Sure, it would be nice if we had the capability to preserve every game out there.
Um... we do have this capability. You yourself said we could fit it all on a flash drive.
He didn't nominate himself to be the one deciding which games were good and which ones were bad.
He said 'worth saving'. "Worth" implies value. He sure seemed to be passing judgement. Or, rather, like you, going for the cheap contrarian points. Otherwise... why comment at all?
"Meh, the sun swallows the earth in a cosmic eyeblink. Why bother?"
But most art is lost. And for good reason: because it's not worth saving.
...and who decides this? You? By what metric is 'value' determined? And why is your aesthetic the only one that counts?
Most of the Roman graffiti preserved at Pompei has dubious artistic value, but has great value to historians (to give insight as to how the 'little people' lived and thought back then).
Just because something's a throwaway for you doesn't mean it won't be of value to someone else, at some future time.
If you enjoy being treated like worthless meat whose sole purpose is to be exploited by others, good luck with that (and don't forget to pay the cover charge)...
...but that doesn't oblige the rest of us to lick the hands that feed, like dogs.
You would be the first person to do this type of thing successfully. If you really want to save it, there is no reason you can't give it a good effort. None.
Ah, I love the smell of hipster nihilism in the morning.
It smells like... defeat!
With the x86 instruction set, I can load a data file and execute a jump to a data segment without the code having passed through any sort of system loader.
...and that won't be insecure at all!
(I just love it when my browser runs unmanaged code full of unverified branch statements!)
An IMU can only measure movement, not position. To be used for navigation, an IMU needs (1) an accurate initial calibration point (a "ground truth") and (2) occasional updates to correct for errors in measurement and integration that unavoidably occur over time.
You can certainly use GPS for (1) and (2)... but if you already have access to accurate GPS, why use the IMU at all? (Especially since an IMU would require more power consumption than a mini GPS receiver).
The only problem is then MS would have to provide technical support for a billion different hard drives.
Um... don't they do this anyway, for Windows?
Hiding behind driver issues is a lame excuse. They could at least lose the proprietary connector, and publish a list of HDDs that would be supported by the current driver.
Parasites? That's the free market you're badmouthing. Market demand is high, supply is low.
Note the original poster's point: "Supply is low" because of scalpers (who have no intention of actually using the product) waiting on line to grab the PS3s before legitimate buyers can.
These scalpers then attempt to generate wealth that they neither earned nor created on eBay-- with no renumeration to the designer, the manufacturer, the supplier, or the retailer.
Scalping isn't an instance of "the free market", it's actually an attempt to profit through interference with the processes of the free market.
So yes: "Parasites" is actually an excellent choice of word.
VBA and VB in general, however, are widely used in Enterprise markets for rapid app development and custom one-shot pieces of software (for good or ill--- that's another discussion). VBA in Office is a common way to build custom apps on top of Word or Excel. As it stands now, these custom apps (more common than you'd think) work on either platform.
Cutting off VBA support in Office-X will take this cross-platform functionality away, and (they hope) make Macs less attractive to enterprise customers. "What do you mean I can't run my custom Accounting program on a Mac anymore?"
Technical issues have nothing to do with these decisions. This is just Microsoft circling the wagons in to protect against Apple making any further inroads into what they see as "their" business market.
With the switch to Intel, and multiple ways to run Windows programs on a Mac, the business leverage of the Windows mono-culture is on the decline.
All MS have left is Office now, with its millions of entrenched users, and they intend to fight like hell to protect that last piece of turf.
The number one rule of the internet -- users are absolute resourch leeching mooches.
The number two rule of the internet... people with user-hostile attitudes like this wonder why they go bankrupt when they try to make money on the internet.
The boilerplate argument CEOs give for offshoring is "that is costs us less and makes us more competitive". This begs three questions:
(1) What is the estimated overhead rate for employing an offshore worker? This would cover broadband, communications, other sorts of costs in total (i.e. any and all costs of employing that worker that do not translate directly into pay).
(2) Of the jobs offshored for lower salaries... were ANY of those offered stateside at the lower rate? Or did you just assume that no currently unemployed IT worker would accept the job at the lower salary? $18,000/yr is better than $0/yr when you're unemployed. Keep in mind that this differential must take the overhead rate in (1) into account to be a valid comparison.
(3) If the answer to (2) is "no" (as I expect it will be)... why not?
Or it was; in the last century the West has spent less of its resources on developing technology and more on supporting those who aren't able to support themselves. Simple natural selection now means that our populations are becoming geared towards those who consume handouts but produce no new discoveries.
Aw, c'mon, be fair.... I'm sure that more than a few trust fund babies have made scientific discoveries.
Well, let's see what some of the practical requirements are (for example) for a manned mission to Mars:
(1) A solid understanding of the effect of long-duration (3+ years) exposure to space in closed habitation.
(2) Development of self-sustaining ecologies for said closed habitation.
(3) Psychological and health studies to maintain crew safety and performance during said mission.
(4) Development of technologies to allow us to construct large structures on-orbit (since no Mars-bound vessel will be small enough to fit on the end of an Energia booster).
(5) Development of long-term logisitics support for these types of mission.
(6) Development of practical management techniques to effectively manage large, long-duration, multi-national space programs (dont underestimate the importance of managment science... Apollo was as much about figuring out how to MANAGE a moon mission as it was about actually getting to the moon).
Now, how, exactly, could we learn ANY of these things without having a space station?
Granted, the current ISS has been poorly managed, but dont go calling it 'useless' since we need to learn quite a bit before we can move on to interplanetary manned missions.
It's a sad truth I have recently come to realize: Manned Space exploration as a major human endeavor is basically dead.
The left has no interest in it, since space exploration has no apparent humanitarian value. The right has no interest (outside of defense) since it's a money pit. And the private sector has no interest in it since there's no obvious way to make a profit from it.
If access to orbit somehow became cheap enough to be afforable to those who operate under different motivations and priorities, this might change, but given current aerospace and cultural trends I dont see that happening anytime soon.
If you're in the U.S>, s/very few/almost all/. The middle class, directly and indirectly, owns the overwhelming majority of the assets. Not typically as stock shares, but through mutual funds and retirement programs.
This is myth. Less than 50% of US citizens own any stock of any kind, even 'stealth' stock such as mutal funds and pensions.
If it weren't so damn efficient, you would have had to post in Russian.
Red-baiting. How 80s. This has nothing to do with my argument.
Chicago-school thinking did wonders in Russia in the 90s didnt it?
Slashdot Mirror
Cue the "no such thing as privacy! glorious free market! employer rights 100% teh awesome! john galt ROX!" posts in three... two... one...
Sure, it would be nice if we had the capability to preserve every game out there.
Um... we do have this capability. You yourself said we could fit it all on a flash drive.
He didn't nominate himself to be the one deciding which games were good and which ones were bad.
He said 'worth saving'. "Worth" implies value. He sure seemed to be passing judgement. Or, rather, like you, going for the cheap contrarian points. Otherwise... why comment at all?
"Meh, the sun swallows the earth in a cosmic eyeblink. Why bother?"
But most art is lost. And for good reason: because it's not worth saving.
Most of the Roman graffiti preserved at Pompei has dubious artistic value, but has great value to historians (to give insight as to how the 'little people' lived and thought back then).
Just because something's a throwaway for you doesn't mean it won't be of value to someone else, at some future time.
Score one for Pavlov.
If you enjoy being treated like worthless meat whose sole purpose is to be exploited by others, good luck with that (and don't forget to pay the cover charge)...
Damn, has NASA switched unit systems again!?
Ah, I love the smell of hipster nihilism in the morning. It smells like... defeat!
Don't like to share? Move to a desert island: No one will tax you there. Problem solved.
We'll check back in on you in 10 years to see just how much you've "produced" all by your lonesome without any public infrastructure.
...and that won't be insecure at all!
(I just love it when my browser runs unmanaged code full of unverified branch statements!)
John Galt would be proud.
(350 page monologue to follow...)
An IMU can only measure movement, not position. To be used for navigation, an IMU needs (1) an accurate initial calibration point (a "ground truth") and (2) occasional updates to correct for errors in measurement and integration that unavoidably occur over time.
You can certainly use GPS for (1) and (2)... but if you already have access to accurate GPS, why use the IMU at all? (Especially since an IMU would require more power consumption than a mini GPS receiver).
redhat.com took 19 seconds on an HTC Mogul (Sprint/EVDO, Windows Mobile 6, using the vanilla IE Mobile browser).
The only problem is then MS would have to provide technical support for a billion different hard drives.
Um... don't they do this anyway, for Windows?
Hiding behind driver issues is a lame excuse. They could at least lose the proprietary connector, and publish a list of HDDs that would be supported by the current driver.
I don't see what your analogy has to do with the subject.
IMO, scalping is more akin to abducting every woman in the village, then demanding a billion dollars of anyone who wants a wife.
Note the original poster's point: "Supply is low" because of scalpers (who have no intention of actually using the product) waiting on line to grab the PS3s before legitimate buyers can.
These scalpers then attempt to generate wealth that they neither earned nor created on eBay-- with no renumeration to the designer, the manufacturer, the supplier, or the retailer.
Scalping isn't an instance of "the free market", it's actually an attempt to profit through interference with the processes of the free market. So yes: "Parasites" is actually an excellent choice of word.
VBA and VB in general, however, are widely used in Enterprise markets for rapid app development and custom one-shot pieces of software (for good or ill--- that's another discussion). VBA in Office is a common way to build custom apps on top of Word or Excel. As it stands now, these custom apps (more common than you'd think) work on either platform.
Cutting off VBA support in Office-X will take this cross-platform functionality away, and (they hope) make Macs less attractive to enterprise customers. "What do you mean I can't run my custom Accounting program on a Mac anymore?"
Technical issues have nothing to do with these decisions. This is just Microsoft circling the wagons in to protect against Apple making any further inroads into what they see as "their" business market.
With the switch to Intel, and multiple ways to run Windows programs on a Mac, the business leverage of the Windows mono-culture is on the decline.
All MS have left is Office now, with its millions of entrenched users, and they intend to fight like hell to protect that last piece of turf.
The number one rule of the internet -- users are absolute resourch leeching mooches.
The number two rule of the internet... people with user-hostile attitudes like this wonder why they go bankrupt when they try to make money on the internet.
Dont forget all those damned forms you have to fill out.
And you thought buying BATTERIES there was painful...
The boilerplate argument CEOs give for offshoring is "that is costs us less and makes us more competitive". This begs three questions:
(1) What is the estimated overhead rate for employing an offshore worker? This would cover broadband, communications, other sorts of costs in total (i.e. any and all costs of employing that worker that do not translate directly into pay).
(2) Of the jobs offshored for lower salaries... were ANY of those offered stateside at the lower rate? Or did you just assume that no currently unemployed IT worker would accept the job at the lower salary? $18,000/yr is better than $0/yr when you're unemployed. Keep in mind that this differential must take the overhead rate in (1) into account to be a valid comparison.
(3) If the answer to (2) is "no" (as I expect it will be)... why not?
We locals generally refer to these as "park benches".
Um... Notice the low infant mortality rates in Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong as compared to the US (and the UK for that matter).
Aw, c'mon, be fair.... I'm sure that more than a few trust fund babies have made scientific discoveries.
Well, let's see what some of the practical requirements are (for example) for a manned mission to Mars:
(1) A solid understanding of the effect of long-duration (3+ years) exposure to space in closed habitation.
(2) Development of self-sustaining ecologies for said closed habitation.
(3) Psychological and health studies to maintain crew safety and performance during said mission.
(4) Development of technologies to allow us to construct large structures on-orbit (since no Mars-bound vessel will be small enough to fit on the end of an Energia booster).
(5) Development of long-term logisitics support for these types of mission.
(6) Development of practical management techniques to effectively manage large, long-duration, multi-national space programs (dont underestimate the importance of managment science... Apollo was as much about figuring out how to MANAGE a moon mission as it was about actually getting to the moon).
Now, how, exactly, could we learn ANY of these things without having a space station?
Granted, the current ISS has been poorly managed, but dont go calling it 'useless' since we need to learn quite a bit before we can move on to interplanetary manned missions.
It's a sad truth I have recently come to realize: Manned Space exploration as a major human endeavor is basically dead.
The left has no interest in it, since space exploration has no apparent humanitarian value. The right has no interest (outside of defense) since it's a money pit. And the private sector has no interest in it since there's no obvious way to make a profit from it.
If access to orbit somehow became cheap enough to be afforable to those who operate under different motivations and priorities, this might change, but given current aerospace and cultural trends I dont see that happening anytime soon.
Not a big ST-V fan, but I must admit it contains my all-time favorite ST quote (from Kirk):
"Excuse me... but why would GOD need a STARSHIP...?"
:M
If you're in the U.S>, s/very few/almost all/. The middle class, directly and indirectly, owns the overwhelming majority of the assets. Not typically as stock shares, but through mutual funds and retirement programs.
This is myth. Less than 50% of US citizens own any stock of any kind, even 'stealth' stock such as mutal funds and pensions.
If it weren't so damn efficient, you would have had to post in Russian.
Red-baiting. How 80s. This has nothing to do with my argument.
Chicago-school thinking did wonders in Russia in the 90s didnt it?
:M