This is good news! The Solar System has been bummed out lately 'cause it couldn't prove it's birthday to anyone. All of the other solar systems could get into the cool clubs, but not ours.
1) About 20% of the photo was cut off on the top of the screen. Perhaps this is a technical issue, but it preventing me from seeing part of the picture and actually figuring out if it was a dog or a cat.
2) Many (about a third) of the photos were so poor I couldn't make out anything but a black furry blur.
3) Because I have my screen resolution set pretty high, the photos were too small to easily make out. Yes, I know I can hover my mouse over the photos for a larger one. But the larger photo was only about 2" wide.
The three bottles are Torani syrups. You pour them into things like icea tea to give it a different taste, such as peach or berry. Yummy stuff. You've probabably had it if you've had a flavored icea tea or soda at a restaurant.
I don't think you understand what I'm saying. WM6 is very much a stable and full-featured OS, and on other hardware it works great.
But when a hardware manufacturer mucks around with it, which is what's happened in this article, the blame has to go to the OEM and not the operating system.
To take all of the flaws of the OEM's implementation and say that WM6 is the fault is just bad journalism.
At any business I know of, when someone was leaving for a competitor it was usually policy to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Say all you want about trust and morale, but that's the plan no matter where you work.
I would imagine that Google probably does the same when their employees leave for Yahoo. Or when Amazon's employees leave for Barnes & Noble. Or when United's employees leave for Southwest Airlines.
When you're finished looking at a text message, you should not have to open a menu to find the Delete command. When you're on a phone call, you should not have to open a menu to find the Speakerphone command. When you take a picture, you should not have to open a menu to find Send and Delete. WM6 allows you to hold down "D" for a second and the message deletes.
A cellphone should not have a Task Manager. You should never have to worry about quitting programs because you've used up too much memory. I see the Task Manager as a way to swap between different apps. I can look at Live Maps, then switch to my email, look something up, copy and paste it back into Live Maps, answer a call, and switch back to the map, etc. The Task Manager allows me to do this quickly.
A cellphone should auto-format phone numbers with parentheses and hyphens when you enter them in the address book. Mine seems to do that just fine, though I normally add my photos via Outlook and sync. Perhaps he is adding them to the SIM card which may not support that?
If the phone has a navigation wheel, the big, clickable center button should always mean "O.K." Always. It should never do nothing, even when there's an O.K. label over one of the tiny softkeys. This is most definitely a choice of TMobile, since they designed the hardware. My WM6 device (HTC TyTn II) has a scroll wheel which clicks in, selecting whatever I've selected. There's also two OK buttons on the device (side and front) which click OK.
When you're assigning a contact to one of the five "My Faves" slots, a T-Mobile calling plan that gives you unlimited calls to your five favorite numbers, three confirmation screens is two too many. That's T-Mobile's software, not WM6. The HTC homescreen program allows me to set my seven favorites with two clicks each.
If it takes four presses on the More button just to see everything in the Start menu -- and you provide no direct way to get to the first page from the last -- you need to redesign. This is as simple as rearranging your Start Menu shortcuts in the Windows directory. You can do this from the device or when ActiveSync'd. I agree that it should come "cleaner" from the manufacturer, but that's T-Mobile's fault.
A locking feature, which prevents the buttons from being pushed accidentally in a purse or pocket, is nice. But it should be optional. And one button press should suffice to unlock it; two in sequence is just annoying. This is all configurable in the control panel. On my TyTn II, I tap the power button to lock, and tap it again to unlock. I hold it down to shut down the phone.
I think this person needs to understand what the difference is between WM6 and a company that has jacked it up. WM6 is not perfect, but the issues he's blasted here are either because of TMobile's implementation, or his lack of knowledge of the features of the OS.
I'm running WM6 Professional on an HTC TyTnII (aka AT&T Tilt). I have to say that the OS is pretty great. It's not perfect, and it's not anywhere near as sexy as the iPhone. That being said, it does some very amazing things that have made me more productive, connected, and entertained.
It crashes every now and then, and sometimes the GPS locks up, but a simple reboot has always fixed it. I suspect part of the problem is some of the crap AT&T loaded on top of the OS after Microsoft and HTC was done with it.
But even with the occasional crash, and an underpowered processor, I wouldn't dump WM6 for anything else available today. Being able to talk to my Exchange server, to tether to my laptop, to open Office documents, and have all the apps talk to each other (ie: Live Search can access my Contacts and pull up maps with the GPS), is a wonderful thing.
I think you and I are saying the same thing, albiet yours more elequoently.
Basically, I fear that people will go "oooh open source" and be all set to get their free phone and think they can start hacking away at the OS and doing whatever they want with it. Like you said, in all likeliness the phone will be locked down at such a cheap price so that Google/carrier can make their money off it. Users will likely not be able to install whatever they want, install popup blocker software, replace the kernal with homebrew apps, etc.
Google definitly gets/. props for mentioning the "open source" buzzword, but my question is: open to who?
I think a lot of Google/Linux fanboys right now are probably foaming at the mouth with visions of linux running on a phone that they have root access to, installing apps whenever they want, downloading music for free, and giving the middle finger to the carriers.
I don't think that's what Google is doing here. I think Google is creating an "open source" operating system, open to the carriers to do what they want. In all likelihood, it will be "closed" by the time you get it. It will still be locked to the carrier, you'll still be charged for ringtones, and you will still need to buy an outrageous dataplan. I predict this will end up a lot like Symbian or Windows Mobile. The only difference being that there won't be a licensing fee to use it from Google. It may be Free As In Beer, but not to the consumer.
I don't think this deserves the "open source" moniker that we throw around here on/. At least, I haven't seen evidence of that yet.
This blogger is a Wii fanboy who runs a Nintendo blog for About.com. It's no surprise that he's a little miffed that someone created a handheld game that resembles the Wii controller.
I couldn't find any of these devices online. Not at Walmart.com, or Amazon.com, or ToyQuest.com, or even eBay. I looked because I wanted to see what the box looked like.
I'm sure they were inspired by the Wii controller, but to say that people are confusing this for the Wii is rediculous. And to make Wal*Mart look like the bad guy is silly.
I have a hunch that this device sells at about the same price of other ToyQuest games ($5-10). And if that's true, then anyone who buys this thinking they are buying a Wii deserves it.
If someone can show me that this device's box looks like the Wii box, and that the name of this product resembes "Wii", and that the device sells for $100+, then I'll take it all back. I'll even take two out of three.
So basically, sales volume dropped 7%. They *only* sold 9.3 million copies, instead of the 10 million they sold in summer. While this article is an attempt to go "ha ha" to Microsoft, I think that's pretty darned good.
Also consider that a rather large shopping season is right around the corner. Consumers will be rushing to upgrade their computers for the family, and businesses will be looking to spend some cash to get bigger tax breaks.
Microsoft also cooled it on the advertising for the last quarter. They have a new campaign which is just now starting, and I predict the money they *didn't* spend last quarter will be given to the Q4 advertising budget.
A footnote specifically says that they are researching the possibility of adding Microsoft's XPS to the document standards.
The document also does not forbid the use of Microsoft products for the authoring of these documents, only the file format. If Microsoft were to create an upgrade/plugin save as ODF, then they could still use Office. Even without, they can save files as HTML, TXT, or CSV.
I'm not 100% sure where I stand on issues like this.
A part of me gets sick when I go on eBay and find tickets for a concert or sporting event that is up for sale by a "professional" scalper. Especially annoying are when these tickets were obtained from a fan club membership, or sold out within minutes only to appear right on eBay. It makes it more expensive for a real fan to get decent seats.
Then the other part of me is a capitalist pig and says there's nothing wrong with that.
As for selling these season tickets... I don't see what the big deal is. People have done that for years, only now it's easier. They've also bought season tickets for the purpose of giving to clients (or prospects).
Wouldn't evolution have something to do with this, too? I don't know anything about the reproductive duration of cockroaches, but I'm thinking that they do so at a pretty quick rate with a high yield.
If there were some sort of radioactivity, and if it were not immediately lethal, I'm thinking that the odds are that they'd produce an immune strain in relativly little time. In fact, I would guess that many quick-reproducing creatures would behave this way in much the same way that bacteria do.
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Couldn't they just argue that since Open Office will open/edit/save as a Word document that your argument is invalid?
This is good news! The Solar System has been bummed out lately 'cause it couldn't prove it's birthday to anyone. All of the other solar systems could get into the cool clubs, but not ours.
Now it's PARTY TIME and the drinks are on Sol!
Neat idea, but I had a few issues:
1) About 20% of the photo was cut off on the top of the screen. Perhaps this is a technical issue, but it preventing me from seeing part of the picture and actually figuring out if it was a dog or a cat.
2) Many (about a third) of the photos were so poor I couldn't make out anything but a black furry blur.
3) Because I have my screen resolution set pretty high, the photos were too small to easily make out. Yes, I know I can hover my mouse over the photos for a larger one. But the larger photo was only about 2" wide.
The three bottles are Torani syrups. You pour them into things like icea tea to give it a different taste, such as peach or berry. Yummy stuff. You've probabably had it if you've had a flavored icea tea or soda at a restaurant.
No kidding. Hitler must have been into video games. And I hear Stalin was a pro at Tetris.
But the Shady Cafe has great scones, and is right next door to the People Get Knifed Here Theatre. What better place to take a first date?
I don't think you understand what I'm saying. WM6 is very much a stable and full-featured OS, and on other hardware it works great.
But when a hardware manufacturer mucks around with it, which is what's happened in this article, the blame has to go to the OEM and not the operating system.
To take all of the flaws of the OEM's implementation and say that WM6 is the fault is just bad journalism.
I don't disagree with you there. Go buy a TyTn II. :)
At any business I know of, when someone was leaving for a competitor it was usually policy to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Say all you want about trust and morale, but that's the plan no matter where you work.
I would imagine that Google probably does the same when their employees leave for Yahoo. Or when Amazon's employees leave for Barnes & Noble. Or when United's employees leave for Southwest Airlines.
I think this person needs to understand what the difference is between WM6 and a company that has jacked it up. WM6 is not perfect, but the issues he's blasted here are either because of TMobile's implementation, or his lack of knowledge of the features of the OS.
I'm running WM6 Professional on an HTC TyTnII (aka AT&T Tilt). I have to say that the OS is pretty great. It's not perfect, and it's not anywhere near as sexy as the iPhone. That being said, it does some very amazing things that have made me more productive, connected, and entertained.
It crashes every now and then, and sometimes the GPS locks up, but a simple reboot has always fixed it. I suspect part of the problem is some of the crap AT&T loaded on top of the OS after Microsoft and HTC was done with it.
But even with the occasional crash, and an underpowered processor, I wouldn't dump WM6 for anything else available today. Being able to talk to my Exchange server, to tether to my laptop, to open Office documents, and have all the apps talk to each other (ie: Live Search can access my Contacts and pull up maps with the GPS), is a wonderful thing.
I think you and I are saying the same thing, albiet yours more elequoently.
Basically, I fear that people will go "oooh open source" and be all set to get their free phone and think they can start hacking away at the OS and doing whatever they want with it. Like you said, in all likeliness the phone will be locked down at such a cheap price so that Google/carrier can make their money off it. Users will likely not be able to install whatever they want, install popup blocker software, replace the kernal with homebrew apps, etc.
That's just my guess.
How many football stadiums of people is that?
Google definitly gets /. props for mentioning the "open source" buzzword, but my question is: open to who?
/. At least, I haven't seen evidence of that yet.
I think a lot of Google/Linux fanboys right now are probably foaming at the mouth with visions of linux running on a phone that they have root access to, installing apps whenever they want, downloading music for free, and giving the middle finger to the carriers.
I don't think that's what Google is doing here. I think Google is creating an "open source" operating system, open to the carriers to do what they want. In all likelihood, it will be "closed" by the time you get it. It will still be locked to the carrier, you'll still be charged for ringtones, and you will still need to buy an outrageous dataplan. I predict this will end up a lot like Symbian or Windows Mobile. The only difference being that there won't be a licensing fee to use it from Google. It may be Free As In Beer, but not to the consumer.
I don't think this deserves the "open source" moniker that we throw around here on
This blogger is a Wii fanboy who runs a Nintendo blog for About.com. It's no surprise that he's a little miffed that someone created a handheld game that resembles the Wii controller.
I couldn't find any of these devices online. Not at Walmart.com, or Amazon.com, or ToyQuest.com, or even eBay. I looked because I wanted to see what the box looked like.
I'm sure they were inspired by the Wii controller, but to say that people are confusing this for the Wii is rediculous. And to make Wal*Mart look like the bad guy is silly.
I have a hunch that this device sells at about the same price of other ToyQuest games ($5-10). And if that's true, then anyone who buys this thinking they are buying a Wii deserves it.
If someone can show me that this device's box looks like the Wii box, and that the name of this product resembes "Wii", and that the device sells for $100+, then I'll take it all back. I'll even take two out of three.
So does this mean that he will now try to run on the republican ballot?
Or maybe independant.
The above post was made from 39.210.95.83 on 2007-10-30 17:26.
A reverse lookup shows that it belongs to one Stephen Andrews who lives at 2092 North Hunter Blvd in Reno, NV.
Please leave your anonymity on your door step when we come to collect it. Resistance is futile. You will be ousted.
So basically, sales volume dropped 7%. They *only* sold 9.3 million copies, instead of the 10 million they sold in summer. While this article is an attempt to go "ha ha" to Microsoft, I think that's pretty darned good.
Also consider that a rather large shopping season is right around the corner. Consumers will be rushing to upgrade their computers for the family, and businesses will be looking to spend some cash to get bigger tax breaks.
Microsoft also cooled it on the advertising for the last quarter. They have a new campaign which is just now starting, and I predict the money they *didn't* spend last quarter will be given to the Q4 advertising budget.
A footnote specifically says that they are researching the possibility of adding Microsoft's XPS to the document standards.
The document also does not forbid the use of Microsoft products for the authoring of these documents, only the file format. If Microsoft were to create an upgrade/plugin save as ODF, then they could still use Office. Even without, they can save files as HTML, TXT, or CSV.
.. and in related news, many special interest groups are eager to register their new .SS domain names.
Oh good! I was worried I'd never see them again. The cleaning lady left my garage door open and they sneaked out.
My quazars will be so happy to have them back home.
You see, just like the bible, Creationists are able to pick and choose the passages that they accept as fact.
Obviously, the paper that says "billions of years ago" was a translation error and Dr. Jacobson meant to say "6000 years".
I don't think the marketing claims to make it *exactly* like real combat. But, you gotta admit that's a bit cooler than a force-feedback controller.
Not that I'd want one, but still it's a step forward to more realistic consumer-priced VR stuff.
I'm not 100% sure where I stand on issues like this.
A part of me gets sick when I go on eBay and find tickets for a concert or sporting event that is up for sale by a "professional" scalper. Especially annoying are when these tickets were obtained from a fan club membership, or sold out within minutes only to appear right on eBay. It makes it more expensive for a real fan to get decent seats.
Then the other part of me is a capitalist pig and says there's nothing wrong with that.
As for selling these season tickets... I don't see what the big deal is. People have done that for years, only now it's easier. They've also bought season tickets for the purpose of giving to clients (or prospects).
Wouldn't evolution have something to do with this, too? I don't know anything about the reproductive duration of cockroaches, but I'm thinking that they do so at a pretty quick rate with a high yield.
If there were some sort of radioactivity, and if it were not immediately lethal, I'm thinking that the odds are that they'd produce an immune strain in relativly little time. In fact, I would guess that many quick-reproducing creatures would behave this way in much the same way that bacteria do.