As someone who has never vistited Maine (or many US states period), I have a romantic impression of it from books and movies. I have a picture in my head of a beautiful wilderness state...is this even remotely accurate?
There always used to be a TweakUI package available for older versions of windows. Thankfully, I haven't spent enough time in XP to see if it's available there.
A quick google turned up this MS page for you...should have what you need.
Can't say I've ever run into one of those, but I'll take your word for it. That certainly would suck! I assume this is some sort of visual studio bastardry you're refering to??
I'm not attempting to say that you should work for free. I also value the research that does take place, and does make it to public consumption. I just happened to start this thread in a post about drug companies. I would have said similar things in a post about seed companies that genetically engineer better food that can't reproduce itself...and if you were a Genetic Engineer for Monsanto (??) you could make your same arguments, and take your same offences. I'll give you that.
I don't think anyone should work for free. I just think that the definition of free is whacked. Personally, I would have a system where every person is provided a certain amount of basic necessities. Food, Shelter and Clothing. Above that, you only get out of society what you put back in.
I think what my 'theory' (crack-brained as it may be) is trying to get at is this:
Right now, the wrong people control the balance of power in the world. They have the most money. Typically, though, the people with the most money are not necessarily the best citizens, often the reverse is true. Most 'big CEO' type people really contribute back very little to the rest of society.
If suddenly (and it would have to a sudden, drastic change ala Revolution) money no longer had any value, and instead your 'personal worth' (or corporate worth) was measured by how much you gave back to society, you would find 2 things (and likely more, but these I find most important): 1. Everyone would be 'better' off, as people would see to it that they were helping each other out to improve their own worth. 2. There would still be important powerful people, but the reason they are powerful/important is now more valid.
What I'm proposing is to take the most basic of human nature that is typically _not_ used for good, and turn it to a positive use.
First: I made no illusions of this being a gov't controlled resource. It may work out to be something similar to that in the end, but I've never taken the idea that far.
Second: Money == Gold...I'm talking about a non-tangible here. Right now companies prosper by making dollars at whatever cost. Lock up IP for 50 years? Sure, if it makes us more money.
Ideally, in a different system, a company would prosper by doing the most 'good'. Good being defined as most beneficial to the human race Eg: Drug company A finds new cure, and immediately (after testing) releases it for free to all people. This raises their value in the eyes of the people, and therefore makes them more profitable. Company B finds a new cure and doesn't release it. People are upset, and no longer support Company B. Company B goes out of business.
This is all refering to drug companies, but it could apply to anything else. Company C comes up with a great new gadget that will do 'great thing X'. Today it would cost money to release it to the public, but in the different system, due to Company C's high standing in social credits, Company D and Company E both decide to help out with the manufacturing. This 'earns' social credits for all three companies, as well as benefitting the public. It's about helping out, contributing back...not frickin' hoarding!
Today, Money is a commodity. There is a limited amount of it. This lends itself to people wanting to hoard it. If you remove the physical limitations, but still assign 'worth', you change the playing field.
Ultimately, I would like to see a combination between the good parts of socialism (welfare systems, health care, etc) mixed with the good parts of capitalism (competition, open market). I'd remove the fixation on physical wealth, and replace it with an untangible.
I realize this is 'pie in the sky', and hard for people to swallow (we're all used to chasing the almight buck), but really...would it be so bad?
This is exactly what's wrong with captilaism in it's current form.
I don't have a good answer as to how this type of thing can be fixed, but I have kicked around a few ideas. Bear with me here:
Human greed should be considered inalienable. It's been here since we were throwing crap at each other from trees, and it's not going anywhere. Capitalism plays on this...hoard as big a pile of cash as you can manage.
In a lot of respects, capitalism is a great system (better than others we've seen, anyway)...My feeling is that the 'currency' needs to be changed. Instead of dollars, why not hoard 'social credits'.
For example, a big drug company like this could improve its reputation by releasing this info for the benefit of the human race, and then collecting 'social credits'.
Obviously, this is a very rough idea, and other's have possibly thought along the same lines (I'm no economic scholar)...
What we need is a system that encourages competition (that's how we get the best products), while at the same time also encourages benefitting the human population in any manner possible.
I'd be interested to hear any theories, opinions and or ideas on the subject, just hit that reply button.
I would agree to that as well. Though the same can be said of Office. I can't think of a new feature that was worthwhile since '97. It's all UI changes now (personalized menus, etc) in both camps. Remember when these products were competing with useful features like spell check, etc.
Does anyone remember AbiWord? I believe it got swallowed up into Lotus SmartSuite after it's win3.1 version...anyway, aside from Corel WordPerfect, it's the only other word processor I can remember (GUI-style anyway -> wp5.1 rocks) that was actually pleasant to use. Too bad Lotus ruined it.
I agree. I think that feature wise, and working the way I want it to wise, WordPerfect was the ultimate in WYSIWYG word processing. Too bad Corel is as bad at marketing as MS is good.
Aside from some Government shops (Canada), a fair number of Law firms, and the _odd_ home user, Corel 's Office Suite really is a forgotten product.
New President X initiates antitrust proceeding agains MS. (Open Source world rejoices)
MS drags feet for 4 years. (Open Source world watches in anticipation)
New President Y is elected and drops the suit. (Open Source world watches history repeat itself)
The antitrust suits won't work until the legal wranglings can be cut down to a reasonable timeframe. MS can theoretically win any case, as it has the time and money to wait out any 'Power that IS'...
Is this a reference to the speed at which OO loads? If so, touché! I use it, and it works for me, but damn is it ever slow to load initially. Of course half of Office loads with Windows at boot time, so there are trade offs.
I realize that this was a tongue in cheek post, but really, is it that far of a stretch. I can just imagine a room full of bean counters nodding agreement with the idiot who thought up the scheme.
I just recently dealt with an upset victim of this type of attack. The spammer took the address @victimdomain.com and set the from and reply-to to be @mydomain.com. This frustrated the user because she thought that we had set up an account as her and then spammed her from it. I explained the situation to her, and now although maybe still ticked, understands a little bit more about how crappy the world of email can be.
I completely agree with the whole retarded spammer mentality thing too...the sad thing is, it's working! They'd have given up years ago if nobody was buying viagra and degrees as a one stop shop at their local h0ts3x websites.
I did this with the last machine I bought. Skipped the floppy drive. In the _rare_ occasion that I need a floppy disk, I simply use one in another machine on my network. It's been almost a year now, and I've used the floppy exactly once.
Having an ssh/scp accessible box and a web server helps with this, but I can always email myself files too!
Recordable cds are a good alternative, as is the usb pen storage, but really how often do you _need_ to transport such small files around. And if you do, isn't there a networked way of doing it? (Maybe not for joe sixpack, I guess)
Corel Office Suite 10 (11?)...Corel always had a nice way of letting you get your work done without getting in your way.
I know that most of the world has long since forgotten this little Canadian competitor, but much of the legal industry still uses it to prepare documents.
I personally haven't used any versions since 8, and that's mostly because just like MS Office 97, they haven't added anything new and useful for me.
As a side note, even though the grandparent to this post could be somewhat on fire, I do agree with the auto* formatting points. I've had to use MS Word a fair amount recently, and I've found that it's idea of the formatting that needs to be applied to my documents is generally 180 degrees from what I think. They're also right that the options to disable these features are buried too deeply.
While I'm at it, anyone know who's responsible for 'personalized menus'? This might be the _worst_ feature added to a UI in a long time. Try teaching a lab full of students about the features of Word. 'Click Format -> foo. Oh, you don't see foo, try clicking the little down arrows...' Argh! (and yes, I know it can be turned off, but the machines I use get re-imaged every boot...)
I agree with your post. Honestly, I don't generally like much that MS does on the business side, but product support is one that seems _fairly_ reasonable (at least in the OS realm). Really, '95 support just expired...that's a long time to support a piece of junk.
I also don't think that a year is unreasonable for RedHat to support an OS for...especially considering we're talking about Open Source products here. Really, RHN/up2date is nice, but not a necessary component.
There are two things to consider here.
1) Home users: who cares if they have to D/L a new ISO every 12 months...sure, it'll cut into the pr0n allowance, but no biggie (sorry dial-up users, you'll have to shell out $5+shipping for a disc).
2) Corporate users: upgrading servers is a pain. It's done as little as possible. Open Source is great in this situation. Upgrade on a package by package basis. It's fairly easy to build an RPM...especially when a lot of projects include the.spec file. Upgrade yourself, or even better, setup your own local RHN server to roll them out for you. You don't have to patch things like Evolution (not installed on your servers anyway, right??) on a server, just the security related errata!
And to top it off, corporations should be using Advanced Server anyway, or have the $$ to pay RedHat for some on-the-side support deal...this happens all the time.
Even a non-RedHat supported RedHat is still a very maintainable system.
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As someone who has never vistited Maine (or many US states period), I have a romantic impression of it from books and movies. I have a picture in my head of a beautiful wilderness state...is this even remotely accurate?
-Ben
Still (and always?): Knowledge of the buried, un(der)documented, and hidden APIs.
-Ben
There always used to be a TweakUI package available for older versions of windows. Thankfully, I haven't spent enough time in XP to see if it's available there.
A quick google turned up this MS page for you...should have what you need.
-Ben
I realize that...thanks anyway, though!
-Ben
I always got that feeling when sitting at a w2k box. I think ME and XP have the same 'hovering' effect to their cursors.
-Ben
Can't say I've ever run into one of those, but I'll take your word for it. That certainly would suck!
I assume this is some sort of visual studio bastardry you're refering to??
-Ben
Actually, you just click the build button with the little white arrow. Typing is archaic.
-Ben
I'm not attempting to say that you should work for free. I also value the research that does take place, and does make it to public consumption. I just happened to start this thread in a post about drug companies. I would have said similar things in a post about seed companies that genetically engineer better food that can't reproduce itself...and if you were a Genetic Engineer for Monsanto (??) you could make your same arguments, and take your same offences. I'll give you that.
I don't think anyone should work for free. I just think that the definition of free is whacked. Personally, I would have a system where every person is provided a certain amount of basic necessities. Food, Shelter and Clothing. Above that, you only get out of society what you put back in.
I think what my 'theory' (crack-brained as it may be) is trying to get at is this:
Right now, the wrong people control the balance of power in the world. They have the most money. Typically, though, the people with the most money are not necessarily the best citizens, often the reverse is true. Most 'big CEO' type people really contribute back very little to the rest of society.
If suddenly (and it would have to a sudden, drastic change ala Revolution) money no longer had any value, and instead your 'personal worth' (or corporate worth) was measured by how much you gave back to society, you would find 2 things (and likely more, but these I find most important):
1. Everyone would be 'better' off, as people would see to it that they were helping each other out to improve their own worth.
2. There would still be important powerful people, but the reason they are powerful/important is now more valid.
What I'm proposing is to take the most basic of human nature that is typically _not_ used for good, and turn it to a positive use.
-Ben
First: I made no illusions of this being a gov't controlled resource. It may work out to be something similar to that in the end, but I've never taken the idea that far.
Second: Money == Gold...I'm talking about a non-tangible here. Right now companies prosper by making dollars at whatever cost. Lock up IP for 50 years? Sure, if it makes us more money.
Ideally, in a different system, a company would prosper by doing the most 'good'. Good being defined as most beneficial to the human race Eg: Drug company A finds new cure, and immediately (after testing) releases it for free to all people. This raises their value in the eyes of the people, and therefore makes them more profitable. Company B finds a new cure and doesn't release it. People are upset, and no longer support Company B. Company B goes out of business.
This is all refering to drug companies, but it could apply to anything else. Company C comes up with a great new gadget that will do 'great thing X'. Today it would cost money to release it to the public, but in the different system, due to Company C's high standing in social credits, Company D and Company E both decide to help out with the manufacturing. This 'earns' social credits for all three companies, as well as benefitting the public. It's about helping out, contributing back...not frickin' hoarding!
Today, Money is a commodity. There is a limited amount of it. This lends itself to people wanting to hoard it. If you remove the physical limitations, but still assign 'worth', you change the playing field.
Ultimately, I would like to see a combination between the good parts of socialism (welfare systems, health care, etc) mixed with the good parts of capitalism (competition, open market). I'd remove the fixation on physical wealth, and replace it with an untangible.
I realize this is 'pie in the sky', and hard for people to swallow (we're all used to chasing the almight buck), but really...would it be so bad?
-Ben
This is exactly what's wrong with captilaism in it's current form.
I don't have a good answer as to how this type of thing can be fixed, but I have kicked around a few ideas. Bear with me here:
Human greed should be considered inalienable. It's been here since we were throwing crap at each other from trees, and it's not going anywhere. Capitalism plays on this...hoard as big a pile of cash as you can manage.
In a lot of respects, capitalism is a great system (better than others we've seen, anyway)...My feeling is that the 'currency' needs to be changed. Instead of dollars, why not hoard 'social credits'.
For example, a big drug company like this could improve its reputation by releasing this info for the benefit of the human race, and then collecting 'social credits'.
Obviously, this is a very rough idea, and other's have possibly thought along the same lines (I'm no economic scholar)...
What we need is a system that encourages competition (that's how we get the best products), while at the same time also encourages benefitting the human population in any manner possible.
I'd be interested to hear any theories, opinions and or ideas on the subject, just hit that reply button.
-Ben
I would mod your .sig +1 Insightful!
-Ben
Oh my. Yes, I did mean Ami Pro. Thanks for the correction.
Thanks
-Ben
I would agree to that as well. Though the same can be said of Office. I can't think of a new feature that was worthwhile since '97. It's all UI changes now (personalized menus, etc) in both camps. Remember when these products were competing with useful features like spell check, etc.
Does anyone remember AbiWord? I believe it got swallowed up into Lotus SmartSuite after it's win3.1 version...anyway, aside from Corel WordPerfect, it's the only other word processor I can remember (GUI-style anyway -> wp5.1 rocks) that was actually pleasant to use. Too bad Lotus ruined it.
-Ben
Your post is my first awareness of 1.0.2.
Thanks, I'll give it a shot.
-Ben
I agree. I think that feature wise, and working the way I want it to wise, WordPerfect was the ultimate in WYSIWYG word processing. Too bad Corel is as bad at marketing as MS is good.
Aside from some Government shops (Canada), a fair number of Law firms, and the _odd_ home user, Corel 's Office Suite really is a forgotten product.
-Ben
The problem with this scenario is thus:
New President X initiates antitrust proceeding agains MS. (Open Source world rejoices)
MS drags feet for 4 years. (Open Source world watches in anticipation)
New President Y is elected and drops the suit. (Open Source world watches history repeat itself)
The antitrust suits won't work until the legal wranglings can be cut down to a reasonable timeframe. MS can theoretically win any case, as it has the time and money to wait out any 'Power that IS'...
-Ben
Not yet. But it's getting there.
Is this a reference to the speed at which OO loads? If so, touché! I use it, and it works for me, but damn is it ever slow to load initially. Of course half of Office loads with Windows at boot time, so there are trade offs.
-Ben
I did this the other day (had to boot w2k in vmware). The blue screen is it. The trick is, try about:, and you'll just get an error page.
-Ben
I realize that this was a tongue in cheek post, but really, is it that far of a stretch. I can just imagine a room full of bean counters nodding agreement with the idiot who thought up the scheme.
-Ben
I just recently dealt with an upset victim of this type of attack. The spammer took the address @victimdomain.com and set the from and reply-to to be @mydomain.com. This frustrated the user because she thought that we had set up an account as her and then spammed her from it. I explained the situation to her, and now although maybe still ticked, understands a little bit more about how crappy the world of email can be.
I completely agree with the whole retarded spammer mentality thing too...the sad thing is, it's working! They'd have given up years ago if nobody was buying viagra and degrees as a one stop shop at their local h0ts3x websites.
-Ben
I did this with the last machine I bought. Skipped the floppy drive. In the _rare_ occasion that I need a floppy disk, I simply use one in another machine on my network. It's been almost a year now, and I've used the floppy exactly once.
Having an ssh/scp accessible box and a web server helps with this, but I can always email myself files too!
Recordable cds are a good alternative, as is the usb pen storage, but really how often do you _need_ to transport such small files around. And if you do, isn't there a networked way of doing it? (Maybe not for joe sixpack, I guess)
-Ben
Corel Office Suite 10 (11?)...Corel always had a nice way of letting you get your work done without getting in your way.
I know that most of the world has long since forgotten this little Canadian competitor, but much of the legal industry still uses it to prepare documents.
I personally haven't used any versions since 8, and that's mostly because just like MS Office 97, they haven't added anything new and useful for me.
As a side note, even though the grandparent to this post could be somewhat on fire, I do agree with the auto* formatting points. I've had to use MS Word a fair amount recently, and I've found that it's idea of the formatting that needs to be applied to my documents is generally 180 degrees from what I think. They're also right that the options to disable these features are buried too deeply.
While I'm at it, anyone know who's responsible for 'personalized menus'? This might be the _worst_ feature added to a UI in a long time. Try teaching a lab full of students about the features of Word. 'Click Format -> foo. Oh, you don't see foo, try clicking the little down arrows...' Argh! (and yes, I know it can be turned off, but the machines I use get re-imaged every boot...)
-Ben
Although I disagree that this is the proper place, I can't think of a better one...
I certainly have noticed a _major_ slowdown over the last week though.
-Ben
Touché
-Ben
I agree with your post. Honestly, I don't generally like much that MS does on the business side, but product support is one that seems _fairly_ reasonable (at least in the OS realm). Really, '95 support just expired...that's a long time to support a piece of junk.
.spec file. Upgrade yourself, or even better, setup your own local RHN server to roll them out for you. You don't have to patch things like Evolution (not installed on your servers anyway, right??) on a server, just the security related errata!
I also don't think that a year is unreasonable for RedHat to support an OS for...especially considering we're talking about Open Source products here. Really, RHN/up2date is nice, but not a necessary component.
There are two things to consider here.
1) Home users: who cares if they have to D/L a new ISO every 12 months...sure, it'll cut into the pr0n allowance, but no biggie (sorry dial-up users, you'll have to shell out $5+shipping for a disc).
2) Corporate users: upgrading servers is a pain. It's done as little as possible. Open Source is great in this situation. Upgrade on a package by package basis. It's fairly easy to build an RPM...especially when a lot of projects include the
And to top it off, corporations should be using Advanced Server anyway, or have the $$ to pay RedHat for some on-the-side support deal...this happens all the time.
Even a non-RedHat supported RedHat is still a very maintainable system.
-Ben