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User: Confuzzled

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  1. Re:What phones get vendor updates after three year on Apple vs. Microsoft: a Tale of Two Mobile Updates · · Score: 1

    But still it feels like buying a Lexus and then the sales man wants 20$ more for some floor mats.

    You've obviously never bought a Lexus, or any luxury car. EVERYTHING is an option on these cars.

    They'll sell you a "storage" package for 250 bucks (aka the mesh pockets behind the seats). They'll sell you the mats for 150 bucks, etc. etc. No one pays close to MSRP on these cars, as once you get all the options the price increases by 20-30%. And if you don't get the options it really hurts your resale value.

  2. Re:Freedom on Can an Open Source Map Project Make Money? · · Score: 1

    Then there'd be no incentive except professional pride for a server to make an effort to take care of me after they'd had a crappy experience with the last customer.

    This is exactly what happened to me in while on vacation. In Italy the price that you pay for your food includes the wages of the waiter, tips are not expected. Also, it's actually quite hard to fire someone legally.

    Because of the above almost every waiter we encountered was incredibly rude; they really didn't give a damn. And note that we're not obnoxious tourists, in fact our group was pretty diverse and had people originally from other parts of Europe and Latin America.

  3. Re:Insanely Great Experiences? on Apple's Change of Heart On Flash · · Score: 1

    Seems to me your benchmarks are biased. The HTML5 page loaded instantly and gave me 10fps. The Flash page took about 10 seconds to load, then gave me 20fps. I think I'd much prefer the first experience (instant gratification) versus the second one. But it seems to me the second one is biased because it's prefetching and loading things into memory.

  4. Re:It doesnt matter... on Snow Leopard Missed a Security Opportunity · · Score: 1

    Not to mention the fact that Apple are insane about secrecy, so Mac users often don't know if there's a vulnerability even reported to Apple, let alone if Apple are doing anything about it...

    How is this different from any other computer manufacturer? It's called responsible disclosure.

  5. Re:normal for Apple on Apple Blames 'External Forces' For Exploding iPhones · · Score: 1

    I hate that people keep repeating this, it's utter bullshit. Sure they put on too much extra paste, but it really does not affect the temperature very much at all. I tried this with my brother's machine (reapplying the thermal paste thinly and evenly, using the "good" stuff), and the difference was negligible, 2-4 degrees in our case. I'm not the only one to have the same experience.

  6. Pixelmator on Replacements For Adobe Creative Suite 3 Apps? · · Score: 2, Informative

    Why has no one suggested Pixelmator?

    It's not a complete PS replacement, but it does have enough tools to get the job done most of the time.

  7. Re:Truth about OS upgrade costs on Apple, Google, AT&T Respond To the FCC Over Google Voice · · Score: 1

    I buy every single upgrade of product A. I buy only one version of product B. OMG, product A is so much more expensive!!!

  8. Re:free upgrades? on Apple To Ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard On August 28 · · Score: 1

    If you bought your computer on or after June 8th you can get Snow Leopard for 10 bucks:

    http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate/

  9. No one agrees? on Apple's Schiller Responds To iPhone Dictionary App Fiasco · · Score: 1

    I know slashdot is big on the groupthink, and apple is evil yadda yaddah, but has anyone bothered to look up words and see the different treatment of them?

    Now I'm not saying that words per se are bad things (they're not, although I personally prefer to keep them out of regular usage for impact), but I can see how this dictionary might include many more vulgar words and expressions than a regular dictionary. I can also see how a parent could object to their kids downloading a dictionary with such an extensive ouvre of modern vulgar slang.

    Let's say you're a parent, and your 10 year old (yeah you spoiled them a bit by buying them an iPhone, whatever, they did their chores, got good grades and are working it off mowing the lawn) asks you if they can download a dictionary app. Would you not be a little concerned if the dictionary was so heavy on modern swearwords? Would you expect this from a "dictionary app"? Wouldn't you expect that the urban dictionary app have a bit of a warning that it might be really offensive, racist, etc.?

    Sure they'll learn all these things in due time, but I don't think innocence is such a horrible thing that needs to be stomped out. Kids should allowed to be kids.

  10. Re:Ghosts on Visual Hallucinations Are a Normal Grief Reaction · · Score: 1

    Simple scientific procedure :

    1) There's no scientific theory that would explain that our "spirit" disappears with our death. At the opposite, we can easily conceive that our "spirit" (or soul or personnality or whatever you called it) use our brain as an hardware support and that destroying the hardware releases the spirtir/soul/...

    2) There're are no fact [sic] that could lead us to think that the after-life doesn't exist (from a scientifical [sic] point of view)

    3) There are no facts that could be explained in an easier way if we admit that there is no after-life. Instead, it makes things a lot more complicated.

    On point 3 I'll argue that a given existence would make more sense than an existence for existence's sake. This of course is not science, neither was your post.

    My point is, there is no scientific evidence AGAINST an after-life. If you're a real scientist you'd have to admit the question is wide open.

  11. Re:Apple has always been overhyped on Greenpeace Slams Apple For Environmental Record · · Score: 1

    2000 - The Mac is superior, it uses the PowerPC family of chips and custom hardware. Reality: it's slower and Apple acquiesces to this fact a few years later, making Intel machines

    FYI, they WERE faster, they just didn't scale as well, and were too hot to put in a mobile platform. So although they were slower at the end of the lifecycle, at the beginning they were better chips. In-fact the G5 architecture, with hypertransport connecting everything, is "better" than the one used in current intel machines (at least until nehalem).

    2008 - The Mac is superior, it's "green." Reality: it's still a hunk of plastic you chuck in the landfill, and being made by the world's most neurotic computer company, it's more likely to break.

    I suggest you look at consumer reports, and realize you're talking out of your ass. And they manage this reliability while being greener (which is hard, as the non-green technologies just work better: eg. led solder).

    I don't understand why you have to justify your choice of using windows by ranting that "apple sux". They make great hardware and operating systems. That it's not your cup of tea because they sell very few models at set price points, that you don't agree with their corporate policy, etc. is perfectly fine.

    Computers are just tools, use the one that makes you happy/productive/feel good inside. Don't justify your opinions by making up random derisive "facts". Aka, don't be a politician: instead of saying why you're better, you're just going to trash the competition to make yourself look (or feel) better.

  12. Re:All the more reason not to buy an ipod/phone on Apple DMCAs iPodHash Project · · Score: 1

    Only on slashdot will people suggest that Apple PISS OFF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE by changing the connector that is standard on many cars, stereos, etc. etc.

    Only on slashdot will nerds vehemently maintain that sending video over USB (software decoding, etc.) is "better" than pinout to composite video.

    If you have ever had to work with USB devices from different manufacturers, you'd know how lose the spec is and how much companies suck at developing these things.

    Dock connector is here to stay, move along.

  13. Re:Yeah on "BlueTrack" Mouse More Advanced Than Laser, Optical · · Score: 1

    I also bought a razer (and the mat to go with it), and it's an amazing combination.

    Something I think no one has mentioned is lift-off distance. If the mouse can track well over a carpet, does it also mean that it tracks over large grooves? this would make the lift-off distance very high.

    I hear first gen lasers had big lift offs. My razer's lift-off is pretty short (roughly 5mm), which is ideal for gaming.

    Yeah I spent way too much on it... but it's oh so nice, glides like butter.

  14. Re:USB to ADB adapters exist on Users Rage Over Missing FireWire On New MacBooks · · Score: 1

    I have an adapter, it doesn't work, it never has. Wacom's drivers don't see the old tablets, and they announced early on that they never would.

    One guy started writing an open source writer, which works with serial tablets (http://thinkyhead.com/tabletmagic/); it seems the task of adding ADB support was daunting and wasn't finished.

  15. Re:Touchscreens Still Blow For Sightless on Software Update Makes iTunes Accessible To Blind Users · · Score: 1

    It's much easier to hit the top button for snooze (the sleep/wake switch).

  16. Re:Seems Like A Bad Summary on Apple Admits iPod Is From 1970s UK · · Score: 2, Informative

    You are wrong, iPods have always used both; that's what made them great. While other mp3 players at the time let you fit 6 songs, the iPod had the hard drive for the capacity AND the solid state so that the drive only spins a few seconds every couple of minutes; allowing you to have a TON of songs, decent battery life and decent shock resistance. I've known people that run/exercise with hard drive iPods, and the things actually work (even though it's not recommended because of the drive).

    It was only a few years after the iPod was released that you could get a solid state mp3 player with enough capacity to make it worthwhile (and now we're starting to see that the flash based ones are selling better as the trend continues for higher capacity/lower cost flash chips).

  17. Re:Service pack 3? on Mac OS X 10.5.3 To Fix Over 200 Bugs, Coming Soon · · Score: 1

    This is wrong, please mod it down. The best way to get discs is to call them up (1-800-APL-CARE), it's about 10$ per disc.

  18. Re:Dear Apple on The Mac In the Gray Flannel Suit · · Score: 1

    Being all cool and slack, the Apple store does not take appointments[

    Not true, all genius bars take appointments. In fact if you go to apple.com/storename you'll be directed to that store's page, on the left you'll see "Genius Bar" with "reserve" under it.

    The nice technician told me it would take 1-2 days and there was nothing to speed the process.

    Ask about ProCare. The way this service works is you pay $100 a year, and when you have a repair it goes to the top of the queue. So if they have 20 machines to fix, and 5 of them are ProCare, those get fixed first (that's what they mean by "First on the bench", doesn't do anything for the bar, you still need a reservation).

    This Macbook is my work machine, it's not for school or personal use - it's part of a (small, agile) global enterprise that runs 24/7 and I can't be without it for that long.

    If you cannot be without a machine, then your enterprise needs to suck it up and get you a spare. It is not apple's responsibility to fix the broken procedures of your company. If you have a single point of failure that is your problem not apple's.

  19. Re:organizations that prohibit criticism on Wikileaks Airs Scientology Black Ops · · Score: 1

    Actually, Islam is the only major religion who has flown planes into buildings

    Actually islam has done no such thing, islam is a system of beliefs, certain members of a fundamentalist extremest islamic group flew some buildings into planes, etc. etc.

    As much as I don't agree with islam, condemning the whole religion is like saying "All americans are imperialistic murderers" because we invaded iraq without any reason to do so.

    Just because a christian runs over your dog (even if his local preacher told him to), does not mean christianity ran over your dog.

  20. Re:funny math on iPhones Produced in China Smuggled Right Back in · · Score: 1

    I hate seeing these same canned responses in slashdot:

    Analysts predict a number (aka pull it out of their asses) taking into account whatever information they have (aka actual numbers) and whatever they can project from the market (aka toss dice). If they expect you to make $600 million, and you only make $200 million, they say that based on their observations you've "lost" $400 million and the stock market will hit you as such (wag the dog).

    Now i'm not saying this makes sense in any way, but its the lingo. Analysts (or dumb reporters) will state it that way because: "Y company failed to make an extra $200 million" doesn't have the same ring to it.

    cfz

  21. Re:Good luck on Muslim Groups Attempt to Censor Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    Heh, try that in the public square of one of the middle states. See if you get out alive.

  22. Re:Better login into wikipedia host asap on Muslim Groups Attempt to Censor Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    Pretty much every self-proclaimed atheist I've met has been just as irrational as those that held a religious belief. In fact I believe it takes the same ferver to be a staunch atheist. It takes a more relaxed mind to say "maybe there is, maybe there isn't; I don't have proof either way. Doesn't really affect how I will live my life".

    -v

  23. Re:Honest question on Hacking Asus EEE · · Score: 1

    Honest question: How is there not a single highly moderated comment in this entire discussion that's relevant to the article?

    The hack is overkill (and the kitchen sink too!), impossible for al layman to understand (those tiny numbered switches do what?), but one cannot deny that it is nerdy, and therefore cool.

    Why isn't there a discussion of improvements, cool things you could do with it, etc.

    This is really sad.

  24. Re:I want to love this machine, I really do on In-Depth Review of the MacBook Air With Photos · · Score: 1

    FYI, you can get an ethernet adapter for it.

  25. Re:loiterers on Apple Stores Demonstrate That Retail Still Lives · · Score: 1

    Heh, at the store downtown, there's a homeless guy that will ask the staff HTML questions for the website he's building. In general they won't bump you off a machine unless they need to demo it for a customer). Go into any apple store and ask the staff who are the regulars, they will point them out. Usually it's a diverse mix: punk teens on facebook, kids on runescape, older people checking their email, people that will profess how much work they get done at the store (literally), etc.