Messages

376

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is so much software cracked?

« on: May 31, 2006, 06:00 PM »

I'm against pirated/stolen software.
I sort of believe that most companies must be intelligent enough to do their sums to calculate pricing to maximize their profit (profit including monetary, prestige, market share etc) and so if prices are high for some product, there must be a logical reason.

But I do have trouble with this:

They determine fair market value

and this

Because they can get it, that's why.

These seem rather contradictory to me. Also, I have a great deal of trouble understanding "fair market value" - Is it touchy feely code in business circles for "what we can get away with" or fair for everyone or fair for whom?
What is fair anyway?
I don't think "fairness" enters into 50% of the coporate world's thinking really, only a "protect our own interests" thinking, which I can understand, whether I like it or not

377

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is so much software cracked?

« on: May 30, 2006, 05:08 AM »

OK there are issues but even at academic license prices it must be horrendously expensive.

I can understand your students dilemma thought - both MS Office and Photoshop even at Academic prices are not cheap.

-Carol Haynes (May 30, 2006, 04:14 AM)

The state government education department buys licenses for the whole state from microsoft for some of their products, but not so for photoshop/dreamweaver et al.
 I thought of you because I reckoned you might have some sympathy for a harried network manager trying to keep all manner of product running with minimal external support (must be very lonely at the top  )
jgpaiva, I understand exactly what you're saying and that's the manager's worst nightmare I reckon. Maybe there's a middle path though ... for example why not a simple screen shot program that is easy to use, doesn't bog students down with a zillion un-needed features and is low maintenance? Same with several other types of app - and our needs are modest because we're not a university

378

Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?

« on: May 30, 2006, 05:04 AM »

Are the applications built into PDAs generally good, or does just about everybody immediately start adding third-party software, just like the PC?

-rjbull (May 30, 2006, 04:31 AM)

Mine came with docs to go (word proc, spreadsheet) and an organizer , browser, pdf reader, jpg viewer and email client which met my needs. It had sundry other stuff which I didn't use much.
I purchased a database and then went on a search - never-ending - for freeware which met my needs. Have found a lot which Ive been happy with.

379

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is so much software cracked?

« on: May 29, 2006, 09:30 PM »

My perspective on this is coloured by being a teacher. At the school I'm at, we use ms office, photoshop, snagit etc etc - all our software is fairly expensive (it is all licensed and legit). So, all our students use it and hence want it themselves at home, either for compatibility reasons or because it might be "top of the line" software. So what are they to do - they are almost all 18-24, migrant, and poor as in living on their own, maybe with a child and on govt support. A big temptation to resist and I'd say its the school's fault.
My suggestion is for schools to use open source/freeware alternatives to help students avoid the lure of pirated software. If "industry standard" software is needed for a vocational course, so be it, else don't use it and students would then have compatabilty as an incentive to use open source / freeware at home, as well as having their consciousness raised on this issue.
I'm sure this is the same in schools everywhere in principal.

I'm not the network manager and so haven't any responsibility for it at my school - Carol might have a different perspective to me.

380

Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?

« on: May 28, 2006, 05:17 PM »

If you are in the arena for a PDA, I would suggest moving to the pocketpc line of products. Not only do you get a familiar interface (windows based in most cases, although there are some linux-based ones), but you get a wider variety of apps and far greater compatibility. I recommend the HP iPaq, they are great little machines.

-Josh (May 28, 2006, 03:26 PM)

Not too sure I agree with that. In the past palms have had a much greater reliability factor (lost count of the number of times Ive read of ex pocket-pc people who moved to palm and said they had been freed from incessant crashes) Maybe that's changed but it would be worth reading forums to try to get a feel for it.
Wider variety of apps? That's definitely debatable.
On the other hand though, it is that my impression is that the world is (sadly) moving to pocket-pc and if you're worried about not being mainstream, they are the way to go. (A linux based palm sounds kinda nice tho)

381

Best Music Service / Re: tech crunch article comparing music services

« on: May 28, 2006, 04:43 AM »

Nudone, did you actually establish that no one gets paid from allmymp3?. If not, we can't factually talk about the ethics of their operation.
Having said that, let me relate what happened to me recently (last month).
My car was broken into, 13 cds full of mp3s from emusic were stolen (insurance company said sorry, we don't cover that - ethics?) but because they were ALL from emusic, I've just downloaded the whole lot again. What a top service from emusic is all I can say. That company is just great.
err, I could also say what a bloody idiot I was for only having one copy of the music.

382

Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?

« on: May 27, 2006, 06:45 PM »

I meant compared to a cell phone

-jgpaiva (May 27, 2006, 06:39 PM)

Oops - sorry!

383

Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?

« on: May 27, 2006, 06:20 PM »

On the other hand... A smartphone (something like a qtek, couldn't find better link), really is very useful. My father has one, and since he got it, he can't use any other phone anymore. It really is a big advance from normal phones, because of it's fast note/memo-taking, integration of the notes with phone calls and contacts and good calendar management.
I think that for those that have lots of meetings, and always carry with them a paper agenda, this is fantastic solution.
I only find 2 disadvantages: the price, of course, and the fact that it's barelly usable only with one hand, since you have to hold it with one hand, and use the other for the touch-screen pen.

-jgpaiva (May 27, 2006, 05:54 PM)

Price - shop around and there are some quite economical ones (btw filofaxes never struck me as cheap either!)
Usable with one hand - put it on a desk or your knee and its 1 handed. Cf laptop - unless its on your knee or a desk, forget "barely one handed" completely!!

I don't like cell phones so I don't care about that functionality, but for the rest of the planet, combination pda/phone would be ideal.

384

Living Room / Re: PDAs - any use?

« on: May 27, 2006, 06:15 PM »

Here are some reasons I use a pda (and I have a laptop btw)...
Convenience:
My pda is approx the size of a pack of cigarettes, my laptop is bulky. I can take it anywhere (including to the bathroom!)
My laptop battery lasts 3 hours if Im lucky, my pda lasts more than a day
I can take a quick photo with my pda, my laptop doesn't take photos
My pda starts instantaneously, my laptop takes some time

What I use it for at school:
Attendance  / grades book at school - using excel compatible software
Photo database of my students at start of semester to assist with names
Jotting down info which won't get lost
Taking minutes at faculty meetings (using a small but effective foldup keyboard)
Displaying fractals to my students
Controlling my laptop via the school network (from another room)
Using graphics calculator software

Non school use:(each of these is no effort or inconvenience with a pda cf my laptop)
Storing heaps of travel info when I go on hols (clipped easily from web)
Storing novels for reading in a tent when I'm camping (no light needed)
Listening to music at night (either stored, or a shoutcast station)
Playing games when I'm waiting for anything
Storing a searchable singapore bus timetable, plus a street directory for singapore
Reference stuff like dictionary, cia world factbook, databases Ive made and/or downloaded
Unit conversions
Shopping list
Addresses
Calendar stuff

tony

385

Site/Forum Features / Re: About the Prize Optimizer Used in Our Drawings

« on: May 15, 2006, 10:07 PM »

just an idea, but could you build in a temperature or degree of cloud cover parameter. That way, people who live in, say, England, where its always rainy and miserable could have a higher chance of winning than in, say, Australia, which is always lovely. Its a sort of social justice/equity thing.

386

Best Music Service / Re: tech crunch article comparing music services

« on: May 15, 2006, 07:51 AM »

mp3search.ru is still operational, which makes me wonder whether allofmp3 has been closed down or their "closed for maintenance" sign can be taken at face value.
It's not unknown, in allofmp3 history, for suspensions of operations to occur with minimal explanation.

387

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommendations for form creation software?

« on: May 10, 2006, 07:01 PM »

It might be worth while looking at 2 pilot's product range at http://www.colorpilot.com/products.html

388

General Software Discussion / Re: 我是中国用户 我们很欣赏你们的 ProcessTamerTray

« on: April 30, 2006, 07:06 AM »

销售模式？这边的软件大多数都是免费的, 您不是说捐献模式吧？

-kimmchii (April 30, 2006, 05:39 AM)

Spoiler

Selling model? Most of the software here is free. Shouldn't you be saying a donation model?

389

General Software Discussion / Re: 我是中国用户 我们很欣赏你们的 ProcessTamerTray

« on: April 30, 2006, 03:44 AM »

lol..
someone fill me in.

-mouser (April 30, 2006, 01:21 AM)

????? I just did! 

390

General Software Discussion / Re: 我是中国用户 我们很欣赏你们的 ProcessTamerTray

« on: April 30, 2006, 01:20 AM »

加油啊你们！ 我觉得你们的销售模式很好的 我们还有很多要学习你们的方法

我支持你们！！

MSN：[email protected]

-378258879 (April 30, 2006, 12:02 AM)

= Keep it up you people. I feel that your selling method is very good . There's a lot of your method we want to learn. I support you ! !

391

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: pandora.com - Internet radio for EVERY taste! FREE!

« on: April 30, 2006, 01:15 AM »

Huh. Me too.

-allen (April 29, 2006, 09:43 PM)

maybe its the widget build version that's the prob? There were changes made.

392

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: pandora.com - Internet radio for EVERY taste! FREE!

« on: April 29, 2006, 05:44 PM »

Strange.  What build are you using?  I'll probably just stick to having a minimized pandora window

-allen (April 29, 2006, 09:37 AM)

8367

393

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: pandora.com - Internet radio for EVERY taste! FREE!

« on: April 29, 2006, 09:29 AM »

Ack, correction, still having problems -- can you click the drop down arrow to edit a station? (Under "Your Stations") ? For me, it blinks -- doesn't keep focus, can't click it.  And I'm still seeing a lot of visual problems . . . I wonder if that's an Opera widget implementation shortcoming or the widget author . . .

-allen (April 29, 2006, 08:18 AM)

Yep, it works for me just fine
tony

394

Living Room / Re: Support Alert Newsletter recommends DonationCoder

« on: April 19, 2006, 08:44 PM »

At item 6 it has:

6.1 Novel Program Launcher Delivers the Goods
Look at any user's desktop and there's a good chance you will see it littered with shortcuts to commonly used programs. That's fine but if you have too many it can take quite a while to find what you want.

Many folks address this problem by using an application launcher. Commonly these employ a dockable toolbar containing shortcuts to various programs on the PC. The toolbar can usually be hidden so it doesn't take up desktop space.

I've never been keen on these things as often they achieve little more than what's available from the Windows Start menu.

However, I've found an application launcher that actually really works. It's called Find&Run Robot....

Two good mentions!!

395

Best Music Service / Re: tech crunch article comparing music services

« on: April 19, 2006, 08:06 PM »

Following on from the disposable email addresses (veering OT I spose), here are links to a list of disposable email services:
http://www.tipmonkies.com/2005/10/04/disposable-e-mail-address-services and
http://email.about.com/cs/dispaddrrevs/tp/disposable.htm

I've been a long time user of spamgourmet but recently have started using mailinator.com for one time use addresses. It allows to just make any email address on the spot - eg [email protected] and then email is retrieved from mailinator.com.  The email is only retained for a limited time, and if someone else happened to choose junk4me besides you there'd be a problem, but within those limitations it works very well, with no prior planning required.

396

Living Room / Re: Happy birthday Carol H.

« on: April 10, 2006, 05:23 PM »

Hey, have a bloody good simply spiffing birthday Carol -(sorry about that word!! )
Don't spend it all down the museum photographing one of Drake's balls.

397

Best Music Service / Re: tech crunch article comparing music services

« on: April 09, 2006, 10:09 PM »

thats whyI dont like ratios - and Im a maths teacher!:)

398

Best Music Service / Re: tech crunch article comparing music services

« on: April 09, 2006, 09:28 PM »

Why not say they're leaving it out because their music:cr*p ratio is so high compared to the others?

-tsaint (April 08, 2006, 08:47 AM)

I wouldn't quite phrase it that way.  I'd just say their mainstream to obscure taste ratio is incredibly low.

They have an incredibly high quality database, it just happens to be a very diverse database --

-allen (April 09, 2006, 08:29 PM)

I think what I was trying to say was that their proportion of quality music is much higher than a lot of other places. (hence high music:cr*p ratio)

I do think there is a valid concept of "quality" as applied to music, much as there is for other forms of art.

399

Best Music Service / Re: tech crunch article comparing music services

« on: April 09, 2006, 05:57 PM »

Interview with allofmp3 content manager at http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3interview.htm

Museekster: Are artists compensated for the downloads and how does this work in Russia?

Allofmp3: We pay monthly deductions to ROMS. The distribution of the royalties to the authors fully depends on ROMS. ROMS (as well as RAO) distributes the royalties based on sales amount.

Sounds like he's either lying/misinformed or royalties are distributed, in which case they wouldn't seem to be a problem.

400

Image Manager Shootout / Re: Where is Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0??

« on: April 09, 2006, 04:10 AM »

How about pixvue at http://www.pixvue.com/ if you want a lightweight organizational tool? (tho the requirements say 20 mb free needed)
Seems to be just a "tagger" coping with exif,iptc and xmp - ie no edit tools built in. I like the simpleness.
The retro aspect would be a bit of a worry - having to tag your whole photo collection manually after the installation.
Having said that, I'm not using it - I'm an IMatch person.