Basically, it's Windows, except that the "Start" menu brings up a bunch of colorful boxes instead of a wall of text. I wouldn't call it dumbed down.
People who build their own computers often do so because they want to play games. For almost every other purpose, a cheap-basic pre-made system is perfectly adequate and you probably have better things to do with your time.
If you're playing games, of course you need to run Windows, but any version of Windows is fine.
Alternatively, you used a variety of programs. Now people just use their web browser, in which case you really gives a fuck if you're using Windows or a Mac or even Linux. You could even use a tablet or a phone, with a few compromises.
$300-$600 is enough computer for almost anybody. Really. You could buy one and use it happily for at least five years. Maybe ten.
I still think we're at a stage where the average person wants to have a computer around their house. Perhaps two. The issue isn't that they're replacing their computers with a tablet, the issue is that computers can be expected to last a lot longer than they did before.
It's cute the way you divide food producers into "big companies" v. "organic growers." It shows that you actually believe the message they've been marketing:
BIg business is bad, therefore you should spend twice as much, oh and please ignore that our companies are sold nationwide in thousands of grocery stores.
It's because the movement against GMO is fed by hysteria. People have rallied against artificial sweeteners for more than a hundred years, despite a large body of empirical evidence (for 100+ years) and scientific results that there are absolutely no health issues resulting from artificial sweeteners. And despite that the "all natural" replacement, sugar or corn syrup, is full of empty calories & rots your teeth.
Or MSG, the evilest of evils, nearly as old which in a liquid(say, saliva, or stomach acid) breaks down to glutamine (an amino acid essential to life) and a salt (also essential to life). And double-blind test after double-blind test has shown has no health problems or response except the psychosomatic.
Food companies should make the information available that something contains MSG or saccharine. But the government forcing a big "contains MSG!" sticker on a product implies a health concern that does not in fact exist, to feed into the irrational health concerns.
Re:Ok, let's see you died in the wool capitalists
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Empirical results? The best economies are capitalist. The more capitalist an economy becomes, the stronger it becomes.
Maybe in the future a better form of economy will come about, it's difficult to imagine.
In this specific case, a company that was doing poorly and about to go out of business, was able to quickly & easily re-structure itself and stay in business.
FPS are so intense - never really played one until I got Modern Warfare 2, it's a constant adrenaline rush (and stupid as fuck). Like a more intense take on watching a Hollywood action movie.
Maybe financially they're doing well, if you're really into stock valuations. But with gamers, they're on the verge of becoming irrelevant - everybody know there's no good 3rd party games, just endless re-treads of a few (admittedly beloved) franchises. Wii sold a lot of units to people who put the Wii in the back of the closet after half a year.
Right, and it's the supermarket's fault when people steal things. It's not right that the people selling things decide what price they want to sell it for.
Just think about what you're saying. If this was really true in the general case, every single publisher would sell their game for $2. It's a weird hubris to think that from playing games, you understand the finances of game companies better than people who are trained at their jobs, privy to the company's sale figures, and works at it full-time.
If you feel bad about this, remember that evil book publishers are making money off the artists, and therefore stealing is fine. There's a million other pro-piracy arguments on Slashdot just choose a few favorites.
That's not a good way of looking at it. ebook readers are much, much better for reading (easier to read off of is the main advantage, but not having to constantly re-charge is also a huge advantage, as is being able to fit it in a pocket). If you plan to read a lot, I just don't think a tablet is an acceptable substitute.
If you're not a heavy reader and but want to have the capability in case the mood ever strikes you, then reading a book on a tablet is fine.
It's almost a moot point, since a kindle is just $80.
Typing this on a Mac right now, Macs aren't a professional machine, they're a vanity item. Windows software support has been better for maybe 15 years.
Your rant is off base on basically every level. However as an angry-anti-US rant of course it gets modded +5 insightful.
"Standardized testing" is not just an American phenomenon. In fact it's even stronger in other countries - in Japan, a good amount of the curriculum and tests have been laid out by the Federal government, on a daily basis. In Europe, France has its Baccalauréat, which it uses in schools for colonies and for French citizens living abroad (it even exports native French teachers). England's A levels and Europeland's Matura are also extremely standardized. Why is standardized testing a bad thing? To a certain extent it's a necessary tool to compare students from different areas, and to hold schools accountable to teaching at a certain level.
Memorization is common in class today? Memorization used to be a much larger part of education. Long poems would have to be memorized. In China this is still true, in fact to me it comes off as somewhat amazing how people have memorized long poems, or people learning English memorize long essays or dialogues...
The collapse of the US educational system? You mean the one still preparing 9 of the world's 10 best universities?
I love how you parrot alarmist shit with no real basis, and then talk about the need for "the ability of people to think logically, rationally, and critically."
Just google "utorrent download" instead of making posts stating that you wonder about it, and you'll see that the latest version for Windows is 3.2 http://www.utorrent.com/downloads/
And BTW fucking Macs, how I hate them so. Windows version of utorrent won't work with WINE. I upgraded to the newest version of WINE, and find out that my 1.5 year old Mac needs to have a not-free OS upgrade to be able to run the newer versions of WINE, an upgrade that makes my desktop more iPad like.
Slashdot Mirror
My old boyfriend Subway.
Japanese and Korean cell phones are way more advanced than in the US. You can watch watch OTA television programming on them!
Drawings of Natalie Portman, naked and petrified? Sign me up, as it is now I have to browse Deviantart profiles and it takes forever.
Basically, it's Windows, except that the "Start" menu brings up a bunch of colorful boxes instead of a wall of text. I wouldn't call it dumbed down.
People who build their own computers often do so because they want to play games. For almost every other purpose, a cheap-basic pre-made system is perfectly adequate and you probably have better things to do with your time.
If you're playing games, of course you need to run Windows, but any version of Windows is fine.
Alternatively, you used a variety of programs. Now people just use their web browser, in which case you really gives a fuck if you're using Windows or a Mac or even Linux. You could even use a tablet or a phone, with a few compromises.
$300-$600 is enough computer for almost anybody. Really. You could buy one and use it happily for at least five years. Maybe ten.
I still think we're at a stage where the average person wants to have a computer around their house. Perhaps two. The issue isn't that they're replacing their computers with a tablet, the issue is that computers can be expected to last a lot longer than they did before.
It's cute the way you divide food producers into "big companies" v. "organic growers." It shows that you actually believe the message they've been marketing:
BIg business is bad, therefore you should spend twice as much, oh and please ignore that our companies are sold nationwide in thousands of grocery stores.
It's because the movement against GMO is fed by hysteria. People have rallied against artificial sweeteners for more than a hundred years, despite a large body of empirical evidence (for 100+ years) and scientific results that there are absolutely no health issues resulting from artificial sweeteners. And despite that the "all natural" replacement, sugar or corn syrup, is full of empty calories & rots your teeth.
Or MSG, the evilest of evils, nearly as old which in a liquid(say, saliva, or stomach acid) breaks down to glutamine (an amino acid essential to life) and a salt (also essential to life). And double-blind test after double-blind test has shown has no health problems or response except the psychosomatic.
Food companies should make the information available that something contains MSG or saccharine. But the government forcing a big "contains MSG!" sticker on a product implies a health concern that does not in fact exist, to feed into the irrational health concerns.
Empirical results? The best economies are capitalist. The more capitalist an economy becomes, the stronger it becomes.
Maybe in the future a better form of economy will come about, it's difficult to imagine.
In this specific case, a company that was doing poorly and about to go out of business, was able to quickly & easily re-structure itself and stay in business.
If you've ever read or seen "Battlefield Earth," you know just how insidious these psychologists can be!
FPS are so intense - never really played one until I got Modern Warfare 2, it's a constant adrenaline rush (and stupid as fuck). Like a more intense take on watching a Hollywood action movie.
It works out to one new Mario a year, spread out between systems.
That's incorrect. SMB 2 was weird and maybe not really a Super Mario game, but was still really fucking fun and a great sequel.
Maybe financially they're doing well, if you're really into stock valuations. But with gamers, they're on the verge of becoming irrelevant - everybody know there's no good 3rd party games, just endless re-treads of a few (admittedly beloved) franchises. Wii sold a lot of units to people who put the Wii in the back of the closet after half a year.
Why? Do consumers have an inherent right to everything a company does?
What if a company wants to sell a "lite" version of a product for $20, and the full product for $40?
Right, and it's the supermarket's fault when people steal things. It's not right that the people selling things decide what price they want to sell it for.
Just think about what you're saying. If this was really true in the general case, every single publisher would sell their game for $2. It's a weird hubris to think that from playing games, you understand the finances of game companies better than people who are trained at their jobs, privy to the company's sale figures, and works at it full-time.
What the fuck? Doesn't Slashdot have enough threads about hating patents? Why bring it in to one about technology creating an apocalypse?
Actually, it's free for the Kindle: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6444281/Tea_Obreht_-_The_Tigers_Wife_
If you feel bad about this, remember that evil book publishers are making money off the artists, and therefore stealing is fine. There's a million other pro-piracy arguments on Slashdot just choose a few favorites.
Right, my strained red eyes are some kind of psychosomatic response. What am I going to trust, my own eyes or an article from the NY Times?
That's not a good way of looking at it. ebook readers are much, much better for reading (easier to read off of is the main advantage, but not having to constantly re-charge is also a huge advantage, as is being able to fit it in a pocket). If you plan to read a lot, I just don't think a tablet is an acceptable substitute.
If you're not a heavy reader and but want to have the capability in case the mood ever strikes you, then reading a book on a tablet is fine.
It's almost a moot point, since a kindle is just $80.
Typing this on a Mac right now, Macs aren't a professional machine, they're a vanity item. Windows software support has been better for maybe 15 years.
Anyone who tells you WHAT to think instead of suggesting you think for yourself is your enemy.
Wait, isn't your post telling students what to think? You don't seem to equivocate on the whole religion thing...
Your post reminds me of http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/atheist-atheism.php
Your rant is off base on basically every level. However as an angry-anti-US rant of course it gets modded +5 insightful.
"Standardized testing" is not just an American phenomenon. In fact it's even stronger in other countries - in Japan, a good amount of the curriculum and tests have been laid out by the Federal government, on a daily basis. In Europe, France has its Baccalauréat, which it uses in schools for colonies and for French citizens living abroad (it even exports native French teachers). England's A levels and Europeland's Matura are also extremely standardized. Why is standardized testing a bad thing? To a certain extent it's a necessary tool to compare students from different areas, and to hold schools accountable to teaching at a certain level.
Memorization is common in class today? Memorization used to be a much larger part of education. Long poems would have to be memorized. In China this is still true, in fact to me it comes off as somewhat amazing how people have memorized long poems, or people learning English memorize long essays or dialogues...
The collapse of the US educational system? You mean the one still preparing 9 of the world's 10 best universities?
I love how you parrot alarmist shit with no real basis, and then talk about the need for "the ability of people to think logically, rationally, and critically."
Just google "utorrent download" instead of making posts stating that you wonder about it, and you'll see that the latest version for Windows is 3.2 http://www.utorrent.com/downloads/
And BTW fucking Macs, how I hate them so. Windows version of utorrent won't work with WINE. I upgraded to the newest version of WINE, and find out that my 1.5 year old Mac needs to have a not-free OS upgrade to be able to run the newer versions of WINE, an upgrade that makes my desktop more iPad like.