There's a very convincing talk I saw by Daniel Stone (X developer, Wayland developer), you can watch it on youtube. Basically X is more bad than good, and because of this no one can/wants to even implement it properly because to implement the bad parts is just insane. So by the time you fix all of X's flaws, pull out the font rendering, drivers, etc., it's not really X anymore.
I understand people want their forwarding, but as long as I can get a remote window up on my screen, that's fine for me, and they seem to have this covered with RDP. It'd be great to get SSH integration like X currently has, but not essential.
Isn't it telling that the people developing X think it's the wrong solution for the current state of computing?
Heck, even the network transparency (what I most often hear people raving about X) is just a slow way to send around bitmaps, because the rendering is rarely done using the X rendering primitives.
I think the point trying to be made here is how degrees aren't really the proper units for a measure of angle. While they may be easier to understand for some, they don't fit the math as well as radians do. Think about how an angle can represent a circle, then you can see how 360 degrees really don't make much sense, compared to 2 pi radians.
Also, you have to realize that the editing won't likely won't be done by hand, so all that need be done is have the modeling program convert from degrees (if that's your preference).
It's nice for the format to be human-readable (which it still is), but being mathematically conveniant is likely a good trade off for the slight inconvenience of radian usage.
Lastly, there's really no one saying which is easier to use. I personally prefer using radians to degrees, they make the work I have to do with them easier (which admittedly isn't a lot;)). Since the choice of which unit to use is rather ambiguous, I think the mathematical ease of radians breaks the tie in the end.
Wow, am I ever glad this guy's heading up the team! From the roster on their site:
[He] created the Ignalum Linux OS, when it became clear that without some of his input making its way into mainstream Linux, Linux will likely continue to suffer as a high maintainence Operating System.
Thank you Dan Ho! *grumble* self-important jack-ass *grumble*
And reading a volume of posts over the years, I do have a few questions:
Will the childish attitude of about 50% of the posts on these subjects ever decrease?
When is this "M$ is the bad guy RAA!!" paradigm going to vanish? It's certainly not useful to stereotype everything they do as bad, considering they're so successful (funny how often people utterly ignore that).
Do we need a news story every time someone at MicroSoft says the word "Linux" ?? Look at the icon for the story no-less, more childish proddings at MS.
Take a step back... breathe... don't be an a-hole... and realize that charging for software is not a sin... (and closed software has it's uses too)
The point being, we need to get rid of this win/lose, us/them mentality. It's not helping anything. I believe many people have to take a step back, and try to be more humble, rational individuals.
Start realizing that you can learn some valuable, positive lessons from Microsoft is one thing (such as what it takes to be successful on the desktop).
Start realizing that Microsoft can be your best friend if they're given enough time. They have some of the most skilled software designers/engineers around, so they have HUGE HUGE potential. I believe a big problem they do have is they're a massive massive object, and they need time to gather the "inertia" to change. So why not help them instead of belittling them? Wouldn't you rather have a company the size of MS making good software for you (and swallow your pride if you have to actually trade money for goods and services).
Likewise, I think the Linux community (just picking Linux to put a name on the alternatives) also has incredible potential, but that potential has to be directed somewhere useful, not utterly purile and pointless discussion about who is better, and blinding themselves to other viable options just because they're held by Microsoft (or some other big corp).
Dumb question, but does it matter? Just because the shock for *us* is gone (which has been gone for a loooooong time) doesn't mean it ruins the storyline. So, if you want to look at it from another vantage point, the moment in ESB is then about Luke's shock, not ours, concerning the identity of his father. Just because we're less surprised as an audience does *not* invalidate the moment in ESB.
I was pondering this a little while ago, and I thought of at least two things which are contributing to usability problems in linux. Firstly is consistency. While there is the Gnome HIG (and I'm sure other such guides) I think what is needed is a reliable, trusted group that can more or less "certify" linux (I'm thinking GUI here) programs for usability and consistency. As of right now, I can accomplish all of my desktop tasks in linux fairly easily. However, all of the applications look, and act completely differently (at least the major ones). Mozilla has it's own GTK look and feel to it, Xine and GMplayer are right out to lunch as far as even resembling other UIs, OpenOffice is another, Evolution (if you use it) has it's own UI paradigm, etc. In short, I believe that the functionality of linux is great, but the usability needs... refinement. What I think would benefit everyone if there was a central group that produced a standard for the linux desktop AND had people who would certify and give the stamp of approval to programs which complied with it fully. Of course, the standard would have to be well though out, but that goes without saying. I imagine many people would protest saying "well I make software for myself thank-you-very-much", but even so, this isn't about those people, it's about those who want to make software that's useful to other people as a more primary concern. If such a certification existed then people would have some assurance of the UI they would be using, and more importantly it would be more intuitive, due to the simliarity with the other compliant UIs.
Secondly, I believe that Linux usability would really be benefitted by the way of increased hardward support. This is by many factors more difficult than the first point mentioned as it requires the cooperation of companies which may have no desire to help out, or even have some vested interest in seeing Linux support NOT be available (although I can site no particular entities for this). Although this is taking a comparative look at the issue, I'm going to mention it regardless: when examined next to Windows, Linux falls over when it comes to hardware support. Now, I definitely not saying this is an EASY thing to fix, nor is the problem with Linux itself, per se, but that is rather irrelevant to the person who just wants their webcam to work. Virtually anything can be plugged into windows, and with (often) minimal fuss, it will working, usually as easy as inserting a CD and pressing "Next" a few times. I believe this general circumstance is where Linux should be endeavouring to go, and will not have its desired usability until it can do so consistantly.
Ah yes, much agreed. A 10% in performance isn't readily noticable to a user, which is sad, considerint it probably took considerable work and planning to achieve (or maybe not, I dont' really follow the development very closely!). I tend to think that mozilla renderes fairly quickly, not leagues apart from IE anyway. The tabbed browsing is easily worth any performance loss though, as well as the integrated pop-up blocking etc. Sometimes I think MS should just implement gecko and be done with it, maybe toss some code that way, but we know that's never going to happen;).
I don't think it's fair to say that a 10% improvement isn't significant. For a reasonably mature project such as mozilla to be able to still get 10% more performance is pretty damn good, and either a sign of poor programming to begin with, or very good programming now. Basically, just because the improvement isn't noticeable perceptable while you use it doesn't mean it's not significant.
I think you're confusing things... well quite a lot. Gravity is a property of the natural world. A thing which exists regardless of human intervention. Math however, did not exist before we came here, at least not human math. Math, like english, is a description of the natural world, and a way for us to understand it better. In this way, it is more like a tool than anything else.
Addtionally, algorithms are not a part of math, and they are nto a property of the natural world. They are a description of steps. You can have a daily algorithm to brush your teeth, it's not necessarily mathematical, or in the form of computer code.
They all must run on the same system, therefore leveling the playing field off on the hardware level. This lets the distros themselves be considered without the interference/swaying aspects of different hardware. I think throwing in PPC OS's might be a little too much apples vs oranges for the purposes of the competition.
I mean, when you buy an $8 t-shirt at wal-mart, you get to try it on first, right? When you want to buy a $10 book, you get to browse it at the bookstore before you buy it. Why should an $18.99 CD be any different?
I don't think CDs are any different? Most music retailers have CDs in those demo players. Although obviously they can't put every CD in them, that's one way. Also as far as I am aware, most CDs have short clips on the websites of large retailers (ie, HMV, etc). Lastly for major releases there are singles that are played on the radio on and on TV. Maybe I'm just misinformed, but I've always thought these were viable "preview" methods.
There are quite a few people here saying that they don't have enough outlets to run all of their "stuff". While this is a valid point, I think maybe that there is another problem here: too much luxury. I'm not going to say that people don't have a right to their electricity, or that they can't run gadget A, or appliance B. I just think that, if when you take a look at all the things you have, you probably don't really need all of it. Now I'm speaking with regards to dorm-rooms here, not so much apartment buildings where less is provided for you.
Why don't people just either
a) not bring so much stuff to school (where in theory you should be working most of the time anyway)
or b) just UNPLUG one thing, then plug another in! (you don't really need to run everything concurrently)
To me at least, it just seems that people are starting to jump to the "how do I expand my current limits" solution, when maybe the "how do I conserve power" solution might be better in some situations. I am not saying this holds true for everyone, some people have to be able to watch a video and decompose the effect of the background on the overall composition of the..(well you get the idea), but in GENERAL conservation should be used before expansion.
Hmm, good point. But is it the particulate matter, or the magnetic waves and radiation that cause the disturbances? I'm definitely not an expert on solar phenomenom, I'm just guessing that the reaction (explosion?) which creates the flare would release such things? I was just assuming that the disturbances were caused by the radiation/magnetism, travelling at the speed of light. Oops:)
Irrespective of WHO owns the copyrights, it doesn't make it any less of theft. The deals made before a record goes into production are only the artists' and the producers' business. Maybe the artist makes absolutely no money off the sales of the album, but I'd bet he or she made a chunk of change getting paid to MAKE the album itself. If a person doesn't want to support the industry, they don't have to buy the records. That's a good way of making a statement about how they don't like the companies' business model. But just *taking* the music, and saying that it's okay because you're not stealing from the artists themselves, is astonishingly misguided.
And my "stealing your face" argument was merely to demonstrate what sort of a rediculous point you made. There's quite a difference between making a facial expression, and duplicating some work for profit (profit because you would otherwise have to buy the cd to get the music, at least in theory).People get mad if you copy their work, they don't get so mad if you merely follow in the same genre, or have a similar sound (if we're discussing music).
But believe it or not, intellectual property exists simply to protect stupid abilities and rights such as these which dont even matter while removing our personal freedom.
It does?! And here I thought it existed to allow people like artists, musicians, writers, a way to make a living. Wow, do I feel dumb. And don't gimme that "the musicians don't make any money anyway", because that's really not the point (besides the fact, I'm sure some do make quite a bit of money off of their record sales). You're not Robin Hood if you steal music from the big bad music companies. You can't take something from someone just because they have a lot of money. You don't see people who steal cars saying "GM makes too much money, I'm allowed to steal from them". I think some laws in this are of theft obviously ARE needed if some people don't understand what IS and IS NOT stealing. (IE: people who believe you can't steal intangible objects).
What about Metallica by the way? For whatever reasons, they seemed to be upset that people were distributing their work. They're not CEO's, they're the artist.
And really, stealing your face? Well, maybe if someone got plastic surgery to look like you, went to your job, took your pay cheque and then proceeded to go to the bank and empty the account, you MAY see how immitating and copying differ slightly. But hey, no worries, yoru bank balance is just information!! They can't steal it anyway, right my man?!
You mean those rumours founded in truth?? Halflife was based off of BOTH Q1 and Q2, plus their own modifications and additions. You can check it out, there's an interview over at contaminated.net with one of the developers, he says it himself:
Well, personally I think the Halflife story was great. And I think the fact that "you are the protagonist" isn't really a cop-out, but a device. The difference between Halflife and Jedi Knight, is that Halflife doesn't let you take a step outside of the character.
Jedi Knight takes you outside of your character through the cut sequences to tell the story. This is why I personally believe that Halflife is superior in it's story telling ability to Jedi Knight. It doesn't mix the two styles of either 'being the character' or 'seeing the character'. I will agree that Halflife doesn't have the same interaction and choice that other games have, but that's really not the same (so I'll conveniently say no more about it;)).
I think that Halflife got so many praises for storytelling because it told it's story *very* effectivly in first person. I think that the story is very good, if not exceptionally deep. But hey, depth was never an integral part of a good story. I think that sub-plots, themes, motifs, etc, are secondary to what actually happens. Sure they could enhance the overall story, but they could also drag it wayyyyyy down. On the whole Halflife is a good story precisely because exciting things happen. And to go along with that you *really* do feel as if they're happening to you. Personally I felt a little betrayed, just a little hurt whenthe marines came in and started trying to kill me. It wasn't how I pictured our relationship going, but I got over it. Anyway, top marks for the ability to relate the story to the players. Although that's just my take on it; I could be wrong.
Uhm, when trying to make a point, don't make broad uninformed statements. Things such as stating that America is: the most humane, safe, and free place to live. There are definitely more humane and safe places to live. Here, in Canada, we have most certainly less crime. Also, we have social health-care (think of it as free health-care), which I think covers the more 'humane' aspect. Personally, I believe taking care of your sick and wounded without cost is fairly humane, but that's just me. Anyway, I just wanted to add some perspective, and my own opinion that the US is certainly *not* the best place in the world to live (a thing that many Americans tout around as fact, instead of opinion).
Fixation on Democracy?
on
Strike on Iraq
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Why does it seem that everyone is obsessed with setting up a democracy in Iraq? Okay, sure, better than the current system, but why democracy? It surely isn't the most fair of governments. Why not try to esatablish socialism? I mean, as far as I understand it, socialism is like Democracy+ right? I'm really not an expert, so please feel free to correct my (probable) mistakes, but just food for thought I hope.:)
Somebody made a list of how to sell something on slashdot and didn't include... "#) PROFIT!" Maybe it's in the first few lines... maybe I just missed... oh no... oh god!! It's really not there! I'm going to faint, my world is in shambles. Excuse me while I try to piece my perception of this reality back together.
I thought about this for a moment (just one, just one moment) and came to the conclusion that I actually have no idea why an instition would use SSNs (or SINs) to internally identify their members. The university I go to has their own student numbering system and we seem to do fine. It's not difficult at all to remember a 7 digit code that you find you have to write down at least 5 times a week. *shrug*
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIctzAQOe44
I understand people want their forwarding, but as long as I can get a remote window up on my screen, that's fine for me, and they seem to have this covered with RDP. It'd be great to get SSH integration like X currently has, but not essential.
The developers of X don't even like X.
The users of X like X just fine.
Isn't it telling that the people developing X think it's the wrong solution for the current state of computing? Heck, even the network transparency (what I most often hear people raving about X) is just a slow way to send around bitmaps, because the rendering is rarely done using the X rendering primitives.
Also, you have to realize that the editing won't likely won't be done by hand, so all that need be done is have the modeling program convert from degrees (if that's your preference).
It's nice for the format to be human-readable (which it still is), but being mathematically conveniant is likely a good trade off for the slight inconvenience of radian usage.
Lastly, there's really no one saying which is easier to use. I personally prefer using radians to degrees, they make the work I have to do with them easier (which admittedly isn't a lot ;)). Since the choice of which unit to use is rather ambiguous, I think the mathematical ease of radians breaks the tie in the end.
Let me be the first to say:
I fought the law, and the -- law won
I fought the law, and the -- law won!
Thank you Dan Ho! *grumble* self-important jack-ass *grumble*
Will the childish attitude of about 50% of the posts on these subjects ever decrease?
When is this "M$ is the bad guy RAA!!" paradigm going to vanish? It's certainly not useful to stereotype everything they do as bad, considering they're so successful (funny how often people utterly ignore that).
Do we need a news story every time someone at MicroSoft says the word "Linux" ?? Look at the icon for the story no-less, more childish proddings at MS.
Take a step back... breathe... don't be an a-hole... and realize that charging for software is not a sin... (and closed software has it's uses too)
The point being, we need to get rid of this win/lose, us/them mentality. It's not helping anything. I believe many people have to take a step back, and try to be more humble, rational individuals.
Start realizing that you can learn some valuable, positive lessons from Microsoft is one thing (such as what it takes to be successful on the desktop).
Start realizing that Microsoft can be your best friend if they're given enough time. They have some of the most skilled software designers/engineers around, so they have HUGE HUGE potential. I believe a big problem they do have is they're a massive massive object, and they need time to gather the "inertia" to change. So why not help them instead of belittling them? Wouldn't you rather have a company the size of MS making good software for you (and swallow your pride if you have to actually trade money for goods and services).
Likewise, I think the Linux community (just picking Linux to put a name on the alternatives) also has incredible potential, but that potential has to be directed somewhere useful, not utterly purile and pointless discussion about who is better, and blinding themselves to other viable options just because they're held by Microsoft (or some other big corp).
Dumb question, but does it matter? Just because the shock for *us* is gone (which has been gone for a loooooong time) doesn't mean it ruins the storyline. So, if you want to look at it from another vantage point, the moment in ESB is then about Luke's shock, not ours, concerning the identity of his father. Just because we're less surprised as an audience does *not* invalidate the moment in ESB.
Secondly, I believe that Linux usability would really be benefitted by the way of increased hardward support. This is by many factors more difficult than the first point mentioned as it requires the cooperation of companies which may have no desire to help out, or even have some vested interest in seeing Linux support NOT be available (although I can site no particular entities for this). Although this is taking a comparative look at the issue, I'm going to mention it regardless: when examined next to Windows, Linux falls over when it comes to hardware support. Now, I definitely not saying this is an EASY thing to fix, nor is the problem with Linux itself, per se, but that is rather irrelevant to the person who just wants their webcam to work. Virtually anything can be plugged into windows, and with (often) minimal fuss, it will working, usually as easy as inserting a CD and pressing "Next" a few times. I believe this general circumstance is where Linux should be endeavouring to go, and will not have its desired usability until it can do so consistantly.
Ah yes, much agreed. A 10% in performance isn't readily noticable to a user, which is sad, considerint it probably took considerable work and planning to achieve (or maybe not, I dont' really follow the development very closely!). I tend to think that mozilla renderes fairly quickly, not leagues apart from IE anyway. The tabbed browsing is easily worth any performance loss though, as well as the integrated pop-up blocking etc. Sometimes I think MS should just implement gecko and be done with it, maybe toss some code that way, but we know that's never going to happen ;).
I don't think it's fair to say that a 10% improvement isn't significant. For a reasonably mature project such as mozilla to be able to still get 10% more performance is pretty damn good, and either a sign of poor programming to begin with, or very good programming now. Basically, just because the improvement isn't noticeable perceptable while you use it doesn't mean it's not significant.
Addtionally, algorithms are not a part of math, and they are nto a property of the natural world. They are a description of steps. You can have a daily algorithm to brush your teeth, it's not necessarily mathematical, or in the form of computer code.
They all must run on the same system, therefore leveling the playing field off on the hardware level. This lets the distros themselves be considered without the interference/swaying aspects of different hardware. I think throwing in PPC OS's might be a little too much apples vs oranges for the purposes of the competition.
I don't think CDs are any different? Most music retailers have CDs in those demo players. Although obviously they can't put every CD in them, that's one way. Also as far as I am aware, most CDs have short clips on the websites of large retailers (ie, HMV, etc). Lastly for major releases there are singles that are played on the radio on and on TV. Maybe I'm just misinformed, but I've always thought these were viable "preview" methods.
Why don't people just either
a) not bring so much stuff to school (where in theory you should be working most of the time anyway)
or b) just UNPLUG one thing, then plug another in! (you don't really need to run everything concurrently)
To me at least, it just seems that people are starting to jump to the "how do I expand my current limits" solution, when maybe the "how do I conserve power" solution might be better in some situations. I am not saying this holds true for everyone, some people have to be able to watch a video and decompose the effect of the background on the overall composition of the..(well you get the idea), but in GENERAL conservation should be used before expansion.
Hmm, good point. But is it the particulate matter, or the magnetic waves and radiation that cause the disturbances? I'm definitely not an expert on solar phenomenom, I'm just guessing that the reaction (explosion?) which creates the flare would release such things? I was just assuming that the disturbances were caused by the radiation/magnetism, travelling at the speed of light. Oops :)
Ultra picky: You forgot the day, hour, minute and second!... I think we need a more accurate tape measure for that though... ;)
Actually, if a person were to get picky, it happened August 27th, 45,000 years ago :D
And my "stealing your face" argument was merely to demonstrate what sort of a rediculous point you made. There's quite a difference between making a facial expression, and duplicating some work for profit (profit because you would otherwise have to buy the cd to get the music, at least in theory).People get mad if you copy their work, they don't get so mad if you merely follow in the same genre, or have a similar sound (if we're discussing music).
Saint
It does?! And here I thought it existed to allow people like artists, musicians, writers, a way to make a living. Wow, do I feel dumb. And don't gimme that "the musicians don't make any money anyway", because that's really not the point (besides the fact, I'm sure some do make quite a bit of money off of their record sales). You're not Robin Hood if you steal music from the big bad music companies. You can't take something from someone just because they have a lot of money. You don't see people who steal cars saying "GM makes too much money, I'm allowed to steal from them". I think some laws in this are of theft obviously ARE needed if some people don't understand what IS and IS NOT stealing. (IE: people who believe you can't steal intangible objects).
What about Metallica by the way? For whatever reasons, they seemed to be upset that people were distributing their work. They're not CEO's, they're the artist.
And really, stealing your face? Well, maybe if someone got plastic surgery to look like you, went to your job, took your pay cheque and then proceeded to go to the bank and empty the account, you MAY see how immitating and copying differ slightly. But hey, no worries, yoru bank balance is just information!! They can't steal it anyway, right my man?!
Saint
Interview
Well, personally I think the Halflife story was great. And I think the fact that "you are the protagonist" isn't really a cop-out, but a device. The difference between Halflife and Jedi Knight, is that Halflife doesn't let you take a step outside of the character.
Jedi Knight takes you outside of your character through the cut sequences to tell the story. This is why I personally believe that Halflife is superior in it's story telling ability to Jedi Knight. It doesn't mix the two styles of either 'being the character' or 'seeing the character'. I will agree that Halflife doesn't have the same interaction and choice that other games have, but that's really not the same (so I'll conveniently say no more about it ;)).
I think that Halflife got so many praises for storytelling because it told it's story *very* effectivly in first person. I think that the story is very good, if not exceptionally deep. But hey, depth was never an integral part of a good story. I think that sub-plots, themes, motifs, etc, are secondary to what actually happens. Sure they could enhance the overall story, but they could also drag it wayyyyyy down. On the whole Halflife is a good story precisely because exciting things happen. And to go along with that you *really* do feel as if they're happening to you. Personally I felt a little betrayed, just a little hurt whenthe marines came in and started trying to kill me. It wasn't how I pictured our relationship going, but I got over it. Anyway, top marks for the ability to relate the story to the players. Although that's just my take on it; I could be wrong.
Uhm, when trying to make a point, don't make broad uninformed statements. Things such as stating that America is: the most humane, safe, and free place to live. There are definitely more humane and safe places to live. Here, in Canada, we have most certainly less crime. Also, we have social health-care (think of it as free health-care), which I think covers the more 'humane' aspect. Personally, I believe taking care of your sick and wounded without cost is fairly humane, but that's just me. Anyway, I just wanted to add some perspective, and my own opinion that the US is certainly *not* the best place in the world to live (a thing that many Americans tout around as fact, instead of opinion).
Why does it seem that everyone is obsessed with setting up a democracy in Iraq? Okay, sure, better than the current system, but why democracy? It surely isn't the most fair of governments. Why not try to esatablish socialism? I mean, as far as I understand it, socialism is like Democracy+ right? I'm really not an expert, so please feel free to correct my (probable) mistakes, but just food for thought I hope. :)
Somebody made a list of how to sell something on slashdot and didn't include ... "#) PROFIT!" Maybe it's in the first few lines... maybe I just missed... oh no... oh god!! It's really not there! I'm going to faint, my world is in shambles. Excuse me while I try to piece my perception of this reality back together.
I thought about this for a moment (just one, just one moment) and came to the conclusion that I actually have no idea why an instition would use SSNs (or SINs) to internally identify their members. The university I go to has their own student numbering system and we seem to do fine. It's not difficult at all to remember a 7 digit code that you find you have to write down at least 5 times a week. *shrug*