When I read this article, I get a mental image of Bill Gates thinking how awesome it would be to be officially titled "Sir Bill Gates". I then picture him dialling the extension for his publicity department and asking them to "get on it right away".
There are probably hundreds of people in the IT industry more worthy of knighthood than Gates... think of people like Wozniack, Torvalds, Stallman, Page... guys who made REAL advances in computer science without greed as a primary motivator.
You can still buy new cassette players, turntables, and there's no shortage of servicable open reel players. And that's just audio formats.
The CD format has been adopted by not only the music industry, but also the entire computer industry. Its form factor has been adopted for many current and future technologies -- DVD mechanisms support the CD, so there's a third industry invested in it.
No, the CD isn't going anywhere. It'll still be well supported long after the last HD-DVD is manufactured.
The dyes in your CD-R media will decompose long before the supply of CD-compatible players dries up.
Earth, but outside of the reality distortion field of American mass media. The fact that you don't realise how much its infected your thinking would be funny if it weren't so tragic.
You say that there are Christian and Jewish suicide bombers there?
A classic example, how spin doctors have successfully convinced societies that a few man with bombs can be somehow more evil than an government-sanctioned opression of an entire civilisation.
The twin towers weren't the only thing to be destroyed on that fateful day -- along with the structure went the pinpoint accuracy of the term "terrorism". The word has been so thickly spread that it's lost all meaning.
If any religion is being self-destructive, it's the Catholic Church.
Islam has been painted in an unfavorable light only because of extremist elements.
Who cares anyway... thanks to capitalism and democracy, religions have such little significance left that christianity, islam and judaism end up being basically the same thing.
The problem with current user interfaces is that they require arcane, computer-esque input devices. Give me UI that I can control by sucking on breasts, and then I'll be impressed.
Wealth is relative. Resources are limited. Americans are turning the world's resources into American wealth far faster than any other country, and at an unquestionably unsustainable rate.
Nobody said anything about being not wanted -- quite the opposite! I see quite a few American tourists here in Sydney, and they're almost exclusively nice, polite people who are clearly enjoying seeing another part of the world.
The saying 'broaden your horizons' might be rhetorical gumph, but there is a granule of truth to it.
This is just another nail in the coffin of the more-glamour-less-substance Academy Awards anyway. When deciding which movie I'm going to watch, I look at its score on IMDB, and occasionally read what my local movie critics say.
Award ceremonies have absolutely no bearing on anything, other than to give a dubiously limited selection of celebrities to flout their wealth and pat themselves on the back.
Take a city like Melbourne for example. A well-packed CBD surrounded by dozens of suburbs each containing more culture than all the Krispy Kremes and Starbucks in America combined.
Glad you can see that. Now all you need to do is take your newfound enlightenment and translate it to "funny" posts about how Australians are all like Steve Irwin, or are all descended from petty thieves...
How typically American: no real appreciation of the wider world. What is the percentage of Americans that have travelled to a foreign country? Something like 2% last time I checked.
Sure, much of the innovation in the tech sector still comes out of America... but anyone who thinks that the real power in the tech sector remains in America is just deluding themselves. Consider all the brands based in Japan. All of the manufacturing in Korea and Taiwan...
...but these days, we are surrounded by hundreds of multinational corporations which operate as small dictatorships, and have the largest influence on our global leaders.
Okay, so maybe calling them dictatorships is a bit harsh, but where's the democracy? The right to purchase or avoid a product? Sure -- on an individual level -- but mass advertising basically wipes out a chance for "voting with your feet" to influence corporate policy.
> What's up with all this "Ctrl C" and Ctrl V" > copy/paste stuff?
I dunno, but at least I can copy from one program and paste into another without worring about which development platform each program was written in.
> it virtually ordered me to download a series > of patches [and] told me nothing except that > it was happening
90% of Windows users wouldn't give a flying whatever what those updates are actually changing. Just be glad that Microsoft DO fix SOME of their security holes, and that there's a servicable mechanism for delivering those patches.
> Next I decided to install an IRC program.
mIRC sucks, therefore Windows sucks? That's absurd.
> One program that does come with Windows XP > Pro is a Web browser...and it's easily replased with Mozilla. For free. Mozilla on Windows works extremely well (that's what I'm using right now).
> I'm telling you to dump Outlook for your own > good. Really.
I use Outlook Express in combination with SpamPal. It's not the best arrangement ever, but it works perfectly well for me. My email database is currently close to 1 gigabyte, and it still runs very fast.
With the HTMLModfiy and Bayesian plug-ins, SpamPal removes all of the dodgy HTML as well as all the spam.
And yes, Outlook Express profiles are VERY easy to back up...if you know how.:)
> 'Windows Messenger'... is some sort of ad > delivery mechanism
Not if you don't install any additional plug-ins. Sad but true: the dull but servicable WM beats the pants off some horridly abysmal alternatives.
> The bottom panel on my KDE desktop is filled > with icons for my 'daily use' applications. > I haven't figured out how to put app icons > on the Windows bottom panel.
Right-click, Toolbars, Quick Launch.
> When I want to find out the day and date, or > check a date a few months ahead, I'm used to > clicking on my little KDE clock and having a > calendar pop up for me. I can't seem to do > this in Windows, even though I've tried.
Double-click.
> This Windows thing about needing special > drivers for every bit of hardware is irksome.
I'll take too many automatically installing drivers over too few hard-to-install drivers any day (yes, I'm looking at you, 3COM).
In short, Roblimo's exercise shows that if you put very little effort into learning about a computer platform, you're not going to get very far. How insightful.
Slashdot Mirror
Why would real geeks care about imperial measurements, beyond, of course, the curiosity factor?
Metric just makes sense.
America is the odd one out here purely because their political system is based on populism -- not even a whiff of practicality to be seen anywhere.
SRI invented.
Xerox improved.
Apple improved further.
Microsoft unimproved.
When I read this article, I get a mental image of Bill Gates thinking how awesome it would be to be officially titled "Sir Bill Gates". I then picture him dialling the extension for his publicity department and asking them to "get on it right away".
There are probably hundreds of people in the IT industry more worthy of knighthood than Gates... think of people like Wozniack, Torvalds, Stallman, Page... guys who made REAL advances in computer science without greed as a primary motivator.
You can still buy new cassette players, turntables, and there's no shortage of servicable open reel players. And that's just audio formats.
The CD format has been adopted by not only the music industry, but also the entire computer industry. Its form factor has been adopted for many current and future technologies -- DVD mechanisms support the CD, so there's a third industry invested in it.
No, the CD isn't going anywhere. It'll still be well supported long after the last HD-DVD is manufactured.
The dyes in your CD-R media will decompose long before the supply of CD-compatible players dries up.
Tell us more about this planet you live on.
Earth, but outside of the reality distortion field of American mass media. The fact that you don't realise how much its infected your thinking would be funny if it weren't so tragic.
You say that there are Christian and Jewish suicide bombers there?
A classic example, how spin doctors have successfully convinced societies that a few man with bombs can be somehow more evil than an government-sanctioned opression of an entire civilisation.
The twin towers weren't the only thing to be destroyed on that fateful day -- along with the structure went the pinpoint accuracy of the term "terrorism". The word has been so thickly spread that it's lost all meaning.
If any religion is being self-destructive, it's the Catholic Church.
Islam has been painted in an unfavorable light only because of extremist elements.
Who cares anyway... thanks to capitalism and democracy, religions have such little significance left that christianity, islam and judaism end up being basically the same thing.
This was released to the media ages ago, and had a staged re-release a few days ago to coincide with the aniversary of the Wright brothers' flight.
6 /mantis .cfm
Here it is in June:
http://www.cmit.csiro.au/innovation/2003-0
Thank you. ;)
The problem with current user interfaces is that they require arcane, computer-esque input devices. Give me UI that I can control by sucking on breasts, and then I'll be impressed.
Not to mention thoroughly freaked out.
> "That's it, here we are, computers are more intelligent than man"
:)
It's the other way around. If Kasparov wins, it means that man is a better computer than a computer.
...will it be bundled with the Netscape web browser?
> Wealth is not a limited resource.
Wealth is relative. Resources are limited. Americans are turning the world's resources into American wealth far faster than any other country, and at an unquestionably unsustainable rate.
Nobody said anything about being not wanted -- quite the opposite! I see quite a few American tourists here in Sydney, and they're almost exclusively nice, polite people who are clearly enjoying seeing another part of the world.
The saying 'broaden your horizons' might be rhetorical gumph, but there is a granule of truth to it.
This is just another nail in the coffin of the more-glamour-less-substance Academy Awards anyway. When deciding which movie I'm going to watch, I look at its score on IMDB, and occasionally read what my local movie critics say.
Award ceremonies have absolutely no bearing on anything, other than to give a dubiously limited selection of celebrities to flout their wealth and pat themselves on the back.
Take a city like Melbourne for example. A well-packed CBD surrounded by dozens of suburbs each containing more culture than all the Krispy Kremes and Starbucks in America combined.
Glad you can see that. Now all you need to do is take your newfound enlightenment and translate it to "funny" posts about how Australians are all like Steve Irwin, or are all descended from petty thieves...
How typically American: no real appreciation of the wider world. What is the percentage of Americans that have travelled to a foreign country? Something like 2% last time I checked.
Sure, much of the innovation in the tech sector still comes out of America... but anyone who thinks that the real power in the tech sector remains in America is just deluding themselves. Consider all the brands based in Japan. All of the manufacturing in Korea and Taiwan...
There's that superior American intellect for you.
...but these days, we are surrounded by hundreds of multinational corporations which operate as small dictatorships, and have the largest influence on our global leaders.
Okay, so maybe calling them dictatorships is a bit harsh, but where's the democracy? The right to purchase or avoid a product? Sure -- on an individual level -- but mass advertising basically wipes out a chance for "voting with your feet" to influence corporate policy.
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.
I thought slashdoteers abhorred Microsoft-esque tactics?
Don't complain just because another culture doesn't have your penchant for buying gas-guzzling SUVs and excesses of fat and sugar.
I, for one, welcome our new American overlords.
...oh wait...
How dare countries outside America try to compete! It's so... un-American!
> What's up with all this "Ctrl C" and Ctrl V"
...and it's easily replased with Mozilla. For free. Mozilla on Windows works extremely well (that's what I'm using right now).
...if you know how. :)
> copy/paste stuff?
I dunno, but at least I can copy from one program and paste into another without worring about which development platform each program was written in.
> it virtually ordered me to download a series
> of patches [and] told me nothing except that
> it was happening
90% of Windows users wouldn't give a flying whatever what those updates are actually changing. Just be glad that Microsoft DO fix SOME of their security holes, and that there's a servicable mechanism for delivering those patches.
> Next I decided to install an IRC program.
mIRC sucks, therefore Windows sucks? That's absurd.
> One program that does come with Windows XP
> Pro is a Web browser
> I'm telling you to dump Outlook for your own
> good. Really.
I use Outlook Express in combination with SpamPal. It's not the best arrangement ever, but it works perfectly well for me. My email database is currently close to 1 gigabyte, and it still runs very fast.
With the HTMLModfiy and Bayesian plug-ins, SpamPal removes all of the dodgy HTML as well as all the spam.
And yes, Outlook Express profiles are VERY easy to back up
> 'Windows Messenger'... is some sort of ad
> delivery mechanism
Not if you don't install any additional plug-ins. Sad but true: the dull but servicable WM beats the pants off some horridly abysmal alternatives.
> The bottom panel on my KDE desktop is filled
> with icons for my 'daily use' applications.
> I haven't figured out how to put app icons
> on the Windows bottom panel.
Right-click, Toolbars, Quick Launch.
> When I want to find out the day and date, or
> check a date a few months ahead, I'm used to
> clicking on my little KDE clock and having a
> calendar pop up for me. I can't seem to do
> this in Windows, even though I've tried.
Double-click.
> This Windows thing about needing special
> drivers for every bit of hardware is irksome.
I'll take too many automatically installing drivers over too few hard-to-install drivers any day (yes, I'm looking at you, 3COM).
In short, Roblimo's exercise shows that if you put very little effort into learning about a computer platform, you're not going to get very far. How insightful.
Cheers
Simon