But to get anything done with it, you have to use Objective C (which is a wretched syntax abomination), or struggle with horribly incomplete Java documentation, or use the old procedural Carbon API's.
So yes, great tools, but what a mess of languages and choices behind it. I'm not saying Visual Basic is even *good*, but it is *simple* (painfully so at times). And that's coming from a 15 year Mac developer.
Actually, I'd recommend against "Love Hina" and "Chobits", as the fanservice may turn people off initially. "Love Hina" in particular gets VERY repetitive (which is a shame, as the manga version was much better).
Instead, I'd highly recommend "His and Her Circumstances" to just about anyone. I have a wide array of friends of all different interests (and many of them, anime is not one), and every last one has LOVED His and Her (also known - by a shortening of its Japanese name - as Kare Kano). This doesn't mean everyone will love it, but it stands a pretty good chance.:)
If you like comedies, let me HIGHLY recommend "Irresponsible Captain Tylor". It's an older series, but has a perfect balance of humor, characters, and enough plot to keep it going. It never lags, doesn't have filler, and is enjoyable from start to end (disclaimer: this was my introduction to anime about 8 years ago). "Tenchi Muyo" (the OVA's) are another good comedic starting point, and an anime classic.
Finally, for something simply lovely, "Haibane Renmei" is wonderful, as long as you can accept that the world it is set in is simply the way it is, and a lack of extensive explanations doesn't bother you. After watching the first episode I watched the whole thing through in one sitting (via fansub) and bought the boxset that day.
No, there is no one "meaning" to Evangelion. That's a very American view (and a recent one) that things should have a straightforward, obvious meaning that applies the same to everyone.
You'll get as much out of Eva as you put in to it. What Eva does is it brings up a lot of questions on the nature of the individual and relationships, and not a lot of answers. To bring this to the fore, we have a cast of characters who are all damaged in some way in how they interact with others, and there is a lot that you do have to figure out for yourself and what it means to you personally (which is why you'll see a million different interpretations).
It's not about the "giant robots". It's not even about the religious imagery, or the end of the world - those are all merely the setting; they are not the plot.
Evangelion was created by the same team (including Hideki Anno) who then created "His and Her Circumstances", what is on the surface a high-school romance. In reality, the two series share the same themes and goal - they both focus on individuals, relationships, masks, identity, and how we reach out beyond ourselves, and let others in.
And hell, that's only one sub-genre of anime - sci-fi. Then there's comedies like Azumanga Daioh, Slayers, or Tenchi Muyo, romances like His and Her Circumstances, and simply indescribable series such as Haibane Renmei. Every genre that exists in film exists in anime, and then some, each with their own standout series.
Certainly you wouldn't argue that "I ain't doin' that." and "I'm not doing that." convey exactly the same impression. Think for a moment if a client or business partner said the former versus the latter - which one would you give more weight to? Which would you regard as more intelligent?
Obviously they impart the same meaning, but the impression is a whole other matter.
(And as many have already pointed out, nobody says "should of" - they say "should've", even if they don't realize it.)
I believe "accessible" was the key term. After all, if you told a thousand geeks "your local library has this article" versus "click here", how many will read it each way?
The whole point of the internet is easy, instant access to information that doesn't require you to go to it, but it comes to you - even reprints of 20 year old magazines.
I have used several. None are as good for things like: 1) Changing music quickly (such as at a red light), even across genres or finding that one song you want to listen to *now*. 2) Easily using it without looking at it. The buttons are obviously placed enough that you can grab it in any orientation and know exactly what button is what - do it all the time with it in my pocket while mowing the lawn. What I'm doing to my eardrums - who knows. 3) Finally, as I've stated more times that I can to recall, the point isn't even the iPod, it's the seamless integration. Even today, any review of a PC/WMA device has an obligatory starting section about how hard the software was to install, sync, and keep working, as well as firmware updates, and "we're sure this will be fixed soon". You just don't see that with the iPod.
People buy iPods because people who own them love them and gush about them. People do not do this with their "well, it works enough" MP3 players.
Warning - there are all kinds of horror stories on the TreoCentral boards of people trying this, and getting socked with thousand dollar bills for data airtime...
The sad thing is, you think IBM is primarily technical people - programmers and hardware folk. Look at the numbers - IBM Global Services dawrfs the rest of the company. There are likely now 14,000 business analysts, sales guys, and project managers roaming the streets.
Moderated funny? I don't know whether that's good or bad - good because more people read Slashdot for the funny comments, or bad because there's nothing funny there.
Not in my experience. It won't install onto a more recent Mac, of course (since it has no idea what to do with it), but I've never had problems using, say, my iBook CD's on an old Pismo Powerbook.
Doubleclick and other advertisers need to learn that "grabbing your attention" generally equates to "annoying as hell". People hate animated ads, flash ads, and their ilk. However, Google has done a very good job with its simple text-based ads, and I've supported those by clicking them. They're unobtrusive and more relevant to the topic I'm reading about (well, usually).
People don't block ads. People block annoyances. Witness the "click to play" Flash plugins as well.
If you want to do some real good, go out and put your money where your mouth is, and buy a copy of this and send it to your senator or representative. Enough of these copies show up, and either the legislators themselves or their staff will read it. From what I've seen on the Hill, having the staff aware of it goes a long way towards the legislator being aware of it, as no one has their ear like their own staff.
It's said that a handwritten letter gets more attention, as it clearly conveys the time and effort the sender put into it. Well, purchasing a book and sending it takes not only time, but money as well, and will get attention.
We have to make sure that Congress understands the truth of what's going on.
If you haven't noticed, nearly every company today has the same policy - they just aren't as up front about it. Google is, and even they even pay you to sit around one day a week coming up with something *you* want. If it's useful to Google, so be it.
Google is freely admitting that corporate culture is a terrible way to come up with ideas. I see that as a good thing.
There is definitely a difference between copyright, which provides for your fair use, and copy protection, which prevents it. Copyrighted works are not part of anyone's "war" but your own - they're perfectly valid (the Congressional extensions, that's another matter).
Furthermore, the auto electronics do prevent reverse engineering and diagnostics, but they aren't "copy protection". Your mechanic is not trying to make a copy of the engine, he's trying to figure out what's wrong to fix it.
Infrared lights in theaters? Cable signals? Yup, that is copy protection. The others are not.
OS X, as well-designed as the fundamentals are and as nice a system as it is compared to OS 9, just doesn't exude the "spit and polish" of previous systems (still a lot better than Windows and KDE, although I think the Gnome guys have done a better job as of late - no, that's not a troll). The interface has its aqua/metal/unified schizophrenia, there are all kinds of niggly little details that don't "just work" (window zooming in Tiger's Finder, Safari not remembering its window position consistently) and lots of small bugs that just never get fixed. Apple gets a lot right, but they no longer go that extra mile to perfect things like they used to.
More like they are a business and they would like to remain in business.
As for their hardware being "grossly overpriced", you haven't actually looked at their lineup in the last several years, have you? We've been over it a million times here, and for a comparable computer (yes, this means no leaving out wireless, firewire, and all of those things Mac users use and take for granted), their consumer line is either in-line with the PC or better (Mac Mini, especially). Their pro line is not as competitive (Powerbooks, especially) which is why this whole Intel shift started in the first place.
If you want a bare bones box without Firewire, wireless, Gigabit ethernet, etc, fine - go build one and enjoy it. But don't expect Apple to build you one and don't cloud the argument by lowballing PC hardware prices.
Slashdot Mirror
So, no clear market, expensive, yet cool. Gee, I've seen that somewhere before.
But to get anything done with it, you have to use Objective C (which is a wretched syntax abomination), or struggle with horribly incomplete Java documentation, or use the old procedural Carbon API's.
So yes, great tools, but what a mess of languages and choices behind it. I'm not saying Visual Basic is even *good*, but it is *simple* (painfully so at times). And that's coming from a 15 year Mac developer.
Or you could, I don't know, BUY them, since many of them are licensed.
Actually, I'd recommend against "Love Hina" and "Chobits", as the fanservice may turn people off initially. "Love Hina" in particular gets VERY repetitive (which is a shame, as the manga version was much better).
:)
Instead, I'd highly recommend "His and Her Circumstances" to just about anyone. I have a wide array of friends of all different interests (and many of them, anime is not one), and every last one has LOVED His and Her (also known - by a shortening of its Japanese name - as Kare Kano). This doesn't mean everyone will love it, but it stands a pretty good chance.
If you like comedies, let me HIGHLY recommend "Irresponsible Captain Tylor". It's an older series, but has a perfect balance of humor, characters, and enough plot to keep it going. It never lags, doesn't have filler, and is enjoyable from start to end (disclaimer: this was my introduction to anime about 8 years ago). "Tenchi Muyo" (the OVA's) are another good comedic starting point, and an anime classic.
Finally, for something simply lovely, "Haibane Renmei" is wonderful, as long as you can accept that the world it is set in is simply the way it is, and a lack of extensive explanations doesn't bother you. After watching the first episode I watched the whole thing through in one sitting (via fansub) and bought the boxset that day.
You're missing the point.
No, there is no one "meaning" to Evangelion. That's a very American view (and a recent one) that things should have a straightforward, obvious meaning that applies the same to everyone.
You'll get as much out of Eva as you put in to it. What Eva does is it brings up a lot of questions on the nature of the individual and relationships, and not a lot of answers. To bring this to the fore, we have a cast of characters who are all damaged in some way in how they interact with others, and there is a lot that you do have to figure out for yourself and what it means to you personally (which is why you'll see a million different interpretations).
It's not about the "giant robots". It's not even about the religious imagery, or the end of the world - those are all merely the setting; they are not the plot.
Evangelion was created by the same team (including Hideki Anno) who then created "His and Her Circumstances", what is on the surface a high-school romance. In reality, the two series share the same themes and goal - they both focus on individuals, relationships, masks, identity, and how we reach out beyond ourselves, and let others in.
gems like GITS, Akira, Evangelion, Lain, etc.
And hell, that's only one sub-genre of anime - sci-fi. Then there's comedies like Azumanga Daioh, Slayers, or Tenchi Muyo, romances like His and Her Circumstances, and simply indescribable series such as Haibane Renmei. Every genre that exists in film exists in anime, and then some, each with their own standout series.
Azumanga, Naruto, sure. But Love Hina? That one would have been picked up even had it never been seen by a single US fan.
Certainly you wouldn't argue that "I ain't doin' that." and "I'm not doing that." convey exactly the same impression. Think for a moment if a client or business partner said the former versus the latter - which one would you give more weight to? Which would you regard as more intelligent?
Obviously they impart the same meaning, but the impression is a whole other matter.
(And as many have already pointed out, nobody says "should of" - they say "should've", even if they don't realize it.)
but you have to take the good with the bad
Why?
I believe "accessible" was the key term. After all, if you told a thousand geeks "your local library has this article" versus "click here", how many will read it each way?
The whole point of the internet is easy, instant access to information that doesn't require you to go to it, but it comes to you - even reprints of 20 year old magazines.
I have used several. None are as good for things like:
1) Changing music quickly (such as at a red light), even across genres or finding that one song you want to listen to *now*.
2) Easily using it without looking at it. The buttons are obviously placed enough that you can grab it in any orientation and know exactly what button is what - do it all the time with it in my pocket while mowing the lawn. What I'm doing to my eardrums - who knows.
3) Finally, as I've stated more times that I can to recall, the point isn't even the iPod, it's the seamless integration. Even today, any review of a PC/WMA device has an obligatory starting section about how hard the software was to install, sync, and keep working, as well as firmware updates, and "we're sure this will be fixed soon". You just don't see that with the iPod.
People buy iPods because people who own them love them and gush about them. People do not do this with their "well, it works enough" MP3 players.
Warning - there are all kinds of horror stories on the TreoCentral boards of people trying this, and getting socked with thousand dollar bills for data airtime...
The sad thing is, you think IBM is primarily technical people - programmers and hardware folk. Look at the numbers - IBM Global Services dawrfs the rest of the company. There are likely now 14,000 business analysts, sales guys, and project managers roaming the streets.
Now that is frightening.
Pardon me, but did you just say IBM is cheap?
Moderated funny? I don't know whether that's good or bad - good because more people read Slashdot for the funny comments, or bad because there's nothing funny there.
Not in my experience. It won't install onto a more recent Mac, of course (since it has no idea what to do with it), but I've never had problems using, say, my iBook CD's on an old Pismo Powerbook.
Doubleclick and other advertisers need to learn that "grabbing your attention" generally equates to "annoying as hell". People hate animated ads, flash ads, and their ilk. However, Google has done a very good job with its simple text-based ads, and I've supported those by clicking them. They're unobtrusive and more relevant to the topic I'm reading about (well, usually).
People don't block ads. People block annoyances. Witness the "click to play" Flash plugins as well.
If you want to do some real good, go out and put your money where your mouth is, and buy a copy of this and send it to your senator or representative. Enough of these copies show up, and either the legislators themselves or their staff will read it. From what I've seen on the Hill, having the staff aware of it goes a long way towards the legislator being aware of it, as no one has their ear like their own staff.
It's said that a handwritten letter gets more attention, as it clearly conveys the time and effort the sender put into it. Well, purchasing a book and sending it takes not only time, but money as well, and will get attention.
We have to make sure that Congress understands the truth of what's going on.
If you haven't noticed, nearly every company today has the same policy - they just aren't as up front about it. Google is, and even they even pay you to sit around one day a week coming up with something *you* want. If it's useful to Google, so be it.
Google is freely admitting that corporate culture is a terrible way to come up with ideas. I see that as a good thing.
There is definitely a difference between copyright, which provides for your fair use, and copy protection, which prevents it. Copyrighted works are not part of anyone's "war" but your own - they're perfectly valid (the Congressional extensions, that's another matter).
Furthermore, the auto electronics do prevent reverse engineering and diagnostics, but they aren't "copy protection". Your mechanic is not trying to make a copy of the engine, he's trying to figure out what's wrong to fix it.
Infrared lights in theaters? Cable signals? Yup, that is copy protection. The others are not.
he's just bitterly opposed to poverty and obscurity
I doubt poverty will be an issue.
OS X, as well-designed as the fundamentals are and as nice a system as it is compared to OS 9, just doesn't exude the "spit and polish" of previous systems (still a lot better than Windows and KDE, although I think the Gnome guys have done a better job as of late - no, that's not a troll). The interface has its aqua/metal/unified schizophrenia, there are all kinds of niggly little details that don't "just work" (window zooming in Tiger's Finder, Safari not remembering its window position consistently) and lots of small bugs that just never get fixed. Apple gets a lot right, but they no longer go that extra mile to perfect things like they used to.
Why in the hell would the drivers be "illegal"? Apple does distribute a driver development kit, you know.
Been there, done that.
More like they are a business and they would like to remain in business.
As for their hardware being "grossly overpriced", you haven't actually looked at their lineup in the last several years, have you? We've been over it a million times here, and for a comparable computer (yes, this means no leaving out wireless, firewire, and all of those things Mac users use and take for granted), their consumer line is either in-line with the PC or better (Mac Mini, especially). Their pro line is not as competitive (Powerbooks, especially) which is why this whole Intel shift started in the first place.
If you want a bare bones box without Firewire, wireless, Gigabit ethernet, etc, fine - go build one and enjoy it. But don't expect Apple to build you one and don't cloud the argument by lowballing PC hardware prices.