As a self-designated musician and graphic artist, the Mac is generally more appealing. I use Digidesign's Pro Tools for recording. Why better on the Mac? I'll just point you to the Digidesign User Conference topic on the subject-these guys know better what they're talking about: http://duc.digidesign.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimateb b.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=016254
Now I am also definitely a gamer, which would logically tend to indicate a leaning towards the jolly old Windows side of things. But lo!, I discovered these lovely little boxes called "game consoles." For a few hundred clams for the base system, and about fifty a game (approximately equivalent to major PC releases), you get games that are guaranteed to work with your system! They're also guaranteed to be almost completely bug-free, because developers don't have the option of releasing an incomplete/buggy game and patching it later (if ever). If I ever need a good mouse and keyboard deathmatch, hey, I'm covered on the Mac. As long as I get the Unreals and the Quakes, I'm perfectly content (Half-Life can eat me). And your game will never crash or simply refuse to work because of something silly like your sound card. Fancy that...
So I guess I'm not that different from all you Linux users. While I certainly have nowhere near your level of knowledge of the machines or the software-as was noted above, we can all agree that stability is a high priority. Which is why I prefer machines that were built to work together.
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts..."
chrisd:If you are a company trying to establish a web presence, do you choose the system that everyone has agreed on and publicize your url "http://www.bobstigerrentals.com" ? Or do you put: "RealName: Bob's Tiger Rentals" in your ads?
I know I've seen plenty of ads with "AOL keyword: so-and-so" on TV, in magazines, and elsewhere. It seems to work for them okay.
NutscrapeSucks:Somebody else said it first, but DNS was not supposed to be a keyword system.
North America was supposed to be an extension of the United Kingdom. Slashdot was supposed to be a forum for rational discussion. We all know how that turned out. People adapt things to their own purposes.
Keywords and Search are the solution, and RealNames was not a bad idea. Lets put the stupid squatting and trademark junk in their database instead of our DNS system. Let them worry about the problem of how to find "Something" on the internet without resorting to "Something.com"
The current system isn't going anywhere anytime soon, like it or not. It's become too ingrained. Besides, keywords would have all the same problems. Eventually they'd all point you to porn. You were right about one thing, though. Search is a solution. With search engines (most notably, Google) actively updating and trying to help increase the relevance of your search results, as well as filtering the bulk of the junk, we are able to navigate the insanity of the internet quite a bit more efficiently. Hopefully they can remain on top of web spammers' techniques for a long time and save us all a lot of grief.
They made the fullscreen mode for the visualizer in iTunes way smarter. It used to cause the music to skip when it came on, but now it comes on a bit more slowly and the music plays on, uninterrupted. This was one of my only gripes with iTunes, and I'm quite pleased to find that they fixed this relatively minor thing-especially since they could very easily have gotten away with leaving it as it was.
I read this in the print version, and, when looking for a blurb on it online, was surprised to find that they have the entire bloody magazine online. The picture doesn't look as bad in print, naturally (though it's still not an attractive, futuristic exoskeleton by any means). As to Jeeps/helicopters, etc. being more efficient/cheaper, you must note that the reason for the development of these machines is for urban warfare specifically. Driving a Jeep down the hall may work in some video games, but it's not nearly as practical in real life.
Never thought I'd be using the word "practical" when referring to exoskeletons, but oh well...
=rant= Want to fight back against this crap? I say e-mail everyone you know with something about killing the president or sending anthrax to the Pentagon. Hell, put it in your sig, and tell everyone you know to do the same. This is bullshit, and it won't prevent someone sending an assassination message in morse code, or even pig latin, for god's sake.
What will they do when someone smuggles a ceramic knife onto an airplane in their shoe? Strip search everyone and X-Ray their clothes? Idle bitching on the 'net is all well and good, but take some bloody action. I'm a college student, and I see people protesting things all the time. Does it ever do anything? No. We all like to sit around and talk to our friends who agree with us, but strap on some balls and take the offensive, and convince somebody who's not already on your side. =/rant=
I want self-folding, touch/voice-activated, back-lit, cine-feed-capable paper. Then we can get started on A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. We'll have to introduce a big helping of Chinese culture into our society first, though...
...it had been one state further north, then Bill Gates would be on that list.
I'm currently an Oregonian, though now it looks like I'm fortunate I'm an Alaskan resident. I recently signed up for Wells-Fargo Online so I could check my balance on the web, and, as I remember, all you need is a SS#, an account number, and an address. Now, you've already got the social security number if you have their driver's license. Their address may have been included in that data, too. If not, a simple search can get that. The account number might be a bit more tricky, but not impossible, I'd imagine. A simple transfer to a Paypal account and then, well, who knows? I'm just tossing this out. Could be just uneducated paranoid babble. Any thoughts on this?
Ah, the good old days. Back when id actually attempted to create a backstory, before they dropped all such pretenses with Quake 3. Now (Quake 4) they've gone and hired someone else (Raven) to take care of that nonsense for them, so they can devote their precious time to making the arm in the gib effect so realistic you can make out the individual fingernails and tell what the person had for dinner! Hooray!
Exhibit 1:
"[We will make illegal...]the production, sale, procurement for use, import, distribution or otherwise making available of [...]a device, including a computer program, designed or adapted primarily for the purpose of committing any of the offences established in accordance with Article 2 - 5"
Exhibit 2:
"Article 5 - System interference
[C]ommitted intentionally, the serious hindering without right of the functioning of a computer system by inputting, transmitting, damaging, deleting, deteriorating, altering or suppressing computer data."
An interesting thing to note about the Gamecube, relating to those problems XBox was having with overheating in display stands: this thing doesn't get hot. I was playing for a good 4 hours straight the other day (one of my shorter stretches) and I went up and touched the Gamecube, out of curiosity, and all I could find was a slightly warm spot on the bottom. The huge vents in the side do their job well. To be fair, it was prettly close to a window, but it's still insane compared to my N64 or PSX. Anyway, yeah.
BTW, Rogue Leader is the shizzy iznit. It's the closest game yet to put you right in the movies. A lot of the cool effects are pretty subtle, but then there's the whole strafing a Star Destroyer and being shot at by a bazillion turbolasers while being chased by what must be an entire squadron of TIEs (like 6 groups of 3 or 4). It's a Star Wars nerd dream come true.
It really is quite incredible what they're doing. There are so many dangers to account for and things to take into account. Such as: what the hell are we going to do for three to five hours on the way up? Will my Gameboy work at 132,000 feet? What if we fart in our spacesuits? What if the "cosmic radiation" (sounds like bad news to me) turns us into horrible monsters and Captain _______ has to destroy us in order to save humanity? Why on Earth (pun intended) did we choose the hideous combination of brick red and sky blue for our flight deck color? Are we the same dumbasses who bought all the balloons from the guy at the carnival then jumped off the roof to see if we'd float? What kind of shrinkage can we expect at -25C?
These all must be taken into account before such an undertaking is... undertaken. I just hope they realize this. God be with you, you brave, misguided souls.
--------
"CREAM will be carried by the balloon to gather experimental data at these unexplored heights. The results could help provide data for the development of hypersonic commercial intercontinental travel." (It also goes great with pies)
I think...
(Applause)
Thank you. I think that it's great how they let the common folk...
(Applause)
Thank you....ask questions of the high muckedy-mucks.
(Wild applause)
Thank you. I'd just like to conclude by saying, I'm glad the Mennonites were all up in there representing. Word.
(Thunderous applause and a smal riot ensues)
Thank you.
(More applause)
Even better is the story of the guy who wrote "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." He died penniless in Africa: his family couldn't even afford to buy him a tombstone. Rolling Stone did a whole article about it. A great example of artists getting royally fucked.
Heh... yeah. I thought about that, but I don't have that much music online, and what I do have isn't that good, but if you're really that curious, go to http://justinbacon.iuma.com/ Once I get myself a Pro Tools system, all that stuff will go in the trash bin and I can start in getting serious about cutting an album.
(Please save your flames until you've read the whole post)
She does have some legitimate points. Personally, as a musician, and one who plans to make music a career, I want to be able to have the same opportunity to make money as anyone else. I don't want to be rich, I just want to be able to live comfortably.
However, the foundation of her argument is flawed. Artists get a ridiculously small percentage of CD sales, and this isn't changing even as CD prices close on the twenty dollar mark.
Artists get most of their money from concerts. Albums are basically just advertising. File-sharing programs are more effective advertising (People like free things). If more people are listening to their music because the price barrier isn't there, then more people will go to their concerts, putting more money in the artists' pockets. This is a good thing.
The only artists who are speaking out against file sharing programs are artists that A) don't need any more money, and B) don't understand that this actually helps less mainstream artists.
Basically, what it comes down to for me is this: If I'm dinking around on Limewire, Napster, Morpheus, or any other music-swapping program and I come an mp3 of one of my songs, I'm not disappointed. I'm not feeling the money fly out of my wallet. I'm elated. I'm absolutely ecstatic that someone would take the time to download my music and keep it on their hard drive. They've done this because they like it, not because of money or any other impetus. That's half the reason that I want to be a musician (Incidentally, the other half is that I hate/suck at everything else): to create something that people like - that touches people. It's a wonderful thing when this can occur outside of a corporate environment, outside of the store. If my music was flying all over the 'net and I was living in the street, that would be a different matter, but that's just not how it works.
Anyway, that's just what I think...
(Does anyone else find the Gates-esque overuse of the word innovation and derivations thereof rather disturbing?)
I still haven't gotten around to reading Cryptonomicron, but Snow Crash was cool as all hell and Diamond Age was bloody brilliant. The first time I finished it, I was floored by the way all the interweaving storylines came together.
What's with all the martial arts stars playing two roles at once these days? Double Impact, Twin Dragons, The One... Apparently this isn't limited to big budget actors either (http://www.spcnet.tv/tvb_finalcombat.html). Mike Myers has been the only one to do it well since the Parent Trap. I think one actor who kicks ass but can't act his way out of a paper bag is enough for any movie...
Most likely they just didn't think to test partitioned hard drives. I know it wouldn't have occurred to me. Partitioned hard drives aren't nearly as common among Mac users as they are with Windows/Linux/other users. Before OS X, partitioned hard drives on Apple boxes were all but nonexistent.
It was a very simple, very costly oversight. It's unfortunate, but you can bet your ass they'll test every bloody thing they make on partitioned/multiple drive computers before releasing them from now on.
Slashdot Mirror
Most advanced I ever got was trying to recreate the bridge of a Star Destroyer. I even made a Grand Admiral Thrawn.
/nerd
I made a pretty sweet X-Wing once. Folding wings and everything. But then again, who hasn't made an X-Wing out of legos at some point...
http://duc.digidesign.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimate
Now I am also definitely a gamer, which would logically tend to indicate a leaning towards the jolly old Windows side of things. But lo!, I discovered these lovely little boxes called "game consoles." For a few hundred clams for the base system, and about fifty a game (approximately equivalent to major PC releases), you get games that are guaranteed to work with your system! They're also guaranteed to be almost completely bug-free, because developers don't have the option of releasing an incomplete/buggy game and patching it later (if ever). If I ever need a good mouse and keyboard deathmatch, hey, I'm covered on the Mac. As long as I get the Unreals and the Quakes, I'm perfectly content (Half-Life can eat me). And your game will never crash or simply refuse to work because of something silly like your sound card. Fancy that...
So I guess I'm not that different from all you Linux users. While I certainly have nowhere near your level of knowledge of the machines or the software-as was noted above, we can all agree that stability is a high priority. Which is why I prefer machines that were built to work together.
And that's really what it comes down to.
chrisd: If you are a company trying to establish a web presence, do you choose the system that everyone has agreed on and publicize your url "http://www.bobstigerrentals.com" ? Or do you put: "RealName: Bob's Tiger Rentals" in your ads?
I know I've seen plenty of ads with "AOL keyword: so-and-so" on TV, in magazines, and elsewhere. It seems to work for them okay.
NutscrapeSucks: Somebody else said it first, but DNS was not supposed to be a keyword system.
North America was supposed to be an extension of the United Kingdom. Slashdot was supposed to be a forum for rational discussion. We all know how that turned out. People adapt things to their own purposes.
Keywords and Search are the solution, and RealNames was not a bad idea. Lets put the stupid squatting and trademark junk in their database instead of our DNS system. Let them worry about the problem of how to find "Something" on the internet without resorting to "Something.com"
The current system isn't going anywhere anytime soon, like it or not. It's become too ingrained. Besides, keywords would have all the same problems. Eventually they'd all point you to porn. You were right about one thing, though. Search is a solution. With search engines (most notably, Google) actively updating and trying to help increase the relevance of your search results, as well as filtering the bulk of the junk, we are able to navigate the insanity of the internet quite a bit more efficiently. Hopefully they can remain on top of web spammers' techniques for a long time and save us all a lot of grief.
They made the fullscreen mode for the visualizer in iTunes way smarter. It used to cause the music to skip when it came on, but now it comes on a bit more slowly and the music plays on, uninterrupted. This was one of my only gripes with iTunes, and I'm quite pleased to find that they fixed this relatively minor thing-especially since they could very easily have gotten away with leaving it as it was.
My 2.
I read this in the print version, and, when looking for a blurb on it online, was surprised to find that they have the entire bloody magazine online. The picture doesn't look as bad in print, naturally (though it's still not an attractive, futuristic exoskeleton by any means). As to Jeeps/helicopters, etc. being more efficient/cheaper, you must note that the reason for the development of these machines is for urban warfare specifically. Driving a Jeep down the hall may work in some video games, but it's not nearly as practical in real life.
Never thought I'd be using the word "practical" when referring to exoskeletons, but oh well...
BTW, ExoSquad was a sweet TV show.
=rant= Want to fight back against this crap? I say e-mail everyone you know with something about killing the president or sending anthrax to the Pentagon. Hell, put it in your sig, and tell everyone you know to do the same. This is bullshit, and it won't prevent someone sending an assassination message in morse code, or even pig latin, for god's sake.
What will they do when someone smuggles a ceramic knife onto an airplane in their shoe? Strip search everyone and X-Ray their clothes? Idle bitching on the 'net is all well and good, but take some bloody action. I'm a college student, and I see people protesting things all the time. Does it ever do anything? No. We all like to sit around and talk to our friends who agree with us, but strap on some balls and take the offensive, and convince somebody who's not already on your side. =/rant=
I want self-folding, touch/voice-activated, back-lit, cine-feed-capable paper. Then we can get started on A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. We'll have to introduce a big helping of Chinese culture into our society first, though...
Oh, I want a skull gun and a pair of sights, too.
I shall immediately sign up for a bank with handprint, retinal scan, and voice matching equipment immediately. Sheesh.
For Wells Fargo it is...
...it had been one state further north, then Bill Gates would be on that list.
I'm currently an Oregonian, though now it looks like I'm fortunate I'm an Alaskan resident. I recently signed up for Wells-Fargo Online so I could check my balance on the web, and, as I remember, all you need is a SS#, an account number, and an address. Now, you've already got the social security number if you have their driver's license. Their address may have been included in that data, too. If not, a simple search can get that. The account number might be a bit more tricky, but not impossible, I'd imagine. A simple transfer to a Paypal account and then, well, who knows? I'm just tossing this out. Could be just uneducated paranoid babble. Any thoughts on this?
"...broke the minds."
Ah, the good old days. Back when id actually attempted to create a backstory, before they dropped all such pretenses with Quake 3. Now (Quake 4) they've gone and hired someone else (Raven) to take care of that nonsense for them, so they can devote their precious time to making the arm in the gib effect so realistic you can make out the individual fingernails and tell what the person had for dinner! Hooray!
Exhibit 1:
"[We will make illegal...]the production, sale, procurement for use, import, distribution or otherwise making available of [...]a device, including a computer program, designed or adapted primarily for the purpose of committing any of the offences established in accordance with Article 2 - 5"
Exhibit 2:
"Article 5 - System interference
[C]ommitted intentionally, the serious hindering without right of the functioning of a computer system by inputting, transmitting, damaging, deleting, deteriorating, altering or suppressing computer data."
So now Windows is illegal in Europe...
Both are rather selective interpretations of statements that nobody actually bothered to read.
r e. and.the.Inte1.html
http://commons.somewhere.com/rre/2000/RRE.Al.Go
Don't get me wrong, though... Bill Gates is still the devil...
An interesting thing to note about the Gamecube, relating to those problems XBox was having with overheating in display stands: this thing doesn't get hot. I was playing for a good 4 hours straight the other day (one of my shorter stretches) and I went up and touched the Gamecube, out of curiosity, and all I could find was a slightly warm spot on the bottom. The huge vents in the side do their job well. To be fair, it was prettly close to a window, but it's still insane compared to my N64 or PSX. Anyway, yeah.
BTW, Rogue Leader is the shizzy iznit. It's the closest game yet to put you right in the movies. A lot of the cool effects are pretty subtle, but then there's the whole strafing a Star Destroyer and being shot at by a bazillion turbolasers while being chased by what must be an entire squadron of TIEs (like 6 groups of 3 or 4). It's a Star Wars nerd dream come true.
Blather blather stop.
This might not be so great. What if you're trying to woo somebody and Marvin Gaye starts singing "Let's Get It On?"
Reminds me of the part in the Diamond Age where they discuss the philosophy of makeup, and how mood-responsive cosmetics are a bad idea.
It really is quite incredible what they're doing. There are so many dangers to account for and things to take into account. Such as: what the hell are we going to do for three to five hours on the way up? Will my Gameboy work at 132,000 feet? What if we fart in our spacesuits? What if the "cosmic radiation" (sounds like bad news to me) turns us into horrible monsters and Captain _______ has to destroy us in order to save humanity? Why on Earth (pun intended) did we choose the hideous combination of brick red and sky blue for our flight deck color? Are we the same dumbasses who bought all the balloons from the guy at the carnival then jumped off the roof to see if we'd float? What kind of shrinkage can we expect at -25C?
These all must be taken into account before such an undertaking is... undertaken. I just hope they realize this. God be with you, you brave, misguided souls.
--------
"CREAM will be carried by the balloon to gather experimental data at these unexplored heights. The results could help provide data for the development of hypersonic commercial intercontinental travel." (It also goes great with pies)
Thank God for CREAM!
I think... ...ask questions of the high muckedy-mucks.
(Applause)
Thank you. I think that it's great how they let the common folk...
(Applause)
Thank you.
(Wild applause)
Thank you. I'd just like to conclude by saying, I'm glad the Mennonites were all up in there representing. Word.
(Thunderous applause and a smal riot ensues)
Thank you.
(More applause)
I don't think the _idea_ was that terrible... It's the name that gets ya.
Why don't they spend all that money developing a passable Russian accent so they don't need the bloody cat?
(Offtopic)
Even better is the story of the guy who wrote "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." He died penniless in Africa: his family couldn't even afford to buy him a tombstone. Rolling Stone did a whole article about it. A great example of artists getting royally fucked.
Heh... yeah. I thought about that, but I don't have that much music online, and what I do have isn't that good, but if you're really that curious, go to http://justinbacon.iuma.com/ Once I get myself a Pro Tools system, all that stuff will go in the trash bin and I can start in getting serious about cutting an album.
(Please save your flames until you've read the whole post)
She does have some legitimate points. Personally, as a musician, and one who plans to make music a career, I want to be able to have the same opportunity to make money as anyone else. I don't want to be rich, I just want to be able to live comfortably.
However, the foundation of her argument is flawed. Artists get a ridiculously small percentage of CD sales, and this isn't changing even as CD prices close on the twenty dollar mark.
Artists get most of their money from concerts. Albums are basically just advertising. File-sharing programs are more effective advertising (People like free things). If more people are listening to their music because the price barrier isn't there, then more people will go to their concerts, putting more money in the artists' pockets. This is a good thing.
The only artists who are speaking out against file sharing programs are artists that A) don't need any more money, and B) don't understand that this actually helps less mainstream artists.
Basically, what it comes down to for me is this: If I'm dinking around on Limewire, Napster, Morpheus, or any other music-swapping program and I come an mp3 of one of my songs, I'm not disappointed. I'm not feeling the money fly out of my wallet. I'm elated. I'm absolutely ecstatic that someone would take the time to download my music and keep it on their hard drive. They've done this because they like it, not because of money or any other impetus. That's half the reason that I want to be a musician (Incidentally, the other half is that I hate/suck at everything else): to create something that people like - that touches people. It's a wonderful thing when this can occur outside of a corporate environment, outside of the store. If my music was flying all over the 'net and I was living in the street, that would be a different matter, but that's just not how it works.
Anyway, that's just what I think...
(Does anyone else find the Gates-esque overuse of the word innovation and derivations thereof rather disturbing?)
I still haven't gotten around to reading Cryptonomicron, but Snow Crash was cool as all hell and Diamond Age was bloody brilliant. The first time I finished it, I was floored by the way all the interweaving storylines came together.
What's with all the martial arts stars playing two roles at once these days? Double Impact, Twin Dragons, The One... Apparently this isn't limited to big budget actors either (http://www.spcnet.tv/tvb_finalcombat.html). Mike Myers has been the only one to do it well since the Parent Trap. I think one actor who kicks ass but can't act his way out of a paper bag is enough for any movie...
Most likely they just didn't think to test partitioned hard drives. I know it wouldn't have occurred to me. Partitioned hard drives aren't nearly as common among Mac users as they are with Windows/Linux/other users. Before OS X, partitioned hard drives on Apple boxes were all but nonexistent.
It was a very simple, very costly oversight. It's unfortunate, but you can bet your ass they'll test every bloody thing they make on partitioned/multiple drive computers before releasing them from now on.
Rather, I meant white-collar. Sorry, I'm an idiot. ==bows in shame==
:P