Slashdot Mirror

fuck the paywall. here's the table. the intervals for measured melatonin suppression are +/- one standard error.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=33bfl8o&s=6

This just in ...

I think this pretty much sums it up. http://i35.tinypic.com/o9mtf4.jpg

It looks perfectly fine to me, on my unprotected, syphilitic IE8 at work.

http://i48.tinypic.com/30953e1.png
Note that most data begins at 1980. Also note zirp since 2008.

Most data from here (I am not sure about the methods but its from government...):
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap

Gold and FFR is from elsewhere, I had it sitting around but I'm sure you can easily check to verify. Data from pre-1980 is harder to find. If you have a good source I would love to know it. To me it looks like the price of gold was being suppressed and it is just now catching up with everything else. In other words the volatility in gold is the result of manipulation.

Tegra3 quad-core processor
1GB RAM
8GB of internal flash storage
HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth LE 4.0
USB 2.0 (one)
Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
Android 4.0
ETHERNET! (Announced by Muffi 7/18)

The Ouya Dev board, as featured in the video, has too many USB ports, but I guess the prototype dev board more because it's just for testing but you can't tell me that an Ouya dev board shouldn't have a Tegra3. The heatsink is too small to have a Tegra3 under it.

I use Let Me Type (GPL, for Windows) for predictive text on Windows. I use it extensively to transcribe my medical class notes (for which I use a shorthand (tachygraphic) system). I find OpenOffice's predictive text system to be an inferior solution, as it also has a cap of 10,000 words (too small for medical terminology, which is more like 50,000 words).

Let Me Type will paste text in any application you're using on Windows, which is a great feature (it uses the clipboard for that, but you don't need to copy and paste - it does this for you). It has a great associative autocomplete. Say you are working on a hematology text. If you're studying, e.g., hemolytic anemias, then anytime you type "hemolytic", not only will it complete that word, but it will also offer you "anemia" too. You'll end up typing 4 key strokes ("hem" + number option). It also keeps track of date and frequency, so when your class is about macrocytic anemias, it will notice the change in date and frequency and offer you this new association.

I actually think I write faster with my shorthand system than I would with a laptop with a good predictive text system like LetMeType. As for "normal" typing (i.e., non-predictive), yes, I take notes far, far faster than my class mates (anemia = 2 swift pen strokes, hemolytic = 2 strokes, etc). My shorthand system (my own creation) relies heavily on line positioning (like music notation does). This, together with a rich prefixing and termination system (e.g., like for -nation, which is frequent for a lot of words) makes for very fast note taking. Right now, I write so fast my last class topic had 73 written pages. I have professors that speak over 100 wpm for 2 hours non-stop. here is a sample. See if you can find the tachygram for "syndrome" (there's an eponym right next to it). Shorthand let's me draw, something you can't easily do on a laptop. It's important for Surgery topics.

As I said, after class I transcribe my shorthand notes. which is a good method of committing the material to long term memory. Shorthand note-taking is a complex activity that is probably great for the brain because, like music, it involves listening + fast thinking* + fine hand movements. You're also constantly challenged by new vocabulary thrown at you - specially in a medical class (my first shorthand teacher was from the legal profession, and the vocabulary was very repetitive, in contrast).

In the future, I should like to develop some sort of machine learning software (but that will likely take a lot of time) to decode my notes.

* You have to assemble the tachygrams quickly. You know how big and complicated medical terminology is...My recent favorite being: oligoasthenoteratozoospermy, which was like a stress-test for my shorthand system, because you have to keep precision too.

It's kind of like that Far Side...Just substitute "Higgs Boson" for "Ginger" and you'll get the idea. http://tinypic.com/r/2144k8w/6

After much consideration, we felt that the logo should express what Metro means to our products.

Tell me about it with the truck driver one. I had a run-in with one of those a few months ago, just finally got my car fixed from this. He didn't even realize he'd hit me for a moment, I could see him turning the wheel more trying to figure out why his truck wasn't turning.

Fortunately I knew the guy from work so he was more embarrassed than anything, but it was a pain.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2r5gleg&s=7

I've got my irrigation systems down, no worries there.

And I see you worked on the same "Solar Insolation Emulation" theory that I'm currently using. Emulate the best parts of the sun for a given crop, and boost power to those wavelengths specifically. It works really well for vegetative plants.

First of all, your links do not show a C++ project. They show a .NET project (C++ projects don't have "AnyCPU" - how do you suppose that would even work?). The same dialog for a C++ project looks like this.

That said, you can target both architectures in one C++ project, yes, same as you always could in VS. But it will separately compile your source code into two distinct binaries, one for x86, one for ARM. They will both be packaged in a single .appx for submission to the store, but the user will get the one for his architecture when installing the app. And you can change package defaults such that you only produce an x86 binary (for example, if you depend on some third-party library that doesn't work on ARM) - that's the whole point of checkboxes in this dialog. And it can be submitted to the Windows Store like that - so your app will simply not show in the store for users browsing it from ARM.

Doesn't seem to really hold true. Here's an example from my first generation SSD which is 97% full using AS SSD. If what you said was true, that would be reflected like a traditional drive. But it's not, even with benchmarks. It's speeds are nearly in stock bench wise still, even using other tools it's the same.

http://i46.tinypic.com/1zbcg43.png

Perhaps it's not the best place, but I don't know how else to contact FB staff, perhaps someone here knows?

Please Facebook staff READ THIS MESSAGE: http://tinypic.com/r/x4kc2a/6

The message (not originally mine) is about how whenever I comment something or 'Like'something, it's appears on others people's newsfeed without myself wanting it. As said there, If I wanted all my friend to know about this activity, I'd use the SHARE button.

Perhaps even your stock shares would do better if you'd acknowledge annoying stuff like these, and get rid of them to encourage your final users to use FB more. It doesn't seem complex to solve, isn't it?

Why did you compare "price increase" to "factor"? Your "model" also assumes an initial price of $1.00. That makes no sense. It should have been

Actual Price Difference = 11.37 - 3.98
= $7.39
7% estimate of price difference = 3.98 * 1.07^22 - 3.98
= $13.65
3% estimate of price difference = 3.98 * 1.03^22 - 3.98
= $3.64

Here, I made a chart from that data that shows the story pretty well:

http://oi45.tinypic.com/30iul36.jpg

Something will happen to stop this exponential growth.

Why clear land? Just get yourself a vertical hydro system made, indoors. Like this one at the UK research facility where I conduct LED-illuminated crop testing - http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2r5gleg&s=7

Save your back and fuel costs.

I'm sure that Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and Google combined have more patents than Apple.

Actually...

http://tinypic.com/r/k99ctw/6

Here is a man who's rage problems are so great and leadership problems suck so much he resembles a movie villian. Teslee from tank girl to be exact. Every last anarchist's hideous stereotypical depiction of "capitalist" leadership.

http://battellemedia.com/archives/2005/09/ballmer_throws_a_chair_at_fing_google.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aQ6W2nFlN8

even if it happens to orbit another star or simply orbits the center of the galaxy.

Hmm...

You obviously weren't looking very hard. (WARNING: Do not click if you do not want to see Objective-C code with partially digested bits of dinner in it.) http://i47.tinypic.com/nyzl28.png

I think he's talking about this: http://i45.tinypic.com/4sy43t.jpg Not exactly a pop-up, but annoying nonetheless. Also, Chrome is often bundled with other "freeware." Equally annoying.

I just looked at that graph. Seriously? That cyclic regression line is so arbitrary from such a small amount of data that it's just ridiculous.

You see those little downward parts right at the start and at the end? Do you really think they are unavoidably necessitated by the data? Because they are not. Not even remotely,

Look at what I came up with in 10 seconds: http://tinypic.com/r/10d8whf/5
SHOCKING!

Horizontal resolution is entirely irrelevant. Your ability to read lines peaks at about 80 characters. There's no limit to how long a column of text can be. Therefore, vertical resolution is the important issue.

Sorry, can you break your post up into a couple different lines for me? I was only able to read what I put in bold, because I'm apparently incapable of reading more than 80 characters in a line. I'm sure you had something wonderfully insightful to add, so I definitely don't want to miss anything.

Not a problem if you use lynx!
http://i43.tinypic.com/wmgkt5.png

As a bonus you don't have to deal with the shitty javascript comment system.

Recent photos of Trayvon: http://i39.tinypic.com/1yvg5h.jpg

So what's your point? If somebody looks like this, he somehow deserves to get shot?

This entire case is a crock of bullshit. When two black teens set a white kid on fire, a clear hate crime, it hardly gets a column in the local news. But when a hispanic guy kills a black teen it garnishes national media attention?

Fuck Sharpton and Jackson, where were they then? Did Obama come out and say "If I had a son, he'd look like Coon"?

Source: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03-04/news/31122324_1_white-boy-fire-tv-station
Recent photos of Trayvon: http://i39.tinypic.com/1yvg5h.jpg

People are also mad because they don't get their happy ending. Let's not forget the fact that they are mad that it's actually ending, there is no more story so they feel a huge sense of loss - That's good story telling.

Are you sure? I, like pretty much everyone else I've read with criticism about the ending, don't care if the ending is happy or not: it's been made clear through all three games that Shep is willing to go as far as is needed, including sacrificing him/herself, to protect the galaxy.

Yes, it'd be nice to have Shep knocking back beers with Garrus, raising little blue children with Liara, or settling down with Tali in her house on Rannoch...but that's not why fans are mad -- they're mad because the ending makes no sense. Who is the Catalyst? Why should Shep trust them? How did your final squadmates make it from the final charge to the beam back into the Normandy? Why is the Normandy fleeing instead of fighting? (The ship and crew were always the tip of the spear in all the previous major conflicts in the entire series, including the suicide mission in ME2; it's unlikely that they'd chicken out now.) Why do all of your previous choices (Geth vs. Quarians, cure the genophage, etc.) not have any effect (even if the effect is a simple line of dialogue)? What happens to all the dextro-amino people in orbit around the devastated earth with no relays? Do they starve?

A Fallout-style epilogue slideshow that summed up your choices, actions, and their consequences would have been satisfying...but a blatant deus ex machinima followed by an internally-inconsistent ending with no sense of closure (and, adding insult to injury, was followed by loading your save from before the assault on the Cerberus station and a note to buy more DLC)? No, that's a crappy, weak ending no matter how you spin it.

(As an aside, the almost total lack of side missions in ME3 was also a let down and made the universe seem much smaller than the previous games. The main plotline was excellent and well-done up to the ending, but all the side missions were "overhear some conversation on the citadel, go to a planet, launch a probe, return to the citadel" which got really boring really fast.)

By which you mean something like 80% of the people polled hated it, so obviously they should leave it alone.

I was never asked to use some poll. It's not representative.

The ending was an inconsistent piece of crap.

That's your opinion, not mine, I thought it was brilliant.

The rest of the game was great, but... it seems that many people played the game not for the gameplay, but for the universe and the story...

I've found a lot of people are mad because they couldn't change the larger storyline, just the smaller bits, as always been the case in the Mass Effect series, then suddenly now people are mad for a variety of reasons, including not being able to change the major storyline and citing Mass Effect 2 and original Mass Effect as examples where you could, but actually couldn't.

People are also mad because they don't get their happy ending. Let's not forget the fact that they are mad that it's actually ending, there is no more story so they feel a huge sense of loss - That's good story telling.

http://i43.tinypic.com/1pghep.jpg

They give you an out, but seriously how many people other than myself and a hand full of others actually take the time
to read a EULA http://i43.tinypic.com/15o854w.jpg

I think I've found a way to void the PS3 EULA, through a reseting the system (not that it's going to do me any good)
Search Youtube for "Bypassing Sonys PS3 4.1 License agreement"

No, the real question is what happens to a photon traveling at 99% the speed of light while it passes through water that is 99% wet.

Very pretty sight with the lights out - being a restricted area and no photos allowed, you take what you can get.
http://i56.tinypic.com/28lqu4i.jpg

Not possible, the erection the OP gets is not their own, but belongs to someone else doing 'penetration testing'.

LOL, that makes perfect sense with today's slashdot quote:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2mmkp1.jpg

It usually isn't that bad, but then Akiyuki Shinbo happens.

For those who didn't get the reference, Shinbo is a notable Shaft (an anime studio) director. Most of his works involve rather abstract imagery and sometimes flashing walls of text on screen for under a second. ASS subs are so capable that they can be used to add a subtitle overlay that matches the original video sufficiently well to be indistinguishable in most scenarios.

"Isn't there a different way to use water for the same purpose with possibly higher efficiency?"

That's exactly what I do. I also drastically reduce land required to produce the same amount of crop, and nutrient usage. I also design lighting per-crop.

A video tour of the research/testing shed. Note Systems growing plants without any direct light on the left, as well.

I'm well ahead of this game, with a more efficient system than the best over at Philips have produced. Even has a faster payback/investment recoup time!

"And it says Apple is the reason why it blocked the service."

http://i39.tinypic.com/28b9tnc.jpg

In some respects despite not being pack animals cats are actually quite social. I haven't seen dogs teaching one another advanced behaviors like this.

To add to your informative comment, I can say I have at least in one case seen this with two dogs as well, both previous pets of mine.

I had an older lab, actually she was my step fathers originally, but became mine once he passed away.

Now I must admit, she was a retired police dog when my step father got her, and already knew quite a few verbal and physical commands. She was quite bright for a dog.

Unfortunately my step father did not treat her particularly well.
I mean he loved her to death and was wonderful in playing with her and giving attention. But he basically fed her whatever he was eating. Very bad for a dog :/

She developed diabetes, and from that further problems. She was over weight, and had a tendency to develop bed sores from inactivity.
At one point she seemed ready to give up on life, as dogs tend to do when they know their time is near. But she was still relatively young, and had hope left.
I exercised her as much as she would stand for, and had a very hard time adjusting her diet to something more healthy. She all but refused most dry dog food, and with her weight wanted to be lazy, which just makes the problem worse...

Anyways, after awhile i got the idea that perhaps getting another puppy would help matters in a few ways. Both motherly instincts to kick in, as well as competing for more attention. The new dog was a pound puppy, and I got her very young, only a few weeks old.
Low and behold, the plan actually worked! She lived another 3 years, and was a little over 10 when I had to have her put down due to a tumor growing behind her brain :{

One of the skills she had and taught the puppy, was knowing where our yard boundary was.
The back yard is fenced, but the front is not at all. My house also shares a front yard with the house to my south (Each of our driveways are on the far side, and other than mow lines, no distinction between them.) No sidewalk between yard and street either.

The older dog knew where she could go, and where not to go. She knew where the mow line should be and would Not cross it without looking back at me for my OK.

She taught the puppy the yard rules, taught her the same way to get attention to be let out back, and the puppy mostly learned the same furniture rules from the older dogs actions.

I did teach the puppy some verbal commands, although she never had the same vocabulary as the police dog.
Also another strange thing, when I gave the older dog hand orders, the puppy would copy them. She didn't exactly learn the hand orders, as after Brandy was put down, she never really followed them again. Instead she would look around for Brandy, I assume to copy what she was doing. I quickly stopped the few she did recognize, as it wasn't a pleasant memory for the either of us...
But it seemed she learned to do the same action, even if only as expected from the older dog.

But other than a tiny amount of reeducation on furniture rules when puppy grew up (after my other dog was gone), everything she learned had stayed with her through out her life.
By reeducation, that is to say puppys on your lap on the couch is cute. Bigger dogs, not at all so much heh

The puppy lived to a ripe age of 12, and those were two of the smartest dogs I've ever interacted with and had the pleasure of having in my life.

So maybe not a common case, but I wanted to toss my experience out there to share.

I gather you are more a cat person than a dog person, but in case you were curious:
Puppy , and when older
(Yes that was her couch! :)
Sadly I have no digital pictures of the older retired police dog, and seems a bit much to scan one in just for this post

In some respects despite not being pack animals cats are actually quite social. I haven't seen dogs teaching one another advanced behaviors like this.

To add to your informative comment, I can say I have at least in one case seen this with two dogs as well, both previous pets of mine.

I had an older lab, actually she was my step fathers originally, but became mine once he passed away.

Now I must admit, she was a retired police dog when my step father got her, and already knew quite a few verbal and physical commands. She was quite bright for a dog.

Unfortunately my step father did not treat her particularly well.
I mean he loved her to death and was wonderful in playing with her and giving attention. But he basically fed her whatever he was eating. Very bad for a dog :/

She developed diabetes, and from that further problems. She was over weight, and had a tendency to develop bed sores from inactivity.
At one point she seemed ready to give up on life, as dogs tend to do when they know their time is near. But she was still relatively young, and had hope left.
I exercised her as much as she would stand for, and had a very hard time adjusting her diet to something more healthy. She all but refused most dry dog food, and with her weight wanted to be lazy, which just makes the problem worse...

Anyways, after awhile i got the idea that perhaps getting another puppy would help matters in a few ways. Both motherly instincts to kick in, as well as competing for more attention. The new dog was a pound puppy, and I got her very young, only a few weeks old.
Low and behold, the plan actually worked! She lived another 3 years, and was a little over 10 when I had to have her put down due to a tumor growing behind her brain :{

One of the skills she had and taught the puppy, was knowing where our yard boundary was.
The back yard is fenced, but the front is not at all. My house also shares a front yard with the house to my south (Each of our driveways are on the far side, and other than mow lines, no distinction between them.) No sidewalk between yard and street either.

The older dog knew where she could go, and where not to go. She knew where the mow line should be and would Not cross it without looking back at me for my OK.

She taught the puppy the yard rules, taught her the same way to get attention to be let out back, and the puppy mostly learned the same furniture rules from the older dogs actions.

I did teach the puppy some verbal commands, although she never had the same vocabulary as the police dog.
Also another strange thing, when I gave the older dog hand orders, the puppy would copy them. She didn't exactly learn the hand orders, as after Brandy was put down, she never really followed them again. Instead she would look around for Brandy, I assume to copy what she was doing. I quickly stopped the few she did recognize, as it wasn't a pleasant memory for the either of us...
But it seemed she learned to do the same action, even if only as expected from the older dog.

But other than a tiny amount of reeducation on furniture rules when puppy grew up (after my other dog was gone), everything she learned had stayed with her through out her life.
By reeducation, that is to say puppys on your lap on the couch is cute. Bigger dogs, not at all so much heh

The puppy lived to a ripe age of 12, and those were two of the smartest dogs I've ever interacted with and had the pleasure of having in my life.

So maybe not a common case, but I wanted to toss my experience out there to share.

I gather you are more a cat person than a dog person, but in case you were curious:
Puppy , and when older
(Yes that was her couch! :)
Sadly I have no digital pictures of the older retired police dog, and seems a bit much to scan one in just for this post

Yet the video still remains online.

I have a Minecraft video showing how to use the world edit program and build a very long structure
(base and track for the "on a rail" achievement).

If it's one thing that bothers the heck out of me is listening to someone Uh, Uh,
attempt to tell you how to do something in a video

I made signs, not a word was spoken nor music played, I have this notice posted to the video: "Matched third party content."

For the nonbelievers: http://i41.tinypic.com/29d74t2.jpg

It links to:
"Copyright Info: On a Rail achievement 0r WorldEdit tutorial 4.6 how to make stuff
your video, On a Rail achievement 0r WorldEdit tutorial 4.6 how to make stuff , may include
content that is owned or administered by this entity:
Entity: Music Publishing Rights Collecting Society Content Type: Musical Composition"

"What should I do?" ( this was part of the page)

But what do I do.. I've tried to contact someone and mention I'm being accused of
stealing the sounds of silence (Simon and Garfunkel complaint?) It's not an easy feat,
so I'm just ignoring it.

I would very much like my day in court over this one. :}

All this... Over movies & music.

This coincidential yahoo news screen shot shows two facts together that really puts the whole music and movie thing into perspective...

http://i44.tinypic.com/vpwbht.jpg

The two headlines are:
- Jury awards $80,000 per download
- Air France to give $24,000 to families of crash victims

1 illegal download == 3.3 dead relatives
Your life is only worth a third of a Metallica song

As seen in Kansas City, MO: http://i40.tinypic.com/1zfl6oz.jpg

I find it endlessly hilarious that you think these are for growing dope.

That look like cannabis to you?

How about that?

How about that one?

Anything in there look like dope to you?

The ignorance is quite astounding.

Then again, I remember when the only storage computers had was 4KB of RAM... and I'm sure some on here can remember when you had to fit it all on a punch card. Those were a bit bulky to carry on a flight, I'm sure.

Warning: Pure nostalgia only below!

I still have a working 10 meg MFM hard drive, that requires two 5.25" bays to mount in. My 8086 only has 8 bit ISA slots, and the only IDE controllers I've come across have required 16 bit ISA or PCI.

Before I gave up the display shelf space, I had 4 drives sitting next to each other to show off how physical size is shrinking while storage size is growing.
http://i39.tinypic.com/20a9jsl.jpg

Left to right is:
10 MB - 2x 5.25" bays and 8" deep (And about 10 pounds)
300 MB - 3.5" IDE drive
750 MB - 2.5" IDE drive
1 GB - 1" wide Compact Flash card

Now I just need to add in a 32 GB micro SD card...

Not to mention a few boxes of 8" floppy disks, and a crate of 5.25" floppies (Back when floppy disks actually flopped!)
http://i41.tinypic.com/3588aza.jpg

Then again, I remember when the only storage computers had was 4KB of RAM... and I'm sure some on here can remember when you had to fit it all on a punch card. Those were a bit bulky to carry on a flight, I'm sure.

Warning: Pure nostalgia only below!

I still have a working 10 meg MFM hard drive, that requires two 5.25" bays to mount in. My 8086 only has 8 bit ISA slots, and the only IDE controllers I've come across have required 16 bit ISA or PCI.

Before I gave up the display shelf space, I had 4 drives sitting next to each other to show off how physical size is shrinking while storage size is growing.
http://i39.tinypic.com/20a9jsl.jpg

Left to right is:
10 MB - 2x 5.25" bays and 8" deep (And about 10 pounds)
300 MB - 3.5" IDE drive
750 MB - 2.5" IDE drive
1 GB - 1" wide Compact Flash card

Now I just need to add in a 32 GB micro SD card...

Not to mention a few boxes of 8" floppy disks, and a crate of 5.25" floppies (Back when floppy disks actually flopped!)
http://i41.tinypic.com/3588aza.jpg

To those that believe that there is morality legislated, I say instead, that there's inclusion mandated, so that the majority race and religion capitalists don't continue their evil ways.

So you do want to legislate morality. Just call it what it is. What do you think that power will be used for if the "majority race and religion capitalists" gain control of the government?

Also, with regards to the red tape, I thought this was interesting (plot of corruption vs economic freedom): http://i43.tinypic.com/2my582p.png

This is a Google webcache link that, as of this writing, contains no link back to the original drupal module.

This is a screencapture of the cache.

This might indicate that the redistributor is making good faith efforts to comply with the GPL, now that they are aware of the violation.

4628'13.42"N 11918'49.85"W just doesn't work for me, I'm sure there's away.
Till I finger it out, here's a picture if interested. http://i41.tinypic.com/azdky0.jpg

[...] every news station in the world will have a teaser of "Facebook sues Mark Zuckerberg, news at eleven." [...]

Different tense, same message: "Facebook is suing 'Mark Zuckerberg'".

Who is already saying that? You're one click away from the answer.

What has happened to Opera! Opera has always been in the lead
{argument Here} I'll download and use the 64bit version, thank you.

It's just so many sites don't work with Opera anymore
http://i39.tinypic.com/ke8ztj.jpg directv.com for one.
Opera is not only being overlooked but rejected by many. I notice you've
been mod'ed down, even here...

Battlefield 3 requires Firefox or Chrome, folks can't understand why
I don't care for those browsers, and I can't understand why I can't use Opera.

I've used Opera forever, since way back when. I've used Internet Explorer intentional one time.
I tried to download a game (Win95), the game installed itself instead. I had met ActiveX and
never trusted I.E. since, using Netscape prior to Opera. Firefox and Chrome are alright, Opera is just more...Mature.

I notice Firefox finally has a "paste and go" in address bar context menu, Opera has had
it for years, just little things like that.

unintuitive it is a pain to find them, even to do the simplest of things (eg, add a page number field).

Okay, let's take your example and compare. In the Open Office Writer menu system, adding a page number is under Insert>Fields>Page Number. In Office 2010, it's under Insert>Page Number. How exactly is this unintuitive? What's more, the Office 2010 way gives you a variety of locations to place the page number, styles, formats, etc right there. In Writer you are simply given a number where the cursor is. If you want to change the format you have to go to Insert>Fields>Other. THAT is unintuitive.

Further, in Writer, because it lacks contextual menus unlike the ribbon, I have no idea how to insert a page number after I've inserted a header. In Word, when I insert a header, I'm immediately presented with options related to the header, including inserting a page number. How this eluded you is beyond me.

that hierarchy changes depending what you happen to be focused on - in the old menu system, no matter where you were, to find the option the path was the same.

This is not true. The hierarchy is the same no matter what tab you're on. I don't see where you're getting this idea from. This is backed up by the fact that there are static shortcuts for every single feature in the ribbon. You can press the same key combination no matter where you are in your document or what ribbon is active, and as long as that function is valid, you will access it. This is also independed of resolution.

Also it takes up far too much real estate on my screen (and yeah, I know it can be minimized)

Also not true. I made this comparison earlier in another post. Compare Word vs. Writer. This is in 1024x768 resolution. From the top of the screen to the top of the document, both interfaces take up the SAME space. And yes, you note that the ribbon can be hidden (in one click) but you fail to note that the toolbars cannot be hidden. If you have a larger screen, you can of course move some toolbars next to eachother. However, on my screen (1600x900), Writer ends up hiding options whereas Word makes the icons smaller, the functions are still there in plain sight. On a larger display the argument is moot.

There is nothing more frustrating than knowing how to do something very simple (in the pre-2007 version), and spending more time poking around trying to find out where the options are due to the new interface.

That has nothing to do with the interface and more about your familiarity with it. Any new interface will have that flaw. However, there are two points here: 1) take a moment and notice that tabs are pretty intelligently laid out. Want to insert a picture, graph, page number? It's probably under the insert tab. Want to change something about the formatting of the document? It's probably in the Page Layout tab. Of course not every feature can be divided into 7 categories perfectly. Therefore 2) just click the help button and type in the feature you want. More often than not the first hit will tell you exactly what you want to know.

But also notice that a user of the Ribbon is going to have the SAME complaint about the software you use. Personally I find Word 2003 and Open Office Writer very foreign.

I miss and embrace the simplicity and efficiency of those days of not needing to reach for the mouse to execute a particular function. And yes, I am familiar with the keyboard shortcuts, I use them all the time.

As I mentioned before, there is a keyboard shortcut for absolutely everything on the ribbon menu. If you want a shorter shortcut, put the function you want in the quick access bar at the top and your shortcut is alt+#

unintuitive it is a pain to find them, even to do the simplest of things (eg, add a page number field).

Okay, let's take your example and compare. In the Open Office Writer menu system, adding a page number is under Insert>Fields>Page Number. In Office 2010, it's under Insert>Page Number. How exactly is this unintuitive? What's more, the Office 2010 way gives you a variety of locations to place the page number, styles, formats, etc right there. In Writer you are simply given a number where the cursor is. If you want to change the format you have to go to Insert>Fields>Other. THAT is unintuitive.

Further, in Writer, because it lacks contextual menus unlike the ribbon, I have no idea how to insert a page number after I've inserted a header. In Word, when I insert a header, I'm immediately presented with options related to the header, including inserting a page number. How this eluded you is beyond me.

that hierarchy changes depending what you happen to be focused on - in the old menu system, no matter where you were, to find the option the path was the same.

This is not true. The hierarchy is the same no matter what tab you're on. I don't see where you're getting this idea from. This is backed up by the fact that there are static shortcuts for every single feature in the ribbon. You can press the same key combination no matter where you are in your document or what ribbon is active, and as long as that function is valid, you will access it. This is also independed of resolution.

Also it takes up far too much real estate on my screen (and yeah, I know it can be minimized)

Also not true. I made this comparison earlier in another post. Compare Word vs. Writer. This is in 1024x768 resolution. From the top of the screen to the top of the document, both interfaces take up the SAME space. And yes, you note that the ribbon can be hidden (in one click) but you fail to note that the toolbars cannot be hidden. If you have a larger screen, you can of course move some toolbars next to eachother. However, on my screen (1600x900), Writer ends up hiding options whereas Word makes the icons smaller, the functions are still there in plain sight. On a larger display the argument is moot.

There is nothing more frustrating than knowing how to do something very simple (in the pre-2007 version), and spending more time poking around trying to find out where the options are due to the new interface.

That has nothing to do with the interface and more about your familiarity with it. Any new interface will have that flaw. However, there are two points here: 1) take a moment and notice that tabs are pretty intelligently laid out. Want to insert a picture, graph, page number? It's probably under the insert tab. Want to change something about the formatting of the document? It's probably in the Page Layout tab. Of course not every feature can be divided into 7 categories perfectly. Therefore 2) just click the help button and type in the feature you want. More often than not the first hit will tell you exactly what you want to know.

But also notice that a user of the Ribbon is going to have the SAME complaint about the software you use. Personally I find Word 2003 and Open Office Writer very foreign.

I miss and embrace the simplicity and efficiency of those days of not needing to reach for the mouse to execute a particular function. And yes, I am familiar with the keyboard shortcuts, I use them all the time.

As I mentioned before, there is a keyboard shortcut for absolutely everything on the ribbon menu. If you want a shorter shortcut, put the function you want in the quick access bar at the top and your shortcut is alt+#

Woops, wrong links. Here: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=30loqqo&s=5 http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2aj0xu8&s=5