Unless you believe all content providers should provide their content for free then at some point you are going to have to pay for content, whether by buying a dvd or cd or paying to download content.
DRM shackles you whether your computer supports it or not.
If your computer doesn't support drm, then you can't see the content at all. Your system not supporting drm does not magically make all drm protected content play without restrictions. If drm is widespread, then you receive all the disadvantages of drm and none of the benefits (eg. more content being offered online).
The only good thing is if few people have drm then it is harder to distribute drm'd content but if by having a computer that doesn't support drm you are in the minority, there is no direct benefit to you.
Yes! Since Office 2000, not much has changed in the basic apps apart from powerpoint which has better animations & effects. I can do without the annoying sidebar, I don't need it cluttering up my workspace when I'm working and I want it bigger when I'm using it.
Recently, I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of Office 2000 for around £20 when some company had found a few boxes in the back of their warehouse. Certainly beats the £89 for the student edition of 2003 (and what self respecting student has £89 kicking around anyway?)
I'm pretty sure my first click has been a bomb, and I think that just flaggin all the mines doesn't end the game, you have to clear all the unmined squares. This is obvoius when you have two squares left, one of which is a bomb. You can't just flag one square and then the other to see which one it is, you have to clear one, and hope and pray.
Absolutely, the average person knows next to nothing, except they have a virus scanner so they'll be free of viruses, that's what the man in the shop says so it must be true.
We must be careful not to feed people half-truths about malware, people with loads of viruses & spyware either (a) think they are safe as they have a virus checker or (b) don't think they're safe but don't know what to do about it. Keeping a clueless users pc free of unwanted stuff is difficult at best and impossible at worst it doesn't help that most seem to have a just click on whatever button comes up mentality.
Its more like, you buy your wheels but you live in a bad neighbourhood. Guido offers his services at $50 a year to stand guard over your new wheels while you're elsewhere.
You don't have to pay him, he's not going to trash your wheels if you don't. You could pay someone else who may or may not do as good or a better job at looking out for your wheels, or you could look after them yourself, put them in a garage. Up to you. The only questionable thing about Guido's practice is the fact that he can sell you his service with the wheels before anyone else can offer you a better deal and that he hasn't explained how the locks work telling you that its in the manual which can only be read at his shop.
You have to do EVERYTHING to stay clean....up to date virus killer...
Really?
When I used windows, I had an up to date virus killer. In about five years of use, it caught two (2) viruses. Both were e-mail attachments which I hadn't and wasn't going to open. (Seriously, how dense do you have to be to open an attachment with an odd extension in an e-mail with no subject and a two word body?)
That's just the problem. A properly configured box may be fine, but a default box (which is what almost all home users run) is in trouble. Normal users aren't going to "properly configure" their boxes and probably don't know how to.
I would welcome a resident evil game with a new control system. It can hardly fail to be worse than the previous ones.
The whole stop, press the aim button, move the laser pointer to the zombie's head and then press fire thing just didn't do it for me.
Some people don't buy OEM boxes, I get most of my computer stuff from novatech where I can get buy a complete computer system but with an empty hard-drive (or, if its an upgrade/replacement box, with no hard-drive or peripherals).
Also, it may be different where you are, but I don't know of any retailers near me which bundle office with their pcs. (Ms Works or a 60-day Office trial is quite common however).
I really wish people would stop saying Linux needs to "Just Work" when, in fact, it doesn't "Just Work" with Windows either.
True, but if it did, it would be much easier for new people to install linux and it would be another reason (and probably a very important reason for new users) to choose linux over windows.
The article would suggest that they have to show evidence that a crime has been comitted before they're allowed to track you, just suspecting you isn't enough.
So does this mean you can backup your car keys on your pc and make any number of copies of it on another usb drive? Could you store more than one set of keys on it?
Please explain this to me, I have helped on kids computer courses and I really can't understand
Why the F*** do kids of this age (10 or so? I don't know the americal school system) need to make a webpage?
I spend most of the time trying to get them to decide on what their website should be about, helping them to use a search engine to find some content, getting them to write whatever they know about said subject and relatively little time explaining how to use the program to position pictures etc.
If kids want to make a website and have the personal motivation to do so, they will have done so already, if they have the motivation but not the skill they will have asked someone and then asked someone, and the probably asked someone else until they get some help or some decent pointers in the right direction. Normal kids don't want to make a website (with the exception of those who want their own tiny personal "all about me" page which can be created using the basic tools provided by many free webspace providers).
Before too long, it'll be uncommon to find a person who isn't wearing several computers interwoven with the fibers in his clothes
I think we're still some way from that
Human brains are very, very poor at doing arithmetic and remembering lots of stuff. Fortunately, computers are excellent at these things, so computers are what will be doing that sort of stuff from now on, like it or not.
Sure, but there are some things you need to be able to do for yourself because its so much quicker and easier if you can do it. Can you picture a world where a customer has to whip out a calculator to check if he has been given the correct change?
I agree that computers are extremely useful for doing certain tasks but being able to create a scatter graph with a line of best fit in excel does not negate the need to be able to draw one yourself, after all, you need to understand how the graph represents the data. The number of times I have have heard a pupil unable to tell the teacher what the straight line on their graph means is quite shocking.
In conclusion, removing computers from schools may be an over-extreme knee-jerk statement but when being forced to use computers unnecessarily becomes a hinderance to your learning it becomes less of a ridiculous idea.
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Unless you believe all content providers should provide their content for free then at some point you are going to have to pay for content, whether by buying a dvd or cd or paying to download content.
If your computer doesn't support drm, then you can't see the content at all. Your system not supporting drm does not magically make all drm protected content play without restrictions. If drm is widespread, then you receive all the disadvantages of drm and none of the benefits (eg. more content being offered online).
The only good thing is if few people have drm then it is harder to distribute drm'd content but if by having a computer that doesn't support drm you are in the minority, there is no direct benefit to you.
We need a moderation like "misleading," "incorrect" or "just plain wrong"
Recently, I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of Office 2000 for around £20 when some company had found a few boxes in the back of their warehouse. Certainly beats the £89 for the student edition of 2003 (and what self respecting student has £89 kicking around anyway?)
You already have to pay the licence fee for a tv tuner in any kind of device, be it a tv, a vcr, tv capture card etc.
I'm pretty sure my first click has been a bomb, and I think that just flaggin all the mines doesn't end the game, you have to clear all the unmined squares. This is obvoius when you have two squares left, one of which is a bomb. You can't just flag one square and then the other to see which one it is, you have to clear one, and hope and pray.
We must be careful not to feed people half-truths about malware, people with loads of viruses & spyware either (a) think they are safe as they have a virus checker or (b) don't think they're safe but don't know what to do about it. Keeping a clueless users pc free of unwanted stuff is difficult at best and impossible at worst it doesn't help that most seem to have a just click on whatever button comes up mentality.
Its more like, you buy your wheels but you live in a bad neighbourhood. Guido offers his services at $50 a year to stand guard over your new wheels while you're elsewhere.
You don't have to pay him, he's not going to trash your wheels if you don't. You could pay someone else who may or may not do as good or a better job at looking out for your wheels, or you could look after them yourself, put them in a garage. Up to you. The only questionable thing about Guido's practice is the fact that he can sell you his service with the wheels before anyone else can offer you a better deal and that he hasn't explained how the locks work telling you that its in the manual which can only be read at his shop.
Really?
When I used windows, I had an up to date virus killer. In about five years of use, it caught two (2) viruses. Both were e-mail attachments which I hadn't and wasn't going to open. (Seriously, how dense do you have to be to open an attachment with an odd extension in an e-mail with no subject and a two word body?)
Did I need a virus killer?
But, can I play GTA on it?
That's just the problem. A properly configured box may be fine, but a default box (which is what almost all home users run) is in trouble. Normal users aren't going to "properly configure" their boxes and probably don't know how to.
My ISPs proxy scored more than I did :(
I would welcome a resident evil game with a new control system. It can hardly fail to be worse than the previous ones. The whole stop, press the aim button, move the laser pointer to the zombie's head and then press fire thing just didn't do it for me.
But I missed it the first time round
Also, it may be different where you are, but I don't know of any retailers near me which bundle office with their pcs. (Ms Works or a 60-day Office trial is quite common however).
Unless you compromise one of the machines on the local network, then you can access whatever that machine has access to.
You're suggesting we should all become lawyers?
True, but if it did, it would be much easier for new people to install linux and it would be another reason (and probably a very important reason for new users) to choose linux over windows.
No, the DS uses standard 802.11b wifi with short preamble, see here: http://www.darkain.com/nintendo_ds/nifi.php
The article would suggest that they have to show evidence that a crime has been comitted before they're allowed to track you, just suspecting you isn't enough.
I play Unreal Tournament 2004. It runs smoothly, with the settings turned down, on a GeForce 2 (64MB)
So does this mean you can backup your car keys on your pc and make any number of copies of it on another usb drive? Could you store more than one set of keys on it?
Seriously, how can this type of patent not get laughed out of the office?
Patent officials have no sense of humour
Why the F*** do kids of this age (10 or so? I don't know the americal school system) need to make a webpage?
I spend most of the time trying to get them to decide on what their website should be about, helping them to use a search engine to find some content, getting them to write whatever they know about said subject and relatively little time explaining how to use the program to position pictures etc.
If kids want to make a website and have the personal motivation to do so, they will have done so already, if they have the motivation but not the skill they will have asked someone and then asked someone, and the probably asked someone else until they get some help or some decent pointers in the right direction. Normal kids don't want to make a website (with the exception of those who want their own tiny personal "all about me" page which can be created using the basic tools provided by many free webspace providers).
I think we're still some way from that
Human brains are very, very poor at doing arithmetic and remembering lots of stuff. Fortunately, computers are excellent at these things, so computers are what will be doing that sort of stuff from now on, like it or not.
Sure, but there are some things you need to be able to do for yourself because its so much quicker and easier if you can do it. Can you picture a world where a customer has to whip out a calculator to check if he has been given the correct change?
I agree that computers are extremely useful for doing certain tasks but being able to create a scatter graph with a line of best fit in excel does not negate the need to be able to draw one yourself, after all, you need to understand how the graph represents the data. The number of times I have have heard a pupil unable to tell the teacher what the straight line on their graph means is quite shocking.
In conclusion, removing computers from schools may be an over-extreme knee-jerk statement but when being forced to use computers unnecessarily becomes a hinderance to your learning it becomes less of a ridiculous idea.