Being a "Software Engineer" in Texas, I can inform you that our policies have just recently been relaxed a bit. For instance, I can now use the term "Engineer" on my business cards, if that is my official title at my company.
In other words, as long as my employers says I am an "Engineer," then I'm allowed to declare myself as such to others (in the context of my job.) That is, I can't quit my job, go freelance, and continue to call my self an "Engineer." I'm only one as long as I'm employed by a company that says I am.
It's odd, but I guess I can see their point. It just sucked before to have a masters degree along with several years of experience and have an official title of "Software Practitioner." Bleh!
What!? You mean they've closed the immigration offices?
Oh, you want to visit here just to work. You want to exploit all the benefits (pay) of working for another nation, yet escape most of the negative side effects (taxes, selective service, social security), possibly upsetting the delicate balance of the national vs world economy?
You have something resembling a point, but I just wanted to point out 2 things that your post and many others share:
1) File sharing, per se, is NOT illegal. It all depends on "what" you are sharing, and whether you are authorized to share that. We all assume you meant the sharing of digital music, to which the sharer doesn't own the right to distribute, but the point is, that's NOT the definition of a *file*.
2) It's funny, in a Leno or Letterman sense, to laugh at a woman suing McDonalds for "hot coffee," but the circumstances of the suit are perfectly valid. We're talking about serving a beverage for consumption that was heated to 180+ degrees farenheight that caused 3rd degree burns (melted the skin and tissure away) in less than 10 seconds of contact, causing the woman to undergo months of rehab and skin-grafting surgery. This after McDonalds received numerous complaints over the years about the temp and pleas to reduce it to something more reasonable (~130 degrees). They chose to ignore those over the few complaints of people buying coffee, sitting in their car for a 45-minute commute and complaining about it not being hot when they finally start to drink it. The woman only wanted medical expenses at forst, but hey refused even that, so she sued. McDonalds was wrong, the woman was right. Justice was served.
Wha? If you have a policy of "We do not accept Word Documents" and someone send you a word document, which you promptly delete, exactly which "federal law" are you violating? I delete spam messages. Is there a "federal law" against deleting email with the word "enlargement" in it, as well?
If I had Santa Cruz I would send you my resume, just so I can sue you and your little company.
Good idea! Don't worry about your multi-billion dollar lawsuit with IBM. Instead, concentrate on suing some small little crap company! It may be the case that Darl is actually more intelligent than you are. Scary, that.
But there hasn't been any new releases. That is what has me skeptical. If this was because ATI released their latest gee-wiz card, I wouldn't have so much trouble beliving it.
I think that can be explained because this is the first decent DX9 benchmark run. ATI released a great DX9 card, but it was continually tested against DX8 games and benchmarks. It ran in parallel with nVidia's offerings. But when DX9 came into play, the 9800 was ready to handle it.
Analogy time: =)
ATI built a house out of reinforced concrete, covered by brick, and nVidia built a house out of matchsticks, covered in brick-colored tiles. Slight breezes (DX8), affected both the same. The tornado (DX9) lets the winner show through. =)
What? That's like new cars being tested against horse-drawn carriages on dirt roads with 16"-deep ruts. The horses win? Who cares - roads are paved now!
Of course current ATI and nVidia cards--and truth be told the last couple of generations, too--have been total overkill in the performance department for everything except the very high end games. When you realize that those very high end games represent about 10-20% of the total PC game market, then you realize what a wash this all has become. Does it matter if you're dominating a small minority of the market, especially if you're doing it without regard to price?
Dude, it's called "trickle-down." Same thing happens at car-shows. The industry puts out "concept cars" that are truly revolutionary, cost a small (or large) fortune, and are bought by very few (if any.) Eventually, some of those innovations make their way down to consumer-level designs, where they have become refined and affordable. People are happy.
It's nearly the same with graphics cards. Sure, few can afford the $400+ cards, and they mean very little to the current generation of games, but eventually, the technology trickles-down into consumer-level cards, where they have become refined and affordable. People are happy. I'm pretty sure that whatever card you or anyone else has today, was probably at one time one of these "ridiculously unnecessary" cards.
Designing anything for "today" would be suicide. You have to anticipate (or help control) where the market is heading, and design for that. That's why games like Daikatana and DNF fail (or will fail.) They designed for something short-term and got left behind by the rest of the market. Daikatana shipped, but was not revolutionary enough. DNF keeps putting off the inevitable, but the result will probably be the same.
1) 3dfx is king of 3D 2) nVidia comes along with interesting products, 3dfx still king 3) nVidia improves (TNT, GeForce), 3dfx struggles, both run neck-and-neck 4) 32-bit becomes important, nVidia take the lead 5) 3dfx struggles, plays catch-up (Voodoo4, 5), yet becomes irrelevant
Then we have:
1) nVidia is king of 3D 2) ATI comes along with intersting products, nVidia still king 3) ATI improves (Rage, Radeon), nVidia struggles, both run neck-and-neck 4) DX9 becomes important, ATI takes the lead 5) nVidia struggles, plays catch-up (FX series), yet...
It's not a hard cycle to visualize. A lot of other similarities are there, as well: "fan-boys", aggressive advertising, benchmark scandals, developers' opinions, etc. It's actually pretty cool for us, as we get great advancements in 3D.
They can't. More than likely (I haven't seen the Amnesty Forms) they are offering amnesty from being sued for your previous infringements. MS/BSA could probably offer the same deal: Get rid of all your unlicensed software (or purchase licenses), sign this contract, we won't sue you for your past "crimes." OTOH, this contract also gives us the right to audit your place every 6 months and sue you for 2x the standard amount if we find violations. Same thing.
True. Consider for a moment that the statement "Windows is cheaper than Linux" was absolutely true. What would MS do to make this known? Well, they'd declare it so. They'd put it in their advertising. They'd commission an independent study. In short, they'd do everything that they are doing now, so how can we look at these actions and simply assume they are biased? We can't.
Now, if it came known that MS paid the group a "bonus" to ensure that they came out ahead *wink, wink* THEN we could assume something.
Now, *that* is a ridiculous argument. Content and subject don't matter, as long as the story is told well? To a certain extent, I can agree with that. There are some shows and movies that I enjoy, but are about subjects that don't particularly interest me. But that doesn't mean that the life story of an African Dung Beetle would entertain me, no matter how well told. Either would a show about "My Trip to the Grocery Store."
Content does matter. I've sat through several scifi and fantasy movies that were decent, but would have been unwatchable if not for the setting. Similiarly, I can't read/sit through "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility", no matter who well written they might be. Same goes for any Grisham or Clancy book.
Who cares how well the story unfolds if it's set in the "mundane" where everything happens just as you would expect them to. Sometimes you just want to be amazed/shocked by something amazing/shocking. Most current SciFi doesn't fill this need, as it it overly concerned with getting the science right and making everything seem rational. Space travel on predictable giant ships, blah, blah. Defending the planet from predictable hostile alien races, blah, blah. It seems as if it has been "done to death."
Eventually Fantasy will reach the same plateau. There are lots of combinations you can get from dragons, wizards, warlords, knights, magic, elves, etc, but the well will eventually run dry, just like SciFi.
WTF are you talking about? So if I build a small fenced area for a dog, then that area becomes my whole property and the neighbors get the rest? I don't think so.
While there are risks involved in any purchase that does not entitle the seller to categorically screw the buyer. Restaurants can't serve you undercooked chicken. Real estate companies can't sell you a house that has radioactive waste in the basement without telling you. Car dealers can't sell you a car without disclosing known problems. The music cartel should NOT be allowed to sell CD's without letting you sample the music first for which many people use downloads. In a book store you can read all you want before buying. Funny that in a CD store you can't do the same. Wonder why?
So, Kellogs should be forced to send me a free sample before I buy a box of Corn Flakes? What if I don't like the taste? Microsoft should give me a 30-day *trial* version of WindowsXP before I decide to buy a copy? What if I don't like the interface?
I think that the "free sample" concept is nice, and usually serves to generate more sales, but it's not, nor should be, a legal requirement of all products. Yes, blowing $15 on a CD, only to be disappointed by the contents sucks, but oh well. Get over it. I think, as a society, we are losing way too much personal responsibility for our actions.
And by the way, even though I haven't bought a CD in 3-4 years, I do see some headphone setups at the Music section of the bookstore. What are these for?
Disclaimer:RIAA sucks! (Just in case I accidently get modded down for being a RIAA-loving lawyer, or something. =)
But why are they suing? Isn't copyright infringement a criminal activity? Why do they not just turn over the list of sharers to the FBI or whoever investigates and prosecutes theses cases? Being charged with a crime by the FBI and fined $150K+ seems to me to be infinitely more damaging/scary than being personally sued by a private organization.
If the RIAA is truly interested in stopping copyright infringement, why are they suing instead of prosecuting? If someone steals my car, and I know who it is, I'm going to let the law handle the situation, not file a civil suit.
I think you hit it exactly. The "future" has become mundane. People in the 50s dreamed of robots in our everyday lives. And now we have them, just not *exactly* how they envisioned them. Same with space travel and exploration.
I believe that we will put a human on Mars and colonize the moon/planets. Not in my lifetime, probably, but eventually. Why imagine it? On the other hand, I doubt if any human will roam the countryside with his elf companion, talking to trees and hunting dragons and wizards. Ever.
On a different topic, I must admit that I *love* SK's Dark Tower series (check the nick.) It's got an interesting blend of old, modern, and future. There's something intriguing about chasing a wizard with your heroin-addicted friend, while fighting nuclear-powered giant robots with your sandlewood six-shooters. (And that description is sure to scare any non-readers away for good, yet get a chuckle from some fans. =)
2) Well, according to the Northrop Grumman site , they used sensors to measure the difference in loudness and they hoped that with further study, they could "produce a noticeably quieter sonic boom." Therefore, I'm guessing it wasn't reduced by a large factor, but the very fact that they *can* reduce it via aircraft design is rather significant.
Slashdot Mirror
Doubtful, but I would like to see more options in the preferences for site design.
Something like:
1) Graphics heavy (new design with spiffier graphics)
2) Traditional (as is)
3) Low-bandwidth (for Lynx users)
Now, if only Wal-Mart would make the switch...
Being a "Software Engineer" in Texas, I can inform you that our policies have just recently been relaxed a bit. For instance, I can now use the term "Engineer" on my business cards, if that is my official title at my company.
In other words, as long as my employers says I am an "Engineer," then I'm allowed to declare myself as such to others (in the context of my job.) That is, I can't quit my job, go freelance, and continue to call my self an "Engineer." I'm only one as long as I'm employed by a company that says I am.
It's odd, but I guess I can see their point. It just sucked before to have a masters degree along with several years of experience and have an official title of "Software Practitioner." Bleh!
What!? You mean they've closed the immigration offices?
Oh, you want to visit here just to work. You want to exploit all the benefits (pay) of working for another nation, yet escape most of the negative side effects (taxes, selective service, social security), possibly upsetting the delicate balance of the national vs world economy?
Hmm, why won't we let you do that again?
You have something resembling a point, but I just wanted to point out 2 things that your post and many others share:
1) File sharing, per se, is NOT illegal. It all depends on "what" you are sharing, and whether you are authorized to share that. We all assume you meant the sharing of digital music, to which the sharer doesn't own the right to distribute, but the point is, that's NOT the definition of a *file*.
2) It's funny, in a Leno or Letterman sense, to laugh at a woman suing McDonalds for "hot coffee," but the circumstances of the suit are perfectly valid. We're talking about serving a beverage for consumption that was heated to 180+ degrees farenheight that caused 3rd degree burns (melted the skin and tissure away) in less than 10 seconds of contact, causing the woman to undergo months of rehab and skin-grafting surgery. This after McDonalds received numerous complaints over the years about the temp and pleas to reduce it to something more reasonable (~130 degrees). They chose to ignore those over the few complaints of people buying coffee, sitting in their car for a 45-minute commute and complaining about it not being hot when they finally start to drink it. The woman only wanted medical expenses at forst, but hey refused even that, so she sued. McDonalds was wrong, the woman was right. Justice was served.
Violation of federal law, dumbass.
Wha? If you have a policy of "We do not accept Word Documents" and someone send you a word document, which you promptly delete, exactly which "federal law" are you violating? I delete spam messages. Is there a "federal law" against deleting email with the word "enlargement" in it, as well?
If I had Santa Cruz I would send you my resume, just so I can sue you and your little company.
Good idea! Don't worry about your multi-billion dollar lawsuit with IBM. Instead, concentrate on suing some small little crap company! It may be the case that Darl is actually more intelligent than you are. Scary, that.
Knowledge is Power!
Bated Breath
But there hasn't been any new releases. That is what has me skeptical. If this was because ATI released their latest gee-wiz card, I wouldn't have so much trouble beliving it.
I think that can be explained because this is the first decent DX9 benchmark run. ATI released a great DX9 card, but it was continually tested against DX8 games and benchmarks. It ran in parallel with nVidia's offerings. But when DX9 came into play, the 9800 was ready to handle it.
Analogy time: =)
ATI built a house out of reinforced concrete, covered by brick, and nVidia built a house out of matchsticks, covered in brick-colored tiles. Slight breezes (DX8), affected both the same. The tornado (DX9) lets the winner show through. =)
But its from ATI so what do you expect?
If you use DX8 then Nvidia beats ATI
What? That's like new cars being tested against horse-drawn carriages on dirt roads with 16"-deep ruts. The horses win? Who cares - roads are paved now!
Of course current ATI and nVidia cards--and truth be told the last couple of generations, too--have been total overkill in the performance department for everything except the very high end games. When you realize that those very high end games represent about 10-20% of the total PC game market, then you realize what a wash this all has become. Does it matter if you're dominating a small minority of the market, especially if you're doing it without regard to price?
Dude, it's called "trickle-down." Same thing happens at car-shows. The industry puts out "concept cars" that are truly revolutionary, cost a small (or large) fortune, and are bought by very few (if any.) Eventually, some of those innovations make their way down to consumer-level designs, where they have become refined and affordable. People are happy.
It's nearly the same with graphics cards. Sure, few can afford the $400+ cards, and they mean very little to the current generation of games, but eventually, the technology trickles-down into consumer-level cards, where they have become refined and affordable. People are happy. I'm pretty sure that whatever card you or anyone else has today, was probably at one time one of these "ridiculously unnecessary" cards.
Designing anything for "today" would be suicide. You have to anticipate (or help control) where the market is heading, and design for that. That's why games like Daikatana and DNF fail (or will fail.) They designed for something short-term and got left behind by the rest of the market. Daikatana shipped, but was not revolutionary enough. DNF keeps putting off the inevitable, but the result will probably be the same.
Take a look at history:
...
1) 3dfx is king of 3D
2) nVidia comes along with interesting products, 3dfx still king
3) nVidia improves (TNT, GeForce), 3dfx struggles, both run neck-and-neck
4) 32-bit becomes important, nVidia take the lead
5) 3dfx struggles, plays catch-up (Voodoo4, 5), yet becomes irrelevant
Then we have:
1) nVidia is king of 3D
2) ATI comes along with intersting products, nVidia still king
3) ATI improves (Rage, Radeon), nVidia struggles, both run neck-and-neck
4) DX9 becomes important, ATI takes the lead
5) nVidia struggles, plays catch-up (FX series), yet
It's not a hard cycle to visualize. A lot of other similarities are there, as well: "fan-boys", aggressive advertising, benchmark scandals, developers' opinions, etc. It's actually pretty cool for us, as we get great advancements in 3D.
They can't. More than likely (I haven't seen the Amnesty Forms) they are offering amnesty from being sued for your previous infringements. MS/BSA could probably offer the same deal: Get rid of all your unlicensed software (or purchase licenses), sign this contract, we won't sue you for your past "crimes." OTOH, this contract also gives us the right to audit your place every 6 months and sue you for 2x the standard amount if we find violations. Same thing.
.. the Theroy of Schrodinger's cat...where by if you put a cat in a box, its not truely dead until you look at it again...
That has got to be the most brief, yet entirely confusing description of that theory I've ever heard! =)
Some more facts may help clear up some confusion.
True. Consider for a moment that the statement "Windows is cheaper than Linux" was absolutely true. What would MS do to make this known? Well, they'd declare it so. They'd put it in their advertising. They'd commission an independent study. In short, they'd do everything that they are doing now, so how can we look at these actions and simply assume they are biased? We can't.
Now, if it came known that MS paid the group a "bonus" to ensure that they came out ahead *wink, wink* THEN we could assume something.
Now, *that* is a ridiculous argument. Content and subject don't matter, as long as the story is told well? To a certain extent, I can agree with that. There are some shows and movies that I enjoy, but are about subjects that don't particularly interest me. But that doesn't mean that the life story of an African Dung Beetle would entertain me, no matter how well told. Either would a show about "My Trip to the Grocery Store."
Content does matter. I've sat through several scifi and fantasy movies that were decent, but would have been unwatchable if not for the setting. Similiarly, I can't read/sit through "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility", no matter who well written they might be. Same goes for any Grisham or Clancy book.
Who cares how well the story unfolds if it's set in the "mundane" where everything happens just as you would expect them to. Sometimes you just want to be amazed/shocked by something amazing/shocking. Most current SciFi doesn't fill this need, as it it overly concerned with getting the science right and making everything seem rational. Space travel on predictable giant ships, blah, blah. Defending the planet from predictable hostile alien races, blah, blah. It seems as if it has been "done to death."
Eventually Fantasy will reach the same plateau. There are lots of combinations you can get from dragons, wizards, warlords, knights, magic, elves, etc, but the well will eventually run dry, just like SciFi.
WTF are you talking about? So if I build a small fenced area for a dog, then that area becomes my whole property and the neighbors get the rest? I don't think so.
While there are risks involved in any purchase that does not entitle the seller to categorically screw the buyer. Restaurants can't serve you undercooked chicken. Real estate companies can't sell you a house that has radioactive waste in the basement without telling you. Car dealers can't sell you a car without disclosing known problems. The music cartel should NOT be allowed to sell CD's without letting you sample the music first for which many people use downloads. In a book store you can read all you want before buying. Funny that in a CD store you can't do the same. Wonder why?
So, Kellogs should be forced to send me a free sample before I buy a box of Corn Flakes? What if I don't like the taste? Microsoft should give me a 30-day *trial* version of WindowsXP before I decide to buy a copy? What if I don't like the interface?
I think that the "free sample" concept is nice, and usually serves to generate more sales, but it's not, nor should be, a legal requirement of all products. Yes, blowing $15 on a CD, only to be disappointed by the contents sucks, but oh well. Get over it. I think, as a society, we are losing way too much personal responsibility for our actions.
And by the way, even though I haven't bought a CD in 3-4 years, I do see some headphone setups at the Music section of the bookstore. What are these for?
Disclaimer: RIAA sucks! (Just in case I accidently get modded down for being a RIAA-loving lawyer, or something. =)
Ok, after a little bit of research, I see that I had some misconceptions about copyright law. Feel free to mod parent "-1 Wrong."
But why are they suing? Isn't copyright infringement a criminal activity? Why do they not just turn over the list of sharers to the FBI or whoever investigates and prosecutes theses cases? Being charged with a crime by the FBI and fined $150K+ seems to me to be infinitely more damaging/scary than being personally sued by a private organization.
If the RIAA is truly interested in stopping copyright infringement, why are they suing instead of prosecuting? If someone steals my car, and I know who it is, I'm going to let the law handle the situation, not file a civil suit.
Similiarly, Apple releases an iPod that hold overs 10,000 downloaded songs. It's clear that the intent of those who purchase such a device is piracy.
Seriously, why is "1000" songs an indicator of piracy? Are "846" songs just a reasonable amount that a person may legally have?
I think you hit it exactly. The "future" has become mundane. People in the 50s dreamed of robots in our everyday lives. And now we have them, just not *exactly* how they envisioned them. Same with space travel and exploration.
I believe that we will put a human on Mars and colonize the moon/planets. Not in my lifetime, probably, but eventually. Why imagine it? On the other hand, I doubt if any human will roam the countryside with his elf companion, talking to trees and hunting dragons and wizards. Ever.
On a different topic, I must admit that I *love* SK's Dark Tower series (check the nick.) It's got an interesting blend of old, modern, and future. There's something intriguing about chasing a wizard with your heroin-addicted friend, while fighting nuclear-powered giant robots with your sandlewood six-shooters. (And that description is sure to scare any non-readers away for good, yet get a chuckle from some fans. =)
Ever heard the phrase: YHBT, HAND? =)
1) Usually similiar to window-rattling thunder.
2) Well, according to the Northrop Grumman site , they used sensors to measure the difference in loudness and they hoped that with further study, they could "produce a noticeably quieter sonic boom." Therefore, I'm guessing it wasn't reduced by a large factor, but the very fact that they *can* reduce it via aircraft design is rather significant.
No, the test was on Wednesday, August 28th.
Basic English, people. =)
"Plain text" is your frined...