Comment Re:Where is the problem? (Score 1) 438
I dunno. But I'll make sure to start a poll at the next meeting.
And we prefer the term "Microsoft Lovers" thank you very much.
Comment Where is the problem? (Score 1) 438
I really don't understand the issue.
Microsoft is offering an operating system. They ship a toll with it that allows you to browse the web. Great.
I personally don't favor Internet Explorer, so the first thing I do when installing a new system for personal use is downloading Firefox.
So, I already have a choice. It's not like Internet Explorer is forced on me.
If I had the option somewhere in Windows to install a different browser than Internet Explorer than that would just be a different interface for what I have been doing all along. I guess one could argue that this is a nice feature to have but I fail to see how this can be such a big problem for anyone.
I totally get how it can be a problem that a product which is seen as inferior has a large market share just because it's users don't know of the alternatives. Yet, I doubt that giving a choice to the users in question will make any difference. If they didn't care until now, they won't care when given the choice now.
It's like forcing tobacco companies to print health warnings on cigarette boxes. The problem is not the product, it's the person using it.
If I had the option somewhere in Windows to install a different browser than Internet Explorer than that would just be a different interface for what I have been doing all along. I guess one could argue that this is a nice feature to have but I fail to see how this can be such a big problem for anyone.
I totally get how it can be a problem that a product which is seen as inferior has a large market share just because it's users don't know of the alternatives. Yet, I doubt that giving a choice to the users in question will make any difference. If they didn't care until now, they won't care when given the choice now.
It's like forcing tobacco companies to print health warnings on cigarette boxes. The problem is not the product, it's the person using it.
Comment Re:In before the morons (Score 1) 438
People already have free browser choice. They just chose not to make use of it. If you present them with a dialog during installation to pick a browser they will just pick IE again, cause that is the browser they grew accustomed to. This will change nothing. Except for the fact that MS can now say "Well, we DID give the users a choice."
Comment Re:In before the morons (Score 1) 438
100% of the market already has free browser choice.
Gaming On Windows 7 554
Jason Wilson writes "Windows 7 comes out Oct. 22, and many gamers are wondering whether it will be a boon for gaming, as Microsoft promised Vista would, or a disappointment (like Vista was at its launch). Former ExtremeTech editor Jason Cross, who's covered games and tech for 13 years, discusses the pluses and minuses of Windows 7 for gamers — how it differs from Vista, if it'll run older games, and the benefits of 64-bit computing. 'Windows 7 basically takes the Vista codebase and rewrites, refines, optimizes, and overhauls most of the internal stuff without making dramatic changes to the driver stacks that Vista did over WinXP. The changes to the fundamental driver models are small and mostly serve to improve performance. Plus, the hardware makers — especially the graphics guys — are on top of the changes this time around. Nvidia and ATI have been shipping quite good Win7 graphics drivers for months now.'"
Comment Re:Just FYi (Score 1) 255
People who distribute malware like to use the executable compressors which were developed for intros as this hides their code.
Thus AV programs just blacklist the signatures for these compressors.
Comment Re:No, they wouldn't (Score 1) 255
You don't write everything in assembly. A common technique today is write the whole content in a single pixel shader in the shader language that suits you best.
And even writing intros in C or C++ is very common.
This doesn't mean I disagree with the notion of your post
Comment Leaving notes? (Score 1) 340
So, they leave notes on the unlocked cars? Are they like bright red, placed on the windshield and say "This car is unlocked! Please don't steal it!"?
What Open Source Can Learn From Apple 309
Linux and open source have long struggled to gain acceptance from the wider (read: non-technical) audience. This has improved in recent years, but still has a long way to go. Columnist Matt Asay suggests that perhaps open source projects should attempt to emulate Apple's design philosophy, with whoever succeeds becoming the "winner" of the hearts and minds of the vast majority of users. "Some projects already accomplish this to some extent. The strength of Mozilla, for example, is that it has figured out how to enable 40 percent of its development to be done by outside contributors, as BusinessWeek recently wrote. The downside is that these contributors are techies, but the upside is that they're techies who add language packs, accessibility features, and other "niche" areas that Mozilla might otherwise struggle to deliver. This suggests a start: enable your open-source project to accept meaningful outside contributions that make the project reflective of a wider development community. But the real goldmine is broadening the definition of "developer" to include lay users of your software. The day that I, as a nontechnical software user, can meaningfully participate in an open-source project is the day that open source will truly have won."
Comment Re:simulate the fireworks (Score 5, Funny) 397
Yeah, ask the Chinese if they still have their CG scenes from the Olympics.
IBM Claims Breakthrough In Analysis of Encrypted Data 199
An anonymous reader writes "An IBM researcher has solved a thorny mathematical problem that has confounded scientists since the invention of public-key encryption several decades ago. The breakthrough, called 'privacy homomorphism,' or 'fully homomorphic encryption,' makes possible the deep and unlimited analysis of encrypted information — data that has been intentionally scrambled — without sacrificing confidentiality." Reader ElasticVapor writes that the solution IBM claims "might better enable a cloud computing vendor to perform computations on clients' data at their request, such as analyzing sales patterns, without exposing the original data. Other potential applications include enabling filters to identify spam, even in encrypted email, or protecting information contained in electronic medical records."
Comment Weird move (Score 2, Insightful) 246
It's not like the Pirate Party is the only german party that is against these laws. In fact, only the 2 largest parties voted for it.
I would assume he hopes to get rid of these new laws and that he would stand better chances at it by joining a larger party.
So why would he join exactly the Pirate Party?
Maybe the cops just called him and told him that they did not only find CP on his computer but also an illegally downloaded Britney Spears album!
Steve Jobs Had a Liver Transplant Two Months Ago 436
evw writes "The Wall Street Journal reports that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago (subscription required, alternative coverage is available based on the WSJ's report). He is on track to return to work at the end of June. 'William Hawkins, a doctor specializing in pancreatic and gastrointestinal surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., said that the type of slow-growing pancreatic tumor Mr. Jobs had will commonly metastasize in another organ during a patient's lifetime, and that the organ is usually the liver. ... Having the procedure done in Tennessee makes sense because its list of patients waiting for transplants is shorter than in many other states.' There are no residency requirements for transplants."
Comment Re:For the rest of the world... (Score 1) 319
If I had written 127km/l someone else would have replied "Actually, it's 127.543112km/l".
And that someone could have been you...
Comment For the rest of the world... (Score 1) 319
300 miles per gallon = 127.543112 kilometers per liter
