Have they even made a functional change to Excel since 97? I've got a list three pages long of ways they can make Excel better for analyzing data, but MS seems intent on only making changes that allow things to be "shared" or published on the internet (that and prettier menus). As soon as the real competition in the Office market went away (Quattro Pro and a few others) real progression in the spreadsheet market went kaput. Now all these varients are good at emulating Excel (except VBA), but don't push the boundaries.
Excel 97 would not have had many of the functions it did if they hadn't had Quattro Pro and that NeXT computer spreadsheet (whose name escapes me) to grab ideas from. Now, it's all about the interface and not about the data analysis.
Actually, I know 7 people that have XBoxes. Of those 7, 6 have modified them for uses (PRIMARY USES) beyond playing games. They all use them as media centers. They occassionally play games on them, but find them better for showing baby pictures to parents on the big screen TV. For gaming, they pretty much stick to the PC.
That's not what MS wants them to be used for (when selling at a loss).
Don't mind if I don't see every nook and crannie of Wind Waker. But if there are TRACKS (that is the purpose of F-Zero, correct?) that aren't unlocked until I stick my memory into and play on a video arcade, then, yes I do feel that's not right.
Same goes with X-Box live and those recently discovered "downloads" for some game. Turns out the X-Box live just enables the missions that are already on the DVD. I think if you by a game, all portions of that game on that DVD you bring home should be at least available to you from your home without any other requirements.
If they are going to give Live subscribers access to new, previously unavailable levels, then make'em download it and save it to the hard disk. Same goes for F-Zero -- you think a Gamecube memory card can store a full track? All it's going to do is unlock the track that's already on the disk.
What a great idea! I buy a game to play at home, but don't get use of the full game because there won't be an arcade withing 1000 miles of me with the game.
I guess this is to be expected from Nintendo -- with their push for the gameboy-gamecube connection. Now you can pay 100% for a gamecube game and get 90% of it in return.
I certainly hope there are cheats that can open up the "hidden" tracks for those of us stuck in the god-forsaken corners of the world.
That's sad to hear. Just that much more likely that games like X-wing will fade away completely. I used my Sidewinder for:
- X-Wing vs TIE Fighter - X-Wing Alliance - Freespace I & II - Mechwarrior II, III, IV (or whatever the latest non-expansion version was) - Independence War I & II
All-in-all, I'd say I got my money's worth out of it.
Of course, my first Kraft joystick REALLY got a workout. Pretty much everything that was action in the late 80's and early 90's used it inc X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Wing Commander series, ELITE, etc....
Until some competitor presents a viable alternative to VBA combined with Excel, there is no way you can get me to switch. For me it always comes back to Excel (the seamingly forgotten app as far as MS is concerned -- at least in regards to how little new, cool features have been added in the past few versions). Nothing provides me the ease to perform data reduction, graphing, and reporting with the ease that Excel and all my VBA programs do.
Since MS hasn't really upgraded anything in Excel since Office '97, that's the reason I've not upgraded since then either.
All these wonderous advancements, and we've still not had Elite remade in a way true to the original form. This of course goes against the spirit of the article, but why can't someone make a (non-online) modern day version of Elite. Freelancer was okay, until the game was over - then you realize the only real thing you can do is kill things. They didn't allow for any variation in style of play after the single player mission ended.
The combination of Excel and the VBA macro language. After using it, I could never go back to a spreadsheet without it. It magnifies the data analysis capabilities of Excel tenfold.
I hope more people do start using Microsoft's search - especially my competition. The less information they're able to find on the Net, the better it is for me. Let the ignorant masses flock to MSN -- then let them pay us to find the information readily available from Google!
Could they slap a Star Trek label on the show Firefly and keep it around (as it was before it got canceled)? I'd love to see where 2-3 seasons of that show would go -- excellent writing, compelling story lines, and "realism" (kinda like Star Wars:A New Hope - things were allowed to be dirty).
Re:The solution to problems like this...
on
HomeSec In the News
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· Score: 1
Actually, I thought Clinton did get line item veto power for a short while, but the courts ruled it unconstitutional.
Every time I've been to an IMAX movie, they tell the audience that if you get up to leave during the show - tough luck, you're not getting back in. Attack of the Clones is what, 2 1/2 hours long? My bladder will EXPLODE in that amount of time..... I'll have to hold off on all the water before hand or make sure to work out for a very long time before I go (to sweat out all that extra water).
Seems like half my family is being diagnosed with Alzheimers, and every one of them drank coffee all day, everyday. Considering my poor genes in this area, can I have pure caffeine intravenously pumped into my bloodstream in hopes of delaying my on onset of the ailment?
The reason that at least some of these rocks are thought to be from Mars is that bubbles in the the impact glass (i.e glass formed during the impact that ejected them from Mars) contain gasses whose isotopic rations could only be found in the Martian atmosphere. Others are believed to originate on Mars because the chemistry of the rocks indicate extensive geological processing that could have only occurred on a relative large (and wet) planet. Since these rocks have O isotope ratios that are unlike Earth's and it is really hard to get rocks up the gravity well from Venus, Mars is the only choice.
I've often wondered about this. Why would a rock that fits that description automatically be from Mars? Are the rocks that are floating around in our solar system only from our solar system?
I always laugh when thinking about how wrong scientists were about Jupiter (or was it Saturn?) when they dropped that probe into it's atmosphere. I get the feeling a lot of the times that they're just playing with high tech equipment, allowed to make whatever "statement of fact" they feel like (with absolutely no consequence to the correctness of it), and change it whenever it suites them to do so. Plus they get paid to do this! I think I picked the wrong profession...
Granted this is all a scientific process, but given past success with these types of "predictions", I am not convinced that these "martian" meteorites are actually from mars.
How cool would it be if the game is released with all the options of the new NWN engine in place? Since they are placing the game approximately 4000 years before ANH, they could be giving the time frame and the story lines to the fans.
Having seen the ease of use involved in making fan based missions in NWN, this could result in an plethora of wonderful fan based, Star Wars stories! This could blow the EQ Star Wars model away!
It's a shame that both Diablo II and Icewind Dale are being released at the same time. I think a lot of people that would otherwise find IWD incredibly entertaining will never see it. I for one will dedicate these next few weeks (months?) to building up all SIX of my IWD characters, and leave D2 for this fall (in that calm before Christmas).
IWD isn't as pure a hack-n-slash as Diablo, but any D&D fan should check it out!
But if you had a program that you used to quickly reference items in a book that you purchaed, and to use this program (say you wrote the program) you had to scan in the useful pages, would having those pages (from a book you purchased) on your hard disk violate the copywrite?
I did try the starbasic. It has been a while since I tried it but I seem to remember it very lacking. I tried to record a macro that involved many of the things I tend to do in my VB macros (I typically record first and then go back through and modify to my liking (when that is an option)), and I seem to remember it just leaving most of it out (of the macro). I assumed that meant that the macro language did not support those options.
This was within the last 3 or so months, if someone has information to the contrary regarding a newer version, please let me know! Also, does starbasic convert over VB programs?
Does PERL and TCl/Tk give you access to numerical functions of some pre-existing mathmatical functions (as found in a spreadsheet)? Does it have the ability to perform graphs similar (again) to what is in a spreadsheet? I ask only because I do not know. If they do, then maybe it is a viable alternative. I just don't have time to reinvent the wheel with my current job. I would imagine that PERL and TCl/Tk are fairly simple languages too (I had to teach myself VB, but I'm by no means a programer (although I've got some pretty big VB programs now)).
Every time I see one of these articles, I'm amazed at how very little what I consider essential computer usage ever gets mentioned. I use Visual Basic ALL THE TIME in the Microsoft Office apps.
Is there something in Linux that can provide the power and flexability of VB in something like Excel? I'm not talking about a macro language like what use to be in Excel (circa 1991 or so), but something that you can program to adapt to certain situations? What I spend hours on now would take weeks without visual basic. This is one of my PRIMARY reasons for not being able to make the switch to Linux.
I can't help but think how easily ALL of this could have been avoided if the appropriate people had just released players for a multitude of OS's other than just Windows and MAC. It is just mind boggling that they'll put these kinds of resources behind shutting this down, but they won't just release a damn player.
At least with their players in the market, they could say "the only reason for this program is to copy the DVD's".
Slashdot Mirror
Have they even made a functional change to Excel since 97? I've got a list three pages long of ways they can make Excel better for analyzing data, but MS seems intent on only making changes that allow things to be "shared" or published on the internet (that and prettier menus). As soon as the real competition in the Office market went away (Quattro Pro and a few others) real progression in the spreadsheet market went kaput. Now all these varients are good at emulating Excel (except VBA), but don't push the boundaries.
Excel 97 would not have had many of the functions it did if they hadn't had Quattro Pro and that NeXT computer spreadsheet (whose name escapes me) to grab ideas from. Now, it's all about the interface and not about the data analysis.
Probably not. Lucky for those that do play it that it generates enough interest and makes enough money to pay them very nice salaries.
Actually, I know 7 people that have XBoxes. Of those 7, 6 have modified them for uses (PRIMARY USES) beyond playing games. They all use them as media centers. They occassionally play games on them, but find them better for showing baby pictures to parents on the big screen TV. For gaming, they pretty much stick to the PC.
That's not what MS wants them to be used for (when selling at a loss).
What I need for Linux to be on my desktop:
- Video editing ability (home user style) similar to what I can do with Pinnacle Studio 7/8
- Functionality of MS Excel WITH VB for Applications
Those are my two main sticking points. Other than that, I could probably switch full time (except for games).
Don't mind if I don't see every nook and crannie of Wind Waker. But if there are TRACKS (that is the purpose of F-Zero, correct?) that aren't unlocked until I stick my memory into and play on a video arcade, then, yes I do feel that's not right.
Same goes with X-Box live and those recently discovered "downloads" for some game. Turns out the X-Box live just enables the missions that are already on the DVD. I think if you by a game, all portions of that game on that DVD you bring home should be at least available to you from your home without any other requirements.
If they are going to give Live subscribers access to new, previously unavailable levels, then make'em download it and save it to the hard disk. Same goes for F-Zero -- you think a Gamecube memory card can store a full track? All it's going to do is unlock the track that's already on the disk.
What a great idea! I buy a game to play at home, but don't get use of the full game because there won't be an arcade withing 1000 miles of me with the game.
I guess this is to be expected from Nintendo -- with their push for the gameboy-gamecube connection. Now you can pay 100% for a gamecube game and get 90% of it in return.
I certainly hope there are cheats that can open up the "hidden" tracks for those of us stuck in the god-forsaken corners of the world.
That's sad to hear. Just that much more likely that games like X-wing will fade away completely. I used my Sidewinder for:
- X-Wing vs TIE Fighter
- X-Wing Alliance
- Freespace I & II
- Mechwarrior II, III, IV (or whatever the latest non-expansion version was)
- Independence War I & II
All-in-all, I'd say I got my money's worth out of it.
Of course, my first Kraft joystick REALLY got a workout. Pretty much everything that was action in the late 80's and early 90's used it inc X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Wing Commander series, ELITE, etc....
Until some competitor presents a viable alternative to VBA combined with Excel, there is no way you can get me to switch. For me it always comes back to Excel (the seamingly forgotten app as far as MS is concerned -- at least in regards to how little new, cool features have been added in the past few versions). Nothing provides me the ease to perform data reduction, graphing, and reporting with the ease that Excel and all my VBA programs do.
Since MS hasn't really upgraded anything in Excel since Office '97, that's the reason I've not upgraded since then either.
All these wonderous advancements, and we've still not had Elite remade in a way true to the original form. This of course goes against the spirit of the article, but why can't someone make a (non-online) modern day version of Elite. Freelancer was okay, until the game was over - then you realize the only real thing you can do is kill things. They didn't allow for any variation in style of play after the single player mission ended.
The combination of Excel and the VBA macro language. After using it, I could never go back to a spreadsheet without it. It magnifies the data analysis capabilities of Excel tenfold.
Unfortunately, I fall into the 10% catagory. Any chance something similar to Excel with Visual Basic for Applications will be available?
I couldn't do half the stuff I do today without the functionality of the VB apps created in Excel.
I hope more people do start using Microsoft's search - especially my competition. The less information they're able to find on the Net, the better it is for me. Let the ignorant masses flock to MSN -- then let them pay us to find the information readily available from Google!
Could they slap a Star Trek label on the show Firefly and keep it around (as it was before it got canceled)? I'd love to see where 2-3 seasons of that show would go -- excellent writing, compelling story lines, and "realism" (kinda like Star Wars:A New Hope - things were allowed to be dirty).
Actually, I thought Clinton did get line item veto power for a short while, but the courts ruled it unconstitutional.
Every time I've been to an IMAX movie, they tell the audience that if you get up to leave during the show - tough luck, you're not getting back in. Attack of the Clones is what, 2 1/2 hours long? My bladder will EXPLODE in that amount of time..... I'll have to hold off on all the water before hand or make sure to work out for a very long time before I go (to sweat out all that extra water).
Seems like half my family is being diagnosed with Alzheimers, and every one of them drank coffee all day, everyday. Considering my poor genes in this area, can I have pure caffeine intravenously pumped into my bloodstream in hopes of delaying my on onset of the ailment?
I've often wondered about this. Why would a rock that fits that description automatically be from Mars? Are the rocks that are floating around in our solar system only from our solar system?
I always laugh when thinking about how wrong scientists were about Jupiter (or was it Saturn?) when they dropped that probe into it's atmosphere. I get the feeling a lot of the times that they're just playing with high tech equipment, allowed to make whatever "statement of fact" they feel like (with absolutely no consequence to the correctness of it), and change it whenever it suites them to do so. Plus they get paid to do this! I think I picked the wrong profession...
Granted this is all a scientific process, but given past success with these types of "predictions", I am not convinced that these "martian" meteorites are actually from mars.
How cool would it be if the game is released with all the options of the new NWN engine in place? Since they are placing the game approximately 4000 years before ANH, they could be giving the time frame and the story lines to the fans.
Having seen the ease of use involved in making fan based missions in NWN, this could result in an plethora of wonderful fan based, Star Wars stories! This could blow the EQ Star Wars model away!
It's a shame that both Diablo II and Icewind Dale are being released at the same time. I think a lot of people that would otherwise find IWD incredibly entertaining will never see it. I for one will dedicate these next few weeks (months?) to building up all SIX of my IWD characters, and leave D2 for this fall (in that calm before Christmas).
IWD isn't as pure a hack-n-slash as Diablo, but any D&D fan should check it out!
http://www.interplay.com
But if you had a program that you used to quickly reference items in a book that you purchaed, and to use this program (say you wrote the program) you had to scan in the useful pages, would having those pages (from a book you purchased) on your hard disk violate the copywrite?
(good grief what a long sentence)
I did try the starbasic. It has been a while since I tried it but I seem to remember it very lacking. I tried to record a macro that involved many of the things I tend to do in my VB macros (I typically record first and then go back through and modify to my liking (when that is an option)), and I seem to remember it just leaving most of it out (of the macro). I assumed that meant that the macro language did not support those options.
This was within the last 3 or so months, if someone has information to the contrary regarding a newer version, please let me know! Also, does starbasic convert over VB programs?
Does PERL and TCl/Tk give you access to numerical functions of some pre-existing mathmatical functions (as found in a spreadsheet)? Does it have the ability to perform graphs similar (again) to what is in a spreadsheet? I ask only because I do not know. If they do, then maybe it is a viable alternative. I just don't have time to reinvent the wheel with my current job. I would imagine that PERL and TCl/Tk are fairly simple languages too (I had to teach myself VB, but I'm by no means a programer (although I've got some pretty big VB programs now)).
Thanks for the info!
Every time I see one of these articles, I'm amazed at how very little what I consider essential computer usage ever gets mentioned. I use Visual Basic ALL THE TIME in the Microsoft Office apps.
Is there something in Linux that can provide the power and flexability of VB in something like Excel? I'm not talking about a macro language like what use to be in Excel (circa 1991 or so), but something that you can program to adapt to certain situations? What I spend hours on now would take weeks without visual basic. This is one of my PRIMARY reasons for not being able to make the switch to Linux.
I can't help but think how easily ALL of this could have been avoided if the appropriate people had just released players for a multitude of OS's other than just Windows and MAC. It is just mind boggling that they'll put these kinds of resources behind shutting this down, but they won't just release a damn player.
At least with their players in the market, they could say "the only reason for this program is to copy the DVD's".
Thief, System Shock II, and Thief II -- all are (or appear to be) great games.
Thief is my all time favorite single player, first person shooter (sneaker).