I can think of a few more reasons to keep Windows around, though. Here's some of my other favorite programs. This is just a little preliminary Googling, so if anyone knows better definitively, please chime in.
- SketchUp 3D software, one of the grooviest things you'll ever see your computer do, apparently nonfunctional under WINE. Although those guys are so cool, I bet they're already working on a Linux version.
- Final Draft screenwriting software apparently works under WINE, so I guess that's covered.
- Vegas Video apparently nonfunctional under WINE.
I try to tell people to stay away from Sony products now, but it's damned hard to convince them.
Hard to do when I'm walking around with an ultralight Vaio laptop. But hey, I got the Vaio for FREE. After someone chucked it out because the power connector came loose from the motherboard, I'll add.
There's NOTHING Sony does better these days, and lots of things they fuck up. These sensors are just one example of failing QC and a near-total lack of innovation. Samsung is the king of consumer electronics for now.
I've really only played around with it a little bit, but it seems pretty good. They now offer scientific and GIS versions, which is WAY freaking cool (I'd swoon if Xara did that, but on the other hand, I know Xara doesn't have the resources to dump into such niche markets).
Xara's still significantly better, but if I couldn't have Xara, I'd probably use Canvas.
I can tell the advertisers and their agencies if their ads are worth showing or not: NO.
There. My consulting fee is $20,000. Where do I send the invoice?
Do these morons really need ROI data to tell them something's wrong with their product? If adblockers are starting to make a dent in their stats, then they should be asking why that is. Used to be that the worst thing in advertising was to be ignored. Now the advertising is so obnoxious, it's driving people to seek out methods to actively avoid advertising. If the advertisers and agencies really can't understand that irritating people into fleeing from their product may not be the best way to sell their product... well... then there's not much to be done to help those advertisers and agency people, is there? They've obviously overstepped the limits of their competency in this particular field, and perhaps should consider a slightly less intellectually rigorous career path, like pro bass fishing or something.
And I'm quite certain that blocking ads is sending a message. Like, um, when you said that's it's showing up as a serious chunk in the stats? That would be a message that goes something like this: STOP SUCKING OR DIE, YOU STUPID TWATS.
This message also says: the people sending this message probably weren't your target market for SUVs or downloadable emoticons anyway. So, the adblockers are conserving bandwidth and saving money for the advertisers, because we're the ones definitely not buying their idiotic crap no matter how much they spend trying to market to us. This message says: we - hate - you.
Are these same advertisers and agencies also wringing their hands because they want to buy some ad space in Adbusters magazine, and can't?
Firefox with Adblock Plus and autoupdating Filterset.G makes my life better. And all the people involved with producing and permitting the overlapping Flash ad or the fake Windows alert window, what if my adblocking decision helps make their lives just a little bit worse? Man, I hope it does. I really, really hope it does.
Canvas and Xara are similar, but Xara's been around for a lot longer. I don't think it's fair to say either has ripped off the other. Maybe that's just my personal prejudice... I like Canvas, but I love Xara.
I've been using Xara for nearly 10 years. It is a phenomenal piece of software. It's fast, stable, and it gives you the tools you need with a clean, intuitive interface and without a bunch of crap in your way. Give an untrained person a choice between the nightmare of Illustrator and Xara, and it's no competition at all. Corel and Xara are closer, but last time I checked, Corel was way over-bloated and buggy. Fireworks is probably closer yet, but while its interface isn't as FUBAR'd as Illustrator's, it's still too idiosyncratic.
Xara is the best general-purpose vector graphics software out there. It's the easiest to learn how to use, and it really is a pleasure to work with. This is the right move for Xara, and I think it's great news for Linux. As we get new, regular users transitioning to Linux desktops, hopefully Xara will be included with some of the best distros... it should be an exciting and significant feature for a decent percentage of users. Even people who just want to make a flyer for their garage sale will find Xara cool and fun.
On a personal note, Xara is the main reason why I still haven't switched to a Linux desktop for myself. I can't live without my Xara... now it looks like I'll finally be able to switch! Tonight, I will literally go out and toast to Xara. This is the best news I've had in months.
You're not the only one. I find OSX incredibly frustrating and counterintuitive, and even after reinstalling, the stock off-the-shelf G4 I've been tinkering with still has a serious freezing problem. Not much "just works." OSX does indeed have the cool factor, but the hype sure doesn't match the reality I've seen.
True. I'm still hoping for a small, custom enclosure, but that might do. My only concern with those P4 minitowers would be ensuring that the drives are properly cooled.
Ideally, I'd set up a content database to be browser accessible. Have it display covers (and be easily configured for size of covers, etc.), and with a handy "download file to this device" button, and I'd be in heaven.
Exactly. Right now, I have 700gb in my tower, and it's full. Movies, music, TV, comics, art, books... I've got a great library, and I want to keep adding to it. But three hard drives in my old Antec mini-tower is already pushing it.
What I want is an external enclosure that can hold 5 drives, and I want RAID-5. I want ethernet, USB2, and Firewire (and wi-fi would be kinda nifty, long as I'm wishing). And dammit, don't sell me the enclosure WITH the drives - I want to install my own. Like 5 500gb drives. Mmmmm.
2TB of RAID-5 library space in a relatively small enclosure with good cooling... I'd be in heaven. And then I could use a cute little Shuttle box for my main PC.
Am I dreaming, or does anyone know of such an enclosure?
Seriously, the sound insulation is amazing with strawbale. That's one of my favorite aspects of it. I was working on a project one day where I was on the other side of an unfinished 8-ft wall, and a guy directly on the other side of the wall was using a circular saw. As I walked around the wall, I realized that I couldn't even hear the circular saw running from the other side. Pretty incredible.
Well, here is Colombia, a DVD goes for about $4. If you can live with VCD, you can pick those up for around $2.
Oh, you're talking about genuine, pressed DVDs... gotcha. I think Tower Records carries those, roughly the same price as in the US.
Have to say, though, none of these options are really good for a traveler. Gee, I wonder what would be a good option for a traveler with a high-speed internet connection and a whopping big hard drive...
I don't know... my first reaction to this whole popcorn concept was, not possible (hence, the appeal to/. for ideas). I agree with you in principle, but then again... Kris has given me ideas...
One of my good geek friends was recently working on a release system for helicopters dropping multiple payloads... so surely he has some connections there. It isn't exactly stealthy, but boy, I bet that's what it'd take to be effective...
I'll absolutely second this - Martin's right about Delta and Continental (as well as a number of smaller airlines that offer cheap service to Miami), but if you're going to Europe, you want to avoid connecting through the US. It really is just asking for problems.
The point of Corey's story is, it isn't customs or the US government gathering this information, it's American Airlines... and they're lying to him about why they're doing it.
As far as the border questions, you're absolutely right, those questions are totally irrelevant and no one cares what the answers are. The point of asking them is that they just want to have some sort of interaction with you to determine if you're a suspicious character or not.
It's probably the same motivation with American Airlines, except asking him to write the addresses down is going stupid overboard, and he's right to question their privacy standards.
I'm an American who once (and only once) used AA to visit Colombia. At the airport in Bogota, getting ready to return to the US, American Airlines had a couple of podiums set up before you got to the check-in desk. The woman at the podium started asking me all sorts of questions... where had I been in Colombia, who with, what did I do, where did I stay, is that your friend over there? (yes, and he works at the US embassy, thanks), who's your friend talking to?, what's your friend's blood type and penile girth? etc. etc. etc. for about 15 minutes.
I had the same question - why is American Airlines asking me all these retarded questions, and to what end - and all I got was the same stock 9/11 non-answer.
After several trips to Colombia, neither the US government or any other airline has ever asked me barely a single question about my trip. Hell, at US customs, the people usually don't even look at my form - I had one guy glance at my name, read it out loud in a bored voice, and say "buh-bye!" and wave me off.
It's only American Airlines that's this obnoxious. I'd like to know why, too.
Hold the phone, I have the same complaint about Thunderbird! In OE, there is a place in the options for "Store Folder" - sure, by default, OE places your mail in a ridiculously obscure location... but Thunderbird, as far as I can tell so far, doesn't even HAVE the option to change the mail folder, and it doesn't tell you where it is.
At least with OE, I didn't have to Google to figure out where my damn email is stored. OE isn't good for this, but Thunderbird is even worse!
Same goes for Firefox, too... I should be able to easily choose where my bookmarks and settings go. At least with IE, Favorites were easy to locate.
Slashdot Mirror
I can think of a few more reasons to keep Windows around, though. Here's some of my other favorite programs. This is just a little preliminary Googling, so if anyone knows better definitively, please chime in.
- SketchUp 3D software, one of the grooviest things you'll ever see your computer do, apparently nonfunctional under WINE. Although those guys are so cool, I bet they're already working on a Linux version.
- Final Draft screenwriting software apparently works under WINE, so I guess that's covered.
- Vegas Video apparently nonfunctional under WINE.
I try to tell people to stay away from Sony products now, but it's damned hard to convince them.
Hard to do when I'm walking around with an ultralight Vaio laptop. But hey, I got the Vaio for FREE. After someone chucked it out because the power connector came loose from the motherboard, I'll add.
There's NOTHING Sony does better these days, and lots of things they fuck up. These sensors are just one example of failing QC and a near-total lack of innovation. Samsung is the king of consumer electronics for now.
Yeah, that's the same program.
It got better.
I've really only played around with it a little bit, but it seems pretty good. They now offer scientific and GIS versions, which is WAY freaking cool (I'd swoon if Xara did that, but on the other hand, I know Xara doesn't have the resources to dump into such niche markets).
Xara's still significantly better, but if I couldn't have Xara, I'd probably use Canvas.
I can tell the advertisers and their agencies if their ads are worth showing or not: NO.
There. My consulting fee is $20,000. Where do I send the invoice?
Do these morons really need ROI data to tell them something's wrong with their product? If adblockers are starting to make a dent in their stats, then they should be asking why that is. Used to be that the worst thing in advertising was to be ignored. Now the advertising is so obnoxious, it's driving people to seek out methods to actively avoid advertising. If the advertisers and agencies really can't understand that irritating people into fleeing from their product may not be the best way to sell their product... well... then there's not much to be done to help those advertisers and agency people, is there? They've obviously overstepped the limits of their competency in this particular field, and perhaps should consider a slightly less intellectually rigorous career path, like pro bass fishing or something.
And I'm quite certain that blocking ads is sending a message. Like, um, when you said that's it's showing up as a serious chunk in the stats? That would be a message that goes something like this: STOP SUCKING OR DIE, YOU STUPID TWATS.
This message also says: the people sending this message probably weren't your target market for SUVs or downloadable emoticons anyway. So, the adblockers are conserving bandwidth and saving money for the advertisers, because we're the ones definitely not buying their idiotic crap no matter how much they spend trying to market to us. This message says: we - hate - you.
Are these same advertisers and agencies also wringing their hands because they want to buy some ad space in Adbusters magazine, and can't?
Firefox with Adblock Plus and autoupdating Filterset.G makes my life better. And all the people involved with producing and permitting the overlapping Flash ad or the fake Windows alert window, what if my adblocking decision helps make their lives just a little bit worse? Man, I hope it does. I really, really hope it does.
Canvas and Xara are similar, but Xara's been around for a lot longer. I don't think it's fair to say either has ripped off the other. Maybe that's just my personal prejudice... I like Canvas, but I love Xara.
I've been using Xara for nearly 10 years. It is a phenomenal piece of software. It's fast, stable, and it gives you the tools you need with a clean, intuitive interface and without a bunch of crap in your way. Give an untrained person a choice between the nightmare of Illustrator and Xara, and it's no competition at all. Corel and Xara are closer, but last time I checked, Corel was way over-bloated and buggy. Fireworks is probably closer yet, but while its interface isn't as FUBAR'd as Illustrator's, it's still too idiosyncratic.
Xara is the best general-purpose vector graphics software out there. It's the easiest to learn how to use, and it really is a pleasure to work with. This is the right move for Xara, and I think it's great news for Linux. As we get new, regular users transitioning to Linux desktops, hopefully Xara will be included with some of the best distros... it should be an exciting and significant feature for a decent percentage of users. Even people who just want to make a flyer for their garage sale will find Xara cool and fun.
On a personal note, Xara is the main reason why I still haven't switched to a Linux desktop for myself. I can't live without my Xara... now it looks like I'll finally be able to switch! Tonight, I will literally go out and toast to Xara. This is the best news I've had in months.
You're not the only one. I find OSX incredibly frustrating and counterintuitive, and even after reinstalling, the stock off-the-shelf G4 I've been tinkering with still has a serious freezing problem. Not much "just works." OSX does indeed have the cool factor, but the hype sure doesn't match the reality I've seen.
True. I'm still hoping for a small, custom enclosure, but that might do. My only concern with those P4 minitowers would be ensuring that the drives are properly cooled.
Ideally, I'd set up a content database to be browser accessible. Have it display covers (and be easily configured for size of covers, etc.), and with a handy "download file to this device" button, and I'd be in heaven.
Exactly. Right now, I have 700gb in my tower, and it's full. Movies, music, TV, comics, art, books... I've got a great library, and I want to keep adding to it. But three hard drives in my old Antec mini-tower is already pushing it.
What I want is an external enclosure that can hold 5 drives, and I want RAID-5. I want ethernet, USB2, and Firewire (and wi-fi would be kinda nifty, long as I'm wishing). And dammit, don't sell me the enclosure WITH the drives - I want to install my own. Like 5 500gb drives. Mmmmm.
2TB of RAID-5 library space in a relatively small enclosure with good cooling... I'd be in heaven. And then I could use a cute little Shuttle box for my main PC.
Am I dreaming, or does anyone know of such an enclosure?
I always knew Matrox was just ahead of their time with this. And you all laughed at my G550! Ha! Who's laughing now, suckers?
Seriously, the sound insulation is amazing with strawbale. That's one of my favorite aspects of it. I was working on a project one day where I was on the other side of an unfinished 8-ft wall, and a guy directly on the other side of the wall was using a circular saw. As I walked around the wall, I realized that I couldn't even hear the circular saw running from the other side. Pretty incredible.
Well, here is Colombia, a DVD goes for about $4. If you can live with VCD, you can pick those up for around $2.
Oh, you're talking about genuine, pressed DVDs... gotcha. I think Tower Records carries those, roughly the same price as in the US.
Have to say, though, none of these options are really good for a traveler. Gee, I wonder what would be a good option for a traveler with a high-speed internet connection and a whopping big hard drive...
Did you look that up, or did you already know that off the top of your head?
But the next poster also brings up a point... what would be the best way to dispose of such a massive volume of popcorn? Haul it to the dump or what?
Makes me wonder if a couple of old clothes dryers could be modified for the job. Thanks for the idea, and the cool story.
I don't know... my first reaction to this whole popcorn concept was, not possible (hence, the appeal to /. for ideas). I agree with you in principle, but then again... Kris has given me ideas...
Well, sure, that's why I added "mum's the word" - I mean, if you can't trust hundreds of thousands of geeks to keep a zipped lip, who can you trust?
Hop to it. That's a good start, but c'mon, start talking more about ME! ME! ME!
One of my good geek friends was recently working on a release system for helicopters dropping multiple payloads... so surely he has some connections there. It isn't exactly stealthy, but boy, I bet that's what it'd take to be effective...
I'll absolutely second this - Martin's right about Delta and Continental (as well as a number of smaller airlines that offer cheap service to Miami), but if you're going to Europe, you want to avoid connecting through the US. It really is just asking for problems.
The point of Corey's story is, it isn't customs or the US government gathering this information, it's American Airlines... and they're lying to him about why they're doing it.
As far as the border questions, you're absolutely right, those questions are totally irrelevant and no one cares what the answers are. The point of asking them is that they just want to have some sort of interaction with you to determine if you're a suspicious character or not.
It's probably the same motivation with American Airlines, except asking him to write the addresses down is going stupid overboard, and he's right to question their privacy standards.
I'm an American who once (and only once) used AA to visit Colombia. At the airport in Bogota, getting ready to return to the US, American Airlines had a couple of podiums set up before you got to the check-in desk. The woman at the podium started asking me all sorts of questions... where had I been in Colombia, who with, what did I do, where did I stay, is that your friend over there? (yes, and he works at the US embassy, thanks), who's your friend talking to?, what's your friend's blood type and penile girth? etc. etc. etc. for about 15 minutes.
I had the same question - why is American Airlines asking me all these retarded questions, and to what end - and all I got was the same stock 9/11 non-answer.
After several trips to Colombia, neither the US government or any other airline has ever asked me barely a single question about my trip. Hell, at US customs, the people usually don't even look at my form - I had one guy glance at my name, read it out loud in a bored voice, and say "buh-bye!" and wave me off.
It's only American Airlines that's this obnoxious. I'd like to know why, too.
What I want is a little box where you can dump up to 5-6 drives, and it'll do RAID-5, with wi-fi, ethernet and USB2/firewire interfaces.
That's your safe, easy, convenient, flexible home/office network storage device.
Wow, I never knew this... very useful, thanks!
Now, of course, the big question is, where's the best place to find MUIs...
Hold the phone, I have the same complaint about Thunderbird! In OE, there is a place in the options for "Store Folder" - sure, by default, OE places your mail in a ridiculously obscure location... but Thunderbird, as far as I can tell so far, doesn't even HAVE the option to change the mail folder, and it doesn't tell you where it is.
At least with OE, I didn't have to Google to figure out where my damn email is stored. OE isn't good for this, but Thunderbird is even worse!
Same goes for Firefox, too... I should be able to easily choose where my bookmarks and settings go. At least with IE, Favorites were easy to locate.