Actually the article says 46% Firefox and 26% Opera. Did the submitter really need to round the numbers for the article summary, when more accurate numbers would be more meaningful?
If it was really 50%/25%, I'd suspect a low sample size, i.e. 1 IE user, 2 Firefox users, and 1 Opera user.
Roughly 79.365 % of statistical references contain serious flaws.
If their uncertainty would be +- 5%, they should round their numbers to reflect that (50% and 25%). Alternatively they could say "(46 +- 5)%"
Your heuristic is faulty, it is a human flaw often exploited by marketeers and politicians. If they price an item at 236 instead of 200 or 250, you have the impression that it must be a very competitive price, not something they chose arbitrarily.
XP Home Edition, Unpatched 12% (27 of 229 Secunia advisories), Most Critical Unpatched: Moderately critical.
Ubuntu 9.04, Unpatched 0% (0 of 50 Secunia advisories).
Keep in mind that Ubuntu is also affected by standard apps like OpenOffice.org, Firefox etc. If you're going to pick server versions to prove a point...
First working draft of XML: november '96, W3C 'recommendation' Feb 10, '98. Patent: July 28, '98.
Somebody sat down and reflected on how programs used files, substituted "file" with "XML file" and patented that. Bleeding obvious. Broken patent system in US.
My point was a metaphor: if you patent the use of XML, you should be able to patent the use of bricks or metal or letters. There is no innovation in that, it was what XML was intended for.
Incidentally, you infringed on my patent twice:
I can format a document without using XML. What exactly is your point?
To me it's just an hilarious soap in a land far, far away. Must be careful though, SOAP uses XML too.
But seriously, software patents are like patents on grouping letters together to form words. I patent "be", "is", "hav" and "or". Try writing a novel wit those restrictions in Englsh.
I think you should go for an even morest draconianst reform: those who bring copyrighted material to the market place should be liable for any illegal copying. Ha, that would show them...
The way they do "cloud computing", it is more of a gradient between Dumb Terminal and Locally installed fat application.
E.g. you could handle 70% of processing on the client (javascript, editor logic) and 30% on the server (storage, generating actual ODF files, exporting PDF's,...). A dumb terminal would be 0% - 100% a local app 100% - 0%
but when I'm working with C++ on Win32, I want my VC++
If/when ChromeOS kills Win32, that need would disappear too. That's more or less the point: ChromeOS would eat Windows market share therefore eating MS Office market share, causing a decline in SharePoint installs, diminishing Visio sales,...
[...] That means Google Chrome won't have a Killer App, [...]
Not a "killer app" but "killer features" like having always the latest software version, having access to professional tools on demand - while at the beach in between different kinds of surfing - tools you wouldn't dream of installing on Windows (because of the price, or just because you didn't think in time to purchase/download them).
I think a few years from now we will look back and see that through this way of thinking a whole new class of applications will evolve. Like how we take Facebook, cell phones, online news, email etc. for granted, who would have thought that 20 years ago?
For now the weak point is the availability of internet access...
They used to dedicate their efforts to making information available. Then they tried to conquer the new media restricting access to information. Now they're on the brink of failing. It is the same path to failure lots of newspapers follow.
I too spend hours reading Encyclopedia Brittanica, mostly mechanical and scientific stuff. Probably the first thing I read in English.
Companies affected by piss-poor patent granting by the USPTO should start a class action against the US Government to enforce proper patent investigation.
Unlikely to happen. The companies that can afford this are mostly the ones investing in big patent portfolios...
Anyways you could always copy the files and boot sector from the small partition to the Windows 7 one and raze the small one, then you just need to edit the BCD registry using EasyBCD or bootedit.exe to point to the correct partition on boot. But yeah those are both WINDOWS tools... but bootedit.exe should be available from Windows 7 Setup on the DVD if you mess up and can't boot into Windows (press SHIFT+F10), and fixboot.exe can install the boot sector onto any partition.
So, don't expect a great event that's going to topple the whole patent system. There's not going to be a some kind of Watergate or Pearl Harbour to shake the system to its foundations. Until reform comes alone, the patent system is going to continue in its current vein, come what may. And it will probably do so for a very, very long time.
So, you aren't expecting the unexpected? I didn't see that coming!
Slashdot Mirror
Why are their numbers before the lines, and what is a GOTO?
once upon a time their weren't any GUIs on personal computers.
Don't GOTHERE.
Actually the article says 46% Firefox and 26% Opera. Did the submitter really need to round the numbers for the article summary, when more accurate numbers would be more meaningful?
If it was really 50%/25%, I'd suspect a low sample size, i.e. 1 IE user, 2 Firefox users, and 1 Opera user.
Roughly 79.365 % of statistical references contain serious flaws.
If their uncertainty would be +- 5%, they should round their numbers to reflect that (50% and 25%). Alternatively they could say "(46 +- 5)%"
Your heuristic is faulty, it is a human flaw often exploited by marketeers and politicians. If they price an item at 236 instead of 200 or 250, you have the impression that it must be a very competitive price, not something they chose arbitrarily.
[...]but the judges do need to have their heads and their asses examined.
Do they have to pull one outside of the other for examination?
Why don't you publish it online then? Seems to work for Bruce Eckel, he sells hardcopies as well of course.
Obviously "fun" is subjective, but may I ask why you find a restrictive language like Java more fun than more flexible and functional languages?
In my case, after 11 years I'm good at it. The language is just a means to express ideas - don't have to think about the language anymore.
For me it's about a good OO design in the first place.
Methanol Sniffers. MS. I see it now, it makes them blind and mad. Poor Steve, take a chair.
XP Home Edition, Unpatched 12% (27 of 229 Secunia advisories), Most Critical Unpatched: Moderately critical.
Ubuntu 9.04, Unpatched 0% (0 of 50 Secunia advisories).
Keep in mind that Ubuntu is also affected by standard apps like OpenOffice.org, Firefox etc. If you're going to pick server versions to prove a point...
||doublesarcasm||You finally got the facts then.||doublesarcasm||
You mean they don't believe abortion and homosexuality exist? Even worse than I thought.
First working draft of XML: november '96, W3C 'recommendation' Feb 10, '98. Patent: July 28, '98.
Somebody sat down and reflected on how programs used files, substituted "file" with "XML file" and patented that. Bleeding obvious. Broken patent system in US.
My point was a metaphor: if you patent the use of XML, you should be able to patent the use of bricks or metal or letters. There is no innovation in that, it was what XML was intended for.
Incidentally, you infringed on my patent twice:
I can format a document without using XML. What exactly is your point?
You mean like "astro" and "turfing"?
Their patent, their rules.
To me it's just an hilarious soap in a land far, far away. Must be careful though, SOAP uses XML too.
But seriously, software patents are like patents on grouping letters together to form words. I patent "be", "is", "hav" and "or". Try writing a novel wit those restrictions in Englsh.
in so Viet rue see yeah, spelt thing Czechs u!
I think you should go for an even morest draconianst reform: those who bring copyrighted material to the market place should be liable for any illegal copying. Ha, that would show them...
The way they do "cloud computing", it is more of a gradient between Dumb Terminal and Locally installed fat application.
E.g. you could handle 70% of processing on the client (javascript, editor logic) and 30% on the server (storage, generating actual ODF files, exporting PDF's,...). A dumb terminal would be 0% - 100% a local app 100% - 0%
but when I'm working with C++ on Win32, I want my VC++
If/when ChromeOS kills Win32, that need would disappear too. That's more or less the point: ChromeOS would eat Windows market share therefore eating MS Office market share, causing a decline in SharePoint installs, diminishing Visio sales,...
[...] That means Google Chrome won't have a Killer App, [...]
Not a "killer app" but "killer features" like having always the latest software version, having access to professional tools on demand - while at the beach in between different kinds of surfing - tools you wouldn't dream of installing on Windows (because of the price, or just because you didn't think in time to purchase/download them).
I think a few years from now we will look back and see that through this way of thinking a whole new class of applications will evolve. Like how we take Facebook, cell phones, online news, email etc. for granted, who would have thought that 20 years ago?
For now the weak point is the availability of internet access...
You BOTH have a point.
They used to dedicate their efforts to making information available. Then they tried to conquer the new media restricting access to information. Now they're on the brink of failing. It is the same path to failure lots of newspapers follow.
I too spend hours reading Encyclopedia Brittanica, mostly mechanical and scientific stuff. Probably the first thing I read in English.
Companies affected by piss-poor patent granting by the USPTO should start a class action against the US Government to enforce proper patent investigation.
Unlikely to happen. The companies that can afford this are mostly the ones investing in big patent portfolios...
WHOOOOSH
Excellent idea, while copying the batteries, we could tell complicated jokes and harvest the wind energy when someone misses it!
Anyways you could always copy the files and boot sector from the small partition to the Windows 7 one and raze the small one, then you just need to edit the BCD registry using EasyBCD or bootedit.exe to point to the correct partition on boot. But yeah those are both WINDOWS tools... but bootedit.exe should be available from Windows 7 Setup on the DVD if you mess up and can't boot into Windows (press SHIFT+F10), and fixboot.exe can install the boot sector onto any partition.
And then they say Linux is difficult?
3: What we suck at is leaving other countries to die.
Silly mistake you made there: "3: What we suck at is leaving other countries alone."
The filing date shown on the patent is Jun 2002.
No, the filing date is December 6, 2004 - the date you mention is in the list of 'related patents'
So, don't expect a great event that's going to topple the whole patent system. There's not going to be a some kind of Watergate or Pearl Harbour to shake the system to its foundations. Until reform comes alone, the patent system is going to continue in its current vein, come what may. And it will probably do so for a very, very long time.
So, you aren't expecting the unexpected? I didn't see that coming!
I missed the joke. Wish I could disappear in a cloud now.