In the old days, the prophets who pointed out the wickedness of their nation were burned. How impotent the mob of mediocre mendacious malcontented mundanes has become!
Using DirectX means a smaller rendering engine. You already have DirectX installed, and the current engine is duplicating Direct2D and DirectWrite functionality in software.
If you have a GPU, it means a smaller renderer and less CPU usage. It won't make any difference for Intel netbooks, but mine (and most regular laptops) have some kind of NVIDIA or ATI graphics card, which will free up the CPU for other things.
It doesn't need 3D acceleration, but it can use it if you have it. Car analogy: It doesn't need a 350 V8, but IE can use one if you have it.
Which is another way of saying that IE9 will be such a resource hog that even the highly advanced eight core systems we'll be using in a few years will not be powerful enough to run it.
Better performance == bloated?
Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsetter.
All very good points. I think we can agree on the moderate, compromise position: "Fuck 90% of taxes."
I think we have most of these taxes because people are unmotivated. As you say, people expect all sorts of gifts to fall from the sky, and election-seeking politicians can make that happen with other people's money.
Alexis de Tocqueville warned that our republic would fall when Congress realized it could bribe the people with its own money. Frenchmen are scary sometimes.
I've posted this before, but I think it's worth repeating because, despite my evangelizing, people on the Internet are still wrong.:P
Why is "OMGROADS" a justification for any and all taxation? As far as roads and police go, very little money comes from the Federal government, which leaves the local government. And in my experience, roads and police are the first things cut by local politicians because it scares up support for more taxes.
Education is a mess. We're #3 worldwide in terms of spending per pupil, but Slashdot as a whole seems to find public education inadequate.
Now, what percentage of our taxes actually goes to roads, police, fire, education, and defense? I can guarantee you the majority of Federal spending does not, and how much local spending does is a function of local corruption and incompetence.
I like the sig of one slashdotter, something about "taxes buying civilization." But, can you fault those who feel ripped off?
Interesting. Not that I wanted to say "Microsoft copied KDE!" or "KDE copied Microsoft!"... It just seems like "semantic desktop" is a much more exciting term than "Windows Search 4.0" or "searching NTFS metadata."
This "semantic desktop" sounds suspiciously like the Vista/Windows 7 start menu search. Type in a date, you'll get pictures taken on that date. Type in a name, it'll pull e-mails from outlook, Word documents with that author, etc. Type in an artist, you'll get mp3s. Etc, etc.
Profits are the monies kept AFTER paying overhead, employee salaries, cost of goods sold, etc. A company can survive easily on a single digit profit percentage.
This is only partially true. A firm may still be "profitable" at single percentage profits. But, why go through all the hassle of running a business, paying employees, maintaining equipment, finding customers, etc. when putting your money in a savings account would give you a better return?
You open a ZIP file by double-clicking on it. It opens like a regular folder in Windows Explorer.
You create a ZIP file by either 1) copying-pasting a file into the ZIP "folder" or 2) Right-clicking on a file or folder and clicking "Send To -> Compressed (zipped) folder"
How is having people download cygwin and running unzip an "improvement" over double-clicking?
The basic policy for Actionscript is very close to the Javascript same-origin policy: A Flash object can only access content from the domain it originated from....
The important difference, of course, is that flash objects are not web pages. A flash object does not need to be injected into a web page to execute- simply loading the content is enough. Let's consider the implications of this policy for a moment: If I can get a Flash object onto your server, I can execute scripts in the context of your domain.
So, user uploads a file - say, a picture for a forum avatar. Your image validation misses that malicious_flash.jpg is really a SWF file, and now you're executing flash all over the place "in the context of your domain." Which I guess means any SWF file I manage to upload anywhere can eat the hosting webserver.
I have a Nokia Tracfone, but it has similar functionality. It only took me a few minutes of poking through layers of menus to change the arrow key shortcut to "camera."
However, there is also a big internet button with a globe on it directly to the left of the very tiny "left" button you use to navigate menus. I haven't found a way to turn that button off yet.
I'd call to disable web service, but honestly I'm too lazy. There's probably a way to disable the dedicated button as well, but I'm also too lazy. I hate phones, I rarely use it, and every slip up (there's been one so far) costs me roughly 4 cents, which is a far cry from $2.
Problem is, you hit the web button by mistake, kill it before the browser is even open on your phone, but still get charged $2. 0.02 KB (according to the article) goes across the wire, but you're charged for 1024.
And, they place the "Bill me $2" button on an arrow key. Or, on or near some other commonly-hit button.
I hate cellphone companies for reasons just like this, so I got a terrorist cellphone (OK, a Tracfone) for just that reason. But, they too have an all-too-large "Bill me.3 minutes" next to your arrow and "OK" keys.
Can you give a brief overview of how to remove write access to particular parts of the registry on a per-user (or per-group) basis?
I'm typing this on Vista Business; XP Home and Vista Home Premium might not have these same features.
To lock down a part of the registry:
Open the registry editor. (Start -> Run -> Regedt32)
Navigate to the key you want to lock down.
Right-click on it and select permissions. You can set them by user or group the same way you set permissions on folders.
Group Policy is also a great tool - gpedit.msc is powerful. If you're running a gimped version (XP Home/Vista Home Premium) most of its options can be directly set in the registry with some Googling.
Actually, the wonderful thing about family is that you can tell them to "sod off" and quit.
There are a few points that, for my sanity, I made my more recalcitrant relatives understand:
They break their computer. It's weekly non-functioning is entirely their fault. (My relatives like dancing bunnies.)
I fix their computers out of goodwill, because they are family. I am not obligated to.
That said, you don't need to "convince" them to move to something different. As you said, that's generally not possible anyways. But, if they want your help, their computer will be locked down afterwards. If that's not acceptable, that's fine; Best Buy will happily take their money.
It sounds harsh, but I have an impractically large family; I tried and cannot be as generous as I'd like with support calls. After their machines are locked down, I don't get any more support calls, and they're (eventually) happier since their computer quit breaking.
SteadyState is a cage, designed to prevent the users from doing anything. It's like a finer-grained Faronics DeepFreeze, to protect users from themselves. It's a cage.
Unless your definition of "security and stability" is "prevent users from doing actions on a continuum from anything<-->everything". In which case, that's called "Group Policy." This is a simpler, free tool designed for home users and small computing environments.
Of course, family pressures can be (and usually are) harder to withstand than workplace ones:)
At least where I work (and where I live:) this isn't the case. Not being able to immediately solve a problem over the phone is grounds for a chain e-mail to my boss's boss, the president of the college, every dean and vice dean explaining why our entire department is incompetent and should be fired.
I'm also no obligation to help my family outside of my decency as a human being and family member. The familial relationship isn't coercive in the same fulfill-my-expectations-now-or-I'll-phone-the-Pope way.
My boss's stance is the same as yours - computers locked down, go through us, it's our job - but there have to be exceptions for "VIPs" who are all by grace elected for their propensity to click on the dancing bunnies.
My cousin and I are the de facto unpaid familial tech support for my grandparents' computer, which is used not only by them but cousins, relatives, etc. Lots of viruses, and lots of well-meaning relatives and technical gurus trying to "fix" things.
We changed the password on the Administrator account and, this time, didn't tell anyone. There was grumbling, but we've never had to fix their computer since.
All the submitter has to do is password protect the Administrator account. People don't install new software every week, and I can guarantee you the "maintenance" headache will be much smaller than the "support/repair/disinfect" headache.
Looking at Wikipedia, it looks like the Atom doesn't support SSE4.1. If you wanted to optimize your program for a Core 2 Duo, you'd turn on your SSE4.1 compiler flags. I'm sure there's a lot of other stuff, too - they took a lot of stuff out of the Atom to make it power efficient.
I'm pulling this out of my nether regions, but the last slashdot article implied that they didn't "disable" Atom processors, per se. They turned on compiler optimizations that generate instructions that the Atom doesn't support.
If that's the case, it "tightens the code" because the new instructions run faster on the Intel processors Apple actually uses. However, Atom no longer works because the cheaper processors don't support those instructions.
If you look on your character sheet when you level up (the one where you place your stat points) you should see four specialties you can unlock. NPCs in your party can teach you these skills, if your approval with them is high enough.
For example, Morrigan is a shapeshifter and can teach you as well if you can make her think you're not scum of the earth. Likewise, Allister can teach Templar abilities, and I'm sure other NPCs can teach different things.
You don't get nagged during in-character conversations. Except for the character whose sole purpose is to take you to the DLC. He'll give you the option to buy it if you don't have it.
I replied below about how the game is ridiculously long WITHOUT the DLC, and how the DLC adds non-essential side quests and extras as opposed to being mandatory or why-the-heck-did-I-have-to-pay-extra-for-that-ish.
But, the DLC actually adds some value in this case. Go play Dragon Age Journeys. It's a free flash game that's kind of a cross between Diablo II and Heroes of Might and Magic. Earning "achievements" in the flash game gets you items that you download as DLC in Dragon Age proper.
It's kind of a nifty feature, and it gives me something to do during philosophy lecture...
This is kind of true, but it's not as dire as you make it seem. The DLC is just side quests; they contribute to the story but they're in no way essential to the game's plot.
You access the DLC through in-game NPCs, like you say; that's how they tie the side-quests into the main story. If you don't have the DLC, there's a "(Purchase this DLC) Let me think about that..." dialog option that opens the EA store in-game. If you don't want to shell out for the DLC, you don't have to do the side quests.
That said, the base game is massive. My cousin and I both bought it and hacked away at it without sleep over the weekend. The game claims were 8% and 10% done, after two days and who knows how many hours. So, it doesn't look like they butchered the core game to sell DLC!
Slashdot Mirror
-1, Alliteration
Using DirectX means a smaller rendering engine. You already have DirectX installed, and the current engine is duplicating Direct2D and DirectWrite functionality in software.
If you have a GPU, it means a smaller renderer and less CPU usage. It won't make any difference for Intel netbooks, but mine (and most regular laptops) have some kind of NVIDIA or ATI graphics card, which will free up the CPU for other things.
It doesn't need 3D acceleration, but it can use it if you have it. Car analogy: It doesn't need a 350 V8, but IE can use one if you have it.
Which is another way of saying that IE9 will be such a resource hog that even the highly advanced eight core systems we'll be using in a few years will not be powerful enough to run it.
Better performance == bloated?
Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsetter.
All very good points. I think we can agree on the moderate, compromise position: "Fuck 90% of taxes."
I think we have most of these taxes because people are unmotivated. As you say, people expect all sorts of gifts to fall from the sky, and election-seeking politicians can make that happen with other people's money.
Alexis de Tocqueville warned that our republic would fall when Congress realized it could bribe the people with its own money. Frenchmen are scary sometimes.
I've posted this before, but I think it's worth repeating because, despite my evangelizing, people on the Internet are still wrong. :P
Why is "OMGROADS" a justification for any and all taxation? As far as roads and police go, very little money comes from the Federal government, which leaves the local government. And in my experience, roads and police are the first things cut by local politicians because it scares up support for more taxes.
Education is a mess. We're #3 worldwide in terms of spending per pupil, but Slashdot as a whole seems to find public education inadequate.
Now, what percentage of our taxes actually goes to roads, police, fire, education, and defense? I can guarantee you the majority of Federal spending does not, and how much local spending does is a function of local corruption and incompetence.
I like the sig of one slashdotter, something about "taxes buying civilization." But, can you fault those who feel ripped off?
Interesting. Not that I wanted to say "Microsoft copied KDE!" or "KDE copied Microsoft!"... It just seems like "semantic desktop" is a much more exciting term than "Windows Search 4.0" or "searching NTFS metadata."
This "semantic desktop" sounds suspiciously like the Vista/Windows 7 start menu search. Type in a date, you'll get pictures taken on that date. Type in a name, it'll pull e-mails from outlook, Word documents with that author, etc. Type in an artist, you'll get mp3s. Etc, etc.
Is this really just Windows Search?
You have any sources for that? Google turned up nothing authoritative and interesting, and Wikipedia says they accused Roosevelt of fascism.
Profits are the monies kept AFTER paying overhead, employee salaries, cost of goods sold, etc. A company can survive easily on a single digit profit percentage.
This is only partially true. A firm may still be "profitable" at single percentage profits. But, why go through all the hassle of running a business, paying employees, maintaining equipment, finding customers, etc. when putting your money in a savings account would give you a better return?
How is ZIP support in XP a "travesty"?
You open a ZIP file by double-clicking on it. It opens like a regular folder in Windows Explorer.
You create a ZIP file by either 1) copying-pasting a file into the ZIP "folder" or 2) Right-clicking on a file or folder and clicking "Send To -> Compressed (zipped) folder"
How is having people download cygwin and running unzip an "improvement" over double-clicking?
Relevant part of the article:
So, user uploads a file - say, a picture for a forum avatar. Your image validation misses that malicious_flash.jpg is really a SWF file, and now you're executing flash all over the place "in the context of your domain." Which I guess means any SWF file I manage to upload anywhere can eat the hosting webserver.
I have a Nokia Tracfone, but it has similar functionality. It only took me a few minutes of poking through layers of menus to change the arrow key shortcut to "camera."
However, there is also a big internet button with a globe on it directly to the left of the very tiny "left" button you use to navigate menus. I haven't found a way to turn that button off yet.
I'd call to disable web service, but honestly I'm too lazy. There's probably a way to disable the dedicated button as well, but I'm also too lazy. I hate phones, I rarely use it, and every slip up (there's been one so far) costs me roughly 4 cents, which is a far cry from $2.
Still, it's a bastard thing to do on any phone.
Problem is, you hit the web button by mistake, kill it before the browser is even open on your phone, but still get charged $2. 0.02 KB (according to the article) goes across the wire, but you're charged for 1024.
And, they place the "Bill me $2" button on an arrow key. Or, on or near some other commonly-hit button.
I hate cellphone companies for reasons just like this, so I got a terrorist cellphone (OK, a Tracfone) for just that reason. But, they too have an all-too-large "Bill me .3 minutes" next to your arrow and "OK" keys.
Heh... in UNIX we just call it "the way the thing was designed to work". :)
Sigh... agree. It's a shame that Windows must traditionally be run at "root."
Can you give a brief overview of how to remove write access to particular parts of the registry on a per-user (or per-group) basis?
I'm typing this on Vista Business; XP Home and Vista Home Premium might not have these same features.
To lock down a part of the registry:
Group Policy is also a great tool - gpedit.msc is powerful. If you're running a gimped version (XP Home/Vista Home Premium) most of its options can be directly set in the registry with some Googling.
Actually, the wonderful thing about family is that you can tell them to "sod off" and quit.
There are a few points that, for my sanity, I made my more recalcitrant relatives understand:
That said, you don't need to "convince" them to move to something different. As you said, that's generally not possible anyways. But, if they want your help, their computer will be locked down afterwards. If that's not acceptable, that's fine; Best Buy will happily take their money.
It sounds harsh, but I have an impractically large family; I tried and cannot be as generous as I'd like with support calls. After their machines are locked down, I don't get any more support calls, and they're (eventually) happier since their computer quit breaking.
Not really.
SteadyState is a cage, designed to prevent the users from doing anything. It's like a finer-grained Faronics DeepFreeze, to protect users from themselves. It's a cage.
Unless your definition of "security and stability" is "prevent users from doing actions on a continuum from anything<-->everything". In which case, that's called "Group Policy." This is a simpler, free tool designed for home users and small computing environments.
Of course, family pressures can be (and usually are) harder to withstand than workplace ones :)
At least where I work (and where I live :) this isn't the case. Not being able to immediately solve a problem over the phone is grounds for a chain e-mail to my boss's boss, the president of the college, every dean and vice dean explaining why our entire department is incompetent and should be fired.
I'm also no obligation to help my family outside of my decency as a human being and family member. The familial relationship isn't coercive in the same fulfill-my-expectations-now-or-I'll-phone-the-Pope way.
My boss's stance is the same as yours - computers locked down, go through us, it's our job - but there have to be exceptions for "VIPs" who are all by grace elected for their propensity to click on the dancing bunnies.
^This.
My cousin and I are the de facto unpaid familial tech support for my grandparents' computer, which is used not only by them but cousins, relatives, etc. Lots of viruses, and lots of well-meaning relatives and technical gurus trying to "fix" things.
We changed the password on the Administrator account and, this time, didn't tell anyone. There was grumbling, but we've never had to fix their computer since.
All the submitter has to do is password protect the Administrator account. People don't install new software every week, and I can guarantee you the "maintenance" headache will be much smaller than the "support/repair/disinfect" headache.
Looking at Wikipedia, it looks like the Atom doesn't support SSE4.1. If you wanted to optimize your program for a Core 2 Duo, you'd turn on your SSE4.1 compiler flags. I'm sure there's a lot of other stuff, too - they took a lot of stuff out of the Atom to make it power efficient.
I'm pulling this out of my nether regions, but the last slashdot article implied that they didn't "disable" Atom processors, per se. They turned on compiler optimizations that generate instructions that the Atom doesn't support.
If that's the case, it "tightens the code" because the new instructions run faster on the Intel processors Apple actually uses. However, Atom no longer works because the cheaper processors don't support those instructions.
If you look on your character sheet when you level up (the one where you place your stat points) you should see four specialties you can unlock. NPCs in your party can teach you these skills, if your approval with them is high enough.
For example, Morrigan is a shapeshifter and can teach you as well if you can make her think you're not scum of the earth. Likewise, Allister can teach Templar abilities, and I'm sure other NPCs can teach different things.
But, it's not DLC!
You don't get nagged during in-character conversations. Except for the character whose sole purpose is to take you to the DLC. He'll give you the option to buy it if you don't have it.
I replied below about how the game is ridiculously long WITHOUT the DLC, and how the DLC adds non-essential side quests and extras as opposed to being mandatory or why-the-heck-did-I-have-to-pay-extra-for-that-ish.
But, the DLC actually adds some value in this case. Go play Dragon Age Journeys. It's a free flash game that's kind of a cross between Diablo II and Heroes of Might and Magic. Earning "achievements" in the flash game gets you items that you download as DLC in Dragon Age proper.
It's kind of a nifty feature, and it gives me something to do during philosophy lecture...
This is kind of true, but it's not as dire as you make it seem. The DLC is just side quests; they contribute to the story but they're in no way essential to the game's plot.
You access the DLC through in-game NPCs, like you say; that's how they tie the side-quests into the main story. If you don't have the DLC, there's a "(Purchase this DLC) Let me think about that..." dialog option that opens the EA store in-game. If you don't want to shell out for the DLC, you don't have to do the side quests.
That said, the base game is massive. My cousin and I both bought it and hacked away at it without sleep over the weekend. The game claims were 8% and 10% done, after two days and who knows how many hours. So, it doesn't look like they butchered the core game to sell DLC!