Never in my life would I have expected Slashdotter of all people to be promoting living in the Cloud and giving away all control over your data to a corporation. Sure, the needs of regular folk are likely less than what we'd require, but it's still a fundamental issue of control that we shouldn't' be promoting.
Responsibility requires effort, but empowers the user. To basically give away that control simply because it's "too hard" to know how your files are saved and where on local storage, smacks of going backwards.
The world isn't screwed. YOUR country is screwed. And although there are many exports that I enjoy from your country (such as Game of Thrones and Valve games), if it collapses the rest of the world will adapt.
Paul Thurrott, the world's premier Microsoft fanboy, has been running a few articles about his concept of "zero data" - that is, keeping ALL computer data where feasible in the Cloud as opposed to your local HDD. He does so willingly because he has in his mind too much clutter, and would rather let some corporation take control over it instead of trimming what he has down to something more reasonable:
It's one thing to give away so much of your personal data to a company - it's anther thing to then perform destruction over your local copies so everything you've ever done is totally out of your control. To me, the idea of giving away that level of control over MY data to a company is totally horrifying, but apparently I'm too stubborn and old-fashioned by saying so. Oh well.
I dunno, I'd like to think I've made enough accomplishments in life to quality it as not being shit. Plus I have a loving wife, which I consider my greatest accomplishment of them all. You know nothing about me you cum-sucking fuck.
It's all about balance. An entire life spent on computing without something to contrast it is unhealthy. For goodness sake, so many people here have lost an appreciation for what life provides. They only see negatives in physical human interaction. I see it as an excuse for not understanding just how important social skills are.
It is, however, a very unhealthy way to be entertained when done consistently for long periods of time (excluding perhaps bouncing around with the Kinect or Wii Sports or something).
There's more to life than just games. If that's all that it takes for a person to be satisfied, it'll only be once they get old and games don't have the same appeal anymore that they'll realize there was so much more they could have done when they were young - they were just too fucking stupid to know.
+3 interesting? What's wrong with Slashdot that posts with the most misinformation are modded up? And then other people take these modded up posts as gospel and keep repeating the FUD.
The problem is that a LOT of people on Slashdot basically live on Slashdot. It's their primary tech site, and hence they surround themselves with like-minded people who believe Linux will crush Microsoft on the desktop any day now, that Microsoft are dying, that no-one could like Windows/Microsoft by choice, that most people support Snowdon and his actions, and so on. It's one great bit echo chamber as opinions get reinforced by other like-minded posters, which strengthens their opinions and moves them into undeniable fact.
A place like ArsTechnica shows a vastly different situation, with far more people showing more varied opinions, such as liking Windows 8, preferring Microsoft technologies like C# to C++/Java, preferring Surface to iPad, and in this case, seeing the benefits of Secure Boot. Why do they do this? Because they aren't fucking brainwashed to believe what Slashdot tells them to believe.
I have no love for Microsoft. I dislike Windows 8 for the most part, I prefer cross-platform solutions and am indifferent to others. But what I do try to do is basic my opinions on the merits of the topic at hand - I've learnt to basically ignore most other opinions because way, way too many of them are based on emotion and (in Slashdot's case) hate to allow for an informed opinion.
It really bugs me when people cannot state something without hyperbole. The US isn't deliberately targeting babies in their drone strikes (unless of course someone is working under the impression that killing babies in the Middle East reduces the number of potential terrorists in the future, but that's probably a bit far fetched).
I don't agree with drone strikes in general, but then again, I know absolutely nothing about the intel and strategic thought that goes into picking targets for strikes. I'd like to think at least some of them are valid targets - the US has a reputation for trying to avoid civilian casualty PRECISELY because it makes them look bad. And yet it seems that nothing they do can make people happy.*
*Well... short of not attacking at all, which would make them seem impotent and week to their enemies, and hence bring out a different set of complainers. Life a bitch when it comes to running a country it seems.
Why the fuck do I bother sometimes? I take the time to write what I consider a helpful and informative post, don't get modded or even commented on, while someone else (an AC at that) posts the Prey URL (without even making it clickable) and gets (Score:5, Informative).
Maybe I should have stuck to the goal of my username and remained a reader rather than a poster.
* Free and open source * Completely passive * If the laptop is reported missing (and has net access to know this), Prey will report its geo-location via Google Maps, take passive captures of the user with the laptop's webcam, take screenshots of their activity, and if necessary completely lock down the computer (though you'd normally do this manually and as a last resort - once locked, the thief will probably ditch it very quickly). Does other things as well. * Works on Win/OSX/Linux/iOS/Android
* Allows you to run it in two ways: 1. Make an account on the website, install the software and link it to your account, so that should your laptop go missing you can report its absence via the site and it'll do its thing once the laptop goes online elsewhere. Free accounts all you to link up to 3 devices, pro accounts allow more in addition to more features, but you'll easily be fine with a free account. 2. If you want to be completely independent, you can run Prey stand-alone. No account needed - it works by monitoring for the existence of a URL when online, and if said URL reports a 404 error, it triggers and sends reports via email. Hence, you set up some free hosting with a dummy file, point Prey to the full URL of said file, then if laptop goes walkies, remove the file from the host to trigger Prey. No reliance on accounts or anything. Bit much for a regular user but easy enough for advanced users and not dependent on a company for the software to keep working.
Mostly shithouse. The older the version of Office/Photoshop/Lightroom, the better the chances of it working without much tweaking. But even then, WINE has a reputation for regressions between versions, such that a new update might improve one program but screw up another. WINE is no way to run a computer if you insist on reliability. Better to just use a VM like VirtualBox or give up on Linux entirely and run everything you want on Windows. They are Windows programs in the end - what better place to run them.
I certainly hope we don't get Syria style violence. Kids being disemboweled by 50 cal rifles in a war with no end in sight is something I'd never want to see happen here. I'd rather suffer NSA-style tyranny and accept Big Brother forever than live through another war.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with entertainment. We're not supposed to live dull, boring lives. Likewise it's impossible to consistently be doing something productive. Vegging out in front of the TV for example provides the brain with suitable downtime.
As for newspapers and what not, it's honestly time I think that people take responsibility for what they decide to believe in the media. The Internet provides far more sources of info than was once available, so as long as you don't live in a completely closed environment with no net access and a totally controlled news environment (e.g. North Korea), there's no excuse for believing every damn thing you hear.
There doesn't seems to be much of a point for anyone to be a whistleblower anymore. You lose your job, your reputation is ruined in the public view due to the immense power of media manipulation, your life is ruined (possibly even lethally depending on circumstances)... and the end result? A bit of a kerfuffle on the Internet and that's it. Nothing changes, the pricks responsible keep doing their business as money changes hands/public reaction dies down, and it becomes business as usual.
Unlike in fiction, good people doing the right thing often suffer absolutely terrible consequences. No wonder people are apathetic - it's a survival instinct. Stirring the hornet's nest costs WAY too much for zero practical gain.
The massive use of Facebook kinda shows that very few people give a shit about piracy. It is possible to use Facebook reasonably sensibly if you only provide the minimum required for it to work, but then its usefulness is hampered and the vast majority of FB users prefer to fill in every single field available on their profile.
Why is this funny? About.com evidentally had the relevant information and Excel is the best spreadsheet tool out there (still far better than Calc anyway).
Of course, if I wanted to complain about Linux Mint, I'd point out that it is difficult to get a decent taskbar on the left/right of the screen that shows small icons and titles. Microsoft at least hasn't messed that up, yet...
The best option with Mint would be to use the MATE desktop, remove the existing taskbar (applet), right-click the panel and add the applet which shows icons for each running application instead of traditional icon+text bars (not sure what the applet's name is called - just look around).
Of course, if you're using Cinnamon instead of MATE, change to MATE. Cinnamon still uses the GNOME 3 backend which means reduced functionality in a lot of other areas, not as many applets, and all-round lack of maturity... right now.
Now, however, they have delusions of being a "device and service company" and want to cut the desktop loose. It's absurd, of course (the desktop is the only area that MS has any kind of real advantage over its competitors) but it is what Steve Ballmer thinks.
Oh come on. Do you really expect any company that sees the writing on the wall in terms of their traditional market drying up to just stand there and go "oh well, we were dominant before, but we're weak in the new market - let's just not bother trying"?
Microsoft are changing direction because they have to. If they don't try and address the mobile sector, they'll be relegated to IBM status - a company that services their niche reasonably well but are no longer in the public view or mindshare. Microsoft cannot stand not being on top (they've been on top for so long, it's not a surprise), and hence will try whatever they can to compete in new markets even if it's not their strength.
The desktop paradigm is probably about as mature and refined as it's going to get. It's not absurd at all for Microsoft to want to avoid becoming stagnant. Whether they do a good job of it or now though is a matter for the public.
Nope. No-one in Linux-land is going to invest in the substantial capital to ensure such tools are running similarly to Azure. On the other hand, all the equivalent tools for Linux are free, so there's no barrier in terms of cost for Linux at least.
I don't like Windows 8. More specifically, I don't like this direction Microsoft is taking of basically throwing the refined desktop experience under the bus all for the sake of mobile. That, plus their business practices and general contempt for their users has certainly annoyed me and many others.
But... at some point you have to decide to either sit up or shut up. If you don't like what's going on with Microsoft/Windows, move to Linux/OSX now or at least invest some time in running more cross-platform software such that it'll be easy to leave in the future, as you'll be accustomed to most of the software. You can't just keep whining about the bullshit that Microsoft does and not act upon it. It shows a lack of backbone and proves Microsoft can do whatever they like and people won't do anything about it.
I'm not a hater. I don't hate Windows 7 for example, and I don't hate Windows 8. I don't even hate Microsoft - they're not even worth expending the emotional energy to hate in the first place, honestly. But I do look out for my long-term computing prospects and even if Linux isn't quite ready for me yet, I'm utilizing more and more cross-platform software on a regular basis such that it won't be painful (for example, I actually LIKE using Eclipse/Qt Creator instead of Visual Studio - don't care if I'm the only one, they do the job quite well and aren't painful once you learn).
Slashdot Mirror
Never in my life would I have expected Slashdotter of all people to be promoting living in the Cloud and giving away all control over your data to a corporation. Sure, the needs of regular folk are likely less than what we'd require, but it's still a fundamental issue of control that we shouldn't' be promoting.
Responsibility requires effort, but empowers the user. To basically give away that control simply because it's "too hard" to know how your files are saved and where on local storage, smacks of going backwards.
The world isn't screwed. YOUR country is screwed. And although there are many exports that I enjoy from your country (such as Game of Thrones and Valve games), if it collapses the rest of the world will adapt.
Yeah, and then looked what happened? City 17 was completely destroyed by a dark-energy explosion.
Moral of the story - don't trust anyone except a mute with a lot of guns.
Paul Thurrott, the world's premier Microsoft fanboy, has been running a few articles about his concept of "zero data" - that is, keeping ALL computer data where feasible in the Cloud as opposed to your local HDD. He does so willingly because he has in his mind too much clutter, and would rather let some corporation take control over it instead of trimming what he has down to something more reasonable:
http://winsupersite.com/cloud/zero-data-hardest-part-saying-goodbye
http://winsupersite.com/cloud/zero-data-reducing-storage-clutter
It's one thing to give away so much of your personal data to a company - it's anther thing to then perform destruction over your local copies so everything you've ever done is totally out of your control. To me, the idea of giving away that level of control over MY data to a company is totally horrifying, but apparently I'm too stubborn and old-fashioned by saying so. Oh well.
And nothing of value would be lost. Except perhaps the Florida Fark tag.
I dunno, I'd like to think I've made enough accomplishments in life to quality it as not being shit. Plus I have a loving wife, which I consider my greatest accomplishment of them all. You know nothing about me you cum-sucking fuck.
It's all about balance. An entire life spent on computing without something to contrast it is unhealthy. For goodness sake, so many people here have lost an appreciation for what life provides. They only see negatives in physical human interaction. I see it as an excuse for not understanding just how important social skills are.
You disgust me.
It is, however, a very unhealthy way to be entertained when done consistently for long periods of time (excluding perhaps bouncing around with the Kinect or Wii Sports or something).
There's more to life than just games. If that's all that it takes for a person to be satisfied, it'll only be once they get old and games don't have the same appeal anymore that they'll realize there was so much more they could have done when they were young - they were just too fucking stupid to know.
Thought that was worth highlighting.
The problem is that a LOT of people on Slashdot basically live on Slashdot. It's their primary tech site, and hence they surround themselves with like-minded people who believe Linux will crush Microsoft on the desktop any day now, that Microsoft are dying, that no-one could like Windows/Microsoft by choice, that most people support Snowdon and his actions, and so on. It's one great bit echo chamber as opinions get reinforced by other like-minded posters, which strengthens their opinions and moves them into undeniable fact.
A place like ArsTechnica shows a vastly different situation, with far more people showing more varied opinions, such as liking Windows 8, preferring Microsoft technologies like C# to C++/Java, preferring Surface to iPad, and in this case, seeing the benefits of Secure Boot. Why do they do this? Because they aren't fucking brainwashed to believe what Slashdot tells them to believe.
I have no love for Microsoft. I dislike Windows 8 for the most part, I prefer cross-platform solutions and am indifferent to others. But what I do try to do is basic my opinions on the merits of the topic at hand - I've learnt to basically ignore most other opinions because way, way too many of them are based on emotion and (in Slashdot's case) hate to allow for an informed opinion.
It really bugs me when people cannot state something without hyperbole. The US isn't deliberately targeting babies in their drone strikes (unless of course someone is working under the impression that killing babies in the Middle East reduces the number of potential terrorists in the future, but that's probably a bit far fetched).
I don't agree with drone strikes in general, but then again, I know absolutely nothing about the intel and strategic thought that goes into picking targets for strikes. I'd like to think at least some of them are valid targets - the US has a reputation for trying to avoid civilian casualty PRECISELY because it makes them look bad. And yet it seems that nothing they do can make people happy.*
*Well... short of not attacking at all, which would make them seem impotent and week to their enemies, and hence bring out a different set of complainers. Life a bitch when it comes to running a country it seems.
Why the fuck do I bother sometimes? I take the time to write what I consider a helpful and informative post, don't get modded or even commented on, while someone else (an AC at that) posts the Prey URL (without even making it clickable) and gets (Score:5, Informative).
Maybe I should have stuck to the goal of my username and remained a reader rather than a poster.
Apologies if this sounds like I'm some sort of shill, but I'm not. Just a happy customer:
http://preyproject.com/
* Free and open source
* Completely passive
* If the laptop is reported missing (and has net access to know this), Prey will report its geo-location via Google Maps, take passive captures of the user with the laptop's webcam, take screenshots of their activity, and if necessary completely lock down the computer (though you'd normally do this manually and as a last resort - once locked, the thief will probably ditch it very quickly). Does other things as well.
* Works on Win/OSX/Linux/iOS/Android
* Allows you to run it in two ways:
1. Make an account on the website, install the software and link it to your account, so that should your laptop go missing you can report its absence via the site and it'll do its thing once the laptop goes online elsewhere. Free accounts all you to link up to 3 devices, pro accounts allow more in addition to more features, but you'll easily be fine with a free account.
2. If you want to be completely independent, you can run Prey stand-alone. No account needed - it works by monitoring for the existence of a URL when online, and if said URL reports a 404 error, it triggers and sends reports via email. Hence, you set up some free hosting with a dummy file, point Prey to the full URL of said file, then if laptop goes walkies, remove the file from the host to trigger Prey. No reliance on accounts or anything. Bit much for a regular user but easy enough for advanced users and not dependent on a company for the software to keep working.
Mostly shithouse. The older the version of Office/Photoshop/Lightroom, the better the chances of it working without much tweaking. But even then, WINE has a reputation for regressions between versions, such that a new update might improve one program but screw up another. WINE is no way to run a computer if you insist on reliability. Better to just use a VM like VirtualBox or give up on Linux entirely and run everything you want on Windows. They are Windows programs in the end - what better place to run them.
I certainly hope we don't get Syria style violence. Kids being disemboweled by 50 cal rifles in a war with no end in sight is something I'd never want to see happen here. I'd rather suffer NSA-style tyranny and accept Big Brother forever than live through another war.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with entertainment. We're not supposed to live dull, boring lives. Likewise it's impossible to consistently be doing something productive. Vegging out in front of the TV for example provides the brain with suitable downtime.
As for newspapers and what not, it's honestly time I think that people take responsibility for what they decide to believe in the media. The Internet provides far more sources of info than was once available, so as long as you don't live in a completely closed environment with no net access and a totally controlled news environment (e.g. North Korea), there's no excuse for believing every damn thing you hear.
There doesn't seems to be much of a point for anyone to be a whistleblower anymore. You lose your job, your reputation is ruined in the public view due to the immense power of media manipulation, your life is ruined (possibly even lethally depending on circumstances)... and the end result? A bit of a kerfuffle on the Internet and that's it. Nothing changes, the pricks responsible keep doing their business as money changes hands/public reaction dies down, and it becomes business as usual.
Unlike in fiction, good people doing the right thing often suffer absolutely terrible consequences. No wonder people are apathetic - it's a survival instinct. Stirring the hornet's nest costs WAY too much for zero practical gain.
The massive use of Facebook kinda shows that very few people give a shit about piracy. It is possible to use Facebook reasonably sensibly if you only provide the minimum required for it to work, but then its usefulness is hampered and the vast majority of FB users prefer to fill in every single field available on their profile.
Why is this funny? About.com evidentally had the relevant information and Excel is the best spreadsheet tool out there (still far better than Calc anyway).
The best option with Mint would be to use the MATE desktop, remove the existing taskbar (applet), right-click the panel and add the applet which shows icons for each running application instead of traditional icon+text bars (not sure what the applet's name is called - just look around).
Of course, if you're using Cinnamon instead of MATE, change to MATE. Cinnamon still uses the GNOME 3 backend which means reduced functionality in a lot of other areas, not as many applets, and all-round lack of maturity... right now.
Oh come on. Do you really expect any company that sees the writing on the wall in terms of their traditional market drying up to just stand there and go "oh well, we were dominant before, but we're weak in the new market - let's just not bother trying"?
Microsoft are changing direction because they have to. If they don't try and address the mobile sector, they'll be relegated to IBM status - a company that services their niche reasonably well but are no longer in the public view or mindshare. Microsoft cannot stand not being on top (they've been on top for so long, it's not a surprise), and hence will try whatever they can to compete in new markets even if it's not their strength.
The desktop paradigm is probably about as mature and refined as it's going to get. It's not absurd at all for Microsoft to want to avoid becoming stagnant. Whether they do a good job of it or now though is a matter for the public.
Nope. No-one in Linux-land is going to invest in the substantial capital to ensure such tools are running similarly to Azure. On the other hand, all the equivalent tools for Linux are free, so there's no barrier in terms of cost for Linux at least.
I don't like Windows 8. More specifically, I don't like this direction Microsoft is taking of basically throwing the refined desktop experience under the bus all for the sake of mobile. That, plus their business practices and general contempt for their users has certainly annoyed me and many others.
But... at some point you have to decide to either sit up or shut up. If you don't like what's going on with Microsoft/Windows, move to Linux/OSX now or at least invest some time in running more cross-platform software such that it'll be easy to leave in the future, as you'll be accustomed to most of the software. You can't just keep whining about the bullshit that Microsoft does and not act upon it. It shows a lack of backbone and proves Microsoft can do whatever they like and people won't do anything about it.
I'm not a hater. I don't hate Windows 7 for example, and I don't hate Windows 8. I don't even hate Microsoft - they're not even worth expending the emotional energy to hate in the first place, honestly. But I do look out for my long-term computing prospects and even if Linux isn't quite ready for me yet, I'm utilizing more and more cross-platform software on a regular basis such that it won't be painful (for example, I actually LIKE using Eclipse/Qt Creator instead of Visual Studio - don't care if I'm the only one, they do the job quite well and aren't painful once you learn).
The Chinese would know how to pirate Windows 7 as well as anyone else. It's trivial as hell nowadays.