No, no - I wasn't joking, I was being scathing about the human race. This poor animal is so pissed off about being where it is that it stores up missiles to throw at its assailants. When was the last time you were in that situation?
Sadly, my commentary was interpreted as humour by the moderators, rather than the scalpel-sharp incisive wit that it was. Ah, well...
Clearly not intelligent enough - to really assert his intelligence he ought to be constructing small enclosures for other animals to keep for his own amusement.
Only intelligent animals keep other animals in cages.
My iPhone locks itself after a minute and demands a four digit passcode.
It's not the perfect solution, I know, but I don't mind tapping a four digit key out on my keypad after a minute's inactivity on my Mac. Maybe 5. Maybe 10.
That's enough - once you've stolen my Mac, you need to be with it every ten minutes... forever.
Do you know, I just read all the replies to your comment and I noticed no-one dared to say 'I love you'? Because, really that's all I have to say. I agree totally. Your post was perfect in every way, and I want to have your children. Thanks, and before you ask 'No, there's no sarcasm.' Seriously. This man gets it. One USB that works for everyone. That's all we want. I still plug my 2.0 camera into my keyboard. I have to wait a little longer for the photos, but they get there...
But why would you need to convert from OpenOffice to Word? If Word can't handle the output from an open source program, then all the user has to do is install OpenOffice - it costs nothing.
I appreciate that you might be trying to fit into a Windows-centric office space, but really, there's no problem. Spool it to a PDF if they're having that much trouble.
Very few of us run systems that can be infected by MacOS viruses that run on pre-OS X systems. Check your facts a bit more carefully before just posting random search results.
"Users of PVRs such as MythTV will be well aware of the hassle it is the get a reliable program schedule stream to use for recordings" - which means what? As users, we can't post unless we've spent thirty seconds or so re-reading our writing. How about the editors do the same?
That comment 'Hopefully, if the piracy rate for the game is low, perhaps EA will get comfortable enough to ship with even less DRM in the future' really rankles for some reason. It's as though we're being told 'You were all very naughty for making Spore the most pirated game in history. EA has compromised a little, so perhaps if you're all good little boys and girls EA will compromise even more.' How about no DRM, since it's only the paying customers who are inconvenienced by it.
You want to make it inconvenient for pirates, go ahead. You want to make it inconvenient for paying customers, you end up with more pirates. How about EA puts no DRM on it and maybe consumers will be comfortable enough to buy it?
> especially given that 90% of games are available for a fiver in the bargain bin within 18 months of release
What about the games starting off in the bargain bin for a tenner, rather than forty or fifty quid? A lower price point might go a long way to persuading pirates to part with their cash.
Oh, and that reminds me. The X-Files is my absolute favorite television series of all time. Through Blockbuster Online or Netflix, you can rent all nine seasons on DVD for far less than $56. They appear in your mailbox on DVD, one right after the other. IMO, it's better to go the legit route. You get a real, honest-to-gosh DVD to hold in your hands, and watch, and do whatever else you might do with it.
Do whatever else you might do with it? Sure... except watch it again and again. To do that you have to re-rent. Slight problem there...
If you've ever used an interactive whiteboard then you have exactly the same thing going on. You're either pressing the whiteboard or you're not - there's no hovering of the cursor over things. And it all works just fine. One press moves the pointer, another press clicks it. Hold and move to drag. The only difference is that my interactive whiteboard doesn't allow two presses at once.
If Apple can't find someone to cripple the handset by locking it to a particular provider, I must say all is well. I'd rather pay the full price for a handset I own and can use as I see fit rather than imagine paying thirty quid a month for twenty four months really means I have a free handset. That's all.
Now try writing an OS that must be able to perform flawlessly on thousands of hardware devices running thousands of drivers written by who-knows-who. You can try to blame the hardware driver writers for only so long.
Which is interesting, because there are only a handful of devices that I've installed on my mac that have any problems. Really. And they are far outweighed by the number of devices that simply work. Are you suggesting that all Windows' problems are due to third parties? Does the mac not have third parties, then? Or is it that it doesn't have them in enough volume to do any damage?
Or is it that Mac users seem to demand a better experience. That what Windows users put up with, Mac users won't. That we expect, and somehow get, a better user experience?
COMPLETELY off topic, BUT I just LOVE the way you use CAPITAL letters in your post to make sure EVERYBODY gets what you're talking about. SO MANY people use BOLD TAGS to do this, but I like to remember the old days when word processors didn't REQUIRE you to use such weird tags and left us to RELY on those old STALWARTS, the capital letters. God bless EM.
Ah, if only Apple could get off their asses and leave this damn fool 'phone' idea alone and focus on a good games machine with a 'phone' bit attached. Imagine... the market for people who carry a phone around *and* a games machine must be massive. Right?
So I've just bought a Sony Ericsson p990i. It's slow and clumsy. At least it's not crippled, as far as I can tell. And from what I can tell the iPhone won't be crippled, and it looks fast and... hey, is everyone forgetting the blow-away graphics and the iPod stuff? I mean, this replaces two gadgets in *my* pocket, I don't know about yours.
Of course, I'm here in the UK. Well, look - I'll get the iPhone version 2. Prices will drop, market share will grow... blah blah. I've heard this stuff before. This is just another journalist trying to get readers - maybe even trying to get slashdot coverage - by saying something controversial. From what I see, the iPhone is better than what's in my pocket now. So where's my money going next?
Try typing any mis-spelling of javalobby. Anything. Google offers you the alternative of 'javalobby'. They *so* do not recognise this website... so much so that they dare to *suggest* it as an alternative to a common mis-spelling of the forbidden site. Bastards! How deep does their vitriol run?
It's an issue because instead of teaching a set of tools for general ICT use, you'd be teaching how to use specific instances of Microsoft software. In general, we attempt to teach a range of skills which are applicable to all systems - the general computing ideas that enable slashdot-types to sit down with Mac, Linux or Windows and have at least a general idea of how to do something. Often, the best teaching platform isn't Windows. Sadly, it's what we usually have.
ICT teaching is more than learning how to use Microsoft Office. It's about modelling, problem solving, that kind of stuff. Done correctly, using Office isn't a problem, and neither is using Open Office, Textease, Tizzy's First Tools or any of the other myriad software programs UK schools make use of on a daily basis.
And it's worth pointing out that there's a reason for that. Generally, under MacOS X, anything 'advanced' is off by default. If you're the sort of person who wants to use keyboard shortcuts then you're the sort of person who's able to go to the preferences and activate them.
Conversely, on Windows, in general *everything* is enabled at start up. Confuses the hell out of novice users. The Mac approach - simplicity and usability with the option for power use - wins out every time.
But haven't Nintendo already offered to replace the straps in question? What case is there to answer? Claims for damages should surely be dealt with via Nintendo rather than unnecessary court action?
Oh, wait - that's silly. D'uh... more lawsuits, please!
At the moment, MacOS X Hints has a couple of bugs as its first two articles. One is a flaw in Text Editor, the other a possible data loss in iWeb. A month of Apple bugs, to me, means at least 30 bugs found and fixed. Apple has a proven track record when it comes to security updates, and the Software Update function works extremely well to roll out updates with an awe-inspiring ease.
I'd like to say I'm confident they won't find thirty bugs, but that's unlikely. The important thing to focus on, however, is that a bug discovered is a bug that can be sorted. In actual fact, the 'Report bug' options in Safari and a number of other applications shows just how seriously Apple takes this. Bring it on...
Re:iTunes Music Store only looks like a lock in.
on
Opening Zune Sales Flaccid
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· Score: 2, Informative
Right, but if you agree that you can write and re-encode, you can also use Hymn or something to remove the DRM. By which I mean that if you accept that burning and ripping your track isn't a crime, then bypassing the burn and rip process and simply stripping off the DRM is also perfectly legal. And if you're the sort of person who is bothered by the quality of the burn and rip process then you're the sort of person who's techy enough to use Hymn.
For the rest of us, burn and rip is great; the iTunes music store's DRM is exactly the right balance if you ask me.
It's just me wondering what brand of mp3 player he used, then, is it?
I don't suppose it matters if he's just capturing audio data; in fact it's hardly even important that he was using an mp3 player - he could just have easily used one of those handheld cassette recorders.
Slashdot Mirror
No, no - I wasn't joking, I was being scathing about the human race. This poor animal is so pissed off about being where it is that it stores up missiles to throw at its assailants. When was the last time you were in that situation?
Sadly, my commentary was interpreted as humour by the moderators, rather than the scalpel-sharp incisive wit that it was. Ah, well...
Clearly not intelligent enough - to really assert his intelligence he ought to be constructing small enclosures for other animals to keep for his own amusement.
Only intelligent animals keep other animals in cages.
My iPhone locks itself after a minute and demands a four digit passcode.
It's not the perfect solution, I know, but I don't mind tapping a four digit key out on my keypad after a minute's inactivity on my Mac. Maybe 5. Maybe 10.
That's enough - once you've stolen my Mac, you need to be with it every ten minutes... forever.
Do you know, I just read all the replies to your comment and I noticed no-one dared to say 'I love you'? Because, really that's all I have to say. I agree totally. Your post was perfect in every way, and I want to have your children. Thanks, and before you ask 'No, there's no sarcasm.' Seriously. This man gets it. One USB that works for everyone. That's all we want. I still plug my 2.0 camera into my keyboard. I have to wait a little longer for the photos, but they get there...
But why would you need to convert from OpenOffice to Word? If Word can't handle the output from an open source program, then all the user has to do is install OpenOffice - it costs nothing.
I appreciate that you might be trying to fit into a Windows-centric office space, but really, there's no problem. Spool it to a PDF if they're having that much trouble.
Very few of us run systems that can be infected by MacOS viruses that run on pre-OS X systems. Check your facts a bit more carefully before just posting random search results.
"Users of PVRs such as MythTV will be well aware of the hassle it is the get a reliable program schedule stream to use for recordings" - which means what? As users, we can't post unless we've spent thirty seconds or so re-reading our writing. How about the editors do the same?
That comment 'Hopefully, if the piracy rate for the game is low, perhaps EA will get comfortable enough to ship with even less DRM in the future' really rankles for some reason. It's as though we're being told 'You were all very naughty for making Spore the most pirated game in history. EA has compromised a little, so perhaps if you're all good little boys and girls EA will compromise even more.' How about no DRM, since it's only the paying customers who are inconvenienced by it.
You want to make it inconvenient for pirates, go ahead. You want to make it inconvenient for paying customers, you end up with more pirates. How about EA puts no DRM on it and maybe consumers will be comfortable enough to buy it?
> especially given that 90% of games are available for a fiver in the bargain bin within 18 months of release
What about the games starting off in the bargain bin for a tenner, rather than forty or fifty quid? A lower price point might go a long way to persuading pirates to part with their cash.
"Spazzed out like little babies"? The man's intellect is stunning, if nothing else...
Oh, and that reminds me. The X-Files is my absolute favorite television series of all time. Through Blockbuster Online or Netflix, you can rent all nine seasons on DVD for far less than $56. They appear in your mailbox on DVD, one right after the other. IMO, it's better to go the legit route. You get a real, honest-to-gosh DVD to hold in your hands, and watch, and do whatever else you might do with it.
Do whatever else you might do with it? Sure... except watch it again and again. To do that you have to re-rent. Slight problem there...
If you've ever used an interactive whiteboard then you have exactly the same thing going on. You're either pressing the whiteboard or you're not - there's no hovering of the cursor over things. And it all works just fine. One press moves the pointer, another press clicks it. Hold and move to drag. The only difference is that my interactive whiteboard doesn't allow two presses at once.
If Apple can't find someone to cripple the handset by locking it to a particular provider, I must say all is well. I'd rather pay the full price for a handset I own and can use as I see fit rather than imagine paying thirty quid a month for twenty four months really means I have a free handset. That's all.
Now try writing an OS that must be able to perform flawlessly on thousands of hardware devices running thousands of drivers written by who-knows-who. You can try to blame the hardware driver writers for only so long.
Which is interesting, because there are only a handful of devices that I've installed on my mac that have any problems. Really. And they are far outweighed by the number of devices that simply work. Are you suggesting that all Windows' problems are due to third parties? Does the mac not have third parties, then? Or is it that it doesn't have them in enough volume to do any damage?
Or is it that Mac users seem to demand a better experience. That what Windows users put up with, Mac users won't. That we expect, and somehow get, a better user experience?
COMPLETELY off topic, BUT I just LOVE the way you use CAPITAL letters in your post to make sure EVERYBODY gets what you're talking about. SO MANY people use BOLD TAGS to do this, but I like to remember the old days when word processors didn't REQUIRE you to use such weird tags and left us to RELY on those old STALWARTS, the capital letters. God bless EM.
Ah, if only Apple could get off their asses and leave this damn fool 'phone' idea alone and focus on a good games machine with a 'phone' bit attached. Imagine... the market for people who carry a phone around *and* a games machine must be massive. Right?
So I've just bought a Sony Ericsson p990i. It's slow and clumsy. At least it's not crippled, as far as I can tell. And from what I can tell the iPhone won't be crippled, and it looks fast and... hey, is everyone forgetting the blow-away graphics and the iPod stuff? I mean, this replaces two gadgets in *my* pocket, I don't know about yours.
Of course, I'm here in the UK. Well, look - I'll get the iPhone version 2. Prices will drop, market share will grow... blah blah. I've heard this stuff before. This is just another journalist trying to get readers - maybe even trying to get slashdot coverage - by saying something controversial. From what I see, the iPhone is better than what's in my pocket now. So where's my money going next?
Try typing any mis-spelling of javalobby. Anything. Google offers you the alternative of 'javalobby'. They *so* do not recognise this website... so much so that they dare to *suggest* it as an alternative to a common mis-spelling of the forbidden site. Bastards! How deep does their vitriol run?
It's an issue because instead of teaching a set of tools for general ICT use, you'd be teaching how to use specific instances of Microsoft software. In general, we attempt to teach a range of skills which are applicable to all systems - the general computing ideas that enable slashdot-types to sit down with Mac, Linux or Windows and have at least a general idea of how to do something. Often, the best teaching platform isn't Windows. Sadly, it's what we usually have.
ICT teaching is more than learning how to use Microsoft Office. It's about modelling, problem solving, that kind of stuff. Done correctly, using Office isn't a problem, and neither is using Open Office, Textease, Tizzy's First Tools or any of the other myriad software programs UK schools make use of on a daily basis.
And it's worth pointing out that there's a reason for that. Generally, under MacOS X, anything 'advanced' is off by default. If you're the sort of person who wants to use keyboard shortcuts then you're the sort of person who's able to go to the preferences and activate them.
Conversely, on Windows, in general *everything* is enabled at start up. Confuses the hell out of novice users. The Mac approach - simplicity and usability with the option for power use - wins out every time.
But haven't Nintendo already offered to replace the straps in question? What case is there to answer? Claims for damages should surely be dealt with via Nintendo rather than unnecessary court action?
Oh, wait - that's silly. D'uh... more lawsuits, please!
At the moment, MacOS X Hints has a couple of bugs as its first two articles. One is a flaw in Text Editor, the other a possible data loss in iWeb. A month of Apple bugs, to me, means at least 30 bugs found and fixed. Apple has a proven track record when it comes to security updates, and the Software Update function works extremely well to roll out updates with an awe-inspiring ease.
I'd like to say I'm confident they won't find thirty bugs, but that's unlikely. The important thing to focus on, however, is that a bug discovered is a bug that can be sorted. In actual fact, the 'Report bug' options in Safari and a number of other applications shows just how seriously Apple takes this. Bring it on...
Right, but if you agree that you can write and re-encode, you can also use Hymn or something to remove the DRM. By which I mean that if you accept that burning and ripping your track isn't a crime, then bypassing the burn and rip process and simply stripping off the DRM is also perfectly legal. And if you're the sort of person who is bothered by the quality of the burn and rip process then you're the sort of person who's techy enough to use Hymn.
For the rest of us, burn and rip is great; the iTunes music store's DRM is exactly the right balance if you ask me.
You can pay in at a Post Office (cash or cheques) or by mail (cheque only).
It's just me wondering what brand of mp3 player he used, then, is it?
I don't suppose it matters if he's just capturing audio data; in fact it's hardly even important that he was using an mp3 player - he could just have easily used one of those handheld cassette recorders.