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  1. Re:What if... on Scrum/Agile Now Used To Manage Non-Tech Projects · · Score: 1

    Responding to change is one of the major tenets of agile development. That flexibility comes in part from good design and thorough automated testing, as well as close collaboration with the customer and users.

    Ideally in agile development, each iteration will create a new build of the software. If your development doesn't stop, maintenance is just a continuing set of iterations past whatever build you call "version 1.0".

  2. Re:$10,000 CHALLENGE to Alexander Peter Kowalski on Scrum/Agile Now Used To Manage Non-Tech Projects · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    If Natalie Portman is not measurable, She is Fictitious.

    34A/25/35. Definitely not fictitious.

  3. Re:But god help you... on Google's Self-Driving Cars: 300,000 Miles Logged, Not a Single Accident · · Score: 1

    True, but there is a limit at some point.

    Obviously if a self-driving car is as likely to kill you, you'll at least take your chances with your own driving so that you can be the deciding factor. But what if the self-driving car was only half as likely to kill you? 1/4? What if it provides a 99% reduction in traffic fatalities?

    At a certain point, the government would step in and force the use of self-driving vehicles, just like they require airbags in new vehicles and enforce seat belt laws.

  4. Re:300k miles isn't much. on Google's Self-Driving Cars: 300,000 Miles Logged, Not a Single Accident · · Score: 1

    The odds of being in an accident for the average person each year is 1 in 6,500.

    Wrong, according to that article, those are the odds of dying in a car accident per year. Nobody died in the Google car, or likely would have died if it carried passengers.

    According to passenger vehicle stats from NHTSA (2009) and Wikipedia, I calculate that there is a 1 in 49 chance that a particular passenger vehicle will be in an accident in a year (5.211 million accidents to 254.4 million registered vehicles). That means that the odds of any vehicle being in an accident in 23 years is close to half.

    But seriously, the accident was not likely preventable anyway. Give the car a break.

  5. Re:People want cheaper tablets on Why the Tablet Market is Really the iPad Market · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No, "us" Linux folks were waiting 10 years for a real alternative to Windows and IE and the like. We got that, it's called Apple and Firefox and Chrome. Hey look, OS X is UNIX... even better!

    Now we have some real competition to Microsoft. That's all I wanted, someone to light a fire under Microsoft to do the right thing in terms of better security and better stability and open standards (well, they aren't perfect there, but better). Microsoft still controls the PC market, but Apple is gaining while keeping fairly solid control in the tablet market. But Google is gaining there, and Microsoft will be a major player very soon. Google controls the phone world, but barely with Apple close behind. We are living in the age that could go down in history as the glory days of personal computing devices.

    Nobody can ignore the others, they all have to bring something to the table or be left behind. And that is how consumers win.

  6. Re:Apple must be trembling with fear on Microsoft Surface Release Date Confirmed · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Windows 3.1 vs the classic Mac System 7

    I seem to recall Windows 3.1 being the point where Windows started to dominate the desktop OS market.

    And why stop there, what about Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, 2003, 2008, 7 as compared with Mac OS during those same years? OS X has come a long way, but it still has a long way to go.

    (I have a MacBook and I love Mac OS X. But give me a break, at least make your arguments sound.)

  7. Re:They're Concluding Microsoft Wants to Be Apple on Microsoft: Surface Tablet May Alienate OEM Partners · · Score: 1

    Google has its own phone and tablet. They haven't driven OEMs away... Microsoft need not either, so long as they are careful.

  8. Re:Its a miss... on Apple Blames Earnings Miss On iPhone 5 Anticipation · · Score: 0

    It surprises me that we still live in a world where investors are so quick to pull the trigger. Apple is a company well known for having a stable routine of producing new gadgets that will practically print money for them.

    In my opinion, that is the worst problem of capitalism (coming from a supporter of capitalism)... the need for results now, not tomorrow, not next week, even when a delayed solution is better for the company and/or society. [/soapbox]

    Anyway, it will work itself out in the wash... the stock price will go up when the iPhone 5 is announced, and the trend will likely look like previous years (assuming the Jobs factor wasn't truly the only thing keeping the company going).

  9. Re:Classy on Jack Daniels Shows How To Write a Cease and Desist Letter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is indeed a chance that the book could be confused with having been produced by Jack Daniels, and that the content reflects the views of the company.

  10. Re:Maybe same old 'leave your guns at entrance' ru on 12 Dead, 50 Injured at The Dark Knight Rises Showing In Colorado · · Score: 1

    Even Quick Draw McGraw wouldn't have been able to stop him from killing a few people

    No, but perhaps he wouldn't have been able to murder a few of the other people.

  11. Re:So Ballmer can't even buy cashcows on Microsoft Posts First Quarterly Loss Ever · · Score: 1

    Now we have MS, launching 2 tablets, one that is more compatible than the other, but not fully compatible,

    [citation needed]

    All sources I have read, and my own experiences, indicate that Windows 8 on Intel is fully compatible with Windows 7 software and hardware.

  12. Re:28% Windows market share on Microsoft Posts First Quarterly Loss Ever · · Score: 1

    don't have the coolness brand of Apple/Google,

    Don't underestimate Microsoft. Their new operating systems are much cooler than the old ones. After bashing Microsoft for years and hoping they would die a fiery death, they've managed to turn me around... my next phone may actually be a WP8 device, and I am seriously considering replacing my aging MacBook with a Surface Pro when it comes out.

  13. Re:28% Windows market share on Microsoft Posts First Quarterly Loss Ever · · Score: 1

    And we must not forget the businesses and government systems who are still on Windows XP. There is huge future for whoever can grab the market for replacing those machines (and neither iOS or Android stands much of a chance here).

  14. Re:Too Soon on It Costs $450 In Marketing To Make Someone Buy a $49 Nokia Lumia · · Score: 1

    Average people's idea of Windows: something annoying they have to use at work or on their PC, DO NOT WANT.

    And you wonder why Microsoft is trying hard to reimagine Windows?

    They want to get the Windows brand associated with simple, sleek, and cool. Like the current trend in the movie industry, they want to give their operating system a reboot (to reverse-steal a term). And dare I say, against all odds, they stand a chance of doing just that.

    Jobs understood the problem from the beginning. He did NOT shove the Mac interface on the iPhone.

    Microsoft has abandoned that strategy, in favor of the reverse (phone interface on desktop OS). Guess what... Apple is doing the same.

  15. Re:LTE? How about Android and IPhone on RIM CEO On What Went Wrong · · Score: 3, Interesting

    RIM needs to give up on the OS.

    Due to the traditional enterprise focus of Microsoft, I personally think it would be in RIM and Microsoft's favor to join forces by releasing a few good WP8-powered Blackberrys.

  16. Re:Marriage =/= legal union. on Google Launches International Campaign For Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a proponent for civil unions as a replacement for the legal institute of marriage. It is as simple as changing the name, but returns the term "marriage" to organized religion.

    After all, the term "gay civil union" is much easier for the public to digest than "gay marriage". It would be functionally the same, but would be written into law much faster.

  17. Re:Taskbar is Great for Grandma. on Why Microsoft Killed the Windows Start Button · · Score: 1

    the start menu is full screen and I have to hit the windows key to get there

    You can still click the bottom-left corner to bring up the Start menu. The button isn't visible, but same the motion still works.

  18. Re:stopped using it? on Why Microsoft Killed the Windows Start Button · · Score: 1

    And GP is ignoring one of the most useful features: pinned icons remain in the same location.

    I use enough applications to have two pages of icons in the taskbar. It is important that I can find each icon easily. I don't want to have to hunt for wherever they happen to be this time.

  19. Re:Fat chance. on Microsoft Trying To Woo Businesses To Windows 8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you have a touch-based UI, it is easy to make that work with a mouse. The opposite it not true; my fingers are too big for tiny icons. I'm glad Microsoft is finally pushing developers to consider that constraint.

    Check out Sinofsky's explanations of how Microsoft specifically keep the mouse in mind when designing Windows 8, and the studies and theory supporting the notion that it is better for mouse input than previous versions: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/10/11/reflecting-on-your-comments-on-the-start-screen.aspx.

  20. Re:64 cores on Windows Phone 8 Officially Unveiled · · Score: 2

    To be fair, Microsoft isn't completely snubbing the Lumia 900. They announced Windows Phone 7.8, bringing the compatible features like the updates to the Start screen to the older hardware.

    You may say that this isn't good enough, but Apple did the same thing by not bringing Siri to the iPad 2 which was only a few months old. Nor did they bring it to the iPhone 4, which was around a year old and still under 2 year contract. They technically could have ported it (given that homebrew ports exist).

    Anyway, Apple just decided to call both operating systems "iOS 5.0", even though they are essentially different and contain different voice control subsystems. What if Apple called the iPad and iPhone 3GS/4 version "iOS 4.8"?

  21. Re:When all you have is a hammer... on Microsoft Announces 'Surface' Tablet · · Score: 2

    Microsoft seems to be making the mistake that tablets are going to fully replace PCs.

    A couple of decades back, most here on Slashdot said it was a mistake to assume the laptop would fully replace PCs. Well, they were right as PCs are still on sale, but laptops sell better. The key was portability.

    Tablets are focused on more portability, the kind that doesn't require a table or lap. Early on, Apple recognized that key user interface design needed to change to support this. Microsoft studied this and made even more changes.

    Don't worry, tablets aren't going to replace your development PC. But as you said, tablets and smartphones will supplement that use. I'm ready for someone to make some seriously good tablet and smartphone apps to support meeting management and customer collaboration. Windows 8 can bring us the enterprise tablet.

  22. Re:No Battery Life or Price? on Microsoft Announces 'Surface' Tablet · · Score: 2

    But the Courier was not pushed at a press conference. It wasn't even official until it was dead.

  23. Re:Zune or Xbox? on Microsoft Announces 'Surface' Tablet · · Score: 2

    Right. Both tablets run Office. The Pro tablet runs everything for Windows.

    That is the key deciding factor for the target market, the consumer who works in a Windows-based office environment.

  24. Re:Evidence? on The Shortage of Women In IT · · Score: 1

    But still, the answer is to look at the causes and address them. Find out why fewer women want to enter IT. Then, if the cause is unfair by some decent metric, address it.

    And don't forget that it may just be that women don't care for IT (although I personally doubt it). Not every cause comes from lack of fairness.

  25. Re:Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, agai on Aero Glass UI No More On Windows 8 · · Score: 1

    A few years ago, I would have asked, "Why do you have to click 'Start' to shutdown?"

    No really, I agree to an extent, but both will be learned over time. The start screen is still the same motion (mouse to the lower-left); people will accidentally do it out of habit and figure it out. The shutdown I agree with more, actually... Settings is not really the place for it (but ideally, one shouldn't need to shutdown ever... perhaps that is the message Microsoft is trying to convey).