If anyone is interested, a lot of the rotoscoping and digital paint work were done on 64 bit Linux machines using reasonably high-end graphics cards (supporting 4k and 8k floating-point textures), in a program called Silhouette, which supports working in floating-point formats.
Excellent point, and another argument for the Fair Tax (which I strongly support). There would be no dodging paying tax on purchased "goods", virtual or otherwise.
If you'll look at my user info you'll see that I am a partner in several companies, all of which make high-end special effects software for the movie industry. Most of my software is designed to run on Windows, OS X, and Linux, and is used pretty much everywhere. I worked closely with Weta during the production of King Kong, and am doing so on a daily basis with other studios around world in other emerging areas of special effects. I have been writing awarding winning commercial software (including software that won an Academy Award) since 1992.
So... why would I lie?
Maybe YOU should grow the fuck up and get a job before spewing ignorant drivel, you anonymous coward.
Because we are asked by Apple to have our plugins ready for sale when the final versions of said applications release, and the only thing we have to work with are beta versions of said applications.
Apple is notorious for stuff like this. They have all sorts of shared components (like QuickTime, FxPlug, etc) that they update independently from each other. I develop for Final Cut Pro and Motion, and the last time I installed a beta for them, they installed a component which broke QuickTime. Now I can't launch the QuickTime player, iTunes, iMovie, or any other app that relies on certain QuickTime codecs, without them crashing immediately. Recent updates to QuickTime haven't fixed the problem either. And of course you can't uninstall anything without reinstalling the OS. Look around - there are plenty of people asking for the "Quicktime deinstaller" which does exist but has its own problems.
Between stuff like this and having to essentially port my code every time they release a new version of OS X, and the constant switching between processor architectures, APIs, UI design requirements, etc. all I can say is it REALLY sucks being a Mac developer.
Where are you using your computer for that long that you're not near an outlet once in a while? I typically need stretches of several hours, possibly as much as 4 hours from time to time, but never much more than that.
I think Apple is really just preparing everyone for their inevitable iMatrix, where you just plug yourself in and never leave your house.
I mean, look at how they have cultivated the little zone of personal space people get in with their little white earbuds. Doing this just removes the personal contact one can get when going into a coffee shop: chatting with the employees, developing a personal relationship, as minor as it is, with another human being.
Right - my point is it'll probably be prohibitively expensive to build and fly something light enough to get off the ground conventionally, but strong enough to hold up to the massive pressure changes and reentry. Anything large enough to carry passengers commercially anyway.
A friend once told me a story about when he was a cable installer/technician. He got called to some old lady's house who was having problems with her signal - she wasn't getting any channels.
He got there and fiddled with the tv and box for awhile and started looking at the cabling. Eventually he found a piece of exposed cable along the wall. It had been cut, cleanly, with the two ends sitting about a foot apart.
He pointed this out to the lady, who said she had to move the TV a bit so cut the cable. Her explanation: she figured since the signal could get all the way from the big antennas in the city to her TV, she didn't see a mere foot of separation in the cable should cause any problems.
They shipped more copies of Vista in the last QUARTER than there are TOTAL number of users of OS X combined. Not too shabby for an OS that "nobody wants".
We're sorry, gaming has been disabled because XBOX is currently recording "Everybody loves Raymond". Press "X" to watch live now. Or, press "A" to dim screen and read a book instead.
Gaming will be enabled when recording completes, in: 28 minutes
I (accidentally) got my wife hooked on Peggle. It is OBSCENELY addictive, and a lot of fun. The presentation is very very good. Do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY. Your productivity will go down.
That didn't even occur to me. I'd like to think that.
But I can't help but think that a lot of candidates (and potential candidates) are "finding" religion for a proper shot. Reminds me of Drummond from Contact. Personally, I think we'd be better off with an atheist in control. I don't want any major decisions to end up being "let god sort it out", or, "the world is going to end soon anyway, why not hurry it along?"
"It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Moral, sure, but spiritual? I don't see how that has anything to do with it. If there is a god, we have nothing to worry about. I can't help but think he said that particular comment only to make people note that Al is a spiritual person, and therefore, eligible for president.
That said, I think he'd make a better president than all of the people who actually had a chance to win the next election.
I've got one. It's a neat little phone - and I think it looks neat. The screen is very nice, and everything is antialiased. You can control the phone via touch without a stylus. The camera isn't that great, and the phone is a little under-powered, but it makes a great test-bench platform for Qt-based mobile apps.
Hewlett Packard Model 9100B Electronic Calculator - well, an upgraded version of it that had a card reader and printer built-in. I bought it at a flea market back in the 80's for $3. It didn't come with a power cord, but I found one that fit and the thing actually worked (though I didn't have a manual). I would take it apart and put it back together frequently - the boards and keyboard were really cool and quite modular, and the thing weighed at least 30 pounds. The case was eighth-inch steel.
The savings comes only to US taxpayers - because its going to be way easier to for "us" (US citizens) to pay for younger engineers that are not all about to retire and younger hardware and software that shouldn't have been retired 20 years ago. "We" (US citizens) can pay less to keep GPS going now.
Great! When can I expect my taxes to go down because of this?
No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work on it, if your software is decent, it WILL get cracked. There is nothing you can do about this.
That said, some simple kind of system to "keep the honest guys honest" is needed, because without that, you'll sell no more than one copy to most businesses.
It's a MAJOR catch-22, and we spend a great deal of time dealing with "licensing" issues. In fact, most of our support problems are due to people who either can't read, see, or type, or apparently can't hear if you end up trying to help them over the phone.
I've implemented several licensing systems over the years, from simple serial-number based stuff to more advanced floating-license systems using rlm (Reprise Software) on our high-end products, to magical "activation" stuff using Nalpeiron. All of them cost money somewhere (don't forget about your development time). If you're going to be in a corporate environment a floating system like rlm would probably be worth it, and it's not that expensive.
Another thing you might want to look into is a product called Themida (Windows only). It's a software anti-crack "wrapper" and you can do simple licensing with it. We have one piece of software we wrapped with it that is the only software I have worked on that has yet to be cracked.
Licensing is a HUGE rats-nest, simultaneously something you HAVE to do (unless you want to just give your software away) and SHOULD NOT do as it's a huge waste of time. Probably the part of commercial software development that is shortening my life the most.
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If anyone is interested, a lot of the rotoscoping and digital paint work were done on 64 bit Linux machines using reasonably high-end graphics cards (supporting 4k and 8k floating-point textures), in a program called Silhouette, which supports working in floating-point formats.
Real source of water...
Why bother making more browser enhancements when we could just embed emacs instead?
We named the dog Indiana.
Excellent point, and another argument for the Fair Tax (which I strongly support). There would be no dodging paying tax on purchased "goods", virtual or otherwise.
If you'll look at my user info you'll see that I am a partner in several companies, all of which make high-end special effects software for the movie industry. Most of my software is designed to run on Windows, OS X, and Linux, and is used pretty much everywhere. I worked closely with Weta during the production of King Kong, and am doing so on a daily basis with other studios around world in other emerging areas of special effects. I have been writing awarding winning commercial software (including software that won an Academy Award) since 1992.
So... why would I lie?
Maybe YOU should grow the fuck up and get a job before spewing ignorant drivel, you anonymous coward.
Because we are asked by Apple to have our plugins ready for sale when the final versions of said applications release, and the only thing we have to work with are beta versions of said applications.
It's not really that hard to understand.
I guess you are one of the lucky Apple developers that HASN'T had any trouble with each new OS release, API change, processor change, ABI change, etc?
Which Mac products have you developed? I'd like to check them out and see how you did it.
Apple is notorious for stuff like this. They have all sorts of shared components (like QuickTime, FxPlug, etc) that they update independently from each other. I develop for Final Cut Pro and Motion, and the last time I installed a beta for them, they installed a component which broke QuickTime. Now I can't launch the QuickTime player, iTunes, iMovie, or any other app that relies on certain QuickTime codecs, without them crashing immediately. Recent updates to QuickTime haven't fixed the problem either. And of course you can't uninstall anything without reinstalling the OS. Look around - there are plenty of people asking for the "Quicktime deinstaller" which does exist but has its own problems.
Between stuff like this and having to essentially port my code every time they release a new version of OS X, and the constant switching between processor architectures, APIs, UI design requirements, etc. all I can say is it REALLY sucks being a Mac developer.
Someone modded me a troll for my comment. Guess someone was having a bad day.
I fly Northwest. I've NEVER seen an in-seat power outlet, even when I've flown first class.
Where are you using your computer for that long that you're not near an outlet once in a while? I typically need stretches of several hours, possibly as much as 4 hours from time to time, but never much more than that.
Don't fly Internationally much, huh?
This will probably be out of place here amongst the /. crowd. But I met the absolutely most beautiful woman on the planet.
Really? When did you meet my wife?
I think Apple is really just preparing everyone for their inevitable iMatrix, where you just plug yourself in and never leave your house.
I mean, look at how they have cultivated the little zone of personal space people get in with their little white earbuds. Doing this just removes the personal contact one can get when going into a coffee shop: chatting with the employees, developing a personal relationship, as minor as it is, with another human being.
Right - my point is it'll probably be prohibitively expensive to build and fly something light enough to get off the ground conventionally, but strong enough to hold up to the massive pressure changes and reentry. Anything large enough to carry passengers commercially anyway.
Now we just need some Unobtainium for the wings+fuselage so it doesn't fly apart when it hits 5000 mph.
Sure, the Space Shuttle is doing 16K mph on reentry, but no scramjet is going to get a plane built like that off the ground.
A friend once told me a story about when he was a cable installer/technician. He got called to some old lady's house who was having problems with her signal - she wasn't getting any channels.
He got there and fiddled with the tv and box for awhile and started looking at the cabling. Eventually he found a piece of exposed cable along the wall. It had been cut, cleanly, with the two ends sitting about a foot apart.
He pointed this out to the lady, who said she had to move the TV a bit so cut the cable. Her explanation: she figured since the signal could get all the way from the big antennas in the city to her TV, she didn't see a mere foot of separation in the cable should cause any problems.
True story.
They shipped more copies of Vista in the last QUARTER than there are TOTAL number of users of OS X combined. Not too shabby for an OS that "nobody wants".
We're sorry, gaming has been disabled because XBOX is currently recording "Everybody loves Raymond". Press "X" to watch live now. Or, press "A" to dim screen and read a book instead.
Gaming will be enabled when recording completes, in: 28 minutes
I (accidentally) got my wife hooked on Peggle. It is OBSCENELY addictive, and a lot of fun. The presentation is very very good. Do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY. Your productivity will go down.
That didn't even occur to me. I'd like to think that.
But I can't help but think that a lot of candidates (and potential candidates) are "finding" religion for a proper shot. Reminds me of Drummond from Contact. Personally, I think we'd be better off with an atheist in control. I don't want any major decisions to end up being "let god sort it out", or, "the world is going to end soon anyway, why not hurry it along?"
"It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Moral, sure, but spiritual? I don't see how that has anything to do with it. If there is a god, we have nothing to worry about. I can't help but think he said that particular comment only to make people note that Al is a spiritual person, and therefore, eligible for president.
That said, I think he'd make a better president than all of the people who actually had a chance to win the next election.
I've got one. It's a neat little phone - and I think it looks neat. The screen is very nice, and everything is antialiased. You can control the phone via touch without a stylus. The camera isn't that great, and the phone is a little under-powered, but it makes a great test-bench platform for Qt-based mobile apps.
Hewlett Packard Model 9100B Electronic Calculator - well, an upgraded version of it that had a card reader and printer built-in. I bought it at a flea market back in the 80's for $3. It didn't come with a power cord, but I found one that fit and the thing actually worked (though I didn't have a manual). I would take it apart and put it back together frequently - the boards and keyboard were really cool and quite modular, and the thing weighed at least 30 pounds. The case was eighth-inch steel.
The savings comes only to US taxpayers - because its going to be way easier to for "us" (US citizens) to pay for younger engineers that are not all about to retire and younger hardware and software that shouldn't have been retired 20 years ago. "We" (US citizens) can pay less to keep GPS going now.
Great! When can I expect my taxes to go down because of this?
No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work on it, if your software is decent, it WILL get cracked. There is nothing you can do about this.
That said, some simple kind of system to "keep the honest guys honest" is needed, because without that, you'll sell no more than one copy to most businesses.
It's a MAJOR catch-22, and we spend a great deal of time dealing with "licensing" issues. In fact, most of our support problems are due to people who either can't read, see, or type, or apparently can't hear if you end up trying to help them over the phone.
I've implemented several licensing systems over the years, from simple serial-number based stuff to more advanced floating-license systems using rlm (Reprise Software) on our high-end products, to magical "activation" stuff using Nalpeiron. All of them cost money somewhere (don't forget about your development time). If you're going to be in a corporate environment a floating system like rlm would probably be worth it, and it's not that expensive.
Another thing you might want to look into is a product called Themida (Windows only). It's a software anti-crack "wrapper" and you can do simple licensing with it. We have one piece of software we wrapped with it that is the only software I have worked on that has yet to be cracked.
Licensing is a HUGE rats-nest, simultaneously something you HAVE to do (unless you want to just give your software away) and SHOULD NOT do as it's a huge waste of time. Probably the part of commercial software development that is shortening my life the most.