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1351

Living Room / DC should be Twittering its new topic posts!

« Last post by zridling on February 15, 2009, 04:14 AM »

Sure, Twitter is the latest fad; however, its traffic has grown exponentially in the last two months. Perhaps in large part it's due to the fact that it's a no-spam/no ad medium. DonationCoder.com should have a presence on it by posting new topics as posts and gaining exposure to its smart programmers and its interesting posts by members. There are plenty of plugins for WordPress to auto-tweet blog posts; why not develop the same for DC?

1352

General Software Discussion / Re: Angry shareholders say Microsoft squanders billions on pointless R&D projects

« Last post by zridling on February 15, 2009, 04:09 AM »

Good points. Shareholders want one thing after putting in money: their money back and doubled! Spend any time listening to the business channels and those people have no clue about tech. They see only one side: how much money did you make for me today?

1353

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on February 15, 2009, 04:03 AM »

Excellent points, Carol.

Broadband access and cost
This is a real concern, and not just in your backyard. In the US, broadband access is seriously overpriced and getting slower by the day compared to other countries. Anyone noticed Korea lately?! If it were up to me, governments should provide broadband access to everyone, not the private sector. As for repeated attempts to constrict personal liberty at the expense of your IP address, that's what both the US and UK have become this decade. The sheer [will to] POWER to spy on every single part of our lives is never satisfied. Even George Orwell would be aghast.

The future of cloud companies
True, anyone could be bought out. But though there's been many online suites, only the best have survived to date. Microsoft can't decide whether it wants to buy Yahoo or not, so its own online strategy is a murky as anything else it does. Does anyone know where Microsoft is taking Azure and Live, btw?

Vendor lock-in; proprietary formats
Microsoft practices this even in Office 2007 by not accurately converting documents from or to other formats. Remember the seriously bloated HTML code that Office 2000 and 2003 saved in? It was astounding. Office 2007 still uses proprietary elements within MS-OOXML which it does not share with other vendors, even though it's an ISO standard format now. To read .doc files, you have to use compatibility mode. Point is, I couldn't keep up with it, nor could 18 years of Microsoft-formatted documents I had accumulated. Switching to ODF (which is not dependent on OpenOffice alone) cured that. On any Linux machine, for example, I can easily open and change the contents of any ODF file from the command line.

I can't dispute the excellence of MS Office in many, many ways. Just its (proprietary) formats.

1354

General Software Discussion / "National" operating systems; what's up with that?

« Last post by zridling on February 15, 2009, 03:43 AM »

- Turkey has developed Pardus Linux (based on latest stable release of the kernel) <-- thanks to gorinw13 for the tip!
- The Philippines has developed Bayanihan Linux (based on Debian GNU/Linux) <-- thanks to Paul Keith for the tip!
- China has developed Red Flag Linux (based on Fedora)
- Cuba is developing Nova (based on Sabayon Linux)
- Brazil has developed Litrix Linux (based on Gentoo Linux)
- Russia is developing ALT Linux (based on the free GNU/Linux code)

As is often the case, the key advantage that would flow from the creation of such a "national OS" is the control that it would give governments -- something it doesn't have with Windows, say, or even generalized free software produced elsewhere. The move is designed to reduce a country's need to rely on foreign software and licensing agreements. And the open code solution for Russia, a Linux/GNU derivative, will give it a greater degree of customization, as well as increased control over how the potentially free OS is used and accessed.

This all seems like a huge development, especially if these governments fund open source software (FOSS) at the school and government level as is done in Brazil.
________________________________________________
Here's the mascot for Russia's national OS? A penguin bear! 


(Is he about to drown himself?)

1355

General Software Discussion / Re: Nice Twitter app for Vista, looks like AIM

« Last post by zridling on February 12, 2009, 09:09 PM »

TweetDeck for Linux is also pretty cool, although that's a lot of information on the screen, which begins to defeat the purpose of Twitter in a way. Also comes in other versions.

1356

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on February 12, 2009, 09:08 PM »

That's just it. Doesn't have to exist online, since several of these office apps now provide local versions.

1357

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on February 12, 2009, 06:13 PM »

Everything else will be happening in the cloud, which makes MS Office 2007/09 the biggest loser.

-zridling (February 12, 2009, 06:26 AM)

You keep saying this, I keep doubting this.

-f0dder (February 12, 2009, 07:23 AM)

As a quick tangent, here's why I think MS Office 2007/09 is the last of its kind.

• Cost: Let's face it: most of us are broke and are looking for things we can live without. Buying into MS Office lures you into using Microsoft's proprietary formats which means vendor lock-in which means you buy into its ecosphere and BAM! next thing you know, you're buying the upgrade, too. Never forget how the ordinary person freaks out over the word "free." Must be built into human nature by now. Finally, why pay for what I neither need nor use, or for something that prevents me from leaving and taking my data with me? (In my case, Microsoft doesn't do Linux, so using MS-OOXML is out of the question.)
  

.

• Breadth: Most users don't need that much functionality. I wrote papers, theses, and one very fat dissertation (w/formulae) using MS Office (Word 1.1/Excel 2.2)-2000. Office 2003 was perfected to me. (Was I the only one who used the 'Research Pane'?) And mind you, OpenOffice 3 also does a whole lot of everything for its 160Mb.
  

.

• Learning Curve: This depends on how you work and what you need to do, but it remains real. It's that last 10% of the program that takes study.
  

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• The Cloud: As cliche as this term has become, when I can import and work with any MS or ODF file inside of a free office suite like Zoho Office or to a lesser extent, Google Docs, and then return it to its source without a single hitch, the previous three reasons are suddenly come to light. Better, the document is already formatted in HTML and ready to be shared online rather than in print, which again is cheaper and faster. And when you see how IBM is tying Lotus Symphony between client and cloud (or Google's G-Drive, Amazon's S3), it's exciting to know that your data is no longer hostage to your latest local backup or next HD failure.

Here's Zoho's simple toolbar, which gives me a lot of functionality at a glance:


When Carol writes:
"I don't want it, I don't like it and I will resist any attempt to get me to use it (unless it is to my benefit) but I can't help feeling that at some point it will become more difficult to avoid it and that is when cloud computing will become essential to most users and computers will become little more than appliances (glorified TVs and DVD recorders with internet access)."

I understand the feeling. But -- correct me if I'm wrong -- Carol seems to compute from an application-centered approach, compared to my data-centered one. My data are far more important today than which application I use, because I'm forced to use different tools depending on where I am and which company I'm working with. I have to be able to take that data with me. And that is exactly what Microsoft has sought to frustrate since I can remember, forcing me to, in effect, pay Microsoft to accurately access my data when saved in Microsoft formats. Never mind me, I can no longer be held hostage to a corporation's whims.

No, the cloud isn't the answer for everything. But it's where I'm already living, which makes it easy for me to use any OS I want while having access to my files anywhere in real time.

1358

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on February 12, 2009, 06:26 AM »

I don't think the window has ever been this far out. Still, this is great news. I think people will sit on Win7 for a long time when they buy their next computer, much like they've done with XP. Everything else will be happening in the cloud, which makes MS Office 2007/09 the biggest loser.

1359

General Software Discussion / Re: WINDOWS 7 THREAD (ongoing)

« Last post by zridling on February 12, 2009, 06:12 AM »

MS To Offer Free Windows 7 Upgrade To Vista Users. (Now, I wonder why they'd do that?)
http://it.slashdot.o.../238222&from=rss

1360

General Software Discussion / Angry shareholders say Microsoft squanders billions on pointless R&D projects

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 07:26 AM »

I missed this story:

"During 2007, Apple spent $782 million on R&D, Oracle spent $85 million while Microsoft spent about $7.5 billion. In 2007, Apple annual revenue amounted to $24 billion and net income totaled $3.5 billion," says Montgomery. "According to 2008 annual report, Apple increased revenue to $32 billion and net income to $4.8 billion. During the same period Microsoft spent $8 billion on R&D and increased revenue from $51 billion to $60 billion. Therefore, Apple has a R&D budget that equates to approximately 10% of Microsoft’s; however, during this period Apple increased revenue by $8 billion and Microsoft increased revenue by $9 billion."
___________________________
Tech stocks are rarely profitable on the long side. Don't they know this?

1361

General Software Discussion / Re: Nice Twitter app for Vista, looks like AIM

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 03:47 AM »

Yea, Spaz looks really cool. Thanks Anne. 

1362

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 03:46 AM »

Those are fantastic, April!!   

1363

Living Room / Re: Why do so many micropayment systems fail?

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 03:41 AM »

This is a complicated problem lined with good intentions. I've never had any problems with PayPal, but much like eBay, I feel they take too much of a cut that could be going to site/person you're donating to. The other problem justice mentioned is exchange rates. If your original currency is the Yen or USDollar, your contributions to European developers are [naturally] smaller than you want.

Making it easy is critical. And this is where DonationCoder.com excels. DC also has content, expertise, and an interesting group of people who never fail to bend my brain. Finally, I can't get a lot of the things DC offers elsewhere, unlike news or opinion columns, which I can find in hundreds of places rather than the NYTimes (which would need a refund button if the column sucked).

On the other hand, if I had to donate a micropayment every time I visited DC -- or anywhere -- I wouldn't return on principle.

1364

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:59 AM »

Love this one.

1365

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:57 AM »

The quote







The source (Debra Jackson herself)

1366

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:55 AM »

1367

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:52 AM »

1368

Living Room / Re: Crazy brits crossing railroads

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:48 AM »

Holy smokes!

1369

Living Room / Re: [NSFW - Parody] Sony Releases New Piece Of Technology

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:45 AM »

Funniest thing I've seen all year, and surprisingly true, just substitute the brand name for just about anything!

1370

Living Room / Incredible photo from Australian wildfires

« Last post by zridling on February 11, 2009, 02:39 AM »

This picture of a fireman giving water to a parched koala bear speaks volumes. Look at the koala's tongue, and the koala's paw on the fireman's hand! The koala seems so polite and so grateful. This makes me want to truckjack a water truck and drive through the ocean to Australia. [backstory] The koala friend was rescued by firefighters after it was found roaming a burned up forest 90 miles from Melbourne. The koala friend had burnt paws, but she's doing better now and will hopefully be released back into the wild in about 5 months.

1371

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by zridling on February 09, 2009, 11:22 PM »

taxi bear!

1372

Living Room / Is World of Warcraft the only depression-proof industry?

« Last post by zridling on February 09, 2009, 11:45 AM »

Is World of Warcraft the only depression-proof industry?



Is World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment’s Gem, the single depression-proof industry? Yes, because people who lose their jobs will have more time to play. Furthermore, those on unemployment won’t give up their graphics cards and flashing computer images of the Lich King. In a recent poll of WOW subscribers (who now number 11.5 MILLION), when asked what they would be willing to give up to survive difficult times, respondents said they could give up cable TV, professional sports, restaurants, vacations…. but no one would give up World of Warcraft.
_____________
via Bob Sutor

1373

General Software Discussion / Re: Linux finance management program (ALA Quicken?)

« Last post by zridling on February 09, 2009, 11:33 AM »

Ubuntu Doctor has a nice list of 10 Linux finance tools. They suggest only using Quicken under Crossover Office.

1374

General Software Discussion / Re: Games for Linux

« Last post by zridling on February 09, 2009, 11:29 AM »

You know, there ought to be some classic games offered as free, open source. I think there's a project that's working on a couple. Grand Theft Auto-Vice City still rocks, except for the helicopters.

1375

General Software Discussion / Re: What was it like to use Linux like back in 2000?

« Last post by zridling on February 09, 2009, 11:26 AM »

Funny enough, now that Linux is much more usable and user-friendly, all of them are using Windows

-Lashiec (February 09, 2009, 06:58 AM)

What the hell damn guy! LMFAO    (as long as they're happy)