The submission, as well as TFA, refer to this compound's potential for pain relief without the "addictive" properties of morphine. The article does not, however, discuss the differences between the psychological condition of "addiction" versus the physical condition of "dependance". Any drug with the ability to relieve pain, cause sedation, or change neurotranmitter levels are potentially addictive. Hopefully this new drug does not create the physical syndrome of dependance created by older, more traditional, opiates.
That said, such a drug is already on the market, Tramadol. Tramadol delivers on it's promise of pain relief without dependance, however, it does not have the potency. Tramadol only exhibits about 10% of the analgesic effect of morphine.
If this new drug offers relief from moderate to severe pain without the physical issues caused by opiate agonists, it would be a welcome breakthrough. Many chronic pain sufferers (myself included) spend their lives dependant on medications that cause awful side effects if abruptly discontinued. A pain reliever that does not create this problem would certainly be useful in treating legitimate pain.
But, I suspect the title of this posting and TFA itself, are somewhat misleading - there is nothing that can alleviate the psychological problem of addiction in those seeking to abuse medications.
If you're a Mac user, the iLife suite includes two tools that greatly simplify just such tasks, iMovie HD and iDVD. These tools follow the Apple mantra of ease of use, straightforward, and simple - while codec and compression settings are there, they are unnecessary for most things. These tools are relatively cheap, especially compared to Adobe Premiere, they don't have the features either. Seriously nonlinear editing comparable to Premiere is available on Mac OS in Final Cut, but the use case you present doesn't really call for most of Premiere's capabilities.
I've been impressed by these products, and use them for 95% of my non-professional video work - family movies, open source project presentations, hobby art films, etc. The only other product I added to keep me out of the $1,300USD price tag attached to Final Cut is a license for QuickTime Pro. $30USD for QTPro, plus the $80USD for iLife - $110USD is reasonable.
Mind you, these are Mac OS-only tools. If you don't own a Mac, I'd hope that there are PC equivalents. That said, if you do this sort of DVD compliation on a regular basis, buying a Mac might be worthwhile. If you don't feel you need a Mac for anything else, or the cost seems high, even the entry-level Mac Mini will do what you need, in this case.
I'm not trying to be a Mac bigot here, I don't own Apple stock, there's no commission in it for me. That said, there's a reason Apple is the darling of media developers. Their years of experience in Hollywood and professional multimedia have resulted in the some really mature, usable, and cheap prosumer tools for home use. Enjoy!
No doubt that fully loaded it generates almost as much heat as the sun, too!
Really snazzy tech, but that's a lot moving parts in a little space... and probably too hot to touch. Could you imagine the cooling required for a densely-packed data center of these things?
The "young, hip Mac" comes off more like a smug little shit in need of a serious ass kicking.
Hey, yeah... he's just like us Mac users... smug little bastards, aren't we?:)
Hell, I know I'm in need of a serious ass kicking just to wipe the smug smile off my little shit of a face.
While I completely agree with Ellison, insomuchas my enterprise-level experiences with Red Hat's support have been awful, there's another side to this coin. I don't think it's been any secret in the industry that Oracle has been displeased with Red Hat, and vice-versa, however, the outstanding question has been how they would proceed in addressing these concerns. Would they buy Red Hat? Partner more with Novell? Release their own Linux distro? Or, as this would seem to indicate, something else uniquely Oracle?
The big question here is, in my opinion, what does this say about Novell and Oracle in the enterprise? It could be argued that Oracle had already invested so much time and effort into nuturing their product line on Red Hat that a move to SUSE would be cumbersome. But, still, I would argue that Oracle's better move would be to deepen the Novell relationship. Novell has shown a consistent committment to enterprise products, Oracle included - and has the track record of good enterprise support.
Personally, I can only say that I believe a move like this on Oracle's part would only serve to strengthen the position of Linux in the enterprise. As I alluded to above, the largest hurdle Red Hat could not overcome in my enterprise was poor support - something Oracle could easily address. So, in the end, it's a win for the industry...
But, why not just buy Red Hat? And, to my original question, how much does this hurt Novell?
So, is the lesson of this story, "You can give a guy Mac OS, Photoshop, and all the pretty apps in the world... but you can't give him a sense of style?"
Sorta funny... but you don't know how many of my friends I've convinced to buy Macs, only to find that they suddenly think they're Rembrant. The tools don't solve the problem that you have no taste. DO YOU HEAR ME, PAUL?!?
Every time I try to mention the nice eye candy in OS X, I always get slapped with "The best application in OS X is something called bash." Morons. I know that. But bash doesn't look pretty... well, not in a "Oooooh, look at the pretty colors" sort of way. It's beautiful in that it's simple, usable, stable, and... cryptic.
I don't want a command-line desktop. I want command-line servers. Desktop pretty. Server ugly. Pretty server UI useless. (Ugg!)
So, before you Linux zealots start coming out of the woodwork... let me remind you about us Mac zealots. There may be a helluva lot less of us, but we're a *WHOLE* lot more crazy!!!
(All in jest - Happy Independance Day, to all of you in the world's favorite consumer-culture.... I'm going home!)
Sorry, I just went back and re-read this thread, and I couldn't resist...
They [Apple] don't have to be "better" than MS, just different.
You're just parroting their marketing... aren't you? They got to you, didn't they? What is it? You work in Marketing at Apple? Or did they just force you to drink the Kool-Aid®? Maybe it's the new SubliminialMessaging service in Mac OS X 10.4.3 and up...
You're not a real geek anymore, are you? It's just that vacant-eyed, empty-headed, pot-smoking, hippie-loving Apple rhetoric that keeps coming out of your mouth, isn't it?
Welcome to club.:) We're glad to have you! Try the Grape Kool-Aid®, it tastes the best.
I've heard very good things about Novell Linux Point of Service, based on SUSE LINUX. Now, mind you, it's not free, but it's not as expensive as many proprietary OS-based solutions. It's also pretty damn high quality - as evidenced by IBM private labeling it and selling it as their Linux-based POS solution. Additionally, it does have options for support that a free (no cost) product does not.
So, if it's just a Linux-based flexible solution you're looking for, this might fit the bill. Otherwise, if it's no cost, everyone else in the thread made some good suggestions.
(And, no, I do not work for Novell - nor have I ever... if fact, I'm recommending this product based entirely on word-of-mouth from many friends in that area of tech. I used to be in your shoes, exactly. Good luck!)
It's beans. SoyMilk Green is made out of beans. They're making our food out of beans. Next thing they'll be breeding them like cattle for food. You've gotta tell them. You've gotta tell them!
OH MY GOD!!! SoyMilk Green is made of.... BEANS!!!?! IT'S MADE OF BEANS!
Alright, so it just doesn't have the same impact as "people!", does it?
It's cool, though, I know a lot of Mac users who drastically overapply the word sarcasm. Maybe it's one of those weird correlations that people love so much.
Wait, wait, wait... Apple just convinced me that my Mac was a PC... 'cause it can run Windows... how does getting a Mac help if I still install a pirated copy of Windows under Boot Camp?
Oh... wait, right - I'm *NOT* supposed to use/install Windows, I've already got Mac OS...
(Okay... so this post was *pure* sarcasm. Spoken like a true self-deprecating confirmed Mac user for many years...)
Nobody is moving to Linux because the games aren't there, the thousands of cheesy little Windows applications people love aren't there, it's different (read: scary), and it's a pain in the ass for most joe schmoes to install.
I resent the implication that Windows isn't scary and a pain in the ass to use. It's just what everyone's accustomed to.
Big difference. (not that I don't see and agree with your point to some extent, however!)
It is their product, if you didn't pay for it I don't see how you can complain that they aren't going to support you or allow you to continue using it. If you want software to be free that much, use Linux and stop complaining.
First, you're completely correct, and I completely agree. But, the conundrum here is that one of Microsoft's biggest assets is their market penetration. Legal or not, a PC running Windows *tends* to be a PC not running Linux. If you suddenly force all the non-legal users off your platform, you're forcing the to use something else. Which means, in turn, more demand for OpenOffice, games on Linux, GAIM, ad infinitium - until there is a more, better, complete Linux end-user software stack to seriously compete with Windows.
This WGA might (and I stress might) look good on paper to the beancounters at Microsoft, but if you're an architect, visionary, or strategist there, you've got to scream to every senior leader to can get on the phone about what a phenomenally stupid idea this... and what it's potential impact on marketshare will be.
Is there anything in the EULA that allows them to get away with this?
Umm.... if you're aren't running a legal copy of Windows, ya didn't *technically* agree to the EULA, didcha?
Of course, I'm sure there will be tons (hundreds?) of systems that are perfectly legal but still stop working due to some technicality, software bug, flaw, miscongfiguration, or other misalignment of the planets. I hope MS is adding capacity to call center that day!
What? What was that sound? Was that the sound of millions of unlicensed Windows machines all screaming out in shutdown all at once - and then suddenly silenced?
To keep the current Futurama motif running, quoth Professor Farnsworth, "The Jedi are going to feel this one!"
Seriously, though, doesn't Microsoft realize that significant number of users aren't going to go out and suddenly buy Windows? Sure, most (half?) will, but the rest will go hunting for a truly free (read: no-cost) alternative until a hack comes out.
How could this possibly be a good idea now? Maybe if it had been there all along, or was introduced in a new release (XP, Vista, whatever)... but why spring it on the unsuspecting masses mid-cycle? That just screams massive user migration.
Not that I'm shedding any tears in reaction to that concept!
Does being a famous, well-known, prolific voice actor get you the kudos, bennies, fame, and fortune being a live-action (TV/Movie) actor does?
You've worked with many, know many (I'm certain), and probably have a lot of exposure to the Hollywood "scene" - and no doubt have an opinion on this. In short, does being Fry get you the babes?:)
Seriously, that's a little tongue-in-cheek, but do you actually have a similar public life to Katey Sagal? Good - instant recognition, fan mobs, free swag, etc. - and bad - instant recognition, fan mobs, constantly being asked for autographs and free swag, etc.?
Thanks - love your work, especially the way you bring zoidberg's understated, self-deprecating humor to life with your portrayal. Glad to have you back from syndication!
Honestly, I was going to posit Singularity - albeit in a more serious fashion.
I'll be honest, I have no love of Microsoft Operating Systems' division, but Singularity is - by far - the most innovative operating system concept on the block today. But, then so was BeOS - and well all know how that ended up.
Slashdot Mirror
The submission, as well as TFA, refer to this compound's potential for pain relief without the "addictive" properties of morphine. The article does not, however, discuss the differences between the psychological condition of "addiction" versus the physical condition of "dependance". Any drug with the ability to relieve pain, cause sedation, or change neurotranmitter levels are potentially addictive. Hopefully this new drug does not create the physical syndrome of dependance created by older, more traditional, opiates.
That said, such a drug is already on the market, Tramadol. Tramadol delivers on it's promise of pain relief without dependance, however, it does not have the potency. Tramadol only exhibits about 10% of the analgesic effect of morphine.
If this new drug offers relief from moderate to severe pain without the physical issues caused by opiate agonists, it would be a welcome breakthrough. Many chronic pain sufferers (myself included) spend their lives dependant on medications that cause awful side effects if abruptly discontinued. A pain reliever that does not create this problem would certainly be useful in treating legitimate pain.
But, I suspect the title of this posting and TFA itself, are somewhat misleading - there is nothing that can alleviate the psychological problem of addiction in those seeking to abuse medications.
If you're a Mac user, the iLife suite includes two tools that greatly simplify just such tasks, iMovie HD and iDVD. These tools follow the Apple mantra of ease of use, straightforward, and simple - while codec and compression settings are there, they are unnecessary for most things. These tools are relatively cheap, especially compared to Adobe Premiere, they don't have the features either. Seriously nonlinear editing comparable to Premiere is available on Mac OS in Final Cut, but the use case you present doesn't really call for most of Premiere's capabilities.
I've been impressed by these products, and use them for 95% of my non-professional video work - family movies, open source project presentations, hobby art films, etc. The only other product I added to keep me out of the $1,300USD price tag attached to Final Cut is a license for QuickTime Pro. $30USD for QTPro, plus the $80USD for iLife - $110USD is reasonable.
Mind you, these are Mac OS-only tools. If you don't own a Mac, I'd hope that there are PC equivalents. That said, if you do this sort of DVD compliation on a regular basis, buying a Mac might be worthwhile. If you don't feel you need a Mac for anything else, or the cost seems high, even the entry-level Mac Mini will do what you need, in this case.
I'm not trying to be a Mac bigot here, I don't own Apple stock, there's no commission in it for me. That said, there's a reason Apple is the darling of media developers. Their years of experience in Hollywood and professional multimedia have resulted in the some really mature, usable, and cheap prosumer tools for home use. Enjoy!
Thank you - I didn't mean my original post as a troll.... I seriously didn't see the value of Pascal (a lá Delphi).
The Skype bit was an apt illustration of your point, however.
Wait, wait, wait... just so I'm clear here... we're still talking about Pascal, right?
What's my motivation again?
Ummm... excuse me, they're called "Gateships". You know, a "ship" that goes through the "gate".
(I can't believe I just burned karma on an obscure Rodney McKay reference...)
Wow... Kim Jong Il as Darth Vader... I totally get it.
I can't believe I didn't make that connection alright... forget Offtopic... should be modded "Insightful".
Works as well as "Mr. Burns as Goa'uld"...
No doubt that fully loaded it generates almost as much heat as the sun, too!
Really snazzy tech, but that's a lot moving parts in a little space... and probably too hot to touch. Could you imagine the cooling required for a densely-packed data center of these things?
Or am I way off base here?
Hey, yeah... he's just like us Mac users... smug little bastards, aren't we?
Hell, I know I'm in need of a serious ass kicking just to wipe the smug smile off my little shit of a face.
While I completely agree with Ellison, insomuchas my enterprise-level experiences with Red Hat's support have been awful, there's another side to this coin. I don't think it's been any secret in the industry that Oracle has been displeased with Red Hat, and vice-versa, however, the outstanding question has been how they would proceed in addressing these concerns. Would they buy Red Hat? Partner more with Novell? Release their own Linux distro? Or, as this would seem to indicate, something else uniquely Oracle?
The big question here is, in my opinion, what does this say about Novell and Oracle in the enterprise? It could be argued that Oracle had already invested so much time and effort into nuturing their product line on Red Hat that a move to SUSE would be cumbersome. But, still, I would argue that Oracle's better move would be to deepen the Novell relationship. Novell has shown a consistent committment to enterprise products, Oracle included - and has the track record of good enterprise support.
Personally, I can only say that I believe a move like this on Oracle's part would only serve to strengthen the position of Linux in the enterprise. As I alluded to above, the largest hurdle Red Hat could not overcome in my enterprise was poor support - something Oracle could easily address. So, in the end, it's a win for the industry...
But, why not just buy Red Hat? And, to my original question, how much does this hurt Novell?
So, is the lesson of this story, "You can give a guy Mac OS, Photoshop, and all the pretty apps in the world... but you can't give him a sense of style?"
Sorta funny... but you don't know how many of my friends I've convinced to buy Macs, only to find that they suddenly think they're Rembrant. The tools don't solve the problem that you have no taste. DO YOU HEAR ME, PAUL?!?
Every time I try to mention the nice eye candy in OS X, I always get slapped with "The best application in OS X is something called bash." Morons. I know that. But bash doesn't look pretty... well, not in a "Oooooh, look at the pretty colors" sort of way. It's beautiful in that it's simple, usable, stable, and ... cryptic.
I don't want a command-line desktop. I want command-line servers. Desktop pretty. Server ugly. Pretty server UI useless. (Ugg!)
So, before you Linux zealots start coming out of the woodwork... let me remind you about us Mac zealots. There may be a helluva lot less of us, but we're a *WHOLE* lot more crazy!!!
(All in jest - Happy Independance Day, to all of you in the world's favorite consumer-culture.... I'm going home!)
You're just parroting their marketing... aren't you? They got to you, didn't they? What is it? You work in Marketing at Apple? Or did they just force you to drink the Kool-Aid®? Maybe it's the new SubliminialMessaging service in Mac OS X 10.4.3 and up...
You're not a real geek anymore, are you? It's just that vacant-eyed, empty-headed, pot-smoking, hippie-loving Apple rhetoric that keeps coming out of your mouth, isn't it?
Welcome to club.
I've heard very good things about Novell Linux Point of Service, based on SUSE LINUX. Now, mind you, it's not free, but it's not as expensive as many proprietary OS-based solutions. It's also pretty damn high quality - as evidenced by IBM private labeling it and selling it as their Linux-based POS solution. Additionally, it does have options for support that a free (no cost) product does not.
So, if it's just a Linux-based flexible solution you're looking for, this might fit the bill. Otherwise, if it's no cost, everyone else in the thread made some good suggestions.
(And, no, I do not work for Novell - nor have I ever... if fact, I'm recommending this product based entirely on word-of-mouth from many friends in that area of tech. I used to be in your shoes, exactly. Good luck!)
It's beans. SoyMilk Green is made out of beans. They're making our food out of beans. Next thing they'll be breeding them like cattle for food. You've gotta tell them. You've gotta tell them!
.... BEANS!!!?! IT'S MADE OF BEANS!
OH MY GOD!!! SoyMilk Green is made of
Alright, so it just doesn't have the same impact as "people!", does it?
Exactly. So, I gave Steve a call.... here's my suggestion to Apple:
THREE DAY SALE! 50% OFF A NEW MAC!
Run exactly the day Microsoft cuts on the "Fuck-your-PC-with-WGA" functionality. Talk about the economics of volume over profit margin....
Sort of like "Touché"?
Wait, wait, wait... Apple just convinced me that my Mac was a PC... 'cause it can run Windows... how does getting a Mac help if I still install a pirated copy of Windows under Boot Camp?
Oh... wait, right - I'm *NOT* supposed to use/install Windows, I've already got Mac OS...
(Okay... so this post was *pure* sarcasm. Spoken like a true self-deprecating confirmed Mac user for many years...)
I resent the implication that Windows isn't scary and a pain in the ass to use. It's just what everyone's accustomed to.
Big difference. (not that I don't see and agree with your point to some extent, however!)
First, you're completely correct, and I completely agree. But, the conundrum here is that one of Microsoft's biggest assets is their market penetration. Legal or not, a PC running Windows *tends* to be a PC not running Linux. If you suddenly force all the non-legal users off your platform, you're forcing the to use something else. Which means, in turn, more demand for OpenOffice, games on Linux, GAIM, ad infinitium - until there is a more, better, complete Linux end-user software stack to seriously compete with Windows.
This WGA might (and I stress might) look good on paper to the beancounters at Microsoft, but if you're an architect, visionary, or strategist there, you've got to scream to every senior leader to can get on the phone about what a phenomenally stupid idea this... and what it's potential impact on marketshare will be.
Umm.... if you're aren't running a legal copy of Windows, ya didn't *technically* agree to the EULA, didcha?
Of course, I'm sure there will be tons (hundreds?) of systems that are perfectly legal but still stop working due to some technicality, software bug, flaw, miscongfiguration, or other misalignment of the planets. I hope MS is adding capacity to call center that day!
What? What was that sound? Was that the sound of millions of unlicensed Windows machines all screaming out in shutdown all at once - and then suddenly silenced?
To keep the current Futurama motif running, quoth Professor Farnsworth, "The Jedi are going to feel this one!"
Seriously, though, doesn't Microsoft realize that significant number of users aren't going to go out and suddenly buy Windows? Sure, most (half?) will, but the rest will go hunting for a truly free (read: no-cost) alternative until a hack comes out.
How could this possibly be a good idea now ? Maybe if it had been there all along, or was introduced in a new release (XP, Vista, whatever)... but why spring it on the unsuspecting masses mid-cycle? That just screams massive user migration.
Not that I'm shedding any tears in reaction to that concept!
So, answer the question Tress always avoids...
:)
Does being a famous, well-known, prolific voice actor get you the kudos, bennies, fame, and fortune being a live-action (TV/Movie) actor does?
You've worked with many, know many (I'm certain), and probably have a lot of exposure to the Hollywood "scene" - and no doubt have an opinion on this. In short, does being Fry get you the babes?
Seriously, that's a little tongue-in-cheek, but do you actually have a similar public life to Katey Sagal? Good - instant recognition, fan mobs, free swag, etc. - and bad - instant recognition, fan mobs, constantly being asked for autographs and free swag, etc.?
Thanks - love your work, especially the way you bring zoidberg's understated, self-deprecating humor to life with your portrayal. Glad to have you back from syndication!
Honestly, I was going to posit Singularity - albeit in a more serious fashion.
I'll be honest, I have no love of Microsoft Operating Systems' division, but Singularity is - by far - the most innovative operating system concept on the block today. But, then so was BeOS - and well all know how that ended up.
I guess that's better than the reverse.... Talk about blocking out the sun!!!
Well, there should be, damnnit. It's no wonder the majority of posts of Slashdot go unmoderated.