It's nice to see that people will be able to experience and remember what once made the computer field great; a sense of wonder, and good engineering!
No one today does anything innovative, except occasionally Apple...no one takes chances, and when they do, they do it so half-assed that they already seem to think that they are going to fail, and thus become a self-fufilling prophecy.
But people like Woz were willing to take that leap, because their knew their engineering was good and innovative, and because of that we have the systems we have today. Without the Apple computer, we would still be using terminals on smaller, but more powerful mainframes and minis.
Also at Torcon 3, we gave out the Prix Aurora Awards, where we acknowledge the contributions to the fields of SF and Fantasy by Canadians...and here are the winners:
Best Long-Form Work in English Meilleur livre en anglais
* -- Permanence, Karl Schroeder (Tor) --
Meilleur livre en francais Best Long-Form Work in French
* -- Le Revenant de Fomalhaut, Jean-Louis Trudel (Mediaspaul) --
Best Short-Form Work in English Meilleure nouvelle en anglais
* -- "Ineluctable", Robert J. Sawyer (Analog Nov/2002) --
Meilleure nouvelle en francais Best Short-Form Work in French
* -- La Guerre sans temps, Sylvie Berard (Solaris 143) --
Best Work in English (Other) Meilleur ouvrage en anglais (Autre)
* -- Edo van Belkom, editing Be VERY Afraid! (Tundra Books) --
Artistic Achievement / Accomplissement artistique
* -- Mel Vavaroutsos --
Fan Achievement (Publication) Accomplissement fanique (publication)
* -- Made in Canada Newsletter, Don Bassie, ed. [webzine] --
Fan Achievement (Organizational) Accomplissement fanique (Organisation)
* -- Georgina Miles --
Fan Achievement (Other) Accomplissement fanique (autre)
* -- Jason Taniguchi, one-man SF parody shows / presentations individuelles de parodies SF --
Having worked in a Virtual Reality Gaming Cafe, I can tell you that the more "artificial" a world is, the less "transition sickness", or the disorientation that players get from spending long times in VR is greatly reduced. For example, Decent in full 3D on a good VR headset will generate more transition sickness than say, DOOM would, as Decent has a more "real" environment to the brain.
As computer type technology and Bioscience merge, we will eventually see something like Moore's Law in regard to biology. And we should learn the lessons of Science Fiction before we unleash this technolgy...
SCO has 1-800 numbers...I suggest that everyone call SCO's 1-800 numbers and give them a piece of mind! Besides, it's their dollar for the phone call...hehehehehe.
I guess you are not a Science Fiction Book fan, and don't know the SF Book field...For example, said first edition of Dangerous Visions, autographed, has an asking price of $2,000 US. First Edition hardcover of Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke...asking price: $7,500.
Ask any SF book fan, and if the had the money, would jump on any of these given a chance. And they will do nothing but increase in value...and I haven't even mentioned the works by some dead authors!
Science Fiction came from Books, and please don't forget them...I wouldn't spend the money they are asking for Media SF stuff...but, say, a mint copy of Dangerous Visions hardcover....I would spend a bit for that! Or a first edition of any Arthur C. Clarke book in mint condition.
Most bottled water is really just repackaged tap water...check places like consumer reports and such. Unfortunately, like many things, let the buyer beware!
I worked for an SGI dealer for a while...I remember we hauled about 5 boxes, including a Crimsion Reality Engine into the mail salesguy's house for the weekend before the show...now this guy was loaded formerly being a top of the line Chef, and his place was all finish in faux-rustic...weathered wood, etc. and scattered around this place were these coloured little boxes with a person or cluster of geeks around it. I wish I had photos! One of my fond memories of the days when Virtual Reality seemed just around the corner...
Eris Owns your Linux Distro...drop to a command prompt, and type "ddate" for proof! Works with everything from Tom's RootBoot disk to big distros like Red Hat!
Hail Eris!
All Hail Discordia!
Goto www.fnord.org for more info, or consult your Pineal gland.
I've known RMS peripherally for years, and I am constantly impressed by him. From first hearing about the GNU project, to this article, I find him an inspiration for anyone who wants to do the right thing, and keeps on until it's done. Sometimes I don't agree with him, but I have to respect his opinion none the less.
What is the current status, and how has signed it...the Lunar Treaty gives The Moon similar status to Antartica, saying that The Moon is a common property of all people of the Earth, and any country that makes use of it's resources must share them equally with the people of the Earth. Did China sign, or are they following the US lead and ignoring treaties?
Man, my heart really goes out to Neil Peart.That man has given me music and lyrics that have touched me deeply, and what he has gone through just shouldn't happen to anyone...and being a bit selfish here, esp. someone who can do what he can.
Don't get me wrong, I love soundtracks! And they are the only form that still sells today that holds a thematic common thread throughout the album. I love the works of Wendy Carlos, Christopher Franke and John Williams...but we are discussing "pop" artists that now live and die by the single, and I was trying to stay on topic.
You are a better person that I if you can listen to "The Final Cut" regularly, and not kill yourself...I love Floyd, but listening to that album makes me go searching for razor blades!
But Floyd has a number of wonderful thematic albums, "Animals", "Dark Side of the Moon", "The Wall", etc. ELO did "Time", Rush even did stuff than _spanned_ albums with "Cygnus X-1/Hemispheres". And then there is even Luther Wright and the Wrong's remake of the Wall in a blugrass/country style.
Name the last album you listend to that had a theme, thematic or musical, through the whole album...soundtacks don't count!
The music industry has worked hard to kill songs that tell stories...song that make you think. With no songs that tell a story, the songwriting paradign that comes to us from the dawn of time, through the Celtic Bards and Troubadors, and into our time, there is no need for albums...for albums are for stories that are longer than one song.
And with the death of the album, the record companies are maybe hoping to reduce recording costs by just having their "made" artists (N'Sync, Spears, Idol stars, etc.) go in and record a new song whenever their demographics department thinks that a new song by that artist will be successful.
And if you want a really cynical view of ths music industry, hunt down a book called _Little Heros_ by Norman Spinrad, borderline cyberpunk, and some good Erisian in-jokes.
Dan Hildebrand was one of the early luminaries of QNX in Kanata, just outside of Ottawa. Although I only met him once, I knew him well via the local Fidonet and Unix communities. It's too bad he isn't around to enjoy this story. But I am sure he is smiling about it wherever he is! Slashdot story about his death It's hard to believe it's been 5 years.
Back then, we just had the beginning of the the "Bounty of RMS", GNU tools...most Unix flavours didn't come with a compiler, or basic office tools, each of which was an expensive add-in. To get a fully configured system would cost you upwards to $5,000 or more just for the software to give you the functionality of the average Open Source Distro of your choice today.
Windows is now like the Unix World was then...but, we have wonderful tools like Cygwin (www.cygwin.org) which can give you a Unix like environment on top of a Windows kernel. And many GNU tools are directly ported to Windows...so there is no excuse not to snarf them and learn...and tip your hat to Richard Stallman.
Slashdot Mirror
It's nice to see that people will be able to experience and remember what once made the computer field great; a sense of wonder, and good engineering!
No one today does anything innovative, except occasionally Apple...no one takes chances, and when they do, they do it so half-assed that they already seem to think that they are going to fail, and thus become a self-fufilling prophecy.
But people like Woz were willing to take that leap, because their knew their engineering was good and innovative, and because of that we have the systems we have today. Without the Apple computer, we would still be using terminals on smaller, but more powerful mainframes and minis.
So thanks again Woz, for the Apple 1.
ttyl
Farrelll
Also at Torcon 3, we gave out the Prix Aurora Awards, where we acknowledge the contributions to the fields of SF and Fantasy by Canadians...and here are the winners:
Best Long-Form Work in English
Meilleur livre en anglais
* -- Permanence, Karl Schroeder (Tor) --
Meilleur livre en francais
Best Long-Form Work in French
* -- Le Revenant de Fomalhaut, Jean-Louis Trudel (Mediaspaul) --
Best Short-Form Work in English
Meilleure nouvelle en anglais
* -- "Ineluctable", Robert J. Sawyer (Analog Nov/2002) --
Meilleure nouvelle en francais
Best Short-Form Work in French
* -- La Guerre sans temps, Sylvie Berard (Solaris 143) --
Best Work in English (Other)
Meilleur ouvrage en anglais (Autre)
* -- Edo van Belkom, editing Be VERY Afraid! (Tundra Books) --
Artistic Achievement / Accomplissement artistique
* -- Mel Vavaroutsos --
Fan Achievement (Publication)
Accomplissement fanique (publication)
* -- Made in Canada Newsletter, Don Bassie, ed. [webzine] --
Fan Achievement (Organizational)
Accomplissement fanique (Organisation)
* -- Georgina Miles --
Fan Achievement (Other)
Accomplissement fanique (autre)
* -- Jason Taniguchi, one-man SF parody shows / presentations
individuelles de parodies SF --
Having worked in a Virtual Reality Gaming Cafe, I can tell you that the more "artificial" a world is, the less "transition sickness", or the disorientation that players get from spending long times in VR is greatly reduced. For example, Decent in full 3D on a good VR headset will generate more transition sickness than say, DOOM would, as Decent has a more "real" environment to the brain.
ttyl
Farrell
As computer type technology and Bioscience merge, we will eventually see something like Moore's Law in regard to biology. And we should learn the lessons of Science Fiction before we unleash this technolgy...
ttyl
Farrell
You need both of these patches to bee safe from the *two* similar worms out there...
l t. asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/ms03-010.asp
/ te chnet/security/bulletin/MS03-026.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/defau
and
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/?url=
SCO has 1-800 numbers...I suggest that everyone call SCO's 1-800 numbers and give them a piece of mind! Besides, it's their dollar for the phone call...hehehehehe.
ttyl
Farrell
Great Filk song!!!
As The Trees is one of my fav songs to play on guitar...maybe I will have some fun later tonight with my recording equipment!
ttyl
Farrell
I guess you are not a Science Fiction Book fan, and don't know the SF Book field...For example, said first edition of Dangerous Visions, autographed, has an asking price of $2,000 US. First Edition hardcover of Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke...asking price: $7,500.
Ask any SF book fan, and if the had the money, would jump on any of these given a chance. And they will do nothing but increase in value...and I haven't even mentioned the works by some dead authors!
ttyl
Farrell
Science Fiction came from Books, and please don't forget them...I wouldn't spend the money they are asking for Media SF stuff...but, say, a mint copy of Dangerous Visions hardcover....I would spend a bit for that! Or a first edition of any Arthur C. Clarke book in mint condition.
ttyl
Farrell
Most bottled water is really just repackaged tap water...check places like consumer reports and such. Unfortunately, like many things, let the buyer beware!
ttyl
Farrell
Tanj, things are so much nicer now...but Slackware was a good idea back then, and it is still a good idea.
Hail Slackware, Hail Bob! Hail Eris!
ttyl
Farrell
I worked for an SGI dealer for a while...I remember we hauled about 5 boxes, including a Crimsion Reality Engine into the mail salesguy's house for the weekend before the show...now this guy was loaded formerly being a top of the line Chef, and his place was all finish in faux-rustic...weathered wood, etc. and scattered around this place were these coloured little boxes with a person or cluster of geeks around it. I wish I had photos! One of my fond memories of the days when Virtual Reality seemed just around the corner...
ttyl
Farrell
It looks like it from the ads, and I don't like horror movies, so I will have to wait and see it on DVD or decide from reviews...
ttyl
Farrell
Eris Owns your Linux Distro...drop to a command prompt, and type "ddate" for proof! Works with everything from Tom's RootBoot disk to big distros like Red Hat!
Hail Eris!
All Hail Discordia!
Goto www.fnord.org for more info, or consult your Pineal gland.
ttyl
Farrell
Time to dump far too many Windows tools...no more loosing work to the BSOD!
ttyl
Farrell
I've known RMS peripherally for years, and I am constantly impressed by him. From first hearing about the GNU project, to this article, I find him an inspiration for anyone who wants to do the right thing, and keeps on until it's done. Sometimes I don't agree with him, but I have to respect his opinion none the less.
The world is a bit better place because of RMS.
ttyl
Farrell
What is the current status, and how has signed it...the Lunar Treaty gives The Moon similar status to Antartica, saying that The Moon is a common property of all people of the Earth, and any country that makes use of it's resources must share them equally with the people of the Earth. Did China sign, or are they following the US lead and ignoring treaties?
ttyl
Farrell
Man, my heart really goes out to Neil Peart.That man has given me music and lyrics that have touched me deeply, and what he has gone through just shouldn't happen to anyone...and being a bit selfish here, esp. someone who can do what he can.
But your Kid Rock comment was LOL!
ttyl
Farrell
Don't get me wrong, I love soundtracks! And they are the only form that still sells today that holds a thematic common thread throughout the album. I love the works of Wendy Carlos, Christopher Franke and John Williams...but we are discussing "pop" artists that now live and die by the single, and I was trying to stay on topic.
ttyl
Farrell
Could it be a bug in Windows update that is generating all this garbage?
ttyl
Farrell
You are a better person that I if you can listen to "The Final Cut" regularly, and not kill yourself...I love Floyd, but listening to that album makes me go searching for razor blades!
But Floyd has a number of wonderful thematic albums, "Animals", "Dark Side of the Moon", "The Wall", etc. ELO did "Time", Rush even did stuff than _spanned_ albums with "Cygnus X-1/Hemispheres". And then there is even Luther Wright and the Wrong's remake of the Wall in a blugrass/country style.
ttyl
Farrell
Name the last album you listend to that had a theme, thematic or musical, through the whole album...soundtacks don't count!
The music industry has worked hard to kill songs that tell stories...song that make you think. With no songs that tell a story, the songwriting paradign that comes to us from the dawn of time, through the Celtic Bards and Troubadors, and into our time, there is no need for albums...for albums are for stories that are longer than one song.
And with the death of the album, the record companies are maybe hoping to reduce recording costs by just having their "made" artists (N'Sync, Spears, Idol stars, etc.) go in and record a new song whenever their demographics department thinks that a new song by that artist will be successful.
And if you want a really cynical view of ths music industry, hunt down a book called _Little Heros_ by Norman Spinrad, borderline cyberpunk, and some good Erisian in-jokes.
ttyl
Farrell
Dan Hildebrand was one of the early luminaries of QNX in Kanata, just outside of Ottawa. Although I only met him once, I knew him well via the local Fidonet and Unix communities. It's too bad he isn't around to enjoy this story. But I am sure he is smiling about it wherever he is! Slashdot story about his death It's hard to believe it's been 5 years.
ttyl
Farrell
Back then, we just had the beginning of the the "Bounty of RMS", GNU tools...most Unix flavours didn't come with a compiler, or basic office tools, each of which was an expensive add-in. To get a fully configured system would cost you upwards to $5,000 or more just for the software to give you the functionality of the average Open Source Distro of your choice today.
Windows is now like the Unix World was then...but, we have wonderful tools like Cygwin (www.cygwin.org) which can give you a Unix like environment on top of a Windows kernel. And many GNU tools are directly ported to Windows...so there is no excuse not to snarf them and learn...and tip your hat to Richard Stallman.
ttyl
Farrell
How can one country oblige another to collect taxes from them? This means that England has finally found a way to Tax it's American Colonies!
ttyl
Farrell