Well, I don't know about the others, but once these tracks start appearing on iTS, I'll be putting my money where my mouth is and actually be purchasing said tracks/albums. Hopefully they get bands like Iron Maiden on this DRM-free high-quality bandwagon.
They're also doubling the bitrate, so that adds on a few cents worth of bandwidth. Also, maybe Apple might be able to make a slight profit selling them now?
Microsoft's business depends on Windows and Office in such a way that if either of them were to fail, they would be in huge trouble. Ford and IBM had many other products and services, so flops like those didn't screw them over.
You mean F = dp/dt. Just imagine how hard it would be to calculate the acceleration of an object whose mass is changing (e.g. anything that burns fuel to provide energy).
Well I believe in both stories, although I also believe that the creation one is filled with metaphors and isn't literal, legalese-esque fact. Do you think people thousands of years ago would be able to comprehend what we know now about the Big Bang and evolution? Hell, a lot of people still can't comprehend it; just imagine trying to explain it to Moses for example. I feel that the story of creation is a metaphorical, simplified version of what has actually happened.
A service-based model has been shown to work very well for both games (e.g. World of Warcraft) and software (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux, anything Google sells, etc.). I don't know how movies can adapt in a similar method, but that's not my problem. If anything, I'd suggest that the DVD for each movie be sold at the theatre after each showing for a decent price (e.g. $8 or so), and perhaps to stop making shitty movies as well. For music, CDs should be used a promotional items for bands' concerts and other performances. The big record labels could either just record and produce the CDs for the bands, or they could even be a marketing help for bands in order to get their promotional material (i.e. CDs and MP3s) out there to many people.
Oh yeah, and if these companies would stop wasting so much money on lawsuits against their customers and lobbying Congress for more draconian copyright laws, they might, just might, be able to remain insanely profitable.
Discrete mathematics is very similar to computer science in many ways as it deals with logic, sets, Boolean algebras in general, algorithms, graphs (also featured in a data structures course), and many other interesting topics that can usually be applied to computer science. If you want to get a good grasp on the theory of computer science such that you can pick up on any programming language in any paradigm, it would be very useful to work on math courses on the side such as discrete mathematics or Boolean algebra.
Of course, you should always remember that programming languages are just implementations of computer science, so learning a specific language is really something you do after you know the concepts well. You can probably learn a lot of the base concepts using either C++ or Java, but when you get to your second or third year of CSC, you will definitely begin to explore many different languages (including assembly), especially ones you'll probably end up hating (e.g. Pascal, Fortran).
Also note that I am working on a computer science major, but I have not graduated yet, so this is just based on my experience so far.
For one, the KDE 4.0 development snapshots are using Qt 4.2, and by the time KDE 4.0 is released in a few months, Qt 4.3 will probably be released and used as well.
Another gripe is that KDE 4.0 is the base KDE 4 release; that is, it will contain the foundation for all KDE 4 applications along with its "core" applications all updated to use said base. KDE 4.0 (like KDE 3.0 and presumably 2.0 and 1.0; I'm not that old a Linux user sadly) will be more of a "proof of concept" release that updates all the KDE 3.5 applications to use Qt 4 along with the new "Pillars of KDE" (check the Dot for articles about it). However, it is expected that KOffice 2.0, Amarok 2.0, KDevelop 4.0, and several other key applications will be released with KDE 4.0, and those are major upgrades beside the typical updated usage of KDE libraries, Qt 4, and all the other things updated with KDE 4.
What I'm getting at here is that KDE 4.1 and beyond are the Holy Grails if anything; at this point, the developer interest in KDE should spike to above KDE 3 levels (especially due to the new platforms it supports: Windows and Mac OS X) and the new applications and innovations will begin. Just look at the major differences between KDE 3.5.6 and KDE 3.0 for example to see how much a major revision tends to change over time and include new programs. Basically, KDE 4.0 is the beginning of the quest for the Holy Grail (not to mention all the Python usage in some KDE distros like Kubuntu), but the Holy Grail itself will be a future release of KDE 4.
If you speak from a developer's standpoint, KDE 4.0 can be argued to be the Holy Grail, but not from the user's standpoint.
Have you tried using the DejaVu fonts (a derivative of Bitstream Vera)? In my opinion, they look far better than the Microsoft core fonts, especially when you use subpixel antialiasing on an LCD screen. They also support a lot more glyphs than Helvet^WArial, Times [New Roman], Courier New, Verdana, and Tahoma.
I haven't really used the new fonts from Vista, however, so those might actually look nicer for all I know.
Also, if you have a copy of OS X, it's always a nice idea to copy all the fonts from/Library/Fonts/ and use Fondu to extract the fonts in the dfont resource fork files. That way you get some nice fonts for printing (from Adobe) and some nice designer fonts as well.
That's a GNOME problem if anything. KDE has something called Klipper for a long time now, and that manages the clipboard between all applications. You can still do X-style copy/pasting via selections and middle-clicking, but Klipper keeps a history of your clipboard and is overall an awesome clipboard manager; better than the default offerings in Windows and OS X by far.
In fact, KDE is far more consistent than GNOME in my experience, and even more consistent than Windows or OS X in some cases.
When there's a manual, FAQ, or even fully fledged documentation (and even a wiki sometimes), and a user asks a question that is answered by that for any software that meets the criteria, the knowledgeable people tend to say "RTFM" once their patience runs thin. This is also why there are IRC bots in places like #ubuntu and #debian (Freenode and OFTC respectively) that have answers to tons of common questions so that we don't have to constantly answer questions that are described in the official wiki or in the relevant documentation for the software in question.
The only reason you don't see the "RTFM" response in some paid software (or at least not as often) is because the companies providing tech support typically have hired level 1 tech support whom have their own FAQs and scripts to follow in order to help out most people who call. The free as in beer part of software kind of prevents them from having their own telephone tech support, but that doesn't mean you can't get paid support (e.g. via Canonical, Red Hat, Novell, Linspire, Mandriva, and many third parties).
The Wii would be perfect for flight simulators, shooters, and if a game were to include support for USB and/or Bluetooth keyboards, RTS games. Consoles have finally caught up to the remaining genres that only worked on PCs due to the Wii's new controller.:)
Don't forget about the billions that Microsoft blew on making the original copy of Vista! After five years, billions of dollars, and tons of research on UI improvements like the shutdown menu (*gasp*), you can't just say that it didn't cost anything.;p
I would recommend trying Kubuntu, OpenSUSE (or SUSE even, although that would involve supporting that damn Microsoft-Novell patent deal), Mandriva, or Linspire/Freespire. These distributions use KDE (K Desktop Environment), which in my opinion (and even Linus himself along with many, many others) is far more usable, customisable, and useful than GNOME, the default desktop environment for many other distributions such as Ubuntu. Although GNOME tends to look cleaner than KDE, its usability is quite, well, limited. I don't understand the circle jerk going on between most distributions and their need to use GNOME by default, but I do know that a lot of people's complaints in regards to the GUI on Linux are GNOME-specific and are not a problem with KDE.
Actually, I believe it's for web developers to test their sites in IE without having to use Windows. Also, if you want to test websites in more than one version of IE, you can either use Linux or have several different versions of Windows running their own versions of IE.
My grandmother rips her music in FLAC and Ogg Vorbis you insensitive clod!
And she even ripped her old vinyl collection to digital formats; a feat even I don't know how to do as cleanly as she did.
Besides, she doesn't watch porn (as far as I know), so WMV support is worthless to her (which is the only situation where I've seen WMV used frequently that isn't restricted with DRM).
Who cares if Joe Sixpack can use Linux? If it's a geek operating system as you think, then that means I gain respect as a geek (aka geek cred) for using such an awesome operating system like Linux. It's like being able to say that you drive manual (in the US at least) and thus have the authority to gloat over others and be a general dick.:)
Also, I feel that all operating systems suck in their own respects (similar to styles of governments), but Linux and other open source Unix-like systems suck least.
I like the third one best because it actually implies something useful to people about Linux: it has what you want on PCs and Macs (even games via Wine and Cedega, but they don't mention that).
Now I know someone's going to say "but Linux doesn't have $x, and $y is a crappy replacement that doesn't support $z", but take a look at the Mac vs. PC commercials that Apple made; they don't mention crap like that either. The point of the ads are to get "Joe Sixpack" to use it.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I don't know about the others, but once these tracks start appearing on iTS, I'll be putting my money where my mouth is and actually be purchasing said tracks/albums. Hopefully they get bands like Iron Maiden on this DRM-free high-quality bandwagon.
They're also doubling the bitrate, so that adds on a few cents worth of bandwidth. Also, maybe Apple might be able to make a slight profit selling them now?
Spoilers!
Every article on Slashdot from midnight EST on 1 April through 11:59 PM on 1 April are all April Fool's stories. Period.
I come to Slashdot nearly every day, and every Sunday is always a slow news day. At least there were stories this time around...
Microsoft's business depends on Windows and Office in such a way that if either of them were to fail, they would be in huge trouble. Ford and IBM had many other products and services, so flops like those didn't screw them over.
You mean F = dp/dt. Just imagine how hard it would be to calculate the acceleration of an object whose mass is changing (e.g. anything that burns fuel to provide energy).
Well I believe in both stories, although I also believe that the creation one is filled with metaphors and isn't literal, legalese-esque fact. Do you think people thousands of years ago would be able to comprehend what we know now about the Big Bang and evolution? Hell, a lot of people still can't comprehend it; just imagine trying to explain it to Moses for example. I feel that the story of creation is a metaphorical, simplified version of what has actually happened.
A service-based model has been shown to work very well for both games (e.g. World of Warcraft) and software (e.g. Red Hat Enterprise Linux, anything Google sells, etc.). I don't know how movies can adapt in a similar method, but that's not my problem. If anything, I'd suggest that the DVD for each movie be sold at the theatre after each showing for a decent price (e.g. $8 or so), and perhaps to stop making shitty movies as well. For music, CDs should be used a promotional items for bands' concerts and other performances. The big record labels could either just record and produce the CDs for the bands, or they could even be a marketing help for bands in order to get their promotional material (i.e. CDs and MP3s) out there to many people.
Oh yeah, and if these companies would stop wasting so much money on lawsuits against their customers and lobbying Congress for more draconian copyright laws, they might, just might, be able to remain insanely profitable.
Discrete mathematics is very similar to computer science in many ways as it deals with logic, sets, Boolean algebras in general, algorithms, graphs (also featured in a data structures course), and many other interesting topics that can usually be applied to computer science. If you want to get a good grasp on the theory of computer science such that you can pick up on any programming language in any paradigm, it would be very useful to work on math courses on the side such as discrete mathematics or Boolean algebra.
Of course, you should always remember that programming languages are just implementations of computer science, so learning a specific language is really something you do after you know the concepts well. You can probably learn a lot of the base concepts using either C++ or Java, but when you get to your second or third year of CSC, you will definitely begin to explore many different languages (including assembly), especially ones you'll probably end up hating (e.g. Pascal, Fortran).
Also note that I am working on a computer science major, but I have not graduated yet, so this is just based on my experience so far.
KDE already does that. NEXT!
For one, the KDE 4.0 development snapshots are using Qt 4.2, and by the time KDE 4.0 is released in a few months, Qt 4.3 will probably be released and used as well.
Another gripe is that KDE 4.0 is the base KDE 4 release; that is, it will contain the foundation for all KDE 4 applications along with its "core" applications all updated to use said base. KDE 4.0 (like KDE 3.0 and presumably 2.0 and 1.0; I'm not that old a Linux user sadly) will be more of a "proof of concept" release that updates all the KDE 3.5 applications to use Qt 4 along with the new "Pillars of KDE" (check the Dot for articles about it). However, it is expected that KOffice 2.0, Amarok 2.0, KDevelop 4.0, and several other key applications will be released with KDE 4.0, and those are major upgrades beside the typical updated usage of KDE libraries, Qt 4, and all the other things updated with KDE 4.
What I'm getting at here is that KDE 4.1 and beyond are the Holy Grails if anything; at this point, the developer interest in KDE should spike to above KDE 3 levels (especially due to the new platforms it supports: Windows and Mac OS X) and the new applications and innovations will begin. Just look at the major differences between KDE 3.5.6 and KDE 3.0 for example to see how much a major revision tends to change over time and include new programs. Basically, KDE 4.0 is the beginning of the quest for the Holy Grail (not to mention all the Python usage in some KDE distros like Kubuntu), but the Holy Grail itself will be a future release of KDE 4.
If you speak from a developer's standpoint, KDE 4.0 can be argued to be the Holy Grail, but not from the user's standpoint.
Have you tried using the DejaVu fonts (a derivative of Bitstream Vera)? In my opinion, they look far better than the Microsoft core fonts, especially when you use subpixel antialiasing on an LCD screen. They also support a lot more glyphs than Helvet^WArial, Times [New Roman], Courier New, Verdana, and Tahoma.
/Library/Fonts/ and use Fondu to extract the fonts in the dfont resource fork files. That way you get some nice fonts for printing (from Adobe) and some nice designer fonts as well.
I haven't really used the new fonts from Vista, however, so those might actually look nicer for all I know.
Also, if you have a copy of OS X, it's always a nice idea to copy all the fonts from
That's a GNOME problem if anything. KDE has something called Klipper for a long time now, and that manages the clipboard between all applications. You can still do X-style copy/pasting via selections and middle-clicking, but Klipper keeps a history of your clipboard and is overall an awesome clipboard manager; better than the default offerings in Windows and OS X by far.
In fact, KDE is far more consistent than GNOME in my experience, and even more consistent than Windows or OS X in some cases.
Dude, Microsoft bought them, not Best Buy. ;)
When there's a manual, FAQ, or even fully fledged documentation (and even a wiki sometimes), and a user asks a question that is answered by that for any software that meets the criteria, the knowledgeable people tend to say "RTFM" once their patience runs thin. This is also why there are IRC bots in places like #ubuntu and #debian (Freenode and OFTC respectively) that have answers to tons of common questions so that we don't have to constantly answer questions that are described in the official wiki or in the relevant documentation for the software in question.
The only reason you don't see the "RTFM" response in some paid software (or at least not as often) is because the companies providing tech support typically have hired level 1 tech support whom have their own FAQs and scripts to follow in order to help out most people who call. The free as in beer part of software kind of prevents them from having their own telephone tech support, but that doesn't mean you can't get paid support (e.g. via Canonical, Red Hat, Novell, Linspire, Mandriva, and many third parties).
It's a Diebold ATM. ;)
The Wii would be perfect for flight simulators, shooters, and if a game were to include support for USB and/or Bluetooth keyboards, RTS games. Consoles have finally caught up to the remaining genres that only worked on PCs due to the Wii's new controller. :)
Don't forget about the billions that Microsoft blew on making the original copy of Vista! After five years, billions of dollars, and tons of research on UI improvements like the shutdown menu (*gasp*), you can't just say that it didn't cost anything. ;p
States' rights are in the Constitution.
Didn't the DMCA make non-commercial copyright infringement a criminal offence?
I would recommend trying Kubuntu, OpenSUSE (or SUSE even, although that would involve supporting that damn Microsoft-Novell patent deal), Mandriva, or Linspire/Freespire. These distributions use KDE (K Desktop Environment), which in my opinion (and even Linus himself along with many, many others) is far more usable, customisable, and useful than GNOME, the default desktop environment for many other distributions such as Ubuntu. Although GNOME tends to look cleaner than KDE, its usability is quite, well, limited. I don't understand the circle jerk going on between most distributions and their need to use GNOME by default, but I do know that a lot of people's complaints in regards to the GUI on Linux are GNOME-specific and are not a problem with KDE.
Because it can! :)
Actually, I believe it's for web developers to test their sites in IE without having to use Windows. Also, if you want to test websites in more than one version of IE, you can either use Linux or have several different versions of Windows running their own versions of IE.
My grandmother rips her music in FLAC and Ogg Vorbis you insensitive clod!
And she even ripped her old vinyl collection to digital formats; a feat even I don't know how to do as cleanly as she did.
Besides, she doesn't watch porn (as far as I know), so WMV support is worthless to her (which is the only situation where I've seen WMV used frequently that isn't restricted with DRM).
Who cares if Joe Sixpack can use Linux? If it's a geek operating system as you think, then that means I gain respect as a geek (aka geek cred) for using such an awesome operating system like Linux. It's like being able to say that you drive manual (in the US at least) and thus have the authority to gloat over others and be a general dick. :)
Also, I feel that all operating systems suck in their own respects (similar to styles of governments), but Linux and other open source Unix-like systems suck least.
I like the third one best because it actually implies something useful to people about Linux: it has what you want on PCs and Macs (even games via Wine and Cedega, but they don't mention that).
Now I know someone's going to say "but Linux doesn't have $x, and $y is a crappy replacement that doesn't support $z", but take a look at the Mac vs. PC commercials that Apple made; they don't mention crap like that either. The point of the ads are to get "Joe Sixpack" to use it.