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I typically just mark misdirected messages as spam

Makes me think about those comapny signatures with some legal blabla in it telling me what to do if mail is send to me by accident.

And that makes me think about the oatmeal.

I'm constantly tempted to replace our legalese sig with that Disclosure from 'DoucheSpeak' (about halfway down the comic). That way we'd find out if people are actually reading those useless things...

Pff, clearly you need to show this to your wife (courtesy of The Oatmeal): The Terrible C-Word =)

ObOatmeal: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally

What it's like to own a Apple Product

So, your [sic] not a regular person? Your [sic] what, part of a big company that does hundred of thousands of dollars in business with apple, so if you dropped your mouse, they are there picking it up for you?

My closing sentence was a circular connection back to my initial paragraphs about myself; I realise on second reading I could have dropped one of the "alsos" from either that line or the penultimate paragraph to make it more clear, although in my first story the Applecare was for a business, and in the second one it was for a home user.

The point was to challenge the anonymous OP's assertion that Apple's customer support is merely "Macs for dummies".

Also, might I suggest this oatmeal comic: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
It might help your future posts on message boards involving text.

Ten words you need to stop misspelling

Pointless corrections set off alarms.

Ten words you need to stop misspelling

What it means when you say "literally"

Keep talking, we're sure to realize your brilliance sooner or later, right?

Oh wait...

Learn your apostrophe usage and you'll appear more literate to people who already know how to use them.*
It's much more likely that they'll take notice of the actual content of your post if you look like you're at least half way familiar with how to communicate in writing.

*whether or not you actually are literate is irrelevant. As Billy Crystal once said, "It's better to look marvelous than it is to feel marvelous."

Your homework is to understand what I've said and begin to apply it. The Oatmeal link is a great first step towards learning your apostrophes.

What it's like to own an Apple product: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

Slash should totally highlight troublesome words in the editor view.

Check out The Oatmeal

Here's a whole series devoted to grammar.

Always informative and amusing.

Slash should totally highlight troublesome words in the editor view.

Check out The Oatmeal

Here's a whole series devoted to grammar.

Always informative and amusing.

Slash should totally highlight troublesome words in the editor view.

Check out The Oatmeal

Here's a whole series devoted to grammar.

Always informative and amusing.

I'm starting to get driven a little nuts about this error; you mean "affected" and you do not mean "effected" here. Try this it may help.

Here you go.

Do not do this.

'cause that wouldn't be right.

This comic from the Oatmeal seems appropriated...

For your reference: Why You're Cheap

Handy infographic:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

but dammit! Proper grammar is a godsend!

Use it!

This makes your comment ironic.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony

Masterful post :)

I do the "take a look at it" thing, but it's what it says on the tin - I'll just look at it. You get a five minute appraisal for free and then I tell them I charge £30/hr, or mates rates of £20/hr, discountable to a bottle of single malt every 2 hrs. I did once trade for a meal, but that *was* lobster thermidore and a whole bunch else, made by a chef I knew who worked at a michelin starred seafood restaurant.

And before I touch the computer, I'll tell them that even if it breaks later, and they're "sure" it was my fiddling that caused the breakage (since they're the computer expert) then they can pay me to fix it, or they can pay someone else to fix it. I don't go around doing this for fun, and thankfully only spend about five days a year fixing shit like most peoples' laptops.

Posted it another post, but it's so true I hope I can get away with linkspam:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

I'm generally happy to help friends and family, but some people just take the piss.

This cartoon has probably been posted here already, but the same thing has happened to me as well. Some people just don't think it's real work when you spend your weekend fixing their computer.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers ...and once you've spent one weekend working for free, people don't give a crap about taking care about their computer any more because in their heads you'll *always* fix it for free. That lecture you gave them about antivirus, spyware and not browsing for midget donkey porn and handing out their credit card details like comedy night flyers? Ignored. If you want people to heed your advice, charge them money. /mercenary

Like this guy: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

The Oatmeal explains "literally"

You can teach gorillas sign language, but they will have a rather low vocabulary, and they don't use grammar rules.

Don't use grammar rules? "Using a semicolon isn't hard; I once saw a party gorilla do it." - The Oatmeal

While not an exact fit look down to "Just a few minor changes" web design hell.

Like that'll stop them from the usual:

there/their
your/you're

and pretty much everything else listed here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

I'm a heavy user of spell check, but in no way do I think we should rely solely on that. I have friends who still think it's spelled "congradulations" and that's not a typo. That's just tragic.

Yeah, $5 - i may have to forgo a frappuccino! http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe

That's bollocks. You can never have enough testicles!

So I take it that you're a female angler fish?

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/email_address

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell
When collaborating with the user goes wrong...

Please read here.

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

Obligatory Oatmeal comic: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

Obligatory when talking about app prices: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

Using the article you cited, I have highlighted the relevant items:
-- Personal systems (personal computers): $35.3 billion (31 percent of total revenue)
-- Services: $34.7 billion (30 percent)
-- Imaging and printing: $24 billion (21 percent)
-- Storage and servers: $15.4 billion (13 percent)
-- Software: $3.6 billion (3 percent)
-- Financial services: $2.7 billion (2 percent)
-- Total: $116 billion

By selling the tablet, we include the Personal sytems stats in addition to the Imaging and printing. Those two together are 52%, and look a little more like a lion's share. It's not the whole business, but it is enough to maintain and pursue new ways to bring money in for these. And for my $.02, my wife is the only one that uses our printer at home. The recipes I use come from my iPhone or media center. Airline tickets for myself are printed by the service agent at the airport. I can't think of an instance in the last two years where I printed out something of my own volition. I can, however, recount the times I drove to the store at 11PM because my wife had to print something for the next day and the printer was out of cyan. For more on that topic, I refer you to the Oatmeal

This is how I feel about buying apps.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/aliens_avatar Pretty much sums up Avatar pretty well.

This article reminds me of a good comic from The Oatmeal describing a flatworm that engages in similar behavioural manipulation: Why Captain Higgins is my favorite parasitic flatworm - The Oatmeal

If both a fungus and a flatworm can make an ant climb onto the right leaf, I wonder if there's some easy way to trigger an algorithm in the ant's brain that homes them to the right spot? Oh, and if I recall correctly, there's a bee or wasp that can sting an ant's head, injecting its venom into the correct nerve area, to allow the bee to lead the ant to a good eating spot, like leading a horse by its reigns.

I once bought an Alanis Morrisette album.

(posted anonymously for obvious reasons)

Isn't that ironic ...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony

Why is it that every time someone points out the irony in a given situation, someone else feels the need to claim that it is not ironic? Yes, blair1q is right, it can be considered ironic. See jdgeorge's explanation below.

don't forget http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

How a web design goes straight to hell

- My designer argues with me. 99Designs contestants listen to my needs and come back with modified work that addresses them.

Design is not just "dumb" labour; you can't just create detailed specs and give it to an artist. If you have such a visionary idea, why don't you just do it yourself? It would be like telling your carpenter to build something a very specific way even though he knows, though his expertise, that it is clearly the wrong way. A designer who argues with you, with good reason, is a good thing. A good designer should be a visual artist and advertiser who's talent and expertise outweigh your specifics when they're wrong. You are certainly right to give a designer an outline of your needs, but micromanaging makes you a terrible client to work with. (this comedic fable comes to mind)

- My designer doesn't know how to use his tools effectively.

...

- My designer is never on time.

...

- My designer got upset when I didn't pay him a promised bonus for completing work by a certain date - after he delivered it two weeks after the bonus date!

...

- Your 99Design contestant is probably using a hacked copy of CS5. My local designer is using a hacked copy of CS3.

Fair enough -- no excuses for those things.

- Getting Illustrator files from my designer is like pulling teeth.

Unless you have a work-for-hire contract with the agreement that you actually hold the copyright, the designer retains it and also retains the right to keep the source files to himself. He can choose not to provide them and you have no right to have them without his permission.

I'm a website developer; my clients don't get to see my source code (it goes straight to the host server) nor the project's design source file -- they have no need to. If they asked, the answer would be no in all but unique situations where, for example, it's more a collaborative client / co-worker sort of arrangement. I am not a dumb conduit to convert "micromanaging client spec" to "website page". Clients hire me for my talent and expertise and I will argue with them if they begin to micromanage, respectfully explaining why a specifically-requested manner of design or programming is the wrong manner.

Your point might be better made without the random interchange of the words "then" and "than".

...because women decided that they'd rather have cars then kids.

So first they buy cars, and THEN they have kids. How does that make the situation any better?

The world contains more than enough metal for all the stuff the enviros love to hate.

Ok, I'm with you there.

More energy then we could ever find a way to use hits the earth from the sun.

And now we're back to the problem again.

How is it possible that otherwise intelligent people can get those two words confused so often? It's not even a grammar problem. The words "then" and "than" don't have the same meaning any more than the words "detail" and "retail" do. If someone said, "there isn't sufficient retail in these drawings," you'd find that pretty confusing, no?

And now I guess I'll be moderated down. Maybe someone can tell me why the majority of Slashdot moderators find it acceptable when someone corrects a math error or a mistake in lines of code made by another Slashdot poster, but when people try to correct recurring English problems they get moderated down? As someone who's tackled learning a foreign language, this annoys me the most me when I consider the fact that not everyone who reads Slashdot speaks/reads English as their native language. As a result, misusing two completely different words like "then" and "than" on a regular basis risks error propagation amongst a crowd that can ill afford it. And don't tell me it doesn't matter -- re-read that first line I highlighted above from the original poster. Having a word that genuinely means something other than "then" can play a fundamental role in conveying a thought clearly.

My English isn't perfect ... but confusing "then" and "than"? It's such a basic error and one that's made by so many. Yet somehow I still have hope that the people who visit Slashdot and read the comments are the type of people who want to learn and improve their skills.

But if I can't convince you, maybe The Oatmeal can with: Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.

Your point might be better made without the random interchange of the words "then" and "than".

...because women decided that they'd rather have cars then kids.

So first they buy cars, and THEN they have kids. How does that make the situation any better?

The world contains more than enough metal for all the stuff the enviros love to hate.

Ok, I'm with you there.

More energy then we could ever find a way to use hits the earth from the sun.

And now we're back to the problem again.

How is it possible that otherwise intelligent people can get those two words confused so often? It's not even a grammar problem. The words "then" and "than" don't have the same meaning any more than the words "detail" and "retail" do. If someone said, "there isn't sufficient retail in these drawings," you'd find that pretty confusing, no?

And now I guess I'll be moderated down. Maybe someone can tell me why the majority of Slashdot moderators find it acceptable when someone corrects a math error or a mistake in lines of code made by another Slashdot poster, but when people try to correct recurring English problems they get moderated down? As someone who's tackled learning a foreign language, this annoys me the most me when I consider the fact that not everyone who reads Slashdot speaks/reads English as their native language. As a result, misusing two completely different words like "then" and "than" on a regular basis risks error propagation amongst a crowd that can ill afford it. And don't tell me it doesn't matter -- re-read that first line I highlighted above from the original poster. Having a word that genuinely means something other than "then" can play a fundamental role in conveying a thought clearly.

My English isn't perfect ... but confusing "then" and "than"? It's such a basic error and one that's made by so many. Yet somehow I still have hope that the people who visit Slashdot and read the comments are the type of people who want to learn and improve their skills.

But if I can't convince you, maybe The Oatmeal can with: Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.

For more tip's, be sure to check out this great, informative guide: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe