I completely agree with the issue of the search box being at the bottom of the screen. I work on a 21" monitor, and it drives me nuts looking down, then on the page, back and forth.
There are quite a few low-end, inexpensive 3D animation packages. Ulead makes one for example. Aside from Blender, there are no truly free 3D packages at all. Truth is, no professional actually uses Blender. You'll see the occasional one-off logo or something like that, but even a serious hobbiest uses something like Lightwave or Max.
There's been kind of a trickle-down in free software. First we got things everybody needs, like an email client. Then we got software that a lot of people need, like a word processor. Then we got the Gimp, which some people need. Eventually, we'll get the specialty applications, like 3D software. It's just a matter of time.
It's just common sense that someone "devoted" to something will expend considerably more resources on it.
As a consumer, non-essential item, games and consoles are fairly reasonably priced. Of course someone that is devoted to gaming can and will spend many times what the "casual" user will spend. It's their hobby.
A lot of people, when disposing of a computer, want to keep the OS and the applications installed because they're giving it to a relative or friend or something like that If that's the case, something like Derek's Boot and Nuke obviously isn't appropriate. There are, however many tools out there that help you clean up a windows machine such as Eraserto wipe data and CCleaner to clear out temp junk.
I don't want to disparage their efforts at all, it does look like a very interesting and worthwhile project. Perhaps this article will attract more people to it.
However, it seems a bit premature to have this on the front page of Slashdot.
Yes, it's Windows-only. Frankly, I felt that to include Linux software would be largely redundant since so much of it is already free, and I don't know enough about Mac software to include that.
I should put the OpenCD link on there. I'm familiar with it and have downloaded it before. Good stuff.
I do this a lot. I run a freeware review site [blatant plug] , and I basically scour delicious.org/popular and software, digg.com / software , freshmeat, FileForum Beta News and a few others. I download 'em, try em, and see what's what. It's a little easier for me because I'm limited to freeware, but these are good places to start.
Who is buying these? I think it has to be the novelty factor that's propelling sales.
There is video everywhere now. In your car. In the bar. In your house. With a mouse. In all waiting rooms. In the classroom. There's even videos playing when I stand in line at the convenience store.
Paying that kind of money for something that you will probably watch, at the most, a few times on a tiny screen is absolutely insane.
A coworker told me that he has been using Nextel to communicate with people in the area without any problems whatsoever. Not free, but he said it works.
This sounds really interesting. I've been fascinated for a while with how the file / folder metaphor has become so entrenched that people have a difficult time imagining any other way of thinking about it.
As the OS has become more sophisticated, most computer users now never see things like a disk defrag. They really think that there is a file, all in one spot in their computer, that sits literally next to other files in the same folder. The idea that you can recover a file that has been "deleted" seems like deep wizardry, with no thought to the more impressive wizardry that makes "files" out of pieces of metal with a magnet.
I completely agree with this. It's one of my gripes mentioned in this review Google Talk - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly I alse address the Jabber issue (not so eloquently as TFA).
An iPod mini with flash memory instead of a hard drive obviously would have much better battery life and be significantly lighter.
What's it worth to you, though? $300? Will we have to wait a while before the price point becomes attractive? For me, frankly, battery life has never been an issue.
What does this blue frog inituative do thats so magical to get rid of spammers.
You really don't know? Geneticists have engineered a breed of frogs that subsist entirely on Spam. An interesting side effect is their attractive blue coloration.
(munch, munch, eat my words) I should really have said "starvation" instead of "hunger". Or perhaps "nearly eliminated".
However the definition of hunger has changed in the US. Poor nutrition and malnutrition are much bigger problems than the feeling of hunger. It's common for overweight people to be malnourished because high-calorie / low-nutrition foods are so inexpensive.
Having said all that, it amazes me that you can buy a burger for a buck or less anywhere in the country. That's about one percent of an average day's wages. (Didn't calclulate it, so nobody yell at me.)
Slashdot Mirror
I completely agree with the issue of the search box being at the bottom of the screen. I work on a 21" monitor, and it drives me nuts looking down, then on the page, back and forth.
Do you have any examples? I'm not being argumentative. I really would like to see some.
I worked as a professional animator (3D and 2D) for several years and knew nobody that used Blender.
I would love to be proved wrong. I think Blender's a fantastic product.
There are quite a few low-end, inexpensive 3D animation packages. Ulead makes one for example. Aside from Blender, there are no truly free 3D packages at all. Truth is, no professional actually uses Blender. You'll see the occasional one-off logo or something like that, but even a serious hobbiest uses something like Lightwave or Max.
There's been kind of a trickle-down in free software. First we got things everybody needs, like an email client. Then we got software that a lot of people need, like a word processor. Then we got the Gimp, which some people need. Eventually, we'll get the specialty applications, like 3D software. It's just a matter of time.
It's just common sense that someone "devoted" to something will expend considerably more resources on it.
As a consumer, non-essential item, games and consoles are fairly reasonably priced. Of course someone that is devoted to gaming can and will spend many times what the "casual" user will spend. It's their hobby.
A lot of people, when disposing of a computer, want to keep the OS and the applications installed because they're giving it to a relative or friend or something like that If that's the case, something like Derek's Boot and Nuke obviously isn't appropriate. There are, however many tools out there that help you clean up a windows machine such as Eraserto wipe data and CCleaner to clear out temp junk.
Being an unsophisticated mouth-breather, I always mutter out loud anything I type.
If this happens, I'll put money on it that the free pc to pc calls will become adware.
Interplanetary Protocol?
What's that? IPvGoogol?
Yahoo was probably just mad at him for creating too many Yahoo email accounts.
If it ain't broke... oh, nevermind.
I don't want to disparage their efforts at all, it does look like a very interesting and worthwhile project. Perhaps this article will attract more people to it.
However, it seems a bit premature to have this on the front page of Slashdot.
Very kind of you.
Yes, it's Windows-only. Frankly, I felt that to include Linux software would be largely redundant since so much of it is already free, and I don't know enough about Mac software to include that.
I should put the OpenCD link on there. I'm familiar with it and have downloaded it before. Good stuff.
"By indexing the material, Google hopes to attract more visitors to its Web site and spawn more searches that generate advertising revenue.
I thought they were doing it because they wanted to show off.
I do this a lot.
I run a freeware review site [blatant plug] , and I basically scour delicious.org/popular and software, digg.com / software , freshmeat, FileForum Beta News and a few others. I download 'em, try em, and see what's what. It's a little easier for me because I'm limited to freeware, but these are good places to start.
This seems to me an obvious fit.
There should be an option to disable a specific key, if lost, so you don't have to change the "lock".
It should be fairly easy to hack it so that you can make more keys, but it's really easy to do that with current car keys.
Who is buying these? I think it has to be the novelty factor that's propelling sales.
There is video everywhere now. In your car. In the bar. In your house. With a mouse. In all waiting rooms. In the classroom. There's even videos playing when I stand in line at the convenience store.
Paying that kind of money for something that you will probably watch, at the most, a few times on a tiny screen is absolutely insane.
A coworker told me that he has been using Nextel to communicate with people in the area without any problems whatsoever. Not free, but he said it works.
This sounds really interesting. I've been fascinated for a while with how the file / folder metaphor has become so entrenched that people have a difficult time imagining any other way of thinking about it.
As the OS has become more sophisticated, most computer users now never see things like a disk defrag. They really think that there is a file, all in one spot in their computer, that sits literally next to other files in the same folder. The idea that you can recover a file that has been "deleted" seems like deep wizardry, with no thought to the more impressive wizardry that makes "files" out of pieces of metal with a magnet.
I completely agree with this. It's one of my gripes mentioned in this review
Google Talk - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I alse address the Jabber issue (not so eloquently as TFA).
You know how it is. When you're young, it's hard to keep your worm to yourself.
An iPod mini with flash memory instead of a hard drive obviously would have much better battery life and be significantly lighter.
What's it worth to you, though? $300? Will we have to wait a while before the price point becomes attractive? For me, frankly, battery life has never been an issue.
A review of Google Talk I wrote that addresses the subject.
Google Talk Review
I had a Richie Rich comic book, and his dad took a drug EXACTLY LIKE THIS. And he became EVIL. No kidding.
Richie Rich: harbinger of the future.
What does this blue frog inituative do thats so magical to get rid of spammers.
You really don't know? Geneticists have engineered a breed of frogs that subsist entirely on Spam. An interesting side effect is their attractive blue coloration.
(munch, munch, eat my words)
I should really have said "starvation" instead of "hunger". Or perhaps "nearly eliminated".
However the definition of hunger has changed in the US. Poor nutrition and malnutrition are much bigger problems than the feeling of hunger. It's common for overweight people to be malnourished because high-calorie / low-nutrition foods are so inexpensive.
Having said all that, it amazes me that you can buy a burger for a buck or less anywhere in the country. That's about one percent of an average day's wages. (Didn't calclulate it, so nobody yell at me.)