In the future I'm sure our children will be able to learn calculus while playing video games, chatting on their mobile communicators, and picking out their wardrobe for the following week.
Sadly the reality is that kids today don't learn half of what we did many many years ago. I was taught to read by my Dad. He used the book Robinson Crusoe to teach me. I seriously doubt that kids today read anything like that or would ever study calculus. They are to busy playing video games or listening to music. The kids today get most things handed to them with little effort on their part. Probably why a lot of the tech jobs are being exported overseas.
Intelligence in the universe is a constant. The population is growing. You do the math if you still can.
When I initially saw this a while back it seemed pretty rough. The price is right. If it works well for recorded shows that may be the solution. Does it allow you to program recordings yet? That was one of the big missing pieces the last time I looked.
Speaking of appliance, I would like to find a cheap system with at least S-video out for use with a TV to act as a front end system for mythtv. No moving parts. Network bootable. Would be nice to have mpeg2 decoding on the video output. The epia systems get close but are fairly expensive.
Tranformers have used oil for a very long time for cooling. The problem with putting it in a computer case is that over time the oil would most likely work its way into the slots on any cards you have installed and cause the system to stop working. And you have the maintance problem, you want to upgrade that video card but now you have several hours job of draining the oil, removing the existing card, cleaning the slot connectors carefully, installing the new card, sealing the system up, refilling with oil, only to find out that you forgot to set the options on the card correctly, back to step one.
BTW: I saw a tranformer on a pole catch fire once. Spit oil and other stuff all over the cars below it. Very impressive.
Intuit won't write Quickbooks for linux until they really think there is a market there. What is wrong with a replacement package, assuming it provides the same or similar functionality?
As to terminal server, there are many ways to achieve that with linux today. rdesktop, vnc, x windows, LTSP, and other solutions are available under linux. And in most cases no licensing hassel!
This is why companies want to use such technology. It shifts things in their favor.
Of course my gut is telling me that they will just hire a lot of newly graduated lawyers and pre-law students to sit in front of terminals and process the requests that come in. Probably cheaper than actually building something that can make a recomendation.
Of course if this really takes off then I expect the lawyers to go after it with a claim that the system can not practice law since it did not graduate from law school or belong to the bar. This could cost law firms lots of money if this gets wide spread use. Can you imagine how things might have gone if such a system arranged a settlement in the anti-tobaco case? Hundreds of lawyers left to go hungry in the streets trying to chase down ambulances. I shudder at the thought!
Mostly true, until the costs for maintaining those old systems, or risks posed by those old systems, is to high. Applications of that type are good for new managers and programmers to target for development dollars. Replace them with something new/improved, easier to maintain, less costly, and get kudos from upper management for improving the business.
I thought they addressed that in the last release? Maybe not, I know it has been discussed a lot on some lists. You are correct it does need that set of features if it does not have it already.
Regardless, I'm sure that migrations are going to happen in time anyways, simply due to the advantages that Linux has that Windows does not (cost, control, security, stability, etc.), and the snowball action will slowly take effect.
You raise some excellent points. My feeling is that if there are suitable replacements for major categories of applications that is one less thing preventing an organization from being able to migrate. Openoffice/Staroffice does a pretty good job of providing access to most Microsoft office formated files. There are also some fairly good CRM solutions available. The home grown apps will move when a company does the migration. That should be part of any plan executed to make the move.
What will start creation of these replacement applications will be companies looking for alternatives due to the licensing model that Microsoft wants to impose. Unless it has changed recently, Microsoft was starting down the path of leasing their software. Companies will no longer be able to "buy" x number of licenses and use them forever. Instead Microsoft wants each company to lease x number of licenses and pay a fee each and every year they use those licenses. If they stop paying the annual charge the company must stop using their software. As a result I don't think the uptake on Vista will be as high as Microsoft wants. Which in turn will drive companies to find solutions for each of the software categories mentioned previously. In time the software companies will see a revenue stream for providing software, support, services for linux based systems. When that happens the migrations will kick into high gear.
From a home user perspective, other than gaming and tax software, the move can be made today. It just takes the effort to make the move.
Those are good items to add to the list. Although I find GIMP to be an excellent option as a replacement for PHotoshop. The others you listed do need better options. SQLedger is close as a replacement for Quickbooks but there are some things that it needs to be a full replacement for Quickbooks.
Actually there are several other application areas that cause adoption of linux to be less than it could besides the lack of games.
To get wide spread acceptance you must provide solutions for business as well as home users.
1. Visio replacement (dia can work but is not a complete replacement)
2. project management software, planner is almost there but not quite yet.
3. tax software. (a version of turbotax for linux, not the web based thing but something you control on your systems)
Openoffice or Staroffice can replace Micosoft Office today so the majority of things in the business world are taken care of. Get replacements for a few others and companies will be able to convert large numbers of users. And just like before with Microsoft, once it is used at the office users will take it home and use it there.
Once it is used by large numbers at home the games will come. But games are not a driving reason.
I built a nice 4tb array on raid5 that cost me around $800
Now this would make an interesting article to read. Instead we get another cheap and easy shot at Microsoft and a new technology that won't be accepted as main stream ever.
So how about writing a story about how you built a 4TB raid array for $800 and list all the parts and trade offs. I for one would really be interested. Seriously.
If the computer pops up extra help screens and shit because it can see I'm frustrated witha program, then that's just a random unpredictable interruption that prevents my learning how to use the program
This is nothing new. Microsoft perfected this many years ago. When the system detects a rising level of frustration it displays a soothing shade of blue and enters a resting state for a period of time to give the user time to calm down.
Amiga also had a similar feature to make the user reflect internally about issues called a GURU mediation.
Despite what the industry says, I'm betting on at least 4 years before I really have to worry about my precious DVD's being truly obsolete.
Your precious DVD's won't be obsolete until your DVD player fails. You might find it becoming difficult to purchase new content on DVD but all those DVDs you currently own won't suddently stop working, no matter how much the film industry would like that to happen.
It might be worth while to purchase a new DVD player and store it away just in case your current DVD player develops a problem.
With DVR functionality why would you need to enter numbers for the channels? You pull up the on line program listing and page up/down to the show you want to watch. If you are channel surfing use the channel change buttons.
The real features for a successful DVR are having enough encoders to record at least three channels at once if not four. And to have enough disk space to keep at least 150 to 200 hours of recordings on line. If they short change either of these they will reduce the usefulness of the DVR significantly.
It would also be nice to have inexpensive front ends that can access the recordings from the primary unit from other TVs in the house. No encoders or storage needed on these frontend only systems.
Since when are completely unsubstantiated claims that it might be possible someday to violate fundamental physical laws news?
How long have you been reading/.? Unsubstantiated is about the only requirement to have something posted on/.
And that alchemy business plan sounds like a winner. You should be able to get lots of venture capital to your company started. Can you imagine the IPO for such a company?
You kind of make my point yet again. The climate will change over time. And there is not going to be a lot we can do about it.
We will have to adapt or die. Personally I think those that believe we have such a tremendous effect over the global climate are a little full of themselves. It makes them feel more powerful than they really are.
The article about using the ocean for generating power is very neat. I think they should build power plants of that type all over. More power and fresh water for all!
But it has not been proven that global warming is caused by people. The climate changes over time. Heating and cooling cycles have happened in the past and will continue to happen. And it appears that global warming is not limited to Earth. The polar caps on Mars are also melting. This would seem to point to a solar wide event not something here on Earth. Or is there an argument that the continued functioning of the Mars rovers is causing global warming on that planet?
We need to get used to the idea that things will change over time. We will have to adapt to the changing climate. Just the same way we have to prepare for more frequent hurricanes in this current storm cycle. It is what people have done all through history, adapt and change to survive in the environment. Only when we have moved off this planet and have self sustaining colonies in deep space will there be a relatively unchanging controlled environment. I only hope that we achive that before some catastrophic event causes a dramatc downward adjustment in population levels for our species.
Are you so frigging naive to think that that $8.5 billion hasn't been spent already by your congress critter? They salivate and wet themselves just thinking about getting a portion of that pie. About the only thing you can count on is that government virtually never leaves a penny unspent and when they do it is a major over sight on their part. Even the money ear marked for vouchers will be raided. Very few of the people that money should help will ever see it. The congress critters, lobbyists, and other special interests will get their hands into that money as well and consume as much as they can before it ever gets to the people it was suppose to help.
The DRM part of it is going to be legislated once the infrastructure is in place. That will result in major battles all across the Internet as hackers break the systems and provide methods to get around DRM systems. But again this will not affect large numbers of uses since most of them use cable services. Until cable providers are forced to go all digital DRM flags will be easy to get around, just use the standard analog signals provided by the cable companies. That is what I intend to do since that works just fine with my mythtv system.
Not every person in the country will be immediately affected by the shutdown of analog broadcasts. The vast majority of people use cable. Cable companies will continue to send out analog signals, those users will not have to change anything. Only the much smaller group that use antennas to get a signal will be affected by the change. They will need to get a converter box to continue using the old TV set.
But on one point you are correct, the vast majority of those funds will not go to the people directly affected. Most of that money will go to some congress critter or his lobbyist or another special interest that is being paid off. very little will go to convert boxes used by those that don't have a choice.
Look for an up surge in criminal activity once this change over happens.
That's a LOT of analog TVs that go to essentially worthless in very short order.
Just how many people will really be affected by this? I suspect a large majority of people use cable services. Cable companies will continue to provide standard analog signals, I don't think they are mandated to change to pure digital. It is just the over the air broadcasts. So if the majority of people currently have cable service just how many are using pure over the air broadcasts? I think a lot less than the 70 million touted else wear in this thread of messages.
So the problem is not going to be as large as some expect. If they actually hand out 70 million vouchers you can bet that most of them are going into some congress critters pocket or the pocket of a special interest, not into the hands of the poor.
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In the future I'm sure our children will be able to learn calculus while playing video games, chatting on their mobile communicators, and picking out their wardrobe for the following week.
Sadly the reality is that kids today don't learn half of what we did many many years ago. I was taught to read by my Dad. He used the book Robinson Crusoe to teach me. I seriously doubt that kids today read anything like that or would ever study calculus. They are to busy playing video games or listening to music. The kids today get most things handed to them with little effort on their part. Probably why a lot of the tech jobs are being exported overseas.
Intelligence in the universe is a constant. The population is growing. You do the math if you still can.
When I initially saw this a while back it seemed pretty rough. The price is right. If it works well for recorded shows that may be the solution. Does it allow you to program recordings yet? That was one of the big missing pieces the last time I looked.
Speaking of appliance, I would like to find a cheap system with at least S-video out for use with a TV to act as a front end system for mythtv. No moving parts. Network bootable. Would be nice to have mpeg2 decoding on the video output. The epia systems get close but are fairly expensive.
Tranformers have used oil for a very long time for cooling. The problem with putting it in a computer case is that over time the oil would most likely work its way into the slots on any cards you have installed and cause the system to stop working. And you have the maintance problem, you want to upgrade that video card but now you have several hours job of draining the oil, removing the existing card, cleaning the slot connectors carefully, installing the new card, sealing the system up, refilling with oil, only to find out that you forgot to set the options on the card correctly, back to step one.
BTW: I saw a tranformer on a pole catch fire once. Spit oil and other stuff all over the cars below it. Very impressive.
Intuit won't write Quickbooks for linux until they really think there is a market there. What is wrong with a replacement package, assuming it provides the same or similar functionality?
As to terminal server, there are many ways to achieve that with linux today. rdesktop, vnc, x windows, LTSP, and other solutions are available under linux. And in most cases no licensing hassel!
This is why companies want to use such technology. It shifts things in their favor.
Of course my gut is telling me that they will just hire a lot of newly graduated lawyers and pre-law students to sit in front of terminals and process the requests that come in. Probably cheaper than actually building something that can make a recomendation.
Of course if this really takes off then I expect the lawyers to go after it with a claim that the system can not practice law since it did not graduate from law school or belong to the bar. This could cost law firms lots of money if this gets wide spread use. Can you imagine how things might have gone if such a system arranged a settlement in the anti-tobaco case? Hundreds of lawyers left to go hungry in the streets trying to chase down ambulances. I shudder at the thought!
Mostly true, until the costs for maintaining those old systems, or risks posed by those old systems, is to high. Applications of that type are good for new managers and programmers to target for development dollars. Replace them with something new/improved, easier to maintain, less costly, and get kudos from upper management for improving the business.
I thought they addressed that in the last release? Maybe not, I know it has been discussed a lot on some lists. You are correct it does need that set of features if it does not have it already.
Regardless, I'm sure that migrations are going to happen in time anyways, simply due to the advantages that Linux has that Windows does not (cost, control, security, stability, etc.), and the snowball action will slowly take effect.
You raise some excellent points. My feeling is that if there are suitable replacements for major categories of applications that is one less thing preventing an organization from being able to migrate. Openoffice/Staroffice does a pretty good job of providing access to most Microsoft office formated files. There are also some fairly good CRM solutions available. The home grown apps will move when a company does the migration. That should be part of any plan executed to make the move.
What will start creation of these replacement applications will be companies looking for alternatives due to the licensing model that Microsoft wants to impose. Unless it has changed recently, Microsoft was starting down the path of leasing their software. Companies will no longer be able to "buy" x number of licenses and use them forever. Instead Microsoft wants each company to lease x number of licenses and pay a fee each and every year they use those licenses. If they stop paying the annual charge the company must stop using their software. As a result I don't think the uptake on Vista will be as high as Microsoft wants. Which in turn will drive companies to find solutions for each of the software categories mentioned previously. In time the software companies will see a revenue stream for providing software, support, services for linux based systems. When that happens the migrations will kick into high gear.
From a home user perspective, other than gaming and tax software, the move can be made today. It just takes the effort to make the move.
Those are good items to add to the list. Although I find GIMP to be an excellent option as a replacement for PHotoshop. The others you listed do need better options. SQLedger is close as a replacement for Quickbooks but there are some things that it needs to be a full replacement for Quickbooks.
Actually there are several other application areas that cause adoption of linux to be less than it could besides the lack of games.
To get wide spread acceptance you must provide solutions for business as well as home users.
1. Visio replacement (dia can work but is not a complete replacement)
2. project management software, planner is almost there but not quite yet.
3. tax software. (a version of turbotax for linux, not the web based thing but something you control on your systems)
Openoffice or Staroffice can replace Micosoft Office today so the majority of things in the business world are taken care of. Get replacements for a few others and companies will be able to convert large numbers of users. And just like before with Microsoft, once it is used at the office users will take it home and use it there.
Once it is used by large numbers at home the games will come. But games are not a driving reason.
I built a nice 4tb array on raid5 that cost me around $800
Now this would make an interesting article to read. Instead we get another cheap and easy shot at Microsoft and a new technology that won't be accepted as main stream ever.
So how about writing a story about how you built a 4TB raid array for $800 and list all the parts and trade offs. I for one would really be interested. Seriously.
Or did Kevin Collins of Microsoft Corp. not have a first born child to offer up to the IP gods?
No, they want his soul. Being as he works for Microsoft he already signed that over a long time ago.
OK, who mooned the telescope again?
If the computer pops up extra help screens and shit because it can see I'm frustrated witha program, then that's just a random unpredictable interruption that prevents my learning how to use the program
This is nothing new. Microsoft perfected this many years ago. When the system detects a rising level of frustration it displays a soothing shade of blue and enters a resting state for a period of time to give the user time to calm down.
Amiga also had a similar feature to make the user reflect internally about issues called a GURU mediation.
Despite what the industry says, I'm betting on at least 4 years before I really have to worry about my precious DVD's being truly obsolete.
Your precious DVD's won't be obsolete until your DVD player fails. You might find it becoming difficult to purchase new content on DVD but all those DVDs you currently own won't suddently stop working, no matter how much the film industry would like that to happen.
It might be worth while to purchase a new DVD player and store it away just in case your current DVD player develops a problem.
With DVR functionality why would you need to enter numbers for the channels? You pull up the on line program listing and page up/down to the show you want to watch. If you are channel surfing use the channel change buttons.
The real features for a successful DVR are having enough encoders to record at least three channels at once if not four. And to have enough disk space to keep at least 150 to 200 hours of recordings on line. If they short change either of these they will reduce the usefulness of the DVR significantly.
It would also be nice to have inexpensive front ends that can access the recordings from the primary unit from other TVs in the house. No encoders or storage needed on these frontend only systems.
Since when are completely unsubstantiated claims that it might be possible someday to violate fundamental physical laws news?
/.? Unsubstantiated is about the only requirement to have something posted on /.
How long have you been reading
And that alchemy business plan sounds like a winner. You should be able to get lots of venture capital to your company started. Can you imagine the IPO for such a company?
This sounds a lot like the K drive used in Alan Dean Foster's Flinx and Pip universe.
If it doesn't work, then the theory is proven wrong, and Heim wasted 19 years of his life doing some really obnoxiously hard math.
Or it means the experiment is flawed someway.
You kind of make my point yet again. The climate will change over time. And there is not going to be a lot we can do about it.
We will have to adapt or die. Personally I think those that believe we have such a tremendous effect over the global climate are a little full of themselves. It makes them feel more powerful than they really are.
The article about using the ocean for generating power is very neat. I think they should build power plants of that type all over. More power and fresh water for all!
Seriously, is there some way to mark the posted article as flamebait?
But it has not been proven that global warming is caused by people. The climate changes over time. Heating and cooling cycles have happened in the past and will continue to happen. And it appears that global warming is not limited to Earth. The polar caps on Mars are also melting. This would seem to point to a solar wide event not something here on Earth. Or is there an argument that the continued functioning of the Mars rovers is causing global warming on that planet?
We need to get used to the idea that things will change over time. We will have to adapt to the changing climate. Just the same way we have to prepare for more frequent hurricanes in this current storm cycle. It is what people have done all through history, adapt and change to survive in the environment. Only when we have moved off this planet and have self sustaining colonies in deep space will there be a relatively unchanging controlled environment. I only hope that we achive that before some catastrophic event causes a dramatc downward adjustment in population levels for our species.
Are you so frigging naive to think that that $8.5 billion hasn't been spent already by your congress critter? They salivate and wet themselves just thinking about getting a portion of that pie. About the only thing you can count on is that government virtually never leaves a penny unspent and when they do it is a major over sight on their part. Even the money ear marked for vouchers will be raided. Very few of the people that money should help will ever see it. The congress critters, lobbyists, and other special interests will get their hands into that money as well and consume as much as they can before it ever gets to the people it was suppose to help.
The DRM part of it is going to be legislated once the infrastructure is in place. That will result in major battles all across the Internet as hackers break the systems and provide methods to get around DRM systems. But again this will not affect large numbers of uses since most of them use cable services. Until cable providers are forced to go all digital DRM flags will be easy to get around, just use the standard analog signals provided by the cable companies. That is what I intend to do since that works just fine with my mythtv system.
Not every person in the country will be immediately affected by the shutdown of analog broadcasts. The vast majority of people use cable. Cable companies will continue to send out analog signals, those users will not have to change anything. Only the much smaller group that use antennas to get a signal will be affected by the change. They will need to get a converter box to continue using the old TV set.
But on one point you are correct, the vast majority of those funds will not go to the people directly affected. Most of that money will go to some congress critter or his lobbyist or another special interest that is being paid off. very little will go to convert boxes used by those that don't have a choice.
Look for an up surge in criminal activity once this change over happens.
That's a LOT of analog TVs that go to essentially worthless in very short order.
Just how many people will really be affected by this? I suspect a large majority of people use cable services. Cable companies will continue to provide standard analog signals, I don't think they are mandated to change to pure digital. It is just the over the air broadcasts. So if the majority of people currently have cable service just how many are using pure over the air broadcasts? I think a lot less than the 70 million touted else wear in this thread of messages.
So the problem is not going to be as large as some expect. If they actually hand out 70 million vouchers you can bet that most of them are going into some congress critters pocket or the pocket of a special interest, not into the hands of the poor.