Re:So much for selling used books
on
Textbooks With EULAs
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
One way publishers get around that is by introducing new editions of text books every year, which differ only by incorporating the errata fixes, and different homework problems. (so everyone needs to buy a new $150 book) You can get a better price selling your books to off campus book coops, and you can get a better price buying your books there. If students could manage to organize enough (this isn't the '60s) they could really save a bundle if everyone bought used books, and they all pooled some cash to buy one new edition, then distributing the homework problems as necessary.
"Was there a national convention that decided that the main command issuing modifier key should be hit by the pinky? I much prefer to move my thumb from the space bar and hit command than move my pinky from the a to hit control."
I remapped my windows keyboard because excessive use of the ctrl key was causing joint pain in my pinky. Therefore, in my opinion, it is the ctrl key that is in the wrong place. I switched it with the caps loc, which feels fine for me, but I concede that the alt key location (where the cmd key on a mac keyboard is) would be a good spot also.
I did not need to remap my mac keyboard.
Maybe I will switch the windows keyboard again for consistancy with the mac.
"I guess someone should tell automakers that they should reinvent a mode of transportation from scratch. That four wheels, an engine, and brake and throttle thing is so passé nowadays. "
In some prehistoric cultures, trepanning was done to cure certain ailments by making a hole in the head to allow (presumeably) evil spirits out.
If the zombie is not animated by virus, army chemical warfare experiment or some strange radiation, but rather by a good old fashioned malevolent spirit, then a shotgun blast to the head will evict that spirit with a vengeance.
anti-spy software ignoring certain results will only be a problem if they also intentionally (or "unintentionally," or "incidentally" or whatever they call it when they are discovered) disable competitors' anti-spy software. I run lavasoft and spybot regularly, I have reasonable confidence in the integrity of both programs' developers. I run both because some find spyware that the others don't. If a company intentionally missed spyware, it would be underhanded, but the effect would be no different than if a company just didn't update its definition file yet. That's why you run 2 or more scanners.
Now antivirus software, that is dangerous, because in some cases they really do interfere with each other, and therefore you have to rely on a single product to catch everything.
I use the hot rod spec whenever I am looking for a new mobo. The rest I just shop around for on a part by part basis, paying close attention to price breaks on video cards.
In the U.S. one is not allowed to post links to DeCSS code. So apparently yes, you are not allowed to tell anyone where to find the information they seek. Which brings Google to mind...
This wasn't a man-rated rocket. In the U.S. non-man-rated rockets (like Russian non-man-rated rockets) have a significant failure rate (2%, I think. According to this post, it was 25% for Arianne 5 in 2002. The Delta rocket program is not scrapped when a rocket fails (neither is Arianne).
You are comparing this with shuttle losses, which do shut down the program while investigations are carried out and suggested remedies are implemented. The idea with man-rated rockets is to _minimize_ risk to humans. The technology is obviously there to put people into space with a 2% failure rate, and I'm sure there would be plenty of astronauts willing to accept those risks, but it would be a public image nightmare for NASA and the United States to accept those odds and do nothing to improve them.
Now the pear: this is a non-government organisation which bought space on a Russian rocket to put their payload into space. The question is not whether they have the cajones to dust themselves off and try again (as you say the Russians do) but rather can they get the money to do it again. It is an expensive venture. (And how do you say "cajones" in Russian?)
"Your forgetting the fact that its the photographers equipment. Time == Money."
He did not forget this. You completely missed it when he wrote "any photography you commission is copyright by *you*"
He is describing work for hire. You commission a work, it is a work for hire, therefore under current copyright law _you_ own it for 99 years. The photographer's time and equipment is reasonably compensated by the fee he negotiates for commission, otherwise he should not have accepted the commission.
"Do you feel the same way about security tags in shops?"
"I would if I had to keep the tag on even after I've bought the item."
You, sir, are a marketing genius! We are going to need venture capital to lobby congress to pass legislation to make it illegal to remove those tags. The consumer buys a dress and wears it once. If she attempts to wear it to another social event (which, I understand, is some kind of social faux pas--don't ask me I've worn the same suit for ten years.) the ink charge will explode and force her to buy a new dress. We can spin it as a _benefit_ to the consumer, saving her from the embarassment of going to two friends' weddings and being caught wearing the same dress. Let's patent this business method, and I will split the profits with you.
There is one near Cleveland, OH (near Mayfield Rd. and Rte. 91) When I absolutely have to go to a brick and mortar store for components, I go there (>30 miles) instead of the local Comp-USA. It's not an orgasmic experience or anything, I don't go there often, it is just that C-USA sucks so badly.
At Microcenter, the employees are actually helpful and accessible. They seem to know what they are talking about, which is a big plus. Compared to C-USA employees who hide in the back and don't know jack anyway.
When my coworkers ask about buying computer stuff, I usually tell them to go to MC, I specifically warn them against C-USA.
It is good to see that they are supporting Linux. With their emphasis on customer service, I think it may be a successful venture...and there is one less barrier for the average Joe, willing to try "this Linux thing" but afraid of doing it on his own.
" OpenOffice will never be an Office killer on OS X until it is a native app"
This is the inevitable "what about NeoOffice?" response. I don't use MS Office on my Mac, and it offended me like a whiff of bowel gas whenever the MS OfficeX trial agreement would pop up whenever I tried to open a file. I think I reassigned most of the extentions to the proper application now, but it was still annoying.
Re:Good magazine so far...
on
Makers of MAKE
·
· Score: 1
Cool magazine, I also subscribe. But I want to know when they will publish plans for a DIY BatSuit?
You may be joking about the home suture, but In my younger days, I had successfully sealed a few slices and gashes with superglue or regular sports tape. No major vessels were compromised, so it wasn't all that spectacular. But in fact, surgeons use a version of superglue for their non-suture sutures. It is available to the home user under the brands dermabond or liquid bandage.
I used to be a DIY type, making homebrew beer, DIY beer coolers, DIY fish "pond" (in my dorm room) with DIY biological filter, etc. Several years after college if finally occured to me that what I made was invariably more expensive, less effective/efficient, bigger and just plain uglier than the commercially produced equivalents. And so I quit. (I still subscribed to MAKE when it was first published)
I think the point of DIY is being creative in solving problems, to be inventive, to have a sense of accomplishment when something is made. "I did that" instead of "I bought that." It is something that any DIYer can appreciate himself, even if no one around him does.
On a distantly related note, I fear there may be a decline in ingenuity in general, as mass produced fare is so cheap and so readily available that few people feel the urge to fiddle, to improve anything, since they can just go out and buy something else.
I'm currently mulling over a project to convert an optical mouse into a DIY (right) foot operated computer pointer with (left) foot operated pedals instead of buttons. I know there are commercial products that do this ($130-$200+) but they aren't _exactly_ what I envision.
Thanks, I took your advice and did the registry hack to move CTRL to Capslock. I also moved capslock to Alt, and alt to ctrl. Apparently that is a pretty common mapping, judging by google
"For PvP only, every class has to be an even match. "
I disagree. For PvP, every class has to _have_ an even match, or more precisely, every class needs to have a foil. E.g. in WoW, the rogue can pretty much "do" any spell caster one on one. But druids and hunters can neutralize a rogue one on one. The idea is to duel at every opportunity with every class; learn your strengths, weaknesses, and viable strategies for different situations. Join a guild with guys you like and play well with together, from them, form a balanced group for PvP, and use good group tactics in PvP. Do not fight alone.
I am not a PvP expert, but I've played every class in WoW except paladin (so I leave arguments for and against paladin luvin/nerfin to those who have experience) but overall I would say WoW is pretty well balanced. (I have so many alts that my PvP is not automatic, I generally lose to anyone who has been playing the same character for a few weeks. But each loss teaches me something, if only I could be quick enough to apply the lesson the next time)
You have a point there about NWN. Suppose you have a persistant world mmo game that has a level cap of 30 instead of 60, that you can have up to 3 classes at a time instead of one, whose total levels = the level cap. (well, 60 then, if you insist, but follow--)
(this part doesn't exist in NWN, but may benefit future MMOGs) When the player reaches the cap, and is engaging in PvP, if he finds he has screwed up his character class progression, there can be some mechanism whereby he can "unlearn" one or more levels in one or more classes, and then go out and level up again. You can even make level loss a monetarily expensive process.
For instance: A player has 10 warrior 10 cleric 10 archer, and decides to tweak a bit by unlearning 2 warriors levels, then adventuring (with level 28 xp requirements) to earn 1 cleric and 1 archer level, for a bit more healing and range attack. If he is continually owned by that 20 mage 10 cleric, he may chose to sacrifice a whole class, buying down the rest of his warrior levels and adventuring to earn 8 thief levels, to see if he can stealth up to the mage and gank him.
Anyway, that is just an extension of the natural multiclass balance that you pointed out in NWN. And it has the added benefit of people having nothing else to do once they reached the cap. Why start an alt if the character you played and loved could still evolve?
I don't have CTS yet, but I have developed joint pain in the last knuckle in my little fingers from pressing the ctrl key all the time. Not so much from the shift key, because that I can press almost straight down, but the ctrl key on my particular keyboard is situated in such a place that when I depress it, my finger is exerting force sideways.
I suppose I should get a keyboard mapper and change the ctrl key to one that I don't use, like the windows start key or the windows menu key.
Slashdot Mirror
One way publishers get around that is by introducing new editions of text books every year, which differ only by incorporating the errata fixes, and different homework problems. (so everyone needs to buy a new $150 book) You can get a better price selling your books to off campus book coops, and you can get a better price buying your books there. If students could manage to organize enough (this isn't the '60s) they could really save a bundle if everyone bought used books, and they all pooled some cash to buy one new edition, then distributing the homework problems as necessary.
we've all seen this now, right?
"Was there a national convention that decided that the main command issuing modifier key should be hit by the pinky? I much prefer to move my thumb from the space bar and hit command than move my pinky from the a to hit control."
I remapped my windows keyboard because excessive use of the ctrl key was causing joint pain in my pinky. Therefore, in my opinion, it is the ctrl key that is in the wrong place. I switched it with the caps loc, which feels fine for me, but I concede that the alt key location (where the cmd key on a mac keyboard is) would be a good spot also.
I did not need to remap my mac keyboard.
Maybe I will switch the windows keyboard again for consistancy with the mac.
That's because he is in China, and is looking at it upside down!
"I guess someone should tell automakers that they should reinvent a mode of transportation from scratch. That four wheels, an engine, and brake and throttle thing is so passé nowadays. "
It's been done. The Segway.
because sarchasm has the potential to be very large in a print medium, The Register proposes a solution.
"We are competitive in the chip fag market..."
Is a competitive chip fag that jerk who bogarts the Fritos?
In some prehistoric cultures, trepanning was done to cure certain ailments by making a hole in the head to allow (presumeably) evil spirits out.
If the zombie is not animated by virus, army chemical warfare experiment or some strange radiation, but rather by a good old fashioned malevolent spirit, then a shotgun blast to the head will evict that spirit with a vengeance.
anti-spy software ignoring certain results will only be a problem if they also intentionally (or "unintentionally," or "incidentally" or whatever they call it when they are discovered) disable competitors' anti-spy software. I run lavasoft and spybot regularly, I have reasonable confidence in the integrity of both programs' developers. I run both because some find spyware that the others don't. If a company intentionally missed spyware, it would be underhanded, but the effect would be no different than if a company just didn't update its definition file yet. That's why you run 2 or more scanners.
Now antivirus software, that is dangerous, because in some cases they really do interfere with each other, and therefore you have to rely on a single product to catch everything.
ArsTechnica
I use the hot rod spec whenever I am looking for a new mobo. The rest I just shop around for on a part by part basis, paying close attention to price breaks on video cards.
That was settled about 2000 years ago... the same long haired radical who raised Lazarus from the dead said "Give to Cesar what is Cesar's"
In the U.S. one is not allowed to post links to DeCSS code. So apparently yes, you are not allowed to tell anyone where to find the information they seek. Which brings Google to mind...
not strictly one button (mouse and spacebar in many cases) but check
this out.
I think the guy is a game design genius. My favorite is the frog pond game.
This wasn't a man-rated rocket. In the U.S. non-man-rated rockets (like Russian non-man-rated rockets) have a significant failure rate (2%, I think. According to this post, it was 25% for Arianne 5 in 2002. The Delta rocket program is not scrapped when a rocket fails (neither is Arianne).
You are comparing this with shuttle losses, which do shut down the program while investigations are carried out and suggested remedies are implemented. The idea with man-rated rockets is to _minimize_ risk to humans. The technology is obviously there to put people into space with a 2% failure rate, and I'm sure there would be plenty of astronauts willing to accept those risks, but it would be a public image nightmare for NASA and the United States to accept those odds and do nothing to improve them.
Now the pear: this is a non-government organisation which bought space on a Russian rocket to put their payload into space. The question is not whether they have the cajones to dust themselves off and try again (as you say the Russians do) but rather can they get the money to do it again. It is an expensive venture. (And how do you say "cajones" in Russian?)
"I've read /. goatse trolls with more insight than Dvorak's piece."
Given the nature of goatse, it is next to impossible to have more insight than that, and no one wants that much insight.
"Your forgetting the fact that its the photographers equipment. Time == Money."
He did not forget this. You completely missed it when he wrote "any photography you commission is copyright by *you*"
He is describing work for hire. You commission a work, it is a work for hire, therefore under current copyright law _you_ own it for 99 years. The photographer's time and equipment is reasonably compensated by the fee he negotiates for commission, otherwise he should not have accepted the commission.
"Do you feel the same way about security tags in shops?"
"I would if I had to keep the tag on even after I've bought the item."
You, sir, are a marketing genius!
We are going to need venture capital to lobby congress to pass legislation to make it illegal to remove those tags.
The consumer buys a dress and wears it once. If she attempts to wear it to another social event (which, I understand, is some kind of social faux pas--don't ask me I've worn the same suit for ten years.) the ink charge will explode and force her to buy a new dress.
We can spin it as a _benefit_ to the consumer, saving her from the embarassment of going to two friends' weddings and being caught wearing the same dress.
Let's patent this business method, and I will split the profits with you.
There is one near Cleveland, OH (near Mayfield Rd. and Rte. 91) When I absolutely have to go to a brick and mortar store for components, I go there (>30 miles) instead of the local Comp-USA. It's not an orgasmic experience or anything, I don't go there often, it is just that C-USA sucks so badly.
At Microcenter, the employees are actually helpful and accessible. They seem to know what they are talking about, which is a big plus. Compared to C-USA employees who hide in the back and don't know jack anyway.
When my coworkers ask about buying computer stuff, I usually tell them to go to MC, I specifically warn them against C-USA.
It is good to see that they are supporting Linux. With their emphasis on customer service, I think it may be a successful venture...and there is one less barrier for the average Joe, willing to try "this Linux thing" but afraid of doing it on his own.
" OpenOffice will never be an Office killer on OS X until it is a native app"
This is the inevitable "what about NeoOffice?" response.
I don't use MS Office on my Mac, and it offended me like a whiff of bowel gas whenever the MS OfficeX trial agreement would pop up whenever I tried to open a file. I think I reassigned most of the extentions to the proper application now, but it was still annoying.
Cool magazine, I also subscribe. But I want to know when they will publish plans for a DIY BatSuit?
You may be joking about the home suture, but In my younger days, I had successfully sealed a few slices and gashes with superglue or regular sports tape. No major vessels were compromised, so it wasn't all that spectacular. But in fact, surgeons use a version of superglue for their non-suture sutures. It is available to the home user under the brands dermabond or liquid bandage.
I used to be a DIY type, making homebrew beer, DIY beer coolers, DIY fish "pond" (in my dorm room) with DIY biological filter, etc. Several years after college if finally occured to me that what I made was invariably more expensive, less effective/efficient, bigger and just plain uglier than the commercially produced equivalents. And so I quit. (I still subscribed to MAKE when it was first published)
I think the point of DIY is being creative in solving problems, to be inventive, to have a sense of accomplishment when something is made. "I did that" instead of "I bought that." It is something that any DIYer can appreciate himself, even if no one around him does.
On a distantly related note, I fear there may be a decline in ingenuity in general, as mass produced fare is so cheap and so readily available that few people feel the urge to fiddle, to improve anything, since they can just go out and buy something else.
I'm currently mulling over a project to convert an optical mouse into a DIY (right) foot operated computer pointer with (left) foot operated pedals instead of buttons. I know there are commercial products that do this ($130-$200+) but they aren't _exactly_ what I envision.
Thanks, I took your advice and did the registry hack to move CTRL to Capslock. I also moved capslock to Alt, and alt to ctrl. Apparently that is a pretty common mapping, judging by google
"For PvP only, every class has to be an even match. "
I disagree. For PvP, every class has to _have_ an even match, or more precisely, every class needs to have a foil. E.g. in WoW, the rogue can pretty much "do" any spell caster one on one. But druids and hunters can neutralize a rogue one on one. The idea is to duel at every opportunity with every class; learn your strengths, weaknesses, and viable strategies for different situations. Join a guild with guys you like and play well with together, from them, form a balanced group for PvP, and use good group tactics in PvP. Do not fight alone.
I am not a PvP expert, but I've played every class in WoW except paladin (so I leave arguments for and against paladin luvin/nerfin to those who have experience) but overall I would say WoW is pretty well balanced. (I have so many alts that my PvP is not automatic, I generally lose to anyone who has been playing the same character for a few weeks. But each loss teaches me something, if only I could be quick enough to apply the lesson the next time)
You have a point there about NWN. Suppose you have a persistant world mmo game that has a level cap of 30 instead of 60, that you can have up to 3 classes at a time instead of one, whose total levels = the level cap. (well, 60 then, if you insist, but follow--)
(this part doesn't exist in NWN, but may benefit future MMOGs) When the player reaches the cap, and is engaging in PvP, if he finds he has screwed up his character class progression, there can be some mechanism whereby he can "unlearn" one or more levels in one or more classes, and then go out and level up again. You can even make level loss a monetarily expensive process.
For instance: A player has 10 warrior 10 cleric 10 archer, and decides to tweak a bit by unlearning 2 warriors levels, then adventuring (with level 28 xp requirements) to earn 1 cleric and 1 archer level, for a bit more healing and range attack. If he is continually owned by that 20 mage 10 cleric, he may chose to sacrifice a whole class, buying down the rest of his warrior levels and adventuring to earn 8 thief levels, to see if he can stealth up to the mage and gank him.
Anyway, that is just an extension of the natural multiclass balance that you pointed out in NWN. And it has the added benefit of people having nothing else to do once they reached the cap. Why start an alt if the character you played and loved could still evolve?
I don't have CTS yet, but I have developed joint pain in the last knuckle in my little fingers from pressing the ctrl key all the time. Not so much from the shift key, because that I can press almost straight down, but the ctrl key on my particular keyboard is situated in such a place that when I depress it, my finger is exerting force sideways.
I suppose I should get a keyboard mapper and change the ctrl key to one that I don't use, like the windows start key or the windows menu key.