So how long does the city get out of it's trains? 30-40 years? Standardize on a door pitch and move on with life. In 30 years maybe they can catch up with Singapore - shorter if they use their current running stock as a template. It's amazing how a bunch of smart people can be so stupid when they all get together and pursue multiple conflicting interests.
The crazy thing is that the city actually had an unbelievably complex, completely automated line way back, but it caught fire and that was the end of it.
I understand that, but most of the collaborative work is going to be done inside an organization, so it doesn't matter what you use as much as just using the same thing.
Right. That was my point. Remember, I'm the guy that said you are locked into an ecosystem no matter what product you select.:)
If you need to do that for some reason, a web page is probably the appropriate path to take.
I disagree. I can stuff a bunch of video files on a PPT presentation and save it all to one big file on a network share or USB stick and then present it. I could create a web site to do the same, but it wouldn't be as quick, convenient, or look as slick. I can have my Excel data built right into my PPT to make it easy to go into depth during Q&A. You did give me an idea for a generic HTML/javascript export format for Office apps, though:)
The problem is that you are making slideshows in the first place. Powerpoints are downright awful.
Powerpoint is awful, and makes awful presentations when you use it as intended. It makes for a very convenient container format for presentations, however. No one says you need to include the company logo and a title on every slide - just start with a blank white slide and paste in your content from other sources. Every other slide (or the parts when you are speaking anyway) should be a blank black one so that people aren't reading/watching your slide while you are talking.
But why are people locking themselves into a closed, proprietary format that is way too expensive when there is a free version that's every bit as good (actually better since Oo doesn't have that god damned stupid ribbon bullshit I have to put up with at work)
First, it isn't that expensive. And for those who are price-sensitive, it is easily pirated and their academic 365 version is almost hilariously cheap.
Second - the why... if you have to pick an ecosystem, it is perfectly rational to select one that is overwhelmingly larger so that you don't have the problems that I did.
Yes, I would agree that unions are an impediment to automation upgrades. Capital budgets are also weird, with money often being directed by politicians and not managers. So the MTA might get money for new cars or even an additional line, but no money that can be used to improve signalling (or clean the stations... yuck!).
I lived there for 5 years, and like most of NYC I took the subway. The conductor has no authority whatsoever, and simply throws the switch and maybe uselessly yells or makes a don't hold the doors announcement.
Why do you think that NYC cannot do what other transit agencies all over the world can do? Singapore is 100% automated (driver and doors) on their newer MRT lines. They even have 2 sets of doors in some of the stations.
I wonder if the reduction is proportional to what we get with DSL currently? For example, if I only get 1.5Mbps from my "up to 3.0Mbps" DSL line, I wonder if this would translate to an approximate 500Mbps with this newer technology. If that is the case, then I'd still sign up:)
They have conductors so people won't get stuck in the doors and dragged to their deaths.
Were you in prison for 50 years or something? This is a solved problem.
They could make the doors automatic, and re-open when someone or one of their body parts is in the way of a door closing, which they do now, but without the conductor there to yell at people to get the hell in or out of the car, the trains would never, ever leave the station.
Most people - yes, even Wall Street - use public transit in NYC. The subway is way faster than a car. There is a reason that they are building a new 2nd Ave line, and it isn't for the poor people.
My issue with the trains is that we are in 2013 and they are still putting new cars out with conductors! Yes, a person paid (and paid more than a cop IIRC) to stand in a little booth and close the doors on the train. I won't even get into why they still have drivers, they can't even get rid of the conductor.
I see the value to the artist, but not to society. Also, from my experience people are pretty quick to catch on to the "fake" game and start to look for the "brand" (author, studio, director, etc.). I think trademark law can handle this.
PDF cannot be edited, so is not as useful for collaboration. PDF is also not as versatile (cannot embed most interactive or multimedia content, for instance). PDF is not as good for slide shows.
That said, I usually make a PDF of my slideshow as backup.
I have definitely submitted bugs. They do eventually get assigned and - depending on how rare they judge your problem to be - fixed. Unfortunately, real life tends to run from crises to crises and cannot wait on a bug fix:)
I'm too lazy to test this, since I'd have to uninstall Java, but I'm pretty sure you can just shut off the Java stuff in Preferences -> LibreOffice -> Advanced -> Use a Java Runtime Environment.
Made sure everything was up to date. Two problems prompted the MS Office install: 1) There was an annoying problem where we would fix the slide formatting, save the file in PPT format, and everything would look fine. Then we would re-open the file from the PPT and the text would all be off the edge of the slide. Saving and loading it in the native format was fine, so I think it was a problem with the PPT exporter. Unfortunately this needed to go on a USB stick for a presentation on a fixed computer in a lecture hall, so PPT export was necessary. 2) The title of a PPT slide would come in left-justified when brought into LibreOffice/OpenOffice, but it was centered in PowerPoint. I think this was a problem with the PPT importer. It was easy to work around, but a bit unnerving since we didn't know what we could trust. It was causing problems with collaboration.
As a practical matter, you are "locked in" to whatever Office program you use - online or otherwise. OpenOffice is free and open source, but unless you use it company-wide, you will have compatibility issues with whatever the next guy uses. For instance, if you bring your presentation to the conference room and they don't have OpenOffice installed, then you will have problems (yes, you can use PDF but that has limitations for presentations). Yes, there is no excuse for not installing a free program - except that you may not have Admin rights on the machine or other IT issues.
At home we tried to use OpenOffice (actually LibreOffice) exclusively. We struggled, mostly with PowerPoint, but also with Word formatting glitches when collaborating. In the end, I sucked it up and loaded MS Office. My wife simply has to be compatible with the rest of the world - same reason I keep one functioning Windows box around. I can RDP into work, so I don't have that need.
what happens in the US if you are unconscious and they give you live saving medical treatment without you agreeing to the price?
Ever since the 80s under Reagan, it has been illegal to refuse emergency care - but this is an unfunded mandate... if the patient cannot pay, too bad for the hospital. If you are uninsured, you are billed full price. Full price is obscene. I think it depends on where you are at that point - you can usually negotiate down the price somewhat. It's not even vaguely fair, and thankfully Obamacare should help the situation somewhat. I'm not a huge fan of Obamacare, but it is better than an unfunded mandate. When Republicans talk about repealing it, I'm all for that if they find some other way to fund emergency care. Going back to the Reagan-era rules that we have today is not an option IMHO.
I assume (but really have no proof since stuff doesn't exactly come out of copyright much...) that trademark law could handle things like Steamboat Willy coming out of copyright. I could sell copies of Steamboat Willy, but I won't be able to sell new Steamboat Willy episodes starring "Mickey", since Mickey is trademarked. You could sell keychains with stills of Mickey from Steamboat Willy, but you wouldn't be able to brand them as Disney or Mickey keychains. Similarly, someone had tried to create "The Old Man and the Sea 2: Marlin's Revenge" in my fantasy world while Hemmingway was still alive, they wouldn't be able to use the Hemmingway name and it would be blatantly a knock-off.
We actually have that situation right now... movies are made all the time based on old stories, and the shelves fill up with B movie knockoffs. Yet, the blockbusters still do well because most people are smart enough to recognize the genuine article. Everyone gets burnt exactly once - for my wife, it was when she picked the wrong "Thor"...:)
Well, I agree. Anything that enjoys IP law protection should actively be released into the public domain. If they want to keep source code secret, it should not have copyright protection.
Slashdot Mirror
So how long does the city get out of it's trains? 30-40 years? Standardize on a door pitch and move on with life. In 30 years maybe they can catch up with Singapore - shorter if they use their current running stock as a template. It's amazing how a bunch of smart people can be so stupid when they all get together and pursue multiple conflicting interests.
The crazy thing is that the city actually had an unbelievably complex, completely automated line way back, but it caught fire and that was the end of it.
Thank you. That was awesome.
A double-door system such as in Singapore would seem to address your concern.
It has the side effect (primary effect?) of letting them air-condition the stations. Very nice.
I understand that, but most of the collaborative work is going to be done inside an organization, so it doesn't matter what you use as much as just using the same thing.
Right. That was my point. Remember, I'm the guy that said you are locked into an ecosystem no matter what product you select. :)
If you need to do that for some reason, a web page is probably the appropriate path to take.
I disagree. I can stuff a bunch of video files on a PPT presentation and save it all to one big file on a network share or USB stick and then present it. I could create a web site to do the same, but it wouldn't be as quick, convenient, or look as slick. I can have my Excel data built right into my PPT to make it easy to go into depth during Q&A. You did give me an idea for a generic HTML/javascript export format for Office apps, though :)
The problem is that you are making slideshows in the first place. Powerpoints are downright awful.
Powerpoint is awful, and makes awful presentations when you use it as intended. It makes for a very convenient container format for presentations, however. No one says you need to include the company logo and a title on every slide - just start with a blank white slide and paste in your content from other sources. Every other slide (or the parts when you are speaking anyway) should be a blank black one so that people aren't reading/watching your slide while you are talking.
But why are people locking themselves into a closed, proprietary format that is way too expensive when there is a free version that's every bit as good (actually better since Oo doesn't have that god damned stupid ribbon bullshit I have to put up with at work)
First, it isn't that expensive. And for those who are price-sensitive, it is easily pirated and their academic 365 version is almost hilariously cheap.
Second - the why... if you have to pick an ecosystem, it is perfectly rational to select one that is overwhelmingly larger so that you don't have the problems that I did.
Yes, I would agree that unions are an impediment to automation upgrades. Capital budgets are also weird, with money often being directed by politicians and not managers. So the MTA might get money for new cars or even an additional line, but no money that can be used to improve signalling (or clean the stations... yuck!).
I lived there for 5 years, and like most of NYC I took the subway. The conductor has no authority whatsoever, and simply throws the switch and maybe uselessly yells or makes a don't hold the doors announcement.
Why do you think that NYC cannot do what other transit agencies all over the world can do? Singapore is 100% automated (driver and doors) on their newer MRT lines. They even have 2 sets of doors in some of the stations.
I wonder if the reduction is proportional to what we get with DSL currently? For example, if I only get 1.5Mbps from my "up to 3.0Mbps" DSL line, I wonder if this would translate to an approximate 500Mbps with this newer technology. If that is the case, then I'd still sign up :)
They have conductors so people won't get stuck in the doors and dragged to their deaths.
Were you in prison for 50 years or something? This is a solved problem.
They could make the doors automatic, and re-open when someone or one of their body parts is in the way of a door closing, which they do now, but without the conductor there to yell at people to get the hell in or out of the car, the trains would never, ever leave the station.
Why is this problem unique to NYC?
Most people - yes, even Wall Street - use public transit in NYC. The subway is way faster than a car. There is a reason that they are building a new 2nd Ave line, and it isn't for the poor people.
My issue with the trains is that we are in 2013 and they are still putting new cars out with conductors! Yes, a person paid (and paid more than a cop IIRC) to stand in a little booth and close the doors on the train. I won't even get into why they still have drivers, they can't even get rid of the conductor.
I see the value to the artist, but not to society. Also, from my experience people are pretty quick to catch on to the "fake" game and start to look for the "brand" (author, studio, director, etc.). I think trademark law can handle this.
PDF cannot be edited, so is not as useful for collaboration. PDF is also not as versatile (cannot embed most interactive or multimedia content, for instance). PDF is not as good for slide shows.
That said, I usually make a PDF of my slideshow as backup.
Try to collaborate when one person has Office 2003 and the other Office 2010.
You are absolutely correct. In my case, I was careful to use the same version that my wife uses at work.
Right, but at this point you are seriously testing your wife's good nature and patience :)
I have my Java off, and it still meets my needs.
I have definitely submitted bugs. They do eventually get assigned and - depending on how rare they judge your problem to be - fixed. Unfortunately, real life tends to run from crises to crises and cannot wait on a bug fix :)
I'm too lazy to test this, since I'd have to uninstall Java, but I'm pretty sure you can just shut off the Java stuff in Preferences -> LibreOffice -> Advanced -> Use a Java Runtime Environment.
About a week ago :)
Made sure everything was up to date. Two problems prompted the MS Office install:
1) There was an annoying problem where we would fix the slide formatting, save the file in PPT format, and everything would look fine. Then we would re-open the file from the PPT and the text would all be off the edge of the slide. Saving and loading it in the native format was fine, so I think it was a problem with the PPT exporter. Unfortunately this needed to go on a USB stick for a presentation on a fixed computer in a lecture hall, so PPT export was necessary.
2) The title of a PPT slide would come in left-justified when brought into LibreOffice/OpenOffice, but it was centered in PowerPoint. I think this was a problem with the PPT importer. It was easy to work around, but a bit unnerving since we didn't know what we could trust. It was causing problems with collaboration.
As a practical matter, you are "locked in" to whatever Office program you use - online or otherwise. OpenOffice is free and open source, but unless you use it company-wide, you will have compatibility issues with whatever the next guy uses. For instance, if you bring your presentation to the conference room and they don't have OpenOffice installed, then you will have problems (yes, you can use PDF but that has limitations for presentations). Yes, there is no excuse for not installing a free program - except that you may not have Admin rights on the machine or other IT issues.
At home we tried to use OpenOffice (actually LibreOffice) exclusively. We struggled, mostly with PowerPoint, but also with Word formatting glitches when collaborating. In the end, I sucked it up and loaded MS Office. My wife simply has to be compatible with the rest of the world - same reason I keep one functioning Windows box around. I can RDP into work, so I don't have that need.
Bench seats for the win!
what happens in the US if you are unconscious and they give you live saving medical treatment without you agreeing to the price?
Ever since the 80s under Reagan, it has been illegal to refuse emergency care - but this is an unfunded mandate... if the patient cannot pay, too bad for the hospital. If you are uninsured, you are billed full price. Full price is obscene. I think it depends on where you are at that point - you can usually negotiate down the price somewhat. It's not even vaguely fair, and thankfully Obamacare should help the situation somewhat. I'm not a huge fan of Obamacare, but it is better than an unfunded mandate. When Republicans talk about repealing it, I'm all for that if they find some other way to fund emergency care. Going back to the Reagan-era rules that we have today is not an option IMHO.
I'm not even sure I care about "moral rights", though. What is the case for them?
I assume (but really have no proof since stuff doesn't exactly come out of copyright much...) that trademark law could handle things like Steamboat Willy coming out of copyright. I could sell copies of Steamboat Willy, but I won't be able to sell new Steamboat Willy episodes starring "Mickey", since Mickey is trademarked. You could sell keychains with stills of Mickey from Steamboat Willy, but you wouldn't be able to brand them as Disney or Mickey keychains. Similarly, someone had tried to create "The Old Man and the Sea 2: Marlin's Revenge" in my fantasy world while Hemmingway was still alive, they wouldn't be able to use the Hemmingway name and it would be blatantly a knock-off.
We actually have that situation right now... movies are made all the time based on old stories, and the shelves fill up with B movie knockoffs. Yet, the blockbusters still do well because most people are smart enough to recognize the genuine article. Everyone gets burnt exactly once - for my wife, it was when she picked the wrong "Thor"... :)
Well, I agree. Anything that enjoys IP law protection should actively be released into the public domain. If they want to keep source code secret, it should not have copyright protection.