Ah, so you aren't mad at MS, you're mad at Dell/Gateway/etc. I worked for a small shop and we bought OEM disks and there was none of that problem. In fact, I use the same disks with a (legal) Dell OEM code to reload Dells without the cruft and have no problems. I've done it for dozens of boxes, each with their own Dell OEM code from the release of XP until just recently, and never had an issue. I've also used that dell OEM code to install XP on a replacement box for dead Dells and never had a problem.
I have to ask... What issues does Feisty Fawn have that Dapper Drake didn't? I found it to be solid and usable, and I ran it on 3 systems at once. (Work, home, and home 'server'.) I ran Dapper on 2 of them prior to that, and while it was stable, I find Feisty more useful. (Eyecandy, packages Drake doesn't have in the repos, etc.)
I've got Gutsy installed at home now, and the 'server' off (just using the desktop for that as well), but Feisty at work still... SO looking forward next month to when I can justify installing Gutsy at work. Compiz works a LOT better from what I've seen at home. Very solid on Intel graphics, at least.
As for Windows being stuck to the original box... I think your fear of calling MS is unfounded. The phone people are tools and getting your registration updated is as simple as saying 'This is the only hardware this OS is installed on.' when they ask. Even if it's not. I've converted a ton of systems (worked at a shop) and never had WGA fail because of this. (Have had it fail straight out of the box, never installed on another system, though.) Generally if it's been long enough since the first install, you don't even have to call them, the internet registration will simply work.
It seems to be more gimmicky than innovative, to me. How many people are going to spend hours and hours building cardboard cutout tanks? -yawn-
Don't get me wrong, I think the game will be neat, and I look forward to the adventure, especially with a friend (it had BETTER have net play, damnit) and I've pre-ordered it... But it's not the 'killer app' of the PS3 by any means.
Re:I think someone has a sig relevant to this news
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The 700MHz Question
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Insightful!? The ORIGINAL Soviet Russia jokes were like that. They were not only funny, and the reverse of America, but TRUE. This is probably the first SR joke in years to actually capture to spirit of the original, and you say it got turned on its head!
Actually, I think he was right on pretty much all accounts. Requiring the software to be installed negates the majority of the usefulness: Being able to use it from anywhere.
The only benefit it gives is easy uploads of documents to a central location... That could easily be done with webservices and the regular Office app. As far as MS is concerned, it would be -easier-.
If they do it this way, and then later decide not to have it installed, they'll have to push all the DLLs to the target computer (which wouldn't be allowed on computers the person doesn't own, like when they are travelling) or require a complete rewrite to make it more server-side than client-side.
I will admit that my main complaint was the texturing. What little I did with shapes and actual modelling wasn't that bad, but everything I tried to do with texturing, even after fiddling with it for hours and -thinking- I had it down, was absolutely amazingly painful. At the time, I only persevered because Blender is free and Milkshape3D (what I'd normally have used) doestn't work on Linux. (Never tried Wine.)
This is obviously meant to showcase the technology, not to sell that TV. The publicity they'll get off this is more than worth the time they spent making it, AND they'll probably make the R&D back on the few who buy the 11" version.
That's a great illusion. Even with your line drawn, I still see them as different colors, and the line as having a gradient. The only way I was able to see that they were the same color was to put the back of my right hand on the green color, and spread 3 fingers to surround those 2 blocks. Once I could no longer see all the hints for shadow and such, it was obvious they were the same color.
I've seen that one before, the colors were so clearly 'different'.
I'm not sure why stating a statistic like that pisses you off, but it's not meant to. It's meant to bring the numbers down to something people can comprehend. Saying 250/decade has 2 numbers that are just too big. 250 languages... The thought boggles the mind. The first response is 'Impossible. There aren't that many to start with.' no matter how untrue it is. The second is 'A decade? Cripes, that's a long time.' Most people only deal with the now, and 10 years from now is unseeably far away.
Something more reasonable would work better... 26/year, for example. Most people recognize that there are at least that many languages. Then when they think about it, they realize that many small countries have their own language. And a year is easy to grasp... Most people have goals that are at least that far away.
But a language every 2 weeks... That's a very easy number to grasp, even for children. Unfortunately, it seems insignificant because it's so small.
Maybe it pisses you off because it's talking way below your intellect? Just remember it wasn't aimed at you, and maybe that'll help.
I have never been a professional, but this exactly matches my experience.
I wrote a program that converts TheSims models to OBJ format and back again. As part of that, I had to 'learn' a modeller and chose MilkShape3D. I say 'learn' because it took only a few minutes. I've also played with a few other modellers and they all had the same concepts, and the basic functions were all easy to find. (Add polys, move vertexes, apply textures, etc.)
I picked up Blender because I'd heard such good things about it. I spent 2 hours trying to figure out how to apply a texture to a model, another half an hour searching the web for the info, and another hour following a tutorial step by step to figure it out. I tried again without the tut and had lost it already.
Blender's UI is so completely anti-intuitive that it's impossible to just use, you MUST be trained. (Or self-trained.) This may be acceptable for those who never use computers and only want to use Blender, but the rest of us expect to be able to figure it out without a printed manual.
I wonder if it's just chance that the Gimp also has tons of interface complaints?
You're tired of it? Ohhh, you mean 'wary', not 'weary.'
People have tried time and time again to make a new 'standard' take over the market, and it very, very rarely works. It has to be superior in every way, or too many people will simply stick with the old tried and true version. Even then, it has to gain a good following before mainstream will even learn of its existance.
The best way to get your new standard off the ground is as the other responder said: Make a server that does both, but better. You'll gain the advantages of the new standard while attracting users of the old one. They won't switch standards immediately, but they will switch over time, until they are completely off the old one.
You linked to a site about 'Veracity' backup software and say it's not necessary to purchase anything for backups. I figured it would be free, but I click the link there and it redirects to Quantum's site, which doesn't even have Veracity any more.
I'm just trying to figure out what your point in linking there was... Just because it's cute?
Webhosts also have an awful tendency to delete anything that looks suspicious... ZIP, MP3, whatever... Gone. They're fine as an additional easy-to-access backup, but they are -not- reliable. I had all the ZIP files on my site disappear one time and I still have no idea why... They were zips of programs I had written and were linked to my site and clearly named. No warning, just gone one day. I uploaded them again and they haven't disappeared since.
Also, most cheap webhosts will tell you that they are NOT responsible for backing up your data. If their hard drive fails, they'll put a new one in and you'll have to restore the site. Not really great for backups.
IronPython works on Linux, so this probably does as well. Since it's not actually released, there's no much real info out yet. Sign up for the Beta and come back and tell us.
I quite often accidentally click things by my finger slipping on the mouse and pressing the button. I've also clicked 2 things on a page in the browser, and it'll send both requests (if you click slow enough) but only show you 1 or the other page. Some show you the first, some the second. If you accidentally click the 'buy' button, then click another link, it's possible to have bought the product and never know it.
I'm sure you'll get an email and all that, but how often do most people check their email? I doubt they're as anal about it as I am.
The MP3 'buy' button offered no such cancellation page and actually immediately started the download of the MP3. There was no chance to back out. As I said, there's an option in place now to help that, though.
No, they don't 'have' to be heard by jury, but the judge will take it into consideration that another case did.
And there's been a couple cases later that don't fit your 2 patterns:
RIAA: ZOMG PIRACY! YOU GETTIN' SUED, FOO! Plaintiff: What? Fsck that! We're going to court! Judge: Court is now in session. Judge: I'm dropping the case, because your scare tactics have no legal merit. You'll also pay the defendent and their lawyer a lot of money.
Far from elegant, '1 click' is dangerous and insane. As a developer, I would -never- consider implementing such a crazy thing. The 'are you sure' dialog is more of an invention than '1 click'. '1 click' is the opposite of invention, it's lack of one. It's leaving out a step. You know, the secure one that prevents the customer from accidentally ordering the $1000 fuzzybear their daughter was looking at by accidentally clicking on the button, then clicking elsewhere and loading the second page so they don't even know they've ordered it.
I'm of 2 minds about this patent. It's so obvious that if it remains, the patent system is irretrievably broken. But as long as it remains, nobody else can implement this horrid system.
When the Amazon MP3 thing showed up on/. yesterday, buying MP3s defaulted to 1-click. I bought one about 3 steps earlier than I expected. (Luckily, I had intended to follow through with it.) Less than an hour later, they had added a 'check here to always confirm before purchase' checkbox. They had obviously snagged quite a few 'accidental' sales that people didn't expect to make, and got tons of complaints.
This patent is so obvious that every programmer goes through a stage where they learn about the confirmation dialog because they've already implemented this and need to fix it!
Seriously, though... If there's even a single person that can't see what's obvious about this in the patent office, there needs to be firings until there isn't. This is pretty much the definition of obvious. Heck, if the person even had access to the internet, they'd have fallen across rants about its obviousness every other month.
They also seem to assume there are no other factors involved. Maybe it's not 'ability' to learn but 'desire' instead. Maybe their digestive system doesn't normally work at that time of day, and there's not enough incentive to learn. There's probably a billion other reasons they haven't thought of, right down to which researchers worked with which groups, and what other smells were nearby at each time, etc. I'm sure they tried to rule out all outside influence, but it's impossible to do so completely.
I'd also like to remind everyone that a finding doesn't have any weight until it's been independently verified by a couple other labs.
I'm there, man. I was actually let go (temp job) because I 'stood up too much'... Yeah, physically. Nevermind that I was a CO Dispatcher and can DO the job standing up, I just did it too much. I have a problem with my legs (undiagnosed) where they physically hurt if I sit too long. So I simple stood up. (At the current job, I'm free to go for a walk and really take care of it.)
And 6 hours, too... Absolutely. I'm a morning person and I get all my stuff done before lunch. After that, it's 'planning' and discussion time. There's just not much point in working unless there's an emergency as I really can't keep my mind on it. I try, and sometimes get stuff done, but I get a lot more done in my first 2 working hours than my last 2 each day.
My father has always said that they've proven someone that works 10 hours doesn't really get more done than someone who works 8 because it just gets spread out. You can't really get more productive hours out of a person on a regular basis. I wonder if maybe for some jobs, that magic number is actually 6 hours?
Because he put in as many derogatory terms as he could think of. If he'd simply stated it like you had (minus 'squiggly drawings') he'd probably have gotten 'insightful' instead.
I'm know I've used online translation services when I absolutely needed to know what something said and there was no native speaker around. In fact, since native speakers are generally unsure of exact translations (despite speaking both languages fluently) I find the poor translations online better than 'well, it means this, but there's this connotation and...'... Ugh. I don't care about all that when I'm in a hurry, I just wanted to know it said 'Stick the bulb in the socket and spin clockwise.' (Not a real example. Heh.)
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Ah, so you aren't mad at MS, you're mad at Dell/Gateway/etc. I worked for a small shop and we bought OEM disks and there was none of that problem. In fact, I use the same disks with a (legal) Dell OEM code to reload Dells without the cruft and have no problems. I've done it for dozens of boxes, each with their own Dell OEM code from the release of XP until just recently, and never had an issue. I've also used that dell OEM code to install XP on a replacement box for dead Dells and never had a problem.
Microsoft isn't the limiting factor, it's Dell.
I have to ask... What issues does Feisty Fawn have that Dapper Drake didn't? I found it to be solid and usable, and I ran it on 3 systems at once. (Work, home, and home 'server'.) I ran Dapper on 2 of them prior to that, and while it was stable, I find Feisty more useful. (Eyecandy, packages Drake doesn't have in the repos, etc.)
I've got Gutsy installed at home now, and the 'server' off (just using the desktop for that as well), but Feisty at work still... SO looking forward next month to when I can justify installing Gutsy at work. Compiz works a LOT better from what I've seen at home. Very solid on Intel graphics, at least.
As for Windows being stuck to the original box... I think your fear of calling MS is unfounded. The phone people are tools and getting your registration updated is as simple as saying 'This is the only hardware this OS is installed on.' when they ask. Even if it's not. I've converted a ton of systems (worked at a shop) and never had WGA fail because of this. (Have had it fail straight out of the box, never installed on another system, though.) Generally if it's been long enough since the first install, you don't even have to call them, the internet registration will simply work.
Why do people complain about this? What's it hurt you when they say that? Why do you even CARE?
It seems to be more gimmicky than innovative, to me. How many people are going to spend hours and hours building cardboard cutout tanks? -yawn-
Don't get me wrong, I think the game will be neat, and I look forward to the adventure, especially with a friend (it had BETTER have net play, damnit) and I've pre-ordered it... But it's not the 'killer app' of the PS3 by any means.
Insightful!? The ORIGINAL Soviet Russia jokes were like that. They were not only funny, and the reverse of America, but TRUE. This is probably the first SR joke in years to actually capture to spirit of the original, and you say it got turned on its head!
UGH!
I've got an n800 and I'm using it for Skype. It's working rather well so far, though I haven't had occasion to use it much.
I also use it for reading ebooks a -lot-, and it's been great for that as well. (Using fbreader.)
I used to -hate- their phones, and I'm still no real fan of them, but the n800 was well worth the money.
Actually, I think he was right on pretty much all accounts. Requiring the software to be installed negates the majority of the usefulness: Being able to use it from anywhere.
The only benefit it gives is easy uploads of documents to a central location... That could easily be done with webservices and the regular Office app. As far as MS is concerned, it would be -easier-.
If they do it this way, and then later decide not to have it installed, they'll have to push all the DLLs to the target computer (which wouldn't be allowed on computers the person doesn't own, like when they are travelling) or require a complete rewrite to make it more server-side than client-side.
I will admit that my main complaint was the texturing. What little I did with shapes and actual modelling wasn't that bad, but everything I tried to do with texturing, even after fiddling with it for hours and -thinking- I had it down, was absolutely amazingly painful. At the time, I only persevered because Blender is free and Milkshape3D (what I'd normally have used) doestn't work on Linux. (Never tried Wine.)
After a few hours, I finally gave up on it.
This is obviously meant to showcase the technology, not to sell that TV. The publicity they'll get off this is more than worth the time they spent making it, AND they'll probably make the R&D back on the few who buy the 11" version.
That's a great illusion. Even with your line drawn, I still see them as different colors, and the line as having a gradient. The only way I was able to see that they were the same color was to put the back of my right hand on the green color, and spread 3 fingers to surround those 2 blocks. Once I could no longer see all the hints for shadow and such, it was obvious they were the same color.
I've seen that one before, the colors were so clearly 'different'.
I'm not sure why stating a statistic like that pisses you off, but it's not meant to. It's meant to bring the numbers down to something people can comprehend. Saying 250/decade has 2 numbers that are just too big. 250 languages ... The thought boggles the mind. The first response is 'Impossible. There aren't that many to start with.' no matter how untrue it is. The second is 'A decade? Cripes, that's a long time.' Most people only deal with the now, and 10 years from now is unseeably far away.
Something more reasonable would work better... 26/year, for example. Most people recognize that there are at least that many languages. Then when they think about it, they realize that many small countries have their own language. And a year is easy to grasp... Most people have goals that are at least that far away.
But a language every 2 weeks... That's a very easy number to grasp, even for children. Unfortunately, it seems insignificant because it's so small.
Maybe it pisses you off because it's talking way below your intellect? Just remember it wasn't aimed at you, and maybe that'll help.
I have never been a professional, but this exactly matches my experience.
I wrote a program that converts TheSims models to OBJ format and back again. As part of that, I had to 'learn' a modeller and chose MilkShape3D. I say 'learn' because it took only a few minutes. I've also played with a few other modellers and they all had the same concepts, and the basic functions were all easy to find. (Add polys, move vertexes, apply textures, etc.)
I picked up Blender because I'd heard such good things about it. I spent 2 hours trying to figure out how to apply a texture to a model, another half an hour searching the web for the info, and another hour following a tutorial step by step to figure it out. I tried again without the tut and had lost it already.
Blender's UI is so completely anti-intuitive that it's impossible to just use, you MUST be trained. (Or self-trained.) This may be acceptable for those who never use computers and only want to use Blender, but the rest of us expect to be able to figure it out without a printed manual.
I wonder if it's just chance that the Gimp also has tons of interface complaints?
You're tired of it? Ohhh, you mean 'wary', not 'weary.'
People have tried time and time again to make a new 'standard' take over the market, and it very, very rarely works. It has to be superior in every way, or too many people will simply stick with the old tried and true version. Even then, it has to gain a good following before mainstream will even learn of its existance.
The best way to get your new standard off the ground is as the other responder said: Make a server that does both, but better. You'll gain the advantages of the new standard while attracting users of the old one. They won't switch standards immediately, but they will switch over time, until they are completely off the old one.
You linked to a site about 'Veracity' backup software and say it's not necessary to purchase anything for backups. I figured it would be free, but I click the link there and it redirects to Quantum's site, which doesn't even have Veracity any more.
I'm just trying to figure out what your point in linking there was... Just because it's cute?
Webhosts also have an awful tendency to delete anything that looks suspicious... ZIP, MP3, whatever... Gone. They're fine as an additional easy-to-access backup, but they are -not- reliable. I had all the ZIP files on my site disappear one time and I still have no idea why... They were zips of programs I had written and were linked to my site and clearly named. No warning, just gone one day. I uploaded them again and they haven't disappeared since.
Also, most cheap webhosts will tell you that they are NOT responsible for backing up your data. If their hard drive fails, they'll put a new one in and you'll have to restore the site. Not really great for backups.
There have been studies that showed it doesn't really reduce energy usage. The only thing left is having more daylight for your picnics.
http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=daylight+savings+time+doesn't+save+energy&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Wait a FSCKING MINUTE! Are you saying Kansas doesn't exist?
IronPython works on Linux, so this probably does as well. Since it's not actually released, there's no much real info out yet. Sign up for the Beta and come back and tell us.
I quite often accidentally click things by my finger slipping on the mouse and pressing the button. I've also clicked 2 things on a page in the browser, and it'll send both requests (if you click slow enough) but only show you 1 or the other page. Some show you the first, some the second. If you accidentally click the 'buy' button, then click another link, it's possible to have bought the product and never know it.
I'm sure you'll get an email and all that, but how often do most people check their email? I doubt they're as anal about it as I am.
The MP3 'buy' button offered no such cancellation page and actually immediately started the download of the MP3. There was no chance to back out. As I said, there's an option in place now to help that, though.
IANAL.
No, they don't 'have' to be heard by jury, but the judge will take it into consideration that another case did.
And there's been a couple cases later that don't fit your 2 patterns:
RIAA: ZOMG PIRACY! YOU GETTIN' SUED, FOO!
Plaintiff: What? Fsck that! We're going to court!
Judge: Court is now in session.
Judge: I'm dropping the case, because your scare tactics have no legal merit. You'll also pay the defendent and their lawyer a lot of money.
Far from elegant, '1 click' is dangerous and insane. As a developer, I would -never- consider implementing such a crazy thing. The 'are you sure' dialog is more of an invention than '1 click'. '1 click' is the opposite of invention, it's lack of one. It's leaving out a step. You know, the secure one that prevents the customer from accidentally ordering the $1000 fuzzybear their daughter was looking at by accidentally clicking on the button, then clicking elsewhere and loading the second page so they don't even know they've ordered it.
/. yesterday, buying MP3s defaulted to 1-click. I bought one about 3 steps earlier than I expected. (Luckily, I had intended to follow through with it.) Less than an hour later, they had added a 'check here to always confirm before purchase' checkbox. They had obviously snagged quite a few 'accidental' sales that people didn't expect to make, and got tons of complaints.
I'm of 2 minds about this patent. It's so obvious that if it remains, the patent system is irretrievably broken. But as long as it remains, nobody else can implement this horrid system.
When the Amazon MP3 thing showed up on
This patent is so obvious that every programmer goes through a stage where they learn about the confirmation dialog because they've already implemented this and need to fix it!
But, but... It's so OBVIOUS!
Seriously, though... If there's even a single person that can't see what's obvious about this in the patent office, there needs to be firings until there isn't. This is pretty much the definition of obvious. Heck, if the person even had access to the internet, they'd have fallen across rants about its obviousness every other month.
They also seem to assume there are no other factors involved. Maybe it's not 'ability' to learn but 'desire' instead. Maybe their digestive system doesn't normally work at that time of day, and there's not enough incentive to learn. There's probably a billion other reasons they haven't thought of, right down to which researchers worked with which groups, and what other smells were nearby at each time, etc. I'm sure they tried to rule out all outside influence, but it's impossible to do so completely.
I'd also like to remind everyone that a finding doesn't have any weight until it's been independently verified by a couple other labs.
I'm there, man. I was actually let go (temp job) because I 'stood up too much' ... Yeah, physically. Nevermind that I was a CO Dispatcher and can DO the job standing up, I just did it too much. I have a problem with my legs (undiagnosed) where they physically hurt if I sit too long. So I simple stood up. (At the current job, I'm free to go for a walk and really take care of it.)
And 6 hours, too... Absolutely. I'm a morning person and I get all my stuff done before lunch. After that, it's 'planning' and discussion time. There's just not much point in working unless there's an emergency as I really can't keep my mind on it. I try, and sometimes get stuff done, but I get a lot more done in my first 2 working hours than my last 2 each day.
My father has always said that they've proven someone that works 10 hours doesn't really get more done than someone who works 8 because it just gets spread out. You can't really get more productive hours out of a person on a regular basis. I wonder if maybe for some jobs, that magic number is actually 6 hours?
Because he put in as many derogatory terms as he could think of. If he'd simply stated it like you had (minus 'squiggly drawings') he'd probably have gotten 'insightful' instead.
... Ugh. I don't care about all that when I'm in a hurry, I just wanted to know it said 'Stick the bulb in the socket and spin clockwise.' (Not a real example. Heh.)
I'm know I've used online translation services when I absolutely needed to know what something said and there was no native speaker around. In fact, since native speakers are generally unsure of exact translations (despite speaking both languages fluently) I find the poor translations online better than 'well, it means this, but there's this connotation and...'