Know what really annoys me about this interview? How this guy continues to spread FUD while trying to make it look like something other than FUD by attributing it to his "customers". I.e., "our customers keep asking about indemnification" or "before Linux was commercialized customers were willing to cut it some slack for poor security".
Nice try, Martin.
Well said. HOWEVER, I have to agree with the poster who pointed out that using "architect" as a verb in the context of writing is a little out of place. If we're going to help the language grow, let's at least do so in useful ways. "Architect a solution to an engineering problem", sure, "architect a whiny, defensive rebuttal", no. If we're going to make it a verb let's at least have it relate somewhat to the noun.
Uh oh. I read the sentence "Linux actually inherits a lot of BSD code" and immdiately thought of Ken Brown. Ken, if you're reading this (or having it translated into a version using only monosyllabic words) be advised that the preceding quote refers to GNU/Linux, not the Linux kernel that Linux wrote in a year.
No kidding. I was counting on that "3 Ghz by summer '04" promise, and Steve blew it. I have now lost all faith in him for delivering cool technology, or for hitting release dates. "Three strikes and you're out" may be fine for drug dealers, but technology CEOs should be held to a stricter standard. I don't care if he gets a major OS release out every year, or if he invents a whole new product category every other year. I mean, a professional CEO like Bill Gates promises Longhorn and...
Oh, wait a second.
Ok, forget Bill. But look at open source guys: THOSE people know how to hit release dates. At least I think they do because it seems like every other day Slashdot is announcing availability of version 4.31.57.111 of some software package I've never heard of. Or are those really secret IP addresses for some conspiracy to which I haven't been invited?
Ken Brown is an Intellectual Property Pirate!
on
Stallman vs Ken Brown
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· Score: 5, Insightful
New flash: Ken Brown didn't invent his book! He may have "written" it but he didn't invent it! It's simply impossible that somebody could invent a new language and a new vocabulary in the 6 months it took him to write that book.
Want proof? In the entire review copy there isn't A SINGLE WORD that hasn't been used by other writers, sometimes writing on the VERY SAME TOPICS that Ken Brown writes on.
By the way, I'm trying to be "Insightful" more than "Funny"....
SETI@Home tracked who contributed the most cycles to the project. What if the top N (10? 50? 100?) contributors got their names in the movie credits? How many people would knock themselves out to get their names onto the credits for the next Star Wars or the Hobbit?
I didn't say "unaccented" I said "neutral accent" and there absolutely is such a thing. It's simply a language spoken without an identifiable regional accent, sort of an "average" accent. In the U.S. we have "newscaster English" which is neutral-American, and in the U.K. BBC newsreaders speak in neutral-British. In India they try to teach something which to American, UK, and Australian speakers sounds neutral. And they do a damned good job of it. I'm from Maine, and believe me they weren't talking "the people talk where I grew up." Ayuh.
And, I was "traveling a bit": I was observing an accent training class at Daksh in Mumbai two weeks ago.
...there's a simple reason call centers want young people: they have to retrain them to use American accents (actually, they teach a neutral accent they call "Global English") and older learners have a harder time changing their accents. Old dog/new tricks and all.
Judging by the posters selection of links, I'd say he is grasping for ways to bad-mouth the Indians in order to keep the jobs here.
Yes, I read the article. And he almost, almost, hit upon the reason that he's wrong. It's no longer the technology itself that needs to improve. It's the story telling. Why are movies still popular? Because the stories are compelling.
There is no reason storytelling cannot be as powerful in video games as it is in movies. Every couple of months I fire up Halo just so I can play through the last level in "Legendary" mode and watch the easter egg cut scene. It's funny. It makes me laugh.
The only limitation faced by today's game companies is that they just don't have very good storytellers. Great programmers, brilliant artists, and fiendish level designers. But terrible writing. The fact that 16 year olds are the target audience doesn't help, either. But that is changing.
Neverwinter Nights has almost hit upon the right combination: a toolset for allowing others to tell stories. Besides a few technical limitations, their biggest mistake has been in their business model. By not allowing authors to sell content the are creating a disincentive to anyone pouring in tons of time. The best stuff I've seen, and in fact the only good stuff I've seen (and admittedly I haven't looked at a whole lot) was written by a guy who is basically using NWN to create a portfolio to find a job after he graduates from college. He's invested the time because he does plan to get 'paid', if indirectly, for his work.
Or take a look at Red vs. Blue. Done with the Halo engine, it's freakin' brilliant. Non-gamers I know, non-gaming GIRLS even (well, according to 3rd party reports; I don't actually know any girls like that) think Red vs. Blue is a masterpiece.
The point is that the story telling quality of most games is still terribly primitive, and it won't take technological innovation to make it better. We just need better story tellers to try their hand at it. When that happens the best of the best will be classics for a long, long time, regardless of how out-of-date the fog effects in them become.
Assuming our descendents can find the hardware to play them, of course.
Well, the whole site runs off Java (physics simulations) and if you don't have Java that opening banner is replaced with a message that says, "You need Java to use this site."
So, uh, yes. It is necessary.
This happened to me a few years ago.
on
Stop! Website Thief!
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· Score: 2, Interesting
My site Physics 2000 started showing up in foreign countries, fully translated. It's a non-profit site, and of course we love the idea of having it available in other countries, but kind of unsettling to have it ripped off without a word.
Let's post the names of the lawyers in the frivolous suits, rather than the patients. Then THEY won't find doctors who will work for them. Or contractors. Or mechanics. Or cops. Or bankers. Or tech support people. Well, not sure about the last one. Do they hate lawyers in India, too?
1) If your "loads" of ms techs are overworked, then I would say that you also have "way too few" of them.
2) Does "way too few" Linux techs mean they are also overworked, or that there are just fewer of them than the ms techs?
3) What kind of organization allows the techs to VOTE on strategic decisions? You're in serious need of a competent CIO.
Um...do you own an iPod and iTunes? Yes, the songs I downloaded from Apple have some sort of DRM, although I haven't actually noticed it getting in my way yet. But more importantly, all the stuff I downloaded from Napster and LimeWire all runs just fine on all 3 of my Macs and on my iPod. So what's the problem? This is hardly my computer deciding what I can and can't do.
If they asked me for advice...right after Brooke Burke asks me for a date...I'd advise Apple. But if they go with Dell/Windows* it will be interesting to see what their admin experience turns out to be relative to Maine and Virginia. I'd like to get a real TCO comparison.
By the way, what's this delusion about "no word on which OS the Dell's would run." That's because it's such a non-issue it's not even worth mentioning. Ok, I like Linux, you like Linux, but does anybody really think there's snowball's chance in hell of Michigan putting Linux on 130,000 laptops?
The BSA can't burst in with federal marshalls unless they have a "tip", which they get by encouraging disgruntled employees to blow the whistle.
Surely there must be SOME employees at any of the thousands, well, dozens, ok several...yikes ONE big software company we're all thinking about who knows of some infringing code and is sufficiently disgruntled to report it. Can Linux and RMS then call the feds and bust in on Redmo...er...company HQ for a code review?
Boy would I love to see BSA's logic turned against its wielders.
How does the RIAA prove any of this? Let's say I get subpoenaed, so I delete all the files on my machine. On court day isn't it just a case of, "Yes you did. No I didn't. You did. I didn't. Did. Didn't."
Better yet, if I could get an IP address for an RIAA machine (that can't be too hard) couldn't I claim that I found all of my Slashdot postings on one of their machines but, gee, they must have deleted them...
If they're including on-line play of board games, bingo, and the like, then I'm not at all surprised. Old folks playing scrabble and bingo on the net vastly outweigh us young'ns.
Here's the email I just sent to my two senators:
Dear Senator --,
I just read in the Washington Post that the World Intellectual Property Organization had initiated plans for a meeting about the role of open source software. According to the article, a reference to the meeting in Nature magazine triggered a flurry of lobbying from organizations like the Business Software Alliance. (The BSA, in case you didn't know, is essentially just a division of Microsoft.) Even the U.S. Patent Office chimed in, portraying open source as somehow opposed to the ideas of intellectual property.
The full Washington Post article is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A234 22-2003Aug20.html
Just so you don't think open source is some kind of "hippy thing", I work for the largest private equity firm in the world that is focused exclusively on information technology (here in Greenwich, CT) and I spend my days looking for good technology investments. It's clear to me that far from a fringe movement that opposes business, open source is a model for collaborative software development that makes possible a whole range of business models and innovations. Companies like IBM and Apple have wholeheartedly embraced open source. The only companies opposed to open source are those that currently enjoy relative monopolies in their areas. I.e., Microsoft. By putting actual competitive pressure on Microsoft, the open source has forced changes on Microsoft that the U.S. Government (or at least the last administration) were unable to accomplish.
It distresses me that Microsoft's lobbying power has this much sway over our government, particularly since the open source movement is by it's nature decentralized and therefore has no cash reserves to fight back.
By the way, if you don't know much about the BSA and open source, here is an article that describes the BSA's strong arm tactics used in bullying small businesses:
http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=l h
I hope you will take this issue seriously and, if you haven't already, take some time to become educated on open source.
Slashdot Mirror
Know what really annoys me about this interview? How this guy continues to spread FUD while trying to make it look like something other than FUD by attributing it to his "customers". I.e., "our customers keep asking about indemnification" or "before Linux was commercialized customers were willing to cut it some slack for poor security". Nice try, Martin.
I guess the Google algorithm took the words "ant" and "programmer" and assumed some kind of nasty infestation.
Well said. HOWEVER, I have to agree with the poster who pointed out that using "architect" as a verb in the context of writing is a little out of place. If we're going to help the language grow, let's at least do so in useful ways. "Architect a solution to an engineering problem", sure, "architect a whiny, defensive rebuttal", no. If we're going to make it a verb let's at least have it relate somewhat to the noun.
Why does everyone always mod me up to "funny"? Goddammit, I'm trying to make a point here.
Uh oh. I read the sentence "Linux actually inherits a lot of BSD code" and immdiately thought of Ken Brown. Ken, if you're reading this (or having it translated into a version using only monosyllabic words) be advised that the preceding quote refers to GNU/Linux, not the Linux kernel that Linux wrote in a year.
Oh, wait a second.
Ok, forget Bill. But look at open source guys: THOSE people know how to hit release dates. At least I think they do because it seems like every other day Slashdot is announcing availability of version 4.31.57.111 of some software package I've never heard of. Or are those really secret IP addresses for some conspiracy to which I haven't been invited?
Want proof? In the entire review copy there isn't A SINGLE WORD that hasn't been used by other writers, sometimes writing on the VERY SAME TOPICS that Ken Brown writes on.
By the way, I'm trying to be "Insightful" more than "Funny"....
SETI@Home tracked who contributed the most cycles to the project. What if the top N (10? 50? 100?) contributors got their names in the movie credits? How many people would knock themselves out to get their names onto the credits for the next Star Wars or the Hobbit?
And, I was "traveling a bit": I was observing an accent training class at Daksh in Mumbai two weeks ago.
Know of what ye speak.
...there's a simple reason call centers want young people: they have to retrain them to use American accents (actually, they teach a neutral accent they call "Global English") and older learners have a harder time changing their accents. Old dog/new tricks and all. Judging by the posters selection of links, I'd say he is grasping for ways to bad-mouth the Indians in order to keep the jobs here.
There is no reason storytelling cannot be as powerful in video games as it is in movies. Every couple of months I fire up Halo just so I can play through the last level in "Legendary" mode and watch the easter egg cut scene. It's funny. It makes me laugh.
The only limitation faced by today's game companies is that they just don't have very good storytellers. Great programmers, brilliant artists, and fiendish level designers. But terrible writing. The fact that 16 year olds are the target audience doesn't help, either. But that is changing.
Neverwinter Nights has almost hit upon the right combination: a toolset for allowing others to tell stories. Besides a few technical limitations, their biggest mistake has been in their business model. By not allowing authors to sell content the are creating a disincentive to anyone pouring in tons of time. The best stuff I've seen, and in fact the only good stuff I've seen (and admittedly I haven't looked at a whole lot) was written by a guy who is basically using NWN to create a portfolio to find a job after he graduates from college. He's invested the time because he does plan to get 'paid', if indirectly, for his work.
Or take a look at Red vs. Blue. Done with the Halo engine, it's freakin' brilliant. Non-gamers I know, non-gaming GIRLS even (well, according to 3rd party reports; I don't actually know any girls like that) think Red vs. Blue is a masterpiece.
The point is that the story telling quality of most games is still terribly primitive, and it won't take technological innovation to make it better. We just need better story tellers to try their hand at it. When that happens the best of the best will be classics for a long, long time, regardless of how out-of-date the fog effects in them become.
Assuming our descendents can find the hardware to play them, of course.
So, uh, yes. It is necessary.
My site Physics 2000 started showing up in foreign countries, fully translated. It's a non-profit site, and of course we love the idea of having it available in other countries, but kind of unsettling to have it ripped off without a word.
Let's post the names of the lawyers in the frivolous suits, rather than the patients. Then THEY won't find doctors who will work for them. Or contractors. Or mechanics. Or cops. Or bankers. Or tech support people. Well, not sure about the last one. Do they hate lawyers in India, too?
If an Indian firm had built the site, some podunk sheriff couldn't abuse his authority over a contract dispute. Offshoring: good for civil liberties.
Um, round 11x10^6 to the nearest whole integer power of 10: 6. Now do the same for 86x10^6: 7. One order of magnitude.
Hmmm....and now, 14 years later, you're posting to Slashdot. See a connection?
1) If your "loads" of ms techs are overworked, then I would say that you also have "way too few" of them. 2) Does "way too few" Linux techs mean they are also overworked, or that there are just fewer of them than the ms techs? 3) What kind of organization allows the techs to VOTE on strategic decisions? You're in serious need of a competent CIO.
Um...do you own an iPod and iTunes? Yes, the songs I downloaded from Apple have some sort of DRM, although I haven't actually noticed it getting in my way yet. But more importantly, all the stuff I downloaded from Napster and LimeWire all runs just fine on all 3 of my Macs and on my iPod. So what's the problem? This is hardly my computer deciding what I can and can't do.
You have a girlfriend? What are you doing on Slashdot?
By the way, what's this delusion about "no word on which OS the Dell's would run." That's because it's such a non-issue it's not even worth mentioning. Ok, I like Linux, you like Linux, but does anybody really think there's snowball's chance in hell of Michigan putting Linux on 130,000 laptops?
The BSA can't burst in with federal marshalls unless they have a "tip", which they get by encouraging disgruntled employees to blow the whistle. Surely there must be SOME employees at any of the thousands, well, dozens, ok several...yikes ONE big software company we're all thinking about who knows of some infringing code and is sufficiently disgruntled to report it. Can Linux and RMS then call the feds and bust in on Redmo...er...company HQ for a code review? Boy would I love to see BSA's logic turned against its wielders.
How does the RIAA prove any of this? Let's say I get subpoenaed, so I delete all the files on my machine. On court day isn't it just a case of, "Yes you did. No I didn't. You did. I didn't. Did. Didn't." Better yet, if I could get an IP address for an RIAA machine (that can't be too hard) couldn't I claim that I found all of my Slashdot postings on one of their machines but, gee, they must have deleted them...
If they're including on-line play of board games, bingo, and the like, then I'm not at all surprised. Old folks playing scrabble and bingo on the net vastly outweigh us young'ns.
Here's the email I just sent to my two senators: Dear Senator --, I just read in the Washington Post that the World Intellectual Property Organization had initiated plans for a meeting about the role of open source software. According to the article, a reference to the meeting in Nature magazine triggered a flurry of lobbying from organizations like the Business Software Alliance. (The BSA, in case you didn't know, is essentially just a division of Microsoft.) Even the U.S. Patent Office chimed in, portraying open source as somehow opposed to the ideas of intellectual property. The full Washington Post article is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A234 22-2003Aug20.html
Just so you don't think open source is some kind of "hippy thing", I work for the largest private equity firm in the world that is focused exclusively on information technology (here in Greenwich, CT) and I spend my days looking for good technology investments. It's clear to me that far from a fringe movement that opposes business, open source is a model for collaborative software development that makes possible a whole range of business models and innovations. Companies like IBM and Apple have wholeheartedly embraced open source. The only companies opposed to open source are those that currently enjoy relative monopolies in their areas. I.e., Microsoft. By putting actual competitive pressure on Microsoft, the open source has forced changes on Microsoft that the U.S. Government (or at least the last administration) were unable to accomplish.
It distresses me that Microsoft's lobbying power has this much sway over our government, particularly since the open source movement is by it's nature decentralized and therefore has no cash reserves to fight back.
By the way, if you don't know much about the BSA and open source, here is an article that describes the BSA's strong arm tactics used in bullying small businesses:
http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=l h
I hope you will take this issue seriously and, if you haven't already, take some time to become educated on open source.