I wonder what would happen if Microsoft tried to enforce a mearly questionable patent against a defendant, and the defendant were to use Microsoft's own patent arsenal as evidence? Just picture it, they take someone to court over a patent that to a non technical person might seem reasonable, and the defendant shows that it is an obvious idea and then shows for further evidance Microsoft's more ridiculous patents like the note related to a phone call thing to demonstrate that Microsoft has made patenting obvious concepts standard operating procedure?
Also, I think the entire W3C group has a simultaneous conniption with the author's use of "Clicky" to note an image that is also a link. That's the purpose, astoundingly...
Ok, dumb question I'm sure, but what is this "Clicky" to which you refer? I tried to find an example in TFA but the server seems to be in flames.
I happened to see this before any comments were posted, and started going through the pictures as quickly as I could. I made it to number 9 before it got borked.
PHP/Perl/Python are all good choices where performance is not critical, those particular parts would be better written (or re-written after design and prototyping are completed) in C or C++. I like Python in particular as a prototyping and glue langaugage. I would avoid Java at all costs as it is not a standard commodity language but a single companie's product. The same, of course, applies to C#/ASP only more so as you are then locked in to a particular vendor's platform - not just a particular vendor's whims pertaining to the language.
Yes. If Windows were open sourced, it would be incorporated into Wine. In very short order, every legacy Windows application would run seamlessly under Linux and Windows as a stand alone operating system would simply fade away. So... another good (from MSFT's perspective at least) reason for them not to do so.
Let's immagine for a second that every executive at microsoft were suddenly hypnotized or something and decided to GPL the Windows operating system. The Wine project would benefit, obviously, which means that legacy Windows applications could run seamlessly on Linux. But what would be the point of trying to improve the Windows operating system itself?? If you tried to implement and inforce good security you would break backwards compatibility. POSIX support could be added, but why bother when you can just run any needed Windows apps under Linux instead? Honestly I don't see that there would be any further use for the Windows operating system itself, at least as a stand alone OS, only the Windows API which would simply be incorporated into Wine. Open sourcing Windows would be the end of Windows as an OS.
Derailers and gears have been around nearly as long as the bicycle, and the concept of the eliptical chainring is also far from new. It is one of those ideas that comes and goes and comes again http://www.sheldonbrown.com/biopace.html
The basic design and functioning of the bicycle is unlikely to change much. We do have rather new additions like suspension, but that is more of a specialization than a general improvement: for riding down a mountain trail, it is a good thing. For normal riding it adds weight and adds flex to the drivetrain which wastes energy. There have been other "innovations" such as automatic transmissions for bicycles that provide little benefit versus the added complexity and weight and have therefore never caught on. Bringing the analogy back to the original topic however: Sayining that UNIX should be replaced with something entirely new just because it is 40 years old is like saying that the bicycle should be replaced with an entirely new technology just because it is 100+ years old. What you wind up with with that kind of thinking is something like the segway - It is much slower, heavy, expensive, has to be charged up, has a very limited range, depends on batteries which will wear out over time, etc. etc. Sure, the segway wins on cool and neat points, but pitted against the bicycle in terms of just plain utility, it doesn't stand a chance. Immagine someone trying to ride around the world on a segway:-)
The bicycle is over 100 years old and is still the single most effecient form of transportation ever devised. Materials have changed, but the basic design has not.
Innovation and improvement are wonderful a wonderful goal, but replacing a proven design based on nothing but an immaginary shelf life is silly.
If the driver is open source running on Linux, you are probably safe. Something like that would get noticed *REAL* fast. If you were extremely paranoid then you should just avoid installing and using a driver version that has only been out a few days.
A good number of people here will disagree on a number of your points. This is Slashdot, afterall, and a good percentage of readers run Linux. What comes free with Windows? A web browser, email client, very basic text editor, a card game... what else?
Linux users are used to a choice of text editors, web browsers, a C/C++ compiler, Apache web server, ssh clients/server, office suites, etc. etc. all included. By comparison, Windows is rather barren.
Further, 90%+ of Linux and BSD users who don't run Windows still had to pay for all of the "free" crap that comes with their "free" copy of Windows. Nearly every Linux box started out as an oem sale for Microsoft, even if it never ran Windows.
It is a USB 1.1 device which shows up as a generic USB storage device. Great. No hassle using it under Linux. However, they have chosen interesting wording on the website.
" By connecting the product to PC, the Windows system identifies it as a removable disk. No additional software needed. "
Windows system? What the hell does my window manager have to do with mounting drives? You would think that since they have designed a product that is OS independent and requires no silly drivers, that they would let their marketing folks know so they don't wind up with crap like that on their website.
They *are* spyware. Apparently they will need to phone home for billing purposes.
Personally, I don't really care though. I doubt that any of the effected games will be ported to Linux anytime soon, so they won't find their way onto any computer in my house.
Yea... The great Segway... As far as automobile alternatives, the Segway is silly. Interesting, but silly. I'll stick with a bicycle which doesn't need to be charged, is faster, has much further practical range, is *MUCH* lighter weight (a good road bike will not be much over 20 lbs), and can be bought new for a fraction of the cost or at a yard sale for a few bucks.
This actually fits quite nicely with the original discussion, the Segway is revolutionary but not exactly useful. It is, in effect, made outdated by a technology that has been around since the late 19th century:-)
Why would I *EVER* want to respond to an ad? Further, why would I ever actually *WATCH* the ad?
Isn't that what people buy TIVOs for?!
I have never in my life been tempted to *BUY* something because of a TV, Radio, Banner, or popup ad. Why the hell would I be tempted to *VOLUNTEER* to be bugged by parasites trying to get me to spend money?
Jesus people! Turn that god damned TV into something useful like a flower pot or an aquarium. GET A DAMN LIFE!!!!
Their product is sub standard, their business practices are harmful, and their power to eliminate innovation and dictate what their users can and cannot do with their computers is dangerous.
So, No. It isn't. Any other questions?
The article was incorrect. The tracks are *NOT* free, they are encrypted in a format called "Windows Media" which will cost:
$200 for a copy of windows.
$400 or so for an extra computer to run it on.
$[lots] for anti virus software.
$[even_more] Firewall software
$[lots_o_money] hardware firewall
Even then, I don't know how you would go about converting it to.mp3 or.ogg in order to use it on your regular computer.
Great. now the kids won't read a damn thing. As long as they can just search the text, they won't even have to do a half assed skim of it to find answers. Say goodby to what attention span they have.
Re:Why would you use this?
on
The New C Standard
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
The sad thing is that half of the "l33t hax0r" kiddies here probably took this seriously.
My theory is that after a few revisions, Java will become a perfectly usable language. The poor design decisions will be fixed and the JVM will be eliminated. The result will be a fast compiled language with an elegant syntax. Of course they they will have just recreated C at that point, so I guess it will never actually happen.
Re:Cool but to what point?
on
The New C Standard
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Yea, C is a dead language. Which explains why it is also the most widely used programming language, and why there are more lines of code in active use than any other programming language.
Slashdot Mirror
I wonder what would happen if Microsoft tried to enforce a mearly questionable patent against a defendant, and the defendant were to use Microsoft's own patent arsenal as evidence? Just picture it, they take someone to court over a patent that to a non technical person might seem reasonable, and the defendant shows that it is an obvious idea and then shows for further evidance Microsoft's more ridiculous patents like the note related to a phone call thing to demonstrate that Microsoft has made patenting obvious concepts standard operating procedure?
I happened to see this before any comments were posted, and started going through the pictures as quickly as I could. I made it to number 9 before it got borked.
PHP/Perl/Python are all good choices where performance is not critical, those particular parts would be better written (or re-written after design and prototyping are completed) in C or C++. I like Python in particular as a prototyping and glue langaugage. I would avoid Java at all costs as it is not a standard commodity language but a single companie's product. The same, of course, applies to C#/ASP only more so as you are then locked in to a particular vendor's platform - not just a particular vendor's whims pertaining to the language.
Yes. If Windows were open sourced, it would be incorporated into Wine. In very short order, every legacy Windows application would run seamlessly under Linux and Windows as a stand alone operating system would simply fade away. So... another good (from MSFT's perspective at least) reason for them not to do so.
Let's immagine for a second that every executive at microsoft were suddenly hypnotized or something and decided to GPL the Windows operating system. The Wine project would benefit, obviously, which means that legacy Windows applications could run seamlessly on Linux. But what would be the point of trying to improve the Windows operating system itself?? If you tried to implement and inforce good security you would break backwards compatibility. POSIX support could be added, but why bother when you can just run any needed Windows apps under Linux instead? Honestly I don't see that there would be any further use for the Windows operating system itself, at least as a stand alone OS, only the Windows API which would simply be incorporated into Wine. Open sourcing Windows would be the end of Windows as an OS.
This isn't news, it's an advertisement.
Derailers and gears have been around nearly as long as the bicycle, and the concept of the eliptical chainring is also far from new. It is one of those ideas that comes and goes and comes again http://www.sheldonbrown.com/biopace.html The basic design and functioning of the bicycle is unlikely to change much. We do have rather new additions like suspension, but that is more of a specialization than a general improvement: for riding down a mountain trail, it is a good thing. For normal riding it adds weight and adds flex to the drivetrain which wastes energy. There have been other "innovations" such as automatic transmissions for bicycles that provide little benefit versus the added complexity and weight and have therefore never caught on. Bringing the analogy back to the original topic however: Sayining that UNIX should be replaced with something entirely new just because it is 40 years old is like saying that the bicycle should be replaced with an entirely new technology just because it is 100+ years old. What you wind up with with that kind of thinking is something like the segway - It is much slower, heavy, expensive, has to be charged up, has a very limited range, depends on batteries which will wear out over time, etc. etc. Sure, the segway wins on cool and neat points, but pitted against the bicycle in terms of just plain utility, it doesn't stand a chance. Immagine someone trying to ride around the world on a segway :-)
It will also get 2,000,000 miles per gallon, cure impotence and hair loss, and water your garden for you.
The bicycle is over 100 years old and is still the single most effecient form of transportation ever devised. Materials have changed, but the basic design has not. Innovation and improvement are wonderful a wonderful goal, but replacing a proven design based on nothing but an immaginary shelf life is silly.
If the driver is open source running on Linux, you are probably safe. Something like that would get noticed *REAL* fast. If you were extremely paranoid then you should just avoid installing and using a driver version that has only been out a few days.
A good number of people here will disagree on a number of your points. This is Slashdot, afterall, and a good percentage of readers run Linux. What comes free with Windows? A web browser, email client, very basic text editor, a card game... what else? Linux users are used to a choice of text editors, web browsers, a C/C++ compiler, Apache web server, ssh clients/server, office suites, etc. etc. all included. By comparison, Windows is rather barren. Further, 90%+ of Linux and BSD users who don't run Windows still had to pay for all of the "free" crap that comes with their "free" copy of Windows. Nearly every Linux box started out as an oem sale for Microsoft, even if it never ran Windows.
They *are* spyware. Apparently they will need to phone home for billing purposes. Personally, I don't really care though. I doubt that any of the effected games will be ported to Linux anytime soon, so they won't find their way onto any computer in my house.
Wow, now that is creative hiring! What do the support stag's do, exactly?
I prefer my *nix muck free.
I must have missed something here... why not just walk indoors?
Yea... The great Segway... As far as automobile alternatives, the Segway is silly. Interesting, but silly. I'll stick with a bicycle which doesn't need to be charged, is faster, has much further practical range, is *MUCH* lighter weight (a good road bike will not be much over 20 lbs), and can be bought new for a fraction of the cost or at a yard sale for a few bucks. This actually fits quite nicely with the original discussion, the Segway is revolutionary but not exactly useful. It is, in effect, made outdated by a technology that has been around since the late 19th century :-)
Giving schools an incentive to teach VB rather than C/C++, Python, or even ****ing Java. Great, that will really improve the state of CS education. :-(
Why would I *EVER* want to respond to an ad? Further, why would I ever actually *WATCH* the ad? Isn't that what people buy TIVOs for?! I have never in my life been tempted to *BUY* something because of a TV, Radio, Banner, or popup ad. Why the hell would I be tempted to *VOLUNTEER* to be bugged by parasites trying to get me to spend money? Jesus people! Turn that god damned TV into something useful like a flower pot or an aquarium. GET A DAMN LIFE!!!!
Their product is sub standard, their business practices are harmful, and their power to eliminate innovation and dictate what their users can and cannot do with their computers is dangerous. So, No. It isn't. Any other questions?
The article was incorrect. The tracks are *NOT* free, they are encrypted in a format called "Windows Media" which will cost: $200 for a copy of windows. $400 or so for an extra computer to run it on. $[lots] for anti virus software. $[even_more] Firewall software $[lots_o_money] hardware firewall Even then, I don't know how you would go about converting it to .mp3 or .ogg in order to use it on your regular computer.
Great. now the kids won't read a damn thing. As long as they can just search the text, they won't even have to do a half assed skim of it to find answers. Say goodby to what attention span they have.
The sad thing is that half of the "l33t hax0r" kiddies here probably took this seriously. My theory is that after a few revisions, Java will become a perfectly usable language. The poor design decisions will be fixed and the JVM will be eliminated. The result will be a fast compiled language with an elegant syntax. Of course they they will have just recreated C at that point, so I guess it will never actually happen.
Yea, C is a dead language. Which explains why it is also the most widely used programming language, and why there are more lines of code in active use than any other programming language.