Google's engineers have decreed that familiar email practices are no longer useful, and have substituted approaches they prefer, arrogantly denying users any choice.
Yea, it's a shame they shook up the whole "search engine result sorting" thing too. Bummer that didn't work out for them.
Re:Tech support hates them already
on
Office 12 Exposed
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· Score: 1
12 year olds don't have any problem figuring out software. They are persistent and aren't afraid to learn new things or click on buttons.
You'd be better served to design an interface a even a technophobe can use.
That wasn't the point I was trying to make. My point was that people might actually do what you tell them to (specifically referring to the text in the dialog box), so tell them what to do in the simplest terms possible.
You'd be better served to design an interface a even a technophobe can use.
Well, I'd back out even further. If the person is a technophobe, it's probably because the technology they were dealt with was bad in the first place. Fix that first.
I'm not trying to point out specific problems like above, but just illustrating that this is the thought process that software UI designers should be doing, which obviously they aren't.
Re:Tech support hates them already
on
Office 12 Exposed
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· Score: 1
Ugh, rest of the reply:
Point being, instead of using fancy lingo that arrogantly assumes your users precisely understand what you are talking about (why would you need a pop-up window in that case, anyway?)...
Tell it like a 12-year old, since there might actually be a few of them using it.
Re:Tech support hates them already
on
Office 12 Exposed
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· Score: 1
Remember that stupid people will read your words, too. Consider the worst possible misinterpretation of anything you write, because it will always come back to you.
I have a better version of that:
Be careful what you write, because people might actually do it.
Point being, instead of using fancy lingo that arrogantly assumes your users precisely understand what you are talking about (why would you need a pop-up window in that case, anyway?)
The primary reason computer-illiterate people can't figure out their computers (Windows ones, anyway) is because the interface keeps changing around with each new version.
A multi-billion dollar company with vast amounts of money invested can't figure that out?
Wouldn't it be easier to just get some sleep?
I'm sure we'll be able to get to the point of 20-hour workdays with magical advances of medical science--but personally, i'd rather just get some rest.
"Ahem. Token effort to do what? Rip off any and all users of said trademark, perhaps? May I point you, kind sir, to the facts?
The lawyer in question is stating, among other things, that LUG's *will* have to pony up. This is no "simple trademark defense". You don't defend something from people upholding it."
For one, LUGs are probably not going to have to pay up. I can't see how they are offering a "product or service" to the public. They generally aren't even registered as companies. You're either in the group, or not. They're not selling something.
For second, even if they did; the license fee could be as low $200 a year. I registered my own company earlier this year and at that time, the contact at LMI I had claimed that they will even work with sublicensees on that price. If everyone in the group can't cough up a combined total of $200 over twelve months to help defend the thing the group is all about in the first place... get another hobby.
They're not trying to "rip off" anyone. LMI is registered as a non-profit organization. They're just looking to build up a war chest to defend Linux with if they have to. The more Linux is used in the business world, the more important this becomes. It's that simple.
...this year, just to my rear.
It's fair, in my opinion. GPL states the source is free, but the "Linux" name isn't. This shouldn't be a surprise, Linus has owned the trademark for years.
You too are completely missing the point.
Sure, you can rattle off technical specifications that easily exceed the Mac Mini, likely at a better performance to cost ratio, sure... you could.
But after you turn on the machine and use it I'd bet that the extra $50 or so spent on the Mac is well worth the time and frustration saved by having to usually worry every other day about Windows updates, virus updates, or spyware updates and whether or not someone snuck something on your PC.
Case in point: A customer I visited had a Windows XP machine with precisely 643 pieces of spyware (according to AdAware) and four viruses. This person is not a computer person, just needs it for work and email.
Is the extra $50 spent worth eliminating all the time and confusion she went through the months before I visited and fixed it (for the time being)? You betcha. Could she have saved $150 by not having call me? Absolutely.
Once hardware nerds realize that computers are for actually *getting work done* and not about raw performance is the day they become Mac addicts.
But once running, I argue it takes less time than other distros. Setup vs. Long run, I'll take long run anytime. Setup is guaranteed to take a certain amount of time, however if I can accurately forsee how long it will take to keep a system up to date over time, I win.
I'm not a Gentoo "fanboy" by any stretch of the means, however I do prefer it over something like Fedora. Why? Because it gives me incentive to keep my system up-to-date. Updating individual packages is easy, simple, and relatively safe in Gentoo.. something I can't say about Up2Date for sure. I've used Gentoo in some low-priority production roles, and it's perfomed fine for years. Our RedHat boxes have as well, but the Gentoo ones are at least running the newest, secure software.
Additionally, I'm not a believer in the "old==stable" crap. If you're using old software, it's probably full of security holes. If it's new it "might" be unstable. I'll take the latter. this article at newsforge only helped me solidify my unpopular (but usually true) opinion.
Then again, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one.
If you'll believe that, then I have a bridge to sell you...
Real cheap.
Hahah! I do believe it.
Here's the actual story:
Deroy Murdock: Patriot Act thwarts terrorists
It's a google cache since the news site has since enabled logins (bleh).
Seriously though, I've taken the time to read (most) of the act, and it's not *nearly* as severe as a lot of people would like to be led to believe. Most of it has not much to do with civil rights as it does removing barriers of allowing intelligence about nasty stuff being passed between the right agencies without delay.
Being that we went to New York the the few weeks following that news event, I feel it was perfectly relevant to my safety.
A lot of folks in the US have a very short memory and remember little about how it felt when all those planes were crashing. Sad thing is, that if the Brooklyn Bridge in this example were to be destroyed--the same folks that are complaining about this act would likely be behind it or begin to claim that it doesn't do enough and start blaming the president for not doing enough.
argh!!
What specifically do you not like about it? All of the provisions declared in the act are only legal under the pretense that there is the potential of death to citizens of the country. How would taking a picture be doing that? The guy they arrested for plotting the bombing took plenty of pictures. They didn't go get him until the CIA told the NYPD that they had information about chatter regarding the Brooklyn Bridge. The Patriot act enabled the CIA to communicate with the NYPD. That's all.
Have you read the Patriot act? Most people that I ask that have problems with it aren't really sure what exactly they dislike about it.
DC12 was my first DefCon, my only two gripes were the heat (us northerners are wimps) and the chronic lack of seating. It seeed that by Saturday afternoon much of the crowds had subsided, but there were still issues nonetheless. I'll definitely be going back next year with a bigger group.
Possibly one of the highlights was getting pics of Woz and Mitnick standing a few feet apart from each other; with Woz on his Segway. Pretty cool.
That doesn't follow AT ALL. Suppose in a given town, when the sun goes down, 98% of the residents have a Ford pickup parked outside and leave the front door wide open, while the other 2% have a Chevy pickup parked outside, with the front door triple bolted, and two pit bulls in the back.
Do the neighborhood burglars preferentially select the 98% because the Fords are more abundant, or do they pick them for the path of least resistance?
That analogy had me thinking for a minute; but then I realized the flaw.
Indicate that the burglars have a jump-starter that is known to work primarily on Ford pickups, and that there is a factory recall out for bad key cylinders in Ford pickups you'd be closer to the mark.;)
I started using a mac cautiously about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back. I finally convinced my boss to get me a singleproc-G5 for the sysadmin drone work I do for a living.
I think it has something to do with getting older and gaining more non-computer related responsibilites (kids, houses, in-laws:) but the last think I want to see when I go to check why Countrywide didn't get my mortgage payment is something wrong with mmap() for 000EFx768 on DIMM B J3200. Ya know?
Yes PC fans, Apple hardware is generally more expensive. But two factors make it worth the extra dough:
1) It works. No complaints, no "my video card has a conflict with the on-board video/NIC IRQ"
2) Apple users are willing to pay a little more for quality and consistancy. The difference between a typical auto and a luxury auto.
Overall, there's nothing wrong with PC's, and Unix/Linux in general. They have their place, but for me personally having a machine that I can seamlessly pull in DV of my nephew from my camcorder and turn out a DVD-R in a few minutes? Record a quick riff that I have stuck in my head and take it to practice? All with no drivers, no kernel recompiles, or package dependancies? Priceless.
It's worth it. Anyone who is serious about to getting work done with the computer and doesn't consider working on the computer a very high priority should at least consider trying a Mac.
Two points (I know I'm feeding the Anonymous Troll,but):
1) Show me the statistics that show that you can feed a family of four for less than $5000/year.
2) As a multiple-business owner, and family man this kind of post is just disgusting. Part of what made the United States as comfortable, powerful and sucessful entities in the world was simply the pursuit by her citizens of something better. Remove that single aspect, replace it with your belief and this country will fail.
Most people in the U.S. were born and raised with the luxury of living in the most powerful country in history. Because of this, there is an unawareness of why our forefathers worked as hard as they did.
Personally, I'm going to work my ass off while I'm young so that I can retire early. Yes I'm on track to do so in 10 years.
Then I'll watch in retired comfort as the radical people that thought they were making a difference by not doing anything are in their 60's with $400 in the bank with medical expenses no place to live.
I suppose I'll be supporting them via taxes anyway. So it is that the buren of the lazy is placed on the hard-working.
Well, I know my mom had damn good reason to constantly warn me to stay abstinent when I was a teenager, but it was irritating just the same. Stop telling me what to think and just give me unbiased complete specs or nothing at all.
The MacSlashdot Sales Stalkers are a pain in the ass. They make this site feel less like a true conversation with give and take and appreciation of other's viewpoints, and more like there are Jehovah's Witlesses constantly coming to my door, bothering me with something I don't want and will NEVER agree to. Slashdot discussions are becoming all the same cookie-cutter crap. "Whatever you're using is worse than a Mac. You won't be truly happy until you buy a Mac. I can offer you salvation! Buy a Mac. Buy a Mac. Buy a Mac. Don't look too close at the specs, just buy one." If people wanted a sales pitch, they'd go to Apple.com.
But read my posting history, you'll see that I already have a Mac. It's good. OS X beats Windows by far and is more user-friendly than Linux. The only thing I truly hate about it is you people. The sales drones who constantly lie about how great it is on this site and others like it. And if they're not lying, they're twisting the facts just enough that everyone believes one thing without the salesman actually saying it. But they lead everyone on and let them jump to incorrect conclusions without correcting them. Everywhere I go there's somebody telling me something I can prove is not true, just by turning my own computer on! Much of it is true, but it's still not cool to post "Macs are the greatest!" to every damn thread. It's irritating as hell. I partly base my purchase decisions on these comments, and I certainly feel I was lied to in order to make a sale. That's dishonest and I don't respect it one bit.
Well, here's a one little viewpoint from "us people".
It's just a computer.
Repeat that several times until you "get it".
In case you don't, here it is:
I give a flying fuck what they hell I'm using, I just want it to work when I need it. After doing just crap as work for the better part of a decade now, I learned to HATE shit that doesn't work. That means just about every computer in general.
Macs are the most invisible computers--far from perfect--but they do what I want the least amount of bullshit.
It looks like that evil robot Maximilian from that old Disney movie "The Black Hole".
I'm kind of expecting it to whip out some helicoper blades and take out one of those photographers.
...That all the "facts" their studies state are based on phantom numbers.
Looking at the first IDC PDF they make available for download, the research claims that the second-highest contributor to TCO is downtime.
Now here's what I want to know. Without knowing specifics within any given company of how much business is being lost; and thus, how much money is potentially being lost, how can they even make such a claim?
The point is, even though the IT/Technology press seems to be pushing "TCO" as a major factor in deciding platforms, reality has shown that many IT decision makers simply just don't care about TCO.
They know, as well as most of us lowly admins do: TCO is wildly inaccurate, and impossibly complicated to calculate, and generally is a waste of time. Business dollars spent trying to figure TCO are better utilized on Admin skill and probably marketing.
Microsoft is just to justify their high prices against something that's essentially free. My suggestion to Microsoft is to try another approach altogether. Perhaps promote the Clown-influenced color scheme of Windows XP as "modern".
Uhm, yes you can. This was in 2000, long before Microsoft figured that out in IE6. 2000 shipped with IE5, remember?
All you needed to do was click "yes" on the pop up dialog.
I actually tried to pursuade the Linux route before we ended up with the Mac, but I wasn't lucky enough to have a ex-programming Mom!
I also forgot to mention how much more she got out of the Mac than the PC... before it was just a tool to do the bills, but she actually bought herself an iPod, figured out iPhoto and iMovie on her own...and gave us a DVD with the family Christmas movies on it last year.
She's turned to complete mac-addict now too... and it really is interesting to hear the non-comptuer saavy talk to the other non-computer saavy about why the Mac is superior.
Kind of enlightening actually, because they'll just say things about how "fast" things are that don't pertain to speed. She considers her Safari internet browser "faster" just because she put all her bookmarks in a toolbar, whereas in IE it was in a menu. Strange...but useful in "selling" alternative OSes to other non-computer folks.
Slashdot Mirror
Google's engineers have decreed that familiar email practices are no longer useful, and have substituted approaches they prefer, arrogantly denying users any choice.
Yea, it's a shame they shook up the whole "search engine result sorting" thing too. Bummer that didn't work out for them.
12 year olds don't have any problem figuring out software. They are persistent and aren't afraid to learn new things or click on buttons. You'd be better served to design an interface a even a technophobe can use.
That wasn't the point I was trying to make. My point was that people might actually do what you tell them to (specifically referring to the text in the dialog box), so tell them what to do in the simplest terms possible.
You'd be better served to design an interface a even a technophobe can use.
Well, I'd back out even further. If the person is a technophobe, it's probably because the technology they were dealt with was bad in the first place. Fix that first.
I'm not trying to point out specific problems like above, but just illustrating that this is the thought process that software UI designers should be doing, which obviously they aren't.
Ugh, rest of the reply: Point being, instead of using fancy lingo that arrogantly assumes your users precisely understand what you are talking about (why would you need a pop-up window in that case, anyway?)... Tell it like a 12-year old, since there might actually be a few of them using it.
The primary reason computer-illiterate people can't figure out their computers (Windows ones, anyway) is because the interface keeps changing around with each new version. A multi-billion dollar company with vast amounts of money invested can't figure that out?
Wouldn't it be easier to just get some sleep? I'm sure we'll be able to get to the point of 20-hour workdays with magical advances of medical science--but personally, i'd rather just get some rest.
Read this.
For one, LUGs are probably not going to have to pay up. I can't see how they are offering a "product or service" to the public. They generally aren't even registered as companies. You're either in the group, or not. They're not selling something.
For second, even if they did; the license fee could be as low $200 a year. I registered my own company earlier this year and at that time, the contact at LMI I had claimed that they will even work with sublicensees on that price. If everyone in the group can't cough up a combined total of $200 over twelve months to help defend the thing the group is all about in the first place... get another hobby.
They're not trying to "rip off" anyone. LMI is registered as a non-profit organization. They're just looking to build up a war chest to defend Linux with if they have to. The more Linux is used in the business world, the more important this becomes. It's that simple.
...this year, just to my rear. It's fair, in my opinion. GPL states the source is free, but the "Linux" name isn't. This shouldn't be a surprise, Linus has owned the trademark for years.
You too are completely missing the point. Sure, you can rattle off technical specifications that easily exceed the Mac Mini, likely at a better performance to cost ratio, sure... you could. But after you turn on the machine and use it I'd bet that the extra $50 or so spent on the Mac is well worth the time and frustration saved by having to usually worry every other day about Windows updates, virus updates, or spyware updates and whether or not someone snuck something on your PC. Case in point: A customer I visited had a Windows XP machine with precisely 643 pieces of spyware (according to AdAware) and four viruses. This person is not a computer person, just needs it for work and email. Is the extra $50 spent worth eliminating all the time and confusion she went through the months before I visited and fixed it (for the time being)? You betcha. Could she have saved $150 by not having call me? Absolutely. Once hardware nerds realize that computers are for actually *getting work done* and not about raw performance is the day they become Mac addicts.
But once running, I argue it takes less time than other distros. Setup vs. Long run, I'll take long run anytime. Setup is guaranteed to take a certain amount of time, however if I can accurately forsee how long it will take to keep a system up to date over time, I win.
I'm not a Gentoo "fanboy" by any stretch of the means, however I do prefer it over something like Fedora. Why? Because it gives me incentive to keep my system up-to-date. Updating individual packages is easy, simple, and relatively safe in Gentoo.. something I can't say about Up2Date for sure. I've used Gentoo in some low-priority production roles, and it's perfomed fine for years. Our RedHat boxes have as well, but the Gentoo ones are at least running the newest, secure software.
Additionally, I'm not a believer in the "old==stable" crap. If you're using old software, it's probably full of security holes. If it's new it "might" be unstable. I'll take the latter. this article at newsforge only helped me solidify my unpopular (but usually true) opinion.
Then again, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one.
yet you have time to post to... Slashdot.
What specifically do you not like about it? All of the provisions declared in the act are only legal under the pretense that there is the potential of death to citizens of the country. How would taking a picture be doing that? The guy they arrested for plotting the bombing took plenty of pictures. They didn't go get him until the CIA told the NYPD that they had information about chatter regarding the Brooklyn Bridge. The Patriot act enabled the CIA to communicate with the NYPD. That's all.
Have you read the Patriot act? Most people that I ask that have problems with it aren't really sure what exactly they dislike about it.
I recently took a trip to New York and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. The PATRIOT act kept that bridge from being blown up. I liked that walk.
Possibly one of the highlights was getting pics of Woz and Mitnick standing a few feet apart from each other; with Woz on his Segway. Pretty cool.
That analogy had me thinking for a minute; but then I realized the flaw.
Indicate that the burglars have a jump-starter that is known to work primarily on Ford pickups, and that there is a factory recall out for bad key cylinders in Ford pickups you'd be closer to the mark. ;)
I started using a mac cautiously about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back. I finally convinced my boss to get me a singleproc-G5 for the sysadmin drone work I do for a living.
I think it has something to do with getting older and gaining more non-computer related responsibilites (kids, houses, in-laws :) but the last think I want to see when I go to check why Countrywide didn't get my mortgage payment is something wrong with mmap() for 000EFx768 on DIMM B J3200. Ya know?
Yes PC fans, Apple hardware is generally more expensive. But two factors make it worth the extra dough:
1) It works. No complaints, no "my video card has a conflict with the on-board video/NIC IRQ"
2) Apple users are willing to pay a little more for quality and consistancy. The difference between a typical auto and a luxury auto.
Overall, there's nothing wrong with PC's, and Unix/Linux in general. They have their place, but for me personally having a machine that I can seamlessly pull in DV of my nephew from my camcorder and turn out a DVD-R in a few minutes? Record a quick riff that I have stuck in my head and take it to practice? All with no drivers, no kernel recompiles, or package dependancies? Priceless.
It's worth it. Anyone who is serious about to getting work done with the computer and doesn't consider working on the computer a very high priority should at least consider trying a Mac.
Two points (I know I'm feeding the Anonymous Troll ,but):
1) Show me the statistics that show that you can feed a family of four for less than $5000/year.
2) As a multiple-business owner, and family man this kind of post is just disgusting. Part of what made the United States as comfortable, powerful and sucessful entities in the world was simply the pursuit by her citizens of something better. Remove that single aspect, replace it with your belief and this country will fail.
Most people in the U.S. were born and raised with the luxury of living in the most powerful country in history. Because of this, there is an unawareness of why our forefathers worked as hard as they did.
Personally, I'm going to work my ass off while I'm young so that I can retire early. Yes I'm on track to do so in 10 years.
Then I'll watch in retired comfort as the radical people that thought they were making a difference by not doing anything are in their 60's with $400 in the bank with medical expenses no place to live.
I suppose I'll be supporting them via taxes anyway. So it is that the buren of the lazy is placed on the hard-working.
Well, here's a one little viewpoint from "us people".
It's just a computer.
Repeat that several times until you "get it".
In case you don't, here it is:
I give a flying fuck what they hell I'm using, I just want it to work when I need it. After doing just crap as work for the better part of a decade now, I learned to HATE shit that doesn't work. That means just about every computer in general.
Macs are the most invisible computers--far from perfect--but they do what I want the least amount of bullshit.
And assuming they're not on Apple's payroll, you just might have to step back and wonder if there's a damn good reason! :)
It looks like that evil robot Maximilian from that old Disney movie "The Black Hole". I'm kind of expecting it to whip out some helicoper blades and take out one of those photographers.
Looking at the first IDC PDF they make available for download, the research claims that the second-highest contributor to TCO is downtime.
Now here's what I want to know. Without knowing specifics within any given company of how much business is being lost; and thus, how much money is potentially being lost, how can they even make such a claim?
The point is, even though the IT/Technology press seems to be pushing "TCO" as a major factor in deciding platforms, reality has shown that many IT decision makers simply just don't care about TCO.
They know, as well as most of us lowly admins do: TCO is wildly inaccurate, and impossibly complicated to calculate, and generally is a waste of time. Business dollars spent trying to figure TCO are better utilized on Admin skill and probably marketing.
Microsoft is just to justify their high prices against something that's essentially free. My suggestion to Microsoft is to try another approach altogether. Perhaps promote the Clown-influenced color scheme of Windows XP as "modern".
Uhm, yes you can. This was in 2000, long before Microsoft figured that out in IE6. 2000 shipped with IE5, remember? All you needed to do was click "yes" on the pop up dialog.
I actually tried to pursuade the Linux route before we ended up with the Mac, but I wasn't lucky enough to have a ex-programming Mom!
I also forgot to mention how much more she got out of the Mac than the PC... before it was just a tool to do the bills, but she actually bought herself an iPod, figured out iPhoto and iMovie on her own...and gave us a DVD with the family Christmas movies on it last year.
She's turned to complete mac-addict now too... and it really is interesting to hear the non-comptuer saavy talk to the other non-computer saavy about why the Mac is superior.
Kind of enlightening actually, because they'll just say things about how "fast" things are that don't pertain to speed. She considers her Safari internet browser "faster" just because she put all her bookmarks in a toolbar, whereas in IE it was in a menu. Strange...but useful in "selling" alternative OSes to other non-computer folks.
Man, are you sure? I know it supports video on the Mac...but not audio? Seems kind of strange...