...is that we will no longer push for fans or viewers because most of them can't afford to watch. Why would we invest in extending our fanbase if we have to lower ticket prices or get rid of exclusive broadcasts? That's crazy."
Sorry, I must have read the article a bit...differently.
N64 *is* a little underpowered for a system coming out in 1996, but honestly it's powerful enough. We've reached a bit of a plateau with graphics on consoles. PS and Saturn games look *damn good*. If the N64 can do that, people will be happy.
The bigger problem for the N64 is that I think the console market has changed. People have SO MANY gaming options these days that game consoles just aren't as interesting as they used to be. Especially for the price. Nintendo wants to sell this thing for $250.00, but that buys you a Nomad.
Nintendo, Sony, and Sega need to realize that they don't have the gaming market to themselves anymore. Not like they used to, anyway. And in this economy, cost is king. If they think they are going to be selling new consoles for $250, they are nuts.
Honestly, I think that both Sony and Sega should keep their current consoles alive indefinitely. I mean, why not? Keep lowering the price, and keep them alive. I'd love to be able to pick up an fully-loaded PS with a G Con gun for $100 in 2001, and still have new games coming out for it. Like I said, we've reached a bit of a plateau with consoles. Why not stay on that plateau for a while?
^ TFTFY:P I understand the proliferation of mobile devices and entertainment options present a new challenge to consoles, but gamers are still clamoring for them. It seems to me that consoles persist mainly due to exclusive gaming networks, exclusive content downloads, and DRM that creates entry-level barriers to modding/copying/porting. These are the same weapons that have held off the threat of beefy PCs with better specs, for at least a decade...I assume there are even more lock-in strategies I'm not aware of, since I've been out of the gaming world for a loong time. But the point is, this is not the last generation of consoles, and the console pushers have already managed to stay afloat though a lot of ground has shifted beneath them.
Someone needs to animate the rover dropping a piece, driving a few yards away, turning around, dropping a piece, going to inspect the first piece it dropped...and on and on...until it falls apart. Maybe title it "Curiosity Killed the Curiosity".
...and somewhere in there is a metaphor for human endeavor:P
It's why you're better off to wait for jesus to return than the mythical "year of linux desktop".
You should RTFM before posting this heresy. man revelation states that the mark of the beast is linux kernel 6.6.6, which predates the Second Coming of Christ. Older print manuals invoked kernel 6.1.6, but that turned out to be an error with a possessed dot matrix printer.
The point was that if you don't trust them you should not use Ubuntu because they make it and thus have root access. I think that's a legitimate point to make.
The (sensible) objections to Shuttleworth's comments all hedge on the fact that he's muddling different aspects of privacy and control over a machine with "got r00t?". Yes, those installing Ubuntu connect to Canonical repos to update their system, and there's a whole chain of trust that goes back to Debian, linux kernel devs, et al.
However, the root user (or user in/etc/sudoers) is the one that initiates system upgrades. That user is asked for their permission and supplies a password to the system, before APT contacts Canonical's repos (or one of the many mirrors). Then, files are downloaded and installed, and the machine is configured accordingly. The root user is handing over control and privacy, but it's not of the same type that people are worried about here. The user is executing code on their system that has already gone through a "community audit", and it's a big community with a good track record, and no incentive to bork your system. There are many eyes on that code, so it's really difficult to do anything (outwardly) malicious.
The worry here is the same worry people have with Google's tight integration with Android. Except in this example, Canonical drinks ur milkshake or hands it off to Amazon (with the promise of other data-miners in the future). Having this functionality and monetary incentive tightly tied to the desktop of a major distro is a threat to freedom and privacy, although how big remains to be seen...I have a feeling it won't get too far because of community outrage, or Ubuntu will lose more ground to Mint, etc.
This is one of the many reasons to install Trisquel as a base system and then add repos as appropriate. You know they'll strip out any crap like this, if not stay away from Unity completely.
I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
My fix is switching to the 3.4 kernel on the Eee PCs at work, and the Intel graphics problems go away. Needless to say, switching to a bleeding-edge kernel can break things, so be cautious.
I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
My fix is switching to the 3.4 kernel on the Eee PCs at work, and the Intel graphics problems go away. Needless to say, switching to a bleeding-edge kernel can break things, so be cautious.
If you know you need a JRE, try GCJ or IcedTea/OpenJDK version 6, and see if your Java program will still run (or if you can tweak settings to get it to run). This comparison of Java VMs is helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Java_virtual_machines
For GNU/Linux users, there are a lot of choices to avoid this, if our platforms are even targeted. For Windows and Mac OSX users, I've been recommending:
1. Uninstall all versions of Sun/Oracle Java JRE
2. Install OpenJDK 6, only if needed (easy install packages here http://www.openscg.com/se/openjdk/index.jsp )
^ that link also has install packages for GNU/Linux, but obviously you'll want to use your distro's package manager if you have one. Also, I recommend uninstalling *all versions* of Sun/Oracle Java, not just 7, because it's a simpler instruction for users. I find a lot of people hit a cognitive wall when they have to check software versions, even if the info is right in front of them.
That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had no problem with, get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And, of course, the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin', 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.
Dunno why you're asking me, just read the article:
"In Babylscript, there are different language modes. When Babylscript is configured to be in a certain language mode, keywords and function names will be in that language. Babylscript initially defaults to the English language mode. In the English language mode, Babylscript behaves like normal JavaScript.
...
When in a different language mode, objects will change their APIs to match the current language. For example, in the English language mode, an object will have English method names. But when in a French language mode, those same objects will expose French method names instead."
I assume that you have to stick to generic names for your own functions if this is going to work, but they might be able to cover a lot of use cases with a broad enough dictionary.
From TFA: "Unlike other multilingual programming languages, Babylscript allows people to write programs in a mix of different languages. A programmer can take a library written in French, mix it with their own program written in Spanish, and use code snippets they found on a Chinese help forum."
...if it really is that easy, going from one language to another should be trivial (and presumably built into the interpreter). Code comments are another thing, obviously.
LibreJS currently requires developers to self-identify javascript as freedom-respecting, using a few different formats (such as javascript web labels). I wouldn't be surprised if future versions identify popular libraries (jQuery, Modernizr, HTML5 Shiv, etc.). Most of the big javascript libraries are hosted by Google and are MIT/Expat licensed, so it shouldn't be too difficult to identify them and, although linking to the libraries directly on Google Code etc. is a really bad idea, a lot of sites do it.
Yes, there are violent people who call themselves anarchists. There are anarchists who oppose a caricature of science (in my experience, they're much-confused about the history of science, especially the Enlightenment). Ask yourself these questions: How much violence has been done by self-proclaimed Christians and capitalists? How many Christians and capitalists have tried to attack or twist science?
Although "anarchist" has become a byword for "bombthrower", it derives from anti-labor propaganda in the 19th Century and (apparently) continues up until today.
And let's not forget that anarchism may be much closer to the heart of the free software/free culture movement than many would like to admit.
Gnome and KDE easily allow the user to add or remove the main menu/"start button"...xfce, lxde and openbox, etc. allow for customization as well and it doesn't blow anyone's mind. I've seen plenty of "average users" adapt to these interfaces without struggling.
Would it radically alter the Windows documentation and training to include the option of pinning a start menu to the taskbar? It seems there are plenty of other customization options they're willing to throw at users in the past few years. I understand Microsoft likes to cram interfaces down everyone's throats in an attempt to make them the de facto standard, but this Metro move seems to be shooting them in the foot; so much negative press before the product even ships, and I would think they'd still have the bad taste of Vista in their mouths.
Was "ghod forbid" a typo? I like it. There are so many sayings in general use that use the 'g' word that it's to inconvenient to refrain from using. If we use ghod (or Ghod?) then we can use it and release any tie to the big G, who I don't want to attribute any credit to when I say things like "Good Ghod that thing is HUGE!".
In all seriousness, I just log into WordPress and change a URL if a feed stops working, something you'd have to do with any RSS reader as well. It doesn't have all the "gadgets" that iGoogle had, but I only found myself using the news feeds anyway.
Anything that can be a WordPress widget you could display as well, so you could do a lot more with it than I do, and still the only maintenance is keeping your plugins and WordPress core updated (trivial nowadays).
It's certainly not more maintenance than iGoogle, where the gadgets had the same flaw you're pointing out: they relied upon other websites for content, if those websites or Google sloppily changed something, the gadget broke.
Sure, you have to install WordPress and do the initial configuration, and that takes time...I do it for a living so it's not a big deal to me. As far as maintenance is concerned, however, I have just spent more time replying to you than I have on that WordPress installation in (at least) 6 months.
Slashdot Mirror
...is that we will no longer push for fans or viewers because most of them can't afford to watch. Why would we invest in extending our fanbase if we have to lower ticket prices or get rid of exclusive broadcasts? That's crazy."
Sorry, I must have read the article a bit...differently.
N64 *is* a little underpowered for a system coming out in 1996, but honestly it's powerful enough. We've reached a bit of a plateau with graphics on consoles. PS and Saturn games look *damn good*. If the N64 can do that, people will be happy.
The bigger problem for the N64 is that I think the console market has changed. People have SO MANY gaming options these days that game consoles just aren't as interesting as they used to be. Especially for the price. Nintendo wants to sell this thing for $250.00, but that buys you a Nomad.
Nintendo, Sony, and Sega need to realize that they don't have the gaming market to themselves anymore. Not like they used to, anyway. And in this economy, cost is king. If they think they are going to be selling new consoles for $250, they are nuts.
Honestly, I think that both Sony and Sega should keep their current consoles alive indefinitely. I mean, why not? Keep lowering the price, and keep them alive. I'd love to be able to pick up an fully-loaded PS with a G Con gun for $100 in 2001, and still have new games coming out for it. Like I said, we've reached a bit of a plateau with consoles. Why not stay on that plateau for a while?
^ TFTFY :P I understand the proliferation of mobile devices and entertainment options present a new challenge to consoles, but gamers are still clamoring for them. It seems to me that consoles persist mainly due to exclusive gaming networks, exclusive content downloads, and DRM that creates entry-level barriers to modding/copying/porting. These are the same weapons that have held off the threat of beefy PCs with better specs, for at least a decade...I assume there are even more lock-in strategies I'm not aware of, since I've been out of the gaming world for a loong time. But the point is, this is not the last generation of consoles, and the console pushers have already managed to stay afloat though a lot of ground has shifted beneath them.
http://www.docdroid.net/1i67/paypal-opt-out-letter.odt.html
Someone needs to animate the rover dropping a piece, driving a few yards away, turning around, dropping a piece, going to inspect the first piece it dropped...and on and on...until it falls apart. Maybe title it "Curiosity Killed the Curiosity".
:P
...and somewhere in there is a metaphor for human endeavor
It's why you're better off to wait for jesus to return than the mythical "year of linux desktop".
You should RTFM before posting this heresy. man revelation states that the mark of the beast is linux kernel 6.6.6, which predates the Second Coming of Christ. Older print manuals invoked kernel 6.1.6, but that turned out to be an error with a possessed dot matrix printer.
The point was that if you don't trust them you should not use Ubuntu because they make it and thus have root access. I think that's a legitimate point to make.
The (sensible) objections to Shuttleworth's comments all hedge on the fact that he's muddling different aspects of privacy and control over a machine with "got r00t?". Yes, those installing Ubuntu connect to Canonical repos to update their system, and there's a whole chain of trust that goes back to Debian, linux kernel devs, et al.
/etc/sudoers) is the one that initiates system upgrades. That user is asked for their permission and supplies a password to the system, before APT contacts Canonical's repos (or one of the many mirrors). Then, files are downloaded and installed, and the machine is configured accordingly. The root user is handing over control and privacy, but it's not of the same type that people are worried about here. The user is executing code on their system that has already gone through a "community audit", and it's a big community with a good track record, and no incentive to bork your system. There are many eyes on that code, so it's really difficult to do anything (outwardly) malicious.
However, the root user (or user in
The worry here is the same worry people have with Google's tight integration with Android. Except in this example, Canonical drinks ur milkshake or hands it off to Amazon (with the promise of other data-miners in the future). Having this functionality and monetary incentive tightly tied to the desktop of a major distro is a threat to freedom and privacy, although how big remains to be seen...I have a feeling it won't get too far because of community outrage, or Ubuntu will lose more ground to Mint, etc.
This is one of the many reasons to install Trisquel as a base system and then add repos as appropriate. You know they'll strip out any crap like this, if not stay away from Unity completely.
I must be new here.
As well as Wyoming, only state where I have been passed while going over 100mph.
You apparently need to spend more time on the East Coast. I've been passed by motorcycles weaving through traffic, going that speed.
^ ambiguity of English grammar :P I was going in the 80's-ish, and I didn't realize *you* were the one going 100mph in your post
As well as Wyoming, only state where I have been passed while going over 100mph.
You apparently need to spend more time on the East Coast. I've been passed by motorcycles weaving through traffic, going that speed.
I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
My fix is switching to the 3.4 kernel on the Eee PCs at work, and the Intel graphics problems go away. Needless to say, switching to a bleeding-edge kernel can break things, so be cautious.
I'd try this PPA first with a LiveCD: https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa
...for your /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Section "Device"
Identifier "intel"
Driver "intel"
Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"
EndSection
I have been reporting that problem for a while, but they just assume that I am an idiot who just doesn't know how to use a computer.
My fix is switching to the 3.4 kernel on the Eee PCs at work, and the Intel graphics problems go away. Needless to say, switching to a bleeding-edge kernel can break things, so be cautious.
...like me, here's a zoomable version. As for the comic itself, the idea isn't genius, but the implementation is very smart.
I, for one, welcome our new dice-rolling overlords.
But I thought they turned on that "Do Not Hack" HTTP header??
Who's side are we supposed to be on?
Anything that hurts Zynga, hurts facebook, as they reminded us over and over in the IPO filing. So, depends what you think of the Zuckerborg.
When did /. get so, um, like, emo about "linux"?
Seems to me a bacteria could be genetically engineered to eat this stuff, just like Duroplast. Could make its use in warfare untenable.
If you know you need a JRE, try GCJ or IcedTea/OpenJDK version 6, and see if your Java program will still run (or if you can tweak settings to get it to run). This comparison of Java VMs is helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Java_virtual_machines
For GNU/Linux users, there are a lot of choices to avoid this, if our platforms are even targeted. For Windows and Mac OSX users, I've been recommending:
1. Uninstall all versions of Sun/Oracle Java JRE
2. Install OpenJDK 6, only if needed (easy install packages here http://www.openscg.com/se/openjdk/index.jsp )
^ that link also has install packages for GNU/Linux, but obviously you'll want to use your distro's package manager if you have one. Also, I recommend uninstalling *all versions* of Sun/Oracle Java, not just 7, because it's a simpler instruction for users. I find a lot of people hit a cognitive wall when they have to check software versions, even if the info is right in front of them.
That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had no problem with, get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And, of course, the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin', 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.
Dunno why you're asking me, just read the article:
"In Babylscript, there are different language modes. When Babylscript is configured to be in a certain language mode, keywords and function names will be in that language. Babylscript initially defaults to the English language mode. In the English language mode, Babylscript behaves like normal JavaScript.
...
When in a different language mode, objects will change their APIs to match the current language. For example, in the English language mode, an object will have English method names. But when in a French language mode, those same objects will expose French method names instead."
I assume that you have to stick to generic names for your own functions if this is going to work, but they might be able to cover a lot of use cases with a broad enough dictionary.
And doesn't writing javascript in, say, Arabic, just make it inaccessible to 99% of the people who like look at your code?
Yeah - it'll be interesting to find out what the LibreJS people think about it: https://www.gnu.org/software/librejs/
From TFA: "Unlike other multilingual programming languages, Babylscript allows people to write programs in a mix of different languages. A programmer can take a library written in French, mix it with their own program written in Spanish, and use code snippets they found on a Chinese help forum."
...if it really is that easy, going from one language to another should be trivial (and presumably built into the interpreter). Code comments are another thing, obviously.
LibreJS currently requires developers to self-identify javascript as freedom-respecting, using a few different formats (such as javascript web labels). I wouldn't be surprised if future versions identify popular libraries (jQuery, Modernizr, HTML5 Shiv, etc.). Most of the big javascript libraries are hosted by Google and are MIT/Expat licensed, so it shouldn't be too difficult to identify them and, although linking to the libraries directly on Google Code etc. is a really bad idea, a lot of sites do it.
There *might be* more than one scientist in the bunch.
Yes, there are violent people who call themselves anarchists. There are anarchists who oppose a caricature of science (in my experience, they're much-confused about the history of science, especially the Enlightenment). Ask yourself these questions: How much violence has been done by self-proclaimed Christians and capitalists? How many Christians and capitalists have tried to attack or twist science?
Although "anarchist" has become a byword for "bombthrower", it derives from anti-labor propaganda in the 19th Century and (apparently) continues up until today.
And let's not forget that anarchism may be much closer to the heart of the free software/free culture movement than many would like to admit.
Gnome and KDE easily allow the user to add or remove the main menu/"start button"...xfce, lxde and openbox, etc. allow for customization as well and it doesn't blow anyone's mind. I've seen plenty of "average users" adapt to these interfaces without struggling.
Would it radically alter the Windows documentation and training to include the option of pinning a start menu to the taskbar? It seems there are plenty of other customization options they're willing to throw at users in the past few years. I understand Microsoft likes to cram interfaces down everyone's throats in an attempt to make them the de facto standard, but this Metro move seems to be shooting them in the foot; so much negative press before the product even ships, and I would think they'd still have the bad taste of Vista in their mouths.
Was "ghod forbid" a typo? I like it. There are so many sayings in general use that use the 'g' word that it's to inconvenient to refrain from using. If we use ghod (or Ghod?) then we can use it and release any tie to the big G, who I don't want to attribute any credit to when I say things like "Good Ghod that thing is HUGE!".
I intend to use ghod from now on :)
Like comment on /. eh? ;)
In all seriousness, I just log into WordPress and change a URL if a feed stops working, something you'd have to do with any RSS reader as well. It doesn't have all the "gadgets" that iGoogle had, but I only found myself using the news feeds anyway.
Anything that can be a WordPress widget you could display as well, so you could do a lot more with it than I do, and still the only maintenance is keeping your plugins and WordPress core updated (trivial nowadays).
It's certainly not more maintenance than iGoogle, where the gadgets had the same flaw you're pointing out: they relied upon other websites for content, if those websites or Google sloppily changed something, the gadget broke.
Sure, you have to install WordPress and do the initial configuration, and that takes time...I do it for a living so it's not a big deal to me. As far as maintenance is concerned, however, I have just spent more time replying to you than I have on that WordPress installation in (at least) 6 months.