who slammed on the brakes only to back off once they felt the 'kicking' of ABS start, they thought it was their brakes failing.
That's very strange. In driving school (and I have had my license for, oh, 9 years) they insisted on the fact that "if you have ABS push the break and ignore the noise". I have driven 5 years without ABS, and now my car has ABS. First time it kicked in (summer tires on snow - not a good idea), I thought like "hey, what's that?.. Oh, ABS, don't worry".
I can understand a 60 year old that has driven over 30 years with a non-ABS car gets scared of the noise and let's loose, but young kids should have been warned during their driving education.
I agree... Be careful when you buy a new cellphone though. When I bought mine, I didn't know that it could *only* do MIDI files (and ADCPM 4-bit 16kHz WAV files). I deleted all midi files on the phone, and now I'm pretty pissed because the built-in ringtones are as sucky as the midi files on it. Apart from that I like my cellphone.
I just want a regular ringer for a call, damnit! (And a short beep for SMS, not the current 3 times long beep just is way too long) Of course in midi the only option you have is the latest Britney Aguilara song (or some other generic singing chick), and I really couldn't care less about that.
No. Men will recycle that said shirt as a rag to clean their hands on if they have been working on the engine of their car. Nothing goes to waste with a man.;-)
At least it is better than a woman that buys a pair of shoes and never wears it because the colour really doesn't go with any of her clothes. Of course, she might just look for clothes that go with the shoes, but don't count on it. Oh, and she will categorically refuse to throw the shoes away (or give them to charity).
Not probably... for sure! Some of my coworkers (I don't have a GF, nor a wife, so I don't know these things) have been telling me that they use cellphones as a fashion accessory. My boss for example has this 3 year old heavy cellphone, but his wife has about the newest shiniest thing. He doesn't mind because, after all, the only thing that matters to him is that he is able to call. Men are just a tad bit more practical. You know, if my cellphone battery didn't die, I would still be using my old cell. (Buying a new battery is about as expensive as buying a new cellphone)
Because it is how it has always been working. You pay for usage. Besides, why would you think you are entitled to free local calls? You use their infrastructure whilst calling, you are using a service, you pay for it.
I do remember though that in my country local calls tended to be a about 0,13Euro per hour. Nearly as good as free. The drawback was that after an hour of calling your line got disconnected and you needed to call again. This was back in the 80ties.
Look, I can inverse your statement: "I cannot understand that a cellphone user has to pay for incoming calls in the US". That would be a lie of course because I know why this is so. You see, that is a direct consequence of having free local calls. US consumers were used to not paying for local calls and with the advent of cellphones it became impossible to see the difference between a local number and a cell. Somebody had to bear the costs and it were the cellphone users. (Why in the US they didn't allocate a specific block for cellphones is beyond me, but it might have technical reasons).
Of course you can say "Yes, but with my cellphone plan I get 300 free minutes a month, so I don't have to care about incoming calls". Really depends how much that base plan is. My cellphone bills average 5 to 10 Euro per month for low level usage. Why? Because I have a free base-pack and only pay for the calls I make (no, it's not a prepaid card, it's a real subscription and I have to pay them per month)
You can use other providers, as I do: Visual Online has really good service. Yes, it is owned for 51% by the Post, but at least they don't have download caps and all ports are open (on the P&T too) Of course you still pay a part to the P&T for the location of the physical line. So, for me it is 256/64 at 19,90Euro for Visual Online and 31,05Euro to the P&T. That is still less than what the P&T asks for it with their bandwidth caps. Yes, compared to Belgium and France it's still expensive. Competition will never really take off here, though...
There is also internet.lu that is privately owned as far as I know and started off in the dial-up bussiness. (I worked there for a week, but quit because I didn't like it there) They offer both DSL and Cable.
On top of that you do have to remember that the salaries in Lux are quite high, and life is quite expensive in the first place. 50 Euro for a basic DSL package is probably way more affordable to a Luxembourgish inhabitant than 50Euro for a Jamaican inhabitant.
I try to... for those that are open to it. For those that I know that aren't, you give them a viable alternative. For those that are open to explanations, you give them an alternative and *why* it is better.
Call it education in "two speeds". The ones that aren't ready for opensource will use it because it is free as beer, and those that are ready for it will use it because it is free as in speech. Play on both levels, and you win.
Nah, but I google a bit and usually suspicious programs are reported before my users get a hold of them. Of course for those that live on the edge, that's not an option.
My users don't live on the edge... They are users... they are always a bit behind technology.
That stance works too... However most people I help are modem users. They cannot afford a 100Meg update from WinUpdate (Heck even 5Megs hurt on a modem user). For those that I can trust I do not remove iexplore.exe, but those are few.
What if they continue using IE as their main browser, despide my warnings? No, I can't risk that.
They are better off, inviting me once a month chatting up on things and me installing updates... That's called social interaction, which might be foreign to you.
Did you run an anti-spyware program recently? You get spyware everywhere unless you only surf on slashdot.org... Which I don't expect your users do. Oh, wait, you run those stuff... Of course! *you* do... But does your neighbour? Your computer-illiterate friend? Nah, I don't think so. I was talking about the people that do not have a clue... not you with all your tools to protect you.
You might not like Mozilla, but it protects you from the holes in IE.
And you never managed systems that don't require Windows Update, eh? Just download the patches manually... Works fine for me...
Windows Update is a cludge for badly adminstrated machines. You know as well as me that the users themselves won't run WinUpdate... that's your job as their Guardian Angel. Just do it right and download the patches manually. (Since you manage multiple people creat a CD-RW with the patches and get over with it)
Indeed... Linux distros are "freebies" if you only consider the "free as in beer part". Hey, for windows users I recommend Eudora instead of Outlook, which is free as in beer, but which I know is quite safe.
Giving a Go or No-Go is just in the eye of the beholder. My stance is: if I would use it myself, it is okay for others to use. Yes, this is subjective, but at a certain point you need to get an opinion.
Yes, and no... If you consider Opensource software as software free of charge, yes... if you don't, like I do... an consider Opensource being a heaven of integrity (because of the many-eyes principle) then no... Then there is no conflict.
I can read the source (I'm a programmer, and have modified Opensource Software), I am more safe than with closed source "Freeware" (which seems always to have a price)
Look, I was still in 1.4.1 on Mac OS X.... I upgraded just for you to 1.5.1 and downloaded the skin here . Now I have a IE skin on Mac OS X.... Go figure... Works perfectly!
You never heard of using Google, eh?
Yes, you are right. Let's take the example of Kazaa. Well, that is part of my explanations about spyware... Use freebies and you're screwed. I explain them my philosophy of a stable computer: identify the needs, install what you need, and keep it that way. If you need anything else, ask me, I'll tell you if you can install it safely.
Yes, this gives me a lot of emails, but it takes 10 minutes to give them a good alternative or give them the "OK".
For Kazaa, I say "No" and point them to Gnucleus. Yes, there is less choice, but if they just want the latest Britney Spears Album it will do. Usually I point them to Opensource Projects that are safe to my knowledge.
Well.... Okay, there are morons that can't be helped. (Opera wasn't the best choice, a lot of people can't manage it as far as I have seen) However someone that can't use Mozilla, I haven't met yet.
Sometimes a shotgun to the head of the user is the best solution, but at least *try*... For every moron there will be 10 clueless users that will be helped. That is a good track record. Those that are beyond help, well, don't help them anymore.
I think that what you said was my point. If only new OEM machines came fully patched with anti-spyware proggies... Alas, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Luckily for me it means that I get a steady flow of beer (I charge a case of beer for computer help... from changing a shortcut to reinstalling the system... anything costs a case of beer)
You shouldn't pity clueful users that get spyware. You should however help correctly. That is protect them from their own cluenessless.
Typically, this is install adaware to get rid of the junk, and then patch their goddamned systems. Install Mozilla, set it default give it an IE skin, block popups and remove iexplore.exe from their system. Set firewall (of your choice), add an AV ( http://www.grisoft.com for a free as in beer one) and explain the basics. Scare the crap out of them by exaggerating a bit what spyware really does.
I found that this works. People where I pass rarely get viruses and spyware. I have whole bunch of clueless people that I help. Yes, here at home with 4 clueless users, I standardized how they get on the internet (OpenBSD filters the crap) and I have yet to see them get infected with spyware and viruses.
Help the clueless... those who should have a clue get no pity. However, I never encountered anyone with a clue that doesn't know the above.
I don't understand what you mean? Are you saying that Spyware is useful? You like those idiot toolbars that are added to IE? You like stupid cursors (Comet Cursor)? Weather forcast stuff in the systray?
If anything spyware makes the computer *less* usable. It eats up resources where none should be used, and slows down the machine. I call that a *big* price, for *no* advantage.
To this date, I had no user complain that I removed his spyware infections.... Most of them are puzzeled how I manage to get their computer boot and operate faster. Go figure... Oh, and I once explained what spyware does to a friend of mine who is a Marketing Major. He was apalled and cursed that this should be illegal...
Yes, I know... I have once been called in for someone that didn't manage to run a (quite old game for the time, The Sims if IIRC) on a P-IV 2.0GHz. Indeed, it was unplayable. Task-manager reported 100% usage in idle situation (Windows XP).
Needless to say: I did like you... Spent hours cleaning the damned thing. Then I did what any sensible person does: download Mozilla, set the skin to IE (so that the idiot users won't notice), enable pop-up blocking, and set it as default browser.
Never heard any complains of that person again, and he can play The Sims now. Sometimes, people need to be forced to use the right software.
Slashdot Mirror
That's very strange. In driving school (and I have had my license for, oh, 9 years) they insisted on the fact that "if you have ABS push the break and ignore the noise". I have driven 5 years without ABS, and now my car has ABS. First time it kicked in (summer tires on snow - not a good idea), I thought like "hey, what's that?.. Oh, ABS, don't worry".
I can understand a 60 year old that has driven over 30 years with a non-ABS car gets scared of the noise and let's loose, but young kids should have been warned during their driving education.
I agree... Be careful when you buy a new cellphone though. When I bought mine, I didn't know that it could *only* do MIDI files (and ADCPM 4-bit 16kHz WAV files). I deleted all midi files on the phone, and now I'm pretty pissed because the built-in ringtones are as sucky as the midi files on it. Apart from that I like my cellphone.
I just want a regular ringer for a call, damnit! (And a short beep for SMS, not the current 3 times long beep just is way too long) Of course in midi the only option you have is the latest Britney Aguilara song (or some other generic singing chick), and I really couldn't care less about that.
At least it is better than a woman that buys a pair of shoes and never wears it because the colour really doesn't go with any of her clothes. Of course, she might just look for clothes that go with the shoes, but don't count on it. Oh, and she will categorically refuse to throw the shoes away (or give them to charity).
Not probably... for sure! Some of my coworkers (I don't have a GF, nor a wife, so I don't know these things) have been telling me that they use cellphones as a fashion accessory. My boss for example has this 3 year old heavy cellphone, but his wife has about the newest shiniest thing. He doesn't mind because, after all, the only thing that matters to him is that he is able to call. Men are just a tad bit more practical. You know, if my cellphone battery didn't die, I would still be using my old cell. (Buying a new battery is about as expensive as buying a new cellphone)
I do remember though that in my country local calls tended to be a about 0,13Euro per hour. Nearly as good as free. The drawback was that after an hour of calling your line got disconnected and you needed to call again. This was back in the 80ties.
Look, I can inverse your statement: "I cannot understand that a cellphone user has to pay for incoming calls in the US". That would be a lie of course because I know why this is so. You see, that is a direct consequence of having free local calls. US consumers were used to not paying for local calls and with the advent of cellphones it became impossible to see the difference between a local number and a cell. Somebody had to bear the costs and it were the cellphone users. (Why in the US they didn't allocate a specific block for cellphones is beyond me, but it might have technical reasons).
Of course you can say "Yes, but with my cellphone plan I get 300 free minutes a month, so I don't have to care about incoming calls". Really depends how much that base plan is. My cellphone bills average 5 to 10 Euro per month for low level usage. Why? Because I have a free base-pack and only pay for the calls I make (no, it's not a prepaid card, it's a real subscription and I have to pay them per month)
There is also internet.lu that is privately owned as far as I know and started off in the dial-up bussiness. (I worked there for a week, but quit because I didn't like it there) They offer both DSL and Cable.
On top of that you do have to remember that the salaries in Lux are quite high, and life is quite expensive in the first place. 50 Euro for a basic DSL package is probably way more affordable to a Luxembourgish inhabitant than 50Euro for a Jamaican inhabitant.
But it's down... and won't get up again. Let's just rejoice over the spirit pictures.... It is something, even if it wans't funded by our tax euros.
Ayup....
Only software of course, if it's hardware related, I'll be willing to buy the parts for them but I have to be reimbursed.
Call it education in "two speeds". The ones that aren't ready for opensource will use it because it is free as beer, and those that are ready for it will use it because it is free as in speech. Play on both levels, and you win.
Nah, but I google a bit and usually suspicious programs are reported before my users get a hold of them. Of course for those that live on the edge, that's not an option.
My users don't live on the edge... They are users... they are always a bit behind technology.
And what if Spyware gets a "Go" from Microsoft? DMR is not going to help in any way.
Poor slashdot users, even they get spyware ;-)
What if they continue using IE as their main browser, despide my warnings? No, I can't risk that.
They are better off, inviting me once a month chatting up on things and me installing updates... That's called social interaction, which might be foreign to you.
Did you run an anti-spyware program recently? You get spyware everywhere unless you only surf on slashdot.org... Which I don't expect your users do. Oh, wait, you run those stuff... Of course! *you* do... But does your neighbour? Your computer-illiterate friend? Nah, I don't think so. I was talking about the people that do not have a clue... not you with all your tools to protect you.
You might not like Mozilla, but it protects you from the holes in IE.
And you never managed systems that don't require Windows Update, eh? Just download the patches manually... Works fine for me...
Windows Update is a cludge for badly adminstrated machines. You know as well as me that the users themselves won't run WinUpdate... that's your job as their Guardian Angel. Just do it right and download the patches manually. (Since you manage multiple people creat a CD-RW with the patches and get over with it)
Giving a Go or No-Go is just in the eye of the beholder. My stance is: if I would use it myself, it is okay for others to use. Yes, this is subjective, but at a certain point you need to get an opinion.
As said somewhere else: I ask a case of beer for every intervetion. I never run out of beer ;-)
I can read the source (I'm a programmer, and have modified Opensource Software), I am more safe than with closed source "Freeware" (which seems always to have a price)
Look, I was still in 1.4.1 on Mac OS X.... I upgraded just for you to 1.5.1 and downloaded the skin here . Now I have a IE skin on Mac OS X.... Go figure... Works perfectly!
You never heard of using Google, eh?
Yes, this gives me a lot of emails, but it takes 10 minutes to give them a good alternative or give them the "OK".
For Kazaa, I say "No" and point them to Gnucleus. Yes, there is less choice, but if they just want the latest Britney Spears Album it will do. Usually I point them to Opensource Projects that are safe to my knowledge.
Sometimes a shotgun to the head of the user is the best solution, but at least *try*... For every moron there will be 10 clueless users that will be helped. That is a good track record. Those that are beyond help, well, don't help them anymore.
Luckily for me it means that I get a steady flow of beer (I charge a case of beer for computer help... from changing a shortcut to reinstalling the system... anything costs a case of beer)
Typically, this is install adaware to get rid of the junk, and then patch their goddamned systems. Install Mozilla, set it default give it an IE skin, block popups and remove iexplore.exe from their system. Set firewall (of your choice), add an AV ( http://www.grisoft.com for a free as in beer one) and explain the basics. Scare the crap out of them by exaggerating a bit what spyware really does.
I found that this works. People where I pass rarely get viruses and spyware. I have whole bunch of clueless people that I help. Yes, here at home with 4 clueless users, I standardized how they get on the internet (OpenBSD filters the crap) and I have yet to see them get infected with spyware and viruses.
Help the clueless... those who should have a clue get no pity. However, I never encountered anyone with a clue that doesn't know the above.
If anything spyware makes the computer *less* usable. It eats up resources where none should be used, and slows down the machine. I call that a *big* price, for *no* advantage.
To this date, I had no user complain that I removed his spyware infections.... Most of them are puzzeled how I manage to get their computer boot and operate faster. Go figure...
Oh, and I once explained what spyware does to a friend of mine who is a Marketing Major. He was apalled and cursed that this should be illegal...
Needless to say: I did like you... Spent hours cleaning the damned thing. Then I did what any sensible person does: download Mozilla, set the skin to IE (so that the idiot users won't notice), enable pop-up blocking, and set it as default browser.
Never heard any complains of that person again, and he can play The Sims now. Sometimes, people need to be forced to use the right software.