Most older users are. I find there's a drastic difference between middle-aged people and teenagers
That is a pretty wide brush you are using there. I will bet that I am older than you are, possibly twice your age.
I have seen all ages of people (races, employment, training, etc) good at, bad at, and/or terrified of using computers. The main correlation seems to be the willingness to learn something outside their immediate sphere of experience.
assumption from the newbie is that they did something horribly wrong, but can't figure out what
Of course! WE have the knowledge and experience to know this is not nessessarily true.
But then, we are not newbies are we? When you first started, were you this confident?
Surprisingly, whenever an icon was added to the desktop there was an outbreak of confusion and mass hysteria, and more training was required.
Why is this surprising? Most users use a computer as a toaster, and mostly by rote. Imagine if tommorrow morning your toaster has a new lever on it labelled "PBT 1.0". What is PBT? It is Perfect Brown Toast. But did you KNOW that?
Most users are afraid of this thing called a computer. Here on/. we are comfortable using comnputers, but more importantly we are the curious and adventurous types. Changes do not faze us. We start a new program, without a manual, and can still get a pretty good feel of how to use it.
But to the normal user, a new icon is a terrifying thing. "OH MY GOD, IT IS DIFFERENT!" is a standard reaction.
which are simply not up to the job of serious typing or piano playing
A real piano has a feedback kick. You press the key, the key lever hits a hammer, the hammer hits the string, then BOUNCES. The bounce hits the hammer, which hits the lever, which hits your finger.
When I first played an electric piano, it sounded right, but something was missing. It was after a few months that I figured out I was missing the slight "kick" against my fingers when I hit a note.
The new high end electric keyboards have a built-in kickback. They feel MUCH better.
I also prefer real keyboards. There is a new virtual keyboard system I saw on TV a few days ago. A light displays a keyboard on any flat surface. A sensor watches where your fingers hit on that flat surface, then translate the location into the key. I would hate this as I like to have that feeling of something being depressed when I type.
Well not quite. Any technology which requires a renewable resource such as a cartridge will evetually run out of that resource. The only way that I can be blocked from not replacing the cartridge is if the TV will not work without it (built in by the manufacturer).
At which point I will hack the TV and wire in a dummy responer to the TV. Or fill the cartridge with water or something.
I got almost no SPAM at one time. Then I posted a resume on several job sites. Being somewhat naive at the time, I used my own email address in the resume.
Since then my SPAM count has gone up to over 100 per day, and my domain gets over 2,000 per day. And rising!
Oh yes, I did not even get a nibble from ANY employer from the job sites. The job I do have came from pounding the streets and networking.
Re:Ecology of Slashdot comments
on
Singularity Sky
·
· Score: 1
I don't know that. But it added a like-it-or-not cost to every TV sold.
You are just getting worked up about something trivial that probably will not happen anyway
I am not getting worked up about this. I am not even overly worried about it, except for the expense of it. After all I can always pull the cartridge, if nothing else.
And it WILL happen. First as an expensive option on the high end TV's, then an option on all TV's, then a standard feature on high end TV's, then a standard feature on ALL TV's.
It WILL happen. The only unknown is the time table.
You are right that no one will be twisting my arm to buy a TV.
But if I WANT a new TV because my old one has broken down, and the only ones on the market have a particular feature, then where is my choice?
It's like the MS tax. If you buy from a mainstream manufacturer you get Windows. Yes, currently there are a few places where you can get one with Linux or no OS, but for the most part you get Windows.
And it is not like you can go to a store and pick up a bunch of parts to make your own TV.
A few years ago the government mandated UHF into TV sets. Every TV sold after that date had an extra dial for the UHF band. AFAIK there were never more that 1 or maybe 2 channels broadcasting in that range, yet every TV had one.
When my current one breaks down (picture tube goes, etc) and the only TV's on the market ALL have this feature, then you are forced to buy one with the feature.
Have you tried to buy a large screen black&white TV? Cannot be done. The only B&W TV's have really small screens.
Eventually TV's without the smelly option will be unavailable.
I have absolutely no desire for my computer to produce smells
And your TV. Which already HAS a broadband connection.
If I am forced to buy a TV with this feature in the future, I think I will have to get out my screwdriver. Or at the very least, take out the cartridge.
How can there not already be a standard way to translate strings in the UI?
Because it is not just strings. Most software also shows values such as "There are 5 objects". The 5 is a value derived in some fashion by the application. In C this would be:
sprintf(buf,"There are %d objects",amount);
The trouble is that the placement of the %d is very language dependant. So the localized version of the above would be something like:
buf = get_lang(OBJECT_COUNT_TEXT, amount);
Where get_lang needs to locate the language, then fill in the "amount". The usualy language file would have (for English):
Where {0,number} is a code telling the localization utility that the first parameter is a number and goes here. Remember that formatting of numbers is also language dependant where 1,234 might be shown as
1 234
Finally some code simply "strings" text together:
cout << "There are " << ref->amount << "objects"
Also more complex localization will take into acount grammer such as:
Slashdot Mirror
Most older users are. I find there's a drastic difference between middle-aged people and teenagers
That is a pretty wide brush you are using there. I will bet that I am older than you are, possibly twice your age.
I have seen all ages of people (races, employment, training, etc) good at, bad at, and/or terrified of using computers. The main correlation seems to be the willingness to learn something outside their immediate sphere of experience.
assumption from the newbie is that they did something horribly wrong, but can't figure out what
Of course! WE have the knowledge and experience to know this is not nessessarily true.
But then, we are not newbies are we? When you first started, were you this confident?
Surprisingly, whenever an icon was added to the desktop there was an outbreak of confusion and mass hysteria, and more training was required.
/. we are comfortable using comnputers, but more importantly we are the curious and adventurous types. Changes do not faze us. We start a new program, without a manual, and can still get a pretty good feel of how to use it.
Why is this surprising? Most users use a computer as a toaster, and mostly by rote. Imagine if tommorrow morning your toaster has a new lever on it labelled "PBT 1.0". What is PBT? It is Perfect Brown Toast. But did you KNOW that?
Most users are afraid of this thing called a computer. Here on
But to the normal user, a new icon is a terrifying thing. "OH MY GOD, IT IS DIFFERENT!" is a standard reaction.
Where are those 3.6 million jobs bush was talkin' about a while ago?
No, no, no, you mis-understood.
He was talking about lost jobs.
Yes, you're right
And don't even get me started on bang and hash.
You mean the Asterisk and Octothorp?
What, is that a quiet bink?
I should have used a different set of characters I guess. Something like [bink].
I think it needs more cow bell...
<bink>ceswiedler <bink>writes <bink>"KernelTrap <bink>is <bink>running <bink>a <bink>thread <bink>on <bink>the <bink>Linux-Kernel <bink>mailing <bink>list <bink>about <bink>Intel's <bink>new <bink>IA-32e <bink>64-bit <bink>chip. <bink>Linus <bink>complains <bink>'what <bink>I <bink>found <bink>so <bink>irritating <bink>is <bink>that <bink>_hours_ <bink>after <bink>the <bink>Intel <bink>announcement, <bink>people <bink>were <bink>_still_ <bink>confused <bink>about <bink>whether <bink>the <bink>new <bink>intel <bink>chip <bink>was <bink>actually <bink>compatible <bink>with <bink>AMD's <bink>chips.' <bink>It <bink>is, <bink>of <bink>course, <bink>but <bink>you <bink>have <bink>to <bink>do <bink>a <bink>thorough <bink>comparison <bink>of <bink>Intel's <bink>reference <bink>manuals <bink>to <bink>discover <bink>that-- <bink>they <bink>don't <bink>mention <bink>the <bink>fact <bink>that <bink>their <bink>new <bink>chip <bink>is <bink>instruction-set <bink>compatible <bink>with <bink>AMD's <bink>x86-64 <bink>chip." <bink>See <bink>the <bink>previous <bink>story <bink>for <bink>background. <bink>So <bink>it <bink>looks <bink>like <bink>the <bink>reason <bink>Intel <bink>was <bink>vague <bink>about <bink>their <bink>announcement <bink>is <bink>that <bink>they <bink>didn't <bink>want <bink>the <bink>WORLD <bink>TO <bink>KNOW <bink>THAT <bink>THEY <bink>WERE <bink>COPYING <bink>AND <bink>FOLLOWING <bink>AMD <bink>rather <bink>than <bink>developing <bink>some <bink>new <bink>thing <bink>on <bink>their <bink>own. <bink>Slashdot <bink>is <bink>proud <bink>to <bink>help <bink>Intel <bink>in <bink>this <bink>quest; <bink>wouldn't <bink>want <bink>the <bink>public <bink>to <bink>know <bink>that <bink>INTEL <bink>WAS <bink>SIMPLY <bink>FOLLOWING <bink>IN A<bink>MD'S <bink>FOOTSTEPS. <bink>Hope <bink>this helps.<bi<bink>
How is that?
We can't train people to fscking READ anymore?
Have you ever tried reading a doctor's hand-written prescription?
Well, I have tried it. And I don't like it.
But to add to your list:
- I hate to have extra keys beside the space bar, because my thumb is trained to only go over so far....
All these people who think they are something, rather than people.
Sad really...
which are simply not up to the job of serious typing or piano playing
A real piano has a feedback kick. You press the key, the key lever hits a hammer, the hammer hits the string, then BOUNCES. The bounce hits the hammer, which hits the lever, which hits your finger.
When I first played an electric piano, it sounded right, but something was missing. It was after a few months that I figured out I was missing the slight "kick" against my fingers when I hit a note.
The new high end electric keyboards have a built-in kickback. They feel MUCH better.
I also prefer real keyboards. There is a new virtual keyboard system I saw on TV a few days ago. A light displays a keyboard on any flat surface. A sensor watches where your fingers hit on that flat surface, then translate the location into the key. I would hate this as I like to have that feeling of something being depressed when I type.
I am getting CONNECTION REFUSED in Moz 1.6
You probably need IE to use the site. So if you are running Linux or a "non-standard" (read MS IE) browser, they do not want your money.
Only users of MS IE need pay.
Good business model. The people most likley to "need" a licence cannot pay for it.
doesn't have that same opt-out choice
Well not quite. Any technology which requires a renewable resource such as a cartridge will evetually run out of that resource. The only way that I can be blocked from not replacing the cartridge is if the TV will not work without it (built in by the manufacturer).
At which point I will hack the TV and wire in a dummy responer to the TV. Or fill the cartridge with water or something.
I got almost no SPAM at one time. Then I posted a resume on several job sites. Being somewhat naive at the time, I used my own email address in the resume.
Since then my SPAM count has gone up to over 100 per day, and my domain gets over 2,000 per day. And rising!
Oh yes, I did not even get a nibble from ANY employer from the job sites. The job I do have came from pounding the streets and networking.
But which is the default?
Click on Save, and then that is YOUR default.
Did anybody object to having a UHF dial?
I don't know that. But it added a like-it-or-not cost to every TV sold.
You are just getting worked up about something trivial that probably will not happen anyway
I am not getting worked up about this. I am not even overly worried about it, except for the expense of it. After all I can always pull the cartridge, if nothing else.
And it WILL happen. First as an expensive option on the high end TV's, then an option on all TV's, then a standard feature on high end TV's, then a standard feature on ALL TV's.
It WILL happen. The only unknown is the time table.
You are right that no one will be twisting my arm to buy a TV.
But if I WANT a new TV because my old one has broken down, and the only ones on the market have a particular feature, then where is my choice?
It's like the MS tax. If you buy from a mainstream manufacturer you get Windows. Yes, currently there are a few places where you can get one with Linux or no OS, but for the most part you get Windows.
And it is not like you can go to a store and pick up a bunch of parts to make your own TV.
A few years ago the government mandated UHF into TV sets. Every TV sold after that date had an extra dial for the UHF band. AFAIK there were never more that 1 or maybe 2 channels broadcasting in that range, yet every TV had one.
When my current one breaks down (picture tube goes, etc) and the only TV's on the market ALL have this feature, then you are forced to buy one with the feature.
Have you tried to buy a large screen black&white TV? Cannot be done. The only B&W TV's have really small screens.
Eventually TV's without the smelly option will be unavailable.
I have absolutely no desire for my computer to produce smells
And your TV. Which already HAS a broadband connection.
If I am forced to buy a TV with this feature in the future, I think I will have to get out my screwdriver. Or at the very least, take out the cartridge.
Barn Door
Close
Oh wait.....
cyber-terrorist hereafter only applies to robots with bombs
Which would make the US cyber-terrorists. The US military used a Predator robot aircraft to bomb people in Afganistan.
That's my story, and I'm sticking with it :-)
If you charged .01 cents an email
Sure, 0.01 cents today.
Tommorrow, who knows how much. Once the infrastucture is in place, what is to prevent the price from going up?
Don't say competition, because just like gasoline, there will be a steadily increasing cost across all providers.
And some go top-bottom, then right-left.
Also the calendar issues. Some cultures use a different system.
And colours. In Asia white is death, yet in the west brides get married in white.
Don't forget gestures (graphics). Thumbs up in the middle east means up yours.
Localization is a complex issues if you want it to work globally, and really should be done BEFORE you start coding.
Because it is not just strings. Most software also shows values such as "There are 5 objects". The 5 is a value derived in some fashion by the application. In C this would be:
sprintf(buf,"There are %d objects",amount);
The trouble is that the placement of the %d is very language dependant. So the localized version of the above would be something like:
buf = get_lang(OBJECT_COUNT_TEXT, amount);
Where get_lang needs to locate the language, then fill in the "amount". The usualy language file would have (for English):
OBJECT_COUNT_TEXT = There are {0,number} objects
but in another language might look like
OBJECT_COUNT_TEXT = %1234%4342%5663%3334 {0,number} %34343
Where the %xxxx are unicode characters
Where {0,number} is a code telling the localization utility that the first parameter is a number and goes here. Remember that formatting of numbers is also language dependant where 1,234 might be shown as Finally some code simply "strings" text together:
cout << "There are " << ref->amount << "objects"
Also more complex localization will take into acount grammer such as:
There is 1 object
There are 2 objects