> "Herding users" is not "charged language", it is an even-handed,
I give up. If you think this is an objective, unbiased, even-handed review
there is nothing left that I can say.
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> "The Taskbar handles half of the features of the Mac OS X Dock;
> actually launching an app or document still requires navigating the
> Start Menu."
>
> How about Desktop icons. How about Quicklaunch icons (which are
> actually pictured *right above this statement*. How about keyboard
> shortcut
> This is good reading for WFBs because it demonstrates what a
> knowledgeable, even-handed review looks like. Of course they will
> scribble all over it trying to turn a sow's ear into a purse.
It is beyond understanding how you can think that a review loaded with
charged language like "herding u
> This is why you shouldn't get reviews of MS products from people who
> don't actually use the product
Yeah. Here's another one I noticed late last night, where he's talking about
the taskbar: "... actually launching an app or document still requires
navigating the Start Menu."
No, it doesn't. H
> A long, thorough, and clear-eyed review of Windows 7 worth reading...
A clear-eyed review from AppleInsider. Right. You can practically smell the
objectivity in this sentence: "Microsoft has to herd more PC users into the
latest version of Windows ... so it can actively leverage its monopoly
po
> I don't think reports of this fast-spreading worm were "dubious."
You paste in a quote and then insist that it says something that it doesn't
say. It said that the calculation of the number of infections is dubious.
That is NOT the same as saying that the worm doesn't exist.
It is a huge step f
> Didn't our WFBs already inform us last week that this was nothing to
> worry about and the 9,000,000 infected PCs I mentioned were just a
> hallucination generated by my intolerance of defective operating
> systems?
Once again, nobody said that. This is a very irritating habit you have. It
happe
> Infection estimates now at 10,000, and "spreading fast."
>
> Just close your eyes, click you heels together, and recite "Windows is
> double plus good. There is nothing to worry about."
The point being made was in reference to your statement that "[MS]'s
inability, after years of
promising
(Oops, clicked Send on the unedited version...sorry about that)
> He'll then climb on you back and list a feature for
> feature comparison to the (close to obsolete) iPod
> Classic player. He will insist you admit that the
> two are identical. It gets crazier from there, but
> I will spare you t
> -Original Message-
> From: Computer Guys Discussion List [mailto:COMPUTERGUYS-
> l...@listserv.aol.com] On Behalf Of mike
> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 3:19 PM
> To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
> Subject: Re: [CGUYS] yardsticks [Was: Mac Mail: Redirect vs. Forward
>
> Again you ar
> I never talked about MS doing this to get new zune sales.
Oops. Here is your post of 12/31:
---
Some call it Z2K9 others Zune Hara-kiri. I like "Zunepocalypse." Time is up
for the 30GB Zune models and they are all performing synchronized suicide.
You can just
> Generally, Tom talks about issues, jeff and the boys talk about Tom.
This really isn't true.
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> Kzinti wouldn't, I mean.
No, but they appreciate Wagner.
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***
> You may technically be correct, but the problem comes when you include
> mono sound. You've jumped straight to stereo (2 channels) and declared
> it to be "1D". If so, then what do you call mono sound?
Interesting question. When using headphones, mono sound appears to originate
from a point insi
> No. 2D vs 3D is immaterial. The issue is discrete point sources.
I'm not sure I follow this, at least in the context of this discussion. My
point was just that 5.1 sound isn't 3D, it's 2D because it only localizes
sounds in two dimensions (as far as I know). But you obviously know a lot
more a
> The headphones are cool. But as an audio guy I can tell
> you for a fact that unless you are driving the elements in
> the transducers out of separate channels of amplification
> you will not realize surround sound. There is no way a two
> channel feed can be transformed into 5.1 without multipl
> All of the messages are there and everything seems ok
> *except* when I create a new Outlook email and look for
> an old email address by typing the first letter of the
> name nothing shows up. If I click on the To: field no
> email addresses are there.
The autocomplete cachen isn't part of t
> To be clear, both MS and Toshiba had players go out on
> this bug. Toshiba has a player called the gigabeat that
> also locked up on jan 1...but to Tom it's only the zune
> that matters.
Right, but don't forget that Freescale, which created the bug in the first
place, also gets a pass.
This
> So how about you just tell us why you didn't go after
> Toshiba too?
>
> Because I'm not a crank.
The logic of this eludes me.
You're saying that you only went after one of the two companies that missed
the bug because you're not a crank? Only a crank would mention that Toshiba
and MS both mis
> I don't expect anyone will argue that Win7 is not better
> than Vista, but is that all we are allowed to compare it to?
No, because that isn't the only comparison: "As a person who performs almost
every computing task on a Mac and tells anyone who will listen that at this
point, the average con
> in this case I must say: stop being a jerk.
My post was civil. Yours is not. You see personal attacks where there are
none.
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>> "Demand for the public beta version of Windows 7 was so
>> great that Microsoft actually had capacity issues on
>> Friday..."
>
> Do you think they deliberately crashed their servers as
> a publicity stunt or are their server management abilities
> really that poor? Did not anyone at the co
> Sort of like starting a new thread to avoid answering a
> question...'question? what question?'
Ah, the Sarah Palin VP debate tactic.
"I may not answer your little moderator-type 'questions'"
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> Do you think they deliberately crashed their servers as
> a publicity stunt or are their server management abilities
> really that poor? Did not anyone at the company plan ahead
> to avoid a repetition of the Vista beta follies?
"Watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat!"
"Again? That trick NEVER
> "And after downloading the Windows 7 beta and immersing myself
> in its environment, I think I can say, both as a Mac user (I'm
> writing this on my iMac) and what some may call an Apple nut
> (I own just about every Apple product released over the past
> five years), Windows 7 will not only
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/
Don't forget to respond to the unbiased poll question.
(If this doesn't make sense it's because the page changes periodically,
there's no permalink, and you're too late and looking at the wrong thing.)
***
> I'm a little surprised by that, given the black eye that
> MS got from Vista, I thought they would've had a couple of
> dozen dry runs to make sure that _no_ one had issues in
> trying the beta. It wasn't a big deal, just a "We don't
> need this crap"
It was a bit disappointing, yes. It's i
> Why do I feel that I am watching an episode of "Don Quixote" **
>
> There are some posters here who appear to be gluttons for punishment,
> by all this incessant "Dueling with Windmills".
He never gave up, as I recall. :)
**
> As I understand it the full release is supposed to be
> sometime in late summer (according to various and sundry
> tech news sources), correct and they only plan to have one
> beta release?
That's the latest I've heard, yes. Late summer/early fall.
*
> I can no longer keep track of who the players are... What,
> if anything, do the activation keys do for the Windows 7 beta?
> I am surprised that if they were needed that the MS servers
> couldn't meet the demand. It's not like they've never had a
> big release before.
Wayne, Tom appears to ha
> Are you telling me that MS's process of handling activation is so
> inefficient that it compares poorly to streaming such a long video?
You are confusing different things here. There was no issue that had
anything to do with inefficiency in "handling activation". There was an
issue in distributi
>> Well, you're going to need to do better than that. Can you
>> point to any post where I tried to "put responsibility on
>> somebody else" for this issue, vague or otherwise?
>
> How about the one I quoted and you conveniently clipped out of your
> reply?
I do not find anything you quoted tha
> I strongly object to your use of the word "attack." Sir, you are out of
> bounds. This is a technical discussion. Your frustration at not being
> able to get any traction does not justify such language. I suggest you
> take some time to think this through before posting.
I do not see anything "o
>> Oh? What "somebody else" did I try to put the problem on?
>
> I don't know. You were very vague on that. That's one of my
> problems with your defense of MS. Your tack that nobody is
> responsible for anything.
Well, you're going to need to do better than that. Can you point to any post
wher
>> But I don't think mine was really far off the mark
>> anyway. In both cases the issue was a server problem,
>> unrelated to any problems in the products themselves.
>> Tom was trying to make this into a problem with Windows
>> 7, which it clearly is not.
>
> You keep slicing and dicing ever
>> I am also confused about why this is funny. You think there
>> is not heavy traffic, or what?
>
> It is a lame excuse. Like "the computer ate my homework."
>
> I guess it is funny to me because I once read a book of excuses that a
> school teacher had collected over the years. MS seems to be
> This is very funny...
>
> Microsoft postpones Windows 7 public beta "Microsoft Corp. postponed
> the rollout of the Windows 7 beta today, citing "very heavy traffic" on
> its Web site."
>
> http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic
> &articleId=9125626&intsrc=hm_li
> Are you saying that because Tom made a wild comparison,
> its fine if you do it? Didn't your momma ever tell you that just
> because somebody else does it, doesn't mean that it's OK
> for you to do it? :))
Nah. I was just amused at my comparison being called a stretch while no one
said anythin
> I don't understand why they are serving activation keys for
> Windows 7 beta if they are completely unnecessary. Is
> there some kind of grace period before you need to enter in
> the key, or are the keys solely for the purpose of testing an
> inoperative activation system? Google was not my fr
> Previously you tried to sell the idea that because it was
> not possible to test _everything_ then it was okay to be
> slovenly and not conduct diligent testing and quality control.
Did not say anything remotely like that.
> Now you want to sell the idea that because it was not
> reasonable
> I think the blame is being placed incorrectly. It seems that
> the code in question was part of a library licensed/purchased
> by MS to develop the Zune? That library functionality didn't
> have enough unit tests to test for correct functionality. I
> don't see any reason to believe that MS sh
> Can I buy Windows without activation? No, it is all one part
> of the Windows gulag. And the botched it.
You aren't really paying attention, are you? This has ONLY to do with beta
testers getting keys online. It has nothing to do with consumer purchases.
Consumers don't get keys this way.
> Isn't this a big stretch, comparing the somewhat routine operation of
> serving product activation keys with Apple's launch of a brand new,
> fairly sophisticated product
You mean like equating temporarily hung MP3 players to crashing jumbo jets
and collapsing bridges? :)
Incidentally, none of
> Also, if you want to compare MS to Apple, the proper comparison is
> OS vs OS.
Not if the problem isn't in the OS, which it wasn't. The problem had nothing
to do with Windows whatsoever. It was in the servers delivering keys to the
beta testers.
Not to mention that you don't need the key anywa
> Too bad. It seems like this could be a decent windows release.
Again, this has nothing to do with Windows. It's a problem with the
subscription servers sending keys to the beta testers, and it's most likely
fixed already.
***
> Finger pointing. Did they subcontract the servers to somebody working
> out
> of a grass shack in Bangalore so it is somebody elses's fault?
>
> It is noteworthy because it is the first public appearance of Windows 7
> and MS couldn't be bothered to get it right. The word I used previously
> was
> Arstechnica.com reports that they screwed up the activation keys.
Yawn.
We can trust you to misstate pretty much everything. It does get old,
though, a little.
They didn't "screw up the keys". The problem isn't in the keys. Or in
Windows. The problem is in the servers getting the keys to the
>> It appears to be beyond your comprehension that MP3 players do not
>> have the same fail-safe requirements as these.
>
> Nonesense [sic]. I reject your weaseling excuses
OK, MP3 players have the same fail-safe requirements as 747s. My bad. Don't
know what I could've been thinking.
**
> The company that assembles a product is responsible for every part in
> that product
OK, so you DO think that Apple tests their Intel CPUs to exhaustion and
would have caught the math bug that nobody else did. (But I'm sure that is
different...somehow...)
> When a bridge falls down and familie
> I question this assertion. "Bashing MS over this while
> praising Apple" does not assume that Apple finds *all*
> such bugs,
> Again, why does Apple have to be "perfect"? The argument does not
> depend on absolute conditions.
Well, because what Tom has said boils down to "There was a bug
> MS has depressed your expectations so much that I see
> you are willing to accept anything they dish out.
> Insisting that MS rarely makes such mistakes is ridiculous
Nice job of refuting things I never said...
*
** Lis
> If you don't try to test until everything is correct, you
> will suffer later. My testing finds A LOT. As close to
> everything as I'm likely to get.
Agreed. But you can't find everything, which is what the Other Poster seems
to want MS to do.
> I said Apple's experience designing and testi
> Testing is iterative, and good testing should find as
> many flaws as possible (errors and design flaws) and
> cannot end until every thing is correct.
I'm not disagreeing with you that extensive testing is a must. Of course it
is. But ensuring that "everything is correct", while an admirable
> >Why does every news story on this site except the one about the
> macbook
> >appear to be a parody? Or rather, why is a serious story mixed in
> with all
> >these gags?
>
> You're kidding, right? It's the Onion! EVERYTHING is a parody,
> albeit, in the case of the Mac Wheel, an extremely well-
> From my brief reading up on the internet and talking to
> 2 friends, I thought some differences are: 1) you can
> hand write on a notebook and 2) notebooks don't usually
> have internal drives. Is that not the case? I'll have
> to read up on netbook as well.
Notebook is the term du jour f
> I am currently the test manager for an enterprise system.
> We test every functional requirement.
Rigorous testing is a requirement, and I'm certainly not suggesting
otherwise. The company I do most of my consulting for is extremely
aggressive in its testing.
But are you saying that you manuf
> Because it is virtually impossible for *everyone* to
> check *everything* you want to absolve MS from
> checking even the simplest things.
You sure do know how to exaggerate. As I'm sure you well know, that is not
at all what I said. What I said was, "You can't test everything," which is
rather
> In the case of a essential calendaring component, it would be
> reasonable to assume that this would include checking various
> critical dates, like Dec 31, Jan 1 for every year and Feb 29, Mar 1
> for leap years
The problem is, so much is "essential." You may be able to find a few things
like "
> Statements that include terms like "every," "all," "none," "always," or
> "never" usually have the answer built into the question. Your
> ridiculous, stacked-deck question is unworthy.
As Mike notes, you have finally answered the question, rather circuitously,
with "No, Apple does not check ever
> Intel's management remarked that Apple was all over
> them before switching to their processors and pushed
> them to do some things differently. Verizon passed
> on the iPhone because Apple as "too intrusive."
So they asked for stuff (MS does too, not that this would make any
difference to yo
> You may think it is all right for the vendor to
> take a "see no evil" attitude. I don't.
So, it is your position that Apple analyzes the microcode on all components
it purchases, including the CPUs?
By the way, have you now officially dropped your contention that MS did this
on purpose?
***
> As you say, turning off Windows Update is only
> partially effective. MS ignores the setting as it
> pleases.
That's a bit of an overstatement. MS should not have done what it did--and I
complained about it--but "as it pleases" isn't accurate.
Stealth updates have occurred twice that I'm awar
> So your kid comes home with an "F" on his math test. He
> says "It's not my fault, I copied from Johnny's paper."
> You say "Next time copy from someone who's smarter."
You understand that this is analogy is completely bogus, right? You want to
use analogies, try to use ones that make sense:
> DRM probably is the answer to M$ woes in Zune2K9
> debacle. It needs to be able to know your license
> is current for the subscription service. Can't
> have you hearing licensed music after your license
> has expired.
As we now know, and as I suspected in earlier messages, this is not the
c
> Interesting thing popping up on some forums. It's
> starting to look like it wasn't just the zune that
> was affected but also other mp3 players which used
> the freescale cpu
Looks like it. Some guy found the source code for the clock driver
(apparently it's on the Freescale web site), and
> But you went after my point not anything that Tom said.
I re-read my message, and I can see how you could have read it that way. My
intent, however, was to point out that Tom's message assumed that the
problem was, in fact, DRM-related (which, again, I very much doubt):
"It is just like designi
> It is amazing how far some people will go to defend their one true
> love.
> No it is not acceptable for MS to migrate its piss-poor software
> engineering practices to the realm of MP3 players (a.k.a. embedded
> controllers). People who write embedded controllers are expected to do
> a
> far bet
> Hey it is a best guess and I stated it that way
Yes, you did, but Tom didn't; his message assumed that it was a fact. That's
why I responded to him and not to you.
> We bitch when Apple screws up too
Yes, but Tom bitches differently for Apple and MS. MS's mistakes all have
one of two possible
>> DRM probably is the answer to M$ woes in Zune2K9 debacle.
>> It needs to be able to know your license is current for
>> the subscription service. Can't have you hearing licensed
>> music after your license has expired.
>
> It is just like designing electronic door locks that won't
> open wh
> No. The point of the matter is that MS created a music player who's
> operation is somehow critically intertwined with the number of days in
> the year. I can't imagine how the number of days in the year could be
> critical for the function of playing music
I'm speechless. This is simply laugha
> >> When Apple had a similar problem with the iPhone we
> >> called it "bricking" (turning our expensive toy into
> >> the equivalent of a brick) and it was not acceptable
> >> at all. We gave Apple hell.
> >
> >And you accused them of intentionally creating the glitch to sell more
> >stuff. Righ
> When Apple had a similar problem with the iPhone we
> called it "bricking" (turning our expensive toy into
> the equivalent of a brick) and it was not acceptable
> at all. We gave Apple hell.
And you accused them of intentionally creating the glitch to sell more
stuff. Right?
*
> 424 years later MS is still playing catchup. Will a patch be ready for
> 2012?
It sure is a good thing for you that Apple software is completely bug-free,
otherwise this would seem rather silly and childish.
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> >http://coreygo.com/index.php/2008/12/31/how-to-temporarily-fix-the-
> zune-30s-z2k9-woes/
>
> Fine, except that:
>
> 1) Requires disassembly of the Zune, voiding the warrenty.
>
> 2) He reports that 1/3 of the time his procedure completely erases the
> contents of the Zune.
A point you didn'
> You may consider it minor, because they are coming out with a fix for
> it. Some may consider major because it disables the device.
> However, I think none of us are happy when a device is disabled.
Well, that's fair enough, but I'm calling it minor because (a) it's
temporary, (b) the Z
> Meanwhile my 1st Gen iPod keeps on ticking.
As do the Zunes.
Only you could take what -looks- like a fairly minor software glitch and
understand that it is actually a massive MS conspiracy. Those are some evil,
evil dudes, Tom; it is good that we have you to show us the truth.
***
> but the really interesting story is the $199 EFI-X USB Boot Module
> (www.macintouch.com/reviews/efix). Apparently you can plug this into
> any PC and it creates an environment that runs OS X with very few
> compromises. Runs fast too. I'll buy that!
This really is interesting, but I'm not sure
> Why are you scrolling at all? Why not use the search box?
Well, for one thing I can't always remember the name of the program I need.
:)
For me, a simple two-level menu has turned out to be the best solution. I
have top level menus for audio, video, imaging, financial, communications,
and a fe
> I find the start menu difficult to deal with when
> it is too large and has to be scrolled to find something. Yes, I know
> I can orgainze the start menu hierarchically, but I've never taken the
> trouble to do so.
Right, I'm suggesting that it might be "worth the trouble". I've found that
(fo
> >Eventually, you'll want to go in and set her up
> >as a User, since apparently by default the owner is
> >still inexplicably an Admin.
>
> That so the help won't have to respond to things that "don't work"
> because of improperly-set permissions. Just give the user the maximum
> permissions.
> Actually, I have a single folder on the desktop, which contains
> shortcuts to all my apps. I find it's a lot easier to look for
> something in the folder, to include the usual Windows Search. But the
> folder only contains shortcuts for launching the principal
> applications
You know you can
My understanding of PAE (or AWE, as it's known in Windows) is that its only
effect is to allow individual applications to use physical memory above
4GB--and the applications must be specifically coded to do so. I doubt that
many are, since there are so few x86 systems with more than 4GB.
IOW, it w
> Particularly nice is that these upgrades worked on -all- Zune owners,
D'oh. Obviously that should have been FOR all Zune owners, not ON all Zune
owners.
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> What? We were having a quasi-rational discussion
> actually comparing iPods and Zunes, and you break
> out the labels and say how some of us are dirty
> iPod-lovers out to smear the Zune?
My reference was to the earlier discussion; I thought that was clear from my
use of the past tense. I ap
>> That's a two year old review comparing the now "Classic" iPod
>> with essentially the same Zune of today.
>
> Oranges to oranges: comparing comparable models is an honest
> evaluation.
Also, although the Zune hardware hasn't changed a whole lot, the firmware
has been greatly enhanced. It can d
> Now I see my mistake, I forgot to apply the super secret sauce of
> double standard. Silly me.
>
> MS/shipped = misleading bad guys
> Apple/shipped + secret sauce = bright and shiny
You forgot to mention what a sound business plan it is for near-bankrupt
retailers to stock and display large qu
> I haven't been following this thread. What's "YOY" anyway?
It's bidness-ese for Year-Over-Year, i.e., the change from one year to the
next.
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> Original formula is incorrect. Yahoo share is 1.48 [or 1.47] times MS
> share, not 148 [or 147] times MS share.
>
> Simple arithmetic:
> 1,311,504 / 885,567 = ~1.48 = 148% [48% higher] - correct
>
> (1,311,504 / 885,567) * 100 = ~148 = 14800% [4800% higher] - incorrect
Not to belabor the po
"A Russian businessman has trademarked the ;-) emoticon used to convey a
wink in text messages and email.
"Oleg Teterin, president of the mobile ad company Superfone, said Thursday
he doesn't plan on tracking down individual users following the decision by
the federal patent agency. 'This is on
> Notice how they don't want to address the issue so distract us with
> math problems instead. Baa!
I guess you missed the part where I said that I don't understand why anyone
uses MS search?
In any event, the math/terminology for this is well established. Yahoo's
share is 148% of MS's. You can a
> > Yahoo / MS * 100 = 147%
>
> No.
>
> Yahoo / MS = 1,311,504 / 885,567 = 1.48097659 = 148%
> 148% * 100 = 14800% or 148. Yahoo's share isn't 148 times more than MS'
> share. It just seems that way.
>
> Yahoo's share is 148% of MS share, or Yahoo's share is 48% more than MS
> share. MS still su
> I realize you'll probably just start covering your ears and screaming
> WFB! WFB!...but...how does a 5% lead make it 147%?
Yahoo / MS * 100 = 147%
That's a 47% lead, not 147%, but this one time I am willing to chalk it up
to an honest misstatement. Just this once, though.
Personally, I'm not s
> For a database in the cloud, Amazon on Dec 1st added
> a threshold for billable use. The threshold is fairly
> high so much useful work should be free.
This is interesting, but anyone thinking of putting a lot of reliance on its
being free should be aware that Amazon is only promising that it
> There are only 6 of them (out of some 10,000), and
> checking one shows it later in the list twice
Good lord, Spybot put ten thousand entries in your hosts file? Have you
noticed any effect on performance?
*
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> you guys should stop arguing about inadequacies in Vista
Tony, the problem is that people read this list. If no one says anything,
those people will take home the "fact" that Vista's IPv6 support is no good,
because Tom says so. We don't know that from your situation, and it's a
point worth disp
> Can one of our poor Vista unfortunates please run
> the ping test in Safe Mode so we can rule out evil
> third-party software's attempts to make Vista look bad?
There's no point to this. I already said that I pinged in -normal- mode and
it was fine. I did exactly what Tony said he did, and the
> I'm not a Vista user so I don't get so metaphysical
> about how my computer operates. I don't accept maybes.
> It either works or it doesn't work.
Anyone who cares to can re-read my message and satisfy themselves that this
is a complete misrepresentation of what I said. The "maybes" were there
> There was a thread on Mac-L a while back where people were having
> some slow internet response times that were fixed by disabling the
> "Configure IPv6" in the Network control panel of Mac OS X from
> "Automatically" to "Off".
Does this mean the OS X's IPv6 implementation leaves something to be
> Since the addressability was tested using ping from the command line,
> casting blame on FireFox or "something else" is a bit of a stretch.
Right, Tom, the only thing is that, given the information that Tony
provided, the pingback doesn't prove anything one way or the other because
we don't know
> You can't boot from an external drive that's only connected with USB2.
Get a PC.
(I'm so sorry...I just couldn't resist it...)
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