I thought this was the Year of the Goat. Imagine a whole race of Chinese Human-goat hybrids. They could subsist on tin cans and head-butt the entire world into submission.
In other words; Suck it France, Afgahnastan, Iran, Iraq, "palastininians", and all you other fucknuts who think that it's ok to live under the same principles as animals, and those that support it. Sometimes I feel as if it would be better if our grand USA just took over the whole fucking world.
Good idea. After all, look how well this attitude and approach worked out for the Imperialist British Empire, after all.
He's one of the few people who paid for and registered my (music educational) shareware. Strangely enough he was one of the two main inspirations behind it too.... the other one being Eric Wenger. Whatta guy.
I don't have a problem with your picture of capitalism per se, but the advice to join in the climbing over bodies to get things back is too close to the cause. A better solution is to stay modest. One bowl, one spoon, one tunic. That's the way to bring things back down to reason.
GarageBand.com has had a contest every month since their inception which is based on a user-moderated scoring system. It's been honed for a good long time and it's really well-refined at this point.
On another note... I think it would be excellent if iTunes Music Store had a streaming radio station that played random songs continuously. Not all songs would be played - just those that are specifically cleared for play - and perhaps not all whole songs. (Of course constant 30-second snippets would quickly become annoying.) The majority of people who make music in their basement would gladly authorize iTMS to play their songs.
If you heard a song you liked on the iTMS radio you could go back to the recent playlist, locate the song, and purchase it for $.99 - Bam!
According to this story in Pravda Intel is focusing investment in the long-term viability of the Russian software market.
This is just smart business. Those who think we can insulate our country from every other, as if this would somehow benefit us economically and protect American jobs are shortsighted. Markets will continue to expand, and we have to take part in the larger world. We should also be thinking about sharing our talents, resources, and experience to lift the rest of the world up to basic standards of living. At the very least, we should work to ensure that every country has clean water, sustainable agriculture, and freedom from disease.
That said, a pure profit motive that only looks to the next quarterly balance sheet is the surest way to undermine that effort. Likewise, operating as a hegemony with a colonialist mindset only alienates regions where tradition and culture are valued above materialism. Our colonialist mindset is more or less at the crux of our policies throughout the world, and those of the WTO as well. It is an unfortunate attitude borne out of the arrogance of the elite - who after all have the luxury of brushing aside whatever causative truth it pleases them to brush aside.
True, I've never watched a DVD in a coffee shop or on a plane on my iBook. But it comes in handy when I go to a friend's place and we can hook it up to the TV to watch some DVDs. Of course now all my friends have DVD players themselves so....
If, on the other hand, we design a system that is intended to super-set BK from the word "go", then BK is the one playing follow-up, because there would be no advantage in using them if they didn't match the software we had.
There's a name for that. It's called Embrace and Extend and it's not the most ethical path to follow. Whereas Microsoft has the advantage of owning the platform for pursuing this kind of path, the GNU platform is owned by everyone who contributes. Do we really want to start following the example of Microsoft simply because it suits our aims? I thought the point of GNU was to promote a system where the platform can't screw with its users and developers.
If TextEdit understands Word files, it means that they have added the support to these standard classes.
Not necessarily. That would be very nice of them, but I think we're more likely to see some kind of file translation API before we see esoteric document formats being folded into NS classes.
Thanks to this game the US Government will never be able to ban violent video games! To do so would be an admission of hipocrisy. (Of course hipocrisy itself will continue as usual.)
The US Army has realized that video games enhance reflexes, improve perception of peripheral visual information, and teach tactical skills. So it's ostensibly about killing other humans (just like Vice City). Details, details. The point is the skills it imbues, after all.
Aren't those the same list of things that if done by Microsoft would have you screaming bloody murder though?
No, absolutely not. The things that have bugged me have been:
Leveraging their OS monopoly and closed data formats to create barriers to competition rather than making a better product. (Internet Explorer, DirectX, etc.)
Pretending to embrace standards then creating extensions that make their version incompatible and platform-locked. (Java being the prime example.)
Using FUD - misrepresenting competing methods and technologies - in order to make themselves appear better. (Most recently pretending that Safari uses hidden APIs.)
Creating silly political initiatives like the Freedom To Innovate Network (FIN), astroturfing, and occasional phone surveys to create the appearance of grass-roots support.
All that Apple has done is to push standards, make excellent use of open standards and Open Source APIs, and apply a consistent and elegant design aesthetic to their OS and their applications. In short, they have excelled through integrity and hard work. If Apple has an unfair advantage, it is only that they have applied a greater effort than others seem to have the courage to do.
Of course MS gets scared and stops making IE for Mac.
Now come on. Everyone knows Microsoft dropped its support for IE because it wasn't making any money.;-)
On a more serious note, considering that the browser was a freebie, why didn't Microsoft continue to improve it after its initial release? Does anyone remember the fancy flash animation MS produced starring "Zippy" that showed IE with a built-in media player and other nifty features? WTF?
Your point about MS Office is right on, though. Initially it seemed like a cool offering. But damn is it an annoying set of programs! I actually find it more pleasant to use Dreamweaver to make documents, and then print them into PDF files.
The thing about software patents is that they are Implementation-Specific. For example, the patent held by Adobe on tabbed palettes that can be dragged in and out. Adobe was able to sue Macromedia because Macromedia copied the implementation verbatim. Had Macromedia used a different technique to tear off palettes they would have been safe.
Likewise, by extending their Location Manager patent to include user-oriented settings Apple is implying that the switching technique and internal binding methods are unique to their implementation. Microsoft may have a semblance of fast user switching under XP, but there is no doubt that their implementation relies on different hooks and methods than the Apple implementation, which is a very thin layer that leverages the Darwin underpinnings of the OS. Most geeks here can easily guess the techniques Apple had to use in order to make this possible on top of Darwin. These techniques are certainly more graceful and less of an OS kludge than whatever Microsoft had to bolt onto Windows, and could easily be applied to other Unix-like OS's.
There will be a time in the not-too-distant future when portable devices will contain GPS by default, and automatically switch locations and users on the fly. Apple is doing the right thing here, formalizing their design via the patent system.
Apple "forces" users to upgrade by innovating too damn fast. Every new computer or OS release is so much better that it makes the previous system look lame by comparison. Since Appel now uses an eminently debuggable processor architecture, a robust Unix-based core for the OS, and produces the best freakin' development system in the world their rate of innovation is increasing more and more. The new XCode system is so far ahead of Microsoft's Visual toolset that we Mac users are probably going to be "forced" to upgrade every few months now. Damn you Apple! Damn you to Hell!
As long as designers use standards smartly there is no issue. The problem is using nonstandard features and *not* testing on other compliant browsers, which Safari is. As a web developer I test on every browser I can get my hands on. If a feature completely breaks due to incomplete standards implementation in a given browser I rethink the design. I don't say "to hell with Browser X." Web developers who do this are ill-informed about standards and don't realize they're only going to have more trouble down the line. Read Jeffrey Zeldman's website every day and you'll eventually learn the right way to go.
For the record I develop on a Mac. There's nothing quite like having Apache running on your desktop machine, and being able to use http://... to connect to your work site. (No relative links to fix before publication, PHP, perl, SSI, and sendmail run in-place.... It can't be beat!)
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I thought this was the Year of the Goat. Imagine a whole race of Chinese Human-goat hybrids. They could subsist on tin cans and head-butt the entire world into submission.
It won't be up to Microsoft's usual standards unless it's mondo exploitable. Let's hope they deploy it on .NET servers for years of good yuks.
SCO will come out looking the fool when it turns out the undisclosed company is a big backer of SCO.
Wow, a tilting disc! Isn't that exactly what the IntelliVision had?
Currently, on Mac OS X to scroll horizontally rather than vertically you just press SHIFT while using the scroll-wheel.
Good idea. After all, look how well this attitude and approach worked out for the Imperialist British Empire, after all.
In Soviet Russia tired joke makes YOU!
He's one of the few people who paid for and registered my (music educational) shareware. Strangely enough he was one of the two main inspirations behind it too.... the other one being Eric Wenger. Whatta guy.
I don't have a problem with your picture of capitalism per se, but the advice to join in the climbing over bodies to get things back is too close to the cause. A better solution is to stay modest. One bowl, one spoon, one tunic. That's the way to bring things back down to reason.
And that would be different how?
On another note... I think it would be excellent if iTunes Music Store had a streaming radio station that played random songs continuously. Not all songs would be played - just those that are specifically cleared for play - and perhaps not all whole songs. (Of course constant 30-second snippets would quickly become annoying.) The majority of people who make music in their basement would gladly authorize iTMS to play their songs.
If you heard a song you liked on the iTMS radio you could go back to the recent playlist, locate the song, and purchase it for $.99 - Bam!
According to this story in Pravda Intel is focusing investment in the long-term viability of the Russian software market.
This is just smart business. Those who think we can insulate our country from every other, as if this would somehow benefit us economically and protect American jobs are shortsighted. Markets will continue to expand, and we have to take part in the larger world. We should also be thinking about sharing our talents, resources, and experience to lift the rest of the world up to basic standards of living. At the very least, we should work to ensure that every country has clean water, sustainable agriculture, and freedom from disease.
That said, a pure profit motive that only looks to the next quarterly balance sheet is the surest way to undermine that effort. Likewise, operating as a hegemony with a colonialist mindset only alienates regions where tradition and culture are valued above materialism. Our colonialist mindset is more or less at the crux of our policies throughout the world, and those of the WTO as well. It is an unfortunate attitude borne out of the arrogance of the elite - who after all have the luxury of brushing aside whatever causative truth it pleases them to brush aside.
True, I've never watched a DVD in a coffee shop or on a plane on my iBook. But it comes in handy when I go to a friend's place and we can hook it up to the TV to watch some DVDs. Of course now all my friends have DVD players themselves so....
There's a name for that. It's called Embrace and Extend and it's not the most ethical path to follow. Whereas Microsoft has the advantage of owning the platform for pursuing this kind of path, the GNU platform is owned by everyone who contributes. Do we really want to start following the example of Microsoft simply because it suits our aims? I thought the point of GNU was to promote a system where the platform can't screw with its users and developers.
Not necessarily. That would be very nice of them, but I think we're more likely to see some kind of file translation API before we see esoteric document formats being folded into NS classes.
Thanks to this game the US Government will never be able to ban violent video games! To do so would be an admission of hipocrisy. (Of course hipocrisy itself will continue as usual.)
The US Army has realized that video games enhance reflexes, improve perception of peripheral visual information, and teach tactical skills. So it's ostensibly about killing other humans (just like Vice City). Details, details. The point is the skills it imbues, after all.
Of course Panther has built-in X11, but we don't know yet whether it will be any prettier than the X11 beta. My fingers are crossed.
Aren't those the same list of things that if done by Microsoft would have you screaming bloody murder though?
No, absolutely not. The things that have bugged me have been:
All that Apple has done is to push standards, make excellent use of open standards and Open Source APIs, and apply a consistent and elegant design aesthetic to their OS and their applications. In short, they have excelled through integrity and hard work. If Apple has an unfair advantage, it is only that they have applied a greater effort than others seem to have the courage to do.
Of course MS gets scared and stops making IE for Mac.
Now come on. Everyone knows Microsoft dropped its support for IE because it wasn't making any money. ;-)
On a more serious note, considering that the browser was a freebie, why didn't Microsoft continue to improve it after its initial release? Does anyone remember the fancy flash animation MS produced starring "Zippy" that showed IE with a built-in media player and other nifty features? WTF?
Your point about MS Office is right on, though. Initially it seemed like a cool offering. But damn is it an annoying set of programs! I actually find it more pleasant to use Dreamweaver to make documents, and then print them into PDF files.
The thing about software patents is that they are Implementation-Specific. For example, the patent held by Adobe on tabbed palettes that can be dragged in and out. Adobe was able to sue Macromedia because Macromedia copied the implementation verbatim. Had Macromedia used a different technique to tear off palettes they would have been safe.
Likewise, by extending their Location Manager patent to include user-oriented settings Apple is implying that the switching technique and internal binding methods are unique to their implementation. Microsoft may have a semblance of fast user switching under XP, but there is no doubt that their implementation relies on different hooks and methods than the Apple implementation, which is a very thin layer that leverages the Darwin underpinnings of the OS. Most geeks here can easily guess the techniques Apple had to use in order to make this possible on top of Darwin. These techniques are certainly more graceful and less of an OS kludge than whatever Microsoft had to bolt onto Windows, and could easily be applied to other Unix-like OS's.
There will be a time in the not-too-distant future when portable devices will contain GPS by default, and automatically switch locations and users on the fly. Apple is doing the right thing here, formalizing their design via the patent system.
The best you can do on that point actually is that the center of our galaxy forms the center of the universe. Back to you, Bob.
...if thinking of others as foolish or pathetic makes you feel better about yourself then you may not be as well-off as you think.
In the episode "The Abstinence" George Costanza becomes a genius when he stops having sex.
"After all, who knows more about electricity than the Amish? D'oh!"
Apple "forces" users to upgrade by innovating too damn fast. Every new computer or OS release is so much better that it makes the previous system look lame by comparison. Since Appel now uses an eminently debuggable processor architecture, a robust Unix-based core for the OS, and produces the best freakin' development system in the world their rate of innovation is increasing more and more. The new XCode system is so far ahead of Microsoft's Visual toolset that we Mac users are probably going to be "forced" to upgrade every few months now. Damn you Apple! Damn you to Hell!
For the record I develop on a Mac. There's nothing quite like having Apache running on your desktop machine, and being able to use http://... to connect to your work site. (No relative links to fix before publication, PHP, perl, SSI, and sendmail run in-place.... It can't be beat!)