How cute, arguing about whether or not the government is behaving properly.
Accept the facts: the rules that apply to you do not apply to the government, especially the secret bits of it. Not because you can't find a statute to support your argument, but because they DON'T CARE and will ignore the rules when it suits them.
And they have bigger, badder guns than you do, and are able to send you off to foreign prisons if they figure it will shut you up.
In movies the Good Guys can win. This is real life though.
For years I always installed OpenOffice, but always wound up relying on MS Office because OO was slower, only about 85% compatible in terms of opening and saving files, and just generally wasn't as good. And as good as WINE is, running the MS product on Linux is not always easy or fast.
When I upgraded Ubuntu to natty LibreOffice came with it. I can honestly say that I haven't opened up Excel or Word for weeks. LO opens all of my existing files, with formatting unchanged, and works flawlessly. Plus it has that glorious one button PDF export, which in the past was so good that I would write in Word, save, and then open in OO just to use it.
For most people who use a lot of Word or Excel, but not the more exotic functions, I'd say try LibreOffice. It's fast, and does great job. It's what OO always tried to be, but failed.
Disclaimer: I still miss WordPerfect 5.1 and Reveal Codes.
I already probably do half to two thirds of my browsing, email, and related tasks on my smartphone these days. An awful lot of what we do with computers is arguably trivial stuff that doesn't need screen real estate or big computing power.
The biggest challenge to getting people to use longer/better passwords is that no two site have the same requirements. Off the top of my head my various log ons require:
six characters or more
eight characters or more
No more than eight characters
at least one number
any combination of numbers of letters
at least one special character
no special characters
at least one uppercase character
at least one uppercase character, one number, and one special character
none of the above
all of the above
random questions about the name of my first pet
All of this drives me mad - I can't imagine what it does to Joe User. I basically try random variations on passwords I know I've used, then click on "Forgot Password."
If you actually need a van or pickup, you're screwed. If you don't, you're not screwed quite so hard.
Off hand I'd say that 70% of people driving pickups in Vancouver have no real reason for doing so - especially the F-350 behomoths. What would be really nice is something like the little Suzuki mini-trucks - that could fit the bill for a lot of people who need some hauling capacity, but not the hassle and weight of a full-size truck.
I often wonder why pick-ups keep getting bigger and bigger with each generation. The "small" Ford Ranger of today is about the size of "full-size" F-150 of a couple decades ago.
Where Twitter loses is in monetizing traffic. In other words, Google knows how to use your traffic to feed you ads that sooner or later you click on. They do it well enough to make a lot of money.
This works for Google because all of their products draw you into their web space, and you can't avoid being presented with Google Ads.
The weakness of Twitter is that in many ways it's easier to use from a phone, Hootsuite, or some other client - even Google Plus with an add-on. There's never any need to actually visit the Twitter web site.
Consequently they're stuck with those idiotic "Promoted Tweets" - which in my experience are so far removed from anything that interests me that I really think they're using chimpanzees instead of algorithms to place them.
Now that all of the Usual Suspects have crapped all over G+, Facebook, MySpace and anything more technologically advanced than a BBS running on a Commodore 64 or usenet...
If you hate social networking sites, then ignore them! Millions of people find them pretty damned handy. Like any other tool, there's good and bad, and no shortage of idiots and/or corporations that can make a good experience into a nightmare. Same is true of e-mail, or IRC, or plain old letter mail.
Of course maybe you're the guy who announced that he would never again write a letter or mail a check once he got his first piece of unsolicited junk mail from Publisher's Clearinghouse.
I genuinely am liking G+. It's early days yet, but it seems to do just the minimum that you would want in social networking, but without the layer upon layer of crap that Facebook has added over the years. Less is more!
Do I trust Google more than Facebook? At the end of the day, yeah, I do. I trust Google to archive my e-mail, but I wouldn't for minute give Facebook the same choice. It's not a black and white issue - there are some things that I will trust Google with, and a lot that their servers will never see. Likewise I do have Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts (and possibly an old MySpace account somewhere) but am pretty careful about how much information they can get their hands on. In Facebook's case it's the utter minimum.
But oooh! Privacy! That boat sailed a long time ago. If you think that you can be active on-line and maintain anything more than a limited amount of privacy you're dreaming. You're constantly creating a stream of data transactions on-line. You maybe able to limit those somewhat, but ultimately you're leaving behind a trail that will likely be around for years or decades. Deal with it - that's the reality of the time we live in.
Unless you're the guy who has refused to own a telephone for eighty years because you were pissed off about having your name and address published in the White Pages.
Finally I'll say a word about the G+ app for Android phones - it's one sweet little item, that seems to work flawlessly on my crappy Moto Charm.
Since making the leap to an Android phone, I'm finding I spend a lot less time parked in front of a PC,
I find that the phone will handle about 90% of what I need from the 'Net, but in a sufficiently limited capacity that there's not a great incentive to just surf randomly. Because stuff - even e-mail and Twitter - is a lot less convenient, I get away from the habit of immediately responding to everything.
At the same time I unsubbed from almost every e-mail list, RSS, and Twitter feed, reducing my incoming flow of crap to a fraction of what it was.
I've been at schools using both Moodle and Blackboard (the commercial variant), and my experience as a student suggests that they're fairly interchangeable.
The most important thing with both of them is an a instructor who's willing to take the time and effort to learn and use them effectively. Really engaged teachers can make excellent use of these systems, and make life - and learning - easier for students. If your teacher is the kind who's just pulling a paycheque, these systems are a waste of money.
I'm baffled by the intense dislike of the Ribbon. I expected to hate it, but very quickly found it a great thing - probably one of the nicer changes that Office has seen in a long time.
Why don't they just BUY Facebook, maybe fix it to be less loathsome, and work from there. I see nothing new or innovative, which suggests that this too will crash and burn.
Aside from which, Facebook seems to have peaked, MySpace is in decline, and I'm betting that Twitter is about to begin its own downward slide.
IMHO the problem is that the things that make social media really attractive are not the things that make them really profitable.
Slashdot Mirror
What? Tasering ten year old kids is "bad-ass?"
Category 3 is very small percentage. 1 & 2 make up 99.99% of all people on the planet.
Nonsense.
Category 4: people who have more important things to do with their lives than worry about ads in web pages probably comprise 98% of the population.
I could mess around with ad-blockers and flash blockers etc, but frankly it just ain't that big a deal to me.
How cute, arguing about whether or not the government is behaving properly.
Accept the facts: the rules that apply to you do not apply to the government, especially the secret bits of it. Not because you can't find a statute to support your argument, but because they DON'T CARE and will ignore the rules when it suits them.
And they have bigger, badder guns than you do, and are able to send you off to foreign prisons if they figure it will shut you up.
In movies the Good Guys can win. This is real life though.
The fact remains that world + dog is still using Facebook. God knows why, but they seem to be willing to accept whatever Zuckerberg throws at them.
I honestly like G+, especially the mobile app, but practicality says that I also stay on Facebook.
For years I always installed OpenOffice, but always wound up relying on MS Office because OO was slower, only about 85% compatible in terms of opening and saving files, and just generally wasn't as good. And as good as WINE is, running the MS product on Linux is not always easy or fast.
When I upgraded Ubuntu to natty LibreOffice came with it. I can honestly say that I haven't opened up Excel or Word for weeks. LO opens all of my existing files, with formatting unchanged, and works flawlessly. Plus it has that glorious one button PDF export, which in the past was so good that I would write in Word, save, and then open in OO just to use it.
For most people who use a lot of Word or Excel, but not the more exotic functions, I'd say try LibreOffice. It's fast, and does great job. It's what OO always tried to be, but failed.
Disclaimer: I still miss WordPerfect 5.1 and Reveal Codes.
Go down to your local construction rental outfit and rent a big mo-fo STEAMROLLER!
Couple of passes with that should do it.
Then for added security, drop them into the forms just before they pour the concrete for a reactor containment vessel.
Wow, am I alone in thinking the story submission is just fan-boy astro-turf?
"vanguard of technological innovation"
I already probably do half to two thirds of my browsing, email, and related tasks on my smartphone these days. An awful lot of what we do with computers is arguably trivial stuff that doesn't need screen real estate or big computing power.
My laptop is gathering dust!
And a dozen other "use them once a year and then forget them" log ins for government sites etc.
All of this drives me mad - I can't imagine what it does to Joe User. I basically try random variations on passwords I know I've used, then click on "Forgot Password."
This whole system is seriously broken.
Somehow it seems a good thing that physical fax machines have outlasted WinFax.
Yet another good product that grew increasingly large and ugly until it finally died.
If you actually need a van or pickup, you're screwed. If you don't, you're not screwed quite so hard.
Off hand I'd say that 70% of people driving pickups in Vancouver have no real reason for doing so - especially the F-350 behomoths. What would be really nice is something like the little Suzuki mini-trucks - that could fit the bill for a lot of people who need some hauling capacity, but not the hassle and weight of a full-size truck.
I often wonder why pick-ups keep getting bigger and bigger with each generation. The "small" Ford Ranger of today is about the size of "full-size" F-150 of a couple decades ago.
1969 Dodge Charger. Four barrel carb. RED!
I can still hear and feel that thing - it ROARED instead of whining like the average car today.
Obviously the creators of this idea have never traveled with a dog - specifically the nose of the dog...
Where Twitter loses is in monetizing traffic. In other words, Google knows how to use your traffic to feed you ads that sooner or later you click on. They do it well enough to make a lot of money.
This works for Google because all of their products draw you into their web space, and you can't avoid being presented with Google Ads.
The weakness of Twitter is that in many ways it's easier to use from a phone, Hootsuite, or some other client - even Google Plus with an add-on. There's never any need to actually visit the Twitter web site.
Consequently they're stuck with those idiotic "Promoted Tweets" - which in my experience are so far removed from anything that interests me that I really think they're using chimpanzees instead of algorithms to place them.
Now that all of the Usual Suspects have crapped all over G+, Facebook, MySpace and anything more technologically advanced than a BBS running on a Commodore 64 or usenet...
If you hate social networking sites, then ignore them! Millions of people find them pretty damned handy. Like any other tool, there's good and bad, and no shortage of idiots and/or corporations that can make a good experience into a nightmare. Same is true of e-mail, or IRC, or plain old letter mail.
Of course maybe you're the guy who announced that he would never again write a letter or mail a check once he got his first piece of unsolicited junk mail from Publisher's Clearinghouse.
I genuinely am liking G+. It's early days yet, but it seems to do just the minimum that you would want in social networking, but without the layer upon layer of crap that Facebook has added over the years. Less is more!
Do I trust Google more than Facebook? At the end of the day, yeah, I do. I trust Google to archive my e-mail, but I wouldn't for minute give Facebook the same choice. It's not a black and white issue - there are some things that I will trust Google with, and a lot that their servers will never see. Likewise I do have Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts (and possibly an old MySpace account somewhere) but am pretty careful about how much information they can get their hands on. In Facebook's case it's the utter minimum.
But oooh! Privacy! That boat sailed a long time ago. If you think that you can be active on-line and maintain anything more than a limited amount of privacy you're dreaming. You're constantly creating a stream of data transactions on-line. You maybe able to limit those somewhat, but ultimately you're leaving behind a trail that will likely be around for years or decades. Deal with it - that's the reality of the time we live in.
Unless you're the guy who has refused to own a telephone for eighty years because you were pissed off about having your name and address published in the White Pages.
Finally I'll say a word about the G+ app for Android phones - it's one sweet little item, that seems to work flawlessly on my crappy Moto Charm.
Taking self promotion and Press Releases to a new and integrated level!
Since making the leap to an Android phone, I'm finding I spend a lot less time parked in front of a PC,
I find that the phone will handle about 90% of what I need from the 'Net, but in a sufficiently limited capacity that there's not a great incentive to just surf randomly. Because stuff - even e-mail and Twitter - is a lot less convenient, I get away from the habit of immediately responding to everything.
At the same time I unsubbed from almost every e-mail list, RSS, and Twitter feed, reducing my incoming flow of crap to a fraction of what it was.
Name ONE serious tech co that has moved it's operations offshore? Call centers don't count.
But America can still come out on top, not least because of its longstanding tradition of individuality and private R&D investment
I was kind of hoping that the over the top "Team America" proselytizing would all get done on the Fourth....
FUCK YEAH!
I've been at schools using both Moodle and Blackboard (the commercial variant), and my experience as a student suggests that they're fairly interchangeable.
The most important thing with both of them is an a instructor who's willing to take the time and effort to learn and use them effectively. Really engaged teachers can make excellent use of these systems, and make life - and learning - easier for students. If your teacher is the kind who's just pulling a paycheque, these systems are a waste of money.
Congratulations on the repeat GET (#36603660).
Thank you. Thank you very much.
But will it impress the kiddies who think that a First Post is a big deal?
I'm baffled by the intense dislike of the Ribbon. I expected to hate it, but very quickly found it a great thing - probably one of the nicer changes that Office has seen in a long time.
What, exactly, is so annoying about it? Barry
Never had to set no option for Chrome. Or Firefox.
Why don't they just BUY Facebook, maybe fix it to be less loathsome, and work from there. I see nothing new or innovative, which suggests that this too will crash and burn.
Aside from which, Facebook seems to have peaked, MySpace is in decline, and I'm betting that Twitter is about to begin its own downward slide.
IMHO the problem is that the things that make social media really attractive are not the things that make them really profitable.
Well, except Farmville.