How long before the 360 is killed off in the same way? I like the idea that if i buy a PS3 today, when the PS4 comes out in 6-7 years there will still be games being produced for the PS3...
Which is what makes it even more insulting... The DRM encumbered online downloads are actually inferior to the existing DRM-free broadcasts that we could stream with a digital tv tuner card
Microsoft's console life is considerably less, the xbox was replaced by the 360 fairly quickly, and there are virtually no new xbox titles coming out. I still see titles for the PS2 coming out all the time tho.
An old PC is also very cheap (if not free), but you won't be able to play modern games on it, can still be fun for older games. There are still new games being made for the PS2 but they lack the graphical detail of PS3 titles.
Experience, most office workers i see have a single app fullscreen and may switch to other fullscreen apps (perhaps with alt-tab as you describe). Most of them aren't able to install additional tools like powertoys or the ATI tool you describe. Switching with alt-tab is pretty clunky too if you have lots open, you cant go direct to the app you want you have to keep hitting alt-tab until you find what you want. Windows is all geared up to running a small number of apps, and having one taking up the full screen at any one time. The default mechanisms like alt-tab and the taskbar are pretty useless when you have loads of things open. And all the multiple workspace tools for windows i've seen were rather klunky and had problems... The window management simply isn't designed to do it properly.
Those are source level APIs, requiring your code to be compiled for each platform it's intended to run on. This is fine if you have the source and are willing to compile it for your platform, but commercial game developers won't go for that. What we really need is compile once, run anywhere.
We already have what you describe, it's called "Wine"..
However, it doesnt satisfy the "clean" or "stable" requirements... The win32 api is a horrendous pile of legacy cruft mixed in with new crufty apis that do the same thing in a slightly less messy way, but without removing the old crap leaving multiple chunks of code effectively doing the same thing.
The abundant housing is usually around the edges of a city, whereas businesses usually set themselves up in the centre where all the other businesses are... So you end up with large numbers of people having to travel from the edges to the centre every day, over crowding the transport systems. There is usually not an abundance of affordable housing within walking distance of where all the businesses are running. What we need is a larger number of smaller towns, where people can live and work within walking or biking distance. Or, just change the layout of larger cities, knock down 2/3 of the office buildings in the center and build apartments for people working at the remaining 1/3 to live in.
I want to live within walking distance of where i work, not so much for the environment but for my own benefit. I value my time, and wasting several hours of it a day travelling is a complete waste.
"green taxes" are just another excuse for increasing taxes.. If it wasn't "global warming" as an excuse, it would be something else. If the government truly want to reduce carbon emissions, they need to stop punishing those who emit carbon because there's often no other practical choice. Instead, they need to provide incentives to use and develop alternatives, and incentives to reduce energy use.
As an example, look at fuel taxes... Intended to force people onto overcrowded overpriced public transport. The public transport systems in most large cities are horrendous, animal rights groups would be up in arms if someone tried to transport cattle in such conditions. You get a large concentration of businesses in a small space, and no affordable housing nearby which results in huge numbers of people having to travel. And if you live outside of a big city, then public transport tends to have very poor coverage. You need to encourage businesses to spread out, and build their offices where there is an abundance of affordable housing for their staff, or in many cases staff could easily work from home (and the government could encourage this with tax breaks for companies with employees at home, and pressure on telco's to provide better home working enabling services).
It is utterly ridiculous for so many companies to be concentrated in small areas at the centre of large cities, and then require their staff to waste hours of their days enduring inhumane conditions to get there.
Well, "the estate" is a contrived idea too... In reality, the owner of the organs is whoever has sufficient power to take them. Once dead, you have no ability to assert any ownership over anything.
No, OSX doesn't do that natively... You can use X11 applications in that way, tho X apps have some issues with spaces in leopard... Or you can use VNC or Apple Remote Desktop, but that gives you a full workspace and isn't integrated with your local apps.
What's really needed is a cross platform binary standard and standard set of APIs... If you could download one binary, and run it on any OS with an x86 compatible CPU. Like java, but using native code etc. It would also make a lot of sense for games companies, write the game once and get windows/mac/linux/solaris/bsd ports for free, since your coding to the cross platform standard instead of any particular OS.
And why would anyone bother writing native linux programs? You'd end up with everything running through wine, which is hardly ideal... Wine programs stick out like a sore thumb alongside other apps on linux/mac. Wine will always be one step behind microsoft's implementation too. What we need, is a clean stable cross platform binary specification and api set, especially now that pretty much everything is x86 compatible. Think of it as java, but using native code.
But consider, if you were a thief and you robbed a datacenter... And the reaction to your robbery was very weak, no improved security etc... Would you target them again, knowing that their security was still weak and knowing the layout of the building and their security protocols etc? If i was these thieves, i'd keep hitting the same place over and over so long as they weren't doing anything significant about it. 4 times in 2 years is quite a reasonable rate, spaced far enough apart that it's not worth it for the police to lie in wait for you.
Well, the companies finances won't be doing as well now that news of 4 seperate break-ins has gone public... Also, if thieves found it easy the first time and didn't see any significant improvements being made it makes sense from their perspective to go back. They already know the layout of the place.
I mailed them about it several times... The first time when i first noticed it, and got completely ignored. The second time i mailed was after i received the newsletter that i explicitly did not want, this time the only response i got was accidental (one of their staff hit reply instead of forward!) and never got any actual intentional response from them.
That only works on a very small scale, it completely breaks down when you have a lot of windows open. Apple are catering to different requirements. Windows users will typically run one or two programs, and divert 100% of their screen space to each program as they're using it, and then close it when they're done. Mac (and unix) users will typically run lots of apps, and leave them running in the background unless they're completely finished with them. If the apps are idle, a decent OS should be able to swap them out anyway if it needs the memory. I very much like spaces on leopard, lack of multiple workspaces was my biggest beef with OSX.
And Commodore introduced it in 1985 in the Amiga line of systems, which ran on the same family of processors as Apple machines of the time. I never liked MacOS prior to X, and neither did a lot of the people who are now using X.
MS had multitasking in Xenix too, and Apple had it in A/UX (Apple Unix), which were serious OS's, while windows/macos were intended for small scale home use, so they are better compared to amigaos than to unixes.
Whatever javascript may have, it's an open standard with a choice of implementations. Would you rather it were replaced by something closed and proprietary with only a single implementation available to you, and which also removes your choice as to what other software you run too? I'd much rather be free to choose.
The people who are committed windows users are usually those who've never used anything else, as you pointed out... This is why they rant and rave so much, because they don't want to use anything else but they still want their life to be easier. They want to have their cake and eat it.
It's a different way of doing things... Windows users tend to open one program and maximise it, and when done either minimise or close it and bring something else up maximised... You can see this is how it was designed too, the taskbar (its a windowbar btw, it represents windows not tasks/processes) becomes quite unusable when there are lots of windows open, but that was less of a concern when it only ran on very low end hardware that wasn't capable of much. This is why unix window managers typically have multiple workspaces, since unix traditionally ran on far more powerful machines and through X11 you could use a single workstation to display applications from loads of servers... It's not uncommon for a unix user to have 50+ apps open, which would render a windows style taskbar completely useless.
Macs kind of sit somewhere between, tho as of leopard osx now has multiple workspaces natively too, it's the biggest feature that compelled me to upgrade. Prior to that, expose was still a lot better than the windows task bar, but not on a par with unix workspaces.
The only apps i will run full size, are things like video players... If i'm watching video, i don't want anything wasting space on the screen, not even controls for manipulating the video (keyboard shortcuts or a remote control work fine thanks).
It's easy to install It has an easy to use GUI by default It comes preinstalled, and fully supporting the machine it runs on with no hassle searching for drivers You know that all subsequent versions for as long as your likely to use the machine will also fully support the machine and will run without hassle, and all the drivers you need will be bundled It's unix underneath the pretty interface, offering a powerfull and flexible command line to those who want it The underlying OS is well designed, has source code available for most of it, and is easy to hack with
Linux and windows can be harder to install, and often require screwing around with third party drivers to make it work properly. Linux doesn't often come preinstalled. Windows has a weak inflexible command line, no source available and a very messy directory structure and confusing often contradictory design that discourages tinkering. Windows doesnt let you remove or replace the gui if you dont want the default one (yes i know you can replace the default shell with a different one, but its not like how osx lets you replace aqua with X11 or shut down the gui completely)
There shouldn't be any errors at all if the votes were printed out by a computer... You should print the ballot on a machine, verify that it really did vote for what you wanted, and then put it in a ballot box.
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How long before the 360 is killed off in the same way?
I like the idea that if i buy a PS3 today, when the PS4 comes out in 6-7 years there will still be games being produced for the PS3...
Which is what makes it even more insulting...
The DRM encumbered online downloads are actually inferior to the existing DRM-free broadcasts that we could stream with a digital tv tuner card
Microsoft's console life is considerably less, the xbox was replaced by the 360 fairly quickly, and there are virtually no new xbox titles coming out. I still see titles for the PS2 coming out all the time tho.
An old PC is also very cheap (if not free), but you won't be able to play modern games on it, can still be fun for older games. There are still new games being made for the PS2 but they lack the graphical detail of PS3 titles.
Experience, most office workers i see have a single app fullscreen and may switch to other fullscreen apps (perhaps with alt-tab as you describe). Most of them aren't able to install additional tools like powertoys or the ATI tool you describe.
Switching with alt-tab is pretty clunky too if you have lots open, you cant go direct to the app you want you have to keep hitting alt-tab until you find what you want.
Windows is all geared up to running a small number of apps, and having one taking up the full screen at any one time. The default mechanisms like alt-tab and the taskbar are pretty useless when you have loads of things open. And all the multiple workspace tools for windows i've seen were rather klunky and had problems... The window management simply isn't designed to do it properly.
Those are source level APIs, requiring your code to be compiled for each platform it's intended to run on. This is fine if you have the source and are willing to compile it for your platform, but commercial game developers won't go for that.
What we really need is compile once, run anywhere.
We already have what you describe, it's called "Wine"..
However, it doesnt satisfy the "clean" or "stable" requirements... The win32 api is a horrendous pile of legacy cruft mixed in with new crufty apis that do the same thing in a slightly less messy way, but without removing the old crap leaving multiple chunks of code effectively doing the same thing.
The abundant housing is usually around the edges of a city, whereas businesses usually set themselves up in the centre where all the other businesses are...
So you end up with large numbers of people having to travel from the edges to the centre every day, over crowding the transport systems. There is usually not an abundance of affordable housing within walking distance of where all the businesses are running.
What we need is a larger number of smaller towns, where people can live and work within walking or biking distance. Or, just change the layout of larger cities, knock down 2/3 of the office buildings in the center and build apartments for people working at the remaining 1/3 to live in.
I want to live within walking distance of where i work, not so much for the environment but for my own benefit. I value my time, and wasting several hours of it a day travelling is a complete waste.
So you spin them off as separate companies who just happen to have the same owners...
"green taxes" are just another excuse for increasing taxes.. If it wasn't "global warming" as an excuse, it would be something else.
If the government truly want to reduce carbon emissions, they need to stop punishing those who emit carbon because there's often no other practical choice. Instead, they need to provide incentives to use and develop alternatives, and incentives to reduce energy use.
As an example, look at fuel taxes... Intended to force people onto overcrowded overpriced public transport. The public transport systems in most large cities are horrendous, animal rights groups would be up in arms if someone tried to transport cattle in such conditions. You get a large concentration of businesses in a small space, and no affordable housing nearby which results in huge numbers of people having to travel. And if you live outside of a big city, then public transport tends to have very poor coverage.
You need to encourage businesses to spread out, and build their offices where there is an abundance of affordable housing for their staff, or in many cases staff could easily work from home (and the government could encourage this with tax breaks for companies with employees at home, and pressure on telco's to provide better home working enabling services).
It is utterly ridiculous for so many companies to be concentrated in small areas at the centre of large cities, and then require their staff to waste hours of their days enduring inhumane conditions to get there.
Well, "the estate" is a contrived idea too... In reality, the owner of the organs is whoever has sufficient power to take them. Once dead, you have no ability to assert any ownership over anything.
No, OSX doesn't do that natively...
You can use X11 applications in that way, tho X apps have some issues with spaces in leopard...
Or you can use VNC or Apple Remote Desktop, but that gives you a full workspace and isn't integrated with your local apps.
What's really needed is a cross platform binary standard and standard set of APIs...
If you could download one binary, and run it on any OS with an x86 compatible CPU. Like java, but using native code etc.
It would also make a lot of sense for games companies, write the game once and get windows/mac/linux/solaris/bsd ports for free, since your coding to the cross platform standard instead of any particular OS.
I wonder if vista widens the gap...
And why would anyone bother writing native linux programs?
You'd end up with everything running through wine, which is hardly ideal... Wine programs stick out like a sore thumb alongside other apps on linux/mac. Wine will always be one step behind microsoft's implementation too.
What we need, is a clean stable cross platform binary specification and api set, especially now that pretty much everything is x86 compatible. Think of it as java, but using native code.
But consider, if you were a thief and you robbed a datacenter... And the reaction to your robbery was very weak, no improved security etc...
Would you target them again, knowing that their security was still weak and knowing the layout of the building and their security protocols etc? If i was these thieves, i'd keep hitting the same place over and over so long as they weren't doing anything significant about it. 4 times in 2 years is quite a reasonable rate, spaced far enough apart that it's not worth it for the police to lie in wait for you.
Well, the companies finances won't be doing as well now that news of 4 seperate break-ins has gone public...
Also, if thieves found it easy the first time and didn't see any significant improvements being made it makes sense from their perspective to go back. They already know the layout of the place.
You think that's bad, try signing up at:
http://www.keziefoods.co.uk/registration
Make sure you leave the "subscribe to newsletters" checkbox empty, and keep an eye on it as you click submit.
Really damn cheeky, they use javascript to re-check the button as you submit the page!
I wrote about this a while back (march 2007):
http://www.ev4.org/wordpress/2007/03/03/keziefoodscouk-are-cheeky-bastards/
http://www.ev4.org/wordpress/2007/07/04/keziefoods-are-cheeky-bastards-followup/
I mailed them about it several times...
The first time when i first noticed it, and got completely ignored.
The second time i mailed was after i received the newsletter that i explicitly did not want, this time the only response i got was accidental (one of their staff hit reply instead of forward!) and never got any actual intentional response from them.
Yes, it's unfair that the donor's family don't benefit, however if they did you'd get many unscrupulous groups of people seeking to benefit from it.
That only works on a very small scale, it completely breaks down when you have a lot of windows open.
Apple are catering to different requirements. Windows users will typically run one or two programs, and divert 100% of their screen space to each program as they're using it, and then close it when they're done. Mac (and unix) users will typically run lots of apps, and leave them running in the background unless they're completely finished with them. If the apps are idle, a decent OS should be able to swap them out anyway if it needs the memory. I very much like spaces on leopard, lack of multiple workspaces was my biggest beef with OSX.
And Commodore introduced it in 1985 in the Amiga line of systems, which ran on the same family of processors as Apple machines of the time.
I never liked MacOS prior to X, and neither did a lot of the people who are now using X.
MS had multitasking in Xenix too, and Apple had it in A/UX (Apple Unix), which were serious OS's, while windows/macos were intended for small scale home use, so they are better compared to amigaos than to unixes.
Whatever javascript may have, it's an open standard with a choice of implementations.
Would you rather it were replaced by something closed and proprietary with only a single implementation available to you, and which also removes your choice as to what other software you run too?
I'd much rather be free to choose.
The people who are committed windows users are usually those who've never used anything else, as you pointed out...
This is why they rant and rave so much, because they don't want to use anything else but they still want their life to be easier. They want to have their cake and eat it.
It's a different way of doing things...
Windows users tend to open one program and maximise it, and when done either minimise or close it and bring something else up maximised...
You can see this is how it was designed too, the taskbar (its a windowbar btw, it represents windows not tasks/processes) becomes quite unusable when there are lots of windows open, but that was less of a concern when it only ran on very low end hardware that wasn't capable of much.
This is why unix window managers typically have multiple workspaces, since unix traditionally ran on far more powerful machines and through X11 you could use a single workstation to display applications from loads of servers... It's not uncommon for a unix user to have 50+ apps open, which would render a windows style taskbar completely useless.
Macs kind of sit somewhere between, tho as of leopard osx now has multiple workspaces natively too, it's the biggest feature that compelled me to upgrade. Prior to that, expose was still a lot better than the windows task bar, but not on a par with unix workspaces.
The only apps i will run full size, are things like video players... If i'm watching video, i don't want anything wasting space on the screen, not even controls for manipulating the video (keyboard shortcuts or a remote control work fine thanks).
That's because OSX offers what people want...
It's easy to install
It has an easy to use GUI by default
It comes preinstalled, and fully supporting the machine it runs on with no hassle searching for drivers
You know that all subsequent versions for as long as your likely to use the machine will also fully support the machine and will run without hassle, and all the drivers you need will be bundled
It's unix underneath the pretty interface, offering a powerfull and flexible command line to those who want it
The underlying OS is well designed, has source code available for most of it, and is easy to hack with
Linux and windows can be harder to install, and often require screwing around with third party drivers to make it work properly.
Linux doesn't often come preinstalled.
Windows has a weak inflexible command line, no source available and a very messy directory structure and confusing often contradictory design that discourages tinkering.
Windows doesnt let you remove or replace the gui if you dont want the default one (yes i know you can replace the default shell with a different one, but its not like how osx lets you replace aqua with X11 or shut down the gui completely)
There shouldn't be any errors at all if the votes were printed out by a computer...
You should print the ballot on a machine, verify that it really did vote for what you wanted, and then put it in a ballot box.