It's pocket change for Microsoft, but high enough to attract real interest. And $200,000 is just the beginning. Microsoft will make a very lucrative offer to whomever innovates at that level.
They dismissed the whole thing as a waste of time, and went on to do other things, while the stupid people filled space on the Slashdot article page discussing the "study".
"blah blah blah samsung galaxy tab 10 blah blah blah... now explain to me why ipad sells more"
I said nothing other than that the iPhone hasn't been a status symbol for years. Your brain filled in all the ridiculousness required to leap all the way over here.
I'll bite anyway. Could it be because of the huge number of mature, high quality applications that attract users as opposed to technical pinheads?
The only people that think owning an iPhone is somehow a social symbol are Android users with inferiority complexes. Having an iPhone stopped being unusual years ago.
They're probably people like me who own the 3gs (or older), still had time too much time on their plans (or who thought the 4 didn't quite justify an upgrade), and believe the next one is likely a good time to step up.
"Given that every patent Microshit's gotten in the past 20 years has been the result of patent-slamming and abuse of the system?"
You've regressed so far that you think misspelling "Microsoft" with the word "shit" in it is either creative, useful, funny, or relevant, so I'll forgive you just being wrong for the rest of your post.
'There was some wonderful stuff about [railway trains] too in the U.S., that women's bodies were not designed to go at 50 miles an hour. Our uteruses would fly out of our bodies as they were accelerated to that speed,' she says."
Well, 'she' needs to provide a citation. I'm having a hard time finding one. I suspect she's just making shit up.
When you listen to the stereo, or talk to a passenger, you keep your eyes on the road. Now, perhaps your responses are slightly diminished, but not by much.
When you look down at a smart phone and text somebody, looking up periodically for a moment is nearly useless. When you've broken the continuous processing of deltas in a scene, and you try to reestablish that understanding by looking up, the first few seconds are used by your brain to figure out what everything is and where it is... not "what's evolving in my surroundings".
Devices that completely divert viisual attention are much more dangerous than those that can be handled "blind".
Yes, that's why Linux users have consistently paid more for the Humble Indie Bundle games than Mac or Windows users. We're all so cheap.
What does that have to do with anything? All that means is that Windows users have so many options they don't have to buy some offbeat little bundle of indie games. It means nothing.
Before you brought it up I had never even heard of this bundle, and I've been buying games for 30 years.
The first time somebody pulled something like that I would find them alone and tell them point blank that I'm not going to take that. Ever.
The second time I would pull my prepared letter of resignation out of my desk, sign and date it, and hand it to him right in front of everybody.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah blah want to get in the industry blah blah need a job blah blah. If he was hired at a gaming company he's got the resume to get a job doing something different.
Being treated reasonably is not something I'm willing to give up. You know that "Animal House" initiation scene? "Thank you sir, may I have another!" Well, if they keep doing that to you after pledge week it's time to quit the fraternity.
"At some point, we will chew up enough resources that the planet will not recover."
As near as we can tell, that's simply not true. There have been what... five mass extinctions for life on this planet? The Great Dying was about a quarter billion years ago, wiping out 90% of all species. We don't have the power of taking the whole show down forever. Even if we made the environment so bad that we died off, life would shake itself off and start rebuilding.
To quote the late Mr. Carlin, "The planet isn't going anywhere. We are."
Me: "I installed the trial and played for a session, but did not get a chance to return to the game until last night. I connected, only to find there was a wait to log in to the server. It was only 50 deep, but it was so slow that by the time I had connected I had to leave. If I could have the trial extended for another week I would appreciate it. I have not made a decision to date on whether or not to subscribe."
Them: "Thank you for contacting us regarding RIFT. I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue, I realize it's frustrating and I'm happy to assist you in this matter. I have inquired with our tier 3 support team, unfortunately we can not add 7 more days to your free trial. But I have been authorized to offer you 7 extra free days added to your account if you purchase RIFT. So if you purchase RIFT from (link removed) If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us know. Thank you for your continued support of Trion Worlds and for playing RIFT.
Me: "I'm sorry to hear that. The extension was requested not because I care about 7 free days, but because I hadn't decided whether or not to subscribe. 7 days is worth about $4 and is not significant to me. Perhaps I chose a bad week for the trial, but I simply lacked the time. I'll pass on the offer. You may close the ticket."
If the results are any different, I'll eat my hat. Just substitute your favorite open-source figurehead for Steve Jobs. I mean, how else can you explain people's willingness to slog through 15 years of crappy hardware support, half-implemented or abandoned software, and a community that, to put it mildly, had a bit of an attitude when it came to helping new people?
I'd venture to say linux users are MORE "religious" than Apple users. At least Apple presented working solutions to their customers. I know people that fought with ALSA/Jack and RTlinux desperately hoping that linux would allow them to record their own music on the PC. Their product of choice limited their ability to create. Who gives that kind of power away? Religious people.
When you've been suckered into buying hundreds of dollars of cables for your system, and you either see/hear a difference or you were an idiot, you're going to notice a difference. It's good old fashioned self delusion.
I work in a very technical environment, surrounded by, well... geeks. For the past several years I've listened to most of them acquire and then bitch about their various android devices, while simultaneously lauding them for being just so awesome. Busted GPS, Touchwiz problems, crappy interface response (don't worry - the update will fix that!), manufacturers that don't update... it's always something. Except for problems making music apps - failure to do low latency is an OS problem.
In the meantime, my 3gs just quietly keeps working. I got bit by the daylight savings time bug, and it did, in fact, crash once last year, but it's been a very well behaved device in all other respects.
A team member just got a Nexus S, with pure Android. That might work out well. But when the iPhone 5 comes around, I'm in.
"I own an iPad and love it for what it's good for; consuming content. It's ok for making a quick comment on facebook or something. Other then some niche* work scenarios, the iPad is not very good at producing content. It won't be replacing "normal" computers any time soon. "
Yeah! It's not like Gorillaz could have produced an entire album on an iPad or anything.
Just because you're not able to produce content on it doesn't mean the device is incapable. There are plenty of people producing content with their iPads.
I started to reply that my post doesn't imply what you think it does, but then I had a look at your other replies and discovered you're a twit, so now I'm looking for the ignore function. I'll be very sad if there isn't one.
I've been training for this game for 30 years. I knew the reason I have 7 guitars and thousands of dollars of supporting gear was so that I can finally crush the video game skills of a 12 year old. At least for the first couple of months, after which they'll blow past me and I'll go back to playing my real guitars for fun.
It's been 13 years since I did front-line support for home PC's. Back then I spent a lot of time fixing the computers of my relatives.
When I got a job writing and supporting industrial software for a pipeline company I started getting "out of touch" with home systems. Requests for assistance started getting replies beginning with, "I don't know if I can help - I haven't really done that kind of work in a while." Horse crap, to be sure, but it worked.
Now I help my parents when they need it, and recently I replaced a keyboard in my sister's laptop - but requests from cousins, aunts, and uncles have long since stopped.
Slashdot Mirror
It's pocket change for Microsoft, but high enough to attract real interest. And $200,000 is just the beginning. Microsoft will make a very lucrative offer to whomever innovates at that level.
They dismissed the whole thing as a waste of time, and went on to do other things, while the stupid people filled space on the Slashdot article page discussing the "study".
Amplitube. And scads of other applications for musicians that don't work on Android because of latency issues.
"blah blah blah samsung galaxy tab 10 blah blah blah... now explain to me why ipad sells more"
I said nothing other than that the iPhone hasn't been a status symbol for years. Your brain filled in all the ridiculousness required to leap all the way over here.
I'll bite anyway. Could it be because of the huge number of mature, high quality applications that attract users as opposed to technical pinheads?
Naw... that couldn't be it.
The only people that think owning an iPhone is somehow a social symbol are Android users with inferiority complexes. Having an iPhone stopped being unusual years ago.
They're probably people like me who own the 3gs (or older), still had time too much time on their plans (or who thought the 4 didn't quite justify an upgrade), and believe the next one is likely a good time to step up.
"Given that every patent Microshit's gotten in the past 20 years has been the result of patent-slamming and abuse of the system?"
You've regressed so far that you think misspelling "Microsoft" with the word "shit" in it is either creative, useful, funny, or relevant, so I'll forgive you just being wrong for the rest of your post.
'There was some wonderful stuff about [railway trains] too in the U.S., that women's bodies were not designed to go at 50 miles an hour. Our uteruses would fly out of our bodies as they were accelerated to that speed,' she says."
Well, 'she' needs to provide a citation. I'm having a hard time finding one. I suspect she's just making shit up.
When you listen to the stereo, or talk to a passenger, you keep your eyes on the road. Now, perhaps your responses are slightly diminished, but not by much.
When you look down at a smart phone and text somebody, looking up periodically for a moment is nearly useless. When you've broken the continuous processing of deltas in a scene, and you try to reestablish that understanding by looking up, the first few seconds are used by your brain to figure out what everything is and where it is... not "what's evolving in my surroundings".
Devices that completely divert viisual attention are much more dangerous than those that can be handled "blind".
Yes, that's why Linux users have consistently paid more for the Humble Indie Bundle games than Mac or Windows users. We're all so cheap.
What does that have to do with anything? All that means is that Windows users have so many options they don't have to buy some offbeat little bundle of indie games. It means nothing.
Before you brought it up I had never even heard of this bundle, and I've been buying games for 30 years.
If the people deploying Windows in the organization knew what the hell they were doing, plugging in a USB key would do squat.
The first time somebody pulled something like that I would find them alone and tell them point blank that I'm not going to take that. Ever.
The second time I would pull my prepared letter of resignation out of my desk, sign and date it, and hand it to him right in front of everybody.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah blah want to get in the industry blah blah need a job blah blah. If he was hired at a gaming company he's got the resume to get a job doing something different.
Being treated reasonably is not something I'm willing to give up. You know that "Animal House" initiation scene? "Thank you sir, may I have another!" Well, if they keep doing that to you after pledge week it's time to quit the fraternity.
"At some point, we will chew up enough resources that the planet will not recover."
As near as we can tell, that's simply not true. There have been what... five mass extinctions for life on this planet? The Great Dying was about a quarter billion years ago, wiping out 90% of all species. We don't have the power of taking the whole show down forever. Even if we made the environment so bad that we died off, life would shake itself off and start rebuilding.
To quote the late Mr. Carlin, "The planet isn't going anywhere. We are."
My ticket with Trion Worlds about RIFT:
Me: "I installed the trial and played for a session, but did not get a chance to return to the game until last night. I connected, only to find there was a wait to log in to the server. It was only 50 deep, but it was so slow that by the time I had connected I had to leave. If I could have the trial extended for another week I would appreciate it. I have not made a decision to date on whether or not to subscribe."
Them: "Thank you for contacting us regarding RIFT. I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue, I realize it's frustrating and I'm happy to assist you in this matter. I have inquired with our tier 3 support team, unfortunately we can not add 7 more days to your free trial. But I have been authorized to offer you 7 extra free days added to your account if you purchase RIFT. So if you purchase RIFT from (link removed) If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us know. Thank you for your continued support of Trion Worlds and for playing RIFT.
Me: "I'm sorry to hear that. The extension was requested not because I care about 7 free days, but because I hadn't decided whether or not to subscribe. 7 days is worth about $4 and is not significant to me. Perhaps I chose a bad week for the trial, but I simply lacked the time. I'll pass on the offer. You may close the ticket."
Shortsighted pinheads.
If the results are any different, I'll eat my hat. Just substitute your favorite open-source figurehead for Steve Jobs. I mean, how else can you explain people's willingness to slog through 15 years of crappy hardware support, half-implemented or abandoned software, and a community that, to put it mildly, had a bit of an attitude when it came to helping new people?
I'd venture to say linux users are MORE "religious" than Apple users. At least Apple presented working solutions to their customers. I know people that fought with ALSA/Jack and RTlinux desperately hoping that linux would allow them to record their own music on the PC. Their product of choice limited their ability to create. Who gives that kind of power away? Religious people.
This is my favorite cable ever. Denon gets it - idiots want to give their money away, why not make it easy for them?
When you've been suckered into buying hundreds of dollars of cables for your system, and you either see/hear a difference or you were an idiot, you're going to notice a difference. It's good old fashioned self delusion.
Of course then it gets just awesomely ridiculous.
I keep asking myself how I can get some of that idiot money.
I work in a very technical environment, surrounded by, well... geeks. For the past several years I've listened to most of them acquire and then bitch about their various android devices, while simultaneously lauding them for being just so awesome. Busted GPS, Touchwiz problems, crappy interface response (don't worry - the update will fix that!), manufacturers that don't update... it's always something. Except for problems making music apps - failure to do low latency is an OS problem.
In the meantime, my 3gs just quietly keeps working. I got bit by the daylight savings time bug, and it did, in fact, crash once last year, but it's been a very well behaved device in all other respects.
A team member just got a Nexus S, with pure Android. That might work out well. But when the iPhone 5 comes around, I'm in.
"I own an iPad and love it for what it's good for; consuming content. It's ok for making a quick comment on facebook or something. Other then some niche* work scenarios, the iPad is not very good at producing content. It won't be replacing "normal" computers any time soon. "
Yeah! It's not like Gorillaz could have produced an entire album on an iPad or anything.
Just because you're not able to produce content on it doesn't mean the device is incapable. There are plenty of people producing content with their iPads.
I started to reply that my post doesn't imply what you think it does, but then I had a look at your other replies and discovered you're a twit, so now I'm looking for the ignore function. I'll be very sad if there isn't one.
I've been training for this game for 30 years. I knew the reason I have 7 guitars and thousands of dollars of supporting gear was so that I can finally crush the video game skills of a 12 year old. At least for the first couple of months, after which they'll blow past me and I'll go back to playing my real guitars for fun.
" I tell them that if they had a real OS then I could help them, but since they have a toy I cannot."
Dripping nerdy OS-based condescension to family. You must just be a laugh riot at the gatherings.
It's been 13 years since I did front-line support for home PC's. Back then I spent a lot of time fixing the computers of my relatives.
When I got a job writing and supporting industrial software for a pipeline company I started getting "out of touch" with home systems. Requests for assistance started getting replies beginning with, "I don't know if I can help - I haven't really done that kind of work in a while." Horse crap, to be sure, but it worked.
Now I help my parents when they need it, and recently I replaced a keyboard in my sister's laptop - but requests from cousins, aunts, and uncles have long since stopped.
Play dumb. It Works.
"For those who feel like Linux and open source have been slighted by Tinseltown in the face of its embrace of Facebook and The Social Network"
Well stop sending scripts in EMACS and insisting that Hollywood attach them to the end credits. Pilots in theora don't help either.
I wasn't aware the JWST was impacting other programs. The impression I got was mistaken - that this cut was really significant.
Even so, will this funding reduction accomplish anything other than to push back the schedule?
I don't know why they're worrying anyway. They can just print the money. So far that's working