NASA should be doing pure science, and that should be reason enough to excite Joe Public.
This just in: not everybody likes the same stuff you do.
NASA is regularly forced to do shitty high-profile, useless and pathetic "interstellar internet" stunts with shitty dotcoms to attract attention
So negative! Did you ever think the people at JPL/NASA did this because it's fun? There are lots of us who absolutely have our minds blown by the success of Curiosity AND think stuff like this is neat too.
Nokia is still screwed. Maps are important, but in the end they are just another app on the phone and one great map app isn't enough to make up for the rest of the missing apps for Windows Phone. Nokia could win (ie survive) if they can build developer interest faster than Apple can build a map application. They might also do exceedingly well in certain verticals where employees don't get to choose their phone.
Apple is on a maps hiring spree right now. How long do you think it will take them to hire away the best Nokia developers?
Mandriva and kubuntu and likely others are head and shoulders above Windows in every measure except "shiny". Windows has no features those distros lack, and they have many features Windows lacks.
How many people do you think choose an operating system based on features? The operating system is boring infrastructure and all that matters is that it can support doing the things you want to do on your machine with little hassle. If they can afford it, many will choose a Mac because it can legally run more software than any other platform. Otherwise, they will choose the platform that best matches their needs (which is often an iPad device these days).
Mandriva may be the slickest OS ever, but if you have to run XCode or Visual Studio all day, it's useless.
I don't like how Firefox (and Chrome) no longer expire session cookies. So now, if you log in to get your email, it doesn't matter if you check the 'keep me logged in' button. Firefox has decided that you will stay logged in.
It's choosing convenience over security and that's rarely a decision I'm going to agree with.
There are actually a lot of good performance-based reasons to adopt Windows 8. I don't like Metro with a mouse and keyboard, but I might still upgrade to Windows 8 for the performance improvements.
The server side is even more interesting. AFAIK, this is the first Microsoft server OS that can be run without a GUI, using only PowerShell.
That's why I got one as well. I also wanted a tablet that had a chance of being updated. It's the same reason I bought a Nexus S phone a couple of years ago. It's still being updated. My contract is up at the end of this year, so I will get whatever the new Google reference phone is.
It's interesting that Gartner doesn't include tablets running iOS or Android but they do include tablets running Windows. I wonder how they justify that? I wonder if Windows RT tablets will be counted as a PC?
Oh wow, I didn't know about that. I think it seems pretty clear that Steam in the living room is going to happen. I think they tried to work out something with Sony before launching Portal on the PS3, but there's no way a company as controlling and conservative as Sony would let an alternate store on their hardware. This part of the gaming market is just begging for disruption and nobody can be disruptive like Valve.
A port to Linux also means that Steam could run on Android.
It does? If so, that's actually a much more likely prediction I think.
Can you connect the dots though? I know Android is a VM typically running on top of a stripped down Linux, but that's about it as far as the two are connected, no?
I believe that Valve is thinking about what it would take to get into the console business and Linux could be the key. I think this is the proof of concept stage- get the Steam client and a couple of games running on Linux. Evaluate how much work it takes and evaluate the game performance on Linux.
If they can come up with a way to port games cleanly and inexpensively, then suddenly Steam in the living room is a no-brainer. Commodity hardware in a nice case with bluetooth accessories. Rev the hardware every two years instead of every 7 or 8 years and make sure that new games are playable on older consoles by automatically reducing game settings.
Care you explain how you would do that search on, say, redmine.org? AFAIK, you can search descriptions using the search box in the top right, but you can't filter those results by status or category. In the issues list, you can create a filter for status and category, but not description.
It would also be nice if you could search for attached files. There have been times where we have a file and can't find the bug associated with. I have to open our MySQL instance and look it up there.
You can't search for multiple works in the subject. For example, if you filter the open issues of redmine.org for subjects with "email asynchronous", you don't get any results. Filter for "asynchronous email" and you get at least one result.
Redmine is nice (especially the REST API), but its search sucks.
We use Redmine as well, but it has some fairly severe problems. The biggest is the lack of a search function. There's no way to make a query like "find all open bugs assigned to category 'X' where the description contains 'keyword'".
If you make use of subprojects, then the fact that categories aren't shared can be a huge PITA.
watch what Apple does... then implement whatever that is in Windows
And the one time they try to predict where Apple is going and beat them there, we end up with Windows 8 + Metro. I'm convinced that back in 2008 or 2009, Microsoft predicted that iOS and OSX would be merged. I really can't understand any other reason for their current strategy.
Even better, I could just say "fuck off" to Apple because there isn't some Apple-only software I need to run.
That really is the bottomline. The operating system these days is boring infrastructure. Pick the applications you need to run, then select the best operating system for that software. You don't rely on Apple-only software, but lots of people do.
What are you talking about? What has Apple done on their desktop that even comes close to the changes Microsoft is working on with Metro?
I think you would be surprised just how well Apple is doing in the corporate space. Microsoft still dominates for sure and really isn't in any danger of losing their dominance, but I've seen a lot of Mac's in offices lately just because they can run more software than any other platform out there. Typically, the need to develop on iOS brought in the first Macs, jealousy brought in the rest.
My favorite Windows 7 features are the keyboard shortcuts, especially Win-1, Win-2, etc... for stuff pinned to the task bar. Does Metro have something similar? I would assume the desktop mode of Windows 8 would work the same as Windows 7, but I haven't confirmed that.
Metro itself isn't the problem. In fact, I think it's the first UI that Microsoft has really spent a lot of time on aesthetics.
The problem is their insistence on Windows everywhere. The entire world outside of Microsoft seems to understand that a one-size-fits-all UI is a fantasy. Metro is a good choice for handheld devices with relatively small screens. It makes little sense on a desktop or laptop.
The server version looks cool. You can boot it to a command line. The full GUI is a loadable option.
Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7 in every way. If I could get it without the Metro UI or only the Metro UI, I would likely buy it. If the final version is the same as the consumer preview, I'm not interested at all.
My comment may be somewhat hyperbolic, but it isn't generally false. Pick out your favorite MS research fellow and compare their publishing history before and after joining Microsoft. Most of the people I'm talking about come from academia and perhaps it's just the nature of the academic world -- publish or perish. Maybe they join Microsoft in part to escape that cycle?
Microsoft Research is the most depressing part of that whole company. There have so many great researchers and computer scientists working there and you hear very little from them. People who used to publish papers every year join up with MR and are never heard from again. It's a roach motel of computer scientists.
Slashdot Mirror
This just in: not everybody likes the same stuff you do.
So negative! Did you ever think the people at JPL/NASA did this because it's fun? There are lots of us who absolutely have our minds blown by the success of Curiosity AND think stuff like this is neat too.
Nokia is still screwed. Maps are important, but in the end they are just another app on the phone and one great map app isn't enough to make up for the rest of the missing apps for Windows Phone. Nokia could win (ie survive) if they can build developer interest faster than Apple can build a map application. They might also do exceedingly well in certain verticals where employees don't get to choose their phone.
Apple is on a maps hiring spree right now. How long do you think it will take them to hire away the best Nokia developers?
How many people do you think choose an operating system based on features? The operating system is boring infrastructure and all that matters is that it can support doing the things you want to do on your machine with little hassle. If they can afford it, many will choose a Mac because it can legally run more software than any other platform. Otherwise, they will choose the platform that best matches their needs (which is often an iPad device these days).
Mandriva may be the slickest OS ever, but if you have to run XCode or Visual Studio all day, it's useless.
I don't like how Firefox (and Chrome) no longer expire session cookies. So now, if you log in to get your email, it doesn't matter if you check the 'keep me logged in' button. Firefox has decided that you will stay logged in.
It's choosing convenience over security and that's rarely a decision I'm going to agree with.
There are actually a lot of good performance-based reasons to adopt Windows 8. I don't like Metro with a mouse and keyboard, but I might still upgrade to Windows 8 for the performance improvements.
The server side is even more interesting. AFAIK, this is the first Microsoft server OS that can be run without a GUI, using only PowerShell.
That's why I got one as well. I also wanted a tablet that had a chance of being updated. It's the same reason I bought a Nexus S phone a couple of years ago. It's still being updated. My contract is up at the end of this year, so I will get whatever the new Google reference phone is.
It's interesting that Gartner doesn't include tablets running iOS or Android but they do include tablets running Windows. I wonder how they justify that? I wonder if Windows RT tablets will be counted as a PC?
Oh wow, I didn't know about that. I think it seems pretty clear that Steam in the living room is going to happen. I think they tried to work out something with Sony before launching Portal on the PS3, but there's no way a company as controlling and conservative as Sony would let an alternate store on their hardware. This part of the gaming market is just begging for disruption and nobody can be disruptive like Valve.
It does? If so, that's actually a much more likely prediction I think.
Can you connect the dots though? I know Android is a VM typically running on top of a stripped down Linux, but that's about it as far as the two are connected, no?
I believe that Valve is thinking about what it would take to get into the console business and Linux could be the key. I think this is the proof of concept stage- get the Steam client and a couple of games running on Linux. Evaluate how much work it takes and evaluate the game performance on Linux.
If they can come up with a way to port games cleanly and inexpensively, then suddenly Steam in the living room is a no-brainer. Commodity hardware in a nice case with bluetooth accessories. Rev the hardware every two years instead of every 7 or 8 years and make sure that new games are playable on older consoles by automatically reducing game settings.
Care you explain how you would do that search on, say, redmine.org? AFAIK, you can search descriptions using the search box in the top right, but you can't filter those results by status or category. In the issues list, you can create a filter for status and category, but not description.
It would also be nice if you could search for attached files. There have been times where we have a file and can't find the bug associated with. I have to open our MySQL instance and look it up there.
You can't search for multiple works in the subject. For example, if you filter the open issues of redmine.org for subjects with "email asynchronous", you don't get any results. Filter for "asynchronous email" and you get at least one result.
Redmine is nice (especially the REST API), but its search sucks.
We use Redmine as well, but it has some fairly severe problems. The biggest is the lack of a search function. There's no way to make a query like "find all open bugs assigned to category 'X' where the description contains 'keyword'".
If you make use of subprojects, then the fact that categories aren't shared can be a huge PITA.
You really should pay attention.
And the one time they try to predict where Apple is going and beat them there, we end up with Windows 8 + Metro. I'm convinced that back in 2008 or 2009, Microsoft predicted that iOS and OSX would be merged. I really can't understand any other reason for their current strategy.
That really is the bottomline. The operating system these days is boring infrastructure. Pick the applications you need to run, then select the best operating system for that software. You don't rely on Apple-only software, but lots of people do.
Apple machines can run Windows, OSX and lots of unixy software. You can't (legally) do the same on a Windows machine.
Even on an ARM tablet?
What are you talking about? What has Apple done on their desktop that even comes close to the changes Microsoft is working on with Metro?
I think you would be surprised just how well Apple is doing in the corporate space. Microsoft still dominates for sure and really isn't in any danger of losing their dominance, but I've seen a lot of Mac's in offices lately just because they can run more software than any other platform out there. Typically, the need to develop on iOS brought in the first Macs, jealousy brought in the rest.
My favorite Windows 7 features are the keyboard shortcuts, especially Win-1, Win-2, etc... for stuff pinned to the task bar. Does Metro have something similar? I would assume the desktop mode of Windows 8 would work the same as Windows 7, but I haven't confirmed that.
Metro itself isn't the problem. In fact, I think it's the first UI that Microsoft has really spent a lot of time on aesthetics.
The problem is their insistence on Windows everywhere. The entire world outside of Microsoft seems to understand that a one-size-fits-all UI is a fantasy. Metro is a good choice for handheld devices with relatively small screens. It makes little sense on a desktop or laptop.
It seems like Microsoft's plan for Windows is to get rid of windows.
The server version looks cool. You can boot it to a command line. The full GUI is a loadable option.
Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7 in every way. If I could get it without the Metro UI or only the Metro UI, I would likely buy it. If the final version is the same as the consumer preview, I'm not interested at all.
My comment may be somewhat hyperbolic, but it isn't generally false. Pick out your favorite MS research fellow and compare their publishing history before and after joining Microsoft. Most of the people I'm talking about come from academia and perhaps it's just the nature of the academic world -- publish or perish. Maybe they join Microsoft in part to escape that cycle?
If you are trying to cheer me up, it isn't working.
Microsoft Research is the most depressing part of that whole company. There have so many great researchers and computer scientists working there and you hear very little from them. People who used to publish papers every year join up with MR and are never heard from again. It's a roach motel of computer scientists.