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Ellen Feiss Interview
An anonymous reader writes "The Wait is over! Ellen Feiss's interview is up! And she really was on drugs, (well, allergy meds.)" She's, like, going to be traumatized about this forever, like.
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Look, Linux's worst enemy isn't MacOS.
Linux's worst enemy is the average linux advocate.
At least she can laugh about all of the crazy stuff, like dress-up contests. Too many other people would, "like, freak out because that's really, like, wierd."
Ah to be 15, ignorant, naive, on Benadryl, and an instant celebrity.
Have you used Mac OS X? (Particularly in it current incarnation?) It's ... a really, really good OS. That's why a lot of geeks use it. Good UI + Unix power is appealing to a lot of people.
...) And Apple is engaging in a frutiful give-and-take with the Open Source world. Microsoft has never done anything like this, and never will.
...
How is this bad for Linux? This is called healthy competition. Until Mac OS X, there really was no good UI for a desktop Unix-y OS. Linux desktops have improved dramatically since OS X was released, at least partly due to the fact that the developers have OS X as a benchmark of how good a Unix desktop can be. (Granted, they'd be improving even faster if so many developers weren't trying to clone the awful Windows interface, but that's another matter
Mac OS X and Linux are good for each other. More Unix-y OS users out there to provide a market, more developers writing software that can be ported to each other's platforms, more people getting the idea that Unix is not something scary and dangerous
If Apple ever has 90% market share -- hell, if Apple ever has 50% market share -- you'll have something to worry about. Right now, Linux and OS X are natural allies.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
a) they are #1
b) they get much more publicity than other companies
c) they are #1
ever wonder why none of the major computer companies, like Sun, MS, or Oracle, give away their source? People love to hate the top dog. Knock MS off, and what you'll get is another MS with a different name, that is all.
But she says in the article, it was a true story...
- Oliver
The right to bear arms is only slightly less stupid than the right to arm bears...
I think she means her eyes were red because of her allergies, not because of the Benadryl.
This sig under construction. Please check back later.
I quote from the interview:
""We need a couple more people, so I guess the three of you can make ads." So we all made ads, and me and Hamilton's got picked. I had no idea I was going to do it until I got there."
So I get the impression from this that the ad was made up. Didn't the majority of y'all just finish trashing Microsoft for doing that a few weeks ago?
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
PA said it best about these stupid people and their stupid commercials.
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
I'd say it's highly likely she could type 3 pages in 10 minutes; however, chances are if you're typing that fast you're doing it off the cuff and it isn't that good anyway, so the second time around after the crash might be a better version anyway.
What?
And???...
So...is that because Apple or someone else somehow cheated linux out?
I have used Linux and probably will again some day. I'll run a web/file server or firewall on a home network with it and 'play' with it in general. Because I think Linux is better than OS X? No...because it's cheaper for me to set up and I can't afford a lot after paying for desktop equipment/SW. If Macromedia (and other SW makers) make their products on Linux (not just players), maybe I can go there some day.
Apple beat Linux to the punch by creating a good consistent GUI over top of a unix (or unix-like) core. Linux's strength still isn't the desktop. Apple is marketing usability...Not the Linux world's traditional strength.
Apple reaching M$'s market-share is long off and everything related to it is complete speculation.
Change happens bro...
Que Deus te de em dobro o que me desejas
[May God give you double that which you wish for me]
"Area girl friends with TV director's son, gets part in ad!"
Does this sound like an Onion article?
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
How are the two mutually exclusive?
She was writing a paper, lost it, and had to rewrite it. This lead to the purchase of an Apple PowerBook.
She was later picked for the Switch ad by pure chance and happy (?) coincidence. Apple asks her to write the "letter" to share the story behind her switch.
Thus they're both true. You misapplied cause and effect to imply an effect that wasn't there.
I'd like to point something out.
The normal adult human male (as shown by psychological studies) finds females to be in their _peak_ of attractiveness from the ages of 14 to 24. This is normal human sexuality for adult males to be attracted to teenage girls - males find teens more attractive than 30somethings.
The condition by the name of "Paedophillia" means being primarily attracted to pre-puberlessant children. This means under 12s; pre-puberlessants. A normal human male of any age is going to be capable of finding a 14 year old girl (and perhaps younger) both physically and mentally attractive.
It was considered in 19th century England that no normal woman could enjoy / want sex, and any one that did was perverted and immoral. Victorian England had great negative associations with sexuality in general. In the paedophile-hysteria of the last decade and half, people in English-speaking countries have falsely come to associate any attraction to under-18s as being 'sick'. If this is so, then just about everybody is sick. Of course, an inidividual's sexuality sits on a spectrum in regards to age just as it does to hetro/homosexuality, but more 40year old guys are going to be able to find this 15 year old Ellen Feiss attractive than ones who are not.
What I think is morally suspect is the righteous spouting from people who don't bother to carefully consider the truthfulness in their view of the world....
I'd be interested in using OS X -- I've only played with it at CompUSA, but I have to say it looks slick. That and the Unix underbelly interests me.
Shame the hardware is 2-3x the price of equivalent PC stuff. It's not worth that, particularly when my home PC is mostly for playing games. It'd be nice for development work at work though.
I really think that this is going to be bad for Linux as a whole.
How so? Linux is free. It doesn't matter what anyone else does. Linux will always be an available choice.
Also, the Unix-type operating systems are all designed to work with open standards. Want to share files with a Sun box? Go right ahead with NFS! Want to share files with a Windows box? Lucky for us the Samba Team is reverse engineering the SMB protocol. You can add Mac OS X and Linux and BSD boxes to a Solaris NIS domain. You can add them to an NT domain only because of the Samba Team's work.
Also, Apple doesn't have a monopoly on the desktop. They even have a different architecture for their computer systems, which means they cost more to make. Therefore, to be successful, Apple has to compete with commodity beige-box PCs on features alone to get people to pay more for a Mac. Is this a bad thing? Not if it makes the computing experience worth it for Mac users.
Little Debian: America's #1 Snack Distro!
-Tom
It is precisely because she reinforces stereotypes about Americans (Californians, in particular) that we find her fascinating. Specifically, it's the vacant, listless, "I'm drugged to the gills" manner of speech she exhibited in the ad that made us laugh at her. She was just such an unlikely choice for a spokesperson - sincere, but not particularly articulate, her wit possibly dulled by the use of chemicals - that we couldn't help but celebrate her.
Plus, as it turns out, she was on drugs in that interview. Even if it was just an over-the-counter antihistimine.
Guys. If you're going to be a lam0, and stalk a switcher, Ellen is a dead end. And, too young for even the high-schoolers among you.
Instead, I recommend Janie Porche. She's literate and smiles. A lot. Much easier to deal with, in the long run. Trust me on this one.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
I am rather interested to know what thousands of people are so obsessed by Ellen Feis when all she did was pretty much act like a stupid teenager with a computer. Maybe its just me, but acting like an ignorent teen with a computer who says 'like' and is pretty much completely average overall (according to her performance) is not really something I aspire to. Is there some detail I am missing. I don't watch TV (but have seen the ad online), and this looked like standard 'stupid advertisement' with some decent writing. Honestly, the way people are obsessed by her is disturbing; I, like any geek, look up to certain people, but I have never been obsessed by someone to this degree, and especially just because they emulated dumb teen. Can anyone rationally explain this phenominon(sp)?
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
It's a bit off-topic for an Ellen Feiss thread, couldn't agree more regarding Linux's tendency toward Windows look-alike interfaces. This would apply to both the desktop and the way applications work.
l in es/HIGuidelines-2.html
I understand why Linux developers look to Windows. It's a familiar environment for most users. But I think we don't give users enough credit: provide them a well thought-out, consistent, attractive interface, and they'll do well. Of these three atrributes, consistency is the key.
The cool thing about the Mac interface is that everything works the same. No matter what you're running, you'll know where to find things. Windows behave consistently from app to app. Once you've spent a couple hours on a Mac, it's a BETTER pointy-clicky interface than Windows.
Mac developers design their interfaces with the Macintosh Human Interface guidelines in mind. I wish there were something similar in the Linux world:
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGuide
Ah, yes: we must maintain our choices. No consistent interface for us. Long live the Revolution.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
What next, will Linus get one? Will he decide that getting stuff done on his mac is more important than trying to get the next kernel out the door?
That's exactly the point - getting stuff done (instead of jacking with the computer). I am so sick and tired of messing around with either Windows or Linux just to get them to do something useful with a minimum of hassle.
Mind you, I'm a Unix admin at work, and use Linux as my desktop OS there, but at home it's just increasingly frustrating to try & get useful work accomplished. Yes, sometimes it's fun to just hack around at things, but why do so many home computing tasks need to be so obtuse and overly complicated to implement with these Intel-based OSes ? My next Unix box for the home will run Mac OSX...
...when we have Janie Porche to obsess over instead?
Something tells me her teacher didn't buy the excuse, and she's obsessing over it...
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
Maybe she's like me and has adverse reactions to allergy meds...sometimes I have to take them too, but I don't like to. For the record, I like smoking weed, but Benadryl doesn't make me stoned in a fun way -- or in a functional way. Just ask people who watched me stumble and almost stick my hand under a red-hot stove burner while trying to avoid falling on my face into the stove while on Benadryl...yow!
Speaking of yow, your sig, dude. Thanks for the "Visualization mode OFF!" moment for today.
I'm not a geek, I'm just a clever script.
That's the smartest thing ever said by a temporary celebrity about temporary celebrity.
Yeah, that's what happens when people stop caring about their local school districts. When parents aren't involved, the whole system goes to shiat.
/me puts ear to the ground
Funny, some people think nothing of dropping $500 for a new nVidia card, but cringe at the thought of paying for a school levy.
Now that is the true pitty.
Oh crap!$@%#$ It's an offtopic-mod stampede!
I believe NYC pays more in taxes than it gets in
spending.
I sincerely doubt that anyone would attempt to pay
you to visit California or anywhere else.
Ben "You have your mind on computers, it seems."
I'm happier using my macs now than I ever was trying to get my PCs to run.
I mean, the nice thing about a Mac is that it just works. I don't need to waste time trying to figure out why the crap that should work--that was working yesterday--is not working today.
I've worked with all kinds of OS's--from Debian on a Sparcstation to OpenBSD on my old Pentium laptop. Hell, I administer an NT domain and keep a mid-sized network of production Windows machines up and running. For what it's worth, I've had a little experience getting stuff to run. I'd say that right now, I'm more productive, and less worried about getting my system running right than I have been with any other OS.
That aside, I think you may be having hardware rather than software related issues. I don't know what's happening to you, but I don't think it's Windows that's to blame. Again, there's plenty of reasons not to like Windows; the poor interface design inherent in Windows, many of the management tools are simply buried, are counter-intuitive, or just don't exist. Windows' popularity is the result of the best marketing in the world, not the best quality.
Because Microsoft's paramount concern is to get their OS to run hardware from a myriad of vendors, they have put the stability of the overall system second to the marketability of the OS. Albeit, Microsoft has done a pretty good job getting their OS running on lots of different equipment, but the down-side is that they really have no control over the quality of the overall system.
If you stick with PCs, try a business-class system from Dell, or another commodity vendor that has control of the entire system. For me, I'm extremely happy with my Apples. A few years ago I laughed at Apples. I'd never be caught near an Apple computer. Now, I'd never go back.
At home, I still have my Mandrake Linux Desktop, my FreeBSD server, my OpenBSD firewall and the wife's token Windows box--I'd never want to get rid of them (except for the hassles of the Win Box)--but I spend more and more time getting things done, learning new things and having fun on my Mac than I ever did trying to get what was working yesterday to work once again. I have enough trouble at work keeping things running right, I don't want to come home to do the same crap.
Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
I'd just like to stand up here and say that I've
been stoned on antihistamines. I mean, everything
from slightly floaty to completely immobile. And
no, I don't take them recreationally, this is just
what I've noticed when I've taken them for legit
reasons.
This does not constitute an opinion on the veracity
of Ms. Feiss's claim.
Ben "You have your mind on computers, it seems."
The major cities are so much more productive than the outlying regions, it's incredible. Do you (speaking rhetorically to the parent, since I'm echoing rather than criticizing) have any idea just how much work people do in New York and San Francisco and Chicago and LA? It's Republican-voting red-state flyover-country that's nursing on the government teat.
As far as the original topic goes, don't mistake the insouciant California manner with stupidity. (After all - it was a really good paper.)
Jesus, were you EVER a teenager? Did you EVER use slang that old people didn't approve of? Who the fuck cares how many times she says "like" in the interview or how she talks?
My sister is in high school, talks EXACTLY like this girl, and has a 4.79 GPA. Just because the interviewer decided to keep all the slang and "likes" and "uhhs" in the transcription doesn't mean the American School System Is Going To Shit. It only means this girl hasn't taken her Public Speaking course yet. She seems pretty intelligent, mature, and courteous to her international detractors for a 15-year-old.
Besides, do you think maybe, possibly, the interviewer transcribed it that way for **effect**? It was done this way so people like you could look at it, shake your head gravely, and make some witty remark on Slashdot about That Stoner Chick.
Take the stick out of your Anonymous Coward ass and quit looking down your nose at someone none of us have met.
Terrifically fun read. She's obviously cooler than the people twice her age (and more) who fetishize her. And do you know what her secret is, you middle-aged cueballs with your Feiss t-shirts and coffee mugs? Have you not read your Nabokov? She doesn't give a fuck. Ha, ha! The ultimate object of worship in our pandering age is the celebrity created out of nothing, who doesn't care, who really can't be bothered, for whom it just happened and for whom just as easily one day it will un-happen, and, meanwhile, whose sheer disinterest turns the covetous world on its ear.