Granted, flawed security may have allowed this. However, the flawed security was not really Microsoft's intent.
Saying that we should blame mainly Microsoft for virii is saying like we should mainly blame the homeowner for leaving the window opening (or the window maker, for making a window that could be left open), which allowed the robber to come in and steal everything.
Yes, it was a stupid move, but nothing would have happened had the robber not intended to be malicious. The open window only made things easier. Even if the window had been closed, the robber could still have busted the window, or found another way in.
In the same way, even if Microsoft was more secure, there would still be attacks on it, because it is the most used OS system in the world.
Could Microsoft prevented something like this? Perhaps. But the fact is that the virus would not be there if not for the virus-writer. Blaming Microsoft for a virus is just a bad attempt at boosting one's own anti-Microsoft's opinions, and ignores the other, more pertinent issue.
It's still not extortion because Microsoft didn't intend for this to happen.
I'm redminded of the movie The 6th Day (starring the Governator), where in one scene Ahnold and whoever was co-starring were sitting in a truck, looking at each other and talking while the car drove. When they got close to their destination, the car beeped and informed them that it would be returning to manual in 10... 9...
The car also had built in GPS with maps, and seemed to be able to drive itself anywhere, though not from the exact beginning to the exact end (it relied on humans for such things as parking.)
Does this new Honda have any of this? Being able to have the car hold your position is helpful, especially because it will allow you to pay greater attention to other driving matters, such as cars surrounding you and judging your next turn off (though, at least in America, it will just allow Soccer Mom's to apply more make-up, sigh.)
Can the Honda steer around cars that are going too slow? Say it's set to a +/-10 mile variance; if a car in front of you is going 10 miles slower than you want to go (or the speed limit allows, depending on how its set up), will the car automatically work around it? What if a car is coming up behind you too fast; will it move over to let the other car pass?
Can it navigate itself off of highways? We already have GPS-enabled systems that inform you when a turn or exit is coming up that you need to take; how well could they integrate that into the car steering itself?
What happens if the road lines dissappear or become unreadable, be it from construction or wear? Does it hold a straight course, alerting you right away? Does it slow down? Or is it looking far enough ahead that it would have enough time to alert you to resume manual control?
Does it merely watch the road, or does it calculate the shape? What if a car changes lanes in front of you, blocking the camera from seeing the lines, and right after the road goes straight after being a curve? What will the car do? Will it have enough data to know the road it about to straighten?
I love the idea of a car driving itself, if only because that means less asshats on the road (their car, unmodded, will certainly respect road rules and common decency, even if its owner doesn't.) However, there are a lot of questions I have before I feel safe driving in one of these. Also, I'm sure someone will figure out within a month how to clip something onto the steering wheel to make it think that someone is touching it. (Or, the stupid parents will just tell their kid in the passenger to reach over and touch the steering wheel, while said stupid parent goes on talking on a cell or grroming his/herself or whatever.)
Extortion is when someone says "pay or do this, or something bad could happen later", and the person saying that is the one that will make the bad happen later.
In this case, it's Microsoft saying "We'll take care of this problem sooner for a little money", but someone else will make the bad thing happen regardless. Microsoft is just offering clean up/prevention, not "assured safety". Your lack of acceptance will not make the problem better or worse; it will stay exactly the same.
An analogy might be that there's a gang of kids going around defacing houses, and Company XYZ says "We'll stick a security guard in front of your house for a little extra money, so you'll be ready when those kids show up, and won't have to wait for the police to show up when you do get hit." XYZ is offering an enhanced service; if you turn them down, your house will likely get defaced, but not because of anything XYZ did.
(If you can show that XYZ/Micrsoft is in cohorts with the kids/virus writer, then that is indeed extortion, but at face it's mislabeling.)
Just because you hate opening a shell, doesn't mean the rest of the Unix and Linux world do.
This one statement sums up most common bad idea I've seen when people talk about making *nix desktops for the masses: "It works just fine now, we don't need to change it."
"I understand these weird shortenings and what they do. We don't need to change it."
"I know how to install new drives and hardware through a series of text commands. We don't need to change it."
And that's just it. It works fine; hell, it could work great, but only for the Unix/Linux world.
If anyone wants the *nix desktop to gain ground, they have to realize one main thing: They have to leave the *nix world to do that.
Unix/Linux people are fine with terminals and command lines, because they are used to that and forced into it.
Unix/Linux people are fine with having to do a million little tweaks to get their OS to work with their equipment, because they are used to it and forced into it.
Windows people and, somewhat, Mac users, have had and want none of this. At least in the U.S., to make any signficant desktop growth, you have to pull people away from Windows. If *nix can't automatically handle all of the tasks that Windows does, if *nix requires a thousand tweaks when installing an external USB drive, if *nix forces you to use the command line to do a few uncommon, but not rare, tasks, Windows users will get frusturated and move back to Windows.
That's why Windows survives. Yes, it's one huge security nightmare. Yes, it often crashes. The populace knows this, and are fine with it, because Windows takes care of most OS tasks for them automatically, so they don't have to deal with "that complicated stuff".
Also, Windows people love the mouse. Why bother remembering a hundered keyboard shortcuts when you can easily move the mouse to a little icon or a menu and click?
That's backwards. The plebian would find "mv x y" to be harder to learn than "move x y". It's easier, because it's expected, and the mind will associate the word with the action, because the word is familiar.
Everyone who speaks English uses the word "move". People are told to "move" files all the time. So, if someone quickly flips through a command line manual (I'd be surprised if the common user does even that) will remember that "move" moves files, but rarely will they remember what "mv" does. Yes, you could sound it out, but there's too large a margin of error.
And, even if they're not sure how to use it, they should be able to type "help move" and get an easy explanation with lots of examples (leave the technical stuff and option list until the end.)
Again, that works fine for those who actually know Linux.
Regular users aren't going to bother taking the time to alias all of the commands (assuming they're ever able to find out about alias); they'll just migrate back to Windows. After all, being Linux, it will most likely be free, so they've lost only time.
Amongst many of the rumors lately, one has come to the forefront, and may be the end or beginning of us all.
According to the International Herald, God plans to acquire George Bush. More specifically, they state, God intends to acquire the office of President of the United States, and use that to help turn more people towards His Will, as well as enacting greater protection for national forests.
"Absolutely crazy," stated Vice President Dick Cheney, caught between heart surgeries. "God has never talked to us. Uh, well, myself. Ol' George says he's heard a few snippets here and there, but I'm not too sure."
However, the International Herald sticks by their piece, claiming to get the news from a source they would only name as "Gabriel".
We were unable to contact God before press time.
(I realize stock prices rise and fall based on the Rumor of the Day, but it's been crazy lately.)
I've never had much in the way of Enix/Dragon Quest experience, but I don't believe Dragon Quest has had much of a showing over here in the states before VIII, correct? (If not, I'm probably confusing it with Fire Emblem or something.)
If so, that would explain for the low sales. Fans of the series in Japan know how the previous games were, and reacted accordingly. Americans, excluding the small fanbase that does imports, don't know squat about it as far as experience, and in this age of sequels, that really matters.
If Google is working on an actual OS, and not just something to work in the background of, say, a cybercafe computer, then this may be the push Linux needs to become a major Desktop player.
Not that many people know about Linux. A lot of people know about Google, to the point that "google" has become a verb ("search for"). If someone suggests putting a Linux OS on a computer, the common man will be unsure and wary of it, knowing little about Linux, despite how much it's used regularly. However, say you want to put a new OS from Google on it, and a lot of people will open up. After all, they're used to the Google web search interface, a well made, easy-to-use thing. Surely they can make an OS, too.
If Google does it right, a lot of people will migrate. "Goobuntu" (which is a stupid name) will be a gateway drug, as it were. Those who are fine with what Google offers in its OS will stay there, while those more interested in digging deeper will move on to other distros.
Google's main hurdle is being user-friendly. Yes, yes, I'm sure you can get exactly the same result for $X_COMPONENT in Linux as you do in Windows by putting $REALLY_COMPLICATED_STRING in at the command line/terminal, but regular users will be easily confused by that. Hell, most won't even want to know about the command line/terminal. A sleek interface where most common tasks are either easy to do by the user, or done automatically, is what will push this forward.
And, if the user just has to go into the terminal line, make the commands easier to understand and more intuitive. Move instead of mv, delete instead of whatever is there now, list instead of ls, find instead of grep, help instead of man, etc. With the processing power we have these days, short (and unintuitive) commands really aren't necessary, and if anyone wants the Linux desktop to experience growth, they need to go.
I know that I, in my limited knowledge and use of Linux, routinely get frusturated having to search (I mean, man -k) again and again for a simple command.
Unless Cisco offered a very high price for Nintendo, I doubt Nintendo will sell (and, even then, it's questionable.)
While Nintendo may be slightly behind the XBox in America, putting them at No. 3, they're No. 2 in Japan, and No. 1 in worldwide handhelds. Even with the low price, they still eek out a small profit from their hardware, so they aren't hurting financially.
Of course, I'm not a big exec, so there may very well be a transaction of some sort. If there is, it's more likely that Cisco will get the NOA arm of Nintendo, as stated by another poster.
Interestingly enough, I'm sure most Slashdotters have seen the article about Warner Bros. trying a P2P DVD download service in Germany; this question indicates that they are thinking of really trying to branch out, but that their music and movie departments don't see eye to eye. From the DVD article, Warner Bros. wants you to pay the exact same amount for a download and a DVD. The problem is that the download is lower quality, takes much longer to download than a song, will likely be ebcumbered by DRM, and you will be uploading the movie to other users.
The main reason that will fail is because you're paying the same amount for not only less content, but then you're helping distribute the content and getting no reward for doing so.
This music idea has a better chance. While Slashdot bitches and moans about DRM, the fact of the matter is that the populace doesn't mind it to much, as long as it has a bit of flexability. Make sure that the downloaded files are good quality, and will play on most devices. Here's a hint: If it doesn't play on an iPod, you're probably screwed.
Initially, $5/month for unlimited to-keep downloads seems unrealistic, especially considering that millions find $.99/song acceptable (thanks, iTunes!). However, when you calculate in the P2P model, it doesn't seem so bad. You're essentially sharing the bandwidth cost, which is a big portion of any online model.
I can see it working. You have some things to accomplish, though: 1. Making sure the songs will work on most, if not all, MP3 players. 2. Allowing the song to be burned to a CD (and playable in modern CD players.) 3. Figuring out how to have someone download the music, but not disable file sharing, all while not locking them into some crap proprietary player. 4. Making sure it will work with most ISPs, many of which cap upload bandwidth (which will cause a problem if you have "share limits").
I pay roughly $3/month for LAUNCHCast, and then it's songs that I've rated in some random order over the internet. My own choices on the go would certainly be worth an extra dollar or two. I know I'd be interested, if those hurdles can be cleared.
Music Liscenses
I see that failing pretty fast. Fair Use, to the ire of the *AA, already allows for personal backup and playback to other forms of media. What exactly do the liscenses change? Uploading them to anonymous P2P servers and friends? How would you keep them from uploading the file to others? How would you make sure that the friends receiving the song could play it?
How much would it cost for a liscense? Would this only be for personal use, which most music on P2P is used for, anyway, or public broadcasts? What if I bought ten liscenses of a song, but in the end decided I only wanted two copies? Can I transfer the remainder to another song of equal or lesser cost? Do I get some sort of media for each file?
It seems to me that this would raise too many issues and too little convenience, not to mention the hastle that seems inherent. While DRM may not be the answer, this seems even worse.
I think you're main problem with the Rev controller is that the design disallows for games from "normal" controllers to be easily ported. It's one of the lesser known things, but Nintendo is creating a "shell" for the controller- one that will look and act a lot like today's Gamecube controller, and will actually be an attachment for the Remote Controller.
And, as far as I can remember, it's going to be a regular option, meaning that designers won't have to worry if a consumer has the shell or not, because a shell will come with every controller, or something.
So, Nintendo is doing both. They are bringing the ability to greatly innovate and renovate video games, while still being able to play the multi-ports or old school stuff (how else were we supposed to play our downloaded games?)
I couldn't find it in the article, but it seems that they are just offering the movie, no extras. One of the big things about DVDs in general, especially those "extended editions" or what have you, are the extras that come along with them.
Charging the same for the movie itself at what is most likely a lower quality and in a locked format won't make anyone use the service over buying a DVD (or continuing to download them for free.) However, it is a step in the right direction, probably spurred by iTunes' video sales.
The conspiracy theorist in my says that this is a set up- they know that by charging the same price as a DVD and putting all these hobbles on it, they won't get high sales. They can then claim that they've tried the "public" idea of taking P2P as a business model, that it failed, and then hand out another set of lawsuits.
I think the grandparent's point was that, even if everyone saw the light and did what they should to help the planet, we wouldn't see the effects of such a movement for a good amount of time (if at all, since nature itself might be contributing more than we think.)
Because of this, it's a good idea to try and cut down now while preparing for what could occur. To use your analogy, it'd be like reducing the amount of McDonald's burgers you eat now, but still plan on that triple bypass surgery you might need later because of them.
Perhaps the lack of social skills frees the brain from prossessing the components that one usually uses to assimilate and be accepted in society, or at least not harrassed by others. With the brain not working on this, for whatever reason, it allows more analytical thought to occupy the areas otherwise reserved for this matter.
I think that any American Slashdotter who has spent time in the general public knows that the falling average IQ is not just a problem in the UK.
I'd be curious to see the rate of IQ change amongst various western countries. Has the common "easy" life stopped working in our favor and started working against us? So many things we had to do before are now done automatically (or not at all,) and so our minds don't have to work nearly as hard to get stuff to happen. Granted, modern life has allowed us to focus more on things lik science and mechanics, but the lack of necessity is keeping many from allowing themselves to be educated.
I also blame America's increasing "stupid" problem partly on the parents that let their kids do whatever they please, with little in the way of punishment. The lack of respect I see everyday from my generation (I'm 20) is just appaling.
Looking through the top threads, the amount of animosity towards Best Buy is astounding. I know that there are a lot of people that don't like the place, but I'm surprised that there are a good number of people on Slashdot.
Maybe I'm an exception. I've never once had a problem with Best Buy. I rarely get the service plans (one of the things I've heard the most gripes about), and those that I have gotten I've never had to use. I've never had problems returning anything. Every single rebate I've sent in (and I've sent in many) has been fulfilled.
Maybe I'm biased. I did work there for three months. Yes, we were told to push the service plans like hell. Yes, they make Best Buy a lot of profit. Yes, they don't cover some things that you'd think they would (this is why you read things before you sign them, people.) Yes, the USB cables and the like are vastly pumped up in price.
You can get things cheaper, through places like Newegg, but NewEgg doesn't have any "sales associates". Yes, their "sales associates" generally aren't knowledgable, but if they were, they would be working at a better, higher paying job, wouldn't they? The fact of the matter is that Best Buy is a good nation-wide chain with employees that they train just enough to help John Q Public figure out what cheap-o computer to get for their elderly mother or 10-year-old daughter. Or just for finding a certain game or movie so they don't have to spend extra time browsing the isles.
Actually, now I can understand the animosity. But Best Buy really isn't that bad.
I've just realized: Sony is right! Second-hand markets is a horrible, horrible idea. I mean, if other people aside from the original purchaser are able to make use out of an item after the original purchaser no longer wants it, then it will drastically hurt sales.
And not just in gaming! No, my friends, Sony is thinking too small. We need to extend this War Against Reuse (WAR).
Let's bring on folks like Certa (Serta?), Ikea, and Nike. Lots of people sell their used mattresses, furniture, and shoes at garage sales- think of the profit loss! This needs to stop. In fact, let's take a page out of the RIAA Playbook and create laws banning garage sales altogether. It's too hard to visit every garage sale, and pick out those items which were not originally created by those owning the so-called "garage", and there's a much higher percentage of second-hand goods being sold at these things, so closing them for good will solve most of the problem.
But, before that, there are more evil companies out there- yes, I'm talking about Goodwill and Salvation Army. These companies, posing as places to sell moderate-condition items at a low low price and hiring those who might not otherwise get a job, are stealing hundereds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars from legitamite, multi-billion dollar companies. These large profit companies have people to feed, too! Will no one think of their children?
We need to pick up this WAR and fight those diabolical enough to sell us used goods as a fraction of the new price. This is just horrible. I'm so glad I had this epiph-
I can almost understand the jump-the-gun thing on cute characters. The general public has had its taste of Pokemon from the anime, which is admitedly geared towards the very young. Even I, a rabid fan of the games (well, except for the recent Gamecube offerings), can't stand the show.
The game itself, however, is a plethora of gameplay. While most of the characters are cutely-drawn, this doesn't detract from the overall entertainment (and has helped sell millions of plush toys.) The game is a great RPG- while the overall story is pretty straight forward and slightly dull, the strategy involved in piting one type against another, stat enhancements, and choosing whether to allow the creatures to evolve or not is very deep and fulfilling. At the same time, a kid of ten years can pick up and play through the game with little problems. It will take them longer, as they'll just choose whichever monster they like the best over strategy, but, again, it doesn't really detract.
With the latest entries in the series, even deeper elements have continued to make it a great RPG.
Sorry if I'm spewing, but I always get a bit miffed when someone verbally berates someone else who plays the game, and the only expose to Pokemon the first person has ever had is the anime/cartoon. Yes, the series sucks if you're not five. The game, however, is great for all ages.
It would be like saying that the Legend of Zelda series sucks when the only interaction you've had with it was on Phillip's CD-i.
I can't wait for this year's E3. Even without a press pass, many gaming websites now update by-the-minute for the Big Three's opening demonstrations, meaning I can get details as they trickle in, instead of waiting for news later that morning or night.
Revolution, as was the focus of the article summary, will be the "To see" item, as has been with most of Nintendo's hardware offerings. Yes, the PS3 is coming out this year as well, but that's just more of the same thing, offering better graphics and a few other things. Nintendo is heading into a whole new gaming territory with their spacial recognition controllers. Granted, it's been done before, but not on the scale or mass volume that Nintendo is planning.
We'll also find out the "final" name of the Revolution (though I like "Revolution" just fine). Plus, assuming that it doesn't come out before hand, we'll also see a playable near-final or final version of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Whatever we do play at E3 for the Rev will most likely be near-shippable product, as a summer release looks imminent.
Nintendo will most likely sweep the "E3 awards" given by many gaming publications, unless there's a major upset by a from-the-shadows contendor.
I disagree that, if it flops, the Revolution will be Nintendo's last console, however. They'll continue to support it, though lowly, turning out intuitive and interesting titles for it until they're ready for their next console, and just try it again. In the mean time, they'll ride out whatever financial harm the Revolution may do by diving into the many hundereds of Scrooge McDuck Vaults o' Money that they have stored away from the successes that are the GBA and DS.
GBA does have a WiFi of sorts- there is a wireless "link cable". It's not in wide use, but you can get one with Pokemon FireRed or LeafGreen. I'm not sure what other games support it.
It's basically like a link cable, only wireless, and you can have more than four people using the same one.
I'm not seeing why you have a problem with my choice in games.
Is it that I didn't list games where you pump people full of lead and watch fountains of blood pour out? Was it because the games mentioned don't have naked boobies? Or was it because they're all rated E or E10?
Or was it because I like games with "cute cartoons characters"?
I hope you're just having some sort of personal crisis and are not complaining because I listed 'kiddie' games. You don't have to have blood to have fun.
Slashdot Mirror
Granted, flawed security may have allowed this. However, the flawed security was not really Microsoft's intent.
Saying that we should blame mainly Microsoft for virii is saying like we should mainly blame the homeowner for leaving the window opening (or the window maker, for making a window that could be left open), which allowed the robber to come in and steal everything.
Yes, it was a stupid move, but nothing would have happened had the robber not intended to be malicious. The open window only made things easier. Even if the window had been closed, the robber could still have busted the window, or found another way in.
In the same way, even if Microsoft was more secure, there would still be attacks on it, because it is the most used OS system in the world.
Could Microsoft prevented something like this? Perhaps. But the fact is that the virus would not be there if not for the virus-writer. Blaming Microsoft for a virus is just a bad attempt at boosting one's own anti-Microsoft's opinions, and ignores the other, more pertinent issue.
It's still not extortion because Microsoft didn't intend for this to happen.
I'm redminded of the movie The 6th Day (starring the Governator), where in one scene Ahnold and whoever was co-starring were sitting in a truck, looking at each other and talking while the car drove. When they got close to their destination, the car beeped and informed them that it would be returning to manual in 10... 9...
The car also had built in GPS with maps, and seemed to be able to drive itself anywhere, though not from the exact beginning to the exact end (it relied on humans for such things as parking.)
Does this new Honda have any of this? Being able to have the car hold your position is helpful, especially because it will allow you to pay greater attention to other driving matters, such as cars surrounding you and judging your next turn off (though, at least in America, it will just allow Soccer Mom's to apply more make-up, sigh.)
Can the Honda steer around cars that are going too slow? Say it's set to a +/-10 mile variance; if a car in front of you is going 10 miles slower than you want to go (or the speed limit allows, depending on how its set up), will the car automatically work around it? What if a car is coming up behind you too fast; will it move over to let the other car pass?
Can it navigate itself off of highways? We already have GPS-enabled systems that inform you when a turn or exit is coming up that you need to take; how well could they integrate that into the car steering itself?
What happens if the road lines dissappear or become unreadable, be it from construction or wear? Does it hold a straight course, alerting you right away? Does it slow down? Or is it looking far enough ahead that it would have enough time to alert you to resume manual control?
Does it merely watch the road, or does it calculate the shape? What if a car changes lanes in front of you, blocking the camera from seeing the lines, and right after the road goes straight after being a curve? What will the car do? Will it have enough data to know the road it about to straighten?
I love the idea of a car driving itself, if only because that means less asshats on the road (their car, unmodded, will certainly respect road rules and common decency, even if its owner doesn't.) However, there are a lot of questions I have before I feel safe driving in one of these. Also, I'm sure someone will figure out within a month how to clip something onto the steering wheel to make it think that someone is touching it. (Or, the stupid parents will just tell their kid in the passenger to reach over and touch the steering wheel, while said stupid parent goes on talking on a cell or grroming his/herself or whatever.)
And heaven help us if it runs Windows.
Not quite.
Extortion is when someone says "pay or do this, or something bad could happen later", and the person saying that is the one that will make the bad happen later.
In this case, it's Microsoft saying "We'll take care of this problem sooner for a little money", but someone else will make the bad thing happen regardless. Microsoft is just offering clean up/prevention, not "assured safety". Your lack of acceptance will not make the problem better or worse; it will stay exactly the same.
An analogy might be that there's a gang of kids going around defacing houses, and Company XYZ says "We'll stick a security guard in front of your house for a little extra money, so you'll be ready when those kids show up, and won't have to wait for the police to show up when you do get hit." XYZ is offering an enhanced service; if you turn them down, your house will likely get defaced, but not because of anything XYZ did.
(If you can show that XYZ/Micrsoft is in cohorts with the kids/virus writer, then that is indeed extortion, but at face it's mislabeling.)
Nice to see someone finally starting some backlash for the tapping, even if it's not against the government.
In other news, Cory better be careful or he may get another mean letter calling him names and threatenin' all legal-like.
Just because you hate opening a shell, doesn't mean the rest of the Unix and Linux world do.
This one statement sums up most common bad idea I've seen when people talk about making *nix desktops for the masses: "It works just fine now, we don't need to change it."
"I understand these weird shortenings and what they do. We don't need to change it."
"I know how to install new drives and hardware through a series of text commands. We don't need to change it."
And that's just it. It works fine; hell, it could work great, but only for the Unix/Linux world.
If anyone wants the *nix desktop to gain ground, they have to realize one main thing: They have to leave the *nix world to do that.
Unix/Linux people are fine with terminals and command lines, because they are used to that and forced into it.
Unix/Linux people are fine with having to do a million little tweaks to get their OS to work with their equipment, because they are used to it and forced into it.
Windows people and, somewhat, Mac users, have had and want none of this. At least in the U.S., to make any signficant desktop growth, you have to pull people away from Windows. If *nix can't automatically handle all of the tasks that Windows does, if *nix requires a thousand tweaks when installing an external USB drive, if *nix forces you to use the command line to do a few uncommon, but not rare, tasks, Windows users will get frusturated and move back to Windows.
That's why Windows survives. Yes, it's one huge security nightmare. Yes, it often crashes. The populace knows this, and are fine with it, because Windows takes care of most OS tasks for them automatically, so they don't have to deal with "that complicated stuff".
Also, Windows people love the mouse. Why bother remembering a hundered keyboard shortcuts when you can easily move the mouse to a little icon or a menu and click?
That's backwards. The plebian would find "mv x y" to be harder to learn than "move x y". It's easier, because it's expected, and the mind will associate the word with the action, because the word is familiar.
Everyone who speaks English uses the word "move". People are told to "move" files all the time. So, if someone quickly flips through a command line manual (I'd be surprised if the common user does even that) will remember that "move" moves files, but rarely will they remember what "mv" does. Yes, you could sound it out, but there's too large a margin of error.
And, even if they're not sure how to use it, they should be able to type "help move" and get an easy explanation with lots of examples (leave the technical stuff and option list until the end.)
Again, that works fine for those who actually know Linux.
Regular users aren't going to bother taking the time to alias all of the commands (assuming they're ever able to find out about alias); they'll just migrate back to Windows. After all, being Linux, it will most likely be free, so they've lost only time.
Amongst many of the rumors lately, one has come to the forefront, and may be the end or beginning of us all.
According to the International Herald, God plans to acquire George Bush. More specifically, they state, God intends to acquire the office of President of the United States, and use that to help turn more people towards His Will, as well as enacting greater protection for national forests.
"Absolutely crazy," stated Vice President Dick Cheney, caught between heart surgeries. "God has never talked to us. Uh, well, myself. Ol' George says he's heard a few snippets here and there, but I'm not too sure."
However, the International Herald sticks by their piece, claiming to get the news from a source they would only name as "Gabriel".
We were unable to contact God before press time.
(I realize stock prices rise and fall based on the Rumor of the Day, but it's been crazy lately.)
I've never had much in the way of Enix/Dragon Quest experience, but I don't believe Dragon Quest has had much of a showing over here in the states before VIII, correct? (If not, I'm probably confusing it with Fire Emblem or something.)
If so, that would explain for the low sales. Fans of the series in Japan know how the previous games were, and reacted accordingly. Americans, excluding the small fanbase that does imports, don't know squat about it as far as experience, and in this age of sequels, that really matters.
If Google is working on an actual OS, and not just something to work in the background of, say, a cybercafe computer, then this may be the push Linux needs to become a major Desktop player.
Not that many people know about Linux. A lot of people know about Google, to the point that "google" has become a verb ("search for"). If someone suggests putting a Linux OS on a computer, the common man will be unsure and wary of it, knowing little about Linux, despite how much it's used regularly. However, say you want to put a new OS from Google on it, and a lot of people will open up. After all, they're used to the Google web search interface, a well made, easy-to-use thing. Surely they can make an OS, too.
If Google does it right, a lot of people will migrate. "Goobuntu" (which is a stupid name) will be a gateway drug, as it were. Those who are fine with what Google offers in its OS will stay there, while those more interested in digging deeper will move on to other distros.
Google's main hurdle is being user-friendly. Yes, yes, I'm sure you can get exactly the same result for $X_COMPONENT in Linux as you do in Windows by putting $REALLY_COMPLICATED_STRING in at the command line/terminal, but regular users will be easily confused by that. Hell, most won't even want to know about the command line/terminal. A sleek interface where most common tasks are either easy to do by the user, or done automatically, is what will push this forward.
And, if the user just has to go into the terminal line, make the commands easier to understand and more intuitive. Move instead of mv, delete instead of whatever is there now, list instead of ls, find instead of grep, help instead of man, etc. With the processing power we have these days, short (and unintuitive) commands really aren't necessary, and if anyone wants the Linux desktop to experience growth, they need to go.
I know that I, in my limited knowledge and use of Linux, routinely get frusturated having to search (I mean, man -k) again and again for a simple command.
Only time will tell, however.
Unless Cisco offered a very high price for Nintendo, I doubt Nintendo will sell (and, even then, it's questionable.) While Nintendo may be slightly behind the XBox in America, putting them at No. 3, they're No. 2 in Japan, and No. 1 in worldwide handhelds. Even with the low price, they still eek out a small profit from their hardware, so they aren't hurting financially. Of course, I'm not a big exec, so there may very well be a transaction of some sort. If there is, it's more likely that Cisco will get the NOA arm of Nintendo, as stated by another poster.
Warner Bros. Music:
Interestingly enough, I'm sure most Slashdotters have seen the article about Warner Bros. trying a P2P DVD download service in Germany; this question indicates that they are thinking of really trying to branch out, but that their music and movie departments don't see eye to eye. From the DVD article, Warner Bros. wants you to pay the exact same amount for a download and a DVD. The problem is that the download is lower quality, takes much longer to download than a song, will likely be ebcumbered by DRM, and you will be uploading the movie to other users.
The main reason that will fail is because you're paying the same amount for not only less content, but then you're helping distribute the content and getting no reward for doing so.
This music idea has a better chance. While Slashdot bitches and moans about DRM, the fact of the matter is that the populace doesn't mind it to much, as long as it has a bit of flexability. Make sure that the downloaded files are good quality, and will play on most devices. Here's a hint: If it doesn't play on an iPod, you're probably screwed.
Initially, $5/month for unlimited to-keep downloads seems unrealistic, especially considering that millions find $.99/song acceptable (thanks, iTunes!). However, when you calculate in the P2P model, it doesn't seem so bad. You're essentially sharing the bandwidth cost, which is a big portion of any online model.
I can see it working. You have some things to accomplish, though:
1. Making sure the songs will work on most, if not all, MP3 players.
2. Allowing the song to be burned to a CD (and playable in modern CD players.)
3. Figuring out how to have someone download the music, but not disable file sharing, all while not locking them into some crap proprietary player.
4. Making sure it will work with most ISPs, many of which cap upload bandwidth (which will cause a problem if you have "share limits").
I pay roughly $3/month for LAUNCHCast, and then it's songs that I've rated in some random order over the internet. My own choices on the go would certainly be worth an extra dollar or two. I know I'd be interested, if those hurdles can be cleared.
Music Liscenses
I see that failing pretty fast. Fair Use, to the ire of the *AA, already allows for personal backup and playback to other forms of media. What exactly do the liscenses change? Uploading them to anonymous P2P servers and friends? How would you keep them from uploading the file to others? How would you make sure that the friends receiving the song could play it?
How much would it cost for a liscense? Would this only be for personal use, which most music on P2P is used for, anyway, or public broadcasts? What if I bought ten liscenses of a song, but in the end decided I only wanted two copies? Can I transfer the remainder to another song of equal or lesser cost? Do I get some sort of media for each file?
It seems to me that this would raise too many issues and too little convenience, not to mention the hastle that seems inherent. While DRM may not be the answer, this seems even worse.
I think you're main problem with the Rev controller is that the design disallows for games from "normal" controllers to be easily ported. It's one of the lesser known things, but Nintendo is creating a "shell" for the controller- one that will look and act a lot like today's Gamecube controller, and will actually be an attachment for the Remote Controller.
And, as far as I can remember, it's going to be a regular option, meaning that designers won't have to worry if a consumer has the shell or not, because a shell will come with every controller, or something.
So, Nintendo is doing both. They are bringing the ability to greatly innovate and renovate video games, while still being able to play the multi-ports or old school stuff (how else were we supposed to play our downloaded games?)
Microsoft never fails... To give me reasons to stick with XP.
I have yet to read or see anything to make me want to jump ship to Vista when it comes out.
I couldn't find it in the article, but it seems that they are just offering the movie, no extras. One of the big things about DVDs in general, especially those "extended editions" or what have you, are the extras that come along with them.
Charging the same for the movie itself at what is most likely a lower quality and in a locked format won't make anyone use the service over buying a DVD (or continuing to download them for free.) However, it is a step in the right direction, probably spurred by iTunes' video sales.
The conspiracy theorist in my says that this is a set up- they know that by charging the same price as a DVD and putting all these hobbles on it, they won't get high sales. They can then claim that they've tried the "public" idea of taking P2P as a business model, that it failed, and then hand out another set of lawsuits.
I think the grandparent's point was that, even if everyone saw the light and did what they should to help the planet, we wouldn't see the effects of such a movement for a good amount of time (if at all, since nature itself might be contributing more than we think.)
Because of this, it's a good idea to try and cut down now while preparing for what could occur. To use your analogy, it'd be like reducing the amount of McDonald's burgers you eat now, but still plan on that triple bypass surgery you might need later because of them.
At least, that's how I took it.
Perhaps the lack of social skills frees the brain from prossessing the components that one usually uses to assimilate and be accepted in society, or at least not harrassed by others. With the brain not working on this, for whatever reason, it allows more analytical thought to occupy the areas otherwise reserved for this matter.
This theory does not incorporate goths, however.
I think that any American Slashdotter who has spent time in the general public knows that the falling average IQ is not just a problem in the UK.
I'd be curious to see the rate of IQ change amongst various western countries. Has the common "easy" life stopped working in our favor and started working against us? So many things we had to do before are now done automatically (or not at all,) and so our minds don't have to work nearly as hard to get stuff to happen. Granted, modern life has allowed us to focus more on things lik science and mechanics, but the lack of necessity is keeping many from allowing themselves to be educated.
I also blame America's increasing "stupid" problem partly on the parents that let their kids do whatever they please, with little in the way of punishment. The lack of respect I see everyday from my generation (I'm 20) is just appaling.
Looking through the top threads, the amount of animosity towards Best Buy is astounding. I know that there are a lot of people that don't like the place, but I'm surprised that there are a good number of people on Slashdot.
Maybe I'm an exception. I've never once had a problem with Best Buy. I rarely get the service plans (one of the things I've heard the most gripes about), and those that I have gotten I've never had to use. I've never had problems returning anything. Every single rebate I've sent in (and I've sent in many) has been fulfilled.
Maybe I'm biased. I did work there for three months. Yes, we were told to push the service plans like hell. Yes, they make Best Buy a lot of profit. Yes, they don't cover some things that you'd think they would (this is why you read things before you sign them, people.) Yes, the USB cables and the like are vastly pumped up in price.
You can get things cheaper, through places like Newegg, but NewEgg doesn't have any "sales associates". Yes, their "sales associates" generally aren't knowledgable, but if they were, they would be working at a better, higher paying job, wouldn't they? The fact of the matter is that Best Buy is a good nation-wide chain with employees that they train just enough to help John Q Public figure out what cheap-o computer to get for their elderly mother or 10-year-old daughter. Or just for finding a certain game or movie so they don't have to spend extra time browsing the isles.
Actually, now I can understand the animosity. But Best Buy really isn't that bad.
I've just realized: Sony is right! Second-hand markets is a horrible, horrible idea. I mean, if other people aside from the original purchaser are able to make use out of an item after the original purchaser no longer wants it, then it will drastically hurt sales.
And not just in gaming! No, my friends, Sony is thinking too small. We need to extend this War Against Reuse (WAR).
Let's bring on folks like Certa (Serta?), Ikea, and Nike. Lots of people sell their used mattresses, furniture, and shoes at garage sales- think of the profit loss! This needs to stop. In fact, let's take a page out of the RIAA Playbook and create laws banning garage sales altogether. It's too hard to visit every garage sale, and pick out those items which were not originally created by those owning the so-called "garage", and there's a much higher percentage of second-hand goods being sold at these things, so closing them for good will solve most of the problem.
But, before that, there are more evil companies out there- yes, I'm talking about Goodwill and Salvation Army. These companies, posing as places to sell moderate-condition items at a low low price and hiring those who might not otherwise get a job, are stealing hundereds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars from legitamite, multi-billion dollar companies. These large profit companies have people to feed, too! Will no one think of their children?
We need to pick up this WAR and fight those diabolical enough to sell us used goods as a fraction of the new price. This is just horrible. I'm so glad I had this epiph-
Oh, wait, that was just gas and hot air.
Continue about your day.
So when can I drop out of college to be hired by a new start-up for $60K/year?
Cause getting paid instead of paying for college sounds great.
(Before I get berated for trying to skip out, don't worry, I plan to finish college.
And then make more than $60K/year.)
All is forgiven. :)
I can almost understand the jump-the-gun thing on cute characters. The general public has had its taste of Pokemon from the anime, which is admitedly geared towards the very young. Even I, a rabid fan of the games (well, except for the recent Gamecube offerings), can't stand the show.
The game itself, however, is a plethora of gameplay. While most of the characters are cutely-drawn, this doesn't detract from the overall entertainment (and has helped sell millions of plush toys.) The game is a great RPG- while the overall story is pretty straight forward and slightly dull, the strategy involved in piting one type against another, stat enhancements, and choosing whether to allow the creatures to evolve or not is very deep and fulfilling. At the same time, a kid of ten years can pick up and play through the game with little problems. It will take them longer, as they'll just choose whichever monster they like the best over strategy, but, again, it doesn't really detract.
With the latest entries in the series, even deeper elements have continued to make it a great RPG.
Sorry if I'm spewing, but I always get a bit miffed when someone verbally berates someone else who plays the game, and the only expose to Pokemon the first person has ever had is the anime/cartoon. Yes, the series sucks if you're not five. The game, however, is great for all ages.
It would be like saying that the Legend of Zelda series sucks when the only interaction you've had with it was on Phillip's CD-i.
I can't wait for this year's E3. Even without a press pass, many gaming websites now update by-the-minute for the Big Three's opening demonstrations, meaning I can get details as they trickle in, instead of waiting for news later that morning or night.
Revolution, as was the focus of the article summary, will be the "To see" item, as has been with most of Nintendo's hardware offerings. Yes, the PS3 is coming out this year as well, but that's just more of the same thing, offering better graphics and a few other things. Nintendo is heading into a whole new gaming territory with their spacial recognition controllers. Granted, it's been done before, but not on the scale or mass volume that Nintendo is planning.
We'll also find out the "final" name of the Revolution (though I like "Revolution" just fine). Plus, assuming that it doesn't come out before hand, we'll also see a playable near-final or final version of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Whatever we do play at E3 for the Rev will most likely be near-shippable product, as a summer release looks imminent.
Nintendo will most likely sweep the "E3 awards" given by many gaming publications, unless there's a major upset by a from-the-shadows contendor.
I disagree that, if it flops, the Revolution will be Nintendo's last console, however. They'll continue to support it, though lowly, turning out intuitive and interesting titles for it until they're ready for their next console, and just try it again. In the mean time, they'll ride out whatever financial harm the Revolution may do by diving into the many hundereds of Scrooge McDuck Vaults o' Money that they have stored away from the successes that are the GBA and DS.
GBA does have a WiFi of sorts- there is a wireless "link cable". It's not in wide use, but you can get one with Pokemon FireRed or LeafGreen. I'm not sure what other games support it.
It's basically like a link cable, only wireless, and you can have more than four people using the same one.
It's not the world-wide WiFi, but it's a start.
I'm not seeing why you have a problem with my choice in games.
Is it that I didn't list games where you pump people full of lead and watch fountains of blood pour out? Was it because the games mentioned don't have naked boobies? Or was it because they're all rated E or E10?
Or was it because I like games with "cute cartoons characters"?
I hope you're just having some sort of personal crisis and are not complaining because I listed 'kiddie' games. You don't have to have blood to have fun.