Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 3rd Jun 2012 22:04 UTC
So, I've been using the Windows 8 Release Preview since it came out, almost exclusively (except for work, since I'm obviously not going to rely on unfinished and untested software for that). I already knew I could get into Metro on my 11.6" ZenBook, but on my 24" desktop, things aren't looking as rosy. Here's an illustrated guide of the most pressing issues I run into, and five suggestions to address them. Instead of just complaining, let's get constructive.
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RE[7]: Comment by gmlongo
by lucas_maximus on Mon 4th Jun 2012 12:03
in reply to "RE[6]: Comment by gmlongo"
Member since:2009-08-18
I would hardly call it fluff, but then again you tend to make blanket statement about subjects like there is a "right and a wrong" ... it is a visual aid, nothing more or less, you either think it has value or it doesn't, I happen to think that it does.
Performance degrading ... utter nonsense. You really don't know how these websites are built do you?
You do realise that must of this stuff is done Asynchronously so it doesn't block the browser?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794
"People can't multitask very well, and when people say they can, they're deluding themselves," said neuroscientist Earl Miller. And, he said, "The brain is very good at deluding itself."
Miller, a Picower professor of neuroscience at MIT, says that for the most part, we simply can't focus on more than one thing at a time.
And when it comes to multi-tasking, I will take the word of a MIT professor over your opinion anyday.
Edited 2012-06-04 12:14 UTC
RE[8]: Comment by gmlongo
by Thom_Holwerda on Mon 4th Jun 2012 12:14
in reply to "RE[7]: Comment by gmlongo"
Member since:2005-06-29
I would hardly call it fluff, but then again you tend to make blanket statement about subjects like there is a "right and a wrong"
...says the person who just posted like 5 comments stating that how I use my computer is wrong. Ironic much?
Performance degrading ... utter nonsense.
See what happens when you're doing some heavy lifting and you happen to mouseover on the show preview arrows. Saying it doesn't impact performance is laughable, at best.
RE[8]: Comment by gmlongo
by Thom_Holwerda on Mon 4th Jun 2012 12:16
in reply to "RE[7]: Comment by gmlongo"
Member since:2005-06-29
And when it comes to multi-tasking, I will take the word of a MIT professor over your opinion anyday.
That's probably because you're not reading properly. Nobody is saying here that you can do two things at once. We're stating that we'd like to be able to instantly switch between tasks - simply by adjusting our eyes, instead of using the mouse and keyboard to do so as Metro demands.
Next time, please read better.
RE[8]: Comment by gmlongo
by tooflower on Tue 5th Jun 2012 15:08
in reply to "RE[7]: Comment by gmlongo"
Member since:2012-06-05
You do realize that working on a single task does not mean that you only need a single application?
As a developer I typically have an editor (for a 'To Do' list and notes) and Word (architecture description) open beside my development environment. Add a browser for webbased documentation or stackoverflow.com answers and you have four windows for that one task you are working on.
You might argue that this is a problem for the 1%. True, but I can easily imagine many other professions needing several visible and active applications at once. Reading and replying to a research paper / contract / business proposal while researching it online. Or using the numbers from your business application in Excel to run some `What if' scenario's.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 22:06 UTC
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:45 UTC
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 15:53 UTC
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 22:43 UTC
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 21:50 UTC
PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:15 UTC
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:11 UTC, submitted by Drumhellar
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:06 UTC
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 7:37 UTC
"In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Linked by fran on 05/18/13 1:38 UTC
Appfour added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."More News »
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Member since:
2005-06-29
Which is just useless, performance-degrading fluff, further strengthening my point that adding extra content just because Microsoft's designers believe everybody must focus on a single task AND NOTHING ELSE is not a good way to go.