Yeah sure, both brands will remain separate entities. Then they will start to share content. Maybe the message boards will be merged. Eventually what's the point of having both of them around?
It's quite common to lie at the outset of a merger. Saying that no jobs will be lost or some such. It puts a good spin on the move. Then after the deal is done they can do whatever they want. And they will do what's the most cost-effective.
Hopefully they will keep the best from both and make a good site.
In any big merger like this I can't help but feel disappointed. We go from a state of having two independent sources to having only one.
I'm sure that some staff will be let go to reduce costs and eliminate duplication. But the duplication is what users like. Two differing views are better than one.
All this bunk people are saying about it being fine that Dell doesn't support 3rd party software is just that: bunk. A computer is a platform upon which other things happen. The people who sell you that platform should support its smooth-running. Spyware bogs down and infects a user's platform.
All they have to do is say "You can search for SpyBot and run it if you want".
It's gotta be such a common problem that they would probably save on support costs if they just replaced their on-hold music with a message saying exactly that.
I am currently a gainfully employed software programmer.
The thing in school that I would say helped me out the most was a strong math program that focused on the basics. Every class we would start with a 5-10 minute quiz that went from addition to subtraction to multiplication, to division, to factors, squares, etc. The class wouldn't move on to the next topic until everyone had reached a satisfactory level in the last one. Even the kids who 'weren't good at math' benefitted immensely from having the basics implanted in their brains for good.
While computers may be helpful for teaching some things, the most important thing is to have a strong focus on the basics: reading, writing and arithmetic.
While I applaud the goal of the Linux documentation project I think that it's helping linux avoid the real problem of usability.
It's one thing to have good docs, but it's a much better thing to not even need docs. Users are fickle and lazy, and a lot of them will just quit if they can't figure out how to do something while they are doing it. Linux should try and avoid the need for a massive series of in-depth how-tos, and strive for good usability for common folk right out of the box (or off the CD).
It seems as if the/. crowd isn't all that impressed by this advance by apple.
Well that's fine. The real upside of this is for people that have never heard of/. and don't really know what a hard drive is, let alone know how to defrag one.
Previously these people would just go forever without defragging. Now they can still do that, because Apple is doing it for them behind the scenes.
This is yet one more example of Apple's winning philosophy: Keep it simple, make it better.
mapquest is one big mother fucking BITCH for canadians (and probably other international users as well). Even if you go to mapquest.ca and search for Montreal (a 3million person plus canadian city) it shows some shitty little town of montreal, idaho or something. What the fuck mapquest? You suck.
On the other hand I have found maps.yahoo.ca to be quite an excellent service. Go yahoo go.
At first I thought of mono as a way of getting MS.NET applications to run under Linux. Now I see that this view is silly.
Microsoft has built in a way to access the underlying Win32 API into.NET. Thus any.NET application that uses this functionality will never run under mono (except if wine can handle all the calls).
But that doesn't mean that mono is useless, far from it. MS'.NET was clearly created as a competitor to the java virtual machine. Mono is just another competitor to java and MS.NET as well. And the most important point is that it is fully free.
The open source communities have largely embraced java even though sun still imposes some restrictions through licensing. This has had a large negative effect on the spread of some java technologies (like JAI or java3D not being available on macOS).
Mono gives the open source communities a 2nd generation virtual machine design to call it's own. Forget about microsoft's.NET, view mono as a solution in and of itself and it looks very interesting.
What a lot of people don't seem to know is that the fact that it is still called the 'theory' of relativity means that it hasn't been accepted as gospel by scientists yet.
Contrast this with the 'law' of gravity, which has.
It's true that as time goes by and the evidence stacks up on its side relativity appears to be on its way to becoming a 'law', but it could still take a number of decades.
Any prize like this that costs money to enter is stooopid (it cost $100 bucks). It effectively rules out all free games, and there are many excellent ones out there.
While it's nice to be recognized on slashdot it doesn't mean that I will just give my work away for free. I have spent a hell of a lot of time working on Lux. If you like it enough to ask for freebies on slashdot don't you like it enough to purchase a registration code. It's not very much money in the grand scheme of things. Plus it helps support independent software developers.
Whether or not the admins are any good is moot. Mac vs. Linux the admins will be the same. Mac vs. Linux the users are better off with macs. Thus the macs win.
Uh, perhaps you should think about the situation a little more.
The machines will most likely be set up in labs by administrators. Regular users will only be able to install things into their home directories. Thus it will be impossible for them to clutter up the system.
As long as the admins are competent and keep track of what has been installed there shouldn't be any problem.
But those other purposes (making $$$, making recruits) will only succeed if the game is entertaining for the players. If it is then they have a chance of making good on their purpose. But if they don't make the game entertaining, if they just tack on the entertainment part, then they will fail miserably.
whose primary purpose is something other than to entertain
I say that any game whose primary purpose is not to entertain has no hope of ever doing anything. On the other hand if a game can primarily entertain you then it will be much more successful with its sneaky secondary purposes.
Slashdot Mirror
That's a biting critique you got there. Care to back it up with some URLs for true independent sites?
It's quite common to lie at the outset of a merger. Saying that no jobs will be lost or some such. It puts a good spin on the move. Then after the deal is done they can do whatever they want. And they will do what's the most cost-effective.
Hopefully they will keep the best from both and make a good site.
I'm sure that some staff will be let go to reduce costs and eliminate duplication. But the duplication is what users like. Two differing views are better than one.
http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/dell/support_l etter.php
It's just legal FUD. I cannot honestly believe that Dell is scared of breaking some totally unenforceable third-party EULAs.
There has to be another reason why they are doing this. I can't think of any good ones though...
All they have to do is say "You can search for SpyBot and run it if you want".
It's gotta be such a common problem that they would probably save on support costs if they just replaced their on-hold music with a message saying exactly that.
If you guys run MacOS X and you enjoy the boardgame Risk then I would humbly suggest my game Lux. It's fun for the whole family.
The thing in school that I would say helped me out the most was a strong math program that focused on the basics. Every class we would start with a 5-10 minute quiz that went from addition to subtraction to multiplication, to division, to factors, squares, etc. The class wouldn't move on to the next topic until everyone had reached a satisfactory level in the last one. Even the kids who 'weren't good at math' benefitted immensely from having the basics implanted in their brains for good.
While computers may be helpful for teaching some things, the most important thing is to have a strong focus on the basics: reading, writing and arithmetic.
Why don't you ask your ISP these questions? They should be able to provide better answers than /.
It's one thing to have good docs, but it's a much better thing to not even need docs. Users are fickle and lazy, and a lot of them will just quit if they can't figure out how to do something while they are doing it. Linux should try and avoid the need for a massive series of in-depth how-tos, and strive for good usability for common folk right out of the box (or off the CD).
Well that's fine. The real upside of this is for people that have never heard of /. and don't really know what a hard drive is, let alone know how to defrag one.
Previously these people would just go forever without defragging. Now they can still do that, because Apple is doing it for them behind the scenes.
This is yet one more example of Apple's winning philosophy: Keep it simple, make it better.
On the other hand I have found maps.yahoo.ca to be quite an excellent service. Go yahoo go.
If a PS2 was also $99 I bet they'd sell like gangbusters.
Movie theaters
VCRs
Pay TV
The Internet
i.e. Basically all forms of rich media transmission. Do not dismiss porn as a venue to sell your new technology. It truly could be very helpful.
Microsoft has built in a way to access the underlying Win32 API into .NET. Thus any .NET application that uses this functionality will never run under mono (except if wine can handle all the calls).
But that doesn't mean that mono is useless, far from it. MS' .NET was clearly created as a competitor to the java virtual machine. Mono is just another competitor to java and MS .NET as well. And the most important point is that it is fully free.
The open source communities have largely embraced java even though sun still imposes some restrictions through licensing. This has had a large negative effect on the spread of some java technologies (like JAI or java3D not being available on macOS).
Mono gives the open source communities a 2nd generation virtual machine design to call it's own. Forget about microsoft's .NET, view mono as a solution in and of itself and it looks very interesting.
Contrast this with the 'law' of gravity, which has.
It's true that as time goes by and the evidence stacks up on its side relativity appears to be on its way to becoming a 'law', but it could still take a number of decades.
Any prize like this that costs money to enter is stooopid (it cost $100 bucks). It effectively rules out all free games, and there are many excellent ones out there.
I predict a petition and eventual US release of this game. And I am excited to see it when it arrives.
Yes. Yes I am.
Can I have 3 free registration codes?
No. No you can't.
While it's nice to be recognized on slashdot it doesn't mean that I will just give my work away for free. I have spent a hell of a lot of time working on Lux. If you like it enough to ask for freebies on slashdot don't you like it enough to purchase a registration code. It's not very much money in the grand scheme of things. Plus it helps support independent software developers.
Whether or not the admins are any good is moot. Mac vs. Linux the admins will be the same. Mac vs. Linux the users are better off with macs. Thus the macs win.
The machines will most likely be set up in labs by administrators. Regular users will only be able to install things into their home directories. Thus it will be impossible for them to clutter up the system.
As long as the admins are competent and keep track of what has been installed there shouldn't be any problem.
All your Linux are belong to us!
That was my original point.
I say that any game whose primary purpose is not to entertain has no hope of ever doing anything. On the other hand if a game can primarily entertain you then it will be much more successful with its sneaky secondary purposes.
FIGHT!!!