It took me a little longer, but I, too, realised that I thought *I* and not $company should be the one in control of my machines. That was in 2005. Haven't regretted it yet.
I can look up characters I don't know from the original version of Journey to the West or from random street signs, restaurant menus, etc. in Hong Kong or Guangzhou by jotting them nearly illegibly on the screen of my 2010-vintage smartphone or tablet (I don't normally point/trace with the same hand that I write with) and obtaining the definitions and pronunciations in, say, 3-10 seconds. Or I can just use the camera, although I prefer doing it by hand since that reinforces them in my memory. In either case, that's at least 10 times faster than I could hope to look them up in the printed Chinese dictionary that I don't have to lug around.
In case you've never used one of the latter, it requires recognising and then looking up the first radical in the character by number of strokes in one index, counting the remaining strokes, going to a page in another index obtained from the first index, picking it out from a list of characters there that have the same number of strokes, then going to the indicated page in the dictionary proper to obtain the pronunciation and meaning. Some Chinese dictionaries also list the characters by pronunciation, but in this case you need to know that already, and even so, characters having the same representation in Pinyin are listed under it by tone and then by number of strokes. (For example, not taking tones into account, there are at least 25 commonly-used characters that are all pronounced "mao".) If that sounds a bit tedious, it is.
I think that's a very fair exchange, and so Google are welcome to know which characters I'm interested in.
...if you can have 15mbps down at 80$/month isn't there slower, cheaper options? 15mbps down is excessive for anything but multiple HD video streaming.
100/100 Mbps is the slowest option offered by my ISP, and costs us about US$45/month. I could upgrade to 350/350 or 500/500, but with just my wife and me that seems a bit excessive.
Do that many Slashdotters really think it's OK to behead those who don't believe in your Sky-Daddy in exactly the same way as you do? Or hack them apart in the street with machetes, for that matter?
Getting back on topic, I'm definitely in the "Handwritten" column. Being a lefty, I rarely write with pencil. Other left-handers will likely understand why. As for paper, I prefer quadrille or genuine Post-It Notes. I've yet to find any substitute for the latter on which the pen doesn't skip at crucial moments.
(FWIW, I've never taken a typing class. I touch-type, but probably do it wrong, although--after nearly a decade in Sweden--I can use a Scandinavian or US keyboard more or less equally well.)
Seriously, didn't they seem like a terrible idea from the very beginning?
The very first time I heard of them, my reaction was, "Yet another bunch of marketroids trying to entice me into dependence on their proprietary and completely unnecessary 'system'. Thanks, but no thanks."
My hand grinder and plunger pot have lifetimes measured in years, and do not require the purchase of any consumables other than coffee beans and water--not even filters. Nor electricity, for that matter--any method of heating the water will do.
No. But it might explain why the Swedish government lets all you slackers get away with abusing parental and sick leave while we immigrants actually show up for and perform the work and pay the taxes to finance your permanent vacations.
Slashdot Mirror
You typed that on a Windows machine, did you?
It took me a little longer, but I, too, realised that I thought *I* and not $company should be the one in control of my machines. That was in 2005. Haven't regretted it yet.
No large email provider would be stupid enough to store actual passwords on their side.
I, too, want to believe.
You appear to be lumping in Native Americans with fundamentalist Muslims, for one thing.
+1E05.
FB turned into a race to the bottom, essentially. I figured this out a couple of years ago, and quit posting anything to it.
Of course YOUR kids are perfect in every way and have NEVER made any mistakes WHATSOEVER, right?
OK, now you're trolling.
Projection much?
You must have a really crappy phone and/or use some really badly-done apps.
I can look up characters I don't know from the original version of Journey to the West or from random street signs, restaurant menus, etc. in Hong Kong or Guangzhou by jotting them nearly illegibly on the screen of my 2010-vintage smartphone or tablet (I don't normally point/trace with the same hand that I write with) and obtaining the definitions and pronunciations in, say, 3-10 seconds. Or I can just use the camera, although I prefer doing it by hand since that reinforces them in my memory. In either case, that's at least 10 times faster than I could hope to look them up in the printed Chinese dictionary that I don't have to lug around.
In case you've never used one of the latter, it requires recognising and then looking up the first radical in the character by number of strokes in one index, counting the remaining strokes, going to a page in another index obtained from the first index, picking it out from a list of characters there that have the same number of strokes, then going to the indicated page in the dictionary proper to obtain the pronunciation and meaning. Some Chinese dictionaries also list the characters by pronunciation, but in this case you need to know that already, and even so, characters having the same representation in Pinyin are listed under it by tone and then by number of strokes. (For example, not taking tones into account, there are at least 25 commonly-used characters that are all pronounced "mao".) If that sounds a bit tedious, it is.
I think that's a very fair exchange, and so Google are welcome to know which characters I'm interested in.
Please don't bother responding to any of my posts if you're not actually going to address what I said.
Ooh, gotta love that butthurt.
(Come to the Dark Side... We have bandwidth.)
...if you can have 15mbps down at 80$/month isn't there slower, cheaper options? 15mbps down is excessive for anything but multiple HD video streaming.
100/100 Mbps is the slowest option offered by my ISP, and costs us about US$45/month. I could upgrade to 350/350 or 500/500, but with just my wife and me that seems a bit excessive.
From 2007:
Me: "So what's your usage cap?"
Bredbandsbolaget tech guy on phone: "'Usage cap?' Is that some kind of hat?"
Perhaps you'd like to talk with folks in Paris and/or Brussels before you invoke a meme which you obviously don't really understand, eh? Dumbass.
How the hell did this get moderated as a troll?
Do that many Slashdotters really think it's OK to behead those who don't believe in your Sky-Daddy in exactly the same way as you do? Or hack them apart in the street with machetes, for that matter?
What the fuck is wrong with you people?
You shouldn't expect an unknown domain name to belong to a US site unless it ends in .us.
There will be someone at the door waiting to collect your geek card from you on your way out.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Getting back on topic, I'm definitely in the "Handwritten" column. Being a lefty, I rarely write with pencil. Other left-handers will likely understand why. As for paper, I prefer quadrille or genuine Post-It Notes. I've yet to find any substitute for the latter on which the pen doesn't skip at crucial moments.
(FWIW, I've never taken a typing class. I touch-type, but probably do it wrong, although--after nearly a decade in Sweden--I can use a Scandinavian or US keyboard more or less equally well.)
Seriously, didn't they seem like a terrible idea from the very beginning?
The very first time I heard of them, my reaction was, "Yet another bunch of marketroids trying to entice me into dependence on their proprietary and completely unnecessary 'system'. Thanks, but no thanks."
My hand grinder and plunger pot have lifetimes measured in years, and do not require the purchase of any consumables other than coffee beans and water--not even filters. Nor electricity, for that matter--any method of heating the water will do.
We are deeply honoured by the knowledge that the DPRK's propaganda ministry deem Slashdot worthy of attention.
*eyeroll*
Did you mean to say, "The copyright cartels could use it for generating excuses for gutting the public domain"?
No. But it might explain why the Swedish government lets all you slackers get away with abusing parental and sick leave while we immigrants actually show up for and perform the work and pay the taxes to finance your permanent vacations.
The AC you're responding to wasn't me. Just so you know.