Netcraft confirms that desktop applications are dead! Also Desktops.:)
Seriously this bunk is garbage. Perhaps for personal use, there may be some transition. I know I use some google docs as I don't want to bother buying a personal copy of office for hundreds of dollars for the amount I actually use it outside of work... Though I probably have used OpenOffice more.
In a corporate environment? Just no. This also happens to be where most of the usage is located. It is not even close, it is absurd. Ask a system admin about what happens when just one connection to a DB goes down, one specific and specialized application, or part of a network, or the internet... Now imagine if this happened to normal everyday office productivity software... Buhahahaha! Chaos.
There are certain things that may go a bit farther, shared documents over networks, or virturalized desktops to share specific software, but even that has limits. The last one usually to combat deployment issues and non-standard desktop configurations, however even then we have control over the resource.
MS started breaking WMC long before Vista came around. I used WMC a lot. I've had Vista. WMC has been falling apart for many years. Mostly because as you described for one reason or another they made the decision to value corporate interests over their consumers. I've been tinkering with WMP and WMC for years using codecs and the like to try and get things to work. The best I get is that most things work. However no matter what I do, there will be stuff that just isn't compatible. About the only reason I use it is my remote is "compatible" with WMC. Every now again again, when I hit that file that no matter what I do (and at this point whatever I do seems to fix one, then break another format), I just give up and use VLC, as it just works. I'm actually really surprised that someone hasn't come along and replaced WMC by now as it has been a pretty big gap for a long time. Hopefully MS pulling the plug on WMC would prompt someone to make something better that isn't purposefully broken...
Walmart employees in Quebec, Canada tried to unionize. Walmart just closed up shop and went someplace else laying off everyone. Year later (10 actually), they lose in supreme court and are forced to pay damages. However no word on what those damages are, and I bet they are fighting that. Not to mention the fact they the folks don't get jobs back, or retroactively for the last decade. On top on that, the people who work at Walmart, aren't exactly going to be rolling in it either, many would have lost big in the meantime trying to make ends meet while waiting a decade for maybe some kind of court settlement. It is no wonder that employees are afraid to unionize. Unions have been getting busted or weaker for a long time now. Which if you think about it is crazy, when we start talking about the 1% and how the we have never had such wealth inequality before...
Uh, didn't Nokia already sell they Map division to Apple when Apple was having trouble with Apple Maps after they dropped Google Maps? Apple didn't just instantly map the entire world, they had to acquire all that data...
Perhaps they just bought a licence to the data, but I had thought that they had just bought it outright. That sounds more like Apple. It would have cost a couple billion, but then they have/had mad cash on hand anyway.
It may be due to the fact that I don't drive an awful lot. It might be 13 years old, but I only have about 85k on it.
Perhaps if they extended the testing/registration period to 5 years... It just seems I am constantly taking it in to get tested. I've had it tested 7 times so far without any indication of any emissions issues, for a cost of over 400$.
At least in Ontario (where this study was conducted), every car is required to be clean tested every 2 years. Which is a stupid cash grab really, as my 2002 tests just as good now as it ever did. It is the *really* old cars that are likely a problem. However I bet there are exemptions out there for classic cars etc...
What I would like to see measured, is how much of this is not personal transportation, but rather commercial trucks... Everything is delivered by truck now. I bet they are by far the worst offenders. They also probably have exemptions. Perhaps it is time to start thinking a little less about how some soccer mom gets her kids to school VS what is the best way to deliver goods in our society.
GPS Assist in cellphones use cell towers not satellites. Cell towers are in known GPS locations. Cell towers don't move. The US government can turn onSA all they wan't, and it won't any difference to a cellphone based GPS device. Unless of course they have the cell towers constantly updating their locations, which would be dumb, as I said they don't move.
From my understanding no cellphones that I am aware of have real GPS, but rather GPS "Assist".
Which means that the cellphone doesn't really connect with any satellites whatsoever. They communicate with cell towers which are located at known GPS locations. GPS Assist is able to determine your location by communication with these towers at known locations to work out where it is. About the only thing that would improve that (apart from having real GPS), would be to improve the number of cell towers and maybe the latency in which they communicate with the phone. Which is something that is pretty integral to cellphones regardless of GPS.
Though I can see in one sense not wanting to hire an older person for a particular project... If they are much older, the retirement angle comes into play. Many companies are very poor at managing documentation, and knowledge transfer. You don't want your primary developer with the most experience in the system you are creating to up and retire on you... You want someone who'll be around for at least a time to manage it, and/or gradually bring others up to speed.
Then again in a lot of cases then can just hire the old guy back at twice the cost as a consultant if they decide to do that on the side.
Pretty much the same from my experience, though mine was only 15 years ago. CS back then was an elegant weapon for a more civilized age...
About the only security I ever did was for my first job where they gave me a lot of latitude... Made an application and installer (in C) that installed off of CD-ROM (or boy...). I didn't really have to, but I had the time, so I also wrote a username/password script to install the thing... However all the passwords were stored in a text file (which you could hide, or obscure), but again I had some time, so within it I set up an encryption routine that would decrypt and encrypt the text file as required for verification. I borrowed the actual encryption algorithm, I didn't have that much time! Anyway, all of it totally unnecessary, but it was interesting so I did it.
Younger with little experience and eager to please will always say "Yes!" Managers like this, particularly bad ones, they like to think they know more than anyone else and that their vision and ideas are better than anyone else.
I would consider it my job to point out a bad idea, the flaws, and suggest better ones based on experience. I might flower it up a bit and not say that is the most horrid stupid idea I have seen in 10 years, I'm surprised you have the automotive skill necessary to continue drawing breath... I might rather say something like that is a great idea, however it might work even better structured this way, because of these reasons etc...
However for some, the only acceptable answer is Yes we'll do whatever you want however you want it. I won't argue mind you, I'll state my opinion, and if they choose to go another way, I'll do my best to make that happen, even if cumbersome or ill advised. A good manager while maybe providing some direction or vision to work, should really just "manage" staff to do their jobs properly, which is knowing that they probably know more than you on a given topic and listening to them is usually in your best interest.
Anyway I never worry about these sorts of things, because from my experience without fail the absolute result is something that fails, is never completed, is "completed" but either doesn't function as it should, or doesn't meet the requirements (if they bothered to even collect them properly). In addition, whatever money they thought they were saving by doing it on the cheap is spent anyway, and more, due to delays, fixes, patches, scope creep, etc... and then that whole pile of steaming non-functional buggy application garbage is given to someone with experience, who is then paid well to fix the mess (or to start over), and make sure that it is properly supported, usually over a period of years... so whatever. They generate job security.
"Fast Enough" for you maybe. That usually depends on what you are using your computer for. Gaming is a driver. Most common applications I'll concede are not. However I have noticed in certain professional applications that used to be dependent on primarily graphic cards, are more dependent on CPU and system memory than anything else now. All that aside...
I agree, while I have always bought Intel, I have always kept AMD in mind, One of the things that Intel does that is annoying, but probably linked to the fact that their chips are more advanced (and not some conspiracy to bilk more money out of me, adjusts tinfoil hat), is that the damn chipset and pinout keep changing each generation. While upgrading has become harder and less practical over the years, this pretty much drives the nail in the coffin. If EVERY release requires a new MB, you might as well solder the damn thing on. AMD has been at least better in that regard that they tend to support less chipsets (AM2/AM3).
Lastly, I would like to see some actual direction from AMD, rather that try to be everyman. One thing Intel has done the last several releases is to focus on the laptop market, as that is where they see the growth. All their CPU while powerful, take power usage as their primary concern now it seems, and they all have throttling. Before it was that you made a CPU, and then you tried to make a variant of that work in a laptop. Now it seems, you make a laptop cpu and try to make it work in a desktop. As much as people keep tolling about the demise of the desktop, it hasn't happened, nor is it likely to. In addition, the other markets, tablets, phones, etc... have been eating into the laptop market, slowing that growth. I'd like to see AMD actually try some damn strategy and focus on desktop and server chips, rather than try to be baby Intel. The only way their current strategy is going to work is if they come across some crazy technology to beat Intel with, however they are trying to do this while Intel has probably several times the R&D budget they have... so the odds are not in their favor. Anyway they need to do something, as they've been in decline (as far as I have been concerned) for the last decade.
They could even balance their portfolio out by using their graphics division to focus on laptops in integrated video, though the gains have been pretty small over the years.
I have no doubt a lot of allegations they get are vexatious. However they are likely obligated to investigate just about all of them. So in one sense it is good that so many investigations have taken place (i.e. they are following rules/guidelines).
However still it does make you wonder with just the numbers involved.
I know for things like FOI there are exemptions for vexatious requests, just as I am sure there probably is for allegations. However I know to meet those requirements the bar is so high as to it is almost never exceeded, so you are required to go through the motions even if you know it is something pretty dumb.
Even if the particular allegation was that a the indicated officer identified themselves as Mr. Oinkerton, and proceeded to beat me without provocation using a bag of donuts, they would probably have to have an official investigation, even if everyone knows it is BS.
I think if you are going to spend the time and money to sending something in to SPACE and the to land on another PLANET, a little over engineering goes a long way...
You think Scottie was some kind of genius? It was just that the Enterprise was over engineered (and like any engineer he was loath to go beyond spec)... and it only had a 5 year mission!
Meh. Most of the very rich inherent their money. This is fact.
Bill gates is a bit special in that, not only was he rich, but pretty smart. Most of the very rich probably don't need to be all that smart. So when someone is rarely both, they can make a big splash, which he did.
Though I agree, his, like many of the rags to riches stories you hear, are written by the victors so to speak. Best taken with a grain of salt.
As to his Porsche, was it a new one? I worked with someone (now retired) who told me about having a Porsche in university also, and he wasn't from a particulary wealthy family. However he worked first, it was used, and his father owned an auto repair place... so it is all in the context.
Had a buddy that had a Pentium 90 with OS/2, only one in the dorm. It was a bit of an oddity. However you're right, they did multitasking a lot better then MS. As to the clone issue, that wasn't a mistake but a strategy. The computer in question was MADE by IBM. They likely changed more, because they didn't want to compete against themselves. They wanted to be a (and were) a computer builder. They were more expensive, and had a bit of prestige as it was an "IBM". Basically the exact same model that apple was successful at. They didn't market it as well, nor make it as exclusive however, which is perhaps why they failed.
As for the whole IP address thing. You are probably right. Also, who cares? In the same breath the article talks about "hundreds" of activations, while MS analyses "billions" of activations. How is that a relevant or important value. If you are tracking literately BILLIONS of activations, wtf do you care of a couple hundred all share the same IP? Some lawyers got to earn their keep I suppose, or they are trying to get the hype machine running for arguing for more IP (the other kind) protections and extensions.
They did smash a spaceship into Mars because of a mix up between Metric and Imperial units... I have no doubt that NASA testing knows how error works, however they are not immune to mistakes.
Two things: 1) Just because you work 70+ hours, doesn't mean you are actually doing anything good. If you know what you are doing, maybe you can get that work done in 40 hours, better. Hiring someone with less experience to work longer, seems like a poor business plan anyway. 2) Become a consultant. Then be the one that they call in to fix the mess that a bunch of tired 20 somethings bashed together, charge 10x as much. Consulting sucks because of the risk involved, but then again if you are going to work for a start up, that is pretty risky anyway. You may have to work 70 hours anyway, but at least you can decide when, and not have to do it every week.
I recall my actual interest in computers was born out of the difficulties of computer games at the time, and connecting to things like BBS's. Where you had to write a bit of code even if it was just into a BAT file to play with memory settings so you could play a game or to connect to a BBS. Though I'll admit my first modem was a 2400 baud, but I do recall connecting to some 300 baud modems myself...
Not sure kids now a days would become interested in computer science when everything is seemingly done for them...
4 years younger here. But same sorts of experience, First computer was a TRS-80, Vic-20, then a big bump to 286, and so on. My online handle predates what most would consider the Internet (though I also had access though a university working coop in high school) on BBS's...
I've found while the younger generation might be more familiar with technology than their older counterparts, the apple mantra "it just works" mantra is more often than not is pervasive. They lack a basic understanding about how technology works, where it came from, or how it is connected and all works together...
The older folks that grew up throughout the change have a more fulsome understanding as they have been through it.
Slashdot Mirror
Netcraft confirms that desktop applications are dead! Also Desktops. :)
Seriously this bunk is garbage. Perhaps for personal use, there may be some transition. I know I use some google docs as I don't want to bother buying a personal copy of office for hundreds of dollars for the amount I actually use it outside of work... Though I probably have used OpenOffice more.
In a corporate environment? Just no. This also happens to be where most of the usage is located. It is not even close, it is absurd. Ask a system admin about what happens when just one connection to a DB goes down, one specific and specialized application, or part of a network, or the internet... Now imagine if this happened to normal everyday office productivity software... Buhahahaha! Chaos.
There are certain things that may go a bit farther, shared documents over networks, or virturalized desktops to share specific software, but even that has limits. The last one usually to combat deployment issues and non-standard desktop configurations, however even then we have control over the resource.
MS started breaking WMC long before Vista came around. I used WMC a lot. I've had Vista. WMC has been falling apart for many years. Mostly because as you described for one reason or another they made the decision to value corporate interests over their consumers. I've been tinkering with WMP and WMC for years using codecs and the like to try and get things to work. The best I get is that most things work. However no matter what I do, there will be stuff that just isn't compatible. About the only reason I use it is my remote is "compatible" with WMC. Every now again again, when I hit that file that no matter what I do (and at this point whatever I do seems to fix one, then break another format), I just give up and use VLC, as it just works. I'm actually really surprised that someone hasn't come along and replaced WMC by now as it has been a pretty big gap for a long time. Hopefully MS pulling the plug on WMC would prompt someone to make something better that isn't purposefully broken...
That said:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...
Walmart employees in Quebec, Canada tried to unionize. Walmart just closed up shop and went someplace else laying off everyone. Year later (10 actually), they lose in supreme court and are forced to pay damages. However no word on what those damages are, and I bet they are fighting that. Not to mention the fact they the folks don't get jobs back, or retroactively for the last decade. On top on that, the people who work at Walmart, aren't exactly going to be rolling in it either, many would have lost big in the meantime trying to make ends meet while waiting a decade for maybe some kind of court settlement. It is no wonder that employees are afraid to unionize. Unions have been getting busted or weaker for a long time now. Which if you think about it is crazy, when we start talking about the 1% and how the we have never had such wealth inequality before...
Uh, didn't Nokia already sell they Map division to Apple when Apple was having trouble with Apple Maps after they dropped Google Maps? Apple didn't just instantly map the entire world, they had to acquire all that data...
Perhaps they just bought a licence to the data, but I had thought that they had just bought it outright. That sounds more like Apple. It would have cost a couple billion, but then they have/had mad cash on hand anyway.
Ahhh, this reminds me of those decoder wheels!
It may be due to the fact that I don't drive an awful lot. It might be 13 years old, but I only have about 85k on it.
Perhaps if they extended the testing/registration period to 5 years... It just seems I am constantly taking it in to get tested. I've had it tested 7 times so far without any indication of any emissions issues, for a cost of over 400$.
At least in Ontario (where this study was conducted), every car is required to be clean tested every 2 years. Which is a stupid cash grab really, as my 2002 tests just as good now as it ever did. It is the *really* old cars that are likely a problem. However I bet there are exemptions out there for classic cars etc...
What I would like to see measured, is how much of this is not personal transportation, but rather commercial trucks... Everything is delivered by truck now. I bet they are by far the worst offenders. They also probably have exemptions. Perhaps it is time to start thinking a little less about how some soccer mom gets her kids to school VS what is the best way to deliver goods in our society.
GPS Assist in cellphones use cell towers not satellites. Cell towers are in known GPS locations. Cell towers don't move. The US government can turn onSA all they wan't, and it won't any difference to a cellphone based GPS device. Unless of course they have the cell towers constantly updating their locations, which would be dumb, as I said they don't move.
From my understanding no cellphones that I am aware of have real GPS, but rather GPS "Assist".
Which means that the cellphone doesn't really connect with any satellites whatsoever. They communicate with cell towers which are located at known GPS locations. GPS Assist is able to determine your location by communication with these towers at known locations to work out where it is. About the only thing that would improve that (apart from having real GPS), would be to improve the number of cell towers and maybe the latency in which they communicate with the phone. Which is something that is pretty integral to cellphones regardless of GPS.
Though I can see in one sense not wanting to hire an older person for a particular project... If they are much older, the retirement angle comes into play. Many companies are very poor at managing documentation, and knowledge transfer. You don't want your primary developer with the most experience in the system you are creating to up and retire on you... You want someone who'll be around for at least a time to manage it, and/or gradually bring others up to speed.
Then again in a lot of cases then can just hire the old guy back at twice the cost as a consultant if they decide to do that on the side.
Pretty much the same from my experience, though mine was only 15 years ago. CS back then was an elegant weapon for a more civilized age...
About the only security I ever did was for my first job where they gave me a lot of latitude... Made an application and installer (in C) that installed off of CD-ROM (or boy...). I didn't really have to, but I had the time, so I also wrote a username/password script to install the thing... However all the passwords were stored in a text file (which you could hide, or obscure), but again I had some time, so within it I set up an encryption routine that would decrypt and encrypt the text file as required for verification. I borrowed the actual encryption algorithm, I didn't have that much time! Anyway, all of it totally unnecessary, but it was interesting so I did it.
Younger with little experience and eager to please will always say "Yes!" Managers like this, particularly bad ones, they like to think they know more than anyone else and that their vision and ideas are better than anyone else.
I would consider it my job to point out a bad idea, the flaws, and suggest better ones based on experience. I might flower it up a bit and not say that is the most horrid stupid idea I have seen in 10 years, I'm surprised you have the automotive skill necessary to continue drawing breath... I might rather say something like that is a great idea, however it might work even better structured this way, because of these reasons etc...
However for some, the only acceptable answer is Yes we'll do whatever you want however you want it. I won't argue mind you, I'll state my opinion, and if they choose to go another way, I'll do my best to make that happen, even if cumbersome or ill advised. A good manager while maybe providing some direction or vision to work, should really just "manage" staff to do their jobs properly, which is knowing that they probably know more than you on a given topic and listening to them is usually in your best interest.
Anyway I never worry about these sorts of things, because from my experience without fail the absolute result is something that fails, is never completed, is "completed" but either doesn't function as it should, or doesn't meet the requirements (if they bothered to even collect them properly). In addition, whatever money they thought they were saving by doing it on the cheap is spent anyway, and more, due to delays, fixes, patches, scope creep, etc... and then that whole pile of steaming non-functional buggy application garbage is given to someone with experience, who is then paid well to fix the mess (or to start over), and make sure that it is properly supported, usually over a period of years... so whatever. They generate job security.
"Fast Enough" for you maybe. That usually depends on what you are using your computer for. Gaming is a driver. Most common applications I'll concede are not. However I have noticed in certain professional applications that used to be dependent on primarily graphic cards, are more dependent on CPU and system memory than anything else now. All that aside...
I agree, while I have always bought Intel, I have always kept AMD in mind, One of the things that Intel does that is annoying, but probably linked to the fact that their chips are more advanced (and not some conspiracy to bilk more money out of me, adjusts tinfoil hat), is that the damn chipset and pinout keep changing each generation. While upgrading has become harder and less practical over the years, this pretty much drives the nail in the coffin. If EVERY release requires a new MB, you might as well solder the damn thing on. AMD has been at least better in that regard that they tend to support less chipsets (AM2/AM3).
Lastly, I would like to see some actual direction from AMD, rather that try to be everyman. One thing Intel has done the last several releases is to focus on the laptop market, as that is where they see the growth. All their CPU while powerful, take power usage as their primary concern now it seems, and they all have throttling. Before it was that you made a CPU, and then you tried to make a variant of that work in a laptop. Now it seems, you make a laptop cpu and try to make it work in a desktop. As much as people keep tolling about the demise of the desktop, it hasn't happened, nor is it likely to. In addition, the other markets, tablets, phones, etc... have been eating into the laptop market, slowing that growth. I'd like to see AMD actually try some damn strategy and focus on desktop and server chips, rather than try to be baby Intel. The only way their current strategy is going to work is if they come across some crazy technology to beat Intel with, however they are trying to do this while Intel has probably several times the R&D budget they have... so the odds are not in their favor. Anyway they need to do something, as they've been in decline (as far as I have been concerned) for the last decade.
They could even balance their portfolio out by using their graphics division to focus on laptops in integrated video, though the gains have been pretty small over the years.
I have no doubt a lot of allegations they get are vexatious. However they are likely obligated to investigate just about all of them. So in one sense it is good that so many investigations have taken place (i.e. they are following rules/guidelines).
However still it does make you wonder with just the numbers involved.
I know for things like FOI there are exemptions for vexatious requests, just as I am sure there probably is for allegations. However I know to meet those requirements the bar is so high as to it is almost never exceeded, so you are required to go through the motions even if you know it is something pretty dumb.
Even if the particular allegation was that a the indicated officer identified themselves as Mr. Oinkerton, and proceeded to beat me without provocation using a bag of donuts, they would probably have to have an official investigation, even if everyone knows it is BS.
I think if you are going to spend the time and money to sending something in to SPACE and the to land on another PLANET, a little over engineering goes a long way...
You think Scottie was some kind of genius? It was just that the Enterprise was over engineered (and like any engineer he was loath to go beyond spec)... and it only had a 5 year mission!
Meh. Most of the very rich inherent their money. This is fact.
Bill gates is a bit special in that, not only was he rich, but pretty smart. Most of the very rich probably don't need to be all that smart. So when someone is rarely both, they can make a big splash, which he did.
Though I agree, his, like many of the rags to riches stories you hear, are written by the victors so to speak. Best taken with a grain of salt.
As to his Porsche, was it a new one? I worked with someone (now retired) who told me about having a Porsche in university also, and he wasn't from a particulary wealthy family. However he worked first, it was used, and his father owned an auto repair place... so it is all in the context.
Had a buddy that had a Pentium 90 with OS/2, only one in the dorm. It was a bit of an oddity. However you're right, they did multitasking a lot better then MS. As to the clone issue, that wasn't a mistake but a strategy. The computer in question was MADE by IBM. They likely changed more, because they didn't want to compete against themselves. They wanted to be a (and were) a computer builder. They were more expensive, and had a bit of prestige as it was an "IBM". Basically the exact same model that apple was successful at. They didn't market it as well, nor make it as exclusive however, which is perhaps why they failed.
As for the whole IP address thing. You are probably right. Also, who cares? In the same breath the article talks about "hundreds" of activations, while MS analyses "billions" of activations. How is that a relevant or important value. If you are tracking literately BILLIONS of activations, wtf do you care of a couple hundred all share the same IP? Some lawyers got to earn their keep I suppose, or they are trying to get the hype machine running for arguing for more IP (the other kind) protections and extensions.
They did smash a spaceship into Mars because of a mix up between Metric and Imperial units... I have no doubt that NASA testing knows how error works, however they are not immune to mistakes.
Even the microtrump is a pretty large unit of measure, the most common usage should be in trumphair...
If you're going for analogies, and you pick a state, why would you pick the smallest one, particularly if the point is that it is supposed to be big?
Texas is the obvious answer of course...
Two things:
1) Just because you work 70+ hours, doesn't mean you are actually doing anything good. If you know what you are doing, maybe you can get that work done in 40 hours, better. Hiring someone with less experience to work longer, seems like a poor business plan anyway.
2) Become a consultant. Then be the one that they call in to fix the mess that a bunch of tired 20 somethings bashed together, charge 10x as much. Consulting sucks because of the risk involved, but then again if you are going to work for a start up, that is pretty risky anyway. You may have to work 70 hours anyway, but at least you can decide when, and not have to do it every week.
I recall my actual interest in computers was born out of the difficulties of computer games at the time, and connecting to things like BBS's. Where you had to write a bit of code even if it was just into a BAT file to play with memory settings so you could play a game or to connect to a BBS. Though I'll admit my first modem was a 2400 baud, but I do recall connecting to some 300 baud modems myself...
Not sure kids now a days would become interested in computer science when everything is seemingly done for them...
4 years younger here. But same sorts of experience, First computer was a TRS-80, Vic-20, then a big bump to 286, and so on. My online handle predates what most would consider the Internet (though I also had access though a university working coop in high school) on BBS's...
I've found while the younger generation might be more familiar with technology than their older counterparts, the apple mantra "it just works" mantra is more often than not is pervasive. They lack a basic understanding about how technology works, where it came from, or how it is connected and all works together...
The older folks that grew up throughout the change have a more fulsome understanding as they have been through it.
All generalizations of course...
Considering the Profit joke is also Southpark, there are meta points to be sure as well...
This. Honeypot came to mind. A very obvious one.
The fact that they showed up anyway just shows how stupid and/or crazy these people are.