Comment Re:TV ain't broken? (Score 1) 839
You have a strange definition of improve.
Will Firefox Lose Google Funding? 644
SharkLaser writes "Mozilla's future looks uncertain. Last week Chrome overtook Firefox's position as the second most popular browser, the new versioning scheme is alienating some Firefox users, and now the advertising deal between Mozilla and Google, the one that almost fully funds Mozilla's operations, is coming to an end. One of Firefox's key managers, Mike Shaver, also left the company in September. 'In 2010, 84% of Mozilla's $123 million in revenue came directly from Google. That's roughly $100 million in funds that will vanish or be drastically cut if the deal is either not renewed or is renegotiated on terms that are less favorable to Mozilla. When the original three-year partnership deal was signed in 2008, Chrome was still on the drawing boards. Today, it is Google's most prominent software product, and it is rapidly replacing Firefox as the alternative browser on every platform.' Recently Mozilla has been trying to get closer with Microsoft by making a Firefox version that defaults to Bing. If Google is indeed cutting funding from Mozilla or tries to negotiate less favorable terms, it could mean Mozilla's future funding coming from Microsoft and Bing."
Comment Re:using words hard speaking more easy (Score 1) 601
He was prolly trollin you.
Comment Re:Occupy elrous0 (Score 1) 507
Israel was occupying long before the Greeks. Their Occupy Caanan movement even has several books written about it.
Comment Re:Training those reflexes.. (Score 1) 171
kill -9
Computing Pioneers Share Their First Tech Memories 99
An anonymous reader writes "Major names from the world of computing and technology such as Vint Cerf, William Gibson, Richard Stallman, Michael Dell and Hermann Hauser have shared their memories on their first computers and what inspired them to get involved with the computer. Highlight's include Cerf recalling his experience with the valve-based US air defense network Sage — as seen in Dr Strangelove — and Acorn co-founder Hauser building an eight bit computer out of marbles and a shoebox."
Comment Re:Occupy... (Score 1) 803
Who modded parent post up? Since when is idle conjecture "Informative"? So much for no stupid question, a few minutes googling what OWS is about would have answered the question.
Comment Re:Just Say No (Score 1) 357
Two words that will make you shudder: Gritty Reboot.
Comment Re:Originally, there were some good points made. (Score 1) 933
Totalitarian is the word you're looking for, not fascist. Fascism is one particular political ideology. Fascists are totalitarians but you can be a totalitarian without being fascist (e.g. Soviet Russia, North Korea).
Comment Re:Something not quite right (Score 1) 933
The Tea Party want smaller government. Nature abhors a vacuum - something will fill it. I think it's a pretty good chance that something will be the largest corporations.
Comment Re:Cheap? (Score 1) 645
I used to think that too. I've always found it easy to set the timer record on the ~3 devices I've tried it on.
Then my parents bought a new VCR when their old one broke. The cheapest model they could find. The user interface was terrible! Buttons on the remote did different things depending on which screen you were on. Timer record is several menus deep.
User Interface design is important. Something like setting a timer on a VCR is done infrequently and by non-technical users. It needs to be intuitive - because you're effectively learning how to do it each time.
Oil May Be Finite, But U.S. Production Is Ramping Up 745
Hugh Pickens writes "The WSJ reports that the discovery of the gigantic and prolific Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota have already helped move the U.S. into third place among world oil producers, and according to Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, the 14th-largest oil company in America, if fully developed the field in Bakken contains 24 billion barrels, doubling America's proven oil reserves. One reason for America's abundant supply of oil and natural gas has been the development of new drilling techniques, including 'horizontal drilling,' which allows rigs to reach two miles into the ground and then spread horizontally by thousands of feet." Not surprisingly, Hamm considers some of the current administration's loans and subsidies for alternative energy ventures to be misplaced.
Comment The Inmates are running the asylum (Score 1) 173
The Inmates are running the asylum.
I highly recommend this book. It puts forward the case for user-centred design and describes some basic but effective techniques.
Some of the technology in the examples is a bit dated, however the experiences of using bad interfaces is still fresh.
Nielsen's heuristics should also be referred to constantly in user interface design: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html
Comment Re:A refurbished iPad is $300. (Score 1) 291
In other words, size doesn't matter it's how you use it?
Comment Re:Once upon a time... (Score 1) 102
I think you're right about Blizzard underestimating the appeal of user content. I bought Warcraft III back in the day just to play DotA. The single player campaigns were a bonus.
