So Windows' poor programming, poor security, and poor usability is all because it has to run on generic PC hardware. Yeah right.
The real problem with Windows isn't that it crashes so often (in 2000 and XP I rarely encounter an OS level crash); it's Window's extremely poor security. Spyware is so prevalent on Windows partially due to its popularity, but primarily due to its insecurity.
Put OS X on a generic box vs Windows on the same and one will be the clear leader.
Even including such current classics as Sin City, you'd be hard pressed to find works more gruesome, tantalizing, and chilling than the old EC horror comics.
And you know why we computer guys get roped into doing family tech support? Because PC tech support in a word: sucks.
But it's another thing that Apple has gotten right. I've called Apple tech support a few times and have generally had the level of service I used to expect in the early 90s from tech companies. Plus there's always the Genius Bars at local stores if you are really in trouble.
If that wouldn't work for your family (i.e. they'd insist on talking to you and no one else) then I feel sorry for you.
I'd rather not play Russian roulette with the planet.
The planet itself will be fine. Life (in the general term) on the planet is in no jeopardy. It's significantly macroscopic life that's in danger. But we giant creatures are an evolutionary anomaly anyway, Earth (in terms of total biomass, complexity, diversity, and toughness) truly belongs to the microscopic.
So, in your example. You wouldn't tell your family members to buy Macs if you weren't already using it for games? That's a little weird of you. Why wouldn't you just recommend the best system for their needs?
That's like not recommending a car company to others because they don't have the kind of seats you like.
Mmm good point, it eluded me completely (maybe it's because of my disgust for podcasts to begin with:)
Just curious, what's wrong with podcasts? Do you not like NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flatow? Or getting Battlestar Galactica episode commentaries for free?
Sure, but Lowell was actually looking for a massive gas giant (bigger than Jupiter). I don't think he expected to have his name attached to a tiny hunk of rock.
At least, it used to be. What current games require leet graph map making skillz?
Good ol' Bard's Tale. You are facing 99 barbarians, 99 barbarians, 99 barbarians, and 99 barbarians. Unleash the fire horn, or perhaps the fire horn, or maybe the wind dragon.
While your situation isn't the norm, it certainly isn't unusual.
But you didn't answer my question, on Low End Mac you can find perfectly useful Macs that will run 10.4 and run it well for less than $200. An entire computer sans monitor for the price of a decent video card! Or one third the price of Photoshop itself.
So what's the problem? A need to have the latest and greatest preventing you from getting an older system?
If you really and truly want to build your mac, then surf Low End Mac, eBay, and such until you find an old G3 or G4 at a good price ($50-$200, depending). Then buy it and rip it apart to get whatever part you want to call it. A few weeks later do the same. Continue until you have ripped apart and put back together enough macs to call it a system. Then put all the other systems back together and link them together via XGrid and you'll likely end up with a system more powerful than a wussy single tower G5.
BTW, What is it about your personal situation that makes waiting 5-6 months for a system problematic? What is it about the mac mini that makes it a bad system for your needs?
A starving artist should know that you can return your windows version of the software with a letter stating that you are switching to a different platform to the software maker and get free versions for the new system. Adobe is very good about this I know, I'm sure other companies would also respond well to a nice letter.
All Buddhism defines a supernatural power, the big difference is that the supernatural power is everything, including us.
And...wow. You've got some issues, your series of posts are the most religious that I've ever seen on/.. Since you obviously have no conclusive proof that no supernatural power exists, then you take it on faith that no supernatural power does exist. But yet you vehemently deny your religious nature.
Just because you believe something contrary to what you call "religion" doesn't mean that you don't believe.
Your four part line of reasoning assumes that people can only believe what they can prove. You fail to take into account that in many cases it is necessary or desireable to believe in something that hasn't been proven (or may not ever be proved), e.g. dark matter.
I believe the sun will come up tomorrow, that Yosemite won't finally blow up (again) and cover the breadbasket of the world in meters of ash, that there is a reason to act today as if tomorrow will happen. I have absolutely no proof that tomorrow will happen and, indeed, it is impossible to prove that it will; yet my day to day actions are wholly governed by that irrational belief. Do you think that the actions I take that are caused by my belief (earning money instead of goofing off all day, not eating fifty candy bars, and generally living nicely) are sad devotions?
Yes, I do have a reasonable expectation that the sun will come up tomorrow because, after all, it came up today and for every single day before that in which I have lived. Yet a more religious person than I would argue that "the supernatural force" (actually all the religious people I know would just say God) has been active in our creation, i.e. we were created, and it is reasonable to believe that "the supernatural force" could be active again or is active now, unknown to us mere mortals.
Personally, I believe that we exist in a Universe that is carefully designed to support life because we exist in a Universe that was carefully designed to support life. That design may not have been intelligently guided, and may be the product of billions of iterations before, after, and during all unknown to us; but it's a delicate and intricate design nonetheless.
I would love to go to the Apple if I could build my own machine instead of being locked into what they want me to have.
But that's just me...not everyone builds their computers. I do it cause it's cheaper and I just don't have the disposable income that others have. But I'll always crave a Mac.
So "they" want you to have it, but you crave it also. What is it you want out of a Mac? Why won't a cheap tower G4 work? Go to Low End Mac and browse their articles and found sales. You can get macs from less than $100 to over $10000; and you can't find something that matches your ideal?
If you only crave a mac, then you don't need it, and in that case you don't need a dual processer G5 to edit video in realtime with (or whatever). Sure you may want and crave the latest and greatest from Apple; but their older and now cheaper machines are great deals!
I have an 800 Mhz G3 iBook, and a dual 1.8Ghz G5. For day-to-day stuff (iTunes, email, web browsing, movie watching) the iBook holds up extremely well to the G5. It certainly doesn't feel limiting.
Rethink your "Mac Mini" doesn't cut it for me statement and try one out in the Apple store. Or pick up a cheap G4 if you really want customizability. But don't imply that Macs are only for the wealthy.
...so its the young minds that end up getting warped.
Utter BS. I, having played video games since I was in diapers, never had any trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality! Ditto for movies and tv. Give kids some credit.
My parents used movies and tv and videogames as ways to demonstrate good behavior. I learned early on that there was "movie language" and actions that were appropriate in a fiction setting were not appropriate in the real world! This isn't rocket science, distinguishing fact from fiction is life. If a kid can't tell the different between stuff on a tv, and stuff in the real world...maybe they have some spatial orientation issues or something.
In my opinion, it is the parents who mindlessly listen to the extremism that can't distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to entertainment.
So your point is that TV is essential because its entertainment value is superior to radio's? If I had no TV and lived in an area of the country in which warnings needed to be regularly spread; then you can bet that'd I'd have my radio on 24/7! Just tune the thing to NPR or classical. If I had no tv for entertainment then it would just be background noise anyway until I hear the alert ping.
Nah, I just read my wife's 25 page paper on the religious symbolism and allegory of Blade Runner. After watching it umpteen times you really get a feel for its subtle depth.
Watch Blade Runner while thinking about religious symbolism and you might see what I mean.
Nah, I just read my wife's 25 page paper on the religious symbolism and allegory in Blade Runner. After watching it umpteen times you really get a feel for its subtle depth.
Watch Blade Runner while thinking about its religious connotations and you'll see what I mean.
The parent said, "unless you are scraping the very bottom of the barrel." Dell is in business to make money, so of course they make anything possible optional. They buy in bulk the cheapest motherboards that have the bits that are selling their machines. Do you think they throw in an Asus or Abit just because it is a "high-end" machine?
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So Windows' poor programming, poor security, and poor usability is all because it has to run on generic PC hardware. Yeah right.
The real problem with Windows isn't that it crashes so often (in 2000 and XP I rarely encounter an OS level crash); it's Window's extremely poor security. Spyware is so prevalent on Windows partially due to its popularity, but primarily due to its insecurity.
Put OS X on a generic box vs Windows on the same and one will be the clear leader.
I'm pretty sure that kids know what games they want before they get to the store nowadays. Who reads the back of the box to pick out a game anymore?
Meh, EC Comics' work really went downhill in 1954 with the introduction of the Comics Code Authority.
Even including such current classics as Sin City, you'd be hard pressed to find works more gruesome, tantalizing, and chilling than the old EC horror comics.
And you know why we computer guys get roped into doing family tech support? Because PC tech support in a word: sucks.
But it's another thing that Apple has gotten right. I've called Apple tech support a few times and have generally had the level of service I used to expect in the early 90s from tech companies. Plus there's always the Genius Bars at local stores if you are really in trouble.
If that wouldn't work for your family (i.e. they'd insist on talking to you and no one else) then I feel sorry for you.
I'd rather not play Russian roulette with the planet.
The planet itself will be fine. Life (in the general term) on the planet is in no jeopardy. It's significantly macroscopic life that's in danger. But we giant creatures are an evolutionary anomaly anyway, Earth (in terms of total biomass, complexity, diversity, and toughness) truly belongs to the microscopic.
Nothing's meeker than group of bacteria.
So, in your example. You wouldn't tell your family members to buy Macs if you weren't already using it for games? That's a little weird of you. Why wouldn't you just recommend the best system for their needs?
That's like not recommending a car company to others because they don't have the kind of seats you like.
Mmm good point, it eluded me completely (maybe it's because of my disgust for podcasts to begin with :)
Just curious, what's wrong with podcasts? Do you not like NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flatow? Or getting Battlestar Galactica episode commentaries for free?
Maybe you should let the mods mod as they see fit. You can always metamoderate if you want.
Oh no, a post has been moderated too high. There goes my day.
Sure, but Lowell was actually looking for a massive gas giant (bigger than Jupiter). I don't think he expected to have his name attached to a tiny hunk of rock.
What about Mario 64?
Mapping the maze is part of the gameplay.
At least, it used to be. What current games require leet graph map making skillz?
Good ol' Bard's Tale. You are facing 99 barbarians, 99 barbarians, 99 barbarians, and 99 barbarians. Unleash the fire horn, or perhaps the fire horn, or maybe the wind dragon.
Xbox 3 - We have Halo... erm.. and Halo!
And Ninja Gaiden.
Use Macro Express. It's like Automater, but with more programming constructs and less user interface. It isn't exactly intuitive, but it does the job.
While your situation isn't the norm, it certainly isn't unusual.
But you didn't answer my question, on Low End Mac you can find perfectly useful Macs that will run 10.4 and run it well for less than $200. An entire computer sans monitor for the price of a decent video card! Or one third the price of Photoshop itself.
So what's the problem? A need to have the latest and greatest preventing you from getting an older system?
If you really and truly want to build your mac, then surf Low End Mac, eBay, and such until you find an old G3 or G4 at a good price ($50-$200, depending). Then buy it and rip it apart to get whatever part you want to call it. A few weeks later do the same. Continue until you have ripped apart and put back together enough macs to call it a system. Then put all the other systems back together and link them together via XGrid and you'll likely end up with a system more powerful than a wussy single tower G5.
BTW, What is it about your personal situation that makes waiting 5-6 months for a system problematic? What is it about the mac mini that makes it a bad system for your needs?
A starving artist should know that you can return your windows version of the software with a letter stating that you are switching to a different platform to the software maker and get free versions for the new system. Adobe is very good about this I know, I'm sure other companies would also respond well to a nice letter.
All Buddhism defines a supernatural power, the big difference is that the supernatural power is everything, including us.
/.. Since you obviously have no conclusive proof that no supernatural power exists, then you take it on faith that no supernatural power does exist. But yet you vehemently deny your religious nature.
And...wow. You've got some issues, your series of posts are the most religious that I've ever seen on
Just because you believe something contrary to what you call "religion" doesn't mean that you don't believe.
Your four part line of reasoning assumes that people can only believe what they can prove. You fail to take into account that in many cases it is necessary or desireable to believe in something that hasn't been proven (or may not ever be proved), e.g. dark matter.
I believe the sun will come up tomorrow, that Yosemite won't finally blow up (again) and cover the breadbasket of the world in meters of ash, that there is a reason to act today as if tomorrow will happen. I have absolutely no proof that tomorrow will happen and, indeed, it is impossible to prove that it will; yet my day to day actions are wholly governed by that irrational belief. Do you think that the actions I take that are caused by my belief (earning money instead of goofing off all day, not eating fifty candy bars, and generally living nicely) are sad devotions?
Yes, I do have a reasonable expectation that the sun will come up tomorrow because, after all, it came up today and for every single day before that in which I have lived. Yet a more religious person than I would argue that "the supernatural force" (actually all the religious people I know would just say God) has been active in our creation, i.e. we were created, and it is reasonable to believe that "the supernatural force" could be active again or is active now, unknown to us mere mortals.
Personally, I believe that we exist in a Universe that is carefully designed to support life because we exist in a Universe that was carefully designed to support life. That design may not have been intelligently guided, and may be the product of billions of iterations before, after, and during all unknown to us; but it's a delicate and intricate design nonetheless.
I would love to go to the Apple if I could build my own machine instead of being locked into what they want me to have.
But that's just me...not everyone builds their computers. I do it cause it's cheaper and I just don't have the disposable income that others have. But I'll always crave a Mac.
So "they" want you to have it, but you crave it also. What is it you want out of a Mac? Why won't a cheap tower G4 work? Go to Low End Mac and browse their articles and found sales. You can get macs from less than $100 to over $10000; and you can't find something that matches your ideal?
If you only crave a mac, then you don't need it, and in that case you don't need a dual processer G5 to edit video in realtime with (or whatever). Sure you may want and crave the latest and greatest from Apple; but their older and now cheaper machines are great deals!
I have an 800 Mhz G3 iBook, and a dual 1.8Ghz G5. For day-to-day stuff (iTunes, email, web browsing, movie watching) the iBook holds up extremely well to the G5. It certainly doesn't feel limiting.
Rethink your "Mac Mini" doesn't cut it for me statement and try one out in the Apple store. Or pick up a cheap G4 if you really want customizability. But don't imply that Macs are only for the wealthy.
That's awesome! Go Doohan!
...so its the young minds that end up getting warped.
Utter BS. I, having played video games since I was in diapers, never had any trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality! Ditto for movies and tv. Give kids some credit.
My parents used movies and tv and videogames as ways to demonstrate good behavior. I learned early on that there was "movie language" and actions that were appropriate in a fiction setting were not appropriate in the real world! This isn't rocket science, distinguishing fact from fiction is life. If a kid can't tell the different between stuff on a tv, and stuff in the real world...maybe they have some spatial orientation issues or something.
In my opinion, it is the parents who mindlessly listen to the extremism that can't distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to entertainment.
So you don't plan to watch "Battlestar Galactica" or "Firefly" or "Simpsons" or "Futurama" or ?
You are willing to accept whatever crap happens to be on?
Wacky.
So hook a game system into a PC monitor. Easy!
But if some people didn't have tv, they would still be able to get weather warnings; thus tv is not an essential medium.
Convenient? Yes. Entertaining? Yes. Useful? Yes. Popular? Yes. Essential? No.
So your point is that TV is essential because its entertainment value is superior to radio's? If I had no TV and lived in an area of the country in which warnings needed to be regularly spread; then you can bet that'd I'd have my radio on 24/7! Just tune the thing to NPR or classical. If I had no tv for entertainment then it would just be background noise anyway until I hear the alert ping.
Nah, I just read my wife's 25 page paper on the religious symbolism and allegory of Blade Runner. After watching it umpteen times you really get a feel for its subtle depth.
Watch Blade Runner while thinking about religious symbolism and you might see what I mean.
Nah, I just read my wife's 25 page paper on the religious symbolism and allegory in Blade Runner. After watching it umpteen times you really get a feel for its subtle depth.
Watch Blade Runner while thinking about its religious connotations and you'll see what I mean.
The parent said, "unless you are scraping the very bottom of the barrel." Dell is in business to make money, so of course they make anything possible optional. They buy in bulk the cheapest motherboards that have the bits that are selling their machines. Do you think they throw in an Asus or Abit just because it is a "high-end" machine?