589500+ entries in 0.32s
decimation: as I recall
the netscape was pretty much just a ripoff of mosaic
mircea_popescu: someone actually
thought
that "yahoo" is a sane string
to associate
to your busines.
decimation: the only reason google 'took off' was
the fact
that
their competitors sucked
mircea_popescu: decimation just
think, what
they were. remember... lycos ?
mircea_popescu: in fact,
the history of
the internet and
the browser narrowly mimicks
the history of bitcoin
decimation: I remember
the original netscape - it was a pile of shit
decimation: right,
the point
to realize is
that
the market is broken
decimation: writing nearly perfect code is possible, but anyone who
tries loses in
the market by
those who 'get
there first' writing crap
mircea_popescu: "and
the loss
to
the software company
that has
to give up
two months of sales is even worse." << dat logic. so if i have sex for
the first
time
today, rather
than next week, i gain a full week of first
time sexings.
decimation: it allows everyone
to pass
the buck up
to
the assignat printing press
mircea_popescu: asciilifeform listen : if coders didn't have
to worry about whether
THEIR PROGRAM EVEN HALTS
mircea_popescu: In fact
there are lots of great reasons for bloatware. For one, if programmers don't have
to worry about how large
their code is,
they can ship it sooner. And
that means you get more features, and features make your life better (when you use
them) and don't usually hurt (when you don't).
mircea_popescu: sort-of equivalent
to
the moment when archimedes
turned on
the mirrors.
mircea_popescu: decimation
that would have been
the fucking moment of
truth for
the cataphract : when someone
turned on a giant magnet
assbot: Strategy Letter IV: Bloatware and
the 80/20 Myth - Joel on Software
BingoBoingo: <decimation> yeah I would be pretty scared
to operate on someone with a glass blade << In an MRI
tube what else can you use? Interventional radiology is lucrative
mircea_popescu: "Recently, I devoted several sleepless nights
to
this problem. Why is it
that our computers are getting faster and faster yet we are using
them more and more
to render
things generated on some distant server? And it’s still slow!" <<< average bovine is comforted by
the second delay.
decimation: yeah I would be pretty scared
to operate on someone with a glass blade
BingoBoingo: <asciilifeform> more or less no one uses pure Al for anything
today. << /me may use for heat...
BingoBoingo: decimation> re: obsidian knives << if you want
to go
this route, just find some local flint and start chipping << Flint =/= obsidian
decimation: I distinctly remember seeing word on windows and
thinking it was a huge step back from wordperfect on dos
assbot: Obsidian Scalpels - Micro Knives - Scalpels & Blades - Product Overview - Fine Science
Tools
mircea_popescu: part of
the reason perhaps being
that if i had, i'd start bludgeoning
the machine into
the ground.
decimation: re: obsidian knives << if you want
to go
this route, just find some local flint and start chipping
mircea_popescu: "it is not rare
to see a palpable (and all
the more so for its unpredictability) delay between pressing a key and
the drawing of a symbol on
the screen." << i have never seen
this.
decimation: I believe
that aluminum is part of
the british crown jewels
too
mircea_popescu: BingoBoingo actually,
they didn't come up with duralumin
BingoBoingo: Still, how many obsiadian
terroist knives, at what dimension, and in what quantity?
BingoBoingo: <asciilifeform>
the ancients would've laughed at Al. BUt in
the 18th and 19th centuries only nobels had aluminium helmets
BingoBoingo: * asciilifeform still waiting for obsidian
terroristknives << DO you have a budget in mind?
BingoBoingo: obsidian conparatively common
though. Aluminum might as well have been mythiril
though
mircea_popescu: asciilifeform actually
the mediteranean people volcanoes prolly more
than meteorites.
BingoBoingo: but
the later easier
to refine and heavier.
BingoBoingo: <asciilifeform> (Al being a creature of modernity.) << Elemental Al was accessible
to ancients... at lightining strike sites
assbot: Video: Secrets of
the Samurai Sword | Watch NOVA Online | PBS Video
mircea_popescu: come
to
think about it :
the original siege cannon was carried by
two dozen oxen, fired
twice a day, had
to be cooled with hlf a
ton of oil and exploded every
two weeks killing everyone around
mircea_popescu: the most recent pulse went in all directions, just about
to india.
mircea_popescu: decimation
the golden crescent is
this pulsing heart of human civilisaiton.
BingoBoingo: mircea_popescu: Of course, but also
the product normally refered
to now as "Damascus" steel
decimation: the
turks conquered Byzantium and
then headed east?
mircea_popescu: so much so
they got dragged all over
to europe by various
turkic people.
mircea_popescu: asciilifeform in fairnes,
the gypsies did show real
talent in working with zamak,
BingoBoingo: <asciilifeform> primitives succeeded in making steels of a kind, from naturally carboniferous wootz
traded along, e.g., silk road << Wootz yes, low hanging fruit. When I read Damascus
though I
think laminate forging process
decimation: yeah I saw some documentary about japanese sword-making -
that steel is closer
to steel, but nowhere near modern quality
mircea_popescu: anyway,
tardpedia's fascination with
the east and white-hating notwithstanding, steel is a western invention.
mircea_popescu: swords are like computers -
they only work for some grades of si
decimation: yeah I
think it was more "steel"
than steel
assbot: Damascus steel - Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
mircea_popescu: "the iron! my god,
the iron!" spoken in italia by
the degenerate successors of
the latins.
assbot: No Such lAbs (S.NSA), October 2014 Statement pe
Trilema - Un blog de Mircea Popescu.
decimation: re: design space << so part of
the problem with "C" is
that it
tends
to occupy
this mental design space rapidly
BingoBoingo: mircea_popescu: Maybe
the Assyrians? Some sort of
Turk
turnt out
the Jew bronze with
their Iron.
mircea_popescu: <BingoBoingo> Shhhhh, you are about
to spoil
the part where
the hittites surprise pete_d with iron weapns <<
the hittites never had iron. you're
thinking
the franks.
mircea_popescu: <asciilifeform>
the kid who gets his first fuck - also disappointed << rly ?!
BingoBoingo: The problem is encountering
the actual mythical good is always a dissapointment.