At Microsoft, it is the CEO who threatens to murder people. Possibly his claim that he has done so before is true... there was an odd death by ingestion of antifreeze which has not been satisfactorily investigated.
I'm a big fan of science fiction, but FireFly (from what I can even remember of the two episodes that I think were on) was just another average science fiction show. It had a bit of "Brisco County Junior" flavor to it, but it took place in space. The End.
Just not that original or outstanding, if you ask me. Time for something new and interesting and innovative.
What I think was so great about Firefly wasn't its setting (although I did think it was quite out of the ordinary for a Sci-Fi show, and I liked it), but its characters and the interaction between them. The writing on that show was outstanding. The chemistry between all of the main cast shone through on-screen, and that's what pulled me in. They really seemed to care about each other, very much like a family, and you could really see it and almost feel it on-screen. The scenes in which I think that chemistry was most evident are the ones in which they're all gathered at the table eating a meal, laughing, and telling stories and jokes. It was magic.
Also, Firefly strikes me as more universally-appealing than most Sci-Fi. As Joss Whedon describes it, it's not about near-perfect people living in a near-perfect society. Its characters have flaws, their ship and their worlds are dirty and rough, and they're not out there saving the universe, they're just trying to live, and live free. My mom and I watched the entire series in a weekend, when she was visiting once, and she loved it (I don't know any other show she would do that with, by the way). My in-laws borrowed the DVDs and after watching them, immediately ordered their own copy. I think it'll be very interesting to see if Firefly gathers a larger following after the movie comes out.
"Linux doesn't exist?" What can we expect from SCO next? How do these people have enough funds to continue their insane legal proceedings? Why won't SCO just wither and die?
I just don't understand how a company with an outdated, proprietary UNIX, ever-decreasing customer base, and an increasingly expensive and insane legal campaign can hang on and fight for as long as SCO has. I look forward to IBM's fatal blows in the courtroom so that maybe this thing can finally go away.
I haven't RTFA yet, but I heard Brian Aker, MySQL's Director of Architecture speak at a local LUG meeting last weekend, and he sure didn't seem to think the company was backing away from the GPL. Quite the opposite. They're getting ready to release some really nice-looking new GUI admin tools, which will be GPL'd. He said (paraphrase), "If you're open source, we're open source, and we'll help you however we can. But if you're using our product in a closed-source way, we have no problem charging you for a commercial license." As I understand it, that's the way they've always been.
For a company in the midst of an anti-trust trial being presided over by a judge who seems to understand the issue and be willing to make an unfavorable (for MS) ruling, signing a 5-year, $100 million deal looks to me like a way to tell the public, "The DOJ can't touch us, and we're so confident of it, that we're going to put ourselves in 7000 Radio Shack stores nationwide." Am I the only one who thinks that's bold?
Slashdot Mirror
At Microsoft, it is the CEO who threatens to murder people. Possibly his claim that he has done so before is true... there was an odd death by ingestion of antifreeze which has not been satisfactorily investigated.
I'd never heard of this before, but in case anyone cares, here's a short mention of the death in the Seattle P-I.
I agree. And where are X-Wing and Tie Fighter? I spent *hours* on those as a kid.
I'm a big fan of science fiction, but FireFly (from what I can even remember of the two episodes that I think were on) was just another average science fiction show. It had a bit of "Brisco County Junior" flavor to it, but it took place in space. The End.
Just not that original or outstanding, if you ask me. Time for something new and interesting and innovative.
What I think was so great about Firefly wasn't its setting (although I did think it was quite out of the ordinary for a Sci-Fi show, and I liked it), but its characters and the interaction between them. The writing on that show was outstanding. The chemistry between all of the main cast shone through on-screen, and that's what pulled me in. They really seemed to care about each other, very much like a family, and you could really see it and almost feel it on-screen. The scenes in which I think that chemistry was most evident are the ones in which they're all gathered at the table eating a meal, laughing, and telling stories and jokes. It was magic.Also, Firefly strikes me as more universally-appealing than most Sci-Fi. As Joss Whedon describes it, it's not about near-perfect people living in a near-perfect society. Its characters have flaws, their ship and their worlds are dirty and rough, and they're not out there saving the universe, they're just trying to live, and live free. My mom and I watched the entire series in a weekend, when she was visiting once, and she loved it (I don't know any other show she would do that with, by the way). My in-laws borrowed the DVDs and after watching them, immediately ordered their own copy. I think it'll be very interesting to see if Firefly gathers a larger following after the movie comes out.
"Linux doesn't exist?" What can we expect from SCO next? How do these people have enough funds to continue their insane legal proceedings? Why won't SCO just wither and die?
I just don't understand how a company with an outdated, proprietary UNIX, ever-decreasing customer base, and an increasingly expensive and insane legal campaign can hang on and fight for as long as SCO has. I look forward to IBM's fatal blows in the courtroom so that maybe this thing can finally go away.
I haven't RTFA yet, but I heard Brian Aker, MySQL's Director of Architecture speak at a local LUG meeting last weekend, and he sure didn't seem to think the company was backing away from the GPL. Quite the opposite. They're getting ready to release some really nice-looking new GUI admin tools, which will be GPL'd. He said (paraphrase), "If you're open source, we're open source, and we'll help you however we can. But if you're using our product in a closed-source way, we have no problem charging you for a commercial license." As I understand it, that's the way they've always been.
For a company in the midst of an anti-trust trial being presided over by a judge who seems to understand the issue and be willing to make an unfavorable (for MS) ruling, signing a 5-year, $100 million deal looks to me like a way to tell the public, "The DOJ can't touch us, and we're so confident of it, that we're going to put ourselves in 7000 Radio Shack stores nationwide." Am I the only one who thinks that's bold?