Why can't software updates operate more like Eclipse's update tool? Or Sun's Java update? Or Adobe reader's? Or dare I say it, Microsofts Windows update?
No experience with Eclipse, but Sun's Java update and Adobe Reader bug me far more frequently than I want to be bugged. For Pete's sake, those things are (to the average user, and most of the time for me) basic utilities that should just be quiet, efficient, and as integrated as possible into the OS. I shouldn't have to think about them once a week when they want to do updates. Personally, I turn off any and all "automatic update checks" for any of those basic utility programs -- if its functionality isn't up to par or there's some security issue announcement THEN I look for updates.
Not only that, but complaining about the onerous upgrade process for Firefox? Since 1.0, and even before then, it's been the smoothest product I use to upgrade. Windows Updates fail or break something more frequently than all other software updates combined, and even the other packages mentioned -- Java and Adobe Reader -- have managed to blow themselves up from time to time.
Kudos to Firefox developers for their excellent job with the software update feature. Just a little blue or red arrow, unobtrusive yet noticeable enough to draw our attention. No popups when the program starts (or even when it just senses an internet connection), no stupid flashing system tray icons, etc.
Ditto all of the above, plus I have kids. Kids don't treat CDs or DVDs respectfully. It's just the nature of the beast.
My solution was to use Daemon Tools (and LC ISO Creator) to create virtual CD-ROMs on my hard drive so I (and my kids) can play games anytime without fumbling for CDs. Both those tools are freeware. I'm sure there are others (like Alcohol 120%, which is not freeware) that do the job as well, that's just the solution I used.
I spent the better part of this last weekend finally getting around to implementing my idea, and between the kids' games and my games, it took about 60GB. Much of that includes just archived CD-ROMs, not necessarily the ones that require the CD to play, but I thought, what the heck, I might lose 'em.
The only part that costs money is the price of the 60-80 GB hard drive to hold the CD/DVD-ROM ISO's. Which runs about the same price as a decent size USB drive these days (as discussed in the original article).
BTW -- this works great for backing up DVDs to play back on the computer (which my kids do also).
pay attention to what his father is doing, which can be particularly useful when he's working on a violent game like area 51.
Here's a thought: If you (as a parent) are concerned about the effect a violent game like Area 51 would have to your kid, why do you have it in the house?
I know the poster stated that their friend 'works on' (aka develops) the game, but from the kid's perspective, there's not much difference.
If you were a police detective investigating grisly murders, would you bring the murder pictures home to review where the kid might be able to view them?
Maybe I'm just sensitive, because my computer-prodigy 3-year-old recently got pretty good at Quake. But it definitely affected his behavior. We cut him off from first person shooters (he still has plenty of other games), and to make things fair, I took mine off my computer too, and we noticed a big difference.
Don't tell me there's no choice involved -- whether it's a choice to work from home or working to develop a particular product.
One was very excited about all of the presentational gadgetry at her community college. Luckily she had some very good professors, but sometimes the gadgetry failed at inopportune times.
I realize you're speaking more generally here, but as to the interactive whiteboards (at least the kind we use in the College where I'm an IT guy), if they do suffer "gadgetry failure", they're also fully functional as regular whiteboards. In fact, some lectureres use them only as such. It's just nice to have the choice.
Although that was meant as funny, consider something obvious but not trivial to find. Your keyboard, mouse, or router all have these little screws that make it quite easy to open up and stick a little piece of paper inside the plastic case, then seal it up again with no one the wiser. Sure, it's not something you'd want to have to refer to often, but it'd be a good hideout for a "master password".
Than information needs to be public, because there are honest uses for it. However it needs to be restricted who can access it because of the damage they can do.
What?
public information != restricted access
Public information is by nature accessible to anyone in the public.
I get calls from friends & family demanding help with their viruses, M$ installations, bugs, printer jams, you name it, while I'm already busy working on the CEO's system.
Word of advice: Don't take personal calls while working on the CEO's system.
What irritates me is the multitude of sites that are "optimized" for IE, which is just a fancy way of saying that Firefox probably won't work on all of the pages in a site.
What really gets me is that some of the websites I visit are especially not in the pro-Microsoft camp. Just today I was visiting both the Sun and HP Shopping websites and on both, at certain points I was forced to jump ship to IE just because the pages didn't work with IE. (Yes, I wrote a nice note to the webmasters of both. And yes, I use the newest stable Firefox, always.) I have in the past tried Opera just to see if it would work... yeah, right. Ends up only working with IE.
Another extra irritating point is when programmers incorporate IE calls into their programs. I usually install Netzero onto older computers I build to give away to folks, and the (albeit limited) free internet access is great, except for the automatic loading of IE upon connecting. So then I have to train them to minimize (not close, Netzero wants to disconnect if you close it) IE and start Firefox. Another case: we use a flow modeling software package called Fluent at work, and it has context-sensitive help that opens to a webpage. Great, really useful, only Firefox chokes on the system call because it's non-standard (it calls C:/fluent.inc/...blah.htm instead of file:///C:/fluent.inc/...blah.htm) and somehow IE can translate that but Firefox can't. Since Firefox is the default system browser, the built-in help doesn't function. (I suppose this could be a Firefox problem because it doesn't handle the malformed URL call, but still, how hard would the Fluent programmer have to have worked to add the extra "file:///" in front? But I digress.)
I don't use IE and I don't like to use IE. Opening IE is a distasteful experience fraught with danger and I would just as soon avoid it, but sometimes I'm left with no choice.
Yeah, the management at my old job where I was sysadmin for a small company tried to ban Solitaire because it was, indeed, seeing a lot of use during working hours. They commanded me to uninstall Solitaire on all machines; I did. Unfortunately what they did not realize was that sol.exe fits on a floppy disk, and people would bring it in their own sol.exe from their own Windows computers to play it. Nowadays they'd bring it in on a USB drive, but the concept remains the same.
"Hey, my 3ghz computer is running as slow as a Pentium 1.5ghz... Why is that?"
It's because you bought a computer from Dell, Compaq, IBM or any number of vendors who bundle vast amounts of memory-resident crap on their already-crappy bargain-basement hardware with half the RAM it should have.
I too have different rates for business vs. home users vs. family/friends.
I used to have a half-time salary job, and rounded out my income doing freelance IT work for the other half. Now, since I'm full-time salaried, I very ocassionally do freelance IT (and have retained a very few of my previous clients, at their insistence).
I still have my freelance business web page up, and still sometimes get referrals. (I never advertised.) If the referral is for a business client, I explain my schedule and if they can live with that and don't have really huge needs, I'll work for them and charge them my standard business rate. If the referral is a home user or charity, I will help them out as I have time. I will tell them what I did and point to my website so they can see what the "typical" rate is, and then ask them to send me a check later with what the think the job was worth. For family & close friends, my work is donated.
That's all labor, of course. For hardware I have to buy, I charge family & friends the exact cost. For home users, I give them the choice: buy it on their own credit card (I'll point them to the exact Newegg or wherever URL), or let me buy it for them and I'll charge them an extra 15%. For businesses, they get charged the extra 15%. (I do let them know up front I'm doing this.) Usually businesses don't want to hassle with it; home users are split.
My rates are $52/hour for onsite labor, $40/hour for bench labor. I have packages -- like virus/spyware removal for $50 flat fee -- but don't use them much any more, except as a guidelines for the home users.
A while ago, I authored an article on Spyware on our university website, and got a response from Weatherbug in the form of a "cease and desist" because I dared mention Weatherbug as a spyware offender.
This is the voice mail I received: "On your page, you're calling our company spyware, which is 100% incorrect. I'd like to get a callback from... somebody who is the webmaster of that webpage when that reference has been taken down. In addition, you can go to www.weatherbug.com/notspyware which is our Spyware FAQ page where you can download the very same anti-spyware programs you guys recommend on your page to download. So that would be rather masichistic of us to list the very same spyware programs that would potentially remove us. They do not remove us because we are not spyware. I'd like to get a callback as soon as possible at... once that removal has taken place."
According to this website, Weatherbug has previously been legitimately labeled spyware, because it has bundled the Gator program (this program is probably the most well-known piece of spyware around) and a search bar. However, the more current versions of Weatherbug do not seem to incorporate the elements of spyware that previous versions did. So I wouldn't label the MOST current version of Weatherbug as spyware, but previous versions I would.
However, I'm concerned still with Weatherbug from a technical standpoint. Look through the pages and you'll find that Weatherbug is notoriously difficult to uninstall or disable once it's been installed. It increases Windows startup time and can cause other system issues. This echoes my personal experience with the program.
I also still think Weatherbug is slimy. Here is an excerpt from a publication from AWS (the company behind Weatherbug) presented to the FTC:
"AWS believes that there is nothing inherently objectionable about Adware provided that the software installation and operation is preceded by meaningful notice and consent."
(Meaningful notice and consent, in this case, refers to the bunch of legalese that comes up with every software install, which just about every user in the world clicks "I agree" on without reading.)
But really, Spybot isn't even cutting it anymore, IMO. AdAware is still doing well, but I've actually been more impressed with the other two I mentioned above - worth a look if you haven't checked them out - both have free trials that you would have no problems doing a removal with.
"Free trial" is still not freeware. It's free for a little while, then becomes paid. Spybot and Ad-Aware have fully-functional free versions that STAY free. That's one reason they're still better.
Ahh, but the point is, you take the time to take it in and get serviced. You are at least aware of and care enough about your car to do the things that are supposed to be done. Whether you do it yourself or pay someone to do that is immaterial.
People need to do that for computers too. Or at least, not expect it to "just work" if they don't.
The "average" computer user is a lazy, uninformed moron.
Yes, and the average car user is a lazy, uninformed moron by the same logic. How many car users, do you suppose, know how to (or DO) change their own oil? Check their tire pressure? Check fluids? Get regular service & checkups? Upgrade their tires for the seasons? Rotate their tires? Know their gas mileage? Determine what kind of gasoline or oil is best for their engine? Pay attention to brake pad life? Fix a seatbelt when it breaks? (The list goes on...)
How many average car users even read the freakin' manual?
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No experience with Eclipse, but Sun's Java update and Adobe Reader bug me far more frequently than I want to be bugged. For Pete's sake, those things are (to the average user, and most of the time for me) basic utilities that should just be quiet, efficient, and as integrated as possible into the OS. I shouldn't have to think about them once a week when they want to do updates. Personally, I turn off any and all "automatic update checks" for any of those basic utility programs -- if its functionality isn't up to par or there's some security issue announcement THEN I look for updates.
Not only that, but complaining about the onerous upgrade process for Firefox? Since 1.0, and even before then, it's been the smoothest product I use to upgrade. Windows Updates fail or break something more frequently than all other software updates combined, and even the other packages mentioned -- Java and Adobe Reader -- have managed to blow themselves up from time to time.
Kudos to Firefox developers for their excellent job with the software update feature. Just a little blue or red arrow, unobtrusive yet noticeable enough to draw our attention. No popups when the program starts (or even when it just senses an internet connection), no stupid flashing system tray icons, etc.
Out of curiosity, which ones?
Ditto all of the above, plus I have kids. Kids don't treat CDs or DVDs respectfully. It's just the nature of the beast.
My solution was to use Daemon Tools (and LC ISO Creator) to create virtual CD-ROMs on my hard drive so I (and my kids) can play games anytime without fumbling for CDs. Both those tools are freeware. I'm sure there are others (like Alcohol 120%, which is not freeware) that do the job as well, that's just the solution I used.
I spent the better part of this last weekend finally getting around to implementing my idea, and between the kids' games and my games, it took about 60GB. Much of that includes just archived CD-ROMs, not necessarily the ones that require the CD to play, but I thought, what the heck, I might lose 'em.
The only part that costs money is the price of the 60-80 GB hard drive to hold the CD/DVD-ROM ISO's. Which runs about the same price as a decent size USB drive these days (as discussed in the original article).
BTW -- this works great for backing up DVDs to play back on the computer (which my kids do also).
Here's a thought: If you (as a parent) are concerned about the effect a violent game like Area 51 would have to your kid, why do you have it in the house?
I know the poster stated that their friend 'works on' (aka develops) the game, but from the kid's perspective, there's not much difference.
If you were a police detective investigating grisly murders, would you bring the murder pictures home to review where the kid might be able to view them?
Maybe I'm just sensitive, because my computer-prodigy 3-year-old recently got pretty good at Quake. But it definitely affected his behavior. We cut him off from first person shooters (he still has plenty of other games), and to make things fair, I took mine off my computer too, and we noticed a big difference.
Don't tell me there's no choice involved -- whether it's a choice to work from home or working to develop a particular product.
Take the 'i' from Apple and the 'I' from Intel and mix with Google, you'd get: Giggle!
The new slogan would then be "Search Me!"
Really, in the dark?
She's just sharpening her claws. Watch out.
Although that was meant as funny, consider something obvious but not trivial to find. Your keyboard, mouse, or router all have these little screws that make it quite easy to open up and stick a little piece of paper inside the plastic case, then seal it up again with no one the wiser. Sure, it's not something you'd want to have to refer to often, but it'd be a good hideout for a "master password".
What?
public information != restricted access
Public information is by nature accessible to anyone in the public.
What irritates me is the multitude of sites that are "optimized" for IE, which is just a fancy way of saying that Firefox probably won't work on all of the pages in a site.
What really gets me is that some of the websites I visit are especially not in the pro-Microsoft camp. Just today I was visiting both the Sun and HP Shopping websites and on both, at certain points I was forced to jump ship to IE just because the pages didn't work with IE. (Yes, I wrote a nice note to the webmasters of both. And yes, I use the newest stable Firefox, always.) I have in the past tried Opera just to see if it would work... yeah, right. Ends up only working with IE.
Another extra irritating point is when programmers incorporate IE calls into their programs. I usually install Netzero onto older computers I build to give away to folks, and the (albeit limited) free internet access is great, except for the automatic loading of IE upon connecting. So then I have to train them to minimize (not close, Netzero wants to disconnect if you close it) IE and start Firefox. Another case: we use a flow modeling software package called Fluent at work, and it has context-sensitive help that opens to a webpage. Great, really useful, only Firefox chokes on the system call because it's non-standard (it calls C:/fluent.inc/...blah.htm instead of file:///C:/fluent.inc/...blah.htm) and somehow IE can translate that but Firefox can't. Since Firefox is the default system browser, the built-in help doesn't function. (I suppose this could be a Firefox problem because it doesn't handle the malformed URL call, but still, how hard would the Fluent programmer have to have worked to add the extra "file:///" in front? But I digress.)
I don't use IE and I don't like to use IE. Opening IE is a distasteful experience fraught with danger and I would just as soon avoid it, but sometimes I'm left with no choice.
Yeah, the management at my old job where I was sysadmin for a small company tried to ban Solitaire because it was, indeed, seeing a lot of use during working hours. They commanded me to uninstall Solitaire on all machines; I did. Unfortunately what they did not realize was that sol.exe fits on a floppy disk, and people would bring it in their own sol.exe from their own Windows computers to play it. Nowadays they'd bring it in on a USB drive, but the concept remains the same.
I too have different rates for business vs. home users vs. family/friends.
I used to have a half-time salary job, and rounded out my income doing freelance IT work for the other half. Now, since I'm full-time salaried, I very ocassionally do freelance IT (and have retained a very few of my previous clients, at their insistence).
I still have my freelance business web page up, and still sometimes get referrals. (I never advertised.) If the referral is for a business client, I explain my schedule and if they can live with that and don't have really huge needs, I'll work for them and charge them my standard business rate. If the referral is a home user or charity, I will help them out as I have time. I will tell them what I did and point to my website so they can see what the "typical" rate is, and then ask them to send me a check later with what the think the job was worth. For family & close friends, my work is donated.
That's all labor, of course. For hardware I have to buy, I charge family & friends the exact cost. For home users, I give them the choice: buy it on their own credit card (I'll point them to the exact Newegg or wherever URL), or let me buy it for them and I'll charge them an extra 15%. For businesses, they get charged the extra 15%. (I do let them know up front I'm doing this.) Usually businesses don't want to hassle with it; home users are split.
My rates are $52/hour for onsite labor, $40/hour for bench labor. I have packages -- like virus/spyware removal for $50 flat fee -- but don't use them much any more, except as a guidelines for the home users.
I have one of those, it's called Wife.
The company behind Weatherbug is AWS.
A while ago, I authored an article on Spyware on our university website, and got a response from Weatherbug in the form of a "cease and desist" because I dared mention Weatherbug as a spyware offender.
This is the voice mail I received: ... somebody who is the webmaster of that webpage when that reference has been taken down. In addition, you can go to www.weatherbug.com/notspyware which is our Spyware FAQ page where you can download the very same anti-spyware programs you guys recommend on your page to download. So that would be rather masichistic of us to list the very same spyware programs that would potentially remove us. They do not remove us because we are not spyware. I'd like to get a callback as soon as possible at ... once that removal has taken place."
"On your page, you're calling our company spyware, which is 100% incorrect. I'd like to get a callback from
According to this website, Weatherbug has previously been legitimately labeled spyware, because it has bundled the Gator program (this program is probably the most well-known piece of spyware around) and a search bar. However, the more current versions of Weatherbug do not seem to incorporate the elements of spyware that previous versions did. So I wouldn't label the MOST current version of Weatherbug as spyware, but previous versions I would.
However, I'm concerned still with Weatherbug from a technical standpoint. Look through the pages and you'll find that Weatherbug is notoriously difficult to uninstall or disable once it's been installed. It increases Windows startup time and can cause other system issues. This echoes my personal experience with the program.
I also still think Weatherbug is slimy. Here is an excerpt from a publication from AWS (the company behind Weatherbug) presented to the FTC:
"AWS believes that there is nothing inherently objectionable about Adware provided that the software installation and operation is preceded by meaningful notice and consent."
(Meaningful notice and consent, in this case, refers to the bunch of legalese that comes up with every software install, which just about every user in the world clicks "I agree" on without reading.)
"Free trial" is still not freeware. It's free for a little while, then becomes paid. Spybot and Ad-Aware have fully-functional free versions that STAY free. That's one reason they're still better.
Ahh, but the point is, you take the time to take it in and get serviced. You are at least aware of and care enough about your car to do the things that are supposed to be done. Whether you do it yourself or pay someone to do that is immaterial. People need to do that for computers too. Or at least, not expect it to "just work" if they don't.
Yes, and the average car user is a lazy, uninformed moron by the same logic. How many car users, do you suppose, know how to (or DO) change their own oil? Check their tire pressure? Check fluids? Get regular service & checkups? Upgrade their tires for the seasons? Rotate their tires? Know their gas mileage? Determine what kind of gasoline or oil is best for their engine? Pay attention to brake pad life? Fix a seatbelt when it breaks? (The list goes on...)
How many average car users even read the freakin' manual?
You buy a new car and you're worried about saving $100?