I'm about 45 hours into it and found the ended, before I was really done. I will say that there are some serious bugs, questions that won't finish, that force fail for no reason, and companions that get stuck in rocks from time to time. Fortunately, almost all of those can be worked around until a fix is issued. http://fallout.wikia.com/ is a pretty good source.
While everyone can quickly say "Don't support them if they release software with bugs!!!1", it overlooks the issue that 1. These games are incredibly huge and complex. 2. It would mean much longer release cycles and more expensive games, or smaller games. As long as they fix it within a reasonable amount of time. Basically, we become the bug testers, but people have to be a bit reasonable and understand that an open ended game is virtually impossible to completely debug under all circumstances, on all computers. Fallout: New Vegas has less serious bugs than even Fallout 3 does now. (Yes, I still crash about every 4 hours, save early and often) but the game is very, very good, flaws and all. I would rather have the game NOW with bug than in a year with fewer bugs. And no matter how much testing they do, it will STILL have bugs when it is released, as again, there is NO WAY to make it 100% bork-proof. If anything, it gets fixed faster because millions of "testers" are pushing the game in ways that you just can't in the design studio.
Metacritic is worth looking at for opinions on games, if you don't mind filtering the garbage out. At least it is a blend of all the reviews plus user comments, so it isn't that hard to filter out the 10% haters and 10% fanbouys.
The main reason I disable the effects isn't about performance, they are just annoying. Translucent windows are about the only effect that might have some purpose, although I don't particularly need them. Audio cues? Do I really need to know that I just closed a window? Or opened one? And the Aero UI *does* use RAM and resources, even if the heavy lifting is on the GPU, but it doesn't matter, again, it is just annoying. I am used to being able to hot key swap and click at a fairly fast rate and do so often, which is why the zooming is infinitely annoying.
Classic UI in Windows 7 isn't classic. There are several serious deficiencies that slow me down. I put an icon up on the taskbar, ie: Chrome. If I start Chrome, the icon goes away, so I can't easily start a second instance. Instead I have to either click on the desktop icon (which I never used to even have) or open a new tab and separate it from the parent. And yes, this is something I do many times per day. There are 100 little things like this that simply take more time for each step than it used to.
Don't get me wrong, Win7 is better on the security front, finally, and has some decent refinements in some areas, but it is still has too much tied to the OS and tries to do too many things. The alert system is pretty much a fail. They have managed to make networking even harder than it was by virtually forcing you to go throw their wizard and explain what kind of network you have. (jesus....) and wireless support may be better, but I've had to explain to more people how to get it to work than I did with XP, so not sure what to tell you there.
Having a big electric arc welder for off-hand use isn't a big deal, but if you're operating a major metal shop in a residential neighborhood there are lots of things the neighbors and the zoning laws could be concerned about. Concerns of noise, fire, explosion (not all welders are electric), fumes, and proper shielding of arc flash could require light industrial permits and inspections.
Zoning laws are definitely local. I have someone very close by with a muffler shop basically running out of his house, although light traffic (more than a hobby, less than an enterprise), including all of the above, and NC laws say it is perfectly legal as long as it isn't "a business", which is difficult to prove at light traffic levels (could just have a lot of friends, blah blah blah). He even has his old "muffler shop" sign leaning up against a building (it isn't posted, just "stored"). Even EPA won't look at the place. And yes, he has a dumpster, 3 large bays, solid block building, etc. He also tears down old RVs to their basic frame, to trash the shell and build out or sell the frame. Again, perfectly legal in a residential zoned area, in the county. Granted, inside city limits there would be a few more limits, but not that many more. Someone else up the block has 12 cars in his yard that he parts out. Illegal in the city, but legal in the county here.
I know these are the case because I have a lake front home, and like many lake front areas, the housing just off the lake is typically run down with a mix of trailers, so you have properties worth 100k next to property worth 750k. I've only lived here 4 years and had completely different zoning issues in other counties as well here, so I am guessing you aren't in the SE USA, as zoning here, in general, is fairly lax.
I have read, you just miss the point about being incorrect. Particularly since zoning is a local, or at most state issue. Houston Texas, one of the largest cities in the US and the world, didn't even have zoning of any kind until around 10 years ago, so obviously it isn't as cut and dry as you assume.
Most areas don't restrict zoning based on how YOU use it, but instead on how OTHERS use it, again, traffic. It is about roads, not electricy. If you had read the comment, you would have gathered that little nugget. Oh, and get over yourself, I already have.
By a very unfortunate twist of fate, I learned to program by myself on DOS using debug.exe when I was 10.
I would argue that it was a childhood well spent, as you understand systems at a much lower level than most. I'm 45, and started younger than most. Vic 20 in high school, then a 8086, but didn't get serious until I bought a 386 with DOS 4/Win 3. I understand RS232 ports, and hard modems, and have built my own scsi cables, quite proficient in DOS batching (although not so much with debug.exe), before I moved on to both Windows and Linux. I learned TCP/IP, Netbios (Netbeui), IPX/SPX, Lantastic networking the hard way, before the internet, using BNC cables and terminators. We both have an understanding that goes well below the application interface.
When presented with a problem, I find that it takes me significantly less time to solve than the average 20 year old "expert", as they simply think in shallower terms. They are quicker to blame the application, for instance, when it may be the video driver or a codec. Or they just simply run out of ideas and want to reformat and reinstall. Years of working with slower computers can teach you how to fix problems to prevent having to reinstall the entire OS again, and make you a better tech.
Never regret learning the lower level basics first. Most people are simply too lazy to learn the basics, and in general, are inferior problem solvers because of it.
The problem I have with comparing Linux to Windows on the desktop is that I think Windows stinks on the desktop. I may be in the minority, but I want an operating system that is lean and mean, with no zooming windows, special effects, cute audio cues, or glassy curved "kewl" surfaces. I want an operating system to run applications.
I have become frustrated with Linux on the desktop because there is a rush to beat Windows at what it is best at: bloat. The average Windows or Linux install starts with all the features ON by default, so it takes time to first strip it down to bare bones so it is usable. This is beyond frustrating. If given the choice, I would rather have Windows 95 with a modern kernel. Just visual enough to be easy to configure, but without the freaking eyecandy that does nothing to make my apps run better, and in fact, makes them run slower. Yes, I know there are all kinds of specialized version of Linux that are designed to be simple, but they aren't supported enough for my tastes, and I shouldn't have to try 10 different versions to find one I like. Again, I want the OS so I can run apps, not the other way around.
At the very least, Microsoft should be sophisticated and intelligent enough to offer a "bare" option for installing, and let users add features if they want. Of course, in true MS fashion (and now, Linux as well) the other features will still be there, consuming space, RAM and CPU cycles even when in the OFF position. It is unnecessary, unless your goal is to force people to buy a new system every few years (and poorly implemented updates that slow the system down help with that as well).
To make an instant on computer, the system needs to be something completely different that either Windows or Linux is currently being offered as. It should be a kernel, drivers, codecs and the base API, with a singular update manager, and text configuration files. I don't want quick start applications, I want applications that start quickly. Leaving a stub of them always running is NOT the answer, and is at the very least, bad for security. I have given up all hope that any mainstream operating system will ever achieve this, as there is too much money in promoting bloatware and crapware.
I know several people who have greenhouses in residential areas without extra permits, perfectly legal. They only wholesale. Lots of people work from home, after all. Again, the CAR TRAFFIC is the issue, not the electrical use, so how much power they use has zero effect on zoning. I have had to deal with many zoning issues (unfortunately), and electricity usage has never been in the code in ANY way. It is simply not a factor. I have also had to have power upgraded, freshly installed, etc., and familiar with the requirements there. They just run new line, usually within a few days, at no cost up to the house, and you pay for the tie in and new box only.
As for commercial power being "enough", we sell to businesses, and quite often they have to bring in a new transformer (ie: the power available isn't enough at line voltage). Again, the point is that electrical usage is NOT a factor in zoning regulations.
It isn't illegal to use commercial amounts of electricity in a residential zone in any place in the USA, even if it is for commercial purposes. No zoning laws cover electrical usage. Car traffic, noise, pollution, perhaps, but not electrical use. If you have a 200 amp main (typical) you are invited, yet ENCOURAGED to saturate it with use, as you are charged by the kWh. They will be thrilled you did. Need more transformer? No problem, one is on the way. Have a really old house with only 100 amp mains? They will gladly upgrade you to 200 amp service (or higher), often at little or no charge, excepting you paying your electrician to put in the new main panel. You don't even need to prove you need that much amperage.
So no, Virginia, there is no Electrical Zoning Police in your neighborhood. Use all you want, as long as you can afford it.
The interwebs works pretty much the same way. There is no such thing as "commercial internet zones" or "residential internet zones".
I would love to have a job working for the TSA with the sole task of sneaking stuff on airplanes, just to show how easy it is, with the hope that eventually they would just give up trying. Even if they didn't, sounds like a cool job anyway.
I was thinking poor Camilla. Can you imagine having a mother-in-law that may live to be 100, and not only THINKS she's the frickin' Queen of England, but actually IS the frickin' Queen of England. Oh, and don't forget, when mum-in-law says "You aren't good enough for my boy", it's based on centuries of tradition and unwritten law. Gotta be some awkward family meals on Sundays around that place.
Another point he missed is by quoting the number as being.2% of Americans. Some Americans are 2 years old, or 80, want to stay home and raise the kids, or simply don't want to work. They also don't issue visas for all professions. It would be more accurate if you compared the number of visas to the number of job positions that they visas can fill (not sanitation workers, or fast food cooks). Still not a huge percentage, but not so misleading, however unintentional.
Re:It's not like the royal family has any privacy!
on
The Queen Joins Facebook
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· Score: 2, Funny
This could become a revenue stream for facebook.. The leaking of royalty's hidden profile pictures to tabloids
So you are thinking that the Queen will post pics of herself bikini clad, but only for her friends, and Facebook will just leak those photos for profit? You do realize there is no "Step 2.", but more importantly, no "Step 1." in your plan to "Step 3. Profit!"?
I also fail to see the story. Ask any business manager and he will be against higher income taxes, in part because it makes it harder to attract new talent when your area has income tax higher than average. That means you have to PAY higher than average just to let the person break even on net bring home income. It doesn't so much matter WHAT the tax increase would be used for, as politicians have a habit of claiming that a tax increase is earmarked for a certain project, and in reality it just goes to the general fund.
Here in NC, they sold the idea of a lottery that way, the "education lottery", as "all the money will go toward education". Sure, and for each million in additional lottery money, they just cut the budget by a million, so the net effect is ZERO advantage to education and for all intent and purpose, the money goes into the general fund. But you can "feel good" about voting for the lottery, since it means you are thinking of the children. Politicians love new money, just as businessmen love low taxes.
Exactly what I was thinking: make the hood, top and trunk coated with this material and you have a cheap way to help charge the batteries in a hybrid or electric vehicle. It doesn't need to do all the charging to be effective, just a significant fraction for the average person. Granted, this might not be the best application for much of western Europe, but in much of the western hemisphere and elsewhere, it would be worthwhile.
Would also be interesting for rooftops of commercial and apartment buildings, and for interstate signs as a way to charge batteries, to run LED lighting at night. No more need to run power all the way out to every sign. I would be curious to know what the hell we spend on just sign lighting for interstate and federal highways each year.
I don't think you can trademark the singular letter "G". Lord knows, Apple has tried with the small case letter "i" but that hasn't worked out for them either.
That may be true but I keep my cash stuffed in my mattress.
And thanks to the facebook leak, google maps and the average persons willingness to announce their plans on twitter, it is even easier to steal it from your mattress.
I would argue that it is proactive, as in it scans things BEFORE they are run, not after. Reactive would be the cleanup utilities that are designed to fix your system after AV failed to detect the virus in the first place. And yes, AV is only good to detect known malware and is pretty useless for spin offs.
And being a knowledgeable user, I would have to disagree that it doesn't protect me. I haven't lost a system to a virus in a very long time either, and have only had a few actual infections on my own boxes, (including Win2K getting slammed during the actual install process, leading me to say fuck it and use Linux for servers ever since). I *have* had systems that became infected (those I manage, not mine personally) and I was able to cleanup systems that most people would have just reformatted for. As for my personal system, the AV catches stuff on a regular basis. Then again, I tread into places others might not want to tread into. I use my system for more than email and/.
How does using an optimizer make it hard to maintain? You still have the original source. That makes no sense. That is like saying that the Linux kernel is unmaintainable because it is compiled before it is used. You don't maintain the binary, you maintain the source, THEN compile it with the changes.
What about using less javascript code to begin with? The problem with many programmers is the false idea that more lines is better code, and more features is a better experience.
Were the attacks to expand into the ferocity that they do in Windows, you'd need to add AV.
I get your point, but it only proves mine more so. They would likely be updating via 'yum update' (or your Linux's equiv updater, I use CentOS), which is the exact parallel to Windows Update for those of us in a Linux CLI world. Still the point remains that security updates are a core operating system update, not an stand alone application update.
Even video drivers, ETH drivers, libraries, etc. are done via Windows Update. Those are core services as well. The AV companies simply want the money (which is fine) but they want Microsoft to be LESS effective at providing security for their operating system so that the 3rd parties can continue to charge for it, as they have for decades now. My point is that MS should have been providing AV as a core service since day one, and punishing them now for finally doing the right thing, is pointless and purely money motivated.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm about 45 hours into it and found the ended, before I was really done. I will say that there are some serious bugs, questions that won't finish, that force fail for no reason, and companions that get stuck in rocks from time to time. Fortunately, almost all of those can be worked around until a fix is issued. http://fallout.wikia.com/ is a pretty good source.
While everyone can quickly say "Don't support them if they release software with bugs!!!1", it overlooks the issue that 1. These games are incredibly huge and complex. 2. It would mean much longer release cycles and more expensive games, or smaller games. As long as they fix it within a reasonable amount of time. Basically, we become the bug testers, but people have to be a bit reasonable and understand that an open ended game is virtually impossible to completely debug under all circumstances, on all computers. Fallout: New Vegas has less serious bugs than even Fallout 3 does now. (Yes, I still crash about every 4 hours, save early and often) but the game is very, very good, flaws and all. I would rather have the game NOW with bug than in a year with fewer bugs. And no matter how much testing they do, it will STILL have bugs when it is released, as again, there is NO WAY to make it 100% bork-proof. If anything, it gets fixed faster because millions of "testers" are pushing the game in ways that you just can't in the design studio.
Metacritic is worth looking at for opinions on games, if you don't mind filtering the garbage out. At least it is a blend of all the reviews plus user comments, so it isn't that hard to filter out the 10% haters and 10% fanbouys.
The main reason I disable the effects isn't about performance, they are just annoying. Translucent windows are about the only effect that might have some purpose, although I don't particularly need them. Audio cues? Do I really need to know that I just closed a window? Or opened one? And the Aero UI *does* use RAM and resources, even if the heavy lifting is on the GPU, but it doesn't matter, again, it is just annoying. I am used to being able to hot key swap and click at a fairly fast rate and do so often, which is why the zooming is infinitely annoying.
Classic UI in Windows 7 isn't classic. There are several serious deficiencies that slow me down. I put an icon up on the taskbar, ie: Chrome. If I start Chrome, the icon goes away, so I can't easily start a second instance. Instead I have to either click on the desktop icon (which I never used to even have) or open a new tab and separate it from the parent. And yes, this is something I do many times per day. There are 100 little things like this that simply take more time for each step than it used to.
Don't get me wrong, Win7 is better on the security front, finally, and has some decent refinements in some areas, but it is still has too much tied to the OS and tries to do too many things. The alert system is pretty much a fail. They have managed to make networking even harder than it was by virtually forcing you to go throw their wizard and explain what kind of network you have. (jesus....) and wireless support may be better, but I've had to explain to more people how to get it to work than I did with XP, so not sure what to tell you there.
Having a big electric arc welder for off-hand use isn't a big deal, but if you're operating a major metal shop in a residential neighborhood there are lots of things the neighbors and the zoning laws could be concerned about. Concerns of noise, fire, explosion (not all welders are electric), fumes, and proper shielding of arc flash could require light industrial permits and inspections.
Zoning laws are definitely local. I have someone very close by with a muffler shop basically running out of his house, although light traffic (more than a hobby, less than an enterprise), including all of the above, and NC laws say it is perfectly legal as long as it isn't "a business", which is difficult to prove at light traffic levels (could just have a lot of friends, blah blah blah). He even has his old "muffler shop" sign leaning up against a building (it isn't posted, just "stored"). Even EPA won't look at the place. And yes, he has a dumpster, 3 large bays, solid block building, etc. He also tears down old RVs to their basic frame, to trash the shell and build out or sell the frame. Again, perfectly legal in a residential zoned area, in the county. Granted, inside city limits there would be a few more limits, but not that many more. Someone else up the block has 12 cars in his yard that he parts out. Illegal in the city, but legal in the county here.
I know these are the case because I have a lake front home, and like many lake front areas, the housing just off the lake is typically run down with a mix of trailers, so you have properties worth 100k next to property worth 750k. I've only lived here 4 years and had completely different zoning issues in other counties as well here, so I am guessing you aren't in the SE USA, as zoning here, in general, is fairly lax.
I have read, you just miss the point about being incorrect. Particularly since zoning is a local, or at most state issue. Houston Texas, one of the largest cities in the US and the world, didn't even have zoning of any kind until around 10 years ago, so obviously it isn't as cut and dry as you assume.
Most areas don't restrict zoning based on how YOU use it, but instead on how OTHERS use it, again, traffic. It is about roads, not electricy. If you had read the comment, you would have gathered that little nugget. Oh, and get over yourself, I already have.
By a very unfortunate twist of fate, I learned to program by myself on DOS using debug.exe when I was 10.
I would argue that it was a childhood well spent, as you understand systems at a much lower level than most. I'm 45, and started younger than most. Vic 20 in high school, then a 8086, but didn't get serious until I bought a 386 with DOS 4/Win 3. I understand RS232 ports, and hard modems, and have built my own scsi cables, quite proficient in DOS batching (although not so much with debug.exe), before I moved on to both Windows and Linux. I learned TCP/IP, Netbios (Netbeui), IPX/SPX, Lantastic networking the hard way, before the internet, using BNC cables and terminators. We both have an understanding that goes well below the application interface.
When presented with a problem, I find that it takes me significantly less time to solve than the average 20 year old "expert", as they simply think in shallower terms. They are quicker to blame the application, for instance, when it may be the video driver or a codec. Or they just simply run out of ideas and want to reformat and reinstall. Years of working with slower computers can teach you how to fix problems to prevent having to reinstall the entire OS again, and make you a better tech.
Never regret learning the lower level basics first. Most people are simply too lazy to learn the basics, and in general, are inferior problem solvers because of it.
The problem I have with comparing Linux to Windows on the desktop is that I think Windows stinks on the desktop. I may be in the minority, but I want an operating system that is lean and mean, with no zooming windows, special effects, cute audio cues, or glassy curved "kewl" surfaces. I want an operating system to run applications.
I have become frustrated with Linux on the desktop because there is a rush to beat Windows at what it is best at: bloat . The average Windows or Linux install starts with all the features ON by default, so it takes time to first strip it down to bare bones so it is usable. This is beyond frustrating. If given the choice, I would rather have Windows 95 with a modern kernel. Just visual enough to be easy to configure, but without the freaking eyecandy that does nothing to make my apps run better, and in fact, makes them run slower. Yes, I know there are all kinds of specialized version of Linux that are designed to be simple, but they aren't supported enough for my tastes, and I shouldn't have to try 10 different versions to find one I like. Again, I want the OS so I can run apps, not the other way around.
At the very least, Microsoft should be sophisticated and intelligent enough to offer a "bare" option for installing, and let users add features if they want. Of course, in true MS fashion (and now, Linux as well) the other features will still be there, consuming space, RAM and CPU cycles even when in the OFF position. It is unnecessary, unless your goal is to force people to buy a new system every few years (and poorly implemented updates that slow the system down help with that as well).
To make an instant on computer, the system needs to be something completely different that either Windows or Linux is currently being offered as. It should be a kernel, drivers, codecs and the base API, with a singular update manager, and text configuration files. I don't want quick start applications, I want applications that start quickly. Leaving a stub of them always running is NOT the answer, and is at the very least, bad for security. I have given up all hope that any mainstream operating system will ever achieve this, as there is too much money in promoting bloatware and crapware.
I know several people who have greenhouses in residential areas without extra permits, perfectly legal. They only wholesale. Lots of people work from home, after all. Again, the CAR TRAFFIC is the issue, not the electrical use, so how much power they use has zero effect on zoning. I have had to deal with many zoning issues (unfortunately), and electricity usage has never been in the code in ANY way. It is simply not a factor. I have also had to have power upgraded, freshly installed, etc., and familiar with the requirements there. They just run new line, usually within a few days, at no cost up to the house, and you pay for the tie in and new box only.
As for commercial power being "enough", we sell to businesses, and quite often they have to bring in a new transformer (ie: the power available isn't enough at line voltage). Again, the point is that electrical usage is NOT a factor in zoning regulations.
It isn't illegal to use commercial amounts of electricity in a residential zone in any place in the USA, even if it is for commercial purposes. No zoning laws cover electrical usage. Car traffic, noise, pollution, perhaps, but not electrical use. If you have a 200 amp main (typical) you are invited, yet ENCOURAGED to saturate it with use, as you are charged by the kWh. They will be thrilled you did. Need more transformer? No problem, one is on the way. Have a really old house with only 100 amp mains? They will gladly upgrade you to 200 amp service (or higher), often at little or no charge, excepting you paying your electrician to put in the new main panel. You don't even need to prove you need that much amperage.
So no, Virginia, there is no Electrical Zoning Police in your neighborhood. Use all you want, as long as you can afford it.
The interwebs works pretty much the same way. There is no such thing as "commercial internet zones" or "residential internet zones".
I would love to have a job working for the TSA with the sole task of sneaking stuff on airplanes, just to show how easy it is, with the hope that eventually they would just give up trying. Even if they didn't, sounds like a cool job anyway.
Because 0+0=1!
But only for sufficiently large values of 0.
You forgot blue screen.
The most popular shows are of the same brain-dead kind like in the US, reality shows, soaps, cooking shows and sports.
Culture is our number one export. Not saying it's a good thing, but it is our biggest export.
And her mother lived to over 100. Poor Charles.
I was thinking poor Camilla. Can you imagine having a mother-in-law that may live to be 100, and not only THINKS she's the frickin' Queen of England, but actually IS the frickin' Queen of England. Oh, and don't forget, when mum-in-law says "You aren't good enough for my boy", it's based on centuries of tradition and unwritten law. Gotta be some awkward family meals on Sundays around that place.
Better luck next attempt ;)
Another point he missed is by quoting the number as being .2% of Americans. Some Americans are 2 years old, or 80, want to stay home and raise the kids, or simply don't want to work. They also don't issue visas for all professions. It would be more accurate if you compared the number of visas to the number of job positions that they visas can fill (not sanitation workers, or fast food cooks). Still not a huge percentage, but not so misleading, however unintentional.
This could become a revenue stream for facebook.. The leaking of royalty's hidden profile pictures to tabloids
So you are thinking that the Queen will post pics of herself bikini clad, but only for her friends, and Facebook will just leak those photos for profit? You do realize there is no "Step 2.", but more importantly, no "Step 1." in your plan to "Step 3. Profit!"?
Christine O'Donnell certainly didn't know what was in the Constitution. Didn't work out for her.
I also fail to see the story. Ask any business manager and he will be against higher income taxes, in part because it makes it harder to attract new talent when your area has income tax higher than average. That means you have to PAY higher than average just to let the person break even on net bring home income. It doesn't so much matter WHAT the tax increase would be used for, as politicians have a habit of claiming that a tax increase is earmarked for a certain project, and in reality it just goes to the general fund.
Here in NC, they sold the idea of a lottery that way, the "education lottery", as "all the money will go toward education". Sure, and for each million in additional lottery money, they just cut the budget by a million, so the net effect is ZERO advantage to education and for all intent and purpose, the money goes into the general fund. But you can "feel good" about voting for the lottery, since it means you are thinking of the children. Politicians love new money, just as businessmen love low taxes.
Exactly what I was thinking: make the hood, top and trunk coated with this material and you have a cheap way to help charge the batteries in a hybrid or electric vehicle. It doesn't need to do all the charging to be effective, just a significant fraction for the average person. Granted, this might not be the best application for much of western Europe, but in much of the western hemisphere and elsewhere, it would be worthwhile.
Would also be interesting for rooftops of commercial and apartment buildings, and for interstate signs as a way to charge batteries, to run LED lighting at night. No more need to run power all the way out to every sign. I would be curious to know what the hell we spend on just sign lighting for interstate and federal highways each year.
I don't think you can trademark the singular letter "G". Lord knows, Apple has tried with the small case letter "i" but that hasn't worked out for them either.
That may be true but I keep my cash stuffed in my mattress.
And thanks to the facebook leak, google maps and the average persons willingness to announce their plans on twitter, it is even easier to steal it from your mattress.
It's reactive,
I would argue that it is proactive, as in it scans things BEFORE they are run, not after. Reactive would be the cleanup utilities that are designed to fix your system after AV failed to detect the virus in the first place. And yes, AV is only good to detect known malware and is pretty useless for spin offs.
And being a knowledgeable user, I would have to disagree that it doesn't protect me. I haven't lost a system to a virus in a very long time either, and have only had a few actual infections on my own boxes, (including Win2K getting slammed during the actual install process, leading me to say fuck it and use Linux for servers ever since). I *have* had systems that became infected (those I manage, not mine personally) and I was able to cleanup systems that most people would have just reformatted for. As for my personal system, the AV catches stuff on a regular basis. Then again, I tread into places others might not want to tread into. I use my system for more than email and /.
How does using an optimizer make it hard to maintain? You still have the original source. That makes no sense. That is like saying that the Linux kernel is unmaintainable because it is compiled before it is used. You don't maintain the binary, you maintain the source, THEN compile it with the changes.
What about using less javascript code to begin with? The problem with many programmers is the false idea that more lines is better code, and more features is a better experience.
Were the attacks to expand into the ferocity that they do in Windows, you'd need to add AV.
I get your point, but it only proves mine more so. They would likely be updating via 'yum update' (or your Linux's equiv updater, I use CentOS), which is the exact parallel to Windows Update for those of us in a Linux CLI world. Still the point remains that security updates are a core operating system update, not an stand alone application update.
Even video drivers, ETH drivers, libraries, etc. are done via Windows Update. Those are core services as well. The AV companies simply want the money (which is fine) but they want Microsoft to be LESS effective at providing security for their operating system so that the 3rd parties can continue to charge for it, as they have for decades now. My point is that MS should have been providing AV as a core service since day one, and punishing them now for finally doing the right thing, is pointless and purely money motivated.