The U.S. is suffering inflation. It's not that the cost of metal is increasing, it's that the value of your currency is falling.
IANAE, but that that statement is muddled at best. The decreasing value of the penny is related to exchange rates. While the rate of inflation in a country can be factor with respect to exchange rates, inflation in the US is considered low and under control. You'd be closer to the truth by saying that Walmart shoppers are to blame for the penny's decline, or blaming it on the invasion of Iraq.
1.) Create a directory somewhere on your computer and create shortcuts there to programs you use the most... You can run more advanced commands by editing shortcut properties adding parameters to the commands and such.
Fair enough, and possibly funny given that you have to go out of your way to make for the lack of a meaningful path in Windows.
Shortcuts "can" work, but I'd suggest something along the lines of:
That'll take care of all your programs without having to spend the day right-clicking your way through multiple directory structures looking for executables. Of course what's missing from the above is some sensible renaming, among other things, and a minimal Cygwin installation. But any sensible Windows user has already taken care of that last item, right?
Calling these people stuipd only makes you look like an arrogant asshole. For most people, a microwave is a black box contraption in their kitchen that makes food hot.
If ignorance != stupidity, then how would you characterise the purchase and regular use of a product without bothering to investigate even the basics of how it works? I'd submit that an irrational insistence on ignorance (or its corrollary, irresponsible laziness) == stupidity in all cases. Yes, Virginia, stupid people do exist. And most of those by choice.
A discussion of light waves? Entirely unnecessary, if not a red herring. A quick read the frigging product instructions (and warnings) suffice.
You seem to forget that ATI had fully open-source drivers until they were forced to "go closed" due to licensing another company's IP for their chipsets. In that particular case, the first incident was S3 Texture Compression, a feature essentially required by all modern games, and apparently with patent licensing agreements that prohibit closed-source drivers. For a few months,...
So this is all the fault of gamers... who use Windows...?
I don't know whether to laugh, cry or punch someone in the face.
That Activia stuff seems to help with irritable bowel syndrome (which in turn was caused by a $300/month starbucks habit). My wife is a dietitian and recommended I try it out.
Dude, buy yourself an espresso machine! Even the Barrista models Starbucks sell in their stores work quite well (assuming you have zero interest in learning the finer points of espresso machines), and should set you back about the same amount as a month of your current habit.
And, yes, if you do drink large amounts of coffee (and drink it on an empty stomach), yoghurt is an excellent idea.
Perhaps someone here can tell me, what is the real difference between this fancy 'Activia' brand, and normal live culture yogurt (such as the Yoplait custard style I've been eating for 20 years when I want yogurt)?
Check the ingredients, lately?
Yoplait, etc. are marketed as yoghurts in the same way colourful beverages are sold as juice: there might be some juice in there somewhere, and it may look like juice, but all in all, it's mostly something else.
Don't recall off-hand, but Yoplait, etc. are predominantly milk and milk solids with a healthy (pun intended) dose of various gums and emulsifiers added to give it the texture of real yoghurt.
To take this a step further, what's the difference between real cheese, and the waxy pasteurised stuff sold as cheese in the typical supermarket? Easy -- one is cheese; the other is something else. Anyone that has even once tasted either will agree this.
Real yoghurt (and real cheese) are available in the U.S., but typically only at high-priced cheese shops, specialty stores, or similar venues that escape notice from regulators. IIRC, it's illegal (as much so as Cuban cigars), but the market for the stuff is alive and well (again, pun intended), and the customers are loyal and happy to pay. Not too many people make real yoghurt locally, but it's not uncommon to find raw cheeses available at better farmers markets.
Worth the expense to who? The taxpayers, or law enforcement?
Depends on how you measure it, and what your perspective is.
Last I checked, the taxpayer was paying for law enforcement (salaries, benefits, pensions, etc.). The taxpayer is also paying for the absence of or shortcomings in law enforcement (property crime, lower property values, social burdens, etc.). If the police need something, you pay for it. If they need something and don't get it, you still pay, but out of a different pocket.
I'd like nothing more than to see English-style bobbies patrolling the streets. That ain't gonna happen. Here in LA, for example, we have sprawl. Law enforcement determines that to do their job effectively, they need, for example, 100K officers. The public says we can't afford it, so the mayor says no, and only half that gets hired along with a few extra patrol vehicles. The unmet need is left unmet, and workarounds are put in place (bigger guns, laxer policies, acceptance of increased delays, tolerance of crime, etc.).
The following year, instead of submitting a request for the missing 50K officers in their next budget, the police submit instead a recommendation to buy and install cameras to take the place of say, 25K officers. The accountants do the arithmetic and determine the cost of cameras is cheaper. The public says "WTF. We can't afford 50K officers, but we can afford the cameras." and the cameras get bought. The unmet needs gets met at a lower cost.
How you feel about cameras or their effectiveness is the real question. Fact of the matter is that in today's world, people are expensive. No one wants to hire them when a technological solution is available. And we all love technology, right?
It's a stupid idea. Filing is not about searching blindly in the style of google. Filing is about having a SYSTEM for categorising things, so that you can figure out what categories any given thing belongs in. Once you have such a system, the easiest way to implement that in software? Directories.
LOL. Someone had to re-state the bleeding obvious.
My guess is that people are either lazy, or striving for a new level of ignorance. The grandparent's use of the term "obsolete" to characterise the above is especially troubling. Normally, I'd offer him a Wikipedia link to a term like "inode", but I'm afraid he's in that category of people that yearns for the day when his PC will function like a toaster.
On the other hand, it's possible that all these webmail users have very limited needs, and the concept of tagging/labelling a handful of items appears (at least at first glance) more appropriate and possibly more efficient than establishing some sort of order to things. Then again, it's just as possible that many are incapable of it. Categorisation requires both thought and effort, as does the after-the-fact maintenance of it. Over the long term, it offers great efficiencies, but explain that to someone whose desk is piled high with randomly stacked piles of paper.
As complicated as the US tax code is, this is the BEST advice for anyone above the poverty level.
The qualifier "for anyone above poverty level" applies especially to H&R Block. For anyone needing more, a qualified tax accountant is often the better choice.
The analogy here is that an H&R Block preparer is like a poorly trained Windows sysadmin who subscribes to the policy of locking down users in the interests of job security. Or better, yet, a Help Desk employee who's memorised the phrase, "That configuration is unsupported".
My own past experience is that if you are indeed at poverty level, you can feel free to muck up your return without worrying too much. The folks at the IRS are quick, eager and duty-bound to rewrite it correctly.
I don't see a place for Microsoft Word, OO Writer, or any such products anywhere above.
Agreed, but we're talking about your personal choices, aren't we? Say you have a small office with a hundred people. Do you:
a) roll out MS Office and hire point-and-click dummies familiar with Office to do their work;
b) hire more intelligent people at a higher pay rate and train them to use LaTeX, along with a few programmers to cobble together the other stuff typically needed in an office environment, while waiting for the payoff; or
c) take the very long view, and start your kids off learning groff.
I use "text" for document preparation on a daily basis, but I don't own such a business, so my opinion or preferences aren't all that relevant. That said, I do have a clear recollection of large well-run companies where the secretaries used DOS and WP for their work and didn't need or rely on icons or wizards to accomplish anything. It could be that the workforce has become even more lazy and stupid than before, or the features of MS Office are too compelling to ignore.
I don't think that question is going to be answered. Everyone's busy buying copies of MS Office, or looking for MS Office work-alikes to stop and consider, aren't they? You and I have every right to remain both confident and smug with our knowledge, but that doesn't change the realities of the situation.
It's about time that the spell check feature become standard in all browsers. It boggles the mind that this has for a very long time been the main reason to get the...
What boggles my mind is the degree to which people have come to rely on their browsers and are convinced that every feature normally associated with a different program should be built into their browser of choice.
Don't mean to sound overly critical, but for me, a browser is (ignoring the few extra bits) something that renders web pages. I don't want it to do anything more. Put another way, a browser with yet-another-feature-X is like a dog walking on its hind legs -- you don't see it too often, and when you do, it's not done very well.
Then, again, I'm still scratching my head wondering why it is people need two spell czech they're work. Your reading, writing and typing skills will never improve (and may get worse), and for the lazy, it's a poor substitute for proof reading.
Indeed. I'd go so far as to say it's common world round.
On the other hand, the question is a bit dumb. What works for breakfast has to be taken in context with what happened before breakfast and what routinely happens after breakfast.
If you're accustomed to eating 3 full meals a day, your body will expect (demand, actually), a full breakfast when you wake up. If you do the cigarette and coffee routine (with or without the traditional croissant, beignet, etc., and/or a shot of something to help you start your day), a full breakfast will make you feel nauseous for most of the day. And that's irrespective of whether you work the land or sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen.
Personally, I think the Italians, etc. have it right. Eat a light breakfast and set aside 2-3 hours for a large lunch. Note that beverages manufactured from corn-syrup aren't part of the equation. Asking a food question from those who haven't been taught or discovered what it is for themselves is entertaining at best.
This is what I would expect. When I bugged apple about their broken NFS support on servers they told us
Going a bit off-topic here, but I've been starting to fall for the It Just Works fanboyism and made up my mind just recently to buy a MacBook. All that unixy goodness, etc., right? Reading the above I have to wonder whether the It Just Works meme refers primarily to the GUI and hardware working as expected. If that's the case, I'll consider myself uninformed and pass on the idea until I learn something useful.
Removing the technology issues from discussion, this case isn't unlike a teacher who carries with him or her polaroids of a personal nature, and has one of them fall out of a jacket while in front of a classroom. In that sense, the teacher should be held accountable.
On the other hand, given that most everyone has at one time been inadvertently exposed to unwanted pornography while browsing the internet, I'm surprised at the narrow view taken. Protecting kids is one thing, but destroying a person's life is quite another. The teacher will undoubtedly be required to register as a sex offender and can kiss the career and just about everything else goodbye.
It's worth pointing out that with respect to adults, a sex offender can be convicted for peeing in public, mooning, fondling or groping, and rape. With respect to minors (a term that includes everyone from 0 years to 17 years), a sex offender is one who has been found guilty of looking at pictures or cartoons, sharing or downloading pictures or cartoons, fooling around with classmates (if still schoolage), fondling or groping, and rape. With this court ruling, we can now add inadvertent computer popups to the list.
My guess is that the average public isn't about to worry their heads over distinctions, so let's just conclude that child sex offenders should burn in hell.
If they had any balls at all they would have gone with the idea of having Captain Riker...
Jonathan Frakes is competent enough as an actor, and his roles are always well-written, but let's face it, the guy isn't that interesting to watch.
On the other hand, this guy looks strangely like Riker and performs a similar role (albeit without a uniform or official title), but is interesting to watch. Hell, I thought it was Jonathan Frakes with a few years of acting classes under his belt doing something new.
... but if you can't see the quality degradation you either lack the equipment or lack the discrimination. (I don't consider the latter to be a problem; in fact I tend to encourage people not to try to attain that sort of discrimination since it pretty much only leads to pain.
A depressing insight. True for most anything in life, I'm afraid.
Re:I've been using vi for so long...
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Control-3 is a nice traditional combo for esc, although I use control-[ myself, with caps lock mapped to an additional control. You don't even need to use xmodmap for that anymore, modern X11 servers have a ctrl:nocaps XkbOption.
The XkbOption is something with which I wasn't familiar. Thanks for the tip.
A lot of fans could be run with that amount, and "silent" fans thesedays are getting to be VERY quiet.
Quiet? The typical "quiet" fan sold these days is about 20-25dB. Many are higher despite the bogus advertising that reads "30dB is a quiet library". Unless you're playing music, have the TV on, or live beside a trafficked roadway, that translates in a fairly noticeable whine. Multiply that by any number of fans per system, and you end up with a lot of unwelcome noise. And there is no indication that plastic fans are going to ever be any quieter, or less numerous, so "these days" isn't very different than "those days" and will be the same well into the future.
Any attempt, harebrained or otherwise, to quietly cool computer systems should be considered progress. In my case, progress consisted of repeated failures (everything but a swimming pool) followed by the purchase of a bunch 'o fanless Via systems which I now keep in a closet -- funny how loud drives are when you have no fans to complain about. Performance isn't anything to brag about, and the NICs are kind of shitty, but you'd be surprised how fast things can be when you offload stuff onto separate systems.
Re:I've been using vi for so long...
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Now that's just plain wrong. The caps lock key is supposed to be mapped to ctrl! That's what any true Unix user would do, because it proves you learned Unix on a terminal designed for Unix with the caps lock in the correct place. PC users just don't understand.
For anyone who hasn't quite got it yet (the joke, or the approach), once upon a time the Control key was located where the Caps Lock key is now located. How keyboards have changed, mostly for the worse, over the years is an interesting discusssion, but I'll leave that aside for now. The point if you're an emacs user, you need the Control key somewhere handy. If you're a vi user, you need the Escape key handy. By handy, I mean you're not taking your hands off the home keys and reaching for a key that you'll be using every few seconds.
The common approach is simply to remap the Caps Lock key (a mostly stupid and useless key if there ever was one). Doing so is fairly trivial, and works without any sort of ill effect. On *nix systems, there's an example in xmodmap(1). For Windows, there's a utility provided with the various Resource Kits that's called remapkey.exe or something or other. Personally, I think vi is the cat's meow, and to add to that, the Escape key, while a staple of using vi, is also useful in many GUI applications, even on Windows, so it makes perfect sense to remap the key and have it handy.
The real point about vi (and learning vi for those who haven't yet invested the time) is that those same key strokes that you've spent time learning, memorising and eventually reconfiguring to suit yourself can, and typically are, applicable to just about any application out there (Firefox included, though with some trouble). Using set -o vi in bash, for example, can make you feel like you're right at home. On the other hand, those seemingly all-purpose keystrokes don't work everywhere. Editing vi commands within vi aren't possible using vi keystrokes. Another common program is screen, which demands (mostly) a Control key combination entered before any other command. Further info and fun bed time reading is readline(3).
It's worth noting that some vi users don't remap the Escape key, but use the Control-[ combination (which is actually the same as hitting the Escape key). I guess the habit could be learned over time, but personally I find the [ key is a bitch to hit regardless of what keyboard I'm using.
It's funny that that's the reason why I detest Gnome - for some reason they got the idea that removing all the options that only 5% of users use is a good idea.
I agree, and I don't doubt that opinion is widespread. I tend toward installing Gnome for others because it gives the appearance of simplicity and it's generally less annoying looking than KDE (I think the operative word kids use today that would describe it is less "gay"). But dear Lord, Gnome is as dumbed down and featureless as Windows, if not more so. The documentation/help system consists solely of instruction of what to click and where, and the configuration options are limited at best. And gconf? I'd rather deal with the Windows registry; at least it has features. Things do generally work, however, so I guess it's appropriate for the average user. That said, I do understand why others may consider KDE the better choice.
Me, I couldn't stand to use KDE, and Gnome, well, when it occurred to me how much of a pig gnome-terminal really is (among other things), I just threw up my hands and installed Fluxbox and went back to using xterms and screen. What more does anyone need, right?;-)
As for KDE on Windows, that should be regarded as an interesting but slightly bizarre concept. I could be wrong, but I guess the thinking is that it will be used to replace the Explorer shell (Windows term for the desktop, taskbar, systray, etc.) a la LiteStep and similar shell replacements. If that's the case, then I can tell you from years of experience that doing so can be a bitch, and one can never trust Explorer to go away and stay away like you told it to, or even that things will work normally. Getting a functional pager on Windows wouldn't hurt, though.
Whatever the situation or one's opinons, it's good to see continuing development and the accompanying buzz for KDE. A refreshing change from the onslaught of stories about Vista.
Stars think that because of the fact that they are famous and are seen by millions of people, they have the right to have an opinion about anything.
I'll go out on a limb here and tell you your pereception is a bit flawed. I either have met or know many celebrities who are in habit of "speaking out" on one subject or another so take this as a personal perspective. Celebrities, their proclivity to performing in public aside, tend to be wealthier than most, and as a result have plenty of time. Everyone has their personal interests, and the famous folks are no different. What distinguishes them generally is that they have both influence and money to pursue and or do something with/about what interests them. It could be dogs or horses or crippled kids, or it could be social or political issues. The point is they can read books and newspapers at their leisure, travel and meet people with ease, and if desired, pay for things out of reach for you and me. We pay attention because we want to. That doesn't guarantee they have anything coherent or important to say, of course.
There are times that that is good (George Clooney on Dafur for example) and I personally have no problem with that as long as the opinion as long as it is an informed opinion
George Clooney is a good example, but I'll use him to make a point since you brought his name up (and no, I haven't met him). Consider a complex subject like Darfur. If Darfur was something that you felt passionately about, and you had lots of money and lots of time, would you be speaking in public or writing articles on Darfur? Probably not (I'll assume your not a charsimatic speaker). But if you did, what about Joe Sixpack and his wife and kids? Do you think they'd be interested in hearing you speak on Darfur? Not likely. Do you think they'd be interested in hearing an expert on the subject speak, perhaps on a TV news program? Possibly, but probably not. George Clooney, on the other hand, is interesting to watch and well spoken. If there's a point to be made, or a position that requires advocacy, I'd say he's better qualified to handle the position than you, me or just about anyone else you can think of because everyone else (like policy wonks, experts, members of important thinktanks, etc.) you... well, can you even remember their names to think of them at all?
Great leaders don't come along very often. In between, we still have important issues. If our elected officials (the folks who are actually tasked with doing something) aren't doing much, I'd say it's up to anyone that wants the job. Personally, I don't care if it's George Clooney, Bono, Willie Nelson, Oprah or some blonde bimbo recording artiste. If they can bring to bear their time, resources and qualities to an issue, they should be commended.
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The U.S. is suffering inflation. It's not that the cost of metal is increasing, it's that the value of your currency is falling.
IANAE, but that that statement is muddled at best. The decreasing value of the penny is related to exchange rates. While the rate of inflation in a country can be factor with respect to exchange rates, inflation in the US is considered low and under control. You'd be closer to the truth by saying that Walmart shoppers are to blame for the penny's decline, or blaming it on the invasion of Iraq.
Its more of a combover for people who dont want to get burned like they did with XP when it first released.
... it's for people who have lost most of their hair, but are intent on maintain a youthful image?
So
1.) Create a directory somewhere on your computer and create shortcuts there to programs you use the most ... You can run more advanced commands by editing shortcut properties adding parameters to the commands and such.
/c/Programs -type f -iname '*.exe' -exec ln -s {} \;
Fair enough, and possibly funny given that you have to go out of your way to make for the lack of a meaningful path in Windows.
Shortcuts "can" work, but I'd suggest something along the lines of:
$ mkdir ~/bin/
$ find
That'll take care of all your programs without having to spend the day right-clicking your way through multiple directory structures looking for executables. Of course what's missing from the above is some sensible renaming, among other things, and a minimal Cygwin installation. But any sensible Windows user has already taken care of that last item, right?
Calling these people stuipd only makes you look like an arrogant asshole. For most people, a microwave is a black box contraption in their kitchen that makes food hot.
If ignorance != stupidity, then how would you characterise the purchase and regular use of a product without bothering to investigate even the basics of how it works? I'd submit that an irrational insistence on ignorance (or its corrollary, irresponsible laziness) == stupidity in all cases. Yes, Virginia, stupid people do exist. And most of those by choice.
A discussion of light waves? Entirely unnecessary, if not a red herring. A quick read the frigging product instructions (and warnings) suffice.
You seem to forget that ATI had fully open-source drivers until they were forced to "go closed" due to licensing another company's IP for their chipsets. In that particular case, the first incident was S3 Texture Compression, a feature essentially required by all modern games, and apparently with patent licensing agreements that prohibit closed-source drivers. For a few months, ...
... who use Windows ...?
So this is all the fault of gamers
I don't know whether to laugh, cry or punch someone in the face.
That Activia stuff seems to help with irritable bowel syndrome (which in turn was caused by a $300/month starbucks habit). My wife is a dietitian and recommended I try it out.
Dude, buy yourself an espresso machine! Even the Barrista models Starbucks sell in their stores work quite well (assuming you have zero interest in learning the finer points of espresso machines), and should set you back about the same amount as a month of your current habit.
And, yes, if you do drink large amounts of coffee (and drink it on an empty stomach), yoghurt is an excellent idea.
Perhaps someone here can tell me, what is the real difference between this fancy 'Activia' brand, and normal live culture yogurt (such as the Yoplait custard style I've been eating for 20 years when I want yogurt)?
Check the ingredients, lately?
Yoplait, etc. are marketed as yoghurts in the same way colourful beverages are sold as juice: there might be some juice in there somewhere, and it may look like juice, but all in all, it's mostly something else.
Don't recall off-hand, but Yoplait, etc. are predominantly milk and milk solids with a healthy (pun intended) dose of various gums and emulsifiers added to give it the texture of real yoghurt.
To take this a step further, what's the difference between real cheese, and the waxy pasteurised stuff sold as cheese in the typical supermarket? Easy -- one is cheese; the other is something else. Anyone that has even once tasted either will agree this.
Real yoghurt (and real cheese) are available in the U.S., but typically only at high-priced cheese shops, specialty stores, or similar venues that escape notice from regulators. IIRC, it's illegal (as much so as Cuban cigars), but the market for the stuff is alive and well (again, pun intended), and the customers are loyal and happy to pay. Not too many people make real yoghurt locally, but it's not uncommon to find raw cheeses available at better farmers markets.
Worth the expense to who? The taxpayers, or law enforcement?
Depends on how you measure it, and what your perspective is.
Last I checked, the taxpayer was paying for law enforcement (salaries, benefits, pensions, etc.). The taxpayer is also paying for the absence of or shortcomings in law enforcement (property crime, lower property values, social burdens, etc.). If the police need something, you pay for it. If they need something and don't get it, you still pay, but out of a different pocket.
I'd like nothing more than to see English-style bobbies patrolling the streets. That ain't gonna happen. Here in LA, for example, we have sprawl. Law enforcement determines that to do their job effectively, they need, for example, 100K officers. The public says we can't afford it, so the mayor says no, and only half that gets hired along with a few extra patrol vehicles. The unmet need is left unmet, and workarounds are put in place (bigger guns, laxer policies, acceptance of increased delays, tolerance of crime, etc.).
The following year, instead of submitting a request for the missing 50K officers in their next budget, the police submit instead a recommendation to buy and install cameras to take the place of say, 25K officers. The accountants do the arithmetic and determine the cost of cameras is cheaper. The public says "WTF. We can't afford 50K officers, but we can afford the cameras." and the cameras get bought. The unmet needs gets met at a lower cost.
How you feel about cameras or their effectiveness is the real question. Fact of the matter is that in today's world, people are expensive. No one wants to hire them when a technological solution is available. And we all love technology, right?
It's a stupid idea. Filing is not about searching blindly in the style of google. Filing is about having a SYSTEM for categorising things, so that you can figure out what categories any given thing belongs in. Once you have such a system, the easiest way to implement that in software? Directories.
LOL. Someone had to re-state the bleeding obvious.
My guess is that people are either lazy, or striving for a new level of ignorance. The grandparent's use of the term "obsolete" to characterise the above is especially troubling. Normally, I'd offer him a Wikipedia link to a term like "inode", but I'm afraid he's in that category of people that yearns for the day when his PC will function like a toaster.
On the other hand, it's possible that all these webmail users have very limited needs, and the concept of tagging/labelling a handful of items appears (at least at first glance) more appropriate and possibly more efficient than establishing some sort of order to things. Then again, it's just as possible that many are incapable of it. Categorisation requires both thought and effort, as does the after-the-fact maintenance of it. Over the long term, it offers great efficiencies, but explain that to someone whose desk is piled high with randomly stacked piles of paper.
As complicated as the US tax code is, this is the BEST advice for anyone above the poverty level.
The qualifier "for anyone above poverty level" applies especially to H&R Block. For anyone needing more, a qualified tax accountant is often the better choice.
The analogy here is that an H&R Block preparer is like a poorly trained Windows sysadmin who subscribes to the policy of locking down users in the interests of job security. Or better, yet, a Help Desk employee who's memorised the phrase, "That configuration is unsupported".
My own past experience is that if you are indeed at poverty level, you can feel free to muck up your return without worrying too much. The folks at the IRS are quick, eager and duty-bound to rewrite it correctly.
Man, that sounds wrong.
Even more wrong if you speak a language where "squirt" typically means exactly what you think it means.
I'll predict that if Microsoft markets the zune internationally, the advertising campaign will fail even more badly.
I don't see a place for Microsoft Word, OO Writer, or any such products anywhere above.
Agreed, but we're talking about your personal choices, aren't we? Say you have a small office with a hundred people. Do you:
a) roll out MS Office and hire point-and-click dummies familiar with Office to do their work;
b) hire more intelligent people at a higher pay rate and train them to use LaTeX, along with a few programmers to cobble together the other stuff typically needed in an office environment, while waiting for the payoff; or
c) take the very long view, and start your kids off learning groff.
I use "text" for document preparation on a daily basis, but I don't own such a business, so my opinion or preferences aren't all that relevant. That said, I do have a clear recollection of large well-run companies where the secretaries used DOS and WP for their work and didn't need or rely on icons or wizards to accomplish anything. It could be that the workforce has become even more lazy and stupid than before, or the features of MS Office are too compelling to ignore.
I don't think that question is going to be answered. Everyone's busy buying copies of MS Office, or looking for MS Office work-alikes to stop and consider, aren't they? You and I have every right to remain both confident and smug with our knowledge, but that doesn't change the realities of the situation.
It's about time that the spell check feature become standard in all browsers. It boggles the mind that this has for a very long time been the main reason to get the...
What boggles my mind is the degree to which people have come to rely on their browsers and are convinced that every feature normally associated with a different program should be built into their browser of choice.
Don't mean to sound overly critical, but for me, a browser is (ignoring the few extra bits) something that renders web pages. I don't want it to do anything more. Put another way, a browser with yet-another-feature-X is like a dog walking on its hind legs -- you don't see it too often, and when you do, it's not done very well.
Then, again, I'm still scratching my head wondering why it is people need two spell czech they're work. Your reading, writing and typing skills will never improve (and may get worse), and for the lazy, it's a poor substitute for proof reading.
Coffee and a smoke. Then some more coffee.
Indeed. I'd go so far as to say it's common world round.
On the other hand, the question is a bit dumb. What works for breakfast has to be taken in context with what happened before breakfast and what routinely happens after breakfast.
If you're accustomed to eating 3 full meals a day, your body will expect (demand, actually), a full breakfast when you wake up. If you do the cigarette and coffee routine (with or without the traditional croissant, beignet, etc., and/or a shot of something to help you start your day), a full breakfast will make you feel nauseous for most of the day. And that's irrespective of whether you work the land or sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen.
Personally, I think the Italians, etc. have it right. Eat a light breakfast and set aside 2-3 hours for a large lunch. Note that beverages manufactured from corn-syrup aren't part of the equation. Asking a food question from those who haven't been taught or discovered what it is for themselves is entertaining at best.
It's a bit harsh to call it stupidity ...
Fercryinoutloud, she was drinking dihydrogen monoxide!!!
Dunno about you, but everyone knows that's dangerous stuff. Been in an airport recently? The terrorists are now using it.
More info here!
This is what I would expect. When I bugged apple about their broken NFS support on servers they told us
Going a bit off-topic here, but I've been starting to fall for the It Just Works fanboyism and made up my mind just recently to buy a MacBook. All that unixy goodness, etc., right? Reading the above I have to wonder whether the It Just Works meme refers primarily to the GUI and hardware working as expected. If that's the case, I'll consider myself uninformed and pass on the idea until I learn something useful.
Removing the technology issues from discussion, this case isn't unlike a teacher who carries with him or her polaroids of a personal nature, and has one of them fall out of a jacket while in front of a classroom. In that sense, the teacher should be held accountable.
On the other hand, given that most everyone has at one time been inadvertently exposed to unwanted pornography while browsing the internet, I'm surprised at the narrow view taken. Protecting kids is one thing, but destroying a person's life is quite another. The teacher will undoubtedly be required to register as a sex offender and can kiss the career and just about everything else goodbye.
It's worth pointing out that with respect to adults, a sex offender can be convicted for peeing in public, mooning, fondling or groping, and rape. With respect to minors (a term that includes everyone from 0 years to 17 years), a sex offender is one who has been found guilty of looking at pictures or cartoons, sharing or downloading pictures or cartoons, fooling around with classmates (if still schoolage), fondling or groping, and rape. With this court ruling, we can now add inadvertent computer popups to the list.
My guess is that the average public isn't about to worry their heads over distinctions, so let's just conclude that child sex offenders should burn in hell.
If they had any balls at all they would have gone with the idea of having Captain Riker ...
Jonathan Frakes is competent enough as an actor, and his roles are always well-written, but let's face it, the guy isn't that interesting to watch.
On the other hand, this guy looks strangely like Riker and performs a similar role (albeit without a uniform or official title), but is interesting to watch. Hell, I thought it was Jonathan Frakes with a few years of acting classes under his belt doing something new.
... but if you can't see the quality degradation you either lack the equipment or lack the discrimination. (I don't consider the latter to be a problem; in fact I tend to encourage people not to try to attain that sort of discrimination since it pretty much only leads to pain.
A depressing insight. True for most anything in life, I'm afraid.
Control-3 is a nice traditional combo for esc, although I use control-[ myself, with caps lock mapped to an additional control. You don't even need to use xmodmap for that anymore, modern X11 servers have a ctrl:nocaps XkbOption.
The XkbOption is something with which I wasn't familiar. Thanks for the tip.
A lot of fans could be run with that amount, and "silent" fans thesedays are getting to be VERY quiet.
Quiet? The typical "quiet" fan sold these days is about 20-25dB. Many are higher despite the bogus advertising that reads "30dB is a quiet library". Unless you're playing music, have the TV on, or live beside a trafficked roadway, that translates in a fairly noticeable whine. Multiply that by any number of fans per system, and you end up with a lot of unwelcome noise. And there is no indication that plastic fans are going to ever be any quieter, or less numerous, so "these days" isn't very different than "those days" and will be the same well into the future.
Any attempt, harebrained or otherwise, to quietly cool computer systems should be considered progress. In my case, progress consisted of repeated failures (everything but a swimming pool) followed by the purchase of a bunch 'o fanless Via systems which I now keep in a closet -- funny how loud drives are when you have no fans to complain about. Performance isn't anything to brag about, and the NICs are kind of shitty, but you'd be surprised how fast things can be when you offload stuff onto separate systems.
Now that's just plain wrong. The caps lock key is supposed to be mapped to ctrl! That's what any true Unix user would do, because it proves you learned Unix on a terminal designed for Unix with the caps lock in the correct place. PC users just don't understand.
For anyone who hasn't quite got it yet (the joke, or the approach), once upon a time the Control key was located where the Caps Lock key is now located. How keyboards have changed, mostly for the worse, over the years is an interesting discusssion, but I'll leave that aside for now. The point if you're an emacs user, you need the Control key somewhere handy. If you're a vi user, you need the Escape key handy. By handy, I mean you're not taking your hands off the home keys and reaching for a key that you'll be using every few seconds.
The common approach is simply to remap the Caps Lock key (a mostly stupid and useless key if there ever was one). Doing so is fairly trivial, and works without any sort of ill effect. On *nix systems, there's an example in xmodmap(1). For Windows, there's a utility provided with the various Resource Kits that's called remapkey.exe or something or other. Personally, I think vi is the cat's meow, and to add to that, the Escape key, while a staple of using vi, is also useful in many GUI applications, even on Windows, so it makes perfect sense to remap the key and have it handy.
The real point about vi (and learning vi for those who haven't yet invested the time) is that those same key strokes that you've spent time learning, memorising and eventually reconfiguring to suit yourself can, and typically are, applicable to just about any application out there (Firefox included, though with some trouble). Using set -o vi in bash, for example, can make you feel like you're right at home. On the other hand, those seemingly all-purpose keystrokes don't work everywhere. Editing vi commands within vi aren't possible using vi keystrokes. Another common program is screen, which demands (mostly) a Control key combination entered before any other command. Further info and fun bed time reading is readline(3).
It's worth noting that some vi users don't remap the Escape key, but use the Control-[ combination (which is actually the same as hitting the Escape key). I guess the habit could be learned over time, but personally I find the [ key is a bitch to hit regardless of what keyboard I'm using.
It's funny that that's the reason why I detest Gnome - for some reason they got the idea that removing all the options that only 5% of users use is a good idea.
;-)
I agree, and I don't doubt that opinion is widespread. I tend toward installing Gnome for others because it gives the appearance of simplicity and it's generally less annoying looking than KDE (I think the operative word kids use today that would describe it is less "gay"). But dear Lord, Gnome is as dumbed down and featureless as Windows, if not more so. The documentation/help system consists solely of instruction of what to click and where, and the configuration options are limited at best. And gconf? I'd rather deal with the Windows registry; at least it has features. Things do generally work, however, so I guess it's appropriate for the average user. That said, I do understand why others may consider KDE the better choice.
Me, I couldn't stand to use KDE, and Gnome, well, when it occurred to me how much of a pig gnome-terminal really is (among other things), I just threw up my hands and installed Fluxbox and went back to using xterms and screen. What more does anyone need, right?
As for KDE on Windows, that should be regarded as an interesting but slightly bizarre concept. I could be wrong, but I guess the thinking is that it will be used to replace the Explorer shell (Windows term for the desktop, taskbar, systray, etc.) a la LiteStep and similar shell replacements. If that's the case, then I can tell you from years of experience that doing so can be a bitch, and one can never trust Explorer to go away and stay away like you told it to, or even that things will work normally. Getting a functional pager on Windows wouldn't hurt, though.
Whatever the situation or one's opinons, it's good to see continuing development and the accompanying buzz for KDE. A refreshing change from the onslaught of stories about Vista.
A platform exists only to run the apps, not visa-versa.
Ah, yes. The computer as toaster paradigm.
Stars think that because of the fact that they are famous and are seen by millions of people, they have the right to have an opinion about anything.
... well, can you even remember their names to think of them at all?
I'll go out on a limb here and tell you your pereception is a bit flawed. I either have met or know many celebrities who are in habit of "speaking out" on one subject or another so take this as a personal perspective. Celebrities, their proclivity to performing in public aside, tend to be wealthier than most, and as a result have plenty of time. Everyone has their personal interests, and the famous folks are no different. What distinguishes them generally is that they have both influence and money to pursue and or do something with/about what interests them. It could be dogs or horses or crippled kids, or it could be social or political issues. The point is they can read books and newspapers at their leisure, travel and meet people with ease, and if desired, pay for things out of reach for you and me. We pay attention because we want to. That doesn't guarantee they have anything coherent or important to say, of course.
There are times that that is good (George Clooney on Dafur for example) and I personally have no problem with that as long as the opinion as long as it is an informed opinion
George Clooney is a good example, but I'll use him to make a point since you brought his name up (and no, I haven't met him). Consider a complex subject like Darfur. If Darfur was something that you felt passionately about, and you had lots of money and lots of time, would you be speaking in public or writing articles on Darfur? Probably not (I'll assume your not a charsimatic speaker). But if you did, what about Joe Sixpack and his wife and kids? Do you think they'd be interested in hearing you speak on Darfur? Not likely. Do you think they'd be interested in hearing an expert on the subject speak, perhaps on a TV news program? Possibly, but probably not. George Clooney, on the other hand, is interesting to watch and well spoken. If there's a point to be made, or a position that requires advocacy, I'd say he's better qualified to handle the position than you, me or just about anyone else you can think of because everyone else (like policy wonks, experts, members of important thinktanks, etc.) you
Great leaders don't come along very often. In between, we still have important issues. If our elected officials (the folks who are actually tasked with doing something) aren't doing much, I'd say it's up to anyone that wants the job. Personally, I don't care if it's George Clooney, Bono, Willie Nelson, Oprah or some blonde bimbo recording artiste. If they can bring to bear their time, resources and qualities to an issue, they should be commended.