Another case for a UNIX-based work environment. Rule number one of the Idiot User: If they SHOULDN'T do it, they WILL. I'm lucky- there are two other people in my office. Between the three of us, we have eight machines: five Macs, two Wintel boxes and a Dibian box. With the exception of the 'nix box, we're all competent professionals who know what the hell we're doing- IMHO, if you're going to be using a computer AT ALL, you should have at least six months of training to familiaze yourself intimately so situations like this don't happen. Of course, it's probably your job to clean up a mess like that, though...
A very nice tactical decision on their part, I must admit. Really:
1. Send out those damned CDs to everyone in America. Like I need another coaster. 2. Some hapless boob installs the damned thing by freak accident. I know of nobody who would install AOL willingly, but they somehow managed to get a bunch of loons on the web. It proves people prefer convenience over thought. 3. The thing runs amok and does everything bad that the report says it does. So.... 4. The user is stuck with AOL reminders and erros, unless he knows his stuff. 5. If he knows his stuff, he's not using AOL. He's using a real, nonintrusive, ISP. 6. Results: Advertising Through Annoyance! The user gets to either reformat his system, edit the registry, or spend a nice long call with tech support to get back to where he was before he deicded he wanted the convenience of getting porn links mailed to him.
Moral: If you install AOL, you deserve the consequences.
In the case of a superior product, the punk attitude of "damn the man!" which can easily be held to the world of software where the choices are nearly limitless, doesn't work. Hardware is the one thing you can't "pirate" realisticly, and if you're going to make a stand, Apple is far better than the competition. Backward and forward compatability has only minor issues from a software standpoint, and the hardware is truly sublime. Intel was the company that invented USB If I remember correctly, but Apple's license of the technology was what brought it mainstream. While they may be behind in some areas [I don't use 3d apps and i don't play video games, so it doesn't affect me], I've never had driver conflicts. I've never had device problems [thanks to a "This is how SCSI works. DON'T FORGET!" lecture by my boss], and best of all, a damaged OS can be quickly repaired with minimal hassle, and I've never had to format a hard drive in order to upgrade or update.
Connections for free hardware are a hell of a lot harder to come by than connections for free software: I've chosen to go with a product that I don't have to think about or worry about. Read the manual? Why bother?
In regards to your last paragraph: If you're a "large group of people", then why didn't you sign "Anonymous Cowards", mmm? And yes, it IS about people- individual rights. As in "do whatever the hell you want as long as you don't hurt anybody." Kissing your girlfriend in public doesn't hurt anyone [if it does, they have SERIOUS issues and should be better off dead]. Neither does wearing a hammer and sickle t-shirt, a blue mohawk, and wearing a zillion different tattoos of your favorite metal bands on your arms.
Taking peoples property is bad- hence the fact that I use only MP3s that are ripped from CDs I own [of course, what I was doing six months ago is beside the point]- the band's got their cash, now I can do what I want with the product.
Corporations are NOT people. They are "Them", the faceless God lording over the collapse of civilization wraught by their own hands. [Hey, I don't need a flat TV, or even a TV- Sony can spend a zillion bucks in advertising and I'm STILL not going to buy one. Does this hurt them? Nope- some poor schmuck who likes to whack off to Buffy will buy one so he can see her clearly.] Anything that damages a major corporation and proves a good point in a non-violent fashion is forwarding the cause. Call it a punk attitude: those who lust after power are by nature of their desire unfit to weild it.
You want graphics? What am I getting in return? Server space? Tech support? Barter economy, baby. Barter Economy. Certianly not money.
Get over Natalie-whatever-the-hell-her-name-is. I don't know, I don't care- I avoid TV and media as much as possible- the CBS thing last month clinched it. I DO agree that it is time-consuming and VERY knowledge intensive to create good software- anyone in their right mind who has a day job isn't about to go home and do the same thing- for free- at night.
Anyway.
I use DW because I'd prefer to get the site done in a few hours rather than days of trial and error. It's a speed thing that lets me work comfortably in a graphical fashion. I use it on a Mac because of the way the clocks work- I can roll it back or trash a preference and keep using it. Macromedia is NOT losing cash because of me- we've got all of the apps at work and we DON'T use them, even though we paid damned good money for them.
I don't put the work I value where people can find it, end of story. If that large group of people happened to be the GIMP, Gnome, KDE, etc. Development teams, I'd have one response: "where do I sign?" If it were the US Government or a flock of greedy fan-boys, they'd get the finger. If they pressed the matter, I'd incinerate my technical pens after dropping the case of my Quadra 650 on them a few dozen times. And if they came to take it all away, they'd find naught but ash.
If you truly LOVE to do something, you're not in it for the money.
I think, if anything, what we'll see on the horizon is further popularity of illeagly pirated or used software. While what I'm running at home I'm running at work, and never both at the same time, I intensely resent the idea that companies can poke into my machine via the net and find out all sorts of booha about what I'm running and what hardware I'm using- unless you use a standalone system for your fun stuff, where's the privacy?
I'm a huge fan of spoofing the IP, blocking advertisements, and generally not supporting the greedy bastards that keep nosing into my life. I think that a hunk of SW that would block the damned ads from the net would be DIVINE- and who are They to demand that I HAVE to look at their ads? When I lose my freedom to piss on pictures of Bill Gates and Windows instruction manuals, then it's war: corporate intrusion is a violation of a whole bunch of amendments, last time I checked. Whose turn was it to be watching Congress when they sold us out to the highest bidder?
You'd think that we, the people, could go for a vote of no confidence in the current govenrment, toss the bastards, and start over with properly informed sorts who know the technology, know the concepts of personal freedom, and know how to keep one from raping the other. [And at the same time have to sign a contract saying they get paid ten bucks an hour and get to be killed in whatever fashion their constituency thinks is viable if they accept bribes, kickbacks, etceteras.] Corporations and individual rights... They're breaking the most fundamental lawss of personal freedom.
IMHO, now that Linux is the Next Big Thing, the Revolution is over- big names are all over the thing like flies on guano- who knows what ends they'll pervert it to? Time to move on and get the hell out of Dodge while the getting is good.
I fail to see how this is, in any way to speak of, good for anyone but the corporations. HEY, FOLKS! It's about PEOPLE! Sorry, but if I waste bandwidth on a trial copy of Macromedia software, then it's my right as a user to roll back my clock every time I use it, so I can KEEP using it. For free. The way it SHOULD be. If Linux had tools on the same level as Director, Photoshop, Office, etceteras, then this wouldn't be a problem at all: people would just stop "licensing" things they can't really buy.
Question: why so much emphasis on the various 'nix flavors? Why isn't this same sort of vigor and energy being put into applications that could shift the general user base over to linux? Yeah, a lot of us are idiots- I use Dreamweaver for all of my code and raid websites for Lingo to use with Director. But I've got something to contribute- graphical skills and an idiot-level understanding of UNIX as well as the capacity to actually know what people are talking about sometimes.
restricitve legal BS = BAD. free = good.
Fight for what you believe in, folks. Me? I believe that software should be free for everyone, no matter how computer savvy they aren't. I'm a diehard Mac user, to the death [or until OS 9 hit, at which point I lost a bit of faith]. But my lot is with the Linux ETHOS, even if I can't add a user to my Red Hat box to save my life.
Let's see... First there's Kaleidescope, which I probably spelled wrong. For a couple of bucks or a minor startup annoyance, you can alter your GUI to look like anything that's availalbe for download, or create your own. Some of these are VERY nice... Also, with OS 8.5 and up, there's a "theme" option of a sort, the Appearance tag under the Appearance menu in the Appearance control panel. MacOS comes with "platinum" as the default, and the others are VERY hard to come by, but include "Hi-Tech", "Gizmo", "DSG-Theme", and "Drawing Board". These are a hell of a lot better than the Kaleidescope options because they're FREE and don't bug you to register on startup. You can, if you have the patience, modify them using ResEdit. So Mac has had themes, for awhile. MacOS itself since 8.5, and Kaleidescope, which has been around since at least 7.6.1. M-kay?
I fully agree with Kurtz on all counts: while it is one thing to make fun of the willfully stupid, it is another thing entirely to bash newbies and inexperienced persons who are just starting out in the computer world. Three years ago I had to ask my class instructor how to delete files from my disk on the Macintosh- if I hadn't used my connections to land in the output room of my school, I would not have the experience I do now- a fairly high-level understanding of Windows and Mac OS. Making fun of the less experienced can be equated to high school behaviour, noteably that of the "in" crowd in their treatment of the "not in" crowd. As long as the person is inexperienced, s/he will be doing things and asking questions that seem silly to us- but odds are that we've all committed our own faux pas in the course of learning. Ridicule has proven to be a detriment to learning- if someone makes fun of your incapability in the area in question, it's an easy leap to the conclusion "Screw this, and screw you!", further retarding the learning process by turning ignorance into a sort of conditioned phobia. Truth be told, I find neither strip that Scott references to be even remotely amusing- Goats and PVP seem to be more my line. Humor for the sake of humor is the way to go- humor at the expense of another is going to hurt the butt of the joke if they are not the sort of person to take it lightly.
I graduated in June from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, majoring in Computer Animation. I found out about halfway in that it was the last thing I wanted to do- I spent all of my time in the school Mac labs and output room, learning Photoshop, Director, and MacOS stuff like network printing and so forth. Now I'm unstably employed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, exhibits department.
From a jobs standpoint, it all depends on what your interests and specialties are: I lucked out bigtime. I'm sure there are a fair amount of jobs in the burgh that have no artistic inclination necessary: art-based jobs are not easy to come by, particulalry since a company can just wait three months and have their pick of another crop of A students.
From a mental well-being standpoint, Pittsburgh has little going for it. Everyone I talk to that has a tech-related job wants to get the hell out: the burgh doesn't pay very well (depending on where yo uwork). If you like really, REALLY nasty traffic conditions and the Steelers, this is really a great place to be. But if you hate/dislike sports and are under 21, the burgh is a dry, dead and DUMB town to live in. The local gene pool is a corrupt mass of inequity- anyone seeking proof need but stand downtown for twenty minutes with a camera. Five minutes, if it's a game day. I'll be the guy in glasses, black beret and grey longcoat, chainsmoking camel lights.
Socially: plenty of bars, a few fetish clubs, fairly decent shopping. If you need tech hookups, you need to hit a mall, which is inconvenient. ADSL is available in some areas (like shadyside), as are Cable Modems: prime requisits for the nerdly elite.
If you can snag a job, are willing to spend a year listening to the local version of english ("yinz"- the less intelligible, the more inbreeding) and learning the town, don't mind hideous traffic and roads, and could care less about culture, welcome home. Is there any reason other than school for someone under the age of sixty to move here? (note: PA has the second highest geriatric population in the nation) NO. Odds are far better of finding better and cheaper living, better ISP connections and better culture just about anywhere else. The thirty-somethings refer to the current generation as "Generation eXodus"- if you asked my boss he'd give you a dozen reasons not to come here. But then, every city has its downpoints and its detractors. On the plus side, the place has a FABULOUS transit system- if you have the patience and aren't in anything resembling a hurry.
If you want a tech job, you are DEFINITELY going to find something better somewhere else. They claim to be attempting to attract the youth back into the city, but do you really think building a new stadium is going to do it? I have yet to see any other efforts or incentives in any direction.
Dan Hinder happy to be alibve- even if it IS in Pittsburgh.
Let's see... 1. Constantine's conversion = Christianity as the State Religion. 2. Papal Indulgences. Enough said. 2.5. The Crusades! Who could forget the Crusades? 3. The Spanish Inquisition. 3.5 America colonized by the Puritans- one of societies most inane sects. "Escaping from tyranny", they set up there own, which lead to... 4. Salem Witch Trials. 5. The United States- a country whose constitution and original government was founded by Masons- sneaking it into coins, currency, and public education. Sorry, but a Pledge of Alleigance to a government I hold no trust in under a religious aegis I don't follow is a violation of the precarious First Amendment.
Yeah, I'd say that the Pope needs to hose some of the Red off of his hands. For a religion that preachs "let he who be without sin cast the first stone", there's been a veritable hail of the damned things in the past couple hundred years. Ah well.
Much like Microsoft and the Roman Empire, these religions will fold in due time as the "cults" (as Christianity was classified for a really long time, folks! The only difference is who weilds the political power!) gain appreciation and members. By then this issue will be long solved or forgotten. Either way, all present will be long since gone on to their next incarnation, private hell, galconda, nirvana, purgatory, whatever.
..let's not forget that while the church DID preservel iteracy to a degree, it also had its fair share of black marks- hence the attitude theretowards: Eclesiasticism is best exemplified, I think, by the Borg from Star Trek (or Microsoft)- if the Bible was literally interpreted instead of spun into whatever it is that people want it to say, civilization would be far more advanced. Now that Christianity has become the dogma of the US and a good chunk of the technological world, I think some people are beginning to think that religion is in need of a dire overhaul. I was born/raised a "liberal" Mennonite, but the guilt-tripping and that some long dead Christ died for "sins" that I've "committed" never really took- nor did a lot of the other stuff. Move on, branch out, and expand the horizons. If you're going to consult religious authorities, who have an extablished habit of extreme Zealotry (though I HAVE, honestly, met a few good eggs), you seriously need to expand the test group to include the Judeo-Christian Church, Wiccan, Muslims, Thelemics, etcetera: asking one order on the topic will contaminate the results: it's akin to asking someone in Pittsburgh what they think of the Cleveland Browns: you are NOT going to get an objective opinion (you either love the Steelers, are here on business, or get sick at the thought of sports) [hey, I think this analogy works!....]
If anything, there IS a need to reread and recouch ones words, especially in a forum such as this: if I had properly thought through my original statement, I would not have wound up on this train of explaining myself further. But then, my point is being slowly proved as I warm to a more objective take on the subject. Still...
Religion has it's "good points", I guess- but taken in general rather than one religion in particular. Science needs a truly objective body of opinion, not just the Church in a matter such as this.
Who said anything about being an athiest? "There is no god but man" is different from "there is no god and when we die that's it"- if anyone's got issues, it's those who don't take a look around and realize there's more to life than materialism and mundane trivialities: in this respect, the Church has a good idea, but as an evangelical religion, it's totally the wrong tactic- like Amway salesmen. My "religion", if you could call it that, is a little different. Quote: "Convert not. Talk not overmuch." The Answer to the Question at hand is either "42" or relative to the individual. Depending on your perception of Truth, factors like Karma and Reincarnation have a lot to do with the present lifetime, but remain a far shot from the Ultimate Question. The answer to "Why" will never be a complete and easy-to-understand answer, and one man's truth is another mans feces. Why I'm here hasn othing to do with why you or anyone else is here, though the phenomenon may be related. For some, Christianity is the answer. For the rest, it isn't. Science, no matter the topic at hand, should keep the possibilities of long-range implications in mind as well as the Ultimate Question.
I'm not sure if this vacation analogy is an apt one- though putting said religious leaders in the position of the children in this case is both apt and humorous.:) Which do YOU think would be more educational and a better experience- the Cannes film festival or Disneyworld? The Last Emperor or Pokemon: the first movie? Which do you think the kids are going to decide on? Liber Oz is a book, not a person: a treatise dealing with the fundamental rights of Man- rights that have nothing to do with petty constitutions or commandments. Very interesting reading. [Particulalry pertaining to "if and who god is"]
Happy? While religion IS a hot point, from my POV the topic here is that scientists are consulting w/ religious leaders to do something that they really shouldn't be asking permission for. It's akin to me asking my boss if I can format my hard drive- while he technicly has some say in the matter, since the format has no impact on productivity, there's no point in mucking about with a few days of booha while he makes his decision. Better to just do it. It's the same situation here. While I'm fully of the opinion that there are areas science SHOULDN'T go, I also believe that they should be responsible enough to make the decision for themselves, as opposed to consulting a source that has a long and colorful history of bias and guilt [I don't know about you, but I hold no truth for the concept of "original sin"]
"There is no God but man". So sez Liber OZ- anyone who knows what I'm talking about could be more than informative. With this knowledge in hand, it can be acknowledged that yes, a second opinion IS important. But asking a christist "authority" is kind of pointless, when you consider the rich historical background on the subject (little of which survived the Dark Ages) from an objective standpoint. The sheepherders are not going to want to dissuade the blind devotion of their flock, now are they? Morality and religion are completely different things- one can be "moral" without being "religious" about it- I've taken more shit from Christians for not being one than I have from Agnostics or Atheists (for not being one)- so whom do you think I keep for company? I think that those who need to be consulted are objective authorities on the subject- and when Christianity and their "sanctity of life" delusions are involved, objectivity becomes a tainted and invalid concept.
..and you seem to be equally unknowledgable in the land of Tact. I'm not interested in pointing fingers or a flamewar- "history", such as it is, has been highly corrupted by entities such as the church- there's more under the surface than your average Believer can handle, so of course they're going to scoff at it. From the standpoint of science- this is like asking your uncle if it's okay to breath, knowing full well if you're uncle says "no" and you do anyway, he'll sit on you. I AM young, and if I "get over" anything, it will be Religion and feeling compelled to reply to these sorts of barbs. If you want to debate science or history, I'm game. If you want to talk religion, scrag off.
Considering all of the "good" religion has done in the past Aeon (Spanish Inquisition, assimilation of paganism, the Crusades, etceteras), Why should they be consulted at all? It is because of this BS over original sin and te Sanctity of Life (anyone else see the contradiction?) that society is what it is today. Faith is one thing, but having to kowtow a potentially massive breakthrough because it's in dnager of pissing off the pope is an outrage. The pope is aas fallible as Microsoft, folks- and represents the same sort of monoplositic tendencies. Which is better- progress or being guilt-tripped by someone who has little understanding of what you're doing but is going to be a loubmouth because he "believe's" it's wrong? Belief and science are mutually exclusive terms.
is pretty simple. A religion has more members, gets tax breaks, and it's publicly acceptable to belong to one. Christianity began as a pagan-assimilating cult, fictionalizing events and altering its own Ethos in order to bring over the Great Unwashed ("Easter" is a GREAT example, having become a perverted version of a pagan fertility ritual for the goddess Eoster). It was widely regarded as a minor annoyance until the Roman Emperor Constantine was converted and made it the state religion of Rome, thus ushering in the Dark Ages, etceteras.
Me? I have faith, but I've long since left the Black Lodge behind.
A lot of people could care less about a RS/MS partnership- what impact does it have on their lives? What impact does it have on YOURS, truly? MS is nothing more than a high school bully, beating down and taking credit because it has the power, making friends when it needs them and discarding or steamrolling them when the goal is attained. Its power is threatened, so while MS is waiting in the principle's office to be suspended, it's attempting to make friends with the kids that are walking by outside. The student body moves on, but the bully ends up either failing out or pumping gas at a unimart until he dies of stupidity or old age- such will eventually be the case with Microsoft, no matter how many partnerships it forges, how many incentives it cuts, or whatever economic incentives are offered. So it's a partner with RS now. As other have already pointed out, MS has a habit of abusing this sort of situation to its own advantage- repeatedly. Obviously RS thinks they have something to gain or they wouldn't have agreed to the bargian. "Give me your lunch money or I'll beat you up"? Maybe with Intel, but with Radio Shack, there's something else going on. Possibly something darker.
The immediate conclusion, based off of Radio Shack experience, is possible access to that vast database of addresses and names- legally. MS can plug the hell out of whatever they're selling at RS through RS advertising, and get it peddled to millions more customers than those who are laughing at the "where do you want to go today?" ads. I don't know about you, but junk mail for Windows would be used to light my next cigarette.
Even if Windows were open-sourced, do you really think it would be used? What are their true motivations in the Radio Shack partnership, and will it really affect us? Does it really mean anything to the end user, or is it just simply another piece of optic clutter on the windshield of our eyes, a testament to corporate greed and expansion?
Really. If it was a quality product, I doubt there would be this much hassle over anything MS does. We don't really need choices, we just need something that works, does everything we need, has comprehensive help, and isn't a pain in the ass (As a Mac user, it seems that Linux has nailed two of these.). Usually software is lucky to get one or two of these options. The proliferation of apps and OSes is proof that no one has hit on all four as yet. Widening the distribution of a universal product isn't going to change the fact that MS has nailed none of these.
But from my standpoint, the real game is relativism and playing with the truth- to a point. I never lie outright- just shuffle points in time, creatively exaggerate, and lop off last names. The fact of the matter is that the address in question is the truth, but "from a certian point of view" (cue blue lights and music). Keeping things on track, if a fake name isused enough it can create a life and karma of its own- for many people online their nic is equivalent to a pagan name. I wonder if we'll ever see the day when the nic is so widely accepted that you can stop filling in "First" and "Last" blanks for registration? The internet hasn't cost anyone their identity- it merely transfers the concept to the next level. And just like the real world, there is a vast innumerable silent majority of nobodies that either don't know, don't care, or both.
If I remember correctly, that sort of thing is of questionable legality. Considering that what RS actually DOES with the material is public knowledge, then the idea of relativism comes into play: I've lived in five apartments in the past two years- I'll just give 'em whichever one I can remember as long as its not the one I'm living at. Then I can plead that I DID live there. They usually ask for "address", not "CURRENT address". Still, I don't suggest lying about your address to anyone- just don't give it out. I really freaked a clerk at Best Buy when I slipped into a Bobcat Goldthwait impression- she asked my zip code. I was buying a damned Henry Rollins CD- who cares where i'm going to be listening to it?
Still,to keep the thread on topic: you gotta wonder at the combined might of the records databases that MS and RS have. That's a lot of junk mail, and a lot of stuff to fuel the fire (if youve got a wood stove).
I always considered Windows to be a migraine in a box and RadioShack to be an invasion of my privacy- I'm sorry, but I shouldn't have to tell you where I live to buy a damned patch cable: it's not Plutonium or an AK47! Screw legality- if a company wants to be nosy, they're going to drag me kicking and screaming. I buy at RS, and when the inevitable question comes up, I do one of two things, depending on how generous I'm feeling: 1. Lie. 2. "Sorry, that's not something I have to give you. If you want to push it, I'll take my business elsewhere."
Number one has the effect of pissing off the schlepp that lives in my old apartment. Number two has always gotten me out quick, with item in hand.
Seriously, I fail to see how this is a good thing. Bookstores and computer stores are already swamped in MS books and paraphenalia- a partnership w/ RS is only increasing their reach into one area they don't control. Isn't this spreading the monopoly? When I think "quality", MS is the last thing on my list- why RS would want to promote a substandard product is beyond me. Since the whole environment of the store seems to be more for electronics hobbyists and people trying to connect their cuisinart to their Dreamcast through their Amiga, one would think it an ideal environment for Linux.
Combining a desktop monopoly with the vast database of customers that Radio Shack has is a disturbing thought. Microsoft wanting to get their mitts into that, possibly? Ouch. "Sympathy for Microsoft!" junk mail, anyone? Anyone?
No shit it can. When you find yourself unable to remember the last time you talked to a female that wouldn't sue you for sexual harassment for using the word "anal" in a sentence (I like Death Metal. So there's a band called Anal Cunt. EOS.), you need to get out. But where? Whenever you find wherever "there" is, you'll need this:
I spend anywhere from eight to twenty hours a day either on a computer or within ten yards of one. This is for a variety of reasons, some work-related, some game-related, but mostly, I've come to realize, for escapism. This is also why I avoid chatrooms- why do I need to actively seek out repetetive, monosyllabic conversation when I can get the same by riding the bus? I have no use for it. But I have attempted the online-romance thing a handful of times. Fairytales are just that and have little or nothing to do with real life. In point of fact, I do not think that the "ideal" romance is ever going to be found on the Net. Romantic relaitonships, particulalry long-term ones, are in need of a physical component for them to last. So naturally, in the Quest For Intimacy, this was mentioned frequently. I neither want nor have the time to waste on an e-lationship. Every "romantic" encounter that has begun through the net has, in due time, failed completely. Most of this is due to communication and how myself and the person in question reacted when face to face. Begging may do it for some people, but I find it highly offensive- it killed one relationship on the spot. Not something you need to worry about on email, the phone, or in a chat, but a lethal idiosynchracy when encountered in RL. Every minute spent in a chatroom discussing anything other than business is another minute valuable and possibly nonexistant social skills are being wasted. While the net is the best place to make contacts, ALL of the interesting people I have met and persued anything resembling a relationship with have been met OFF line. If you're looking for someone to "be with" on the net, you need to ask yourself: "Am I someone a (gender) would WANT to be with?" Most of us are either unconsciously aware of the truth, we just need to realize it. If the answer is "no", then you need to spend more time becoming acceptable to yourself and functional within whatever it is you call "society". You are not going to become some sort of cassanova by spending fifteen hours a day on IRC. I HAVE learned a few things from online attempts at romance. They are repetative, frequently irritating (particularly in the case of bad grammar or spelling), and have yet to prove rewarding in the long run. I'm not exactly the best person in the universe to ask about online romance- I was raped by a psychologist of the same sex (thirty years older than me), and have been attempting to recover and work through my confusion for the past two years. The internet has not proven to be a valid option. If you have problems or are trying to hide from something, be anything other than yourself in an online relationship, the only possible longterm result is damage.
Slashdot Mirror
Another case for a UNIX-based work environment. Rule number one of the Idiot User: If they SHOULDN'T do it, they WILL. I'm lucky- there are two other people in my office. Between the three of us, we have eight machines: five Macs, two Wintel boxes and a Dibian box. With the exception of the 'nix box, we're all competent professionals who know what the hell we're doing- IMHO, if you're going to be using a computer AT ALL, you should have at least six months of training to familiaze yourself intimately so situations like this don't happen.
Of course, it's probably your job to clean up a mess like that, though...
Still. Idiots don't deserve access priveleges.
A very nice tactical decision on their part, I must admit.
Really:
1. Send out those damned CDs to everyone in America. Like I need another coaster.
2. Some hapless boob installs the damned thing by freak accident. I know of nobody who would install AOL willingly, but they somehow managed to get a bunch of loons on the web. It proves people prefer convenience over thought.
3. The thing runs amok and does everything bad that the report says it does. So....
4. The user is stuck with AOL reminders and erros, unless he knows his stuff.
5. If he knows his stuff, he's not using AOL. He's using a real, nonintrusive, ISP.
6. Results: Advertising Through Annoyance! The user gets to either reformat his system, edit the registry, or spend a nice long call with tech support to get back to where he was before he deicded he wanted the convenience of getting porn links mailed to him.
Moral:
If you install AOL, you deserve the consequences.
In the case of a superior product, the punk attitude of "damn the man!" which can easily be held to the world of software where the choices are nearly limitless, doesn't work. Hardware is the one thing you can't "pirate" realisticly, and if you're going to make a stand, Apple is far better than the competition. Backward and forward compatability has only minor issues from a software standpoint, and the hardware is truly sublime. Intel was the company that invented USB If I remember correctly, but Apple's license of the technology was what brought it mainstream.
While they may be behind in some areas [I don't use 3d apps and i don't play video games, so it doesn't affect me], I've never had driver conflicts. I've never had device problems [thanks to a "This is how SCSI works. DON'T FORGET!" lecture by my boss], and best of all, a damaged OS can be quickly repaired with minimal hassle, and I've never had to format a hard drive in order to upgrade or update.
Connections for free hardware are a hell of a lot harder to come by than connections for free software: I've chosen to go with a product that I don't have to think about or worry about. Read the manual? Why bother?
In regards to your last paragraph:
If you're a "large group of people", then why didn't you sign "Anonymous Cowards", mmm? And yes, it IS about people- individual rights. As in "do whatever the hell you want as long as you don't hurt anybody." Kissing your girlfriend in public doesn't hurt anyone [if it does, they have SERIOUS issues and should be better off dead]. Neither does wearing a hammer and sickle t-shirt, a blue mohawk, and wearing a zillion different tattoos of your favorite metal bands on your arms.
Taking peoples property is bad- hence the fact that I use only MP3s that are ripped from CDs I own [of course, what I was doing six months ago is beside the point]- the band's got their cash, now I can do what I want with the product.
Corporations are NOT people. They are "Them", the faceless God lording over the collapse of civilization wraught by their own hands. [Hey, I don't need a flat TV, or even a TV- Sony can spend a zillion bucks in advertising and I'm STILL not going to buy one. Does this hurt them? Nope- some poor schmuck who likes to whack off to Buffy will buy one so he can see her clearly.]
Anything that damages a major corporation and proves a good point in a non-violent fashion is forwarding the cause. Call it a punk attitude: those who lust after power are by nature of their desire unfit to weild it.
You want graphics? What am I getting in return? Server space? Tech support? Barter economy, baby. Barter Economy. Certianly not money.
Get over Natalie-whatever-the-hell-her-name-is. I don't know, I don't care- I avoid TV and media as much as possible- the CBS thing last month clinched it. I DO agree that it is time-consuming and VERY knowledge intensive to create good software- anyone in their right mind who has a day job isn't about to go home and do the same thing- for free- at night.
Anyway.
I use DW because I'd prefer to get the site done in a few hours rather than days of trial and error. It's a speed thing that lets me work comfortably in a graphical fashion. I use it on a Mac because of the way the clocks work- I can roll it back or trash a preference and keep using it. Macromedia is NOT losing cash because of me- we've got all of the apps at work and we DON'T use them, even though we paid damned good money for them.
I don't put the work I value where people can find it, end of story. If that large group of people happened to be the GIMP, Gnome, KDE, etc. Development teams, I'd have one response:
"where do I sign?"
If it were the US Government or a flock of greedy fan-boys, they'd get the finger. If they pressed the matter, I'd incinerate my technical pens after dropping the case of my Quadra 650 on them a few dozen times. And if they came to take it all away, they'd find naught but ash.
If you truly LOVE to do something, you're not in it for the money.
I think, if anything, what we'll see on the horizon is further popularity of illeagly pirated or used software. While what I'm running at home I'm running at work, and never both at the same time, I intensely resent the idea that companies can poke into my machine via the net and find out all sorts of booha about what I'm running and what hardware I'm using- unless you use a standalone system for your fun stuff, where's the privacy?
I'm a huge fan of spoofing the IP, blocking advertisements, and generally not supporting the greedy bastards that keep nosing into my life. I think that a hunk of SW that would block the damned ads from the net would be DIVINE- and who are They to demand that I HAVE to look at their ads? When I lose my freedom to piss on pictures of Bill Gates and Windows instruction manuals, then it's war: corporate intrusion is a violation of a whole bunch of amendments, last time I checked.
Whose turn was it to be watching Congress when they sold us out to the highest bidder?
You'd think that we, the people, could go for a vote of no confidence in the current govenrment, toss the bastards, and start over with properly informed sorts who know the technology, know the concepts of personal freedom, and know how to keep one from raping the other. [And at the same time have to sign a contract saying they get paid ten bucks an hour and get to be killed in whatever fashion their constituency thinks is viable if they accept bribes, kickbacks, etceteras.]
Corporations and individual rights... They're breaking the most fundamental lawss of personal freedom.
IMHO, now that Linux is the Next Big Thing, the Revolution is over- big names are all over the thing like flies on guano- who knows what ends they'll pervert it to? Time to move on and get the hell out of Dodge while the getting is good.
I fail to see how this is, in any way to speak of, good for anyone but the corporations. HEY, FOLKS! It's about PEOPLE! Sorry, but if I waste bandwidth on a trial copy of Macromedia software, then it's my right as a user to roll back my clock every time I use it, so I can KEEP using it. For free. The way it SHOULD be. If Linux had tools on the same level as Director, Photoshop, Office, etceteras, then this wouldn't be a problem at all: people would just stop "licensing" things they can't really buy.
Question: why so much emphasis on the various 'nix flavors? Why isn't this same sort of vigor and energy being put into applications that could shift the general user base over to linux? Yeah, a lot of us are idiots- I use Dreamweaver for all of my code and raid websites for Lingo to use with Director. But I've got something to contribute- graphical skills and an idiot-level understanding of UNIX as well as the capacity to actually know what people are talking about sometimes.
restricitve legal BS = BAD.
free = good.
Fight for what you believe in, folks. Me? I believe that software should be free for everyone, no matter how computer savvy they aren't.
I'm a diehard Mac user, to the death [or until OS 9 hit, at which point I lost a bit of faith]. But my lot is with the Linux ETHOS, even if I can't add a user to my Red Hat box to save my life.
Let's see... First there's Kaleidescope, which I probably spelled wrong. For a couple of bucks or a minor startup annoyance, you can alter your GUI to look like anything that's availalbe for download, or create your own. Some of these are VERY nice... Also, with OS 8.5 and up, there's a "theme" option of a sort, the Appearance tag under the Appearance menu in the Appearance control panel. MacOS comes with "platinum" as the default, and the others are VERY hard to come by, but include "Hi-Tech", "Gizmo", "DSG-Theme", and "Drawing Board". These are a hell of a lot better than the Kaleidescope options because they're FREE and don't bug you to register on startup. You can, if you have the patience, modify them using ResEdit. So Mac has had themes, for awhile. MacOS itself since 8.5, and Kaleidescope, which has been around since at least 7.6.1. M-kay?
I fully agree with Kurtz on all counts: while it is one thing to make fun of the willfully stupid, it is another thing entirely to bash newbies and inexperienced persons who are just starting out in the computer world. Three years ago I had to ask my class instructor how to delete files from my disk on the Macintosh- if I hadn't used my connections to land in the output room of my school, I would not have the experience I do now- a fairly high-level understanding of Windows and Mac OS.
Making fun of the less experienced can be equated to high school behaviour, noteably that of the "in" crowd in their treatment of the "not in" crowd. As long as the person is inexperienced, s/he will be doing things and asking questions that seem silly to us- but odds are that we've all committed our own faux pas in the course of learning. Ridicule has proven to be a detriment to learning- if someone makes fun of your incapability in the area in question, it's an easy leap to the conclusion "Screw this, and screw you!", further retarding the learning process by turning ignorance into a sort of conditioned phobia.
Truth be told, I find neither strip that Scott references to be even remotely amusing- Goats and PVP seem to be more my line. Humor for the sake of humor is the way to go- humor at the expense of another is going to hurt the butt of the joke if they are not the sort of person to take it lightly.
I graduated in June from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, majoring in Computer Animation. I found out about halfway in that it was the last thing I wanted to do- I spent all of my time in the school Mac labs and output room, learning Photoshop, Director, and MacOS stuff like network printing and so forth. Now I'm unstably employed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, exhibits department.
From a jobs standpoint, it all depends on what your interests and specialties are: I lucked out bigtime. I'm sure there are a fair amount of jobs in the burgh that have no artistic inclination necessary: art-based jobs are not easy to come by, particulalry since a company can just wait three months and have their pick of another crop of A students.
From a mental well-being standpoint, Pittsburgh has little going for it. Everyone I talk to that has a tech-related job wants to get the hell out: the burgh doesn't pay very well (depending on where yo uwork). If you like really, REALLY nasty traffic conditions and the Steelers, this is really a great place to be. But if you hate/dislike sports and are under 21, the burgh is a dry, dead and DUMB town to live in. The local gene pool is a corrupt mass of inequity- anyone seeking proof need but stand downtown for twenty minutes with a camera. Five minutes, if it's a game day. I'll be the guy in glasses, black beret and grey longcoat, chainsmoking camel lights.
Socially: plenty of bars, a few fetish clubs, fairly decent shopping. If you need tech hookups, you need to hit a mall, which is inconvenient. ADSL is available in some areas (like shadyside), as are Cable Modems: prime requisits for the nerdly elite.
If you can snag a job, are willing to spend a year listening to the local version of english ("yinz"- the less intelligible, the more inbreeding) and learning the town, don't mind hideous traffic and roads, and could care less about culture, welcome home. Is there any reason other than school for someone under the age of sixty to move here? (note: PA has the second highest geriatric population in the nation) NO.
Odds are far better of finding better and cheaper living, better ISP connections and better culture just about anywhere else. The thirty-somethings refer to the current generation as "Generation eXodus"- if you asked my boss he'd give you a dozen reasons not to come here. But then, every city has its downpoints and its detractors. On the plus side, the place has a FABULOUS transit system- if you have the patience and aren't in anything resembling a hurry.
If you want a tech job, you are DEFINITELY going to find something better somewhere else. They claim to be attempting to attract the youth back into the city, but do you really think building a new stadium is going to do it? I have yet to see any other efforts or incentives in any direction.
Dan Hinder
happy to be alibve- even if it IS in Pittsburgh.
Let's see...
1. Constantine's conversion = Christianity as the State Religion.
2. Papal Indulgences. Enough said.
2.5. The Crusades! Who could forget the Crusades?
3. The Spanish Inquisition.
3.5 America colonized by the Puritans- one of societies most inane sects. "Escaping from tyranny", they set up there own, which lead to...
4. Salem Witch Trials.
5. The United States- a country whose constitution and original government was founded by Masons- sneaking it into coins, currency, and public education. Sorry, but a Pledge of Alleigance to a government I hold no trust in under a religious aegis I don't follow is a violation of the precarious First Amendment.
Yeah, I'd say that the Pope needs to hose some of the Red off of his hands. For a religion that preachs "let he who be without sin cast the first stone", there's been a veritable hail of the damned things in the past couple hundred years.
Ah well.
Much like Microsoft and the Roman Empire, these religions will fold in due time as the "cults" (as Christianity was classified for a really long time, folks! The only difference is who weilds the political power!) gain appreciation and members. By then this issue will be long solved or forgotten. Either way, all present will be long since gone on to their next incarnation, private hell, galconda, nirvana, purgatory, whatever.
..let's not forget that while the church DID preservel iteracy to a degree, it also had its fair share of black marks- hence the attitude theretowards: Eclesiasticism is best exemplified, I think, by the Borg from Star Trek (or Microsoft)- if the Bible was literally interpreted instead of spun into whatever it is that people want it to say, civilization would be far more advanced.
Now that Christianity has become the dogma of the US and a good chunk of the technological world, I think some people are beginning to think that religion is in need of a dire overhaul. I was born/raised a "liberal" Mennonite, but the guilt-tripping and that some long dead Christ died for "sins" that I've "committed" never really took- nor did a lot of the other stuff. Move on, branch out, and expand the horizons. If you're going to consult religious authorities, who have an extablished habit of extreme Zealotry (though I HAVE, honestly, met a few good eggs), you seriously need to expand the test group to include the Judeo-Christian Church, Wiccan, Muslims, Thelemics, etcetera: asking one order on the topic will contaminate the results: it's akin to asking someone in Pittsburgh what they think of the Cleveland Browns: you are NOT going to get an objective opinion (you either love the Steelers, are here on business, or get sick at the thought of sports) [hey, I think this analogy works!....]
If anything, there IS a need to reread and recouch ones words, especially in a forum such as this: if I had properly thought through my original statement, I would not have wound up on this train of explaining myself further. But then, my point is being slowly proved as I warm to a more objective take on the subject. Still...
Religion has it's "good points", I guess- but taken in general rather than one religion in particular. Science needs a truly objective body of opinion, not just the Church in a matter such as this.
Who said anything about being an athiest? "There is no god but man" is different from "there is no god and when we die that's it"- if anyone's got issues, it's those who don't take a look around and realize there's more to life than materialism and mundane trivialities: in this respect, the Church has a good idea, but as an evangelical religion, it's totally the wrong tactic- like Amway salesmen. My "religion", if you could call it that, is a little different. Quote: "Convert not. Talk not overmuch."
The Answer to the Question at hand is either "42" or relative to the individual. Depending on your perception of Truth, factors like Karma and Reincarnation have a lot to do with the present lifetime, but remain a far shot from the Ultimate Question. The answer to "Why" will never be a complete and easy-to-understand answer, and one man's truth is another mans feces. Why I'm here hasn othing to do with why you or anyone else is here, though the phenomenon may be related. For some, Christianity is the answer. For the rest, it isn't.
Science, no matter the topic at hand, should keep the possibilities of long-range implications in mind as well as the Ultimate Question.
I'm not sure if this vacation analogy is an apt one- though putting said religious leaders in the position of the children in this case is both apt and humorous. :)
Which do YOU think would be more educational and a better experience- the Cannes film festival or Disneyworld? The Last Emperor or Pokemon: the first movie? Which do you think the kids are going to decide on?
Liber Oz is a book, not a person: a treatise dealing with the fundamental rights of Man- rights that have nothing to do with petty constitutions or commandments. Very interesting reading. [Particulalry pertaining to "if and who god is"]
Happy? While religion IS a hot point, from my POV the topic here is that scientists are consulting w/ religious leaders to do something that they really shouldn't be asking permission for. It's akin to me asking my boss if I can format my hard drive- while he technicly has some say in the matter, since the format has no impact on productivity, there's no point in mucking about with a few days of booha while he makes his decision. Better to just do it. It's the same situation here. While I'm fully of the opinion that there are areas science SHOULDN'T go, I also believe that they should be responsible enough to make the decision for themselves, as opposed to consulting a source that has a long and colorful history of bias and guilt [I don't know about you, but I hold no truth for the concept of "original sin"]
"There is no God but man". So sez Liber OZ- anyone who knows what I'm talking about could be more than informative. With this knowledge in hand, it can be acknowledged that yes, a second opinion IS important. But asking a christist "authority" is kind of pointless, when you consider the rich historical background on the subject (little of which survived the Dark Ages) from an objective standpoint. The sheepherders are not going to want to dissuade the blind devotion of their flock, now are they?
Morality and religion are completely different things- one can be "moral" without being "religious" about it- I've taken more shit from Christians for not being one than I have from Agnostics or Atheists (for not being one)- so whom do you think I keep for company? I think that those who need to be consulted are objective authorities on the subject- and when Christianity and their "sanctity of life" delusions are involved, objectivity becomes a tainted and invalid concept.
..and you seem to be equally unknowledgable in the land of Tact. I'm not interested in pointing fingers or a flamewar- "history", such as it is, has been highly corrupted by entities such as the church- there's more under the surface than your average Believer can handle, so of course they're going to scoff at it. From the standpoint of science- this is like asking your uncle if it's okay to breath, knowing full well if you're uncle says "no" and you do anyway, he'll sit on you. I AM young, and if I "get over" anything, it will be Religion and feeling compelled to reply to these sorts of barbs.
If you want to debate science or history, I'm game. If you want to talk religion, scrag off.
Considering all of the "good" religion has done in the past Aeon (Spanish Inquisition, assimilation of paganism, the Crusades, etceteras), Why should they be consulted at all? It is because of this BS over original sin and te Sanctity of Life (anyone else see the contradiction?) that society is what it is today. Faith is one thing, but having to kowtow a potentially massive breakthrough because it's in dnager of pissing off the pope is an outrage. The pope is aas fallible as Microsoft, folks- and represents the same sort of monoplositic tendencies.
Which is better- progress or being guilt-tripped by someone who has little understanding of what you're doing but is going to be a loubmouth because he "believe's" it's wrong? Belief and science are mutually exclusive terms.
is pretty simple. A religion has more members, gets tax breaks, and it's publicly acceptable to belong to one. Christianity began as a pagan-assimilating cult, fictionalizing events and altering its own Ethos in order to bring over the Great Unwashed ("Easter" is a GREAT example, having become a perverted version of a pagan fertility ritual for the goddess Eoster). It was widely regarded as a minor annoyance until the Roman Emperor Constantine was converted and made it the state religion of Rome, thus ushering in the Dark Ages, etceteras.
Me? I have faith, but I've long since left the Black Lodge behind.
A lot of people could care less about a RS/MS partnership- what impact does it have on their lives? What impact does it have on YOURS, truly?
MS is nothing more than a high school bully, beating down and taking credit because it has the power, making friends when it needs them and discarding or steamrolling them when the goal is attained. Its power is threatened, so while MS is waiting in the principle's office to be suspended, it's attempting to make friends with the kids that are walking by outside.
The student body moves on, but the bully ends up either failing out or pumping gas at a unimart until he dies of stupidity or old age- such will eventually be the case with Microsoft, no matter how many partnerships it forges, how many incentives it cuts, or whatever economic incentives are offered. So it's a partner with RS now. As other have already pointed out, MS has a habit of abusing this sort of situation to its own advantage- repeatedly. Obviously RS thinks they have something to gain or they wouldn't have agreed to the bargian. "Give me your lunch money or I'll beat you up"? Maybe with Intel, but with Radio Shack, there's something else going on. Possibly something darker.
The immediate conclusion, based off of Radio Shack experience, is possible access to that vast database of addresses and names- legally. MS can plug the hell out of whatever they're selling at RS through RS advertising, and get it peddled to millions more customers than those who are laughing at the "where do you want to go today?" ads. I don't know about you, but junk mail for Windows would be used to light my next cigarette.
Even if Windows were open-sourced, do you really think it would be used? What are their true motivations in the Radio Shack partnership, and will it really affect us? Does it really mean anything to the end user, or is it just simply another piece of optic clutter on the windshield of our eyes, a testament to corporate greed and expansion?
Really. If it was a quality product, I doubt there would be this much hassle over anything MS does. We don't really need choices, we just need something that works, does everything we need, has comprehensive help, and isn't a pain in the ass (As a Mac user, it seems that Linux has nailed two of these.). Usually software is lucky to get one or two of these options. The proliferation of apps and OSes is proof that no one has hit on all four as yet. Widening the distribution of a universal product isn't going to change the fact that MS has nailed none of these.
But from my standpoint, the real game is relativism and playing with the truth- to a point. I never lie outright- just shuffle points in time, creatively exaggerate, and lop off last names. The fact of the matter is that the address in question is the truth, but "from a certian point of view" (cue blue lights and music).
Keeping things on track, if a fake name isused enough it can create a life and karma of its own- for many people online their nic is equivalent to a pagan name. I wonder if we'll ever see the day when the nic is so widely accepted that you can stop filling in "First" and "Last" blanks for registration?
The internet hasn't cost anyone their identity- it merely transfers the concept to the next level. And just like the real world, there is a vast innumerable silent majority of nobodies that either don't know, don't care, or both.
If I remember correctly, that sort of thing is of questionable legality. Considering that what RS actually DOES with the material is public knowledge, then the idea of relativism comes into play: I've lived in five apartments in the past two years- I'll just give 'em whichever one I can remember as long as its not the one I'm living at. Then I can plead that I DID live there. They usually ask for "address", not "CURRENT address". Still, I don't suggest lying about your address to anyone- just don't give it out.
,to keep the thread on topic: you gotta wonder at the combined might of the records databases that MS and RS have. That's a lot of junk mail, and a lot of stuff to fuel the fire (if youve got a wood stove).
I really freaked a clerk at Best Buy when I slipped into a Bobcat Goldthwait impression- she asked my zip code. I was buying a damned Henry Rollins CD- who cares where i'm going to be listening to it?
Still
I always considered Windows to be a migraine in a box and RadioShack to be an invasion of my privacy- I'm sorry, but I shouldn't have to tell you where I live to buy a damned patch cable: it's not Plutonium or an AK47! Screw legality- if a company wants to be nosy, they're going to drag me kicking and screaming. I buy at RS, and when the inevitable question comes up, I do one of two things, depending on how generous I'm feeling:
1. Lie.
2. "Sorry, that's not something I have to give you. If you want to push it, I'll take my business elsewhere."
Number one has the effect of pissing off the schlepp that lives in my old apartment. Number two has always gotten me out quick, with item in hand.
Seriously, I fail to see how this is a good thing. Bookstores and computer stores are already swamped in MS books and paraphenalia- a partnership w/ RS is only increasing their reach into one area they don't control. Isn't this spreading the monopoly?
When I think "quality", MS is the last thing on my list- why RS would want to promote a substandard product is beyond me. Since the whole environment of the store seems to be more for electronics hobbyists and people trying to connect their cuisinart to their Dreamcast through their Amiga, one would think it an ideal environment for Linux.
Combining a desktop monopoly with the vast database of customers that Radio Shack has is a disturbing thought. Microsoft wanting to get their mitts into that, possibly? Ouch. "Sympathy for Microsoft!" junk mail, anyone? Anyone?
Only Death is Silence.
Acceptance is Surrender.
No shit it can. When you find yourself unable to remember the last time you talked to a female that wouldn't sue you for sexual harassment for using the word "anal" in a sentence (I like Death Metal. So there's a band called Anal Cunt. EOS.), you need to get out. But where? Whenever you find wherever "there" is, you'll need this:
http://www.ut.ee/~anton/layguide/
I spend anywhere from eight to twenty hours a day either on a computer or within ten yards of one. This is for a variety of reasons, some work-related, some game-related, but mostly, I've come to realize, for escapism. This is also why I avoid chatrooms- why do I need to actively seek out repetetive, monosyllabic conversation when I can get the same by riding the bus? I have no use for it. But I have attempted the online-romance thing a handful of times.
Fairytales are just that and have little or nothing to do with real life. In point of fact, I do not think that the "ideal" romance is ever going to be found on the Net. Romantic relaitonships, particulalry long-term ones, are in need of a physical component for them to last. So naturally, in the Quest For Intimacy, this was mentioned frequently. I neither want nor have the time to waste on an e-lationship. Every "romantic" encounter that has begun through the net has, in due time, failed completely.
Most of this is due to communication and how myself and the person in question reacted when face to face. Begging may do it for some people, but I find it highly offensive- it killed one relationship on the spot. Not something you need to worry about on email, the phone, or in a chat, but a lethal idiosynchracy when encountered in RL.
Every minute spent in a chatroom discussing anything other than business is another minute valuable and possibly nonexistant social skills are being wasted. While the net is the best place to make contacts, ALL of the interesting people I have met and persued anything resembling a relationship with have been met OFF line. If you're looking for someone to "be with" on the net, you need to ask yourself: "Am I someone a (gender) would WANT to be with?" Most of us are either unconsciously aware of the truth, we just need to realize it. If the answer is "no", then you need to spend more time becoming acceptable to yourself and functional within whatever it is you call "society". You are not going to become some sort of cassanova by spending fifteen hours a day on IRC.
I HAVE learned a few things from online attempts at romance. They are repetative, frequently irritating (particularly in the case of bad grammar or spelling), and have yet to prove rewarding in the long run. I'm not exactly the best person in the universe to ask about online romance- I was raped by a psychologist of the same sex (thirty years older than me), and have been attempting to recover and work through my confusion for the past two years. The internet has not proven to be a valid option. If you have problems or are trying to hide from something, be anything other than yourself in an online relationship, the only possible longterm result is damage.