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User: Tim+Behrendsen

Tim+Behrendsen's activity in the archive.

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Comments · 420

  1. Re:Nope, that's flamebait all right... on Apple Open Sources OS X?/Jobs Permanent CEO · · Score: 1

    OK, let's see if this passes the "consistency" test. Let's say I noticed that KDE was going to be ported to Windows to replace the Windows shell. I post:

    "The part I like is KDE is being ported to Windows! Hooray! Finally we can use KDE instead of the crappy Windows interface! Of course, the Windows zealots will never admit that the Windows interface needed serious help."

    You know that wouldn't be moderated down. In fact, it would probably be moderated to 5.

    QED


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  2. Re:Nope, that's flamebait all right... on Apple Open Sources OS X?/Jobs Permanent CEO · · Score: 1

    The point of the post was that Steve Jobs himself announced that MacOS was getting a new interface. To those of us who hate the current MacOS interface, that's (potentially) good news. What you prove is how thin skinned Mac people are whenever anyone posts any criticism of the Mac (which, of course, proves my point about Mac users).

    Why is it that Mac users cannot stand any kind of criticism or any negative opinion? Your first and only thought is to shut them up (as the moderator apparently decided to do).


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  3. FLAMEBAIT??? on Apple Open Sources OS X?/Jobs Permanent CEO · · Score: 1

    More proof that the moderators are out of control.


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  4. Have some perspective on Linux Opera Beta Released · · Score: 1

    Will Open Source projects fill certain needs? Undoubtably. But it's open to debate whether it will fulfill all needs for all people. Unfortunately, you've bought into the "movement" and have stopped applying critical thought.

    Example: Why does Linux have such an atrocious printing subsystem that is centuries behind Windows? Answer: Because a printing subsystem is boring, and no one wants to work on it.

    Q: Will we ever have an Open Source accounting system to rival SAP? A: Probably not, because a) too boring, b) too small a market (giant corporations)


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  5. No -- it's Netscape brain damage on Linux Opera Beta Released · · Score: 1

    It's not your computer ... it's Netscape. It loads slowly because it's a complete pile of crap. Hopefully someday we'll have a decent browser under Linux.


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  6. Re:Random RISC OS trivia by an ex-user on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 1

    Well, first of all, the original point was that "the mouse wins every time", which is absurd. Second of all, you contrived an example. The context was more about using applications, and I can invoke commands faster by typing than I can by reaching for the mouse. Of course certain things are goint to be faster by using the mouse, but the original poster was trying to claim that keyboard shortcuts are not useful (because the Mac doesn't have them, probably).


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  7. Re:Perl and Y2K on The Secret History of Perl · · Score: 1

    Well, I can appreciate your point, but take some responsibility here. If you had written:

    printf("The year is 19%d\n", localtime() -> year);

    How would you have expected that to work? Would the phrase "Perl is Y2K compliant" magically make that 19 turn to a 20?

    Or did you do it a different way? Give me an example of how you wrote your script, and how you expected it to work in 2000.


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  8. Re:The software's not that valuable on Special Interview: Rob Malda and Jeff Bates · · Score: 1

    OK, let's say three months. The original point still stands: The value of Slashdot is not the software.


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  9. The software's not that valuable on Special Interview: Rob Malda and Jeff Bates · · Score: 1

    The value of Slashdot is the traffic that it generates. While the UI that the software provides is pretty good, it could be reproduced in less than a month by a good team of programmers.

    The question is, how valuable is the traffic? Unfortunately for Slashdot, they have a very narrow "geek" demographic. While I respect the level of traffic they currently have, I question whether how far it can grow. Even if Linux skyrockets in popularity, the average Joe User is not going to find Slashdot that interesting.


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  10. Re:Random RISC OS trivia by an ex-user on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 1

    What a total bunch of crap! It's an Apple site; what do you expect them to say? The Mac sucks when it comes to keyboard shortcuts.

    I don't care what "Tog" has to say, I know I can type "Alt-F,S" faster than I can reach for the mouse, Click on "File", and then Click on "Save".

    If "Tog" thinks differently, then he's a moron. I'll let you draw your own generalizations about Mac users. :)


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  11. Defending the Windows GUI on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 2

    I have found in discussions on this topic that have taken place on /. and Usenet, the inevitable question of "Why do many Window Managers look like Windows when we know the GUI sucks?".

    Could it be that *gasp* the GUI doesn't suck all that much? And most of the animosity is rooted in silly Microsoft hatred?

    I know this is really unpopular on Slashdot, but the Win/98 GUI is currently the best in the world. Yes, you can cite particular features that you might like in particular GUIs, and cite particular pieces of brain damage in Win/98, but on balance it provides the most functionality and efficiency.

    Now, this is not to say that the GUIs under Linux haven't made tremendous strides forward (I would even say remarkable), but it still isn't where Windows is.

    I would ask that people developing GUIs (and software in general) not be blind to the fact that occasionally Microsoft produces some pretty damn good stuff. Good ideas are good ideas, regardless of where they come from (ALT-TAB, for example).


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  12. Re:Functionality Makes It To A Linux GUI on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 1

    Actually, in Win/98 at least, error messages don't immediately pop up. The button on the task bar flashes to let you know that something new has happened.


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  13. Re:My God! We've found him! on Top 10 Gadgets of All Time · · Score: 1

    Probably a bad idea... I might be tempted to paper mache him in brown paper towels.


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  14. Re:Functionality Makes It To A Linux GUI on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 1

    YES! Why doesn't KDE let you rebind Alt-TAB to something else??? That's the one big annoyance I have left.

    In fact, I should send that to the KDE team. Maybe it will sneak in the next release.


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  15. Re:Functionality Makes It To A Linux GUI on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 1

    It was under Enlightenment (Red Hat 6). I think I actually found the selection (monstrously stupid that it isn't the default), but it didn't work right even after I selected it. It might be a side effect of using Exceed rather than direct video. Still, that was the major reason I'm using KDE.


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  16. Re:Random RISC OS trivia by an ex-user on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 1

    I don't mean to make this sound like a flame, but that 'drag and drop' approach sounds really inefficient. That's one of the things I hate about the Mac... everything is the mouse, with very few keyboard shortcuts. I type pretty fast, so every time I have to reach for the mouse, it's a huge waste of time.

    Unless I'm misunderstanding you... if I want to save a file, do I have to use the mouse, or is there a standard way to do it from the keyboard? (Shortcuts built into a particular application don't count).


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  17. Re:Functionality Makes It To A Linux GUI on The ROX Desktop · · Score: 0

    I gave up on Gnome when I couldn't get new windows to default to getting the keyboard focus (DUH! Why isn't this the default???)

    Have they fixed that yet, by the way?


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  18. Re:Steam Engine by the Greeks? on Top 10 Gadgets of All Time · · Score: 1

    Hmmm; from my (admittedly quick) reading of those documents, it appears the greeks primarily made a motor through the rising of steam turning a wheel (actually a ball); kind of like a reverse water-wheel. Is that correct?

    If so, then the big steam engine advance was the invention of the piston/valve-style motor. The greek engine would have been pathetically inefficient, which explains why it was never more than a toy. So it wasn't as if they had it and didn't know what they had.


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  19. Steam Engine by the Greeks? on Top 10 Gadgets of All Time · · Score: 1

    Do you have a source for that? I find it very surprising that a civilization as advanced as the greeks would invent a steam engine, and then not think of doing something useful with the power.

    Heck, the Romans stole everything from the Greeks, and you know they would've thought of some uses for steam power!


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  20. My God! We've found him! on Top 10 Gadgets of All Time · · Score: 3

    The one person in the world that actually likes hand dryers! Clearly the man should be stuffed and put in a museum somewhere.


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  21. Re:Just the beta? on Borland's Interbase Open-Sourced · · Score: 2

    Uh huh. I found the wording very strange as well. Why does the press release go so out of its way to repeat the word "Beta" over and over? Take this sentence under "About Interbase 6"...

    The beta version of InterBase 6 is a powerful, high-performance SQL database designed for business-critical, mobile computing and Internet-based applications on Linux, Windows NT, Solaris, and UNIX.

    ...what, and the release version won't be? Why would it be necessary to call out the word Beta in the "about" section? It just doesn't read very naturally.

    Very bizarre.


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  22. "alot" is not a word on Part of Ender's Game Script Posted · · Score: 1
    Sorry -- pet peeve.

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  23. What is the point of this? on Distributed.net Has Lost Some Team Association · · Score: 2

    I understand the original point was to show that 56-bit encryption wasn't enough, but RC5-64 is just not that interesting. (In fact, I could argue that this is proving that RC5-64 is more than adaquate, if they've only searched 17% of the keyspace in 2+ years of massive work).

    Why doesn't someone think up a better project for all of this computer power? Even Seti-at-home is pretty dull, since I don't really believe they know what they're looking for.

    Anyone have any better project ideas?


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  24. Re:"Nano" technology is not invevitable on The Timekeeper · · Score: 1

    I might point out that we still do not have a mechanical Babbage machine. Even with modern materials, it would be impractically difficult.

    It's not necessarily the case that everything is possible given enough progress. To use my original example, we will probably never have a Star Trek-style transporter, unless some esoteric law of physics falls out of the sky.


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  25. RMS is the most humorless man in America on New Years Resolutions From Assorted Nutcases · · Score: 1

    Or possibly the world?

    Enough said.


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