Not a good solution if you just bought a new Kabylake system; MS has disabled Windows Update for Win7&8 installations running on them. There are workarounds, but it remains to be seen whether they're worth the hassle.
I've been running Windows on my HTPC for years, mostly for the ease of playing games and Blu-Rays, but I finally got fed-up with Win10; my new HTPC runs Fedora. MakeMKV handles Blu-Rays great so far, and the games I've been playing lately either have Linux-native versions or work in WINE. So far so good.
It's a pity, because Win10 does a lot of things right. But I just couldn't take the spyware and the tough-sell anymore.
It is insofar as I have to use the same Internet as everybody else, and other people's decisions affect my experience. For example, I have to work harder to protect my online privacy because other users either do not care enough to protect theirs, or don't understand how. That applies to Windows 10, Facebook, Google, whatever.
Suggesting, politely but firmly (and in the proper conversational context), that people should consider the implications of the products and services they use, is reasonable. Helping them to switch to another platform, if they express an interest, is better still.
But you're right that there's no need to be a judgemental asshole about it.
I've been disappointed, but not surprised, to see the MSM refer to this break-in, which apparently consisted of knowing Palin's zip code and date of birth, as "hacking", but I expected better of Slashdot. I mean, never mind all the hand-wringing about the differences between "hacker" and "cracker" over the past 25 years, people at LEAST used to have a higher standard for what "hacker" meant than "someone who can use a phone book".
Isn't he the dipshit who yammered about the superiority of the N64's cartridge format and dismissed Final Fantasy 7 as a slow and tedious game nobody would want to play?...And before the Nintendo fanboys jump me...I own a Wii. I like my Wii. It cost less than $500 and it still works a few months after purchase, which I think puts it leaps and bounds ahead of Sony and Microsoft. But the fact remains that George Harrison is a moron.
upwards of 300 distributions vie for the attention of computer users seeking an alternative to Windows.
Bullshit.
Computer users "seeking an alternative to Windows" are NOT going to jump straight into Gentoo or Slackware. (Well, I did. But I'm not representative.) There are not 300 distributions for people who are looking to try something other than Windows for the first time. I would say there are less than a dozen viable choices for that sort of new user. And personally, there's really only ONE I would recommend to a new user. (You don't even have to ask. You know which one I'm talking about.)
The variety is for experienced users, not new ones.
Okay, so the story's a few days old and everyone here's pretty much already given it the vivisection it so richly deserves. But there's a bit more from Pharyngula at ScienceBlogs. Notably, it points out that Milloy quotes his source out of context and ignores the portion of the article that says the whole thing was absolutely unnecessary and Bridges could have easily cleaned the bulb up herself.
But hey, apparently a scaremongering blog post from a right-wing shill who deliberately misleads his audience is obviously good enough for Slashdot.
I think things are actually monumentally better now, on the whole, than twenty years ago. Ninja Gaiden, anyone? (Okay, maybe a bad example -- I haven't played the new installments in the series, but I'm given to understand they're as ruthless as the originals.)
Again, there are exceptions (and lots of them, I'm sure), but games in general are more balanced than they once were. I haven't played Super Paper Mario yet, but I'll be very surprised if it's as difficult as the original Super Mario Bros.
The last time I can remember really hitting a wall was Suikoden 5. Overall I liked it, and I played probably some 50 hours in and was right near the endgame, but finally the absurdly high encounter rate just sapped my will and I put it down. (And it bears noting that the high encounter rate is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY -- the game is absurdly easy even without grinding; I only saw two "Game Over" screens in the course of playing it: one from a battle that required 3 6-man parties when I really only had 1 6-man party sufficiently leveled, and one army battle where I beat an opponent squad and it conveniently "retreated" right onto my base and automatically won. Great design, guys.) Frankly if I'd been able to get a Game Shark and a code to reduce the encounter rate, I probably would have finished the game.
First: There is no evidence, up to this point, that such a thing as DRM that allows legitimate use and only prevents illegal use can exist. How would that be technically possible? How can a DRM scheme be capable of telling the difference between a backup copy, a copy to resell illegally, a copy for academic study, etc.?
Second: Illegal where? Copyright law in China is pretty significantly different from copyright law in the US. Should we have different DRM schemes for different nations with different laws? And what about Sealand?
As both a gamer and an IT guy, I'm inclined to say "Cry me a fucking river." User accounts without admin privileges have been a basic requirement for security for decades, and if the same extremely basic functionality that makes it harder for spambots to DoS my mail server also makes it harder for people to play World of Warcraft, I guess that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make....Oh, except that World of Warcraft is probably a bad example, given that the game already runs natively on OSX.
Scientific skepticism IS healthy -- even (especially?) in terms of questioning issues on which there is a clear consensus within the scientific community -- but it's important to separate legitimate scientific queries from dogmatic nonsense. Are the "skeptics" who say the Grand Canyon is a result of the Great Flood contributing anything to scientific debate? No. They're a bunch of hacks preying on gullible people with an antiquated belief system.
Skepticism is only healthy if it's good science. Good science means objectivity. And if your funding comes from somebody with an obvious bias, your objectivity is suspect.
Other people in this discussion have pointed out that this cuts both ways, and I accept that. But if you're going to convince me that the bias is equal on both side's, you're going to have to show me an organization that stands to make as much money from "hyping" global warming as Exxon-Mobil stands to make from denying it first.
You're right -- those poor, powerless big oil companies are ALWAYS being muscled out by those big, unstoppable nonprofits. It's high time Exxon-Mobil's voice is finally heard, dammit!
"How long before the first class action suit in the U.S. over bad Web site design?"
See, I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I hate frivolous lawsuits. But on the other hand, I really do think that, for example, whoever designed the nintendo.com store should be punished.
Slashdot Mirror
That's a difference between coders and novelists?
...that laying off your entire testing department could have negative consequences?
Not a good solution if you just bought a new Kabylake system; MS has disabled Windows Update for Win7&8 installations running on them. There are workarounds, but it remains to be seen whether they're worth the hassle.
I've been running Windows on my HTPC for years, mostly for the ease of playing games and Blu-Rays, but I finally got fed-up with Win10; my new HTPC runs Fedora. MakeMKV handles Blu-Rays great so far, and the games I've been playing lately either have Linux-native versions or work in WINE. So far so good.
It's a pity, because Win10 does a lot of things right. But I just couldn't take the spyware and the tough-sell anymore.
No, it did so because XFree changed its license.
It is insofar as I have to use the same Internet as everybody else, and other people's decisions affect my experience. For example, I have to work harder to protect my online privacy because other users either do not care enough to protect theirs, or don't understand how. That applies to Windows 10, Facebook, Google, whatever.
Suggesting, politely but firmly (and in the proper conversational context), that people should consider the implications of the products and services they use, is reasonable. Helping them to switch to another platform, if they express an interest, is better still.
But you're right that there's no need to be a judgemental asshole about it.
I've been disappointed, but not surprised, to see the MSM refer to this break-in, which apparently consisted of knowing Palin's zip code and date of birth, as "hacking", but I expected better of Slashdot. I mean, never mind all the hand-wringing about the differences between "hacker" and "cracker" over the past 25 years, people at LEAST used to have a higher standard for what "hacker" meant than "someone who can use a phone book".
Worked out really well with Windows 2000 and Windows ME.
(Speaking of...7? By my count, the next version of Windows will be NT8.)
Isn't he the dipshit who yammered about the superiority of the N64's cartridge format and dismissed Final Fantasy 7 as a slow and tedious game nobody would want to play? ...And before the Nintendo fanboys jump me...I own a Wii. I like my Wii. It cost less than $500 and it still works a few months after purchase, which I think puts it leaps and bounds ahead of Sony and Microsoft. But the fact remains that George Harrison is a moron.
Bullshit.
Computer users "seeking an alternative to Windows" are NOT going to jump straight into Gentoo or Slackware. (Well, I did. But I'm not representative.) There are not 300 distributions for people who are looking to try something other than Windows for the first time. I would say there are less than a dozen viable choices for that sort of new user. And personally, there's really only ONE I would recommend to a new user. (You don't even have to ask. You know which one I'm talking about.)
The variety is for experienced users, not new ones.
From TFA:
Series 3 Standard: $799 (but ~$300 less with rebates, sales)
Series 3 Lite: $299
I am curious as to where you get "savings of $300" from those numbers.
"Earlier this year Captain America was slain as the climax to Marvel Comics' Civil War event."
No he wasn't. He surrendered to Iron Man as the climax to Civil War. He was assassinated after the end of the that story.
Okay, so the story's a few days old and everyone here's pretty much already given it the vivisection it so richly deserves. But there's a bit more from Pharyngula at ScienceBlogs. Notably, it points out that Milloy quotes his source out of context and ignores the portion of the article that says the whole thing was absolutely unnecessary and Bridges could have easily cleaned the bulb up herself.
But hey, apparently a scaremongering blog post from a right-wing shill who deliberately misleads his audience is obviously good enough for Slashdot.
Glad to hear our government is reading China the riot act for important things like piracy, instead of minor issues like tainted food.
What do you mean, "even" comic books? The backlash against comics in the 1950's was HUGE, and its impact on the industry is still felt today.
Seems to me that the odd versions of Netscape are the good ones. And that this is why they had to skip 5.
I think things are actually monumentally better now, on the whole, than twenty years ago. Ninja Gaiden, anyone? (Okay, maybe a bad example -- I haven't played the new installments in the series, but I'm given to understand they're as ruthless as the originals.)
Again, there are exceptions (and lots of them, I'm sure), but games in general are more balanced than they once were. I haven't played Super Paper Mario yet, but I'll be very surprised if it's as difficult as the original Super Mario Bros.
The last time I can remember really hitting a wall was Suikoden 5. Overall I liked it, and I played probably some 50 hours in and was right near the endgame, but finally the absurdly high encounter rate just sapped my will and I put it down. (And it bears noting that the high encounter rate is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY -- the game is absurdly easy even without grinding; I only saw two "Game Over" screens in the course of playing it: one from a battle that required 3 6-man parties when I really only had 1 6-man party sufficiently leveled, and one army battle where I beat an opponent squad and it conveniently "retreated" right onto my base and automatically won. Great design, guys.) Frankly if I'd been able to get a Game Shark and a code to reduce the encounter rate, I probably would have finished the game.
So when Buckminster Fuller said he was a man twenty years ahead of his time, he was actually being modest.
The question is moot.
First: There is no evidence, up to this point, that such a thing as DRM that allows legitimate use and only prevents illegal use can exist. How would that be technically possible? How can a DRM scheme be capable of telling the difference between a backup copy, a copy to resell illegally, a copy for academic study, etc.?
Second: Illegal where? Copyright law in China is pretty significantly different from copyright law in the US. Should we have different DRM schemes for different nations with different laws? And what about Sealand?
As both a gamer and an IT guy, I'm inclined to say "Cry me a fucking river." User accounts without admin privileges have been a basic requirement for security for decades, and if the same extremely basic functionality that makes it harder for spambots to DoS my mail server also makes it harder for people to play World of Warcraft, I guess that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. ...Oh, except that World of Warcraft is probably a bad example, given that the game already runs natively on OSX.
Scientific skepticism IS healthy -- even (especially?) in terms of questioning issues on which there is a clear consensus within the scientific community -- but it's important to separate legitimate scientific queries from dogmatic nonsense. Are the "skeptics" who say the Grand Canyon is a result of the Great Flood contributing anything to scientific debate? No. They're a bunch of hacks preying on gullible people with an antiquated belief system.
Skepticism is only healthy if it's good science. Good science means objectivity. And if your funding comes from somebody with an obvious bias, your objectivity is suspect.
Other people in this discussion have pointed out that this cuts both ways, and I accept that. But if you're going to convince me that the bias is equal on both side's, you're going to have to show me an organization that stands to make as much money from "hyping" global warming as Exxon-Mobil stands to make from denying it first.
What? Yes they do. You're doing it right now.
You're right -- those poor, powerless big oil companies are ALWAYS being muscled out by those big, unstoppable nonprofits. It's high time Exxon-Mobil's voice is finally heard, dammit!
"How long before the first class action suit in the U.S. over bad Web site design?"
See, I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I hate frivolous lawsuits. But on the other hand, I really do think that, for example, whoever designed the nintendo.com store should be punished.
Wow. Not only is it bad science, it's even worse English!
...is not 5%.