Take your two button mouse. Set the second button to do... say... shift+click. Set the third button to do... option+click. Now, try using a contextual menu in Illustrator.
'But wait... you could assign both the left and right buttons, when clicked at the same time, to pull the contextual menu,' you say.
Yeah, that's convenient. But hey, at least it keeps your other hand free for spanking the monkey while you make graphics for your so-called 'Warez' site.
I can relate to this. Quite a bit, actually. I have two cats. The one I've had for just shy of two years now used to love running behind my desk, and through the mess of wires back there. She'd do it time after time after time, running, leaping legs splayed behind the desk, using the wires to slow her fall. Then she'd crawl out the other side, meow, and do it again.
At first, it was funny. Then it got annoying. One moment, I'd be working on something - the next, my mouse would zip out of my hand, under the monitor, and into never-never land. She'd come out, meow, and as I hauled it back up, she'd think I was playing, and attack the wire. Eventually, she destroyed the DVI to VGA P.o.S. adapter that hooked my third monitor into my Radeon 7500 (? - dual head, for the mac).
A month or so ago, I got another cat. Stray. Small, cute, and very friendly. Obviously a house cat. She loves to chew on wires. The other day, I was cleaning, and noticed she'd chewed completely through the cable that hooks my PSOne to the RCA to VGA adapter. Today, I was moving my scanner, and noticed she'd chewed on that power cable as well.
My father knew Ted Nugent when they were high school age. Anyway, we used to get Christmas cards from him. One year, the card was a picture of Ted standing, dressed in full hunting gear, gun over his shoulder... with one foot on a somewhat bloody Santa's chest - memory escapes me as to whether or not one or two of the reindeer granced the background, but it was classic, nonetheless.
Same problem here. Only happens on the desktop, as far as I can tell - but I use column view whenever I'm hoping around the rest of the hard drive, so... who knows.
I'm so damn glad they fixed that bug with the icons on the desktop moving all sorts of odd directions if you put them on the left side of the screen - it was driving me nuts.
I'll chime in with a 'me too' effort here. I remember seeing the site, as well as a demo they'd done at sigraph several years ago, and then heard nothing more about it.
First of all, what are the implications of a packet/bottle/box of pills spurting out questions whenever you pick them up? I mean, how the hell are you going to keep paranoid skitzophrenics on their medication?
"My meds, man... They're talkin' to me. No, really... They're talking to me man."
I suppose the potential is the same for stoners, but that's another bag of beans.
Secondly, weren't we supposed to see paper printed cell phones in every vending machine already? I remember a few years back some woman had figured this application through, and the media was running around with their typical un-educated stories: "Soon, you'll be able to print a cell phone from your own printer right at home."
Still, this is existing technology, and has been jumped upon before, with no results I've ever seen.
Recently, it came to my attention that MacAmp Lite X is no longer under developement either. Why?
"iTunes just got to be far too big, far too free, and far too bundled with the OS"
Granted, MacAmp Lite X wasn't freeware, like Chimera is, and it wasn't open source, like Chimera is, but it still begs the same question:
As Apple moves from a company that was all about selling their own hardware and an OS to run on it, to a company that is all about moving into every aspect of our lives - giving us not only hardward and a (very healthy) OS to run on it, but also software to take care of most features required by an 'average' user, as well as digital lifestyle devices like the iPod (and rumored things like PDA's, video iPod's, etc.,) - are they becoming more like Microsoft? Are they discouraging the independant developer? Will they continue on this path to such an extent that those people who have begun to raise Apple's market share - and who have begun to actually pay attention to the operating system as something actually worth using - away?
In short, will Apple invading all of the different types of software areas discourage developers to the point that it is no better than Microsoft, if only in terms of their attempted monopoly over all aspects of our computing experience?
This is slightly off-topic (please read the entire thing before you decide that for yourself), but I'm starting to wonder how relevant, with regards to things involving 'technology,' history is anymore.
Trying to figure out how to say this without sounding like an idiot...
In the past, history died hard. Things that were, continued to be. Change came slowly. While contrasting what was the norm to a much greater degree (read: Galeleo's theory's involving the revolving of the planets) than ever could be possible today, the effects of upheaval and upset slowly trickled out onto the world.
Today, and in near history, change happens quickly. The gift of communication has been given to the masses, and like the current in the sea (though much less predictable) the opinions, wants, and needs of humanity can flow from one direction to another - quickly and powerfully. As a result, the time it takes for things to build to the point of breaking is lessened, and the effects of this building up can reach much farther, much faster, and with greater feriosity.
I'm not saying there will be an apocalyptic battle - that battle is already quietly raging. I wonder, though, if the point at which one side turns tail and runs won't be more clear cut and defined, like the breaking of the dam.
Then again, maybe I just really have to pee (hence , all the water metaphors).
I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I would say in the next 3-5 years, maybe a bit sooner, maybe a bit later, there is going to be a showdown of sorts between the media industry (music and video) and the public masses.
Unless the record companies, the cable companies, and all the rest of these multi-billion dollar industries can figure out a way to keep their revenue streams at current levels or at least something they're happy with without trying to hold back technology or control how it is used, something will happen. Technology - better said 'invention' - is just like nature: you can't hold it back. Once something is available, the public, and not a select group of high-riding jerks, control it. The only way to keep technology from taking on a life of it's own is to keep a lid on it in the first place, and that option never existed/is already past.
What the showdown will be, or what will happen is beyond me. How the unthinking masses (those who listen to N'Sync; those who could care less how much control Microsoft has over what they do with their own computer and the things they create with it; those who don't mind watching hours upon hours of crappy commercials - and they're not all bad commercials, just most - during their days/weeks/months/years) will affect this, I don't know either. But even they will eventually see the light.
And just like technology and nature and all the rest, there's no stopping public opinion/demand.
Had Apple simply done a big, fancy switch, they could have included a G3/G4 emulator for running OS 9 / Classic apps. Anyone wishing to stick with OS 9 would stick with their current computer, or buy a new one and run things in emulation, which is no problem since Apple would have wanted (at the time, and now *definately* does) to phase out Classic anyway. In other words, Apple has no real reason to keep those people still wanting to run Classic happy.
Anyone wishing to run the new operating system would have to buy a new system as well - this would be true anyway since OS X requires a heftier computer to do it's thing.
I want to write more, but I have to run. More later, then.
Apple's biggest problem, and what I believe is the reason for them pulling out of these trade shows, is simply that they can't keep up - ie produce new stuff worthy of the expense of attending the show, putting on a presentation, meeting strick show-time deadlines, etc.
Here's why in one word: Motorola
What Apple should have done is made one big fancy switch all at once. In other words, they should have gone with a new processor producer *before* they started coding OS X. That way, software producers who would have had to re-write the code for the new OS anyway could also take into account the new processor architecture.
Right now, unless someone else (likely IBM, but when?) can produce the PPC chips, Apple is stuck with Motorla and their craptastic ability to produce new, faster processors. Sure, OS X screams on a dual 1.25 GHz system compared to the 450 MHz I'm running right now, but Windows 2000 also screams on a 3.0 GHz system when compared to a 1 GHz system.
The point is, Apple can't switch to a new architecture now as it would mean software producers would have to once more re-write software they just re-wrote for OS X, and those who haven't gotten that far yet would be back to square one. This is, in short, a problem.
Furthermore, Apple's own 'Think Different' ideaology might be turning around to bite them in the ass. Here they are, presenting this new OS to Windows users and saying "Switch. We're different. And better. And we'll give you cool stuff." But people have short attention spans. If Apple doesn't put out new/cool stuff on a really regular basis, people wonder if Apple is still inovating.
I don't think any what I just wrote is clear. Sigh...
Maybe it's just me, but the "85th" fastest computer in the world just doesn't do anything for me. I mean, sure, it's cool and all, but... Really... 85th?
Using Californians as proof for your theories on what all Americans are like is equivalent to using McDonald's as proof that any food cooked outside of the home is garbage.
You're taking a select, non-representative set of the population. 'Nuff said.
I have a 15" CRT display at home and the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's 15" LCD display.
It states that the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's screen. It does not state that the viewable area is noticeably larger than the iMac's screen.
Result: Wasted mod points for a completely wrong summation of the facts. Typical of Slashdot... the whole not re-reading what you're written bit, eh folks?
Just my $0.02 here - I have an old office desk (NOTE: look at the local University, as they should have somewhere they sell off old furniture and computers, etc, for large, old, office desks for CHEAP), solid wood, that measures 38" X 60" The way I used to have it set up, my three monitors (two 15" and one 19") took up most of the depth. By moving the desk away from the wall, you can hang the backs of the CRTs off of the desk, putting their stands right up against the back edge, and create a TON of workspace. Though they still take up the entire width (with a little extra space for my speakers, Zip drive, and SanDisk memory card reader), this is the best solution for me, considering I'm in a dorm room. Speaking of dorm rooms, what's up with the trend (at least here at U of M) of giving smaller and smaller desks to students, and encouraging (and in some cases, requiring) the ownership of a computer? Makes no sense to me... Finally, think seriously about getting stuff that rolls. I scavenged some old carts that were originally used to hold lie detector machines, scrapped all the useless stuff, and now I have two 2.5 foot square, industrial strength cards that hold all my misc. computer stuff, my server, and even my fish tank.:o)
Slashdot Mirror
I'll bite.
Take your two button mouse. Set the second button to do... say... shift+click. Set the third button to do... option+click. Now, try using a contextual menu in Illustrator.
'But wait... you could assign both the left and right buttons, when clicked at the same time, to pull the contextual menu,' you say.
Yeah, that's convenient. But hey, at least it keeps your other hand free for spanking the monkey while you make graphics for your so-called 'Warez' site.
I can relate to this. Quite a bit, actually. I have two cats. The one I've had for just shy of two years now used to love running behind my desk, and through the mess of wires back there. She'd do it time after time after time, running, leaping legs splayed behind the desk, using the wires to slow her fall. Then she'd crawl out the other side, meow, and do it again.
At first, it was funny. Then it got annoying. One moment, I'd be working on something - the next, my mouse would zip out of my hand, under the monitor, and into never-never land. She'd come out, meow, and as I hauled it back up, she'd think I was playing, and attack the wire. Eventually, she destroyed the DVI to VGA P.o.S. adapter that hooked my third monitor into my Radeon 7500 (? - dual head, for the mac).
A month or so ago, I got another cat. Stray. Small, cute, and very friendly. Obviously a house cat. She loves to chew on wires. The other day, I was cleaning, and noticed she'd chewed completely through the cable that hooks my PSOne to the RCA to VGA adapter. Today, I was moving my scanner, and noticed she'd chewed on that power cable as well.
Hopefully, she won't kill herself.
My father knew Ted Nugent when they were high school age. Anyway, we used to get Christmas cards from him. One year, the card was a picture of Ted standing, dressed in full hunting gear, gun over his shoulder... with one foot on a somewhat bloody Santa's chest - memory escapes me as to whether or not one or two of the reindeer granced the background, but it was classic, nonetheless.
Same problem here. Only happens on the desktop, as far as I can tell - but I use column view whenever I'm hoping around the rest of the hard drive, so... who knows.
I'm so damn glad they fixed that bug with the icons on the desktop moving all sorts of odd directions if you put them on the left side of the screen - it was driving me nuts.
I'll chime in with a 'me too' effort here. I remember seeing the site, as well as a demo they'd done at sigraph several years ago, and then heard nothing more about it.
First of all, what are the implications of a packet/bottle/box of pills spurting out questions whenever you pick them up? I mean, how the hell are you going to keep paranoid skitzophrenics on their medication?
"My meds, man... They're talkin' to me. No, really... They're talking to me man."
I suppose the potential is the same for stoners, but that's another bag of beans.
Secondly, weren't we supposed to see paper printed cell phones in every vending machine already? I remember a few years back some woman had figured this application through, and the media was running around with their typical un-educated stories: "Soon, you'll be able to print a cell phone from your own printer right at home."
Still, this is existing technology, and has been jumped upon before, with no results I've ever seen.
Recently, it came to my attention that MacAmp Lite X is no longer under developement either. Why?
"iTunes just got to be far too big, far too free, and far too bundled with the OS"
Granted, MacAmp Lite X wasn't freeware, like Chimera is, and it wasn't open source, like Chimera is, but it still begs the same question:
As Apple moves from a company that was all about selling their own hardware and an OS to run on it, to a company that is all about moving into every aspect of our lives - giving us not only hardward and a (very healthy) OS to run on it, but also software to take care of most features required by an 'average' user, as well as digital lifestyle devices like the iPod (and rumored things like PDA's, video iPod's, etc.,) - are they becoming more like Microsoft? Are they discouraging the independant developer? Will they continue on this path to such an extent that those people who have begun to raise Apple's market share - and who have begun to actually pay attention to the operating system as something actually worth using - away?
In short, will Apple invading all of the different types of software areas discourage developers to the point that it is no better than Microsoft, if only in terms of their attempted monopoly over all aspects of our computing experience?
"they don't vote because the don't want to be blamed if it all goes to hell"
Uh-huh. Sure. Because there's definately a means to place blame on people if they vote for some arse who sends the country to hell in a hand-basket.
Voting has an effect. It doesn't, however, include blame if something goes wrong.
This is slightly off-topic (please read the entire thing before you decide that for yourself), but I'm starting to wonder how relevant, with regards to things involving 'technology,' history is anymore.
Trying to figure out how to say this without sounding like an idiot...
In the past, history died hard. Things that were, continued to be. Change came slowly. While contrasting what was the norm to a much greater degree (read: Galeleo's theory's involving the revolving of the planets) than ever could be possible today, the effects of upheaval and upset slowly trickled out onto the world.
Today, and in near history, change happens quickly. The gift of communication has been given to the masses, and like the current in the sea (though much less predictable) the opinions, wants, and needs of humanity can flow from one direction to another - quickly and powerfully. As a result, the time it takes for things to build to the point of breaking is lessened, and the effects of this building up can reach much farther, much faster, and with greater feriosity.
I'm not saying there will be an apocalyptic battle - that battle is already quietly raging. I wonder, though, if the point at which one side turns tail and runs won't be more clear cut and defined, like the breaking of the dam.
Then again, maybe I just really have to pee (hence , all the water metaphors).
I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I would say in the next 3-5 years, maybe a bit sooner, maybe a bit later, there is going to be a showdown of sorts between the media industry (music and video) and the public masses.
Unless the record companies, the cable companies, and all the rest of these multi-billion dollar industries can figure out a way to keep their revenue streams at current levels or at least something they're happy with without trying to hold back technology or control how it is used, something will happen. Technology - better said 'invention' - is just like nature: you can't hold it back. Once something is available, the public, and not a select group of high-riding jerks, control it. The only way to keep technology from taking on a life of it's own is to keep a lid on it in the first place, and that option never existed/is already past.
What the showdown will be, or what will happen is beyond me. How the unthinking masses (those who listen to N'Sync; those who could care less how much control Microsoft has over what they do with their own computer and the things they create with it; those who don't mind watching hours upon hours of crappy commercials - and they're not all bad commercials, just most - during their days/weeks/months/years) will affect this, I don't know either. But even they will eventually see the light.
And just like technology and nature and all the rest, there's no stopping public opinion/demand.
I agree and disagree.
Had Apple simply done a big, fancy switch, they could have included a G3/G4 emulator for running OS 9 / Classic apps. Anyone wishing to stick with OS 9 would stick with their current computer, or buy a new one and run things in emulation, which is no problem since Apple would have wanted (at the time, and now *definately* does) to phase out Classic anyway. In other words, Apple has no real reason to keep those people still wanting to run Classic happy.
Anyone wishing to run the new operating system would have to buy a new system as well - this would be true anyway since OS X requires a heftier computer to do it's thing.
I want to write more, but I have to run. More later, then.
And all of what... one of Apple's systems still uses the G3, and even that won't be for very much longer.
Apple's biggest problem, and what I believe is the reason for them pulling out of these trade shows, is simply that they can't keep up - ie produce new stuff worthy of the expense of attending the show, putting on a presentation, meeting strick show-time deadlines, etc.
Here's why in one word: Motorola
What Apple should have done is made one big fancy switch all at once. In other words, they should have gone with a new processor producer *before* they started coding OS X. That way, software producers who would have had to re-write the code for the new OS anyway could also take into account the new processor architecture.
Right now, unless someone else (likely IBM, but when?) can produce the PPC chips, Apple is stuck with Motorla and their craptastic ability to produce new, faster processors. Sure, OS X screams on a dual 1.25 GHz system compared to the 450 MHz I'm running right now, but Windows 2000 also screams on a 3.0 GHz system when compared to a 1 GHz system.
The point is, Apple can't switch to a new architecture now as it would mean software producers would have to once more re-write software they just re-wrote for OS X, and those who haven't gotten that far yet would be back to square one. This is, in short, a problem.
Furthermore, Apple's own 'Think Different' ideaology might be turning around to bite them in the ass. Here they are, presenting this new OS to Windows users and saying "Switch. We're different. And better. And we'll give you cool stuff." But people have short attention spans. If Apple doesn't put out new/cool stuff on a really regular basis, people wonder if Apple is still inovating.
I don't think any what I just wrote is clear. Sigh...
Maybe it's just me, but the "85th" fastest computer in the world just doesn't do anything for me. I mean, sure, it's cool and all, but... Really... 85th?
Using Californians as proof for your theories on what all Americans are like is equivalent to using McDonald's as proof that any food cooked outside of the home is garbage.
You're taking a select, non-representative set of the population. 'Nuff said.
Re-read this sentence:
I have a 15" CRT display at home and the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's 15" LCD display.
It states that the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's screen. It does not state that the viewable area is noticeably larger than the iMac's screen.
Result: Wasted mod points for a completely wrong summation of the facts. Typical of Slashdot... the whole not re-reading what you're written bit, eh folks?
You're at U of M, correct? I'm not sure if we're getting .NET, but it would be nice.
Just my $0.02 here - I have an old office desk (NOTE: look at the local University, as they should have somewhere they sell off old furniture and computers, etc, for large, old, office desks for CHEAP), solid wood, that measures 38" X 60" The way I used to have it set up, my three monitors (two 15" and one 19") took up most of the depth. By moving the desk away from the wall, you can hang the backs of the CRTs off of the desk, putting their stands right up against the back edge, and create a TON of workspace. Though they still take up the entire width (with a little extra space for my speakers, Zip drive, and SanDisk memory card reader), this is the best solution for me, considering I'm in a dorm room. Speaking of dorm rooms, what's up with the trend (at least here at U of M) of giving smaller and smaller desks to students, and encouraging (and in some cases, requiring) the ownership of a computer? Makes no sense to me... Finally, think seriously about getting stuff that rolls. I scavenged some old carts that were originally used to hold lie detector machines, scrapped all the useless stuff, and now I have two 2.5 foot square, industrial strength cards that hold all my misc. computer stuff, my server, and even my fish tank. :o)