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User: somersault

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Comments · 12,492

  1. Re:The way its done... on Apple Granted Patent For Slide To Unlock · · Score: 2

    I prefer the Android draw-pattern-to-unlock. Convenient, secure, and probably not patented.

  2. Re:Oh ffs on Apple Granted Patent For Slide To Unlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Some of that stuff is delusional, but you can't argue that phone interfaces were shit until Apple released the iPhone and everyone else had to up their game. Phone hardware had been good for a while, but the UIs were awful.. often lazy companies will just stick with whatever currently sells, without trying to do better. The phone industry is especially bad for trying to squeeze blood out of stones and not really innovating.

    That's my only real defence of Apple out of the way though. All of their mobile stuff since the iPod has had an element of douchebaggery to it, something that damages or at least inconveniences consumers in some way to try and keep them locked in.

  3. Re:Oh ffs on Apple Granted Patent For Slide To Unlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just because someone is playing by the rules doesn't mean that you should absolve them of all responsibility. The companies that try to be as douchy as they can within the rules, are more likely to just go and outright break the rules when they think they can get away with it. So far Apple don't appear to have done anything completely illegal, so they haven't quite reached the MS and Intel charged criminal levels yet, but I don't think it will be long. Well, maybe now that Steve's gone again they won't be so bad, who knows.

    There are companies that have the same rules to play by, but don't try to do things like patent a rectangle with rounded corners. Ask your brother, I'm sure he'll tell you how pathetic that is.

  4. Re:Maintenance? on The Real Job Threat · · Score: 1

    Yep, that's why I said "human". There will always be people out there who end up hurting others.

  5. Re:Maintenance? on The Real Job Threat · · Score: 1

    I know the laws, I read a lot of Asimov as a teenager.. but our robots don't have those laws. They wouldn't yet understand that type of law.

    Besides, half of his AI stories seemed to be about how robots got around the laws :p

  6. Re:Maintenance? on The Real Job Threat · · Score: 1

    Machine! Make that attractive human female into my sex slave!

    That'll work, right?

  7. Re:obligatory vi/emacs on Dennis Ritchie, Creator of C Programming Language, Passed Away · · Score: 1

    Heh, I've only started using Emacs recently.. never taken part in one of these holy wars, but I guess I will here.

    "C-M-f goto closing brace (standing on the opening brace)"

    Even if that were not a default command, you could just write a macro to do it?

  8. Re:Is this the same source code? on Android 4.0 Source Code Coming "Soon" · · Score: 1

    Because the manufacturers already have access to the source, and he wants to know: when it's released, will he will be able to recompile the released source, flash it to his phone and have it work?

    (the answer is obviously yes, as long as he has the binary drivers from his original install, and doesn't change how the system interfaces with those drivers)

  9. Re:Fuck apple. on A Decade of Apple Oddities · · Score: 1

    I basically agree with you on everything btw, I just thought you went overboard with the rhetoric.

  10. Re:They better stop advertising it as "unlimited". on Sprint Cutting Unlimited 4G Data Plans · · Score: 1

    goto parent_post;

  11. Re:Fuck apple. on A Decade of Apple Oddities · · Score: 1

    I don't need the karma

  12. Re:Fuck apple. on A Decade of Apple Oddities · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You could help build a "quality community" by not karma whoring and/or trolling.

  13. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 1

    sigh

  14. Re:Bipartisan? on Senator Introduces Bill To Stop Warrantless GPS Tracking · · Score: 0

    It seems to mean "something that even fanboi nutjobs can agree is a good idea".

  15. Re:Irresponsible on How Open Source Hardware Is Kick-Starting Kickstarter · · Score: 1

    How the fuck do you not understand the difference between asking and telling?

  16. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 1

    Hmm, perhaps. I only started using Windows at 98SE though.. and I don't recall that, but it's possible they were still doing it then.

  17. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 1

    I want all sorts of things, and if I do nothing illegal in obtaining them, that shouldn't be a problem.

    It might not be a problem from a legal perspective, but that doesn't mean you're justified in crying when everyone complains about you being a douche.

  18. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 1

    Vote for who, exactly? Someone who isn't having their campaign funded by multi-billion dollar corporations? Yeah, that'll work. Here in the US I don't think the system's as bad, but I still fail to see the part where anything really changes when the government switches about. Taxes get shifted around a little, everything else is much the same.

  19. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 1

    the fact that anyone even thinks they can 'own' the concept of the rowcolumn widget is just insane in itself.

    Amen. Welcome to America!

  20. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 1

    I struggle to think of anything that the iPhone does which isn't just using a Mac/Windows boiled down to a phone-sized device.

    Finger friendly interface widgets. That, combined with capacitive touch and conversation view for messages is what made the iPhone better than the competition IMO.

    I found it bizarre when I found out that until recently notifications always interrupted your use of the phone though. I've never used an OS that stopped you from working until you got rid of a notification. Individual applications sure, but not the whole OS.

  21. Re:and what about xerox's stuff? on Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android · · Score: 2

    I don't get why you'd need to use a movie as an example of icons in a grid interface.. pretty much any computer I've ever used has allowed you to sort the icons into a grid. Some allow you to move the icons arbitrarily after that, but I really hope they didn't manage to make the grid thing stick in court.. so crazy.

    Not that I even think that's the best way to represent things. When dealing with large numbers of icons, I prefer a list view. The grid is okay on a desktop, but it's just annoying for browsing through pages of apps.

  22. Re:Open Source vs. Open Development on Android 4.0 Source Code Coming "Soon" · · Score: 2

    Mod parent under-rated.. they've said this from the start, but the trolls have been having a field day with how Android is now closed source, Google are so Evil, blah blah..

  23. Re:I think Google does not understand open source on Android 4.0 Source Code Coming "Soon" · · Score: 4, Informative

    Did you even read the summary? They haven't said anything about making sure it's stable (which doesn't mean they haven't done so, before any trolls leap on that), but they have said they're waiting until the devices are released. Probably because they don't want people's first impression of Ice Cream Sandwich to be a barely functional custom ROM with half the drivers missing.

  24. Re:Is this the same source code? on Android 4.0 Source Code Coming "Soon" · · Score: 1

    The source does exist in the present, even if it's not been released. Also, English clearly isn't his first language, so you could cut him a little slack..

  25. Re:Umm.... on Android Source Code Gone For Good? · · Score: 1

    It's on my netbook, never had any WiFi problems with Ubuntu. When I switched to Mint, I started having problems like I said, but Ubuntu was fine. It really depends on your hardware. Windows 7 seems to have pretty decent driver support, but Ubuntu was miles ahead of XP. I started using Ubuntu before Windows 7 was available and so it was really refreshing to have everything just work on a fresh install without doing the traditional scouring the internet or driver CD for the files I needed, which I'd been doing on Windows since 1998.

    Yes, I agreed with you about users, but you asked specifically "seriously have you EVER met even a fucking admin that uses start>>.run for shit in Windows?" and I was answering. I use Run (Windows key + R, it's nice and quick) regularly for opening network shares. You can type paths into explorer address bars too, but I don't often have an explorer Window open, and pressing Windows R then the path you want is faster than opening explorer, clicking to the address bar and typing the path you want. In Windows 7 you can just press the Windows key instead of Windows-R, since the new search box doubles up as a "Run" menu" anyway. You can type command names or network paths right in there. Very useful if you're on someone else's machine and you don't have shortcuts set up, or you are accessing some uncommon file path from your own machine (ie to open up the C:\ drive on someone else's computer, you can use \\computername\c$ ). These are not reasons for users to need the quick Run functionality, but they are good reasons for admins to use it.

    I rarely see a Home edition of Windows, so I can't comment there. Usually I run Professional editions, even at home. I think my new machine is going to be Home Premium or something, but it hasn't been assembled yet..

    I don't think your problem is with Linux so much as with Gnome/KDE and the attitude of the developers. The Linux kernel itself is very stable and well maintained (there are a lot of paid developers that work on it), but yeah there are plenty of poorly managed open source projects (just as there is a lot of shit commercial software out there, believe me). There's too much infighting and cock-waving when it comes to window managers. Personally if I was going to work on OSS projects I'd start off by just doing bug fixes for a while. That's the recommended way to get into Kernel development actually, you join the "kernel janitors" group and start off fixing bugs and cleaning up code. Eventually once you're familiar and competent with the code, you can work on new features and improvements. Personally I value stability over features, but if we're talking about attracting more users, that's clearly not the way forward - just look at the history of any software.