Oh pleez. These windows jokes are getting lame as hell. Sure, I'll be the first to admit that pre-Win2k was a nightmare, crashes left and right and blue screens galore.
Nowadays, you only have major windows problems if you have sh!tty hardware or poor drivers (the 2 are sometimes closely related). And under THESE conditions, even Linux can give people problems (including myself).
My 2 PC's (Win 2k and Win XP Pro) have been running non-stop for over a month, and I use them for compiling applications (not school/console stuff either, real world apps) and play the occassional game. The ONLY reason they haven't been up longer is the power went out in my neighborhood.
I'm all for Linux, and can understand anti-microsoft feelings (particularly for their business practices). By zealous statements about how Windows sux or crashes or is a joke are just plain stupid.
I wish people would admit that "While we think Linux is superior and Open Source is king, Windows has its place and doesn't suck donkey balls."
Nobody's saying that. The problem is with the landing and taking off. Airlines "say" that the RF interference might mess up the ILS landing system by a few degrees or cause static on some of the electronic instruments. Normal flight isn't that instrument sensitive, but the landing and takeoff are. Sure, they say some devices might screw with the plane in-flight. In this case, "some" airlines just have a blanket statement saying no electronic devices.
Personally, I don't think this is 100% true, but big friggin deal. I'd only be pissed if I was told my cd player or gameboy couldn't be used during thw "WHOLE" flight, but that has yet to happen to me, and I go on several flights a year.
In criminal matters, yes. But in civil matters, it's a whole new ballgame.
In criminal court, the prosecutor has to prove BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT that you committed the crime in question. The defense (suspect) then just has to rebuff the supposed evidence.
In civil court, the defendant has to prove that he/she should not be sued (either because they are innocent or the suit has not merit). In this case, Joe Sixpack has to prove that he isn't using the sc reader illegally or convince the judge/jury that the lawsuit is frivellous. The plaintif (DirectTV) just has to make a reasonable argument and say why their suing the defendant (evidence helps here too, but the pressue is off them and on the defendent).
Amazing what watching constant reasons of Law & Order and The Practive teaches ya;)
True, but you're missing the big picture. Rewritable DVD's are needed/wanted for the archival purposes, such as the old tape drives. Companies (and people) make periodic or incrimental backups. This gives them a better record of their data, and they can look back at OLD data if ever needed.
Sure, firewire and usb 2.0 drives are out and at a reasonable price, but you can't do incrimental backups unless you keep buying more and more drives (which will keep costing you a few hundred a pop). With a DVD burner, you can make periodic backups of (let's say, a database), and it will cost you like a couple of dollars a backup dollars a backup. On top of that, hard drives can be hit by magnets, dropped, get wet, etc. Optical is a much more prefered method of archiving.
The databases around here are our lifeblood, and we're constantly backing them up. We're not just replacing the previous backup, but keeping them in case we find that something was deleted a while ago.
Information is a precious resource in corporations.
I'm not against immigration. Both my parents immigrated here decades ago and I was the first of my family born in the States. And hell, we (the US) are a country of immigrants (native americans aside).
However, I have a problem with uncontrolled immigration. For example, back in my parents day there used to be a strict cap on the number of immigrants. Likewise, applicants had to prove they had a skill. Back then, getting in was pretty hard.
Now, our doors are much wider open and we have companies pushing to increase the H1 caps.
I feel completely removing the caps are a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I do not believe immigration is the cause of the local tech market (or ANY market). However, uncontrolled immigration leads to problems. Without any caps, we would have an even LARGER number of people moving here, and still few would leave. The increase in population + demand for jobs would sufficate our country.
In the end, I think people should lay off the whole "it's the immigrants' faults we have no jobs" routine. It's getting old. However, we should still keep a tighter leash on the number we let in.
Have you had a lot of experience with large corporations? They have certain standards, rules, regulations. For example, anything in my company with even the slightest bit of importance has to be readable by MS Word. I'm not saying whether this is right or not, but that's just the way it is. If you work for a big corp, you have to follow their rules.
And by the way, many corporations have give their user very limited acess to their machines, retstricting installations to only developers. I'm not just talking about simple Windows permissions, but third-party addons and such.
If you want OOo to spread corporately, you have to convince the higher (WAY higher) ups that it's good. Simply sending them OOo fiels will jsut piss them off and wind up with someone getting reprimanded.
That wasn't a contradiction. I still love Opera and and glad I paid for it. But on the whole, most people don't feel that a browser is worth shelling out a few clams for when there are a million free alternatives out there. Hell, most slasdotters don't feel that an Office Suite is worth paying for. But I digress.
There're a lot of free alternatives out there. And Joe Sixpack isn't going to just say "hmm, I think I'll buy Opera" unless he uses it and likes it ENOUGH to pay for it.
I hate to admit it, but you're right. I actually own a license for Opera, and use it as my primary browser. I could go on and on about the features, speed, etc.
But utimately, a browser is not something people are willing to pay for. Likewise, the banner-ad version turns people off because it's annoying. Most people I've talked to about this at work think I'm nuts for shelling out the clams for a browser.
This analogy is also lost in inhouse development. In this case, no matter what OS platform you develop on, you're still a sharecropper and can't do ANYTHING about it.
You must write for your company's environment. You must follow company specifications. You must use certain driver versions, DLL's, etc. You must use company network drives and directories (that can change on a whim).
Unless you're a solo developer, you're gonna be a sharecropper; you have to do whatever your company tells you to and use their foundation.
I my case, it's "all about the Benjamins." I love coding, don't get me wrong. I started doing it years ago (since middle school) and have continnued doing it only because I love writing code. But I need to get paid, and if it means being a sharecropper, so be it. If it means writing for windows, so be it. If it means writing for *nix, so be it. So long as I get to code in a language I enjoy and do meaningful work, I'm up for anything.
BTW, my templates were rather simple, so maybe you meant advanced templates.
Also, by "good" I mean follows the standards a hell of a lot better than 6.
Version 6 sucked A$$, but Vis c++.Net is actually pretty good. And wtf are you talking about, I've used templates before with.Net (2002 and 2003) and had no problem.
DUDE... I had the same problem. It drive me crazy, especially the refresh-rate thing.
I switched to nVidia and haven't looked back. The only thing keeping me considering ATI is that all-in-wonder card. But then again, I can just buy a seperate tuner.
Funny, I did just the opposite. I had an AMD 2200XP. It ran GREAT... but it also ran HOT!!!! At full load (with a great heatsink and lots of case fans) the CPU was at 60 degrees celsius, and my room turned into a sauna.
I got an Intel p4 2.4, and the CPU has only gone up to 41 deg Celsius once, and my room is now a normal temp.
Sure, I paid about $50 more, but at least now I can sleep with my PC on and not worry about waking in a pool of sweat.
But, to each his own I guess.
I wanted to like AMD, but their chips were just running too dang hot. I told recommended AMD to everyone I knew that wanted a new PC last year.
I finally had to scrap my Athlon. If I left it running with the door closed, my room would turn into a sauna, even in the middle of winter! My Athlon 2200+ was IDELING at 52 deg Celsius with a high quality heatsink and a really loud fan. Someone said it could have been because of my kt266 motherboard, but still that thing was a space heater.
Now, at FULL LOAD my P4 2.4GHz runs at 43 deg Celsius.
I just hope the new chips are a little cooler. Then maybe I'll switch back next year.
XP IS stable, so long as you have appropriate hardware and good drivers installed. Don't get me wrong, I have 3 boxes running at home: Redhat (for development), Xandros (for novelty), and XP (for games, compatibility with work, etc.)
XP has been VERY stable for me. I've let it run for weeks nonstop while playing games, doing statistics work, and software development (full-blown Windows apps, not college console assignments). All the while, my RAM usage is reasonably low and the OS has never crashed.
That's not the same as saying IE doesn't crash. IE has crashed once or twice in a few weeks, but the OS keeps on chugging. Now, if only they'd remove that STUPID activation scheme...
I have 2 or 3 friends that do that with Xandros: including the wireless NIC part. I'm even considering switching to that disro.
There are 2 prices: Basic = 40, Deluxe = 99.
Deluxe allows you to run windows apps WITHOUT needing to configure WINE, and allows for EASY Windows Network browsing and Domain handling.
Basic is just the Linux part (no Windows advantages).
While I applaud yoiur enthusiasm, you're still old-school. Back in the old days, yes, Windoze PCs crashed like umpteen times a day and were a PAIN IN THE ASS.
Now-a-days, PCs are pretty rock-solid. My PC NEVER crashes, and I do some heavy work on it: SW Dev, Database Dev, Statistics, numbe -crunching, and games, all the while only rebooting one-a-week.
DOn't get me wrong, my next purchase will be a PowerBook. But PCs aren't that bad anymore, assuming you get quality parts or a whole-thing from a good manufacturer.
I'm a software developer for the research area of a LARGE PHARMECUTICAL company (one of the biggest) for a couple of years. Since day one, all of the researchers I've worked with use EXCEL MACROS to help calculate/parse/summarize the data obtained from the devices (and I was told this was the case since 1997 or 1998).
And it's not only in our place... I've talked to developers at other pharmecutical companies, and it's the same.
While normal applications are still the norm, it's unbelievable how many different macros are in use in our company.
So, yes, I do know what I'm talking about.
I say good for them . If they can get a discount on MS licenses, I say "power to them." While I understand the need for access to information regarding public facilities, I think schools having to pay less outweighs the.02% of the population that cares or even looks through the records.
While some of you will probably be saying "they'd be better of switching to linux," that isn't always the answer. Sure, students looking for some sort of computing degree may benefit slightly but architects, engineers, doctors, etc all use tools primarily in windows. While there are "similar if not better" products for linux, they are NOT the industry standard. Students need to be exposed to what's in the real world.
Sure, an architect might be able to develop a building in some obscure package in linux. But the firms want you to know AUTOCAD.
Sure, StarOffice is great (I use it), but most companies require MS Word for a reason. And EXCEL MACROS are a must in most research places.
Linux is good, but Schools need to be realistic. I say, "good for them."
Anyone remember "Prey". It was supposed to be "THE Quake killer." And yet, I remember hearing about development in like 2000.
Duke Nuken Forever may be taking forever, but Prey has been in the works even longer.
Reminds me of what I saw at Universal Studios. First, they make robotic butterflies, then robotic arms to tuck your kids in at night, then large robot soldiers, and finally Skynet.
Oops, forgot 2 things:
1) Borg queen is VERY powerful
2) forgot to associate one with each OS (sort of obvious which is which).
I like Linux for all things non desktop-related (serving, raw processing speed, SETI, etc), but for interfacing with I'd rather rather stick with something that won't stab me with implant-tentacles mid-coitous.
Romy is sleek, graceful, a "work of art" (technically speaking), very user-friendly, and sexy.
Borg Queen is powerful, only pleasant on the eyes if you are a geek (which I am), and is just thrown together (much like a bunch of different technicians started working at the same time).
Slashdot Mirror
Oh pleez. These windows jokes are getting lame as hell. Sure, I'll be the first to admit that pre-Win2k was a nightmare, crashes left and right and blue screens galore. Nowadays, you only have major windows problems if you have sh!tty hardware or poor drivers (the 2 are sometimes closely related). And under THESE conditions, even Linux can give people problems (including myself). My 2 PC's (Win 2k and Win XP Pro) have been running non-stop for over a month, and I use them for compiling applications (not school/console stuff either, real world apps) and play the occassional game. The ONLY reason they haven't been up longer is the power went out in my neighborhood. I'm all for Linux, and can understand anti-microsoft feelings (particularly for their business practices). By zealous statements about how Windows sux or crashes or is a joke are just plain stupid. I wish people would admit that "While we think Linux is superior and Open Source is king, Windows has its place and doesn't suck donkey balls."
Nobody's saying that. The problem is with the landing and taking off. Airlines "say" that the RF interference might mess up the ILS landing system by a few degrees or cause static on some of the electronic instruments. Normal flight isn't that instrument sensitive, but the landing and takeoff are. Sure, they say some devices might screw with the plane in-flight. In this case, "some" airlines just have a blanket statement saying no electronic devices.
Personally, I don't think this is 100% true, but big friggin deal. I'd only be pissed if I was told my cd player or gameboy couldn't be used during thw "WHOLE" flight, but that has yet to happen to me, and I go on several flights a year.
In criminal matters, yes. But in civil matters, it's a whole new ballgame.
;)
In criminal court, the prosecutor has to prove BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT that you committed the crime in question. The defense (suspect) then just has to rebuff the supposed evidence.
In civil court, the defendant has to prove that he/she should not be sued (either because they are innocent or the suit has not merit). In this case, Joe Sixpack has to prove that he isn't using the sc reader illegally or convince the judge/jury that the lawsuit is frivellous. The plaintif (DirectTV) just has to make a reasonable argument and say why their suing the defendant (evidence helps here too, but the pressue is off them and on the defendent).
Amazing what watching constant reasons of Law & Order and The Practive teaches ya
True, but you're missing the big picture. Rewritable DVD's are needed/wanted for the archival purposes, such as the old tape drives. Companies (and people) make periodic or incrimental backups. This gives them a better record of their data, and they can look back at OLD data if ever needed.
Sure, firewire and usb 2.0 drives are out and at a reasonable price, but you can't do incrimental backups unless you keep buying more and more drives (which will keep costing you a few hundred a pop). With a DVD burner, you can make periodic backups of (let's say, a database), and it will cost you like a couple of dollars a backup dollars a backup. On top of that, hard drives can be hit by magnets, dropped, get wet, etc. Optical is a much more prefered method of archiving.
The databases around here are our lifeblood, and we're constantly backing them up. We're not just replacing the previous backup, but keeping them in case we find that something was deleted a while ago.
Information is a precious resource in corporations.
I'm not against immigration. Both my parents immigrated here decades ago and I was the first of my family born in the States. And hell, we (the US) are a country of immigrants (native americans aside). However, I have a problem with uncontrolled immigration. For example, back in my parents day there used to be a strict cap on the number of immigrants. Likewise, applicants had to prove they had a skill. Back then, getting in was pretty hard. Now, our doors are much wider open and we have companies pushing to increase the H1 caps. I feel completely removing the caps are a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I do not believe immigration is the cause of the local tech market (or ANY market). However, uncontrolled immigration leads to problems. Without any caps, we would have an even LARGER number of people moving here, and still few would leave. The increase in population + demand for jobs would sufficate our country. In the end, I think people should lay off the whole "it's the immigrants' faults we have no jobs" routine. It's getting old. However, we should still keep a tighter leash on the number we let in.
Have you had a lot of experience with large corporations? They have certain standards, rules, regulations. For example, anything in my company with even the slightest bit of importance has to be readable by MS Word. I'm not saying whether this is right or not, but that's just the way it is. If you work for a big corp, you have to follow their rules. And by the way, many corporations have give their user very limited acess to their machines, retstricting installations to only developers. I'm not just talking about simple Windows permissions, but third-party addons and such. If you want OOo to spread corporately, you have to convince the higher (WAY higher) ups that it's good. Simply sending them OOo fiels will jsut piss them off and wind up with someone getting reprimanded.
That wasn't a contradiction. I still love Opera and and glad I paid for it. But on the whole, most people don't feel that a browser is worth shelling out a few clams for when there are a million free alternatives out there. Hell, most slasdotters don't feel that an Office Suite is worth paying for. But I digress. There're a lot of free alternatives out there. And Joe Sixpack isn't going to just say "hmm, I think I'll buy Opera" unless he uses it and likes it ENOUGH to pay for it.
I hate to admit it, but you're right. I actually own a license for Opera, and use it as my primary browser. I could go on and on about the features, speed, etc. But utimately, a browser is not something people are willing to pay for. Likewise, the banner-ad version turns people off because it's annoying. Most people I've talked to about this at work think I'm nuts for shelling out the clams for a browser.
This analogy is also lost in inhouse development. In this case, no matter what OS platform you develop on, you're still a sharecropper and can't do ANYTHING about it.
You must write for your company's environment. You must follow company specifications. You must use certain driver versions, DLL's, etc. You must use company network drives and directories (that can change on a whim).
Unless you're a solo developer, you're gonna be a sharecropper; you have to do whatever your company tells you to and use their foundation.
I my case, it's "all about the Benjamins." I love coding, don't get me wrong. I started doing it years ago (since middle school) and have continnued doing it only because I love writing code. But I need to get paid, and if it means being a sharecropper, so be it. If it means writing for windows, so be it. If it means writing for *nix, so be it. So long as I get to code in a language I enjoy and do meaningful work, I'm up for anything.
BTW, my templates were rather simple, so maybe you meant advanced templates. Also, by "good" I mean follows the standards a hell of a lot better than 6.
Version 6 sucked A$$, but Vis c++ .Net is actually pretty good. And wtf are you talking about, I've used templates before with .Net (2002 and 2003) and had no problem.
DUDE... I had the same problem. It drive me crazy, especially the refresh-rate thing. I switched to nVidia and haven't looked back. The only thing keeping me considering ATI is that all-in-wonder card. But then again, I can just buy a seperate tuner.
Plasma screens are friggin' awesome. BUT... there's no way I'd spend $10,000 on an appliance. Then again, I bought my car used and built my own PC.
Funny, I did just the opposite. I had an AMD 2200XP. It ran GREAT... but it also ran HOT!!!! At full load (with a great heatsink and lots of case fans) the CPU was at 60 degrees celsius, and my room turned into a sauna. I got an Intel p4 2.4, and the CPU has only gone up to 41 deg Celsius once, and my room is now a normal temp. Sure, I paid about $50 more, but at least now I can sleep with my PC on and not worry about waking in a pool of sweat. But, to each his own I guess.
I wanted to like AMD, but their chips were just running too dang hot. I told recommended AMD to everyone I knew that wanted a new PC last year.
I finally had to scrap my Athlon. If I left it running with the door closed, my room would turn into a sauna, even in the middle of winter! My Athlon 2200+ was IDELING at 52 deg Celsius with a high quality heatsink and a really loud fan. Someone said it could have been because of my kt266 motherboard, but still that thing was a space heater.
Now, at FULL LOAD my P4 2.4GHz runs at 43 deg Celsius.
I just hope the new chips are a little cooler. Then maybe I'll switch back next year.
What does this mean for StarOffice? While I think OpenOffice is great, I use StarOffice mainly for the nicer looking fonts and stuff.
Can or will this SDK be usable for StarOffice, since they are very similar?
XP has been VERY stable for me. I've let it run for weeks nonstop while playing games, doing statistics work, and software development (full-blown Windows apps, not college console assignments). All the while, my RAM usage is reasonably low and the OS has never crashed.
That's not the same as saying IE doesn't crash. IE has crashed once or twice in a few weeks, but the OS keeps on chugging. Now, if only they'd remove that STUPID activation scheme...
I have 2 or 3 friends that do that with Xandros: including the wireless NIC part. I'm even considering switching to that disro. There are 2 prices: Basic = 40, Deluxe = 99. Deluxe allows you to run windows apps WITHOUT needing to configure WINE, and allows for EASY Windows Network browsing and Domain handling. Basic is just the Linux part (no Windows advantages).
While I applaud yoiur enthusiasm, you're still old-school. Back in the old days, yes, Windoze PCs crashed like umpteen times a day and were a PAIN IN THE ASS.
Now-a-days, PCs are pretty rock-solid. My PC NEVER crashes, and I do some heavy work on it: SW Dev, Database Dev, Statistics, numbe -crunching, and games, all the while only rebooting one-a-week.
DOn't get me wrong, my next purchase will be a PowerBook. But PCs aren't that bad anymore, assuming you get quality parts or a whole-thing from a good manufacturer.
I'm a software developer for the research area of a LARGE PHARMECUTICAL company (one of the biggest) for a couple of years. Since day one, all of the researchers I've worked with use EXCEL MACROS to help calculate/parse/summarize the data obtained from the devices (and I was told this was the case since 1997 or 1998). And it's not only in our place... I've talked to developers at other pharmecutical companies, and it's the same. While normal applications are still the norm, it's unbelievable how many different macros are in use in our company. So, yes, I do know what I'm talking about.
I say good for them . If they can get a discount on MS licenses, I say "power to them." While I understand the need for access to information regarding public facilities, I think schools having to pay less outweighs the .02% of the population that cares or even looks through the records.
While some of you will probably be saying "they'd be better of switching to linux," that isn't always the answer. Sure, students looking for some sort of computing degree may benefit slightly but architects, engineers, doctors, etc all use tools primarily in windows. While there are "similar if not better" products for linux, they are NOT the industry standard. Students need to be exposed to what's in the real world.
Sure, an architect might be able to develop a building in some obscure package in linux. But the firms want you to know AUTOCAD.
Sure, StarOffice is great (I use it), but most companies require MS Word for a reason. And EXCEL MACROS are a must in most research places.
Linux is good, but Schools need to be realistic. I say, "good for them."
Anyone remember "Prey". It was supposed to be "THE Quake killer." And yet, I remember hearing about development in like 2000. Duke Nuken Forever may be taking forever, but Prey has been in the works even longer.
Reminds me of what I saw at Universal Studios. First, they make robotic butterflies, then robotic arms to tuck your kids in at night, then large robot soldiers, and finally Skynet.
Oops, forgot 2 things: 1) Borg queen is VERY powerful 2) forgot to associate one with each OS (sort of obvious which is which). I like Linux for all things non desktop-related (serving, raw processing speed, SETI, etc), but for interfacing with I'd rather rather stick with something that won't stab me with implant-tentacles mid-coitous.
Let's see...
Romy is sleek, graceful, a "work of art" (technically speaking), very user-friendly, and sexy.
Borg Queen is powerful, only pleasant on the eyes if you are a geek (which I am), and is just thrown together (much like a bunch of different technicians started working at the same time).
You know, I can see the resemblances.