If you really want to watch TV on your iMac, you can always get a Firewire TV Tuner Box. They're difficult to find but they are out there. You could also use a Firewire TV Tuner for Analogue Video Capture, like old Video Cameras and Archiving VCR Cassettes to DVD.
I've never Understood the whole OpenOffice/*Works type Applications. Having one Application for Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Drawing and Painting just doesn't make sense. They are three different creative tasks, which occasionally have overlap. The Windows-OLE/GNOME-Bonobo concept makes much more sense to me. Write a Document in AbiWord/WordPerfect. If you want to add a pretty Picture, Embed a Sodipodi/CorelDRAW! Drawing. If you just want to write your Resumé, just use AbiWord/MSWord. It just seems a lot more Unixey than including everything in one Application. You can also utilise previous work using a Linked Object. I could create a technical Drawing in AutoCAD and link it into a Report in Word. Then, when I wish to update the Model with more information, I just update the original and the Illustration in my Word Document automatically updates. You can't do something like this with a Works Suite, and if I want to use something more powerful (like AutoCAD) than the built-in Offering, I can. Platform Portability can be a problem with OLE/Bonobo documents, but that's what PS/PDFs are for, aren't they?
Most *Works-style applications store all types of documents in the single File Format. Where's the sense in that. If I want to find the letter that my father wrote to Grandma, I have to search though a dozen photos of grandma, a spreadsheet on Superannuation, 20 different letters to do with the Family Tree, a Picture of the family tree, a drawing of a desk, until I find the letter that I'm after. All these documents appear as Gobe Productive Files in the File Manager. There is no way to determine that one is a Spreadsheet, Painting, Drawing or Document.
I see no reason why an iPod user would want to acquire music from Harmony. The music is the exact same price as iTMS and it's Impossible to make it any cheaper without selling it at a huge loss. It's sale is still restricted to the US and Canada, while iTMS sells to Europe and other Countries are in the Works. Also, hacking your iPod isn't adding Haxies to MacOSX, or recompiling a custom Kernel for Linux. It's almost guaranteed to break it, Think of all the negativity Apple gets when a Haxie breaks MacOSX, or MS get when a Dodgy Driver causes Windows to Bluescreen. I'm sure it will also void your Warranty on your iPod.
Cars tend to have a higher resale value 'cos they cost more. As soon as you drive a car away from the dealership, it decreases in value by 10%. Meanwhile certain Computers (specifically certain Macs and other Boutique Computers) don't drop in price that much, and a few even keep up with inflation! Also, a computer isn't going to be completely destroyed by a drunk Internet User, Virus or Worm. They can always be re-installed. No matter how good a driver you are, a Car can be completely destroyed by a Drunk Driver, even when that driver does not have access to your Machine (car).
We don't have AppleStores here in Australia (except the online Store). We only have AppleCentres and Second Hand Dealers. The three AppleCentres I've been to (one a 30min Walk, one a 30min Drive, and the third and Hour Away) are all clean showrooms.
The guys in Berwick Village (closest to me) know me by name, and although they don't have everything in stock all the time, can provide me with a well-priced solution in no time. They also provide Internet Services and Database Design. They also do in-house Repairs.
The Guys in an Industrial Estate in Dandenong provide Commercial Printing Services and have most products in stock. I used to live 10mins away by foot.
I've only been to the AppleCentre Melbourne CBD once, but they have several floors of machines, all current and on display, and always have friendly helpful staff.
One of the other AppleCentres also provided a Free iPod as one of the prizes during a Public Radio Stations subscription drive. Here in Melbourne, AppleCentres are important parts of the community, and don't expect Apple Australia to subsidise them. They don't expect Apple Australia to Undercut them either, but that's another (related) story.
Re:Not surprising, and not bad.
on
RIP G4 PowerMac
·
· Score: 1
The Good news is that here in Australia, the Populus have rejected GM Canola from Monsanto. http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/news/htm l/gm_food.c fm The Federal "Liberal" (Actually Conservative) Government want GM foods so they can get thier Kickbacks, or whatever, The National Party (Country), who are in Coalition with the Liberal Party, want GM Foods so they can have more say in what the Liberal Party Do. The Federal Branch of the Labor Party are against GM, simply because they are the Federal Opposition, and therefore must oppose the Federal Government. Meanwhile, the State Labor Governments, and non-alligned Local Governments have put Local Bans on Monsanto GM Canola, so even though the Federal Govenment wants it, there is no State, Shire or City in which to legally grow it!
If you press the "Browse" Button (also the Burn Button, or the Import Button, depending on Context), It'll give you a nice three-column list of Genre, Artist and Album.
There was a Scam here in Melbourne at the Crown Casino a few years ago, where Individuals would hang around in Pokies Rooms, and observe Machines. They'd Calculate (with pretty high accuracy) when a machine was due to JackPot and kick off whoever was on it (beforehand), so when they push the button, they get the JackPot. Meanwhile the poor pensioner can just watch as someone else takes all the money she was pouring into the machine, and wonder how she's gonna buy catfood this month...
It's times like these I wish people like that would be given a Mac or BeOS machine.
I couldn't get any Spyware Programs for my BeOS Machine. I couldn't get Any Programs for my BeOS Machine.
(J/K Seriously though, It did everything I needed it to do, at the time. The only reason I don't use it any more is because I now have an iBook which doesn't everything I used to need to do and everything I need to do now - and a bit more)
I can't see Real Pairing up with MS any time soon, for exactly the same reason that Apple Rejected them.
Imagine it;
Bill Gates:"Yeah Sure, I'll let Real join up with Microsoft after Apple Rejected them. We'll have to abandon WMA, of course, despite it's success, and ditch the Windows Media Player, Oh and our Customers will have to pay a licence every time they make a video with Windows Movie Maker."
I like Real for their generous gift. I also like Apple for their support, don't get me wrong. This battle is sorta like two respectful companies going at each other.
A Generous Gift? I Suppose the Trojans thought the Horse was a Generous Gift Too. Face it, RealPlayer for Linux is a steaming pile of Closed Source Monkey Jizz, unless you like using Motif...
Personally, I wouldn't Install RealPlayer on a Linux Machine, even if it meant I couldn't watch *any* Video Animations whatsoever!
When I purchase an Album, I usually play the whole thing in order a few times, then dump it into my MP3 Collection. Certain Songs which are good, and an Album which is Cohesive (like The Fire This Time.
Also, with certain Electronic and Instrumental Tracks, I like Playing the Track in Reverse (with SoundPlay), just for the variety. I get better Milage out of a track, because it always sounds like a completely different track. About Half the time they sound as good, or better than the original Track...
I'm an Advocate for Dynamic Libraries, but offering the Choice of Static or Dynamic is not very User-Friendly. The fact that you had to explain the difference between Static and Dynamic on Slashdot, of all places, illustrates this fact. WRT Static Libraries... can you imagine if every App in KDE was Statically Linked? There are certain programs where Static Linking is not an Option. Also, many people who use Win32 will attest to the fact that sometimes Identical Libraries can have different names.. how many variations on MSVC40.dll or whatever are in your System32 Folder? I once came upon a Win98 Installation with 5 different variations (including Spyware versions et al.). This is why a Package Management System where installation relies on Dependancies is so much easier.
If, instead of spending $200 on that Video Card and two weeks later spent $500 on that new Motherboard and CPU, you had saved that money, would you have had enough money to buy a Mac?
I recently neglected my self-built, progressively constructed x86 for a year. After that Period, I assessed the cost of new components to bring it up to scratch. I decided to would be Cheaper to buy an iBook. Doing this also broadened my Horizons. I still have an x86 which can run Linux or BeOS or even W2k, but I find myself using my Mac for just about everything "Real World".
But WP's most impressive feat was the file compatability. From 5.2 onward, files were forward- AND backward-compatible. The tagged-block structure file format had been thought out well, and as new features were introduced, they were added to the format in such a way that older versions of the app could open and use as much of the newer files as possible. Compared to Word, it stood out as just plain Good Engineering.
The Word Format has changed dozens of times over the years; There were 3 different formats for Word 2.0, depending on which revisions you were using. Word 6.0 Documents couldn't be used in Word 2.0, until The Word Viewer was released (which updated the Windows Document Translators). Certain Word 6.0 Documents couldn't even be read in Word '95, until Microsoft offered a Patch... 6 months after the Launch of the Product.
If I understand the Conspiracy Theory correctly, Corel wanted VBA in WordPerfect, so It would more compatible with Word. Microsoft wouldn't license VBA to Corel unless they dropped their Mac Versions of the WordPerfect Line.
This restrictive License apparently expired in 2002 (or some time), but without the maintenance of the code, and the switch to MacOSX, Corel haven't yet released an OSX Version of WP. Apparently, it's easier to port to MacOSX from Linux than from Windows, so I pray that there will be a version of WP for MacOSX some time this Decade. In the meantime, I should be able to get by with TextEdit. Not as Powerful a Word Processor as I'd like, but definitely Simple Enough.
... But then again, there are a lot of time limited software demos, and I don't suppose that anyone tries to hack those...
Most of the Time-Limited software Demos last for 30 Days. I've never had a Windows 98 Installation stable for more than 30 days on my old POS K6-2/450, so once a month I'd have to reinstall everything anyway.:)
On my Mac, however, I might have to actually Purchase a version of Illustrator or CorelDRAW. Damn Stable Operating Systems:(
Here in Melbourne, we have two Dance/Pop Stations (Nova,FOX), one Rock/Classic Rock Stations (MMM), two Independent, Eclectic Public Stations (RRR,PBS) two Oldies Stations (MIX,Gold), two Classical Stations (MBS[Independant],ABC Classic[Government]) and one Governement Youth Station(JJJ), in the top half of the FM Band.
There is also a plethora of Independent, Commercial and Government Radio stations on the Bottom Half of the FM Band and on the AM Band.
Your 1% of non-Crap-US music is more like 20-30% of non-Crap-Australian music.
There is quite a bit of Quality Music here in Australia, some modern, some Progressive, and some Traditional.
Also, there is a Healthy Independant/Live Music Scene in most Major Cities. Public Radio Stations also open up Unknown Music to a wider Audience, in all sorts of Genres and Styles. They have such a Large Audience, that one Melbourne Public Radio Station (3RRR,) is Purchasing a Property to house their studios.
I'm not saying there isn't a lot of Crap Music in Australia, but there is also a Lot of Good Music...
Slashdot Mirror
If you really want to watch TV on your iMac, you can always get a Firewire TV Tuner Box. They're difficult to find but they are out there.
You could also use a Firewire TV Tuner for Analogue Video Capture, like old Video Cameras and Archiving VCR Cassettes to DVD.
I've never Understood the whole OpenOffice/*Works type Applications.
Having one Application for Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Drawing and Painting just doesn't make sense. They are three different creative tasks, which occasionally have overlap.
The Windows-OLE/GNOME-Bonobo concept makes much more sense to me. Write a Document in AbiWord/WordPerfect. If you want to add a pretty Picture, Embed a Sodipodi/CorelDRAW! Drawing. If you just want to write your Resumé, just use AbiWord/MSWord. It just seems a lot more Unixey than including everything in one Application. You can also utilise previous work using a Linked Object. I could create a technical Drawing in AutoCAD and link it into a Report in Word. Then, when I wish to update the Model with more information, I just update the original and the Illustration in my Word Document automatically updates. You can't do something like this with a Works Suite, and if I want to use something more powerful (like AutoCAD) than the built-in Offering, I can. Platform Portability can be a problem with OLE/Bonobo documents, but that's what PS/PDFs are for, aren't they?
Most *Works-style applications store all types of documents in the single File Format. Where's the sense in that. If I want to find the letter that my father wrote to Grandma, I have to search though a dozen photos of grandma, a spreadsheet on Superannuation, 20 different letters to do with the Family Tree, a Picture of the family tree, a drawing of a desk, until I find the letter that I'm after. All these documents appear as Gobe Productive Files in the File Manager. There is no way to determine that one is a Spreadsheet, Painting, Drawing or Document.
I see no reason why an iPod user would want to acquire music from Harmony. The music is the exact same price as iTMS and it's Impossible to make it any cheaper without selling it at a huge loss.
It's sale is still restricted to the US and Canada, while iTMS sells to Europe and other Countries are in the Works.
Also, hacking your iPod isn't adding Haxies to MacOSX, or recompiling a custom Kernel for Linux. It's almost guaranteed to break it, Think of all the negativity Apple gets when a Haxie breaks MacOSX, or MS get when a Dodgy Driver causes Windows to Bluescreen. I'm sure it will also void your Warranty on your iPod.
Cars tend to have a higher resale value 'cos they cost more. As soon as you drive a car away from the dealership, it decreases in value by 10%. Meanwhile certain Computers (specifically certain Macs and other Boutique Computers) don't drop in price that much, and a few even keep up with inflation!
Also, a computer isn't going to be completely destroyed by a drunk Internet User, Virus or Worm. They can always be re-installed. No matter how good a driver you are, a Car can be completely destroyed by a Drunk Driver, even when that driver does not have access to your Machine (car).
We don't have AppleStores here in Australia (except the online Store). We only have AppleCentres and Second Hand Dealers.
The three AppleCentres I've been to (one a 30min Walk, one a 30min Drive, and the third and Hour Away) are all clean showrooms.
The guys in Berwick Village (closest to me) know me by name, and although they don't have everything in stock all the time, can provide me with a well-priced solution in no time. They also provide Internet Services and Database Design. They also do in-house Repairs.
The Guys in an Industrial Estate in Dandenong provide Commercial Printing Services and have most products in stock. I used to live 10mins away by foot.
I've only been to the AppleCentre Melbourne CBD once, but they have several floors of machines, all current and on display, and always have friendly helpful staff.
One of the other AppleCentres also provided a Free iPod as one of the prizes during a Public Radio Stations subscription drive. Here in Melbourne, AppleCentres are important parts of the community, and don't expect Apple Australia to subsidise them. They don't expect Apple Australia to Undercut them either, but that's another (related) story.
COBOL and Y2K anyone?
And we should also have a Small Caps Key. If there was a way to markup Plain Text to use Richer text features like Small Caps, Bold and Italic.
Small Caps is much more readable than ALL CAPS and bold, and stands out just as much, if not more.
Remove the Caps Lock key from keyboards, and introduce a Small Caps key combination for Word Processors.
The Good news is that here in Australia, the Populus have rejected GM Canola from Monsanto.m l/gm_food.c fm
http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/news/ht
The Federal "Liberal" (Actually Conservative) Government want GM foods so they can get thier Kickbacks, or whatever, The National Party (Country), who are in Coalition with the Liberal Party, want GM Foods so they can have more say in what the Liberal Party Do. The Federal Branch of the Labor Party are against GM, simply because they are the Federal Opposition, and therefore must oppose the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, the State Labor Governments, and non-alligned Local Governments have put Local Bans on Monsanto GM Canola, so even though the Federal Govenment wants it, there is no State, Shire or City in which to legally grow it!
If you press the "Browse" Button (also the Burn Button, or the Import Button, depending on Context), It'll give you a nice three-column list of Genre, Artist and Album.
There was a Scam here in Melbourne at the Crown Casino a few years ago, where Individuals would hang around in Pokies Rooms, and observe Machines. They'd Calculate (with pretty high accuracy) when a machine was due to JackPot and kick off whoever was on it (beforehand), so when they push the button, they get the JackPot.
Meanwhile the poor pensioner can just watch as someone else takes all the money she was pouring into the machine, and wonder how she's gonna buy catfood this month...
I couldn't get any Spyware Programs for my BeOS Machine. I couldn't get Any Programs for my BeOS Machine.
(J/K Seriously though, It did everything I needed it to do, at the time. The only reason I don't use it any more is because I now have an iBook which doesn't everything I used to need to do and everything I need to do now - and a bit more)
I hope you didn't use his Keyboard and Mouse? Or at least bought along a box of Wet-Ones.
I work in the Automotive Industry and most End Users of Cars don't bother to read the Manual either.
For that matter, Very few mechanics bother reading the Service Manual.
As a Mac Zealot, you should know that Marketshare means nothing compared to Install Base. (J/K)
Seriously though, iPods Install/User Base is quote high ATM too, isn't it?
As long as they aren't Ogg or WMA :)
I can't see Real Pairing up with MS any time soon, for exactly the same reason that Apple Rejected them.
Imagine it;
Bill Gates:"Yeah Sure, I'll let Real join up with Microsoft after Apple Rejected them. We'll have to abandon WMA, of course, despite it's success, and ditch the Windows Media Player, Oh and our Customers will have to pay a licence every time they make a video with Windows Movie Maker."
A Generous Gift? I Suppose the Trojans thought the Horse was a Generous Gift Too. Face it, RealPlayer for Linux is a steaming pile of Closed Source Monkey Jizz, unless you like using Motif...
Personally, I wouldn't Install RealPlayer on a Linux Machine, even if it meant I couldn't watch *any* Video Animations whatsoever!
When I purchase an Album, I usually play the whole thing in order a few times, then dump it into my MP3 Collection.
Certain Songs which are good, and an Album which is Cohesive (like The Fire This Time.
Also, with certain Electronic and Instrumental Tracks, I like Playing the Track in Reverse (with SoundPlay), just for the variety. I get better Milage out of a track, because it always sounds like a completely different track. About Half the time they sound as good, or better than the original Track...
I'm an Advocate for Dynamic Libraries, but offering the Choice of Static or Dynamic is not very User-Friendly. The fact that you had to explain the difference between Static and Dynamic on Slashdot, of all places, illustrates this fact.
WRT Static Libraries... can you imagine if every App in KDE was Statically Linked? There are certain programs where Static Linking is not an Option.
Also, many people who use Win32 will attest to the fact that sometimes Identical Libraries can have different names.. how many variations on MSVC40.dll or whatever are in your System32 Folder? I once came upon a Win98 Installation with 5 different variations (including Spyware versions et al.). This is why a Package Management System where installation relies on Dependancies is so much easier.
If, instead of spending $200 on that Video Card and two weeks later spent $500 on that new Motherboard and CPU, you had saved that money, would you have had enough money to buy a Mac?
I recently neglected my self-built, progressively constructed x86 for a year. After that Period, I assessed the cost of new components to bring it up to scratch. I decided to would be Cheaper to buy an iBook. Doing this also broadened my Horizons. I still have an x86 which can run Linux or BeOS or even W2k, but I find myself using my Mac for just about everything "Real World".
The Word Format has changed dozens of times over the years; There were 3 different formats for Word 2.0, depending on which revisions you were using. Word 6.0 Documents couldn't be used in Word 2.0, until The Word Viewer was released (which updated the Windows Document Translators). Certain Word 6.0 Documents couldn't even be read in Word '95, until Microsoft offered a Patch... 6 months after the Launch of the Product.
If I understand the Conspiracy Theory correctly, Corel wanted VBA in WordPerfect, so It would more compatible with Word. Microsoft wouldn't license VBA to Corel unless they dropped their Mac Versions of the WordPerfect Line.
This restrictive License apparently expired in 2002 (or some time), but without the maintenance of the code, and the switch to MacOSX, Corel haven't yet released an OSX Version of WP.
Apparently, it's easier to port to MacOSX from Linux than from Windows, so I pray that there will be a version of WP for MacOSX some time this Decade.
In the meantime, I should be able to get by with TextEdit. Not as Powerful a Word Processor as I'd like, but definitely Simple Enough.
Most of the Time-Limited software Demos last for 30 Days. I've never had a Windows 98 Installation stable for more than 30 days on my old POS K6-2/450, so once a month I'd have to reinstall everything anyway. :)
On my Mac, however, I might have to actually Purchase a version of Illustrator or CorelDRAW. Damn Stable Operating Systems :(
Mod me down for OffTopic.
Australian Radio is very Diverse.
Here in Melbourne, we have two Dance/Pop Stations (Nova,FOX), one Rock/Classic Rock Stations (MMM), two Independent, Eclectic Public Stations (RRR,PBS) two Oldies Stations (MIX,Gold), two Classical Stations (MBS[Independant],ABC Classic[Government]) and one Governement Youth Station(JJJ), in the top half of the FM Band.
There is also a plethora of Independent, Commercial and Government Radio stations on the Bottom Half of the FM Band and on the AM Band.
Your 1% of non-Crap-US music is more like 20-30% of non-Crap-Australian music.
There is quite a bit of Quality Music here in Australia, some modern, some Progressive, and some Traditional. Also, there is a Healthy Independant/Live Music Scene in most Major Cities. Public Radio Stations also open up Unknown Music to a wider Audience, in all sorts of Genres and Styles. They have such a Large Audience, that one Melbourne Public Radio Station (3RRR,) is Purchasing a Property to house their studios.
I'm not saying there isn't a lot of Crap Music in Australia, but there is also a Lot of Good Music...