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9776

Living Room / Re: What's the Ultimate How to Be Steve Jobs Guide?

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 06:10 PM »

Thanks 40hz. I didn't realize Pixar was hot then.

-Paul Keith (October 13, 2009, 03:50 PM)

Well, they were pretty much already in bed (as an independent group) with George Lucas and ILM as early as 1984 even if they weren't called Pixar at that point. If I remember correctly, some of the key people had even been with Lucas & Co. as far back as 1979 or 1980.

So I guess Steve Jobs' only measurable 'contribution' was giving these guys the name Pixar.

Hmmmm...sound familiar? I think I see a pattern emerging...

The interesting bit about your NEXT story is that I couldn't see what the logic of the marketing was. That is really bizarre.

It was even crazier at first. His original plan was to restrict Next sales to colleges and other higher education institutions. The first year it was out, those were the only people who could actually buy one. Go figure. It was supposedly only put into retail channels over Mssr. Jobs most strenuous objections.

Apparently the investors won that argument.

FWIW I never understood the rationale either. But either way, Next was pretty much a dead issue about 18 months later. There were a few attempts to keep it going, but it eventually faded into the mists  - just like the Lisa, the twiggy drive, and all those other things Steve was so hot on.

Too bad. The NextStep interface and architecture were way ahead of their time. We'd probably be a lot farther along today if Next caught on when it had its chance.

9777

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 05:45 PM »

Only because Steve Jobs and his rabid fans (note: this statement is not to imply that everyone who owns a Mac is a rabid fan) downplay every flaw and deny every vulnerability.

-Innuendo (October 13, 2009, 09:55 AM)

True. Only something like half of them actually get like that.

-40hz (October 13, 2009, 10:28 AM)

So, the rest are born that way?

-cranioscopical (October 13, 2009, 01:32 PM)

Yep! 

Hehe, great pic. But, I guess we're not going to get any more meaningful discussion out of this one?

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (October 13, 2009, 05:11 PM)

Nope! 

9778

Living Room / Re: Microsoft's $500 million cloud machine.

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 05:43 PM »

They might be out to lose all the world's data, instead.

http://www.datacente...he-sidekick-backups/

-app103 (October 13, 2009, 04:00 PM)

 

Touché! (And too true...)

(Although it looks like Apple is giving them some competition on that score too.  )

9779

Living Room / Re: Man names son 2.0

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 05:39 PM »

40Hz names man "Dork." 

9780

Living Room / Re: Snow leopard bug causes erasure of users home directory

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 05:36 PM »

The worst thing, besides users losing their data of course, is that Apple has known about this bug since September 12th and there still isn't a fix available.

-Innuendo (October 13, 2009, 05:34 PM)

Probably because they're still waiting for an answer back from the people who actually wrote the OS.

(If they followed a more open approach to OSX, it would have been patched no later than the 14th.)

9781

Living Room / Re: Scientists say: Alcohol DOES make people more attractive

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 03:34 PM »

alcohol can make us feel fully committed to goals we know we have no chance of achieving

-app103 (October 13, 2009, 03:25 PM)

 

My grandfather used to refer to that as pouring yourself some "Dutch Courage."  

BTW: Does anybody know the origin of that phrase? I mean, why Dutch? Was "Courage" a brand of gin or something? The Wikipedia entry just sounds too obvious.

9782

Living Room / Re: What's the Ultimate How to Be Steve Jobs Guide?

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 03:23 PM »

One other question, what was Jobs motivation for buying Pixar? As you said, the technology was becoming standard so why this particular company?

-Paul Keith (October 12, 2009, 11:23 AM)

Because Pixar was hot; getting a lot of industry buzz; and Jobs had nothing going for him after the Next Computer debacle.

One more example of Steve's "formula for success"...hitch a ride on somebody else's star.

That approach gives you the best of both worlds. If it works out (like Pixar), you claim credit for having THE VISION!!!

And if it bombs (as was the case with Next Computer), you just blame the designers, the engineers, the programmers, the press - and everybody else - while ignoring the fact that your arrogant and bizarre marketing program*, coupled with your surly attitude, was mostly to blame for its demise.

_____

*No joke. My company tried to buy a Next machine in 1990.

We had seen an ad (I think it was in the WSJ), did some in-depth research, and decided this was something we needed to get in on the ground floor of.

There were only something like three places within 200 miles of us that carried them, but fortunately for us, one of them was local.

We showed up at the closest (BusinessLand) with check in hand only to learn you couldn't just go in and buy one of these boxes - you had to "talk to their Next specialist first." A more correct phrase would have been "be interviewed."

This designated Next Computer Sales Associate chatted a bit, blandly accepted our praise for the product, and then asked us what we intended to use our Next machine for. At the time, we were heavily into Macintosh/Adobe/Quark (sales, support, service and consulting) so we figured it was a natural for our business. We told him mostly R&D for graphic applications and electronic publishing along with possible use as a development platform for applications programming.

Apparently, that wasn't a correct answer. Because we were then told there were "only a limited number of Next machines available." And furthermore, that our company didn't "fit the profile of the organizations Next is trying to attract to this product." After that, we were basically bid "good day."

I might have thought it was just a fluke with that particular store until we ran into almost the exact same treatment at another. Like the first, they weren't the slightest bit interested in selling us a Next machine. The only real difference between the two stores came when my partner Bill casually remarked how "Mac-like" he thought the interface was. In response, we got hit with a half-shouted tirade from a salesman who told us (at length) how he was "sick and tired of people comparing Next to Macintosh." We walked out without being asked after about five minutes of listening to this guy.

Later on, we found out they were primarily interested in selling Next to universities, colleges, federal agencies and big name corporations - along with an occasional celebrity or two. Ordinary businesses and people need not apply. So as you can see, Steve Jobs' fondness for Snob Affinity Marketing was rearing its ugly head as early as 1990.

 

9783

General Software Discussion / Re: 10/GUI

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 01:45 PM »

Actually, I was more thinking that the command surface would also dynamically change based on the app. When you're running something like Photoshop, the main part of the panel would display Photoshop controls. When you switched apps, it would switch to a 'control panel' for that app.

Standard items like file open/close/save/print/next/previous/etc. could be assigned permanent locations (ex: an icon bank across the top of the command area) among all apps for consistency. (Although I was always an advocate of a triple-tap/click anywhere on an open document to initiate a [close|save w/changes|save as] selector.)

This control area would also be movable and 'pinable' (or dockable if you prefer) anywhere within the touch surface area. In a perfect world it should also be able to render displays using a mirrored layout to accommodate the world's growing left-handed human population. Support for Unicode should also be a given in order to assure global compatibility.

In many respects (and much as it pains me to say it *choke*) Apple's iPhone incorporates a lot of this already. My GF just upgraded her AT&T cellular plan and got a 3G as part of the deal. Despite my general dislike of Apple for their proprietary closed platform and elitist mindset, even I have to grudgingly admit that the interface design is, for the most part, quite impressive.

Paul mentioned something earlier about chopsticks. In some respects, I'd agree.

But with the way most apps work these days, right now I think the alphanumeric keyboard might actually be in danger of being on the lagging edge of where interfaces are heading.

I know a lot of people (nothing like us to be sure, but good people just the same  ) who use their mouse for almost all their input. They rarely type in anything. And what little they do type in is mostly short things like tweets, passwords, and search terms. For that limited amount of routine textual input, an onscreen keyboard would be more than sufficient. They can always keep a small wireless keyboard in a desk drawer (right next to that POS microphone nobody ever uses) for those rare occasions when they actually do need to type something of length.

Hmm...imagine...a world without QWERTY. How could we make that work if we had to?

Now there's something to think about!

------------

another thing to think about, at least from my experience, is that multiple monitors solves this issue with switching between running applications

-mouser (October 13, 2009, 11:18 AM)

Couldn't agree more. I've been running dual monitors for a few years now. And I can no longer remember how I lived without them. Sitting in front of a single screen - no mater how large - makes me feel like I'm trying to play a game of tennis while wearing an overcoat.

9784

Living Room / Microsoft's $500 million cloud machine.

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 10:47 AM »

Interesting short article w/photos over at the Data Center Knowledge website about the hardware infrastructure that floats Microsoft's cloud.

Microsoft’s new $500 million Chicago data center is one of the largest data centers ever built, spanning more than 700,000 square feet. But it’s also one of the most unusual, with its garage-like lower level optimized for 40-foot shipping containers packed with web servers, while a second story houses traditional raised-floor data center space. Microsoft opened the facility for a tour on Sept. 30.

Link to full article: http://www.datacente...ized-for-containers/

56 complete 'data center' web farms installed in separate 40-foot shipping containers - racked two high in a 700,000 sq.ft. complex - and with expansion room for double that number? Talk about hyper-modular!

Anybody want to tell me these people aren't out to rule the world?

9785

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 10:28 AM »

Only because Steve Jobs and his rabid fans (note: this statement is not to imply that everyone who owns a Mac is a rabid fan) downplay every flaw and deny every vulnerability.

-Innuendo (October 13, 2009, 09:55 AM)

True. Only something like half of them actually get like that.

9786

Living Room / Re: Man names son 2.0

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 10:20 AM »

Seriously though how many parents actually think about the consequences when they inflict names on their offspring!

-Carol Haynes (October 13, 2009, 02:36 AM)

About a third. Unfortunately.

9787

Living Room / Re: Scientists say: Alcohol DOES make people more attractive

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 10:05 AM »

I just wish it worked in the reverse direction too, i.e. me drinking made me more attractive.

-Eóin (October 13, 2009, 08:42 AM)

9788

General Software Discussion / Re: 10/GUI

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 10:03 AM »

Really really interesting concept. I hope it makes it to the prototype stage. I'd love to give it a try.

Combine the core concepts with a smart changeable graphic touchpad (OLED once the prices come down ) and I think it would be an absolute winner. I'd configure a sector of the panel to be a context sensitive control surface based on which application was open, much the way high end drawing tablets can have 'soft buttons' configured for specific apps.

Just think. No more arbitrary menus you always have to "reach" for and open. It would almost be like those nifty LCARS touchpad/keyboards you've seen on StarTrekNG.

9789

Living Room / Re: Scientists say: Alcohol DOES make people more attractive

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 06:55 AM »

It works the same without alcohol. Many studies (both scientific and casual) show this to be the case.

Once you take a shine to someone (for whatever reason), they invariably become more attractive. Especially if they reciprocate and take a fancy to you - and most especially - if they do it first!

So. Want somebody to like you? Let them know you like them first. Want somebody to think you're attractive? Let them know you think they are too.

-----

P.S. - This works about 90% of the time - so please don't abuse it. Honesty is almost always the best policy when dealing with affairs of the heart. And there are way too many creeps out there already.

9790

Living Room / Re: Snow leopard bug causes erasure of users home directory

« Last post by 40hz on October 13, 2009, 06:36 AM »

"It's the biggest thing to happen to Macintosh since the Macintosh" (Apple's ad slogan: (2001) Initial OS X release.)

-----

"I hope all your previous words were soft and sweet. Because you're about to eat them." -Anonymous

 

9791

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.

« Last post by 40hz on October 12, 2009, 07:33 PM »

--Jobs is still a brilliant marketer.

-superboyac (October 12, 2009, 02:37 PM)

Here's my take on that topic:

Jobs is still a brilliant successful marketer.

9792

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 41-09

« Last post by 40hz on October 12, 2009, 12:35 PM »

I'm pretty sure that using graphics cards to replace our current CPUs would not be conducive to a smooth transition, what with the hundreds of missing instruction and register equivalents and all that...

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (October 11, 2009, 05:20 PM)

Well...since any general purpose computer can model any other general purpose computer, if the multi-GPU approach gained broad market acceptance, it would only be a matter of time before somebody developed a cross-compiler until native mode development could catch up.

 

9793

Living Room / Re: Scientists say: Alcohol DOES make people more attractive

« Last post by 40hz on October 12, 2009, 12:27 PM »

Well, there's an old saying in rock band circles that says: When you're playing in a bar, it's funny how all the girls start looking ten times better just before closing time.

In the interests of equality, lets change the word "girls" to "members of the opposite sex."

No wait...times have changed, so that's not exactly accurate either...

Ok, so let's change the phrase "members of the opposite sex" to "other people sitting in the bar."

Hmm...funny. We went from one word, to five, to six. And somewhere along the way, the meaning of the original joke got lost.

Pretty weird huh?

9794

General Software Discussion / Re: Wanted: SysAdmin-focused Account Information Keeper

« Last post by 40hz on October 11, 2009, 05:36 PM »

Lots of people swear by KeePass and stuff.

-Gothi[c] (October 11, 2009, 02:47 PM)

I use KeyPass. I'd go nuts keeping track of all the logins I have if I didn't.
Decent built-in security features too. Especially nice is the way it maintains in-memory security so you don't need to worry about your passwords being cached by the OS.

Small, fast, and secure. What's not to like?

9795

General Software Discussion / Re: Volery Makes Installing Software Incredibly Simple

« Last post by 40hz on October 11, 2009, 05:25 PM »

Out of curiosity, does Volery not have (or at least give you the chance to opt-out of ) any of the usual toolbar "includes" - or will they just get installed automatically along with the main programs?

-40hz (October 11, 2009, 02:42 PM)

The service installs the software with default settings and says “no” to any extra crapware (like browser toolbars) the installers might try to sneak in.

-app103 (October 06, 2009, 02:37 PM)

-tomos (October 11, 2009, 03:24 PM)

Thx tomos

Just goes to show the importance of rereading the ENTIRE thread before you post. Especially if you've come back to comment on it a few days after you read it the first time! .

9796

General Software Discussion / Re: Volery Makes Installing Software Incredibly Simple

« Last post by 40hz on October 11, 2009, 02:42 PM »

I use "custom" installations for everything - 99% of the time to avoid unintentionally installing Yahoo toolbar or the like.

-Darwin (October 11, 2009, 09:51 AM)

Out of curiosity, does Volery not have (or at least give you the chance to opt-out of ) any of the usual toolbar "includes" - or will they just get installed automatically along with the main programs? If they get included automatically, that alone would be an absolute showstopper issue for me.

Unfortunately, slip-installing such add-ons would be a very easy way for them to 'monetize' their service. Especially if they decided to start building them into Volery itself rather than just using the includes that normally tag along with a specific app.

So...anybody try it yet?

9797

General Software Discussion / Re: On free speech in forums

« Last post by 40hz on October 11, 2009, 02:36 PM »

Thanks for your opinion, 40hz.

I agree with what you said except for the portion of "hardly worth the effort".

I know you were specifically referring to the quoted portion of my reply ...

-Paul Keith (October 11, 2009, 12:23 PM)

Well, I was being somewhat specific on that point because I am personally acquainted with two people who tried the "isolation ward" solution. FWIW, it's easily detected (or deduced actually), adds a lot of overhead to the site, and can easily be circumvented simply by re-registering under a new username.

...but I also get the sense that you hold the belief for any technological idea.

Um no...actually yes...well actually no. I'm probably coming across much more Luddite than I actually am. What I was trying to say (apparently not very clearly ) was that technology alone is not a universal panacea to social woes.

As regards technical solutions in general, I think it's important to differentiate between things aimed at addressing human 'conditions' as opposed to those directed at human 'behaviors.'

Technology that corrects undesirable conditions or situations (e.g. vaccination programs and other preventative health measures) is generally workable, sustainable, and worth the effort.

But as far as following a pure "technical fix" approach to human behavioral issues, I find myself both skeptical and conflicted...

I'm going to have to think this part through a bit before I comment. There's about six hundred things I find myself trying to say (and all at the same time! ) so I'll have to get it straightened out in my own head before I blather any further.  Stay tuned...

9798

Living Room / Re: Tech News Weekly: Edition 41-09

« Last post by 40hz on October 11, 2009, 01:03 PM »

#1 - I'm so glad that proved to be the case. I've insisted on ECC RAM in every server I've ever spec'ed or built. Especially if it was going to be the only server installed.

It's been said Ed is: "old-school," and "overly cautious" for demanding ECC.

Now, it looks like they can also add the phrase: "and right" to the above sentence.

----------

#9 - Well...NVidia is supposedly quitting the graphic chipset business. All that architectural know-how isn't going to just go away.

There's already been some  projects that successfully demonstrated clustering  multiple NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics cards to produce an inexpensive (<$4k USD) bespoke supercomputer.

(Link: http://tech.slashdot...sid=08/05/31/1633214 )
(Video: http://www.youtube.c...#p/a/f/0/DnIvodB2RzU )

So maybe a new processor from NVidia will be Microsoft's next 128-bit hardware platform? Think about it. A proprietary hardware platform wedded to a proprietary OS...

Shades of Apple!

It's a strategy that worked for Steve Jobs. Maybe it will work for Steve Ballmer too.

(Now s'cuze me while I boot my tech market tracker. NVidia listed at something like 14¼ following a 3/2 split last time I checked. I just might be tempted to put a bet down. )*

Thx Dr. E!

*DISCLAIMER: 40Hz does not own stock in NVidia Corporation - nor should anything he said be construed either as investment advice, or a stock purchase recommendation. His comments were made solely for educational and entertainment value.  So there!  

9799

General Software Discussion / Re: On free speech in forums

« Last post by 40hz on October 11, 2009, 11:35 AM »

For a short while though, I've read things that claim that the future of moderation is to trick a troll that he's still viewing and interacting in a forum except his posts are invisible to everyone. (but he sees the page and the new posts normally as if nothing has happened to him)

-Paul Keith (October 10, 2009, 11:37 PM)

It's already doable, but hardly worth the effort.

Attempting to apply a quick technical fix to what is essentially a human problem is just another example of wishful thinking on the part of people who understand tech too well, and their fellow human beings too little.

Personally, I don't think plain technology is a workable or sustainable solution to the human dilemma.

Look no further than Afghanistan for an example. Here you have two instances of what happens when hi-tech military butts heads with tribal culture. High tech may not exactly lose - but it still remains to be seen whether it can actually win such a conflict.

9800

General Software Discussion / Re: On free speech in forums

« Last post by 40hz on October 10, 2009, 04:22 PM »

Agreed 40hz but in my reply to trianglos, I was referring specifically to the application of graduated permissions in opinionated forums and tech support forums.

(I'm not sure you understood that so I just repeated what I said.)

-Paul Keith (October 10, 2009, 03:57 PM)

I didn't. Or more correctly, I missed it.

I also agree with you about graduated permissions being a bad idea.

You're on the bus - or off the bus! is the way I run my life and my business*. Once you're made part of the circle, you're welcome to come around any time. I'll even give you a key to the door (house or office) if you want one. Everybody else gets to call and make an appointment.


Ditto websites. The way I see it, if I set certain conditions in order to gain full access -  and the person complies - then they'll immediately get the whole 9-yards without further ado. A deal is a deal. And it stays that way unless this person gets stupid and deliberately starts violating the social contract they agreed to abide by. At which point, they'll usually (depending on the problem) get a warning (or two) before they get shown the door.

---

* I'm a Boomer. Does that surprise you?