"Longhorn, looks pretty much the same as current Windows."
Maybe in screenshot form, but not in video form. Watch Billy G's keynote address, they actually show Longhorn in action*. Nobody will be walking down the aisles of CompUSA and confusing Longhorn for XP. To put it another way: If that were Linux running the demo, you'd all be pitching underwear tents. That's not really a new story around here, though.
(* This is less exciting if you've ever seen OSX.)
"I don't care what they mod me haha... I hate Microsoft, so sue me. Even if they make the better product. I don't care."
Hey, I don't have a prob with this feeling. You're being honest. I can appreciate that. But if you were trying to pass that off as being some sort of altruist, then ick.
" And you want someone to switch top open office because its "Adequate"? These are not very compelling reasons for people to switch to open source applications."
No kidding. Imagine trying to pull that line on somebody who's already paid for (or even.. uh.. acquired for that matter) Office.
Troll? "Funny" was a better moderation. Heck, I would have modded it Insightful.
Everybody here's acting like their intentions are pure, but there are a LOT of posts here touting OSS as a form of middle finger in the direction of Redmond. I'm not saying their hatred of MS isn't justified, but it is tainting their judgement.
"Okkkaaayyyy... And why is the referrer such a big problem again?"
Advertising in general has been abused. Flash ads, pop-up sites, adverts that look like news, etc. A lot of people are sick of them, so they've developed a bad attitude about advertising in general. You see, it's too hard to distinguish between advertising and abusive advertising. It's easier to remember to hate 'ads'. Never mind that those very ads basically provide services to you that you don't have to pay out of pocket for (i.e. television, radio, Slashdot...), a few people ruined ads for EVERYBODY.
Somehow, referrals fell into this trap, too. Evidently, it's okay to buy a book, but it's not okay to buy the book from the guy who convinced you to buy it. I probably wouldn't be replying if the choice was between buying it and not buying it, but stripping the referal information out? WTF? Talk about judgement mis-fire.
"Good documentation gives you context and insight into the motivation of a past developer..."
Heck, it gives you good insight into a past version of yourself. I recently wrote a really complex script for Lightwave. I only started learning how to do this sort of scripting a few months ago. Just yesterday I had to wander back into some of the earliest bits of the code to fix a little problem. I do stuff a LOT differently today than I did back then, but I commented the heck out of it because I was just learning the language. I was able to really quickly figure out what I was up to and make the fix following the same spirit of the code. (i.e. the WHY part of your post.)
I'm the only person writing scripts where I work. Nobody else is viewing the code. It's unlikely (though not impossible) that anybody else will maintain the code. Despite that, I wouldn't dream of not indenting, not commenting, or not using descriptive variable names. Heck, I even go a step further and keep a log in the code of changes I made and when I made them.
I'm not a programmer by trade, but I just can't imagine that people actually debate about commenting code.
Yeah, you wouldn't want the guy bringing you information that you found interesting to be rewarded or anything.
The attitude some of you have about referrals really makes me sick. Never mind that this whole SITE that's bringing you this news article you find so fucking interesting is supported by ads.
"I'm so jacked up to see this, I'll probably skip "Revenge of the Sith" entirely and see "Serenity" one extra time with the eight bucks I save!"
Question: Is this trailer like a LOT more interesting if you watched the show?
I ask because I never caught it, and I'm not seeing the big whoop-de-fuck that everybody else is. As the trailer stands, it actually looks like mediochre sci-fi, to me.
I'm not posting this to troll. I'm just trying to understand what it is I'm missing that's preventing me from getting worked up like everybody else.
Even if that's the case, that may be an F up on MS's part, but that's not what killed the DC. What killed the DC was that Sega didn't have the money to produce enough units to sell. It would have cost them nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to get out a million units. They needed like another 6 million to be worthwhile. Ouch.
"The biggest use of a pda is to keep track of appointments, take notes, and hold contact information - all of which my nokia 6230 can do NOW! PDAs are dying."
Heh. PDAs aren't going anywhere.
1.) First generation pdas basically kept track of appts. Modern pdas are now becoming music/movie players as well as web browsers, thanks to 802.11.
2.) Phones are too small. The larger screens of PDAs are more appealing for more productive stuff.
3.) Though I agree that it's difficult to buy a PDA if you've got a phone like the 6230 (heck, *I* don't have a PDA because of my Nokia...) that's sort of like saying an internet appliance will replace computers. Won't happen. You might be able to buy a handy-dandy web surfing email sending machine, but the general-purposeness of PCs keep them afloat quite easily. PDAs are headed that way. Heck, these days you can buy a PDA with 3D acelleration, a 640 by 480 screen, 802.11, and a camera.
Your phone's more useful, but phones aren't replacing PDAs any more than they are replacing digital cameras or the iPod.
" At any rate, it seems to me that this is still a laptop, albeit with a 'Tablet configuration'. It's still not a slate, and I personally still group it in the 'laptop' abstract class rather than the 'tablet' abstract class."
Uh... okay.
Here's the problem: Slate's good for standing up and walking around, it's NOT good as a desktop implementation. You still need a KB etc. That's what makes these hybrid tablets useful. You can use it as a Laptop OR a slate. One doesn't interfere with the other.
I have ot admit, I'm baffled at the insightful mods granted to your post. I would have expected a little common sense (i.e. the common complaint about wanting a keyboard on PDAs) to have settled in. No insult intended, maybe I'm just spoiled by having one of these beasts. Even though I use the slate mode VERY often, I wouldn't want that to be it's ONLY mode.
" I've seen the Toshibas up close and personal and they just reek of mediocre design and build quality."
I don't generally have a high opinion of Toshiba, but I really do like my M-200. It feels sturdy, plus there are nice design touches that are worthwhile. For example: It has an acellerometer built in so that when you orient it for portrait or landscape, it figures it out based on how it's actually oriented. (You can have it orient properly at ANY orientation, even 'upside down')
There are things I don't like about it. I think the screen is bright, but the viewing angle felt like a throwback to 2 or 3 years ago. Dell's ultrasharp screens really had me spoiled.
On the flip side, it's one of the few laptops with a > XGA screen. It was a PAIN IN THE ASS to find a tablet that did 1440 by 1050. I imagine they'll become more common place, but for now.. blah.
It's light and very battery efficient. I get roughly 3-4 hours out of it with normal use. Considering that it's not bogged down with battery, I'm kinda surprised by this.
All in all, I like the machine. Not a bad use of $1,700. (I'm an artist and I use it like a painting canvas. Far cheaper than a Cintiq.) I don't feel like I'm going to accidently break it. I also feel it was pretty friendly in design. But.. that damn viewing angle. Argh. heh.
"Great, now all people need are some applications really designed to take advantage of it...."
Newtek just announced a 64-bit version of Lightwave. Okay, this isn't a must-have product for the masses, but 3d artists tend to be the ones to make the most of their new found bits and hertz.
Well, let's say you were moving at 5mph below c. Relatively speaking, wouldn't that mean that the radio signal would only be moving 5mph towards the other guy? If not, wouldn't that imply that the speed of light isn't the limit that RF can travel?
Slashdot Mirror
"Longhorn, looks pretty much the same as current Windows."
Maybe in screenshot form, but not in video form. Watch Billy G's keynote address, they actually show Longhorn in action*. Nobody will be walking down the aisles of CompUSA and confusing Longhorn for XP. To put it another way: If that were Linux running the demo, you'd all be pitching underwear tents. That's not really a new story around here, though.
(* This is less exciting if you've ever seen OSX.)
"It won't be long until every independant source of information in the US is silenced and/or will only be allowed to publish press releases."
This might be a little more insightful if this battle hasn't been raging on for the better part of a decade.
I honestly don't know when Microsoft became the standard unit for measure of annihilation of something we like.
"I don't care what they mod me haha... I hate Microsoft, so sue me. Even if they make the better product. I don't care."
Hey, I don't have a prob with this feeling. You're being honest. I can appreciate that. But if you were trying to pass that off as being some sort of altruist, then ick.
" And you want someone to switch top open office because its "Adequate"? These are not very compelling reasons for people to switch to open source applications."
No kidding. Imagine trying to pull that line on somebody who's already paid for (or even.. uh.. acquired for that matter) Office.
"I don't care. I just hate Microsoft."
Troll? "Funny" was a better moderation. Heck, I would have modded it Insightful.
Everybody here's acting like their intentions are pure, but there are a LOT of posts here touting OSS as a form of middle finger in the direction of Redmond. I'm not saying their hatred of MS isn't justified, but it is tainting their judgement.
"Converting Users to Open Source- Why Do You Care?"
Because I want to look good in my fellow Slashdotter's eyes.
"Okkkaaayyyy... And why is the referrer such a big problem again?"
Advertising in general has been abused. Flash ads, pop-up sites, adverts that look like news, etc. A lot of people are sick of them, so they've developed a bad attitude about advertising in general. You see, it's too hard to distinguish between advertising and abusive advertising. It's easier to remember to hate 'ads'. Never mind that those very ads basically provide services to you that you don't have to pay out of pocket for (i.e. television, radio, Slashdot...), a few people ruined ads for EVERYBODY.
Somehow, referrals fell into this trap, too. Evidently, it's okay to buy a book, but it's not okay to buy the book from the guy who convinced you to buy it. I probably wouldn't be replying if the choice was between buying it and not buying it, but stripping the referal information out? WTF? Talk about judgement mis-fire.
"The vast majority of visitors to this site fully support firefox, which lets you "hurt" this site by supporting the adblock extension."
Leech.
"Good documentation gives you context and insight into the motivation of a past developer..."
Heck, it gives you good insight into a past version of yourself. I recently wrote a really complex script for Lightwave. I only started learning how to do this sort of scripting a few months ago. Just yesterday I had to wander back into some of the earliest bits of the code to fix a little problem. I do stuff a LOT differently today than I did back then, but I commented the heck out of it because I was just learning the language. I was able to really quickly figure out what I was up to and make the fix following the same spirit of the code. (i.e. the WHY part of your post.)
I'm the only person writing scripts where I work. Nobody else is viewing the code. It's unlikely (though not impossible) that anybody else will maintain the code. Despite that, I wouldn't dream of not indenting, not commenting, or not using descriptive variable names. Heck, I even go a step further and keep a log in the code of changes I made and when I made them.
I'm not a programmer by trade, but I just can't imagine that people actually debate about commenting code.
"Here is a ref-free sanitized link:"
Yeah, you wouldn't want the guy bringing you information that you found interesting to be rewarded or anything.
The attitude some of you have about referrals really makes me sick. Never mind that this whole SITE that's bringing you this news article you find so fucking interesting is supported by ads.
"Mine's that the combat systems in ships would generate sounds to give sound cues and feedback."
Err right. I think of soundfx in space as being like incidental music.
Notice the actors never react to the sounds. (Unless you're watching B5... argh.)
"I'm so jacked up to see this, I'll probably skip "Revenge of the Sith" entirely and see "Serenity" one extra time with the eight bucks I save!"
Question: Is this trailer like a LOT more interesting if you watched the show?
I ask because I never caught it, and I'm not seeing the big whoop-de-fuck that everybody else is. As the trailer stands, it actually looks like mediochre sci-fi, to me.
I'm not posting this to troll. I'm just trying to understand what it is I'm missing that's preventing me from getting worked up like everybody else.
"It's even uglier than XP, which is no small feat."
So.. as anybody actually seen the video of Longhorn in action?
Even if that's the case, that may be an F up on MS's part, but that's not what killed the DC. What killed the DC was that Sega didn't have the money to produce enough units to sell. It would have cost them nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to get out a million units. They needed like another 6 million to be worthwhile. Ouch.
That's why Sega dumped the hardware business.
"The biggest use of a pda is to keep track of appointments, take notes, and hold contact information - all of which my nokia 6230 can do NOW! PDAs are dying."
Heh. PDAs aren't going anywhere.
1.) First generation pdas basically kept track of appts. Modern pdas are now becoming music/movie players as well as web browsers, thanks to 802.11.
2.) Phones are too small. The larger screens of PDAs are more appealing for more productive stuff.
3.) Though I agree that it's difficult to buy a PDA if you've got a phone like the 6230 (heck, *I* don't have a PDA because of my Nokia...) that's sort of like saying an internet appliance will replace computers. Won't happen. You might be able to buy a handy-dandy web surfing email sending machine, but the general-purposeness of PCs keep them afloat quite easily. PDAs are headed that way. Heck, these days you can buy a PDA with 3D acelleration, a 640 by 480 screen, 802.11, and a camera.
Your phone's more useful, but phones aren't replacing PDAs any more than they are replacing digital cameras or the iPod.
" At any rate, it seems to me that this is still a laptop, albeit with a 'Tablet configuration'. It's still not a slate, and I personally still group it in the 'laptop' abstract class rather than the 'tablet' abstract class."
Uh... okay.
Here's the problem: Slate's good for standing up and walking around, it's NOT good as a desktop implementation. You still need a KB etc. That's what makes these hybrid tablets useful. You can use it as a Laptop OR a slate. One doesn't interfere with the other.
I have ot admit, I'm baffled at the insightful mods granted to your post. I would have expected a little common sense (i.e. the common complaint about wanting a keyboard on PDAs) to have settled in. No insult intended, maybe I'm just spoiled by having one of these beasts. Even though I use the slate mode VERY often, I wouldn't want that to be it's ONLY mode.
" I've seen the Toshibas up close and personal and they just reek of mediocre design and build quality."
I don't generally have a high opinion of Toshiba, but I really do like my M-200. It feels sturdy, plus there are nice design touches that are worthwhile. For example: It has an acellerometer built in so that when you orient it for portrait or landscape, it figures it out based on how it's actually oriented. (You can have it orient properly at ANY orientation, even 'upside down')
There are things I don't like about it. I think the screen is bright, but the viewing angle felt like a throwback to 2 or 3 years ago. Dell's ultrasharp screens really had me spoiled.
On the flip side, it's one of the few laptops with a > XGA screen. It was a PAIN IN THE ASS to find a tablet that did 1440 by 1050. I imagine they'll become more common place, but for now.. blah.
It's light and very battery efficient. I get roughly 3-4 hours out of it with normal use. Considering that it's not bogged down with battery, I'm kinda surprised by this.
All in all, I like the machine. Not a bad use of $1,700. (I'm an artist and I use it like a painting canvas. Far cheaper than a Cintiq.) I don't feel like I'm going to accidently break it. I also feel it was pretty friendly in design. But.. that damn viewing angle. Argh. heh.
"And which one of you actually agreed to be profiled like this?"
:P
Well, let's go down the list of names and social security numbers they've collect...
"Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?"
That wasn't off-topic.
"Voided warranty? Blimey! This system is dangerous, and Microsoft knows it!"
Tee hee giggle snort! Microsoft released an OS AFTER the hardware was assembled, and they won't guarantee it! BUahahahaha.
Ahem, anyway...
"You spout off about the joys of linux. But,when Microsoft comes crawling with a 64-bit OS, you fall over like a bitch in heat. Sadness"
Well....
Lots of us have to use Windows anyway. At least we can take advantage of the hardware.
"Hey that's my luggage combination!"
Funny, you don't sound Druish.
"Or do they know that anyone using W64 will need to call MS support, or what?"
Maybe they know 80 million or so people, many of them computer newbs, bought it.
"Great, now all people need are some applications really designed to take advantage of it...."
Newtek just announced a 64-bit version of Lightwave. Okay, this isn't a must-have product for the masses, but 3d artists tend to be the ones to make the most of their new found bits and hertz.
"... in which case why wouldn't it work?"
Well, let's say you were moving at 5mph below c. Relatively speaking, wouldn't that mean that the radio signal would only be moving 5mph towards the other guy? If not, wouldn't that imply that the speed of light isn't the limit that RF can travel?