What exactly is the reason we need to suddenly upgrade to a different format? DVDs don't seem to me to have any shortfalls. People are just NOW accepting the DVD as the new standard, and there are homes that are still yet to upgrade from VHS to DVD. Why bother launching yet ANOTHER campaign telling people to get with the times and get a whole new digital media player?
Additionally, unless any of these formats have functional recording capabilities OUT OF THE BOX like the VCR, the aging VHS format will still not be replaced. Most people cannot afford a monthly subscription fee for a TiVo-like device, nor can they afford to buy an extra broadband-enabled computer to stick next to their TV to record the footage to expensive hard drives that can be lost much easier than tangible media like the VHS tape.
Based on the feedback I got regarding my complaint, it apparently saves everybody a lot of time by forcing the readers to do their own research. A simple link or a very short description in the news story itself is seen as simply unacceptable. Go figure.
How do I know if I'm interested in it or not if I have no idea what it is? A simple sentence at the end of the submission saying something like, "Incase you don't know, a PBX is _____" would have told me just what I'm reading about. And if it suddenly peaks my interest, then I'll start clicking the links to learn more. I'm not asking for a full essay describing everything there is to know about a PBX, just one short sentence is plenty.
One of the major problems with Slashdot articles is that they provide absolutely NO background information to what the hell they're referencing. We may all be geeks and nerds, but that doesn't mean we know what a PBX box is. I'm not going to click on your damn link just to find out what the hell you're trying to say with your stinking news submission.
If a standard, everyday IT geek can read your submission without clicking on any links and be able to understand what's in store within those links, you've done a good job. This particular submission is not an example of this.
Basic functionality? You mean, VGA 16 colour, and SoundBlaster emulation, right? So what, Linux has VGA and SoundBlaster as well.
My whole point is that sometimes it doesn't while Windows always does. And I'm not going to say that this is a really big outbreak of malfunction on Linux, but you can't deny that a minority of people DO have problems with this.
Oh, and if you dig up some Windows cases with a similar problem, the solution to those cases would be to simply download the latest drivers, which is not a difficult task. Show me an equivalent procedure in Linux.
I don't hate Linux and I'm not a huge fan of Windows. However, anyone who's not too stuck up in their open source superiority complex will realize that Linux can still be considered a "beta" product in the home desktop environment. I know Slashdot seems to be obsessed with expanding Linux marketshare in the corporate world, where you'll have help desks and sysadmins easily fixing any problems, resulting in a superior and more stable working environment than Windows... BUT, how many home users are capable of performing such tasks? How many can do a source installation of ALSA? How many can find a way to do in a simpler way? Contrast that with going to a manufacturer's website, downloading a file to the desktop, and double-clicking it's icon.
Windows XP installation requires no more effort than a modern Linux installation. In fact, it is pretty widely accepted that it is the Linux distribution developers who are playing catch-up to Microsoft in terms of the user friendliness and automation of the OS installation process. Thankfully, Linux installations are mostly very simple nowadays because of this. This might've been a valid argument when Windows 98 was around, but that was quite a while ago.
In response to your issues with patching, when was the last time you installed a Linux distribution that did not give you a friendly warning that you need to download tens of megabytes worth of patches and updates? I mean, sure, you can argue that Windows patches are more important because the standard installation of Windows XP is a lot less secure than the standard installation of any Linux distribution, but if you argue that, you'd be forgetting one key point: Your Linux distribution of choice will likely be several months old, at most. Windows XP, on the other hand, was released when? Around five years ago?
Also, while I'm sure that Microsoft's default hardware drivers would usually not give you full functionality of your desired device, Windows at least recognizes that the device exists and to give it some basic functionality. No matter how advanced, a soundcard with Microsoft's default driver will play sound. A videocard with Microsoft's default driver will display your desktop on the screen. The sound may not be as crisp, and the video may not go to desired resolutions, but at least these devices will have rudimentary functionality.
A visit to the manufacturer's website will usually let you download the official Windows drivers and install them fairly easily. Because they usually don't provide Linux drivers, you're stuck performing complicated system administration similar to what is described here. Leaving such things up to the user is simply unacceptable in a home desktop environment.
Unlike the 30 year old definition of the word "user" which most Linux devotees arrogantly cling to to this day, a user is a layman consumer, NOT the programmer.
When this stops being the reality of Linux, only then will it really be able to compete with Microsoft. All security issues aside, people just want their computer to WORK.
This is nonsense. A friend of mine with a relatively new Dell machine wanted to install Linux. Fedora Core 3 did not recognize their mass-produced Dell-standard soundcard. Mandrake would not run without crashing every several minutes for absolutely no reason. Now, you may say that my suggestions for distributions may not have been very well researched, but these are two of the most popular personal desktop Linux distributions, and neither worked properly after a fresh installation. That's at least one family that is going to stick with Windows XP because Linux is just simply "not there yet".
Heh, good point. The thing that bothers me the most about Slashdot story submissions is that they fail to give any background information of what the hell they're talking about. The thing that bothers me almost as much is when links within the submission must be clicked in order to decipher what the hell the submitter is saying. As a general rule of thumb, if you take the plain text of your submission (no HTML), read it, and it made no sense, maybe you should rephrase it.
Why the hell do they include several versions of the same insignificant item in the "greatest gadgets in history" list? What kind of bullshit is that? Guess what, a laptop is nothing more than a portable computer. They have no mention of "computer" (one would be enough, by the way) but EIGHT of the 100 items are laptops!?
Here in New York, the local library branches have a selection of no more than 100 VHS tapes. I swear, at least half of them are the miniseries "North and South" and most of the other half are mindless non-hit drivel from the 80s and early 90s. Plus, there is something disturbing about fighting off 20 other smelly cheapskates who staked out the video shelves waiting for that one 'new' release to be put up after someone else just returned it.
To be fair, the central library does have a larger selection, in addition to a little DVD section. However, it is not organized by genre or in any other way. (It's a library! You'd think they'd know how to organize their catalog!) Finding a good movie to watch in the library amounts to nothing more than a crapshoot, and most people would pay the $5 to take out the one specific movie they've wanted to watch.
The TV awards show you refer to was a viewer's choice show that is in no way related to the awards given by this organization. The AIAS is an industry-only organization whose awards are voted on by industry peers.
Wow. So, quality is determined by complexity of controls or complexity of gameplay mechanics? I'd rather play a simple and fun arcade game that uses only one or two buttons than some complicated real-world simulator that uses every key on the computer keyboard.
People like you are the reason that FUN old school-style games are dying out in favor of something like this.
I'm going to buy myself a ski mask to protect my anonimity, and then I'm going to walk down the street. I will walk up to every house I can find and jiggle the door knob. If it doesn't open, I'll feel disappointed, but I'll simply move on to the next house. If I jiggle it and it does open, I'm going to barge in, grab my spray paint bottle, and paint over the living room walls: "Hahaha! You dumb bastards! I 0wn you! Shout outs to all my pals!" and then leave a note on the coffee table saying, "Next time, lock your doors, idiots!"
I won't steal their things, of course. I'll just walk around and look through their belongings, like the underwear drawer and the bathroom. No big deal. I mean, it's not like I'm the REAL attacker, I'm just the guy that sends little warnings!
If I get arrested, I'll be like, "Hey, come on, see what skill I have? Let me become a detective and I'll track down others like me!"
Then, I'll get interviewed and claim how I'm not the real threat, it's the immaginary terrorists who'd break into people's houses with REAL malicious intent who are the bad guys, and how I'm really harmless and my only crime is that of curiosity.
Yeah, it's too great a risk to allow someone whose daddy didn't buy him a computer at an early age to be welcomed into the modern world! They will end up killing us all with their Comet Cursors!!!
Why does every government agency seek to enlarge it's power by regulating new things? What purpose would this have? Why can't they leave these services in the private sector? Somebody explain this to me, because I really don't get it.
Wow, what an idiot. He puts his personal ideology and sociopolitical beliefs ahead of software innovation. What's next, Bill Gates charging money for using Internet Explorer because he believes so strongly in capitalism?
This guy has just proven to me that the open source community is just as ridiculous as the commercial software community. They put themselves and their ideology/bottom line ahead of the consumer.
United Artists theaters, a national chain with hundreds (if not thousands) of theaters across the country, runs a 'show' called The Twenty. It is exactly twenty minutes of commercials for consumer products and TV shows (NBC and TNT are the most prominently-featured channels).
After The Twenty ends, the trailers for upcoming movies begin. I don't know where you've been living the past 50 years, but aside from short teasers for movies scheduled to release as much as one year ahead of time, almost all movie trailers are about 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. And there is 10 minutes worth of that.
So, yes, it does come out to 30 solid minutes of ads.
"The article does not mention what sort of codec might be chosen..."
May I be the first to say... who the hell cares about the codec they'll choose!? They're friggin audio books! For the blind!
Who the hell is Steven Beck and why is he being entrusted to direct a big-budget sci-fi film? If this movie sucks, something tells me it will suck because of this inexperienced dude.
Judging by past experiences, they won't know how to use it even after building it. Then a terrorist will blow it up. Then they'll rebuild it, but no one will believe that it works even after it's used, prompting Congressional hearings. Then Jodie Foster will get passed over for the Oscar.
Slashdot Mirror
What exactly is the reason we need to suddenly upgrade to a different format? DVDs don't seem to me to have any shortfalls. People are just NOW accepting the DVD as the new standard, and there are homes that are still yet to upgrade from VHS to DVD. Why bother launching yet ANOTHER campaign telling people to get with the times and get a whole new digital media player?
Additionally, unless any of these formats have functional recording capabilities OUT OF THE BOX like the VCR, the aging VHS format will still not be replaced. Most people cannot afford a monthly subscription fee for a TiVo-like device, nor can they afford to buy an extra broadband-enabled computer to stick next to their TV to record the footage to expensive hard drives that can be lost much easier than tangible media like the VHS tape.
Based on the feedback I got regarding my complaint, it apparently saves everybody a lot of time by forcing the readers to do their own research. A simple link or a very short description in the news story itself is seen as simply unacceptable. Go figure.
How do I know if I'm interested in it or not if I have no idea what it is? A simple sentence at the end of the submission saying something like, "Incase you don't know, a PBX is _____" would have told me just what I'm reading about. And if it suddenly peaks my interest, then I'll start clicking the links to learn more. I'm not asking for a full essay describing everything there is to know about a PBX, just one short sentence is plenty.
One of the major problems with Slashdot articles is that they provide absolutely NO background information to what the hell they're referencing. We may all be geeks and nerds, but that doesn't mean we know what a PBX box is. I'm not going to click on your damn link just to find out what the hell you're trying to say with your stinking news submission.
If a standard, everyday IT geek can read your submission without clicking on any links and be able to understand what's in store within those links, you've done a good job. This particular submission is not an example of this.
Basic functionality? You mean, VGA 16 colour, and SoundBlaster emulation, right? So what, Linux has VGA and SoundBlaster as well.
My whole point is that sometimes it doesn't while Windows always does. And I'm not going to say that this is a really big outbreak of malfunction on Linux, but you can't deny that a minority of people DO have problems with this.
Oh, and if you dig up some Windows cases with a similar problem, the solution to those cases would be to simply download the latest drivers, which is not a difficult task. Show me an equivalent procedure in Linux.
I don't hate Linux and I'm not a huge fan of Windows. However, anyone who's not too stuck up in their open source superiority complex will realize that Linux can still be considered a "beta" product in the home desktop environment. I know Slashdot seems to be obsessed with expanding Linux marketshare in the corporate world, where you'll have help desks and sysadmins easily fixing any problems, resulting in a superior and more stable working environment than Windows... BUT, how many home users are capable of performing such tasks? How many can do a source installation of ALSA? How many can find a way to do in a simpler way? Contrast that with going to a manufacturer's website, downloading a file to the desktop, and double-clicking it's icon.
Windows XP installation requires no more effort than a modern Linux installation. In fact, it is pretty widely accepted that it is the Linux distribution developers who are playing catch-up to Microsoft in terms of the user friendliness and automation of the OS installation process. Thankfully, Linux installations are mostly very simple nowadays because of this. This might've been a valid argument when Windows 98 was around, but that was quite a while ago.
In response to your issues with patching, when was the last time you installed a Linux distribution that did not give you a friendly warning that you need to download tens of megabytes worth of patches and updates? I mean, sure, you can argue that Windows patches are more important because the standard installation of Windows XP is a lot less secure than the standard installation of any Linux distribution, but if you argue that, you'd be forgetting one key point: Your Linux distribution of choice will likely be several months old, at most. Windows XP, on the other hand, was released when? Around five years ago?
Also, while I'm sure that Microsoft's default hardware drivers would usually not give you full functionality of your desired device, Windows at least recognizes that the device exists and to give it some basic functionality. No matter how advanced, a soundcard with Microsoft's default driver will play sound. A videocard with Microsoft's default driver will display your desktop on the screen. The sound may not be as crisp, and the video may not go to desired resolutions, but at least these devices will have rudimentary functionality.
A visit to the manufacturer's website will usually let you download the official Windows drivers and install them fairly easily. Because they usually don't provide Linux drivers, you're stuck performing complicated system administration similar to what is described here. Leaving such things up to the user is simply unacceptable in a home desktop environment.
Unlike the 30 year old definition of the word "user" which most Linux devotees arrogantly cling to to this day, a user is a layman consumer, NOT the programmer.
When this stops being the reality of Linux, only then will it really be able to compete with Microsoft. All security issues aside, people just want their computer to WORK.
This is nonsense. A friend of mine with a relatively new Dell machine wanted to install Linux. Fedora Core 3 did not recognize their mass-produced Dell-standard soundcard. Mandrake would not run without crashing every several minutes for absolutely no reason. Now, you may say that my suggestions for distributions may not have been very well researched, but these are two of the most popular personal desktop Linux distributions, and neither worked properly after a fresh installation. That's at least one family that is going to stick with Windows XP because Linux is just simply "not there yet".
Heh, good point. The thing that bothers me the most about Slashdot story submissions is that they fail to give any background information of what the hell they're talking about. The thing that bothers me almost as much is when links within the submission must be clicked in order to decipher what the hell the submitter is saying. As a general rule of thumb, if you take the plain text of your submission (no HTML), read it, and it made no sense, maybe you should rephrase it.
An anonymous reader writes "The court ruling about this found that $15 million is owed to them. In other news, this happened before.
To whoever modded this down as a troll: You, sir, are an idiot.
This is all the same fucking invention:
_ 80.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/TRS
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/hp _omnibook.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/pa na_toughbook.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/ne c%20ultralite.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/gr idcompass.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/po werbook540c.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/IB M_butterfly_thinkpad.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/po werbook100.jpg
It's called a LAPTOP.
------
s iopeia.jpg
This is also the same fucking invention:
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/cas
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/ha ndspring_visor.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/Ne wton120.jpg
http://mobilepcmag.com/images/features/top100/pa lmpilot.jpg
It's called a PDA.
Why the hell do they include several versions of the same insignificant item in the "greatest gadgets in history" list? What kind of bullshit is that? Guess what, a laptop is nothing more than a portable computer. They have no mention of "computer" (one would be enough, by the way) but EIGHT of the 100 items are laptops!?
Of the librarians who won't take the time out of their busy schedules of surfing the web to organize their video shelves.
That's just lazyness.
Here in New York, the local library branches have a selection of no more than 100 VHS tapes. I swear, at least half of them are the miniseries "North and South" and most of the other half are mindless non-hit drivel from the 80s and early 90s. Plus, there is something disturbing about fighting off 20 other smelly cheapskates who staked out the video shelves waiting for that one 'new' release to be put up after someone else just returned it.
To be fair, the central library does have a larger selection, in addition to a little DVD section. However, it is not organized by genre or in any other way. (It's a library! You'd think they'd know how to organize their catalog!) Finding a good movie to watch in the library amounts to nothing more than a crapshoot, and most people would pay the $5 to take out the one specific movie they've wanted to watch.
The TV awards show you refer to was a viewer's choice show that is in no way related to the awards given by this organization. The AIAS is an industry-only organization whose awards are voted on by industry peers.
It's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo.
Wow. So, quality is determined by complexity of controls or complexity of gameplay mechanics? I'd rather play a simple and fun arcade game that uses only one or two buttons than some complicated real-world simulator that uses every key on the computer keyboard.
People like you are the reason that FUN old school-style games are dying out in favor of something like this.
I'm going to buy myself a ski mask to protect my anonimity, and then I'm going to walk down the street. I will walk up to every house I can find and jiggle the door knob. If it doesn't open, I'll feel disappointed, but I'll simply move on to the next house. If I jiggle it and it does open, I'm going to barge in, grab my spray paint bottle, and paint over the living room walls: "Hahaha! You dumb bastards! I 0wn you! Shout outs to all my pals!" and then leave a note on the coffee table saying, "Next time, lock your doors, idiots!"
I won't steal their things, of course. I'll just walk around and look through their belongings, like the underwear drawer and the bathroom. No big deal. I mean, it's not like I'm the REAL attacker, I'm just the guy that sends little warnings!
If I get arrested, I'll be like, "Hey, come on, see what skill I have? Let me become a detective and I'll track down others like me!"
Then, I'll get interviewed and claim how I'm not the real threat, it's the immaginary terrorists who'd break into people's houses with REAL malicious intent who are the bad guys, and how I'm really harmless and my only crime is that of curiosity.
Yeah, it's too great a risk to allow someone whose daddy didn't buy him a computer at an early age to be welcomed into the modern world! They will end up killing us all with their Comet Cursors!!!
Why does every government agency seek to enlarge it's power by regulating new things? What purpose would this have? Why can't they leave these services in the private sector? Somebody explain this to me, because I really don't get it.
http://www.bi-torrent.com/
This guy has just proven to me that the open source community is just as ridiculous as the commercial software community. They put themselves and their ideology/bottom line ahead of the consumer.
United Artists theaters, a national chain with hundreds (if not thousands) of theaters across the country, runs a 'show' called The Twenty. It is exactly twenty minutes of commercials for consumer products and TV shows (NBC and TNT are the most prominently-featured channels).
After The Twenty ends, the trailers for upcoming movies begin. I don't know where you've been living the past 50 years, but aside from short teasers for movies scheduled to release as much as one year ahead of time, almost all movie trailers are about 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. And there is 10 minutes worth of that.
So, yes, it does come out to 30 solid minutes of ads.
"The article does not mention what sort of codec might be chosen..." May I be the first to say... who the hell cares about the codec they'll choose!? They're friggin audio books! For the blind!
Who the hell is Steven Beck and why is he being entrusted to direct a big-budget sci-fi film? If this movie sucks, something tells me it will suck because of this inexperienced dude.
Judging by past experiences, they won't know how to use it even after building it.
Then a terrorist will blow it up.
Then they'll rebuild it, but no one will believe that it works even after it's used, prompting Congressional hearings.
Then Jodie Foster will get passed over for the Oscar.