One stipulation: I want broadband. Real broadband. As in 3megs or higher.
And A starbucks, and more shopping than Wal-Mart. And good schools. And to not get shot at when I drive through town with my "He's not my president" sticker on my car. And to not be burned at the stake for not attending church. And to not be lumped in with the Xian fundies that live there.
Wait... I can't get any of those things right now, and I live in the suburbs!
An even better reason to learn the command line on your Mac is so you can SSH into it from a remote location. I use this all the time at work to download software updates and files. Right now I'm downloading NeoOffice to play with later.
I can also administer it remotely. Handy for when my wife has some sort of problem with something, or when I have a spare minute and want to do something on my home computer.
I was fortunate enough to have two job interviews with the makers of Reunion.
It's a tiny operation, comprising four people. They were extremely dedicated to doing one thing and doing it well, and to the Macintosh platform. It made me proud to be a Mac user, since I was in such good company.
My parents were the opposite. My dad tried to drop AOL when he got broadband ($25/month for an extra phone line + $25/month for AOL == $50/month for cable). But with the cable, AOL became useable, with the rest of the Internet.
So now he's paying $75/month because an AOL 'upgrade' hosed IE outside of AOL, and he won't switch to Firefox because it doesn't work with his bank's website.
Which would you rather your child be doing? Blowing up stuff, or building things and then knocking them over?
Besides, Erector sets are way cooler, sharper, and deadlier than anything else out there.
I used to buy all my X-mas presents. But then I figured out that baking or making a present is cheaper and more personal than anything else.
My mom can't eat flour, so I make flourless cookies. My grandfather's diabetic, so I make sugar-free cookies. And I know what each person likes, so I vary the recipes.
15 containers from Dollar Store - $15
Cookie ingredients for 8 dozen cookies - $50
Total for X-Mas presents - $65
Giving really great, personalized presents - Priceless
This only really works if you like to cook and are good at it. But after a couple years, you'll be pretty damn good at it, and it doesn't take that long in the first place (30 minutes of labor per batch, so 4 hours).
How about credit card info? You need the right name for that, right? And when the user asks why they need their credit card to do X, just answer "because we don't trust you to tell use who you really are."
I can understand frustration, I've had clients like that. The important thing is to have fun with them. If they don't like it, let them find someone else to annoy!:-)
If the kid 'makes web pages' then the parent is doing the world a service by not letting him use IE, especially on the Mac. It doesn't render pages correctly, and when you fix them to look right, it breaks them on every other browser.
I've given up testing on IE for Mac because it's not used by many people, and it should be taken out back and shot.
I like their bookmark managment. I especially like that you can do it from within the Bookmark menu.
No, what Firefox needs, especially on the Mac, is reliable Autofill, built into the browser based on the vCard standard. If I could set any vCard as my autofill information, and have multiple profiles (for form testing), and access it with one click, there would be no reason for me to go back to Safari.
1) Putting all your eggs in one basket just ensures those eggs can get broken all at once. Wouldn't it suck for your digital camera AND MP3 player AND Game Boy AND PDA to be out of commission just because one device broke?
2) The quality of features in an electronic device or software is inversely proportional to the number of features in the device or software. Phone? Works fine. Phone and camera? Well, battery life is lower, and the camera sucks. Phone, Camera, and MP3 player? Less room for pictures and MP3s, less than stellar sound quality, even more driver distraction, and even worse reception and battery life.
3) After using Unix for a while, my criteria for software has changed. Rather than have something that does all kinds of different things *cough*emacs*cough*, give me several pieces of software that can do one thing and do it well, and let me connect them in different ways to make tools. I expect nothing less from my hardware. Give me easy and effective ways to connect them together and then let me decide how they are used.
4) Yes, I carry around an iPod, a cell phone, a pretty big digital camera and a Powerbook, so I know what it's like. I use this thing called a bag. It's a legacy technology that's finding new uses in interfacing with newer tech. Or I decide what I want and need to have and leave the rest at home.
They're really common in the US, but the phones are, generally, crappy, as is the service, and the rates are significantly higher than signing your soul over to a corporation.
Of course, with so many souls for sale, they're becoming less and less valuable.
My Powerbook has Bluetooth support. When I get a bluetooth headseat, I'll be able to use it with Skype or iChat, or even Vonage's Softphone, just like a headset you plug into the microphone jack.
What *I* want is the ability to use my computer's modem port as a regular old phone jack, and to route calls directly from my computer. Or, for multiple lines, throw in another ethernet card and route it to a multi-line phone system.
Applescript? Javascript? PHP? They're all pretty simple languages. So simple in fact that people (like me) who cut their teeth on C++ and Java do things the hard way.
I tell anyone who asks that if they can tell someone how to do something in order, then they can program. And once they get the basics down (logical test, loops, etc) it's all pretty much the same.
Slashdot Mirror
No broadband, no NardofDoom. It's bad enough living the backwater I live in now, with no free, legal WiFi within 5 miles.
And A starbucks, and more shopping than Wal-Mart. And good schools. And to not get shot at when I drive through town with my "He's not my president" sticker on my car. And to not be burned at the stake for not attending church. And to not be lumped in with the Xian fundies that live there.
Wait... I can't get any of those things right now, and I live in the suburbs!
To get even more use out of an OS X machine, hold down Command-S on startup.
I can also administer it remotely. Handy for when my wife has some sort of problem with something, or when I have a spare minute and want to do something on my home computer.
Or you could stick to your guns and have fun developing really great software for an appreciative user community.
It's a tiny operation, comprising four people. They were extremely dedicated to doing one thing and doing it well, and to the Macintosh platform. It made me proud to be a Mac user, since I was in such good company.
Then I read slashdot.
Maybe you're talking about using it in OS 9, but *nothing* was really stable on that system.
So now he's paying $75/month because an AOL 'upgrade' hosed IE outside of AOL, and he won't switch to Firefox because it doesn't work with his bank's website.
But at least he's using the internet now...
And you go and look for caches, not mapping places.
And hunting isn't my favorite pastime. But, then again, I'm questioning my humanity more and more these days...
You know what else is good for that? Geocaching. And you can't kill anyone (easily) with a GPS receiver.
So, by that logic, we should buy our kids cigarettes, booze, hookers, and illegal drugs for christmas.
Wouldn't want their first experience with any of those things to end poorly, right?
Besides, Erector sets are way cooler, sharper, and deadlier than anything else out there.
I used to buy all my X-mas presents. But then I figured out that baking or making a present is cheaper and more personal than anything else.
My mom can't eat flour, so I make flourless cookies. My grandfather's diabetic, so I make sugar-free cookies. And I know what each person likes, so I vary the recipes.
15 containers from Dollar Store - $15
Cookie ingredients for 8 dozen cookies - $50
Total for X-Mas presents - $65
Giving really great, personalized presents - Priceless
This only really works if you like to cook and are good at it. But after a couple years, you'll be pretty damn good at it, and it doesn't take that long in the first place (30 minutes of labor per batch, so 4 hours).
I can understand frustration, I've had clients like that. The important thing is to have fun with them. If they don't like it, let them find someone else to annoy! :-)
Good luck with your own company.
No turkey? You can't order any? Wow. That stinks.
Shit. I wish I had that much money to blow on breaking expensive gadgets.
I've given up testing on IE for Mac because it's not used by many people, and it should be taken out back and shot.
No, what Firefox needs, especially on the Mac, is reliable Autofill, built into the browser based on the vCard standard. If I could set any vCard as my autofill information, and have multiple profiles (for form testing), and access it with one click, there would be no reason for me to go back to Safari.
2) The quality of features in an electronic device or software is inversely proportional to the number of features in the device or software. Phone? Works fine. Phone and camera? Well, battery life is lower, and the camera sucks. Phone, Camera, and MP3 player? Less room for pictures and MP3s, less than stellar sound quality, even more driver distraction, and even worse reception and battery life.
3) After using Unix for a while, my criteria for software has changed. Rather than have something that does all kinds of different things *cough*emacs*cough*, give me several pieces of software that can do one thing and do it well, and let me connect them in different ways to make tools. I expect nothing less from my hardware. Give me easy and effective ways to connect them together and then let me decide how they are used.
4) Yes, I carry around an iPod, a cell phone, a pretty big digital camera and a Powerbook, so I know what it's like. I use this thing called a bag. It's a legacy technology that's finding new uses in interfacing with newer tech. Or I decide what I want and need to have and leave the rest at home.
Of course, with so many souls for sale, they're becoming less and less valuable.
Yeah, because then they might not be able to afford seven Philipino sex slaves and will have to settle for only six.
Poor babies.
The added benefit being people with bluetooth on their phones and laptops will be able to use them from anywhere.
Of course, I'd settle just for coverage at my house right now...
My Powerbook has Bluetooth support. When I get a bluetooth headseat, I'll be able to use it with Skype or iChat, or even Vonage's Softphone, just like a headset you plug into the microphone jack.
But, then again, nobody asked me.
Did someone say gravy? I can't believe anyone would actually buy gravy... You do know what it's made from, right?
I tell anyone who asks that if they can tell someone how to do something in order, then they can program. And once they get the basics down (logical test, loops, etc) it's all pretty much the same.