They just aren't yelling "ENHANCE" loud enough yet. Give it time...

Worked for CSI:

http://insertnu.com/Funny_Images/Stills/CSI%20Enhance.jpg

I'm glad it's not just me. I never used the dedicated mobile version because it's shit, but I was glad the main site still had the classic scaled version available when used on mobile devices with all the usual functionality. When I went to the site one day and found everything stretched, I was worried Slashdot thought the phone was a desktop fro some reason.

Glad to know it wasn't just me. Disappointed to see a perfectly working mobile version of the site was ditched simply because the owners wanted to force users (though pain) to use the new mobile version, even if the new one is complete rubbish and there's no pain in keeping the classic mobile version around.

I have to respectfully disagree with your assertion about GIMP being hell for the average user. I would say that it's actually quite usable now for the non-expert, as long as three things are done first:

(1) Make it clear from the get-go that GIMP's primary strength is in advanced image manipulation. If you're trying to do something which will involve, say, drawing lines, boxes, circles and other shapes (MS Paint-type stuff), GIMP will seem overly difficult. For such purposes it's much better to use something like Inkscape which has all these features clearly visible and accessible, and use GIMP for the final touches.

(2) Set GIMP to single-window mode immediately.

(3) Show them the Export function in the File menu, and make sure they're aware that if saving in anything other than the native GIMP format, they need to use Export rather than Save.

Not really that much needs to be done after that. GIMP for retouching, Inkscape for geometric drawing.

Indeed. There is an official extension for VS2012 that provides extra color schemes including a blue one that looks very similar to that of VS2010. Removes the dull grey appearance, but doesn't do much for the icons. Someone also made an extension (unofficial) that can replace the VS2012 flat icons with those from VS2010, but you need VS2010 installed apparently, it's also incomplete and uncertain as to whether the extension can work during updates.

I ended up moving to Eclipse even for C/C++ development simply because I had enough of Microsoft's schizophrenic decision making, and it's a powerful enough IDE with cross-platform features that it's no real sacrifice in the end. I don't like having to "deal" with something if it's not necessary and options exist.

I can tell you right now that, as an adult, Bioshock appealed to me more than most other FPSs because it has COLOR for a change, and not just your regular drab, "realistic" environments. Simcity has fresh color of course, but I already knew about its bullshit DRM system beforehand and so didn't buy it.

Actually I didn't buy either - pirated Bioshock Infinite and left Simcity alone entirely. But the point is still made.

OK I apologize - it was not a personal attack (certainly not intended). I didn't call you an asshole (like you did to me) - I just said it was your failure not to know about XP Pro's lack of activation. Even if you already knew about it, you didn't make it clear at the time and surely you can tell the difference between a dedicated attack designed to HURT, and just someone suggesting you failed to educate yourself on something.

Anyway, regarding Microsoft's potential for creating an update to deactivate a system, I'm fine with it because I know it won't happen. There's simply too much Windows-based infrastructure in the world and far too many companies reliant on the OS, such that Microsoft would suffer significant damage if they were stupid enough to perform such an update. As is the case, your hypothetical scenario doesn't worry me because it's outside the realms of actually happening. It's theoretically possible of course - but theoretically I could die tomorrow. Won't stop me from living today. It's just a fact of life that we have to decide whether something is reasonably likely to happen, and the extreme majority of people who consciously know about the activation in Windows have decided that it's worth dealing with for the ability to run AutoCAD or whatever.

And yes the removal of Linux on the PS3 was BS as well.

Link to the torrent of the census data from the article:
http://blog.angrygoats.net/2013/04/12/2011-australian-census-release-3/

Since the data is available for free (obfuscated or not) and was released under a CC license, technically this should all be considered legal, right? Not that it should be necessary of course.

Microsoft could decide your copy of Windows wasn't "Genuine" at any time and disable it, and those were unacceptable terms for me to run a business on

Windows XP Professional does NOT use activation, only the home edition does. XP Pro is the version designed for businesses and power users and hence once you put your key in, that was it. Your failure to know this after so many years is yours alone.

why Microsoft continues to have a reward and incentive program for staff that is based on ranking staff against each other rather than on rewarding shared achievements.

Sounds like a horrifyingly toxic place to work if this is the case (which it probably is - I've heard about this several times before). Where I work we don't compete with each other because we're all working towards various goals and fighting with each other for rewards is counter-productive to teamwork.

I've found that MATE can look very nice if you choose the appropriate combination of themes, fonts and colors. For example, I use the Equinox GTK engine with official themes which I've tweaked a bit to look better with MATE software, as well as using a black panel background with slight gradient and minor transparency, along with the Ubuntu font as the main system font. The result is fast, clean and effective, although it did take some work in getting it all set up to my liking of course. Coupled with the Synapse launcher which provides easy keystroke launching very similar to that provided by Windows 7 (more powerful actually), this combination is far nicer and faster than anything Unity provides, while retaining the traditional desktop GUI. GNOME 3 might be more integrated but it's far less configurable (not including extensions and theme which often break with newer versions anyway), so MATE is the best option for me in the future.

Also please don't use the word sheeple. It makes you look like dick, there are other words which have the same impact without looking retarded and we have WAY too many dicks in the Linux community to afford any more.

It's apparently argued in business school that standing still is tantamount to suicide. That things need to be continually changing otherwise they run the risk of looking stale. Hence this idea is translated to software, with the conclusion that if things remain the same for too long, regardless of the fact it might work well, they become stagnant and technology fails to progress. There is some truth in this, but as far as those who are actually using the software to do a job, it gets damn annoying.

Depends what you're doing. For a few years now I've made the decision to try to use and learn as much cross-platform software as possible, even in Windows, such that if/when I decide that I've had enough with Microsoft's BS and can realistically move to Linux, the pain will be hopefully be minor. Having the familiarity with cross-platform software such as Eclipse, GIMP, Inkscape, Firefox, LibreOffice and whatnot makes moving from one platform to another pretty damn easy. Moving from Visual Studio, MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite does not (well, Windows -> Linux anyway, Mac users are in a better position).

Yes the commercial software might be better in many respects, but I don't use the full power of Visual Studio, Photoshop and Office anyway and so don't miss much. For others that might not be the case and I don't blame them for not bothering, but open source alternatives are so damn powerful these days that there's no reason not to give them a solid try at least.

Somehow I've managed to get away with the Eclipse + CDT + MinGW combination in Windows for ages and for the most part it's worked pretty well. The reason I do this is because not only does it mean I get to use GCC with a good IDE in Windows, it also means ensures that I can easily transfer the knowledge of using said IDE in Linux, as opposed to relying on Visual Studio which only exists for the one platform.

I've gotten real tired of investing skills in software that is Windows only as I want to break the cycle of being dependent on a single platform, which is where learning cross-platform tools which can still do the job are so very useful. I'm sure VS is a great IDE as well - I just haven't come across anything worth the investment yet, even for work.

The media focuses on the crying and expression of suffering because they know that pulling heartstrings and causing emotional responses in viewers somehow increases viewership and repeated viewings. It's sick, but it's also a well-known tactic which seems to work for most. In my case I'm kinda like you, in that I just stopped watching after a while and did some more housework. The actual amount of news and new developments regarding the tragedy are still very slow to come out, and hence the media is just regurgitating the same shit over and over again, so you don't really need to be continuously watching anyway.

There are a lot of smart people on a lot of other forums. They haven't really brought up the political issues and started any finger-pointing in the manner Slashdot has - not yet anyway.

I will say thought that if I tried discussing this tragedy by focusing on the issues presented in this thread with people face-to-face and not on the net, I'd be looked at with disgust and shock for even thinking such things - regardless of how logical my argument might be. Maybe that's the reason Slashdotters are doing so with each other? Because it's the only place anyone they'll be able to talk without scorn? Can't blame them I suppose.