Ok, a last one for tonight. Maybe hiding karma from the user page wasn't such a good idea after all... At least Signail11 was funny, and he didn't point to Signal 11's email when he was saying something stupid.
(Man. First Bruce Perens and now me?)
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
Let's follow this guide for once...
on
Guide to Slashdot
·
· Score: 1
I think we should all follow this guide to the letter for this particular trend. Unfortunately, it's too late for me to claim first post, and I forgot to post as an Anonymous Coward, thus being susceptible to karma moderation. I also have a spellchecker in my head which prevents me to write l3y3k +|-|33s n B 4 tru 31337!!!!!!!!
Life is tough. If only I had a gimmick like the statue or the grits guys, I could be a true h4ck3r...
Just a little bit of advice... Try reading the article before moderating posts. In this case, what you fail to realise and that is glaringly obvious to anyone who read the article, is that wichert is said Debian Project Leader. The fact that he got the first post is quite a clever and amusing joke. So stop marking him as flamebait, troll or offtopic, and understand the context.
Wish I didn't have to explain all this, but I want to believe the moderation system actually works, and isn't being used mainly by people whose sole concern is to mark posts according to a blind logic of popularity.
I wonder how long it will be before Slashdot.com becomes an IPO and gets a court injunction against Slashdot.org. As this case proves, precedence is worth f*-all when faced with lawyer-friendly capitalists.
Scary.
(I wouldn't mention Slashdot.com, but I figure someone should bring it to public attention that guys out there are making money off of mis-hits to/.)
Well, I have a twisted idea on what a "deeper" movie is. I think the Matrix's value was in that it dealt with fairly complex subject matters while appealing to a larger public. I think a greater movie is a mix of both these factors. There's no point in discussing an issue if the references are cryptic, or worse, hermetic. The fact that The Matrix made everyone think on these issues makes it, for me, a greater movie than BJM, because the issues raised by BJM were more subtle, more references than truly the core of the movie.
Now, I did enjoy The Matrix more. It's half a coincidence.:)
If I understand correctly, Rational is already owned by Microsoft, so they're just pushing development of J++ to a subsidiary that won't be bound by legal concerns (as is pointed in the introduction to the article.)
So: as a programmer, my question is, what's in it for me? How will this transaction make J++ a better development tool?
I guess the answer is, it won't make it that much better (or less worse, as you may see it; I personally like J++ for it's, ah, userfriendliness.) It will still be a Microsoft-marketed product.
But the thing is, it won't be developped too close to Microsoft's heart. It means the development kit won't be built so much with other Microsoft tools in mind (like Visual Basic or Visual C++.) That means the product may become more intuitive and less restrained by impossible constraints. Like, for instance, the layout of the buttons and menus. You can recognise a Microsoft product by the way they try to make it into an Office lookalike, although the Office layout never made sense in the first place.
Well, that's a slim hope. I guess J++ will stay more or less the same... And when you can code in vi, it's not like the buttons layout matters that much, anyway.
Believe it or not, Being John Malkovich is actually a variant on the themes touched upon by The Matrix. It deals with loss or modification of identity, of the power to become someone or something else at will. It explores the thrill associated with it, and how a fantasy world can turn your real life around.
As such, I'm enclined to place Being John Malkovich in the same thematic category as The Matrix, Thirteenth Floor and Existenz. And truly, Being John Malkovich is way in front of Thirteenth Floor and Existenz in depth and fun involved, and just slightly under The Matrix.
It's definitely a geek flick. It's definitely fun. And it's supremely original. That movie, along with The Matrix, has given me hope and faith in Hollywood once again.
(Alright, so I only used that subject because it's catchy.:) )
I don't think enough is being said about Being John Malkovitch. It's a truly bizarre gem of a movie, one you would expect to be made by a few stoned kids with the Sundance Festival crowd in mind, and not a US-wide distribution with a cast of well-recognisable faces.
This movie has a bit of the same problem as "Dogma": it's a wonderful notion, but the directors aren't entirely sure where to go with it, or how to wrap it up. Still, both are well worth seeing.
I disagree with you. I think they had a very clear idea of where they were going, and they constantly made a point of playing with our expectations. Things like, 'Surely they can't do that to John Malkovitch!' In the end, they took what was a nifty concept, and pushed it to the extreme.
Unless, of course, when you say 'wrap up' you mean 'give a neat little happy ending where bad is punished and the hero gets the girl.'
Frankly, you should have spent more time reviewing movies you liked (like Dogma, BJM and TS2) than blasting Arnie's flick. What did you expect? Shakespeare dialogue? Incisive insight into the nature of evil? EoD doesn't pretend to be anything else than it is: an exploitation, wrapped in special effects and action, of the vaguely pop cultural notion that the world could end in 2000.
Heh. So Microsoft doesn't list their credits? In NT, to see the NT credits, you have to put the screensaver to '3D Text' and enter 'not evil' as the text to be displayed. It then lists the developpers. I guess even M$ employees know who they're working for...
Nothing gets a hacker's back up quicker than someone confusing a hacker with cracker.
Heh! Did we drive that point home or what.:) They then go about for a paragraph on how a cracker and a hacker are different concepts. Too bad they thought Wargames was based on "Kevin Mitnick"'s exploit. That's a great big mistake for Jane.
The amazing thing in this is that XFree86 has not been invited before. I think most geeks wouldn't even differentiate between XFree86 and X. It's like creating a group on Open Source OSes and not inviting Linux people.
At least people got the wake-up call. It just goes to show that establishments exist even within the Open Source community.
I rarely see any petition that truly makes a politician change its policies, much less force them to invest into a big project, especially something as huge as the space race to Mars (well, let's call it the Space Leisurely-Stroll-in-the-Park at the race it's going.)
Sadly enough, there's two things that may make the Mars exploraiton a reality:
Economic imperative (there's something remotely worthwhile over there.)
Political muscle-flexing (i.e. it's pointless, but it'll look cool in the next Presidential campaign)
Pissing contest (see: Cold War Space Race)
I propose we leak information to the Chinese so they enter the next Cold War with the US, and tell every Chinese we meet that Mars is a really swell place.
Ah, hell. Lead me to the petition. It's still the best hope we've got... I just think it ain't much. Because even though we may have in theory the power to affect the course of national politics, in the end, we're pretty much powerless at it.
An interesting addendum to the story of the longbow... After the English beat the French senseless at Poitiers, the French decided to implement the longbow as well. Unfortunately, they didn't consider the impact carefully: the English had founded new orders of chivalry to keep the nobles relatively happy, but the French did not.
The result was, when the French started using longbowmen, the noble knights got fed up at seeing commoners lead the battle, and cut through their ranks with swords and massacred their own archers. When they finished with the slaughter, they charged the English, only to be decimated in turn by the English arrows.
If you ever go to England, you'll notice that "The Finger" is given with two fingers, not one. This is attributed to the French archers, whose two fingers the English would cut to prevent them from firing a bow. The French would give the English these two fingers to show they still had them and could fire a bow. And thus the gesture caught on in England.
You know, I bet the first time that guy (or gal, hey: female geeks exist) walked into a cavern carrying fire, there was a lot of controversy and debate.
The point is: even though a technology may be beneficial to humanity, there will always be opposition to it at first. It's not a modern phenomenon! The first time the English introduced the longbow during the Hundred Year War, the English knights were outraged that commoners would strike the first blow in battle. Then, as time goes on, they realise it's a really useful technology, and acceptance spreads.
Ditto with computers and most modern technologies. At first, we're all scared that the future will be ruled by robots or something like that. But now, society accepts and embraces the potential of modern technology.
It's never gonna change, and in a way it's a blessing. It's that sort of distrust of innovation that prevents us from using technology without thinking on its consequences. In that respect, scifi writers are our watchdogs, warning us long in advance of the risks, but also the rewards, of a possible innovation.
Sorry. I seem to have noticed we come from diametrically opposite ends of the political and social spectrum. I think we'll just rip each other's head off if we keep it up, so I'll shut up.
"The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the evil get to go home early on Fridays."
For the record, I am not a: racist, nazi, spammer, FBI agent, gay basher or alien. I do not encourage flames nor did I flame this guy in the first place. As a matter of fact, I was surprised to see Slashdotters picked up on the ISP instead of the FBI.
Again: try not to misquote this, this time, people:
Although the means were despicable and wrong, the end result is that the guy understands his rights better. No, I never said the end justifies the means. No, I didn't say the guy was the rightful target. I never encouraged flames and stated so many times.
All I did say was, somehow, there is a small positive point to this mess.
Side-note: To someone saying the Holocaust was carried by the Germans knowingly: I totally disagree. Yes, the SS knew exactly what they were doing, but all the truck drivers, lever pullers, etc. who have been rightfully idemnised for WW2 were 'just doing their job'. Look up the Milgram experiment some day.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't follow you. But if you want, you can email me. My email is shown on my user page.
Man. First Bruce Perens and now me?)
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
(Man. First Bruce Perens and now me?)
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
(Man. First Bruce Perens and now me?)
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
This feels like something out of a bad Star Trek episode!
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
This poster is a fake. Notice the period at the end of his name.
My user # is 57473.
Life is tough. If only I had a gimmick like the statue or the grits guys, I could be a true h4ck3r...
Wish I didn't have to explain all this, but I want to believe the moderation system actually works, and isn't being used mainly by people whose sole concern is to mark posts according to a blind logic of popularity.
Scary.
(I wouldn't mention Slashdot.com, but I figure someone should bring it to public attention that guys out there are making money off of mis-hits to /.)
Now, I did enjoy The Matrix more. It's half a coincidence. :)
So: as a programmer, my question is, what's in it for me? How will this transaction make J++ a better development tool?
I guess the answer is, it won't make it that much better (or less worse, as you may see it; I personally like J++ for it's, ah, userfriendliness.) It will still be a Microsoft-marketed product.
But the thing is, it won't be developped too close to Microsoft's heart. It means the development kit won't be built so much with other Microsoft tools in mind (like Visual Basic or Visual C++.) That means the product may become more intuitive and less restrained by impossible constraints. Like, for instance, the layout of the buttons and menus. You can recognise a Microsoft product by the way they try to make it into an Office lookalike, although the Office layout never made sense in the first place.
Well, that's a slim hope. I guess J++ will stay more or less the same... And when you can code in vi, it's not like the buttons layout matters that much, anyway.
As such, I'm enclined to place Being John Malkovich in the same thematic category as The Matrix, Thirteenth Floor and Existenz. And truly, Being John Malkovich is way in front of Thirteenth Floor and Existenz in depth and fun involved, and just slightly under The Matrix.
It's definitely a geek flick. It's definitely fun. And it's supremely original. That movie, along with The Matrix, has given me hope and faith in Hollywood once again.
I don't think enough is being said about Being John Malkovitch. It's a truly bizarre gem of a movie, one you would expect to be made by a few stoned kids with the Sundance Festival crowd in mind, and not a US-wide distribution with a cast of well-recognisable faces.
I disagree with you. I think they had a very clear idea of where they were going, and they constantly made a point of playing with our expectations. Things like, 'Surely they can't do that to John Malkovitch!' In the end, they took what was a nifty concept, and pushed it to the extreme.
Unless, of course, when you say 'wrap up' you mean 'give a neat little happy ending where bad is punished and the hero gets the girl.'
Frankly, you should have spent more time reviewing movies you liked (like Dogma, BJM and TS2) than blasting Arnie's flick. What did you expect? Shakespeare dialogue? Incisive insight into the nature of evil? EoD doesn't pretend to be anything else than it is: an exploitation, wrapped in special effects and action, of the vaguely pop cultural notion that the world could end in 2000.
For further fun with easter eggs, I recommend The Easter Eggs Archive.
Heh! Did we drive that point home or what. :) They then go about for a paragraph on how a cracker and a hacker are different concepts. Too bad they thought Wargames was based on "Kevin Mitnick"'s exploit. That's a great big mistake for Jane.
I think it should say, 'X.Org joins XFree86'. :)
At least people got the wake-up call. It just goes to show that establishments exist even within the Open Source community.
Sadly enough, there's two things that may make the Mars exploraiton a reality:
Economic imperative (there's something remotely worthwhile over there.)
Political muscle-flexing (i.e. it's pointless, but it'll look cool in the next Presidential campaign)
Pissing contest (see: Cold War Space Race)
I propose we leak information to the Chinese so they enter the next Cold War with the US, and tell every Chinese we meet that Mars is a really swell place.
Ah, hell. Lead me to the petition. It's still the best hope we've got... I just think it ain't much. Because even though we may have in theory the power to affect the course of national politics, in the end, we're pretty much powerless at it.
What are the 1st and 2nd signs of the End?
The result was, when the French started using longbowmen, the noble knights got fed up at seeing commoners lead the battle, and cut through their ranks with swords and massacred their own archers. When they finished with the slaughter, they charged the English, only to be decimated in turn by the English arrows.
If you ever go to England, you'll notice that "The Finger" is given with two fingers, not one. This is attributed to the French archers, whose two fingers the English would cut to prevent them from firing a bow. The French would give the English these two fingers to show they still had them and could fire a bow. And thus the gesture caught on in England.
History is full of fascinating stuff. :)
Yeah, I can just see it. From nuclear weapons to Death Stars!
The point is: even though a technology may be beneficial to humanity, there will always be opposition to it at first. It's not a modern phenomenon! The first time the English introduced the longbow during the Hundred Year War, the English knights were outraged that commoners would strike the first blow in battle. Then, as time goes on, they realise it's a really useful technology, and acceptance spreads.
Ditto with computers and most modern technologies. At first, we're all scared that the future will be ruled by robots or something like that. But now, society accepts and embraces the potential of modern technology.
It's never gonna change, and in a way it's a blessing. It's that sort of distrust of innovation that prevents us from using technology without thinking on its consequences. In that respect, scifi writers are our watchdogs, warning us long in advance of the risks, but also the rewards, of a possible innovation.
Sorry. I seem to have noticed we come from diametrically opposite ends of the political and social spectrum. I think we'll just rip each other's head off if we keep it up, so I'll shut up.
"The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the evil get to go home early on Fridays."
For the record, I am not a: racist, nazi, spammer, FBI agent, gay basher or alien. I do not encourage flames nor did I flame this guy in the first place. As a matter of fact, I was surprised to see Slashdotters picked up on the ISP instead of the FBI.
Again: try not to misquote this, this time, people:
Although the means were despicable and wrong, the end result is that the guy understands his rights better. No, I never said the end justifies the means. No, I didn't say the guy was the rightful target. I never encouraged flames and stated so many times.
All I did say was, somehow, there is a small positive point to this mess.
Side-note: To someone saying the Holocaust was carried by the Germans knowingly: I totally disagree. Yes, the SS knew exactly what they were doing, but all the truck drivers, lever pullers, etc. who have been rightfully idemnised for WW2 were 'just doing their job'. Look up the Milgram experiment some day.