I agree that the Start menu sucked*, but the Start screen sucks even more... you can hardly blame people for not wanting to use something that sucks more. More than just the Start Screen, the whole schizophrenic Metro thing is a PITA. True, you can take steps to actively avoid Metro, but that's another thing that sucks more than Windows 7. Personally, I put up with it for a year until I had a hard drive flake out. At that point, I realized how much less useful Windows 8 Backup was than Windows 7 Backup (no image???), and since I was reinstalling anyway I just loaded 7 on.
* The Start Menu was a stupid holdover from the Program Manager in Windows 3, which itself sucked. The idea that every installed application needs to be installed again in another place is just plain dumb. IMHO, Macs had a better solution in the early 90s, so it seems odd that they went the way they did. Smart people work at MS, so I assume it had to do with compatibility or performance on the limited machines of the time.
I'm not suggesting that people be allowed to become peeping Toms and such. But to suggest that a fence protects you from being photographed is just as absurd as my suggestion that he add a roof. I have a friend who shows up on Google Maps. 1 in 1000 shot, but there you go.
You guys need to check out Zenni. My wife is in coke-bottle territory, but we still pay nowhere near $100 for glasses. I'm only a -3 or so... my glasses are $7.
Exactly. If someone wanted to surreptitiously record your every move, they could do a very simple Google search for hidden or spy cameras and come up with hundreds of products. They would probably not use a device that emits a glow in front of their eye when recording, makes them look like a sci-fi character, activates when they tap themselves on the temple, and requires voice commands.
It doesn't have a little red light, but it has the light in front of the wearer's eye. If the screen is on, they could be recording you. They also have to stare directly at you to record, and they'd be using voice commands and tapping at the side of their head. It seems like a pretty shitty device for surreptitious recording - you can already fit a camera in almost anything.
I get the whole "US turning into a police state" meme. I agree with most of the points. But this is not an example of that - Customs has been a pain in the ass forever. Also, what happened here was done after any semblance of security. Customs inspects things AFTER they have been transported.
As a general rule, I agree. But I do have a doctor friend who was quite happy to toss her laptop in exchange for an iPad with a keyboard case. Yes, it's basically a laptop in this configuration, but there is no 10" laptop with 12 hours of battery life and a touch screen on the market, AFAIK. She needs email, obviously, but more importantly uses it to take patient notes. And yes, I do believe there is some kind of HIPAA approved app that she uses.
They happen in the US, as well. I have a good friend who makes a living doing this. It's mostly older people who have trouble getting around otherwise. Medicare apparently pays.
Linux is the kernel, and I think the OP understood that. Android could be ported to another kernel, but they went with Linux, and that is amazing when you think about the chain of events which led there.
That will work... for some fraction of Win installers. There are several varieties of installers. I try to keep a collection of stuff up to date using Ketarin, but some installers are hard to use "blind".
WHY THE FUCK can't we either disable whole-drive encryption
I think it's not really meant to be encryption, but since good encryption is indiscernible from random data, it happens to make an excellent wear-leveling algorithm. I agree that there should be some way to get a hold of the key and the raw (encrypted) data, though.
The interesting thing is that there are financial tools available to municipalities where they can capitalize the anticipated maintenance and replacement schedules, yet these seem to be rarely used. Sure, it makes the up-front costs look bigger - but as you said, those are easier to get passed. In the end, you get a paid-off structure that is still usable instead of a deteriorated hulk. You don't worry about cost-cutting, because the voters probably won't send the municipality into default.
I would add that I think it is very important that companies competing for government contracts should be strictly forbidden from lobbying efforts or political contributions. The same rules should be in place for public unions.
With a Slashdot ID as low as you have, I'm surprised you aren't in my situation... my friends all have kids and wives and it is rare that we could all network together at the same time.
Turning Point had exactly this. In multi-player, you could be the Nazis and invade NYC. In single player, you were the defender, though. I don't recall the US government feeling particularly threatened.
It's not quite the same, but Call of Duty had Washington, DC invaded by Russians. It's a scenario, and you play as the defender only, so yeah - not quite the same. Modern Warfare 2, same thing. There are a bunch of games like this, but AFAIK they all involve the player being the defender.
I think US politicians have learned to stay away from the whole "evil videogame" angle.
There is some truth to this, though it is more complicated. True, public unions tend to sap more energy away from public school budgets. But the student population at a private school is much different. They can kick any troublemaker out, with hardly any repercussions. Most of the kids are well-behaved and there to learn. Their parents are affluent, work with the children at home, hire tutors if necessary, and provide a role model for success. Special education - which is disproportionately expensive - is seldom dealt with in private school. Busing is not dealt with by private schools. Depending on your state, the private school may not even need to buy books. And finally, even ignoring the unions, private schools often can hire teachers for less money and lower benefits because the teachers have better working conditions.
And anyone who thinks that private schools don't fall apart has never gone to Catholic school!:) In fairness, they get a lot more life out of a building than most public schools.
Steam and GOG have me re-visiting all of those old games that I heard about, but either didn't have the time or money for when I was younger. Now they are under $10, work great even under emulation (and you can still use the computer for other stuff!), and yet still represent a fantastic time sink since they are new to me:) I had never played the Masters of Orion series before, because when that was hot I only had a Mac. I guess my point is that since I've discovered this old stuff, I've come to realize that being behind can actually be beneficial...
Windows "ages". I'm not sure if that is the technical term:) A new machine feels faster, not just because of the new hardware, but also because you blow away all of the Windows cruft. You could probably achieve something similar by carefully keeping snapshots and such, but frankly I just don't have the time for all of that. My Windows machine is my wife's machine anyway - I spend as little time on it as is humanly possible, only hitting it when I have to for work stuff or when something goes wrong and my wife complains.
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I agree that the Start menu sucked*, but the Start screen sucks even more... you can hardly blame people for not wanting to use something that sucks more. More than just the Start Screen, the whole schizophrenic Metro thing is a PITA. True, you can take steps to actively avoid Metro, but that's another thing that sucks more than Windows 7. Personally, I put up with it for a year until I had a hard drive flake out. At that point, I realized how much less useful Windows 8 Backup was than Windows 7 Backup (no image???), and since I was reinstalling anyway I just loaded 7 on.
* The Start Menu was a stupid holdover from the Program Manager in Windows 3, which itself sucked. The idea that every installed application needs to be installed again in another place is just plain dumb. IMHO, Macs had a better solution in the early 90s, so it seems odd that they went the way they did. Smart people work at MS, so I assume it had to do with compatibility or performance on the limited machines of the time.
I'm not suggesting that people be allowed to become peeping Toms and such. But to suggest that a fence protects you from being photographed is just as absurd as my suggestion that he add a roof. I have a friend who shows up on Google Maps. 1 in 1000 shot, but there you go.
You guys need to check out Zenni. My wife is in coke-bottle territory, but we still pay nowhere near $100 for glasses. I'm only a -3 or so... my glasses are $7.
Add a roof to your fence and we're in agreement.
Exactly. If someone wanted to surreptitiously record your every move, they could do a very simple Google search for hidden or spy cameras and come up with hundreds of products. They would probably not use a device that emits a glow in front of their eye when recording, makes them look like a sci-fi character, activates when they tap themselves on the temple, and requires voice commands.
It doesn't have a little red light, but it has the light in front of the wearer's eye. If the screen is on, they could be recording you. They also have to stare directly at you to record, and they'd be using voice commands and tapping at the side of their head. It seems like a pretty shitty device for surreptitious recording - you can already fit a camera in almost anything.
Don't piss him off, or he'll show you the back of his right envelope.
I'm not a Bayesian model, but if I were I would score an AC or high user number very high when looking for trolls.
I get the whole "US turning into a police state" meme. I agree with most of the points. But this is not an example of that - Customs has been a pain in the ass forever. Also, what happened here was done after any semblance of security. Customs inspects things AFTER they have been transported.
This wasn't the TSA - it was US Customs.
It think because it's about out of control security apparatus, so it's kind of topical?
Yeah, I think an editor went a little knee-jerk. It's customs, not security. Customs has been pissing people off since the Union was founded.
As a general rule, I agree. But I do have a doctor friend who was quite happy to toss her laptop in exchange for an iPad with a keyboard case. Yes, it's basically a laptop in this configuration, but there is no 10" laptop with 12 hours of battery life and a touch screen on the market, AFAIK. She needs email, obviously, but more importantly uses it to take patient notes. And yes, I do believe there is some kind of HIPAA approved app that she uses.
They happen in the US, as well. I have a good friend who makes a living doing this. It's mostly older people who have trouble getting around otherwise. Medicare apparently pays.
Spyder is awesome! Also liking Pyzo a lot.
I no longer use MATLAB for my own stuff, but my job is hooked on it, so at work I'm mostly in MATLAB.
Linux is the kernel, and I think the OP understood that. Android could be ported to another kernel, but they went with Linux, and that is amazing when you think about the chain of events which led there.
That will work... for some fraction of Win installers. There are several varieties of installers. I try to keep a collection of stuff up to date using Ketarin, but some installers are hard to use "blind".
WHY THE FUCK can't we either disable whole-drive encryption
I think it's not really meant to be encryption, but since good encryption is indiscernible from random data, it happens to make an excellent wear-leveling algorithm. I agree that there should be some way to get a hold of the key and the raw (encrypted) data, though.
The interesting thing is that there are financial tools available to municipalities where they can capitalize the anticipated maintenance and replacement schedules, yet these seem to be rarely used. Sure, it makes the up-front costs look bigger - but as you said, those are easier to get passed. In the end, you get a paid-off structure that is still usable instead of a deteriorated hulk. You don't worry about cost-cutting, because the voters probably won't send the municipality into default.
I would add that I think it is very important that companies competing for government contracts should be strictly forbidden from lobbying efforts or political contributions. The same rules should be in place for public unions.
With a Slashdot ID as low as you have, I'm surprised you aren't in my situation... my friends all have kids and wives and it is rare that we could all network together at the same time.
I tend to agree, though I would expand it to most things... most services should be bid out, schools included.
Turning Point had exactly this. In multi-player, you could be the Nazis and invade NYC. In single player, you were the defender, though. I don't recall the US government feeling particularly threatened.
It's not quite the same, but Call of Duty had Washington, DC invaded by Russians. It's a scenario, and you play as the defender only, so yeah - not quite the same. Modern Warfare 2, same thing. There are a bunch of games like this, but AFAIK they all involve the player being the defender.
I think US politicians have learned to stay away from the whole "evil videogame" angle.
There is some truth to this, though it is more complicated. True, public unions tend to sap more energy away from public school budgets. But the student population at a private school is much different. They can kick any troublemaker out, with hardly any repercussions. Most of the kids are well-behaved and there to learn. Their parents are affluent, work with the children at home, hire tutors if necessary, and provide a role model for success. Special education - which is disproportionately expensive - is seldom dealt with in private school. Busing is not dealt with by private schools. Depending on your state, the private school may not even need to buy books. And finally, even ignoring the unions, private schools often can hire teachers for less money and lower benefits because the teachers have better working conditions.
And anyone who thinks that private schools don't fall apart has never gone to Catholic school! :) In fairness, they get a lot more life out of a building than most public schools.
Steam and GOG have me re-visiting all of those old games that I heard about, but either didn't have the time or money for when I was younger. Now they are under $10, work great even under emulation (and you can still use the computer for other stuff!), and yet still represent a fantastic time sink since they are new to me :) I had never played the Masters of Orion series before, because when that was hot I only had a Mac. I guess my point is that since I've discovered this old stuff, I've come to realize that being behind can actually be beneficial...
Windows "ages". I'm not sure if that is the technical term :) A new machine feels faster, not just because of the new hardware, but also because you blow away all of the Windows cruft. You could probably achieve something similar by carefully keeping snapshots and such, but frankly I just don't have the time for all of that. My Windows machine is my wife's machine anyway - I spend as little time on it as is humanly possible, only hitting it when I have to for work stuff or when something goes wrong and my wife complains.