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  1. Multiple Desktops on Ars Technica Posts Panther Review · · Score: 1

    I agree with you on the focus-follows-mouse, and when I got the Mac, I switched my Linux boxes to click-to-focus, just to be a little consistent.

    However, if you want to try multi-desktops on a Mac, take a look at CodeTek's VirtualDesktop. I love it, but I find that with Expose, I use it much less than I used to. Expose makes my 1024x768 desktop seem much bigger.

  2. 'Last Crusade', not 'Last Indy Flick' on Indiana Jones coming to DVD in November · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Crusades were attempts to find the Holy Grail (and slaughter all the non-Christians). Since they find it this time (and kill some more quasi-Christians), it's the last one.

    When I was a kid, I too thought 'Last Crusade' referred to the last of the Indy movies. I knew what the Crusades were, but never connected history to movies (not that the tie was especially strong). I figured that all of Indy's adventures were 'crusades' and this was the last one.

  3. Just a niggle ... on Available To The Right Buyer: Sun Microsystems · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Apple are in prime spot to displace Sun these days. They are the only Unix vendor committed to a proprietary Unix that is likely to still be on offer in ten years time.

    I don't think I'd say Apple has a proprietary UNIX. Their UNIX is open. It's the fourth (5th? 6th? Hard to keep track anymore) OSS BSD. I don't think any closed unices are going to survive. Apple played it smart by locking down as little as possible -- just the part that makes the users drool. Developers are happy because it's all open and available and such, and users are happy because it's a beautiful system where you never have to open Terminal.app.

    I think Apple has some incredibly smart people and they definitely played the OS X thing right. I don't think it would have worked if their Unix was propietary.

    So yeah, other than that niggle (and it is just a niggle), I think your post is right on.

  4. Re:Outcome on Martin Michlmayr Wins DPL · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, the ballot is quite clear -- you just rank the candidates from 1-5 (with the extra one being for "no candidate"). This is a standard preferential ballot. If you like three of the candidates, but hate one, you would probably vote like

    1. My fave guy
    2. that other guy who's cool
    3. this guy ain't bad
    4. no candidate
    5. Satan

    This kind of ballot can be used in a number of voting methods, like the Borda Count and Plurality. In this case Pairwise Comparison was used.

    So, basically, the ballot is simple. The calculations might be a little complex, but that complexity isn't exposed to the voter, which was the problem with the Florida ballot -- the calculations were simple, but the ballot was complex.

  5. Meyer has the answer on C++ Templates: The Complete Guide · · Score: 1

    To get a good background in OO concepts, like generics (templates in C++), Bertrand Meyer's Object-Oriented Software Construction is what you need.

    It's practically required reading to understand OO, and it explains, among other things, why a language with a single eventual superclass (like Eiffel, as well as Java) also needs generics.

    And, as much as I reminisce about C++ and remember using the STL and other templates (my first taste of generics), its implementation of them is pretty bad. So, don't think that it's an "evil" necessary or un, having only seen them in that language.

  6. Bike 7,000 miles, then climb Everest alone on To The South Pole By Bike · · Score: 1

    This sounds a bit like what you're suggesting: http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=1928

    GÃran Kropp rode from Stockholm to Kathmandu with all of his gear, then climbed Everest alone and without oxygen, then got back on his bike and rode home.

    Now that's impressive.

  7. Return Your EULA Day on Fighting Back Against EULAs · · Score: 1

    This is a good point. Apparently, we're only licensing the software, not purchasing it. And, apparently, if we choose not to agree to the EULA we should be able to return the software.

    So, how about some kind of Return Your EULA Day. Everyone buys some software, opens it, and attempts to install it. Then, you don't agree to the EULA. Now we all take our software back to the stores -- all of it opened.

    It's been a while since I've been to a store to purchase software (I use Linux and OS X and purchase any software online), but I seem to recall most places have a no return policy on opened software. They probably wouldn't be too happy with hordes of people trying to return expensive software that's no longer shrink-wrapped. Also, to make it hit a bit harder, it should be expensive software -- like Windows XP or something -- not a $50 game.

    I'm not saying this will have an effect, but it's something to consider.

  8. Re:GNUstep on Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X · · Score: 4, Informative

    As far as I've been able to suss out (I haven't had a chance to play on OS X yet, but I have looked at a bunch of the developer docs), Cocoa is pretty much a relabeling of the NeXTStep API. I imagine that any code you write for Cocoa will compile fairly easily under GNUStep. In fact, the GNUStep guys are working to add a Java API (in addition to the extant Obj-C API) to match the one that Apple added for OS X.

  9. I've seen this problem in myself on Making Linux Look Harder Than It Is · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've been using Linux for maybe seven years now. I remember not even having X for the longest time. I edited all my text files and knew what every app and config file on my system did.

    Within the past year or so, I've started discovering GUI config tools and such. I'm learning that Linux has gotten a lot easier to use in recent years.

    When newbies ask me how to do stuff, I pretty much refuse to show them. I just explain that I can do it, but the way I know is pretty complex compared to the GUI tools that are floating around these days. I just poke around their desktop looking for a tool that looks like it does the right thing, then say, "that's probably what you want to look at."

    I also try to keep a few recent newbie books around for lending purposes.

    If you know the intracacies, it's hard to skim over them when you're teaching (at least, it has been for me).

  10. Alternatives to VisualStudio and Outlook on Interview With Linus · · Score: 1

    I have to disagree on both points here. Outlook is a pretty nasty email client. I know, for a long time all my shining Linux examples were on the command line. No way my girlfriend is going to use mutt, though. Now, however, KMail is looking very good. The version shipped with Mandrake 8.1 is the best GUI mail client I've used yet.

    As for VisualStudio, it's a bit clumsy. Try out Borland's Kylix for development on Linux. Borland's development tools have always been more consistent and easier to use than the Microsoft equivilents.

  11. cheap hardware on Is Mac OS X Threatening Linux? · · Score: 1

    I don't think it'll be an issue. I know I plan on getting a G4 so I can play with OS X (and Linux, and BSD, etc on a new platform), but to play with OS X, I have to get a PowerPC.

    Linux runs on so many architectures, I can't even keep count. Apple seems to be pretty certain that they're limiting OS X to the PowerPC (and a good call on their part IMO). Darwin apparently runs fine on x86, but how many other platforms?

    To move to OS X means new hardware. Moving to Linux means finding a distro that runs on your arch. Sure, it'll steal some desktop market, but I think it's better to see a Unix with a solid desktop than to see Linux in particular.

  12. Poor organization on The Docking Station Meets The MP3 Player · · Score: 1
    Organization is the real key. have all of your music organized in folders for every artist, then by subject, like Pop, Classic, disco, 60's etc. Navigating is simple: when in navigation mode you move the controller right to go deeper into directories (or left to go up) then scroll up and down to see the songs in the directory.

    That's the one problem they'd have to overcome to get me to buy this. MP3s have these nice little ID3 tags that allow for very nice organization. FreeAmp is the only player I know that organizes MP3s this way. In an ideal world, to play an 80s collection, I would only need to do something like:

    select MP3 where 1980 <= YEAR and YEAR < 1990

    Using a directory structure to navigate non-hierarchical data just isn't the way to go. MP3s were designed with that in mind, but no one's been paying attention. Use a little DB to organize this, please.

  13. Re:Journalistic Ethics? on Ian Clarke of Freenet Intereview · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure about this, but I assume that if he preferred not to go on record with that statement, the question would be stricken from the transcript of the interview.

  14. better alternative than Everybuddy on Official AIM for Linux · · Score: 2
    Why deal with all those protocols at all?

    Use Jabber. It's an open protocol, and the server handles the ICQ/IM/MSN issues. Also, it has encryption and much better authentication than the other systems.

    I was an Everybuddy user, until I found Jabber -- this is _much_ better.

  15. Re:Scott Adams Motivation on The Ultimate Geek Food · · Score: 1

    Actually, eating 6 small meals a day is healthier than eating one large meal (also better for maintaining energy levels). So, the Dilberto is almost perfect for that. I know I prefer to eat my meals every four hours, but my sleep patterns are a little different from most people's -- I won't get into that.

    Anyway, these seem kinda cool,and I'm eager to check them out.

  16. Poorly worded poll on Microsoft Vows Security Commitment on Win2K · · Score: 1

    Do you trust Microsoft's security?

    Not a chance in Hell.

    Of course, if you asked me the same question about OpenBSD's security, you'd get the same answer. Two reasons: First, I'm a paranoid so I don't trust any security system. If they had asked about OpenBSD _relative to other systems_ I would have said yes (MS would still get a big no). Second, I am not going to come close to trusting any system that I don't have direct control over, as I'm sure has been said many times in this thread, no system is inherently secure, it's up to the administrator to make it so.

  17. Re:Here's what the extra Sun engineers should work on Mac StarOffice in development · · Score: 1

    These are exactly the problems I see as well (with the addition of their poor MDI). PLEASE, PLEASE, before anything else, get rid of that start menu. A normal drop-down menu is much more sensible -- maybe they just need someone to show them how interfaces should work -- Microsoft is not a good place to look.

  18. Re:College Monopoly on Coca Cola Supply and Demand · · Score: 1

    My university has succumbed to this. However, we've sort of gotten around it. A number of enterprising individuals have taken to purchsing chips, sodas and various other things at the local Costco, and selling them on campus for like 35 cents a can. Even before the temperature inflation hits, these are already half price.

    The best part is that they're still pulling a profit -- all while using the honor system (drop some change in the bottle if you grab a can). Gotta love it.

  19. Gantt charts on Ask Slashdot: Business Software for Linux? · · Score: 1

    Well, this is along the same lines I suppose:

    I am a consultant/contractor and I'm constantly sending out proposals and other documents that require Gantt charts. What software is available for me to do this with? Currently I've been manually writing them and then drawing them up on the gimp. There's gotta be a better way.

  20. Re:Pictures? on Artificial Human-Like Fingers Grown · · Score: 1

    Not human-sized, human-proportioned.

  21. typo on Athlon Benchmarks Out · · Score: 1

    My guess is that it's a typo. Here's why:

    1. If you replaced the 90% with 80%, the graph would look identical.

    2. If someone were to look at the graph and make the assumtion that the lines are at 10%, it would look _worse_ for AMD.

  22. My take . . . on Ask Slashdot: Another Word for "Hacker"? · · Score: 1

    Well, I've always liked "hacker". And I don't have a problem using it.

    I don't call criminals "crackers", I call them "lusers" -- you know how it's pronounced. A "cracker" is a poor southerner -- like the guys in the band.

    "Wizard" is cool, but I agree that it's reserved for people hackers idolize (e.g. Linux and Cox). "Wizard" works fine when hackers are talking about other hackers, but to the general public it sounds like Dungeons and Dragons.

    "McGyver" is cool, but I think implies someone who is just intuitive about how things work -- it can't be compressed into just programming or anything else. You have to be a SEAL or something to be called "McGyver".

    Here's my submission (actually, my girlfriend's). She has no logic behind it, but she's pretty sure no other group is using it. Here is goes: "Jujabu". I might start using it.

  23. Re:Wanking? on Ask Slashdot: Another Word for "Hacker"? · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't that be if the singular was "wankius". The plural of "wankus" would be "wankes".

    Well, after reviewing the previous statements, I'm obviously a wanker.

  24. Re:Which is why it wont happen on Sierra Studios asking about Linux · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry, but I find that to be untrue. Most of the Linux users I know (at my university) dual boot. They use Linux for everything, but have to boot into Windows for those few apps (mostly games) that aren't available on Linux.

    In fact, when Civ:CTP came out, no stores near us carried it. I was ordered to bring back a number of copies when I went to LinuxExpo. It made a lot of people here very happy.

    Unfortunately, I will buy almost any game that comes out for Linux -- now I'm not getting any work done.

  25. time for a new copy on Godel, Escher, Bach -- 20th Anniversary Edition · · Score: 1

    I've read this book too many times to count. It's in pieces because of my abuse. I hate math with a passion, but this book made things clear to me (just like "The Discoverers" did for history).

    I am a lender of my books, especially ones that I love. However, this book has never been leant out. My girlfriend had to wait until we moved in together to be able to read it. It is too precious to me to let it get out of my apartment.

    Well, now I will buy a new copy, and the old will be taped up and lent out. I can't wait to have a freshly bound copy in my possession. I will try to make this one last a little longer.