Comment Re:Quality is irrelevant (Score 1) 362
Microsoft as a brand isn't "cool" - probably never will be (Again? was it ever?).
Yes, it was once. Because it wasn't IBM.
Submission + - Parlez-vous Python?
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The NY Times reports that the market for night classes and online instruction in programming and Web construction is booming as those jumping on board say they are preparing for a future in which the Internet is the foundation for entertainment, education and nearly everything else and knowing how the digital pieces fit together will be crucial to ensuring that they are not left in the dark ages. “Inasmuch as you need to know how to read English, you need to have some understanding of the code that builds the Web,” says Sarah Henry, 39, an investment manager who took several classes, including some in HTML, the basic language of the Web, and WordPress, a blogging service. ““I’m not going to sit here and say that I can crank out a site today, but I can look at basic code and understand it. I understand how these languages function within the Internet." The blooming interest in programming is part of a national trend of more people moving toward technical fields. “To be successful in the modern world, regardless of your occupation, requires a fluency in computers,” says Peter Harsha. “It is more than knowing how to use Word or Excel but how to use a computer to solve problems.” However seasoned programmers say learning how to adjust the layout of a Web page is one thing, but picking up the skills required to develop a sophisticated online service or mobile application is an entirely different challenge that cannot be acquired by casual use for a few hours at night and on the weekends. “I don’t think most people learn anything valuable,” says Julie Meloni, who has written guides to programming adding that she still finds the groundswell of interest in programming, long considered too specialized and uncool, to be an encouraging sign. “I’m thrilled that people are willing to learn code. There is value here. This is just the first step.”"
Submission + - Apple offers refunds to Australian iPad owners (gizmag.com)
cylonlover writes: Australian owners of the "new" iPad are being offered full refunds by Apple after the country's consumer watchdog found Apple had misled customers as to the device's 4G capabilities in the region. Though Telstra offers a 4G network in Australia, the frequencies used by Apple's third-generation device (700 MHz and 2100 MHz) are incompatible with this service. The problem is that Apple specifically marketed the device as "iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G", which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said gave Australian customers the impression that the device "can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case."
Submission + - Why Dark Matter isn't what we thought it was. (science20.com)
physburn writes: Researchers modelling galaxies have found something odd or odder with dark matter, it seems to have a maximum density of around 4 solar masses per cubic light year, and to it seems to support itself against collapse. This fact might be the end of supersymmetry particles as the particles of dark matter.
Submission + - A Brief History of Quantum Computing (wordpress.com)
quax writes: Quantum Computing has come a long way since the idea was born 30 years ago. It is a tall order to describe the entire history of this field in one blog post. But if Hawkins managed to get all of time treated in one book than surely three decades can be compressed like this. At least the point of inception writes itself: In the beginning there was Feynman.
Comment Re:Switzerland experiments (Score 1) 594
What was wrong with your society that resulted in not enough women being concerned about politics ? I'm genuinely interested to know.
Comment Re:Switzerland experiments (Score 1) 594
And yet full womens sufrage was not acheived in Switzerland on the federal level until 1971, and not on the full cantonal level until 1990. Its not exactly got a great history of being representational, unless your a bloke of course.
Comment AARGHH! (Score 1) 239
This sort of lazy unimaginative half arsed drone ambient slop annoys me more than relaxes me. Make a bloody effort people. Still its an impressive marketing strategy they have here I suppose.
Comment Re:What's the alternative? (Score 1) 944
What on earth are you talking about ? I wish they had a plan, the organisation and the consistent rhetoric that the bolsheviks had, read some history.
Comment Information is power etc. (Score 1) 585
Gain power by hoarding information ? Drop some Prospero in here.. ;) http://vimeo.com/28884746
Comment Re:It would be worse... (Score 1) 77
Yeah, and we're talking about something they just acquired aren't we.
Comment Re:It would be worse... (Score 1) 77
Also, I'm frankly impressed that they've maintained Maya, 3DSMax and Softimage as independent prdoucts beyond what was in their roadmaps when they acquired them. I, and a lot of other people, were expecting some horrible hybrid single product to emerge to replace them.
Comment Re:It would be worse... (Score 1) 77
That abandoned all Unix ports of their software many, many versions ago?
Ermm. thats not true at all really. I'm always up for a bit of Autodesk bashing but Maya, Mudbox, 3DSMax, Softimage, Flame all run on Linux. In fact its CAD which is the odd one out really in their product lineup. Also the Area community isn't too shabby tbh. Oh, and FBX is pretty open really. I'm not an Autodesk fanboy by any means I'm an old Alias/Wavefront fanboy who is still bitching about some of the weird things they've done to Maya.
Comment Re:There really is no substitute for proprietary.. (Score 1) 245
This is probably a lot more to do with the fact that Maya performs faster on Linux, than it being a noticeable performance improvement related to the graphics driver. Its not the only app where this is the case, Houdini is also a tad faster on Linux than it is on windows. Linux is.. well... faster on the whole isn't it ? This may also probably the case for minecraft too. Also, I don't think Maya officially supports ATi cards, just saying that cos YMMV depending on the generation of ATi card too. Basically, there are too many vagaries to make anything approaching a meaningful comparison here. The only thing to do would be to run graphics based benchmarks on both platforms, assuming that the benchmarks are coded in the same way too of course. But they've already done that, hence the % figures in this articles title.
As for the argument that CAD applications give the graphics cards more work, I really don't see how thats the case, a 3D viewport is just a 3D viewport after all. However, yeah, the processing in the backend to maintain the surfaces accuracy (is the term Type A surfaces ?), yep, thats a lot more hardcore than it is for 3D animation/modelling/rendering applications. But, and I'm interested to know if this if its wrong and someonecan explain it to me, drawing the 3D representation on screen isn't any much more of an effort for a CAD app than it is for something like Maya.
Comment A good summary (Score 5, Informative) 38
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/06/29/awesomely-weird-expanding-halo-of-light-seen-from-hawaii/ Another link on said pretty thing that reads better than the forum.
