Contrary to the more obvious knee-jerk reaction and wisecracks this post might invoke, I can can understand how the populace of Iraq feels having been subject to years of anarchy, tyranny and then several years of painful, forced and widely questioned war
We have all seen dozens of documentaries and newsreports of what the people have Iraq have had to face, especially since this new war
Yet, in a way, things can only become better. Perhaps the fanatics/militants will target something else (or at least outside Iraq) once the formal hand-over/creation of a sovereign Iraq is completed (think its only 9 days to go now).
The people of Iraq realize the only way forward is to make the most use of whatever resources available, be it hardware or software. Most services and businesses need technology, and though hardware costs cannot be eliminated entirely, open source software solutions go a long way in reducing costs.
Dunno if this is the "end of the end" (grimace) for webmonkey, but I stopped using it when they fell for that oh-so-common trap - mindless adverts, popups, flash-ads
I guess that's why a lot of other people stopped using it...
I dont know what the real strategy of most online newspaper websites is, but they seem to follow this pattern:
1. Make content available online, free of cost
2. Wait for people to start using and monitor the growth in number of hits
3. Reduce the website response to a crawl with mind numbing popups, flash ads, quick time ads, and generally anything that would make sure the user "spends" more a few minutes on the homepage
4. Wait for most users to go away to some other website.
5. The few braves who remain - force them to register and read all the content, since you want to chart your users by demography.
6. Finally, now make most of the content premium - based upon the data collected in step 5, however inaccurate it is. Flood the site with more ads, if possible
7. Moan and bitch that there is no revenue generated.
Unfortunately, you've fallen into the same trap that the vast majority of computer users have done when it comes to the world of Windows
Well that kinda makes no real sense, does it? Because the Windows world IS dominated by MS. Most users WILL be using the products that are either offered by MS or are rated as better or best products elsewhere (or by other users)
Firstly, Microsoft does nothing for free. It's a business, it's sole purpose is to make money...
But of course! Apologies, but did I give you an impression that I was looking for something free? If I pay for the OS and the Office Suite, then I am very well ready to pay for a media player as well - but what are the serious options available in the market to have a look at?
Secondly, change your attitude. You cannot simply expect any software company to develop your killer media player application while you just sit back and wait.
Umm..what else is a consumer then? Sure, ranting to big corporation about their product's misgivings doesnt really make an impact at most times, and though I'd be more than happy to help/contribute to development/testing/enhancement of an open source solution, where do I look and contribute? What if there are more than one products that I am unhappy about? This sounds like a rant, but quite honestly, a large number of users *will* not be too interested in "contributing". I believe the usage pattern for most users will be to look on their favourite search engine for an alternative media player, d/l and try a couple, make a decision about their usability and effectiveness, and move on.
I completely agree that at least as a developer I should do my bit about open source software and provide my feedback, at the very least, if not actively develop. While I am going to resist the temptation to list examples of where and how I have contributed, I think one does not feel like giving feedback to every software one may try out, be it commerical or open source.
Its argumentative IMO, to accuse a naive user of not contributing to the open source solutions or having to change their attitude...
Is it any better than its predecessors? Does it still call up home everytime one opens any file? Does it still have that RealPlayer like annoying webpage functionality which it insists on loading (and morosely slow at that!) everytime you launch it?
*sigh. I'd give an arm and leg to have a no-nonsense media player, but I'm still stuck with what is (in most cases), the best of the lot.
A method and system are provided for extending the functionality of application buttons on a
limited resource computing device.
...
Still another function can be launched if the application button is pressed multiple times within a short period of time, e.g., double click.
Doesnt this talk about a "limited resource computing device" ? Yes the phrase "double click" is mentioned, but it is no where mentioned that the "double click" here is that of the mouse.
Maybe this has been pointed out before, but the title of this story is grossly misleading IMHO - I dont know about others but it made me stop and wonder if MS got a patent for "double-click" in the real sense - that only MS and its platforms could use double click!!
It might well be a weak certification program, but in the past developers have worked with some real crap and more often than not, debug entire libraries themselves and/or report to OEM vendors, etc.
So long as the owners of IP (and code), listen to developers and have a large enough pool of people to respond within reasonable times, the developer community over the world will embrace it AND provide it's feedback and suggestions
While the analogy of threat of global warming to threat of Hitler can be argued, if nothing else, non-conventional means of energy shall soon be required since there aren't that many natural resources available anymore.
Maybe it is urban legend, but we all keep hearing about the number of years after which gasoline would be unavailable. No matter how inaccurate that claim is, the current gas prices do seem an indicator of that:-
Nuclear energy has always been safe and a lot less polluting than the conventional means. Coupled with the almost limitless harvestation of it and the relative safefy with which it can be produced, I think it is time the world woke up to it.
While this may sound surprising to the western world, kids in India are under tremendous social, parental and peer pressure to perform well in exams, especially the Secondary (high school( exams, and for several reasons:
1. Your chances of getting even your application considered for admission in any college depend entirely upon the Secondary school results.
2. The Seconday exam results are seen as a measure of success and dedication of not only the kid, but the parents as well. Unlike the developed countries, it is extremely difficult for anyone to find a job without a college education. There aren't all that many alternative, yet well-paying streams to choose from.
3. With a population of a billion, competition is fierce over every single seat in every college. There are instances where more than 100 students compete for a single place, and even a tenth of a difference in high-school percentage can make a difference
4. Parents as well the kids are under pressure to make a showing of their emphasis and sincerity towards education. It is almost unthinkable for a parents that their kid would fail in Secondary - that's virtually a stigma on the entire family.
And finally, in typical Indian fashion, there are hearty celebrations and distribution of sweets if the kids score well (the definition of "well" means anything over 80 or 85%)
..before Microsoft releases a train of patches that exploit a vulnerability that allows the attacker to gain complete control over the host machine? And then how many more such patches every month?...
it is light years ago, because it is the time taken by light to travel the distance (from the object in observation to the observer).
Of course it's more fun when you start thinking in four dimensional space-time, instead of three dimensions, and the bending of light due to the gravitational force of extremely heavy cosmic objects (including black holes). For example, astronomers can sometimes see distant stars that ought to be masked by nearer objects such as the Sun. Instead of travelling in straight lines and hence being blocked, the light from the stars bends round the obstruction
light year is indeed a measurement of distance, ie, one light year is the distance travelled by time in a year.
if one can see an object N light years far, then the particle of light meeting the eye (observer) travelled that N light years and the event being witnessed is of the time when the particle of light started travelling. Hence, light years far is light years ago - looking back in time.
Slashdot Mirror
One small step forward for Microsoft, one giant leap backwards for mankind?"
/. are met with "All your base are belong to us". Or with slight improvisation, "All your versions are belong to us".
All such posts on
So much for compatibility
Contrary to the more obvious knee-jerk reaction and wisecracks this post might invoke, I can can understand how the populace of Iraq feels having been subject to years of anarchy, tyranny and then several years of painful, forced and widely questioned war
We have all seen dozens of documentaries and newsreports of what the people have Iraq have had to face, especially since this new war
Yet, in a way, things can only become better. Perhaps the fanatics/militants will target something else (or at least outside Iraq) once the formal hand-over/creation of a sovereign Iraq is completed (think its only 9 days to go now).
The people of Iraq realize the only way forward is to make the most use of whatever resources available, be it hardware or software. Most services and businesses need technology, and though hardware costs cannot be eliminated entirely, open source software solutions go a long way in reducing costs.
Dunno if this is the "end of the end" (grimace) for webmonkey, but I stopped using it when they fell for that oh-so-common trap - mindless adverts, popups, flash-ads
I guess that's why a lot of other people stopped using it...
I dont know what the real strategy of most online newspaper websites is, but they seem to follow this pattern:
1. Make content available online, free of cost
2. Wait for people to start using and monitor the growth in number of hits
3. Reduce the website response to a crawl with mind numbing popups, flash ads, quick time ads, and generally anything that would make sure the user "spends" more a few minutes on the homepage
4. Wait for most users to go away to some other website.
5. The few braves who remain - force them to register and read all the content, since you want to chart your users by demography.
6. Finally, now make most of the content premium - based upon the data collected in step 5, however inaccurate it is. Flood the site with more ads, if possible
7. Moan and bitch that there is no revenue generated.
8. Repeat cycle
Was this the original Battle Royale? :-)
..how long will it be, before McDonald's is accused of fattening people by luring them with music then?
Is that with fries?
...the Japanese can make ir smaller!
What did they do in the lab? make the rats each the dust?
How many of us lick their keyboards or computer cases anyway? Is there scientific study around that?
And here we have brought up on liberal dose of reboots , preferably once every few minutes, simply to ensure everything works
err, if you keep your fingers crossed, that is!
Very valid points, but:
Unfortunately, you've fallen into the same trap that the vast majority of computer users have done when it comes to the world of Windows
Well that kinda makes no real sense, does it? Because the Windows world IS dominated by MS. Most users WILL be using the products that are either offered by MS or are rated as better or best products elsewhere (or by other users)
Firstly, Microsoft does nothing for free. It's a business, it's sole purpose is to make money...
But of course! Apologies, but did I give you an impression that I was looking for something free? If I pay for the OS and the Office Suite, then I am very well ready to pay for a media player as well - but what are the serious options available in the market to have a look at?
Secondly, change your attitude. You cannot simply expect any software company to develop your killer media player application while you just sit back and wait.
Umm..what else is a consumer then? Sure, ranting to big corporation about their product's misgivings doesnt really make an impact at most times, and though I'd be more than happy to help/contribute to development/testing/enhancement of an open source solution, where do I look and contribute? What if there are more than one products that I am unhappy about? This sounds like a rant, but quite honestly, a large number of users *will* not be too interested in "contributing". I believe the usage pattern for most users will be to look on their favourite search engine for an alternative media player, d/l and try a couple, make a decision about their usability and effectiveness, and move on.
I completely agree that at least as a developer I should do my bit about open source software and provide my feedback, at the very least, if not actively develop. While I am going to resist the temptation to list examples of where and how I have contributed, I think one does not feel like giving feedback to every software one may try out, be it commerical or open source.
Its argumentative IMO, to accuse a naive user of not contributing to the open source solutions or having to change their attitude...
..i just joined the mile high club!
Now I can hook my P2P/warez network d/l muzick straight to my iPOD without having to worry too much about space and such!
Awesome man!
Is it any better than its predecessors? Does it still call up home everytime one opens any file? Does it still have that RealPlayer like annoying webpage functionality which it insists on loading (and morosely slow at that!) everytime you launch it?
*sigh. I'd give an arm and leg to have a no-nonsense media player, but I'm still stuck with what is (in most cases), the best of the lot.
Oh yes, I have tried videolan
Maybe this has been pointed out before, but the title of this story is grossly misleading IMHO - I dont know about others but it made me stop and wonder if MS got a patent for "double-click" in the real sense - that only MS and its platforms could use double click!!
It might well be a weak certification program, but in the past developers have worked with some real crap and more often than not, debug entire libraries themselves and/or report to OEM vendors, etc.
So long as the owners of IP (and code), listen to developers and have a large enough pool of people to respond within reasonable times, the developer community over the world will embrace it AND provide it's feedback and suggestions
While the analogy of threat of global warming to threat of Hitler can be argued, if nothing else, non-conventional means of energy shall soon be required since there aren't that many natural resources available anymore.
:-
Maybe it is urban legend, but we all keep hearing about the number of years after which gasoline would be unavailable. No matter how inaccurate that claim is, the current gas prices do seem an indicator of that
Nuclear energy has always been safe and a lot less polluting than the conventional means. Coupled with the almost limitless harvestation of it and the relative safefy with which it can be produced, I think it is time the world woke up to it.
While this may sound surprising to the western world, kids in India are under tremendous social, parental and peer pressure to perform well in exams, especially the Secondary (high school( exams, and for several reasons:
1. Your chances of getting even your application considered for admission in any college depend entirely upon the Secondary school results.
2. The Seconday exam results are seen as a measure of success and dedication of not only the kid, but the parents as well. Unlike the developed countries, it is extremely difficult for anyone to find a job without a college education. There aren't all that many alternative, yet well-paying streams to choose from.
3. With a population of a billion, competition is fierce over every single seat in every college. There are instances where more than 100 students compete for a single place, and even a tenth of a difference in high-school percentage can make a difference
4. Parents as well the kids are under pressure to make a showing of their emphasis and sincerity towards education. It is almost unthinkable for a parents that their kid would fail in Secondary - that's virtually a stigma on the entire family.
And finally, in typical Indian fashion, there are hearty celebrations and distribution of sweets if the kids score well (the definition of "well" means anything over 80 or 85%)
..the american military genius is upto it's experimentation again..
...well the first three paragraphs sound much too self-indulgent for my taste, yuck!
/.'ers - but hey, that's what I felt!
I know for sure I'd be flooded with angry
I was really confused with that "Swings towards" phase..
Ah well, one can never tell these days...
..before Microsoft releases a train of patches that exploit a vulnerability that allows the attacker to gain complete control over the host machine? And then how many more such patches every month?...
Ooh, just can't wait to find out...
it is light years ago, because it is the time taken by light to travel the distance (from the object in observation to the observer).
Of course it's more fun when you start thinking in four dimensional space-time, instead of three dimensions, and the bending of light due to the gravitational force of extremely heavy cosmic objects (including black holes). For example, astronomers can sometimes see distant stars that ought to be masked by nearer objects such as the Sun. Instead of travelling in straight lines and hence being blocked, the light from the stars bends round the obstruction
light year is indeed a measurement of distance, ie, one light year is the distance travelled by time in a year.
if one can see an object N light years far, then the particle of light meeting the eye (observer) travelled that N light years and the event being witnessed is of the time when the particle of light started travelling. Hence, light years far is light years ago - looking back in time.