already got? (realizing, of course, that XMMS isn't the only thing we've got for multimedia under Linux/Unix/etc....)
I agree. Yeah, sure.. a lot of people get through medical school nowadays, etc.. without much in the way of nutrition, and i didn't mean that he was an expert in nutrition, just that he has about as much of an idea of what he's talking about as the "average" /. user (if there is such)...