For me, it not just the lack of calendar, but lack of notes. I use notes on my PDA all the time. And I need to be able to access them on my PC aswell. The Palm Desktop is the closest thing I have to a viable Outlook replacment.
Ever since I've heard of Opera, they've always had a Java and a Java-free version avalible for download. So I'm not sure what you're on about.
And at this moment I'm download the Java-free version of the new 8 beta. It's 3.6MB. Firefox is about 4.5MB, BTW. Not that the size matters to most people that much these days.
I didn't say that the entire industry has dumped Photoshop, I said that Hollywood has replaced Photoshop with Gimp - which is true for dozens of projects (not all).
And I'm calling BS to that unless you're going to get more specific. Hollywood is a huge industry, and there are many sub-industries with many types of jobs. And when Photoshop is used, it's used in quite different ways.
From what I've heard (via Slashdot), Gimp was being used quite extensively in a certain part of the editing/compositing process. I think it may have been editing-out lines, clearing up alpha channels etc.
That's a fraction of the capabilities of Photoshop, and many other image programs. So you can't really say Photoshop is comparable to Gimp unless you're talking about a specific task.
For certain tasks, Paintshop Pro could easily replace Photoshop, just like how Gimp can replace Photoshop for some things. Of course the reason it probably doesn't happen is that 1) Gimp probably is a bit more powerful that Paintshop Pro (at least for the tasks it's required for in this case). And 2) it's free and has much better licensing. In the case of Paintshop Pro, it may be cheaper, but that's quite a lot different to being GLP.
Wow. The entire industry of Hollywood has dumped Photoshop in favor of Gimp? I must have missed that one.
And besides, from what I've heard, the use of Gimp in Hollywood was only for doing some fairly basic compositing work.
Comparing Gimp to Paintshop Pro is more realistic than Photoshop IMHO. I use it everyday, and there are many big and small things that I use frequently that simply aren't in Gimp.
I'm glad to see that Gimp exists. And hope that one day it will be good enough for me to use instead of Photoshop. But I think that day is still many years away.
I plugged in a nice new Microsoft IntelliMouse the other day. I'm pretty sure I got a messages saying that the drivers were unsigned. Heh, MS's own product drivers weren't signed.
311 artists? 520 albums? Don't you go through the Genres first?
I've never had a problem with the iPod interface. Infact I find it piss-easy, and would be hard pressed to find another way to find something faster that didn't involve a live search-as-you-type feature, as like iTunes.
Exactly what would be a better interface, BTW? You do realise that the iPod interface was designed to be looked at while opperated, right? It may not be suited to the visually impared, but that doesn't mean it's in anyway overrated.
Playlists? I hardly ever use those things any more. Not since I switched from Winamp to iTunes and used it's browse feature. I'm not sure if things have changed now, but I used to have to create a bloody playlist each time I imported a CD. It was a pain in the ass. Now I only need to create a playlist occationally.
I imported over 7 GB of music, and it handled the tags exactly as it should have. Except that many of my MP3 had poorly fomated tags, but that's not iTunes fault.
iTunes is well designed. It's just that you're switching from something else, and would have to change your ways, and possably do a lot of work to get iTunes working nicely.
But for a person starting out, I think iTunes is easly the better player.
Although most of what you're saying is true, I think you're slightly off-target. Designing good UIs can be easy. The real problem is that the developers, managers, marketers and whoever, don't care about the "little things" and they oftern get left out due to time etc.
Apple, on the other hand, realise the importance of these things and move them up the priority list.
It really is as simple as that. 5 seconds talking to pretty much any developer-type person here on Slashdot should make this obvious (re-read the Slashdot artical about when the iPod came out).
It has a lot more going for it than that. As for your points they don't really affect me. Sure, gapless playback is still something that should be there, but It's not too much of annoyance for me.
Long enough for me.
I never use these formats.
Mine has an EQ. Gapless playback is the only good point here.
Don't wan't any of this crap, thanks.
Still better value when you consider the UI isn't half-finished, like Sony's is etc.
It's a fine player or anyone who is more interested in a decent music player, rather than a geek toy.
Re:3D interfaces are well and good, but..
on
3D User Interfaces
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· Score: 1
Thank you. You seem to be one of the very few people where who get the main reason why 3D interfaces haven't caught on yet.
A true 3D UI requires true 3D input and output. And untill then, you're not really dealing with a true 3D UI.
So we can't really say for sure if it's going to be better or not, or even exactly what advantages there will be to doing certian tasks compared to our current systems.
This little form uses Javascript so that the user doesn't have to re-load the page each time they click a control. Not only is it a better experience for the user (especially when the site is slow), but the server admins like it to...And people who pay for the bandwidth.
But you know what? Dissable Javascript then go back and try to use the form again*.
Just because most people are too lazy to write decent web apps, doesn't mean it's not possible, or that Javascript is evil.
* For those that can't be bothered dissabling Javascript; the page looks and acts pretty much the same, but with some reloading.
But I never click those adds anyway. So it doesn't matter if I block them or not. Might as well save them some bandwidth. The only thing I can't block are text adds. They don't bother me as much, and I'm more likely to click them anyway.
As for paying for sites, I don't mind doing that. The problem is that it's a pain at moment. Someone needs to design a properly thought out system/standard/protocol for paying websites.
It could work something like this:
You would have an account with this service (or with someone who is compatible with the service, we want an open standard).
Then the browser would say if the site supports this system (like a little icon in the status bar). Of course, the system would also have an on-line version, too.
If it does, it will offer whatever things it needs. These may be complex, subscription related to allow you access to members stuff. Or it may simply allow you to donate a small amount to the site at the click of button. Which perhaps you may press when ever you feel like you've read a good article etc.
Not good enough. If they're going to follow a standard then they should do it properly. It's this exact kind of attitude that created the all the incompatability problems with browsers--cutting corners because they don't think the effect it has matters.
If they used valid XHTML and CSS, then they wouldn't need all that garbage, bandwidth-eating HTML in there anyway!
I mean, they cut strip out the quote marks, but leave the "border" attribute on images? Not to mention all those nbsps, table tags, center tags, and other assorted garbage that could be replace with a CSS file that most browsers would end up caching.
I've noticed that the Eject/F12 button on my iBook won't work if I'm playing a CD or DVD. But a proper Command + E still will. Quite a hand thing because it means that if you go to backspace some text, and over shoot a bit, you're not going to have the CD or DVD ejected while still in non-critical-but-still-a-pain use.
If you're copying files or burning a CD. I think it will lock the drive fully.
In the case that the drive had really hung. A paper clip will instantly eject it no matter what the system is doing. But this option seems to becoming more rare on a Mac.
Impressive, but still not as much as an electric motor. The only reason that IC is still thought of as being more powerful is because electric vehicals have to deal with their battery/low fuel density problem.
As for the 2nd. I think I missread/interperated what you meant.
Due to the much simpler nature of electric motors, they can be made to suit a much wider range of performace specs compared to an IC engine. The engines they use in the wheels would be specificly designed to match the critera they need.
It'll be a good day when standard transmission dies out!
Transmissions add complexity, inifecientcy, weight, space, etc. The sooner they can be made redundant, the better, I say.
Lets get something straight here first (even if you already know, it needs pointing out). We are not talking about art here. Art can be anything. What this article is really about is graphic design.
Anyway. I half agree with your point. Just like any skill, most people can learn the basics. There are basic skills in graphic design that can be learnt and applied. In fact, most web developers (and I'm looking right at the people who write the Slashcode here) should read a book on the basics of graphic design.
But, just as with any other skill, some people are simply more gifted at it than others. There is only so much that you can learn or practice to improve yourself at a skill. How much more you progress after that really depends on how naturally gifted you are within that area.
Unfortunately, programing and graphic design are quite different skills. They even pretty much use the opposite side of the brain from each othern: Programming being very much a right-brained activity, where graphic design is very left-brained.
As a result, most good programmers probably won't ever make good graphic designers. Those who do are probably more "neutral-brained" and/or very intelligent.
Re:Convert friends - add top 10 reasons for FF her
on
Firefox 1.0 Released
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· Score: 1
They keep breaking themes and extensions every point release. That's unacceptable from an end-user's perspective.
Uh... Firefox has only just come out of beta. You have to accept that things will get broken more oftern in beta software.
Unless you want to get really techical and bring in facts and figures and give details of each of these infrastructures and companies, then what you are saying makes no sence.
Don't people in America have to build and maintain traffic lights, cellphone towers. Don't they have billboards and signs over there? Build gyms? Don't some Americans also work on holidays?
How do these things get build in other countries? Are you saying that all countries than have these technologies are under state communism or something?
Slashdot Mirror
Why do people feel the need to quote Fight Club at the slightest given opportunity? I mean, it's not really a similar situation at all.
Not sure if you're trying to make a point (I already know this), or just clearing things up (thanks).
I restrict my violence to my keyboard or mouse. The keyboard is still going strong after 6 years. I have, however, been through a couple of mice.
For me, it not just the lack of calendar, but lack of notes. I use notes on my PDA all the time. And I need to be able to access them on my PC aswell. The Palm Desktop is the closest thing I have to a viable Outlook replacment.
And at this moment I'm download the Java-free version of the new 8 beta. It's 3.6MB. Firefox is about 4.5MB, BTW. Not that the size matters to most people that much these days.
And I'm calling BS to that unless you're going to get more specific. Hollywood is a huge industry, and there are many sub-industries with many types of jobs. And when Photoshop is used, it's used in quite different ways.
From what I've heard (via Slashdot), Gimp was being used quite extensively in a certain part of the editing/compositing process. I think it may have been editing-out lines, clearing up alpha channels etc.
That's a fraction of the capabilities of Photoshop, and many other image programs. So you can't really say Photoshop is comparable to Gimp unless you're talking about a specific task.
For certain tasks, Paintshop Pro could easily replace Photoshop, just like how Gimp can replace Photoshop for some things. Of course the reason it probably doesn't happen is that 1) Gimp probably is a bit more powerful that Paintshop Pro (at least for the tasks it's required for in this case). And 2) it's free and has much better licensing. In the case of Paintshop Pro, it may be cheaper, but that's quite a lot different to being GLP.
And besides, from what I've heard, the use of Gimp in Hollywood was only for doing some fairly basic compositing work.
Comparing Gimp to Paintshop Pro is more realistic than Photoshop IMHO. I use it everyday, and there are many big and small things that I use frequently that simply aren't in Gimp.
I'm glad to see that Gimp exists. And hope that one day it will be good enough for me to use instead of Photoshop. But I think that day is still many years away.
I plugged in a nice new Microsoft IntelliMouse the other day. I'm pretty sure I got a messages saying that the drivers were unsigned. Heh, MS's own product drivers weren't signed.
I've never had a problem with the iPod interface. Infact I find it piss-easy, and would be hard pressed to find another way to find something faster that didn't involve a live search-as-you-type feature, as like iTunes.
Exactly what would be a better interface, BTW? You do realise that the iPod interface was designed to be looked at while opperated, right? It may not be suited to the visually impared, but that doesn't mean it's in anyway overrated.
I imported over 7 GB of music, and it handled the tags exactly as it should have. Except that many of my MP3 had poorly fomated tags, but that's not iTunes fault.
iTunes is well designed. It's just that you're switching from something else, and would have to change your ways, and possably do a lot of work to get iTunes working nicely.
But for a person starting out, I think iTunes is easly the better player.
Apple, on the other hand, realise the importance of these things and move them up the priority list.
It really is as simple as that. 5 seconds talking to pretty much any developer-type person here on Slashdot should make this obvious (re-read the Slashdot artical about when the iPod came out).
- Long enough for me.
- I never use these formats.
- Mine has an EQ. Gapless playback is the only good point here.
- Don't wan't any of this crap, thanks.
- Still better value when you consider the UI isn't half-finished, like Sony's is etc.
It's a fine player or anyone who is more interested in a decent music player, rather than a geek toy.A true 3D UI requires true 3D input and output. And untill then, you're not really dealing with a true 3D UI.
So we can't really say for sure if it's going to be better or not, or even exactly what advantages there will be to doing certian tasks compared to our current systems.
But you know what? Dissable Javascript then go back and try to use the form again*.
Just because most people are too lazy to write decent web apps, doesn't mean it's not possible, or that Javascript is evil.
* For those that can't be bothered dissabling Javascript; the page looks and acts pretty much the same, but with some reloading.
As for paying for sites, I don't mind doing that. The problem is that it's a pain at moment. Someone needs to design a properly thought out system/standard/protocol for paying websites.
It could work something like this:
You would have an account with this service (or with someone who is compatible with the service, we want an open standard).
Then the browser would say if the site supports this system (like a little icon in the status bar). Of course, the system would also have an on-line version, too.
If it does, it will offer whatever things it needs. These may be complex, subscription related to allow you access to members stuff. Or it may simply allow you to donate a small amount to the site at the click of button. Which perhaps you may press when ever you feel like you've read a good article etc.
If they used valid XHTML and CSS, then they wouldn't need all that garbage, bandwidth-eating HTML in there anyway!
I mean, they cut strip out the quote marks, but leave the "border" attribute on images? Not to mention all those nbsps, table tags, center tags, and other assorted garbage that could be replace with a CSS file that most browsers would end up caching.
If you're copying files or burning a CD. I think it will lock the drive fully.
In the case that the drive had really hung. A paper clip will instantly eject it no matter what the system is doing. But this option seems to becoming more rare on a Mac.
As for the 2nd. I think I missread/interperated what you meant.
Well, that depends on the size of the tires etc. If for example, they were only half as wide, then there wouldn't be much difference.
While that is correct. Perhaps you also need to take into account the size and power of such an engine?
2) Electric motors do not have anywhere near constant torque with rpm.
Care to back that up? As it goes against what is generally considered true of electric motors.
It'll be a good day when standard transmission dies out!
Transmissions add complexity, inifecientcy, weight, space, etc. The sooner they can be made redundant, the better, I say.
Already in progress sir ;)
Anyway. I half agree with your point. Just like any skill, most people can learn the basics. There are basic skills in graphic design that can be learnt and applied. In fact, most web developers (and I'm looking right at the people who write the Slashcode here) should read a book on the basics of graphic design.
But, just as with any other skill, some people are simply more gifted at it than others. There is only so much that you can learn or practice to improve yourself at a skill. How much more you progress after that really depends on how naturally gifted you are within that area.
Unfortunately, programing and graphic design are quite different skills. They even pretty much use the opposite side of the brain from each othern: Programming being very much a right-brained activity, where graphic design is very left-brained.
As a result, most good programmers probably won't ever make good graphic designers. Those who do are probably more "neutral-brained" and/or very intelligent.
Uh... Firefox has only just come out of beta. You have to accept that things will get broken more oftern in beta software.
Don't people in America have to build and maintain traffic lights, cellphone towers. Don't they have billboards and signs over there? Build gyms? Don't some Americans also work on holidays?
How do these things get build in other countries? Are you saying that all countries than have these technologies are under state communism or something?
Please put down the crack pipe.