I think we need to change error messages to things that are technically accurate, with hyperlinks to wikipedia.
Instead of Windows saying "This network has limited or no connectivity" and leaving the user to puzzle out exactly what the hell that means, it should just say "Unable to obtain an [[IP address]] from the [[DHCP]] server: operation timed out."
Those of us who already know what that stuff means will know that they need to go futz with their router; those of us who don't might learn something (from, of course, a local mirror of the relevant articles, since their connection is down).
This is why Linux is a better desktop OS for those of us who know a little: when something breaks it's generally clear what it was. Fixing it might be hard, but at least it's *possible*.
The metaphors we're using now work pretty well, and UI changes in the future will probably consist more of refinements of these rather than totally new things, at least until and unless there is a major advance in display technology.
As an example of a well-engineered UI that can make otherwise extremely tedious tasks manageable: Google's Picasa photo manager. It manages to deal with huge amounts of data (3700x2600 jpg's or whatever 10MP comes out to, and 24MB RAW files), run quickly, and show you relevant stuff.
The 3D rotating super+tab screen for task switching in Compiz is another example of using extra computing power to show something useful.
Opera's introduction of mouse gestures is another good idea.
A SMS message contains about a hundred bytes of non-time-critical data, which is a pittance compared to a tenth of a second of audio (which is time-critical, at least unless you ask T-Mobile).
SMS's put virtually no load at all on the network infrastructure. Surely some carrier could attract business with free unlimited messages, and it wouldn't cost them a thing.
Yes, but it's equally inefficient for Firefox to have to swap this sort of thing in and out when the OS is under memory pressure.
What we really need is a mechanism for e.g. Firefox to use large amounts of memory to speed up page loading when there's plenty of memory, but to optimize for a small memory footprint when I've got ten zillion Gimp windows and Picasa open.
Why should Firefox behave in exactly the same way in two totally different situations?
In English, the words "a" and "an" mean the same thing.
Since saying "a" (a vowel sound) before another word that starts with a vowel sound is sort of awkward, "an" is used there instead.
So it's "an error", but "a mistake".
Just like, in French, it's "la lumiere" but "l'etoile" -- the "l'" contraction is used to avoid an awkward glottal stop between the two vowels, just like "a" and "an" in English.
Same thing that happens when tens of thousands of mouthbreathing Windows users start wanting support for closed-source programs that they've installed: they come bug me, or some other random geek, about it. It's not like you're going to get any support out of Microsoft about Windows Media Player.
Thing is, with most of these OSS programs, there's actually a way for the geek to fix it quickly and go back to doing something else... as opposed to what happens when Outlook Express goes wrong: "I dunno, try rebooting it?"
When you have five years to developer a product and this is what you get
Your grammar error calls to mind a metaphor.
If you take a badly exposed piece of film and put in the developer too long, you get out... a bad, *overdeveloped* piece of film.
Vista is the same way. The development time is really irrelevant: the fact that they spent a long time on it just means that it has *lots* of shitty features rather than only a few.
I know -- I'm saying the Wehrmacht was significantly less evil than the RIAA is. By all accounts they were as honorable on the battlefield as circumstances allowed.
The trouble is that the vast bulk of Americans are so (dumb|undereducated) that you can easily persuade them to vote for whoever by spending money on TV ads.
Slashdot Mirror
My laptop's box says that too.
Asus has a history of making good stuff (I'm typing on an Asus laptop at the moment) but with occasionally wacky names and marketing phrases.
It's also useless to just about everyone, since it doesn't give any information about actually *fixing* it.
I think we need to change error messages to things that are technically accurate, with hyperlinks to wikipedia.
Instead of Windows saying "This network has limited or no connectivity" and leaving the user to puzzle out exactly what the hell that means, it should just say "Unable to obtain an [[IP address]] from the [[DHCP]] server: operation timed out."
Those of us who already know what that stuff means will know that they need to go futz with their router; those of us who don't might learn something (from, of course, a local mirror of the relevant articles, since their connection is down).
This is why Linux is a better desktop OS for those of us who know a little: when something breaks it's generally clear what it was. Fixing it might be hard, but at least it's *possible*.
The metaphors we're using now work pretty well, and UI changes in the future will probably consist more of refinements of these rather than totally new things, at least until and unless there is a major advance in display technology.
As an example of a well-engineered UI that can make otherwise extremely tedious tasks manageable: Google's Picasa photo manager. It manages to deal with huge amounts of data (3700x2600 jpg's or whatever 10MP comes out to, and 24MB RAW files), run quickly, and show you relevant stuff.
The 3D rotating super+tab screen for task switching in Compiz is another example of using extra computing power to show something useful.
Opera's introduction of mouse gestures is another good idea.
Then they'd be violating their own EULA.
How are SMS messages a significant burden?
It's an absolutely trivial amount of data compared to a phone call.
If a one-off transmission at low priority of a few hundred bytes is a significant burden, then it's implemented wrongly.
complete lack of night life
We're talking Microsoft employees here. They don't care.
You, however, are Canadians, and fairly smart.
It's only a short step from Vancouver to Washington, but -- trust me -- the monkeys in Redmond aren't as bright.
A SMS message contains about a hundred bytes of non-time-critical data, which is a pittance compared to a tenth of a second of audio (which is time-critical, at least unless you ask T-Mobile).
SMS's put virtually no load at all on the network infrastructure. Surely some carrier could attract business with free unlimited messages, and it wouldn't cost them a thing.
You have to prove that you lost *something*, not necessarily money.
I would include dishonest advertising as another factor making a market non-free.
Yes, but it's equally inefficient for Firefox to have to swap this sort of thing in and out when the OS is under memory pressure.
What we really need is a mechanism for e.g. Firefox to use large amounts of memory to speed up page loading when there's plenty of memory, but to optimize for a small memory footprint when I've got ten zillion Gimp windows and Picasa open.
Why should Firefox behave in exactly the same way in two totally different situations?
In English, the words "a" and "an" mean the same thing.
Since saying "a" (a vowel sound) before another word that starts with a vowel sound is sort of awkward, "an" is used there instead.
So it's "an error", but "a mistake".
Just like, in French, it's "la lumiere" but "l'etoile" -- the "l'" contraction is used to avoid an awkward glottal stop between the two vowels, just like "a" and "an" in English.
Doing crap like this is Congress' equivalent of reading slashdot at work, really.
They even have trolls and all, and sometimes I wonder if Cynthia McKinney is a closet member of the GNAA...
Same thing that happens when tens of thousands of mouthbreathing Windows users start wanting support for closed-source programs that they've installed: they come bug me, or some other random geek, about it. It's not like you're going to get any support out of Microsoft about Windows Media Player.
... as opposed to what happens when Outlook Express goes wrong: "I dunno, try rebooting it?"
Thing is, with most of these OSS programs, there's actually a way for the geek to fix it quickly and go back to doing something else
That's not a product, that's a trademark.
Only in the USA. The rest of the world can run emerge mplayer to their hearts' content.
Well, sometimes free (as in speech) software can be better than free (as in beer) pirated commercial software.
I could very easily hop on over to thepiratebay.org and download MS Office, but I like OpenOffice better.
When you have five years to developer a product and this is what you get
... a bad, *overdeveloped* piece of film.
Your grammar error calls to mind a metaphor.
If you take a badly exposed piece of film and put in the developer too long, you get out
Vista is the same way. The development time is really irrelevant: the fact that they spent a long time on it just means that it has *lots* of shitty features rather than only a few.
I know -- I'm saying the Wehrmacht was significantly less evil than the RIAA is. By all accounts they were as honorable on the battlefield as circumstances allowed.
There are a lot of classical or quasi-classical music videos on YouTube, and classical music listeners tend to be a fairly picky bunch.
The Germans had a minority of crazy people and a majority of scared people, after all.
The RIAA? I'd imagine your average RIAA employee is more evil than your average member of the Wehrmacht.
Higher sound quality wouldn't be that hard to implement: Vorbis can get very near transparency at 80 kbps, and 60 kbps Vorbis isn't bad.
For people who watch music-type stuff on Youtube and care about things sounding nice, a better audio stream would be a welcome change.
While some of Ron Paul's policies appeal to libertarian values, he's too much of a religious nut for me.
No thanks. I'd rather work to get Colbert elected; he'd do a better job, and his followers are significantly less obnoxious.
The trouble is that the vast bulk of Americans are so (dumb|undereducated) that you can easily persuade them to vote for whoever by spending money on TV ads.
This is why money counts.