Free Software: AdAware AntiVir (Though it looks a little cheaper, in tests it's better at catching viruses than AVG) OpenOffice
Hardware: Thumbscrews, ribbon cables, screwdriver, compressed can of air, maybe some spare jumpers for HD's, and that's all you need! (Not counting major hardware upgrades)
Documentation: A quick primer on how to search for the answer to their computer problems, but don't stop at Google. Mention Computing.net, Microsoft KB, and Forumulating their searches (adding forum to the front of their keywords before searching.) If their OS supports it you may want to show them how to use System Restore too, hell just put a shortcut to it on their Desktop. Make sure they know about msconfig (Start > Run > msconfig) and specifically the Startup tab. Here's a few sites on the net that they can search those obscure startup names in a DB to see what they actually are:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/start up _full.htm
http://www.lafn.org/webconnect/mentor/startup/PE NI NDEX.HTM
Through experience, you will gain motivation where there was once none. When you find it's hard to commit to something yet you intend to pursue it the natural order of things usually takes care of the problem. If you cannot seem to commit to the work you desire to accomplish, you simply lack the proper motivation.
If the consequences of not getting the work done are disasterous or nearly so, but you won't commit to it, then the problem will take care of itself. Meaning, if you can't hold your job so you're poor, you may eventually get a new job and be successful because you now have the motivation of not becoming poor anymore.
It's possible that you could fall into crime (or some other path), but that in itself is work, so you would have to have more motivation/desire to commit crime than actually play the lawful society game in the first place.
Experience is the best teacher.
Rationalizing situations where you can't seem to work is much easier if you've experienced the consequences of your actions.
Now, go read my first paragraph again, because then you will fully understand.
Also, a note on work that you initiate yourself:
Many times after going through the above example (losing your job, gaining a new one, and then successfully holding it) you'll find there are still nights where you must battle your incorrect rationalization of going through the crap you must go through in order to keep your job. This can be a healthy motivator for accomplishing something outside of normal business hours to one day be your own boss.
It all works out in the end, you just have to choose which direction you will go. Whatever happens, you're going to protect your livelyhood and/or sanity. Your decision will ultimately be based on your core personality.
Unfortunately, *knowing* this is how the world works won't actually motivate you, but after you experience the above examples, enlightenment is at hand.
Also, a comfortable chair, some headphones, good friends, and a significant other helps.:)
Hat off to you, excellent idea. We need to get people to a free OS before Microsoft *starts* to actually do something about piracy. I understand why apps costs $$ -- OS's costing money is plain silly with barely-unacceptable free alternatives (linux & variants) existing.
One modification to your plan, though. Why must you do it with all game developers, just do it for one game and that would be enough to push people into installing Linux.
I think people's problems these days are that they want to get people to switch over to Linux, when they should realize the first step should be to get them into a dual-booting situation, then go from there.
Now THAT's an idea.
One problem, though:
Millions of kiddie's sending game developers questions about how to get a driver for their winmodem, 3D graphics accel, etc. This stuff obviously can't be done automagically.
Beyond that, it's a pleasant dream..
...I *only* watch TV while performing some other activity (not using the computer, cooking food, etc.) are:
#1. Spending time with gf.
Even though the PC is interactive and great, I've found few activities on a computer that are fun for both of us in tandem. Looking up movie times and buying stuff on the 'Net is one of them. So is playing old school emulator games like the original Mario. For the newest games, I'm afraid the "complicated" controls for FPS definately holds my gf back....and so does all of the blood.
#2. Lack of Mental Clarity.
Interactivity takes brain power. If I'm mentally wasted I'd as soon watch MTV's The Real World when I don't want to think about my life, and I generally don't want to use my head at all.
#3. The computer is pissing me off.
Some troubleshooting scenarios for PC's can become quite frustrating. The price to pay for interactivity. Sometimes you have to give it up and watch the boob-tube.
*ahem*, funny, but no truth to this. Win 2K is a very stable operating system and the most likely cause of it crashing are hardware issues or mis-configuration.
Sorry, I can't let people spread mistruth regarding my expertise, which is FIXING the Windows Operating System including any and all applications that run on it.
If you did that for a living, wouldn't you reply to something that may spread mistruth regarding it??
Signed,
Tech Support.
You must only use it....
2 or three times a WEEK!
Sorry, I'm in the Technical Support field, and Windows 98 SE is much more stable than 1st edition.
Here is the list of stability for Windows Operating Systems going from most stable, to most likely to crash under the assumption that the machines are running an average user's setup regarding software/hardware:
(Server Editions not included)
1. Windows 2000 Pro.
2. Windows XP.
3. Windows 98 SE.
4. Windows 98.
5. Windows 95.
6. Windows ME.
YES, those wax color printers are very cool. I agree with all the disadvantages that you listed (especially the inability to laminate!) One thing I think you should have expanded on though, is that while the max DPI's are generally going to be lower than some of the higher quality copiers/printers, the resultant image from a wax printout is going to look better and more professional than a regular laser printer any day, even at higher DPI's. They look like pages ripped from a magazine -- excessively shiny.
Though I don't have any links for proof, I've heard they have a working model of a quantum computer, it's just about a 1,000 times slower than, let's say a 286...
Many, here's what some members of Allegro.cc think:
http://www.allegro.cc/forums/view_thread.php?_id=2 23344&request=1058822680&
Basically, Allegro can do a bit more graphically, has worse Mac support, can do DOS, and seems more popular in the European/Western countries.
Makes you wonder if Freenet gained popularity over the web whether all "official" transactions would be web-based, leaving Freenet to misc. web sites that are completely information/communication based.
The reason I wonder is because if someone gets their login/password stolen from some random service on Freenet which they invested mucho time in, how will anyone else know the difference? That would really irk me..
(Yes, I know the web is vulnerable to this as well, but at least it requires a user have an IP address -- whether or not it's actually legit.)
Personally, I'm thankful we have ANY integrated, fairly easy to acquire, vector studio (I say studio because flash does much more than animation) on the web.
SVG sounds like it will be top-notch when it's finished, but until then I'm glad to have Flash.
Bottom line: Less talk, more coding. SVG is infantile at best.
I just had a conversation about this topic with one of my co-workers: Seems
Microsoft just lets new software markets run until a clear victor is decided by
the end users, then they completely redo it and destroy the competition taking
the valuable ideas from the previous victor.
One way to go is to cross-platform develop. Most of the development I do is for
games and as such I use allegro:
If you go to the site you'll see plenty of mediocre games, but once you realize
the power and dev-friendliness behind the allegro library you'll be hooked.
One could create an OpenGL accelerated game (using AllegGL) without changing a
line of code! Realistically, you would want to change some code anyway, but
everyone interested in game development should check it out.
The only thing it's missing is a bonified network library. It has some out
there, just none that I would consider complete or complete & useful.
Can't wait to finish the game and then release it for DOS, Windows 98, ME, 2K,
XP, Linux -- possibly Mac and even BeOS! (stability issues with the last two, I
believe.)
Slashdot Mirror
Free Software:
t up _full.htm
E NI NDEX.HTM
AdAware
AntiVir (Though it looks a little cheaper, in tests it's better at catching viruses than AVG)
OpenOffice
Hardware:
Thumbscrews, ribbon cables, screwdriver, compressed can of air, maybe some spare jumpers for HD's, and that's all you need! (Not counting major hardware upgrades)
Documentation:
A quick primer on how to search for the answer to their computer problems, but don't stop at Google. Mention Computing.net, Microsoft KB, and Forumulating their searches (adding forum to the front of their keywords before searching.) If their OS supports it you may want to show them how to use System Restore too, hell just put a shortcut to it on their Desktop. Make sure they know about msconfig (Start > Run > msconfig) and specifically the Startup tab. Here's a few sites on the net that they can search those obscure startup names in a DB to see what they actually are:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/star
http://www.lafn.org/webconnect/mentor/startup/P
http://www.greatis.com/regrun3atyouroption.htm
Through experience, you will gain motivation where there was once none. When you find it's hard to commit to something yet you intend to pursue it the natural order of things usually takes care of the problem. If you cannot seem to commit to the work you desire to accomplish, you simply lack the proper motivation.
:)
If the consequences of not getting the work done are disasterous or nearly so, but you won't commit to it, then the problem will take care of itself. Meaning, if you can't hold your job so you're poor, you may eventually get a new job and be successful because you now have the motivation of not becoming poor anymore.
It's possible that you could fall into crime (or some other path), but that in itself is work, so you would have to have more motivation/desire to commit crime than actually play the lawful society game in the first place.
Experience is the best teacher.
Rationalizing situations where you can't seem to work is much easier if you've experienced the consequences of your actions.
Now, go read my first paragraph again, because then you will fully understand.
Also, a note on work that you initiate yourself:
Many times after going through the above example (losing your job, gaining a new one, and then successfully holding it) you'll find there are still nights where you must battle your incorrect rationalization of going through the crap you must go through in order to keep your job. This can be a healthy motivator for accomplishing something outside of normal business hours to one day be your own boss.
It all works out in the end, you just have to choose which direction you will go. Whatever happens, you're going to protect your livelyhood and/or sanity. Your decision will ultimately be based on your core personality.
Unfortunately, *knowing* this is how the world works won't actually motivate you, but after you experience the above examples, enlightenment is at hand.
Also, a comfortable chair, some headphones, good friends, and a significant other helps.
One modification to your plan, though. Why must you do it with all game developers, just do it for one game and that would be enough to push people into installing Linux.
I think people's problems these days are that they want to get people to switch over to Linux, when they should realize the first step should be to get them into a dual-booting situation, then go from there.
Now THAT's an idea. One problem, though: Millions of kiddie's sending game developers questions about how to get a driver for their winmodem, 3D graphics accel, etc. This stuff obviously can't be done automagically. Beyond that, it's a pleasant dream..
not to be a stickler, but I think you meant, " bump my resolution up."
Even though the everything will look smaller, it's still a higher resolution.
...I *only* watch TV while performing some other activity (not using the computer, cooking food, etc.) are:
#1. Spending time with gf.
Even though the PC is interactive and great, I've found few activities on a computer that are fun for both of us in tandem. Looking up movie times and buying stuff on the 'Net is one of them. So is playing old school emulator games like the original Mario. For the newest games, I'm afraid the "complicated" controls for FPS definately holds my gf back....and so does all of the blood.
#2. Lack of Mental Clarity.
Interactivity takes brain power. If I'm mentally wasted I'd as soon watch MTV's The Real World when I don't want to think about my life, and I generally don't want to use my head at all.
#3. The computer is pissing me off.
Some troubleshooting scenarios for PC's can become quite frustrating. The price to pay for interactivity. Sometimes you have to give it up and watch the boob-tube.
Point taken.
:(
I guess I should have said "fixing people's screw-ups involving the Windows Operating System"
Fixing the Windows Operating System is reserved to Bill, unfortunately.
*ahem*, funny, but no truth to this. Win 2K is a very stable operating system and the most likely cause of it crashing are hardware issues or mis-configuration. Sorry, I can't let people spread mistruth regarding my expertise, which is FIXING the Windows Operating System including any and all applications that run on it. If you did that for a living, wouldn't you reply to something that may spread mistruth regarding it?? Signed, Tech Support.
You must only use it.... 2 or three times a WEEK! Sorry, I'm in the Technical Support field, and Windows 98 SE is much more stable than 1st edition. Here is the list of stability for Windows Operating Systems going from most stable, to most likely to crash under the assumption that the machines are running an average user's setup regarding software/hardware: (Server Editions not included) 1. Windows 2000 Pro. 2. Windows XP. 3. Windows 98 SE. 4. Windows 98. 5. Windows 95. 6. Windows ME.
YES, those wax color printers are very cool. I agree with all the disadvantages that you listed (especially the inability to laminate!) One thing I think you should have expanded on though, is that while the max DPI's are generally going to be lower than some of the higher quality copiers/printers, the resultant image from a wax printout is going to look better and more professional than a regular laser printer any day, even at higher DPI's. They look like pages ripped from a magazine -- excessively shiny.
Though I don't have any links for proof, I've heard they have a working model of a quantum computer, it's just about a 1,000 times slower than, let's say a 286...
Many, here's what some members of Allegro.cc think: http://www.allegro.cc/forums/view_thread.php?_id=2 23344&request=1058822680&
Basically, Allegro can do a bit more graphically, has worse Mac support, can do DOS, and seems more popular in the European/Western countries.
Makes you wonder if Freenet gained popularity over the web whether all "official" transactions would be web-based, leaving Freenet to misc. web sites that are completely information/communication based. The reason I wonder is because if someone gets their login/password stolen from some random service on Freenet which they invested mucho time in, how will anyone else know the difference? That would really irk me.. (Yes, I know the web is vulnerable to this as well, but at least it requires a user have an IP address -- whether or not it's actually legit.)
I think this is the best idea yet.
Personally, I'm thankful we have ANY integrated, fairly easy to acquire, vector studio (I say studio because flash does much more than animation) on the web. SVG sounds like it will be top-notch when it's finished, but until then I'm glad to have Flash. Bottom line: Less talk, more coding. SVG is infantile at best.
... Just order the CD's.
btw, a little game called "Quake" used parts of the Allegro library..
I just had a conversation about this topic with one of my co-workers: Seems Microsoft just lets new software markets run until a clear victor is decided by the end users, then they completely redo it and destroy the competition taking the valuable ideas from the previous victor.
One way to go is to cross-platform develop. Most of the development I do is for games and as such I use allegro:
http://www.allegro.cc/
If you go to the site you'll see plenty of mediocre games, but once you realize the power and dev-friendliness behind the allegro library you'll be hooked.
One could create an OpenGL accelerated game (using AllegGL) without changing a line of code! Realistically, you would want to change some code anyway, but everyone interested in game development should check it out.
The only thing it's missing is a bonified network library. It has some out there, just none that I would consider complete or complete & useful.
Can't wait to finish the game and then release it for DOS, Windows 98, ME, 2K, XP, Linux -- possibly Mac and even BeOS! (stability issues with the last two, I believe.)