Moreover, the blog is hosted at the BlogSpot network owned by Microsoft's enemy, Google Inc. I'm not sure what they're implying here. Are they saying that because Google is a major competitor with Microsoft, then they encourage anti-Microsoft content on Blogger? Or that only anti-Microsoft people would use Blogger? AFAIK, Google doesn't review and approve every single post, so what does this have to do with anything?
IANAL, but this seems like a slippery slope. Suppose you've extensively modified your Ford vehicle, so it looks much different than a stock model. Does Ford still claim to own the images of a design they aren't fully responsible for? If so, what about NASCAR? Do FOX and ESPN have to start paying a royalty to Ford because their broadcasts of NASCAR races show images of *heavily* modified Ford designs?
There's a goldmine out their awaiting some entrepreneur who could really take pride in writing good software of this sort This is exactly what I've been doing for the last 8 months. I'm being paid by a neurologist to develop a system to run his practice. What I've built is a LAMP framework that can be adapted to any medical practice. It's entirely paperless, replaces faxing, automates a ton of stuff currently done by secretaries, and meets all the requirements for electronic records set out by The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. I'm developing the whole thing on my own (so far), and although I'm not a brilliant programmer, it's faster, more secure, more scalable, and more platform independent, and way more intuitive than anything that's currently being used at any hospital in our city.
We're in beta testing with actual patients now and my boss is bankrolling us into starting a company to sell the software and other medical-related IT solutions to local doctors (many of whom have horribly inefficient offices and don't fully realize it). I'm hoping we can expand beyond just local doctors, because it is a huge market and the best anyone else seems to be doing (around southern Ontario at least) is holding seminars to talk about how technology could be used to enhance medical practice someday.
Good luck. I listen to Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown every day, and apparently even well-known, award-winning air talent doesn't have any level of access to Uncle Ted or the 10th floor of the Rogers building. McCown claims he's never met Ted Rogers in the ~10 years he's been working for him. I imagine his office is like something out of the movie "Sneakers".
I believe it was Primus who covered the song on "Miscellaneous Debris", which was their album of mostly cover songs, including Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" and XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel". I have no idea why I remember THAT, but have forgotten most of the stuff I learned in college. Anyways, the version in GH3 is not Primus. I know, because I almost threw the controller at my TV the other night trying unsuccessfully to beat it on medium.
In response to the OP, even if The Romantics didn't know what Guitar Hero was, you'd think they'd find out before granting the rights to Red Octane/Activision/Whoever.
This is a little off-topic because it's more to do with hardware, but the OP's comment reminded me of a moment this week where it struck me how technology has progressed. A co-worker and I were trying to think up a use for an old G3 iMac we have, maybe turn it into an all-in-one Wii console, or a DVD jukebox with all 7 seasons of Star Trek TNG (yeah we're huge nerds). I thought to myself "Wow, not quite 10 years ago, this piece of junk that we're thinking of making a glorified toy out of, was one hell of a computer system." I remember when I used to dream of being able to afford a G3 iMac, with all that PowerPC horsepower and a whopping 128 MB of RAM, and here we were deciding whether to tear it apart to make some gadget with, or hock it for $50 on eBay.
I couldn't help think about my boss' new MacBook Pro. He got the 2.4 Ghz model with maxed RAM and all the upgrades. It must have cost him over $5000, but boy that thing screams. But 10 years from now, I imagine it'll be much like the G3 iMac is today. A crappy old relic that can't run anything at a decent speed and has very little resale value.
I think we who work in the IT field often take for granted the technological leaps and bounds that are made, and often times we don't think very far ahead. The G3 iMac was derided for not having a floppy drive. Sounds pretty ridiculous now, doesn't it? I love the little moments like that, where I think about the possibilities for the future, when teenagers are mocking us for still using IM software and someone reading an archive of this post says to themselves "$5000 for a MacBook Pro? That's hilarious!". (Yes, I realize there are some who would say that now, but you see the point I'm trying to make). That sense of wonder is why I, and probably many of you, got into IT in the first place.
You're assuming that politicians understand the situation or even want to understand it. No, it's more of the same B.S. from the old farts in charge who are completely out of touch with just about everyone else. They find one topic that for some reason offends their morals, and decide it's high time they impose their twisted ethics on the people they're supposed to represent. Aren't they there to speak for the majority, not tell the majority what is and isn't right? Does the majority in MA support excessive punishment for what many would say is not even a crime? Did anybody even ask or take a vote?
For years there has been a lot of support here in Canada for the legalization of marijuana, but it remains illegal. Why? Alcohol and tobacco are somehow legal. Your doctor can prescribe mind-altering drugs that destroy your liver and that's legal. If you took a vote, I'm sure most Canadians would choose marijuana to be legal over tobacco. So why isn't it? (NOTE: I'm not a user of marijuana or alcohol, I just think the current US/Canada policy on marijuana is beyond stupid).
A group of out of touch politicians dictating their will to the people doesn't sound like a "democracy" to me. It seems yet again like the people in charge are living in some alternate reality and most people are too apathetic to do anything about it.
Re:Foie Gras is some nasty shit...
on
Chefs As Chemists
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· Score: -1, Offtopic
That's absolutely disgusting.
I'm no biologist, but isn't the liver essentially the organ that filters all the toxins out of the bloodstream? Why would you want to eat that in the first place, let alone purposely make it swollen and diseased first? And the way they do it...how is that even legal? You'd be looking at jail time if you did that to a lot of other animals.
Agreed. I only have a 15 km (one-way) drive to my job and AT LEAST once a day I see someone almost hit my car, or someone else's car, or a pedestrian, or a lamppost, or drive up on the curb, or drift over the line into oncoming traffic, or swerve back and forth in their lane (like they're drunk), or try to turn from a non-turning lane, or ride their brakes on country road, doing 40 in a 60 zone and holding up traffic, and I could go on. The common theme? They're almost ALWAYS yapping on a cellphone. Occasionally it's a little old lady, propagating the stereotype, or some middle aged soccer mom doing her hair in the mirror and drinking a Starbuck's and apparently steering with her knees, but usually it's some idiot on their phone.
A couple weeks ago, driving home from work, my co-worker and I spotted some dude READING A NEWSPAPER while driving on a 4-lane, 80 km/hr road DURING RUSH HOUR. Anyone remember that road rage film Marge has to watch in the episode of The Simpsons where she gets a Canyonero? None of those characters seem as funny anymore, because I've seen people doing most of that stuff. I don't even live in a big city, I can't imagine how bad it is in New York or LA or someplace. Yikes!
This is totally off-topic, but I don't remember anyone asking me or any other tax-paying Canadians if we approved of a tax on our iPods.
AFAIK, legally, corporations have all the rights that a person does. They are essentially a "person". You're a person too, try going to the government and demanding they do anything and see where you get. I remember 10 or 15 years ago, almost half the population of Quebec (that's ~3 million people) wanted to separate from Canada, which ended up in a referendum on the matter. Yet, a handful of "people" in the form of record labels can go to the government, ask for something, and get it without it even being mentioned on the evening news.
In a way, I don't blame the corporations. A corporation is a greedy, socially dysfunctional "person". That's their nature. No, I blame the politicians and lawmakers for being equally greedy, and us regular citizens for not holding them accountable in any meaningful way (i.e. bitching about it on internet messageboards, then paying the tax or obeying the new draconian law or voting Conservative or whatever anyways). We're a continent of pussies, allowing ourselves to be ruled by some of the most fucked up people you could possibly find to put in charge of things. We're all guilty. This record labels vs. the world stuff is just a microcosm.
I think the argument with guitar tabs *used* to be that legitimate publishers of tab books would lose out because people could get tabs that were accurate enough for free online. I've played guitar for 15 years, and spent lots of time in guitar shops. I've never seen ANYONE buy one of those tab books. You can go into a guitar shop and look at the rack of tab books, then go back in 5 years and see all the same ones with more dust on them. This has been going on since before there were thousands of tab websites around.
I don't know what the argument against tab sites is NOW, but from my understanding of IP/Copyright laws, corporations don't actually NEED valid reasons to harass and sue people.
"if exposure to the game is the problem, then consider it as unsolved as ever"
Yeah, until they introduce a bill to make it a felony to use parental discretion and buy whatever video games you see fit for your children. Followed shortly thereafter by the bill to prevent pregnant women from playing violent video games because it may give the unborn fetus unwholesome thoughts. Followed shortly by the bill to prevent grown men from playing violent video games because some questionable scientific paper will claim it may make them produce "violent sperm" that will develop babies with violent tendencies should it fertilize an egg. Followed by a ban on the phrase "violent video games" because it might cause some people to have thoughts of "illegal activities" (which would conveniently make it a crime to challenge the "v*****t v***o g***s" legislation without using indirectly, flimsy language).
I can't believe Gates or anyone else actually expected tablet PCs to take off, especially with people in IT that attend conferences and expos that Bill Gates appears at. Personally, I can type WAY faster than I can write (which is probably true for most techie sorts), my computer doesn't have to try to "interpret" my typing like it would with writing (less software getting in your way), and I don't have a stylus to lose. Oh, and when you have to spend about double the price of a nice new laptop for what's essentially a laptop with a swiveling touch-screen, that's a bit of a turn-off too. It amazes me that giant companies like Microsoft manage to remain in business when they're so clueless about what their customers want. Imagine this scenario:
Retail Associate: "Hi, I see you're looking at the Fujitsu XYZ-1000 laptop there, have you seen the XYZ-1000T?" Customer: "No, what's that?" R.A.: "Well, it's a very similar computer to this one, but it's a tablet PC" C: "What's that mean?" R.A: "It means that it's a little slower and less capable, but the screen swivels and rotates and you can write on it" C: "Slower? Less capable?" *STRIKE ONE* R.A.: "Yes, but the handwriting interface is really neat-o, once you learn to use the digital ink software..." C: "I have to learn new software?" *STRIKE TWO* R.A.: "Well, yes, but it's really keen! See, watch as I...oh..um..it looks like I broke the swivel joint on the screen..." C: "How much does this monstrosity cost?" R.A.: "Eighty-thousand dollars." C: "Eighty-thousand dollars?! This monstrosity costs eighty-thousand dollars? I'm ruined!" *STRIKE THREE*
Alright, so I may have borrowed some dialogue...but I've made my point.
"Is this an accurate report?" isn't a "dumb" question. It's more of an obvious, first-thing-anyone-with-half-a-brain-would-ask sort of question. Heaven forbid anyone ever waste time and resources, lose money, or even get killed because some idiot was too lazy, stupid, or uninformed to bother fact-checking (or was aware of the facts and disregarded them). Oh wait...all that stuff that happened over the course of history up to this point...yeah...hmm...
People having knee-jerk reactions to news before (or without ever) checking it's accuracy is NOT limited to the stock market my friend...
These students (and probably several posts appearing in this thread) have just given eBay some free, valuable market research. Pay attention:
1. eBay has great brand awareness. People know about it, and the opinion is generally positive. Hell, it can't be too negative if a bunch of programmer (lazy) students (even lazier) are writing software on their time to access eBay features.
2. Users LOATHE ads. This should be obvious. Is it just me, or are advertisements starting to have a reverse effect? You see an advertisement or commercial spot, and suddenly you're pissed off at the company in question for ramming advertising down your throat and find yourself not wanting to buy whatever they're selling, even if you need it.
3. eBay's "gallery" view stuff hurts the overall user experience. I understand they want to make more money, but the fact that one of the first things these programmers bypassed is the gallery exclusion garbage is very telling. People don't want to click through even 1 or 2 things to see a picture of an item. They want to see it immediately, particularly those who haven't the foggiest about web design, image hosting, or listing fees. That group most likely has no idea why there's so much inconsistency between item listings on eBay, and it's a matter of confusion on an already intimidating (to a new user) website.
It should also tell eBay something about itself. eBay has been around for something like 11 years, Firefox for 5 or 6, and it's been quite popular for the last couple of years (read: other big companies have been producing toolbars for Firefox without much problem). Why did this even have to happen? Get with it eBay...
Speaking as a partner in a paperless office solutions company, I can understand why employers are less willing to fork over $20+/hr to MCSEs. I'm trying not to paint everyone with the same brush here, but it's been my personal experience that the majority of MCSEs I've dealt with are skilled MICROSOFT people, not necessarily skilled COMPUTER people. I know some skilled computer people who can make my head spin when they get talking about tech-related things, and I'm an experienced programmer/DB/IT guy. They easily apply what they already know to new things and adapt when needed.
MCSEs I've encountered generally seem to have a limited understanding of underlying technology and principles. They have a vague idea of what the problem is, and know how to apply Microsoft solutions to solve(?) it. Throw another piece of software at them that solves the same problem and works very similarly to Microsoft's solution, and they get that "deer in the headlights" look.
Granted, you'd probably run into the same thing with any tech who has more vendor-specific training than general domain knowledge, but it's much more apparent with MCSEs because you encounter them much more often (depending on your line of work). From an employer's standpoint, I can empathize with those who don't want to pay an MCSE $20+/hr.
"Service Temporarily Unavailable The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."
I'm worried that someone will try to claim prior art though...:S
Yes they are. This year I believe they distributed coins with pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness. I mean, I'm all for remembering the sacrifices of our veterans and fighting breast cancer, but I can't help thinking: "Man, our money is so GAY!"
As a sidenote, we Canadians do have both Second Cup and (Star|Four|Six)buck's (whichever "crack in a cup" refers to). They're generally found in malls and shopping centres (not standalone stores) and mainly popular with fancy lads who make their own soap. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but this isn't much different from how it is south of the 49th...
Why should people think anyone that talks about guns is going to go on a killing rampage. If they were going to go kill people, the probably wouldn't be talking openly about guns!!
Good point. You ever notice that the real nutjobs out there that walk into some public area and spray bullets all over the place are always described as "quiet" and "shy" and "oh my, he never talked about guns" and "gee, it's so surprising because he was a really nice boy" etc etc..
I can't remember one time when they talked to people who knew one of these mass murderers after the fact and they've said anything remotely like "well, he did talk about guns a lot" and "he went to the shooting range every week".
I mean seriously, if you were planning to commit such a terrible crime, or any crime for that matter, would you let any details out before you did it? Why would you risk getting busted before the fact? Don't they teach "think like a criminal" to law enforcement anymore?
Actually, I don't suppose they could...then they'd have to march every new graduate right off the dais and into a paddywagon for "criminal thoughts".
I have a G4 iBook with this exact problem. So far I've:
1. Done the "shim" method, taking the case apart and sticking a non-conductive material between the metal shield and the logic board where the IC in question is located. This got the computer booting, but it still freezes randomly.
2. Had a microwave/TV technician reflow the solder points around the IC in question. It still wouldn't boot without the shim. It still freezes randomly even with the shim inserted.
3. Replaced the fan. I thought perhaps the system was overheating. I noticed that I'd never heard the fan come on. I replaced it with a known-working part, the fan still never comes on. The CPU can reach temperatures up to 75 degrees without the fan activating (then it usually freezes).
It's really too bad, because I love the form factor and battery life of the 12" G4 iBook, but as it is, it's unusable for anything even remotely serious (like my job). I've got my fingers crossed that Apple unveils a new Intel based sub-notebook (that isn't seriously flawed) for about oh, maybe $1000 Canadian, then I can wash my hands of the iBook and it's problems once and for all.
P.S. I do realize that if Apple were to release such a sub-notebook, it would probably retail for about the same price as a MacBook Pro ($2700 Canadian) for no apparent reason other than "it's cool". Such is life in our western consumer culture.
You're assuming that the same consumers who know the ill effects of fast food, yet eat it regularly, or know about the sweatshop labour and worker exploitation, but still shop at Wal-Mart, would make rational decisions about complex electronics equipment.
Remember, you're a relatively intellectual person who apparently reads about Linux and posts on Slashdot. There are a LOT of people out there who are more primal and would buy that cheap, leaky car because "it's red" and that makes them feel good. And that's to say nothing of the "I don't want to spend a lot of money, I just want it to work" factor that creates a market for $400 PCs at Best Buy. You and I might know they're crap, but to most people, they're a computer that will do "E-Mail" and "Word" for $400.
"Why on earth would anyone spend $1000+ on a computer when you can get one for $400? Hey, it even includes a FREE PRINTER! That way I can keep a PERMANENT record of all those E-Mails I get!"
"I'm sorry your honor, I'd like to request a brief recess so that I can bone the prosecution behind my assistant DA/girlfriend's back."
"Very well, Mr.McCoy, but I'll remind you that this is a high-profile, ripped-from-the-headlines case that will decide the fate of alleged child pornographers for years to come, and I--Mr.McCoy, could you at least wait until the courtroom has been cleared?"
Yes, it's offtopic, but have you ever WATCHED that show?
Slashdot Mirror
IANAL, but this seems like a slippery slope. Suppose you've extensively modified your Ford vehicle, so it looks much different than a stock model. Does Ford still claim to own the images of a design they aren't fully responsible for? If so, what about NASCAR? Do FOX and ESPN have to start paying a royalty to Ford because their broadcasts of NASCAR races show images of *heavily* modified Ford designs?
And let's hope you're the last to say it. Ever. About anything.
We're in beta testing with actual patients now and my boss is bankrolling us into starting a company to sell the software and other medical-related IT solutions to local doctors (many of whom have horribly inefficient offices and don't fully realize it). I'm hoping we can expand beyond just local doctors, because it is a huge market and the best anyone else seems to be doing (around southern Ontario at least) is holding seminars to talk about how technology could be used to enhance medical practice someday.
Good luck. I listen to Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown every day, and apparently even well-known, award-winning air talent doesn't have any level of access to Uncle Ted or the 10th floor of the Rogers building. McCown claims he's never met Ted Rogers in the ~10 years he's been working for him. I imagine his office is like something out of the movie "Sneakers".
I believe it was Primus who covered the song on "Miscellaneous Debris", which was their album of mostly cover songs, including Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" and XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel". I have no idea why I remember THAT, but have forgotten most of the stuff I learned in college. Anyways, the version in GH3 is not Primus. I know, because I almost threw the controller at my TV the other night trying unsuccessfully to beat it on medium.
In response to the OP, even if The Romantics didn't know what Guitar Hero was, you'd think they'd find out before granting the rights to Red Octane/Activision/Whoever.
This is a little off-topic because it's more to do with hardware, but the OP's comment reminded me of a moment this week where it struck me how technology has progressed. A co-worker and I were trying to think up a use for an old G3 iMac we have, maybe turn it into an all-in-one Wii console, or a DVD jukebox with all 7 seasons of Star Trek TNG (yeah we're huge nerds). I thought to myself "Wow, not quite 10 years ago, this piece of junk that we're thinking of making a glorified toy out of, was one hell of a computer system." I remember when I used to dream of being able to afford a G3 iMac, with all that PowerPC horsepower and a whopping 128 MB of RAM, and here we were deciding whether to tear it apart to make some gadget with, or hock it for $50 on eBay.
I couldn't help think about my boss' new MacBook Pro. He got the 2.4 Ghz model with maxed RAM and all the upgrades. It must have cost him over $5000, but boy that thing screams. But 10 years from now, I imagine it'll be much like the G3 iMac is today. A crappy old relic that can't run anything at a decent speed and has very little resale value.
I think we who work in the IT field often take for granted the technological leaps and bounds that are made, and often times we don't think very far ahead. The G3 iMac was derided for not having a floppy drive. Sounds pretty ridiculous now, doesn't it? I love the little moments like that, where I think about the possibilities for the future, when teenagers are mocking us for still using IM software and someone reading an archive of this post says to themselves "$5000 for a MacBook Pro? That's hilarious!". (Yes, I realize there are some who would say that now, but you see the point I'm trying to make). That sense of wonder is why I, and probably many of you, got into IT in the first place.
You're assuming that politicians understand the situation or even want to understand it. No, it's more of the same B.S. from the old farts in charge who are completely out of touch with just about everyone else. They find one topic that for some reason offends their morals, and decide it's high time they impose their twisted ethics on the people they're supposed to represent. Aren't they there to speak for the majority, not tell the majority what is and isn't right? Does the majority in MA support excessive punishment for what many would say is not even a crime? Did anybody even ask or take a vote?
For years there has been a lot of support here in Canada for the legalization of marijuana, but it remains illegal. Why? Alcohol and tobacco are somehow legal. Your doctor can prescribe mind-altering drugs that destroy your liver and that's legal. If you took a vote, I'm sure most Canadians would choose marijuana to be legal over tobacco. So why isn't it? (NOTE: I'm not a user of marijuana or alcohol, I just think the current US/Canada policy on marijuana is beyond stupid).
A group of out of touch politicians dictating their will to the people doesn't sound like a "democracy" to me. It seems yet again like the people in charge are living in some alternate reality and most people are too apathetic to do anything about it.
That's absolutely disgusting.
I'm no biologist, but isn't the liver essentially the organ that filters all the toxins out of the bloodstream? Why would you want to eat that in the first place, let alone purposely make it swollen and diseased first? And the way they do it...how is that even legal? You'd be looking at jail time if you did that to a lot of other animals.
Agreed. I only have a 15 km (one-way) drive to my job and AT LEAST once a day I see someone almost hit my car, or someone else's car, or a pedestrian, or a lamppost, or drive up on the curb, or drift over the line into oncoming traffic, or swerve back and forth in their lane (like they're drunk), or try to turn from a non-turning lane, or ride their brakes on country road, doing 40 in a 60 zone and holding up traffic, and I could go on. The common theme? They're almost ALWAYS yapping on a cellphone. Occasionally it's a little old lady, propagating the stereotype, or some middle aged soccer mom doing her hair in the mirror and drinking a Starbuck's and apparently steering with her knees, but usually it's some idiot on their phone.
A couple weeks ago, driving home from work, my co-worker and I spotted some dude READING A NEWSPAPER while driving on a 4-lane, 80 km/hr road DURING RUSH HOUR. Anyone remember that road rage film Marge has to watch in the episode of The Simpsons where she gets a Canyonero? None of those characters seem as funny anymore, because I've seen people doing most of that stuff. I don't even live in a big city, I can't imagine how bad it is in New York or LA or someplace. Yikes!
This is totally off-topic, but I don't remember anyone asking me or any other tax-paying Canadians if we approved of a tax on our iPods.
AFAIK, legally, corporations have all the rights that a person does. They are essentially a "person". You're a person too, try going to the government and demanding they do anything and see where you get. I remember 10 or 15 years ago, almost half the population of Quebec (that's ~3 million people) wanted to separate from Canada, which ended up in a referendum on the matter. Yet, a handful of "people" in the form of record labels can go to the government, ask for something, and get it without it even being mentioned on the evening news.
In a way, I don't blame the corporations. A corporation is a greedy, socially dysfunctional "person". That's their nature. No, I blame the politicians and lawmakers for being equally greedy, and us regular citizens for not holding them accountable in any meaningful way (i.e. bitching about it on internet messageboards, then paying the tax or obeying the new draconian law or voting Conservative or whatever anyways). We're a continent of pussies, allowing ourselves to be ruled by some of the most fucked up people you could possibly find to put in charge of things. We're all guilty. This record labels vs. the world stuff is just a microcosm.
I think the argument with guitar tabs *used* to be that legitimate publishers of tab books would lose out because people could get tabs that were accurate enough for free online. I've played guitar for 15 years, and spent lots of time in guitar shops. I've never seen ANYONE buy one of those tab books. You can go into a guitar shop and look at the rack of tab books, then go back in 5 years and see all the same ones with more dust on them. This has been going on since before there were thousands of tab websites around.
I don't know what the argument against tab sites is NOW, but from my understanding of IP/Copyright laws, corporations don't actually NEED valid reasons to harass and sue people.
Yeah, until they introduce a bill to make it a felony to use parental discretion and buy whatever video games you see fit for your children. Followed shortly thereafter by the bill to prevent pregnant women from playing violent video games because it may give the unborn fetus unwholesome thoughts. Followed shortly by the bill to prevent grown men from playing violent video games because some questionable scientific paper will claim it may make them produce "violent sperm" that will develop babies with violent tendencies should it fertilize an egg. Followed by a ban on the phrase "violent video games" because it might cause some people to have thoughts of "illegal activities" (which would conveniently make it a crime to challenge the "v*****t v***o g***s" legislation without using indirectly, flimsy language).
This sounds familiar.
I would have been interested to see how this campaign would have played out if it had been "Fuck!"
I can't believe Gates or anyone else actually expected tablet PCs to take off, especially with people in IT that attend conferences and expos that Bill Gates appears at. Personally, I can type WAY faster than I can write (which is probably true for most techie sorts), my computer doesn't have to try to "interpret" my typing like it would with writing (less software getting in your way), and I don't have a stylus to lose. Oh, and when you have to spend about double the price of a nice new laptop for what's essentially a laptop with a swiveling touch-screen, that's a bit of a turn-off too. It amazes me that giant companies like Microsoft manage to remain in business when they're so clueless about what their customers want. Imagine this scenario:
Retail Associate: "Hi, I see you're looking at the Fujitsu XYZ-1000 laptop there, have you seen the XYZ-1000T?"
Customer: "No, what's that?"
R.A.: "Well, it's a very similar computer to this one, but it's a tablet PC"
C: "What's that mean?"
R.A: "It means that it's a little slower and less capable, but the screen swivels and rotates and you can write on it"
C: "Slower? Less capable?"
*STRIKE ONE*
R.A.: "Yes, but the handwriting interface is really neat-o, once you learn to use the digital ink software..."
C: "I have to learn new software?"
*STRIKE TWO*
R.A.: "Well, yes, but it's really keen! See, watch as I...oh..um..it looks like I broke the swivel joint on the screen..."
C: "How much does this monstrosity cost?"
R.A.: "Eighty-thousand dollars."
C: "Eighty-thousand dollars?! This monstrosity costs eighty-thousand dollars? I'm ruined!"
*STRIKE THREE*
Alright, so I may have borrowed some dialogue...but I've made my point.
"Is this an accurate report?" isn't a "dumb" question. It's more of an obvious, first-thing-anyone-with-half-a-brain-would-ask sort of question. Heaven forbid anyone ever waste time and resources, lose money, or even get killed because some idiot was too lazy, stupid, or uninformed to bother fact-checking (or was aware of the facts and disregarded them). Oh wait...all that stuff that happened over the course of history up to this point...yeah...hmm...
People having knee-jerk reactions to news before (or without ever) checking it's accuracy is NOT limited to the stock market my friend...
These students (and probably several posts appearing in this thread) have just given eBay some free, valuable market research. Pay attention:
1. eBay has great brand awareness. People know about it, and the opinion is generally positive. Hell, it can't be too negative if a bunch of programmer (lazy) students (even lazier) are writing software on their time to access eBay features.
2. Users LOATHE ads. This should be obvious. Is it just me, or are advertisements starting to have a reverse effect? You see an advertisement or commercial spot, and suddenly you're pissed off at the company in question for ramming advertising down your throat and find yourself not wanting to buy whatever they're selling, even if you need it.
3. eBay's "gallery" view stuff hurts the overall user experience. I understand they want to make more money, but the fact that one of the first things these programmers bypassed is the gallery exclusion garbage is very telling. People don't want to click through even 1 or 2 things to see a picture of an item. They want to see it immediately, particularly those who haven't the foggiest about web design, image hosting, or listing fees. That group most likely has no idea why there's so much inconsistency between item listings on eBay, and it's a matter of confusion on an already intimidating (to a new user) website.
It should also tell eBay something about itself. eBay has been around for something like 11 years, Firefox for 5 or 6, and it's been quite popular for the last couple of years (read: other big companies have been producing toolbars for Firefox without much problem). Why did this even have to happen? Get with it eBay...
Speaking as a partner in a paperless office solutions company, I can understand why employers are less willing to fork over $20+/hr to MCSEs. I'm trying not to paint everyone with the same brush here, but it's been my personal experience that the majority of MCSEs I've dealt with are skilled MICROSOFT people, not necessarily skilled COMPUTER people. I know some skilled computer people who can make my head spin when they get talking about tech-related things, and I'm an experienced programmer/DB/IT guy. They easily apply what they already know to new things and adapt when needed.
MCSEs I've encountered generally seem to have a limited understanding of underlying technology and principles. They have a vague idea of what the problem is, and know how to apply Microsoft solutions to solve(?) it. Throw another piece of software at them that solves the same problem and works very similarly to Microsoft's solution, and they get that "deer in the headlights" look.
Granted, you'd probably run into the same thing with any tech who has more vendor-specific training than general domain knowledge, but it's much more apparent with MCSEs because you encounter them much more often (depending on your line of work). From an employer's standpoint, I can empathize with those who don't want to pay an MCSE $20+/hr.
You mean all these years I've been registering software and joining websites while unwittingly impersonating the editor of PC Magazine?
Here's my copyrighted key:
:S
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The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."
I'm worried that someone will try to claim prior art though...
As a sidenote, we Canadians do have both Second Cup and (Star|Four|Six)buck's (whichever "crack in a cup" refers to). They're generally found in malls and shopping centres (not standalone stores) and mainly popular with fancy lads who make their own soap. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but this isn't much different from how it is south of the 49th...
Good point. You ever notice that the real nutjobs out there that walk into some public area and spray bullets all over the place are always described as "quiet" and "shy" and "oh my, he never talked about guns" and "gee, it's so surprising because he was a really nice boy" etc etc..
I can't remember one time when they talked to people who knew one of these mass murderers after the fact and they've said anything remotely like "well, he did talk about guns a lot" and "he went to the shooting range every week".
I mean seriously, if you were planning to commit such a terrible crime, or any crime for that matter, would you let any details out before you did it? Why would you risk getting busted before the fact? Don't they teach "think like a criminal" to law enforcement anymore?
Actually, I don't suppose they could...then they'd have to march every new graduate right off the dais and into a paddywagon for "criminal thoughts".
Ah ha, not so fast mon frere...
I have a G4 iBook with this exact problem. So far I've:
1. Done the "shim" method, taking the case apart and sticking a non-conductive material between the metal shield and the logic board where the IC in question is located. This got the computer booting, but it still freezes randomly.
2. Had a microwave/TV technician reflow the solder points around the IC in question. It still wouldn't boot without the shim. It still freezes randomly even with the shim inserted.
3. Replaced the fan. I thought perhaps the system was overheating. I noticed that I'd never heard the fan come on. I replaced it with a known-working part, the fan still never comes on. The CPU can reach temperatures up to 75 degrees without the fan activating (then it usually freezes).
It's really too bad, because I love the form factor and battery life of the 12" G4 iBook, but as it is, it's unusable for anything even remotely serious (like my job). I've got my fingers crossed that Apple unveils a new Intel based sub-notebook (that isn't seriously flawed) for about oh, maybe $1000 Canadian, then I can wash my hands of the iBook and it's problems once and for all.
P.S. I do realize that if Apple were to release such a sub-notebook, it would probably retail for about the same price as a MacBook Pro ($2700 Canadian) for no apparent reason other than "it's cool". Such is life in our western consumer culture.
You're assuming that the same consumers who know the ill effects of fast food, yet eat it regularly, or know about the sweatshop labour and worker exploitation, but still shop at Wal-Mart, would make rational decisions about complex electronics equipment.
Remember, you're a relatively intellectual person who apparently reads about Linux and posts on Slashdot. There are a LOT of people out there who are more primal and would buy that cheap, leaky car because "it's red" and that makes them feel good. And that's to say nothing of the "I don't want to spend a lot of money, I just want it to work" factor that creates a market for $400 PCs at Best Buy. You and I might know they're crap, but to most people, they're a computer that will do "E-Mail" and "Word" for $400.
"Why on earth would anyone spend $1000+ on a computer when you can get one for $400? Hey, it even includes a FREE PRINTER! That way I can keep a PERMANENT record of all those E-Mails I get!"
"I'm sorry your honor, I'd like to request a brief recess so that I can bone the prosecution behind my assistant DA/girlfriend's back."
"Very well, Mr.McCoy, but I'll remind you that this is a high-profile, ripped-from-the-headlines case that will decide the fate of alleged child pornographers for years to come, and I--Mr.McCoy, could you at least wait until the courtroom has been cleared?"
Yes, it's offtopic, but have you ever WATCHED that show?