Plastic was created by new-media house Automatic Media, AKA Joey Anuff & Co. Plastic was to be their first custom Slash application (yes, Plastic runs on a highly customized version of Slash). Their intention was to have an in-house team that would sell Slash customizations as a service to websites in need of custom community software. Alas, their timing (if not their business plan) was off, and they went belly-up.
Plastic was purchased from Anuff by former Suck contributer Carl Steadman for a mere $30,000. He resurrected it, and has steadily improved on Plastic's code.
This series, written by the author of Trillion Year Spree and the Myst novels, is by far the most underrated Sci-Fi series of all time. At the very least, it's my very favorite collection of books (I have a whole bookshelf dedicated to nothing else).
I learned of the series after a copy of the first novel fell into the hands of my father from a colleague, while on a family vacation over a decade ago. Each day, before his daily nap, my father would pick up the book and attempt to get past the 5+ page long character list (in small text, mind you). Finally, he gave up and handed me this treasure of a book. Now, I realize I may have just scared both of you who read comments that sit so low on the mod points totem pole, but this is a really complex book. Not that it is hard to follow, or obtusely written, quite the opposite! Wingrove's descriptive environments, complete and complex characters, morally questionable situations, fast violence, and sexy sex are a joy to experience. His characters are so numerous, however, and their relationships so heavily intertwined, that it may scare off the most casual readers. But one need only get ten pages in to get completely hooked. Not one person I've introduced the series to has been able to put it down for a moment, and almost all have read the entire eight-book series.
...when a vulnerability is found, it is then patched / fixed / hacked / whatever / and then distributed.
That is, of course, if the vulnerable Open Source software is still maintained. Too many projects fall apart due to insufficient momentum, too small a user-base, or changes in the lives of project leaders.
Sometimes, like in the case of the GIMP, an abandoned project will get picked up, brushed off, extended and enhanced. But this usually not the case.
That's a core part of the Mono project... Creating compatible libraries that work on Linux. Because of the OOP nature of the.NET frameworks, Mono can (and hopefully will) be ported to other OS's, like MacOS X. Linux gets Gnome-specific GUI tie-ins, and the Mac will eventually get Aqua-specific tie-ins.
I acknowledge the "social advantage" Windows presently holds over its competitors, but there are some things one needs to take into account.
Specifically, the strongest part of your argument is referring to the regular sharing of commercial Windows apps. But I find it hard to claim that "Windows is easier to use" because your friends can help troubleshoot "Windows problems" that may be cryptic or not immediately intuitive.
My definition of ease-of-use has to do with how fast and effectively I can do something. How inituitive is the system (OS, application, car, stove) I'm using, so I can spend less time wrestling with it than doing what I need to?
Personally, I find that there are a higher percentage of these helpful, willing-to-troubleshoot friends in the 'alternative OS' camps (MacOS, Linux, *BSD, BeOS, yadda) than in the Windows camp.
Perhaps it should best be said that Windows users find it easier to find people to help them simply because there are so many others familiar with the platform.
A lot of the new HDTV's nowadays are utilizing new, exciting, but not consumer-proven technologies.
Plasma screens, massive LCD's, etc. seem to be the HDTV kings right now, but all these hi-def gadgets have a major problem - price. While memory is getting cheaper and cheaper, these haven't had the kind of production surplus necessary to drive these prices down to reasonable levels. Even in Japan, the home of HDTV, these products cost more than a pretty penny. Then again, considering the recession...
Point being, unless you have a really, really compelling reason to leap, don't. I know you're dying to hook up your freshly unwrapped GameCube and play it in full digital glory, but it really doesn't make sense right now. If you're definitely looking for a new TV or whatnot, consider a home theater projector. They run about as much as a lower-end HDTV would cost you, but you can use them as a monitor or a massive movie wall.
Of course, the more people buy into Plasma and so forth now, the faster prices will drop... Hmmm... Go Now! Buy buy buy! Then maybe I'll be able to afford one in a few years when they're more practical. ^_^
I always found AIM on my Sprint phone to be a pain... You must first connect to the "Wireless Web," then navigate over to the AIM service, then login, then type your message, and finally await a response.
All the while, you're paying per-minute charges...
And you can't recieve messages unless you're connected to the infamous "Wireless Web."
IMNSHO, SMS really trumps Sprint's shoddy AIM implementation. I'll be switching to a GSM phone w/ SMS functionality sometime this week to take advantage of this...
The billing mechanism should
track for and eliminate charges for [pop-up pages], as well as for pages that auto-refresh themselves, error and non-existant pages, pages arrived at by pressing the back button, duplicate pages and so on.
Actually, Microsoft has this discount thing if you're even peripherally involved in computer retail, which I was at the time... They give you the software, plus CD-ROM sales training. They figure that if the sales people are knowledgeable, that they might be able to help customers... What a strange thought...
Just to reiterate: this was straight from MS.
I completely agree with all of the above points...
Win2k is the first version of Windows I've ever used that I can consider usable. Usable being a relative thing, of course.
Win2k will most certainly be the last version of Windows I'll ever buy... I'll simply pick up a newer Mac w/ OS X.
note: Win2k is also the only version of Windows I've ever purchased (separately). All the other ones were bundled w/ their respective computers. Then again, picking up Win2k Pro and Win2k Advanced Server w/ 5 CALs for $130 legally isn't so bad... ('So bad' again being relative.)
It reminds me of something Joel Spolsky wrote, about how Microsoft programmers get paid per line of code written, not by the quality of the code. Furthermore, they get paid more for every bugfix. This means that their personal 'revenue models' encourage flawed code.
A good friend of mine keeps on trying to get me to read the series, but I'm still very leery about the whole thing...
The story of my first impression regarding Harry Potter is thus:
The first HP book came out while I was attending my first year at college. At the same time, Amazon started up that feature that allows users to see what the most popular books at a given organization are. On a lark, I checked out my school's faves, and Harry Potter, classified as a children's book, came in at #1. That scared the crap out of me.
I think that, as a result of this 'trauma', it will be many years before I could conceivably consider reading an HP book.
Q. Can I use FireWire mode with noncomputer products?
A. Yes. First you will need to reset your iPod. When the Apple logo appears on the screen, hold
down the Previous/Rewind button and the Next/Fast-forward button simultaneously until the
FireWire icon appears. When you finish using iPod in this "forced" FireWire mode, disconnect
and reset it again before normal operation.
Now this is interesting... If I'm reading this correctly (and I'm pretty damn sure I am), this means that I could, for example, shoot some footage with my trusty Firewire-capable DV camcorder, and upload all that data to the iPod... While I assume that this would result in the loss of some or all of my MP3's and other files on the iPod's HD, this would mean that one could use the iPod in lieu of additional DV tapes, or (more logically), as a backup for said footage.
The iPod obviously wasn't designed to lock out other possibilities for use... It just has specialized functionality for use with other Apple products. My other Apple products.
I based my XINU comment on my well-worn copy of the BeOS Bible.
In an interview with one of the BeOS developers, he stated that one of the other guys (Be employee #3 or so) "... cracked open the XINU book" and began coding.
I didn't mean to imply that BeOS was derived from XINU, only inspired by it.
Good to see that someone out there knows what XINU is, most people just give me a blank stare.
Slashdot Mirror
I can't believe this thread has gotten so far without even one reference to the original megalomaniacal mouse (and comic foil).
This'll never get read, but...
Plastic was created by new-media house Automatic Media, AKA Joey Anuff & Co. Plastic was to be their first custom Slash application (yes, Plastic runs on a highly customized version of Slash). Their intention was to have an in-house team that would sell Slash customizations as a service to websites in need of custom community software. Alas, their timing (if not their business plan) was off, and they went belly-up.
Plastic was purchased from Anuff by former Suck contributer Carl Steadman for a mere $30,000. He resurrected it, and has steadily improved on Plastic's code.
This series, written by the author of Trillion Year Spree and the Myst novels, is by far the most underrated Sci-Fi series of all time. At the very least, it's my very favorite collection of books (I have a whole bookshelf dedicated to nothing else).
I learned of the series after a copy of the first novel fell into the hands of my father from a colleague, while on a family vacation over a decade ago. Each day, before his daily nap, my father would pick up the book and attempt to get past the 5+ page long character list (in small text, mind you). Finally, he gave up and handed me this treasure of a book.
Now, I realize I may have just scared both of you who read comments that sit so low on the mod points totem pole, but this is a really complex book. Not that it is hard to follow, or obtusely written, quite the opposite! Wingrove's descriptive environments, complete and complex characters, morally questionable situations, fast violence, and sexy sex are a joy to experience. His characters are so numerous, however, and their relationships so heavily intertwined, that it may scare off the most casual readers. But one need only get ten pages in to get completely hooked.
Not one person I've introduced the series to has been able to put it down for a moment, and almost all have read the entire eight-book series.
That is, of course, if the vulnerable Open Source software is still maintained. Too many projects fall apart due to insufficient momentum, too small a user-base, or changes in the lives of project leaders.
Sometimes, like in the case of the GIMP, an abandoned project will get picked up, brushed off, extended and enhanced. But this usually not the case.
That's a core part of the Mono project... Creating compatible libraries that work on Linux. Because of the OOP nature of the .NET frameworks, Mono can (and hopefully will) be ported to other OS's, like MacOS X. Linux gets Gnome-specific GUI tie-ins, and the Mac will eventually get Aqua-specific tie-ins.
They're saying "You know, I do dig eunuchs... Wanna go out?"
And if you're wondering, yes, I know...
Have we learned nothing from Final Fantasy VII? Our reliance on Materia, erm, Electricity will be our undoing!
I acknowledge the "social advantage" Windows presently holds over its competitors, but there are some things one needs to take into account.
Specifically, the strongest part of your argument is referring to the regular sharing of commercial Windows apps. But I find it hard to claim that "Windows is easier to use" because your friends can help troubleshoot "Windows problems" that may be cryptic or not immediately intuitive.
My definition of ease-of-use has to do with how fast and effectively I can do something. How inituitive is the system (OS, application, car, stove) I'm using, so I can spend less time wrestling with it than doing what I need to?
Personally, I find that there are a higher percentage of these helpful, willing-to-troubleshoot friends in the 'alternative OS' camps (MacOS, Linux, *BSD, BeOS, yadda) than in the Windows camp.
Perhaps it should best be said that Windows users find it easier to find people to help them simply because there are so many others familiar with the platform.
Actually, Apple terms this 'Full Keyboard Access' and it's available as of 10.1.
Apple's The Power of X presentation includes a demo of this by Avie himself.
A lot of the new HDTV's nowadays are utilizing new, exciting, but not consumer-proven technologies.
Plasma screens, massive LCD's, etc. seem to be the HDTV kings right now, but all these hi-def gadgets have a major problem - price. While memory is getting cheaper and cheaper, these haven't had the kind of production surplus necessary to drive these prices down to reasonable levels. Even in Japan, the home of HDTV, these products cost more than a pretty penny. Then again, considering the recession...
Point being, unless you have a really, really compelling reason to leap, don't. I know you're dying to hook up your freshly unwrapped GameCube and play it in full digital glory, but it really doesn't make sense right now. If you're definitely looking for a new TV or whatnot, consider a home theater projector. They run about as much as a lower-end HDTV would cost you, but you can use them as a monitor or a massive movie wall.
Of course, the more people buy into Plasma and so forth now, the faster prices will drop... Hmmm... Go Now! Buy buy buy! Then maybe I'll be able to afford one in a few years when they're more practical. ^_^
Joel Spolsky has an article up on his blog site that speaks to this point.
He uses Netscape's decision to rewrite Netscape 6 from scratch as an example, and expands upon many of the points mentioned above.
Well, there are serial ports (I assume you referred to network ports), brute-force techniques at the keyboard, etc.
For offline cracking, steal the harddrive. It's less sexy, but would get the job done.
Point is, nothing is ever 100% secure.
See this comment.
I always found AIM on my Sprint phone to be a pain... You must first connect to the "Wireless Web," then navigate over to the AIM service, then login, then type your message, and finally await a response.
All the while, you're paying per-minute charges...
And you can't recieve messages unless you're connected to the infamous "Wireless Web."
IMNSHO, SMS really trumps Sprint's shoddy AIM implementation. I'll be switching to a GSM phone w/ SMS functionality sometime this week to take advantage of this...
Read & Think before you post. It's only polite.
Actually, Microsoft has this discount thing if you're even peripherally involved in computer retail, which I was at the time... They give you the software, plus CD-ROM sales training. They figure that if the sales people are knowledgeable, that they might be able to help customers... What a strange thought...
Just to reiterate: this was straight from MS.
I completely agree with all of the above points...
Win2k is the first version of Windows I've ever used that I can consider usable. Usable being a relative thing, of course.
Win2k will most certainly be the last version of Windows I'll ever buy... I'll simply pick up a newer Mac w/ OS X.
note: Win2k is also the only version of Windows I've ever purchased (separately). All the other ones were bundled w/ their respective computers. Then again, picking up Win2k Pro and Win2k Advanced Server w/ 5 CALs for $130 legally isn't so bad... ('So bad' again being relative.)
Rip? What about a run? You can't just repair your new 'network' with nail varnish, you know...
Actually, amusingly enough, he provides his customers with source...
Yes, that means they have to pay first.
What a wonderfully simple and powerful concept...
It reminds me of something Joel Spolsky wrote, about how Microsoft programmers get paid per line of code written, not by the quality of the code. Furthermore, they get paid more for every bugfix. This means that their personal 'revenue models' encourage flawed code.
Just something to chew on...
See, I have to agree here.
A good friend of mine keeps on trying to get me to read the series, but I'm still very leery about the whole thing...
The story of my first impression regarding Harry Potter is thus:
The first HP book came out while I was attending my first year at college. At the same time, Amazon started up that feature that allows users to see what the most popular books at a given organization are. On a lark, I checked out my school's faves, and Harry Potter, classified as a children's book, came in at #1. That scared the crap out of me.
I think that, as a result of this 'trauma', it will be many years before I could conceivably consider reading an HP book.
From the PDF FAQ linked above:
Now this is interesting... If I'm reading this correctly (and I'm pretty damn sure I am), this means that I could, for example, shoot some footage with my trusty Firewire-capable DV camcorder, and upload all that data to the iPod... While I assume that this would result in the loss of some or all of my MP3's and other files on the iPod's HD, this would mean that one could use the iPod in lieu of additional DV tapes, or (more logically), as a backup for said footage.
The iPod obviously wasn't designed to lock out other possibilities for use... It just has specialized functionality for use with other Apple products. My other Apple products.
Exactly. The *BSD's do exactly the same thing with their Linux compatibility layers. All the code behind that is BSD-licensed, not GPL'd.
There's an excellent set of articles at the O'Reilly Network on just how they accomplish this.
I based my XINU comment on my well-worn copy of the BeOS Bible.
In an interview with one of the BeOS developers, he stated that one of the other guys (Be employee #3 or so) "... cracked open the XINU book" and began coding.
I didn't mean to imply that BeOS was derived from XINU, only inspired by it.
Good to see that someone out there knows what XINU is, most people just give me a blank stare.
BeOS has a posix compatibility layer, but that doesn't make it a *nix. *nix device drivers cannot be ported so easily to BeOS.
Actually, BeOS is based on XINU (Xinu Is Not Unix).