my data integrity is only as good as their security
Point of fact: unless you are an expert, their security is probably better than yours. And the vast majority of people are not experts. You are welcome to keep your email on your machine. I do. But you can't ignore the benefit Google is offering to the masses.
What you want is good designers, not dictates on technology. If you think every aspect of every body of information can be served by plain text, you're a fool. Check out Tufte.
The first computer I owned was a Commodore VIC-20. I had no storage capability, so I'd spend all day typing in some horrid game from a magazine. Then I'd have to leave the computer on or I'd lose it. Well, that eventually killed the thing. By that point my school had an Apple, and a few years later I got an Atari 130 XE.
My real start, though, was on Trash 80s *at* Radio Shack. That's right, I learned to program sitting at the display model. The clerks hated my guts:
You seem to have failed to note the difference between regulated markets and communism. Fact is, there are no totally free markets, even in the U.S. The debate is over where to draw the line. Nobody is calling for a moritorium on regulation, and frankly I'm surprised there are people over the age of 14 who openly proclaim they believe totally elimination of regulation is honestly a panacea.
Caveat emptor, Bono. I wouldn't let those Geek Squad guys within five hundred yards of my computer: "Here's why it won't boot, dude, it needs a new ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB graphics card. We sell 'em with only a 400% markup."
Yeah, and I can't understand how so many slashbots trash the death penalty and yet see absolutely no problem with the death penalty! What's with those people???
While I agree that her views obviously conflicted with those of her employer, the suggestion that a law firm can't employ someone who publiclly advocates breaking the law is wrong. Just because they call them "law" firms doesn't mean that they are all in the business of defending the law. Most law firms, in fact, are in the business of defending clients by making arguments *about* the law, which is an altogether different proposition. It's not a stretch to imagine a defense attorney arguing in favor of civil disobedience, and if you think it is, I suggest you go take a good look at the U.S. in the 50s and 60s.
Looking at porn makes people want more porn. The link between porn and sexual conduct is quite controversial, but the effect of viewing porn on the demand for porn is not. Viewing porn makes people want to view more porn.
You can't just make totally unsubstantiated statements like this and expect anyone to take you seriously. Where's your proof?
What is the significant difference between burning a CD and downloading this stuff to your hard drive? By this definition, wasn't he "making" something when he downloaded the files?
Show me one instance where Flash truly is the best choice out there.
As has been said a hundred times, homestarrunner.com. Plus Newsmap. The latter should give you an idea of a whole class of applications where Flash is truly the best choice. A related competitor is the baby name wizard (google it), which is a Java app. It's neat, but on my dual-proc G4, it's slow as molasses and takes forever to load. 'Nuff said.
The only good use of Flash I've ever seen is for video.
Are you saying that a) Flash is not a good animation platform, or that b) animation = video, or that c) animation is not important enough to merit consideration?
1) A lot of your crits are about personal preferences -- you didn't like the one game you checked out and you don't want to dig through a huge grid of games. Ok, fine. But that's not a criticism of Flash.
2) I never meant to imply that Fcukstar itself is outstanding. It's just a compendium of links to a lot of Flash sites (there are plenty of other such showcases). Some are good, some aren't. Lots of it is gratuitous, lots is stuff that most people would never even stumble upon independent of site like Fcukstar, but a lot of it is just really attractive, interesting work, not because the HTML is copyable or because it adheres to link color standards, but just on its own merits. And I don't believe it takes a designer to appreciate it any more than it takes an painter to appreciate Braque. But it is necessary to understand that not every website has to do things like every other. Sometimes figuring out the interface can be enjoyable. Whole games have been predicated on figuring out interfaces.
3) You skipped YouTube, which I really think is the best argument of the three. While I'm at it, I'll throw homestarrunner.com on the pile.
For that matter, I use Flash constantly to develop technical demonstrations for the profs at the university where I work. If you can allow that animation is at all useful, you have to admit that Flash is a pretty decent animation tool.
If you only ever come to the web looking for raw information, Flash can be a pain. But then, if information is all you are interested in, we may as well go back to Archie and FTP. In the hands of a skilled and thoughtful developer -- as with any other tool -- Flash can be used to create really neat stuff. And I don't know about you, but neat stuff was what drew me to the Web in the first place.
Caveat: I have a lot of problems with the Flash development environment and I do wish that SWF was an open format so we could get some competing tools.
But why bother? Is Disney really anything more than a brand? Is it really worth it to revive the brand when Pixar was making great stuff? Jobs was already producing content, distribution (iTunes), the codec and the device. What does Disney give him other than a bunch of headaches? I'm sure they'll get some good talent, but hell, Pixar can hire good talent any time they want.
I'm not being snide -- I really don't know the answers to these questions. I do agree, though, that the potential for abuse is frightening, if only because this means there is less competition now. I guess that's something in Jobs' favor.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, if you want to deny 3000 years of Western philosophy (about half of it anyway) with a glib remark, be my guest. I did.
The TV won't talk back to you.
Unless you get drunk enough.
I'd rather that they have a life, not a make-believe one.
What could be more real than what your senses tell you is real? To paraphrase Videodrome, the computer screen is the retina of the mind's eye.my data integrity is only as good as their security
Point of fact: unless you are an expert, their security is probably better than yours. And the vast majority of people are not experts. You are welcome to keep your email on your machine. I do. But you can't ignore the benefit Google is offering to the masses.
What you want is good designers, not dictates on technology. If you think every aspect of every body of information can be served by plain text, you're a fool. Check out Tufte.
The first computer I owned was a Commodore VIC-20. I had no storage capability, so I'd spend all day typing in some horrid game from a magazine. Then I'd have to leave the computer on or I'd lose it. Well, that eventually killed the thing. By that point my school had an Apple, and a few years later I got an Atari 130 XE.
My real start, though, was on Trash 80s *at* Radio Shack. That's right, I learned to program sitting at the display model. The clerks hated my guts:
10 PRINT "FUCK!"
20 GOTO 10
You seem to have failed to note the difference between regulated markets and communism. Fact is, there are no totally free markets, even in the U.S. The debate is over where to draw the line. Nobody is calling for a moritorium on regulation, and frankly I'm surprised there are people over the age of 14 who openly proclaim they believe totally elimination of regulation is honestly a panacea.
Uh, does that include public universities? Because, you know, they are controlled by the government.
The Wehrmacht was "completely detached" from the SS. So what.
I only needed to see Best Buy fuck up video camera repairs twice to learn not to bring anything valuable to them.
Never figured Slashdot would be a hotbed of Best Buy apologists.
Caveat emptor, Bono. I wouldn't let those Geek Squad guys within five hundred yards of my computer: "Here's why it won't boot, dude, it needs a new ATI Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB graphics card. We sell 'em with only a 400% markup."
Yeah, and I can't understand how so many slashbots trash the death penalty and yet see absolutely no problem with the death penalty! What's with those people???
While I agree that her views obviously conflicted with those of her employer, the suggestion that a law firm can't employ someone who publiclly advocates breaking the law is wrong. Just because they call them "law" firms doesn't mean that they are all in the business of defending the law. Most law firms, in fact, are in the business of defending clients by making arguments *about* the law, which is an altogether different proposition. It's not a stretch to imagine a defense attorney arguing in favor of civil disobedience, and if you think it is, I suggest you go take a good look at the U.S. in the 50s and 60s.
I think you missed my point. I suppose I'm being far too oblique for print. But whatever.
Thanks prof poindexter. Now care to give us a lecture on case law and precedent?
Looking at porn makes people want more porn. The link between porn and sexual conduct is quite controversial, but the effect of viewing porn on the demand for porn is not. Viewing porn makes people want to view more porn.
You can't just make totally unsubstantiated statements like this and expect anyone to take you seriously. Where's your proof?
What is the significant difference between burning a CD and downloading this stuff to your hard drive? By this definition, wasn't he "making" something when he downloaded the files?
Wait, that's too complicated. I can't follow that many points. Where does the Antichrist fit in to all this?
Show me one instance where Flash truly is the best choice out there.
As has been said a hundred times, homestarrunner.com. Plus Newsmap. The latter should give you an idea of a whole class of applications where Flash is truly the best choice. A related competitor is the baby name wizard (google it), which is a Java app. It's neat, but on my dual-proc G4, it's slow as molasses and takes forever to load. 'Nuff said.
The only good use of Flash I've ever seen is for video.
Are you saying that a) Flash is not a good animation platform, or that b) animation = video, or that c) animation is not important enough to merit consideration?
No one would ever say you were brief. ;)
A couple comments:
1) A lot of your crits are about personal preferences -- you didn't like the one game you checked out and you don't want to dig through a huge grid of games. Ok, fine. But that's not a criticism of Flash.
2) I never meant to imply that Fcukstar itself is outstanding. It's just a compendium of links to a lot of Flash sites (there are plenty of other such showcases). Some are good, some aren't. Lots of it is gratuitous, lots is stuff that most people would never even stumble upon independent of site like Fcukstar, but a lot of it is just really attractive, interesting work, not because the HTML is copyable or because it adheres to link color standards, but just on its own merits. And I don't believe it takes a designer to appreciate it any more than it takes an painter to appreciate Braque. But it is necessary to understand that not every website has to do things like every other. Sometimes figuring out the interface can be enjoyable. Whole games have been predicated on figuring out interfaces.
3) You skipped YouTube, which I really think is the best argument of the three. While I'm at it, I'll throw homestarrunner.com on the pile.
Eew. Who wants to eat that much caviar?
Show me one instance where Flash truly is the best choice out there.
YouTube
There's lots of terrific Flash content. You just have to look for it.
Really good games: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ (say what you like, I can play these for hours). Brilliant design and animation, follow many of the links here: http://www.fcukstar.com/post2005/index.html (or any one of a jillion other awards sites). And do I even need to mention YouTube?
For that matter, I use Flash constantly to develop technical demonstrations for the profs at the university where I work. If you can allow that animation is at all useful, you have to admit that Flash is a pretty decent animation tool.
If you only ever come to the web looking for raw information, Flash can be a pain. But then, if information is all you are interested in, we may as well go back to Archie and FTP. In the hands of a skilled and thoughtful developer -- as with any other tool -- Flash can be used to create really neat stuff. And I don't know about you, but neat stuff was what drew me to the Web in the first place.
Caveat: I have a lot of problems with the Flash development environment and I do wish that SWF was an open format so we could get some competing tools.
But why bother? Is Disney really anything more than a brand? Is it really worth it to revive the brand when Pixar was making great stuff? Jobs was already producing content, distribution (iTunes), the codec and the device. What does Disney give him other than a bunch of headaches? I'm sure they'll get some good talent, but hell, Pixar can hire good talent any time they want.
I'm not being snide -- I really don't know the answers to these questions. I do agree, though, that the potential for abuse is frightening, if only because this means there is less competition now. I guess that's something in Jobs' favor.