Posts by The BigYin 3080 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Mar 2008
Try the MS Office reader.
Or ask for them in the older format.
Or a portable format such as PDF.
Or upgrade.
Or install something else that can read DOCX and/or demand that that's standard format be used instead (*cou*OpenOffice*gh*)
(Assuming they don't use tonnes of macros and other crap)
You forgot "Track Me Not" for screwing their stats and AdBlock for general de-crapifying.
Pages load so much faster without all the crappy pop-ups and flash crap. If the ads were not so intrusive and bandwidth hungry then I might have been more inclined to leave them there. As it was, they destroyed my browsing experience so I either abandoned sites or had to block them all.
Why not just log out and set the machine to stand-by? Not as energy efficient, sure, but if Vista is so bad it takes 15 minutes to boot then it might be a valid option.
Or upgrade to XP.
Or really upgrade and use Linux with the software running under WINE (if it runs under WINE, of course).
If the kid brings it up by all means discuss it. And discuss it in the way is should be discussed.
There is science (theory, test, disprove, revise theory, test, disprove and repeat until you think you've got it (right up until some smart arse has a better idea)) and then there are fables (untestable).
Err...I think that covers it.
Meh. It probably won't run on my hardware....is that a penguin I see before me? EOL for XP would be enough for me to migrate fully to *nix (just need to choose one).
Biggest grief would be converting the DVR-MS files to something standard and then finding a PVR which worked on *nix like Media Center does on Windows.
Or I could just buy a separate box...hmm...may do that actually.
At home the need for me to run Windows is almost non-existent really.
Most government surveys ask leading or closed questions or simply ignorethe answers they don't want to hear; what were the quesitons in this case?
"Are you opposed to terrorist acts?"
Yes. Of course.
"Great, I'll put you down as pro-national ID"
What? I never said I was pro-national ID.
"Yes you did. You are opposed to terrorist acts, the only way to stop these is national ID, ergo you are pro-national ID"
*sigh* So much for democracy and open government!
It wasn't an anti-terror law they used. Sorry to burst your bubble.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/en/ukpgaen_20010024_en_1
PART 2: FREEZING ORDERS
49. Part 2 contains measures to allow the United Kingdom to take action to freeze the assets of overseas persons or governments who are threatening the economic interests of the United Kingdom or the life or property of United Kingdom nationals or residents.
50. These provisions allow the United Kingdom to impose sanctions in cases of urgency, where neither the United Nations nor the European Union has yet agreed a course of action, or in cases where it is appropriate for the United Kingdom to impose sanctions unilaterally.
You telling me you do not 9at least) disable the ability of AutoUpdate to force a reboot? My; your users must love you!
FWIW all my machine are up-to-date, and they update when I decide they update. When it is appropriate to what I am doing. Not when some wonk at M$ presses the red button.
Auto-standby? Wake for updates (or remote or whatever)? Switch the monitor off? It's not difficult.
And as for updates...what? You mean those things that reboot machine without user consent? They're just great they are. First thing I disable on ALL Windows boxes is bloody auto-updates (manual download, manual install). For most desktop systems, denying the auto-reboot should be enough.
If users are too dumb to remember their passwords, this is for one of two reasons
1) They are genuinely thick.
2) The password system in place is too complex (they'll start writing the passwords down; big risk)
And you're going to have the same problem with auto-updates switched on, when the machine reboots itself. Hey....here's a stunning idea. Why not just update when the machine is ON? the user can reboot when they nick out for lunch, or the next morning when the switch it back on again.
OR, radical idea, ditch Windows and get a proper OS.
There are just so many solutions it is almost unreal.
This really is the most pathetic excuse for waste I have heard, since the last pathetic gubermint excuse. "Do as we say, not as we do!"
1) The gambling site's? Err, no. I don't think so. They cannot know every law of every minor backwater on the planet.
2) The ISPs? Most likely, they should know the location of the user fairly accurately.
3) The users? Possible, they know they are accessing a service illegal in their locale (or they should know)
4) The State? Most likely. In conjunction with point 2, they should have been paying the ISPs to block/support whatever services they deem are required in their irrelevant little spit of land.
Just some thoughts.
...less resource hungry than Linux?
...faster than Linux?
...more secure than Linux?
...more stable than Linux?
Unless they get 3 out of 4; I see no reason in returning to the Windows world at home. At work I have to use Windows...but even that is changing. We're getting sick and tired of MS bloat and poor performance.
I run Ubuntu 8.04 on a 1gb laptop and a P4 cpu. It's sweet as a nut even with all the fancy compiz-fusion wizardry turned on. Way, way faster than the XPsp2 install it replaced.
I will agree that OSS needs to learn some marketing and make things much easier for newbies. It's very confusing to be told "Oh, you just need to set x,y,x in nautilus and it all works" when you (as a newb) have no idea WTF nautilus is. (I think it's the "File Browser" in Gnome, but am not 100% sure - there is no documentation I can find to tell me). This does not happen in Windows. The Windows docs will explain Explorer, the equivalent on Linux is not always the case.
Each "component" has it's own project name (e.g. Samba for sharing stuff on Windows networks), these may or may not be obvious and may or may not be installed on your Linux distro. They tend to be documented separately and the documentation assumes that you have a high knowledge of Linux (plus networking, computer science etc), understand what all the various components are and how they differ (what is X, how does Gnome differ to KDE, why do they differ etc). This is not always the case.
When you do find docs, they are often years old and do not apply to the version of the distro you are using. This can make things really tough for a newbie. And there seems to be no central hand-holding doc which walks you through the major components in a coherent manner. With even simple config changes often needing the use of the Terminal (or extra components installed), it is vital for news to know what is what.
That's my one biog grips about the Linux world - the docs. Oh, and the need to use the bloody Terminal for everything. Having to do things with "sudo" all the time is an annoyance as well, but at least that is an annoyance which get be logically explained (it's called "security", something Windows could do with).
...avoid a new Windows license altogether, get a Linux box and run Windows as a virtual machine if you need to. But for most things, there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to use Windows any more. At least not that I can see (for the average user, that is).
Now if I can just get VPN working on, I'll be a happy man....
Oh, and before the Wintards start moaning; I run XPsp3 and Ubuntu on the home network. I like Media Centre on XP (it does everything I want), but if I find an equivalent on Linux (and a way to convert DVR-MS) I will probably switch.
Hmm...perhpas I should suggest an Ubuntu Media project?
Just installed Ubuntu myself on an old laptop. Quite impressed. A bit tricking going off the beaten path and there are some 100% vital apps missing (I'm struggling to get OpenSawn to work, and then to connect if to a Checkpoint VPN - anyone any ideas?) but it is good.
For the average user, things just work (and the "average" user just wants their web, mail and chat). For the business user, there's a few rough edges still to be smoothed off (see above). For the hardened gamer...not sure. I'm not one of them.
Oh, and Ubuntu is damn swift on the crappy we P4 lappy I am using. Joy!
Just "NO!". There already is an effective "use as you pay" charging system for roads, it's called fuel duty. It does not require vast arrays or Orwellian technology.
These proposals are so wrong on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin.
Nu Labour - a decade of forcing you to obey the machine.
Odd - you must have rather an abrasive way of writing messages on the forums. I am a total Linux newb and have only had great help from the Ubuntu forums.
ffrankmccaffery
You are correct, to an extent. There are quite a few Linux luvvies who seem to attack any attempt to make the OS more appealing to non-experts (like me). But for those kind of uber-geeks there's always Slackware. Me, I just want to get he computer into a state where I am productive.
I recently installed Ubuntu 8.04 on an old P4 laptop, nuking XPsp2 in the process. I know (basically) dick about Linux and got it working straight after the install. It picked up all the hardware, wireless USB, extra-fangly-dangly "media" keys; everything. I must say, I was stunned. I was expecting unarmed combat with bash scripts. Nope. I just worked.
I fed it a wifi USB dongle, and unlike Windows which had a hairy blue fit with the same dongle, Ubuntu gave it a great big hug and asked which network I wanted to connect to. No drivers, not ini files, no crap. Lovely.
I then decided that I wanted gizmos. Real productivity tools like wobbly windows, y'know, the essentials. To do this I used the Ubuntu equivalent of on-line Microsoft Supprt (i.e. the forums). Took me about 30 mins for this "essential" work. Not too bad really.
I now have a pretty speedy laptop which does everything I want, and I look forward to learning more about Linux and how the various windowing apps etc. all hang together.
Comparing Linux to Windows, I would say there are three main differences:
1) Windows tries to blur the line between the OS and apps. People think their window or media player is the app. Linux does not do this. The OS is the OS and the windowing system is just an application on top. That takes a bit of a mental shift.
2) Linux documentation assumes a fairly high level of competence and is not beginner friendly. Not that beginners really want to hack Linux, but there are times when I wish the install docs were a bit more clear on exactly what I have to do to install an app, not just say "Download tar and install"
3) Variations. The are more flavours of Linux than you can shake a stick at and this can be daunting. Which one do I choose? Will this guide for SUSE 10.3 help me with Red Hat 9? There is a similar issue in the Windows world, it just isn't as pronounced.
Finally, the vendors. Yes, Dell do sell Linux kit, but it is not easy to find (not as easy as the Windows kit anyway) and it is almost as if they are embarrassed by it. Which is a shame, because from my current experience with this old laptop, Ubuntu knocks socks off XP (and probably Vista too).
...is the way "MobileMe" keeps reappearing. I never asked for "MobileMe", I have no use for it, so why did it install? If you want rid of the "MobileMe" balls, just uninstall the Apple Mobile Device support (it's called something like that).
Seems to me that the Apple upgrade system is acting like malware or a trojan.
Apple fanbois - your messiah is actually a devil!
Google control searching
Google control browsing (well, they want to)
Google control content (their "services")
Google control media (advertising, video etc)
Google now wish to control infrastructure
Next week, Google control truth.
They are too big and becoming worse than Microsoft.
I want to get a cheap laptop/PC to play on and learn a bit about *nix. I was going to use the g/f's old Compaq, but if the price was right (and I can get wireless etc working) I might buy my own.
Like others, I don't need powerful (got a beast of a desktop for that) I want cheap 'n cheerful.
Did Sisvel invent these patent ideas? Do they actually manufacture anything? If not, then they should lsoe all rights to their patents within (say) 2 years. The ideas become public domain.
Other companies (such as ARM) who do invent and then license their tech still need to be protected somehow (maybe the fact they need to create the prototype would count as "manufacture"), but there has to be a way to stamp out the other parasites.
They are stifling free trade and innovation. Isn't that what the EU bleats on about protecting?
...they and eff right off.
If my device is in "discoverable" mode it's because I will want to connect something to it. It is not open permission to load my phone (or whatever the bluetooth device may be) with crap. I was at a concert recently (in a Carling Academy) and something kept trying to push messages on to my phone. Damned annoying.
My home address is "discoverable" too. Does that mean they have the right to mail me their crap? Does it hell.
Unless I give a company explicit, opt-in consent, they should not contact unless it's an emergency. That's not how things are, but it's how they should be. I know that would kill the junk/spam companies and that is only a good thing IMHO.
Perhaps then the marketeers would then go and get a real job doing real work and not sending me tonnes of crap that I never read or trying to scam more gullible types.
The default should always be "opted out" and the consumer/voter having to take explicit action to opt in. That opt-in should only be for that single company or entity.
If that company wishes to sell you info on, they should make direct contact with out and get you explicit permission to do so. Each and every time they try to sell it.
This will kill the harvesting of personal info and hopefully kill off junk mailers too.
Bastards.
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