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.Mac adds VersionTracker and iBlog to the benefits

Posted by pudge on from the all-this-and-email-too dept.

MacMerc.com writes "Today, .Mac users will see that a free VersionTracker Plus subscription, a discount of half off VersionTracker Pro subscription and software, free iBlog Blogging Software, and a discount on SmartDisk FireWire Drives have been added to their Member Benefits."

72 comments

  1. The deal with VT first positive thought by danigiri · · Score: 5, Insightful
    My first impression on the news is that the new advantatges look fairly good and are a welcome deviation of the NIH (not invented here) syndrome that plagued Apple in the past.

    Apple has looked for -and seemingly found- which websites, tools and goodies its users actually use, even if they do not come from Apple, a big-name VAR or software company.

    Then, if the deals themselves are good or not is a matter of debate. I am a .Mac subscriber and I am right now debating wheter to renew my subscription, as thousands of Mac users are doing as well. These benefits might tip the balance... Paid web services are still on shaky ground, I think Apple any many others are still getting the hang of it (users too).

    My two eurocents...

    dani++

  2. Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by base3 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    And now they're throwing in a site with troubleshooting information! Look out, Hotmail and Geocities! And now, with Version Tracker, you have access to all kinds of technical information that PC users already get free, as part of your .mac subscription--woohoo!

    --
    One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
    1. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Karma to burn, huh? In mere minutes, you'll be at -1, Troll and/or have a half-dozen replies from black sweater wearing, Chardonnay drinking, Jobs worshipping Mac acolytes touting the relative eliteness of Mac users to ghetto PC users who couldn't afford a service like .mac.

      ~~~

    2. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Mod+Me+God · · Score: 1

      Excellent sarcasm, most excellent.

      --
      --

      FreeNET user? Comfortable with the adverse selection?
    3. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like you were right, some mac fairy has already modded it "Flamebait." Flamer bait is more like it.

    4. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Truth hurts, don't it!

    5. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, just 0.28 cents a day.

      I know, I know, thats 3 minutes 16 seconds flipping burgers.

    6. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It doesn't matter if it's 3 nanoseconds negotiating the next big outsourcing deal to Bangalore--.mac is still wasted money.

      ~~~

    7. Re:Wow! Just $100/year for email and a website! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or for your typical Mac user, about 1.3 million swallowed sperm.

  3. Worthless... by AyanamiChan · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    It wasn't worth my money before, and it's not worth my money now. Sorry, apple.

    --
    "Procrasination is the key to world peace." ~Some girl in California
    1. Re:Worthless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait
      Karma to burn, huh? In mere minutes, you'll be at -1, Troll and/or have a half-dozen replies from black sweater wearing, Chardonnay drinking, Jobs worshipping Mac acolytes touting the relative eliteness of Mac users to ghetto PC users who couldn't afford a service like .mac.

      ~~~

    2. Re:Worthless... by AyanamiChan · · Score: 0, Redundant

      hey, don't get me wrong, I'm a die-hard mac user, but the .mac services just aren't worth it. $100 for a wimpy little email and website and a few other bells and whistles is a little steep when I'm not quite sure how I'm going to pay for tuition next semester.

      --
      "Procrasination is the key to world peace." ~Some girl in California
    3. Re:Worthless... by vegetablespork · · Score: 0
      Nothing wrong with Macs or Mac users, for the most part--it's just the amusement provided by the Apple apologists who believe Jobs and crew can do no wrong. I agree that $100/year can be much better spent elsewhere, particularly in the case of a student.

      ~~~

      --

      Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.

    4. Re:Worthless... by General+Sherman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not just email and a website. They also give you virex, backup software to backup to an iDisk, DVD-R, what have you. Now you also get a subscription to VT+, which is really useful, and iBlog, so for $100 a year you also get a blog with a good server.

      I think it's worth it.

      --
      - Sherman
    5. Re:Worthless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
      Explain to me why it's necessary to have a subscription to backup to a DVD-R again? I'm a dumb PC user, so please go slow.

      ~~~

    6. Re:Worthless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really don't understand why you all are complaining about the price. I picked up this freelance gig to copy a 17 meg file from one folder to another folder. It took all of 20 minutes, and more than covered the cost of a .Mac subscription.

    7. Re:Worthless... by FredFnord · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's called 'Paying for Software'. I'm aware that Slashdot readers have some serious problems wrapping their minds around this concept, but there are a few people out there who have figured it out.

      You see, Apple decided that their backup program would only be available to people who PAID them for it, and decided that this subscription service was a good way to implement that without adding the overhead of an additional product to the company. So they rolled the software in with .Mac, and now if you want Apple's branded backup software, you pay them for it! Wow!

      See? It's not THAT hard to understand, even for a dumb PC user.

      -fred

      --
      Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
    8. Re:Worthless... by vegetablespork · · Score: 1

      Oh, so Mac users like subscription software, rather than just paying once. And I thought PC users were dumb!

      --

      Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.

    9. Re:Worthless... by JonathanBoyd · · Score: 1

      The software continues to function even if you don't renew your .Mac subscription. Think of it as the software equivalent of eMusic.com. Except you don't choose the software and it's an add-on to the main package, rather than being the mean reason for it existing.

    10. Re:Worthless... by base3 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      The software continues to function even if you don't renew your .Mac subscription.

      If that's the case, I have no beef with it--I was under the impression that to continue to be able to backup to CDR or DVD-R, one had to continue the .mac subscription to keep that ability from "expiring."

      --
      One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
    11. Re:Worthless... by JonathanBoyd · · Score: 1

      Ah, I thought you were referring to all the .Mac software. I think Backup might be tied to the subscription, sadly. The rest of the software will keep working without it though.

    12. Re:Worthless... by DarkVader · · Score: 1

      OK, I really don't understand. A simple criticism of .mac like "It isn't worth the money" automatically gets modded to flamebait?

      I think that for most people, it really isn't worth the money. I set up a large number of iTools accounts when it was free, and of those, only 2 actually paid for the .mac subscription when Apple started charging. I personally kept mine only as long as it was free (Apple gave me a year of .mac as part of one of their sales programs - I work for an Apple dealer.)

      Since it went to a pay service, I've sold zero .mac accounts, and I've never had anyone express interest beyond a "what's that?" in reference to some menu items. When I explain it, they generally say "that's neat, how do I get it?", when I tell them it's $100/year, they say "forget it".

      Now, most of my customers already have their own domains, so the web hosting and email are pretty pointless for them, and the "extras" usually don't matter to them at all.

      So, I'd say that for most business customers and most geeks the service is fairly worthless.

      For the 2 users who did keep it? It probably wasn't worth the money - except that they would have had to have business cards re-printed, and it was cheaper to keep it than print new cards - and so they were forced to pay for a service that they understood was free with their new computer.

  4. Useless by Hi+Larry! · · Score: 1

    I'm a .mac user and I think it is great for auto-backup and email in general. I very like the iSync feature when I can add things in my address book anywhere and sync it with my home computer. Bookmark syncing is great also. But I have to admit that free software available for mac user is uselly fraud. Sticky Brain 2 is awful and puts stuff everywhere. Each time you start it, it ask for buying stupid software. This is nothing more than a sharewhere. I won't even install iBlog because I think it is just the same and I don't wan't it to install stupid services in safari or other OS X apps. And version tracker, this plus subscription is useless: you cannot use the software with it, everything must be edit by hand and I'm sure I will receive full of their adv emails that I of courses did not agree with. .mac member benefit are nothing more than cheap promotional adv.

    1. Re:Useless by remahl · · Score: 1

      VT Plus isn't useless. VT is the premier source of Mac software. Basically everything that is released goes through there. VT is the place where other sites get information about new software. The VT Plus subscription lets you get ridd of the advertisements that cover the whole site, as well as get access to other online features. The advertisement is the big thing for me, since it lets me click the download link without having to wait for an ad page to load. I used to subscribe to both VT Plus and .Mac, now when I renew I skip renewing the VT Plus subscription (even though I would like to continue to support VT more actively).

    2. Re:Useless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VT may be first, but in the last year their site has slowed down for me to the point I get frustrated on almost every visit. http://www.macupdate.com/ may not be entirely original in content and get all their updates from VT anyway, but it's lightning fast from where I'm standing.

    3. Re:Useless by Llywelyn · · Score: 1

      " I won't even install iBlog because I think it is just the same and I don't wan't it to install stupid services in safari or other OS X apps. "

      This shows that you don't know what iBlog actually is...

      iBlog doesn't change Safari or any other app. It is an application all to itself that just lets you manage you own blog and subscribe to other people's blogs. It doesn't change my defaults around or screw with the system, its like a lot of journal keeping software, actually (such as MacJournal), it just lets you publish to your iDisk.

      --
      Integrate Keynote and LaTeX
  5. Can I use an iMac as a base station? by kyz · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I realise this is off-topic, but I'd like some advice from real Mac users.

    I'd like to plug my cable broadband/ethernet connection into an iMac, and use the iMac as a router/firewall/gateway for other nodes in a wireless network.

    The iMac has a wireless/bluetooth card built in and an ethernet card built in, so there's no hardware problem. I'm pretty sure Linux could do this no sweat with iptables.

    Is it possible? I don't want to fork out on an expensive base station when I already have to fork out on a cable modem, it also looks untidy and I probably don't have as explicit control on the base station as I would with BSD's ipfilter.

    Also, if you know any good Mac discussion or Q/A sites or newsgroups, let me know. Thanks!

    --
    Does my bum look big in this?
    1. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by CoolMoDee · · Score: 1

      Yes, you can, very easily too. Goto System Prefrences -> Sharing (under Internet and Network) -> Internet Tab -> Start. And you can setup what you want to let through. Im not sure if you can forward ports this way (for a web server on a different machine) but, it will share the internet.

      --
      Jisho - A Japanese English German Russian French Dictionary for the rest of us.
    2. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      go to http://kbase.info.apple.com/ and search for "software base station" - there's a list of apple's knowledge base articles about just what you need. apple also have an area at http://discussions.info.apple.com/ which has forums. http://www.macnn.com/ has forums too, which has a variety of mac users.

      I'd suggest avoiding http://www.applefritter.com/ . I went in there asking the exact same question about software base stations and was flamed for asking such stupid questions and given all kinds of reasons why it was impossible, only hours before I came across the kbase information.

    3. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's incredibly easy. Just go to System Preferences, Sharing Panel, Internet Tab, and Click on "Start" for "Internet Sharing". It'll share your primary internet connection over the other connections (I think it may even work airport->ethernet also).

    4. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Others have suggested ways of doing it through the gui, and that will work as a simple base station, certainly sufficient for most purposes.

      If you like to tweak things a little more, play around direct with the firewall options in ipfw.

      `sudo ipfw show` will show your ipfw rules, check them after each gui firewall option you change for an idea how they work, and go from there. After that, man and google are your friend.

    5. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Won't work. 802.11 cards can either talk one on one to a basestation, or one on one to another 802.11 card in "ad hoc mode". There's no facility in these cards to allow multiple connections from other 802.11x or airport cards to itself.

      I have a cheap dlink base station that serves my purposes well.

    6. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dealmac.com

    7. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Applefritter is full of the most inane arrogant moderators I've ever seen. Clueless types who are all too willing to shout others down and close off threads where they believe they've solved a problem but just abused someone instead. If you can get past that, the rest of the population is a good help.

    8. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Won't work

      awww, poor little idiot is too stupid to figure it out.

      Won't work hey? Like to explain how my pismo, iMac and eMac are all connected then? the only machine wired to my DSL connection is another iMac sharing via Airport.

    9. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by Amiga+Lover · · Score: 1

      You're describing something that is technically impossible. It just can't happen. I'd suggest you check your bandwidth use as you're most certainly connecting to a network outside your own with a dedicated base station, probably a neighbour above or below you.

    10. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by stripes · · Score: 1
      You're describing something that is technically impossible. It just can't happen. I'd suggest you check your bandwidth use as you're most certainly connecting to a network outside your own with a dedicated base station, probably a neighbour above or below you.

      It's not impossible, in this case the Mac laptop (or was it a desktop?) is hooked up to the cable modem via an ethernet. Then one of two things can be done:

      • Have that Mac start an ad hoc network
      • Have that Mac act as the 802.11 Access Point (access points don't need different hardware, many just have normal PCMCIA cards in them! It is all just software, and nothing prevents a normal desktop or server OS from having such software!)

      I have a sneaking suspicion that offering to share the network (through the GUI) makes an ad hoc network. So you will use slightly more power (infrastructure mode lets the access point tell the other devices when they need to listen, so they can be powered down part of the time and still get all their traffic). For the most part that won't make any difference.

      As far as the hardware goes, there is nothing that should be able to prevent one 802.11 card from being on multiple 802.11 networks at once, but I don't know of any software that attempts to do it, and given how the cards operate they might all have to be on the same channel. As far as hardware and software go there should be nothing preventing one host from having more then one 802.11 card and either routing across them, or bridging. In fact I have done that.

    11. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by clarkcox3 · · Score: 1

      That's simply not true. My home setup includes a PowerMac G4 hooked up to a cable modem. I have a PowerBook, and iBook, and an HP PC, all communicating wirelessly, using the G4 as the base station.

      --
      There are no tiger attacks in my area and it's all because this rock I'm holding keeps the tigers away.
    12. Re:Can I use an iMac as a base station? by gryphokk · · Score: 1
      You're describing something that is technically impossible.

      Been there done that, got the network.

      The only negative was that sharing network over IP precludes using appletalk, so I still needed to get an external router to bring my legacy macs online.

      --
      And you, madam, are very ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober.
  6. The burning question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What does Father O'Day think of this enhancement?

  7. Comments from my .mac iBlog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I don't want to start a holy war here, but I need to vent guys and here I hope I find sympathy! I HATE NETCRAFT! *BSD is dying

    Yet another cripping bombshell hit my beleaguered TiBook as I spent the good part of five hours helping a friend at his freelance gig while it attempts to copy a 17 Meg file from one folder on the hard drive to another folder on less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. 5 hours. The amazing thing is at home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running NT 4, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this MAC, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. This serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Now, I got the job to fix this as I'm the "Computer Guy" and can generally help friends and family with there computer problems. I have never seen such a tragedy as the titanum powerbook! It is collapsing in complete disarray as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    In addition, The hand writing is on the wall; during this file transfer, Netscape will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, straining to keep up as I type this, having lost 93% of its core developers.

    OpenBSD leader Theo won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various Macs, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a Mac that has run faster than its Wintel counterpart, despite the Macs' faster chip architecture. MacOS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram runs faster than this TiBook at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the Macintosh is a superior machine. A recent article put the TiBook at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 TiBook users.

    Mac addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a Mac over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems. MacOS is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    I don't, I really don't, see how Apple can claim to be tops in design. Even my A600 continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, My TiBook is dying.

    Fact: TiBooks running BSD at a Freelance gig are dying.

    1. Re:Comments from my .mac iBlog by croddy · · Score: 1

      my kindgom for a mod point.

  8. .Mac is awesome by solistus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I, like virtually every Mac user, was shocked and disappointed to hear that iTools was making the move to .Mac and coming with a nice hefty fee. I figured I'd use it for a year, and in that time start using my alternate email account for everything.

    After having used .Mac for this long, I have to say I don't know that I could do without it. Having 100mb of webspace is a nice feature- it's a great fileserver for images and text and the like, although the lack of server-side support for things like PHP makes it somewhat less useful for actual site hosting. iSync is wonderful, and saved me just today when I had to format my System partition due to some strange and unfixable corruption. The email is great as well, giving you plenty of space and access to your email from any computer running a modern OS via webmail. That alone may be worth the $100 a year; however, that fails to account for many other oft-overlooked features of .Mac.

    The freebies, while put down frequently by .Mac subscribers and non-subscribers alike, are a nice way of showing that Apple cares- think of them as gifts. You don't expect them, you don't buy .Mac for them, but they come to you anyway, and if even one is useful a single time, you've gained something extra from them. The VT+ subscription is very cool; any Mac user should know that VT is an extremely useful tool even without +/Pro access. Also, the $20 off coupon for resubscribing, while not as nice as the $50 off for iTools members the first year, is certainly nice. If you want The Sims or Everquest for some odd reason, you can get those instead.

    .Mac is great, and these new offers make me even more glad I shelled out the $8.33 a month for it.

    1. Re:.Mac is awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



      Having 100mb of webspace is a nice feature

      But not for that price. For far less you can get your own IPP presence and a lot more disk space.

    2. Re:.Mac is awesome by solistus · · Score: 1

      No, I agree. $100 a year requires more than just webspace.... but you get more, as I said.

  9. What's next? by fingers1122 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It looks as if Apple is trying its hardest to sell some .Mac memberships. My guess is that these types of benefits will extend themselves to future Apple software releases and OS updates. I wonder if Apple will eventually start charging non-.Mac users for future software releases along the lines of iPhoto and iCal. I am not a .Mac member but am considering purchasing a membership.

  10. TOTAL RIP-OFF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll



    As far as I am concerned, .Mac is a TOTAL RIP-OFF and one of the BIGGEST BONERS of a great number of BONEHEADED MOVES Apple have made over the past few years. The service - which used to be included for free with the purchase of a computer - has had NO BENEFITS, has been SLUGGISH AND BUGGED at what it purports to do, and in the words of Andrew Orlowski of The Register, is THE DUMBEST MARKETING MOVE APPLE HAVE EVER MADE.

    I have three .Mac accounts, and all I ever get in there is SPAM, SPAM, AND MORE SPAM - AND IT'S ALL FROM APPLE.

    And if you wusses could stop licking Jobs's butt for five minutes, YOU'D ADMIT IT TOO.

    1. Re:TOTAL RIP-OFF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How's that freelance gig going?

  11. Can't really see why? by theolein · · Score: 1, Troll

    These new extras seem a little pointless, I think. The rest of .Mac, the mail, webspace, online volume and backup are useful and if someone is willing to pay $100 per year for that, all the power to them. But I think that as soon as one moves into a slightly more astute level, where one can implement many of those features oneself on a normal hosting service, the appeal of .Mac goes away.

    Added to this, it seemed on the Mac forums that the service is often down, which would be irritating if one depends on it for some thing.

  12. AC homophobes like you... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    make me embarassed to be a heterosexual. Go back to jerking off in your parents basement to pictures of girls you'll never have the fortune to be spit upon by...Bitch.

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    1. Re:AC homophobes like you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Self-righteous Apple apologists like you make me embarassed to be an AC. I mean, why rant about ACs when "ErnstKompressor" doesn't point to any real world identity. Does having taken two seconds to make up a fake name make you some kind of better person? I think not.

    2. Re:AC homophobes like you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yo, Beeyotch. (See, I can name call, too!) You have to admit that if the Fab 5 ever came across a PC in the home of the straight guy getting a makeover, that it would come as no surprise to see it replaced with an iLamp or a new G5 + an LCD studio display.

    3. Re:AC homophobes like you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      who the fuck is the fab 5?

    4. Re:AC homophobes like you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The Fab 5 are the folks on the TV series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," in which 5 gay guys give a "lifestyle makeover" to some straight schmo who needs to appear suave and sensitive to his lady. I certainly could see a Mac replacing a PC in the before and after sequences in that show.

      ~~~~

  13. I love my .mac... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    In the SPIRIT of expressing WORTHLESS PERSONAL OPINION, I have to say THAT .mac has BEEN incredibly USEFUL TO me over THE LAST year. I have NO INTEREST in rehashing ITS strong points, other THAN to SAY that all of the services (MAIL, drag and DROP WEBSITE hosting via iDISK, Address BOOK/calendar/BOOKMARK SYNCING, remote BACK-UP) have WORKED for me FLAWLESSLY.

    AND the LONGEST I ever licked SJ's BUTT was for about three minutes...

    --
    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    1. Re:I love my .mac... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      AND the LONGEST I ever licked SJ's BUTT was for about three minutes...

      Signed, Ernst "I'm not gay, I just like the taste!" Kompressor, the self-righteous non-AC with no real world identity information in his /. profile

    2. Re:I love my .mac... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

      Oh, AC you slay me...Your razor-sharp wit and second-grade intellect truly has put me in my place. I bow to you "Anonymous Coward". I fear your 'delete skillz' and your raging latent homosexuality disguised as homophobia.

      As to the 'real world' nonsense, sadly, I am busy with a real life, raising children, paying bills, etc..., or I'd trek out to Wisconsin, pull you away from your busy schedule tipping cows, and felating chickens in between stints at the Circle K and actually have a sensible dialog with you...

      Ahem...

      --
      We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    3. Re:I love my .mac... by vegetablespork · · Score: 1
      felating chickens in between stints at the Circle K

      Sounds like the voice of experience to me.

      ~~~

      --

      Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.

    4. Re:I love my .mac... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      As to the 'real world' nonsense, sadly, I am busy with a real life . . .

      Which explains how you have time to waste posting here, right? I mean, after all, the people you're responding to are all idiots and morons, by your own admission, and here you are conversing with us! That seems to make you the bigger idiot!

      ~~~

    5. Re:I love my .mac... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

      That's funny, I hardly think everyone here are morons or idiots, in fact I generally enjoy the discussions and opinions of a great many /.-ers -- though usually those who have been around for a while...

      I do obviously agree with you about you probably being an idiot and a moron (but that is by your own admission :) ) and in regards to my continuing to illuminate you, as they say, when you want something done, give it to a busy person -- I will always have time to stand behind my opinions.

      However, in the spirit of 'fraternity' I hereby declare an end to my side of the battle. I thank you in all sincerity for playing along on this lovely sunday afternoon, and wish you the best...I do enjoy the occasional back and forth, eh Governor?

      --
      We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    6. Re:I love my .mac... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      My "admission" to being an idiot and moron was a mere subjunctive hypothetical device--that is, an assumption that a previous statement you made your statement is true for the sake of argument. That isn't an admission of anything. But you knew that :).

      See you in the next Apple story!

      ~~~

  14. Sticky Brain cells by dsb · · Score: 1

    I have to agree on that sticky brain issue. What a mess, good grief charlie brown I didn't want to read another UNIX manual to figure out how to use some software. I'm 'sticking' to the good ole fashion 'stickies' that come with OS X. I really like how simple stickies are to use and close them out it automatically saves what you have on your sticky. Ah sure you windows or linux peeps have had them before but not installed default with your OS like your Solitaire so go back and flip your cards.

  15. iBlog.... by Lord+of+the+Fries · · Score: 1

    Apple's long time "OS foe", Microsoft, has meanwhile announced plans of its own to enter the Blog hosting market. "Hey, it's all in that book that I had those guys write for me" said Microsoft founder Bill Gates. "Ya'know, it's not just about 'where do you want to go today?' anymore" he continued, "but 'what do you want to remember tomorrow?', too. Steve--what? uh no, Balmer, not Jobs--has been doing a really good job--what? NO! I said Balmer--on this one." Mr Gates showed a demo of i've-Been-Online-Recording-my-Goodies. When queried about a possible release date for i.B.O.R.G., Bill just smiled and said "watch my Blog"

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    One man's pink plane is another man's blue plane.
  16. versiontracker not for current members by dwater · · Score: 2, Informative

    IINM, free versiontracker subscription is for new members, or for members who renew, not for current members.

    This is relevant to me, because my subscription expires in a few days and I do not intend to renew, and so the offer does not apply to me - even though I am still a member.

    The iBlog offer applies to me, so I have that, but not the versiontracker one...that is purely an incentive, not a benefit.

    Anyway...small point, but worth making.

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    Max.
    1. Re:versiontracker not for current members by JonathanBoyd · · Score: 1

      I managed to get VT+ before renewing. Not sure why you wouldn't be able to.

    2. Re:versiontracker not for current members by sarahbau · · Score: 1

      VersionTracker Plus is free to existing members. It's not given when you renew, or activate an account. The only options for when you renew are The Sims, EverQuest, or a $20 gift certificate. I was able to use both of my .Mac accounts to get VersionTracker Plus. One was 11 months old, and the other was 2.5 months old.

  17. AC morons like you... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    If you interpreted my 'rant' as being against AC's then you are truly an idiot...I take offense to those who hide behind anonymity while spouting off rude and offensive epithets. Such remarks made in person would recieve a swift kick in the teeth. If you really believe in the value of bigoted foolish remarks and want to defend them, be my guest, however, I notice you don't have the 'balls' to even do so with a user name...no matter how unaccountable it may be, posting under a registered account at least shows that your avatar stands behind your remarks.

    Additionally, I don't think I am a better person than the average sensible guy, however, I definitely think I am a better person than any homophobic/racist/sexist idiot and would gladly kick the shite out of, I mean enlighten, those lesser folk. Does that make me self-rightous... hell yeah! Does that make me an 'Apple apologist'? Whatever...

    Don't waste your time defending idiots. Unless you are one of those idiots as well.

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    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    1. Re:AC morons like you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But YOU'RE "hiding behind anonymity!" Don't you see the hypocrisy of it?

    2. Re:AC morons like you... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

      While I completely understand your point, I think it is a disengenous argument...you are still completely anonymous...even up to this point -- I on the other hand (as you fairly point out) have a form of limited anonymity...I 'AM' ErnstKompressor. While you do not know explicitly who I am, I still stand behind my opinions and comments and in doing so allow you to know that it is the same person continuing in dialog.

      The more interesting question is do you really understand what you are arguing for -- this thread began in regards to a percieved homosexual slight -- nothing horrendous mind you, but one that I have no qualms responding to. The question is are you defending the homophobes? Is that the anonymity you defend?

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      We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
    3. Re:AC morons like you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I see your point, as well, but how is the /. "community" to know that ErnstKompressor isn't your troll ID? I mean, what value can possibly be attached to a /. identity, other than posts starting at 1?

      I'm not arguing specifically for or against making fun of homosexuals (though why not, every other minority is fair game, and in real life, I find gays to be rather thick skinned compared to other protected classes). It just doesn't seem consistent to point out someone else's anonymity when, even though you're using an ID, you have the same degree of it for all intents and purposes.

  18. a penultimate thought... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    Fair enough...I retract all my observations regarding anonymity and simply state that I don't like homophobes/racists/sexists/etc... :) I am simply fighting the good fight...and have no qualms about people knowing that I am EK -- though I do think /.'ers tend to be exponentially rude, rather than insightful, when they are AC's -- which was kinda my point to begin with, but you sir, are an exception ;)

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    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
  19. A standing ovation... by ErnstKompressor · · Score: 1

    Classy and funny :)

    I look forward to reading you as well...

    ...I love you 'AC'...

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    We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON