is this: which is more expensive to your employer: a) your re-imaging plus the developer's downtime, or b) the time the developer wastes not being able to install software? In this case, probably a. But I'd argue that in some cases (mine, obviously:-> ) the time I save is worth the potential risk that an admin might have to re-image my box. Since I only ask for IT help once or twice a year, it seems like this is working out fine--in my particular case, anyway.
If you think about it, a discerning user is just as frustrated by being hobbled from making efficient use of his PC as an admin is by constant support of some guy getting his box owned. I know it goes against the zeitgeist, but it helps if you don't assume the worst about a different of a point of view. Heck, it can even help you to deal with stress if you try to see things from the other guy's perspective. I'm trying to.
From a rational/financial view, it's definintely complicated. There are larger risks (risk to the network outside of Joe's or Suzy's box) that have to be accounted for. I know that some IT folks assume that their time is more expensive than anyone else's (which isn't always the case) and of course they find doing something repetitive (re-imaging a machine) annoying. I can appreciate the idea that fixing the same problem multiple times is frustrating. Heck, it can make me bonkers when a developer reintroduces the same grammar mistake into an error message three times. But isn't that (fixing a problem) part of what I'm getting paid to do? And isn't fixing IT problems what IT staff gets paid to do?
And as I said in response to another post, it's too bad its easier to have a blanket policy than something more rational.
I know it's impossible, but it would be nice if there was a way to figure out what level of permissions to give a particular user... is that too much like a license to operate a computer?:-) If you score 100-90% you get admin rights. 70-90%, you get a user account. 50-70% you get a restricted account in a virtual machine. Less than 50%, an etch-a-sketch.:-)
Too bad most places find it easier to have a blanket policy than something rational like you suggest. Balance is key, but it is certainly difficult to find that point between security and flexibility that makes everyone happy (or everyone equally unhappy?)
I can see ITs side of things. I just wish more admins took the time to see things from the other point of view. I wonder how many IT guys have the same restrictions on the boxes they use on a daily basis as they place on their users?
Anyway, thanks for the sensbile, on-topic response. Don't see too many of those around here:-)
The "backcharging IT" thing was meant to be TIC, but that obviously didn't come across.:o) Forgot my emoticon--sorry.
There's a fundamental disconnect between what (some) IT departments think is their job and what the rest of us believe is the function of IT. My view, which I don't think is unreasonable, the IT department has the job of helping support the rest of the company. That means helping ensure that the sales guy's laptop is virus free so he can sell product, keeping the network infrastructure running so the support folks can access the CRM software, and maintaining the servers that contain our documentation, for example. That also means allowing me to do what I need to do to get my job done efficiently, with a minimum of hassle.
IT is supposed to be a service organization. There are some IT department's I've had experience with where the admins acted like they're doing a huge personal favor by coming out of their cubes and doing the job they're paid to do. I hear your frustration ("...repeatedly reimage systems...like 100 times...") and I understand that when a bonehead does the same thing over and over expecting different results, it can be maddening. But I think your point of a policy underscores my original post, which is that you have a policy that says that unsupported software is not supported by IT. Maybe there's a policy that says that if your box needs reimaging more than once every two months, IT charges your department. Beyond that, it's ITs job to help the rest of the company be productive.
By the way, I have a really good relationship with the IT department here. Sometimes I stop by just to give them a hard time, and they always give me the tools I need to do my job (they hand out KVMs and hubs like candy). I think they're willing to be helpful because I don't ask for support very often (maybe once or twice a year) and I've always done my homework before I ask.
I agree that VMs are a good solution, which I'd like to see it implmented more... and not just because I work for the big name in VMs:-)
I guess to summarize, there are two side to this and both sides should try to see things from the other side's perspective (or is that too rational for/. ?):-)
My wife was a math major and all-around genius (prefect grades on every assignment in every class), and has been a teacher and librarian. She keeps our financial books in order (thank goodness) and has excellent insight into big financial decisions; when we've followed her preferred course of action, we've always done well, I'm batting about 80%. She's not a gadget freak like me, but she definitely knows more about Word and Excel than I do. The computer is more of a tool than a hobby in her case, but she is very on top of the tools that she does use.
For those on Slashdot who aren't married, my advice is to find a woman who is at least as smart as you are. If you can find a girl who has more knowledge than you in particular areas (like my wife with math) you'll be doing well. It's cool to have a relationship where your areas of interest overlap, but it's really cool when your different expertise allows you to learn from each other.
And make sure she never reads/. if you're going to mock her:o)
"Locking down" machines, which usually means preventing users from installing or running software that the admin hasn't "approved" is far more likely to reduce productivity than anything else. I can't tell you how many times I've been frustrated by the admins who have the idea that they know better than I do what tools I need to do my job... In fact, it's something that I ask non-manager employees when I interview: "Do you have admin privileges on your box" (working in software, I usually get a sensible response).
Listen, all you genius admins, I don't tell you what firewall software to use, you don't tell me what file conversion software I need to get the Windows line breaks out of text files, Ok? I don't what you're using for an anti-virus tool, and I don't expect you to know about my use of FrameScript to automate FrameMaker. The MicroType FM extensions make me about 10% more efficient in my work, and if I can't download and install them, I'll see if we can't backcharge IT for that extra hour a day.
A sensible policy is that "unapproved" applications are unsupported. This means that if something I install causes problems, I have to resolve them or have my box re-imaged. I'm fine with that. Don't "lock down" my machine, prevent me from doing my job efficiently, and then crow about how you've saved the company money.
Nature says "While we were quite willing to discuss the issues, the company [Britannica] failed to provide specific details of its complaints" but Brittanica is unable to do so, because Nature will not release detailed information about how it performed the survey.
Wikipedia's useful (though some articles are just an amusing read) and I don't own an encyclopedia... but Nature's hiding of their research methodology is fishy.
Three words: "Outlook" and "HTML email"
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Why Phishing Works
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· Score: 2, Interesting
If all email was plain text, phishing would decrease significantly. Unfortunately, we have "helpful" things like hyperlinks in email (a well-intentioned but bad idea) that help prepetuate this type of problem. I can't recall the last time I clicked a link in an email, but I can tell you it was a long time ago.
Chances are, if the user had to copy and paste the bank's URL out of the email, it would be a lot harder to hide the fact that the URL directs to some non-official site (bankofthevvest is a counter-example, but it would still help). Most likely, people would type in the banks URL and create a bookmark. Then when they got the email they would open their browser and click the bookmark and log in. Problem eliminated.
This isn't an IE/Outlook problem only, I admit. There are a lot of mail clients that provide this same "helpful" behavior. But as with auto-executing scripts in the OUtlook preview pane, it would be better (IMO) if they didn't.
You can get great deals (like 30% off) on a refurbished Mac. I bought my 12" Powerbook G4 for about 28% less than it was selling new, and it was a real bargin. The computers are all completely repaired and tested, and you get the Apple warranty plus you can opt for AppleCare.
Just a suggestion if you want "like new" at a fraction of the new cost.
"New iPod killer" -- "Viiv replaces PCs" -- "Origami to take over entire planet" -- these headlines are just silly. Revolutionary changes in tech happen, but they aren't common. Even the PC, arguably one of the most revolutionary technologies in history is essentially an evolutionary step on the road from mainframes to ubiquitous computing. As a general rule, video doesn't kill the radio star.
It's extremely unlikely that Viiv is going to wipe out the PC as we know it. Possibly (it isn't likely, IMO, but it's possible) this technology will make some inroads into the consumer market. It's even possible that a similar technology (the ability to separate video storage and playback from the physical display) will eventually dominate consumer sales of video devices. But there are a lot of folks who are happy to plug their TV into a cable box and DVD player. Probably always will be.
I think there are things that I'd miss--there are informational sites in the UK that I visit occasionally. I would probably miss the BBC. There are also things that you can order from the UK that require a prescription to order in the US, which I might also miss.
Overall, I like the ability to see sites that aren't here in the US. The different perspectives you get when reading about issues on a UK or Australian news site are both interesting and useful in getting a clearer picture of what is newsworthy in (some) non-US countries. I wish I had a better grasp of the other languages I know (Italian and Spanish) so I could better grasp information from sites in those languages.
On the other hand, I'd really like a more convenient way to optionally restrict product searches to US-based sellers. It's time consuming to sort out all the UK sellers when I'm looking to buy electronics, but between the currency conversion rates and the high cost of shipping, it's unusual for me to purchase something from outside the states.
Look, special small programs that run in the background (widgets) and a way to view all the contents of open windows (expose) and a search bar (spotlight). Windows Vista is really one rockin', all-new OS.
I'm a technical writer and when I was looking for work two years ago, I actually turned down work from a company that wrote its 200+ page manuals in Word. Why? Because people who use Word for long documents (books) usually wind up spending about 20% of their time trying to work around problems. Word isn't a long document tool, but people who only know Word waste countless hours trying to get it to do something that it was never meant to do. (Just the words "Master Documents" make me shudder)
My parents are an example on the other end. My dad sends me Word docs with pictures in them, and my mom uses Excel to keep lists. Until my brother-in-law set up a gallery Web site, my mother-in-law also sent pictures in Office documents.
It's too bad this problem exists, but until people figure out that Office apps aren't the best tool for every application, it's not going to change.
Am I the only one who is getting tired of being assaulted by video advertising everywhere? It's in the mall near my house--large plasma TVs scattered around the mall advertising movies, electronics, and the wonders of mall giftcards. It's in the grocery store, where LCD panels at the checkouts play food-channel type cooking soundbites and advertisements for the latest in precooked dinners.
I don't mind ads that are billboards or signs, and I can generally put up with the ads they're inserting in Musak these days. But the combination is really annoying for some reason. All I can think of is the store Tom Cruise enters in Minority Report, where the TV is saying "Hello, Mr. ____, would you like to buy a turtleneck in green?"
I don't think that Treos come from Palm with this capability, but there is 3rd-party software that allows you to push email to the Treo. I'm not sure if there's an Exchange plug-in or whatnot, but I've seen several different applications that allow IMAP mail to be pushed.
The thing that frustrates
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Region-free PS3
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· Score: 4, Insightful
is that companies distrbuting games and other content want to have it both ways. On one hand, they say that they have "licensed" you the content, and thus you do not have the right to make copies. Your license allows you to have one instance of the content. On the other hand, they say that they have "sold" you the physical media, and if anything happens to the CD/DVD, it's something you owned that is now distroyed. Your purchase allows you to have one instance of the physical object.
IMO, it should work one way or the other:
If they're licensing the content, then if the physical media is destroyed and you can't exercise your license, there should be some way to either get some money back (since you've lost the use of the "perpetual" license you were sold) or to replace the media so you can exercise your right to the license.
If they are selling a physical object, then you should be able to duplicate its contents freely, in case the object is destroyed.
The way things are right now, the content distributers have all the rights, and the content purchasers are in a sort of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" bind. Duplicate your content, and you're a piratical anarchist. Don't, and it's quite likely that you'll be out of luck when the physical object is damaged.
This is currently a problem for me. I bought Civ 4 to play on my Windows game machine. I played it for about three months before the CD got scratched. While the scratches were my fault (I failed to take into account how much dust was accumulating in the PC) now the $30 game that I purchased is unusable. Since I purchased a perpetual license, is it OK for me to download an iso of the game CD and burn it so I can play? Not according to the game publisher.
I'm not talking about what is currently legal. I'm making a point that the way things stand right now, a lot of people are frustrated with the seeming one-sideness of content distribution as it's implemented right now.
While there are "free" versions of closed-source apps, they are in response to the need to gain mindshare. In addition, a lot of those "lite" versions are limited.
I know that MSDE had a limitation on the number of simultaneous connections and the total size of the database. If you have to choose between something free and unlimited, and something free that has built-in limitations, which one would you pick?
Are the ones where the author clearly hasn't thought through the implications of their sentence structure. As in: (From the article on the V2 Rocket): "It was the progenitor of the rocket race that developed during the Cold War, and ultimately put men on the moon and probes that have left our solar system."
Leaving aside whether the V2 was the progenitor of the space race or merely other rockets, parse that sentence and you wind up wondering how the V2 helped put men on the probes that have left our solar system. Indeed, you might wonder who these intrepid explorers were, who were so brave as to travel outside our solar system and so selfless as to remain nameless and unmentioned by history.
Wiki's always good for a chuckle, if nothing else.
This is one of the areas where I think that Open Source can really shine, and it's interesting to see how the mindshare of Open Source database software is growing.
When you look at software purchasing patterns, it seems that most software purchases are driven by four things: cost, features, familiarity, and "safety." Open Source software usually competes strongly on the first, moderately well on the second, and not so well on the third and fourth. Asking DBAs to use something they're not familiar with means that they're going to be working slower and harder--not the choice that most people make. In addition, the "nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM" syndrome sometimes prevents Open Source choices from getting a fair shake. But it appears that Open Source tools are starting to compete on those last two fronts as well.
A lot of geeks like to fiddle around with software on their own, and the "free" part of Open Source plays right to this. After all, are you going to pay for a Microsoft Sequel Server license, or try out MySQL when you're doing something for your own satisfaction? I'm a good example of something similar: I wanted some dynamic Web pages, but I didn't want to pay for ASP support through my ISP. So instead I started looking into PHP and eventually wound up using PHP to handle the dynamic content.
Once people involved in making decisions (not perhaps the decision-makers themselves, but people with input) start using Open Source for themselves, a lot of the "I don't know it so it's harder and slower" goes right out the window. Sure your average CRM developer might not be making the decision, but if they're asked about DB support and they know PostgreSQL because that's what they used to build their roll-your-own blog, they may offer that as an option.
As Open Source comes into use in the market, that helps alleviate the "safety" factor, too. When you can point to a large organization that's successfully running enterprise-grade applications on Open Source, it's easier for the decision makers to rationalize choosing an Open Source solution.
Sheesh-- Why does everything on Slashdot have to devolve into some half-witted religious flamewar between Open Source and Proprietary software? I guess something rational, like a list of features with an (even moderately) unbiased comparison cuts down on the page views, or something.
Both Office suites have advantages and disadvantages. MS Office is fairly expensive, OO is free. Microsoft's VBA is relatively straightforward, OO's scripting is convoluted. Microsoft has annoyances like "personalized menus", while the Open Office interface is relatively static. Outlook provides some powerful tools for cooperative scheduling, which OO doesn't support. Open Office is infinitely more "tweakable" (if you're willing to poke around in the innards) while MS only provides the customization the they think you need. The list goes on and on.
My advice: Choose the feature set you need and then pick the office suite the provides it. If you can't live without macros and scripting and you aren't willing to deal with the convoluted scripting language of OO, pick Microsoft. If you're ethically opposed to using software you haven't paid for and can't afford MS Office, pick OO. If you prefer one interface over the other, choose the suite you prefer. But don't do the Office Suite Taliban thing... dare I say that it's "just" software?
Anyone willing to look at both suites openly and fairly will admit that Open Office is still somewhat behind MS Office in usability and functionality (in most areas). There are a lot of reasons for this: OO is relatively new, MS has more money to spend, MS's development efforts are centrally coordinated, etc. Open Office has, however, made some big strides forward from when I first used it, while Microsoft Office development seems to have stagnated.
As someone who spends most of my days writing, I can tell you that for some tasks, Writer works great, and for others, Word is a good choice. For a lot of my writing tasks, I use FrameMaker, because neither Writer nor Word can do the things I need. I pick the tool that works and use it.
As the most "techie" teacher (this was about 7 years back) I was responsible for helping "check out" PCs and other computer equipment donated to our school. It was a real pain, and I can offer some suggestions on how to help sort out hardware.
First, set some minimum quality that you're willing to support. At this point you're unlikely to get any DX2/66MHz machines, but you never know. If you know what OS you'll be running (and how fast the machines need to be to seem useful) then use that to help you decide. Once you have a minimum, (say P3s running 600+MHz with 256MB RAM) start checking donated boxes against the minimums, If they don't meet your criteria, set them aside to be cannibalized into machines that do.
Second, unless you're willing to live in a support nightmare, wipe all the drives and fresh install the OS. If you don't, you're going to find all kinds of crud on the drives... and it's possible that some of it may not be kid-friendly. In addition, if you can get all the boxes into a somewhat similar state, it will be a lot easier to diagnose problems later. It's possible that doing this may mean that you don't get the full resolution of the graphics card or that the Hercules sound card won't work--but that's a small price to pay for a manageable set of boxes.
Next, once you've installed the OS, be sure to create a user account for the kids. Not an admin account (under Windows) or a root account for linux. Assign appropriate privileges. Create a single admin account using the same name and password (for your use) on all the boxes.
Finally, recruit a couple of the best and brightest to help out. There's no reason some of these kids can't assist with formatting drives and installing the OS. If you have a checklist, you could even assign a kid to look at the BIOS screen and make a preliminary decision about whether a box is usable or ready for the cannibalize pile.
Oh yeah--one more thing. Keep a written record of what you did to which machine and what its stats are.
I 100% agree. I'd love to see more movies of this type; the recent spate of Marvel/Superhero movies has been nice (though not all were well made). When I go to the movies, I'm hoping for something to entertain and amuse. I want to see Bruce Willis jump out of an exploding car traveling 60 mph and survive, or Brandon Fraiser fighting mummies, or Angelina Jolie swiming through Atlantis.
I don't want to see "real life" in my movies--I see that every day, thanks.
Slashdot Mirror
is this: which is more expensive to your employer: a) your re-imaging plus the developer's downtime, or b) the time the developer wastes not being able to install software? In this case, probably a. But I'd argue that in some cases (mine, obviously :-> ) the time I save is worth the potential risk that an admin might have to re-image my box. Since I only ask for IT help once or twice a year, it seems like this is working out fine--in my particular case, anyway.
If you think about it, a discerning user is just as frustrated by being hobbled from making efficient use of his PC as an admin is by constant support of some guy getting his box owned. I know it goes against the zeitgeist, but it helps if you don't assume the worst about a different of a point of view. Heck, it can even help you to deal with stress if you try to see things from the other guy's perspective. I'm trying to.
From a rational/financial view, it's definintely complicated. There are larger risks (risk to the network outside of Joe's or Suzy's box) that have to be accounted for. I know that some IT folks assume that their time is more expensive than anyone else's (which isn't always the case) and of course they find doing something repetitive (re-imaging a machine) annoying. I can appreciate the idea that fixing the same problem multiple times is frustrating. Heck, it can make me bonkers when a developer reintroduces the same grammar mistake into an error message three times. But isn't that (fixing a problem) part of what I'm getting paid to do? And isn't fixing IT problems what IT staff gets paid to do?
And as I said in response to another post, it's too bad its easier to have a blanket policy than something more rational.
:-) If you score 100-90% you get admin rights. 70-90%, you get a user account. 50-70% you get a restricted account in a virtual machine. Less than 50%, an etch-a-sketch. :-)
I know it's impossible, but it would be nice if there was a way to figure out what level of permissions to give a particular user... is that too much like a license to operate a computer?
Too bad most places find it easier to have a blanket policy than something rational like you suggest. Balance is key, but it is certainly difficult to find that point between security and flexibility that makes everyone happy (or everyone equally unhappy?)
:-)
I can see ITs side of things. I just wish more admins took the time to see things from the other point of view. I wonder how many IT guys have the same restrictions on the boxes they use on a daily basis as they place on their users?
Anyway, thanks for the sensbile, on-topic response. Don't see too many of those around here
The "backcharging IT" thing was meant to be TIC, but that obviously didn't come across. :o) Forgot my emoticon--sorry.
...like 100 times...") and I understand that when a bonehead does the same thing over and over expecting different results, it can be maddening. But I think your point of a policy underscores my original post, which is that you have a policy that says that unsupported software is not supported by IT. Maybe there's a policy that says that if your box needs reimaging more than once every two months, IT charges your department. Beyond that, it's ITs job to help the rest of the company be productive.
:-)
/. ?) :-)
There's a fundamental disconnect between what (some) IT departments think is their job and what the rest of us believe is the function of IT. My view, which I don't think is unreasonable, the IT department has the job of helping support the rest of the company. That means helping ensure that the sales guy's laptop is virus free so he can sell product, keeping the network infrastructure running so the support folks can access the CRM software, and maintaining the servers that contain our documentation, for example. That also means allowing me to do what I need to do to get my job done efficiently, with a minimum of hassle.
IT is supposed to be a service organization. There are some IT department's I've had experience with where the admins acted like they're doing a huge personal favor by coming out of their cubes and doing the job they're paid to do. I hear your frustration ("...repeatedly reimage systems
By the way, I have a really good relationship with the IT department here. Sometimes I stop by just to give them a hard time, and they always give me the tools I need to do my job (they hand out KVMs and hubs like candy). I think they're willing to be helpful because I don't ask for support very often (maybe once or twice a year) and I've always done my homework before I ask.
I agree that VMs are a good solution, which I'd like to see it implmented more... and not just because I work for the big name in VMs
I guess to summarize, there are two side to this and both sides should try to see things from the other side's perspective (or is that too rational for
who married a girl smarter than me?
/. if you're going to mock her :o)
My wife was a math major and all-around genius (prefect grades on every assignment in every class), and has been a teacher and librarian. She keeps our financial books in order (thank goodness) and has excellent insight into big financial decisions; when we've followed her preferred course of action, we've always done well, I'm batting about 80%. She's not a gadget freak like me, but she definitely knows more about Word and Excel than I do. The computer is more of a tool than a hobby in her case, but she is very on top of the tools that she does use.
For those on Slashdot who aren't married, my advice is to find a woman who is at least as smart as you are. If you can find a girl who has more knowledge than you in particular areas (like my wife with math) you'll be doing well. It's cool to have a relationship where your areas of interest overlap, but it's really cool when your different expertise allows you to learn from each other.
And make sure she never reads
"Locking down" machines, which usually means preventing users from installing or running software that the admin hasn't "approved" is far more likely to reduce productivity than anything else. I can't tell you how many times I've been frustrated by the admins who have the idea that they know better than I do what tools I need to do my job... In fact, it's something that I ask non-manager employees when I interview: "Do you have admin privileges on your box" (working in software, I usually get a sensible response).
Listen, all you genius admins, I don't tell you what firewall software to use, you don't tell me what file conversion software I need to get the Windows line breaks out of text files, Ok? I don't what you're using for an anti-virus tool, and I don't expect you to know about my use of FrameScript to automate FrameMaker. The MicroType FM extensions make me about 10% more efficient in my work, and if I can't download and install them, I'll see if we can't backcharge IT for that extra hour a day.
A sensible policy is that "unapproved" applications are unsupported. This means that if something I install causes problems, I have to resolve them or have my box re-imaged. I'm fine with that. Don't "lock down" my machine, prevent me from doing my job efficiently, and then crow about how you've saved the company money.
Nature says "While we were quite willing to discuss the issues, the company [Britannica] failed to provide specific details of its complaints" but Brittanica is unable to do so, because Nature will not release detailed information about how it performed the survey.
Wikipedia's useful (though some articles are just an amusing read) and I don't own an encyclopedia... but Nature's hiding of their research methodology is fishy.
If all email was plain text, phishing would decrease significantly. Unfortunately, we have "helpful" things like hyperlinks in email (a well-intentioned but bad idea) that help prepetuate this type of problem. I can't recall the last time I clicked a link in an email, but I can tell you it was a long time ago.
Chances are, if the user had to copy and paste the bank's URL out of the email, it would be a lot harder to hide the fact that the URL directs to some non-official site (bankofthevvest is a counter-example, but it would still help). Most likely, people would type in the banks URL and create a bookmark. Then when they got the email they would open their browser and click the bookmark and log in. Problem eliminated.
This isn't an IE/Outlook problem only, I admit. There are a lot of mail clients that provide this same "helpful" behavior. But as with auto-executing scripts in the OUtlook preview pane, it would be better (IMO) if they didn't.
He leased it. There's a huge cost savings when you lease. You see, with a lease you only pay for the part of... oh, wait.
to see if.... Oh, sparkley!
You can get great deals (like 30% off) on a refurbished Mac. I bought my 12" Powerbook G4 for about 28% less than it was selling new, and it was a real bargin. The computers are all completely repaired and tested, and you get the Apple warranty plus you can opt for AppleCare.
Just a suggestion if you want "like new" at a fraction of the new cost.
including Viiv.
"New iPod killer" -- "Viiv replaces PCs" -- "Origami to take over entire planet" -- these headlines are just silly. Revolutionary changes in tech happen, but they aren't common. Even the PC, arguably one of the most revolutionary technologies in history is essentially an evolutionary step on the road from mainframes to ubiquitous computing. As a general rule, video doesn't kill the radio star.
It's extremely unlikely that Viiv is going to wipe out the PC as we know it. Possibly (it isn't likely, IMO, but it's possible) this technology will make some inroads into the consumer market. It's even possible that a similar technology (the ability to separate video storage and playback from the physical display) will eventually dominate consumer sales of video devices. But there are a lot of folks who are happy to plug their TV into a cable box and DVD player. Probably always will be.
I think there are things that I'd miss--there are informational sites in the UK that I visit occasionally. I would probably miss the BBC. There are also things that you can order from the UK that require a prescription to order in the US, which I might also miss.
Overall, I like the ability to see sites that aren't here in the US. The different perspectives you get when reading about issues on a UK or Australian news site are both interesting and useful in getting a clearer picture of what is newsworthy in (some) non-US countries. I wish I had a better grasp of the other languages I know (Italian and Spanish) so I could better grasp information from sites in those languages.
On the other hand, I'd really like a more convenient way to optionally restrict product searches to US-based sellers. It's time consuming to sort out all the UK sellers when I'm looking to buy electronics, but between the currency conversion rates and the high cost of shipping, it's unusual for me to purchase something from outside the states.
Look, special small programs that run in the background (widgets) and a way to view all the contents of open windows (expose) and a search bar (spotlight). Windows Vista is really one rockin', all-new OS.
I think this definitely qualifies as insightful.
I'm a technical writer and when I was looking for work two years ago, I actually turned down work from a company that wrote its 200+ page manuals in Word. Why? Because people who use Word for long documents (books) usually wind up spending about 20% of their time trying to work around problems. Word isn't a long document tool, but people who only know Word waste countless hours trying to get it to do something that it was never meant to do. (Just the words "Master Documents" make me shudder)
My parents are an example on the other end. My dad sends me Word docs with pictures in them, and my mom uses Excel to keep lists. Until my brother-in-law set up a gallery Web site, my mother-in-law also sent pictures in Office documents.
It's too bad this problem exists, but until people figure out that Office apps aren't the best tool for every application, it's not going to change.
Am I the only one who is getting tired of being assaulted by video advertising everywhere? It's in the mall near my house--large plasma TVs scattered around the mall advertising movies, electronics, and the wonders of mall giftcards. It's in the grocery store, where LCD panels at the checkouts play food-channel type cooking soundbites and advertisements for the latest in precooked dinners.
I don't mind ads that are billboards or signs, and I can generally put up with the ads they're inserting in Musak these days. But the combination is really annoying for some reason. All I can think of is the store Tom Cruise enters in Minority Report, where the TV is saying "Hello, Mr. ____, would you like to buy a turtleneck in green?"
I don't think that Treos come from Palm with this capability, but there is 3rd-party software that allows you to push email to the Treo. I'm not sure if there's an Exchange plug-in or whatnot, but I've seen several different applications that allow IMAP mail to be pushed.
is that companies distrbuting games and other content want to have it both ways. On one hand, they say that they have "licensed" you the content, and thus you do not have the right to make copies. Your license allows you to have one instance of the content. On the other hand, they say that they have "sold" you the physical media, and if anything happens to the CD/DVD, it's something you owned that is now distroyed. Your purchase allows you to have one instance of the physical object.
IMO, it should work one way or the other:
If they're licensing the content, then if the physical media is destroyed and you can't exercise your license, there should be some way to either get some money back (since you've lost the use of the "perpetual" license you were sold) or to replace the media so you can exercise your right to the license.
If they are selling a physical object, then you should be able to duplicate its contents freely, in case the object is destroyed.
The way things are right now, the content distributers have all the rights, and the content purchasers are in a sort of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" bind. Duplicate your content, and you're a piratical anarchist. Don't, and it's quite likely that you'll be out of luck when the physical object is damaged.
This is currently a problem for me. I bought Civ 4 to play on my Windows game machine. I played it for about three months before the CD got scratched. While the scratches were my fault (I failed to take into account how much dust was accumulating in the PC) now the $30 game that I purchased is unusable. Since I purchased a perpetual license, is it OK for me to download an iso of the game CD and burn it so I can play? Not according to the game publisher.
I'm not talking about what is currently legal. I'm making a point that the way things stand right now, a lot of people are frustrated with the seeming one-sideness of content distribution as it's implemented right now.
While there are "free" versions of closed-source apps, they are in response to the need to gain mindshare. In addition, a lot of those "lite" versions are limited.
I know that MSDE had a limitation on the number of simultaneous connections and the total size of the database. If you have to choose between something free and unlimited, and something free that has built-in limitations, which one would you pick?
Are the ones where the author clearly hasn't thought through the implications of their sentence structure. As in:
(From the article on the V2 Rocket): "It was the progenitor of the rocket race that developed during the Cold War, and ultimately put men on the moon and probes that have left our solar system."
Leaving aside whether the V2 was the progenitor of the space race or merely other rockets, parse that sentence and you wind up wondering how the V2 helped put men on the probes that have left our solar system. Indeed, you might wonder who these intrepid explorers were, who were so brave as to travel outside our solar system and so selfless as to remain nameless and unmentioned by history.
Wiki's always good for a chuckle, if nothing else.
This is one of the areas where I think that Open Source can really shine, and it's interesting to see how the mindshare of Open Source database software is growing.
When you look at software purchasing patterns, it seems that most software purchases are driven by four things: cost, features, familiarity, and "safety." Open Source software usually competes strongly on the first, moderately well on the second, and not so well on the third and fourth. Asking DBAs to use something they're not familiar with means that they're going to be working slower and harder--not the choice that most people make. In addition, the "nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM" syndrome sometimes prevents Open Source choices from getting a fair shake. But it appears that Open Source tools are starting to compete on those last two fronts as well.
A lot of geeks like to fiddle around with software on their own, and the "free" part of Open Source plays right to this. After all, are you going to pay for a Microsoft Sequel Server license, or try out MySQL when you're doing something for your own satisfaction? I'm a good example of something similar: I wanted some dynamic Web pages, but I didn't want to pay for ASP support through my ISP. So instead I started looking into PHP and eventually wound up using PHP to handle the dynamic content.
Once people involved in making decisions (not perhaps the decision-makers themselves, but people with input) start using Open Source for themselves, a lot of the "I don't know it so it's harder and slower" goes right out the window. Sure your average CRM developer might not be making the decision, but if they're asked about DB support and they know PostgreSQL because that's what they used to build their roll-your-own blog, they may offer that as an option.
As Open Source comes into use in the market, that helps alleviate the "safety" factor, too. When you can point to a large organization that's successfully running enterprise-grade applications on Open Source, it's easier for the decision makers to rationalize choosing an Open Source solution.
Sheesh-- Why does everything on Slashdot have to devolve into some half-witted religious flamewar between Open Source and Proprietary software? I guess something rational, like a list of features with an (even moderately) unbiased comparison cuts down on the page views, or something.
Both Office suites have advantages and disadvantages. MS Office is fairly expensive, OO is free. Microsoft's VBA is relatively straightforward, OO's scripting is convoluted. Microsoft has annoyances like "personalized menus", while the Open Office interface is relatively static. Outlook provides some powerful tools for cooperative scheduling, which OO doesn't support. Open Office is infinitely more "tweakable" (if you're willing to poke around in the innards) while MS only provides the customization the they think you need. The list goes on and on.
My advice: Choose the feature set you need and then pick the office suite the provides it. If you can't live without macros and scripting and you aren't willing to deal with the convoluted scripting language of OO, pick Microsoft. If you're ethically opposed to using software you haven't paid for and can't afford MS Office, pick OO. If you prefer one interface over the other, choose the suite you prefer. But don't do the Office Suite Taliban thing... dare I say that it's "just" software?
Anyone willing to look at both suites openly and fairly will admit that Open Office is still somewhat behind MS Office in usability and functionality (in most areas). There are a lot of reasons for this: OO is relatively new, MS has more money to spend, MS's development efforts are centrally coordinated, etc. Open Office has, however, made some big strides forward from when I first used it, while Microsoft Office development seems to have stagnated.
As someone who spends most of my days writing, I can tell you that for some tasks, Writer works great, and for others, Word is a good choice. For a lot of my writing tasks, I use FrameMaker, because neither Writer nor Word can do the things I need. I pick the tool that works and use it.
As the most "techie" teacher (this was about 7 years back) I was responsible for helping "check out" PCs and other computer equipment donated to our school. It was a real pain, and I can offer some suggestions on how to help sort out hardware.
First, set some minimum quality that you're willing to support. At this point you're unlikely to get any DX2/66MHz machines, but you never know. If you know what OS you'll be running (and how fast the machines need to be to seem useful) then use that to help you decide. Once you have a minimum, (say P3s running 600+MHz with 256MB RAM) start checking donated boxes against the minimums, If they don't meet your criteria, set them aside to be cannibalized into machines that do.
Second, unless you're willing to live in a support nightmare, wipe all the drives and fresh install the OS. If you don't, you're going to find all kinds of crud on the drives... and it's possible that some of it may not be kid-friendly. In addition, if you can get all the boxes into a somewhat similar state, it will be a lot easier to diagnose problems later. It's possible that doing this may mean that you don't get the full resolution of the graphics card or that the Hercules sound card won't work--but that's a small price to pay for a manageable set of boxes.
Next, once you've installed the OS, be sure to create a user account for the kids. Not an admin account (under Windows) or a root account for linux. Assign appropriate privileges. Create a single admin account using the same name and password (for your use) on all the boxes.
Finally, recruit a couple of the best and brightest to help out. There's no reason some of these kids can't assist with formatting drives and installing the OS. If you have a checklist, you could even assign a kid to look at the BIOS screen and make a preliminary decision about whether a box is usable or ready for the cannibalize pile.
Oh yeah--one more thing. Keep a written record of what you did to which machine and what its stats are.
Good luck,
I 100% agree. I'd love to see more movies of this type; the recent spate of Marvel/Superhero movies has been nice (though not all were well made). When I go to the movies, I'm hoping for something to entertain and amuse. I want to see Bruce Willis jump out of an exploding car traveling 60 mph and survive, or Brandon Fraiser fighting mummies, or Angelina Jolie swiming through Atlantis.
I don't want to see "real life" in my movies--I see that every day, thanks.
I wonder if Google will? :o)