and in almost all of those cases I would have preferred to have left the GPL code and given the author credit. But that is not possible with GPL.
No, but, as I understand it, there's nothing to say you can't contact the author and ask if you can use their code in your program if you credit them, but don't use the GPL.
As the author, you can give people whatever license you choose to use your code. Of course, with multiple authors, this complicates matters, but it still applies.
As you say, if you're only using one small part of the GPL'd code, then it's not a major problem to replace it with your own code. Myself, whenever I download a library/some code I want to use, pretty much the second question I ask (after "Does it do what I want?") is "What's the license?" If it's not compatible with how I want to use it, I don't use it. I am constantly surprised that so many people don't follow this trivial procedure.
I never liked CISC Prossors, I much rather have RISC chips running my systems. I find that RISC chip run smoother then CISC do.
Yes, I hate it when you can tell that an x86's tappets need adjusting just by listening to it.
RISC chips are so much more turquoise, too.
Tim
Re:If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.
on
Microsoft Buys Rare
·
· Score: 5, Informative
As some guy from MS pointed out when asked about the HD reliability of the XBox, he reckoned the DVD drives used in current generation consoles (XBox, PS2, GC) were the most likely point of failure. The hard drive was definitely lower down his list of things to worry about.
Now, you have to rev all the items that reference that structure, all documentation that refers to that structure, etc.
Well, of course, that's why you don't let people see your data structures, and why you provide accessor functions to use structure values, so all this kind of thing is encapsulated.
For what it's worth, I don't use full Hungarian notation either. What I use can be summarised as:
p - for pointers
m_ - for member data
s_ - for static member data
g_ - for globals
i - for an index
f - floating point
n - for an ID that is not necessarily an index
c - for a count of a number of items
I find that subset helps me a lot.
I certainly don't distinguish between ints and longs, etc.
You should instead be considering the current version of Quicktime (6) before offering criticisms about how Apple does or does not follow their own GUI guidelines.
Well, I was referring to Apple's general tendency to ignore platform conventions while exhorting developers to follow MacOS conventions to the letter...
...but fair enough, let's do what you suggest.
Here's a summary of Quicktime 6 running on Windows XP:
Custom window background/title bar.
Custom resize gadget
Custom minimise/maximise/close icons
Custom push buttons (that look like little else on Windows)
Custom slider control
Custom scroll bar control, that neither looks like Windows 2000/9X style, or like the new XP-style.
Custom tab control (with, for some reason, a background image of Aqua-style horizontal stripes - the last time Windows had white backgrounds was Windows 3.0, or about 10 years ago, iirc)
Custom menu bar rendering
Menus are the wrong colour (dark grey)
Use of MacOS style custom 'triangle' widget in the movie info window.
Compare this with:
"If you must use custom controls, be sure to use them for unique interface elements; for example, avoid replacing a standard checkbox, for example, with a custom one."
Or, you might say, a scroll bar. Or a tab control. Or a slider. Or a close button. Or a push button. etc.
See what I mean?
Tim
Before anyone pipes up with "What about Windows Media Player?", I consider that an abomination too:-)
The emergence of the Web proved them both wrong. Each website (atleast initially) had its own color schema and navigation mechanism. Users never complained.
No, they don't complain. They just don't use websites that are too different and/or confusing.
MacOS has had context menus since MacOS 9 (or possibly MacOS 8 - I'm only a part-time Mac user).
You control-click (e.g. on a file in the finder) to get them - or if you have an MS mouse, the driver converts* a right-click to a control-click, so it works pretty much like Windows/X.
Tim
* Although MacOS may actually just support the right-click natively now - I don't know.
It's not fodder for the Switch campaign - it really isn't. It's to let developers know the headline issues they should be aware of when porting their Windows apps to MacOS.
As for choosing Windows - well, it's the one I would choose if I were Apple - a document telling Gnome developers how to port their apps to MacOS would have a much smaller target audience.
However, the fact that the document can't just give you the facts, and has to exude the usual insufferable smugness and arrogance that you usually get from Apple PR doesn't really help, I agree. Most developers know when you're trying to bloke smoke up their proverbials.
Well, apart from this document being for developers, and not for the 'layman', I have a couple of issues with it, and they're mainly due to Apple's "Don't do as I do, do as I say" attitude.
For example: #4 Avoid Custom Controls, and #7 Aqua Is In, Grey Is Out.
Go try out iTunes, QuickTime, etc to see how much Apple thinks "Grey is out" (the window background is non-standard, and grey). iTunes and Quicktime also have custom title bars, and custom resizing gadgets. All of these things are already implemented perfectly well by the standard GUI, so why doesn't Apple use them? It's like when Bill Gates exhorted developers to use the common dialogs to keep the user experience consistent, while MS Office didn't use them.
And #5 - Use A Single Menubar is particularly ironic - I doubt very much that anyone porting a Windows app to MacOS would add a menu to their main window (mainly because it's probably quite hard), while Apple should really read and inwardly digest the main points of this article - i.e. when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Anyone remember QuickTime 4? It had a single menu bar on MacOS - and on Windows too! Of course, Windows doesn't have a 'menu bar', so in one of the most impressive displays of pigheadedness and 'not getting it', Apple decided that QuickTime for Windows should create a floating window whose sole purpose was the have a menu on it. Genius - they managed to get all the disadvantages of both systems, and none of the advantages (the menu wasn't attached to the player window).
And #10 - Reconsider Toolbars still has me puzzled. I never have worked out why Mac users are so insistent that palettes are superior to Toolbars. I always find floating palettes to be a pain in the neck to maintain (as a user) and they're always getting in the way of what I'm trying to do. However, I appreciate that both forms of UI are useful, and wouldn't really be able to honestly state that one is better than the other. Besides, run MS Word, drag a toolbar into the middle of the screen, resize it - looks kinda like a floating palette doesn't it? That said, I can understand why they say not to use toolbars - they're not really a part of the MacOS feel, so they tend to stick out. On the other hand, it is interesting the way half the windows in OSX/Finder use toolbars all over the place. I guess if you make the toolbar icons R-E-A-L-L-Y B-I-G then it's ok for some reason.
Don't get me wrong - this is a useful document, if a little preachy and arrogant ("well, clearly, our UI is better than the crap you poor Windows developers have had to put up with, you sad losers..."), but I just wish Apple would follow their own edicts a bit more closely.
However, the best thing to come out of this slashdot article is that I found out that Mr MacKido (the master of reasoned and unbiased argument) doesn't like MacOS X. The thought of him gnashing his teeth about OSX had me chuckling away for ages:)
Tim
PS. For the record, and to pre-empt some formulaic replies to this posting, I mostly use Windows, but also use a Mac, and I don't always have good things to say about Windows.
Wow, do people really still use Straw Man arguments on the internet? Gosh. We'll be getting Godwin's Law next.
Ok, how about this: "you should be happy we used your work without permission and used it to make money for us, without crediting or compensating you."
If I were the original author, I should even be flattered that they'd use my work for a greater purpose, and even more if it means making something that I have only imagined become a reality.
Sorry, I don't agree. Try that when you use the likenesses of characters designed by large and powerful corporations like Disney. People are always using the "but I'm giving you free advertising - you should be pleased" line, but it never cuts any ice. You're using their work, and they don't want you to, end of story.
Stuff like this obviously
works both ways, but I'm not sure I'll ever understand the "you should be happy I stole your work" argument.
In the UK we have "Citizen's Arrest" which entitles citizens to arrest people and report them to the authorities, at least in theory.
That reminds me of one of the funniest jokes I've heard in ages. The TV series "Armstrong and Miller" featured a parody of detective drama series on TV, and featured a cranky police detective who was essentially insane - he talked to his invisible friend, "Chuffy" who was a man dressed as an old-fashioned train driver.
Anyway, after being thrown off the force, while drinking in the pub and building one of his drink-fuelled paranoia stories, he decided that someone in the pub was "The Murderer!", and smashed a glass and attacked him.
Cut to him being led away by uniformed police, and protesting, "It's alright Officer - it was a Citizen's Glassing!"
On another note, you don't lose the encrypted files as long as you back up the encryption key (not hard). Using the file system encryption without backing this up is very irresponsible since a dead installation, system drive failure, etc will cause these files to be lost.
That is true, but I'd hardly call it irresponsible. Win2k/XP does not warn you about this at all when you encrypt a file.
I used encryption on a couple of files, and then my Windows install died so I had to reinstall.
It was only after I had done this that I realised I couldn't get my files back - basically the only way to get them back was to go back in time and archive the encryption info before my installataion failed.
I guess it's kind of obvious when you think about it, but it would be really great if MS popped up a little dialog about this the first time you ever encrypt a file.
I wonder how many people have files encrypted on an NTFS volume, and don't realise how easy it is to lose that data. Luckily for me, I had backups of the files in question.
I just checked the help in Windows XP, and it certainly doesn't make this problem clear, even if you go looking for it. If you happen to know what a 'designated Recovery Agent' is, then you might find the information, but it's by no means obvious.
Tim
Not designed to work with LCD screens
on
USB KVMs Compared
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Don't believe the hype. The guy asking specifically mentioned LCD screens - and they tend to look like hell when you put them through a KVM, especially one of these low end KVM switches. The reviewer was using a CRT screen, unless I'm mistaken.
I tried the previous Belkin USB KVM. It sucked. Apart from failing to switch smoothly at all - the keyboard would constantly disappear on switching and then I'd have to actually move it to another port to get it to work - the video signal was terrible. I was running at 1024x768@70Hz. It was blurry as hell.
I contacted Belkin to tell them it was the least impressive product I'd ever bought, detailing my problems.
On the monitor front, they replied that the switch was not designed to be used with LCD screens, which was why the quality was so bad.
Seriously, when you're used to pin sharp LCD displays, putting them through a KVM and turning them into something that looks like a 6 year old CRT is not such a great idea.
Maybe Belkin have fixed this issue with the new one, but bear it in mind if you have an LCD screen.
I actually have two monitors and one kbd/mouse, and use a simple Belkin no-frills USB switch with the kbd/mouse. It works like a charm - mainly because I don't think it tries to be too clever.
Oh yes - the KVM also looked rubbish on my CRT monitor too - but I traced this to the 'official' Belkin VGA cables - they sucked too. Replacing them with other (not expensive) makes of VGA extension leads improved the video quality on the CRT enormously. This was trivially proved by just using the leads as extension leads, taking the switch out of the equation. When using the Belkin leads, video quality was crap. Again, maybe they've fixed that now - I don't know - but it's something else to be aware of.
So it's really all because of a disconnect between the way it's phrased in an english sentance
American English, at least. In the UK it's much more common to hear people say "the 3rd of August" rather than "August 3rd". To my UK ears the second one sounds very American.
Which is probably why the UK date format is DD/MM/YYYY whereas American usually seems to be MM/DD/YYYY.
So essentially you're correct, if you take localised phrasing into account:-)
Macs have this ridiculously undeserved reputation for having great cases that are easy to work with and won't cut you. This is pure hype. The aluminum flashing inside a Mac case as RF shielding tends to get bent up as you open and close the case and is hard to straighten.
SOME macs do have good cases, but most do not.
I'd have to agree with that. Ever seen an 8500? Think that's the right model number. They're what I like to call "front-wheel-drive computers".
The reason being, to do anything, you had to take everything out. For example, to upgrade the RAM, you had to:
Remove case.
Fold down CPU heatsink.
Remove CPU daughter card
Remove all 6 connectors from the motherboard.
Disassemble power switch
Release motherboard locking tabs.
Lift motherboard up, and then slide out to the left.
Hey presto, now you can insert some RAM!
As you hint at, compare this to the Mac I have now, a G4 tower with the curved handles - literally just pull the ring on the side, the case opens to reveal the motherboard lying flat, and just stick the DIMMs in the motherboard. Easiest RAM upgrade ever, bar none.
But boy did those 8500 cases suck.
Of course, sod's law meant that my first encounter at upgrading Mac hardware was on an 8500.
By the way, <comic book guy>worst case ever</> was an old Gateway case. It had a handy handle at the top at the back to pull the case off - trouble was, it had a nasty metal plate behind it - which you didn't notice until the case was removed. Basically you hooked your fingers under the handle, gave a good pull, and as the case came off, your fingers curved round (especially if your shoulder is above the handle, as it is if you try to pull hard), pressing the edge of the metal plate onto the middle part of all four of your fingernails. Luckily I only gave a light pull at first, so it only caused slight discomfort. Once I'd got the case off, and looked at it, I boggled. It had the capacity to cause so much pain - your fingernails are at the base of a lever point, so if you gave a good pull, you could break one or all of your fingernails - and not at the ends either, I mean halfway down where it would really hurt.
Basically when I saw that, I went and got some stickers and a big black marker pen to make sure no-one ever tried to do that without big warnings over the back of the PC.
I still can't believe that case ever made it into production. It was bloody criminal. Makes the 8500 seem not so bad now;-)
I notice, however, all the best input peripherals seem to get discontinued. The IBM clicky keyboards, the Microsoft natural, the Logitech mouseman (the curvy one that takes about a week to get used to), and the first Logitech Wingman Force.
And the big Microsoft mouse - IntelliMouse Pro? I liked it because it was big, and you could rest your hand on it, rather than having to hold your hand above the mouse. It fit my hand really nicely in the 'resting' position.
And I know what you mean about the MS Natural Keyboard - when they crippled the layout for the MS Natural Elite keyboard and discontinued the original I was very pissed off. I recall they did it so that it would fit in those crappy keyboard drawers.
Luckily they eventually brought out the MS Natural Keyboard Pro which is festooned with those 'internet keys' but has the one true layout. After having one for a year, I actually use the extra keys now (volume up/down and email, to be honest).
The feel is different, and I guess I slightly prefer the older one, but there's not much in it. At least the new one seems to use double injection keys (at bloody last!) - my old MS Natural has the characters worn off E A S D and C keys - they're virtually blank. At the price they charged in those days (I got one when they first came out), you'd expect them to use double injection keycaps.
Still, a nice keyboard.
What I'd really like is a wireless keyboard, but Logitech keep fucking up the layout for no apparent reason. Their current wireless keyboard has the PgUp/PgDn 3x2 block re-arranged to a 2x3 block. Agh! I lasted 1.5 days with that. The closest I've ever come to throwing a piece of computer equipment out of the window. And remember, because it was wireless, I could:-). However, at the time I was 2 storeys up in Covent Garden in central London, so it wouldn't have been a good idea. I did really love the way I could take the keyboard off my desk and put it somewhere else, and just use a large pad and pencil when I wanted to do some design. But the key layout from hell had to go, especially as I learned the CUA keys for cut/copy/paste years ago, which use Insert and Delete, and it's taking me years to switch to Ctrl-C/V etc.
I also don't like the lack of LEDs on wireless keyboards - I guess it's a battery life problem.
One could try taking this to an extreme and purchase two non-split USB keyboards and use one for each hand! (If anyone has tried this I'd be interested to hear whether its worth it or not, I don't have any USB keyboards available to give it a go)
I've seen a web page of a guy that's done this - he cut the two keyboards apart, and has them taped to the side of his chair, so that his arms hang down by his side, and rest on the keyboards:-)
Sorry - can't find the link. I think he did it because he had RSI/similar problems.
Slashdot Mirror
No, but, as I understand it, there's nothing to say you can't contact the author and ask if you can use their code in your program if you credit them, but don't use the GPL.
As the author, you can give people whatever license you choose to use your code. Of course, with multiple authors, this complicates matters, but it still applies.
As you say, if you're only using one small part of the GPL'd code, then it's not a major problem to replace it with your own code. Myself, whenever I download a library/some code I want to use, pretty much the second question I ask (after "Does it do what I want?") is "What's the license?" If it's not compatible with how I want to use it, I don't use it. I am constantly surprised that so many people don't follow this trivial procedure.
Tim
I am ashamed I didn't think of putting that in the first place. I must be becoming a PHB. :-)
Tim
Yes, I hate it when you can tell that an x86's tappets need adjusting just by listening to it.
RISC chips are so much more turquoise, too.
Tim
As some guy from MS pointed out when asked about the HD reliability of the XBox, he reckoned the DVD drives used in current generation consoles (XBox, PS2, GC) were the most likely point of failure. The hard drive was definitely lower down his list of things to worry about.
Shrug.
Tim
Now, you have to rev all the items that reference that structure, all documentation that refers to that structure, etc.
Well, of course, that's why you don't let people see your data structures, and why you provide accessor functions to use structure values, so all this kind of thing is encapsulated.
For what it's worth, I don't use full Hungarian notation either. What I use can be summarised as:
I find that subset helps me a lot.
I certainly don't distinguish between ints and longs, etc.
Tim
I was referring to Apple's general tendency to ignore platform conventions while exhorting developers to follow MacOS conventions to the letter...
Tim
<Homer>Fun, too!</>
Tim
Well, I was referring to Apple's general tendency to ignore platform conventions while exhorting developers to follow MacOS conventions to the letter...
...but fair enough, let's do what you suggest.
Here's a summary of Quicktime 6 running on Windows XP:
Compare this with:
Or, you might say, a scroll bar. Or a tab control. Or a slider. Or a close button. Or a push button. etc.
See what I mean?
Tim
Before anyone pipes up with "What about Windows Media Player?", I consider that an abomination too :-)
To save the server, just turn off Javascript in your browser - the clock immediately stops! Hurrah!
Together, we can rebuild^Wsave it!
Tim
No, they don't complain. They just don't use websites that are too different and/or confusing.
Tim
MacOS has had context menus since MacOS 9 (or possibly MacOS 8 - I'm only a part-time Mac user).
You control-click (e.g. on a file in the finder) to get them - or if you have an MS mouse, the driver converts* a right-click to a control-click, so it works pretty much like Windows/X.
Tim
* Although MacOS may actually just support the right-click natively now - I don't know.
It's not fodder for the Switch campaign - it really isn't. It's to let developers know the headline issues they should be aware of when porting their Windows apps to MacOS.
As for choosing Windows - well, it's the one I would choose if I were Apple - a document telling Gnome developers how to port their apps to MacOS would have a much smaller target audience.
However, the fact that the document can't just give you the facts, and has to exude the usual insufferable smugness and arrogance that you usually get from Apple PR doesn't really help, I agree. Most developers know when you're trying to bloke smoke up their proverbials.
Tim
Well, apart from this document being for developers, and not for the 'layman', I have a couple of issues with it, and they're mainly due to Apple's "Don't do as I do, do as I say" attitude.
For example: #4 Avoid Custom Controls, and #7 Aqua Is In, Grey Is Out.
Go try out iTunes, QuickTime, etc to see how much Apple thinks "Grey is out" (the window background is non-standard, and grey). iTunes and Quicktime also have custom title bars, and custom resizing gadgets. All of these things are already implemented perfectly well by the standard GUI, so why doesn't Apple use them? It's like when Bill Gates exhorted developers to use the common dialogs to keep the user experience consistent, while MS Office didn't use them.
And #5 - Use A Single Menubar is particularly ironic - I doubt very much that anyone porting a Windows app to MacOS would add a menu to their main window (mainly because it's probably quite hard), while Apple should really read and inwardly digest the main points of this article - i.e. when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Anyone remember QuickTime 4? It had a single menu bar on MacOS - and on Windows too! Of course, Windows doesn't have a 'menu bar', so in one of the most impressive displays of pigheadedness and 'not getting it', Apple decided that QuickTime for Windows should create a floating window whose sole purpose was the have a menu on it. Genius - they managed to get all the disadvantages of both systems, and none of the advantages (the menu wasn't attached to the player window).
And #10 - Reconsider Toolbars still has me puzzled. I never have worked out why Mac users are so insistent that palettes are superior to Toolbars. I always find floating palettes to be a pain in the neck to maintain (as a user) and they're always getting in the way of what I'm trying to do. However, I appreciate that both forms of UI are useful, and wouldn't really be able to honestly state that one is better than the other. Besides, run MS Word, drag a toolbar into the middle of the screen, resize it - looks kinda like a floating palette doesn't it? That said, I can understand why they say not to use toolbars - they're not really a part of the MacOS feel, so they tend to stick out. On the other hand, it is interesting the way half the windows in OSX/Finder use toolbars all over the place. I guess if you make the toolbar icons R-E-A-L-L-Y B-I-G then it's ok for some reason.
Don't get me wrong - this is a useful document, if a little preachy and arrogant ("well, clearly, our UI is better than the crap you poor Windows developers have had to put up with, you sad losers..."), but I just wish Apple would follow their own edicts a bit more closely.
However, the best thing to come out of this slashdot article is that I found out that Mr MacKido (the master of reasoned and unbiased argument) doesn't like MacOS X. The thought of him gnashing his teeth about OSX had me chuckling away for ages :)
Tim
PS. For the record, and to pre-empt some formulaic replies to this posting, I mostly use Windows, but also use a Mac, and I don't always have good things to say about Windows.
I was in a high street store in London (UK) a couple of months back, and they had the latest Vaios which had bluetooth built-in (and 802.11), IIRC.
They were very new though.
Tim
Wow, do people really still use Straw Man arguments on the internet? Gosh. We'll be getting Godwin's Law next.
Ok, how about this: "you should be happy we used your work without permission and used it to make money for us, without crediting or compensating you."
Tim
If I were the original author, I should even be flattered that they'd use my work for a greater purpose, and even more if it means making something that I have only imagined become a reality.
Sorry, I don't agree. Try that when you use the likenesses of characters designed by large and powerful corporations like Disney. People are always using the "but I'm giving you free advertising - you should be pleased" line, but it never cuts any ice. You're using their work, and they don't want you to, end of story.
Stuff like this obviously works both ways, but I'm not sure I'll ever understand the "you should be happy I stole your work" argument.
Tim
In the UK we have "Citizen's Arrest" which entitles citizens to arrest people and report them to the authorities, at least in theory.
:)
That reminds me of one of the funniest jokes I've heard in ages. The TV series "Armstrong and Miller" featured a parody of detective drama series on TV, and featured a cranky police detective who was essentially insane - he talked to his invisible friend, "Chuffy" who was a man dressed as an old-fashioned train driver.
Anyway, after being thrown off the force, while drinking in the pub and building one of his drink-fuelled paranoia stories, he decided that someone in the pub was "The Murderer!", and smashed a glass and attacked him.
Cut to him being led away by uniformed police, and protesting, "It's alright Officer - it was a Citizen's Glassing!"
I laughed for a long time.
Tim
That is true, but I'd hardly call it irresponsible. Win2k/XP does not warn you about this at all when you encrypt a file.
I used encryption on a couple of files, and then my Windows install died so I had to reinstall.
It was only after I had done this that I realised I couldn't get my files back - basically the only way to get them back was to go back in time and archive the encryption info before my installataion failed.
I guess it's kind of obvious when you think about it, but it would be really great if MS popped up a little dialog about this the first time you ever encrypt a file.
I wonder how many people have files encrypted on an NTFS volume, and don't realise how easy it is to lose that data. Luckily for me, I had backups of the files in question.
I just checked the help in Windows XP, and it certainly doesn't make this problem clear, even if you go looking for it. If you happen to know what a 'designated Recovery Agent' is, then you might find the information, but it's by no means obvious.
Tim
Don't believe the hype. The guy asking specifically mentioned LCD screens - and they tend to look like hell when you put them through a KVM, especially one of these low end KVM switches. The reviewer was using a CRT screen, unless I'm mistaken.
I tried the previous Belkin USB KVM. It sucked. Apart from failing to switch smoothly at all - the keyboard would constantly disappear on switching and then I'd have to actually move it to another port to get it to work - the video signal was terrible. I was running at 1024x768@70Hz. It was blurry as hell.
I contacted Belkin to tell them it was the least impressive product I'd ever bought, detailing my problems.
On the monitor front, they replied that the switch was not designed to be used with LCD screens, which was why the quality was so bad.
Seriously, when you're used to pin sharp LCD displays, putting them through a KVM and turning them into something that looks like a 6 year old CRT is not such a great idea.
Maybe Belkin have fixed this issue with the new one, but bear it in mind if you have an LCD screen.
I actually have two monitors and one kbd/mouse, and use a simple Belkin no-frills USB switch with the kbd/mouse. It works like a charm - mainly because I don't think it tries to be too clever.
Oh yes - the KVM also looked rubbish on my CRT monitor too - but I traced this to the 'official' Belkin VGA cables - they sucked too. Replacing them with other (not expensive) makes of VGA extension leads improved the video quality on the CRT enormously. This was trivially proved by just using the leads as extension leads, taking the switch out of the equation. When using the Belkin leads, video quality was crap. Again, maybe they've fixed that now - I don't know - but it's something else to be aware of.
Tim
"Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer Extortion. The X makes it sound cool."
:)
-- Bender, "Futurama"
Tim
Hell, yes. WYSIWYG is very useful.
However, if you ask if WordXP is much better than Word for Windows 2.0, well, that's a much harder question to answer in the affirmative.
For me, anyway.
Tim
American English, at least. In the UK it's much more common to hear people say "the 3rd of August" rather than "August 3rd". To my UK ears the second one sounds very American.
Which is probably why the UK date format is DD/MM/YYYY whereas American usually seems to be MM/DD/YYYY.
So essentially you're correct, if you take localised phrasing into account :-)
Tim
SOME macs do have good cases, but most do not.
I'd have to agree with that. Ever seen an 8500? Think that's the right model number. They're what I like to call "front-wheel-drive computers".
The reason being, to do anything, you had to take everything out. For example, to upgrade the RAM, you had to:
Hey presto, now you can insert some RAM!
As you hint at, compare this to the Mac I have now, a G4 tower with the curved handles - literally just pull the ring on the side, the case opens to reveal the motherboard lying flat, and just stick the DIMMs in the motherboard. Easiest RAM upgrade ever, bar none.
But boy did those 8500 cases suck.
Of course, sod's law meant that my first encounter at upgrading Mac hardware was on an 8500.
By the way, <comic book guy>worst case ever</> was an old Gateway case. It had a handy handle at the top at the back to pull the case off - trouble was, it had a nasty metal plate behind it - which you didn't notice until the case was removed. Basically you hooked your fingers under the handle, gave a good pull, and as the case came off, your fingers curved round (especially if your shoulder is above the handle, as it is if you try to pull hard), pressing the edge of the metal plate onto the middle part of all four of your fingernails. Luckily I only gave a light pull at first, so it only caused slight discomfort. Once I'd got the case off, and looked at it, I boggled. It had the capacity to cause so much pain - your fingernails are at the base of a lever point, so if you gave a good pull, you could break one or all of your fingernails - and not at the ends either, I mean halfway down where it would really hurt.
Basically when I saw that, I went and got some stickers and a big black marker pen to make sure no-one ever tried to do that without big warnings over the back of the PC.
I still can't believe that case ever made it into production. It was bloody criminal. Makes the 8500 seem not so bad now ;-)
Tim
And the big Microsoft mouse - IntelliMouse Pro? I liked it because it was big, and you could rest your hand on it, rather than having to hold your hand above the mouse. It fit my hand really nicely in the 'resting' position.
And I know what you mean about the MS Natural Keyboard - when they crippled the layout for the MS Natural Elite keyboard and discontinued the original I was very pissed off. I recall they did it so that it would fit in those crappy keyboard drawers.
Luckily they eventually brought out the MS Natural Keyboard Pro which is festooned with those 'internet keys' but has the one true layout. After having one for a year, I actually use the extra keys now (volume up/down and email, to be honest).
The feel is different, and I guess I slightly prefer the older one, but there's not much in it. At least the new one seems to use double injection keys (at bloody last!) - my old MS Natural has the characters worn off E A S D and C keys - they're virtually blank. At the price they charged in those days (I got one when they first came out), you'd expect them to use double injection keycaps.
Still, a nice keyboard.
What I'd really like is a wireless keyboard, but Logitech keep fucking up the layout for no apparent reason. Their current wireless keyboard has the PgUp/PgDn 3x2 block re-arranged to a 2x3 block. Agh! I lasted 1.5 days with that. The closest I've ever come to throwing a piece of computer equipment out of the window. And remember, because it was wireless, I could :-). However, at the time I was 2 storeys up in Covent Garden in central London, so it wouldn't have been a good idea. I did really love the way I could take the keyboard off my desk and put it somewhere else, and just use a large pad and pencil when I wanted to do some design. But the key layout from hell had to go, especially as I learned the CUA keys for cut/copy/paste years ago, which use Insert and Delete, and it's taking me years to switch to Ctrl-C/V etc.
I also don't like the lack of LEDs on wireless keyboards - I guess it's a battery life problem.
Tim
I've seen a web page of a guy that's done this - he cut the two keyboards apart, and has them taped to the side of his chair, so that his arms hang down by his side, and rest on the keyboards :-)
Sorry - can't find the link. I think he did it because he had RSI/similar problems.
Tim