I worked in retail for nearly four years. Thousands of dollars in small bills passed through my hands. I saw maybe two or three $2 bills during that time.
"Seeing stories like these makes me feel less inclined to step into a Best Buy unless I really need to."
I wouldn't be so quick to malign Best Buy over one isolated incident. Don't get me wrong, I understand your point, but there's no reason why this couldn't have happened at CompUSA, WalMart, Circuit City, etc. Same type of people getting hired. Same pay. Same training.
"You should try paying in Susan B. Anthony dollars someplace. Even though coins are struck with "One dollar" right on the face, some people insist that they are quarters. Very annoying."
Ugh. I worked at a fortune-500 company (McDonald's, heh.) when the gov't changed he bills to support 'color'. We didn't have a meeting about the new bills until several customers were angered.
"They email you specifically? I find that difficult to believe."
I meant that they're loud-spoken, not that they email anybody. I didn't clarify that too well.
"I'm sure they tell each other that. Particularly on/., but you do not have to take it personally."
That's funny given this comment you made a week ago.
"Again, the question is, when you see the same behaviour from Microsoft, does that make you switch? Or does that ONLY apply when the subject is Open Source?"
I'm not sure if that's directed at me or to the person you originally asked, but I'll answer: I don't pay attention to MS's FUD anymore than I pay attention to Linux-zealot FUD.
"If you're going to be biased, then don't complain about how others are biased. That's just hypocritical."
Actually I'm niether pro-MS or anti-Linux. I still stand by my earlier comment, though: You should be listening to what he has to say instead of trying to shoot it down.
"Yeah there's DD, Dreamworks, Pixar... and what do the artists at these 3D houses run on their workstations?"
DD runs mostly PC with Windows. (They use Lightwave quite a bit for modelling, and LW is NOT available on Linux.)
Dreamworks uses Linux quite a bit.
Pixar runs Macs and OSX. Although I understand they use Linux quite a bit, too. Been a while since I've talked to anybody from there.
(I noticed you ignored CafeFX. Was that intentional or are you aware that their workstations are Windows?)
The professional 3D world is far more extensive than just DD, DW, and Pixar. Lightwave is a common 3D app for television FX. Since LW doesn't run on Linux, you'll find that there are quite a few TV FX studios running Windows. LW does have a Linux render-node component, so often these dudes have Linux based render farms.
"Why would it be someone else's responsibility to "winnow" you away from IE?"
Should?Mozilla/FireFox fanatics do it whether you ask them to or not. They expend lots of energy saying "Just another reason to switch!" over and over again.
"Firefox is Free (as speech, as beer)."
Whoop-de-fuck. Not everybody cares about that as their first priority. Nor does everybody care about flipping off Microsoft. What a lot of people DO care about is if the browser is better. Fortunately, FireFox generally is quite a bit better than IE, so it's not such a hard sell anymore.
It is funny, though, how these stories work on Slashdot. When an IE exploit is published, it's "Just another reason to switch to FireFox or Mozilla!" When a Mozilla/FireFox exploit is published it's "Just another reason to switch to FireFox or Mozilla!"
"If Microsoft publishes some FUD, do you immediately switch to an alternative?"
What's it matter? If all you Linux twerps still giggle and snort at BSOD jokes, then you shouldn't expect a Windows user to take you seriously. (Just like how none of you take Microsoft announcements seriously.) Why don't you try listening to what he's saying instead of arguing with him? (Oh, never mind, TFA gave me some insight into that.)
"One would think the dominant commercial operating system would have the revenue to produce subsequent versions that far exceed the security and capabilities of it's competitors, either free or commercial."
That actually depends on what the users think. Stability was a huge deal, and MS addressed it quite significantly with 2k. Do the users care about security? I doubt it. Most people throw an anti-virus app and/or firewall and are happy. If they're happy, there really isn't a need to turn Windows upside down with a bunch of in-your-face security measures.
"With the profits from previous versions, shouldn't we expect "great things"?"
Sure. However, when a product has millions upon millions of customers, you can't assume that your way is in line with that of the desires of the msases. Look at what happens when movies are made. They've lost a lot of their bite attempting to appeal to the widest demographic.
"Installing software is an administrative task, not a user task."
Fundamentally I agree, however the practical situation is that people use software on their personal computers. Having to use passwords etc to install apps is annoying. To a lot of people, it feels unnecessary. (Disclaimer: I said FEELS not IS.)
"Just one more example of MS not understanding the difference between administration and use."
It's an example of Microsoft understanding their target audience. Yes, there are security issues that arise from this. Yes, people have to deal with ugly problems they shouldn't have to as a result of it. At the same time, though, Windows is more appealing because it doesn't challenge the user at every step.
I realize it's fun to run around talking about how stupid Microsoft is. It certainly makes the karma fly around here. It doesn't change the simple reality that Windows is a mass-market audience, and gee whiz, 10's of millions of people aren't all that security saavy. So what is Microsoft supposed to do: 1.) Make a secure OS and scare away a lot of their customers or 2.) Give the customers what they want and do what you can to minimize the problems that came up?
I'm not saying MS made the right or most competent decision. Rather I'm pointing out the real reason behind some of their 'incompetence'. The relationship between security and user friendliness is proportionally inverse. Don't believe me? Then take your computer and set it up so that it requires a password for every time you hit enter. That would be really really really secure, but you'd get irritated really quick.
"People that feel pissed of at Sprite, for example, because they're interfering in their game are not going to want to buy that product."
Funny, whenever I see a Sprite imitation in a game (like San Andreas), it startles me. It'd be one thing if the game paused to tell me about it, it's another when the world looks more real because.. well gee whiz, the real world has adverts.
They talk about scheduling recordings. Sadly, I have little use for portable TV right now, but if I did I'd be all over this mo-fo. I've actually thought about replacing my aging Replay with it solely because it can be hooked up to a TV. No more fighting with the GF over the livingroom TV.
"DVD's are over 4 gigabytes for 2 hours, and many people will only buy DVD dual layers that has the 9+ gigabytes of space. What kind of quality will you get at 150 megs an hour."
MPEG2 isn't as bit-conscience as MPEG4 is. For example, a 90 minute movie can be saved via DivX or XVID to a CD at only a minor quality loss. Shrink the video down from 720 by 480 to 400 by.. well whatever the PSP's resolution is, you could easily get it down to 500 megs and it'd look pretty good.
Personally, though, I don't see how that dude can stand dealing with that. First he has to transcode his movies, then he can get one or two of them on one stick. That means he either has a bunch of sticks laying around or he's doing a lot of data juggling.
Frankly, I've been giving a lot of thought to a $500 Archos device recently released. It has a 20 gig hard drive AND a docking station so that it'll act as a PVR. That is SLICK.
"I don't they ever will, since many people are too afraid that they will break them."
I would add that I think they'll find they're not as snazzy as they first sound. At the moment, web browsing on the PSP is painful. (Partly due to interface, partly due to lack of DNS etc.)
If Sony makes it easy to rip DVDs to the PSP, that might work out okay. But I have a very had time imagining millions of people ever doing this with the PSP. If Sony were to release iTunes for video, I might change my mind.
Right now, the PSP's mass-market appeal is games. That'll take up most of the pie-chart for quite a while.
Slashdot Mirror
" I'd harldy consider that rare"
:P
I worked in retail for nearly four years. Thousands of dollars in small bills passed through my hands. I saw maybe two or three $2 bills during that time.
That's how I define rare.
"Linux will gladly reciprocate, incorporating everything you've taught it and it is happy to teach you everything it knows too."
Heh. I meant Linus, not Linux.
"The cop overreacted a bit and decided, figuring he's not really qualified to determine if the bills are in fact counterfiet or not..."
Add to that that the dude had a substantial number of extremely rare bills.
Not saying the cop was right, but you cannot tell me that you wouldn't be at least a little stunned if somebody handed you 50-odd $2 bills.
"Yeah, running fdisk is a really expensive procedure."
Price is determined by value, not the cost of resources. If he was willing to pay for it, then the price was right.
"Seeing stories like these makes me feel less inclined to step into a Best Buy unless I really need to."
I wouldn't be so quick to malign Best Buy over one isolated incident. Don't get me wrong, I understand your point, but there's no reason why this couldn't have happened at CompUSA, WalMart, Circuit City, etc. Same type of people getting hired. Same pay. Same training.
"WTF is this doing in YRO?"
Is this really an Insightful question? Is there really some great injustice being done?
"Shouldn't a government employee know of such dominations?"
I can forgive the cop. It's the judge that should seriously know better.
"You should try paying in Susan B. Anthony dollars someplace. Even though coins are struck with "One dollar" right on the face, some people insist that they are quarters. Very annoying."
Ugh. I worked at a fortune-500 company (McDonald's, heh.) when the gov't changed he bills to support 'color'. We didn't have a meeting about the new bills until several customers were angered.
"They email you specifically? I find that difficult to believe."
/., but you do not have to take it personally."
I meant that they're loud-spoken, not that they email anybody. I didn't clarify that too well.
"I'm sure they tell each other that. Particularly on
That's funny given this comment you made a week ago.
"Again, the question is, when you see the same behaviour from Microsoft, does that make you switch? Or does that ONLY apply when the subject is Open Source?"
I'm not sure if that's directed at me or to the person you originally asked, but I'll answer: I don't pay attention to MS's FUD anymore than I pay attention to Linux-zealot FUD.
"If you're going to be biased, then don't complain about how others are biased. That's just hypocritical."
Actually I'm niether pro-MS or anti-Linux. I still stand by my earlier comment, though: You should be listening to what he has to say instead of trying to shoot it down.
"Yeah there's DD, Dreamworks, Pixar... and what do the artists at these 3D houses run on their workstations?"
DD runs mostly PC with Windows. (They use Lightwave quite a bit for modelling, and LW is NOT available on Linux.)
Dreamworks uses Linux quite a bit.
Pixar runs Macs and OSX. Although I understand they use Linux quite a bit, too. Been a while since I've talked to anybody from there.
(I noticed you ignored CafeFX. Was that intentional or are you aware that their workstations are Windows?)
The professional 3D world is far more extensive than just DD, DW, and Pixar. Lightwave is a common 3D app for television FX. Since LW doesn't run on Linux, you'll find that there are quite a few TV FX studios running Windows. LW does have a Linux render-node component, so often these dudes have Linux based render farms.
"If you wrap your gullet around Bill Gates shaft every /. post then you gotta expect people being a little critical."
Yeah right because acting like you'd happily give Linux a reach-around is much more appropriate.
"Pro 3d artists run linux BTW!"
Pro 3D renderfarms use Linux. Pro 3D workstations run Windows and OSX. A few of them run Linux.
ILM isn't the only CG studio on the planet.
"Why would it be someone else's responsibility to "winnow" you away from IE?"
Should?Mozilla/FireFox fanatics do it whether you ask them to or not. They expend lots of energy saying "Just another reason to switch!" over and over again.
"Firefox is Free (as speech, as beer)."
Whoop-de-fuck. Not everybody cares about that as their first priority. Nor does everybody care about flipping off Microsoft. What a lot of people DO care about is if the browser is better. Fortunately, FireFox generally is quite a bit better than IE, so it's not such a hard sell anymore.
It is funny, though, how these stories work on Slashdot. When an IE exploit is published, it's "Just another reason to switch to FireFox or Mozilla!" When a Mozilla/FireFox exploit is published it's "Just another reason to switch to FireFox or Mozilla!"
"If Microsoft publishes some FUD, do you immediately switch to an alternative?"
What's it matter? If all you Linux twerps still giggle and snort at BSOD jokes, then you shouldn't expect a Windows user to take you seriously. (Just like how none of you take Microsoft announcements seriously.) Why don't you try listening to what he's saying instead of arguing with him? (Oh, never mind, TFA gave me some insight into that.)
What's funny is that anybody who disagrees with them is labeled an 'MS fan-boy'. Hypocrites.
"FUD you."
Translation: I really like the game and don't want to hear legitimate complaints about it.
"You can play HL2 in offline mode without steam calling the mothership"
(...after you've registerred on the net.)
"One would think the dominant commercial operating system would have the revenue to produce subsequent versions that far exceed the security and capabilities of it's competitors, either free or commercial."
That actually depends on what the users think. Stability was a huge deal, and MS addressed it quite significantly with 2k. Do the users care about security? I doubt it. Most people throw an anti-virus app and/or firewall and are happy. If they're happy, there really isn't a need to turn Windows upside down with a bunch of in-your-face security measures.
"With the profits from previous versions, shouldn't we expect "great things"?"
Sure. However, when a product has millions upon millions of customers, you can't assume that your way is in line with that of the desires of the msases. Look at what happens when movies are made. They've lost a lot of their bite attempting to appeal to the widest demographic.
"Installing software is an administrative task, not a user task."
Fundamentally I agree, however the practical situation is that people use software on their personal computers. Having to use passwords etc to install apps is annoying. To a lot of people, it feels unnecessary. (Disclaimer: I said FEELS not IS.)
"Just one more example of MS not understanding the difference between administration and use."
It's an example of Microsoft understanding their target audience. Yes, there are security issues that arise from this. Yes, people have to deal with ugly problems they shouldn't have to as a result of it. At the same time, though, Windows is more appealing because it doesn't challenge the user at every step.
I realize it's fun to run around talking about how stupid Microsoft is. It certainly makes the karma fly around here. It doesn't change the simple reality that Windows is a mass-market audience, and gee whiz, 10's of millions of people aren't all that security saavy. So what is Microsoft supposed to do: 1.) Make a secure OS and scare away a lot of their customers or 2.) Give the customers what they want and do what you can to minimize the problems that came up?
I'm not saying MS made the right or most competent decision. Rather I'm pointing out the real reason behind some of their 'incompetence'. The relationship between security and user friendliness is proportionally inverse. Don't believe me? Then take your computer and set it up so that it requires a password for every time you hit enter. That would be really really really secure, but you'd get irritated really quick.
You're right. We shouldn't express positive cliches when MS makes a good move. We wouldn't want them knowing how to make their OS better.
"People that feel pissed of at Sprite, for example, because they're interfering in their game are not going to want to buy that product."
Funny, whenever I see a Sprite imitation in a game (like San Andreas), it startles me. It'd be one thing if the game paused to tell me about it, it's another when the world looks more real because.. well gee whiz, the real world has adverts.
"It's too bad though, that kids have to be enticed with video games in order to become active."
Exercise the body, or exercise the mind. It's hard to do both.
Check it out: http://www.archos.com/products/overview/pma_400.ht ml
They talk about scheduling recordings. Sadly, I have little use for portable TV right now, but if I did I'd be all over this mo-fo. I've actually thought about replacing my aging Replay with it solely because it can be hooked up to a TV. No more fighting with the GF over the livingroom TV.
Did you get an Archos with the PVR dock? How ya like it?
"DVD's are over 4 gigabytes for 2 hours, and many people will only buy DVD dual layers that has the 9+ gigabytes of space. What kind of quality will you get at 150 megs an hour."
MPEG2 isn't as bit-conscience as MPEG4 is. For example, a 90 minute movie can be saved via DivX or XVID to a CD at only a minor quality loss. Shrink the video down from 720 by 480 to 400 by.. well whatever the PSP's resolution is, you could easily get it down to 500 megs and it'd look pretty good.
Personally, though, I don't see how that dude can stand dealing with that. First he has to transcode his movies, then he can get one or two of them on one stick. That means he either has a bunch of sticks laying around or he's doing a lot of data juggling.
Frankly, I've been giving a lot of thought to a $500 Archos device recently released. It has a 20 gig hard drive AND a docking station so that it'll act as a PVR. That is SLICK.
"I don't they ever will, since many people are too afraid that they will break them."
I would add that I think they'll find they're not as snazzy as they first sound. At the moment, web browsing on the PSP is painful. (Partly due to interface, partly due to lack of DNS etc.)
If Sony makes it easy to rip DVDs to the PSP, that might work out okay. But I have a very had time imagining millions of people ever doing this with the PSP. If Sony were to release iTunes for video, I might change my mind.
Right now, the PSP's mass-market appeal is games. That'll take up most of the pie-chart for quite a while.
Fair enough.
Good day.