Actually this is one of the things that aggravates me about people who refuse to conemplate the idea of moving to another system because "they know word": almost always they don't even know how to use it beyond the absolute basics.

Except when there is that one feature that they did use, which then doesn't work the same in the free alternatives, and thus they have to learn how to do it according to the free alternative method, which takes them away from actually doing the work that they were trying to do...

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Every single time I try to get someone to use OO/LO I'm good for about 2-3 days, then I'll get the phone call asking how such and such is done, and since I may not even use that feature, I might have to look it up myself. This type of problem can cascade as when you change the way one feature is implemented, it leads to changes in behavior, which means they discovered another feature/function that was different and the question starts again.

Oh wait, that's what happened when my mom upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2010. (we both hate the changes, but for a variety of reasons 2003 isn't an option anymore). To be fair to my mom, she has become very good at troubleshooting her own problems since I tried to help her in a way which shows her how I learn new programs, but I've tried moving her to Open Office, and while the program provides similar basic features, they are different enough to trigger the phone calls.

So how many tech support type phone calls should I consider taking before it is less costly to just pay for a license of Office? It was bad enough when they added the Ribbon to Office, moving someone to OO/LO isn't going to be painless even if all they do is basic text editing (It's never just basic text editing)

I hate the new style of Office, but from the perspective of people looking for an office-like suite of tools, MS Office is damned good compared to what I've seen as alternatives.

I'm certain that there are a few tasks which would result in Word/Excel/Powerpoint being complete crap, but for the general tasks of 'edit document', 'use spreadsheet', 'generate slides', I don't think that any honest person could call Office complete crap.

I've not encountered any alternative which beats Office at those tasks, and even the best of the alternatives only just meets the capabilities of Office.

I'm not shilling for MS here, as I think that there is a lot that is wrong with Office, and I actually use Google Docs when it's an option, and unless I have no choice I install and use Open Office for more serious document editing. I just think that no rational person could describe Office as complete crap with respect to it's main functions.

I wish I had mod points for this. After work hours, my 'time' can only be traded for more 'time', the exchange rate for tired engineer post 5pm labor is not much.

I like to keep my gaming machines clean of servers, the plugins, odd patches, and other non-essential services. For Minecraft, I can have it running on an old dell desktop and not have to waste any of my gamePCs resources.

In addition, if friends visit and we want to have a lan party going, the server is there, and if I drop off to play another game, they don't have to quit.

Is that right? That seems astoundingly high. Assuming 92% efficiency and 60 gallons/day usage would result in a MONTHLY cost of $133 just to run an electric hot water heater.

In formal environments, you used to pull out your pocketwatch. Then WWI happened, and wristwatches became the style. Now we have cellphones, and they keep accurate time. How is pulling a cellphone out of your pocket any different than pulling out a pocketwatch?

Having a cellphone is now the social norm. Keeping a specialized device strapped to your wrist and insisting that such a thing is more formal is starting to sound a bit like the guy complaining about the new wrist watch fashion.

2. Even if it did, its day is about the same length in its year (e.g. about 250 earth days) so nobody could live in any fixed place on the planet without freezing or melting, even if we got rid of the thick atmosphere. You'd have to live in trucks rolling slowly around the planet in the ... pardon the pun ... twilight zone.

You are thinking too two dimensionally.

An Earth-like mix of Oxygen and Nitrogen would be a lifting gas on Venus. You could build a colony inside, using the very atmosphere necessary to support human life as the lifting gas. At about 50 kilometers up, Venus' atmosphere is Earthlike in temperature and pressure (if not chemically).

You could build literal cloud cities on Venus using a breathable Oxygen/Nitrogen gas mixture to hold it aloft.

I understand where you are coming from, but signing over $70,000 in a lump sum prior to services being rendered is a pretty big risk to take.

I'm having heartburn over putting down $20,000 as a deposit held in escrow for a house I plan to buy. (deposit for closing, not downpayment). I couldn't imagine the nervousness I'd feel about putting that kind of cash on the line upfront...

(Post writing note: I just reread your comment and saw that the $70k included food and transportation as well and not just rent. Originally I thought it was just for renting and thought you were out of your mind, the number is a lot more reasonable (to me) now.)

Did you pay in cash (check)? With a transaction that large, I'd really be worried if it didn't go through a credit card for at least some modest protection if the services weren't provided.

Coaches have a public facing role, work very odd schedules, work weekends, and manage staff consisting of multiple disciplines (trainers, physicians, subcoaches, etc).

They are certainly well compensated, but when you get beyond 'lol it's just a sport' and look at the actual responsibilities placed on a college football coach, it's not as crazy as it first appears.

You might be onto something here. I guess you could call it novel serialization. Imagine if this had occured back during the Victorian era. It might have killed literature dead in its tracks. Glad that never happened.

Looks like I tried to use normal HTML for the link. Lets try this: Why it took so long to invent the wheel. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-it-took-so-long-to-inv

Even more interesting, is that there was a whole lot more to the usefulness of a wheel, than the invention of the wheel.

Take a look here:

Basically it talks about how the wheel as an invention wasn't all that useful until advances in civilazation made it possible for the wheel to be more useful than the sledge, or for carpentry and metallurgy to advance to a stage where the axle could last long enough that you could get a return on your labor investment making the wheel vs building a travois in a fraction of the cost.

Basically, the earlier invention, the travois, was just better than the wheel until 'late' in human history, and until cities/permanent villages were established, wheels were costly to build, broke easily, and generally useless.

Travois could be built with two poles and some rope. A wheel required multiple specialized craftsmen to build all the components. Those craftsmen did not even exist until humans were able to specialize, and humans couldn't specialize until civilization advanced to the point where specializing in carpentry didn't mean that your family starved because your fields were untended.

The travois was better than a cart on almost any surface other than paved or high quality roads. High quality roads did not exist until there was a need for roads, and there wasn't a need for roads until permanent villages began trading with each other. Before then, hauling anything meant that you would be crossing rough terrain, and rough terrain made wooden/stone wheels useless, thus the travois prevailed.

The travois could be easily repaired, and was 'incrementally upgraded' as technology increased. Originally it was two saplings lashed together, later you saw specifically hewn poles, and after that they became reinforced with metal, and cloth. So until roads made larger carts possible (and longer lasting), the travois was superior. Even for a while, until the merchants needed even larger loads, a travois and a cart were on mostly even terms.

It's an interesting story, and one that is very applicable to the question of 'Why aren't things invented at the same rates at all times'. The reason being, some inventions just aren't useful unless a whole slew of other conditions and prerequisites are achieved.

This is my biggest issue with assigning games to an account. It just doesn't work for families, and runs counter to human expectation for 'my stuff'.

My wife played games maybe a decade ago, and I thought Braid would be a good game that was easily controlled and not twitchy (like a shooter). Unfortunately for me, I was playing Portal2 at the time, and we received the notice that such behavior was not allowed. (basically it kicked me off steam and my game when she logged in).

Now, I think you have the right arguement about this. Many people told me to simply turn the one computer to Offline-mode, but that ignores the main issue, which you have expertly pointed out. Such behavior is against the ToS.

However, humans don't operate with expectations like that. If I buy something, and I'm not using it, I expect that anyone else in my family to be able to use it.
Imagine if you bought a chair, that would collapse if it detected anyone else but the original purchasor sitting in it. I'm not angry that only one person can sit in that chair at a time, but I am angry that the maker is trying to get me to purchase a duplicate copy for everyone in my home.

Letting family members play games on the same account is the most restriction I consider even slightly acceptable. To me, if I determine that I want some stranger 200 miles away to be able to play a game I purchased while I'm not currently playing it, that is MY prerogative. Sure, I realize that the distributors/publishers may not like that, but that doesn't change the way I feel and I hate being forced to support their vision of what a successful business model must be.

The games need to be transferrable between accounts.

"Not For Individual Sale" means that the product isn't marked in a manner which is required by law for sale to individuals. Nutrition info, etc... that information appears on the outer box.

You could legally sell those items if you slapped the nutrition info (or whatever else is required) on the item as a sticker.

Like I said... don't deliberately do illegal shit in the first place and this wouldn't be an issue. If she had pleaded not guilty to all three, I'd have been a whole lot more supportive of her position.

So what you are saying is that if she were more dishonest, you would be more supportive of her?