As a former Mac Genius, I've denied coverage for an iMac machine that I'd say was 'smoked to death'. It was so pungent and strong, we could barely stand being in the closed-off Genius room (were we did our work). It was awful, and that was before we opened the machine. Cigarette smoke is tends to make the usual dust-bunnies way worse. They stick to everything. The machine was completely stained brown and had succumbed to horrible over heating. All the vents and passages were clogged with crap. I can't post the photos, but anyone who has worked on computers I think would agree. It was just disgusting.
Even the employees who were smokers agreed with the decision. I felt sorry for the customer - I really did - but ultimately he agreed and understood my decision (he wasn't particularly happy, but wasn't upset either).
I have nothing against people smoking for themselves. But its unreasonable to ask or force people to share in it.
I've done the math and it would cost us an astronomical amount to 'upgrade' to Windows 7 - not to mention a far from consistent user experience. We're already trying to get the kids used to the XP Mac routine (which, they've taken the Mac up at an astonishing rate).
The worst part about the Windows 7 question is that (in our tests) less than half of our district software runs correctly, if at all, on Windows 7 (we've had it on some of our sandbox computers trying things out).
Our push is now going to publishers of curriculum books, math software especially, to go to web-based apps. Thats where the future is. Personally, I think we should be teaching kids to use the keyboard on how to enter math language, or learn to use a calculator as well - real world skills. I don't like that we're teaching them to use something that they will likely not find in the business world.
Are these tablets in use by the students (grades 6-12) or by teachers? Ours are used almost exclusively by students.
I thought of the Wacom solution as well, but, the problems become having a more complicated setup to be over-seen by a teacher with 28-36 students in a classroom that wasn't originally designed for computers. So, they have to be put away, charged, taken out and used the next period.
On the flip side, we also have a lot of Windows-only software (Fun with Construction, etc.). We have both Promethean and SMART boards as well - thankfully they work on Mac too, but Linux support needs to be looked at.
I'd really like to hear more about your program and the challenges you've encountered.... j o s h v o g e l g e s a n g ((( a ))) g m a i l . c o m
The hackintosh method has crossed my mind, but, obviously there is that little legal issue.:)
I work at a school district here in California that we've used OEM'd Gateway M285/M295 tablet PCs for a few years, and they've served their purpose. We've got hundreds of these units.
The good: They do what they're advertised, and thats it. The math teachers like them, and thats about their only purpose.
The bad: The drivers are funky. They seem to only work well with the factory image (LOADED with junkware). This makes creating and maintaining software images for the units cumbersome, not to mention the seemingly impossible task of finding a virgin version of WindowsXP Tablet Edition. The displays aren't very bright, which is painful in well-lit classrooms. The physical design (especially the keyboard) doesn't seem to hold well to a lot of use. Battery life is decent.
The worst: The original OEM who we purchased them through has gone belly up. Even though our laptops had warranties, they all mean nothing now. Gateway doesn't support us. And the pens seem to fail at an alarming rate, and cost $79-99 each.
On the flipside, our district is moving to Mac, and thats been working very well. Apple's support for education makes you wonder why the rest of the industry hasn't caught up (its the customer, stupid!). We're at a standstill right now as to what to do with our aging tablets (that we get ZERO support for now). We don't want to get stuck in the same position as before, but Apple is also a proprietary system (but their support is awesome!!!).
I really, really like to see some good web-apps (ala Google Apps), or mutli-platform/open-source software that the students can use.
I think we are bound to see more and more of this, after all, in this day and age, parents get their kids a Wii/xBox,PSx/etc in lieu of more challenging and creative toys probably a lot of us grew up with like Legos, Lincoln logs, erector sets, . . . things that I think are challenging and engaging.
I'm proud for the kid in the sense that he put his mind to work, but at the same time, no points for lacking discretion, and a good sense of responsibility. And I don't think he should get a free pass just because he is a kid. If he is smart enough to do what he did, I think its entirely reasonable to assume that he had the capacity to know what the effects may be.
Maybe Apple should move to strike the class-action lawsuit, since it seems to *only* benefit the lawyers. I think they were hoping he would jump onboard and sign anything they threw at him saying he would get a lot of money back from the class action suit (like $0.01 for every dollar they got in reality). But when he didn't go with it, they are going after him since it leaves them out there with their pants down.
I think Apple should help this guy beat the lawyers, and get the C. A. suit dismissed. Probably be cheaper for them anyway. Give this guy some ammo to fight back, as, its in their best interest.
I know, and I did catch that. From a personal perspective, I know that paying a higher price doesn't get you a better product. But, you and I, and probably most Slashdot readers aren't really the 'mainstream' public that listen to the industrie's prop artists.
Their target I believe is young highschool-age/college-aged John Q Public, who buys $6.00 ringtones, and buys whatever cause he wants it, and just must have [Insert Band Here]'s latest album, or song he heard on the radio, to put on his ROKR or iPod. In other words, people who don't really think too much about what they are buying and from where.
Well, I think (see: hope) that people will avoid anything higher thatn $0.99 per track. It works, and its fair. Even from my favorite artists, I will not accept $1.99 a track, or anything above $0.99.
I think that ITMS has proven itself as a working model. Don't Mess With It!
Heh, I think you are alone (or in a very very small percentage) for Firefox to be slow.
On all my machines in our offices, Firefox is pretty much the de'facto on speed. Mine is up nearly instantaneously, loads pages wickedly fast, and in general, runs fantastic in any of our Windows, Linux and Macintosh workstations.
Um, I don't know a ratio of Mac/Windows iPod users. I use mine on both.
For me, most of my music is from CD's I have purchased. (Not borrowed) The rest either came from the iTunes Music Store (spent $500 so far this year there; way more than I spent before in the store/year) or legitimately from mp3.com, when it was good. Anything else is my own stuff or things I have recorded in the studio for friends.
I think your logic is flawed.
QUOTE : "Part of the reason people steal music is money, but some of it is that the DRM stuff out there has not been that easy to use.
Found this quote interesting, does it really state that people want to use DRM to copy music at home, but can't quite figure out how to use it?"
No. Why is DRM hard to use? Cause they make it so! Windows License Manager for example, when you have songs imported via WMP have all these keys that need to be moved if you go to a new comp., etc.
While I don't like all the stuff about DRM, iTunes' DRM policy is one that I can live with.
I have an iPod, 4 PCs and 1 Mac. I can share my library quite nicely, and I am able to use my iPod with them all. It works well, too. Well done Apple.
Is M$ perhaps feeling left out of the spotlight? Threatened that this 'thing' may revive Apple to the point that they have a Linux threat and a Mac threat to boot?
While Macs aren't for everyone (PCs have their place, and so do Macs.), I think if people compared some of the aspects of one to the other, Apple has appeal, and that worrys Microsoft. Why? Apple was dead, and now its alive, and now MS _must_ make their products better, cause the competition has returned on multiple fronts.
Sorry people, it was just an urge and I feel really stupid now, so I'm sorry!
Anyway, I am really glad to see this. I work at an ISP, and deal with a lot of these ad/mal/viral-ware that gets onto IE despite our best efforts. So, we have been deploying Mozilla Fire(something) and Thunderbird programs - and PEOPLE LOVE IT!
the materials that the school provided forced an atmosphere that "lets make this so easy that even the people who don't try/care can do it" which drove so many to boredom, that we just quit trying all together.
Kids like challenges, and enjoy overcoming something that they didn't know how to do. Math and science is just a playground full of things to learn. (or at least I looked at it that way)
I think kids should be _more_ challenged, and less kid-gloves and padded this and 'Addy-the-plus-sign' thinking. Tell the kids to build a box no higher than 2' tall and 4' wide. Watch them figure out how to use a ruler, find the materials, discover what they need to accomplish to do the task. More often than not, especially if you start at a young age, I think you will find that kids develop character traits such as teamwork, dilligence, abstract thinking. Maybe their box looks like a pile of wood at the end, but experience is much more valuable in this case.
To contrast, kids in the colonial times by the age of 12 knew how to read and write latin, knew right from wrong, and had already learned all the core mathematics, language mechanics, etc.
new high resolution, lightweight, affordable displays on their walls
No, my friend. When I have grandchildren, we will most likely have in air displays, or single glass-like panes that are suspended from weird places. Think StarWars, Minority Report, Halo, etc..
I am considering going after New Line and all for making movies of my books, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (perhaps you've heard of them?)
Those are my writings, printed without my permission, and so what if they have been printing for many years now and I haven't done anything about it, until this moment...
Lame.
To the writer of the article....
on
Message in a Battle
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
In my own personal opinion, I think the writer of the article didn't pay attention to the movies. (esp. LOTR: all three)
Speaking for myself, I have had great luck with QT6. I did do the evil deed of actually buying QT6Pro, but since then, I re-coded most of my movies into Mpeg-4, which, for me, who has a Mac, a Windows PC, 2 Linux PCs, (and a partridge in . . . ) has been really great to just watch it on anything - or edit it if I wished.
I have a Mitsubishi DLP projector, and me and my friends come over and watch movies on the wall (no screen yet $$) And QuickTime/MP4 is my choice. WMP just makes crap, or just crashes on any file over 700 Mb.
Out of curiosity and just how it fits in with all this, I use a voice recognition security system on my two main computers. What do I need to watch out for.
Does this fall into this obvious intrusion of freedom by a so-called protector? It just annoys me that they can do this and suddenly since it is for some better good or something, its ok. Thats what freaks me out.
I might as well leave all the doors unlocked and open.
In response to the argument microsoft is..not that bad.. Oh Yeah! Just look at those prices! Wow! Well over a hundred dollars for some program with 65,000 or so bugs! I am sure glad that they don't take the time, money, intelligence, money, innovation, money it takes to make a good friendly STABLE OS! I use M$ regularly, just because I can't afford a new G4 for my graphics and most of my customers use it as well. Linux ppl do not bash M$ for their "good" stuff (like dos)just for the hanusly stupid way they conduct themselves, stealing others technology and owning the market. They are in a good position to push for phenominal innovation. But why? They get more money from the upgrades! Jeez
I have to say that Netscape 6 is probably the fastest thing to land onmy desktop! I am using a windows98, 2 windowsnt, a linux server, and a linux workstation and I for one and impressed!
On both the windows machines, n6 screams faster than any other browser - even an average of 17 windows open at the same time. ( I love mutli-monitors )
Slashdot Mirror
Why is this on Slashdot? Is there no place left that politics has no grasp? These guys aren't even funny anymore.
As a former Mac Genius, I've denied coverage for an iMac machine that I'd say was 'smoked to death'. It was so pungent and strong, we could barely stand being in the closed-off Genius room (were we did our work). It was awful, and that was before we opened the machine. Cigarette smoke is tends to make the usual dust-bunnies way worse. They stick to everything. The machine was completely stained brown and had succumbed to horrible over heating. All the vents and passages were clogged with crap. I can't post the photos, but anyone who has worked on computers I think would agree. It was just disgusting.
Even the employees who were smokers agreed with the decision. I felt sorry for the customer - I really did - but ultimately he agreed and understood my decision (he wasn't particularly happy, but wasn't upset either).
I have nothing against people smoking for themselves. But its unreasonable to ask or force people to share in it.
Yeah, just buy more....
I've done the math and it would cost us an astronomical amount to 'upgrade' to Windows 7 - not to mention a far from consistent user experience. We're already trying to get the kids used to the XP Mac routine (which, they've taken the Mac up at an astonishing rate).
The worst part about the Windows 7 question is that (in our tests) less than half of our district software runs correctly, if at all, on Windows 7 (we've had it on some of our sandbox computers trying things out).
Our push is now going to publishers of curriculum books, math software especially, to go to web-based apps. Thats where the future is. Personally, I think we should be teaching kids to use the keyboard on how to enter math language, or learn to use a calculator as well - real world skills. I don't like that we're teaching them to use something that they will likely not find in the business world.
Are these tablets in use by the students (grades 6-12) or by teachers? Ours are used almost exclusively by students.
I thought of the Wacom solution as well, but, the problems become having a more complicated setup to be over-seen by a teacher with 28-36 students in a classroom that wasn't originally designed for computers. So, they have to be put away, charged, taken out and used the next period.
On the flip side, we also have a lot of Windows-only software (Fun with Construction, etc.). We have both Promethean and SMART boards as well - thankfully they work on Mac too, but Linux support needs to be looked at.
I'd really like to hear more about your program and the challenges you've encountered.... j o s h v o g e l g e s a n g ((( a ))) g m a i l . c o m
The hackintosh method has crossed my mind, but, obviously there is that little legal issue. :)
I work at a school district here in California that we've used OEM'd Gateway M285/M295 tablet PCs for a few years, and they've served their purpose. We've got hundreds of these units.
The good:
They do what they're advertised, and thats it. The math teachers like them, and thats about their only purpose.
The bad:
The drivers are funky. They seem to only work well with the factory image (LOADED with junkware). This makes creating and maintaining software images for the units cumbersome, not to mention the seemingly impossible task of finding a virgin version of WindowsXP Tablet Edition. The displays aren't very bright, which is painful in well-lit classrooms. The physical design (especially the keyboard) doesn't seem to hold well to a lot of use. Battery life is decent.
The worst:
The original OEM who we purchased them through has gone belly up. Even though our laptops had warranties, they all mean nothing now. Gateway doesn't support us. And the pens seem to fail at an alarming rate, and cost $79-99 each.
On the flipside, our district is moving to Mac, and thats been working very well. Apple's support for education makes you wonder why the rest of the industry hasn't caught up (its the customer, stupid!). We're at a standstill right now as to what to do with our aging tablets (that we get ZERO support for now). We don't want to get stuck in the same position as before, but Apple is also a proprietary system (but their support is awesome!!!).
I really, really like to see some good web-apps (ala Google Apps), or mutli-platform/open-source software that the students can use.
I think we are bound to see more and more of this, after all, in this day and age, parents get their kids a Wii/xBox,PSx/etc in lieu of more challenging and creative toys probably a lot of us grew up with like Legos, Lincoln logs, erector sets, . . . things that I think are challenging and engaging.
I'm proud for the kid in the sense that he put his mind to work, but at the same time, no points for lacking discretion, and a good sense of responsibility. And I don't think he should get a free pass just because he is a kid. If he is smart enough to do what he did, I think its entirely reasonable to assume that he had the capacity to know what the effects may be.
Maybe Apple should move to strike the class-action lawsuit, since it seems to *only* benefit the lawyers. I think they were hoping he would jump onboard and sign anything they threw at him saying he would get a lot of money back from the class action suit (like $0.01 for every dollar they got in reality). But when he didn't go with it, they are going after him since it leaves them out there with their pants down.
I think Apple should help this guy beat the lawyers, and get the C. A. suit dismissed. Probably be cheaper for them anyway. Give this guy some ammo to fight back, as, its in their best interest.
Thats what I think..
-Me
I know, and I did catch that. From a personal perspective, I know that paying a higher price doesn't get you a better product. But, you and I, and probably most Slashdot readers aren't really the 'mainstream' public that listen to the industrie's prop artists.
Their target I believe is young highschool-age/college-aged John Q Public, who buys $6.00 ringtones, and buys whatever cause he wants it, and just must have [Insert Band Here]'s latest album, or song he heard on the radio, to put on his ROKR or iPod. In other words, people who don't really think too much about what they are buying and from where.
Well, I think (see: hope) that people will avoid anything higher thatn $0.99 per track. It works, and its fair. Even from my favorite artists, I will not accept $1.99 a track, or anything above $0.99.
I think that ITMS has proven itself as a working model. Don't Mess With It!
If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
Heh, I think you are alone (or in a very very small percentage) for Firefox to be slow.
On all my machines in our offices, Firefox is pretty much the de'facto on speed. Mine is up nearly instantaneously, loads pages wickedly fast, and in general, runs fantastic in any of our Windows, Linux and Macintosh workstations.
Um, I don't know a ratio of Mac/Windows iPod users. I use mine on both.
For me, most of my music is from CD's I have purchased. (Not borrowed) The rest either came from the iTunes Music Store (spent $500 so far this year there; way more than I spent before in the store/year) or legitimately from mp3.com, when it was good. Anything else is my own stuff or things I have recorded in the studio for friends.
I think your logic is flawed.
QUOTE : "Part of the reason people steal music is money, but some of it is that the DRM stuff out there has not been that easy to use.
Found this quote interesting, does it really state that people want to use DRM to copy music at home, but can't quite figure out how to use it?"
No. Why is DRM hard to use? Cause they make it so! Windows License Manager for example, when you have songs imported via WMP have all these keys that need to be moved if you go to a new comp., etc.
While I don't like all the stuff about DRM, iTunes' DRM policy is one that I can live with.
I have an iPod, 4 PCs and 1 Mac. I can share my library quite nicely, and I am able to use my iPod with them all. It works well, too. Well done Apple.
Is M$ perhaps feeling left out of the spotlight? Threatened that this 'thing' may revive Apple to the point that they have a Linux threat and a Mac threat to boot?
While Macs aren't for everyone (PCs have their place, and so do Macs.), I think if people compared some of the aspects of one to the other, Apple has appeal, and that worrys Microsoft. Why? Apple was dead, and now its alive, and now MS _must_ make their products better, cause the competition has returned on multiple fronts.
My own $.02 anyway.
Sorry people, it was just an urge and I feel really stupid now, so I'm sorry!
Anyway, I am really glad to see this. I work at an ISP, and deal with a lot of these ad/mal/viral-ware that gets onto IE despite our best efforts. So, we have been deploying Mozilla Fire(something) and Thunderbird programs - and PEOPLE LOVE IT!
What makes them happy - makes me very happy!
oh wait . . . awwwwwww
the materials that the school provided forced an atmosphere that "lets make this so easy that even the people who don't try/care can do it" which drove so many to boredom, that we just quit trying all together.
Kids like challenges, and enjoy overcoming something that they didn't know how to do. Math and science is just a playground full of things to learn. (or at least I looked at it that way)
I think kids should be _more_ challenged, and less kid-gloves and padded this and 'Addy-the-plus-sign' thinking. Tell the kids to build a box no higher than 2' tall and 4' wide. Watch them figure out how to use a ruler, find the materials, discover what they need to accomplish to do the task. More often than not, especially if you start at a young age, I think you will find that kids develop character traits such as teamwork, dilligence, abstract thinking. Maybe their box looks like a pile of wood at the end, but experience is much more valuable in this case.
To contrast, kids in the colonial times by the age of 12 knew how to read and write latin, knew right from wrong, and had already learned all the core mathematics, language mechanics, etc.
My $.02
new high resolution, lightweight, affordable displays on their walls
No, my friend. When I have grandchildren, we will most likely have in air displays, or single glass-like panes that are suspended from weird places. Think StarWars, Minority Report, Halo, etc..
Agreed.
I have had only one problem with my Itunes for windows, its too easy to spend a bunch on music (I spent $120 on itunes last month!)
I also think that the sharing of playlists from different people over the network is really cool.
I am considering going after New Line and all for making movies of my books, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (perhaps you've heard of them?)
Those are my writings, printed without my permission, and so what if they have been printing for many years now and I haven't done anything about it, until this moment...
Lame.
In my own personal opinion, I think the writer of the article didn't pay attention to the movies. (esp. LOTR: all three)
.02.
With that, I'll say his opinion is lame.
Thats my thought..er,
Speaking for myself, I have had great luck with QT6. I did do the evil deed of actually buying QT6Pro, but since then, I re-coded most of my movies into Mpeg-4, which, for me, who has a Mac, a Windows PC, 2 Linux PCs, (and a partridge in . . . ) has been really great to just watch it on anything - or edit it if I wished.
I have a Mitsubishi DLP projector, and me and my friends come over and watch movies on the wall (no screen yet $$) And QuickTime/MP4 is my choice. WMP just makes crap, or just crashes on any file over 700 Mb.
just my 2 sense.
Out of curiosity and just how it fits in with all this, I use a voice recognition security system on my two main computers. What do I need to watch out for.
Does this fall into this obvious intrusion of freedom by a so-called protector? It just annoys me that they can do this and suddenly since it is for some better good or something, its ok. Thats what freaks me out.
I might as well leave all the doors unlocked and open.
In response to the argument microsoft is..not that bad.. Oh Yeah! Just look at those prices! Wow! Well over a hundred dollars for some program with 65,000 or so bugs! I am sure glad that they don't take the time, money, intelligence, money, innovation, money it takes to make a good friendly STABLE OS! I use M$ regularly, just because I can't afford a new G4 for my graphics and most of my customers use it as well. Linux ppl do not bash M$ for their "good" stuff (like dos)just for the hanusly stupid way they conduct themselves, stealing others technology and owning the market. They are in a good position to push for phenominal innovation. But why? They get more money from the upgrades! Jeez
I have to say that Netscape 6 is probably the fastest thing to land onmy desktop! I am using a windows98, 2 windowsnt, a linux server, and a linux workstation and I for one and impressed!
On both the windows machines, n6 screams faster than any other browser - even an average of 17 windows open at the same time. ( I love mutli-monitors )
Its pretty, but i would make some GUI changes.