Looks like M$ is trying to weed out the pirated copies of Office X by killing all known pirated serial numbers when you install this update. Either that or there are some serious bugs with the installer. See some complaints here.
While working as a field tech in '98 I had a lot of customers that were infected by the multiple varieties of autostart worms. It was the first Mac virus that I had seen with my own eyes. It spread itself around quickly in the graphic art community because of all the file sharing they do. MacAddict magazine also unintentionally helped spread the virus by including it on one of their monthly CDs. It was fairly easy to kill and helped sell a lot of Virus software.
Aside from rescuing my drowning Apple stock, I'm not concerned whether OS X is the "next big thing", rather, that it's my thing.
Since OS X came out, I have seen some changes that could be perceived as fodder for the "next big thing" argument, even here on Slashdot. For instance:
The reasons for these changes are, to be sure, numurous and loaded with opinion such as those in my own case: No more switching back and forth from Mac to Linux just to get a "full featured" desktop machine. Open a Word doc, make a movie, use your firewire and USB peripherals, surf with IE if you want, jump on the command line, drag and drop, run Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, Bash, Grep, etc.... All this and I get hardware that was designed as if someone read my mind (iBook).
Actually becoming the "next big thing" would be great for Apple and it's users but seeing how I've been waiting for years for the next Beatles and the next Michael Jordan, I'm not holding my breath.
Is there any way to legally set up a MP3 server in a company setting? Can you buy a site license for a music CD? Or better yet, register your company as some kind of radio station, broadcast all you want and then pay ASCAP and BMI fees. There has to be a way...
and how the hell did the RIAA find out about this server anyway?
Yahoo has really been on a money making spree of late. I suppose it's understandable with the current market and such but man, they are really sticking it to their users. I feel for them to some degree because they've been offering great services for free for a long time. I mean who doesn't use their maps on a regular basis?
What gets to me is my addiction to them. They got me hooked and now they're hitting me for the cash. I feel so dirty...
Maps, news, yellow pages, email, etc... These are still free and the things I use most. I'm most upset about the classified adds going from free to $24 per add. That's WAY too steep and now there are not enough adds to make it worth using even to search! What's wrong with $5 an add?
No, I think Yahoo has gone too far with their crack dealing MO. Eventually even an addict like me knows when to get clean. I can only take so many Britney adds and attempts to get my wallet. Yahoo has been demoted from my start page to my favorites bar but that may not be the end of it.
My favorite work montra is to "Document enough to put yourself out of a job". Meaning, write enough documentation so that anyone could walk in pick up where you left off.
I like HTML for documentation because...
- It's easy to work with and cross platform - Access it from any machine on your intranet (or internet if your brave) - Set up a standard documentation template to help keep everything uniform and to save time in creation - Use a scripting language to automate creation - Easy to convert to any other format - Easy backups at one location
I would suggest treating your documentation situation like any other important project. Give it some attention, milestones, priority, manpower, etc. Start by documenting your documentation process!
Hook this thing up with some memory, maybe a motion detector and a built in microphone and you have even more really interesting possibilities...
- Scare the hell out of kids on Halloween - some kind of simple alarm system (home, hotels, car, etc...) - Portable PA - a creepy doorbell - endless practical jokes
I would guess that it would be better for voice than for music because it would surely have little to no bass response but this thing could be pretty cool...
Unfortunately, I would, begrudgingly, disagree with this articles optimistic view of Linux on the desktop.
Don't misunderstand me, Linux has my complete faith. It's that I have no faith in the people making the company purchasing decisions that is the problem and that is where the Desktop war is won and lost. Too often this decision is being made by a SysAdmin that only learned NT in school (so guess what he'll be recommending for purchase).
As a devout Mac user, I can tell you that the power of FUD on top of a general fear of change, has kept Apple's market share were it is. You can see the power of these fears is STILL reflected in every Slashdot article about Apple (eg. one button mouse/too expensive/going out of business). I don't think that building better apps will solve the problem. The fact that the Mac has the important business applications (read MS office) does little to sway it's acceptance into the business desktop world.
As for the home user, most people I talk to use what they have at work either because it's what they know or because they can steal the software.
I would love to be wrong about this but in the mean time, it pleases me that there are people out there (and businesses too) that see through the crap and make Linux work for them as a Desktop. These are the people you want both to work for and working for you.
Some exec somewhere is reading this article and getting all excited about all the pirated TV shows on the web (these are pretty good numbers he thinks to himself). Then he reads, "...edits out the comercials..." and says with a wimper, "these bastards have no souls"...
I worked a summer in Mackinac, MI. They have HUGE flies that I was told were genetically altered and introduced to "deal" with the mosquito problem. They basically looked like really big house flies but they liked to bite! They were attracted to bright colors which was kind of fun because Mackinac is a tourist town (tourists are called fudgies) and as tourists are known to do, they wore really bright colors and well... you've seen Hitchcock's ""The Birds""... Guess science learns it's lessons like the rest of us...
The author would have Apple "sparing" with the current heavyweight champ in order to get him to fight harder? Like saying "Get in there and get your ass kicked so we can squeeze a little real innovation out of 'em".
No, I don't think so. Apple started turning itself around when it stopped competing with MS and started leading with it's strengths again. The PC war is over. MS beat us all but Apple is still (and always was) a better machine.
Innovation... Bill keeps using that word. I do not think it means what he thinks it means.
My theory has always been that in order to grow as a race, we need to keep humping until we're all the same color. This would, in theory, allow us to take the best from all races and cultures.
This article confuses me a bit and seems to border on bigotry for the sake of genealogy. I think MTV, with it's cultural influence and the reason for it's popularity, is a bigger threat to our evolution than the color of our skin.
Big shock that/.ers would be bitching about this device. It's not a Windows or Unix product so let the bashing begin. Sometimes it seems that/. is less like news for nerds and more like the nerds version of Oprah.
This isn't Apple's main product after all but an enhancement to their existing line just as all of the other "i" products and web services are.
If you don't own a Mac, then buy one of the other mp3 players... or maybe you should pull that half-hacked iOpener out of your closet and build your own (just like you said you would).
My first PowerBook was PB160. I loved that thing and used it as my main machine for years. In that time I upgraded it with a 180 daughter board, thus jacking it up to a whopping 33Mhz from 25! I found an illusive 56k modem built for it, jacked up the ram and started collecting dead PowerBooks for parts. I had a 150, two 160s, a 180 and a 165c. During that time, I saw many PowerBooks come and go but never could justify spending the money for a machine that was basically, a slower under featured version of the current desktops. This was also a "gray area" for Apple and a time where they didn't make their best machines. So, I ended up building a Desktop out of 7500 parts that I still use today for a server and giving my 160 to a friend.
Work loaned me an ibook 466s for about a year and was almost tempted to get one even though they were missing many features I wanted. Then I saw the new ibook...
This was the machine I have been waiting for all of my life!
Small: like the DUO, it is easy to get around with and not as bulky as the Ti-book.
Light: I laugh at my Girlfriend's Dell Inspiron 7000 on a daily basis.
Solid: Like the 5xx series, this thing feels like a tank.
10x7 screen - This is a must!
Fast: 500Mhz G3 is plenty fast enough for almost anything
Firewire, USB, Video out, RGB out, Ethernet, CDRW, DVD...
Airport: - You'll NEVER go back.
And it's just damn cool looking.
Sure you can knock it for its small 10GB HD but you can put a bigger one in yourself and new versions have bigger drives. The screen is small but I want a small machine so...
The point to all of this is that Apple, IMHO, has created the best Notebook EVER. This thing is the greatest.
MacOS X is the future of the Unix Desktop. It has the apps, DVD, audio, video, games and some of the best hardware (ibook my personal favorite) ever. My Granny can install it. It's cute. It will require some updates and fixes but it's getting there.
Linux is my favorite server ever. I am perfectly happy cranking up my SuSE driven PC and letting it run for a year or two.
Personally, I can't understand why anyone would use Microsoft Servers.
Linux will never be a better desktop machine than Mac or Windows... until the desktop changes. I love Linux but it drives me up a wall a lot of the times. It's not it's fault. I am to blame. I keep desperately trying to make it something it just is NOT... a desktop. But I try and try maybe because I refuse to run a Windows machine in my house or maybe it's because it reminds me of the early days of my Mac. Mac users have suffered long and hard with market share, software and constent abuse (and this was long before the internet offered up so many resources). No, the truth is the Mac is and always has been the best desktop machine in the world and market share doesn't mean shit. If it did, Britney Spears would be considered the best musician on the planet. No, Mac is best and Linux is my favorite server in the world. I do love it so.
Oh and by the way, what I meant about the desktop changing is we'll all be on web pads in a few years anyway and Linux is sure to be an interesting choice for the operating system of choice but until then, buy a Mac and serve it on Linux.
I'm not sure I want to see you freaks face to face. I mean, It's nice knowing I have at least 100 feet of cable between us. It's like a binkey to me. And suppose you found out I mostly post from my Mac! Eegads!
Slashdot Mirror
Looks like M$ is trying to weed out the pirated copies of Office X by killing all known pirated serial numbers when you install this update. Either that or there are some serious bugs with the installer. See some complaints here.
While working as a field tech in '98 I had a lot of customers that were infected by the multiple varieties of autostart worms. It was the first Mac virus that I had seen with my own eyes. It spread itself around quickly in the graphic art community because of all the file sharing they do. MacAddict magazine also unintentionally helped spread the virus by including it on one of their monthly CDs. It was fairly easy to kill and helped sell a lot of Virus software.
Since OS X came out, I have seen some changes that could be perceived as fodder for the "next big thing" argument, even here on Slashdot. For instance:
The reasons for these changes are, to be sure, numurous and loaded with opinion such as those in my own case: No more switching back and forth from Mac to Linux just to get a "full featured" desktop machine. Open a Word doc, make a movie, use your firewire and USB peripherals, surf with IE if you want, jump on the command line, drag and drop, run Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, Bash, Grep, etc.... All this and I get hardware that was designed as if someone read my mind (iBook).
Actually becoming the "next big thing" would be great for Apple and it's users but seeing how I've been waiting for years for the next Beatles and the next Michael Jordan, I'm not holding my breath.
Oddly, this is exactly the same amount of time it would take M$ to apologize to everyone they have screwed over the years.
here's a link to the /. story about Hubbard joining Apple . (not much of a read though...)
Is there any way to legally set up a MP3 server in a company setting? Can you buy a site license for a music CD? Or better yet, register your company as some kind of radio station, broadcast all you want and then pay ASCAP and BMI fees. There has to be a way...
and how the hell did the RIAA find out about this server anyway?
More Apple FUD from the king of trolls...
Yahoo has really been on a money making spree of late. I suppose it's understandable with the current market and such but man, they are really sticking it to their users. I feel for them to some degree because they've been offering great services for free for a long time. I mean who doesn't use their maps on a regular basis?
What gets to me is my addiction to them. They got me hooked and now they're hitting me for the cash. I feel so dirty...
Maps, news, yellow pages, email, etc... These are still free and the things I use most. I'm most upset about the classified adds going from free to $24 per add. That's WAY too steep and now there are not enough adds to make it worth using even to search! What's wrong with $5 an add?
No, I think Yahoo has gone too far with their crack dealing MO. Eventually even an addict like me knows when to get clean. I can only take so many Britney adds and attempts to get my wallet. Yahoo has been demoted from my start page to my favorites bar but that may not be the end of it.
My favorite work montra is to "Document enough to put yourself out of a job". Meaning, write enough documentation so that anyone could walk in pick up where you left off.
I like HTML for documentation because...
- It's easy to work with and cross platform
- Access it from any machine on your intranet (or internet if your brave)
- Set up a standard documentation template to help keep everything uniform and to save time in creation
- Use a scripting language to automate creation
- Easy to convert to any other format
- Easy backups at one location
I would suggest treating your documentation situation like any other important project. Give it some attention, milestones, priority, manpower, etc. Start by documenting your documentation process!
Hook this thing up with some memory, maybe a motion detector and a built in microphone and you have even more really interesting possibilities...
- Scare the hell out of kids on Halloween
- some kind of simple alarm system (home, hotels, car, etc...)
- Portable PA
- a creepy doorbell
- endless practical jokes
I would guess that it would be better for voice than for music because it would surely have little to no bass response but this thing could be pretty cool...
Unfortunately, I would, begrudgingly, disagree with this articles optimistic view of Linux on the desktop.
Don't misunderstand me, Linux has my complete faith. It's that I have no faith in the people making the company purchasing decisions that is the problem and that is where the Desktop war is won and lost. Too often this decision is being made by a SysAdmin that only learned NT in school (so guess what he'll be recommending for purchase).
As a devout Mac user, I can tell you that the power of FUD on top of a general fear of change, has kept Apple's market share were it is. You can see the power of these fears is STILL reflected in every Slashdot article about Apple (eg. one button mouse/too expensive/going out of business). I don't think that building better apps will solve the problem. The fact that the Mac has the important business applications (read MS office) does little to sway it's acceptance into the business desktop world.
As for the home user, most people I talk to use what they have at work either because it's what they know or because they can steal the software.
I would love to be wrong about this but in the mean time, it pleases me that there are people out there (and businesses too) that see through the crap and make Linux work for them as a Desktop. These are the people you want both to work for and working for you.
Some exec somewhere is reading this article and getting all excited about all the pirated TV shows on the web (these are pretty good numbers he thinks to himself). Then he reads, "...edits out the comercials..." and says with a wimper, "these bastards have no souls"...
I worked a summer in Mackinac, MI. They have HUGE flies that I was told were genetically altered and introduced to "deal" with the mosquito problem. They basically looked like really big house flies but they liked to bite! They were attracted to bright colors which was kind of fun because Mackinac is a tourist town (tourists are called fudgies) and as tourists are known to do, they wore really bright colors and well... you've seen Hitchcock's ""The Birds""... Guess science learns it's lessons like the rest of us...
I have a hard time rationalizing the expulsion of an entire cultures email rights in the states because of some bad seeds... but MAN do I hate SPAM.
Does this mean free email accounts (like Yahoo or Hotmail) will get a bunch of the email refugees from these afflicted regions?
The argument here is a little absurd.
The author would have Apple "sparing" with the current heavyweight champ in order to get him to fight harder? Like saying "Get in there and get your ass kicked so we can squeeze a little real innovation out of 'em".
No, I don't think so. Apple started turning itself around when it stopped competing with MS and started leading with it's strengths again. The PC war is over. MS beat us all but Apple is still (and always was) a better machine.
Innovation... Bill keeps using that word. I do not think it means what he thinks it means.
...
My theory has always been that in order to grow as a race, we need to keep humping until we're all the same color. This would, in theory, allow us to take the best from all races and cultures.
This article confuses me a bit and seems to border on bigotry for the sake of genealogy. I think MTV, with it's cultural influence and the reason for it's popularity, is a bigger threat to our evolution than the color of our skin.
At least we'll moving up from 3rd planet, all the way up to number one! Mother Earth will be so proud...
Please let it have Newton type handwriting recognition... Palm's sucks...
Big shock that /.ers would be bitching about this device. It's not a Windows or Unix product so let the bashing begin. Sometimes it seems that /. is less like news for nerds and more like the nerds version of Oprah.
This isn't Apple's main product after all but an enhancement to their existing line just as all of the other "i" products and web services are.
If you don't own a Mac, then buy one of the other mp3 players... or maybe you should pull that half-hacked iOpener out of your closet and build your own (just like you said you would).
When you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
My first PowerBook was PB160. I loved that thing and used it as my main machine for years. In that time I upgraded it with a 180 daughter board, thus jacking it up to a whopping 33Mhz from 25! I found an illusive 56k modem built for it, jacked up the ram and started collecting dead PowerBooks for parts. I had a 150, two 160s, a 180 and a 165c. During that time, I saw many PowerBooks come and go but never could justify spending the money for a machine that was basically, a slower under featured version of the current desktops. This was also a "gray area" for Apple and a time where they didn't make their best machines. So, I ended up building a Desktop out of 7500 parts that I still use today for a server and giving my 160 to a friend.
Work loaned me an ibook 466s for about a year and was almost tempted to get one even though they were missing many features I wanted. Then I saw the new ibook...
This was the machine I have been waiting for all of my life!
Small: like the DUO, it is easy to get around with and not as bulky as the Ti-book.
Light: I laugh at my Girlfriend's Dell Inspiron 7000 on a daily basis.
Solid: Like the 5xx series, this thing feels like a tank.
10x7 screen - This is a must!
Fast: 500Mhz G3 is plenty fast enough for almost anything
Firewire, USB, Video out, RGB out, Ethernet, CDRW, DVD...
Airport: - You'll NEVER go back.
And it's just damn cool looking.
Sure you can knock it for its small 10GB HD but you can put a bigger one in yourself and new versions have bigger drives. The screen is small but I want a small machine so...
The point to all of this is that Apple, IMHO, has created the best Notebook EVER. This thing is the greatest.
Here's what I think...
MacOS X is the future of the Unix Desktop. It has the apps, DVD, audio, video, games and some of the best hardware (ibook my personal favorite) ever. My Granny can install it. It's cute. It will require some updates and fixes but it's getting there.
Linux is my favorite server ever. I am perfectly happy cranking up my SuSE driven PC and letting it run for a year or two.
Personally, I can't understand why anyone would use Microsoft Servers.
Microsoft makes some great Mac software.
Tommy Boy is a funny movie.
Eggs are good.
Spunk
Don't they know the Borg are the bad guys? Or do they see themselves as the Borg chick with the big boobs and heart of gold?
Linux will never be a better desktop machine than Mac or Windows... until the desktop changes.
I love Linux but it drives me up a wall a lot of the times. It's not it's fault. I am to blame. I keep desperately trying to make it something it just is NOT... a desktop. But I try and try maybe because I refuse to run a Windows machine in my house or maybe it's because it reminds me of the early days of my Mac. Mac users have suffered long and hard with market share, software and constent abuse (and this was long before the internet offered up so many resources).
No, the truth is the Mac is and always has been the best desktop machine in the world and market share doesn't mean shit. If it did, Britney Spears would be considered the best musician on the planet. No, Mac is best and Linux is my favorite server in the world. I do love it so.
Oh and by the way, what I meant about the desktop changing is we'll all be on web pads in a few years anyway and Linux is sure to be an interesting choice for the operating system of choice but until then, buy a Mac and serve it on Linux.
I'm not sure I want to see you freaks face to face. I mean, It's nice knowing I have at least 100 feet of cable between us. It's like a binkey to me. And suppose you found out I mostly post from my Mac! Eegads!
Spunk