This has to be the gayest thing, ever. We're talking LIberace gay here. If this made/. today, what will make it tomorrow? PaWz 3.0 goes gold! Delicious chocolates for your sweetheart from Godiva!
I'd have to say that Honda has the most consistent controls of all time. I own an 88 Accord, power windows and mirrors, etc. I've driven many new Civics and Accords, and all the controls are in the EXACT same place as in my older car. The cruise control is thumb-operated on the steering wheel (brilliant ergonomics), the cruise enable/disable is on the far left of the dash, all the a/c conrols, window controls, hell, even the power mirror controls are in the same place. Being able to hop in a newer model and just drive is brilliant! I don't have to spend a day getting familiar with any of the controls.
This is something the MacOS has always had in spades. They did shitloads of GUI research and if I'm not mistaken, the Platinum spec was a GUI checklist that all apps had to meet. All the options had to work the same in all the apps. Option-q to quit, etc. You could open any app, new or old, and feel at home. Most apps you didn't need any help getting around in or finding options.
More than anything, establishing a predictable GUI is best. I feel KDE has done well at this, nearly all KDE apps have the same functionality. i can always find out who made the app by clicking help>about. I can always save with control-s. Gnome has this as well but I haven't used it enough to make a fair comparison.
As long as KDE sticks by the Honda standard (making something the same time and time again) its users can get comfortable and be productive no matter what the app or what the version.
VERY INTERESTING please read me now :)
on
iWarez
·
· Score: -1, Offtopic
Ok, is it just me, or do I see an aqua-themed Slashdot right now? The rest of the articles aren't doing it, but on this page, I get a slick glossy theme with the apple lines. Is this a mod for apple articles? I think it should be the default theme, very slick!
Re:Wait a minute...
on
iWarez
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Installing linux on their boxes? Hey, that's a really good idea, I think I'll go try my luck today.
CompUSA here in Dallas has little or no employees..one time I noticed an SBLive box had been opened, and when I peered inside the card was gone. I asked an employee if they had any more in stock...he asked what was wrong with the box in my hand. Upon seeing the missing card, he disappeared to the back with the box, never to be seen again. So I guess they were out.
Ok, I'll bite:) Just because this thread is getting very interesting, I decided to do some research about the Genesis. Very cool stuff here. It seems it's VERY closely related to Amiga hardware. A 68000 processor at *about* 8 mhz (amiga 500), 1mb of system ram, 512 possible colors. Here's where it gets interesting (and amigans will recognize the term) "Though the Genesis could only display a maximum of 64 colors at any given time, special software techniques such as HAM (Hold and Modify) could be used to boost color output. Such a technique was used in the game "Eternal Champions", which had an output of 256 colors. Sega CD Based games (such as "Snatcher") also used this method."
So, the Amiga used HAM to get 4096 simultaneous colors, whereas the Genesis used it to get 256 simultaneous. Most impressive. For those that didn't hit the link up there, also note that the Yamaha FM chip was superior to the opl2/3 chips used in Sound Blaster cards around that same time.
I take exception to the comment that the SNES had better sound. Sure it had dolby, but there were some amazing soundtracks on games like Revenge of Shinobi and Street Rage. Samples vs. synthesis.
Thanks for all the interesting comments, it's rare to see a chain of interesting posts that don't degenerate into mudslinging.:)
I've hinted at the Genesis' origins many times (closely related to Amiga) which could display 4096 colors. If you take the time to research the hardware you'll find it's very, very similar to the Ami. I think it had a 4096 color palette but could only display 256 at once, correct me if I'm wrong. So yeah, they should've made a pass-thru for video, but it was a hardware hack, so maybe it got skipped.
Maybe I'm trolling here, but I don't see a HUGE start button, a confusing new windows menu, craploads of processor-consuming eye candy and transparencies UI improvements. Even my friend, a die-hard Windows user, turned all the extraneous BS off in XP. XP works best when it's acting (looking) like win98.
"It's still not UNIX, but it's a hell of alot better than Windows 3.1"
I can name about 20 desktops/wm's that are better than win3.1. At least it had speed and stability in it's favor.
With all the new guis, the people working on them should focus on cohesiveness and consistency of action. Don't do this at the expensive of configurability. The thing that Apple has always had in their corner is the Platinum spec. If you're coding for Apple, your program has to adhere to their UI standard. For the most part KDE apps act this way, can't really judge Gnome since I have bad luck with it.
Pardon me if I'm not impressed. I saw the Amiga beating the crap out of everyone's pcs nearly a decade before the average pc even came close to competing. I'm familiar with innovation in hardware. The Amiga console (cd32) was very impressive as well, although a commercial failure.
The sad part about Sega CD games was that nobody knew what to do with it. There were some great rpg's released with some video footage and extra voiceovers, but other than that, it was full of utter crap like Sewer Sharks and...what was that weak game where you managed cameras in a house.. All fmv, no gaming.
The 32X didn't have anything to brag about either. I played the Star Wars game on it. The Amiga/Genesis chipset can do 3d just fine when it's that simple. It takes talented coders. The 32X could push out some polygons through hardware and had improved sound (full digital with more voices IIRC). Again, nobody really took advantage of it. It's too bad because it seemed to have potential. Then again, I remember horror stories of the 32x shorting out people's machines alot. That's not good hardware design.
While it's fun to wax nostalgic, let us not forget the flaws of failed hardware (yeah that includes the Jaguar also).
Someone forgot to post the obligatory 'NY times warning, free reg required'. I always avoid those stories like the plague, and would've avoided this one.
Yeah go ahead and mod me down.
I always thought that 3d in the saturn was horrible and the complete lack of transparencies was unexcusable. Hell even the SNES had true transparencies, while Saturn owners got to witness the crime of cross-hatching. I think maybe Nights or some other games might have hacked in some fake transparency but the hardware was just sad. The PSX owned it from every angle.
The DC was kind of strange in that it was like a PSX plus. I didn't like the batarang controllers but it has some neat games. Heard that Bleemcast made GT2 look incredible but since I own BleemPC I never had any use for it.
Sega had a long string of hardware failures that eventually put them in the toilet. The 32x was a bastard. The sega cd was an expensive joke. Actually between the Sega Genesis (basically a repackaged Amiga) and the Dreamcast they haven't made anything good.
Don't even mention the Nomad. The Lynx stomped it years earlier then died quietly. Man the days of playing Electrocop, what a great game.
Oh, I dunno about that. The CowboyMeal Buffet Luncheon hour is pretty entertaining. That foodfight that broke out between him and CmdrTaco was an uproar!
What I want to see is the excellent Clerks! cartoon continued. I have the 2 dvd set, it's all classic, and another victim of corporate 'policy'. The Tick (live action) can rot in hell, it was a stupid idea to begin with. Some things just aren't meant to be live action. Could you imagine the horror of Speed Racer live action? Or Garfield?
These guys are obviously not English majors. From their article (parent linked), one of the cans was filled with "chocolate moose". They must live in the far, far northwest where perhaps one can buy Moose meat coated with chocolate. Doesn't sound as appetizing as chocolate mousse.
That may be true, but in the current job market, there are lots of MCSE's, CCNA's and other overqualified people working tech support all over the place. Some companies are even unreasonable enough to require certs for simple tech support. Guess they'll be hiring alot of new people if/when the industry makes a comeback.
Re:What the hell are we doing up?
on
Tandys Never Die
·
· Score: 2
You're assuming that 1. everyone that visits/. is in the US and 2. nobody has internet access anywhere else in the world. In reality, people worldwide visit/. at all hours of the day.
Lying to police turns out to be "I'm not sure where I parked, but it's somewhere in Brooklyn"
LOL! No shit, I was thinking of this myself. If he drove 3000 miles from California, do you think he's gonna know exactly where he parked? "Yeah my car is at the corner of 24th and 4th street across the street from Murray's Deli, you know the one with the red and blue awning? Yeah. It's over there."
for a criminal case without inconvenience to those poor, mistreated suspects.
In this case, he was poor and mistreated, you hit the nail on the head. I'm assuming by your comment that you didn't read about his detainment. He had no cash, wasn't given the opportunity to shower for 4 days, no change of clothes, no phone call, no HEAT for god's sakes. He was basically thrown in a meatlocker like a scumbag and left to rot while they figured out what they wanted to do with him.
Perhaps you should read the background on these stories before voicing an uneducated opinion.
I actually read the whole court transcript. Mr. Hou (the fbi type guy) said he'd be bouncing through a hub in El Reno, OK but he ended up going to Oklahoma City instead. They could've hustled him cross-country on a single flight but decided to take 'the slow boat' as voiced by his attorney. He's lucky he didn't get shanked in OKC. Typical government crap as usual. I thought throwing him in a freezing cold cell for a few days was a nice touch. I bet the FBI agents turned down the heat just for him. All this for a kid who already hates the way the government treats it's citizens. If he never had real reason to be upset before, I'm sure he has plenty now.
This whole fiasco stinks of entrapment. According to the document, they waited about 10 days between his home searching for him to go to NY and do some damage. I think they were pretty let-down when they found he had no weaponry with him and wasn't going to bomb anything. I think they were giving him enough rope to hang himself with (i.e. letting him think he's off the hook and watching him closely). I bet this guy couldn't fart for the next ten years without a spook smelling it.
Basically he hadn't really done anything serious and they were watching and waiting for him to seriously screw up. He didn't.
Slashdot Mirror
This has to be the gayest thing, ever. We're talking LIberace gay here. If this made /. today, what will make it tomorrow? PaWz 3.0 goes gold! Delicious chocolates for your sweetheart from Godiva!
Definitely a slow news day.
I'd have to say that Honda has the most consistent controls of all time. I own an 88 Accord, power windows and mirrors, etc. I've driven many new Civics and Accords, and all the controls are in the EXACT same place as in my older car. The cruise control is thumb-operated on the steering wheel (brilliant ergonomics), the cruise enable/disable is on the far left of the dash, all the a/c conrols, window controls, hell, even the power mirror controls are in the same place. Being able to hop in a newer model and just drive is brilliant! I don't have to spend a day getting familiar with any of the controls.
This is something the MacOS has always had in spades. They did shitloads of GUI research and if I'm not mistaken, the Platinum spec was a GUI checklist that all apps had to meet. All the options had to work the same in all the apps. Option-q to quit, etc. You could open any app, new or old, and feel at home. Most apps you didn't need any help getting around in or finding options.
More than anything, establishing a predictable GUI is best. I feel KDE has done well at this, nearly all KDE apps have the same functionality. i can always find out who made the app by clicking help>about. I can always save with control-s. Gnome has this as well but I haven't used it enough to make a fair comparison.
As long as KDE sticks by the Honda standard (making something the same time and time again) its users can get comfortable and be productive no matter what the app or what the version.
Ok, is it just me, or do I see an aqua-themed Slashdot right now? The rest of the articles aren't doing it, but on this page, I get a slick glossy theme with the apple lines. Is this a mod for apple articles? I think it should be the default theme, very slick!
Installing linux on their boxes? Hey, that's a really good idea, I think I'll go try my luck today.
CompUSA here in Dallas has little or no employees..one time I noticed an SBLive box had been opened, and when I peered inside the card was gone. I asked an employee if they had any more in stock...he asked what was wrong with the box in my hand. Upon seeing the missing card, he disappeared to the back with the box, never to be seen again. So I guess they were out.
Captain Obvious strikes again. Film at 11.
Ok, I'll bite :) Just because this thread is getting very interesting, I decided to do some research about the Genesis. Very cool stuff here. It seems it's VERY closely related to Amiga hardware. A 68000 processor at *about* 8 mhz (amiga 500), 1mb of system ram, 512 possible colors. Here's where it gets interesting (and amigans will recognize the term) "Though the Genesis could only display a maximum of 64 colors at any given time, special software techniques such as HAM (Hold and Modify) could be used to boost color output. Such a technique was used in the game "Eternal Champions", which had an output of 256 colors. Sega CD Based games (such as "Snatcher") also used this method."
So, the Amiga used HAM to get 4096 simultaneous colors, whereas the Genesis used it to get 256 simultaneous. Most impressive. For those that didn't hit the link up there, also note that the Yamaha FM chip was superior to the opl2/3 chips used in Sound Blaster cards around that same time.
I take exception to the comment that the SNES had better sound. Sure it had dolby, but there were some amazing soundtracks on games like Revenge of Shinobi and Street Rage. Samples vs. synthesis.
Thanks for all the interesting comments, it's rare to see a chain of interesting posts that don't degenerate into mudslinging. :)
I've hinted at the Genesis' origins many times (closely related to Amiga) which could display 4096 colors. If you take the time to research the hardware you'll find it's very, very similar to the Ami. I think it had a 4096 color palette but could only display 256 at once, correct me if I'm wrong. So yeah, they should've made a pass-thru for video, but it was a hardware hack, so maybe it got skipped.
Maybe I'm trolling here, but I don't see a HUGE start button, a confusing new windows menu, craploads of processor-consuming eye candy and transparencies UI improvements. Even my friend, a die-hard Windows user, turned all the extraneous BS off in XP. XP works best when it's acting (looking) like win98.
"It's still not UNIX, but it's a hell of alot better than Windows 3.1"
I can name about 20 desktops/wm's that are better than win3.1. At least it had speed and stability in it's favor.
With all the new guis, the people working on them should focus on cohesiveness and consistency of action. Don't do this at the expensive of configurability. The thing that Apple has always had in their corner is the Platinum spec. If you're coding for Apple, your program has to adhere to their UI standard. For the most part KDE apps act this way, can't really judge Gnome since I have bad luck with it.
Pardon me if I'm not impressed. I saw the Amiga beating the crap out of everyone's pcs nearly a decade before the average pc even came close to competing. I'm familiar with innovation in hardware. The Amiga console (cd32) was very impressive as well, although a commercial failure.
...what was that weak game where you managed cameras in a house.. All fmv, no gaming.
The sad part about Sega CD games was that nobody knew what to do with it. There were some great rpg's released with some video footage and extra voiceovers, but other than that, it was full of utter crap like Sewer Sharks and
The 32X didn't have anything to brag about either. I played the Star Wars game on it. The Amiga/Genesis chipset can do 3d just fine when it's that simple. It takes talented coders. The 32X could push out some polygons through hardware and had improved sound (full digital with more voices IIRC). Again, nobody really took advantage of it. It's too bad because it seemed to have potential. Then again, I remember horror stories of the 32x shorting out people's machines alot. That's not good hardware design.
While it's fun to wax nostalgic, let us not forget the flaws of failed hardware (yeah that includes the Jaguar also).
Sweet! Mod up, this is very insightful.
Someone forgot to post the obligatory 'NY times warning, free reg required'. I always avoid those stories like the plague, and would've avoided this one. Yeah go ahead and mod me down.
I always thought that 3d in the saturn was horrible and the complete lack of transparencies was unexcusable. Hell even the SNES had true transparencies, while Saturn owners got to witness the crime of cross-hatching. I think maybe Nights or some other games might have hacked in some fake transparency but the hardware was just sad. The PSX owned it from every angle.
The DC was kind of strange in that it was like a PSX plus. I didn't like the batarang controllers but it has some neat games. Heard that Bleemcast made GT2 look incredible but since I own BleemPC I never had any use for it.
Sega had a long string of hardware failures that eventually put them in the toilet. The 32x was a bastard. The sega cd was an expensive joke. Actually between the Sega Genesis (basically a repackaged Amiga) and the Dreamcast they haven't made anything good.
Don't even mention the Nomad. The Lynx stomped it years earlier then died quietly. Man the days of playing Electrocop, what a great game.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these! w00t!
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these! w00t!
Oh, I dunno about that. The CowboyMeal Buffet Luncheon hour is pretty entertaining. That foodfight that broke out between him and CmdrTaco was an uproar!
What I want to see is the excellent Clerks! cartoon continued. I have the 2 dvd set, it's all classic, and another victim of corporate 'policy'. The Tick (live action) can rot in hell, it was a stupid idea to begin with. Some things just aren't meant to be live action. Could you imagine the horror of Speed Racer live action? Or Garfield?
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!
Tagging 'imagine a beowulf cluster of these' to ANY post will get you instant karma. That's magical!
Version after version, distro after distro, app after app, I still don't have a unified clipboard to simply copy and paste between apps.
Give me a unified clipboard, or give me death.
These guys are obviously not English majors. From their article (parent linked), one of the cans was filled with "chocolate moose". They must live in the far, far northwest where perhaps one can buy Moose meat coated with chocolate. Doesn't sound as appetizing as chocolate mousse.
That may be true, but in the current job market, there are lots of MCSE's, CCNA's and other overqualified people working tech support all over the place. Some companies are even unreasonable enough to require certs for simple tech support. Guess they'll be hiring alot of new people if/when the industry makes a comeback.
You're assuming that 1. everyone that visits /. is in the US and 2. nobody has internet access anywhere else in the world. In reality, people worldwide visit /. at all hours of the day.
Lying to police turns out to be "I'm not sure where I parked, but it's somewhere in Brooklyn"
LOL! No shit, I was thinking of this myself. If he drove 3000 miles from California, do you think he's gonna know exactly where he parked? "Yeah my car is at the corner of 24th and 4th street across the street from Murray's Deli, you know the one with the red and blue awning? Yeah. It's over there."
for a criminal case without inconvenience to those poor, mistreated suspects.
In this case, he was poor and mistreated, you hit the nail on the head. I'm assuming by your comment that you didn't read about his detainment. He had no cash, wasn't given the opportunity to shower for 4 days, no change of clothes, no phone call, no HEAT for god's sakes. He was basically thrown in a meatlocker like a scumbag and left to rot while they figured out what they wanted to do with him.
Perhaps you should read the background on these stories before voicing an uneducated opinion.
I actually read the whole court transcript. Mr. Hou (the fbi type guy) said he'd be bouncing through a hub in El Reno, OK but he ended up going to Oklahoma City instead. They could've hustled him cross-country on a single flight but decided to take 'the slow boat' as voiced by his attorney. He's lucky he didn't get shanked in OKC. Typical government crap as usual. I thought throwing him in a freezing cold cell for a few days was a nice touch. I bet the FBI agents turned down the heat just for him. All this for a kid who already hates the way the government treats it's citizens. If he never had real reason to be upset before, I'm sure he has plenty now.
This whole fiasco stinks of entrapment. According to the document, they waited about 10 days between his home searching for him to go to NY and do some damage. I think they were pretty let-down when they found he had no weaponry with him and wasn't going to bomb anything. I think they were giving him enough rope to hang himself with (i.e. letting him think he's off the hook and watching him closely). I bet this guy couldn't fart for the next ten years without a spook smelling it.
Basically he hadn't really done anything serious and they were watching and waiting for him to seriously screw up. He didn't.
"Think back a ways, remember when you were young and stupid..."
:)
I don't think the previous poster has to think back too far