No, I would've thought it sad because it would've been the second product that huge, 10 year old company had finished. However, as another, more enterprising AC pointed out, it is not there first non-beta after search, they have at least Google News as well.
Google should build their products like Microsoft and say they are production ready regardless of how well they have been tested.
This is, however, still sad to me. So the word "beta" is somehow a magical umbrella to shield against flaws? The problem with this is that all the Google "betas" are essentially wide open to the public and extremely long lasting. Look at Gmail - it's essentially an open beta (I know, invites - but who doesn't have one who wants one?) and has been around for quite awhile now. It just seems like a complete lack of follow through and yes, that is sad for a company of Google's caliber: just finish what you start, damnit.
About as useful as the 'XXXX: year of the Linux desktop' articles that always crop up, which basically have nothing to say other than "Linux Roxxors". That's what editorials are - someone's opinion.
I don't know, his answer is fairly comprehensive to me. FTFA:
6. What do you think about the Microsoft/Novell deal?
I think it is a good thing especially for the users. If you think some years back, Linux was not taken seriously. Now even Microsoft acknowledges that it exists and will not go away. I understand that many people don't like it as Novell is collaborating with the "evil empire". But I don't like this way of thinking; we are not working against somebody, but we are working FOR Linux. Fundamentalism always leads to pain. What's important is that Linux is free and will remain to be free. The source code is open to everybody, this is what counts for me. Some people seem to be torn in an interesting way: On one hand they want "world domination", at the same time they don't like the feeling that Linux has grown up and needs to deal with the real business world out there. We have a saying here in Germany that goes along the lines of "wash me, but do not make me wet". If you want Linux to succeed, you cannot live in your own separate universe.
What?! Microsoft's CEO basically threatens companies that use Linux, and Microsoft isn't at fault?!
And I suppose if Guido says, "Bad things might happen to your family, Mr. Anonymous Coward, unless you pay me some 'protection' money...", then it isn't Guido's fault if you pay him for protection you don't actually need???
At fault for what? Making very generalized threats towards people running versions of Linux other than SUSE? This protection money you're talking about is for support contracts from Novell, which Microsoft purchased from Novell themselves.
FTFA Customers have already activated 16,000 of the certificates in the seven weeks they have been offered - I wonder how many support contracts Novell normally sells in a 7 week period. I'd be willing to wager it's usually less than 16k. Community respect issues aside, this actually seems good for Novell.
To use another bogeyman to illustrate it... this is like Sony "offering" to "service" Xbox 360s, or something.
It's more like Sony offering gift certificates to get free support on your Xbox 360 from Microsoft support. FTFA Microsoft agreed to distribute "subscription certificates," each one entitling customers to technical support from Novell for a server running Suse Enterprise Linux - Microsoft isn't actually doing the SUSE support here (I'm pretty sure they wouldn't know how).
Ballmer: "Buy my service or you're open to liability."
I thought the whole point of the deal was that people need to buy SUSE or else they're open to liability.
Seriously though, spiritual violations of the GPL aside, if I was an IT department using both Linux and Microsoft products it would seem to make sense to use SUSE since Microsoft and Novell work together.
There is a vast array of evidence that giving extrinsic rewards (like money) can reduce the quality and creativity of work when compared with intrinsic motivation.
I'm curious - what evidence are you referring to? I'd like to read it - and no, your own personal, anecdotal incident does not count as evidence.
i hope this is a sign that consumers are not willing to play with the type of DRM that is unclear and difficult to deal with.
I'm pretty sure that isn't a factor here at all. Most consumers don't care about DRM, and I certainly don't think that companies are going to see this failure (if the Zune does fail in the end) of DRM. You can read whatever you want into this, but the simple truth is that the iPod is cool, and the Zune is not.
Imagine one young girl saying to another "It's like Second Life, except you don't need to pay a bunch of money to have nice furniture in your place.", that's the kind of mindshare this could garner if it was well done.
So where is the money going to come from to run the game? Either it's funded by ads, subscription or _____. The first two already exist - I'm interested in what you think the third would be.
I think I see the problem. You should have started your post by saying you were a Mac user and you liked Linux. That would've thrown the mods off your scent - that is, the scent of someone who has actually tried Vista voicing an opinion about it:)
Hey, I don't know about you, but when I first got XP, practically the first thing I did was change the GUI back to Windows Classic because I didn't want something that looked like it was designed by the Teletubbies.
I do the same thing in XP - reminds me of the beloved Win 2k days. However, having looked and played around with Vista, it actually looks fairly decent, so I think I'll actually give it a chance.
Clicking between folders in Outlook leaves the old mail on screen briefly and things just aren't better.
I actually find the opposite in the case of Outlook. Going from Outlook 2k3 to 2k7 (RTM - which version were you talking about?) on XP actually seemed to be about the same if not snappier. I don't use most of the other Office apps extensively, though, so I can't really comment on them.
The article you were referring to was rather lackluster - I read the first page and couldn't be bothered to click next. Heck, needing better hardware, more RAM and more disk space are all separate reasons! Not only that, they're all top 10.
I'm not a Vista fanboy, but this and the other articles linked smell of desperation. I would think there would be enough legitimate, well reasoned reasons to bash Vista without having to resort to FUD already.
I suppose it depends on want you intend to do with Linux when you get it. Yes you can write games (+ play an enormous number already written), but you could also use Linux for MythTV, VLC, web browsing, email, or any other use imaginable. Where the PS3 Linux sucks is the video driver is a frame buffer, however I believe that if you dedicated a handful of SPUs on the backside of Mesa that the performance would be pretty good.
That's his point - XNA is all about game development and the PS3 thing isn't that focused and isn't really "in the same vein" (to quote the article).
Besides XNA has drawbacks even for writing games. a) It uses.NET, thereby hobbling its performance, b) you have to PAY to publish your games c) You have to PAY to see and play them d) You don't get paid for either. To me it looks more like vanity publishing than a legitimate means of encouraging games development.
Well:
a) There is a fairly impressive demo on what you can do visible in this video from channel9. Performance seems pretty nice to be. Would it be faster if this was all in C/C++? Probably - but this is meant to be widely accessible.
b)Yes, it's a $99 USD a year fee to publish your content to the Xbox right now and only people with a similar subscription will be able to access it. However, according to the article, the sharing of these homebrew creations is one of the things they will be working on. I for one can't wait for the day when I can login to a special section of Xbox live to browse through all the user created games (pretty much suggested at one point in the video I linked to above).
c)See above.
d)I'm sure this isn't far away either. As a developer I would love to be able to create the next killer Xbox arcade game or whatever and be able to sell it for a few bucks on Xbox live. As Microsoft I'd love to be able to have developers doing this so I could take a cut (i.e. as a the publisher, etc) and to drive interest in the console. I can't recall reading about this, but I imagine it must be on the horizon at some point.
You're telling me that this is made for home use [bucknell.edu]? What is it supposed to do at my house? I used them for my robotics class in college and I wasn't too impressed.
Well, the story certainly isn't. Some relevant info from the article:
A robot with arms and legs that can do gymnastics, the Roomba self-guided vacuum, a lightweight Lego robot for hobbyists, and a squat $40,000 rover equipped with sensors used in the surveying industry.
......
It includes a simulation program so that even if you don't have a $40,000 Pioneer P3DX robot, you can still program one then set it to work in an on-screen simulator complete with properties such as friction and gravity.
The software, free for hobbyists, students and others pursuing robotics for non-commercial purposes, also has a host of tutorials, robot models and technology services for use by even programming novices.
It's just a misleading headline - I don't think that even Microsoft would suggest that a $40k robot is for home use. Ignoring the submission and going by the article, though, this program looks like it's actually a good thing, especially since the $399 license is only for commercial applications.
Here's the announcement from the source himself, via his blog. Based on that post I'd say he sounds pretty disgruntled with how his efforts towards security were received i.e. "he PHP Group will jump into your boat as soon you try to blame PHP's security problems on the user but the moment you criticize the security of PHP itself you become persona non grata"
Speaking of which, what the hell is "I'm looking forward to forming a venture to explore open source joint development using best practices in collaboration and building communities." I'm certain that this somehow involves getting very drunk in the near term, but I'll be damned if I know how.
Slashdot Mirror
No, I would've thought it sad because it would've been the second product that huge, 10 year old company had finished. However, as another, more enterprising AC pointed out, it is not there first non-beta after search, they have at least Google News as well.
This is, however, still sad to me. So the word "beta" is somehow a magical umbrella to shield against flaws? The problem with this is that all the Google "betas" are essentially wide open to the public and extremely long lasting. Look at Gmail - it's essentially an open beta (I know, invites - but who doesn't have one who wants one?) and has been around for quite awhile now. It just seems like a complete lack of follow through and yes, that is sad for a company of Google's caliber: just finish what you start, damnit.
Is this the first Google product to actually make it out of Beta (aside from search, of course)? In a way it's kind of sad if it is.
About as useful as the 'XXXX: year of the Linux desktop' articles that always crop up, which basically have nothing to say other than "Linux Roxxors". That's what editorials are - someone's opinion.
Because I say so? It certainly doesn't count as a vast array, at least.
I don't know, his answer is fairly comprehensive to me. FTFA:
At fault for what? Making very generalized threats towards people running versions of Linux other than SUSE? This protection money you're talking about is for support contracts from Novell, which Microsoft purchased from Novell themselves.
FTFA Customers have already activated 16,000 of the certificates in the seven weeks they have been offered - I wonder how many support contracts Novell normally sells in a 7 week period. I'd be willing to wager it's usually less than 16k. Community respect issues aside, this actually seems good for Novell.
It's more like Sony offering gift certificates to get free support on your Xbox 360 from Microsoft support. FTFA Microsoft agreed to distribute "subscription certificates," each one entitling customers to technical support from Novell for a server running Suse Enterprise Linux - Microsoft isn't actually doing the SUSE support here (I'm pretty sure they wouldn't know how).
I thought the whole point of the deal was that people need to buy SUSE or else they're open to liability.
Seriously though, spiritual violations of the GPL aside, if I was an IT department using both Linux and Microsoft products it would seem to make sense to use SUSE since Microsoft and Novell work together.
I'm curious - what evidence are you referring to? I'd like to read it - and no, your own personal, anecdotal incident does not count as evidence.
Isn't this kind of thing the point of the security changes in Vista?
I believe that such services are subscription based (i.e. no ads) so there isn't any room for Google to come in.
He owns a PC and a hard drive. The Wall Street Journal must be paying rather well, nowadays.
I'm pretty sure that isn't a factor here at all. Most consumers don't care about DRM, and I certainly don't think that companies are going to see this failure (if the Zune does fail in the end) of DRM. You can read whatever you want into this, but the simple truth is that the iPod is cool, and the Zune is not.
So where is the money going to come from to run the game? Either it's funded by ads, subscription or _____. The first two already exist - I'm interested in what you think the third would be.
Peter F. "Deus - ex - Machina - in the extreme" Hamilton??
Those books started off so well, too :(
I think I see the problem. You should have started your post by saying you were a Mac user and you liked Linux. That would've thrown the mods off your scent - that is, the scent of someone who has actually tried Vista voicing an opinion about it :)
I do the same thing in XP - reminds me of the beloved Win 2k days. However, having looked and played around with Vista, it actually looks fairly decent, so I think I'll actually give it a chance.
I actually find the opposite in the case of Outlook. Going from Outlook 2k3 to 2k7 (RTM - which version were you talking about?) on XP actually seemed to be about the same if not snappier. I don't use most of the other Office apps extensively, though, so I can't really comment on them.
The article you were referring to was rather lackluster - I read the first page and couldn't be bothered to click next. Heck, needing better hardware, more RAM and more disk space are all separate reasons! Not only that, they're all top 10.
I'm not a Vista fanboy, but this and the other articles linked smell of desperation. I would think there would be enough legitimate, well reasoned reasons to bash Vista without having to resort to FUD already.
That's his point - XNA is all about game development and the PS3 thing isn't that focused and isn't really "in the same vein" (to quote the article).
Well:
a) There is a fairly impressive demo on what you can do visible in this video from channel9. Performance seems pretty nice to be. Would it be faster if this was all in C/C++? Probably - but this is meant to be widely accessible.
b)Yes, it's a $99 USD a year fee to publish your content to the Xbox right now and only people with a similar subscription will be able to access it. However, according to the article, the sharing of these homebrew creations is one of the things they will be working on. I for one can't wait for the day when I can login to a special section of Xbox live to browse through all the user created games (pretty much suggested at one point in the video I linked to above).
c)See above.
d)I'm sure this isn't far away either. As a developer I would love to be able to create the next killer Xbox arcade game or whatever and be able to sell it for a few bucks on Xbox live. As Microsoft I'd love to be able to have developers doing this so I could take a cut (i.e. as a the publisher, etc) and to drive interest in the console. I can't recall reading about this, but I imagine it must be on the horizon at some point.
Well, if it's based on Vista, I hope he has at least 2 GB of RAM and a decent video card in there - real world effects are hard to render.
Yes - it wont be long before you can fuck something running Windows, instead of Windows fucking you :)
Well, the story certainly isn't. Some relevant info from the article:
It's just a misleading headline - I don't think that even Microsoft would suggest that a $40k robot is for home use. Ignoring the submission and going by the article, though, this program looks like it's actually a good thing, especially since the $399 license is only for commercial applications.
Here's the announcement from the source himself, via his blog. Based on that post I'd say he sounds pretty disgruntled with how his efforts towards security were received i.e. "he PHP Group will jump into your boat as soon you try to blame PHP's security problems on the user but the moment you criticize the security of PHP itself you become persona non grata"
Speaking of which, what the hell is "I'm looking forward to forming a venture to explore open source joint development using best practices in collaboration and building communities." I'm certain that this somehow involves getting very drunk in the near term, but I'll be damned if I know how.