On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:43:38 +0000, Invisible wrote:

>> It's easier to find jobs to apply to when you have a broader awareness
>> of the world than just what's relevant to you right now.
> 
> I doubt you're going to get that by reading some text on a screen. To
> understand what a new capability means, you often need to experience it
> for yourself.

Hmmm, so let me see if I understand this correctly....You're asserting 
that one of the methods that I actually use to keep up on technology 
doesn't work?  Interesting that you'd have insight into what works for me 
on such a deep level. 

>>> I got the impression that Slashdot was more a forum for idle gossip
>>> and bored people starting flamewars. I wasn't aware any useful
>>> information existed there.
>>
>> It is, but the articles are good pointers to what's important.  I
>> rarely read the comments (unless I'm bored).  But I have an RSS feed
>> set up from the stories page so I can see what's 'hot', read the story,
>> and follow the link to the source story so I can learn more.
> 
> OK, I have to ask: What the hell is this "RSS" everybody keeps
> mentioning?

Google it.  If that doesn't work, try "Really Simple Syndication".  It's 
only all over the web.

>> It has elements of satire, but it actually reports on real stuff.  They
>> do hardware reviews and talk about software and technology companies in
>> a real and non-satirical way.
> 
> I usually visit Tom's Hardware when I want to see what's happening in
> the hardware world.

I doubt you're going to get that by reading some text on a screen.  
(Sorry, I couldn't resist - but I hope that makes the point intended)

> Unfortunately, while there seem to be plenty of sites that track the
> latest up-to-the-minute developments, if you stop paying attention for a
> while, it seems very hard to get back up to speed. Every article assumes
> you've been following the story so far... There don't seem to be any
> high-level summaries around on the Internet. (Except for ones that are
> 10 years old.)

That's why I skim a fair bit of things.

>>> I still don't comprehend what "streaming" actually means in this
>>> context...
>>
>> 2 seconds with Google yielded this:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_media
> 
> I know what streaming *is*. (Indeed, I knew what it was 15 years ago.)
> I'm failing to comprehend how it applies in this situation.

I'm not sure I understand how this is so difficult to comprehend.  Netflix 
has servers in their data centres that stream data to clients running the 
NetFlix software on them.  You pick a movie you want to watch, and you 
instantly start watching it.

And before you say it, yes, it actually works.  We've only subscribed to 
Netflix since before they got into the streaming business.

Or are you going to again claim that something that I use on a regular 
basis doesn't exist or is impossible or couldn't *possibly* work?  I'm 
sure my son would love to know that we didn't actually spend over 3 hours 
streaming Battlestar Galactica today and have watched almost all of the 
first three series that way.  I'm sure it was just a blu-ray disc and we 
didn't realise we'd put it in the PS3 to watch it.  Yeah, that's it.  ;)

Jim

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