>> They've never even announced a date for Longhorn. What on earth are you talking about?
I quote from one of their Press Pass documents they have online at microsoft.com:
"Over the course of 2004 you'll see a couple of releases in the betas for "Longhorn" and we'll see that coming to market in 2005.
Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard about or wonder about the possibility of whether we're going to do something before "Longhorn," is there an interim release, and that's something that I don't expect us to do. Currently we have some additional releases that are coming out as follow-ons to the XP Media Center Edition and the Tablet PC Edition so we've got some great advances and fit and finish and addressing additional international marketplaces with new handwriting recognition, new guide data for Europe for the Media Center and so on.
So you'll see some good incremental moves there but really the weight of the company, the weight of all the people in the Windows client division and across the platform's division, the weight of that effort that we're doing is around "Longhorn" and that's what we're focused on and we hope to get you all really pulling the same way so we can come out with a huge wave of excitement for the industry when "Longhorn" ships in 2005."
Microsoft themselves show that 2005 is the target date of Longhorn in a slide picture. (png image)
>> As if that matters. Those are early, early alpha shots, as we all know. All the cool builds with the 3D acceleration are in a different Microsoft lab anyway that hasn't had one of their builds leaked.
First, can you prove there are "cool builds" that will have 100% of the suggested features in a shipping version of Longhorn? Secondly, the history of Microsoft's software release stategy has been plainly made clear numerous times. Hype, Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, Buzzwords-o'-the-day, Gross Appropriation (oh sorry, I mean Innovation), and just downright unfullfilled expectations litter the computer timescape.
For a company that has been in the software business of well over 25 years, one would think that with their talk of innovation and "exciting new time-saving" features, we would all have an operating system on our machines that used voice controlled openGL hyper speed interfaces, smart enough to do your work for you while you browsed sites like slashdot. Isn't the entire point of using a computer to save time and be more productive? This sadly is not the case today.
>> I'm not really sure what breathing room you're talking about. The developer preview of Longhorn is coming out later this year. The list of features Longhorn already boasts is staggering, and I doubt within two years that ANY Linux projects will come close. We'll still be stucking using X11 with a hacked on desktop simulator, business as usual.
I was thinking about this very thing a few days ago, the fact that Microsoft has basically provided a free gift to the alternative OS camps.
Think about it. They've continually pushed back the release date of Longhorn, at least three times now, to my recollection. The screenshots they have leaked out, whether they are true or not haven't produced any vote of confidence from the various geeks I've seen comment about it online.
I'm neither defending Microsoft or trying to put them down, but the fact remains that their competition has been given a lot of breathing room, which I think if used wisely, will show some very large rewards by the time Longhorn comes out in full force.
One more thing. Let's assume for a moment that Longhorn starts selling on January 1st, 2005. We're being really optimistic, but for the sake of argument, I'll pick this date. Now... in typical Microsoft fashion, and from the history of the IT world, it won't be for at least 6 months before it even makes a significant market shift.
Who will upgrade to an OS that curtails choices in the file system? Who will spend the money on an OS that hasn't proven itself yet? I'm not talking about Windows itself, but the new Longhorn. The Windows line of products has had varied levels of success, not just due to marketing guidance, but because it has solved some issues for joe user.
As for Longhorn, the "early adopters" might give it a try, but it will still take quite some time before the mass market checks it out. I predict it will be at least 6 months time before Longhorn starts to make any real significant headway in the market.
So, given that I'm being optimistic with a date of January 1st, 2005, I really believe that the alternative OS's will have at least two full years before being in any danger from the MS Marketing Machine.
Just my two cents.
Re:Wrong way to think about
on
The Borg MegaCube
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· Score: 4, Informative
Your empirical evidence is bogus.
I'm staring at a Star Trek The Next Generation DVD in my hand now. It contains 4 episodes, with each one being ripped to the hard drive producing 1.8 GIG files in size.
The very first DVD contains Encounter at Farpoint (both parts), making it one of the exceptions. Each season ends with 3 episodes, and a "features" video. There are 48 DVD's in total, spread across the series so that there are on average 4 episodes on each (roughly, some have 3 and a feature).
One more thing. Each episode on the DVD has approximately 42 minutes running time, since there are no commercials, and that's what the show's airtime was given.
Searching for Microsoft and Redmond in the search and location fields yields nothing.
From Google's regular search engine I get these results.
I think they still have some work cut out for them. Granted, it's a great feature, but nothing earth-shattering, since the concept of "yellow pages" has been online for a very long time.
Some notable YP type engines that I might suggest:
Vote.. really. What planet were you on during the last US election?
Bush wasn't voted into office. He was selected. With his brothers help. With lots of money.
The united states of embarassment is going to hell in a handbasket. And the sad thing is, that Europe wants to be JUST LIKE EM by passing ridiculous laws that further curtail human rights.
On a planet that has over 6 billion people, where at least half are living well below the poverty line, there is a country being run by a body of officials who allow corporations to secretly tell them what to do, how to do it, and where to do more of it, and people still are not clued in.
It's truly sad. Yes, I agree that voting is one very good option. However, I think it's gone far past this now, and it's time to bring power back to the people. I say this because any civil war in the united states will affect the lives of everyone on this planet, directly or indirectly.
Instead of trying to carve up Europe and dictate how other coutnries are run, the united states should be dealing with its own problems first and foremost, for a change.
Were you aware that the national debt of the US is now over 6.7 TRILLION dollars? That works out to 23 thousand+ USD per registered citizen of america. At a rate of 1.6 billion dollars a day EXTRA, I seriously doubt spending more money on things like Patriot act II, Iraq (87 billion.. ), and ignoring the problems on your own soil will do the world any good.
You have to be fucking kidding me. Didn't the last civil war teach you people about living in the "land of the free"?
When some draconian law gets proposed, or your government wants to do something more restrictive with your country, if you don't say anything at all, you're open to everything, good and bad.
It's about time more people noticed the groundswelling of anti-corporate/bush/ashcroft "patriotism" that has been building since at least the year 2000, and did something about it. You can't remain quiet about that! You need to discuss the issues, not hide behind some "Patriot Act" or TIA mandate, or hell, use the DMCA as a club to beat your rights to death.
I don't even like the united states, but I can respect the need for change. The winds of change are building. Listen to what they have to say. Pass it on.
At first glance, this appears to be a very unique and clever way of transferring information about a copyrighted work.
However, this would be very similar to using analog methods to record music from the radio or the soundcard.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.
*still chuckling*... A very clever idea indeed. Would this mean that once the original material has been verified elsewhere, that the subsequent information can be shared wholesale? ie: shared normally through p2p.
So, how much would it really cost SBC if they had to go to court?
Compare that with the price of:
adhering to the whims of the RIAA
putting together a marketing campaign with this much exposure
While I may agree with the actions that SBC has taken, namely telling the RIAA to go fsck themselves, the motives behind it may be entirely financial. In the end, does it really matter?
I'm positive that media offerings in the late eighties such as the Amiga video editing system, the proprietary video cameras, and the personal video-in cards on pc's that appeared in the early nineties would have easily flourised to fill the void of no VCR's.
Think about it. Sure, there might not have been too much hard drive space, but I'm sure someone would have found a solution for the market. Just because there might not have been any VCR's doesn't mean that a video recording solution wouldn't have come about.
How about using unmanned fuel cell airplanes? It could follow the tracks, ahead of the train, reporting back what it sees, AND be able to stop in time.
I'm positive it could be engineered to follow the tracks, hovering a few feet above the ground. When it spots something obstructing the tracks, it could report it automatically to central control, and the train, which would then have time to slow down.
Read the previous slashdot entry: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid =03/06/2 4/1954211&mode=nested&tid=126
According to the links, it's capable of sustained flight for six months. Surely given that India has over 90% of it's rail lines outside, and it gets quite a lot of sun exposure, this would be a good choice of "point vehicle".
Which is why the collective programming group and community is learning well from these past mistakes, and working on the things that will overcome these types of problems.
I know painfully well the mistakes that Be Inc. made. This is not the single most important issue at hand however. The thing that strkes me as most compelling and worthy of discussion is the fact that the entire court case gets to be swept under the rug, as if nothing happened.
That, in a nutshell, is wrong. Everyone who has a semblance of a clue knows it, and will not forget. They will add it to the growing list of charges by Microsoft, the numerous wrongdoings and misappropriate behaviours that the Redmond company has taken over their sorted history.
Back to your reply.;)
I agree there is a big difference between a "spreadsheet program" and someone porting one in the future. The fact remains that history has shown there were many, many developers and companies working with Be Inc. to produce these things. They might not have been the most stellar of products initially, but as we all know, programs do eventually get better in time.
A proven example of program growth would be the browser wars. In the beginning there was Mosaic, then came Netscape, and Internet Explorer joined the fray. Frankly, in comparing the three against today's standards, or even just 2 years into their respective futures, we find the contrast striking.
I also agree with your point about the marketing mistakes and how BeOS could have been far more successful in a very niche market like a specialized media workstation. Agree with 100%. But the choice(s) were made, the decision to do a "focus shift" was announced, and the end result was a leap in the wrong direction.
But the dream lives on. The spirit and ideals that BeOS itself presented will not be forgotten.
I for one am looking past the actions of Microsoft, insomuch as they do not affect my resolve to create a viable future for BeOS. I for one resolve to continually advocate the solutions available with BeOS when and where they are applicable.
Thank you again for your reply. It gives me a chance to further redefine my own perspective and how I can apply myself to helping the dream come alive.
You're right when you consider how the average user thinks about their computing desires and the choices available to them. As long as we're going down this olive branch, I ask you to allow me to go through your points one by one.
'spreadsheet'
YellowTab has a screenshot showing they are improving the AbiWord office package here. There is a donation page to help port OpenOffice to BeOS. Last but not least, GoBe at one time announced they would port GP 3.0 to BeOS, providing they had enough sales of the windows side. Sadly, this did not work out as intended. That's another topic for discussion.;)
'instant messaging'
The venerable and solid repository of BeOS applications' BeBits has these entries for instant messaging applications:
There are more, but I chose to show three examples of chat protocals.
'surf the web'
Both Mozilla and FireBird have been ported to BeOS for quite some time now. In fact, just 2 days ago there was a new build directly from the cvs server for BeOS of Mozilla. I believe the current direction is towards FireBird, since it's just the browser, but that's a good thing.;) I won't mention Opera, as the jury is out until Zeta comes out
'3D Games'
You've got that one, I will admit. but it's not so hot either on any OS other than Microsoft's, so it's a poor example for debate.
I do hear through the grapevine that CounterStrike has been ported for BeOS, but that is pure speculation at this point.;) I'll also point out that there were two seperate ports of Quake3 TEST made for BeOS. One by Be Inc., the other by id software.
Also, thinking back to that time period, there was an excellent review article on BeNews.com that illustrated just how great the openGL implementation was heading towards for BeOS. Again, time will reveal more when Zeta comes out, as it supposedly has openGL support for Radeon and NVidia chipsets.
The main basis for development was already underway by the time that BeOS R5 Pro/PE came out, starting with the excellent groundwork in R4.5 of openGL, and the overhaul of the networking stack and media kit. Given a few more years, at the pace that BeOS was being released at (every 8 months on average), there would have been no doubt in anyone's mind who was active in the community as to how great it could have been.
That was then. This is now. The future is with OpenBeOS and YellowTab, and the other development OS projects.
I wanted to address your points, because I felt you were not giving BeOS a fair shake. There were quite a few companies who were making some serious headway, not only in software, but in hardware products such as HARP (Home Audio Reference Platform), BeIA webpads, Audio Recording stations, and more.
Thanks for raising these important user requirements to light. If you have any points you would like to address to me, please feel free to do so.
All it takes is continual development, just like with linux, and there -will- be a future for anyone who fell in love with BeOS in the first place.
It's not so much the OS itself, but as to what it represents. The Be Way, the ideals and concepts it has offered up, among it's ease of use and elegant design choices.
I am very saddened to see such a poor outcome for this legal case. However, I see this as another nail in the coffin for Microsoft. Their day is coming, and I will be happy to show people seeking alternatives just how nice a company Microsoft is by adding this outcome to the (already) growing lists of grievances against the company from Redmond.
If you feel up to the challenge of programming for a splendidly thought out API, please visit the OpenBeOS website and offer your assistance. Even if it's just one small application, one line of code, or just a diversion from what you normally do, it will help.
We can make something if we all help each other. Isn't that a nice thought?
You forgot to mention if someone saved the grits, whether the porn archive of Natalie Portman was recovered, and if SCO was suing the webhost for using linux.
Try changing your IP address, DNS servers, host name, domain name, machine name, and/or user settings in windoze or linux.
In BeOS, it's as easy as modifying whatever you wish, and hitting "Restart Networking".
With the new BONE based networking stack (available online if you search google) for BeOS R5, or the modified BONE that's coming in Zeta, any changes you make will be applied for you automatically.
It's the one thing that irks me, is rebooting JUST TO CHANGE a simple value.
The BeOS Way is to define modular kits that can be swapped in and out as required. Need to change your system language on the fly? No problem, just choose the language, and a BMessage is sent to everything that requires to be notified, updating the menu language instantly.
Need to get a soundcard working with that new driver you just downloaded? Hit restart Media Server, and it will detect, initialize and use the driver you "installed".
Installing applications is painless too. Launch the package file, it will install where it needs to. Want to uninstall it? Remove the folder from/boot/apps. Done.
I used to be an assistant manager of a 5 screen theatre in Canada, and I can tell you for a fact that it gets expensive changing light bulbs.
These aren't the typical low watt bulbs you'll find in most homes, but rather the 125W halogen spot bulbs, used to direct lighting for walkways, hallways, signage, and posters.
The bulbs stay lit for well over 8 hours each day, every day, and there are well over 200 in use by a theatre of this size.
I think the editor's intention was to indicate just how often a light bulb is:
a.) manufactured.
b.) replaced with same bulb type.
c.) replaced with different technology.
I would love to see a more economical lighting replacement, one that doesn't injure when broken, (think broken glass, filaments, or powder residue in the eye.), doesn't burn (try handling one that has just burnt out.), produces little to no heat, and can be easily recycled.
I don't agree with the inclusion of "filling the gas tank", but hey.. it's his perogative.
Back in the eighties, when regular CD's were first introduced that could be read by a standard computer (pc, mac, etc), the discs were fairly thick, and consisted of (iirc) from top down:
disc label protective coating data layer (usually pressed) protective coating
Then at the end of the eighties, I don't recall exactly what year, but it was adopted by various cd makers till eventually all, the price of CD's dropped dramatically, almost in half.
The reason for this was the fact that the top protective layer was removed from the manufacturing process, leaving just the thin disc label and it's material to protect the data layer, barely.
I want to clarify that I'm talking about regular PRESSED cd's manufactured in bulk, and not dye layered ones, but the point is the same in both cases. By removing the top protective layer, it allowed manufacturing of CD's to drop in price dramatically.
I'm positive there have been other cost cutting measures used for dye layer CD's that the manufacturers have adopted over the years, such as cheper dyes that are affected faster due to exposure to sunlight, and so on.
It's not just about scratches or dye, but about the overall picture here. The manufacturers WANT to have built in obselesance. This gives them a nice steady flow of income when one has to contually burn his media archive every 2 years.
Food for thought anyhow. I thought I'd post about what I saw in the eighties, in case it was relevant.
Am I correct in saying that a router can be used at home to prevent these kinds of attacks in the first place?
With more families getting online and having multiple computers in a network, wouldn't it make sense to install a router that protects against the silly port attacks?
I believe a router these days costs about $50 USD, so it's far cheaper to purchase one than to buy a software based "firewall" solution, that might be turned off by little johnny anyhow.
Just because a law is in existance does not mean that no one has the right to challenge it's constitutionality, a practice that for decades has served well to overturn even the most ardunt of laws.
Without people to stand up to such pathetic excuses of legal bindings, where would the United States be today?
I can only imagine the very faint glimmer of hope trapped in the minds of the people enslaved in that future society. But alas, that "future" is not yet here, and we can all rest easy. Perhaps.
The DMCA and its ilk are tools driven to bring about a reality that no one wants to live in. If no one challenges the various aspects pertinent to how broadly the DMCA reaches into society, then there is no point in even discussing it here in this forum at all. Might as well just enjoy your coffee, shuffle along with the crowd to your nine-to-five job, and clock in another boring day.
Innovation? Deliberation? Thought? These concepts are unknown to most of the corporate figureheads who control the very media we rely on. Why play into their hands?
I want to provide a relevant url for anyone interested in seeing how a media system should act like:
The recording industry disagreed late Wednesday, in statement given to The Associated Press.
"We are disappointed that Pac Bell has chosen to fight this, unlike every other ISP which has complied with their obligations under the law. We had previously reached out to SBC to discuss this matter but had been rebuked," the statement read.
(emphasis mine, added.)
Right. More like, "We are disappointed that Pac Bell has a spine, and didn't roll over as asked."
Why is it that when a (smaller) corporation decides to stand up for their customers' rights against a (larger) corporation, it's always spun as being unlawful?
It's time the DMCA was given a hard look at by the people who have a clue in the legal community, and who have the power to affect change.
Slashdot Mirror
>> They've never even announced a date for Longhorn. What on earth are you talking about?
I quote from one of their Press Pass documents they have online at microsoft.com:
"Over the course of 2004 you'll see a couple of releases in the betas for "Longhorn" and we'll see that coming to market in 2005.
Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard about or wonder about the possibility of whether we're going to do something before "Longhorn," is there an interim release, and that's something that I don't expect us to do. Currently we have some additional releases that are coming out as follow-ons to the XP Media Center Edition and the Tablet PC Edition so we've got some great advances and fit and finish and addressing additional international marketplaces with new handwriting recognition, new guide data for Europe for the Media Center and so on.
So you'll see some good incremental moves there but really the weight of the company, the weight of all the people in the Windows client division and across the platform's division, the weight of that effort that we're doing is around "Longhorn" and that's what we're focused on and we hope to get you all really pulling the same way so we can come out with a huge wave of excitement for the industry when "Longhorn" ships in 2005."
(quotes and italics mine.)
Several online sources have credited varying target dates for Longhorn, but all generally agree that 2005 will be the earliest that it will be available to the mass market:
Longhorn Betas in 2004, GA in 2005 (ENT News)
Analyst Pegs Longhorn Release at 2006 (ENT News)
Microsoft Pushes Back 'Longhorn' Release (Open Tech Support)
A Longhorn Delay? Not Quite (WinInfo)
Microsoft announces Longhorn release date (CNet News.com)
(I have no affiliation with these sources.)
Microsoft themselves show that 2005 is the target date of Longhorn in a slide picture. (png image)
>> As if that matters. Those are early, early alpha shots, as we all know. All the cool builds with the 3D acceleration are in a different Microsoft lab anyway that hasn't had one of their builds leaked.
First, can you prove there are "cool builds" that will have 100% of the suggested features in a shipping version of Longhorn? Secondly, the history of Microsoft's software release stategy has been plainly made clear numerous times. Hype, Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, Buzzwords-o'-the-day, Gross Appropriation (oh sorry, I mean Innovation), and just downright unfullfilled expectations litter the computer timescape.
For a company that has been in the software business of well over 25 years, one would think that with their talk of innovation and "exciting new time-saving" features, we would all have an operating system on our machines that used voice controlled openGL hyper speed interfaces, smart enough to do your work for you while you browsed sites like slashdot. Isn't the entire point of using a computer to save time and be more productive? This sadly is not the case today .
>> I'm not really sure what breathing room you're talking about. The developer preview of Longhorn is coming out later this year. The list of features Longhorn already boasts is staggering, and I doubt within two years that ANY Linux projects will come close. We'll still be stucking using X11 with a hacked on desktop simulator, business as usual.
I was thinking about this very thing a few days ago, the fact that Microsoft has basically provided a free gift to the alternative OS camps.
Think about it. They've continually pushed back the release date of Longhorn, at least three times now, to my recollection. The screenshots they have leaked out, whether they are true or not haven't produced any vote of confidence from the various geeks I've seen comment about it online.
I'm neither defending Microsoft or trying to put them down, but the fact remains that their competition has been given a lot of breathing room, which I think if used wisely, will show some very large rewards by the time Longhorn comes out in full force.
One more thing. Let's assume for a moment that Longhorn starts selling on January 1st, 2005. We're being really optimistic, but for the sake of argument, I'll pick this date. Now... in typical Microsoft fashion, and from the history of the IT world, it won't be for at least 6 months before it even makes a significant market shift.
Who will upgrade to an OS that curtails choices in the file system? Who will spend the money on an OS that hasn't proven itself yet? I'm not talking about Windows itself, but the new Longhorn. The Windows line of products has had varied levels of success, not just due to marketing guidance, but because it has solved some issues for joe user.
As for Longhorn, the "early adopters" might give it a try, but it will still take quite some time before the mass market checks it out. I predict it will be at least 6 months time before Longhorn starts to make any real significant headway in the market.
So, given that I'm being optimistic with a date of January 1st, 2005, I really believe that the alternative OS's will have at least two full years before being in any danger from the MS Marketing Machine.
Just my two cents.
Your empirical evidence is bogus.
;)
I'm staring at a Star Trek The Next Generation DVD in my hand now. It contains 4 episodes, with each one being ripped to the hard drive producing 1.8 GIG files in size.
The very first DVD contains Encounter at Farpoint (both parts), making it one of the exceptions. Each season ends with 3 episodes, and a "features" video. There are 48 DVD's in total, spread across the series so that there are on average 4 episodes on each (roughly, some have 3 and a feature).
One more thing. Each episode on the DVD has approximately 42 minutes running time, since there are no commercials, and that's what the show's airtime was given.
Just thought you might like to know some facts.
Hrm... Not quite there yet.
Searching for Microsoft and Redmond in the search and location fields yields nothing.
From Google's regular search engine I get these results.
I think they still have some work cut out for them. Granted, it's a great feature, but nothing earth-shattering, since the concept of "yellow pages" has been online for a very long time.
Some notable YP type engines that I might suggest:
- Yahoo Yellow Pages
- InfoSpace
- Bigfoot
There goes my karma, but I don't care. ;)
Vote.. really. What planet were you on during the last US election?
Bush wasn't voted into office. He was selected. With his brothers help. With lots of money.
The united states of embarassment is going to hell in a handbasket. And the sad thing is, that Europe wants to be JUST LIKE EM by passing ridiculous laws that further curtail human rights.
On a planet that has over 6 billion people, where at least half are living well below the poverty line, there is a country being run by a body of officials who allow corporations to secretly tell them what to do, how to do it, and where to do more of it, and people still are not clued in.
It's truly sad. Yes, I agree that voting is one very good option. However, I think it's gone far past this now, and it's time to bring power back to the people. I say this because any civil war in the united states will affect the lives of everyone on this planet, directly or indirectly.
Instead of trying to carve up Europe and dictate how other coutnries are run, the united states should be dealing with its own problems first and foremost, for a change.
Were you aware that the national debt of the US is now over 6.7 TRILLION dollars? That works out to 23 thousand+ USD per registered citizen of america. At a rate of 1.6 billion dollars a day EXTRA, I seriously doubt spending more money on things like Patriot act II, Iraq (87 billion.. ), and ignoring the problems on your own soil will do the world any good.
Wake up. Spread the word. Do something.
Keep quiet?
You have to be fucking kidding me. Didn't the last civil war teach you people about living in the "land of the free"?
When some draconian law gets proposed, or your government wants to do something more restrictive with your country, if you don't say anything at all, you're open to everything, good and bad.
It's about time more people noticed the groundswelling of anti-corporate/bush/ashcroft "patriotism" that has been building since at least the year 2000, and did something about it. You can't remain quiet about that! You need to discuss the issues, not hide behind some "Patriot Act" or TIA mandate, or hell, use the DMCA as a club to beat your rights to death.
I don't even like the united states, but I can respect the need for change. The winds of change are building. Listen to what they have to say. Pass it on.
At first glance, this appears to be a very unique and clever way of transferring information about a copyrighted work.
However, this would be very similar to using analog methods to record music from the radio or the soundcard.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.
*still chuckling*... A very clever idea indeed. Would this mean that once the original material has been verified elsewhere, that the subsequent information can be shared wholesale? ie: shared normally through p2p.
Compare that with the price of:
While I may agree with the actions that SBC has taken, namely telling the RIAA to go fsck themselves, the motives behind it may be entirely financial. In the end, does it really matter?
I'm positive that media offerings in the late eighties such as the Amiga video editing system, the proprietary video cameras, and the personal video-in cards on pc's that appeared in the early nineties would have easily flourised to fill the void of no VCR's.
Think about it. Sure, there might not have been too much hard drive space, but I'm sure someone would have found a solution for the market. Just because there might not have been any VCR's doesn't mean that a video recording solution wouldn't have come about.
How about using unmanned fuel cell airplanes? It could follow the tracks, ahead of the train, reporting back what it sees, AND be able to stop in time.
d =03/06/2 4/1954211&mode=nested&tid=126
I'm positive it could be engineered to follow the tracks, hovering a few feet above the ground. When it spots something obstructing the tracks, it could report it automatically to central control, and the train, which would then have time to slow down.
Read the previous slashdot entry:
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?si
According to the links, it's capable of sustained flight for six months. Surely given that India has over 90% of it's rail lines outside, and it gets quite a lot of sun exposure, this would be a good choice of "point vehicle".
Just a thought.
You're absolutely right.
;)
Which is why the collective programming group and community is learning well from these past mistakes, and working on the things that will overcome these types of problems.
I know painfully well the mistakes that Be Inc. made. This is not the single most important issue at hand however. The thing that strkes me as most compelling and worthy of discussion is the fact that the entire court case gets to be swept under the rug, as if nothing happened.
That, in a nutshell, is wrong. Everyone who has a semblance of a clue knows it, and will not forget. They will add it to the growing list of charges by Microsoft, the numerous wrongdoings and misappropriate behaviours that the Redmond company has taken over their sorted history.
Back to your reply.
I agree there is a big difference between a "spreadsheet program" and someone porting one in the future. The fact remains that history has shown there were many, many developers and companies working with Be Inc. to produce these things. They might not have been the most stellar of products initially, but as we all know, programs do eventually get better in time.
A proven example of program growth would be the browser wars. In the beginning there was Mosaic, then came Netscape, and Internet Explorer joined the fray. Frankly, in comparing the three against today's standards, or even just 2 years into their respective futures, we find the contrast striking.
I also agree with your point about the marketing mistakes and how BeOS could have been far more successful in a very niche market like a specialized media workstation. Agree with 100%. But the choice(s) were made, the decision to do a "focus shift" was announced, and the end result was a leap in the wrong direction.
But the dream lives on. The spirit and ideals that BeOS itself presented will not be forgotten.
I for one am looking past the actions of Microsoft, insomuch as they do not affect my resolve to create a viable future for BeOS. I for one resolve to continually advocate the solutions available with BeOS when and where they are applicable.
Thank you again for your reply. It gives me a chance to further redefine my own perspective and how I can apply myself to helping the dream come alive.
Regards,
You're right when you consider how the average user thinks about their computing desires and the choices available to them. As long as we're going down this olive branch, I ask you to allow me to go through your points one by one.
YellowTab has a screenshot showing they are improving the AbiWord office package here. There is a donation page to help port OpenOffice to BeOS. Last but not least, GoBe at one time announced they would port GP 3.0 to BeOS, providing they had enough sales of the windows side. Sadly, this did not work out as intended. That's another topic for discussion.
The venerable and solid repository of BeOS applications' BeBits has these entries for instant messaging applications:
There are more, but I chose to show three examples of chat protocals.
Both Mozilla and FireBird have been ported to BeOS for quite some time now. In fact, just 2 days ago there was a new build directly from the cvs server for BeOS of Mozilla. I believe the current direction is towards FireBird, since it's just the browser, but that's a good thing.
You've got that one, I will admit. but it's not so hot either on any OS other than Microsoft's, so it's a poor example for debate.
I do hear through the grapevine that CounterStrike has been ported for BeOS, but that is pure speculation at this point.
Also, thinking back to that time period, there was an excellent review article on BeNews.com that illustrated just how great the openGL implementation was heading towards for BeOS. Again, time will reveal more when Zeta comes out, as it supposedly has openGL support for Radeon and NVidia chipsets.
The main basis for development was already underway by the time that BeOS R5 Pro/PE came out, starting with the excellent groundwork in R4.5 of openGL, and the overhaul of the networking stack and media kit. Given a few more years, at the pace that BeOS was being released at (every 8 months on average), there would have been no doubt in anyone's mind who was active in the community as to how great it could have been.
That was then. This is now. The future is with OpenBeOS and YellowTab, and the other development OS projects.
I wanted to address your points, because I felt you were not giving BeOS a fair shake. There were quite a few companies who were making some serious headway, not only in software, but in hardware products such as HARP (Home Audio Reference Platform), BeIA webpads, Audio Recording stations, and more.
Thanks for raising these important user requirements to light. If you have any points you would like to address to me, please feel free to do so.
Take a gander at what's coming down the road:
OpenBeOS
and
Zeta
All it takes is continual development, just like with linux, and there -will- be a future for anyone who fell in love with BeOS in the first place.
It's not so much the OS itself, but as to what it represents. The Be Way, the ideals and concepts it has offered up, among it's ease of use and elegant design choices.
I am very saddened to see such a poor outcome for this legal case. However, I see this as another nail in the coffin for Microsoft. Their day is coming, and I will be happy to show people seeking alternatives just how nice a company Microsoft is by adding this outcome to the (already) growing lists of grievances against the company from Redmond.
If you feel up to the challenge of programming for a splendidly thought out API, please visit the OpenBeOS website and offer your assistance. Even if it's just one small application, one line of code, or just a diversion from what you normally do, it will help.
We can make something if we all help each other. Isn't that a nice thought?
Mis-quote?
I believe it was Obi-Wan Kenobi who stated that he would become more powerful if struck down.
A better quote from Darth Vader that might apply to the RIAA is:
"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny."
You forgot to mention if someone saved the grits, whether the porn archive of Natalie Portman was recovered, and if SCO was suing the webhost for using linux.
Try changing your IP address, DNS servers, host name, domain name, machine name, and/or user settings in windoze or linux.
/boot/apps. Done.
;)
In BeOS, it's as easy as modifying whatever you wish, and hitting "Restart Networking".
With the new BONE based networking stack (available online if you search google) for BeOS R5, or the modified BONE that's coming in Zeta, any changes you make will be applied for you automatically.
It's the one thing that irks me, is rebooting JUST TO CHANGE a simple value.
The BeOS Way is to define modular kits that can be swapped in and out as required. Need to change your system language on the fly? No problem, just choose the language, and a BMessage is sent to everything that requires to be notified, updating the menu language instantly.
Need to get a soundcard working with that new driver you just downloaded? Hit restart Media Server, and it will detect, initialize and use the driver you "installed".
Installing applications is painless too. Launch the package file, it will install where it needs to. Want to uninstall it? Remove the folder from
No registry headaches.
I used to be an assistant manager of a 5 screen theatre in Canada, and I can tell you for a fact that it gets expensive changing light bulbs.
These aren't the typical low watt bulbs you'll find in most homes, but rather the 125W halogen spot bulbs, used to direct lighting for walkways, hallways, signage, and posters.
The bulbs stay lit for well over 8 hours each day, every day, and there are well over 200 in use by a theatre of this size.
I think the editor's intention was to indicate just how often a light bulb is:
a.) manufactured.
b.) replaced with same bulb type.
c.) replaced with different technology.
I would love to see a more economical lighting replacement, one that doesn't injure when broken, (think broken glass, filaments, or powder residue in the eye.), doesn't burn (try handling one that has just burnt out.), produces little to no heat, and can be easily recycled.
I don't agree with the inclusion of "filling the gas tank", but hey.. it's his perogative.
Back in the eighties, when regular CD's were first introduced that could be read by a standard computer (pc, mac, etc), the discs were fairly thick, and consisted of (iirc) from top down:
disc label
protective coating
data layer (usually pressed)
protective coating
Then at the end of the eighties, I don't recall exactly what year, but it was adopted by various cd makers till eventually all, the price of CD's dropped dramatically, almost in half.
The reason for this was the fact that the top protective layer was removed from the manufacturing process, leaving just the thin disc label and it's material to protect the data layer, barely.
I want to clarify that I'm talking about regular PRESSED cd's manufactured in bulk, and not dye layered ones, but the point is the same in both cases. By removing the top protective layer, it allowed manufacturing of CD's to drop in price dramatically.
I'm positive there have been other cost cutting measures used for dye layer CD's that the manufacturers have adopted over the years, such as cheper dyes that are affected faster due to exposure to sunlight, and so on.
It's not just about scratches or dye, but about the overall picture here. The manufacturers WANT to have built in obselesance. This gives them a nice steady flow of income when one has to contually burn his media archive every 2 years.
Food for thought anyhow. I thought I'd post about what I saw in the eighties, in case it was relevant.
In Holland, we call them "magic roots".
Purely for medicinal purposes, you understand...
Speaking of routers...
Am I correct in saying that a router can be used at home to prevent these kinds of attacks in the first place?
With more families getting online and having multiple computers in a network, wouldn't it make sense to install a router that protects against the silly port attacks?
I believe a router these days costs about $50 USD, so it's far cheaper to purchase one than to buy a software based "firewall" solution, that might be turned off by little johnny anyhow.
Just because a law is in existance does not mean that no one has the right to challenge it's constitutionality, a practice that for decades has served well to overturn even the most ardunt of laws.
;)
Without people to stand up to such pathetic excuses of legal bindings, where would the United States be today?
I can only imagine the very faint glimmer of hope trapped in the minds of the people enslaved in that future society. But alas, that "future" is not yet here, and we can all rest easy. Perhaps.
The DMCA and its ilk are tools driven to bring about a reality that no one wants to live in. If no one challenges the various aspects pertinent to how broadly the DMCA reaches into society, then there is no point in even discussing it here in this forum at all. Might as well just enjoy your coffee, shuffle along with the crowd to your nine-to-five job, and clock in another boring day.
Innovation? Deliberation? Thought? These concepts are unknown to most of the corporate figureheads who control the very media we rely on. Why play into their hands?
I want to provide a relevant url for anyone interested in seeing how a media system should act like:
http://www.indymedia.org/
Food for thought. Have a nice day.
(emphasis mine, added.)
Right. More like, "We are disappointed that Pac Bell has a spine, and didn't roll over as asked."
Why is it that when a (smaller) corporation decides to stand up for their customers' rights against a (larger) corporation, it's always spun as being unlawful?
It's time the DMCA was given a hard look at by the people who have a clue in the legal community, and who have the power to affect change.
That's wishful thinking perhaps.
http://www.beosjournal.org/wwdc/
for some pictures of the new case.
Just thought people here might like some insight into the world of a HipTop user.
or using the oft-overlooked - operator like so:
firebird -database