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User: stewbacca

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  1. Re:Regarding the desktops on PC Sales Slump Over Economic Crisis · · Score: 1

    A 5y/o computer can still net decent p4 rig that is more than enough still for most people.

    Hmmm, not sure I agree. I have a P4 machine (2.8ghz i think) and it is REALLY feeling it's age. For example, it can only take 1gb or ram, and it has PCI slot for a graphics card. I can't play Warhammer online because it doesn't meet the minimum video card specs...the cpu has nothing to do with it. Plus, it just runs worse than my 9 year old 800mhz PowerMac (which can't run latest versions of OSX).

    Even without the Warhammer problem, the P4 machine really REALLY is an unpleasant computing experience and not worth the cost (measured in "most people"'s patience) of keeping it running.

  2. Re:Maybe that's why cheap netbooks are missing on PC Sales Slump Over Economic Crisis · · Score: 1

    People who are affected by the current economy so deeply that they can't buy a new computer most likely can't spend $200 either. But then again this is more of a story about people who THINK the economy is keeping them from buying a new computer.

  3. Re:Good Enough on More Than Coding Errors Behind Bad Software · · Score: 1

    Food is a bad example, because there is a large segment of society that pays extra for "better than just good enough". They are called foodies, or the organic crowd, or the beer and wine snobs, etc. etc. Budweiser may be good enough for Hardhat Bob, but based on the large choice of "craft beers" available, it seems "good enough" isn't the necessarily the norm. Plus, for something I put into my body, it better be better than good enough. With computers (thanks Microsoft), people have been conditioned to think "good enough" is the gold standard.

  4. Re:It's not so bad on Abused IT Workers Ready To Quit · · Score: 1

    Employer power is great - but they need you as much as you need them. If you are a quality professional, you will make yourself indispensable.

    ...and that's why we have two labor categories in the U.S. Without the non-exempt category, factory-type workers would be worked to the bone and wouldn't be extended reasonable overtime compensation. Exempt categories (technical and managerial positions) are exempt because it is general considered to be not as hard to work 60 hours a week as an accountant as compared to lifting engine blocks for 12 hours a day. Exempt categories also make a lot more money because of the general expectation of longer work hours and more technical/managerial skills sets.

    Not everyone is a "quality professional" and most non-exempt positions ARE "indispensable", thus the need for labor laws protecting them as well.

  5. Re:It's not so bad on Abused IT Workers Ready To Quit · · Score: 1

    What has how many hours you work for your employer got to do with the government, and why must there be laws regarding it?

    The reasons there are laws regarding work hours is because workers would be exploited without them. Is that really hard to understand? And I'm pretty anti-union, for whatever that's worth.

  6. Re:Perfection Has a Price on More Than Coding Errors Behind Bad Software · · Score: 1

    I think your post says everything about why we get second-rate software. What other industry is "good enough" considered the gold standard?

    While I totally agree that you can't make "perfect" software, the balance is skewed towards "good enough" when it really ISN'T good enough for the end-user. If I had a quarter for every time one of my developers tells me "that's a code rewrite" or "functions as designed", I'd be rich.

  7. Stick to your own on Class Teaches Nerds Social Skills · · Score: 1

    Why don't nerds just pick up on other nerds? Seems to work for (jocks, goths, stoners, gear-heads, preppies, band-geeks...) Seriously, If I tried to pick up on some chicks at a Magic tourney, I'd get laughed out of the building (if my nose could handle it long enough to be laughed out). Nerds in large groups are no longer the minority, after all.

  8. Re:Affects highways, but that's it on Researchers Apply P2P Principles To Car Traffic · · Score: 1

    In 99.9% of the cases people have learned to not go because they can't find the "S" key on their texting device. Besides, in Europe, their Red lights flash yellow before turning green to let you know you are about to go, and people still manage to go when it turns green without getting killed by people running red lights, so your argument doesn't make any sense.

  9. Re:It's not so bad on Abused IT Workers Ready To Quit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Outside normal hours eh? Maybe if IT professionals go into their professions not expecting 8-5 jobs, then "normal" might have a different definition?

  10. Re:Affects highways, but that's it on Researchers Apply P2P Principles To Car Traffic · · Score: 4, Informative

    Most of the trouble I've seen, and most of the frustration I encounter, is from badly-timed traffic lights.

    The most I've seen is from the overwhelming number of dumbasses on the road. A traffic light engineer is totally limited by the absolute inability of the moron up front to step on the pedal on the right when the light turns green, then the guy after him, then the guy after him. Get off your damned phone and GO already.

  11. Re:2009 on The 2008 Linux and Free Software Timeline · · Score: 1

    Such a machine is just perfect to bring along to Starbucks. You just sit there, occasionally taking a sip of that wonderful rose scented macchiato, right?

    Insecure much? Your post says for more about yourself than it contributes to the conversation.

  12. Reactionary slashdotters on Researcher Says Social Networks Link Terrorists · · Score: 1

    I can't find anywhere in the story where anyone is clamoring to take down this site, yet most of the comments in this thread have made the leap in logic that is what is happening. The closest I could find to a call to take down the site is this:

    they really need to start re-considering their security policies.

    So I'll stick to what the article actually says instead of filling the blanks in for my own self-serving ideology.

  13. Re:Quick! Stop all forms of communication! on Researcher Says Social Networks Link Terrorists · · Score: 1

    Derka derka, Muhammad jihad!

    I'd pay $1.05 for a translation.

  14. Re:Bad economics on $30B IT Stimulus Will Create Almost 1 Million Jobs · · Score: 1

    Sounds a lot like the current state of Social Security. I'm all for investing in the future, but I think you are accurate with your statement. Many of these jobs will be created in the goverment sector (or working for the government as contractors) which, sure, creates new jobs, but new jobs that are ultimately paid for by taxpayers instead of customers.

  15. Re:Really? on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    If you've truly been using OS X since beta, I don't see how you could not have run into the situation where a Finder window didn't auto-update.

    I've never seen it in a stand-alone Mac. But then again, it seems to be more prevalent in networked environments, and back in the .0-.2 years I only had one Mac. I now have five Macs all hanging off my airport wireless, and I don't run into refresh issues (but then again, it isn't a real network per se). I'm sure it would be more obvious in a managed network/corporate environment.

    I do have to routinely open/close windows to get the "free space available" count to update.

    I'll concede that, but it is still far more reliable and accurate than Windows equivalents. Also, it's not really the same issue as directory contents not updating.

  16. Re:Really? on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    "In the early days" is now a non-issue mostly. X.0 was really really slow, but was to be expected for the hardware at the time. They've fixed the network hang as of a couple months ago. You should never ever need to "refresh" a file directory on a Mac. I've been using OSX since beta, and I certainly have never seen a directory not correctly auto-update as soon as you add a new file--although I have heard the claim, I have not been able to replicate it. It is probably the single biggest trump card OSX has over Windows...no refresh needed.

  17. Re:Apple will be ruined by capitalism on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    Citation needed? You only need citations for things that aren't generally accepted as fact or aren't historically known. How about dumping the floppy drive? How about firewire on all models? How about REMOVING firewire from consumer models? How about 32-bit computing in 1988? How about switching to PowerPC then to OSX then to Intel chips (all rather painlessly)? How are any of these things NOT considered bold?

  18. Re:I for one was pretty let down with this keynote on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    Doesn't the fact that Apple even lock you in on the battery tell you anything ?

    Maybe(?) this is true on the new 17" Pro, but it definitely isn't true on a two year old MacBook. I know it is trendy to be hyper-cynical against Apple, but perhaps because it's a brand new type of battery, there aren't any third party options available yet on the new MBP?

  19. Re:Scheduling and Sales. on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    Ah, I'm no Marketing genius, but one thing I'd like to point out.

    It's called MacWorld, not PCWorld or January-a-thon. If you don't want Christmas sales to suffer and you have hardware to not only show off but to ship/sell, move the damn date.

    Uh, yeah, except that Apple doesn't actually run MacWorld--Mac Publishing does, which has no affiliation with Apple Inc.

  20. Re:I for one was pretty let down with this keynote on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    I bought my wife a new MacBook in November. I'm glad they didn't wait until January to release it. My point being that the new MacBooks are plenty exciting and the Expo was boring because the cool "new" stuff had already been released a few months earlier.

    I'm glad to get away from the habit of "waiting for the next Macworld" so as not to be worried about buying something that will become obsolete the next time the black turtle-neck takes the stage.

  21. Re:Really? on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    As a real fanboy, I'm calling you out on the Finder. Complaining about the Finder is a cliche and straight from the anti-Mac playbook. It's one thing to say the Finder sucks, but it is another thing entirely to say why it sucks. (hint: I know why people think it sucks, but most people don't actually know why they think it sucks and just repeat it ad naseum)

  22. Re:Really? on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    Owning a Mac is also steeped in traditions of our chosen professions. I'm the "Creative Type" (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean) and have been in print/photo/multi-media for 20 years. We use Macs almost exclusively, no matter how unfair that may sound. Even when PCs far exceed the capabilities of Macs in these fields, we will still be clinging to Macs out of habit.

  23. Re:Jobs leaving? on Apple's Life After Steve Jobs · · Score: 1

    you'd think he were doing the actual design...himself

    That's one oft-cited reason...

  24. Re:Labels on How Do You Manage Your SD Card Library? · · Score: 1

    Put labels on them and keep them in a credit card pocket of your wallet.

    This is seriously not a difficult enough problem to warrant a /. story..

    And even THAT is far more than most people would ever do. Talk about a non-story. Here's my "routine". My 8GB card sits inside my Canon camera, where it stays. 8GB, even at 10mp RAW file size is far more memory than I need for any one shoot. I'll ALWAYS be near a computer to dump the pics to if I ever need to take 500 + RAW files.

  25. Re:what's with non-removable batteries these days? on Apple Intros 17" Unibody MBP, DRM-Free iTunes · · Score: 1

    Every cell-phone from entry-level to smart phone has a removable battery, why is there this trend to prevent that?

    Well, if the first half of your statement were true, your question would be rendered irrelevant, wouldn't it?