For me, this move from Microsoft is bleedin amazing, and fantastically well timed.
I'm trying to start a software house to develop a game I've been designing for the last year, and I've faced a serious brick wall in finding a high quality toolchain that I can afford. Now its being given away free, and as a student I'm able to get it.
This means my speculative software house has just become a reality, and I am so happy I could hug whoever it was that dreamed this scheme up.
Perhaps this isn't quite the right attitude for the slashdot masses, but I don't care, I've been walking on air since I read this article and started my downloads.
We don't need Quantum computing for a Star Trek futre.
We need a way to disregard or at least completely reinterpret the laws of physics, and do without money, and all get on, and find entire worlds whose populations all conform to some stereotype.
a gravitational assist into higher velocity can be obtained by any spacecraft passing close by a larger body *provided* there is no excess of gas that might remove too much energy.
All you have to do is miss the upper layers of atmosphere. Now I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard to get up high enough, but there is no reason it has to be done quickly. All you have to do is keep going up. That could be by centimetres an hour (although that would be a bit slow).
lastly you don't have to be 'outside the gravity well' at all, that's nonsense. By that logic, no slingshot around Jupiter would be possible, since our spacecraft which have done it are well inside its local sphere of influence..
All you need to do is move fast enough to arrest the fall in order to stay put. From then on any small amount of delta v would get up further into space.
How long would it take? Probably bloomin ages, but that's not the issue.
There's actually not much in the way of a rule that says something going into orbit has to reach 'escape velocity'.
That's a barrier for barking huge spacecraft, but if you went slowly, and gradually kept up the acceleration, you'd get into space, and with a little assistance from Earth's own gravitational well you could slingshot out and away into interplanetary space.
If its viewed as defunct its because the mighty marketing machine is always trying to encourage the continuous upgrade cycle on consumers.
Those who fall for this shite can end up feeling that technology which has only been around for a year is somehow old and unworthy of further use.
It's insane, but its a consequence of the free market economy, which has no interest in stable, unchanging technology that just gets more reliable, rather than undergoing frequent shifts into 'the next best thing'.
Open source software vs proprietary is a good comparison. How long has Vi been around? It's great, but hasn't changed much. We like it, we use it, no problems. But look at Ultra-Edit. Another nice text editor. I've lost count of how many upgrades and versions of that there have been.
I'm not dissing the creator of ultra-edit one bit, I used to be a huge fan of it. He suffers from the same problem as other products that require ever increasing sales to survive, he has to change and add more and more features, or his product will become 'old' and rubbish, even though its new compared to Vi.
but is Microsoft capable of this? I'd say that's a given.
Maybe, maybe not. However I'm sick and tired of the Microsoft conspiracy nutbars who trot out evil reasons for everything Microsoft do.
Ok, perhaps it is true, but if Microsoft were investing so much time and energy being evil in every move they make, don't you think they wouldn't be the #1 company in the field? (profits wise). I'd have thought they'd have slipped a while back.
And no, they haven't slipped. Point out the failure of the Xbox to turn a buck if you will, or other small change projects. Those are strategic exercises that may well turn south, but they will not 'bring down Microsoft'. Right now no-one comes close to them in terms of overall power and money.
And that Netscape thing? Even the Netscape CEO admitted that Microsoft were only doing what other companies did at the time. Incidentally, he ended up a billionaire, and most Netscape employees became millionaires. I have trouble equating that with a poor downtrodden company being hounded out of business, seems to me they did ok.
I get annoyed by a lot of what Microsoft do, but that's because I'm not into their philosophy, not because I think their running around in the shadows constantly. I'm more likely to get annoyed about their implementation of C++ then their latest business dealings.
And you know what? IBM used to be right evil buggers, and it cost them their lead in a big way, too much time spent hurting the competition, not enough time minding the shop. Now everyone loves them, 'ooh, but they love open source' is trotted out in defence against any slight. They were real gits back a few decades ago./rant
What do you think are the chances of a computer controlled house with net access that *doesn't* spam you with ads?
There will be three kinds of utility for your web house. I shall elaborate.
Basic:
All the 'features', but to access them you must willingly subject yourself to advertising, and targeted recommendations.
Standard:
All the features, no non elective ads, but you're still likely to have 'great suggestions' coming in, facebook app-like, trying to get you to winningly accept the ads..
Premium.
They give you the device, and leave you the fuck alone. Expect this to be itself in one of two further sub-categories
sub-cat 1: Far too expensive for most people.
sub-cat 2: Available only to selected people, likely not even able to be bought.
I've never installed that, and I don't want to, I object to the very idea of it. It's not much of a hardship, since I don't use any Microsoft programs aside from the OS and office anyway, so I don't care about the blocked stuff.
This cd would be great unless it included WGA. Can anyone enlighten me?
Oh come now. Obviously the hidden paedophile who can practice his trade in secret for decades but doesn't attract the attention of the wider world is far preferable to the easily tracked, yet obviously far worse internet version.
After all, it's not real rape unless its on the internet.
So, I could, y'know, submit a patch to the law that inserted a clause which let me get away with stuff?
Re:ethics require education
on
Ethics In IT
·
· Score: 1
And how do you know they haven't changed their password yet?:)
A rare form of social engineering was applied, I asked them. Then muttered darkly to them about security, there need for it, and also kittens..
ethics require education
on
Ethics In IT
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Someone who has no understanding of ethical implications regrading IT will do things they wouldn't dream of if they understood what it meant in terms of invasion of privacy..
Alas many people who use computers regularly are in this category.
I have access to the email of almost everyone I know presonally. Do I read it? Nope.
However, the reason I have access to one persons email is because they needed help stopping another person who knew their password reading every email they sent and received. In spite of my urging they have yet to change their password anew to also lock me out.
You can lead a horse to water, and if you Duct Tape a hose to its mouth, you can make it drink too.
Perpetual motion I don't know about, but if this device can be kept going for a longer time without too much energy input, then it might have application in transportation.
Slashdot Mirror
"Without Yahoo, we are years behind, and likely to stay that way"
Am I right or am I right?
You sir, are very correct.
Alas this will not prevent the slashdot cognoscenti from rejecting your argument.
Problem: the license agreement on the free copy forbids outright selling the output of the program (so your software house is again not a reality).
Not quite.
By then I will have my product, making a licence purchase a viable financial move.
With no product it's just a massive expense.
And anyway, I don't see where it says that, if it's true.
But, but, Voyager only had to cross 70,000 light years to get home....
I mean, you're going to be saying Voyager wasn't real next...
As if..
For me, this move from Microsoft is bleedin amazing, and fantastically well timed.
I'm trying to start a software house to develop a game I've been designing for the last year, and I've faced a serious brick wall in finding a high quality toolchain that I can afford. Now its being given away free, and as a student I'm able to get it.
This means my speculative software house has just become a reality, and I am so happy I could hug whoever it was that dreamed this scheme up.
Perhaps this isn't quite the right attitude for the slashdot masses, but I don't care, I've been walking on air since I read this article and started my downloads.
We don't need Quantum computing for a Star Trek futre.
We need a way to disregard or at least completely reinterpret the laws of physics, and do without money, and all get on, and find entire worlds whose populations all conform to some stereotype.
And are green.
Sounds good, but it's wrong.
a gravitational assist into higher velocity can be obtained by any spacecraft passing close by a larger body *provided* there is no excess of gas that might remove too much energy.
All you have to do is miss the upper layers of atmosphere. Now I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard to get up high enough, but there is no reason it has to be done quickly. All you have to do is keep going up. That could be by centimetres an hour (although that would be a bit slow).
lastly you don't have to be 'outside the gravity well' at all, that's nonsense. By that logic, no slingshot around Jupiter would be possible, since our spacecraft which have done it are well inside its local sphere of influence..
All you need to do is move fast enough to arrest the fall in order to stay put. From then on any small amount of delta v would get up further into space.
How long would it take? Probably bloomin ages, but that's not the issue.
Has he even broken Mach 1 yet?
There's actually not much in the way of a rule that says something going into orbit has to reach 'escape velocity'.
That's a barrier for barking huge spacecraft, but if you went slowly, and gradually kept up the acceleration, you'd get into space, and with a little assistance from Earth's own gravitational well you could slingshot out and away into interplanetary space.
If their tubes fail, there's always the trucks...
If its viewed as defunct its because the mighty marketing machine is always trying to encourage the continuous upgrade cycle on consumers.
Those who fall for this shite can end up feeling that technology which has only been around for a year is somehow old and unworthy of further use.
It's insane, but its a consequence of the free market economy, which has no interest in stable, unchanging technology that just gets more reliable, rather than undergoing frequent shifts into 'the next best thing'.
Open source software vs proprietary is a good comparison. How long has Vi been around? It's great, but hasn't changed much. We like it, we use it, no problems. But look at Ultra-Edit. Another nice text editor. I've lost count of how many upgrades and versions of that there have been.
I'm not dissing the creator of ultra-edit one bit, I used to be a huge fan of it. He suffers from the same problem as other products that require ever increasing sales to survive, he has to change and add more and more features, or his product will become 'old' and rubbish, even though its new compared to Vi.
And have caek
Wrong, Google have purchased companies to get their technology/market share as well.
Purchasing smaller companies that produce products you want to incorporate into your business is standard industry practice...
but is Microsoft capable of this? I'd say that's a given.
/rant
Maybe, maybe not. However I'm sick and tired of the Microsoft conspiracy nutbars who trot out evil reasons for everything Microsoft do.
Ok, perhaps it is true, but if Microsoft were investing so much time and energy being evil in every move they make, don't you think they wouldn't be the #1 company in the field? (profits wise). I'd have thought they'd have slipped a while back.
And no, they haven't slipped. Point out the failure of the Xbox to turn a buck if you will, or other small change projects. Those are strategic exercises that may well turn south, but they will not 'bring down Microsoft'. Right now no-one comes close to them in terms of overall power and money.
And that Netscape thing? Even the Netscape CEO admitted that Microsoft were only doing what other companies did at the time. Incidentally, he ended up a billionaire, and most Netscape employees became millionaires. I have trouble equating that with a poor downtrodden company being hounded out of business, seems to me they did ok.
I get annoyed by a lot of what Microsoft do, but that's because I'm not into their philosophy, not because I think their running around in the shadows constantly. I'm more likely to get annoyed about their implementation of C++ then their latest business dealings.
And you know what? IBM used to be right evil buggers, and it cost them their lead in a big way, too much time spent hurting the competition, not enough time minding the shop. Now everyone loves them, 'ooh, but they love open source' is trotted out in defence against any slight. They were real gits back a few decades ago.
http://thepiratebay.org/
sorted...
Um, yeah, of course.
What do you think are the chances of a computer controlled house with net access that *doesn't* spam you with ads?
There will be three kinds of utility for your web house. I shall elaborate.
Basic:
All the 'features', but to access them you must willingly subject yourself to advertising, and targeted recommendations.
Standard:
All the features, no non elective ads, but you're still likely to have 'great suggestions' coming in, facebook app-like, trying to get you to winningly accept the ads..
Premium.
They give you the device, and leave you the fuck alone. Expect this to be itself in one of two further sub-categories
sub-cat 1: Far too expensive for most people.
sub-cat 2: Available only to selected people, likely not even able to be bought.
I've never installed that, and I don't want to, I object to the very idea of it. It's not much of a hardship, since I don't use any Microsoft programs aside from the OS and office anyway, so I don't care about the blocked stuff.
This cd would be great unless it included WGA. Can anyone enlighten me?
It is wrong that an adult act upon those desires.
/b/?
Outside of
Yes...
Oh come now. Obviously the hidden paedophile who can practice his trade in secret for decades but doesn't attract the attention of the wider world is far preferable to the easily tracked, yet obviously far worse internet version.
After all, it's not real rape unless its on the internet.
So, I could, y'know, submit a patch to the law that inserted a clause which let me get away with stuff?
And how do you know they haven't changed their password yet? :)
A rare form of social engineering was applied, I asked them. Then muttered darkly to them about security, there need for it, and also kittens..
Someone who has no understanding of ethical implications regrading IT will do things they wouldn't dream of if they understood what it meant in terms of invasion of privacy..
Alas many people who use computers regularly are in this category.
I have access to the email of almost everyone I know presonally. Do I read it? Nope.
However, the reason I have access to one persons email is because they needed help stopping another person who knew their password reading every email they sent and received. In spite of my urging they have yet to change their password anew to also lock me out.
You can lead a horse to water, and if you Duct Tape a hose to its mouth, you can make it drink too.
Oh wait...
That was my thought exactly. In fact I've thought it would be cool since Harry Harrison described them in his Stainless Steel Rat Series.
Perpetual motion I don't know about, but if this device can be kept going for a longer time without too much energy input, then it might have application in transportation.