Google has finally thrown down the gauntlet
 

http://google-blog.dirson.com/post.new/0285/

Joint news conference today to announce a web based office suite from Google and Sun based on open office. It's long been rumored and speculated upon but it now seems to be a confirmed reality. Go anywhere and with net access you can retrieve and work on your documents.

This should be pretty cool - everybody laughed when Sun said the network is the computer 10+ years ago, but it's looking more and more like reality.

???


http://www.gamedev.net/reference/des...s/gauntlet.gif

To "throw down the gauntlet," as I'm sure you know, means to challenge someone else to a fight, and our modern use of the phrase is essentially identical to its original meaning. The "gauntlet" in the phrase is the heavy glove once worn by knights in armor (and comes from a diminutive form of "gant," French for "glove"). A knight who threw his gauntlet down before another was issuing a formal challenge to duel, which his opponent then accepted by picking up the gauntlet. While formal duels are now a thing of the past (people seem to pretty much just up and shoot each other these days), "throwing down the gauntlet" lives on in more metaphorically combative contexts, such as courtrooms and proxy fights.

MS has started encroaching on Google's turf by attempting to enter the search engine market. Google has just fired back with an entry into the office suite market.

I know... I just felt like posting a vintage "Gauntlet" pic. Leave me alone. :harumph:

Ain't gonna happen. MS rules the world and that will never change. People think an MS OS is a computer. All alternative office suties copy the functions of MS office suites because they are the only ones the majority know how to use.

Well, this ought to really send Gates into a tirade.

I loved that game.

Valkyrie is about to die.


[/nerd]

Vint Cerf left MCI in September.

He's signed on with Google.

M$ is doomed! :deevee:

Elf needs food badly.

:thumb:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/07...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

This was written by one of our own Planet members, Misplaced Chiefs Fan.

Steve Ballmer must be pissed.

History is filled with fallen empires. It's just a matter of time and question of how they will fall.

However, given their bank accounts and dominating market share, it won't be for a long long time. Quite possibly not until well after Gates is dead.

Did they let him sleep with the Elf chick as part of his compansation? Also...WTF is Mr. T. doing in Gauntlet? I don't remember that and I played the game a lot. Was it a secret level or something?

Ford was synonymous with car.

Thanks for remembering. The sequel is supposed to be out this fall sometime, but no hard date yet. (sigh).

No, I believe it's a novella based on the game, not a game itself.

Xerox.

Kleenex.

Q-Tip.

It happens all the time.

The true geeks will catch on first then it will trickle outwards and upwards but it certainly won't be overnight. If nothing else this will force MS to become a little more receptive to user needs and possibly become a little bit more reasonable with their prices.

$300 for a single copy of Office XP is outrageous.

As soon as the gaming community catches up with Linux the only place I'll be using MS is at work.

That won't happen for a long long time if ever. If John Romero can't make money selling a linux game, nobody can. Nearly the entire industry ditched OpenGL for DirectX. I like linux quite a bit and even bought a game specifically because it was linux supported (Savage:Battle for Newerth), but the divide between gaming and linux almost seems to be growing IMO. A few games will get supported by the community to run on Cedega (wine), but it won't be a gaming platform for a long long time.

I installed open office on my mothers computer after I reinstalled Windows XP on her computer, and she didn't have a legal copy of MS Office around. She whined that it "wasn't the same...". Eventually she went out and bought a copy of office. :rolleyes:

John Romero can't make money selling a game because he is a pompous asstard that designs crap like Daikatana.

John Romero will make you his bitch + Suck it down = no audience to buy crappy games.

Not her fault. She's been brainwashed.

Word.

This doesn't have anything to do with Romero, really, but still:

Maybe if you pay for it.. I installed MS office business premier 2003, Half the programs on there I dont have a clue what they do, 12 programs in all...

Did you know that there is a head chef that works over 93 kitchen staff at Google? They prepare dishes from all kinds of cultures, since there are so many people that work there that come from these different cultures. Sometimes, employees from other countries will say that their wives make certain meals really well. Google will invite their wives to come in and work with them on different recipes. Oh, and they provide meals to their employees for free. There's such a variety available on any given day, that employees don't have to worry about what they're going to have for lunch/dinner beforehand. This way they are happier and more productive. You can learn a lot by watching Unwrapped on the Food Network.

For some reason, I picture Google's headquarters as being like something straight out of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

As I general rule, I'm very suspicious of apparently-expensive perks aimed at keeping employees at work and in the building longer. If your employer is willing to give you a "free" dinner if you stay past 7:00, you're just exchanging at least two extra hours of work for a $10.00 meal. For salaried employees, you're getting jobbed.

[/aspiring member of the 200 Club]

Complete with an enslaved race of midgets?

Actually, they offer the meals to the employees all the time. Not just if they've worked over so many hours.

I've heard of other places that have car washes, beauty salons, fitness centers w/ personal trainers, stores, and a mini theme park all within the gates. I forget where that was at though.

Of course!