...and you can bet your last dollar you'd hear Microsoft has something to do with - and quite sadly it usually ends up on the wrong side - patent infrigements, monopolistic policies, etc..
The very first statement in Google's corporate information pays a tribute to the author who coined the term and mentions clearly that it is a play on the word googol
Whatever Kasner was, he certainly wasn't of breeding stock - look what he passed on to his family:-p... or maybe they are just a bunch of lusers taking a shot at the money!
I think there exists a strange paradox in the gaming world - there is a growing, dedicated and rapid effort to make the games graphics simulate reality as much as possible, the actual gameplay is still quite far from it. Quite so many times we see in third person shooting games that the player can withstand several bullet shots, run indefinitely (ok Far Cry changed that), etc... Is it possible in reality for one guy to take on 100?
I'm sure the exponents of the game will argue and say that's precisely why it's the game - an experience that you go through. But, in this world where the experience is being brought closer to reality, why not the game play and feel then? Sure it would make the game harder to play, but the degree of hardness would increase in doing "simple" stuff and the game designers wouldnt have to think of complex/hideous creatures who by virtue of their design become harder to kill
On the other hand, games that have provided a total and absolute break from reality, but with a goal that is difficult to achieve, yet forcing you to jump through mostly similar hoops - have become popular as well. That's because, IMO, they were able to trigger within us the simplest of all human desires - to succeed
I believe a game to become interesting and popular has to not only have stunning visuals - sure they enhance the gameplaying experience, but I don't think they always make such a big difference. The factors that make a game popular is how much variety and challenge the game provides, how much it enables a player to "relate" to it (the "relation" to game is most always in a phantom sense - no one goes on a killing spree in real life) and how involved it makes the gameplayer.
Games don't have to have dazzling graphics. I think it's a sense of attachment, of being able to relate to game that becomes the prime factor in the game popularity.
Along with the use of EVM's in India, at every polling station, there are usually representatives of all parties and/or independent candidates besides the Election Commission's representatives, who have with them the voter list for that constituency.
Every voter has to produce a proof of identity. Upon verification, his/her name is called out, and all the representatives go through their individual paper lists, as well the EC representatives, and they mark that person has cast a vote.
After you cast the vote, an indelible ink mark is put against the fingernal of the index finger (or other fingers if you have any handicap), which takes a few days to dissolve and disappear.
The number of people that cast the ballot is then verified against the number of people who have been marked as "voted" in these individual paper lists at the end of the polling day.
On the final counting day, of course the EVM provides the actual votes cast, but the count of votes is re-verified against EC representative's list.
..these elections have been a landmark for the country, and not just because of the use of EVM's. EVM's had been used earlier for state elections, but this was the first general election in which they were used.
It also marks a shift in public opinion - the ruling party admits it miscalculated the public poll and did not do well with its India Shining campaign.
For a more insight into the surprises brought by the election, have a look at the pictures here [BBC] (among them, the EVM's being transported by elephants):-)
Last I checked, the remunerations in IT were among the highest in the US across all industries. Or did you mean a formal reward - like a recognition?
As a number of other people have stated before, yes, the moving of jobs to other locations is a concern. But isn't it the same natural progression with a different execution aspect? Haven't bad performers in the past been replaced by good performers? Haven't machines replaced humans in some jobs? How is this principally different than an organization firing an "average" employees and recruiting better and more efficient employees?
The sheer scale and degree of remorse, fear and paranoia about losing jobs because of outsourcing makes one think that Americans are losing jobs by dime a dozen! Reading some of the FUD posts on here would make you think all of America would be unemployed by now?
This post also reminds me of "Zen and the art of motorcyle maintenance" - old people being afraid to use new devices which they don't seem to understand, the prevalent fear that machines will replace people, etc. Seriously, why is no one afraid that all human jobs will be replaced by machines? What about the claims that CASE and RAD tools will end all programming jobs?
If one own's a business, one wants to make a profit. If something can be done cheaper, at the same or better quality but less price, then why not? Forcing someone to run business in a manner which may render them incompetitive, or un-profitable, is totally and utterly wrong. Insisting that if they should do it that way is...well, foolhardy
Well yes, as I have maintained in the past, outsourcing does not present a strategic long term concern for the US. Sure, there are certain jobs that shall be relocated or executed from remote locations, but even if one looks at the current trends - anything that remotely involves creativity or innovation is not going anywhere
Since there has been plenty of talk about Tejas being a Spanish name, let me throw my 2 bits in as well
Tejas in Hindi means "irradiating, illuminating light", also likened to "the light of the supreme spirit". When given to a someone to something, the name means someone who has a bright glow of radiance, splendour and glory.
Read the detailed information about the word here [Universirty of Chicago, Hindi dictionary).
With more and more updates of the firmware, and most phones allowing you to connect to internet and/or download stuff, how real is the threat of viruses and trojans in the mobile world?
I imagine having your mobile infected by a malicious software would be more serious a threat - since it contains information absolutely personal and vital..
I'm sure it's important and useful to gather information about the planets and other cosmic objects around us - since they help in understanding how we have come here and how our planet was formed.
An offshoot of this perhaps also helps us understand the weather, and provides knowledge about freakish changes (high tides in full moon, etc).
Having said all this, I believe such a terrestrial planet finder is largely an academic pursuit. No wonder there is mention of life-signature searching capabilities in these telescopes, since the masses would be most happy to hear about cosmic neighbours (especially since Mars hasn't proved all that exciting!).
..so that by the time it's released, I'll have enough money to buy not only the newest, fastest, bad ass graphics card, but also replace the chip, the motherboard and the ram to get enough FPS to make it playable!
...as much as it is "an interface that everybody is familiar with
I perfectly agree. But lets stop and think how this "familiarity" was bred, and nurtured. Someone at sometime did came up with an OS no matter how buggy it is, which suddenly made a computer usable to common man. No longer had one to be a geek, or intricate knowledge of what's stored where, or what a filesystem is or how to execute commands or hell! even the notion of "executing" something - nothing was required.
You just bought a computer, switched it on and you have frienly icons that let you play games, or use your word editor or your spreadsheet or pretty much anything that an average Joe needs.
I personally don't care much about what MS copied and from who. Even with all this copy and paste, they glued it all together successfully enough for new users to come on board without too much fuss.
The only thing that brings a tinge of sadness is the attempts to make a system look like MS interfaces. Sure, it would be familiar and would make a user less scared to migrate, but why not think of a better UI? We all rant about things that MS got wrong and the superiorities of *nix over MS - why not apply all that to UI's as well? Hell, there are already so many things that ppl dont like in the newer version - the whole control panel sucks, the start bar leaves a lot desired and everything takes more clicks now than ever before - why not improve on that? Why not think of say, a 3D inteface?
Maybe MS did copy all its bits from somewhere else - but you have to agree they did something that others didnt - be it packaging, product placement, or just the whole look and the feel.
MS wasn't as big always as it is now, so as and when they came out with newer versions they did make things easier and more predictable (thus familiar) - better than any other competitor.
And if MS copying others was so bad, why is OSS copying it now? Where does that leave OSS then?
Ok, this is a pure rant, so mods! please mark it that way.
I'm so glad at least one other person has responded to the "intuitive" aspect. So, there is still hope that others believe such interfaces are not intuitive after all - perhaps easier to use, or just familiar
It'd have been sweeter though, if the person accepting wasn't an "Anonymous Coward"...*sigh
Slashdot Mirror
So I buy a large, and carry it with me all through the day - in meetings, lunchtime-sports, et al?
No thanks, I'll prefer to drink my coffee all at once. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I still want my dose of caffiene at one go.
...and you can bet your last dollar you'd hear Microsoft has something to do with - and quite sadly it usually ends up on the wrong side - patent infrigements, monopolistic policies, etc..
The very first statement in Google's corporate information pays a tribute to the author who coined the term and mentions clearly that it is a play on the word googol
:-p... or maybe they are just a bunch of lusers taking a shot at the money!
Whatever Kasner was, he certainly wasn't of breeding stock - look what he passed on to his family
I think there exists a strange paradox in the gaming world - there is a growing, dedicated and rapid effort to make the games graphics simulate reality as much as possible, the actual gameplay is still quite far from it. Quite so many times we see in third person shooting games that the player can withstand several bullet shots, run indefinitely (ok Far Cry changed that), etc... Is it possible in reality for one guy to take on 100?
I'm sure the exponents of the game will argue and say that's precisely why it's the game - an experience that you go through. But, in this world where the experience is being brought closer to reality, why not the game play and feel then? Sure it would make the game harder to play, but the degree of hardness would increase in doing "simple" stuff and the game designers wouldnt have to think of complex/hideous creatures who by virtue of their design become harder to kill
On the other hand, games that have provided a total and absolute break from reality, but with a goal that is difficult to achieve, yet forcing you to jump through mostly similar hoops - have become popular as well. That's because, IMO, they were able to trigger within us the simplest of all human desires - to succeed
I believe a game to become interesting and popular has to not only have stunning visuals - sure they enhance the gameplaying experience, but I don't think they always make such a big difference. The factors that make a game popular is how much variety and challenge the game provides, how much it enables a player to "relate" to it (the "relation" to game is most always in a phantom sense - no one goes on a killing spree in real life) and how involved it makes the gameplayer.
Games don't have to have dazzling graphics. I think it's a sense of attachment, of being able to relate to game that becomes the prime factor in the game popularity.
Along with the use of EVM's in India, at every polling station, there are usually representatives of all parties and/or independent candidates besides the Election Commission's representatives, who have with them the voter list for that constituency.
Every voter has to produce a proof of identity. Upon verification, his/her name is called out, and all the representatives go through their individual paper lists, as well the EC representatives, and they mark that person has cast a vote.
After you cast the vote, an indelible ink mark is put against the fingernal of the index finger (or other fingers if you have any handicap), which takes a few days to dissolve and disappear.
The number of people that cast the ballot is then verified against the number of people who have been marked as "voted" in these individual paper lists at the end of the polling day.
On the final counting day, of course the EVM provides the actual votes cast, but the count of votes is re-verified against EC representative's list.
..these elections have been a landmark for the country, and not just because of the use of EVM's. EVM's had been used earlier for state elections, but this was the first general election in which they were used.
:-)
It also marks a shift in public opinion - the ruling party admits it miscalculated the public poll and did not do well with its India Shining campaign.
For a more insight into the surprises brought by the election, have a look at the pictures here [BBC] (among them, the EVM's being transported by elephants)
But would any nerd ever want to keep beer cold indefinitely?
Last I checked, the remunerations in IT were among the highest in the US across all industries. Or did you mean a formal reward - like a recognition?
...well, foolhardy
As a number of other people have stated before, yes, the moving of jobs to other locations is a concern. But isn't it the same natural progression with a different execution aspect? Haven't bad performers in the past been replaced by good performers? Haven't machines replaced humans in some jobs? How is this principally different than an organization firing an "average" employees and recruiting better and more efficient employees?
The sheer scale and degree of remorse, fear and paranoia about losing jobs because of outsourcing makes one think that Americans are losing jobs by dime a dozen! Reading some of the FUD posts on here would make you think all of America would be unemployed by now?
This post also reminds me of "Zen and the art of motorcyle maintenance" - old people being afraid to use new devices which they don't seem to understand, the prevalent fear that machines will replace people, etc. Seriously, why is no one afraid that all human jobs will be replaced by machines? What about the claims that CASE and RAD tools will end all programming jobs?
If one own's a business, one wants to make a profit. If something can be done cheaper, at the same or better quality but less price, then why not? Forcing someone to run business in a manner which may render them incompetitive, or un-profitable, is totally and utterly wrong. Insisting that if they should do it that way is
Well yes, as I have maintained in the past, outsourcing does not present a strategic long term concern for the US. Sure, there are certain jobs that shall be relocated or executed from remote locations, but even if one looks at the current trends - anything that remotely involves creativity or innovation is not going anywhere
Since there has been plenty of talk about Tejas being a Spanish name, let me throw my 2 bits in as well
Tejas in Hindi means "irradiating, illuminating light", also likened to "the light of the supreme spirit". When given to a someone to something, the name means someone who has a bright glow of radiance, splendour and glory.
Read the detailed information about the word here [Universirty of Chicago, Hindi dictionary).
err not quite! maybe you took just too long to type :-
With more and more updates of the firmware, and most phones allowing you to connect to internet and/or download stuff, how real is the threat of viruses and trojans in the mobile world?
I imagine having your mobile infected by a malicious software would be more serious a threat - since it contains information absolutely personal and vital..
I'm sure it's important and useful to gather information about the planets and other cosmic objects around us - since they help in understanding how we have come here and how our planet was formed.
An offshoot of this perhaps also helps us understand the weather, and provides knowledge about freakish changes (high tides in full moon, etc).
Having said all this, I believe such a terrestrial planet finder is largely an academic pursuit. No wonder there is mention of life-signature searching capabilities in these telescopes, since the masses would be most happy to hear about cosmic neighbours (especially since Mars hasn't proved all that exciting!).
..the sensor shouldn't be so sensitive that alarm bells begin to ring every time Joe gives it to Molly!
..so that by the time it's released, I'll have enough money to buy not only the newest, fastest, bad ass graphics card, but also replace the chip, the motherboard and the ram to get enough FPS to make it playable!
long fluttering eyelashes and watery eyes have always derailed a lot of systems...and men :-)
The screenshots indicate it is just another MS look and feel "insipired" open-source project..
*sigh
Make the kid write a fix for Sasser and let that loose on Internet?
The innovations at Apache for example, and a whole list of other open source projects that I cannot live without
You just bought a computer, switched it on and you have frienly icons that let you play games, or use your word editor or your spreadsheet or pretty much anything that an average Joe needs.
I personally don't care much about what MS copied and from who. Even with all this copy and paste, they glued it all together successfully enough for new users to come on board without too much fuss.
The only thing that brings a tinge of sadness is the attempts to make a system look like MS interfaces. Sure, it would be familiar and would make a user less scared to migrate, but why not think of a better UI? We all rant about things that MS got wrong and the superiorities of *nix over MS - why not apply all that to UI's as well? Hell, there are already so many things that ppl dont like in the newer version - the whole control panel sucks, the start bar leaves a lot desired and everything takes more clicks now than ever before - why not improve on that? Why not think of say, a 3D inteface?
Maybe MS did copy all its bits from somewhere else - but you have to agree they did something that others didnt - be it packaging, product placement, or just the whole look and the feel.
MS wasn't as big always as it is now, so as and when they came out with newer versions they did make things easier and more predictable (thus familiar) - better than any other competitor.
And if MS copying others was so bad, why is OSS copying it now? Where does that leave OSS then?
Ok, this is a pure rant, so mods! please mark it that way.
I'm so glad at least one other person has responded to the "intuitive" aspect. So, there is still hope that others believe such interfaces are not intuitive after all - perhaps easier to use, or just familiar
It'd have been sweeter though, if the person accepting wasn't an "Anonymous Coward"...*sigh