I jokingly predicted this exact situation in a post when they first released the beta of the app (though admittedly I thought it'd take a little bit longer before it was actually in the wild). Rest assured that it is only a matter of time before you see this in a non-trojan form that is automatically installed via an IE exploit delivered by some ad-serving company.
Microsoft's move of buying up and releasing an anti-malware application of their own is IMO nothing more than an attempt to improve public perception of their so-called efforts towards improving Windows security.
Amusingly enough, I believe it to also be an example of how much they simply don't get it and/or don't care -- the insecurity of the underlying OS is the direct cause of the probem, not the spyware.
No amount of anti-malware software targeting the effects (automatically installed spyware) of the problem (insecure OS/Web Browser) will have any positive impact because it's the problem itself that allows the effects to continue... and have enough power to take the anti-malware software and just turn it off.
Unfortunately, Federal law mandates a limit on transfers and some banks have additional policies and charges for electronic transfers, so this is a bit impratical.
I had the pleasure of learning about this bullshit the hard way.
More information here and here. Call your bank for more info.
Your post seemed trollish because you replied to my post about usability testing participants having problems with their mice trouble (whether on a PC or Mac) by pointing out a list of things wrong with the Apple OS X UI.
If anything, my post was an argument in favor of the one-button mouse for your "joe six-pack" user, which is Apple's target audience. Keeping the one-button mouse arguably makes it easier for those users because with all those things you point out -- having a 1-button mouse is one less thing they have to worry about (pun intended).
All that said, I am annoyed that Apple is still shipping the 1-button mice -- and I've got a box of unused ones to prove it:D
My comment had nothing to do with Apple and your post should have been moderated as a troll.
I was talking about how it's evident via my own experience with usability testing that there is a signficant number of people who still have some difficulty using the mouse and that a good portion of the posts here seem to be ignoring that fact.
As far as the rest of your post goes goes... Yes, we all know computers are complex things. And every one of those issues you mentioned also applies to every other OS on the planet.
I'm flabbergasted at all the posts here that claim that any idiot knows how to work a mouse with multiple buttons.
Doesn't anyone do any usability studies on their applications with "joe six-pack" user types?
I've done a few myself (mostly websites) and nearly every time, there is at least one person who has trouble working the mouse to one degree or another:
clicking the wrong button
hesitation of picking up the mouse for repositioning
disorientation between the cursor onscreen and their hand
And let's not even get started on how many people still have a problem with scrolling down a page:D
Seems to me a few of you just take your own experience levels for granted;)
Look at Photoshop for a really good example of this as the right-button still doesn't do anything particularly useful in the Windows version, which is a side effect of the Mac heritage.
Wait just a minute. Let me get this straight.
You're blaming the fact that the Windows version of Photoshop doesn't do anything special with the right-button on the Mac heritage?
That's funny, because last time I checked (just now as a matter of fact), the right-button in the Mac Classic/OS X versions of Photoshop does craploads of useful things - almost every tool brings up a contextual menu or chooser of some kind.
If you should be blaming anyone, it's Adobe for a lack-luster Windows port of a great Mac application.
It appears that one of the embedded ad's html is messed up. And since the ads/sponsored links are served somewhat randomly, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Turn off your javascript and it should display fine for you;)
For windowshading, try WindowShadeX. I haven't used it myself, but it gets great reviews.
As far as being careful with software - it's not so bad:) Most apps are drag/drop install with a single file. The apps you really have to be cautious with are the ones that require your admin password to install or have an installer app that you must run.
With drag/drop install, to uninstall all you need do is delete the app, and the associated files (if any) that were created in ~/library/application support/appname and ~/library/preferences.
Of course, application stability is a whole 'nother discussion;) In regards to Desktop Manager, I've had no problems with stability.
They are all very decent, but the first one -- Desktop Manager -- is by far my favorite. My only beef being that you cannot (yet) move a window from one desktop to another by dragging it in the panel - though it does have quick-key configuration to move windows via the keyboard.
Virtue is similar to Desktop Manager, but it seems a lot more buggy to me - I can't get the pager to show up for some reason. I haven't tried the other two yet, mostly because Desktop Manager does such a good job.
Theoretically, with enough practice you could "chord" your document with one hand (in the case of the Twiddler2, which has a strap around your hand to hold it in place) while keeping the other hand free for patient care.
Though you may not want to do that... the patient might get a little nervous...
"Shouldn't you use both hands, doc?";)
Maybe this could be integrated into /.
on
Machine Learns Games
·
· Score: 3, Funny
... so that the editors could learn that linking to a site containing direct links to 40MB+ movies will almost always kill the site:)
What we really need are alternatives to traditional typing -- ways to communicate with the computer in a more efficent manner.
I'm personally waiting for the wireless implant in my head so I can just "think" the words onto the screen:)
In the meantime, I've tried out the Twiddler2 chorded keyboard, which is a combination key entry and mouse device. Although a bit slower, it is FAR more comfortable surfing and chording with it than using the traditional keyboard and mouse (though you can forget programming). And it plays nice with OS X and Windows.
You've got to love that every time a new p2p program/service comes out, it is always explained as having legitimate uses.
The reason for that is because there ARE lots of non-illegal uses for P2P but everyone mostly focuses on the illegal ones. In case you haven't noticed, there are organizations attempting to rid the world of P2P because they claim the technology is used solely for illegal activities. Oddly enough, they seem to ignore the fact that a fair portion of other internet technologies (browsers, ftp clients, IRC, etc.) are ALSO used to share MP3s, DIVx rips and pr0n just as well, if not better than P2P.
P2P is being used for legitimate purposes.
Case in point: I use it to share over 15GB of freely distributable FPS maps, models and skins for the UT, Quake, Doom, MOHAA and Tribes series -- something that would be impossible for me to do effectively without P2P.
If you tell people something is bad enough times, they'll eventually believe it to be true, whether it is or not. Your message is a sure sign that you're well on your way;)
Seriously though, I've ran into many, many people who just have a huge amount of disdain towards anything Apple (probably due to a combination of FUD and that damn 1-button mouse). Even though the iPod and iMac have been a huge success for Apple, I don't imagine this discontent will go completely away for a long time to come... if ever.
A good portion of the time, ads are delivered via an intermediary tracking system rather than linking to the merchant itself, so typing the url manually wouldn't make any difference. In the case of google though, the URL is listed -- but you still have to unescape it:)
What you aren't noticing is that before the iPod was introduced there were a lot of MP3 Players already on the market with a lot of features the iPod still doesn't have and the market did not take off.
Exactly
If I had a nickel for every time someone on/. said "All <insert manufacturere here> has to do is add <insert feature here> to beat Apple," I'd be rich.
A combination of usability, simplicity, presentability is what helped the iPod become so popular, not features and obscure formats. People are finally getting tired of dealing with mediocre products that are difficult to use.
You're right that marketing doesn't get enough credit, but I think that Apple's efforts are only a very small piece in the puzzle.
Viral marketing is doing much more here than Apple could ever do to promote their product.
I could not begin to count the number of times I've read/seen/heard a mainstream competitve review of the iPod vs <insert other player here> where the iPod won, hands down. Or heard people talking about or showing off their iPod. Or how many people have those damn "help me get a free iPod" banners on their personal sites.
And there's a reason for all this free advertising: the iPod is *that* much better than your average MP3 player.
This isn't a case where people were forced to adopt a mediocre product because it dominated the market or was bundled with one that did. This is an example of where a great product appeared and caught the mediocre product manufacturers completely off guard.
Trust me, having owned other players until I finally got my new iPod this Christmas, I can guaran-damn-tee you that it's more than just looks that make the iPod a better player.
Apple doesn't, in my opinion, have any real technical superiority. What they do have is (as someone has already mentioned) is superiority in producing products that focus on these three basic elements:
Usability, Simplicity, Presentability
These elements exude from their entire product line and will always set Apple's products apart from the competition.
That said, it is debateable whether Creative's software and players are as easy to use as the iPod. But you're right - competition is good. The last thing I want is Apple to get complacent.
Slashdot Mirror
Honestly, did anyone NOT see this coming?
I jokingly predicted this exact situation in a post when they first released the beta of the app (though admittedly I thought it'd take a little bit longer before it was actually in the wild). Rest assured that it is only a matter of time before you see this in a non-trojan form that is automatically installed via an IE exploit delivered by some ad-serving company.
Microsoft's move of buying up and releasing an anti-malware application of their own is IMO nothing more than an attempt to improve public perception of their so-called efforts towards improving Windows security.
Amusingly enough, I believe it to also be an example of how much they simply don't get it and/or don't care -- the insecurity of the underlying OS is the direct cause of the probem, not the spyware.
No amount of anti-malware software targeting the effects (automatically installed spyware) of the problem (insecure OS/Web Browser) will have any positive impact because it's the problem itself that allows the effects to continue... and have enough power to take the anti-malware software and just turn it off.
Wasn't sure if that was a troll or if you were trying to be funny -- but thought I'd reply anyway.
No, not all "web pages" are built using compiled languages.
Some examples of compiled languages/platforms are ASP.NET, JSP and ColdFusion.
Classic ASP, PHP and Perl are examples of interpreted languages that are not compiled into binaries.
Unfortunately, Federal law mandates a limit on transfers and some banks have additional policies and charges for electronic transfers, so this is a bit impratical.
I had the pleasure of learning about this bullshit the hard way.
More information here and here. Call your bank for more info.
I'm not saying that your points were wrong.
Your post seemed trollish because you replied to my post about usability testing participants having problems with their mice trouble (whether on a PC or Mac) by pointing out a list of things wrong with the Apple OS X UI.
If anything, my post was an argument in favor of the one-button mouse for your "joe six-pack" user, which is Apple's target audience. Keeping the one-button mouse arguably makes it easier for those users because with all those things you point out -- having a 1-button mouse is one less thing they have to worry about (pun intended).
All that said, I am annoyed that Apple is still shipping the 1-button mice -- and I've got a box of unused ones to prove it
My comment had nothing to do with Apple and your post should have been moderated as a troll.
I was talking about how it's evident via my own experience with usability testing that there is a signficant number of people who still have some difficulty using the mouse and that a good portion of the posts here seem to be ignoring that fact.
As far as the rest of your post goes goes... Yes, we all know computers are complex things. And every one of those issues you mentioned also applies to every other OS on the planet.
What's your point?
Tell that to all the users I constantly see double-clicking stuff in their browsers
You're right - double-clicking can be a challenging as well. I merely forgot to put it on the list.
I'm flabbergasted at all the posts here that claim that any idiot knows how to work a mouse with multiple buttons.
Doesn't anyone do any usability studies on their applications with "joe six-pack" user types?
I've done a few myself (mostly websites) and nearly every time, there is at least one person who has trouble working the mouse to one degree or another:
- clicking the wrong button
- hesitation of picking up the mouse for repositioning
- disorientation between the cursor onscreen and their hand
And let's not even get started on how many people still have a problem with scrolling down a pageSeems to me a few of you just take your own experience levels for granted
Wait just a minute. Let me get this straight.
You're blaming the fact that the Windows version of Photoshop doesn't do anything special with the right-button on the Mac heritage?
That's funny, because last time I checked (just now as a matter of fact), the right-button in the Mac Classic/OS X versions of Photoshop does craploads of useful things - almost every tool brings up a contextual menu or chooser of some kind.
If you should be blaming anyone, it's Adobe for a lack-luster Windows port of a great Mac application.
It appears that one of the embedded ad's html is messed up. And since the ads/sponsored links are served somewhat randomly, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Turn off your javascript and it should display fine for you
For windowshading, try WindowShadeX. I haven't used it myself, but it gets great reviews.
As far as being careful with software - it's not so bad
With drag/drop install, to uninstall all you need do is delete the app, and the associated files (if any) that were created in ~/library/application support/appname and ~/library/preferences.
Of course, application stability is a whole 'nother discussion
They are all very decent, but the first one -- Desktop Manager -- is by far my favorite. My only beef being that you cannot (yet) move a window from one desktop to another by dragging it in the panel - though it does have quick-key configuration to move windows via the keyboard.
Virtual Desktop Pro is very nice as well, though not free.
Virtue is similar to Desktop Manager, but it seems a lot more buggy to me - I can't get the pager to show up for some reason. I haven't tried the other two yet, mostly because Desktop Manager does such a good job.
Hope that helps.
I didn't mean to include Virtual Desktop from AWOL Software, which is for Mac OS Classic... sorry.
Sorry to butt in, but thought I'd throw in a couple cents:
There are a few virtual desktop managers for OS X (a few of which are free):
Theoretically, with enough practice you could "chord" your document with one hand (in the case of the Twiddler2, which has a strap around your hand to hold it in place) while keeping the other hand free for patient care.
Though you may not want to do that... the patient might get a little nervous...
"Shouldn't you use both hands, doc?"
... so that the editors could learn that linking to a site containing direct links to 40MB+ movies will almost always kill the site
lmao!
Now don't I feel stupid. I didn't realize it was one image -- as I clicked on the image and it loaded just a single tile's information
What we really need are alternatives to traditional typing -- ways to communicate with the computer in a more efficent manner.
I'm personally waiting for the wireless implant in my head so I can just "think" the words onto the screen
In the meantime, I've tried out the Twiddler2 chorded keyboard, which is a combination key entry and mouse device. Although a bit slower, it is FAR more comfortable surfing and chording with it than using the traditional keyboard and mouse (though you can forget programming). And it plays nice with OS X and Windows.
If you're interested, there are many other chorded "keyboards" as well as many more ergonomic variations to the standard keyboard. A useful resource is the exhaustive Alternative Keyboard FAQ and this alternative keyboard gallery.
P2P is being used for legitimate purposes.
Case in point: I use it to share over 15GB of freely distributable FPS maps, models and skins for the UT, Quake, Doom, MOHAA and Tribes series -- something that would be impossible for me to do effectively without P2P.
If you tell people something is bad enough times, they'll eventually believe it to be true, whether it is or not. Your message is a sure sign that you're well on your way
What this really needs is a download button so I can download the composite quilt and use it as a desktop or something
I guess I'll just have to take a couple screenshots and stitch them together manually...
As an old high-school buddy of mine used to say:
No offense to the original poster of course
Seriously though, I've ran into many, many people who just have a huge amount of disdain towards anything Apple (probably due to a combination of FUD and that damn 1-button mouse). Even though the iPod and iMac have been a huge success for Apple, I don't imagine this discontent will go completely away for a long time to come... if ever.
A good portion of the time, ads are delivered via an intermediary tracking system rather than linking to the merchant itself, so typing the url manually wouldn't make any difference. In the case of google though, the URL is listed -- but you still have to unescape it
If I had a nickel for every time someone on
A combination of usability, simplicity, presentability is what helped the iPod become so popular, not features and obscure formats. People are finally getting tired of dealing with mediocre products that are difficult to use.
You're right that marketing doesn't get enough credit, but I think that Apple's efforts are only a very small piece in the puzzle.
Viral marketing is doing much more here than Apple could ever do to promote their product.
I could not begin to count the number of times I've read/seen/heard a mainstream competitve review of the iPod vs <insert other player here> where the iPod won, hands down. Or heard people talking about or showing off their iPod. Or how many people have those damn "help me get a free iPod" banners on their personal sites.
And there's a reason for all this free advertising: the iPod is *that* much better than your average MP3 player.
This isn't a case where people were forced to adopt a mediocre product because it dominated the market or was bundled with one that did. This is an example of where a great product appeared and caught the mediocre product manufacturers completely off guard.
Trust me, having owned other players until I finally got my new iPod this Christmas, I can guaran-damn-tee you that it's more than just looks that make the iPod a better player.
Apple doesn't, in my opinion, have any real technical superiority. What they do have is (as someone has already mentioned) is superiority in producing products that focus on these three basic elements:
These elements exude from their entire product line and will always set Apple's products apart from the competition.
That said, it is debateable whether Creative's software and players are as easy to use as the iPod. But you're right - competition is good. The last thing I want is Apple to get complacent.