There is nothing in the article that says the survey was for PCs in workplaces.
It just says "A survey of 2,500 UK e-mail users found that 70 percent of users had been infected by a virus in the past year." It then relates that to average UK worker sick days. Nothing says the PC's were in the workplace.
Which of course makes MUCH more sense. If the average PC atany workplace I know of was down for 9 days a year heads would roll. That's insane. Average PCs at my company are down maybe a fraction of a percent due to viruses because there are professionals making sure it stays that way.
So this article is basically "70% of random HOME users were infected in a year." Businesses seem to have been asked only about spam.
>...web browser open, but it wasn't my main task, my main task was making sure the latest 30 minute run was continuing. I only needed to look back every few minutes (I think I've already killed any bugs in shorter runs)
You were only *monitoring* your main professional task every few minutes. The main task for your eyes was the browser. And the only task of your monitor is to communicate with your eyes. If I'm clicking around a browser I can just as well key or click to the test run.
I agree though that a 'many window' solution for some things is the best way to go. I guess if I have something like photoshop maximized there are still smaller windows within. I am having a tough time though coming up with a good example that doesn't involve desiging something... code, media, packaging, or a bridge, but designing. Hmmm...[?]
> Wont it take a lot longer for a message to work its way threw a massive network of wireless devices than it would otherwise take for the message to travel threw a conventional backbone?
One might have asked, "Why would I want to route this post through hundreds of devices on some crazy internetwork when I could just dial straight into the conventional BBS?"
> Your work habits are the result of poor interface design in the Windows UI. Windows lends itself toward single tasking (one program full screen, others in the background in the taskbar).
I really couldn't disagree more. The fact of the matter is your eyes can only look at one thing at a time. No matter how talented you are your eyes work as a pair. Just try looking at this post and something else at the same time. Can't do it.
So why on earth would you want your monitor to display more things than you can physically look at? Unless you're looking back and forth comparing two things, or need a status monitor up for something, it makes no sense at all. I work at 1152x864 at work and 1600x1200 at home, 22" flat screen CRT @ 85hz. I invested in this monitor to display the thing my eyes are looking at in large crystal clear, fatigue-free beauty. Everything I do is almost ALWAYS maximized. You don't need to see an inactive window in the background to know it's there. The keyboard can switch you around the windows just as fast as the mouse. So again, why on earth would I want to display stuff that my eyes can't look at? (Which also makes me scroll around more in the thing I AM looking at.)
Eyes do NOT multitask.
At the risk of sounding trollish, I'll suggest 3 main reasons people display so many windows at once: 1 - They can't remember what the heck they've got open if they can't see it (the 1" taskbar presence isn't enough) 2 - they aren't good at using the keyboard to jump between between windows so they need to keep the windows arranged for clicking between them. 3 - To look much busier and more impressive at work.
Again a monitor is a visual display and eyes do not multitask.
Can anyone give a definitive reason for why there are no rallies in the USA? We have so much darn land after all. What's the deal? NASCAR and Indy can't touch rally racing.
Seriously, can anyone see Speed Racer in a NASCAR race? What's wrong with this country?
> they fail to understand that developers are not just another category of end-users.
[asbestos suit=ON] When it comes to securing the network, uptime for people in profit centers, due diligence on things like privacy, data retention, legal compliance, and the ability of the sales team to SELL STUFF for profit...
developers ARE just another category of end user.
Profit centers, legal issues, company reputation, shareholders, etc, ALL come before the latest internal Java widget or database enhancement. Sorry, but unless you're developing your company's new flagship product, you'll need to get down off that high horse. [asbestos suit=OFF]
One might equate the command line with a small high quality paint brush. You should know how to use one if you're a painter, and you can do many smaller jobs with one. But you don't paint bridges and stadiums with little brushes. You use the tool that is best for the job, e.g. a large sprayer. Your attitude is understandable, but it's also what leads to "elitist thinking" sys admins who shun powerful tools in lieu of doing complex things 'tiddly-winks' style from the command line.
If your favorite tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
My money is on the endless number of dumb marketing departments and ad agencies that didn't get the jokes, couldn't figure out the target audience, and thus wouldn't pay to advertise.
I can just hear those conversations... "This was supposed to be like the SIMPSONS! What is this crap? I watched 3 episodes and didn't laugh and didn't even see a character I could relate to! Call us back when Homer is in it."
> "Well, sure. For example, Bender's serial number is 1729, a historically significant integer to mathematicians everywhere; that "joke" alone is worth six years of grad school, I'd say."
Thanks for the great reply. Yes we do seem to agree about the state of grade school history class. You said you were on the fence about the game though. I'm saying you should reconsider your fence sitting. If studying history as you describe it is scored a 10, I'd venture grade school history is scored a 2. The game just has to be a 4 to be a great improvement.
Said another way, Mrs. Blaneystone's cartoonish anecdote about Paul Revere to her 7th graders will never compete with a GOOD game that involves you in Boston circa the revolution. Instead of hearing the anecdote and memorizing the dates, the kids will actually be made to think about it, even if only a little. This is a Good Thing. Hopefully a great little stepping stone towards "History as a field explores questions and is meant to be argumentative, not narrative."
> Video games rarely teach people to think critically and analytically about history.
I want to make concise valid points here w/o being trollish.. please bear with me...
It can be argued just as successfully (maybe more so) that history classes do not teach you to think critically and analytically about history.
A few examples: My history classes taught me that Johnny Appleseed was a hero who spread food to the pioneers. In actuality he was their only provider of alcohol. He died in rags but he was filthy rich due to all the real estate claims he owned. He didn't care a bit about wealth and his apples were 99.9% inedible as food. He cared about exploring and getting people drunk. We never learned that. We also never learned that founding fathers slept with their slaves and grew pot and would scoff at the idea of women voting.
My history classes did me a disservice. Pilgrims did not eat Butterball turkeys. The Civil War wasn't really about slavery. On and on and on. I learned a horribly skewed version of history simply through ommision and candy coating. No computer required.
Oh but we did memorize a litany of dates. Because that's what history is in school, memorizing dates. "Columbus sailed the Ocean blue in 1492 because he had nothin better to do" Actually he sailed the ocean blue because the king of Spain wanted to get him away from the Queen!
If educational games can do anything to help kids understand what it was like to actually live in the past then I think that's wonderful. If it gets them to ask questions instead of memorize dates then it's a blazing success.
This comes from the anecdotal evidence of a former B student in high school history though so take it with a modicum of salt.
We have all these stories on/. about computers in every classroom being a waste and a fantasy that doesn't deliver. It's true, pouring money into computers as a magical fix for education problems IS a big mistake.
There is nothing magical about technology the same way there is nothing magical about books.
As this article demonstrates, it's the CONTENT that matters. The stuff that's in the book. The software that's on the computer. That's what matters.
It's not rocket surgery... The reason that the rush to get computers in every classroom has been such a mistake is that there is such a woeful dearth of GOOD educational software.
Nano-Wow! This is nano-cool! I can't nano believe the nano-things they can nano-do with these nano-days with chemistry and materials science. It's nanoriffic!
The VC's must be jumping all over this e-battery.co^H^H^H^H^H nano-battery.small stuff.
> Anything else is a cop-out. Even a very young child is capable of understanding "right" vs. "wrong" and knowing when they are breaking "the rules".
I'm going to need to know this in a few years: How do you explain to your child that it is "Right" for you to own a game that he sometimes sees you playing, but that it is "Wrong" for him to play it?
I agree with 99.9% of what you said. But aren't some areas gray? You don't leave the door wide open when you and your wife have sex and just tell him its wrong for him to look or listen.
That's all I'm saying, I'd like to be able to "close the door" on mature themed games in the same manner, but still abide by everything you said in your excellent post.
Not if it's done right. If Dad Gamer could intall it and set the code like parental lock on cable that would sure help. Initial code is in the box and unique like a WinXP registration so only the buyer can install. Then Gamer Dad changes the code to the name of the girl he lost his virginity to. Now the box is only useful for a full uninstall and reinstall. The kid would have to google a correct install code or find the box, then reinstall the game.
> Take into account the fact that kids are playing, no matter that they shouldn't be."
> It's more the parent/guardian's responsiblity to ensure that their kids aren't playing violent games than it is the game makers.
Yes but your kid has a friend who has an older friend with this REALLY EXCITING game...
Parents, no matter how diligent, can not watch over their children every second of the day.
That said, I'd like to see a parental block code of some sort on games like Grand Theft Auto. Don't stop making those games and don't take away the amoral fun for us adults. Just include some sort of unique ID verifed code on the inside of each box. And since no one will sell these games to kids [cough cough] that would help prevent the young ones from playing it. They didn't buy it, and therefore don't have the box w/ unique passcode on it.
Oh and don't abuse my privacy, just give me a kid blocking code. Thanks.
> One kilogram of fusion fuel would produce the same amount of energy as 10,000,000 kg of fossil fuel.
No no, we all know that different fossil fuels have different efficiencies by weight.. e.g. a kilogram of pure natural gas produces a different amount of energy when burned than a kilogram of kerosene.
So the REAL question is, how many Libraries of Congress would we have to burn to generate equivalent energy.
> It makes little sense to post this question here, but yet, it was posted.
Obvious point: Jagercola has every right to ask his peers anything he likes. Peers can provide what cold clinicians and freaked out families cannot.
Delightful and Somewhat Surprising Point: After reading everything at +3 and up, it seems Jagercola's peers did quite well by him. The proof is in the pudding.
So Jagercola, I think it made PERFECT sense for you to ask that here. That's why/. is a community and not a tech blog. And it happens to be quite a good community, as many posts here demonstrate.
If you run the CPU very hot for awhile (e.g. play a game) the goo will soften quite a bit and the heatsink will come off pretty easily. Or if it really is a vacuum, the heat of the CPU will expand everything including the air and make the vacuum much weaker or gone altogether. Just run it hot for 10 minutes then shut right down and do the replacement while it's still pretty warm.
I can attest this works nicely for P4's. Before learning this trick I got quite good at straightening P4 pins. groan.
Slashdot Mirror
There is nothing in the article that says the survey was for PCs in workplaces.
It just says "A survey of 2,500 UK e-mail users found that 70 percent of users had been infected by a virus in the past year." It then relates that to average UK worker sick days. Nothing says the PC's were in the workplace.
Which of course makes MUCH more sense. If the average PC atany workplace I know of was down for 9 days a year heads would roll. That's insane. Average PCs at my company are down maybe a fraction of a percent due to viruses because there are professionals making sure it stays that way.
So this article is basically "70% of random HOME users were infected in a year."
Businesses seem to have been asked only about spam.
Doesn't seem like news at all.
>...web browser open, but it wasn't my main task, my main task was making sure the latest 30 minute run was continuing. I only needed to look back every few minutes (I think I've already killed any bugs in shorter runs)
You were only *monitoring* your main professional task every few minutes. The main task for your eyes was the browser. And the only task of your monitor is to communicate with your eyes. If I'm clicking around a browser I can just as well key or click to the test run.
I agree though that a 'many window' solution for some things is the best way to go. I guess if I have something like photoshop maximized there are still smaller windows within. I am having a tough time though coming up with a good example that doesn't involve desiging something... code, media, packaging, or a bridge, but designing. Hmmm...[?]
> Wont it take a lot longer for a message to work its way threw a massive network of wireless devices than it would otherwise take for the message to travel threw a conventional backbone?
One might have asked, "Why would I want to route this post through hundreds of devices on some crazy internetwork when I could just dial straight into the conventional BBS?"
Just at thought.
> Your work habits are the result of poor interface design in the Windows UI. Windows lends itself toward single tasking (one program full screen, others in the background in the taskbar).
I really couldn't disagree more. The fact of the matter is your eyes can only look at one thing at a time. No matter how talented you are your eyes work as a pair. Just try looking at this post and something else at the same time. Can't do it.
So why on earth would you want your monitor to display more things than you can physically look at? Unless you're looking back and forth comparing two things, or need a status monitor up for something, it makes no sense at all. I work at 1152x864 at work and 1600x1200 at home, 22" flat screen CRT @ 85hz. I invested in this monitor to display the thing my eyes are looking at in large crystal clear, fatigue-free beauty. Everything I do is almost ALWAYS maximized. You don't need to see an inactive window in the background to know it's there. The keyboard can switch you around the windows just as fast as the mouse. So again, why on earth would I want to display stuff that my eyes can't look at? (Which also makes me scroll around more in the thing I AM looking at.)
Eyes do NOT multitask.
At the risk of sounding trollish, I'll suggest 3 main reasons people display so many windows at once:
1 - They can't remember what the heck they've got open if they can't see it (the 1" taskbar presence isn't enough)
2 - they aren't good at using the keyboard to jump between between windows so they need to keep the windows arranged for clicking between them.
3 - To look much busier and more impressive at work.
Again a monitor is a visual display and eyes do not multitask.
Can anyone give a definitive reason for why there are no rallies in the USA? We have so much darn land after all. What's the deal? NASCAR and Indy can't touch rally racing.
Seriously, can anyone see Speed Racer in a NASCAR race? What's wrong with this country?
> ..if they didn't go into the exact same space.
Did you miss the fact that the poster states he is directly quoting the author of both articles? Whom it seems had far more to go on than pictures.
> They'll let anybody post these days, won't they?
Oh fer sure! But we'll mod you Flamebait.
> they fail to understand that developers are not just another category of end-users.
[asbestos suit=ON]
When it comes to securing the network, uptime for people in profit centers, due diligence on things like privacy, data retention, legal compliance, and the ability of the sales team to SELL STUFF for profit...
developers ARE just another category of end user.
Profit centers, legal issues, company reputation, shareholders, etc, ALL come before the latest internal Java widget or database enhancement. Sorry, but unless you're developing your company's new flagship product, you'll need to get down off that high horse.
[asbestos suit=OFF]
One might equate the command line with a small high quality paint brush. You should know how to use one if you're a painter, and you can do many smaller jobs with one. But you don't paint bridges and stadiums with little brushes. You use the tool that is best for the job, e.g. a large sprayer. Your attitude is understandable, but it's also what leads to "elitist thinking" sys admins who shun powerful tools in lieu of doing complex things 'tiddly-winks' style from the command line.
If your favorite tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
> ...making this possibly the world's first all-artificial movie.
As luck would have it, there's already series of all-artificial awards they can earn.
My money is on the endless number of dumb marketing departments and ad agencies that didn't get the jokes, couldn't figure out the target audience, and thus wouldn't pay to advertise.
I can just hear those conversations... "This was supposed to be like the SIMPSONS! What is this crap? I watched 3 episodes and didn't laugh and didn't even see a character I could relate to! Call us back when Homer is in it."
> "Well, sure. For example, Bender's serial number is 1729, a historically significant integer to mathematicians everywhere; that "joke" alone is worth six years of grad school, I'd say."
For us non-math-geeks here's a bit on 1729
Among other things "It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."
Thanks for the great reply.
Yes we do seem to agree about the state of grade school history class. You said you were on the fence about the game though. I'm saying you should reconsider your fence sitting. If studying history as you describe it is scored a 10, I'd venture grade school history is scored a 2. The game just has to be a 4 to be a great improvement.
Said another way, Mrs. Blaneystone's cartoonish anecdote about Paul Revere to her 7th graders will never compete with a GOOD game that involves you in Boston circa the revolution. Instead of hearing the anecdote and memorizing the dates, the kids will actually be made to think about it, even if only a little. This is a Good Thing. Hopefully a great little stepping stone towards "History as a field explores questions and is meant to be argumentative, not narrative."
> Video games rarely teach people to think critically and analytically about history.
I want to make concise valid points here w/o being trollish.. please bear with me...
It can be argued just as successfully (maybe more so) that history classes do not teach you to think critically and analytically about history.
A few examples: My history classes taught me that Johnny Appleseed was a hero who spread food to the pioneers. In actuality he was their only provider of alcohol. He died in rags but he was filthy rich due to all the real estate claims he owned. He didn't care a bit about wealth and his apples were 99.9% inedible as food. He cared about exploring and getting people drunk. We never learned that.
We also never learned that founding fathers slept with their slaves and grew pot and would scoff at the idea of women voting.
My history classes did me a disservice. Pilgrims did not eat Butterball turkeys. The Civil War wasn't really about slavery. On and on and on. I learned a horribly skewed version of history simply through ommision and candy coating. No computer required.
Oh but we did memorize a litany of dates. Because that's what history is in school, memorizing dates. "Columbus sailed the Ocean blue in 1492 because he had nothin better to do" Actually he sailed the ocean blue because the king of Spain wanted to get him away from the Queen!
If educational games can do anything to help kids understand what it was like to actually live in the past then I think that's wonderful. If it gets them to ask questions instead of memorize dates then it's a blazing success.
This comes from the anecdotal evidence of a former B student in high school history though so take it with a modicum of salt.
We have all these stories on /. about computers in every classroom being a waste and a fantasy that doesn't deliver. It's true, pouring money into computers as a magical fix for education problems IS a big mistake.
There is nothing magical about technology the same way there is nothing magical about books.
As this article demonstrates, it's the CONTENT that matters. The stuff that's in the book. The software that's on the computer. That's what matters.
It's not rocket surgery... The reason that the rush to get computers in every classroom has been such a mistake is that there is such a woeful dearth of GOOD educational software.
Way to go Muzzy Lane!!
Nano-silicon and nano-aluminum for nanobatteries.
Nano-Wow! This is nano-cool! I can't nano believe the nano-things they can nano-do with these nano-days with chemistry and materials science. It's nanoriffic!
The VC's must be jumping all over this e-battery.co^H^H^H^H^H nano-battery.small stuff.
> Anything else is a cop-out. Even a very young child is capable of understanding "right" vs. "wrong" and knowing when they are breaking "the rules".
I'm going to need to know this in a few years: How do you explain to your child that it is "Right" for you to own a game that he sometimes sees you playing, but that it is "Wrong" for him to play it?
I agree with 99.9% of what you said. But aren't some areas gray? You don't leave the door wide open when you and your wife have sex and just tell him its wrong for him to look or listen.
That's all I'm saying, I'd like to be able to "close the door" on mature themed games in the same manner, but still abide by everything you said in your excellent post.
Not if it's done right. If Dad Gamer could intall it and set the code like parental lock on cable that would sure help. Initial code is in the box and unique like a WinXP registration so only the buyer can install. Then Gamer Dad changes the code to the name of the girl he lost his virginity to. Now the box is only useful for a full uninstall and reinstall. The kid would have to google a correct install code or find the box, then reinstall the game.
That's enough of a deterrent I think.
> Take into account the fact that kids are playing, no matter that they shouldn't be."
> It's more the parent/guardian's responsiblity to ensure that their kids aren't playing violent games than it is the game makers.
Yes but your kid has a friend who has an older friend with this REALLY EXCITING game...
Parents, no matter how diligent, can not watch over their children every second of the day.
That said, I'd like to see a parental block code of some sort on games like Grand Theft Auto. Don't stop making those games and don't take away the amoral fun for us adults. Just include some sort of unique ID verifed code on the inside of each box. And since no one will sell these games to kids [cough cough] that would help prevent the young ones from playing it. They didn't buy it, and therefore don't have the box w/ unique passcode on it.
Oh and don't abuse my privacy, just give me a kid blocking code. Thanks.
> One kilogram of fusion fuel would produce the same amount of energy as 10,000,000 kg of fossil fuel.
No no, we all know that different fossil fuels have different efficiencies by weight.. e.g. a kilogram of pure natural gas produces a different amount of energy when burned than a kilogram of kerosene.
So the REAL question is, how many Libraries of Congress would we have to burn to generate equivalent energy.
I'm sure no one at Carnegie Mellon University or the United States Marine Corp has thought of that.
If you HATE working in a Cube Farm, under an Adminisphere, and want to work for yourself, what are your other choices?
In all seriousness, maybe you just hate working? Or maybe it customers ? They're easy to hate no matter the field you're in.
I still love computers, I've just decided I'm done with other people's computers.
Photographer... funny you mention that...
> It makes little sense to post this question here, but yet, it was posted.
/. is a community and not a tech blog. And it happens to be quite a good community, as many posts here demonstrate.
Obvious point: Jagercola has every right to ask his peers anything he likes. Peers can provide what cold clinicians and freaked out families cannot.
Delightful and Somewhat Surprising Point: After reading everything at +3 and up, it seems Jagercola's peers did quite well by him. The proof is in the pudding.
So Jagercola, I think it made PERFECT sense for you to ask that here. That's why
Best wishes to you, your sister, and your family.
Like most pop art, it is no longer in fashion
/.ers the world over.
To the dismay of fashion conscious
How are you 2 doing anyway?
for all you Mac players, well it's scary but you'll need this now. Best wishes.
If you run the CPU very hot for awhile (e.g. play a game) the goo will soften quite a bit and the heatsink will come off pretty easily. Or if it really is a vacuum, the heat of the CPU will expand everything including the air and make the vacuum much weaker or gone altogether. Just run it hot for 10 minutes then shut right down and do the replacement while it's still pretty warm.
I can attest this works nicely for P4's. Before learning this trick I got quite good at straightening P4 pins. groan.