Posts by DZ-Jay

Re: @Giles

@AC:

They exist, but not as the main attraction. The DVD set of the "Special Edition" versions (wtih "all the stupid colour changing/Annaking overlaying bullshit") contains on each disc the original, theatrical release of the movies as a "bonus feature."

These are gritty, without the benefits of the re-mastering and restoration performed during the 1990s. However, they also are devoid of extraneous embellishments or extra scenes, just as you saw them in the theater, with a mono soundtrack and all.

-dZ.

@Uncle Slacky

You mean... Biblical cherubim? :)

Re: Devs Can Do UI (Not really)

As a programmer and, at times, designer, I disagree with you. Most developers think it's boring because they do know how to do it, and thus are not bothered to understand its intricacies.

I see it all the time at the various places I've worked at: when given the chance, a typical developer with apathy towards design would end up with something horrendously complex and unwieldy. For instance, on this particular application, an otherwise brilliant programmer took the data model literally, and created a form that contained a label and field for each entity attribute, just one below the other. He even made a direct translation between data-types and field control without regard to actual user workflows or usability.

No wonder people like him later decry that task as "boring."

-dZ.

Such is the nature of hobbies and projects done as a labor of love, not following any schedule.

For what it's worth, I did release the game last Christmas. Feedback was positive and I was even asked by the community to extend what was essentially a single-screen demo into a full-fledged, multi-level game.

Writing games for ancient, arcane devices--in Assembly Language--is not an easy task.

-dZ.

Re: Not a virus

Actually, on the tin italso says "Angry Birds," and Assassin's Creed," etc., so I don't think these are by legitimate at all.

dZ.

>> "It wasnt about the end of the world."

Ah! Thanks for that tidbit.

-dZ.

No, I don't. I use iBooks, like many other iPad users.

-dZ.

>> "However, the situation is as it is, so just get over it."

Or, you know, eave Firefx behind and use a better browser.

Re: one wonders....

He probably did. However, I very much doubt he also said, "oh and by the by, if you wanna check out the bug, just download my app from the PRODUCTION APP STORE and I'll hack your iPhone so you can see."

@EyeCU

You know who also was not an engineer? Albert Einstein. I also believe that neither Copernicus, Galileo, nor Newton could code or program a computer.

Is that the only measure of genius?

Block Transfer Computations

Sound like bit-blitting!

It is...

It is indeed the responsibility of the OS and so it will be... on March 1st. What Apple are announcing is not that they will require developers to write their own sandbox, but that *all* applications built after that date need to support the sandboxing model of OS X if the developer wants to sell it in the Mac App Store.

The OS defines and enforces the sandbox, but it is up to the app developer to specify the boundaries of the sandbox. Does the app require access to the Internet? File access? Access to other applications? The developer needs to explicitly define these requirements, what Apple call "entitlements," in order for the app to work within a sandboxed environment.

That is the new requirement, not that developers have to roll their own implementation of a sandbox; and the system already provides a nice API to do this which developers are ignoring.

-dZ.

>> "Face it, the media companies haven't exactly been flocking to the web in general and sometimes have been avoiding Google in particular "

I wonder why...

>> "Any sane company that wants to do well in this area would be doing similar things."

Any sane company would be building bridges to partners, not burning them down. Is Google ready to take on the *entire* content industry? Because just fighting against a bit of it will spark ire against it from the rest.

Seems like the Nexus One plan all over again. Didn't they noticed that it didn't work with the Google TV either? Yes: content, *that* was it. That was the only reason it failed. Right.

-dZ.

Read the book...

Or any of the other biographical accounts on the subject of Pixar's creation. Pixar was a research center and software products outfit in the hands of Lucas. It wasn't bringing in enough money and was not deemed much valuable, attested by the fact that Lucas chose to sell it when first requiring funding for his other ventures.

Steve Jobs did not design, write, animate, nor produced Toy Story in any direct way; that much is true. However, it is indisputable that he facilitated Lasseter and his team, and at the very least saw enough talent in them to leave them well alone in running the enterprise by themselves.

Toy Story was such a great work *because* Lasseter was left to his own devices, but this ostensibly would *never* had happened had it not been Jobs at the helm of Pixar. Certainly not under Lucas.

-dZ.

The actual difference

One's a megalomaniac who believes that he's always absolutely right about everything and who tries to convince the masses of his One True Way.

And the other actually managed to before he died.

-dZ.

@NoneSuch

Jurors are supposed to be "regular folk and not boffins." Boffins are brought in to testify and explain the facts to the non-technical jurors.

This is how the judicial system works in the USA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Impartial_jury

"Another factor in determining the impartiality of the jury is the nature of the panel, or venire, from which the jurors are selected. Venires must represent a fair cross-section of the community[...]"

-dZ.

WTF?

May I ask, sir, what is a "fish pedicure"?

-dZ.

That's what is happening...

Creation's up for an upgrade, and they want to improve from Mark I so they're calling in the experts. Ritchie for speed and elegance, McCarthy for complex symbol manipulation... and Jobs to make it all shiny and simple.

-dZ.

No

His point is that we should put as much attention on so-called "cyber attacks" as we put on other forms of sabotage and subversion, because it is just another facet of them.

In other words, we should not worry about "cyber wars" as a brand new category; we should worry about the risk of "cyber war" in the same way that we worry about the risk of a traditional war with any antagonising state.

-dZ.

Good one!

Did you know that the World Wide Web was invented on a NeXT workstation? The same OS designed and implemented by e people that run Aplenty now, and which made it's way into being OS X.

What about all the Macintosh and iOS developers, are they not "Apple users"?

WTF?

So there's some law that says that you must give a rebate to customers who pay early? I understand that this squeezes the profits out of the resellers. But if Apple can access customers directly, why would they want or care about middle men?

Sure, it's not *nice*, in the ponies and rainbows Internet definition; but it is not illegal to reduce incentives to partners.

-dZ.

Re: Jim Booth

Actually, you may not be aware, but high end car manufacturers will sue others if the design of the cars seem too close as theirs. And yes, it comes down to curves, fins, shapes of the front grille or headlights, the colour combination of the interior, etc.

But go on, ignorance is bliss and all that.

-dZ.

@Steve Knox

Your comment has very valid points, but I would argue that that is Mr. Orlowski's point all along: Those obstacles that you mentioned aren't new, nor are they accidental--they are the real world problems of any incumbent industry that any entrepreneuring individual or organization must face.

Why aren't they factored in? That is *indeed* what we need, someone or someones that views the complete picture and has the intrepid ability to communicate this vision in a way that causes the change.

But nobody is trying. Everybody is too busy patting themselves in the back coming up with random ideas that do not necessarily add value, nor solves any real problem. And when they're not, they're lamenting how "big business" gets in their way.

Well, I'd say that ignoring "big business" and the realities of an existing industry or social norm is not going to gain you any inroads into solving those problems.

-dZ.

Probably because you are a sick freak.