As has been noted in other intertube locations, they still did the dumbest thing with the triggers... WHY THE F would you still make it way too easy to depress triggers when setting the controller down?! It's freaking irritating when it starts fast-forwarding or rewinding your show/movie, or forces you to pause your game every time you want to avoid issues. Put a support under the front or something so the controller doesn't rest ON the triggers!

Pretty sure I don't really consent to ANY of this personal data gathering BS. If we don't click the boxes, we basically have no internet. I'm calling this extortion.

My wife games on our laptop, playing LotR Online, and it can get pretty choppy with lots of scenery or a bunch of bad guys on the screen. Some of that is surely graphics being underpowered, but games are getting bigger and bigger, requiring more resources to play smoothly. While not everyone needs serious power in their laptop, there are surely a good number of gamers using laptops that could use the power of 4+ cores.

Speaking of not being user-friendly... How has /. STILL not figured out how to incorporate carriage returns in comments, especially with mobile devices. This is exactly what I mean when I say it's not built for the masses to use and understand...

... with Windows, or even MacOS, as it currently exists. I've tried using Linux multiple times. I consider myself reasonably tech-savvy. I'm a mechanical engineer, work with and teach CAD software, and have been getting deeply into astrophotography. I'm no stranger to learning technical programs or workflows. I tried implementing Linux for my astrophotography setup and ran into all sorts of issues. I found a distro built in Ubuntu, slimmed down with AP software installed, which is great. But I found drivers that wouldn't work. Software that would crash or hang. And, worst of all, an OS that really isn't user-friendly. It's like you need a CS degree to figure out how to install programs or configure things. You need to learn a bunch of terminal commands just to figure out basic information, install packages, etc. Why should I need to run a command line just to find out if the system recognized that I plugged in a USB device? The entire OS is so unintuitive and technical, and for what? It's an operating system designed to be technical for those who like a technical system. Sure, it's open, customizable, and free. But it's so hard to use for anyone who isn't already a Linux user (i.e. the average user) that it can't possibly get traction as a main OS. Windows has it's issues. But I don't feel like it fights me when I try to do something that should be simple. And MacOS has gained popularity for being straightforward and simple, especially when using multiple Apple products. Linux is just a huge mess of fragmented distros and people who cannot work together to make a cohesive ecosystem. And that's inherent in the whole concept of being open, configurable, etc. Everyone programs for their own needs, rather than creating an environment that everyone can understand and use.

Many people prefer non-Apple products because Apple restricts them too much. Want to upgrade hardware in your Apple computer? Gotta buy overpriced Apple hardware... Want to install custom apps on your iPhone? Nope... can't do it.

I'll admit, Apple integrates their devices well. But, that's also the problem. They HAVE to be Apple products to all work together. While other products don't always integrate as well as Apple products do, you can find a LOT of other choices (Android, Windows, Linux, etc.) that can still be integrated in some fashion. The key word there is "choices".

Once you buy into Apple, you're stuck there. And that's EXACTLY why I don't own any Apple products.

There are quite a few other RPG systems that focus more on the roleplaying and narrative side of things, if that's what you're after. A great gateway into that is Cypher system (Numemera, The Strange) from Monte Cook Games. It's definitely more story-focused than D&D/Pathfinder, but still has some crunchy bits to it for combat.

Call of Cthulu definitely goes further. There's still a rule set for combat encounters, but it's definitely more investigative than D&D. Fate Core or Fate Accelerated might also be up your alley. It's much more open and freeform to do whatever you want, and much less crunchy. You might also check out Trail of Cthulu, which is based on GUMSHOE. Maybe Ghostories..? Even Top Secret/SI, if you want something in the espionage/spy realm. Though, I have no books/information on the last two, other than just basic concepts.

We play D&D weekly, and Numenera every 2 weeks. It's fun to see our friends. But, I understand that those are not the systems for everyone. And I'm all about checking out whatever systems I can get my hands on. (Just found an Exalted 1E book at a thrift store. Score! Also have materials for Cypher, Dungeon World, Vampire: The Masquerade, Star Wars, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulu, Fate, Castle Falkenstein, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and Invisible Sun is on the way from Kickstarter.) I'm sure you'll find one that fits what you're looking for.

Trillian still seems to exist. It looks to be a bit light on the social media side of things, but it does have support for a bunch of chat protocols, email, and in-game chat pop-ups. So, it's still there.

I really loved using Trillian, when chat programs were all the rage. As you said, the convenience of popular systems all under one package.

Which is precisely why people need to look at all of their options. It's not like we only had two candidates for POTUS. But, people are so brainwashed into believing they only have two options or they're wasting their vote that they won't vote for anyone else.

Seriously, people. Wake up and start voting for candidates who actually match your ideals if you want to change our political system. You don't even have to do that much research! There are websites that show you exactly where you stand compared to all of the candidates! We had so many 3rd-party POTUS candidates, but the next-best candidate only got a single-digit percentage of votes.

A vote for the lesser of two evils is a stupid vote because all it does is reinforce the mindset that it's only one or the other. If you want your vote to actually reflect who you are, you need to vote for the candidate that most-closely matches how you want that position to behave during their term.

Same here. So happy I didn't get caught up with Facebook.

And when a pebble strikes my condensor and leaks FLAMMABLE GAS instead, that's better how exactly? So I can have a gas explosion from my leaking AC unit..?

And what happens when there's nowhere to grow? No more competitors to acquire? Their stock can't keep going up, since there's no growth. Eventually it will all come to a halt, and very likely come crashing down. When investors see no reason to buy in anymore because there's no growth left, their stock will tank as people sell. Can they survive that? I would think it would be more advisable to maintain status quo and have a few competitors than to hit that brick wall where there's nowhere to go.

Why don't these large corporations stop buying up other large corporations to create gigantic monopolies, and instead focus their spending on satisfying their customers? Oh, right... because they're greedy.

You mean that Canon Canoscan 8400 scanner I have that has no support in Linux? The one that worked in Windows XP? Linux doesn't support everything. Even major hardware vendors like Canon have products that have no support in either Windows or Linux.


There are lots of great uses for Linux. But you cannot put it ahead of Windows for most people and most applications. Hardware companies produce Windows (and maybe Mac) drivers, whereas many times they won't produce Linux drivers (or will drag their feet before getting them out), leaving the user community to sort out how to get something working. I've had a scanner, a wi-fi dongle, a printer, and more that just don't work on Linux because no user has written a compatible Linux driver for it, yet. And the manufacturer never made a driver for Linux. I've never really had that issue with Windows. Aside from finding some legacy drivers for older versions of the OS, or getting an old bit of hardware running on newer versions of Windows, I've had no issues finding a driver for my hardware.

Until Linux catches up with graphics capabilities and hardware drivers, it cannot appeal to the majority of users out there. They just don't want to dig into command lines, config files, and compilers to get things running. Ubuntu has done a great job of getting things up and running for everyday tasks, like email, web browsing, watching streaming video, and creating office documents. But, that's not enough to win most people over. Popular software is written for Windows. Hardware drivers are written for Windows. Why change when it does what you want/need?

Yes, Linux is good for control, openness, and customization. If you want to write custom software for your research project, Linux is a great option. You can tap into and alter the OS to your needs. Slim it down to fit on a small SD card. Run it on some homebrew hardware project. But, it still doesn't have that mass appeal. It's just too... techy... for most people.

I'm not saying you have to work less. I'm saying that many companies are the reason for the long hours and low vacation time. Many people put in 50+ hours of work every week, not because they want to, but because they're required to by their management. It has nothing to do with peer pressure. It's the culture of management these days. It's no wonder why employees aren't loyal to their companies anymore, when their companies don't seem to find them very valuable anymore. If you enjoy working, that's great. More power to you. But most people don't enjoy their job, and would rather spend time with family and friends or traveling instead of working so much. Consider yourself fortunate that you'll spend a large chunk of your life doing something you actually like.