Don't we deserve a link to that 'one blogger'? In any case, it's only a matter of time before Google conquers the internet, then the desktop, then computers and finally, world domination...
Even if that happens, warming in the short term should still occur; and maybe even in the long term. I can't say I'm an expert in global warming, but I would imagine that even if everyone stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, what's already out there is already out there.
Finally somebody putting their money where their mouths are. This will be interesting- though I can't understand the math that makes 2005+10=2018. I just hope this isn't one of those stories that you hear the first half of but never the second; meaning that in 2015 (or 2018), nobody will remember this story and the winning of the bet won't be news enough.
Scientific bets have been happening for many, many years. Some famous wagers include:
Feynman bet a $1000 that no one could construct a motor no bigger than 1/64th of an inch on a side
Hawking bet against his own theory of black holes (a subscription of Penthouse to the winner, no less)
The frustrating part of this move is not that the feds object to this- that's fine, they can make recommendations all they want. The key issue is the timing- after a 5+ year process, they chose to raise their concerns in the final weeks?
That may be true- I'm not disputing that. The point I was trying to make with the Celerons was that cheap PC processors can do a lot of what we need today; for many of my current projects, I would rather spend on cool and silent components than on the traditional usual suspects such as memory and processor speed.
Temperature and noise are going to be major factors in computer design as the PC moves from the desktop to other locations in the house. A Celeron with 256MB RAM is already a tremendous workhorse for video, audio, etc. I am in the process of creating client-server based media centre and my prime concern is heat and noise; not power and memory, those are cheap and easy to come by.
Did he really say he read it three times though? In that case my vote goes to
6. Reading Three Times & Reviewing the book about these stupid games after spending a good part of your life playing them!
This is my constructive response to your column at CoolTechZone on the 5th of August titled "Is it Wrong to Love Microsoft?" To give you a little perspective, I have a WindowsXP desktop dual booted with Fedora Core 4 Linux, Windows XP Professional laptop, and Mac Powerbook at home and so have sufficient experience with all of them.
>>"Is it wrong to love Microsoft?"
First of all, the short answer is- no, it isn't wrong.
>>"The question is why do they? I love Microsoft. Absolutely adore it and what's more, I hate Linux. I think it's the most over rated piece of software ever built and survives simply out of spite and not because it is terribly good at doing something because it is not!"
I am curious what your experience with Linux is. I agree that Linux is not for everyone, but for a developer, researcher, network manager or someone looking to build their own systems there is nothing like it. Considering the fact that you have the source to do what you choose with makes it a tremendous platform. People have ported it to the Xbox, powerpcs, palms, ipods and all kinds of other antique devices and it still works the same. There is even a version (called busybox) that is under 1Mb and can be carried on a floppy. It is this flexibility and extensibility that people love.
>>"It has given us Windows, sure, it was buggy earlier and a lot of things didn't work like they were supposed to (plug and play springs to mind) but it was a pioneering effort."
Not really.
>>"I understand the criticisms about the security of the software, the critical flaws and what not but again, we must look at things in the proper perspective. More than 95 pecent computers in the world use one form of Windows OS or another. The remaining being divided between Linux, MAC etc. now lets say MAC has 1 percent, does it make sense for a hacker to create a virus that can at best infect just 1 percent of the computers in the world? It doesn't, therefore you don't have as many security threats for other software as most of the people developing Linux probably sit at night writing up malicious code for windows!"
What you say is true- but you require some perspective as well. There are some basic security decisions that Windows has made that people disagree with, the most important of which is that every user and process my default runs as an administrator. For the average, home user this is dangerous. Otherwise, your point on security is valid.
>>"Considering the fact that everyone who knows how to write two bits of code dreams of hitting windows with a virus, the guys at the "Redmond Giant" are doing a spectacular job."
Hmm... I wonder why everyone who knows programming wants to his Windows with a virus? Is it because people who program prefer other platforms?
>>"XP is such a joy when it comes to simply connecting a device and watching the pretty little bubble detecting it and saying "its installed and ready for use" makes the slightly high price absolutely worth it."
I agree- it is one of the strengths of Windows. But can you install Windows on a powerpc, or a Sparcs, or an Xbox or ANY other hardware of your choice? You can with Linux, though not as easily. I'm just demonstrating why people like other OSes.
>>"In Linux, you have to recompile a kernel if you want to so much as change your modem! Give me a break guys, Linux is light years behind Windows XP and I am sure it will be further back biting the dust when Longhorn (now Vista) comes out."
>>Ummm, have you actually used Linux lately? I suggest you try out a user friendly version like Fedora Core and then rewrite your column.
>>"This reminds me of the bundled issues with the antitrust lawsuits being slammed on it."
Some, but not all, of the lawsuits are justified. Microsoft has been anti-competitive. Not many people dispute that- not even Microsoft, they settled in a lot of cases and agreed to future improvements in their behav
To give you a little perspective, I have a WindowsXP desktop dual booted with Fedora Core 4 Linux, Windows XP Professional laptop, and Mac Powerbook at home and so have sufficient experience with all of them.
>>"Is it wrong to love Microsoft?"
First of all, the short answer is- no, it isn't wrong.
>>"The question is why do they? I love Microsoft. Absolutely adore it and what's more, I hate Linux. I think it's the most over rated piece of software ever built and survives simply out of spite and not because it is terribly good at doing something because it is not!"
I am curious what your experience with Linux is. I agree that Linux is not for everyone, but for a developer, researcher, network manager or someone looking to build their own systems there is nothing like it. Considering the fact that you have the source to do what you choose with makes it a tremendous platform. People have ported it to the Xbox, powerpcs, palms, ipods and all kinds of other antique devices and it still works the same. There is even a version (called busybox) that is under 1Mb and can be carried on a floppy. It is this flexibility and extensibility that people love.
>>"It has given us Windows, sure, it was buggy earlier and a lot of things didn't work like they were supposed to (plug and play springs to mind) but it was a pioneering effort."
Not really.
>>"I understand the criticisms about the security of the software, the critical flaws and what not but again, we must look at things in the proper perspective. More than 95 pecent computers in the world use one form of Windows OS or another. The remaining being divided between Linux, MAC etc. now lets say MAC has 1 percent, does it make sense for a hacker to create a virus that can at best infect just 1 percent of the computers in the world? It doesn't, therefore you don't have as many security threats for other software as most of the people developing Linux probably sit at night writing up malicious code for windows!"
What you say is true- but you require some perspective as well. There are some basic security decisions that Windows has made that people disagree with, the most important of which is that every user and process my default runs as an administrator. For the average, home user this is dangerous. Otherwise, your point on security is valid.
>>"Considering the fact that everyone who knows how to write two bits of code dreams of hitting windows with a virus, the guys at the "Redmond Giant" are doing a spectacular job."
Hmm... I wonder why everyone who knows programming wants to his Windows with a virus? Is it because people who program prefer other platforms?
>>"XP is such a joy when it comes to simply connecting a device and watching the pretty little bubble detecting it and saying "its installed and ready for use" makes the slightly high price absolutely worth it."
I agree- it is one of the strengths of Windows. But can you install Windows on a powerpc, or a Sparcs, or an Xbox or ANY other hardware of your choice? You can with Linux, though not as easily. I'm just demonstrating why people like other OSes.
>>"In Linux, you have to recompile a kernel if you want to so much as change your modem! Give me a break guys, Linux is light years behind Windows XP and I am sure it will be further back biting the dust when Longhorn (now Vista) comes out."
>>Ummm, have you actually used Linux lately? I suggest you try out a user friendly version like Fedora Core and then rewrite your column.
>>"This reminds me of the bundled issues with the antitrust lawsuits being slammed on it."
Some, but not all, of the lawsuits are justified. Microsoft has been anti-competitive. Not many people dispute that- not even Microsoft, they settled in a lot of cases and agreed to future improvements in their behavior.
>>"Microsoft made some products which it would like to ship together with its OS, no where in the EULA does it say that "you are not authorized to install other software" If Mr. John Doe thinks media player is the worst piece
Only in the past few years has client-side web scripting come out of its 'kiddie' version to demonstrate some really cool hacks (many google examples come to mind) which- coupled with CSS- have changed how we interact with web sites and how they are built.
Standards-compliance and strict separation of content and presentation makes CSS+'AJAX' seem like a leap forward in technology when it is actually just a prudent and smart use of old technology. It is a matured technology and with the latest news of IE7 coming closer to compliance, things will only get better.
Now if only we could get those kids at home building their first web pages with MS Frontpage to learn...
You can build it, design it, and it will work great. The trouble begins when you want to add things to it...(due to) the brittle nature of the platform, when you do that, other things break.
Just because the particluar examples are bad doesn't mean the entire concept is bunk. If correctly labelled and used when appropriate, this would make things much more aesthetically appealing. They don't have to look like Radio buttons in order to offer the same functionality. Netflix users are familiar with the star-ratings- if the usage is as intuitive as that, people will do it without second thought.
It is only a sign of the times that professing violence is considered 'conservative' and pushing for peace is 'liberal'. Each course of action depends on the circumstances- but devoid of any circumstances, wouldn't one always think of peace as good and violence as bad? Isn't this what people teach their children? Attaching labels only polarizes the issue.
Dude- according to the article, it wasn't an internal hacker con. It was a Microsoft event. And senior management is one thing; but the guy IN-CHARGE of Windows is quite another.
So in the right column of the article there is a little 'anecdote' from the conference that says that some guy called Allchin (god of Windows OS) asked a 'blue hat' about MD5 and the article goes on to say:
Allchin's questions made clear just how deep the technical knowledge runs among the most senior ranks of the world's biggest software company.
Knowing about MD5 makes a software guru 'deeply knowledgable'? What kind of an article is this?
Slashdot Mirror
OR to run Linux!
I think he meant this http://adsbygoogle.com/pcmag/2005-09-06/ which is linked to in the article.
Don't we deserve a link to that 'one blogger'? In any case, it's only a matter of time before Google conquers the internet, then the desktop, then computers and finally, world domination...
Even if that happens, warming in the short term should still occur; and maybe even in the long term. I can't say I'm an expert in global warming, but I would imagine that even if everyone stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, what's already out there is already out there.
- Feynman bet a $1000 that no one could construct a motor no bigger than 1/64th of an inch on a side
- Hawking bet against his own theory of black holes (a subscription of Penthouse to the winner, no less)
And other similar stuff...The frustrating part of this move is not that the feds object to this- that's fine, they can make recommendations all they want. The key issue is the timing- after a 5+ year process, they chose to raise their concerns in the final weeks?
That may be true- I'm not disputing that. The point I was trying to make with the Celerons was that cheap PC processors can do a lot of what we need today; for many of my current projects, I would rather spend on cool and silent components than on the traditional usual suspects such as memory and processor speed.
Temperature and noise are going to be major factors in computer design as the PC moves from the desktop to other locations in the house. A Celeron with 256MB RAM is already a tremendous workhorse for video, audio, etc. I am in the process of creating client-server based media centre and my prime concern is heat and noise; not power and memory, those are cheap and easy to come by.
Did he really say he read it three times though? In that case my vote goes to 6. Reading Three Times & Reviewing the book about these stupid games after spending a good part of your life playing them!
This is my constructive response to your column at CoolTechZone on the 5th of August titled "Is it Wrong to Love Microsoft?" To give you a little perspective, I have a WindowsXP desktop dual booted with Fedora Core 4 Linux, Windows XP Professional laptop, and Mac Powerbook at home and so have sufficient experience with all of them.
>>"Is it wrong to love Microsoft?"
First of all, the short answer is- no, it isn't wrong.
>>"The question is why do they? I love Microsoft. Absolutely adore it and what's more, I hate Linux. I think it's the most over rated piece of software ever built and survives simply out of spite and not because it is terribly good at doing something because it is not!"
I am curious what your experience with Linux is. I agree that Linux is not for everyone, but for a developer, researcher, network manager or someone looking to build their own systems there is nothing like it. Considering the fact that you have the source to do what you choose with makes it a tremendous platform. People have ported it to the Xbox, powerpcs, palms, ipods and all kinds of other antique devices and it still works the same. There is even a version (called busybox) that is under 1Mb and can be carried on a floppy. It is this flexibility and extensibility that people love.
>>"It has given us Windows, sure, it was buggy earlier and a lot of things didn't work like they were supposed to (plug and play springs to mind) but it was a pioneering effort."
Not really.
>>"I understand the criticisms about the security of the software, the critical flaws and what not but again, we must look at things in the proper perspective. More than 95 pecent computers in the world use one form of Windows OS or another. The remaining being divided between Linux, MAC etc. now lets say MAC has 1 percent, does it make sense for a hacker to create a virus that can at best infect just 1 percent of the computers in the world? It doesn't, therefore you don't have as
many security threats for other software as most of the people developing Linux probably sit at night writing up malicious code for windows!"
What you say is true- but you require some perspective as well. There are some basic security decisions that Windows has made that people
disagree with, the most important of which is that every user and process my default runs as an administrator. For the average, home
user this is dangerous. Otherwise, your point on security is valid.
>>"Considering the fact that everyone who knows how to write two bits of code dreams of hitting windows with a virus, the guys at the "Redmond Giant" are doing a spectacular job."
Hmm... I wonder why everyone who knows programming wants to his Windows with a virus? Is it because people who program prefer other platforms?
>>"XP is such a joy when it comes to simply connecting a device and watching the pretty little bubble detecting it and saying "its installed and ready for use" makes the slightly high price absolutely worth it."
I agree- it is one of the strengths of Windows. But can you install Windows on a powerpc, or a Sparcs, or an Xbox or ANY other hardware of
your choice? You can with Linux, though not as easily. I'm just demonstrating why people like other OSes.
>>"In Linux, you have to recompile a kernel if you want to so much as change your modem! Give me a break guys, Linux is light years behind
Windows XP and I am sure it will be further back biting the dust when Longhorn (now Vista) comes out."
>>Ummm, have you actually used Linux lately? I suggest you try out a user friendly version like Fedora Core and then rewrite your column.
>>"This reminds me of the bundled issues with the antitrust lawsuits being slammed on it."
Some, but not all, of the lawsuits are justified. Microsoft has been anti-competitive. Not many people dispute that- not even Microsoft,
they settled in a lot of cases and agreed to future improvements in their behav
To give you a little perspective, I have a WindowsXP desktop dual booted with Fedora Core 4 Linux, Windows XP Professional laptop, and Mac Powerbook at home and so have sufficient experience with all of them. >>"Is it wrong to love Microsoft?" First of all, the short answer is- no, it isn't wrong. >>"The question is why do they? I love Microsoft. Absolutely adore it and what's more, I hate Linux. I think it's the most over rated piece of software ever built and survives simply out of spite and not because it is terribly good at doing something because it is not!" I am curious what your experience with Linux is. I agree that Linux is not for everyone, but for a developer, researcher, network manager or someone looking to build their own systems there is nothing like it. Considering the fact that you have the source to do what you choose with makes it a tremendous platform. People have ported it to the Xbox, powerpcs, palms, ipods and all kinds of other antique devices and it still works the same. There is even a version (called busybox) that is under 1Mb and can be carried on a floppy. It is this flexibility and extensibility that people love. >>"It has given us Windows, sure, it was buggy earlier and a lot of things didn't work like they were supposed to (plug and play springs to mind) but it was a pioneering effort." Not really. >>"I understand the criticisms about the security of the software, the critical flaws and what not but again, we must look at things in the proper perspective. More than 95 pecent computers in the world use one form of Windows OS or another. The remaining being divided between Linux, MAC etc. now lets say MAC has 1 percent, does it make sense for a hacker to create a virus that can at best infect just 1 percent of the computers in the world? It doesn't, therefore you don't have as many security threats for other software as most of the people developing Linux probably sit at night writing up malicious code for windows!" What you say is true- but you require some perspective as well. There are some basic security decisions that Windows has made that people disagree with, the most important of which is that every user and process my default runs as an administrator. For the average, home user this is dangerous. Otherwise, your point on security is valid. >>"Considering the fact that everyone who knows how to write two bits of code dreams of hitting windows with a virus, the guys at the "Redmond Giant" are doing a spectacular job." Hmm... I wonder why everyone who knows programming wants to his Windows with a virus? Is it because people who program prefer other platforms? >>"XP is such a joy when it comes to simply connecting a device and watching the pretty little bubble detecting it and saying "its installed and ready for use" makes the slightly high price absolutely worth it." I agree- it is one of the strengths of Windows. But can you install Windows on a powerpc, or a Sparcs, or an Xbox or ANY other hardware of your choice? You can with Linux, though not as easily. I'm just demonstrating why people like other OSes. >>"In Linux, you have to recompile a kernel if you want to so much as change your modem! Give me a break guys, Linux is light years behind Windows XP and I am sure it will be further back biting the dust when Longhorn (now Vista) comes out." >>Ummm, have you actually used Linux lately? I suggest you try out a user friendly version like Fedora Core and then rewrite your column. >>"This reminds me of the bundled issues with the antitrust lawsuits being slammed on it." Some, but not all, of the lawsuits are justified. Microsoft has been anti-competitive. Not many people dispute that- not even Microsoft, they settled in a lot of cases and agreed to future improvements in their behavior. >>"Microsoft made some products which it would like to ship together with its OS, no where in the EULA does it say that "you are not authorized to install other software" If Mr. John Doe thinks media player is the worst piece
Only in the past few years has client-side web scripting come out of its 'kiddie' version to demonstrate some really cool hacks (many google examples come to mind) which- coupled with CSS- have changed how we interact with web sites and how they are built. Standards-compliance and strict separation of content and presentation makes CSS+'AJAX' seem like a leap forward in technology when it is actually just a prudent and smart use of old technology. It is a matured technology and with the latest news of IE7 coming closer to compliance, things will only get better. Now if only we could get those kids at home building their first web pages with MS Frontpage to learn...
Just because the particluar examples are bad doesn't mean the entire concept is bunk. If correctly labelled and used when appropriate, this would make things much more aesthetically appealing. They don't have to look like Radio buttons in order to offer the same functionality. Netflix users are familiar with the star-ratings- if the usage is as intuitive as that, people will do it without second thought.
It is only a sign of the times that professing violence is considered 'conservative' and pushing for peace is 'liberal'. Each course of action depends on the circumstances- but devoid of any circumstances, wouldn't one always think of peace as good and violence as bad? Isn't this what people teach their children? Attaching labels only polarizes the issue.