I can't even think of how many times I've seen Powerpoint crash before/in middle of presentation. And the nasty kind, where even if you hit the X and the End Task it just doesn't quit.
Obviously "End Process" is beyond most college professors. Just 2 weeks ago... "Oh darn, I can't get this to work. I guess I'll have to let you out early. Have a nice lunch!"
To that I say THANK YOU MICROSOFT FOR MAKING CRAPPY SOFTWARE! YAY!!
I am for one, completely offended that all of you bash Gator 24/7. Gator was designed to put targeted ads to the user, meaning consumers get exactly what they want.
From the continued use of Gator, it has developed an accurate profile, and the ads I receive are of premium interest to me. I have made many successful online purchases from the reliable, well-established companies that advertise through GAIN.
To all those reading this message, I would like you to know that the programmers of Gator worked long, hard hours to design this software, and you should be very thankful that the corporation allows you do download it free of charge, which is worth clearly more than the Suggested Retail Price of US $30.
All in all GAIN is a very useful form of targeted advertising, and represents a huge leap in positive, productive media and computer technology in the 20th-21st Century.
Sincerely as OJ Simpon's Court Statements, Some shitbag PR/Actor/Marketing Major that was paid a lot to say all this crap... err... I mean... Joe Average User
Congrats, you beat me to the punch, I was just gonna make a nasty comment about that one... "Microsoft always tries to retain as much compatibility with previous versions as possible while Apple doesn't."
I am dumbfounded as to even how to answer this. Yes, there are a few programs that did not work on the upgrade from Jaguar to Panther. However, the essentials had no problems.... AIM, Quicktime, Safari, etc all worked fine for me. Ok, so there are a couple trivial applications that don't work, but I definitely had no problem running Graphing Calculator under the classic environment, which is a completely different environment, and it amazes me Apple was even able to do this.
Now, we compare this with Microsoft, claiming Microsoft sets good standards for backwards compatability? Eugenia Loli-Queru, you should be slapped. I remember I got my computer with Windows ME. Wow was that a great operating system *&cough* but we'll leave that aside for now. I, not knowing much about computers at the time, decided to do the 'recommended' upgrade to windows XP, rather than the full reinstall. NOTHING worked. Winamp didn't work, Quake3 didn't work, Office didn't work, Novell didn't work, I had to reinstall more or less everything save Internet Explorer.
On top of that, there are a boatload of my favorite programs that never worked on NT anything. Good Old NESticle refused to work on XP, compatability mode or not.
Speaking of DOS games, I remember all of the wonderful old goodies. Space Quest, Quest for Glory, all the others... never worked on any platform made on Win98 or later.
So, Microsoft retains compatability but Apple doesn't? Wow.
I for one am very much personal-privacy/security online, but even I have my limits. I have worked tech support before, and you'd be amazed how many 1.4 gHz processors with 512 megs of RAM can run like crap. With Kazaa, WinMX, and Limewire ALL installed with all their ad/spyware, along with cometcursor and webshots...
I mean, come on, what do you expect? Some people just have it coming to them. I've just run out of sympathy for protecting the masses. All it takes is a quick skim over the EULA. "...collects your browsing habits and provides advertisements based on the websites you visit."
Ok, I understand there are lot more people that use computers and know how to use them, but COME ON. Is there any jargon in that? I think the most complicated words in there would be 'advertisement' and 'broswing', but then again who knows how to use a keyboard without knowing what that means?
The bottom line: there are many more than adequate ways to keep your computer clean (ie if you go to a warez site and there's an installer; hint: DON'T CLICK YES), such as firewalls, adaware, spybot, etc. It does not take a genius to make use of these programs.
But then again, Murphy's Law of Technology: "Nothing can ever be foolproof because fools are so ingenius."
As opposed to spyware as I am, I figure anyone that can't comprehend such concepts pretty much deserves to have their password keystrokes monitored, etc etc.
I think I recall something along the lines of Darwinism about natural de-selection, ie let'em weed themselves out.
I worked for tech support for a semester, so I got a good feel for most of the programs that people use... and soon enough I became 'that guy' that everyone asks for advice. After a while, I compiled my own Toolkit for installing windows/creating functional computing environment. About the free/cheap thing.... well these are the kazaa/post-napster days, you know how it goes.
I start by using WinISO to copy the WinXP CD to an image on my computer. WSwith a Windows XP Pro CD, then I start throwing random stuff in the ValueADD folder, namely:
Nero 5.5.1.4 + Plugins - you just gotta burn stuff.
BitTorrent - cause you can't install EVERYTHING from CDs
WinRAR - archiving/zipping etc
WinISO - great way to manage.ISO and add/remove files
VM Ware - I'm a newbie linux user, so rather than double-boot I just run a virtual Machine
Adobe Acrobat Reader/Writer - pdf files. 'nuff said
Adobe Photoshop - must-have for anyone with digital camera (and those without)
WinXP sp1 - must have; when I reformatted my computer, I got blaster before I was even able to finish downloading updates.
I think that just about fills up the Windows XP CD. Now, get an MS Office CD, ISO it, and start Adding stuff. When that's full, just spill onto a 3rd CD, and you should be all set.
Adobe Premeire - cause Windows Movie Maker just doesn't Cut it
DivX Pro 5 Bundle (not the GAIN one), plus other codecs - gotta play your movies
Apple Quicktime -.mov
Tons of Networking Tools - NeoTrace, Remote Administrator, BulletProof FTP server/client, Mac Address Spoofer (smac), ZoneAlarm Firewall, Mozilla Firebird, Ad-Aware, etc
Power Toys for Windows XP - mainly for TweakUI
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but there are a couple more must-haves. I usually need a total of 3 CDs to setup a Windows Machine, and I also carry around a couple other CDs in my DiscGear box:
Red Hat Linux 9
Visual Studio 6
Super Troopers DivX
Office Space DivX
etc etc. Whew, that about does it.
My friend had one of those pen/pencil combos... he adamantly referred to it as the Pennncil. Emphasis on the fact that it wasn't just the pencil, but was a pen too.
He was so proud of the pennncil and he showed it to everyone. I used to make fun of him behind his back for being such a nerd about it
but now I look before me realizing I'm in a forum discussing pens. What goes around comes around I think.
Well, before you ridicule people for wanting hazardous coffee, you have to respect two very universal points.
1. People are inherently not very smart.
2. The customer is always right.
Keep in mind that McDonalds is a business, not a eutopia-type of institution. They are just trying to make a profit.
I would like to Address [1] and [2].
[1] says that people like stuff that harms them in some way or another (ie cigarettes, alcohol, barely-sub-boiling coffee that burns you), but that they still want it anyway.
[2] says that people buy what they want, and that companies essentially have to respond to consumer requests or be doomed to failure. I mean, if someone adamantly insists on getting a SCUBA oxygen tank with air holes in it, you won't get far by explaining to them how stupid they are, just sell the damn thing to them.
So, when people like hot coffee, don't argue with them. Just make their damn coffee. The coffee is obviously hot... I don't think you could get by without seeing some sort of warning that the coffee is hot. If you think the coffee is too hot you don't have to buy it, but don't go trying to proclaim to the world that it shouldn't be hot. Maybe I ate something nasty and I can't get the taste out of my mouth and I want to burn my taste buds away, I don't know. Maybe I have a nasty pimple on my face and I want to just burn it off with hot coffe...... or maybe I'm not stupid and suicidal and I just want to stop for a quick cup of coffee then have it still be hot when I start drinking it at work 20 minutes later.
The bottom line: Simple Demand should ultimately determine the price of the cofee... just give people what they want. If you are lucky enough to get the 1 in 24 million cups of coffee that spill, boo freakin hoo maybe you should have thought of that before you dumped the hot coffee all over yourself, because essentially a 1 in 24,000,000 chance is not what the average person would consider "hazardous".
I have little to say to this decision than "too little, to late". I am reminded of the recent lawsuit of Kazaa vs. major record companies (Time-Warner, Virgin Records, etc). of Kazaa vs. major record companies (Time-Warner, Virgin Records, etc), alleging that these record labels conspired to increase the price of CDs. Results: "This settlement will put cash in teh hands of millions of consumers and music CDs in libraries and schools throught the country, and will ensure that the challenged distributor/retailer practices will not resume." Full results of the article can be found here.
Well finally, lowering prices. That's a relief. But to 12.99? Who are they kidding? They're still hitting profit margins like popcorn at a movie theatre, and CDs are clearly above what any sensible consumer would consider a "fair" price. But they are clearly not lowering prices enough to "bring consumers back into stores." Instead, they sic the RIAA on everyone, start spitting out scare tactics, threats, seizing bank accounts, etc, then there's the MPAA whining about Warez, then text messeging. Countless US citizens, many whom honestly pay for and purchase music legally and download some music (who clearly pump money into the music/entertainment industry as a whole), are getting tangled up and crippled just so others will be scared to do the same.
And what does it all boil down to?
The music entertainment is simply charging too much for second-rate products/servies (anyone see Gigli recently? I didn't think so). They are doing so because it has historically worked befor p2p alternatives (such as freenet) started showing up. Now, faced with fair prices, they panic and sue by the thousands, which isn't helping them long-term. Millions of people worldwide are getting soured by US entertainment industries, and the entire United States looks like one giant ass as far as other countries may see us (whatever happened to that free country thing we had going a couple hundred years ago?).
The Bottom Line
I absolutely, blatantly refuse to support music/entertainment industries while this chaos is going on. These lawsuits spitting back and forth do not represent the ideals that our country was founded upon. I for one, spit in the music industry. I blatantly refuse to support any industry that practices such childplay.
As for the artists I suppose there's little to do other than say tough beans, cause I'm not paying for any of your crap while it's mixed up with RIAA. Or is there? There are plenty of ways to make lots of money that stray far from CDs in retail stores. Put your mp3s up for free download, the fans will come. New services like iTunes are a great alternative to Records, or even better, record your own!!. I am in full support of music artists, and I always will be, and I will never stop pouring dollars into concerts, special events, etc.
If you are an artist or an end consumer, don't be pushed around by bully tactics. There is still plenty you can do to download your favorite music, support the artists, and still keep the RIAA out of your face. They may look tough now, but don't back down; they're only eating themselves.
SketchUp absolutely takes the cake on this one. SketchUp is the best 3-D modeling design software available (no reason you can't work in 2-D). SketchUp features automatic length and surface area calculations, as well as automatic labelling and dimensioning.
You can also use walkthroughs; literally walk through the model. You can build on different layers and hide any/all of them, and even deaignate a plene on your model, such that everything on the positive side of the plane is hidden, but the rest is visible (perfect for cross sections, cutaways).
SketchUp costs $475 for the full version, but you can get a demo, which can either work for 30 days, or for 12.0 hours of actual use time. THere is a windows client as well.
The best part about SketchUp is the versatility. You can actually save drawings as.dwg (AutoCAD drawing), pictures, and many other formats.
Slashdot Mirror
I can't even think of how many times I've seen Powerpoint crash before/in middle of presentation. And the nasty kind, where even if you hit the X and the End Task it just doesn't quit.
Obviously "End Process" is beyond most college professors. Just 2 weeks ago... "Oh darn, I can't get this to work. I guess I'll have to let you out early. Have a nice lunch!"
To that I say THANK YOU MICROSOFT FOR MAKING CRAPPY SOFTWARE! YAY!!
I think this is just a cleverly disguised plan to get Osama's mailing address. Extra Note on auction:
**Must sell by election day**
I am for one, completely offended that all of you bash Gator 24/7. Gator was designed to put targeted ads to the user, meaning consumers get exactly what they want.
From the continued use of Gator, it has developed an accurate profile, and the ads I receive are of premium interest to me. I have made many successful online purchases from the reliable, well-established companies that advertise through GAIN.
To all those reading this message, I would like you to know that the programmers of Gator worked long, hard hours to design this software, and you should be very thankful that the corporation allows you do download it free of charge, which is worth clearly more than the Suggested Retail Price of US $30.
All in all GAIN is a very useful form of targeted advertising, and represents a huge leap in positive, productive media and computer technology in the 20th-21st Century.
Sincerely as OJ Simpon's Court Statements,
Some shitbag PR/Actor/Marketing Major that was paid a lot to say all this crap... err... I mean...
Joe Average User
Congrats, you beat me to the punch, I was just gonna make a nasty comment about that one...
"Microsoft always tries to retain as much compatibility with previous versions as possible while Apple doesn't."
I am dumbfounded as to even how to answer this. Yes, there are a few programs that did not work on the upgrade from Jaguar to Panther. However, the essentials had no problems.... AIM, Quicktime, Safari, etc all worked fine for me. Ok, so there are a couple trivial applications that don't work, but I definitely had no problem running Graphing Calculator under the classic environment, which is a completely different environment, and it amazes me Apple was even able to do this.
Now, we compare this with Microsoft, claiming Microsoft sets good standards for backwards compatability? Eugenia Loli-Queru, you should be slapped. I remember I got my computer with Windows ME. Wow was that a great operating system *&cough* but we'll leave that aside for now. I, not knowing much about computers at the time, decided to do the 'recommended' upgrade to windows XP, rather than the full reinstall. NOTHING worked. Winamp didn't work, Quake3 didn't work, Office didn't work, Novell didn't work, I had to reinstall more or less everything save Internet Explorer.
On top of that, there are a boatload of my favorite programs that never worked on NT anything. Good Old NESticle refused to work on XP, compatability mode or not.
Speaking of DOS games, I remember all of the wonderful old goodies. Space Quest, Quest for Glory, all the others... never worked on any platform made on Win98 or later.
So, Microsoft retains compatability but Apple doesn't? Wow.
I for one am very much personal-privacy/security online, but even I have my limits. I have worked tech support before, and you'd be amazed how many 1.4 gHz processors with 512 megs of RAM can run like crap. With Kazaa, WinMX, and Limewire ALL installed with all their ad/spyware, along with cometcursor and webshots...
I mean, come on, what do you expect? Some people just have it coming to them. I've just run out of sympathy for protecting the masses. All it takes is a quick skim over the EULA. "...collects your browsing habits and provides advertisements based on the websites you visit."
Ok, I understand there are lot more people that use computers and know how to use them, but COME ON. Is there any jargon in that? I think the most complicated words in there would be 'advertisement' and 'broswing', but then again who knows how to use a keyboard without knowing what that means?
The bottom line: there are many more than adequate ways to keep your computer clean (ie if you go to a warez site and there's an installer; hint: DON'T CLICK YES), such as firewalls, adaware, spybot, etc. It does not take a genius to make use of these programs.
But then again, Murphy's Law of Technology: "Nothing can ever be foolproof because fools are so ingenius."
As opposed to spyware as I am, I figure anyone that can't comprehend such concepts pretty much deserves to have their password keystrokes monitored, etc etc.
I think I recall something along the lines of Darwinism about natural de-selection, ie let'em weed themselves out.
I worked for tech support for a semester, so I got a good feel for most of the programs that people use... and soon enough I became 'that guy' that everyone asks for advice. After a while, I compiled my own Toolkit for installing windows/creating functional computing environment. About the free/cheap thing.... well these are the kazaa/post-napster days, you know how it goes.
.ISO and add/remove files
.mov
Tons of Networking Tools - NeoTrace, Remote Administrator, BulletProof FTP server/client, Mac Address Spoofer (smac), ZoneAlarm Firewall, Mozilla Firebird, Ad-Aware, etc
I start by using WinISO to copy the WinXP CD to an image on my computer. WSwith a Windows XP Pro CD, then I start throwing random stuff in the ValueADD folder, namely:
Nero 5.5.1.4 + Plugins - you just gotta burn stuff.
BitTorrent - cause you can't install EVERYTHING from CDs
WinRAR - archiving/zipping etc
WinISO - great way to manage
VM Ware - I'm a newbie linux user, so rather than double-boot I just run a virtual Machine
Adobe Acrobat Reader/Writer - pdf files. 'nuff said
Adobe Photoshop - must-have for anyone with digital camera (and those without)
WinXP sp1 - must have; when I reformatted my computer, I got blaster before I was even able to finish downloading updates.
I think that just about fills up the Windows XP CD. Now, get an MS Office CD, ISO it, and start Adding stuff. When that's full, just spill onto a 3rd CD, and you should be all set.
Adobe Premeire - cause Windows Movie Maker just doesn't Cut it
DivX Pro 5 Bundle (not the GAIN one), plus other codecs - gotta play your movies
Apple Quicktime -
Power Toys for Windows XP - mainly for TweakUI
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but there are a couple more must-haves. I usually need a total of 3 CDs to setup a Windows Machine, and I also carry around a couple other CDs in my DiscGear box:
Red Hat Linux 9
Visual Studio 6
Super Troopers DivX
Office Space DivX
etc etc. Whew, that about does it.
My friend had one of those pen/pencil combos... he adamantly referred to it as the Pennncil. Emphasis on the fact that it wasn't just the pencil, but was a pen too.
He was so proud of the pennncil and he showed it to everyone. I used to make fun of him behind his back for being such a nerd about it
but now I look before me realizing I'm in a forum discussing pens. What goes around comes around I think.
Well, before you ridicule people for wanting hazardous coffee, you have to respect two very universal points. 1. People are inherently not very smart. 2. The customer is always right. Keep in mind that McDonalds is a business, not a eutopia-type of institution. They are just trying to make a profit. I would like to Address [1] and [2]. [1] says that people like stuff that harms them in some way or another (ie cigarettes, alcohol, barely-sub-boiling coffee that burns you), but that they still want it anyway. [2] says that people buy what they want, and that companies essentially have to respond to consumer requests or be doomed to failure. I mean, if someone adamantly insists on getting a SCUBA oxygen tank with air holes in it, you won't get far by explaining to them how stupid they are, just sell the damn thing to them. So, when people like hot coffee, don't argue with them. Just make their damn coffee. The coffee is obviously hot... I don't think you could get by without seeing some sort of warning that the coffee is hot. If you think the coffee is too hot you don't have to buy it, but don't go trying to proclaim to the world that it shouldn't be hot. Maybe I ate something nasty and I can't get the taste out of my mouth and I want to burn my taste buds away, I don't know. Maybe I have a nasty pimple on my face and I want to just burn it off with hot coffe...... or maybe I'm not stupid and suicidal and I just want to stop for a quick cup of coffee then have it still be hot when I start drinking it at work 20 minutes later. The bottom line: Simple Demand should ultimately determine the price of the cofee... just give people what they want. If you are lucky enough to get the 1 in 24 million cups of coffee that spill, boo freakin hoo maybe you should have thought of that before you dumped the hot coffee all over yourself, because essentially a 1 in 24,000,000 chance is not what the average person would consider "hazardous".
I have little to say to this decision than "too little, to late". I am reminded of the recent lawsuit of Kazaa vs. major record companies (Time-Warner, Virgin Records, etc). of Kazaa vs. major record companies (Time-Warner, Virgin Records, etc), alleging that these record labels conspired to increase the price of CDs. Results: "This settlement will put cash in teh hands of millions of consumers and music CDs in libraries and schools throught the country, and will ensure that the challenged distributor/retailer practices will not resume."
Full results of the article can be found here.
Well finally, lowering prices. That's a relief. But to 12.99? Who are they kidding? They're still hitting profit margins like popcorn at a movie theatre, and CDs are clearly above what any sensible consumer would consider a "fair" price. But they are clearly not lowering prices enough to "bring consumers back into stores."
Instead, they sic the RIAA on everyone, start spitting out scare tactics, threats, seizing bank accounts, etc, then there's the MPAA whining about Warez, then text messeging. Countless US citizens, many whom honestly pay for and purchase music legally and download some music (who clearly pump money into the music/entertainment industry as a whole), are getting tangled up and crippled just so others will be scared to do the same.
And what does it all boil down to?
The music entertainment is simply charging too much for second-rate products/servies (anyone see Gigli recently? I didn't think so). They are doing so because it has historically worked befor p2p alternatives (such as freenet) started showing up. Now, faced with fair prices, they panic and sue by the thousands, which isn't helping them long-term. Millions of people worldwide are getting soured by US entertainment industries, and the entire United States looks like one giant ass as far as other countries may see us (whatever happened to that free country thing we had going a couple hundred years ago?).
The Bottom Line
I absolutely, blatantly refuse to support music/entertainment industries while this chaos is going on. These lawsuits spitting back and forth do not represent the ideals that our country was founded upon. I for one, spit in the music industry. I blatantly refuse to support any industry that practices such childplay.
As for the artists I suppose there's little to do other than say tough beans, cause I'm not paying for any of your crap while it's mixed up with RIAA. Or is there? There are plenty of ways to make lots of money that stray far from CDs in retail stores. Put your mp3s up for free download, the fans will come. New services like iTunes are a great alternative to Records, or even better, record your own!!. I am in full support of music artists, and I always will be, and I will never stop pouring dollars into concerts, special events, etc.
If you are an artist or an end consumer, don't be pushed around by bully tactics. There is still plenty you can do to download your favorite music, support the artists, and still keep the RIAA out of your face. They may look tough now, but don't back down; they're only eating themselves.
SketchUp absolutely takes the cake on this one. SketchUp is the best 3-D modeling design software available (no reason you can't work in 2-D). SketchUp features automatic length and surface area calculations, as well as automatic labelling and dimensioning.
.dwg (AutoCAD drawing), pictures, and many other formats.
You can also use walkthroughs; literally walk through the model. You can build on different layers and hide any/all of them, and even deaignate a plene on your model, such that everything on the positive side of the plane is hidden, but the rest is visible (perfect for cross sections, cutaways).
SketchUp costs $475 for the full version, but you can get a demo, which can either work for 30 days, or for 12.0 hours of actual use time. THere is a windows client as well. The best part about SketchUp is the versatility. You can actually save drawings as
SketchUp is definitely the way to go.