Suite Vollard was the first rotating tower of the world, however it's not solar powered. Here's some facts (excerpts from the link):
- This building is the only one of its kind in the world, as each of the 11 apartments can rotate 360.
- Each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour.
- The facades are composed of double sheets of glass, in different colors (blue, gold, and silver) on different floors. This gives a spectacular effect as the floors turn in different directions.
- The apartment rings rotate around a static core used for building services, utilities, and all areas which require plumbing.
- Suite Vollard was a case study for more than 30 companies in Brazil and one from Germany.
- Each apartment was sold for approximately R$ 400,000.00 ($US 300,000.00).
- The first two floors of the building are an Executive Center.
A customer is migrating to Linux at full scale. They have 100+ desktops over three branches and right now there's only a few Windows installed - mostly for running a couple Windows-only applications. For most office use, like spreadsheets and word processing, there's no rational reason to keep using Windows. The vast majority of users actually use a tiny fraction of office applications' features.
There are a few GUI differences between Microsoft Office and Open Office, of course. Some users complain about them. However, more people miss the Freecell mouse-click behavior...
"I cancelled my family's cell phones because with the price of gasoline we couldn't afford an extra $80/month, Verizon's cheapest plan at the time, for two cell phones. So I cancelled them and we went back to a "land line" via Vonage for $27/month. Yes this is on top of our $50/month for broadband but I'll cancel everything before the broadband connection."
Here in my third-world country (Brazil) it's easy to get $20/month plans (not including prepaid) for cellphones. You can also get broadband for under $40/month (cable, 2 Mbit/s).
"I won't consider cell phone service again until it's around $10/month."
Can't you use a prepaid cellphone? The cost per call is higher, but usually you can buy "credits" once every two or three months. Here you can use prepaid phones for $10/quarter.
The Speccy arrived here in 1985, dubbed TK-90X (an illegal clone of the ZX Spectrum 48K). Right after it hit the shelves, my dad paid over Cr$ 1,790,000 (our currency back then - it was renamed and lost zeros a couple times after that) for it: 48 kB of RAM, 3.58 MHz, hi-res with 256x192 with 8 colors.
I have fond memories of this beauty.
Desktop applications? The market where Java sunk like a 100 Ton rock dropped in the water?
I'm not a Java fan, either.
Except that some people (actually, a lot of them) don't need to be able to run their applications on another O.S.. Actually, the extreme majority of desktop applications fit this category. Most desktop applications don't need extreme portability at all.
Are you like most people? If I was a luser I would not care about portability. A developer, however, would care about it if being portable means more potential customers - and therefore more money.
From a ISV's point of view, if it's possible to "write once, compile everywhere" from the same source code, even with some #ifdefs, it is good enough. No bytecode needed - and as we all know, VM-dependancy is a weak point for desktop applications. Been there, done that.
To me, and the real world, Mono is just Miguel's project. Nothing to do with Microsoft's purposes. Save your conspiracy theories for another time.
I agree. Mono is just Miguel's project. But I think it "serves" (not as a servant, but as a useful, naive innocent) MS's purposes. That's why Microsoft has done nothing yet. Why I say that? Because I believe that if and when Mono became a threat to MS's profit, it will be killed. A very natural and logic move from MS, BTW.
Then I don't know what you keep talking about Java, the platform with little if not almost zero penetration in the desktop software market.
I just think Java is the "lesser evil" in the market of desktop bytecode platforms - for the portability alone. As I've said, Java means "one language, many platforms" and.NET means "many languages, one platform". Oh, and again: both suck in the desktop.
Frankly, I don't see it that way. When introduced,.NET was a better technology than Java. Instead of being a platform designed to be targetted by a single language,.NET enabled interoperability between languages...
...running on a single platform. You said it all: Java means "one language, many O.S.";.NET means "many languages, one O.S.". That's a key difference when cross-platform on O.S. level is an issue. In other words: desktop applications.
For websites it does not matter if the server is Windows or Linux, or it uses JSP,.NET or PHP. The user can use them from any browser on any operating system (mostly). Cross-platform is not an issue here: if you are trying to switch a company from Windows to Linux and all the apps you need are available for Linux - including an internal.NET website running on a lonely Windows server - you have NO problem at all.
The problem arise when you have a essential desktop application that runs only on Windows. In this case, being cross-platform IS an issue.
Well, you said it clearly:.NET is a doomed technology. I think the word "doomed" is very clear about what you think.
My words were: "Every time a Linux developer tries Mono, he/she is wasting resources in a doomed technology". Read again: I'm not saying.NET is doomed; I'm saying Mono is doomed.
Well, for most people, running the same application on Windows and Linux is more than enough, it's like "ultimate cross-platform development".
Think desktop applications, not websites. Mono is not going to deliver that in the long term. Unlike Java (one language, many platforms),.NET is a platform lock-in technology (many languages, one platform). Right now Mono serves to MS's purpouses, as an excuse for DOJ (see, we're nice!) and a waste of effort from FOSS community. As soon as Mono starts costing MS real money, it will be crushed like a bug.
Where? At Dell's website? At the majority of Fortune 500 websites developed in the last months? Inside a lot of companies? At SAP's product portfolio? Inside our government (big.NET system for payment handling)?
Duh. Of course, I'm not talking about websites, but desktop applications. That's where cross-platform actually matters. The others that commented seemed to understand this.
My point is? This guy is just being a zealot. He is just denying reality, because it makes him feel better thinking that good ol' and bad Microsoft is heading to imminent failure.
Zealot, me? Is that a compliment?:-) I think you missed the IF in my words. I said "Even if.NET is headed to be a total failure (...)". So, if you could read english better, you would know that I'm not "thinking MS is heading to failure". I just think that cross-platform development is important from a business POV, and Mono (.NET) is NOT a long term solution for the problem.
And people like him keep talking to each other about these theories and made-up versions of reality, creating this whole new version of the truth, by reapeating these lies to each other, one thousand times.
May I ask again? WHERE ARE THE TSUNAMI OF.NET APPLICATIONS? Actual software, not books, please. Damn, Microsoft itself did not ported their own applications...:-)
It hurts Java AND Linux at the same time, using the same trick for both: luring developers. Every minute a Java developer wastes using C# is a minute that he/she is not using Java. Every time a Linux developer tries Mono, he/she is wasting resources in a doomed technology. Even if.NET is headed to be a total failure - as a technology - at some point in the future, it's already a success as a marketing tool: it's slowing down Java and Linux.
It's obvious that Mono will NEVER be able to run every.NET application. As soon as Microsoft starts seeing Mono as a thread, something will happen.
I typed "2.20 real per litre in usd per gallon" and got:
2.20 (Brazil real per litre) = 3.54394038 U.S. dollars per US gallon
Here we have a lot of taxes that bring the price up more than 100%. Some days ago, as a protest, the Institute of Liberty (in the original "liberal" sense, or "libertarian" in US) promoved a "tax-free" sale of gasoline, selling gasoline for R$ 1.09 - only 15 liters per car, only for the 200 first customers of a single gas station. It attracted a huge line and great media attention.
Without all that taxes gasoline would cost R$ 1.09 per liter, or US$ 1.75 per gallon.
For most people's needs, Office 97 is enough. Maybe Office 2000 if you want some eye candy. However, people keeps buying the newer versions just for bragging rights. Microsoft is a strong brand.
Anyway, shouldn't you people complain about that crap service, I mean, I don't pay for any kind of incoming thing, no matter what it is. And no, calling isn't expensive either. Seems like everybody got used to it, and the operators are now getting away with it.
I think America got used to pay more for services, probably as a side effect of higher wages. When you are used to pay $1000/mo to rent a tiny apartment, or $10 just to have you hair cut, having to pay for incoming calls seems natural.
Re:I truly wished they have given a different name
on
KDE Switches to Subversion
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Good that you mentioned it. for $50k a year, I'm glad to license them my own version control system, "Rule The Developers With an Iron Fist". It's actually just Subversion and Trac in a box with a pretty logo and some marketing collateral. Plus, a guy with a nice suit and good hair will come and spend two hours explaining things to them in short words and bullet points.
Or they can get the deluxe version for $100k per year, where the guy with good hair will also take them golfing and out to dinner.
Hey Matt! The file named "matt_poster_small.jpg" is a 6 Mb, 4400 x 3300 pixels image. Not exactly a thumbnail. Besides, I have no 42 inches display, you insensitive clod!
...I thought that I should go to/etc and look for linux.conf.au and then I realized that this was something completely different. I need to get out more.;P
I thought it was an AUDIO file recorded from someone READING a file named linux.conf, and the article was about some kind of speech recognition software that could translate it to a text file.
Just talked with some Conectiva's employees on Freenode. Besides the skilled team, Mandrakesoft may be after the LA (Latin America, not Los Angeles) market, where Conectiva has a solid customers base.
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Who is John Galt?
I knew it from my old Speccy (ZX Spectrum) game with the same name.
I'm in Brazil too, it works fine. But I'm making another backup of the video, just in case.
Suite Vollard was the first rotating tower of the world, however it's not solar powered. Here's some facts (excerpts from the link):
- This building is the only one of its kind in the world, as each of the 11 apartments can rotate 360.- Each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour.
- The facades are composed of double sheets of glass, in different colors (blue, gold, and silver) on different floors. This gives a spectacular effect as the floors turn in different directions.
- The apartment rings rotate around a static core used for building services, utilities, and all areas which require plumbing.
- Suite Vollard was a case study for more than 30 companies in Brazil and one from Germany.
- Each apartment was sold for approximately R$ 400,000.00 ($US 300,000.00).
- The first two floors of the building are an Executive Center.
A customer is migrating to Linux at full scale. They have 100+ desktops over three branches and right now there's only a few Windows installed - mostly for running a couple Windows-only applications. For most office use, like spreadsheets and word processing, there's no rational reason to keep using Windows. The vast majority of users actually use a tiny fraction of office applications' features.
There are a few GUI differences between Microsoft Office and Open Office, of course. Some users complain about them. However, more people miss the Freecell mouse-click behavior...
You probably mixed units...
It's inches, not centimeters.
"I cancelled my family's cell phones because with the price of gasoline we couldn't afford an extra $80/month, Verizon's cheapest plan at the time, for two cell phones. So I cancelled them and we went back to a "land line" via Vonage for $27/month. Yes this is on top of our $50/month for broadband but I'll cancel everything before the broadband connection."
Here in my third-world country (Brazil) it's easy to get $20/month plans (not including prepaid) for cellphones. You can also get broadband for under $40/month (cable, 2 Mbit/s).
"I won't consider cell phone service again until it's around $10/month."
Can't you use a prepaid cellphone? The cost per call is higher, but usually you can buy "credits" once every two or three months. Here you can use prepaid phones for $10/quarter.
The Speccy arrived here in 1985, dubbed TK-90X (an illegal clone of the ZX Spectrum 48K). Right after it hit the shelves, my dad paid over Cr$ 1,790,000 (our currency back then - it was renamed and lost zeros a couple times after that) for it: 48 kB of RAM, 3.58 MHz, hi-res with 256x192 with 8 colors. I have fond memories of this beauty.
I'm not a Java fan, either.
Are you like most people? If I was a luser I would not care about portability. A developer, however, would care about it if being portable means more potential customers - and therefore more money.
From a ISV's point of view, if it's possible to "write once, compile everywhere" from the same source code, even with some #ifdefs, it is good enough. No bytecode needed - and as we all know, VM-dependancy is a weak point for desktop applications. Been there, done that.
I agree. Mono is just Miguel's project. But I think it "serves" (not as a servant, but as a useful, naive innocent) MS's purposes. That's why Microsoft has done nothing yet. Why I say that? Because I believe that if and when Mono became a threat to MS's profit, it will be killed. A very natural and logic move from MS, BTW.
I just think Java is the "lesser evil" in the market of desktop bytecode platforms - for the portability alone. As I've said, Java means "one language, many platforms" and .NET means "many languages, one platform". Oh, and again: both suck in the desktop.
For websites it does not matter if the server is Windows or Linux, or it uses JSP, .NET or PHP. The user can use them from any browser on any operating system (mostly). Cross-platform is not an issue here: if you are trying to switch a company from Windows to Linux and all the apps you need are available for Linux - including an internal .NET website running on a lonely Windows server - you have NO problem at all.
The problem arise when you have a essential desktop application that runs only on Windows. In this case, being cross-platform IS an issue.
My words were: "Every time a Linux developer tries Mono, he/she is wasting resources in a doomed technology". Read again: I'm not saying .NET is doomed; I'm saying Mono is doomed.
Think desktop applications, not websites. Mono is not going to deliver that in the long term. Unlike Java (one language, many platforms), .NET is a platform lock-in technology (many languages, one platform). Right now Mono serves to MS's purpouses, as an excuse for DOJ (see, we're nice!) and a waste of effort from FOSS community. As soon as Mono starts costing MS real money, it will be crushed like a bug.
Duh. Of course, I'm not talking about websites, but desktop applications. That's where cross-platform actually matters. The others that commented seemed to understand this.
Zealot, me? Is that a compliment? :-) I think you missed the IF in my words. I said "Even if .NET is headed to be a total failure (...)". So, if you could read english better, you would know that I'm not "thinking MS is heading to failure". I just think that cross-platform development is important from a business POV, and Mono (.NET) is NOT a long term solution for the problem.
May I ask again? WHERE ARE THE TSUNAMI OF .NET APPLICATIONS? Actual software, not books, please. Damn, Microsoft itself did not ported their own applications... :-)
PS: Go Internacional, leading the league!
It's obvious that Mono will NEVER be able to run every .NET application. As soon as Microsoft starts seeing Mono as a thread, something will happen.
BTW, where's the big wave of .NET applications?
I typed "2.20 real per litre in usd per gallon" and got:
2.20 (Brazil real per litre) = 3.54394038 U.S. dollars per US gallon
Here we have a lot of taxes that bring the price up more than 100%. Some days ago, as a protest, the Institute of Liberty (in the original "liberal" sense, or "libertarian" in US) promoved a "tax-free" sale of gasoline, selling gasoline for R$ 1.09 - only 15 liters per car, only for the 200 first customers of a single gas station. It attracted a huge line and great media attention.
Without all that taxes gasoline would cost R$ 1.09 per liter, or US$ 1.75 per gallon.
For most people's needs, Office 97 is enough. Maybe Office 2000 if you want some eye candy. However, people keeps buying the newer versions just for bragging rights. Microsoft is a strong brand.
This Page Last Updated 12/13/95
Maybe a record for Slashdot: almost TEN YEARS.
I think America got used to pay more for services, probably as a side effect of higher wages. When you are used to pay $1000/mo to rent a tiny apartment, or $10 just to have you hair cut, having to pay for incoming calls seems natural.
This counts as FOUR downloads.
Hey Matt! The file named "matt_poster_small.jpg" is a 6 Mb, 4400 x 3300 pixels image. Not exactly a thumbnail. Besides, I have no 42 inches display, you insensitive clod!
I thought it was an AUDIO file recorded from someone READING a file named linux.conf, and the article was about some kind of speech recognition software that could translate it to a text file.
PS: Yes, it is me. ;-)
PS: The last remark was not deliberately written in order to influence moderators.