I'm really finding it difficult to find why people think it is humorous (and in/. terms Funny) to make fun of people with a learning/neurological disorder?
What is next? Jokes about deaf or blind people? Maybe some amusing limericks about quadriplegics?
And what is even worse than jokes at the expense of people with dyslexia is that they aren't even original or funny. I'd probably not mind it as much if it wasn't the inevitable spelling related humour or the inevitable "wit" who brings up the joke with the misspelling of god.
Maybe people should think about the what dyslexics have to deal with on a daily basis before making cheap (and really quite unoriginal) jokes at their expense.
Maybe instead of just repeating some tired "joke" about dyslexics you might want to read up on the condition instead?
Right now I am embarrassed to say that the Beatles are my favorite music group.
Really? I would have thought that would have been embarrassing at any time?
Jeez, buy some new CDs already.;-)
-- if OpenOffice were the leading suite & de -- facto standard, it would also see many attacks.
This has nothing to do with the popularity of Windows or Office.
If the apps were secure and the OS didn't have gaping flaws that allowed people to write things like Sobig and Code Red then there wouldn't be an issue.
A secure and popular OS would not generate this many issues...the problem is that MS is a popular and dramatically unsecure OS.
Why can't book publishers provide these tomes in multiple volumes so you don't have to break your wrists trying to read through the book?
My RSI is bad enough as it is.
A book like this borders on being unreadable because of its size. And its especially irritating to have to man-handle the book if you just want to look at the material in a single section or chapter.
-- In order to make it efficient for advanced users, the advanced options need to be easily accessable. These two goals are contradictory.
Not to be the contrarian but might it just be that people haven't explored usability design enough to build apps that can be used by both sets of users?
Remember we are talking about Microsoft apps here?
Computer interface design and application design are new enough fields that I feel rather uncomfortable with people positing universals like this.
I think we all under-appreciate the minimal requirements of computer users. I don't think that most people use the basic feature of Outlook Express so for them the move from OE to Hotmail would probably be minimal.
If slashdot users can't be bothered to find a better mail client than OE then why would you expect even a small percentage of current OE users to try to find an alternative to Hotmail?
-- They're opening up the market for small, inexpensive email clients.
Don't think so. All they are doing is trying to move people to Hotmail, AFAIK the basic version of Hotmail is free and if the "email" icon on the Desktop of the default Windows install leads to a personalised Hotmail account based on th info in your MSN Messenger account then I am willing to bet that people will use it...and not go hunting for a third-party app.
-- They had already announced that they discontinued development of IE.
I believe that they stopped the development of a stand-alone version of IE and that future versions would be available, in one form or the other, as a Windows component.
You're basing your opinion on a limited amount of information.
You also don't seem to understand the practicalities behind some farm practices (segreatating male and female animals for instance). Mostly, I am guessing, because you don't have a lot of experience outside what appears to a single incident.
Most farmers don't follow the practices that you mention. For quite a wide number of reasons (including the practical economics of setting up a alrge factory farm operation) but I can tell you that, despite your experience, no farmer I know does any sort of factory farming.
YMMV and your experience may vary but try not to delude yourself into thinking that your experiences are some sort of universal in farming.
How about "users"? Why does the term need to imply your elevated status, in terms of technical knowledge, over the people you are referring to?
The problem is, I think, that the terms aren't used as just generic phrases to refer to non-technical people. There is almost always an underlying pejorative tone to these phrases.
Even something as innocuous sounding like "Average Joe" is still being used to give that person a lower status.
Users are users and are just as important regardless of their technical knowledge.
This is important not just for./ers but IT and technical people in general. Because how can you possibly build a system for general users when you look down your nose at them?
Especially if you're going to continue to refer to the overwhelming majority of users with terms like "Average Joe", "Joe Sixpack" and some of the other "amusing" terms I've seen on/.
First off you need to sty to relax and not stress yourself out about this. It will help you try to find a solution to the problem.
I'd try to just spend a month or two working whenever you can and try to keep your mind open to look for things that promote or distract from your ability to concentrate.
Work at different times. See if your body is more inclined to work at certain times.
I know that when I work at home I almost never get anything done until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. So I just don't really bother trying to work until then.
Buy some headphones (good ones that fully cover your ears) and see if listening to music can block out the noise around you and help you concentrate.
Leave off the caffeine drinks until you determine what is causing you problems. Too much caffeine can make you jittery and stressed.
Change the layout in your work area to see if that is causing you any discomfort.
Most of all, try to see if you can determine those factors that actually cause you to lose concentration and then see what you can do to eliminate them.
And ignore any comments about ADD or ADHD. Most times people just need to relax and learn to listen to the demands of their bodies and minds.
I can remotly manage my servers in the absolute wilderness with an Iridium satelite phone and a Zaurus with a serial cable.
Which truly sounds like the average day for a typical UNIX administrator. I know I often find it necessary to administer a remote system from a bleak mountaintop in Burma. Happens all the time.
Its an interesting example but its so far divorced from the average admin's life that it makes one wonder what the point actually was.
Also worth noting is how GPS, like computers, wasn't adopted overnight, but rather over time as applications were found.
I hate to sound pessimistic but since when is something this glaringly obvious considered "worth noting"?
Or maybe, given the topic, my pessimistic little note should be restated to ask how accurate would your GPS unit have to be to measure the size of the rock you'd have to be living under to not know that GPS wasn't adopted overnight?
Goodness. I'm starting to sound as biter as those people who post about the newsworthiness of new articles.
The band is simply using the availability of new material as a way to drive CD sales. How is this any different than offering a free t-shirt or a decoder ring in every box?
When they sell their new CD online only and through an independent publisher that isn't tied to the RIAA or the big music publishers then that will be a change but this is simply a new way to try to differentiate an old product and gain sales.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm really finding it difficult to find why people think it is humorous (and in /. terms Funny) to make fun of people with a learning/neurological disorder?
What is next? Jokes about deaf or blind people? Maybe some amusing limericks about quadriplegics?
And what is even worse than jokes at the expense of people with dyslexia is that they aren't even original or funny. I'd probably not mind it as much if it wasn't the inevitable spelling related humour or the inevitable "wit" who brings up the joke with the misspelling of god.
Maybe people should think about the what dyslexics have to deal with on a daily basis before making cheap (and really quite unoriginal) jokes at their expense.
Maybe instead of just repeating some tired "joke" about dyslexics you might want to read up on the condition instead?
http://www.dyslexiacenter.org/main.shtml
Or for heaven's sake think of a new joke.
Right now I am embarrassed to say that the Beatles are my favorite music group. Really? I would have thought that would have been embarrassing at any time? Jeez, buy some new CDs already. ;-)
-- if OpenOffice were the leading suite & de
-- facto standard, it would also see many attacks.
This has nothing to do with the popularity of Windows or Office.
If the apps were secure and the OS didn't have gaping flaws that allowed people to write things like Sobig and Code Red then there wouldn't be an issue.
A secure and popular OS would not generate this many issues...the problem is that MS is a popular and dramatically unsecure OS.
Why can't book publishers provide these tomes in multiple volumes so you don't have to break your wrists trying to read through the book?
My RSI is bad enough as it is.
A book like this borders on being unreadable because of its size. And its especially irritating to have to man-handle the book if you just want to look at the material in a single section or chapter.
-- In order to make it efficient for advanced users, the advanced options need to be easily accessable. These two goals are contradictory.
Not to be the contrarian but might it just be that people haven't explored usability design enough to build apps that can be used by both sets of users?
Remember we are talking about Microsoft apps here?
Computer interface design and application design are new enough fields that I feel rather uncomfortable with people positing universals like this.
I think we all under-appreciate the minimal requirements of computer users. I don't think that most people use the basic feature of Outlook Express so for them the move from OE to Hotmail would probably be minimal.
If slashdot users can't be bothered to find a better mail client than OE then why would you expect even a small percentage of current OE users to try to find an alternative to Hotmail?
-- ever try removing Outlook Express after installing Outlook?
Yup. Did it on the XP box in the office last week. Works like a charm.
-- They're opening up the market for small, inexpensive email clients.
Don't think so. All they are doing is trying to move people to Hotmail, AFAIK the basic version of Hotmail is free and if the "email" icon on the Desktop of the default Windows install leads to a personalised Hotmail account based on th info in your MSN Messenger account then I am willing to bet that people will use it...and not go hunting for a third-party app.
-- They had already announced that they discontinued development of IE.
I believe that they stopped the development of a stand-alone version of IE and that future versions would be available, in one form or the other, as a Windows component.
-- Wizards for the lame, and straight forward for us techs?
Don't you think it would be better if they wrote straight forward apps for everyone so you didn't need wizards in the first place?
The need for "wizards" is a sign of usability problems.
You're basing your opinion on a limited amount of information.
You also don't seem to understand the practicalities behind some farm practices (segreatating male and female animals for instance). Mostly, I am guessing, because you don't have a lot of experience outside what appears to a single incident.
Most farmers don't follow the practices that you mention. For quite a wide number of reasons (including the practical economics of setting up a alrge factory farm operation) but I can tell you that, despite your experience, no farmer I know does any sort of factory farming.
YMMV and your experience may vary but try not to delude yourself into thinking that your experiences are some sort of universal in farming.
What utter sh*t. I'm not sure what it more distressing, the post or the fact that it was modded as being informative.
I'd reply in depth but it strike me that this is just trollbait.
How about "users"? Why does the term need to imply your elevated status, in terms of technical knowledge, over the people you are referring to?
./ers but IT and technical people in general. Because how can you possibly build a system for general users when you look down your nose at them?
The problem is, I think, that the terms aren't used as just generic phrases to refer to non-technical people. There is almost always an underlying pejorative tone to these phrases.
Even something as innocuous sounding like "Average Joe" is still being used to give that person a lower status.
Users are users and are just as important regardless of their technical knowledge.
This is important not just for
Especially if you're going to continue to refer to the overwhelming majority of users with terms like "Average Joe", "Joe Sixpack" and some of the other "amusing" terms I've seen on /.
...YMMV
Since when is anecdotal discussions of possible Linux installs at a single location even worth discussing?
Is the general Linux audience this starved for success stories that they need to pay any attention to this sort of thing?
Some of the games made it to the US.
Capcom vs SNK could connect to the Dreamcast version of one of the KoF titles
First off you need to sty to relax and not stress yourself out about this. It will help you try to find a solution to the problem.
I'd try to just spend a month or two working whenever you can and try to keep your mind open to look for things that promote or distract from your ability to concentrate.
Work at different times. See if your body is more inclined to work at certain times.
I know that when I work at home I almost never get anything done until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. So I just don't really bother trying to work until then.
Buy some headphones (good ones that fully cover your ears) and see if listening to music can block out the noise around you and help you concentrate.
Leave off the caffeine drinks until you determine what is causing you problems. Too much caffeine can make you jittery and stressed.
Change the layout in your work area to see if that is causing you any discomfort.
Most of all, try to see if you can determine those factors that actually cause you to lose concentration and then see what you can do to eliminate them.
And ignore any comments about ADD or ADHD. Most times people just need to relax and learn to listen to the demands of their bodies and minds.
Which truly sounds like the average day for a typical UNIX administrator. I know I often find it necessary to administer a remote system from a bleak mountaintop in Burma. Happens all the time.
Its an interesting example but its so far divorced from the average admin's life that it makes one wonder what the point actually was.
AFAIK he has been a member of Congress since 1997.
Actually I believe that Dennis Kucinich is the only Democratic candidate to have voted against the Patriot Act.
Senator Russ Feingold also voted against it but I'm not sure of the full tally of Democrats that did vote against it.
(A I'm Canadian so you can trust me when I talk about the voting records of US politicians)
Until some lobbyist backs up to his house with a truck full of campaign contributions
I hate to sound pessimistic but since when is something this glaringly obvious considered "worth noting"?
Or maybe, given the topic, my pessimistic little note should be restated to ask how accurate would your GPS unit have to be to measure the size of the rock you'd have to be living under to not know that GPS wasn't adopted overnight?
Goodness. I'm starting to sound as biter as those people who post about the newsworthiness of new articles.
I think that in order to fit into the general feeling of the original joke this would have to be rewritten
"Except in Russia where you read to the OCR software".
How is this changing their business model?
The band is simply using the availability of new material as a way to drive CD sales. How is this any different than offering a free t-shirt or a decoder ring in every box?
When they sell their new CD online only and through an independent publisher that isn't tied to the RIAA or the big music publishers then that will be a change but this is simply a new way to try to differentiate an old product and gain sales.
-- The data were analyzed on large Linux clusters at BNL
Which makes one wonder how long it is before we see Microsoft announce Windows XP Nuclear Collider Edition