Excellent advice. Even I'll find it useful, as I'm at that age now.
As for SelfTaught -- well, just remember your name. I go to a relatively small school whose only "technology" course on the proper use of Microsoft Office (taught by someone whose only experience is reading the textbook), so I feel for you. However, you have to realize that most of those who are truly interested in technology (specifically CS) are dedicated and smart enough to learn it for themselves. In all honesty, those who don't meet those requirements are probably just in it for the money and will most end up as freelance coders for the benefit of The Daily WTF readers.
And like others have said, don't complain about funding for athletics, especially if you want to get anything done. Personally, I would much rather have a new football field than a pseudo-CS course taught by an inept instructor. Of course, I might be biased considering that I love (and play) football and other sports.
Anyway, I'm done ranting. Good luck with your efforts. It's great to hear about people that are in the same situations as me -- it gradually deflates my ego.;)
This is why I've never seriously considered a WinCE device, even though I've owned a PDA since 2000 and a phone/PDA combo since 2004, and two of the computers in my house run Windows
Your post probably holds up for this particular case, or even a plain old Windows CE device, but I hope you didn't mean that Pocket PC/Windows Mobile is just as bad. In that case they did mostly abandon the "'mini Windows' metaphor," ditching the desktop and minimalizing the start menu. Maybe that's still too much for you, but they did modify it enough for some serious bloat reduction & screen conservation while still keeping Windows users at home.
I'm not a Microsoft fanboy, and looking at Hotmail/"Windows Live Mail"'s usability makes me want to puke, but I do own an old PPC 2002, and I had to comment.
I couldn't agree more. Although I do find these stories completely hilarious, in many cases calling the users "stupid" is a little too much. Like you said, lots of them can be blamed on the design, and most of the rest on the fact that users have better things to do than read man pages all day. Heck, some of them even go outside once in a while.;)
Now, if Microsoft would start learning designa decentinteface, maybe Hotmail wouldn't suck so much.
Okay, I haven't been following the spyware world closely lately -- and it changes fast -- but IIRC, when MS bought the rights to this program from Giant, most of the reviews I had read put it as the best antispyware program on the market. Now granted, that is a very disputable claim, and I obviously offer no evidence to support it. Still, it seems like Webroot came the close second here, so they have a little more to worry about than Mr. Moll seems to display.
Despite what the slashdot headline says about these guys going after "both sides," in reality it's a conservative witch-hunt...
Are you quite certain that there is more than one side in the UCLA faculty? As a social conservative, I would still agree with you if this were just another bunch of obstinate know-it-alls... But is is that the case, or is it just that liberalism is the only view to oppose?
You know for the most part, I think the mods have done a good job making sure this whole discussion isn't "groupthink" (and not just with the Left/Right aspect), but I would say a +5 for a Godwin is a bit much.
Besides, anyone could take that argument and apply it for their own uses ("The professors are giving opposing opinions an F, and are therefore Nazis" or "This foundation is squashing professors who don't agree with its viewpoint, and therefore is run by Nazis!!").
Well I guess it's your word against mine (like everything else here on Slashdot), but a few years ago when I ordered stuff of the site, the boxes weren't given to me until I was home to sign a form... Anyway, that's beside the point.
Since USPS is a quasi-government agency, they can pretty much make it illegal themselves by saying the boxes are property of USPS.
IANAL (maybe you are), but why can't UPS or FedEx do this? Even if they can't arbitrarily declare them to be their property, can't they make some kind of a form -- similar to my aparantly dreamed up story in the grandparent? Maybe they can and do, but it seems to me that if FedEx is suing this guy for copyright infringement, they're pretty desperate.
Just a thought. Hopefully my karma will remain intact.:)
I don't know about UPS and FedEx, but IIRC at least the USPS is smart enough to make you sign a waver that aparantly makes it illegal to use them for anything but shipping.
It's basically the same scenario as with the Matrix trilogy (well almost). Everyone just wanted to know how it ended exactly, if for no other reason than closure. Even though 90% of the people knew ultimately where the story was headed, everyone still wanted the little details.
I was having some problems yesterday (with the actual YIM client). I went through a bunch of hoops changing passwords and stuff and then suddenly it worked. I guess this explains it...
2) The executive branch appoints justices. It's a little-known fact that even SCOTUS justices can be impeached and removed from office, even though they otherwise hold life terms; this has never been done, but it is possible.
The executive branch appoints justices. That is, if the judicial and legislative branch let it. I would be considered right wing by most, and most of my family is very right (you can take that either way;) ), and I know most of what I hear is kinof overblown (just as it is on the other side as well, i'm sure), but hasn't President Bush tried to appoint a lot of justices? And it hasn't happend, has it?
3) The SCOTUS cannot act of its own volition; it must be called upon before it can do anything. The Executive and legislative branches have limited power, but they can use (most of) those powers at will; the SCOTUS is powerless unless actually called on by one of the other branches, or by the people.
And they never have a whole lot of trouble getting called upon, do they?
This is the whole point of checks and balances: no one branch is self-policing, no one branch has unlimited power, and most of the actions of one branch can be undone (though not easily) by at least one of the other branches. The idea is to fight corruption on two fronts: one, by reducing its ability to form, and two, limiting its ability to do damage even when it does form. It's actually a pretty well-designed system, at least on that score.
For what we've got, it is a well-designed system. At the very least, it is probably the most well-designed system the world has had. I'm talking about democracy. The prolem? We don't have one! The Greeks had democracy. We have and elected rebublic or whatever you call it.
We can't have a "democracy" in the true sense of the word. The US is just too big. Democracy is very inefficient. But not only that, humans are both very different and very war-hungry. Thanks much to the difference between Sparta and Athens, the Greeks no longer have a "wonder of the world".
Yes, though, "elected republics" are pretty well-designed for today. And so were monarchies (arghh how do you spell that?). Monarchies were only flawed if the monarch was flawed. Whatever-it-is we have is flawed only if the majority of the people are "flawed", although it doesn't matter if they truly are "flawed", only so long as the majority has a minority to go with it.
This is kindof off-topic, and the scope of this argument couldn't fit into a book, so I'll let it go for now. But I don't have a whole lot of doubts that the Judicial branch has more power than the other two, if small it may be.
Supply and demand. Exactly.
It's kindof inevitable really. I know (I think, anyway:P) coding isn't exactly IT, but its the same basic thing. Once we got OOP and the bzillions of scripting languages out there, everybody decides that you don't need to know assembly to program, and everthing gets a whole lot easier (slower, but easier; however, I won't get into that flamewar right now). Suddenly millions of script kiddies start popping up, and every greedy thirteen-year old in his basement starts programming (me included)! "Wizards" are now "obsolete", and no company cares about coding skills, because they figure if you get thousands of people that you pay a buck an hour, you might bet the skills of someone that deserves a thousand an hour (wow I wish I got that much:P).
I realize I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but it's just my personal opinion. Let the flames begin...
Slashdot Mirror
- I found myself unable to stop stroking the device
...giving you a feeling of probing deeper into the device ...[I] looked over the shoulder of the guy next to me and the slideshow capability looked fluid. - Clicking on the "community" button allowed me to see the other two Zunes nearby
- Three plays... please!
- I asked the "demo assistant"...to help me find new "artists" to "listen" to
- Though I really enjoy the few moments today with the Zune, I secretly look forward to Apples "response."
Granted, I've made a few convenient changes, and with some of these you have to use your imagination.Excellent advice. Even I'll find it useful, as I'm at that age now. As for SelfTaught -- well, just remember your name. I go to a relatively small school whose only "technology" course on the proper use of Microsoft Office (taught by someone whose only experience is reading the textbook), so I feel for you. However, you have to realize that most of those who are truly interested in technology (specifically CS) are dedicated and smart enough to learn it for themselves. In all honesty, those who don't meet those requirements are probably just in it for the money and will most end up as freelance coders for the benefit of The Daily WTF readers.
;)
And like others have said, don't complain about funding for athletics, especially if you want to get anything done. Personally, I would much rather have a new football field than a pseudo-CS course taught by an inept instructor. Of course, I might be biased considering that I love (and play) football and other sports.
Anyway, I'm done ranting. Good luck with your efforts. It's great to hear about people that are in the same situations as me -- it gradually deflates my ego.
Your post probably holds up for this particular case, or even a plain old Windows CE device, but I hope you didn't mean that Pocket PC/Windows Mobile is just as bad. In that case they did mostly abandon the "'mini Windows' metaphor," ditching the desktop and minimalizing the start menu. Maybe that's still too much for you, but they did modify it enough for some serious bloat reduction & screen conservation while still keeping Windows users at home.
I'm not a Microsoft fanboy, and looking at Hotmail/"Windows Live Mail"'s usability makes me want to puke, but I do own an old PPC 2002, and I had to comment.
I couldn't agree more. Although I do find these stories completely hilarious, in many cases calling the users "stupid" is a little too much. Like you said, lots of them can be blamed on the design, and most of the rest on the fact that users have better things to do than read man pages all day. Heck, some of them even go outside once in a while. ;)
Now, if Microsoft would start learning design a decent inteface, maybe Hotmail wouldn't suck so much.
Okay, I haven't been following the spyware world closely lately -- and it changes fast -- but IIRC, when MS bought the rights to this program from Giant, most of the reviews I had read put it as the best antispyware program on the market. Now granted, that is a very disputable claim, and I obviously offer no evidence to support it. Still, it seems like Webroot came the close second here, so they have a little more to worry about than Mr. Moll seems to display.
Despite what the slashdot headline says about these guys going after "both sides," in reality it's a conservative witch-hunt...
Are you quite certain that there is more than one side in the UCLA faculty? As a social conservative, I would still agree with you if this were just another bunch of obstinate know-it-alls... But is is that the case, or is it just that liberalism is the only view to oppose?
Its an honest question, really.
You know for the most part, I think the mods have done a good job making sure this whole discussion isn't "groupthink" (and not just with the Left/Right aspect), but I would say a +5 for a Godwin is a bit much.
Besides, anyone could take that argument and apply it for their own uses ("The professors are giving opposing opinions an F, and are therefore Nazis" or "This foundation is squashing professors who don't agree with its viewpoint, and therefore is run by Nazis!!").
Just a thought.
"...for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice,..."
Hey, at least they're honest... Er, wait, that was Bono they were talking about, wasn't it?
There isn't anything to sign.
:)
Well I guess it's your word against mine (like everything else here on Slashdot), but a few years ago when I ordered stuff of the site, the boxes weren't given to me until I was home to sign a form... Anyway, that's beside the point.
Since USPS is a quasi-government agency, they can pretty much make it illegal themselves by saying the boxes are property of USPS.
IANAL (maybe you are), but why can't UPS or FedEx do this? Even if they can't arbitrarily declare them to be their property, can't they make some kind of a form -- similar to my aparantly dreamed up story in the grandparent? Maybe they can and do, but it seems to me that if FedEx is suing this guy for copyright infringement, they're pretty desperate.
Just a thought. Hopefully my karma will remain intact.
I don't know about UPS and FedEx, but IIRC at least the USPS is smart enough to make you sign a waver that aparantly makes it illegal to use them for anything but shipping.
It's basically the same scenario as with the Matrix trilogy (well almost). Everyone just wanted to know how it ended exactly, if for no other reason than closure. Even though 90% of the people knew ultimately where the story was headed, everyone still wanted the little details.
[somewhat offtopic]
Lord of the Rings, anyone?
Damn you, HTML Formating.
I know, I had the same problem. Thank you, preview button.
I was having some problems yesterday (with the actual YIM client). I went through a bunch of hoops changing passwords and stuff and then suddenly it worked. I guess this explains it...
The executive branch appoints justices. That is, if the judicial and legislative branch let it. I would be considered right wing by most, and most of my family is very right (you can take that either way ;) ), and I know most of what I hear is kinof overblown (just as it is on the other side as well, i'm sure), but hasn't President Bush tried to appoint a lot of justices? And it hasn't happend, has it?
3) The SCOTUS cannot act of its own volition; it must be called upon before it can do anything. The Executive and legislative branches have limited power, but they can use (most of) those powers at will; the SCOTUS is powerless unless actually called on by one of the other branches, or by the people.
And they never have a whole lot of trouble getting called upon, do they?
This is the whole point of checks and balances: no one branch is self-policing, no one branch has unlimited power, and most of the actions of one branch can be undone (though not easily) by at least one of the other branches. The idea is to fight corruption on two fronts: one, by reducing its ability to form, and two, limiting its ability to do damage even when it does form. It's actually a pretty well-designed system, at least on that score.
For what we've got, it is a well-designed system. At the very least, it is probably the most well-designed system the world has had. I'm talking about democracy. The prolem? We don't have one! The Greeks had democracy. We have and elected rebublic or whatever you call it.
We can't have a "democracy" in the true sense of the word. The US is just too big. Democracy is very inefficient. But not only that, humans are both very different and very war-hungry. Thanks much to the difference between Sparta and Athens, the Greeks no longer have a "wonder of the world".
Yes, though, "elected republics" are pretty well-designed for today. And so were monarchies (arghh how do you spell that?). Monarchies were only flawed if the monarch was flawed. Whatever-it-is we have is flawed only if the majority of the people are "flawed", although it doesn't matter if they truly are "flawed", only so long as the majority has a minority to go with it.
This is kindof off-topic, and the scope of this argument couldn't fit into a book, so I'll let it go for now. But I don't have a whole lot of doubts that the Judicial branch has more power than the other two, if small it may be.
Supply and demand. Exactly. It's kindof inevitable really. I know (I think, anyway :P) coding isn't exactly IT, but its the same basic thing. Once we got OOP and the bzillions of scripting languages out there, everybody decides that you don't need to know assembly to program, and everthing gets a whole lot easier (slower, but easier; however, I won't get into that flamewar right now). Suddenly millions of script kiddies start popping up, and every greedy thirteen-year old in his basement starts programming (me included)! "Wizards" are now "obsolete", and no company cares about coding skills, because they figure if you get thousands of people that you pay a buck an hour, you might bet the skills of someone that deserves a thousand an hour (wow I wish I got that much :P).
I realize I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but it's just my personal opinion. Let the flames begin...