Ubuntu is cool. I run Ubuntu on my Mac along with Windows and Solaris. It's great, but not even in the same league as OSX which I also got for free with my hardware. I do feel good about my purchase. I spent $2500 for an iMac and another $1500 for a MacBook. In the last year I've made tens of thousands selling games on the app store. I think my investment was sound.
Apple makes its money from its (vastly overpriced) hardware.
Go to an Apple store and play around on the 27" iMac, then go to Best Buy and find any PC that is comparable (just as nicely built, just as quiet, just as slim, just as cool in temperature, just as powerful, and just as well supported). If you find one, and I don't think you will, the price will be the same or more than the iMac. Apple hardware IS expensive, but most of it isn't overpriced. People need to remember that Apple *intends* for the average Joe to use PCs. It's what sets Apple users apart as an elitist class of computer users (and Apple feeds this perception with things like "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" commercials). One could say that Honda minivans are overpriced, but they aren't. They are expensive yet they have the highest customer satisfaction ratings and so does Apple. In economics there is the notion of inferior goods. PCs and Windows fall into this category. Being inferior is what allows them to be sold to a massive market. Apple has also done an amazing economic trick in making Apple hardware capable of running Windows. This means that Apple is a substitute for a PC, but a PC isn't a substitute for Apple. This is why Apple's market share is going up, while PC oriented companies are falling into perfect competition where nobody is growing.
...is just cheap. A hackintosh isn't as quiet, cool, and well-built as Apple hardware. My iMac sits right next to a high-end PC and I use both daily and I can tell you that the Apple hardware AND software beats the PC/Windows thing hands down. I used to prefer Windows and Linux to Apple, but that has certainly changed for me in the past few years. The thought of running OSX on cheap PC hardware doesn't appeal to me at all. It's like running Solaris on a PC instead of a Sparc box. It just doesn't feel right.
I'm not saying they *forgot* anything. I was just stating that the cruising speed of the aircraft has nothing to do with this case or the outcome. The pilots didn't even start their descent until they were way off course and had turned the plane around. Even if they made up time, they are still highly negligent pilots.
Yes but cruising speed is only at high altitudes. A large aircraft doesn't go from runway to runway at top speed. It takes a long time to climb out, then to slow down, descend and land. A flight with a 12 minute cruise time will still take 45 minutes from push back to wheel stop.
Airline pilots don't simply forget to descend or ignore the center due to a distraction like a laptop. This is a bunch of bullshit. They were either asleep or getting a Bill Clinton from a flight attendant. Still, even then that wouldn't be enough of a distraction to warrant their lack of communication. I say they were napping with earplugs in.
If I average up how much my games are pirated it's about 15 illegal downloads for every 1 sale. I think it's just ridiculous that people would bother pirating such inexpensive software. I do think it's cool that hundreds of thousands of people play my games, I just wish I had hundreds of thousands in revenue to make more.
A global pandemic may be the best thing to happen to the earth and humanity at this point in time. Maybe if nature spanks us we'll learn some much needed lessons.
I wouldn't worry much though. Remember a few years ago we were all going to die from avian flu? A few years earlier it was West Nile, and before that Mad Cow. How about we take all the flu resources and redirect them to the real killers: stress, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
By the numbers, we are more likely to die from those things than from the flu. Disclaimer: I don't want to see anyone on the planet get sick or die, and I think we should take whatever steps we choose for ourselves to prevent death and live healthily, but we all do parish eventually and very few know when and how so it's best to just get over it and get on with life while you are here.
I got a *private* student loan from a bank and I only pay 5% interest. My problem is tuition has gone up so much I'm not sure I can afford my last year without more funds for tuition, but I can't get more funds because the credit bar has been raised so high I don't qualify for anything even though I have a decent income and a high credit score. The lenders, the government, and the people who borrow more than they can pay back have really fucked over a lot of good people who pay their bills and keep their promises.
In my experience, software developers are quirky and somewhat socially challenged, but they tend to be honest, hard working, loyal, genuinely interested, fair minded, and ethical people who get treated with WAY less respect than they deserve for their skills and talents.
I disagree. It has nothing to do with assumptions. Common sense is simply the ability to use balanced judgement and universal reason when examining a problem to expose a truth acceptable by everyone. The reason why possessing and exercising common sense in society today is looked down upon by the elitists is because its employment exposes corruption and corrupt people.
You know, I don't have any ill-will towards liberal thinking people at all. I'm just tired of people wearing it as some kind of "I'm better than thou" badge. Historically, it's dangerous to identify one's self with a single political philosophy. It stinks of brainwashing and indoctrination. Common sense should be the middle ground where people unite, but common sense is not so common.
Elitist is not a loaded term you dumb-ass pseudo-liberal zombie parakeet. It's meaning is PLAIN and SIMPLE:
People who think they are better than other people.
It's not a matter of left or right, rich or poor! It's a matter of attitude and persona character. Look up egalitarianism if you want to get political. These execs are elitists who think they are above the law and too smart to get busted. Nobody with a high IQ would want a system based on cultural/IQ differences. Many serial killers, child molesters, dictators, and terrorists have high IQs. One's ability to learn is not an indicator of their potential for positive or negative impact on society. How about a society where status is obsolete and people just accept each other for who they are while trying to better themselves and their communities? So jump in your Prius or Subaru and drive back to Berkeley for another dose of the leftist kool-aid.
Does this surprise anyone? Insider trading must be commonplace at the executive level across most industries these days. How else, but corruption, do talentless, unethical, unproductive sociopaths get paid? These are all lucrative positions to hold, why do they need to cheat to get more bread? Meanwhile, honest mom and pop outfits are folding like lawn chairs and hardworking people are in debt beyond hope just to from month to month. Will somebody please flush the elitist toilet?
Both iPhone and Android are great platforms for development. Android is really cool because it's based on Java which is second nature to me at this point. Android also has a very low barrier to entry in that the development stack is free and it only costs $25 to become an "official" developer with checkout rights on the Android Market. The Android devices are feature-rich and generally ok, but not as well designed as the iPhone.
Both support OpenGL ES which is great for graphics applications. Developing on the iPhone is a bit daunting at first because Objective-C has a stiff learning curve that is purely related to its syntactical style, but once you learn Objective-C you'll never want to see C++ again. BTW, you can use C and C++ to build iPhone apps, but it's probably easier in the long run to just spend a few days getting familiar with Objective-C.
The iPhone is a much more closed ecosystem when compared to Android, but that's a necessary evil that supports Apple's business model. Also, the iPhone is a really good device that just oozes design quality. Developing on the Apple platform makes the developer think about design, usability, and quality above features. It's more fun to develop on the iPhone, to me anyway.
Another advantage of the iPhone is the availability of third party, professional tools like Unity (www.unity3d.com) which greatly speed up the development process. XCode is also a fair development tool and it's free with OSX so that's a big plus. I don't think I'll ever pay for something like Visual Studio again at this point. Between Eclipse, Netbeans, and XCode, why pay for an IDE?
Obviously, the biggest con to iPhone development is the app store and the Apple submission process, but once you've been through it a few times you learn the ropes and it becomes easy to get apps published. Still, I make 20x more money on the app store than I do on the Android market, but that may change over time.
It took me three weeks to develop my first app which wasn't very successful but still makes a hundred or so a month worldwide. It took me a couple of months to make my second app which made the top 100 and still sells well in certain regions. Since then I've released over a dozen apps, some globally and some in specific regions and most of them don't make a lot by themselves, but they add up when tallied together. I am starting to see the wave crash a bit and sales have been declining in the last few months, but I suspect they'll go up again after the holiday season when a few million new devices are given as gifts and new users go app crazy.
I actually left my job and write iPhone and Android apps for a living. I haven't had a hit better than top 100, but I still make money. A prolific game developer can earn an honest living on the mobile platforms if they diversify their titles across genres and deliver decent apps. I also make money consulting with marketing firms who are using the iphone as a marketing platform. I made more at a regular job, but I'm happy to give up a little cash for the freedom I now have. In the past decade professional software development has become mundane and more tedium than creative. The iPhone and Android have become creative outlets for me. The app store isn't perfect but it has allowed me to break the chains of cubical bondage. It's not easy though. It takes a lot of balls to escape the systematic chaos of work-a-day life and step out on your own. If and when I re-enter the stupid, pointless, and utterly insane working world, I now have a couple of years worth of Objective-C, mobile platform, and smartphone development experience to put on my cv. Yeah, the app store and Android market aren't millionaire nebula, but they are good for a lot of other reasons.
Headhunters, and all human resources oriented placement firms are a huge scam for both employers and job seekers. They are basically pimps who do little more than bleed money out of other's toil. Why should they make 30%-50% of what the client is willing to pay just for placing your resume in their hands? I no longer relinquish a chunk of my salary to these people and it hasn't really effected my employment opportunities, and I feel better at the end of a project knowing that there wasn't some middle-man using my skills and talent to get rich for doing next to nothing. I also find HR people appreciative when I approach them and let them know I'm available for work at rates far lower than they are paying to headhunters. The other thing you can do is let a headhunter know that you will only work for them if their client rate is exposed and you offer them a 10% cut. Some headhunters will actually work with you this way, but most won't which is a good indicator that they could care less about you and your career. If they aren't willing to tell you exactly how much they are making in the deal, then they are most certainly rooking you.
A version of Office with commercials! Woot! Seriously, apps I'll never need or use, and links I'll never click. What a waste of time, energy, and resources.
Because I'm sure he had time to either squander, launder or hide a lot of his take. It's not like criminals open a domestic bank account and deposit their loot then report it to the queen. This dude may be broke, but then again, he may have a bundle waiting for him when he gets out. Or, he may have lived large while he was operating and now he's paying the price. Still, I think it is comparable to cubical life. People who work for corporations that knowingly screw consumers aren't really on a higher moral ground in my opinion.
6.5 million pounds vs. six years in prison. Considering 20 years in cube for about 2.5 million pounds total, this crime thing is looking like a better alternative career!
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Ubuntu is cool. I run Ubuntu on my Mac along with Windows and Solaris. It's great, but not even in the same league as OSX which I also got for free with my hardware. I do feel good about my purchase. I spent $2500 for an iMac and another $1500 for a MacBook. In the last year I've made tens of thousands selling games on the app store. I think my investment was sound.
Apple makes its money from its (vastly overpriced) hardware.
Go to an Apple store and play around on the 27" iMac, then go to Best Buy and find any PC that is comparable (just as nicely built, just as quiet, just as slim, just as cool in temperature, just as powerful, and just as well supported). If you find one, and I don't think you will, the price will be the same or more than the iMac. Apple hardware IS expensive, but most of it isn't overpriced. People need to remember that Apple *intends* for the average Joe to use PCs. It's what sets Apple users apart as an elitist class of computer users (and Apple feeds this perception with things like "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" commercials). One could say that Honda minivans are overpriced, but they aren't. They are expensive yet they have the highest customer satisfaction ratings and so does Apple. In economics there is the notion of inferior goods. PCs and Windows fall into this category. Being inferior is what allows them to be sold to a massive market. Apple has also done an amazing economic trick in making Apple hardware capable of running Windows. This means that Apple is a substitute for a PC, but a PC isn't a substitute for Apple. This is why Apple's market share is going up, while PC oriented companies are falling into perfect competition where nobody is growing.
...is just cheap. A hackintosh isn't as quiet, cool, and well-built as Apple hardware. My iMac sits right next to a high-end PC and I use both daily and I can tell you that the Apple hardware AND software beats the PC/Windows thing hands down. I used to prefer Windows and Linux to Apple, but that has certainly changed for me in the past few years. The thought of running OSX on cheap PC hardware doesn't appeal to me at all. It's like running Solaris on a PC instead of a Sparc box. It just doesn't feel right.
I'm not saying they *forgot* anything. I was just stating that the cruising speed of the aircraft has nothing to do with this case or the outcome. The pilots didn't even start their descent until they were way off course and had turned the plane around. Even if they made up time, they are still highly negligent pilots.
This is FAA regulation because incidents have occurred where both pilots were stricken with severe food poisoning.
Yes but cruising speed is only at high altitudes. A large aircraft doesn't go from runway to runway at top speed. It takes a long time to climb out, then to slow down, descend and land. A flight with a 12 minute cruise time will still take 45 minutes from push back to wheel stop.
Airline pilots don't simply forget to descend or ignore the center due to a distraction like a laptop. This is a bunch of bullshit. They were either asleep or getting a Bill Clinton from a flight attendant. Still, even then that wouldn't be enough of a distraction to warrant their lack of communication. I say they were napping with earplugs in.
My world comes to an end on April 15th every year!
If I average up how much my games are pirated it's about 15 illegal downloads for every 1 sale. I think it's just ridiculous that people would bother pirating such inexpensive software. I do think it's cool that hundreds of thousands of people play my games, I just wish I had hundreds of thousands in revenue to make more.
A global pandemic may be the best thing to happen to the earth and humanity at this point in time. Maybe if nature spanks us we'll learn some much needed lessons.
I wouldn't worry much though. Remember a few years ago we were all going to die from avian flu? A few years earlier it was West Nile, and before that Mad Cow. How about we take all the flu resources and redirect them to the real killers: stress, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
By the numbers, we are more likely to die from those things than from the flu. Disclaimer: I don't want to see anyone on the planet get sick or die, and I think we should take whatever steps we choose for ourselves to prevent death and live healthily, but we all do parish eventually and very few know when and how so it's best to just get over it and get on with life while you are here.
I'd have the most dope hood ornament on the block! Actually, these would make sweet xmas ornaments as well.
I got a *private* student loan from a bank and I only pay 5% interest. My problem is tuition has gone up so much I'm not sure I can afford my last year without more funds for tuition, but I can't get more funds because the credit bar has been raised so high I don't qualify for anything even though I have a decent income and a high credit score. The lenders, the government, and the people who borrow more than they can pay back have really fucked over a lot of good people who pay their bills and keep their promises.
In my experience, software developers are quirky and somewhat socially challenged, but they tend to be honest, hard working, loyal, genuinely interested, fair minded, and ethical people who get treated with WAY less respect than they deserve for their skills and talents.
I disagree. It has nothing to do with assumptions. Common sense is simply the ability to use balanced judgement and universal reason when examining a problem to expose a truth acceptable by everyone. The reason why possessing and exercising common sense in society today is looked down upon by the elitists is because its employment exposes corruption and corrupt people.
You know, I don't have any ill-will towards liberal thinking people at all. I'm just tired of people wearing it as some kind of "I'm better than thou" badge. Historically, it's dangerous to identify one's self with a single political philosophy. It stinks of brainwashing and indoctrination. Common sense should be the middle ground where people unite, but common sense is not so common.
Elitist is not a loaded term you dumb-ass pseudo-liberal zombie parakeet. It's meaning is PLAIN and SIMPLE: People who think they are better than other people.
It's not a matter of left or right, rich or poor! It's a matter of attitude and persona character. Look up egalitarianism if you want to get political. These execs are elitists who think they are above the law and too smart to get busted. Nobody with a high IQ would want a system based on cultural/IQ differences. Many serial killers, child molesters, dictators, and terrorists have high IQs. One's ability to learn is not an indicator of their potential for positive or negative impact on society. How about a society where status is obsolete and people just accept each other for who they are while trying to better themselves and their communities? So jump in your Prius or Subaru and drive back to Berkeley for another dose of the leftist kool-aid.
Does this surprise anyone? Insider trading must be commonplace at the executive level across most industries these days. How else, but corruption, do talentless, unethical, unproductive sociopaths get paid? These are all lucrative positions to hold, why do they need to cheat to get more bread? Meanwhile, honest mom and pop outfits are folding like lawn chairs and hardworking people are in debt beyond hope just to from month to month. Will somebody please flush the elitist toilet?
Both iPhone and Android are great platforms for development. Android is really cool because it's based on Java which is second nature to me at this point. Android also has a very low barrier to entry in that the development stack is free and it only costs $25 to become an "official" developer with checkout rights on the Android Market. The Android devices are feature-rich and generally ok, but not as well designed as the iPhone.
Both support OpenGL ES which is great for graphics applications. Developing on the iPhone is a bit daunting at first because Objective-C has a stiff learning curve that is purely related to its syntactical style, but once you learn Objective-C you'll never want to see C++ again. BTW, you can use C and C++ to build iPhone apps, but it's probably easier in the long run to just spend a few days getting familiar with Objective-C.
The iPhone is a much more closed ecosystem when compared to Android, but that's a necessary evil that supports Apple's business model. Also, the iPhone is a really good device that just oozes design quality. Developing on the Apple platform makes the developer think about design, usability, and quality above features. It's more fun to develop on the iPhone, to me anyway.
Another advantage of the iPhone is the availability of third party, professional tools like Unity (www.unity3d.com) which greatly speed up the development process. XCode is also a fair development tool and it's free with OSX so that's a big plus. I don't think I'll ever pay for something like Visual Studio again at this point. Between Eclipse, Netbeans, and XCode, why pay for an IDE?
Obviously, the biggest con to iPhone development is the app store and the Apple submission process, but once you've been through it a few times you learn the ropes and it becomes easy to get apps published. Still, I make 20x more money on the app store than I do on the Android market, but that may change over time.
It took me three weeks to develop my first app which wasn't very successful but still makes a hundred or so a month worldwide. It took me a couple of months to make my second app which made the top 100 and still sells well in certain regions. Since then I've released over a dozen apps, some globally and some in specific regions and most of them don't make a lot by themselves, but they add up when tallied together. I am starting to see the wave crash a bit and sales have been declining in the last few months, but I suspect they'll go up again after the holiday season when a few million new devices are given as gifts and new users go app crazy.
I actually left my job and write iPhone and Android apps for a living. I haven't had a hit better than top 100, but I still make money. A prolific game developer can earn an honest living on the mobile platforms if they diversify their titles across genres and deliver decent apps. I also make money consulting with marketing firms who are using the iphone as a marketing platform. I made more at a regular job, but I'm happy to give up a little cash for the freedom I now have. In the past decade professional software development has become mundane and more tedium than creative. The iPhone and Android have become creative outlets for me. The app store isn't perfect but it has allowed me to break the chains of cubical bondage. It's not easy though. It takes a lot of balls to escape the systematic chaos of work-a-day life and step out on your own. If and when I re-enter the stupid, pointless, and utterly insane working world, I now have a couple of years worth of Objective-C, mobile platform, and smartphone development experience to put on my cv. Yeah, the app store and Android market aren't millionaire nebula, but they are good for a lot of other reasons.
Acer = Crappy WalMart Computer
Stereoscopic 3D = Novelty Technology
Windows 7 = Vista++
I think I'll pass on this one.
Headhunters, and all human resources oriented placement firms are a huge scam for both employers and job seekers. They are basically pimps who do little more than bleed money out of other's toil. Why should they make 30%-50% of what the client is willing to pay just for placing your resume in their hands? I no longer relinquish a chunk of my salary to these people and it hasn't really effected my employment opportunities, and I feel better at the end of a project knowing that there wasn't some middle-man using my skills and talent to get rich for doing next to nothing. I also find HR people appreciative when I approach them and let them know I'm available for work at rates far lower than they are paying to headhunters. The other thing you can do is let a headhunter know that you will only work for them if their client rate is exposed and you offer them a 10% cut. Some headhunters will actually work with you this way, but most won't which is a good indicator that they could care less about you and your career. If they aren't willing to tell you exactly how much they are making in the deal, then they are most certainly rooking you.
A version of Office with commercials! Woot! Seriously, apps I'll never need or use, and links I'll never click. What a waste of time, energy, and resources.
I own a PC but it sits unused and collecting dust. So statistically I'm a PC (I've owned dozens of PCs), but I prefer a Mac.
Because I'm sure he had time to either squander, launder or hide a lot of his take. It's not like criminals open a domestic bank account and deposit their loot then report it to the queen. This dude may be broke, but then again, he may have a bundle waiting for him when he gets out. Or, he may have lived large while he was operating and now he's paying the price. Still, I think it is comparable to cubical life. People who work for corporations that knowingly screw consumers aren't really on a higher moral ground in my opinion.
6.5 million pounds vs. six years in prison. Considering 20 years in cube for about 2.5 million pounds total, this crime thing is looking like a better alternative career!