Rent rent rent. This is the current plan, when the customer stops paying - *ZIP!* they're screwed.
It's exactly what is on the cards with Palladium (NGSCB), no longer do you own your copy of MS Office, but you rent it, leaving yourself liable to increases in the rental cost that started out oh-so-reasonable (XBox Live anyone?).
Should you fail to keep up with payments then all of your work for the last couple of years (documents, letters, spreadsheets, project plans etc. etc.) is down the drain... gone. It is all part of a very obvious strategy to lock people tighter and tighter into the godawful overrated buggy mess that is MS software...
And the worst thing is that *the average Joe does not see this*!
Now, Microsoft see's another company (Apple) which has worked incredibly hard, battling against the stubborness of the 5 big labels, encoding hundreds of thousands of songs, doing all the groundwork, figuring out the streaming system to get high-quality streams to anyone anywhere in the world instantly for the previews etc. etc. Microsoft see's this company (GASP!) actually reap some monetary reward for this hard hard work and surprise, the fat and greedy "software" company wants it... all of it.
Why, Microsoft, if you wanted to get into the online music business, was it not YOU that took the risk of being first, why was it not YOUR money on the line opening a new market to users, why was it not YOUR reputation in the balance of a high profile gamble???
I know this is Slashdot, and I know this is repeated many times a day, but believe me, never with more spirit and emotion than I feel now - when will the consumer teach Microsoft a lesson?
Has the semi-failure of the XBox been the first high-profile dent to MS made by the consumer at large? Perhaps... it is sure to say that the consumer is resisting these monopolistic practises... but how long will this last... MS has the cash to pay out for an XBox 2 and an Xbox 3 until Sony and Nintendo are gradually put out of the game for the sheer fact that MSoft's bottom line can go deeper than theirs?
It remains to be seen... perhaps this will be one of those half-hearted assault on a competitior like iMovie versus Windows Movie Maker (hehehe). We DO know that Apple's traditional strengths (design, quality, usability, friendliness, media-related software) are the things that Microsoft has the most difficulty in achieving.
I must admit to being un-educated about SCO and what it means that MS has some deal with them now. I hear it will impact Linnux in some way, but I don't even know what SCO is.
Anyone care to give those who know nothing about this a couple of lines on the background?
Cheers,
-Nex
Well there are a lot of people who seem o be misguided, so let's take a look at the little things and see where that $100 extra on the iPod goes
For starters, OK, the Zen is a 60GB monster - but WHO here HAS 60GB of music? Maybe one or two will perk up, but when we're all honest I think that those of us who would use all that space for tunes is laughably slim.
And let's say you DO stock up on 60GB of tunes - the UI (hardware and software - note the thumbwheel) is far superior on the iPod. I know which one I prefer scrolling through thousands of songs on.
And isn't a 60GB drive likeley to have more platters, meaning more weight to spin, meaning shorter batterylife (or compensate with heavier battery)?
Does the Zen have AAC? Uh... No.
And according to those who are supposed to know, AAC is supposed to get near to twice the compression at the same quality (measured aurally not bitrate) - so I guess the 30GB iPod can store fairly close to the 60GB Zen if you wanted.
I know which one is sexier too.
I know whether I would rather have FireWire or USB2 too (but admittedly your mileage may vary).
And those who claim the Zen has a larger community - go see ipoding.com
And does th Zen have the Breakout game? No... didn't think so:)
-A happy iPod owner (so I am a little biased, but I dont think you can argue with the points above)
Am I the only one dismayed this is a U.S. only feature?
First iPhoto prints and hardback book ordering is U.S. only.
Then Sherlock is practically useless in non-U.S. countries.
Now this service IS useless. And there is no promise to bring it to international customers.
International users pay the same amount for our product, why do we lose out on some functionality? If you are an International (non-U.S.) Apple customer, then I invite you to sign the petition to promote more international-mindedness at Apple, which can be found here
Please sign it if you are an international user frustrated by non being able to use this new service.
(Moderators, if you have a mod or two to spare, I'm not below asking to mod this up if you feel Apple needs to spend more attention to the international community:)
-Nex
I'd like to see programming taught as more of an art than a science.
Sure it involves computers etc. But I see programming as a sculpting of code, and artistic construction with its own nuances.
Not a common view though, but I think things will lean this way increasingly, or all we will have in a few years time are just code monkeys who bash out crap all day and noone taking the time to code innovatively.
Personally I wasn't sure of the difference between CDMA and GSM, in the UK and the entire EU I think GSM is the de facto standard and always has been.
I found this to be of interest, you may too
Snippet:
When Reliance India Mobile released its first ads, the deal looked like a steal. STD at 40 paise a minute, free handset, just Rs 500 a month, et al. Now that other mobile services companies are into price-cutting themselves, it's time for a rethink.
If you are among those who still cannot decide whether to go in for Reliance's Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)-based 'limited mobility' phones or the 'full-fledged' cellular phone services provided by GSM (Global System for Mobile) operators, welcome to the club.
Which one is cheaper, which one better? While a number of issues still need clarity from the regulatory angle, let us take a close look at what Reliance is offering compared to a GSM phone.
First, the service: one of the limitations of a WLL (limited mobility) phone is that the user cannot go beyond a short distance charging area (SDCA) - which is roughly a radius of 25 km.
While Reliance has attempted to overcome the problem by offering multiple registrations, this still is not the equivalent of the roaming services offered by cellular operators.
For instance, if a subscriber in Delhi travels frequently to Mumbai, Reliance will register the subscriber in both the cities at an additional cost of Rs 20 to Rs 30.
So when the subscriber is in Mumbai, all calls landing on the user's Delhi phone number will be forwarded to a pre-allocated number in Mumbai. The user does not have to change the handset or put in a new SIM card for availing this facility.
However, when the user is in transit between the two cities, the phone does not work, unlike a GSM phone which offers roaming anywhere in the world.
Reliance is also offering text messaging services to cash in on the popularity of SMS. However, for the moment, any text message sent by a Reliance phone user can only be received by another Reliance user as GSM operators do not recognise this as a legal service. Even Tata Teleservices, another WLL operator, is awaiting clarity on this issue.
When it comes to data services, there is not much difference between GSM cellular operators and Reliance in terms of offerings.
Subscribers on either network will be able to send and receive e-mail, surf the Net, watch video clippings, send multimedia messages, and download games and ringtones.
The difference here is that while Reliance offers these services to all its subscribers, cellular operators offer such services only to those subscribers who have taken a General Packet Radio System (GPRS) connection - which requires a GPRS-enabled handset. The difference is also in the way the services are priced.
I would put a lot of money on it not being available this year.
This article reeks of "reports" from another source which itself has "unverifiable contacts" etc. etc.
Even if the hardware is progressing quickly it would be a watershed moment in the industry for a concept on the scale of complexity of Cell to be available 2 YEARS early.
Also what about the games? So you release the console 2 years early and have no games available for it? No way, this story is rubbish, read my lips, the PS3 will not be available for purchase this year.
Sony's strategy would be undermined by releasing the PS3 now. Look how long the PS1 was on the market for, personally I see this as a great thing, I know when I buy a Sony console it will be around for a LONG time compared to other consoles, and that means a huge guaranteed selection of games in the future etc. etc. This is a key part of the Sony strategy that they would never go against even if the hardware was ready.
One thing I hope it comes with is a CD burner... I think there is a great market for home users to burn compilations of tunes onto CD, and would be a gateway technology for home users downloading tunes from some online service... let's not forget how big a record label Sony themselves are... that's an asset Microsoft could NEVER approach...
Nope, this is *not* news, the XRaid is over a month old now.
I think Apple are approaching this carefully, there aren't a huge number of orders, and they know that in the server area they have to be established and seen as a long term player to gain serious marketshare. So they're doing this humbly and slowly, making sure that they get things right.
They are *not* betting the farm on the server solutions, they are great products and I think its good to see the company diversifying both above (XServe XRaid) and below (iPod) their usual established market area.
It doesn't affect too many people, and happens very rarely, but now and then I find that holding down shift in Photoshop does NOT cause a pen to draw in a straight line as it should. It's as if I have not pressed the key at all.
The only way out afaik is to reboot.
Becasue I have had extreme difficulty in reproducing the bug on command I can uderstand how this has taken a long time to get noticed properly.
WWWGD?
The fact that certain companies (no names... but come on...) go around purchasing games developers (Bungie, Rare, and that recent one who's name escapes me now). Depriving people of the ability to run games on their chosen platform (unless they don't want to wait two extra years for the porting).
This practise sucks - I thought we were getting away from proprietary game development that seemed all the rage in the early 90's with the SNES and Megadrive/Genesis. In those days it was *SO* rare to find a game on one platform that was also available on another.
About 3-4 years ago until recently it was looking very favourable for the independent developers and cross platform games.. but now greedy guts comes along and becasue it discovers it can't just wade into this particular market as it had expected, is throwing a tantrum an gobbling up developers so that no-one else can play any more.
2 cents... 2 cents.
Firstly I have to say unfortunately there are inherent problems with this update, and the one about the clock resetting to Jan 1 1970 (plus or minus a few hours depending on your time zone) is absolutely true as I am experiencing it myself.
It does however only seem to be affecting fual processor G4's though, so that may explain the mixed reaction.
If you are still in doubt, check Apple's discussion board here where there are a total of 66 replies to my original post complaining of the clock issue (hopefully link will work, if not, check out the OSX area under discussions on Apple.com).
It seems that a large number of people are having this trouble, and although there is no way I would ever switch to another platform after using OSX, it is disappointing that Apple allows these things through the net.
Although OSX is vastly superior to Windows XP, I simply can't imagine MS distributing an update for Windows that would have this fundamental effect. I think that Apple should make sure they concentrate also on the mundane routine stuff in checking as well as the super-cool revolutionary stuff they are so uniquely good at (Rendezvous, Bluetooth integration, iApps etc etc).
I'd be interested to know what the people here think will be the fate of OSX on x86 - a lot of peopl ehave said that Apple is gearing up to release the OS, in some form (probably not to run on any and every x86 box) for x86 as a hit back at Microsoft when they release Palladium.
If this is true then Apple obviously thinks there are going to be a lot of users that are going to be so p****ed off at MS that they'll switch platforms at this time. And they have a lot more marketing dollars than any of us here to predict these things, so what do you guys think?
My Apple keyboard already has a key labelled 'help' (and that is its only function), as well as keys solely devoted to Volume Up, Volume Down and Mute UnMute.
I'm sure that a fair few PC users also have similar keys. Apple users also have the CD ekect key on their keyboard too, and I have to say that after getting used to it I very much like it there. We also have an F13, F14 and F15 keys which most PC users don't - they have the Scroll Lock, Break etc keys there.
I think the modifier keys to the right of the keyboard are there primarily for left handed mouse users. Being a left handed mouse users and being forced to use the left modifier keys too would be just like us right handed mouse users being FORCED to use the right modifier keys too... so you can see why they are placeed there, even though the majority of users find them superfluous.
I thought the CosmoSaver screensaver was good but Celestia is amazing - if you have OSX, or a friend with OSX, or if you are anywhere near an Apple store go get a look at it. When the camera zoomed out from Earth and showed the entire Galaxy for the first time my jaw dropped...
Firstly lets talk about security, I like not having to patch my OS every day with thelatestsecuritypatch available from my vendor.
I like not having to worry about on single virus for my platform.. not one... how many is it that are available on the Windows platform? Tens of thousands
My OS is also consistent in its GUI and easy to use... I thought the Start menu was supposed to be a clear way of accessing programs on your computer... it was a step in the right direction for MS in 1995, but given eight years they've screwed that one up sideways - have you TRIED to use it in its default condition in XP? It tries to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE... but ok ok this is subjective... but how about this one:
I presume you are sitting in front of your windows machine with IE open in front of you? Good, now click AND HOLD the file menu at the top up there, now while still holding drag the mouse down the menu, off the bottom of it and onto the page below, and then let go. MENU STAYS OPEN!. Now do exactly the same thing with teh 'Favourites' menu... MENU MAGICALLY CLOSES! Great GUI Microsoft!
Or how about this one... So you've got XP Pro and are all happy about having the latest and greatest OS from MS yeah? Well, lets do a little play-pretend, lets say you work in an accounting office, or somewhere where you need to store lots of files on your computer in a complex hierarchy of folders etc... sure go ahead, create a new folder, name it something like 'Audits from 1997 to 1999 (inclusive)' and then go on and add a folder within that, name it something, and then a folder within that, etc.... nest around 5 or 6 folders with medium sized names and Windows stops you dead in your tracks suddenly... WHY?... becasue Windows STILL does not support longer than 256 character paths... so if you want a complex folder hierarchy... well you can't. Sorry. (Try this is OSX, and you'll be adding folers for a VERY long time).
What else... the windowing system sucks... every Windows user knows what I mean when they double click a folder or something and the frame of the window appears maybe a second or so before the centre is filled leaving the MAGIC TRANSPARENT WINDOW! And coming out of games etc to the desktop, my God have you seen the start bar redraw itself? It stutters along and draws bits here and there... try opening up the Control Panel and WATCH the OS draw the icons in over the course of around 2 seconds. What fun.
What about price? Well I can get a copy of OSX for £79... if I want Windows XP Pro though it'll cost me £197... but don't forget what they say kids! MACs ARE MORE EXPENSIVE!
And of course you have the following software on your Windows PC -
iMovie
iTunes
iPhoto
iDVD
iSync
iCal
Mail (with advanced heuristic mail filtering - it's a godsend)
Safari
What!? You can't get these apps for your platform? And this is just the surface believe me - can your OS go to sleep and wake up from sleep in under 1 second?
I know I have been quite aggressive in this post, but I do think that you needed to have your eyes opened, there are reasons for using Windows (not many mind) but it is by far the perfect platform!
If you don't buy an XBox from MS, does that particular XBox sit there forever, forlornly begging the day will come when you personally enter the store and purchase it?
No, it gets sold to someone else, although it may take another day or two to sell the machine if this is repeated en mass and demand slows. MS will still be able to clear out the channel - ie. never losing money due to having a machine on the shelf for too long.
On the other hand, if you give MS the money they demand for an XBox, you DO cause them to lose money as they make the machines at a loss to try and force their way into a relatively tight market.
And only very serious gamers have ten games (your stated break-even point) I have several friends who have had XBoxes for a while, and they have between 4 and 8 games, with little interest in getting any more at the moment.
It's certainly going to be a long uphill struggle for MS, especially considering they don't really have any mindshare links with HUGE games (PS2: GTA3, GT3 / GC:All the Nintendo goodness). They have to go running around spending MORE money buying companies like Rare.
No offence, but I use a PC for programming, and my Mac for design work, I once tried to work solely on the PC for everything in between getting my new Mac, tried it for nine months, and did some traditional high end stuff. Speed aside, I found Win XP to be much less reliable to work with, I felt it was always trying to find a way to screw up behind my back - and I *do* think that your experience of XP is un-commonly good if you use the machines daily and hard.
But if it works, and you like it then good! (Although if you haven't used OS X (I'm guessing you switched from OS 9, or from no Macs at all) then I think you're missing out).
Oh, and search slashdot for 'Mac +Mouse' to read the 13'000 posts that describe how you can plug any 'normal' mouse into OS X and it'll work instantly...
OK, I'm a techie and graphic designer (yes, rare).
When will people realise that raw speed, although useful to deisgners and artists, is NOT the be all and end all of which platform is preferable for this industry.
The main reason why macs are so dominant in publishing and art is becasue of the old (true) cliche - it just works. Designers are generally NOT a technical people, they think with the other side of their brain all day long, and technology confuses them, so even if a PC goes 20% faster at some filters, if they can't figure out problems with DLL's, conflicts, registry problems and having to reinstall Windows every 9 months then what is the better system for them?
How about usability and workflow (please comment on these only if you've used both machines (Win & OS X) in a demanding and very time specific industry to a large extent) - OS X hands down, allows me to ignore the fact that I am using very advanced technology that's incredibly advanced and *do my job*.
This allows me (and hundreds of thousands of others) to get a much bigger performance boost out of my work than a faster processor.
What are the productivity gains of perfect networking, great UI, better support for FireWire, BlueTooth, Wireless stuff etc etc etc.? It's not quantifiable but it is much more important than slightly faster processors, so lets just stop the whole thing there.
So in brief, processor speed important (and nice to see the Mac keeping up in one area) but not so important it outweighs the other thousand reasons design professionals use Macs.
Am I alone in thinking that a moonbase would be a much cooler thing to have. I mean it would be permanent, so we would be able to learn so much more about whatever it is going to other planets/satellites helps us to learn about.
I can't imagine the cost being more than a trip to Mars, considering we were almost capable of setting up a moonbase 40 years ago.
The moonbase would be a much easier project than even the ISS, certainly much more expandable, and it would then be much easier to (for instance) build another station in Moon orbit from the moon base later on.
I think a moon base would be much more useful, and a much greater sign of our acievement in space than a 'day-trip' to mars.
Slashdot Mirror
This seems typical of Redmond.
Rent rent rent. This is the current plan, when the customer stops paying - *ZIP!* they're screwed.
It's exactly what is on the cards with Palladium (NGSCB), no longer do you own your copy of MS Office, but you rent it, leaving yourself liable to increases in the rental cost that started out oh-so-reasonable (XBox Live anyone?).
Should you fail to keep up with payments then all of your work for the last couple of years (documents, letters, spreadsheets, project plans etc. etc.) is down the drain... gone. It is all part of a very obvious strategy to lock people tighter and tighter into the godawful overrated buggy mess that is MS software...
And the worst thing is that *the average Joe does not see this*!
Now, Microsoft see's another company (Apple) which has worked incredibly hard, battling against the stubborness of the 5 big labels, encoding hundreds of thousands of songs, doing all the groundwork, figuring out the streaming system to get high-quality streams to anyone anywhere in the world instantly for the previews etc. etc. Microsoft see's this company (GASP!) actually reap some monetary reward for this hard hard work and surprise, the fat and greedy "software" company wants it... all of it.
Why, Microsoft, if you wanted to get into the online music business, was it not YOU that took the risk of being first, why was it not YOUR money on the line opening a new market to users, why was it not YOUR reputation in the balance of a high profile gamble???
I know this is Slashdot, and I know this is repeated many times a day, but believe me, never with more spirit and emotion than I feel now - when will the consumer teach Microsoft a lesson?
Has the semi-failure of the XBox been the first high-profile dent to MS made by the consumer at large? Perhaps... it is sure to say that the consumer is resisting these monopolistic practises... but how long will this last... MS has the cash to pay out for an XBox 2 and an Xbox 3 until Sony and Nintendo are gradually put out of the game for the sheer fact that MSoft's bottom line can go deeper than theirs?
It remains to be seen... perhaps this will be one of those half-hearted assault on a competitior like iMovie versus Windows Movie Maker (hehehe). We DO know that Apple's traditional strengths (design, quality, usability, friendliness, media-related software) are the things that Microsoft has the most difficulty in achieving.
-Nex
Hi all
I must admit to being un-educated about SCO and what it means that MS has some deal with them now. I hear it will impact Linnux in some way, but I don't even know what SCO is.
Anyone care to give those who know nothing about this a couple of lines on the background? Cheers, -Nex
Well there are a lot of people who seem o be misguided, so let's take a look at the little things and see where that $100 extra on the iPod goes
:)
-A happy iPod owner (so I am a little biased, but I dont think you can argue with the points above)
For starters, OK, the Zen is a 60GB monster - but WHO here HAS 60GB of music? Maybe one or two will perk up, but when we're all honest I think that those of us who would use all that space for tunes is laughably slim.
And let's say you DO stock up on 60GB of tunes - the UI (hardware and software - note the thumbwheel) is far superior on the iPod. I know which one I prefer scrolling through thousands of songs on.
And isn't a 60GB drive likeley to have more platters, meaning more weight to spin, meaning shorter batterylife (or compensate with heavier battery)?
Does the Zen have AAC? Uh... No.
And according to those who are supposed to know, AAC is supposed to get near to twice the compression at the same quality (measured aurally not bitrate) - so I guess the 30GB iPod can store fairly close to the 60GB Zen if you wanted.
I know which one is sexier too.
I know whether I would rather have FireWire or USB2 too (but admittedly your mileage may vary).
And those who claim the Zen has a larger community - go see ipoding.com
And does th Zen have the Breakout game? No... didn't think so
Am I the only one dismayed this is a U.S. only feature?
:)
-Nex
First iPhoto prints and hardback book ordering is U.S. only.
Then Sherlock is practically useless in non-U.S. countries.
Now this service IS useless. And there is no promise to bring it to international customers.
International users pay the same amount for our product, why do we lose out on some functionality? If you are an International (non-U.S.) Apple customer, then I invite you to sign the petition to promote more international-mindedness at Apple, which can be found here
Apple Features for International users petition
Please sign it if you are an international user frustrated by non being able to use this new service. (Moderators, if you have a mod or two to spare, I'm not below asking to mod this up if you feel Apple needs to spend more attention to the international community
However, many analysts believe a successfully Google IPO could rejuvenated Internet-company investments.
However, many english teachers believe a succesfully readed slashdot articles could rejuvenated the art of grammar.
I'd like to see programming taught as more of an art than a science.
Sure it involves computers etc. But I see programming as a sculpting of code, and artistic construction with its own nuances.
Not a common view though, but I think things will lean this way increasingly, or all we will have in a few years time are just code monkeys who bash out crap all day and noone taking the time to code innovatively.
Personally I wasn't sure of the difference between CDMA and GSM, in the UK and the entire EU I think GSM is the de facto standard and always has been.
I found this to be of interest, you may too
Snippet:
When Reliance India Mobile released its first ads, the deal looked like a steal. STD at 40 paise a minute, free handset, just Rs 500 a month, et al. Now that other mobile services companies are into price-cutting themselves, it's time for a rethink.
If you are among those who still cannot decide whether to go in for Reliance's Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)-based 'limited mobility' phones or the 'full-fledged' cellular phone services provided by GSM (Global System for Mobile) operators, welcome to the club.
Which one is cheaper, which one better? While a number of issues still need clarity from the regulatory angle, let us take a close look at what Reliance is offering compared to a GSM phone.
First, the service: one of the limitations of a WLL (limited mobility) phone is that the user cannot go beyond a short distance charging area (SDCA) - which is roughly a radius of 25 km.
While Reliance has attempted to overcome the problem by offering multiple registrations, this still is not the equivalent of the roaming services offered by cellular operators.
For instance, if a subscriber in Delhi travels frequently to Mumbai, Reliance will register the subscriber in both the cities at an additional cost of Rs 20 to Rs 30.
So when the subscriber is in Mumbai, all calls landing on the user's Delhi phone number will be forwarded to a pre-allocated number in Mumbai. The user does not have to change the handset or put in a new SIM card for availing this facility.
However, when the user is in transit between the two cities, the phone does not work, unlike a GSM phone which offers roaming anywhere in the world.
Reliance is also offering text messaging services to cash in on the popularity of SMS. However, for the moment, any text message sent by a Reliance phone user can only be received by another Reliance user as GSM operators do not recognise this as a legal service. Even Tata Teleservices, another WLL operator, is awaiting clarity on this issue.
When it comes to data services, there is not much difference between GSM cellular operators and Reliance in terms of offerings.
Subscribers on either network will be able to send and receive e-mail, surf the Net, watch video clippings, send multimedia messages, and download games and ringtones.
The difference here is that while Reliance offers these services to all its subscribers, cellular operators offer such services only to those subscribers who have taken a General Packet Radio System (GPRS) connection - which requires a GPRS-enabled handset. The difference is also in the way the services are priced.
Full article available here.
This is a brilliant piece of fiction...
XP winning over OSX - Ahahahahaha
This thing is priceless people... XP rated *better* than OSX - give me a break! Hahahahaha.
I refer you all here which is slightly less *stupidly ignorantly biased*.
Just one more time... Hahahahaha.
-Nex
I would put a lot of money on it not being available this year.
This article reeks of "reports" from another source which itself has "unverifiable contacts" etc. etc.
Even if the hardware is progressing quickly it would be a watershed moment in the industry for a concept on the scale of complexity of Cell to be available 2 YEARS early.
Also what about the games? So you release the console 2 years early and have no games available for it? No way, this story is rubbish, read my lips, the PS3 will not be available for purchase this year.
Sony's strategy would be undermined by releasing the PS3 now. Look how long the PS1 was on the market for, personally I see this as a great thing, I know when I buy a Sony console it will be around for a LONG time compared to other consoles, and that means a huge guaranteed selection of games in the future etc. etc. This is a key part of the Sony strategy that they would never go against even if the hardware was ready.
One thing I hope it comes with is a CD burner... I think there is a great market for home users to burn compilations of tunes onto CD, and would be a gateway technology for home users downloading tunes from some online service... let's not forget how big a record label Sony themselves are... that's an asset Microsoft could NEVER approach...
-Nex
Nope, this is *not* news, the XRaid is over a month old now.
I think Apple are approaching this carefully, there aren't a huge number of orders, and they know that in the server area they have to be established and seen as a long term player to gain serious marketshare. So they're doing this humbly and slowly, making sure that they get things right.
They are *not* betting the farm on the server solutions, they are great products and I think its good to see the company diversifying both above (XServe XRaid) and below (iPod) their usual established market area.
-Nex
Anyonw here qualified to know if this could be applied to human waste?
I would imagine we get a lot less methane out of ours, but these guys seem to be making a fair bit.
Also does anyone know what kind of pollution levels these things create? It seems like it would be fairly clean but I'm not an expert on burning shit.
-Nex
Good luck waiting for G5, us Apple users have been gagging for it for the last two years.
-Nex.
I can verify that this IS a problem.
It doesn't affect too many people, and happens very rarely, but now and then I find that holding down shift in Photoshop does NOT cause a pen to draw in a straight line as it should. It's as if I have not pressed the key at all.
The only way out afaik is to reboot.
Becasue I have had extreme difficulty in reproducing the bug on command I can uderstand how this has taken a long time to get noticed properly.
-Nex
WWWGD? The fact that certain companies (no names... but come on...) go around purchasing games developers (Bungie, Rare, and that recent one who's name escapes me now). Depriving people of the ability to run games on their chosen platform (unless they don't want to wait two extra years for the porting). This practise sucks - I thought we were getting away from proprietary game development that seemed all the rage in the early 90's with the SNES and Megadrive/Genesis. In those days it was *SO* rare to find a game on one platform that was also available on another. About 3-4 years ago until recently it was looking very favourable for the independent developers and cross platform games.. but now greedy guts comes along and becasue it discovers it can't just wade into this particular market as it had expected, is throwing a tantrum an gobbling up developers so that no-one else can play any more. 2 cents... 2 cents.
I can't seem to get the plug in to work, it doesn't appear in System Preferences no matter which PreferencePanes folder I choose to put it in.
Tried pretty much everything.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get it to work, or anyone with similar problems... looks very cool, would like to get it working!
-Nex
Hi all,
Firstly I have to say unfortunately there are inherent problems with this update, and the one about the clock resetting to Jan 1 1970 (plus or minus a few hours depending on your time zone) is absolutely true as I am experiencing it myself.
It does however only seem to be affecting fual processor G4's though, so that may explain the mixed reaction.
If you are still in doubt, check Apple's discussion board here where there are a total of 66 replies to my original post complaining of the clock issue (hopefully link will work, if not, check out the OSX area under discussions on Apple.com).
It seems that a large number of people are having this trouble, and although there is no way I would ever switch to another platform after using OSX, it is disappointing that Apple allows these things through the net.
Although OSX is vastly superior to Windows XP, I simply can't imagine MS distributing an update for Windows that would have this fundamental effect. I think that Apple should make sure they concentrate also on the mundane routine stuff in checking as well as the super-cool revolutionary stuff they are so uniquely good at (Rendezvous, Bluetooth integration, iApps etc etc).
Here's waiting for a fix VERY soon.
-Nex
I'd be interested to know what the people here think will be the fate of OSX on x86 - a lot of peopl ehave said that Apple is gearing up to release the OS, in some form (probably not to run on any and every x86 box) for x86 as a hit back at Microsoft when they release Palladium.
If this is true then Apple obviously thinks there are going to be a lot of users that are going to be so p****ed off at MS that they'll switch platforms at this time. And they have a lot more marketing dollars than any of us here to predict these things, so what do you guys think?
-Nex
I have a mirrored drive doors PowerMac G4, and it came with a keyboard that has alt/option on the right hand side of the keyboard.
Maybe they took it off for the revision of keyboard you have, and decided to put it back on again.
Maybe all you need is a new keyboard.
-Nex
FWIW...
My Apple keyboard already has a key labelled 'help' (and that is its only function), as well as keys solely devoted to Volume Up, Volume Down and Mute UnMute.
I'm sure that a fair few PC users also have similar keys. Apple users also have the CD ekect key on their keyboard too, and I have to say that after getting used to it I very much like it there. We also have an F13, F14 and F15 keys which most PC users don't - they have the Scroll Lock, Break etc keys there.
I think the modifier keys to the right of the keyboard are there primarily for left handed mouse users. Being a left handed mouse users and being forced to use the left modifier keys too would be just like us right handed mouse users being FORCED to use the right modifier keys too... so you can see why they are placeed there, even though the majority of users find them superfluous.
-Nex
My God,
I thought the CosmoSaver screensaver was good but Celestia is amazing - if you have OSX, or a friend with OSX, or if you are anywhere near an Apple store go get a look at it. When the camera zoomed out from Earth and showed the entire Galaxy for the first time my jaw dropped...
-Nex
Please explain why Windoze is vastly inferior
Don't say you didn't ask for this...
Firstly lets talk about security, I like not having to patch my OS every day with the latest security patch available from my vendor.
I like not having to worry about on single virus for my platform.. not one... how many is it that are available on the Windows platform? Tens of thousands
My OS is also consistent in its GUI and easy to use... I thought the Start menu was supposed to be a clear way of accessing programs on your computer... it was a step in the right direction for MS in 1995, but given eight years they've screwed that one up sideways - have you TRIED to use it in its default condition in XP? It tries to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE... but ok ok this is subjective... but how about this one:
I presume you are sitting in front of your windows machine with IE open in front of you? Good, now click AND HOLD the file menu at the top up there, now while still holding drag the mouse down the menu, off the bottom of it and onto the page below, and then let go. MENU STAYS OPEN!. Now do exactly the same thing with teh 'Favourites' menu... MENU MAGICALLY CLOSES! Great GUI Microsoft!
Or how about this one... So you've got XP Pro and are all happy about having the latest and greatest OS from MS yeah? Well, lets do a little play-pretend, lets say you work in an accounting office, or somewhere where you need to store lots of files on your computer in a complex hierarchy of folders etc... sure go ahead, create a new folder, name it something like 'Audits from 1997 to 1999 (inclusive)' and then go on and add a folder within that, name it something, and then a folder within that, etc.... nest around 5 or 6 folders with medium sized names and Windows stops you dead in your tracks suddenly... WHY?... becasue Windows STILL does not support longer than 256 character paths... so if you want a complex folder hierarchy... well you can't. Sorry. (Try this is OSX, and you'll be adding folers for a VERY long time).
What else... the windowing system sucks... every Windows user knows what I mean when they double click a folder or something and the frame of the window appears maybe a second or so before the centre is filled leaving the MAGIC TRANSPARENT WINDOW! And coming out of games etc to the desktop, my God have you seen the start bar redraw itself? It stutters along and draws bits here and there... try opening up the Control Panel and WATCH the OS draw the icons in over the course of around 2 seconds. What fun.
What about price? Well I can get a copy of OSX for £79... if I want Windows XP Pro though it'll cost me £197... but don't forget what they say kids! MACs ARE MORE EXPENSIVE!
And of course you have the following software on your Windows PC -
iMovie
iTunes
iPhoto
iDVD
iSync
iCal
Mail (with advanced heuristic mail filtering - it's a godsend)
Safari
What!? You can't get these apps for your platform? And this is just the surface believe me - can your OS go to sleep and wake up from sleep in under 1 second?
I know I have been quite aggressive in this post, but I do think that you needed to have your eyes opened, there are reasons for using Windows (not many mind) but it is by far the perfect platform!
-Nex
You don't seem to understand economics...
If you don't buy an XBox from MS, does that particular XBox sit there forever, forlornly begging the day will come when you personally enter the store and purchase it?
No, it gets sold to someone else, although it may take another day or two to sell the machine if this is repeated en mass and demand slows. MS will still be able to clear out the channel - ie. never losing money due to having a machine on the shelf for too long.
On the other hand, if you give MS the money they demand for an XBox, you DO cause them to lose money as they make the machines at a loss to try and force their way into a relatively tight market.
And only very serious gamers have ten games (your stated break-even point) I have several friends who have had XBoxes for a while, and they have between 4 and 8 games, with little interest in getting any more at the moment.
It's certainly going to be a long uphill struggle for MS, especially considering they don't really have any mindshare links with HUGE games (PS2: GTA3, GT3 / GC:All the Nintendo goodness). They have to go running around spending MORE money buying companies like Rare.
-Nex
I think you should consider yourself lucky.
No offence, but I use a PC for programming, and my Mac for design work, I once tried to work solely on the PC for everything in between getting my new Mac, tried it for nine months, and did some traditional high end stuff. Speed aside, I found Win XP to be much less reliable to work with, I felt it was always trying to find a way to screw up behind my back - and I *do* think that your experience of XP is un-commonly good if you use the machines daily and hard.
But if it works, and you like it then good! (Although if you haven't used OS X (I'm guessing you switched from OS 9, or from no Macs at all) then I think you're missing out).
Oh, and search slashdot for 'Mac +Mouse' to read the 13'000 posts that describe how you can plug any 'normal' mouse into OS X and it'll work instantly...
-Nex
OK, I'm a techie and graphic designer (yes, rare).
When will people realise that raw speed, although useful to deisgners and artists, is NOT the be all and end all of which platform is preferable for this industry.
The main reason why macs are so dominant in publishing and art is becasue of the old (true) cliche - it just works. Designers are generally NOT a technical people, they think with the other side of their brain all day long, and technology confuses them, so even if a PC goes 20% faster at some filters, if they can't figure out problems with DLL's, conflicts, registry problems and having to reinstall Windows every 9 months then what is the better system for them?
How about usability and workflow (please comment on these only if you've used both machines (Win & OS X) in a demanding and very time specific industry to a large extent) - OS X hands down, allows me to ignore the fact that I am using very advanced technology that's incredibly advanced and *do my job*.
This allows me (and hundreds of thousands of others) to get a much bigger performance boost out of my work than a faster processor.
What are the productivity gains of perfect networking, great UI, better support for FireWire, BlueTooth, Wireless stuff etc etc etc.? It's not quantifiable but it is much more important than slightly faster processors, so lets just stop the whole thing there.
So in brief, processor speed important (and nice to see the Mac keeping up in one area) but not so important it outweighs the other thousand reasons design professionals use Macs.
-Nex
Am I alone in thinking that a moonbase would be a much cooler thing to have. I mean it would be permanent, so we would be able to learn so much more about whatever it is going to other planets/satellites helps us to learn about.
I can't imagine the cost being more than a trip to Mars, considering we were almost capable of setting up a moonbase 40 years ago.
The moonbase would be a much easier project than even the ISS, certainly much more expandable, and it would then be much easier to (for instance) build another station in Moon orbit from the moon base later on.
I think a moon base would be much more useful, and a much greater sign of our acievement in space than a 'day-trip' to mars.
-Nex