I've been saying this for a while now. I think spyware is such an epidemic, that the non-tech public is finding it too much of a pain to do anything on the internet. This will eventually affect the industry as a whole. There's a lot of blame to go around why 80-90% of computers have spyware, but if the major industry players don't show some leadership and get a handle on this, they're going to see adverse consequences.
The Simpsons reference that came to my mind was "Rancho Relaxo" where Marge went to recouperate from an injury. I beleive Troy McLure did the video introduction. Now the video will be transmitted over wifi.
I really need to stop looking for a Simpsons hook in every thought that crosses through my mind.
Its also worth noting that Apple went to the expense and trouble to design ITMS. Its truly awesome, and took some vision.
The way I see it, If I figure out a way to sell someone else's product people aren't buying anymore -- at my own expense, I deserve some credit.
I was so amazed while the Napster craze was going on. Nobody in the music industry could agree what to do, if anything. The music industry got their asses handed to them by a 16 year old kid.
Anyway, fast-forward to the creation of ITMS. Apple does what the music industry should have figured out how to do 4 years earlier, and the RIAA wants to leech off Apple's and other companies' hard, innovative work. These guys are truly parasites.
I agree with your point about free advice=worthless. I run into this all the time. If someone were paying me for support and I say "this software is problematic, and will result in a support nightmare, costing you an incredible amount of money".... I've done my job. If the customer doesn't want to take the advice, fine. I'm going to have a financial windfall if he doesn't.
However, If you're giving someone free support, they don't care about a support nightmare....their support is free, so who cares!! That's the part that makes me not want to help people.
Trust me, its not. I'm a technician for a school district, and I've personally worked on about 20 of these ibooks in question. One of my co-workers have done many more. The dim screen issue is rarer than the main logic board issue. The video cable being pinched between the case & hinge is pretty rare.
Ibooks, while a minority of our total equipment inventory, make up a majority of the repairs. Granted, they get used very heavily, but the logic board and screen problems are known defects. I suspect one of the reasons for repeated failures is because they're basically the same boards with high failure rates.
I have an ibook myself too, and its great. I use it as my primary machine because its the perfect fit for the way I work. It's light and small, but not too small to be annoying. On days when I have to lug a windows laptop around, The size, thickness and weight are noticeably annoying.
If it wasn't for my line of work though, I'd be saying the same thing you are.
As for the poster's original request, I use a manual, that someone else procured before I was hired. When troubleshooting, if the screen goes very dim (barely visible in normal room light) its most likely the backlight. Other weird video issues usually mean the system board. If the screen has ever been tugged on or twisted, It can pull the video connector from the board. I could check it out the source of my manual Monday. Its Friday night, and I'm about to crack a brewsky open!
I'm a tech for a school district, and I can tell you this problem is real and very very severe.
We have just about every kind of mac ever made, and overall their quality is outstanding. New imacs, old imacs, old clamshell ibooks, etc.
The MLB issue these dual USB ibooks are having are much worse than you'd imagine. We have about 150 of them, and we fully expect every one of these to die at least once. We've logged about 70 logic board replacements so far. Some machines have had two boards already.
This device sounds cool, and I've no doubt its easy to use.
However, as others have pointed out, it might be doomed to failure. Based on my observations, people who really do back up their data already have an easy solutions such as optical media, and simple copying between two networked machines.
The people who should buy one of these little boxes are the ones who constantly ignore any and all simple advice about how to ensure their documents, etc don't get hosed (I'm sure everyone here as a story to tell about people like that).
After all, the act of backing up in a home/home office situation is really just a bunch of copy/paste keystrokes, but in my experience getting people to do this is like pulling teeth. I recently had an encounter with a certain family member who was telling me how important his data was, etc etc. I suggested an easy solution for backups, and even offered to add a second hard drive to his PC so he could occasionally ghost the entire hard drive. Despite my continued offers, all I got was "yeah, we shoiuld do that some day, but not yet" Of course, down the road when the hard drive inevitably fails, I'll be asked to become a data forensics guy on 10 minutes notice. Grrrrrrr.
Its also worth mentioning that being married is given a certain special status in the US; our health insurance is basically tied to our jobs, and being married to someone with health insurance is a real benefit.
Lawmakers (the president, everyone else) constantly announce tax relief for "families". Marriage has almost become like an exclusive fraternity.
I'm straight and married, and I like these benefits. So why shouldn't everyone else have them? Maybe lawmakers who say "marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman" shouldn't have turned it into "marriage denotes your privileged status in our sociotey"
This move was specifically designed to piss off nerds everywhere.
Can you picture the discussion the next time your parents, aunts, clueless co-workers can't get on the interweb?
AOL is the primary reason most people don't understand the difference between an ISP and a browser. A few weeks ago, my father actually asked me how he would get on the internet if he switched from AOL to cable or DSL.
Three weeks ago at a doctors appointment, I saw an openserver installation in the corner of my exam room. I guess it just happened to be where the cable came into the office.
Just like any outfit that isn't IT-centric, there was a piece of paper taped to the beige box on how to run the tape backup, the root password, etc. I think it ran one of their billing apps.
Anyway, as I looked at the yellow letters on blue screen, lots of conflicting thoughts ran through my head.....like new MOTD's, etc... (although I'm not sure if this ancient piece of crap can really do anything).
Then my doctor walks in ten minutes early. First time that's ever happened
and realize this as a way for them to differentiate themselves in the market, quit installing crap people don't want.
As most people here would agree with me, any OEM software configuration bought today, and turned loose onto the internet by the average computer will be ravaged by spyware, and brought to a crawl in under a month...effectively a 1.4 GHz computer that acts like an early pentium II. I truly beleive the spyware/malware epidemic is far worse than the viruses out there. And yes, almost all of them are made possible by the explorer/windows combination.
If I were Michael Dell, I would promptly buy every little anti-spyware company that I could find, and provide this free for my customers. Not as charity or goodwill, but a business decision.
I really beleive this spyware thing is making people not want to use their computers, or even go on the internet. My point is, that Dell could sell more computers, and do the right thing at the same time. These guys are supposed to be smart...screwing your customers will work for a little while, but people always catch on, and it always backfires.
Is she doing it because of the topic(s) she'll publish on the web, or is she a budding webmaster?
If she's more into the content of the website, rather than the website itself, go toward the less-technical side of things (without dumbing it down too much).
Above all, give here a good fundemental foundation! Code away!
Why? One example: Personally, I like MS's take on the "My Computer" having links to other common places. It seems to work for me. But it confuses the bejesus out of some people. Of course, you can change the way your UI behaves in XP. The problem is, the people who get confused by the new UI are just the people who would have no idea how to switch back to the 'classic' UI.
So the people who design UI's are damned either way. I don't design UI's, but how can you unleash new features and improvements when the average computer user hasn't learned the fundementals of 'cut & paste'?
I like panther's UI best of all, but I also like some elements of XP's style of doing things.
The inability of WMP to rip songs to mp3 was the reason I stopped using it. There was a giant road block standing in the way of how I wanted to use my music.
I have an ibook and an ipod and, to me at least, apple strikes a balance that's better for the consumer.
I think it's about where apple put the "hurdle": you must circumvent the protected file format. Fair enough. Protected files aren't supposed to be curcumvented, but you can. microsoft tried to force me away from the mp3 format, which I like. Was I doing anything wrong by wanting my songs to be turned into mp3s? I don't think so.
I think they'd do better to market a similar product that was a little more sophisticated to match a more sophisticated computer user. People are starting to discover that their computers come with everything they need to connect to the internet and send e-mail. Even my parents are starting to feel constrained by AOL.
AOL has something that few other companies have: millions of people who send them $20+ per month. However, customers are leaving. Going for the low end will not move them into the future.
Every time I look at the AOL interface, I can't beleive a multi-billion dollar entity would stake its future on that.
In the end, no business can survuive if nobody wants to buy their products.
Good points. I've installed & used K12LTSP, and I was very impressed. I didn't do the MOSIX clustering, though. I hear it's not too tough, and produces good results.
I wonder if the reader could get a spare server, some old machines and try out 20-30 clients?
I doubt you'd be disappointed. If all went well, you could try a next step of a limited or incremental test in one department, though I'm not sure of the poster's environment
I also cringe when I see linux's reputation tarnished, and so much FUD being passed around, but there's a flip side to the legal challenges.
If the GPL and Linux can withstand the next few years in court, a new image might emerge. People might look at linux as "the OS everyone tried to kill, but couldn't".
With so many twists and turns recently, I wouldn't dare predict what will happen, but I am generally optimistic.
Oh, and the HP thing? It's like selling meteor strike insurance to all my friends & acquaintances. I mean, there is a chance that SCO could successfully sue a corporate linux user, but a very small one. Plus, didn't SCO say HP wasn't a target on their radar screen because HP UX was a properly licensed unix from way back?
I have much respect for hams and librarians. These mediums are the earlier "information superhighways", and the people who run them have a genuine desire to connect people with information.
I agree completely. My sister was detailing a similar situation where she works (she's a biologist). People were coming in 5-10 minutes late, and it pissed off management.
At the time, the workplace was very motivated, and people worked all kids of unpaid overtime, with no prompting from management.
However, when management went on a rant, everyone started coming in at 8:00 am, but stopped working atexactly 5:00.
It seems that their focus on "minutes" cost them hours in free labor, and caused some bad feelings.
On another note, I've supervised people before, and dealt with this problem. The trick is not to be a slimy PHB. If you've got somebody that's always running late, tell them to come in on time and don't act like a weasel! It really does work
Slashdot Mirror
yes .... http://www.pegtop.net/start/
Windows only
I've been saying this for a while now. I think spyware is such an epidemic, that the non-tech public is finding it too much of a pain to do anything on the internet. This will eventually affect the industry as a whole. There's a lot of blame to go around why 80-90% of computers have spyware, but if the major industry players don't show some leadership and get a handle on this, they're going to see adverse consequences.
The Simpsons reference that came to my mind was "Rancho Relaxo" where Marge went to recouperate from an injury. I beleive Troy McLure did the video introduction. Now the video will be transmitted over wifi.
I really need to stop looking for a Simpsons hook in every thought that crosses through my mind.
I would derive much pleasure from the opium-based "tonics" described in these catalogs. Ahhh, the good old days.
Its also worth noting that Apple went to the expense and trouble to design ITMS. Its truly awesome, and took some vision.
The way I see it, If I figure out a way to sell someone else's product people aren't buying anymore -- at my own expense, I deserve some credit.
I was so amazed while the Napster craze was going on. Nobody in the music industry could agree what to do, if anything. The music industry got their asses handed to them by a 16 year old kid.
Anyway, fast-forward to the creation of ITMS. Apple does what the music industry should have figured out how to do 4 years earlier, and the RIAA wants to leech off Apple's and other companies' hard, innovative work. These guys are truly parasites.
I agree with your point about free advice=worthless. I run into this all the time. If someone were paying me for support and I say "this software is problematic, and will result in a support nightmare, costing you an incredible amount of money" .... I've done my job. If the customer doesn't want to take the advice, fine. I'm going to have a financial windfall if he doesn't.
However, If you're giving someone free support, they don't care about a support nightmare....their support is free, so who cares!! That's the part that makes me not want to help people.
Darl is partial to "inside trades"
Trust me, its not. I'm a technician for a school district, and I've personally worked on about 20 of these ibooks in question. One of my co-workers have done many more. The dim screen issue is rarer than the main logic board issue. The video cable being pinched between the case & hinge is pretty rare.
Ibooks, while a minority of our total equipment inventory, make up a majority of the repairs. Granted, they get used very heavily, but the logic board and screen problems are known defects. I suspect one of the reasons for repeated failures is because they're basically the same boards with high failure rates.
I have an ibook myself too, and its great. I use it as my primary machine because its the perfect fit for the way I work. It's light and small, but not too small to be annoying. On days when I have to lug a windows laptop around, The size, thickness and weight are noticeably annoying.
If it wasn't for my line of work though, I'd be saying the same thing you are.
As for the poster's original request, I use a manual, that someone else procured before I was hired. When troubleshooting, if the screen goes very dim (barely visible in normal room light) its most likely the backlight. Other weird video issues usually mean the system board. If the screen has ever been tugged on or twisted, It can pull the video connector from the board. I could check it out the source of my manual Monday. Its Friday night, and I'm about to crack a brewsky open!
I'm a tech for a school district, and I can tell you this problem is real and very very severe.
We have just about every kind of mac ever made, and overall their quality is outstanding. New imacs, old imacs, old clamshell ibooks, etc.
The MLB issue these dual USB ibooks are having are much worse than you'd imagine. We have about 150 of them, and we fully expect every one of these to die at least once. We've logged about 70 logic board replacements so far. Some machines have had two boards already.
This device sounds cool, and I've no doubt its easy to use.
However, as others have pointed out, it might be doomed to failure. Based on my observations, people who really do back up their data already have an easy solutions such as optical media, and simple copying between two networked machines.
The people who should buy one of these little boxes are the ones who constantly ignore any and all simple advice about how to ensure their documents, etc don't get hosed (I'm sure everyone here as a story to tell about people like that).
After all, the act of backing up in a home/home office situation is really just a bunch of copy/paste keystrokes, but in my experience getting people to do this is like pulling teeth. I recently had an encounter with a certain family member who was telling me how important his data was, etc etc. I suggested an easy solution for backups, and even offered to add a second hard drive to his PC so he could occasionally ghost the entire hard drive. Despite my continued offers, all I got was "yeah, we shoiuld do that some day, but not yet" Of course, down the road when the hard drive inevitably fails, I'll be asked to become a data forensics guy on 10 minutes notice. Grrrrrrr.
I agree with you.
Its also worth mentioning that being married is given a certain special status in the US; our health insurance is basically tied to our jobs, and being married to someone with health insurance is a real benefit.
Lawmakers (the president, everyone else) constantly announce tax relief for "families". Marriage has almost become like an exclusive fraternity.
I'm straight and married, and I like these benefits. So why shouldn't everyone else have them? Maybe lawmakers who say "marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman" shouldn't have turned it into "marriage denotes your privileged status in our sociotey"
This move was specifically designed to piss off nerds everywhere.
Can you picture the discussion the next time your parents, aunts, clueless co-workers can't get on the interweb?
AOL is the primary reason most people don't understand the difference between an ISP and a browser. A few weeks ago, my father actually asked me how he would get on the internet if he switched from AOL to cable or DSL.
Blame me....I voted for Sideshow Bob. Signed, Snowball I
Three weeks ago at a doctors appointment, I saw an openserver installation in the corner of my exam room. I guess it just happened to be where the cable came into the office.
Just like any outfit that isn't IT-centric, there was a piece of paper taped to the beige box on how to run the tape backup, the root password, etc. I think it ran one of their billing apps.
Anyway, as I looked at the yellow letters on blue screen, lots of conflicting thoughts ran through my head.....like new MOTD's, etc... (although I'm not sure if this ancient piece of crap can really do anything).
Then my doctor walks in ten minutes early. First time that's ever happened
and realize this as a way for them to differentiate themselves in the market, quit installing crap people don't want.
As most people here would agree with me, any OEM software configuration bought today, and turned loose onto the internet by the average computer will be ravaged by spyware, and brought to a crawl in under a month...effectively a 1.4 GHz computer that acts like an early pentium II. I truly beleive the spyware/malware epidemic is far worse than the viruses out there. And yes, almost all of them are made possible by the explorer/windows combination.
If I were Michael Dell, I would promptly buy every little anti-spyware company that I could find, and provide this free for my customers. Not as charity or goodwill, but a business decision.
I really beleive this spyware thing is making people not want to use their computers, or even go on the internet. My point is, that Dell could sell more computers, and do the right thing at the same time. These guys are supposed to be smart...screwing your customers will work for a little while, but people always catch on, and it always backfires.
Is she doing it because of the topic(s) she'll publish on the web, or is she a budding webmaster?
If she's more into the content of the website, rather than the website itself, go toward the less-technical side of things (without dumbing it down too much).
Above all, give here a good fundemental foundation! Code away!
Also, you could implement reverse 911 services. After a serious crime, a warning could be sent to anyone in a given area.
I feel bad for the folks who design UIs.
Why? One example: Personally, I like MS's take on the "My Computer" having links to other common places. It seems to work for me. But it confuses the bejesus out of some people. Of course, you can change the way your UI behaves in XP. The problem is, the people who get confused by the new UI are just the people who would have no idea how to switch back to the 'classic' UI.
So the people who design UI's are damned either way. I don't design UI's, but how can you unleash new features and improvements when the average computer user hasn't learned the fundementals of 'cut & paste'?
I like panther's UI best of all, but I also like some elements of XP's style of doing things.
Interesting points. If I saw a local band for the first time, and liked them, I would definitely buy their music on apple's music store.
I imagine that a couple of dozen people doing so after a gig would change the economics of being a musician. At least I hope so.
The inability of WMP to rip songs to mp3 was the reason I stopped using it. There was a giant road block standing in the way of how I wanted to use my music.
I have an ibook and an ipod and, to me at least, apple strikes a balance that's better for the consumer.
I think it's about where apple put the "hurdle": you must circumvent the protected file format. Fair enough. Protected files aren't supposed to be curcumvented, but you can. microsoft tried to force me away from the mp3 format, which I like. Was I doing anything wrong by wanting my songs to be turned into mp3s? I don't think so.
I think they'd do better to market a similar product that was a little more sophisticated to match a more sophisticated computer user. People are starting to discover that their computers come with everything they need to connect to the internet and send e-mail. Even my parents are starting to feel constrained by AOL.
AOL has something that few other companies have: millions of people who send them $20+ per month. However, customers are leaving. Going for the low end will not move them into the future.
Every time I look at the AOL interface, I can't beleive a multi-billion dollar entity would stake its future on that.
In the end, no business can survuive if nobody wants to buy their products.
Good points. I've installed & used K12LTSP, and I was very impressed. I didn't do the MOSIX clustering, though. I hear it's not too tough, and produces good results.
I wonder if the reader could get a spare server, some old machines and try out 20-30 clients?
I doubt you'd be disappointed. If all went well, you could try a next step of a limited or incremental test in one department, though I'm not sure of the poster's environment
I also cringe when I see linux's reputation tarnished, and so much FUD being passed around, but there's a flip side to the legal challenges.
If the GPL and Linux can withstand the next few years in court, a new image might emerge. People might look at linux as "the OS everyone tried to kill, but couldn't".
With so many twists and turns recently, I wouldn't dare predict what will happen, but I am generally optimistic.
Oh, and the HP thing? It's like selling meteor strike insurance to all my friends & acquaintances. I mean, there is a chance that SCO could successfully sue a corporate linux user, but a very small one. Plus, didn't SCO say HP wasn't a target on their radar screen because HP UX was a properly licensed unix from way back?
I have much respect for hams and librarians. These mediums are the earlier "information superhighways", and the people who run them have a genuine desire to connect people with information.
They're definitely OG (original geek).
I agree completely. My sister was detailing a similar situation where she works (she's a biologist). People were coming in 5-10 minutes late, and it pissed off management.
At the time, the workplace was very motivated, and people worked all kids of unpaid overtime, with no prompting from management.
However, when management went on a rant, everyone started coming in at 8:00 am, but stopped working atexactly 5:00.
It seems that their focus on "minutes" cost them hours in free labor, and caused some bad feelings.
On another note, I've supervised people before, and dealt with this problem. The trick is not to be a slimy PHB. If you've got somebody that's always running late, tell them to come in on time and don't act like a weasel! It really does work