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Go ahead. Fire up SolidWorks on your pad or phone. Or AutoCAD. Go On. I dare you.
Now tell me the desktop is dead.
Desktop is dead (except for India) because all your SolidWorks and AutoCAD work has been outsourced. Enjoy angry birds on your smart glasses. Remember, buy Chinese!
power users, developers and gamers: so the majority of users then? I think most people play games occasionally. It might be going the way of the cable package: you might hardly ever watch anything on your tv anymore (at least not something that isn't PVR'd, hulu, etc other equally available from the net content) but you won't cut the cord because well you might
I think a more realistic scenario will be that tablets/phones get powerful enough that people use docking stations when they need a bigger form factor, but to me that is still a desktop (not sure what the official categorization is) just like having a Mac Mini attached to a 30" screen and full sized keyboard would be a desktop. My guess would be that most corporate devices remain laptop desktop form factors for the next 10+ years. If they aren't portable they aren't getting lost/broken at bars. The hardware will remain likely cheaper but at worst the same cost as a smaller form factor, and likely will have a longer useable life (there is a cost to miniaturization and it is usually both performance and hardware faults both which lead to more rapid hardware churn).
and that can happen if desktops die and people move to phones / tablets.
Also other stuff like un removable batterys and fixed storage (apple systems needs at least an SD slot) and USB.
And misc damage due to dropped devices, and cracked screens, and unrepairable power adapters, shitty sound, no real expansion capabilities, and high cost all mean that these devices are not capable of replacing the desktop.
power users, developers and gamers: so the majority of users then? I think most people play games occasionally.
I think by "gamers" the GP means "people for whom games are important enough to spend extra money on performance gear.", not "people who play Candy Crush Saga and Farmville".
Yup, gamers. My son was all about the portability of a laptop, but he finally gave up and went back to big iron because the desktop box was easier to upgrade and repair, had more RAM and HD capacity, and (most important to him) far better framerates on his FPS games.
I keep a laptop in a travel bag for the rare occasion I need to compute on the move, but all my important work is on the desktop box. I'll give it up when they pry the GeForce card from my cold, dead hands...
Yup, gamers. My son was all about the portability of a laptop, but he finally gave up and went back to big iron because the desktop box was easier to upgrade and repair, had more RAM and HD capacity, and (most important to him) far better framerates on his FPS games.
Man, I am getting old. I am thoroughly perplexed when someone refers to a desktop PC as "big iron".
The only people who can migrate are the people who only do Facebook/Youtube.
Reason: People who do any kind of job/work need a screen bigger than 10".
The PC market will stabilize again once those people are out of the way.
My computer is still pretty useful with Windows 8.1.
I really don't know any tablets that have deduplication, autotiering, online checking of filesystems for damaged indexes or image based backups, or ZFS-like dynamic volume storage (Windows Storage Spaces is useful in that regard.)
Deduplication is nice. I have a script which moves the files copied from the file server out of the shared drive and into another part. That way, if Cryptolocker stings the machine, it might nail a day's worth of files, but it w
The only people who can migrate are the people who only do Facebook/Youtube
. . . right, and most of the ppl on Youtube are suffering issues with buffering and stuttering (DASH) because Google has changed the player, and with Facebook - well - it's getting it's own issues - (privacy, and etc).
I really believe that; aside from the utility of using services like google drive and drop box, that this whole tablet/cloud thing has been just a fad.
You'll laugh, but I'm doing CAD work in the US
Exactly. For content consumption, small and mobile devices are very convenient. For quick interactions, they're OK. For serious content creation, they are just not the right tool for the job.
The trouble for the PC vendors is that for most serious content creation, desktops and laptops were already powerful enough a few years ago. Only those who really need local power, like creative media or CAD types in business or gamers at home, are interested in buying newer and more powerful machines often any more. For everyone else, the desktop isn't dead, it's just a mature platform and they already have it.
Yes, this is the biggest issue. Mobile devices increase 50% in speed each year, while desktops are meeting everybody's needs so there's no reason to upgrade. My home laptop is four years old and showing no slowdown that impacts me. Work laptop is a little diff, because they always buy the cheapest hardware possible.
There are some task that are right for my computer! some tasks hath at are right for my tablet, some tasks that are right for my smartphone, NAND some tasks that are right for my game console. Th
Exactly. For content consumption, small and mobile devices are very convenient.
Who exactly spends all of their time simply "consuming" on these devices? It's virtually impossible to spend more than a day online without feeling the urge to add to the conversation, and all iDink devices and touchscreen interfaces do is get in the way of that (2-way) conversation with the outside world.
As to the consumption itself, as far as I can see, everything is clunkier on touch device. Everything. Designers are having to
I simply cannot accept the proposition that people are -- willingly -- going to accept a future of either creation or consuption on these restricted devices.
If you mean exclusively on small factor touchscreens, sure, I agree. An iPad isn't going to replace a dedicated home cinema room any time soon, or a hardcore gamer's custom rig, or a CAD workstation at the office.
But for routine use, that ship already sailed. Smartphones are ubiquitous when people are out. Tablets are becoming ubiquitous around the house, for the kind of household that used to have multiple PCs or laptops instead. Bazillions of people are quite happy sending e-mails, checking Facebook, or c
As to the consumption itself, as far as I can see, everything is clunkier on touch device. Everything.
Clearly, you've never tried to type on a laptop while carrying it around in your other hand.
Assuming bandwidth is available for both spooling print/plotters jobs and RDP (RemoteFX technologies used too), you could just run thin-clients throughout the office.
You're right: desktops will become workstations (if they're not that already). They will continue to be very powerful devices suited for very particular work, that either requries a lot of computational power or is ergonomically sutied for a desk-and-chair.
Until quite recently, desktops were multipurpose devices: they did all that but also browsed the web, did word processing, and other lighter tasks. They'll still be able to do that, for sure, it's just that unless people need the workstation stuff, there are simply better devices than desktops.
The desktop isn't dying, it's just narrowing its mission.
Keep your crappy little tablet games. For real games, I want a beefy PC, thank you very much!
Every year we hear about how the desktop is dying and every year it doesn't. When will these idiots realize that desktop PCs are a niche that's not going to go away? It might shrink, especially compared to other forms of computing. But reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.
Even Apple, when announcing the iPad, accepted that there would always be a need for a desktop PC:
When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that's what you needed on the farms. Cars became more popular as
The Desktop Is Dead
Isn't 2014 going to be the year of the Linux desktop?
Turns out that Tux is a zombie process
Maybe it will cease to be a fraction of the installed Vista user-base [netmarketshare.com]... Maybe.
Have mod points, but will post instead:
Although your '...year of the Linux desktop' is a very old statement, my observation is that now (end of 2013/start of 2014) is indeed the year of the Linux desktop.
Just as last year, with the Nexus 7, it was the first time I felt comfortable giving a "non-iPad" tablet to my father, this time
when their XP laptop died, it was the first time I actually considered giving them a laptop with Linux on it. So I searched for that lone laptop which still had Windows 7 (and hence: no UEFI problems), installed Linux Mint on it (for the cureous: Mint Cinnamon, Petra, RC at the time), and let them loose with it. And so far they are really happy with it.
The reasons I could do this were:
- Linux Mint is a simpler experience then Windows 8(.1) and looks close enough to XP;
- Libre office (writer, calc) look close enough to the office version they had previously.
It is/was the first time I knew that giving them Linux + Libre office was a better choice then giving them Windows 8(.1) and the ribbon...
And this from someone that hasn't really used Linux since those early years when you downloaded Slackware on 40+ floppy's, and who uses a (Windows 7, fortunately) laptop from my employer.
nope, modern laptops are just as good as desktops now. Apart from the small screen (which can be good as a secondary thing to run your email or whatnot on), the laptop has as much power as your desktop.
I have a i7 laptop with 8 Gb RAM on it - that's plenty for development and running the dev environment, including db and services. If I need more than that, I'll be running the code on a server box, not a desktop.
Desktops are just cheaper, that's their only advantage nowadays.
LOL. Let me know how long your laptop can sustain my desktop clock frequencies before throttling. It may have the same chip, but it sure doesn't have the same POWER.
Unless you are stress testing the latest and greatest PC games, very little development in my experience requires sustained high CPU frequencies. A lot of development requires little more than Notepad++ which I've got some decade old laptops that do quite well with that.
Are you talking about web development? Compiling moderate to large c/c++ projects will send the fans into non-stop high gear and turn a laptop into a hot plate. Not fun.
nope, modern laptops are just as good as desktops now.
You forgot to add the "except for gaming" at the end of that.
You forgot to add the "including for gaming" at the end of that.
FTFY, I haven't come across a game I wanted to play yet that my laptop couldn't handle. Sure you may still get marginally better performance out of a desktop, but a modern laptop is going to be good enough. After all most games now are targeted at console hardware, which is seriously lacking when compared to a laptop from just four years ago.
No, they are good enough even for gaming. It is true that i can't activate every little graphic options and set them to the max. But my 3 year old laptop is good enough to be able to play any recent game.
Now if you are one of these player that think that 160fps is not enough and they need mooooaaar power even if their screen can display only 50-60 fps. In that case, even your desktop should not be good enough.
nope, modern laptops are just as good as desktops now. Apart from the small screen (which can be good as a secondary thing to run your email or whatnot on), the laptop has as much power as your desktop.
An average laptop might have as much processing power and RAM and disk space as an average desktop, but the upper bound on a desktop is still far, far higher. To pick an example someone mentioned earlier, you can't get a lot of laptops with dual fast processors and 64+GB of RAM, which is a good but realistic specification for a professional CAD workstation. If you're rendering video or working with high quality audio, you might be thankful for a local RAID array with a few TB of capacity (as well as the lar
nope, modern laptops are just as good as desktops now
Let me know when I can run three 27" monitors from a laptop.
The thing that makes laptops useful as laptops is what makes them suck in any other context. It's a rats' nest of cables sticking out the side of my MBP, and it takes up too much desk to make hiding in the corner viable. And besides, those pukes at Apple stopped to designing them to work with the lid closed.
Tablets tend to suck for creation. There are limited exceptions, but for the most part a mouse n' keyboard, and a screen without your fingers in the way, are what you want for creating things. This includes software, of course, but also more mundane business things like financial spreadsheets, e-mails, and so on. It applies to other creative pursuits such as writing, video editing, and so on.
Basically tablets are reasonably good if you want to consume content. You can read a book, surf the web, etc with ease on a tablet. However when you start to talk creation, they are not as good. They can do in a pinch, but much better to have a real keyboard and larger screen.
What we are actually seeing is not desktops and laptops "dying" but rather maturing. The market is more or less done growing. However that doesn't mean it is going away. The two states are not "growth" and "death". Rather it can be stable.
We've already seen this in things like mainframes. Desktops didn't kill off mainframes. You can still buy them, and people do. There are more of them now then when there were only mainframes. However it is a mature market. There aren't many organizations that want one, and you don't replace them that often. So there's no growth, but it isn't dead by any means.
That's what is happening with desktops. Go in to a business, have a look around, they have not tossed all their computers and started playing with tablets and phones. There is a computer on every desk practically. However, as noted, there is a computer on every desk. They've got their computers. They buy for replacement now largely, not to increase the numbers.
The only people who think desktops/laptops are going to "die" are either kids who just play on their smart phone and don't do productive work with a computer, or idiot tech journalists.
Remember how excited everyone got when they started seeing blurtooth keyboard/cases that turned their $400 tablet into a $500 netbook (when notebooks were running $250-350?
Turning a tablet into a laptop doesn't prove the tablet is replacing the laptop - it proves people like laptops and will adapt their tablets to act like one.
Oh, and I've been working in IT since the mid-80's, and for the last 30-some years the mainframe has been "on the way out"... Hasn't happened yet, they just keep getting cheaper and cheaper [nytimes.com]...
"They" are always predicting the death of PC gaming too.
For some reason that is the 800lb gorilla in the room... Windows 8 did more to damage the Laptop and Desktop market than anyone is willing to give them credit for. (8 and 8.1 are actually not too bad... ON A TABLET.)
After using 8 for probably six months now I'm not really sure what the angst over 8 is all about. I don't like the tiled metro interface but I haven't been forced to look at it much since I got my system setup. When I login I see the tiled start screen flash by for about half a second before it goes straight to my familiar desktop, and that is without any addons or 8.1.
My only current complaints are the obfuscation of controls and functions like powering down the PC. Also the lack of context menu when using
Something with a decent HID will always be around. It might be a tablet with a keyboard and mouse but it will always be around. The platform to consume content will relentlessly evolve but content creation has a pretty standard set of requirements for those humans that do it. This paradigm will drive the PC market to the niche where it might belong. Stuff that is truly creative and commercially viable generally isn't produced on an ipad and uploaded to youtube for your 31337 friends to fawn over. Yes,
The personal computer is not a form factor, it is a philosophy.
No dependence on centralized service, computing done by the user, for the user.
Unless done properly, cloud and toys (smartphones, tablets) are a regression into the mainframe era. Give your toys enough control and you'll see.
The personal computer is not a form factor, it is a philosophy. No dependence on centralized service, computing done by the user, for the user. Unless done properly, cloud and toys (smartphones, tablets) are a regression into the mainframe era. Give your toys enough control and you'll see.
Mod parent up! These days I use a laptop rather than a desktop; it's just more convenient. But it's still my personal computer. I'm not dependent cloud services, or even in some cases even a network connection, to do useful work; and I control the software and data on my device.
The mainframe bows to the minicomputer. The minicomputer bows to the personal computer. The personal computer bows to the tablet and smart phone. It seems as if these will soon bow to the smart watch or smart glasses
Each of those form factors has a different balance of convenience and functionality, with the smaller device being more convenient but also more limited. As the first post pointed out, you're not going to be running CAD software on Google Glass anytime soon. You might run a client interface to a server, but not the CAD software itself.
People like convenience most of the time, so we're quick to get smartphones and tablets, because they offer convenience doing the tasks we do most often. For bigger jobs than
I think it's more than just PC gamers, but you're right about the power of the desktop and laptop PC being a limiting factor. I have a laptop that I got three years ago and it can still run every program I need it to run. Maybe I'll need to upgrade in a year or two, but that's in the far future as far as the computer market is concerned.
Contrast this with the early 90's when you'd get a new computer only to have a new, more powerful one come out and make you want to get it. Computers were the hot commodity and everyone wanted the latest and greatest. Now, they are seen as useful tools which are so powerful that even the low end products can handle the tasks most people need them for.
Add into the mix the fact that smartphones and tablets can handle the tasks that many people previously needed a computer for (e-mail, updating Facebook, etc) and it's easy to see why desktop computer manufacturers are seeing stalled sales. The market isn't dying, but it is reaching an equilibrium much lower than it was in its heyday.
I should be able to have my desktop use my phone and a password to do a 2-factor authentication, and transparently share with my pad, and with the older pad that lives in my office. I should be able to have one reference book open on the pad, a second open on the old pad, and a notepad program and open office open on my desktop, and cut and paste from any of them.
The author of the article does stats, while I write books and programs. I should have some serious support from all my hardware vendors for wha
There is no true death here: only an inevitable and natural partitioning of platforms based on target usage. Desktop PCs had a good run (three decades) as a platform for both creation and consumption, but the world has changed. Phones and tablets are better-suited for consumption (literature, movies, music, games, web-browsing), but PCs are still the best practical platform for creation (writing, editing, composition, game development, web-site building). And yet this is all pretty obvious. Of course PC market-share will go down, way down, as it must. But the sensationalist media can't help but to bandy about terms like "living dead" when describing the desktop PC industry because - as any MBA is more than happy to tell us - in business, lack of growth equals death.
It's as though they have seized upon a mercantilist mentality of a world divided exclusively into winners and losers. World ain't like that.
Haven't you seen the Star Citizen promo? Here. [vimeo.com] The PC and it's capabilities are not dead to the tune of $33.7 Million USD and counting.
Just because a newer or different technology sells well and meets one segments needs (business) doesn't mean that the old one will die. I mean seriously, how many of you are still running a tape library out there?
The desktop isn't even pretending to die.
Yes, it's not the big hot thing anymore. Laptops took over the hot spot a few years ago, but for the purpose of software, they're generally the same as desktops. Now tablets and phones are cutting into the laptop market.
But the markets are huge. Even a 90% decline would still leave a substantial market with opportunities for new products. It's only a problem for companies with established dominant products. If you are depending on upgrade or support sales to an established base, then a declining base is a problem.
The comparison to mainframe may be particularly apt. While everyone likes to talk about how the mainframe was replaced my mini computers and later desktops, this isn't really true. There are lots of companies with large mainframe deployments. It's still a multi-billion dollar industry.
There's many, many more PCs in the world than there were last year, and there will continue to be many, many more PCs next year.
Just because it's rate of growth is slower than it used to be, does not mean there will be fewer PCs used - PCs are not actually getting less popular, they're just not getting more popular at as fast a rate as before.
The 'desktop' is as necessary, and as used as ever - there's just fewer folks needing a new copy right now. The role of PCs in doing most of the creation of content,
Aren't they always saying that PC gaming is dying too--and have been saying that for a couple of decades now? For something that's dying, it sure still seems to keep kicking. It's got a longer death scene than Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs, I guess.
It's a slow decline into "one of many niches" rather than a "dead and gone" sort of thing. More and MOre the PC Gaming market is turning into the late Amiga game market. Games from US/UK developers that have little/no console experience....yet, but will do so eventually (Blizzard is a good example), Cross-platform games and Ports, and games from European developers too poor or too partisan to do console games.
After all there was a time not so long ago when die-hard PC gamers said things like:
You'll never
Desktop/PC is not dead. It's just that people, until now, didn't have any other option than to purchase a PC, in order to do tasks they are interested in.
Now that they can get a tablet/phone to do this, they don't need PC. They never did. They just didn't have a choice.
People often forget to ask themselves what is a desktop. Most of you thinks that the desktop is a big tower stuffed in a desk, but the desktop is actually:
1) Big (by comparison to phones and tablets) screen.
2) Full physical keyboard
3) Mouse or other pointer device.
The tower by itself does not make a desktop. I think in the end you will just plug your phone or watch or whatever into a big screen screen with bluetooth mouse and keyboards to do your work. Your phone os will also have a desktop interface (like
"'The mainframe bows to the minicomputer. The minicomputer bows to the personal computer. The personal computer bows to the tablet and smart phone. It seems as if these will soon bow to the smart watch or smart glasses"
In the end we will have a device with no screen and a single button: "Like".
Market saturation and maturity. It used to be that, if you upgraded your three-year-old machine, you could do new and interesting things with it, if only playing more computationally demanding games. Given market saturation, if people in general go from a three-year to a five-year* replacement cycle, that's a fairly dramatic drop in sales.
*Wash hands after handling these numbers. You know where they've been.
The PC market (where P = personal and 'PC' includes Mac,Windows,Linux etc.) has had a 30 year honeymoon period during which specifications were increasing exponentially and real-time prices were dropping. Customers had a real incentive to upgrade their hardware and software every 18 months or so, because they were trying to to jobs that were pushing at the limits of their hardware.
Now, that has come to an end. Your 3-year old PC can effortlessly run a GUI-based OS like Windows 7, OS X 10.6 or your Linux distro of choice. It can do non-linear HD video editing fast enough for 'pro-sumers'. It can render web pages as fast as your broadband can deliver them. It can play FPS video games at 60 frames/sec, at levels of detail that are just this side of 'uncanny valley'. The only reason it would even break a sweat doing wordprocessing, DTP or spreadsheets is if the software is a bloated mess mentioning no names). The 4GB-8GB RAM you got is probably still enough and the only thing that can really fill up a 500G+ HDD for personal use is your video pr0n collection - for which cheap external HDs (convenient to lock in a cupboard) are available.
Of course, there are still specialist niches who need Moore's Law to keep rolling - but they will increasingly be looking at things like multi-GPU computing, clusters and the Cloud (£1 in the swear jar) rather than traditional Personal Computers.
Upgrading might get you a 10% improvement, but that's not going to turn your movie render from "coffee break" to "instant". I think the last, great upgrade for most people will be to switch from spinning rust to SSD (which does produce a dramatic speed up for many users) - after that, the only reason to upgrade will be if your computer breaks, suffers planned obsolescence or if the vendor sells you a stylish new model on non-technical grounds (Apple are the only real masters of that - possibly why they are doing less badly than others).
Sure, tablets and smartphones are part of the picture, but I suspect that it is more a case of people spending their spare cash on the latest fondleslab as a supplement to their 2 year-old PC rather than junking PCs for tablets.
There's also a case of self-fulfilling prophecy, with manufacturers obviously spending their R&D money on mobile devices rather than coming up with anything new in the PC line (beyond bunging touch-screens on their laptops) and software houses screwing up their offerings in a misguided attempt to make them more tablet-like (Windows 8, Gnome 3, Unity).
The only reason the PC will die is if modern hypercapitalist corporations decied that they can't be arsed to support a mature market that is no longer in its boom years and unlikely to generate short term windfall profits.
Quite frankly, computing could do with a few years respite from 'if it works it is obsolete' to give people a chance to finish upgrading their DOS software to a system that may still be around when they finish the job.
I believe people confuse "the death of the desktop" with "the logical conclusion of the desktop". In the past, each new generation of desktop brought important new capabilities, often in terms of speed and memory, but sometimes in terms of other things (long ago) such as GUI capability, networking, USB support.
However, desktops now seem to have reached their logical conclusion, at least in terms of speed an memory. Desktops already have more memory than is needed in most cases. Regarding speed, processor clock speed seems to have plateaued, and many processors now have more cores than can be efficiently used. Also, the speed of the computer as perceived by the user now is limited by non-processor factors such as network speed and hard drive speed. And what was the last new "killer feature" to come along like USB to make you buy a new desktop?
All that leaves little reason for the user to upgrade to the next generation. So, desktops aren't dead, they've just reached their logical conclusion. New desktops will continue to be made, bought, and incrementally improved. But much as car manufacturers change the cosmetics of cars each year to sell new models to people who don't really need to replace their old ones, we can expect Microsoft, Apple, Dell, et. al. to continue to change the cosmetics to convince us to "upgrade". And that will occasionally result in marketing disasters such as the Edsel and Windows 8.
Maybe for personal use the desktop is dying, because legions of brainless "consumers" seem content to "consume" on their devices rather than produce. But the computer desktop will live on for a long time in business where it's often the best tool for the job.
For the "media consumption" crowd who only surf the web and watch youtube videos, then yes, perhaps the desktop is dead.
For people who CREATE anything, perform any kind of development work, do web page design, graphic design, or any kind of office work, the desktop, even if it's virtualized via thin-client hardware, will still be king.
I work on a desktop, but the main purpose of this desktop is to login to a mainframe (not kidding), that's running cobol code that goes back to the 1980's. There's millions of dollars of software investment in this system, and it's not going anywhere, even though upper management has tried to get rid of it. It simply works too well. And I'm sure I'm not alone -- I'm assuming there's billions of dollars of hardware and software that firms are hesitant to simply drop and replace if it's doing the job.
And don't even get me started on "the cloud" -- without the equivalent of cheap/ubiquitous "desktop" machine hardware out there, the cloud wouldn't be able to exist.
The desktop is dead? Hardly, and only if you're looking at a single segment of the market. That's like saying the wristwatch is dead, the wired telephone is dead, the stereo system is dead, and the TV set is dead -- all of these devices can be replaced by a single mobile device, so, consumers don't need these things either, does that mean that they are dead too?
I don't know where and why this keeps coming up, but at the end of the day, the death of the PC won't happen for a while, for many reasons:
1) Creation vs. Consumption
I hear this bullshit a lot as the main driver for the death of the PC. This is a particularly specious argument. The whole creation vs. consumption aspect comes from creating content. While I can type on a tablet or other device, it is not as good (no matter the method) as a keyboard. I can type this entire post in 20 minutes on a keyboard but would take hours (and having fun with spell check, etc.) on some tablet device.
2) Ownership of content
This a huge one. With a desktop I can own what I own, and it is mine. With any always connected, remotely managed device I never can control what they manage. Cloud apps just scare the hell out of me as you don't own anything. You buy a song on ITunes, it is yours until Apple says it is not. You buy a movie from Amazon, it is your until the movie studio sues Amazon and they get a take down notice. This is why if I buy something, it is a physical device. You can not take my Blu-Ray copy of Skyfall without a warrant and coming to my house.
3) Ownership of information
The next thing is who owns your data. Have you read many of the EULA for software? Try turbo tax. You would think that your data is yours. Nope. Well I can control how the software works and how it calls home for information my data is stored locally. It never sends that information out. Now use the online (cloud) app from them, they store your information for you. Let me see my tax information is probably one of three things I never want anyone to see (for identity thief protection). This is stored somewhere where you trust them to keep it safe. This is why a desktop (or laptop) is best for this as it is stored local and you have control.
4) Form Factor
Yes at the end of the day, you can consume any form of media on any form factor. I can watch netflix on my tablet or my phone, but is that the most enjoyable experience? Hell no, it is just the most convenient. If I am going to watch a netflix show I would rather watch it in all its glory on my 52" TV with dolby digital sound system. However when I am sitting at an airport, yes I have to watch it on my portable devices since pulling a 52" TV through an airport w/ associated 7.1 system would just be unfeasible.
5) Gaming
While some stupid little game like candy crush or angry birds work on those form factors, you cannot tell me that a high FPS FPS (heh
It isn't possible to type as quickly and accurately on a tablet or iPhone as on a desktop PC. It isn't possible to precisely select a graphical element in one step (as in a CAD drawing).
Since voice input/control is not there yet, we are restricted to using mobile devices' clumsy keyboards. Even with voice, it is likely that users will opt for keyboards for other reasons (privacy, quiet in a group work environment, etc.).
"We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company."


text:
WILKES-BARRE TWP. - On Wednesday afternoon, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins conjured up memories of the early 2000s when they brought back former captain and leading scorer Tom Kostopoulos.
A few hours later, goalie Brad Thiessen turned back the clock too with a dominant, 26-save performance in a 3-0 victory over the St. John's Ice Caps at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Thiessen, who is 5-1 with three shutouts in six January starts, is once again flashing the form that made him the AHL's goaltender of the year in 2010-11.
"He's played well," coach John Hynes said. "The biggest thing with him right now is he's seeing the puck real well and his compete level is real high."
The Penguins blitzed St. John's early, scoring on their first power-play attempt of the game at the 2:32 mark.
Alex Grant skated in from the left point toward the faceoff dot, took a pass from Riley Holzapfel from the right-wing corner and buried a shot past Eddie Pasquale.
The Penguins have won five in a row, and they've taken a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in three of those games.
"Anytime the power play can contribute, it's huge," Holzapfel said. "We've been stressing that a lot lately, that special teams have got to win us games."
The Penguins ran their lead to 2-0 when Philip Samuelsson capitalized on a St. John's turnover at the 12:23 mark. He picked up a loose puck at the blue line and quickly fired a shot past a Dominik Uher screen and in.
Thiessen made perhaps his most important save late in the first period, turning back a Carl Klingberg shot from the right wing 3:10 before intermission to keep the Ice Caps off the board.
The Penguins then made the score 3-0 less than a minute later when Holzapfel finished off the rebound of a Paul Thompson shot from the right wing at 17:41.
"It was nice to get out to a big lead," Thiessen said. "Lately, we've been kind of eking some games out. To be able to jump out like that was nice. We've had some leads like that in the past that have gotten away from us. We were able to limit chances after that and play well with that lead."
The Penguins choked the life out of the game from there. They managed only three shots on goal in each of the last two periods, but they didn't give St. John's much in the way of scoring chances either.
"Not that we weren't on the attack, but we didn't create a lot after we were up 3-0," Hynes said. "Structurally and defensively we were good, but we'd like to get more of a puck possession game and still be attacking."
On the rare occasions where the Penguins did give up a scoring chance, Thiessen stood his ground. He's allowed a total of five goals in his last six starts.
"You just get in there and feel like you're seeing the puck well," Thiessen said. "They try to generate a lot of offense from their D and our guys were blocking a lot of shots from the point. That helps a lot when you're trying to fight through traffic and guys are putting their bodies on the line."

subset: commoncrawl


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03-15-05 - WASHINGTON (AP) - Some postal workers in Washington DC, are being given antibiotics as a precaution, after an anthrax scare at two military mail facilities in Virginia.
Washington's mayor says workers at a downtown postal facility are being offered a three-day course of antibiotics as a precaution. The facility has been closed pending a check by environmental crews.
The city's chief medical officer says there has been no report of any illness but this is a "proper first step."
Signs of anthrax have been detected at mail that passed through the Pentagon and another Virginia facility. More tests are being done.
The city swung into action because the mail may have passed through the Washington facility.
Two D-C postal workers died in the 2001 anthrax by mail attacks.


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Who wouldn't love to receive a package of homemade Italian Biscotti this holiday season? Biscotti originated from the Italian city of Prato. Traditionally served with espresso or cappuccino, the twice-baked biscuits also taste great with a cup of hot cocoa. Buon Natale!
Almond Biscotti
2 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp anise extract
3/4 cup sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition then add anise extract to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, stir in almonds until combined.
Smooth dough into log and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 25 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch. Cool completely, approximately 20 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 325 F.
Using a serrated knife, cut cooled log on the diagonal into 3/4-inch thick slices. Place slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes on each side, until slightly brown. Remove to a rack and cool. Store cookies in an airtight container for several weeks.


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Hi, I am using SUSE 9.2 now full time with one minor problem-my hard drive is too small. I have a new, larger drive and would like to clone my present drive. It must also be bootable (obviously) so any help appreciated. Thanks.
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UNION CITY, NJ - For Jose Mercedes an eclectic iPod mix that helped him cope with losing an arm during a tour of duty in Iraq.
Mercedes is one of the participants of a pilot program called Voices of Valor.
"It's a therapy session without the 'sit down, lay down, and write notes,'" Mercedes of Union City, New Jersey. The 26-year-old said the music program is "different _ it's an alternative that's way better."
Voices of Valor is a program that uses music to try to help veterans ease their reintegration into civilian life. Veterans work as a group to synthesize their experiences into musical lyrics. Guided by musicians and a psychology mentor, they write and record a song, and then hold a CD release party.
The program is currently under way at Montclair State University, where students participate through the school's veteran affairs program.
Developed by husband and wife team Rena Fruchter and Brian Dallow, it is open to veterans of any age and background. No musical experience is required.
Dallow said "we don't sit them down and say talk about your feelings. we go through it as a process and it comes out and it's really remarkable."
During the 8-week program, music facilitators lead a small group of young veterans in brainstorming about their experiences.
Julio Fernandez, a music facilitator, said "in the beginning their wall is up. And by the end of the 8 weeks, they're kidding around and having a great time and feeling very proud of what they're doing. Music is a very powerful thing."
Weeks later, the group gathered at a sound studio in Union City, where they donned headphones and clearly relished the opportunity to record their collectively written tune, "Freedom," in a professional studio.


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Owing to years of neglect during the apartheid period, Soweto acquired a reputation of a dry and dusty place. Gravel roads and lack of trees caused serious environmental problems with resultant negative effects on the health of the residents and the ecosystem. However, a joint initiative by Johannesburg City Parks (JCP) and IUCN ESARO is helping to improve the well-being of the people and restore the environment. The project, which exemplifies how partnerships can work to improve social conditions of the people and protect the environment, aims to provide lessons on urban regeneration and ecosystem restoration which will be shared by other cities in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.
The Initiative spearheaded by JCP is one of the city's showcase projects in preparation of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Known as Greening Soweto 2010, the initiative hopes to plant 300,000 trees in the next four years and improve the social conditions through beautification, tourism and restoration of degraded ecosystyems.
Greening Soweto 2010 was showcased during a workshop in Barcelona during the World Conservation Congress demonstrating local actions towards the 2010 Biodiversity target.


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Please note: You are viewing an archived Bucknell University news story. It is possible that information found on this page has become outdated or inaccurate, and links and images contained within are not guaranteed to function correctly.
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Mary Hannigan and Barry Hannigan will perform in concert on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. in the Rooke Recital Hall at Bucknell University. The flute and piano performance is open to the public without charge.
According to Barry Hannigan, the program will include sonatas in C Major and B Minor by J.S. Bach, the flute and piano sonata by New York composer Lowell Liebermann, and Schumann's Romances.
"A special treat will be a work for solo flute and dancer by Colorado composer Alexandra Pierce titled 'Escaped Exotics,'" said Hannigan. "Mary Hannigan will be joined by Kelly Knox of Bucknell University's dance department for this performance."
Mary Hannigan
"Some in the near-capacity audience were moved to tears" is Robert Miners' description of Mary Hannigan's playing at a performance on the Simply Grand series at NPR affiliate station WVIA. Notable performances include Market Square Summerfest in Harrisburg with the Ying Quartet, the national convention of the Music Teachers National Association, and the McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase for radio WQXR in New York City. She has recorded for S.C.I. and performed widely across the United States as soloist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician. She has been a member of the Harrisburg Symphony since 1984.
A faculty member of Dickinson College, she also has taught at Susquehanna, Bucknell and Wilkes universities and Colorado College. In the summer she performs for the Estes Park Chamber Music Series in Colorado. Her students have won recognition at the national and state level on many occasions: a former student won the piccolo position in the Chicago Symphony; others have been selected as masterclass performers for the National Flute Association Convention and have performed on National Public Radio's From the Top. Several different students have won first flute in all-state band in Pennsylvania.
Her teachers have been Keith Underwood, Geoffrey Gilbert, Peter Lloyd, and Leone Buyse. She has performed in masterclasses for William Bennett and Marcel Moyse. She holds a Master of Music from Rutgers University and received her B.A. cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Colorado College.
Barry Hannigan
Pianist Barry Hannigan has received rave notices in major cities across the United States. Paul Moor wrote in Musical America about a concert in San Francisco: "He absolutely bowled me over … with his extraordinary proficiency. He deserves the widest possible audience." Hannigan has concertized in Russia, England, Ireland, Norway, China, and New Zealand, and recorded for Opus One, SCI, SEAMUS, and Radio Telefis Eireann in Dublin.
Hannigan is professor of music at Bucknell where he has received the highest university award for inspirational teaching. His students have earned graduate performance degrees in piano at schools such as Peabody, Eastman, and the New England Conservatory.
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Feature Articles
Articles tagged 'amd brazos'
Intel Atom vs AMD Brazos - Lord of the Netbooks
Netbooks equipped with Intel Atom processors have long been the market staple, but netbooks equipped with the AMD Brazos platform are here to win you over with their powerful yet power efficient performance. We test a pair of Toshiba's newest netbooks outfitted with the latest dual-core variant on each platform.
- Fujitsu's New Lifebook UH90 Features 3200 x 1800p Touch Display
- Kabini Motherboards Spotted at Computex 2013
- AMD Announces Elite A-Series Desktop APUs at Computex 2013
- Roccat Flaunts Kone Pro Optical and Ryos MK Pro Keyboard at Computex 2013
- Intel Goes Mobile with Bay Trail Platform
- ASUS Reveals New Gaming Platform of Formula Motherboard and Poseidon Graphics
- Western Digital Begins Shipping World's Slimmest 1TB Drive
- ASUS Unveils World's First Combined Mouse and TouchPad, the VivoMouse


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backyard livestock
Casaubon's Book
Tag archives for backyard livestock
One of the roles our farm has, rather unintentionally, taken on is as sanctuary (mostly temporary) for the unwanted roosters of friends and loved ones. First, there was Cora, who turned out to be Corey – and not permissable under town regulations. My step-mother relocated him here and found Eunice, a hen, and Corey lived…


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Robvihunt's studio is currently empty.
Robvihunt's studio is currently empty.
Pattern Collections
It's all about the fruit prints! These sweet basics in cotton & jersey prints are fun to make & wear
Fashion & Trends
We have recapped our favorite looks from the guests and how to recreate them using Burda patterns!
DIY to Try
A place for everything - regardless of whether at home or while traveling with this case is perfect!
Backstage Report
Check out what Meg's pledge was and some of our favorite Burda posted me mades on instagram!
Meg's Magazine Mash Up
This week Meg completes the corset bodice of her jumpsuit including straps, lining, and boning!
You must allow our "request for permission" request to login to Burdastyle with Facebook.


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Delivery charges are based on the total value of the merchandise shipped to each address. Shipping time is typically 3-5 business days.
Please Note: Items on backorder/out of stock will ship upon availability.
Further details can be found on our Shipping and Delivery page.
In the 1920s Louis Poulsen collaborated with renown and respected lighting designer Poul Henningsen to create a lighting philosophy based on function, comfort and ambience.
The essence of Louis Poulsen is to create human-friendly lighting—comfortable lighting that makes people beautiful and creates an excellent atmosphere. The philosophy continues to this day to clearly influence the minimal and functional product design—with a focus on human well-being and perception of artificial light—to help create unique lighting environments. Louis Poulsen's product designs are also admired for their quality and lasting appeal, with the result that products remain contemporary year after year.
Today the company is a leading international lighting manufacturer that produces simple, beautiful products that suit types of architecture from all cultures, both new and old.
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The Phillies have released righthander Scott Mathieson to allow him to pursue an opportunity with a professional team in Asia, the team announced in a news release.
Mathieson, who has had two Tommy John surgeries, reportedly has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League, according to reports. The contract is for $2 million with incentives.
Mathieson, 27, will be given the opportunity to be the team's closer with Yuya Kubo sidelined by injury, according to reports in Japan.
Mathieson, posted a 1-4 record with a 6.75 ERA in 15 major league games (8 starts) over three seasons with the Phillies (2006, 2010-11).
A 17th-round selection by the Phillies in the June 2002 draft, Mathieson went 32-37 with a 3.75 ERA and 34 saves in 200 games (96 starts) for his minor league career.
With the transaction, the Phillies now have 39 players on the 40-man roster.


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I've decided to not reply at all. That is what I wanted to do anyway, but I didn't know if it was rude or not. To be honest, I am curious why he decided to text me out of the blue and after 2 years, but it isn't worth it to me.Thank you all!
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Standish depot receives historical site plaque
STANDISH — The Standish Historical Depot and Welcome Center was recently presented with a bronze plaque signifying it as a historical site.
The Elizabeth Walker Warren Chapter of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century placed the plaque outside of the depot at a ceremony held Thursday, Sept. 16.
The plaque reads: "Historic Standish Depot built in 1889 by the Michigan Central Railroad with the help of local farmers. Presented by the Elizabeth Walker Warren Chapter of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century. September 16, 2010."
Chapter president Jane Burdett said the goal of the society is to mark and preserve historical sites.
"We hope that people in the area realize that the depot is a historical part of Standish history," she said. "It's important to preserve history. It's why we are here today."
Burdett said that the Standish Historical Depot played a role in the development of early railroads in Michigan.
"This is a very neat spot," she said.
Michigan Colonial Dames President Patrice Dehaan said the chapter worked very hard to get the plaque placed at the depot.
"They need to be commended," she said. "It's important to recognize historical monuments."
Curt Hillman, chairman of the Arenac Heritage Route Authority, said the recognition for the depot is tremendous after what it took to get the depot restored.
"A good quality of work has been done, and now that work is being recognized," he said.
Hillman gave a presentation of the history of the depot. He said this depot was actually the second depot in Standish.
He said the original depot was built in 1871, and the current depot was a place where the entire community would gather.
"It's where people would come to send soldiers off to war," Hillman said.
He shared a story of when a woman came to the depot after its remodeling in 2007. Hillman said that the woman came up to a window and began to cry.
"She said it was the last time she saw her brother alive before he went to war," he said.
Hillman said the reason he wanted to see the depot reopen was to get people to stop in Standish.
"This was a way to get people to stop in Standish for something other than gas and food," he said. "At one time this city had 17 different gas stations."
Margaret Christie, honorary state president for the National Society of Colonial Dames, said the ceremony was special not only for the community, but for the Dames as well.
"It's very special for us just to let the community know that we do exist," she said.
Burdett said there are approximately 11,500 members of the National Society of Colonial Dames represented by 48 states.
The society is based in Washington, D.C., and Burdett said there are four chapters in Michigan. The Elizabeth Walker Warren Chapter, based in Tawas, has 22 members. Each member of the chapter has to have, and prove, an ancestor who lived and served prior to 1701 in one of the original 13 Colonies of the United States.
The Standish Historical Depot is located at 107 N. Main St.
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Everything they are doing for the Standish Depot is wonderful...BUT I would like to see the printed bricks installed.....Its been 4 yrs since I paid for mine and would like to see the bricks for all of us in place.
Thank You for all your work.


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The 120mb demo available over on FileShack contains nine levels of base jumping action, showing how Aaaaa! has expanded and improved since the earlier alpha demo.
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! can now be pre-ordered from Dejooban's website for $15--$10 off the full price--which will also net you a thirty-level pre-release section of the game, along with the promise of "exclusive content as it's developed" and of course the full eighty-level game when it launches in Q3 of this year.


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OtterBox 7030: Durable Notebook Case: Leading up to the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) last month in Las Vegas, we received many invitations to check out various booths, receptions, other displays, and even a Gulfstream G5 flight out to the San Fernando Valley. One of the booth invitations we received was from a company known as OtterBox. Their booth had consisted of various protective cases for PDAs, iPods, phones, and GPS devices. We had initially written off Otterbox as a company of little interest to our Linux readers seeing as they just manufactured cases for consumer electronic devices. However, that was before we had noticed the OtterBox 7030. The OtterBox 7030 is a notebook case that is not only waterproof but also crushproof, can even be dropped up to a meter with your notebook inside, and of course is engineered to prevent any damage to the laptop itself. Keeping in mind we are the ones that boil USB flash drives and use motherboards to open beer bottles, we have our hands today on the OtterBox 7030. Is this polypropylene chassis able to protect a notebook inside when it's being used as a winter sled?
Copyright © 2018 by Phoronix Media. All rights reserved.


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GREENCASTLE — For Greencastle-Antrim's Luke Bitner, it was all about being at the right place at the right time.
Just past the 11-minute mark of Tuesday's boys varsity soccer contest against Waynesboro, Bitner capitalized on a golden opportunity for the game's only goal, propelling the Blue Devils to a 1-0, Mid-Penn Colonial Division victory.
Following a throw-in, Zach Faulkner flicked a header across the front of the net, with the ball originally deflecting off the far post before rolling cleanly onto the foot of Bitner, who was positioned near the top of the box. Without hesitation, the senior swiftly launched a shot into the lower-left corner, netting what proved to be the decisive goal.
It was the second time this season G-A (10-3, 5-3 MPC-Colonial) defeated Waynesboro (4-7, 2-7 MPC-Colonial) by a score of 1-0, utilizing a stout defensive approach to keep the Indians off the board.
"Defensively, I thought we did a really nice job tonight," G-A coach Scott Gelsinger said. "Waynesboro passed the ball well in the midfield, but we didn't give up a lot of shots or scoring opportunities."
Early on, the Indians originally pressured the Blue Devils' end, with Jesse Smith coming free on a pair of promising chances before being turned away by G-A goalkeeper Josh Spoonhour in the opening 10 minutes.
Following Bitner's goal, the tempo began to shift, with the Blue Devils creating several opportunities to potentially extend their advantage, each of which were turned away by Waynesboro keeper Kris Settlage.
Both Faulkner and Noah Graham — G-A's two leading scorers — had 1-on-1 chances prior to the half, with Settlage making a pair of diving saves to keep the deficit at 1-0.
The complexity of the contest continued throughout the final 40 minutes, with the Blue Devils holding the Indians to just three shots in the second half while continuing to come at Settlage in waves. Unfazed by the relentless attack, the Waynesboro keeper kept his team well within striking distance, despite G-A limiting the Indians' chances on the other end.
"Right now, we have to come up with some ways to put the ball in the net after being shut out for our last three games," Waynesboro coach Doug Beckner said. "I thought at times we controlled the game, but Greencastle's defense was very stout in turning away the few chances we had."
Aside from scoring the game's only goal, Bitner also anchored G-A's collectively strong defensive effort, joined by the likes of Justin Hovey and Paul Herman out of the center-mid position.
Despite being credited with the loss, Settlage's performance in goal did not go unnoticed, finishing with 16 saves, including a few capable of the highlight reel.
"Greencastle had several break aways that Kris (Settlage) made great stops on," Beckner said. "I'm not disappointed in our play, we just can't have a short letdown in the game and give up an easy goal if we're not going to score to offset those challenges."
Gelsinger also acknowledged Settlage's strong showing and recognizes his team's need to capitalize when the opportunities present themselves.
"Their keeper made a couple nice saves on our 1-on-1 chances," Gelsinger said. "We need to start finishing those chances in close games against tough opponents like this one tonight."
Both G-A and Waynesboro will return to action on Thursday when the Blue Devils make the short trip to James Buchanan while the Indians travel to Boiling Springs.


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GENEVA – As Geneva School District 304 officials seek bids to demolish the Coultrap facility, the Geneva History Center will host a "Memories of Coultrap" presentation from noon to 1 p.m. today at the history center, 113 S. Third St., Geneva.
Coultrap opened in 1923 and originally was Geneva Community High School. Later, it was a junior high, then a middle school and, finally, it was converted to an elementary school.
It closed as an attendance center in 2009. District officials have voted to demolish the building, citing it is too expensive to repair or maintain.
Geneva History Center Executive Director Terry Emma has spoken against the demolition.
Among the speakers at the presentation will be Catherine Sines, who taught middle school at Coultrap; Gloria Emma, who graduated with the Class of 1948; Glorianne Campbell, who graduated with the Class of 1959; Jim Coulos, who graduated with the Class of 1946; Maureen Radecki, who taught middle school at Coultrap in 1974; Kurt Wehrmeister, who went to middle school there; and Carolyn Zinke, who taught there as an elementary teacher.
"Memories of Coultrap" is part of the Geneva History Center's Brown Bag Lunch series. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for members and students and free to Herrington Circle Members.
Cookies and coffee will be provided, and participants are encouraged to bring their lunch.
Inglenook Pantry of Geneva provides soup on a first-come, first-served basis. For information, call the history center at 630-232-4951 or visit www.genevahistorycenter.org to register online.


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Story highlights
- Spokeswoman says sheriff's office clears its deputy who was at the scene
- Schizophrenic teen "was having an episode" when parents called for help, family says
- Family says police officer shot Keith Vidal after saying, "We don't have time for this"
- One officer has been placed on leave in connection with the incident
Seventy seconds: That's how long a North Carolina family says it took for things to go horribly wrong as they sought police help dealing with their mentally ill son.
Keith Vidal, 18, died Sunday. According to CNN affiliate WECT, he was just shot 1 minute and 10 seconds after a third law enforcement officer showed up at his Brunswick County home.
The three officers all were from different jurisdictions, and family members say that the third officer -- who came from a nearby city -- turned what had been an improving situation into an unnecessarily aggressive encounter that ended in their son's death.
"There was no reason to shoot this kid," the teen's stepfather, Mark Wilsey, told WECT on Monday. "They killed my son in cold blood. We called for help, and they killed my son."
Although the state Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, the chief prosecutor for the state's 13th Judicial District, which includes Brunswick County, says it's way too early to characterize what happened.
"I think that we can certainly understand why this family is upset right now," the Wilmington Star-News newspaper quoted District Attorney Jon David as saying. "They just lost a child, and certainly my thoughts and prayers are with them. But what they want from this office today is justice, and I intend to give them exactly that."
CNN first learned of the shooting through an iReport sent by a family friend. The iReport received more than 50,000 views in 24 hours.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon when the mother and stepfather of the Boiling Spring Lakes man called police. According to stepbrother Mark Ryan Wilsey, Vidal had schizophrenia and "was having an episode," and his parents wanted police to subdue him so he could get help.
"He's not doing very good. You've got to get him someplace," a man who identified himself as Vidal's stepfather said on a 911 call, a copy of which was obtained by WECT. "He wants to fight his mother. ... She's scared to death of him right now."
The caller said that Vidal "won't take his medication" and that his family has had "to put him in before, (and) he's getting real bad again."
"He's just, he's not right," he said.
Two officers arrived and began talking with Vidal, according to CNN affiliate WWAY. The situation was relatively calm until a third officer -- a detective from the nearby city of Southport -- arrived, the family said.
"Everything was going good," Mark Wilsey said, according to WWAY. "Then this fat cop from Southport walks in the room, walks around the corner, says, 'We don't have time for this. Tase that kid now. Let's get him out of here.' "
The stepfather said Vidal tried to run but was struck with two Taser charges and fell backward. He said the first two officers to respond got on top of Vidal.
WECT attributed a slightly different accounting of events to Mark Wilsey. In that retelling, the stepfather said officers had pinned Vidal to the ground after he had been tased and one of the officers said, "We don't have time for this" and shot his stepson.
Seventy seconds after the third officer arrived, WECT reported, citing police records, police radioed that they had had to shoot the teenager in self-defense.
Mark Ryan Wilsey, who was not at the house but rushed there in an "absolute panic" and claimed that police restrained him, said his family is outraged by what happened and determined to get justice.
"We want the truth to be out there," he said. "We don't want the good ole cops system to play out something that ain't the truth."
Authorities have not released the exact sequence of events, including how and by whom Vidal was shot.
A Southport officer has been placed on paid administrative leave in connection with the shooting, Police Chief Jerry Dove said Tuesday. Authorities have declined to say whether he was the officer who shot Vidal.
The Brunswick County sheriff's deputy sent to the scene has been "cleared," office spokeswoman Emily Flax said. A review conducted by its Office of Professional Standards found that the deputy did not violate policy, Flax added.
Boiling Spring Lakes Police Chief Brad Shirley said the same thing Tuesday of that department's officer, who was the first to arrive on the scene. The department said in a statement that, after an "internal review," it concluded that the Boiling Spring Lakes police officer who responded did not violate department policy or state law.
Neither the district attorney nor the state Bureau of Investigation returned messages seeking comment Tuesday.
CNN iReporter Anthony Owens, whom Mark Ryan Wilsey described as a good friend of the family's, described Vidal as a slight young man who was never violent despite his mental illness.
"All he wanted to do was play drums," Owens said. "He was so awesome."
The late teen's stepbrother said he did everything with Vidal -- hunting, fishing, sports and more -- describing him as a "good kid."
"He was my little buddy," Mark Ryan Wilsey said.
Owens said the incident highlights the need for more understanding and awareness of mental illness.
"I was devastated by the news and am desperate to find some kind of good that could come from this horrible situation," Owens said.
Mark Ryan Wilsey offered a similar sentiment, saying his family hopes to start a foundation to help the mentally ill like Vidal.
"We're uniting together, and we're going to make this go public," he said of the family's collaboration with Owens. "Because the way my brother got treated ain't right."


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English Language Hits 1 Billion Words
At least that's what the headlines are saying. In reality, there are now more than 1 billion "entries" in the huge language research database, which is managed by the Oxford English Corpus, publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary. That's still pretty amazing. These entries contain unique words and combinations of words that have unique meanings, as well as multiple entries for many words when those word have different meanings. With words like wiki, podcast, blog, offshoring and supersize being added all the time, the database is getting bigger by the minute. The corpus is the world's best-funded language research project, costing about $100,000 a year. You might be curious how they'd use that money. Well, they do really important things, such as track the evolution of phrases like "buck naked" to "butt naked." The staff for that one alone probably cost them $25,000. We've yet to convince the corpus to add "flossified," which is an adjective meaning "a really cool fact and one likely to appear in mental_floss."


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I can easily be described as a google fanboy - I have (and love) my Android Phone (a Galaxy Nexus, in fact). I signed up to Gmail back when it was invite-only and people only had about 6 invites to give out (or sell/trade, as was the case back then) and I even use Google+. However, I completely agree with what the above poster is saying. Fanboyism aside, no company should be able to abuse its position in the marketplace. Even if Google isn't entirely guilty or found to not be doing anything deliberately that harms competition, its still absolutely appropriate that they're investigated and regulated accordingly.
The same should apply to any and all businesses with a large hold on the market, be they software companies, banks, pharmaceuticals, governments and so on.
I like Google on the whole and I genuinely believe that the founders were genuine in their model of "Do no Evil", but its a huge company now with a lot of power - I find it hard to believe that every single employee, every manager, every executive is entirely altruistic and doing what's best for everyone rather than what's just best for them/Google.
Displaying results to their own services specially
None of the EU's business. I lik
The problem is the double standards being applied. Whilst yes Google does abuse it's position in some cases, the things it doesn't aren't in any way as bad as the things other tech companies are guilty of. Microsoft's abuse of the standards process with OOXML, Apple's abuse of it's vertical integration, monopoly on music to lock people into it's platform, and it's strong market share in digital content to distort for example, the ebooks market, Facebook's constant illegal breaches of various data protection
It's a pretty silly argument to say that Google have been unfairly singled out, and quite wrong too. The companies that you mention have all had their share of regulatory intervention, especially in the EU. Your first example, Microsoft (exactly who was inconvenienced by their OOXML standard?) is the first company that springs to mind when thinking of EU intervention. Remember the browser choice screen [browserchoice.eu] or the two billion dollars in fines [mashable.com]?
They are also keeping their eye on Apple in the eBook market [mashable.com], although
"exactly who was inconvenienced by their OOXML standard?"
They got it recognised as an international standard giving it increased legitimacy, when the standard was incomplete and realistically impossible for competitors to support fully. So to answer your question, people who were inconvenienced by Microsoft's hijacking of the standards process, is anyone who wants to be able to use free software, and not pay a Microsoft tax to be able to interoperate with other businesses in the exchange of documents.
Microsoft's abuse of the standards process with OOXML
Certainly obnoxious, but not a crime.
Apple's abuse of it's vertical integration, monopoly on music
Really? I wasn't aware my only options to buy music were from Apple. I guess Best Buy, Amazon, Wal Mart, Target, eMusic, and dozens of other online and real-world music sellers didn't get the memo.
to lock people into it's platform,
Um. What? Every single song I've ever bought from the iTunes store can be loaded and played on any computer, portable player,
More to the point I wonder what company in the EU is a competitor to Google to spark the action.
EU probably has plenty of publicity companies.
If you're going to shill against Google, you should make sure your points are valid; there are some valid things that they could be criticised for, but just making stuff up isn't going to work.
Great example is hotel, restaurant etc reviews on Google Maps. They are all taken from competitors services
No. The reviews on Google maps are submitted by users directly to Google. Non-Google sourced reviews are linked at the bottom ("Reviews from around the web:"), not embedded.
If you want to use AdWords, you cannot run your ads on competitors services. It is prohibited in the terms.
Microsoft, who filed the complaint, is probably the biggest abuse of using their monopoly to push new products. Walk into a store selling PCs and you'll see bing ads on microsoft computers. re: the other stuff, google respected copyright when it came to reviews, but they removed such reviews anyways.
Runnin around tryin to be Apple... runnin around tryin to be Sony/Nintendo... runnin around tryin to be Google.
If you ask me, the company is way over-diversified.
Hmmm... another recently created account with no comment history bashing Google in a long first post (or close to it).
Knock it off. The only thing you're accomplishing is making slashdot's admins look useless.
Google is intentionally abusing their position to promote their own products and hide competitors. Yes, this thing matters.
Google is intentionally abusing their position to improve the overall user experience. Yes, this thing matters.
There, that's better.
When I do a search from JFK to LAX, guess what - it is NICE that Google immediately knows that I am interested in a flight and shows me prices. It is NICE that they will show me a map and photos of my destination. It reduces the number of clicks and get gets me what I want faster. The same can be said for all of Google's optimized in-line services. Furthermore, I have never in my life ever heard of evidence showing that Google actually hides the result of a competitor... do you have any evidence to back that up (that is not already refuted)?
Google is very upfront about everything they do, and there are ample other search engines you can use as a user, and that people can advertise on as well.
Not only that, but the company that complained about Google offering this additional information in search results was Microsoft, who do exactly the same thing in their own search engine Bing. They're fully aware that Google search will be less usable if the EU gets its way, and are effectively using the EU to try and force Google to cripple their search in order to drive users to Bing.
(Well, technically I think it was the Microsoft subsidiary which provides shopping results for Bing which submitted the EU complaint, but it's effectively the same thing.)
When I do a search from JFK to LAX, guess what - it is NICE that Google immediately knows that I am interested in a flight and shows me prices.
Google scrapes the data from another site. That site gets to pay for the expense of collecting the data, and the bandwidth of Google's scraper, but gets to display none of their ads. Google comes along, takes the data, and displays their ads next to it instead.
I would not call that nice.
Would you also call it nice if your ISP dynamically deleted the ads from all of the sites you visit and displayed their own ads instead? Because in a way, that's what Google is doing.
I could be mistaken, but I thought that was because they owned ITA. So they are using their own data, which they also provide to competitors.
Another case in point is the exclusivity agreement in AdWords. If you want to use AdWords (and you often have to because it's the prominent player and they also own Doubleclick since long time ago), you cannot run your ads on competitors services. It is prohibited in the terms. That is just monopoly abuse.
Mind providing a link to this point? I work at Google, more on the client side-- and have never heard this issue come up, which I find rather odd given that a lot my clients certainly do it. Not saying you're wrong, but I find it hard to believe.
There's no link because the point is bogus. https://www.google.com/intl/en_us/adwords/select/TCUSbilling.html [google.com]
It's an outright lie by the GP.
The original comments from the EU about adwords was something to do with the data entered for adwords ads not being portable to other ad networks or something obscure and stupid like that, presumably the EU wants you to be able to export your ad data into XML or something odd. The GP shill managed to translate that into some bullshit about exclusivity agreements that simply isn't true.
The forest for the trees is that a: microsoft does this and b: they're the ones leading this campaign against google and encouraged others to campaign against google. But nice try.
changing search engines is exactly true, and you *can* do that. However, scraping data from "competitors" (which they aren't) - scraping data from sites with good data to aggregate their reviews is not an abuse of position. It's aggregation of information. Taking yelp reviews for google maps reviews is an agreement google had with yelp. That's not discrimination, that's a strawman to call that "competition" or abusing competition.
The adwords thing is something stupid, but it's not any different than Microsoft getting entire corporations to sign up for using windows and requiring that they do not support any other OS (yes, this is in every company wide subscription based windows 7 deployment/office365 agreement).
Nice try to mislead the entire issue, step by step, along with a similar reply. from Neokushan. Can we stop with the obvious shills to just make this sound like it's a real problem? the "I love (thing), but (comments of hate for a product)" is a really old shill technique and we're bored of it. It's like "I'm an MSCE and love windows and do windows deployments all day, but microsoft is evil". We're tired of that kind of shit.
If you had linked to a real article covering the matter [politico.com] you'd see that the EU is just telling google to comply before they look to press charges.
Another case in point is the exclusivity agreement in AdWords. If you want to use AdWords (and you often have to because it's the prominent player and they also own Doubleclick since long time ago), you cannot run your ads on competitors services. It is prohibited in the terms. That is just monopoly abuse.
There is no such clause in the AdWords terms of service or in the guidelines. You can check it yourself:
https://adwords.google.com/select/tsandcsfinder [google.com]
http://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/bin/static.py?hl=en&guide=1316546&page=guide.cs&rd=2 [google.com]
I've been advertising on AdWords for 10 years.. I have never seen such a policy, or heard of such a policy with regards to AdWords.
AdSense does have that policy. IE: if you place google ads on your website, you cannot place bing ads on your website also.
Hello, dear Astroturfer (brand new account, immediate posting, anti-Google bent, false information about Google practices). I see that you at least are changing tack. No longer is Google evil because it is abusing its search monopoly, it is now evil because they are abusing their ad monopoly.
Here's one area where you have a point, and I'll leave it up to the courts to ferret out the details: if they are going into exclusive agreements with sites that leverage their position in one market (say, email) to arg
This you are their product meme is ridiculous. We are not their product. We are one their customers, as are the merchants trying to sell to us. The whole, "you are the product" idea makes about as much sense as claiming that shoppers are the product in a shopping mall. It is not insightful!
And yes, the ability of users being able to change search engines is relevant. To contrast with Microsoft anti-trust issues, Microsoft refused to allow PC makers to install alternative browsers on their systems to push th
That said, "slight" might be worth millions to Google / its competitors, especially as smaller firms have complained as well as Microsoft.
Is it not normal practise to give companies a chance to rectify complaints before going to formal legal proceedings anyway? Unless serious harm has been done, like an oil spill.
No of course not, europeans are evil; they will plot and plot, and when you least expect it, they will come out of the bush, tackle you and steal all your money. Never go there!
That being said, generally they will come at you like a ton of bricks if they suspect you of doing something illegally (cartel), but it's just a matter of antitrust they will ask you to get back in line or face the wrath of some severely worded letters.
Being a hypocrite doesn't automatically make everything you say wrong.
In general, a dominant position derives from a combination of several factors which, taken separately, are not necessarily determinative [5] [europa.eu]
[5] Case 27/76 United Brands and United Brands Continentaal v Commission [1978] ECR 207, paragraphs 65 and 66; Case C-250/92 Gøttrup-Klim e.a. Grovvareforeninger v Dansk Landbrugs Grovvareselskab [1994] ECR I-5641, paragraph 47; Case T-30/89 Hilti v Commission [1991] ECR II-1439, paragraph 90.
First, the EU begins their second assertion by not being sure. Are they serious? Emphasis is mine:
Our second concern relates to the way Google copies content from competing vertical search services and uses it in its own offerings. Google may be copying original material from the websites of its competitors such as user reviews and using that material on its own sites without their prior authorisation.
Then they base their next point on this unsubstantiated assertion...again, bold is mine.
In this way they are appropriating the benefits of the investments of competitors.
To make matters worse, they conflate the two issues to emphasize another point, this time focusing on the possibility. Again, emphasis mine.
We are worried that this could reduce competitors' incentives to invest in the creation of original content for the benefit of internet users. This practice may impact for instance travel sites or sites providing restaurant guides...
Here is the question:
Was any investigation done? Doesn't sound like it!
Google may be copying original material from the websites of its competitors such as user reviews and using that material on its own sites without their prior authorisation.
Bah. If their competitors don't know how to use robots.txt, they're not competent enough to be competitors. On the other hand, if Google is ignoring robots.txt, then I think that would count as unauthorized access, and, given Google's monopoly position, a matter of deep concern.
Note: I think a great deal of the anti-Google nonsense that gets posted on slashdot is total nonsense (if not outright astroturfing), but what the EU is looking at here is something I think they are fully justified in investigating: actual potential anti-competitive behavior that would make sense for Google to engage in. But I agree with you that investigate is the key word there.
How about another approach- Google can do whatever Google wants with their search engine website. It's *their* website. "Google intentionally abusing their position"...they EARNED that position by making a search engine that the whole world uses. They're not doing anything illegal by promoting their own services...that is the point.
The coalition of nations known as EU has as sovereign nations the right to make laws as they see fit within their borders, that right trumps Google's concerning everything within the borders of EU and EU legislation as presented in "Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union" makes certain business practices illegal
"Any abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position within the common market or in a substantial part of it shall be prohibited as incompatible with the common
I have a friend that's been part of Google's product review team for a few years. From my understanding, they do not do content scraping for reviews when associating them to products. Websites must actually subscribe and push the data to google to have it included (or present an XML feed for google to fetch or something similar). Google has live humans going through and making sure that the people who sign up to populate product reviews are legitimate (spammers try to push crap comments to the system).
They didn't stablish any fact yet. That happens during the trial, and they are trying to get into an agreement to avoid the trial.
Was any investigation done?
I suspect that an investigation was done which determined two things:
1) It is concretely the case that Google was doing the kind of inclusion of competitors content that is complained about in the past, and
2) It is clear that Google has stopped at least some of the complained about use
(Many, many articles on this story have pointed out that both of those are, in fact, the case with reviews on Google.)
As this is an opportunity for Google to address the concerns in advance of a pote
What this means is that Microsoft, having failed to compete in the marketplace, now attempts to compete via the courtroom.
Short story: Google may be using their corporate size to create a monopoly but no-one has checked. Former top-dogs Microsoft and friends are whining that (business) life isn't fair.
Nothing to see here. Move along, now.
the "check" is court proceedings. before that it's allegations. if google changes it's ways so that those allegations don't need to be checked.. then it's less likely they will sue google for it. duh.
Entertaining isn't it. Not long since the their competitors were bitching about Googles own and paid results not being conspicuously enough marked. Google changed that and it didn't magically drive business to the complainers. Now the same leeches have told the EU that marking them conspicuously gives Google an unfair advantage!
After wading through 400 pages of self serving complaints from Microsoft fronts and ineffective businesses it seems the EU aren't really convinced they need to leap into action. 2 va
Evolution is a million line computer program falling into place by accident.


text:
A new build hit the Patch 3.2.2 PTR very recently, revealing a very convenient little detail: The dungeon daily quest now gives you the option of choosing and Sons of Hodir Commendation Badge, in addition to the ones that have been there all along for the Kirin Tor, the Ebon Blade, the Argent Crusade and Wyrmrest Accord.
I've already completed the Sons of Hodir rep grind on my main, so this isn't particularly helpful there. However, I'm going to love it on my alts. I shined enough spears or whatever to last me a lifetime, and any way to avoid it that doesn't involve buying thousands of Relics of Ulduar is fine by me. I'm glad to see these quests get a little bit of love too, because I've been throwing away all sorts of commendations for the last few months simply because I'm already exalted with everything. Yes, even on my alt. It's really not hard if you remember to wear your tabard! Throwing away all of those commendations felt a little like flushing time down the toilet, so hopefully this will alleviate that a little and make it so the Emblem of Conquest isn't the only draw these quests have anymore.


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by David Crane david at defensereview.com Century Arms a.k.a. Century International Arms Inc. is offering a modernized tactical AK-type rifle/carbine (i.e. tactical Kalashnikov-type rifle/carbine) that's made in the USA. A Mil-Std-1913 rail system (M1913 rail system) is available as an option. We don't yet know who is manufacturing/supplying this accessory/component. There are two versions of the rifle, one with an ... Read More »
Tag Archives: 7.62x39mm
DefRev Quick Hits: Combat Optics, Tactical Rifles, and other Goodies…
by David Crane [email protected] 1) Trijicon, Inc. is currently making a combo optic comprised of a TA31 ACOG with a DOCTERsight monted on the top/rear, called the Trijicon TA31DOC. The TA31DOC ACOG is a BAC (Bindon Aiming Concept) 4×32 dual-illumination (fiber optic/tritium) optical gunsight calibrated for 5.56mm (5.56x45mm) flat-top rifles out to 600 meters (600m). This new combo sight was ... Read More »
Dragon Skin Armor Passes More Tests: Dr. Gary Roberts and 'Test Lab' Video
by David Crane [email protected] On September 15 (2006), DefenseReview reported on Pinnacle Armor's SOV-2000 Dragon Skin panels passing all NIJ Level III test protocols and requirements for flexible armor systems (anti-rifle body armor). Well, SOV-2000 Dragon Skin has just passed another fairly tough ballistic test, this one performed by Dr. Gary Roberts, who has been following the Dragon Skin vs. ... Read More »
Dragon Skin Body Armor (SOV-2000) Passes all NIJ Level III Tests at USTL
by David Crane [email protected] This just in: Pinnacle Armor, Inc.'s SOV-2000 Dragon Skin has just passed all NIJ Level III ballistic testing/requirements at USTL (United States Test Laboratory). Official NIJ Level III certification should come in approx. 3-4 weeks, but it will come. Pinnacle Armor company officials have told us that it's a done deal. This is BIG news for ... Read More »
M16A5 Concept: A Modular, Multi-Caliber Rifle for Future Infantry Warfighters?
by Jim Jensen Assault Rifle/Carbine with interchangeable bolts, barrels and magazine wells can shoot 5.56mm, 7.62mm Russian, and 7.62mm NATO bullets Iraq: "Ping" "ping" "ping" an U.S. Army light infantry Soldier firing from the top cargo hatch of a BAE Systems M113 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier)/armored vehicle is placing well-aimed 5.56mm (5.56x45mm/.223 Remington) M16A2/A4 rifle shots on an Iraqi rebel ... Read More »
MGI Hydra QCB Modular/Multi-Caliber AR Weapons System for SPECOPS
by David Crane [email protected] Back in February (2006), DefenseReview briefly discussed the new and improved MGI QCB (Quick Change Barrel) Upper Receiver system and MGI D-Fender "D-Ring" in our article titled DefRev Quick Hits 3 from SHOT Show 2006: And the Hits Keep Comin'. We got to handle and examine both of these items, as well as MGI's Modular Lower ... Read More »
Mini Battle Shield/Combat Shield Being Developed for Urban Warfare/MOUT Ops
by David Crane [email protected] July 13, 2006 A private company called CombatBodyArmor (CBA) is currently developing a small, forearm-wearable ballistic shield, or "Battle Shield" (a.k.a. "Combat Shield"), for infantry warfighters. The CBA Mini Battle Shield (a.k.a. Mini Combat Shield) is being developed specifically to protect the warfighter against current enemy rifle-caliber threats (7.62x39mm, 5.45x39mm, and 7.62x54R) and IED (Improvised Explosive ... Read More »
U.S. Military Body Armor Saga Enters New Phase: New Trouble for Interceptor?
by David Crane david at defensereview.com For the last few months, DefenseReview has been writing about the Pinnacle Armor SOV/Dragon Skin vs. Interceptor Body Armor fight. We consider this situation to be one of the most important developing news stories in the country, as it directly impacts the lives/survivability of our infantry warfighters. As the situtation has progressed, DefenseReview (DefRev) ... Read More »
BHI SOPMOD AK: Modernized AKM/Kalashnikov for SPECOPS and PSD/Security Operators
by David Crane david (at) defensereview (dot) com May 19, 2006 In our article Defrev Quick Hits 4 from SHOT Show 2006: More Tactical Goodies, we included information about the SOPMOD AK, a modernized AKM/Kalashnikov rifle/carbine with 4-sided/quad-rail Mil-Std-1913 rail system/forend rail tube. This weapons package will soon be offered by Blackheart International, L.L.C. (BHI), which looked like a pretty slick ... Read More »
DefRev Sees Test Data: Dragon Skin Hands-Down Superior to Army's Interceptor
by David Crane david at defensereview.com Defense Review has confirmed it. Just as we expected, Pinnacle Armor SOV-2000 (Level III/III+) and SOV-3000 (Level IV) Dragon Skin body armor appears to be significantly superior in every combat-relavant way to U.S. Army PEO Soldier's and U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center (NSC)/Soldier Systems Center's Interceptor Body Armor, which is comprised of the following components: ... Read More »


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Competition also prevents interoperability. This alone adds massively to the overall lag of the industry. Here's a 'what if' to demonstrate:
Competition by itself does not prevent interoperobility. Open formats allow for perfect interoperobility. The problem is DRM and closed formats not competition.
Choosing between HD-DVD and BluRay is not a matter of taste. They both do the same thing, they provide you with a choice you don't need to make. You wish to watch a movie, since both provide the same thing with no variance in features (the movie content is the same on both), the consumer is therefore having to choose between two of the same flavours, except these are expensive flavours, and one might not be around as long as the other, and it'll cost you more money to switch sides in the future.
Yes this kind of sucks for consumers but only for early adopters which is a tiny percentage of consumers. The rest of us will wait until one format wins over the other. The advantage to this kind of competition though is that we can choose the better format if we are an early adopter and steer the market towards the better solution. That is what competition is all about.
Technology would still move forward even without competition. People like Sir Tim Berners-Lee would still push forward software & technology. Linux would still exist exactly as it is now. What's more, without competition favouring half-baked standards and short-sighted designs, the difference industry-wide would be astronomical.
How you figure? Do you remember IE6? It wasn't that long ago. It had basically no competition for years and didn't improve one bit because of that. Firefox and others forced MS to make IE7 more standards compliant and to add features that were missing. There is no doubt in my mind that there would still be some people improving existing solutions without competition but competition is what drives the incredible pace that we see with hardware and software today.
Imagine an Amiga after 25 years of constant leading progress- a multimedia system right down to the hardware level. The IBM design we know now as standard (BIOS/BUS-IRQ) was a very poor decision for multimedia work. If it were Amiga instead of Microsoft, we could have been looking at computing hardware with 100x the graphical capability of existing technology. But that's just hypothetical really. The point is that competition has not picked the best of each generation, it's not picked the best interoperability nor given new competition equal footing when it's turned up.
That's easy to say now but without competition Amiga, or any other company for that matter, wouldn't be spending tons of money on R&D if they didn't have to to remain the leader in the market. In fact publicly owned companies could possibley get in trouble for wasting money unecessarily if they just threw huge sums of money at improving a product that didn't need improving to retain its marketshare.
Competition ultimately ends with stagnation and vendor lock in. The amount that stagnation and lock-in has set back computing progress cannot begin to be calculated. One clear example is the period 2001-2004 where IE6 held a near 100% monopoly on the browser market. During that period no major revision of IE occurred (other than a popup blocker in SP2), Viruses, spyware and other malware exploded on the web. Even though tabbed browsing had been around for years, Microsoft had no need to add it, there was no competition. Microsoft had no monetary reason to benefit users any more.
You just invalidated your own point. You're right that Microsoft didn't improve IE6 as I also said earlier. The reason it was improved was because of competition.
In order to beat someone, sometimes you have to cheat and sometimes you have to prevent the consumer from using any of the competitors
I think you have been using Microsoft products for too long. You don't have to cheat if you make a good product. Linux has been proving this all for a while now. Linux has gained tremendously in the server market since its inception and now is starting to slowly take over desktops around the world. If there was no competition we would still be using a crappy windowing system on top of DOS.


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SQL::Translator::Diff - determine differences between two schemas
Takes two input SQL::Translator::Schemas (or SQL files) and produces ALTER statments to make them the same
Simplest usage:
use SQL::Translator::Diff; my $sql = SQL::Translator::Diff::schema_diff($source_schema, 'MySQL', $target_schema, 'MySQL', $options_hash)
OO usage:
use SQL::Translator::Diff; my $diff = SQL::Translator::Diff->new({ output_db => 'MySQL', source_schema => $source_schema, target_schema => $target_schema, %$options_hash, })->compute_differences->produce_diff_sql;
Match indexes based on types and fields, ignoring name.
Match constrains based on types, fields and tables, ignoring name.
Which producer to use to produce the output.
Ignore case of table, field, index and constraint names when comparing
Produce each alter as a distinct
ALTER TABLE statement even if the producer supports the ability to do all alters for a table as one statement.
If the diff would need a method that is missing from the producer, just emit a comment showing the method is missing, rather than dieing with an error
The following producer functions should be implemented for completeness. If any of them are needed for a given diff, but not found, an error will be thrown.
alter_field($old_fld, $new_fld)
rename_field($old_fld, $new_fld)
rename_table($old_table, $new_table) (optional)
batch_alter_table($table, $hash) (optional)
If the producer supports
batch_alter_table, it will be called with the table to alter and a hash, the keys of which will be the method names listed above; values will be arrays of fields or constraints to operate on. In the case of the field functions that take two arguments this will appear as a hash.
I.e. the hash might look something like the following:
{ alter_create_constraint => [ $constraint1, $constraint2 ], add_field => [ $field ], alter_field => [ [$old_field, $new_field] ] }
preprocess_schema($class, $schema) (optional)
preprocess_schema is called by the Diff code to allow the producer to normalize any data it needs to first. For example, the MySQL producer uses this method to ensure that FK contraint names are unique.
Basicaly any changes that need to be made to produce the SQL file for the schema should be done here, so that a diff between a parsed SQL file and (say) a parsed DBIx::Class::Schema object will be sane.
(As an aside, DBIx::Class, for instance, uses the presence of a
preprocess_schema function on the producer to know that it can diff between the previous SQL file and its own internal representation. Without this method on th producer it will diff the two SQL files which is slower, but known to work better on old-style producers.)
Original Author(s) unknown.
Refactor/re-write and more comprehensive tests by Ash Berlin
Redevelopment sponsored by Takkle Inc.