But baseball cards, if kept in mint condition, can at least be worth something in the future. Think of buying baseball cards each year as making a minimal-risk investment each year.
A baseball video game (like almost any obsolete video game) won't be worth anything in a few years, though.
...buys a new baseball video game every year? I mean, there are probably some people, but I always figured they represented a minority consumer base. How much really changes between years in baseball video games?
But then I saw this: (From TFA)
[There is] a strong possibility that this means the firm will release new titles both for the start of the baseball leagues in spring, and for the busy holiday sales period which starts in mid-autumn.
Who would buy a new baseball game in Spring if they just got one for Christmas?
...you don't want all that information following you? From TFA:
Just like the classical ID, the eID contains your photo, surname and first names, sex, nationality, place and date of birth, signature, national number as well as the validity period of the card.
Quite frankly, there are times I would like to use the Internet without all of that information following me around. There are sometimes online I just don't want to be identified! Even when I do want to be identified (using Canada as an example) the idea of even giving my SIN number to Microsoft sounds insane! I ccertainly wouldn't want that sort of sensitive information identifying me online. I'll stick to using my name...
[C]onsistent product success at a level that helps expand the industry.
Perhaps they glossed over that requirement in this case? After all, running a company into the ground by selling a console 7x more expensive than their competitors (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_Hawkins) isn't exactly product success.
Although Nintendo obviously would not be willing to divulge what its viral plans are for other upcoming titles, with the company's long history of shaking things up through the Internet medium, you can be sure they'll be at it again when the right game comes along.
Nintendo had best be careful for which games they advertise like this in the future. Sometimes the wackos may even be qualified. I mean, I'm sure we can all imagine the "typical fantasy geek" attempting to learn a few new skills to become an equestrian-riding musician and swordsman. And while he may not be successful in this attempt, it certainly wouldn't stop him from demanding an interview for the job after the new Zelda game comes out.
Pointy ears a benefit...plastic surgery for nerds!
Netscape obtains blacklists of scam and spam sites which will be denied access to ActiveX and cookies.
Good thing it keeps out those dangerous spammers! Now if only it kept out the people who set up little, lesser-known pages that try to exploit my browser via ActiveX.
Maybe the solution is for Netscape not to be Internet Explorer.
Gaël Duval makes the somewhat "interesting" assumption that everyone who buys a desktop computer wants to run Linux on it:
OFB: Is [the Mac Mini] a threat to GNU/Linux on the desktop?
GD: Not really since the Mac Mini is very likely to run Linux.
I think the question OFB was really asking was: Will the inexpensive Mac Mini cause people to choose OS X as a desktop UNIX solution instead of Linux. And while Linux is a fine desktop solution, the simple truth is that if people are willing to spend over $2000 to buy a Powerbook for the sole sake of running OS X, they're probably willing to spend under $500 to have an OS X desktop too.
What is an example of a "technological reason"? Linux is not that great technologically.
Perhaps a matter of perspective. I'm not claiming that Linux is a gem of engineering perfection; what I am claiming is that it is a useful and reasonably robust system that can provide a large number of services, similar to what you stated. I consider this a technological reason to consider Linux.
Regardless of my views or your views on Linux, I find it amazing that IBM doesn't provide a similar page on reasons to choose Linux, linked directly to their portal page. Granted such a page for Linux would be geared to a different audience than such a page for Windows; but, you'd think if IBM was truly espousing Linux for technological reasons, there would be such a page.
Don't misunderstand this post: I think it is an excellent trend that Linux is taking a larger share in the business world. Hopefully vendors will even start to pick up on other open-source solutions (BSD, etc) too. After all, open-source is all about choice and freedom.
However, I question whether companies such as IBM are truly choosing Linux based on technological reasons, or if they are just marketing "Linux" as a buzzword to upper-management types who may have heard something about it.
After all, a quick look at IBM's portal site for Linux, http://www.ibm.com/linux/, does not show a page detailing the technological benefits of Linux. Heck, it barely mentions financial benefits. What I do see is a bunch of snazzy logos, and some rather devoid-of-meaning slogans such as, "Business and Linux in an On Demand World."
Am I being too harsh on IBM, or are they really just playing the marketing game?
In the images from the harder version of Gimpy, http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~mori/gimpy/hard/, the grey colour of the text is distinctly darker wherever two letters intersect (eg. where the "o" and "s" intersect in "long" and "sharp" in the upper right corner of the first image).
Now, I'm not suggesting that it is easy for a computer the read these words; but, wouldn't this darker text colour make it easier for a learning algorithm to "dissect" two letters that intersect slightly?
I can't imagine that recognizing the letters without the darker intersections would be much harder for people, but I can see the darker intersections being an advantage for computers. Why not remove them?
I just tried customizing an order for one of the new 15" Powerbooks. I'm not sure if I encountered a bug in Apple's Online Store, or if I have a misunderstanding about what VRAM is.
If you customize the high-end 15" Powerbook (the 1.67 GHz one) and choose to upgrade the Video Memory to 128M, you get the following printout for what your custom order will be:
Slashdot Mirror
Something is either unique (if there is one of it) or not. Calling something "very unique" is bad style.
That's very true!
Who buys baseball cards every year?
But baseball cards, if kept in mint condition, can at least be worth something in the future. Think of buying baseball cards each year as making a minimal-risk investment each year.
A baseball video game (like almost any obsolete video game) won't be worth anything in a few years, though.
...buys a new baseball video game every year? I mean, there are probably some people, but I always figured they represented a minority consumer base. How much really changes between years in baseball video games?
But then I saw this: (From TFA)
[There is] a strong possibility that this means the firm will release new titles both for the start of the baseball leagues in spring, and for the busy holiday sales period which starts in mid-autumn.
Who would buy a new baseball game in Spring if they just got one for Christmas?
...you don't want all that information following you? From TFA:
Just like the classical ID, the eID contains your photo, surname and first names, sex, nationality, place and date of birth, signature, national number as well as the validity period of the card.
Quite frankly, there are times I would like to use the Internet without all of that information following me around. There are sometimes online I just don't want to be identified! Even when I do want to be identified (using Canada as an example) the idea of even giving my SIN number to Microsoft sounds insane! I ccertainly wouldn't want that sort of sensitive information identifying me online. I'll stick to using my name...
From the AIAS qualification list for induction:
[C]onsistent product success at a level that helps expand the industry.
Perhaps they glossed over that requirement in this case? After all, running a company into the ground by selling a console 7x more expensive than their competitors (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_Hawkins) isn't exactly product success.
From TFA:
Although Nintendo obviously would not be willing to divulge what its viral plans are for other upcoming titles, with the company's long history of shaking things up through the Internet medium, you can be sure they'll be at it again when the right game comes along.
Nintendo had best be careful for which games they advertise like this in the future. Sometimes the wackos may even be qualified. I mean, I'm sure we can all imagine the "typical fantasy geek" attempting to learn a few new skills to become an equestrian-riding musician and swordsman. And while he may not be successful in this attempt, it certainly wouldn't stop him from demanding an interview for the job after the new Zelda game comes out.
Pointy ears a benefit...plastic surgery for nerds!
Netscape obtains blacklists of scam and spam sites which will be denied access to ActiveX and cookies.
Good thing it keeps out those dangerous spammers! Now if only it kept out the people who set up little, lesser-known pages that try to exploit my browser via ActiveX.
Maybe the solution is for Netscape not to be Internet Explorer.
Gaël Duval makes the somewhat "interesting" assumption that everyone who buys a desktop computer wants to run Linux on it:
OFB: Is [the Mac Mini] a threat to GNU/Linux on the desktop?
GD: Not really since the Mac Mini is very likely to run Linux.
I think the question OFB was really asking was: Will the inexpensive Mac Mini cause people to choose OS X as a desktop UNIX solution instead of Linux. And while Linux is a fine desktop solution, the simple truth is that if people are willing to spend over $2000 to buy a Powerbook for the sole sake of running OS X, they're probably willing to spend under $500 to have an OS X desktop too.
What is an example of a "technological reason"? Linux is not that great technologically.
p x. Directly linked from this site is a page discussing reasons to choose Windows XP Pro: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/ whyupgrade/sidebyside/default.mspx.
Perhaps a matter of perspective. I'm not claiming that Linux is a gem of engineering perfection; what I am claiming is that it is a useful and reasonably robust system that can provide a large number of services, similar to what you stated. I consider this a technological reason to consider Linux.
Perhaps the point of my post (the grandparent) can best be summarized with this observation: Go to the main site for Windows XP Pro: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/default.ms
Regardless of my views or your views on Linux, I find it amazing that IBM doesn't provide a similar page on reasons to choose Linux, linked directly to their portal page. Granted such a page for Linux would be geared to a different audience than such a page for Windows; but, you'd think if IBM was truly espousing Linux for technological reasons, there would be such a page.
...got to him.
Problem in Database Connection
Speak poorly of Apple, and you will suffer. The smily face in my Finder window is merely a distraction.
I believe it should read, "While the WEF can afford..."
just use speech recognition software, followed by a translation by Babelfish? It would make all of the speeches humourous, I bet!
Don't misunderstand this post: I think it is an excellent trend that Linux is taking a larger share in the business world. Hopefully vendors will even start to pick up on other open-source solutions (BSD, etc) too. After all, open-source is all about choice and freedom.
However, I question whether companies such as IBM are truly choosing Linux based on technological reasons, or if they are just marketing "Linux" as a buzzword to upper-management types who may have heard something about it.
After all, a quick look at IBM's portal site for Linux, http://www.ibm.com/linux/, does not show a page detailing the technological benefits of Linux. Heck, it barely mentions financial benefits. What I do see is a bunch of snazzy logos, and some rather devoid-of-meaning slogans such as, "Business and Linux in an On Demand World."
Am I being too harsh on IBM, or are they really just playing the marketing game?
In the images from the harder version of Gimpy, http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~mori/gimpy/hard/, the grey colour of the text is distinctly darker wherever two letters intersect (eg. where the "o" and "s" intersect in "long" and "sharp" in the upper right corner of the first image).
Now, I'm not suggesting that it is easy for a computer the read these words; but, wouldn't this darker text colour make it easier for a learning algorithm to "dissect" two letters that intersect slightly?
I can't imagine that recognizing the letters without the darker intersections would be much harder for people, but I can see the darker intersections being an advantage for computers. Why not remove them?
[T]he one that does it all while also making upper management feel warm and fuzzy?
In that case, you have to go with the one that costs less than Wind...oh, wait...
I just tried customizing an order for one of the new 15" Powerbooks. I'm not sure if I encountered a bug in Apple's Online Store, or if I have a misunderstanding about what VRAM is.
If you customize the high-end 15" Powerbook (the 1.67 GHz one) and choose to upgrade the Video Memory to 128M, you get the following printout for what your custom order will be:
- 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 SO-DIMM
- 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
- 8x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- 1.67GHz PowerPC G4 w/128MB VRAM dual
- AirPort Extreme Card
- Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
- 1.67GHz PowerPC G4
- ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64MB DDR)
- 15.2-inch TFT Display
But aren't the two lines saying "128MB VRAM" and "Radeon...64MB" contradictory?