Why, praytail, would it take longer for games to boot?
Last I heard, the XBox is going to have only 64MB of RAM. Given that even though smart programmers will keep this in mind, the OS still has to swap a lot of data around using the hard drive. If the hard drive is full of config files and saved games, this may make loading the disk cache a bit slower.
Of course, they'll probably cover all of the bases and have some sort of set minimum amount of free space that must be available in order to prevent this from happening...
... which begs an interesting question: what do they do when the hard disk gets fragmented?? Interesting...
I was investigating legacy browsers, downloading them as I went. What I found is that IE 2.0 was actually marketted as IE 3.0 to catch up to Netscape 3.0 at the time. I wish I could find that damn URL to prove it...
rLowe
PS> Ain't it ironic that now NS is skipping 5 to go to 6?? Only diff is that NS5 code actually existed, and they just scrapped it.
If you liked this Moody (heh) article, check this one out.
Apparently Fred Moody has pissed off more than just the Linux crowd.
This quote is particularly interesting:
Since when did America's scientists lose their senses of humor? I have long experience in readers misinterpreting my prose, motives and morals, but I'm consistently surprised at being taken far more seriously than I take myself. Thus, "Shame on you for fearmongering! You have needlessly frightened many thousands of people with your writing," has me succumbing to grandiose fantasies about the size of my audience.
What planet is this guy FROM? He's writing on the web site of one of the "big three" major US TV networks! This guy needs to get his head examined.
Add electronic poker to this list... where it's just a five card draw system with winnings coming from defined odds (you can get these from any poker book). It's a solo game, but still fun.
I made all of the single player casino games in grade 12 in Pascal of all things. Very good experience. Blackjack, poker and craps.
Sometimes the old arcade favourites are more complicated than one thinks. Sure, if a student reads a step-by-step of how the things are made it's easy, but what would be the point?
rLowe
PS. TETRIS is the all-time best to program. It's easy and you can't stop beta-testing it. =)
I'd pay a micro-payment to yank banner ads from websites I frequent.
I think it's interesting that you say this, as most of us have learned to ignore the top part of a page where the banner habitates.
I think I saw an article somewhere (handy, eh?) that went into the problems with banner ads and how people are learning to ignore them. Smart(er) companies are realising this and forgetting the regular banner ads altogether.
It's kind of funny how these banner ads have taken over our web surfing lives, but with all of the marketing that probably goes into making them, no one realises that people often skip them. The cool ones are the ads that aren't in the typical banner ad shape, sometimes taking up the right column of a news page. Even if the text is sideways, I can't help but look at it.
Do you really think Microsoft is going to quit supporting Java on W2K any time soon?
The author of this "diatribe" claimed that Java programs now had to be traslated into some intermediate language before they could be made executable. If this takes 50-100% longer than compiling a comparable C# program, what do you think people are going to write their programs in? Also, this intermediate language could make big Java bytecodes even bigger. Just something to think about...
Actually, the guy reminds of of the comic book guy on the Simpsons. He even looks like him, in a way (his picture is linked in the "diatribe").
Just the whole "holier than thou" tone of the article was unnecessary, though it made it a lot more interesting to read - much like Dvorak's "opinions", no?? Besides, why are you poisoning your mind with Ziff Davis publications?:)
they drop Java like a hot potato, without warning, in favor of their own proprietary C# which will surely tilt the balance of power even further into MS's grasp?
We can speculate all we want about why MS dropped Java, but the bottom line is that they realised they were fighting a battle they just couldn't win. Either way they look like the bad guys, so they just chose the solution that took less time - dump Java, "replace" it with another language and pretend nothing happened, treating the J-word like it's the worst cuss we've ever been acquainted with.
You know what's funny? The university I go to just changed the language it uses for introductory CS classes from Pascal to Java (thank goodness). The network is comprised of mostly NT4 boxes (sad but true). What is administration going to do when the students are crying bloody murder because (they don't know any better and) they aren't using Windows 2000?? Use C#? Yeah right.
What's the bottom line? MS is just making more enemies. IBM already loaths MS (see: OS/2). Sun's relationship is questionable, if not deteriorated. MS and Gates make fun of Oracle at every turn. What is MS trying to do?? Gain playground respect by bullying everyone? They certainly won't have mine - and it certainly won't stop me from bitching about them either.:-)
Enough with playing devil's advocate here. I never implied directly or indirectly that a Big Wed design Company == Good sites. Look at the client list that Razorfish boasted - you can see for yourself they must have had many satisfied customers.
The problem is that if the client does not have the technical knowhow and Razorfish isn't providing them with the A-Team, then IAM probably got completely blindsided by nice promises and delivery dates slipping "because of late feedback by the client."
Now let's not go assuming that Razorfish didn't use their A-Team, because we don't know that. Given the quality of the work, we might be able to arrive at that conclusion. Given the complicated design of the site, it looks at though it was improperly managed at a level higher than a web designer or programmer.
That's a pretty standard stalling tactic by Web design companies: They tell you that they want feedback and acceptance every step of the way, and by asking for your feedback and NOT DOING ANYTHING while waiting for it, they lay the blame on you for a missed deadline.
Why would any sane company (or person for that matter) continue on a course they are unsure is the correct one?? How can you expect a web design company to proceed past a milestone if they cannot receive feedback in a timely manner??
But you as a client are doing your job, analyzing the deliverables and finding them unacceptable. You get back to them, they start another iteration, etc... Then all the deadlines slip and you're screwed.
This is why contracts are written. If you stipulate a firm dollar amount in your contract, you don't have to worry about slipped deadlines as it only effects the bottom line of the web design firm. On the other hand, if you chose to pay hourly, then you are just shooting yourself in the foot. The design company has no incentive to deliver on time, since more time == more $$.
If their team is crap, you pay for the first milestone and get your ass out of that contract. Then you find someone else to do the work.
Forget about a review, see for yourself whether the past customers are satified. Look at their web sites. And for cryin' out loud, pay by the milestone!
People need to know that content designers will give you WHAT YOU ASK FOR and not necessarily what you want.
I think this is a very large problem: A lot of companies don't know what they want. Are they supposed to bring someone in (a liason, of sorts) so that the company's web site contractees don't fuck up? Maybe they should.
Of course, as any company contracting out their web site should know, web sites aren't easy to make. Creativity has to be bought as an intangible asset. And sometimes one person's vision of good is another person's vision of shit.
Of course, navigation is either good, bad or ugly(bad times 10). Same with a shopping cart system. These things are implemented so regularly, it's a wonder people still fuck them up.
I think a good rule of thumb before going to a company to 'buy' a web site, is to SURF THE NET. Tell the designers: "I want this thing, but in blue" or "we want the whole site to be made of triangles". Restrict their creative movement, and you shall get what you want AND what you ask for.
Maybe it's because Razorfish does big sites, but I wouldn't trust a web design company to make a site from scratch without checking in periodically.
I think some of the fault here lies with IAM.com. Most companies like to see some sort of rough layout of a design before things proceed, especially on a big site. If IAM.com didn't stipulate that in their contract, then they goofed.
Of course, a web site is not a hamburger. Just because you have a site, doesn't mean that it is edible (ie. usable).
Also keep in mind that IAM.com probably paid 40-100k for this site. It's a crime how much web designers can charge for their (sometimes quite easy, comparatively) work. But Razorfish had a good rep. Now they don't.:)
I think some of you (2 people) failed to read my reply. I said:
Granted with VBScript you can disable this, but who has the time to look that up? (especially if you don't know where to find it if you are a rookie)
I know how to disable this. The fact that I did enabled me to make a prudent discussion about the point. The whole point about the comment was that in a simple scripting language, you should NOT HAVE TO know these kinds of things.
Indeed, I don't know how many times I've tried to track down a stupid bug in VBScript because the variable was misspelled and it automatically initiatized it as a new variable.
Granted with VBScript you can disable this, but who has the time to look that up? (especially if you don't know where to find it if you are a rookie)
I think this fact alone nullifies the fact that MS scripting languages are supposed to be "easier to use".
Maybe, maaaaybe sometime in the future, when T1 lines are standard and cheaply available in all homes and businesses, will networked apps be reality
Oh, so you mean MS is actually looking into the future for once? Good for them, it's about time.
Whether we like it or not, this is the way things will go. It's not only cheaper, but it's easier for maintainance reasons (ie. if your copy of Word doens't work, just download another one).
Once the net becomes a completely (like 99.9%) reliable medium, people will be less hesitant about leaving their docs on remote servers. Large corporations will still have their own servers to handle private docs, but most people and small businesses will just encrypt their stuff (optional) and upload it. Would you not leave things in your fridge now because you're afraid the power will go out??
But of course, the main issue is giving the masses enough bandwidth to make this worthwhile. While cable is nice, it'll end up being the 'poor man's' high speed connection in 5 years. Fiber is going down fast, and high speed wireless is going to be big.
There's also matters of security and convinence (can you get to the networked Word if you are at 32000 ft from LA to Tokyo?)
yes. A major airline (Continental?) just signed a contract with a provider to give internet and e-mail access at 32000 ft. In 5-10 years (where this net apps thing is aimed), the net will be EVERYWHERE, because people will demand it. MS is going to be releasing this stuff 'soon', but they know it's not going to be replacing their OS and Office suite packages any time soon.
A lot of graphical designers are bad web designers, but that it only because they misunderstand the medium. Truly good overall designers will understand the medium they are presenting on and design something suitable for it.
In my opinion, design doesn't just include graphics as some people think, but also navigation and element placement on UIs and such. Careful design in these areas seperate good designs from ones that are like "broken windows with nice curtains", so to speak.
Anyway, the point that I was trying to make in the original post is that HTML is unsuited for the "mainstream web of the future". You know, the one people use for e-commerce, news, sports, the TV and movie theatre of the future and all that. Geeks will still have HTML-based web sites, but the mainstream ones need something with a bit more kick and functionality built-in.
Plain text is boring and outdated. We need to look ahead a bit and formulate a new solution...
If you don't like the intent of HTML, make some new standard
I believe you're agreeing with me, so I shall add a few points.
1. True, HTML just describes structure. Browsers *should* be able to interpret that structure in any way they please, given HTML's vagueness (ie. how high is a <BR>?).
2. "Web Designers" need a multi-platform standard upon which they may design web applications. If GUIs are going to make life on the web easier, they we need some universal way to make GUIs. Flash and Shockwave are nice in that they use vector graphics (such as those used in common graphics programs like Corel Draw and Illustrator), but they aren't as universal as they should be. I believe vector graphics will be the future of web design, since they can be resized on the fly, and are sometimes much smaller in size.
3. True, hot shot web designers aren't trained for the web, but they understand good design - whether it is a car, a magazine ad, a room or a web page. These are the people we should be using to make our GUIs, because they understand not only color and layout, but also the important elements of UI design.
I think we are in agreement that a new standard should be born. The only question is, who is going to do it? MS? The open source community? ISO?
I believe the reason why HTML documents look different on any given browser is because the spec is too vague.
For example, in Netscape 4 you can't put something right in the top-left corner without using frames. Is this right? No. Is this wrong? Where is it in the spec?
Another example is the amount of space that the individual browsers use for frames themselves. If you specify a speicific height for a horizontal frame at the bottom of a page (see http://www.wired.com for an example of this), it will be different heights for IE and NS. Where is this in the spec? Exactly...
Clearly, HTML isn't up to the task. We need to design a markup language specific enough so that it won't choke when a designer makes a neat and interesting design.
Graphic designers are increasingly becoming web developers. They shouldn't have to worry about the different versions of different browsers and why the same shit looks different all over the place.
If people keep falling back on the "if you don't like it, post a PDF" reply, then nothing will be done! We clearly need a new markup language.
It appears as though both cheats work. The U-U-D-D-L-R-L-R-B-A-Start was a crappier cheat tho. Unlimited lives (with the cheat in the parent post, is the one you want).:)
None of the replyers seem to have gotten it right yet. The CORRECT code is:
Up, Up, Down, Down Left, Right, Left, Right B, A Select, Start
I believe you had to enter it before the Konami logo came on the screen in Contra.
True, this is a "cheat" code. I don't know where one draws the line between cheat and easter egg. Quite possibly easter eggs are "features" that do not effect the functionality of the original program itself in any way.
It also worked in a few other Konami games. I believe the second Ninja Turtles game (the 4-player version) had a variation of this pattern as a cheat, since (again memory is sketchy) it was also made by Konami.
You know what's funny? People in rural areas can get high speed service easier because their isn't so much bitching over territory. I live downtown in Our Nation's Capital and I only have one choice for high speed service: cable. Good thing it was the right one.:)
Is Jim Clark CRAZY? I don't get it. First he wants it out of the OS and then he wants it back with the OS... NO NO NO, Jim. With the OS is a bad thing(TM). You were right the first time.
If IE is put in the same house as Windows, you'll see bits of IE code all over the OS like it is now. This is clearly NOT competitive business practices - the whole point of the trial, incidentally.
I believe that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson was right on the money when he wanted the company split into three parts... but obviously, that isn't going to happen. Clearly, having the IE division in the apps split is wiser from a competitive standpoint. At least other browsers will be able to compete.
Does anyone else not think that maybe when IE isn't actually part of the MS OSes it may LOSE its position as best browser in the land?? I know sysadmins who would use Netscape in a heartbeat if it wasn't such a memory hog - and NS6 is looking VERY nice indeed.
Don't count your chickens just yet Jim. You should remember where you came from. Trust Netscape to steal the market share back when the dust settles.
ATTN: Slashdot d0Rks Re: You don't want to miss this one!
Geez, guys. Forget the stupid cola, did any of you read the article? This looks like Google on wheels to me.
Who cares how many times some other person has viewed a page? Has anyone tried to search for something specific on Google? NADA.
Even if this distributed links deal works, who would give up their surfing privacy to participate in something like this? Do you have to click on some annoying button every time you go to a page that is "interesting"? Will the OPENcola guys get a huge archive of excellent pr0n sites? (Will this be such a bad thing?)
I think they have a WAAAAY lot more thinking to do before they continue. Heck, these guys make actually want to get someone with a computer-related degree to help 'em out (oh, I forgot: they have YOU/. guys!). As for the money-making angle of this, I can only see one direction: selling these supreme URLs to search engines and the like.
Good luck boys. Wake me up when you have something I can chew on.
Slashdot Mirror
Since the OS will probably be in ROM, 64 MB of RAM is a lot compared to other consoles.
The OS is stored in ROM and then decompressed into RAM when the machine is turned on.
Why, praytail, would it take longer for games to boot?
...
...
Last I heard, the XBox is going to have only 64MB of RAM. Given that even though smart programmers will keep this in mind, the OS still has to swap a lot of data around using the hard drive. If the hard drive is full of config files and saved games, this may make loading the disk cache a bit slower.
Of course, they'll probably cover all of the bases and have some sort of set minimum amount of free space that must be available in order to prevent this from happening
... which begs an interesting question: what do they do when the hard disk gets fragmented?? Interesting
I was investigating legacy browsers, downloading them as I went. What I found is that IE 2.0 was actually marketted as IE 3.0 to catch up to Netscape 3.0 at the time. I wish I could find that damn URL to prove it ...
rLowe
PS> Ain't it ironic that now NS is skipping 5 to go to 6?? Only diff is that NS5 code actually existed, and they just scrapped it.
If you liked this Moody (heh) article, check this one out.
Apparently Fred Moody has pissed off more than just the Linux crowd.
This quote is particularly interesting:
Since when did America's scientists lose their senses of humor? I have long experience in readers misinterpreting my prose, motives and morals, but I'm consistently surprised at being taken far more seriously than I take myself. Thus, "Shame on you for fearmongering! You have needlessly frightened many thousands of people with your writing," has me succumbing to grandiose fantasies about the size of my audience.
What planet is this guy FROM? He's writing on the web site of one of the "big three" major US TV networks! This guy needs to get his head examined.
rLowe
Add electronic poker to this list ... where it's just a five card draw system with winnings coming from defined odds (you can get these from any poker book). It's a solo game, but still fun.
I made all of the single player casino games in grade 12 in Pascal of all things. Very good experience. Blackjack, poker and craps.
Sometimes the old arcade favourites are more complicated than one thinks. Sure, if a student reads a step-by-step of how the things are made it's easy, but what would be the point?
rLowe
PS. TETRIS is the all-time best to program. It's easy and you can't stop beta-testing it. =)
I'd pay a micro-payment to yank banner ads from websites I frequent.
...
I think it's interesting that you say this, as most of us have learned to ignore the top part of a page where the banner habitates.
I think I saw an article somewhere (handy, eh?) that went into the problems with banner ads and how people are learning to ignore them. Smart(er) companies are realising this and forgetting the regular banner ads altogether.
It's kind of funny how these banner ads have taken over our web surfing lives, but with all of the marketing that probably goes into making them, no one realises that people often skip them. The cool ones are the ads that aren't in the typical banner ad shape, sometimes taking up the right column of a news page. Even if the text is sideways, I can't help but look at it.
... my 2 cents
rLowe
Do you really think Microsoft is going to quit supporting Java on W2K any time soon?
...
The author of this "diatribe" claimed that Java programs now had to be traslated into some intermediate language before they could be made executable. If this takes 50-100% longer than compiling a comparable C# program, what do you think people are going to write their programs in? Also, this intermediate language could make big Java bytecodes even bigger. Just something to think about
rLowe
Actually, the guy reminds of of the comic book guy on the Simpsons. He even looks like him, in a way (his picture is linked in the "diatribe").
:)
Just the whole "holier than thou" tone of the
article was unnecessary, though it made it a lot more interesting to read - much like Dvorak's "opinions", no?? Besides, why are you poisoning your mind with Ziff Davis publications?
rLowe
they drop Java like a hot potato, without warning, in favor of their own proprietary C# which will surely tilt the balance of power even further into MS's grasp?
:-)
We can speculate all we want about why MS dropped Java, but the bottom line is that they realised they were fighting a battle they just couldn't win. Either way they look like the bad guys, so they just chose the solution that took less time - dump Java, "replace" it with another language and pretend nothing happened, treating the J-word like it's the worst cuss we've ever been acquainted with.
You know what's funny? The university I go to just changed the language it uses for introductory CS classes from Pascal to Java (thank goodness). The network is comprised of mostly NT4 boxes (sad but true). What is administration going to do when the students are crying bloody murder because (they don't know any better and) they aren't using Windows 2000?? Use C#? Yeah right.
What's the bottom line? MS is just making more enemies. IBM already loaths MS (see: OS/2). Sun's relationship is questionable, if not deteriorated. MS and Gates make fun of Oracle at every turn. What is MS trying to do?? Gain playground respect by bullying everyone? They certainly won't have mine - and it certainly won't stop me from bitching about them either.
rLowe
You sound familiar. MOM, is that YOU?
rLowe
Enough with playing devil's advocate here. I never implied directly or indirectly that a Big Wed design Company == Good sites. Look at the client list that Razorfish boasted - you can see for yourself they must have had many satisfied customers.
The problem is that if the client does not have the technical knowhow and Razorfish isn't providing them with the A-Team, then IAM probably got completely blindsided by nice promises and delivery dates slipping "because of late feedback by the client."
Now let's not go assuming that Razorfish didn't use their A-Team, because we don't know that. Given the quality of the work, we might be able to arrive at that conclusion. Given the complicated design of the site, it looks at though it was improperly managed at a level higher than a web designer or programmer.
That's a pretty standard stalling tactic by Web design companies: They tell you that they want feedback and acceptance every step of the way, and by asking for your feedback and NOT DOING ANYTHING while waiting for it, they lay the blame on you for a missed deadline.
Why would any sane company (or person for that matter) continue on a course they are unsure is the correct one?? How can you expect a web design company to proceed past a milestone if they cannot receive feedback in a timely manner??
But you as a client are doing your job, analyzing the deliverables and finding them unacceptable. You get back to them, they start another iteration, etc... Then all the deadlines slip and you're screwed.
This is why contracts are written. If you stipulate a firm dollar amount in your contract, you don't have to worry about slipped deadlines as it only effects the bottom line of the web design firm. On the other hand, if you chose to pay hourly, then you are just shooting yourself in the foot. The design company has no incentive to deliver on time, since more time == more $$.
If their team is crap, you pay for the first milestone and get your ass out of that contract. Then you find someone else to do the work.
Forget about a review, see for yourself whether the past customers are satified. Look at their web sites. And for cryin' out loud, pay by the milestone!
rLowe
People need to know that content designers will give you WHAT YOU ASK FOR and not necessarily what you want.
I think this is a very large problem: A lot of companies don't know what they want. Are they supposed to bring someone in (a liason, of sorts) so that the company's web site contractees don't fuck up? Maybe they should.
Of course, as any company contracting out their web site should know, web sites aren't easy to make. Creativity has to be bought as an intangible asset. And sometimes one person's vision of good is another person's vision of shit.
Of course, navigation is either good, bad or ugly(bad times 10). Same with a shopping cart system. These things are implemented so regularly, it's a wonder people still fuck them up.
I think a good rule of thumb before going to a company to 'buy' a web site, is to SURF THE NET. Tell the designers: "I want this thing, but in blue" or "we want the whole site to be made of triangles". Restrict their creative movement, and you shall get what you want AND what you ask for.
rLowe
Maybe it's because Razorfish does big sites, but I wouldn't trust a web design company to make a site from scratch without checking in periodically.
:)
I think some of the fault here lies with IAM.com. Most companies like to see some sort of rough layout of a design before things proceed, especially on a big site. If IAM.com didn't stipulate that in their contract, then they goofed.
Of course, a web site is not a hamburger. Just because you have a site, doesn't mean that it is edible (ie. usable).
Also keep in mind that IAM.com probably paid 40-100k for this site. It's a crime how much web designers can charge for their (sometimes quite easy, comparatively) work. But Razorfish had a good rep. Now they don't.
rLowe
Can this a troll if you want, I don't care.
I think some of you (2 people) failed to read my reply. I said:
Granted with VBScript you can disable this, but who has the time to look that up? (especially if you don't know where to find it if you are a rookie)
I know how to disable this. The fact that I did enabled me to make a prudent discussion about the point. The whole point about the comment was that in a simple scripting language, you should NOT HAVE TO know these kinds of things.
rLowe
Indeed, I don't know how many times I've tried to track down a stupid bug in VBScript because the variable was misspelled and it automatically initiatized it as a new variable.
Granted with VBScript you can disable this, but who has the time to look that up? (especially if you don't know where to find it if you are a rookie)
I think this fact alone nullifies the fact that MS scripting languages are supposed to be "easier to use".
rLowe
Maybe, maaaaybe sometime in the future, when T1 lines are standard and cheaply available in all homes and businesses, will networked apps be reality
Oh, so you mean MS is actually looking into the future for once? Good for them, it's about time.
Whether we like it or not, this is the way things will go. It's not only cheaper, but it's easier for maintainance reasons (ie. if your copy of Word doens't work, just download another one).
Once the net becomes a completely (like 99.9%) reliable medium, people will be less hesitant about leaving their docs on remote servers. Large corporations will still have their own servers to handle private docs, but most people and small businesses will just encrypt their stuff (optional) and upload it. Would you not leave things in your fridge now because you're afraid the power will go out??
But of course, the main issue is giving the masses enough bandwidth to make this worthwhile. While cable is nice, it'll end up being the 'poor man's' high speed connection in 5 years. Fiber is going down fast, and high speed wireless is going to be big.
There's also matters of security and convinence (can you get to the networked Word if you are at 32000 ft from LA to Tokyo?)
yes. A major airline (Continental?) just signed a contract with a provider to give internet and e-mail access at 32000 ft. In 5-10 years (where this net apps thing is aimed), the net will be EVERYWHERE, because people will demand it. MS is going to be releasing this stuff 'soon', but they know it's not going to be replacing their OS and Office suite packages any time soon.
A lot of graphical designers are bad web designers, but that it only because they misunderstand the medium. Truly good overall designers will understand the medium they are presenting on and design something suitable for it.
...
In my opinion, design doesn't just include graphics as some people think, but also navigation and element placement on UIs and such. Careful design in these areas seperate good designs from ones that are like "broken windows with nice curtains", so to speak.
Anyway, the point that I was trying to make in the original post is that HTML is unsuited for the "mainstream web of the future". You know, the one people use for e-commerce, news, sports, the TV and movie theatre of the future and all that. Geeks will still have HTML-based web sites, but the mainstream ones need something with a bit more kick and functionality built-in.
Plain text is boring and outdated. We need to look ahead a bit and formulate a new solution
Care to elaborate?
If you don't like the intent of HTML, make some new standard
I believe you're agreeing with me, so I shall add a few points.
1. True, HTML just describes structure. Browsers *should* be able to interpret that structure in any way they please, given HTML's vagueness (ie. how high is a <BR>?).
2. "Web Designers" need a multi-platform standard upon which they may design web applications. If GUIs are going to make life on the web easier, they we need some universal way to make GUIs. Flash and Shockwave are nice in that they use vector graphics (such as those used in common graphics programs like Corel Draw and Illustrator), but they aren't as universal as they should be. I believe vector graphics will be the future of web design, since they can be resized on the fly, and are sometimes much smaller in size.
3. True, hot shot web designers aren't trained for the web, but they understand good design - whether it is a car, a magazine ad, a room or a web page. These are the people we should be using to make our GUIs, because they understand not only color and layout, but also the important elements of UI design.
I think we are in agreement that a new standard should be born. The only question is, who is going to do it? MS? The open source community? ISO?
I believe the reason why HTML documents look different on any given browser is because the spec is too vague.
...
For example, in Netscape 4 you can't put something right in the top-left corner without using frames. Is this right? No. Is this wrong? Where is it in the spec?
Another example is the amount of space that the individual browsers use for frames themselves. If you specify a speicific height for a horizontal frame at the bottom of a page (see http://www.wired.com for an example of this), it will be different heights for IE and NS. Where is this in the spec? Exactly
Clearly, HTML isn't up to the task. We need to design a markup language specific enough so that it won't choke when a designer makes a neat and interesting design.
Graphic designers are increasingly becoming web developers. They shouldn't have to worry about the different versions of different browsers and why the same shit looks different all over the place.
If people keep falling back on the "if you don't like it, post a PDF" reply, then nothing will be done! We clearly need a new markup language.
rLowe
It appears as though both cheats work. The U-U-D-D-L-R-L-R-B-A-Start was a crappier cheat tho. Unlimited lives (with the cheat in the parent post, is the one you want). :)
Check it out:
Contra Cheats
Cheers,
rLowe
None of the replyers seem to have gotten it right yet. The CORRECT code is:
Up, Up, Down, Down
Left, Right, Left, Right
B, A
Select, Start
I believe you had to enter it before the Konami logo came on the screen in Contra.
True, this is a "cheat" code. I don't know where one draws the line between cheat and easter egg. Quite possibly easter eggs are "features" that do not effect the functionality of the original program itself in any way.
It also worked in a few other Konami games. I believe the second Ninja Turtles game (the 4-player version) had a variation of this pattern as a cheat, since (again memory is sketchy) it was also made by Konami.
Cheers,
rLowe
You know what's funny? People in rural areas can get high speed service easier because their isn't so much bitching over territory. I live downtown in Our Nation's Capital and I only have one choice for high speed service: cable. Good thing it was the right one. :)
Is Jim Clark CRAZY? I don't get it. First he wants it out of the OS and then he wants it back with the OS ... NO NO NO, Jim. With the OS is a bad thing(TM). You were right the first time.
... but obviously, that isn't going to happen. Clearly, having the IE division in the apps split is wiser from a competitive standpoint. At least other browsers will be able to compete.
If IE is put in the same house as Windows, you'll see bits of IE code all over the OS like it is now. This is clearly NOT competitive business practices - the whole point of the trial, incidentally.
I believe that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson was right on the money when he wanted the company split into three parts
Does anyone else not think that maybe when IE isn't actually part of the MS OSes it may LOSE its position as best browser in the land?? I know sysadmins who would use Netscape in a heartbeat if it wasn't such a memory hog - and NS6 is looking VERY nice indeed.
Don't count your chickens just yet Jim. You should remember where you came from. Trust Netscape to steal the market share back when the dust settles.
ATTN: Slashdot d0Rks
/. guys!). As for the money-making angle of this, I can only see one direction: selling these supreme URLs to search engines and the like.
Re: You don't want to miss this one!
Geez, guys. Forget the stupid cola, did any of you read the article? This looks like Google on wheels to me.
Who cares how many times some other person has viewed a page? Has anyone tried to search for something specific on Google? NADA.
Even if this distributed links deal works, who would give up their surfing privacy to participate in something like this? Do you have to click on some annoying button every time you go to a page that is "interesting"? Will the OPENcola guys get a huge archive of excellent pr0n sites? (Will this be such a bad thing?)
I think they have a WAAAAY lot more thinking to do before they continue. Heck, these guys make actually want to get someone with a computer-related degree to help 'em out (oh, I forgot: they have YOU
Good luck boys. Wake me up when you have something I can chew on.