Well, they could wait and make localized builds for everyone, and leave all users vulnerable for a longer time, or release the English build first and leave a few extra users behind for a while.
The problem is with the variable length of "for a while". With an update that doesn't change a single printed line of text, why can't they just build all the localized versions at the same time?
You pull that number from your ass? Go hit the Mozilla database and check out the years old bug reports that haven't been fixed yet and there is no indication they will be fixed any time soon, including your magical one year.
Ok, let's see... searching the bugzilla database for product Firefox, bugs filed more than a year ago, with severity being either "blocker" or "critical", and a status any other than "resolved", "verified" and "closed", for all OS, sort by importance. What do we get?
7 bugs found. Ooohhh... 7, big number. Let's look at them now.
234141 - Firefox crashes on finding an existing profile directory from a localized version. Comment #3 says "I can no longer reproduce this with any of the current nightlies", and the rest of the comments confirm. Although it was a bug for Firefox 0.8, it isn't now. Plus, it isn't a security threat, just a crash (in beta software).
234598 - Firefox crashes randomly. Description of the bug is "This bug isn't really about reporting a crash." So it's not even a bug, and it's not a security threat.
251380 - When saving a picture, HUGE memory leak! Also slows machine down! Ok, this is a real bug. Based on the comments, they were still working on it as of last july. Although a memory leak is a nuisance, it is not a security threat.
251776 - Crash on form submission in pop-up search dialog in iPlanet Messaging Server. Comments 3 and 4 say "Retested on Firefox 1.0.5 for Mac. I can't reproduce the bug(s)" and "OK, I am also unable to reproduce on Windows. This seems to be fixed on my end", so it's pretty much fixed. Once again, it's a crash, not a security thing.
251793 - Java applets bypass "Block Pop-Up Windows". Still open. A nuisance indeed. Could be considered a security threat because of phishing, but then, phishing is mostly a bug in the user, not in the software.
260452 - Crash while switching to UTF-8 encoding on certain encoded pages. Last comment is about version 0.9. It's a crash in beta software.
236514 - Start download with same name as another (downloading or paused) deletes first one. Bummer, you lost a file you just downloaded, and need to download it again... it sucks, but it's not a security issue.
Year old bugs that go unfixed in Firefox are either not clear enough to work with (crashes randomly), or are simply still open because nobody took the time to check with the next version to close the bug. None of those bugs are security issues.
I like Firefox as much as the next man (check out my sig) but let's not make extravagent claims.
Yep... I agree... how about you stop pulling stuff from your ass too?
Most people are the Ma and Pa Kettle types out there, and/or the businesses they work for. They're terrified of doing ANYthing not "fully legal" on a computer and will dutifully follow instructions, right on over the cliff along with all the other good little lemmings.
And most of those Ma and Pa Kettle types won't even notice that the video is at lower resolution than it should...
I think XP is a good OS, but the mac interface definitely is more efficient in my opinion.
I like the OSX interface too, but the one thing that makes me hate it more than anything else is that there is no way to have a mouse sensitivity that is half decent.
I like to move my hand as little as possible. On my Windows box, the mouse moves about 2 inches for the pointer to go through my dual-head (2560 pixels wide). When I have to work on the OSX box for some reason, I need to move the mouse several feet to get the pointer across 1280 pixels... I just hate their "pointer acceleration", you get no precision from it. I like my pointer movement to be directly proportional to my mouse movement.
A perfect looking interface is useless when the input method is crappy.
What difference does it make which seems more logical and/or natural? What matters is what's fun to do while sitting in front of a TV.
The whole point here being about usability, what is logical/natural does matter. Much easier to use something in a way that feels natural than having to remember a bunch of button combos, right?
The Revolution would have to sell on unprecedented levels to convince publishers and developers to create a game that has no chance of being portable for a console.
Not quite *that* much though. Games on the Revolution will be based on gameplay, not graphics. Since the biggest slice of budget in making a game is in the ultra-realistic graphics that use every available feature of the hardware acceleration, games developed for the the Revolution will probably require a much smaller budget, making the risk that much lower, and the sales number required to become profitable also lower.
And of course Nintendo has been the only one of the big 3 to post a profit in the previous round. I don't know how that's failure.
As much as I love Nintendo, the only reason they posted a profit is because of the DS (maybe the GBA, not sure). The GameCube *has* failed. I like it very much and I do play it much more than my PS2, but for the general market, it failed.
Thanks to 20 years of computer programming and gaming (both PC and many of the consoles that made Nintendo a gaming powerhouse), I get to use a trackball and ergonomic keyboard at work, per doctor's orders.
My first thought after looking at this new controller is that it's going to be an ergonomic nightmare.
I don't think Nintendo expects people to play with their new controller for 8 hours a day every weekday...
Very few tool or objects we grab and use in every day life is 100% ergonomic, but it doesn't hurt to grab or use it unless you do it all day long...
Nintendo can still manage to kill the thing if it [...] breaks easily
From experience, I don't think Nintendo ever made a piece of hardware that could break easily (or even break for that matter).
I still sometimes play my old NES and, apart from having to blow in the cartridge/console every time (a connector problem everybody knows), the controllers and the DuckHunt gun all still work perfectly after 20 years of use (and abuse... I was quite a bad loser in my younger days).
I may have mentioned before that I like to experiment on getting people, especially non-gamers, to play various stuff that they normally wouldn't. Just to get an idea about the usability of it for a new player. You can get some fascinating insight that way.
And yet, none of your non-gamers people ever told you that it doesn't feel natural to hold a controler with both hands, and then press one of 10 buttons to swing a sword? While it may seem pretty natural for gamers to press buttons to have your characters perform actions, I would actually think that it is more "logical" to actually swing your arm if you want to swing a sword.
Try going to a medieval fair sometime, and in one of those fake duels, locate the appropriate buttons on your sword that will make you swing it...
Encouraging kids to swing anything around their heads in the living room is only going to encourage lawsuits from parents.
How about... encouraging kids to actually move is a good thing. Seeing how fat american kids are today, a little movement during their gaming sessions wouldn't hurt...
You actually managed to use the words "intellectual" and "Sims" in the same sentence without laughing? I mean... I love the Sims and all, but intellectual? What the ?
The difference is that Windows users DO pay for their copies of Office the same way they pay for Windows itself. System builders don't throw that lunk of crap in for free.
Although many systems come with Windows preloaded, I don't think I remember seeing a system that included Office too. Unless you mean they jack up the price of Windows to make up for the piracy of Office. I doubt MS cares about piracy for the Office suite though. As long as they have their proprietary file format, it keeps them happy.
...whereas some people can't tell the difference between consumer and enterprise (server) releases of software.
People who need to know about Windows 2003 know about it. My mum doesn't need to know, so she is blissfully ignorant.
And there are people who do know about Windows 2003 that should have remained ignorant. We develop software for the home desktop user. Yet, we sometimes get support calls from people having trouble with our product when installed on Win2003. This basically means that they're using their Win2003 machine as a plain ol' desktop.
Probably just the type of guy that's gonna throw money around just to make sure he has the latest and the greatest of everything and then go brag about it. He just doesn't know how stupid he really looks when he uses Win2003 as a desktop...
it's also been pointed out that we're much more likely to buy independent software whereas Windows users pretty much pay for Windows + Office only
I actually asked a whole lot of people around (families and friends and co-workers and their families), and while 100% of them had a version of Office installed on their computer, a stunning 0% had actually paid for it.
Windows users pay for Windows (actually, they pay for the computer, with the Windows price included in the computer price), and pretty much expects everything else to come for free somehow. Linux users think exactly the same somehow...
Is it really only the Mac users who expect to pay for software?
Personally, I think that Microsoft will continue to implode under the weight of Windows. The testing alone on all the various current and future versions of Windows will suck up a significant amount of their resources.
You're implying that they will actually test all those versions before shipping them, rather than just shipping them and having the paying users do the testing... didn't they do that with WindowsME?
Worst part is, I'm not even trying to sound like a troll... it's just how it is:-(
As I posted on another forum only a short time ago when someone suggested that science and art would come to halt if people didn't think they could get rich by it, I consider that suggestion insulting.
Beyond the basic necessities of life the primary reason I need money is to pay for science and art supplies.
There is a world of difference between "making a living out of" and "getting rich".
If you like playing the cello, you would probably enjoy having a job as a cello player that would pay enough for your instrument, food and rent, and a little extra to buy you a beer with the buddies every now and then. You would then be quite happy, since you make a living, and you are doing what you love.
However, if you think "I can get rich by going in the music industry", you could. However, you might not get rich by playing the cello. You'd have to learn to "dance" (or just do choregraphies) while singing à la Britney Spears. You'd probably suck, but you'd be successful and you'd become rich. However, you wouldn't be doing what you love to do, which is playing the cello. You would be rich, but you wouldn't be happy (I really don't think all the rich Spears & al. of this world are happy).
In science and arts, the best are the ones that do what they enjoy doing. Mozart loved music, the Backstreet Boys got rich with music. Which one will our great-grandchildren remember 75 years from now? Which one is truly great?
You won't become a gazillionaire playing the cello, but if you really love it, you will be great at it.
I stand corrected, as I have no degree in ear-science and can't argue with you, and the only info I have come from my (mostly forgotten) high-school biology class.
Loud low-frequency sound is much worse than loud high-frequency sound, because the loud sound has to travel along the entire length of the cochlea to reach its intended destination, and it causes damage along the way.
Sound doesn't know where it's supposed to be going, it just travels and the hair cells in your cochlea will be activated to produce a nerve signal.
High frequency noises don't just stop as soon as it reached the appropriate hair cell, it also keeps going, not knowing that there's no point in doing so.
Hearing loss is caused by a number of factors; yes, loud sound can do it, but high_volume != high_frequency. Where did you unearth this particular piece of mis-information??
Take a course in biology and you'll learn that high-frequency noises are indeed related to loss of hearing.
The cochlea (inner ear) uses tiny "hair cells" to "catch" sounds (vibrations) and transform them into a signal that the auditory nerve can get to the brain. Different lengths of hair cells catch different wavelength of sound. Higher frequency noises (shorter wavelength) are caught by the shorter hair cells.
Those cells being shorter (thus smaller), they are somehow more fragile than their longer counterparts, so they are the first ones to die with age / hearing of loud noises.
Loss of hearing happens usually with the higher-frequency noises first, because of the reason stated above. This is the reason why old people have a hard time understanding what women say (higher-pitched voice) while being able to hear men much better (lower-pitched voice, higher chance that hair-cells for that frequency are still alive).
High-frequency noises will always be the firsts to go when going partially deaf. They all go eventually though. Higher wave amplitude (volume) will make that happen sooner. Canceling out low and mid frequency noises will keep some hair cells from being hurt, but if the high-frequency sounds still go through, short hair cells still get hurt.
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The problem is with the variable length of "for a while". With an update that doesn't change a single printed line of text, why can't they just build all the localized versions at the same time?
Ok, let's see... searching the bugzilla database for product Firefox, bugs filed more than a year ago, with severity being either "blocker" or "critical", and a status any other than "resolved", "verified" and "closed", for all OS, sort by importance. What do we get?
7 bugs found. Ooohhh... 7, big number. Let's look at them now.
Year old bugs that go unfixed in Firefox are either not clear enough to work with (crashes randomly), or are simply still open because nobody took the time to check with the next version to close the bug. None of those bugs are security issues.
I like Firefox as much as the next man (check out my sig) but let's not make extravagent claims.
Yep... I agree... how about you stop pulling stuff from your ass too?
And most of those Ma and Pa Kettle types won't even notice that the video is at lower resolution than it should...
I like the OSX interface too, but the one thing that makes me hate it more than anything else is that there is no way to have a mouse sensitivity that is half decent.
I like to move my hand as little as possible. On my Windows box, the mouse moves about 2 inches for the pointer to go through my dual-head (2560 pixels wide). When I have to work on the OSX box for some reason, I need to move the mouse several feet to get the pointer across 1280 pixels... I just hate their "pointer acceleration", you get no precision from it. I like my pointer movement to be directly proportional to my mouse movement.
A perfect looking interface is useless when the input method is crappy.
The whole point here being about usability, what is logical/natural does matter. Much easier to use something in a way that feels natural than having to remember a bunch of button combos, right?
Not quite *that* much though. Games on the Revolution will be based on gameplay, not graphics. Since the biggest slice of budget in making a game is in the ultra-realistic graphics that use every available feature of the hardware acceleration, games developed for the the Revolution will probably require a much smaller budget, making the risk that much lower, and the sales number required to become profitable also lower.
As much as I love Nintendo, the only reason they posted a profit is because of the DS (maybe the GBA, not sure). The GameCube *has* failed. I like it very much and I do play it much more than my PS2, but for the general market, it failed.
My first thought after looking at this new controller is that it's going to be an ergonomic nightmare.
I don't think Nintendo expects people to play with their new controller for 8 hours a day every weekday...
Very few tool or objects we grab and use in every day life is 100% ergonomic, but it doesn't hurt to grab or use it unless you do it all day long...
Meh... still better than nothing.
From experience, I don't think Nintendo ever made a piece of hardware that could break easily (or even break for that matter).
I still sometimes play my old NES and, apart from having to blow in the cartridge/console every time (a connector problem everybody knows), the controllers and the DuckHunt gun all still work perfectly after 20 years of use (and abuse... I was quite a bad loser in my younger days).
Just why the hell do you eat left-handed? Is your fork not symmetrical or something?
And yet, none of your non-gamers people ever told you that it doesn't feel natural to hold a controler with both hands, and then press one of 10 buttons to swing a sword? While it may seem pretty natural for gamers to press buttons to have your characters perform actions, I would actually think that it is more "logical" to actually swing your arm if you want to swing a sword.
Try going to a medieval fair sometime, and in one of those fake duels, locate the appropriate buttons on your sword that will make you swing it...
How about... encouraging kids to actually move is a good thing. Seeing how fat american kids are today, a little movement during their gaming sessions wouldn't hurt...
You actually managed to use the words "intellectual" and "Sims" in the same sentence without laughing? I mean... I love the Sims and all, but intellectual? What the ?
Although many systems come with Windows preloaded, I don't think I remember seeing a system that included Office too. Unless you mean they jack up the price of Windows to make up for the piracy of Office. I doubt MS cares about piracy for the Office suite though. As long as they have their proprietary file format, it keeps them happy.
People who need to know about Windows 2003 know about it. My mum doesn't need to know, so she is blissfully ignorant.
And there are people who do know about Windows 2003 that should have remained ignorant. We develop software for the home desktop user. Yet, we sometimes get support calls from people having trouble with our product when installed on Win2003. This basically means that they're using their Win2003 machine as a plain ol' desktop.
Probably just the type of guy that's gonna throw money around just to make sure he has the latest and the greatest of everything and then go brag about it. He just doesn't know how stupid he really looks when he uses Win2003 as a desktop...
I actually asked a whole lot of people around (families and friends and co-workers and their families), and while 100% of them had a version of Office installed on their computer, a stunning 0% had actually paid for it.
Windows users pay for Windows (actually, they pay for the computer, with the Windows price included in the computer price), and pretty much expects everything else to come for free somehow. Linux users think exactly the same somehow...
Is it really only the Mac users who expect to pay for software?
You're implying that they will actually test all those versions before shipping them, rather than just shipping them and having the paying users do the testing... didn't they do that with WindowsME?
Worst part is, I'm not even trying to sound like a troll... it's just how it is :-(
What about when those massive amounts of money in investment come from tax-dollars? How come Joe Taxpayer has to pay for both the R&D and the pill?
Beyond the basic necessities of life the primary reason I need money is to pay for science and art supplies.
There is a world of difference between "making a living out of" and "getting rich".
If you like playing the cello, you would probably enjoy having a job as a cello player that would pay enough for your instrument, food and rent, and a little extra to buy you a beer with the buddies every now and then. You would then be quite happy, since you make a living, and you are doing what you love.
However, if you think "I can get rich by going in the music industry", you could. However, you might not get rich by playing the cello. You'd have to learn to "dance" (or just do choregraphies) while singing à la Britney Spears. You'd probably suck, but you'd be successful and you'd become rich. However, you wouldn't be doing what you love to do, which is playing the cello. You would be rich, but you wouldn't be happy (I really don't think all the rich Spears & al. of this world are happy).
In science and arts, the best are the ones that do what they enjoy doing. Mozart loved music, the Backstreet Boys got rich with music. Which one will our great-grandchildren remember 75 years from now? Which one is truly great?
You won't become a gazillionaire playing the cello, but if you really love it, you will be great at it.
Kinda reminds me of the guy who drowned while crossing a river that was an average of 6 inches deep...
I stand corrected, as I have no degree in ear-science and can't argue with you, and the only info I have come from my (mostly forgotten) high-school biology class.
Sound doesn't know where it's supposed to be going, it just travels and the hair cells in your cochlea will be activated to produce a nerve signal.
High frequency noises don't just stop as soon as it reached the appropriate hair cell, it also keeps going, not knowing that there's no point in doing so.
Take a course in biology and you'll learn that high-frequency noises are indeed related to loss of hearing.
The cochlea (inner ear) uses tiny "hair cells" to "catch" sounds (vibrations) and transform them into a signal that the auditory nerve can get to the brain. Different lengths of hair cells catch different wavelength of sound. Higher frequency noises (shorter wavelength) are caught by the shorter hair cells.
Those cells being shorter (thus smaller), they are somehow more fragile than their longer counterparts, so they are the first ones to die with age / hearing of loud noises.
Loss of hearing happens usually with the higher-frequency noises first, because of the reason stated above. This is the reason why old people have a hard time understanding what women say (higher-pitched voice) while being able to hear men much better (lower-pitched voice, higher chance that hair-cells for that frequency are still alive).
High-frequency noises will always be the firsts to go when going partially deaf. They all go eventually though. Higher wave amplitude (volume) will make that happen sooner. Canceling out low and mid frequency noises will keep some hair cells from being hurt, but if the high-frequency sounds still go through, short hair cells still get hurt.
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