I wasn't aware that Calc didn't do live pivot tables. Heck, even I've done that in various jobs. I'm working a project right now that requires we pick up a huge spreadsheet, pivot and burst.

I can see where Excel might be a special case, as there are people who really use a large number of its features, which don't necessarily translate to Calc. I'm glad your wife found a solution, and hopefully she won't get stuck when Microsoft changes the file format or something.

Another reason for having the bits local, I'm really uncomfortable with my content being solely in the cloud. I do occasionally use the free cloud version of Visio (for probably similar reasons why your wife uses Excel -- a long history with the tool) but I always save local.

Ok, yeah, that's fair enough. Point taken.

I personally think that Microsoft Office is way over valued. I have a license for Office 2000, and had been using that way beyond its sell-by date [1] before switching to LibreOffice, with which I've been very happy.

I'm aware that the web version of MS Office is technically free, but I prefer to have my bits local and LibreOffice fits well into my workflow. In my opinion, there's no technical reason to use MS Office anymore, except that large entities tend to fall to pressure from Microsoft.

[1] In fairness, the REASON I'd been able to use Office 2000 for so long is that Microsoft for a long time kept it up with patches to support new file format and so forth. But it was finally time to move on.

Oh yeah, wrong environment. There should be a way to like an article.

I honestly did not know that AOL still existed. I'm astonished that it's market value is so high.

I listened to a security guy's podcast yesterday, and he went over why security programs like Norton and Mcafee were useful at one time but are just junk bloatware these days. It was his opinion that Windows Defender is good enough for most things. The same with PC vpn software -- most of them don't do what you think they do. Apparently the security and privacy industries are big scam opportunities.

To be honest, I've been out of that industry long enough that I don't have a feel for the current status. So I note without commenting.

That's a good point. Netflix is ideal as a home for indie movies. Keep the budget down, so that you can experiment without blowing too much money. It's where they try to make tentpoles happen that they fail spectacularly.

Seriously, the Electric State cost $320M? What did they do, use all practical effects? Build all the robots?

Stålenhag's novel was absolutely brilliant. The movie was terrible. It could be a textbook case in how to create a dumbed-down, overly-literal, rather feeble film that absolutely misses the point of the source material.

He's gonna enjoy prison...

Fandango is owned by the studios. Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Fandango. Do you really expect them to say "yeah, that last film we pushed out, wow, that one really sucked"?

"Professional" critics are kept in line by threatening to limit their access, without which they can't do their job. Huge negative differentials between critic ratings and audience ratings are passed off as review bombing.

Not to say this always happens. But if there's a half billion dollars at stake, you can bet the studios will call Fandango and tell them to bring RT in line.

So, I'll have to figure out another interface when all I really want is to get my work done. Fabulous.

As usual, Microsoft sees Windows as an application rather than an OS. So we'll get something really dramatic and unusable, there will be a huge outcry, and they'll eventually, grudgingly withdraw some of the more onerous "features". Just like last time. And the time before.

And Ma and Pa Kettle will continue to use their ancient PC as-is because they lack the patience and expertise to migrate to a new OS.

"U.S. authorities have secretly..."

So... nobody in China reads Slashdot?

It's true, in most cases, upper management and bean counters do not understand how things work.

But as much as it may annoy us, both the engineering row and the executive row have a purpose. Without engineering, you'd have nothing to sell. (Witness companies that laid off their engineering staff as a cost savings measure, then went under when their queue emptied.) But without the executive row, you may have something to sell, but no way to sell it. Then the company gets bought and gutted. Or just closes its doors.

Yeah, let's give some third party with no stake in the company all the passwords. That'll totally end well.

...that the "debilitating" breach was not its fault. It had outsourced the "service desk" part of...

Dudes.... that's totally your fault.

It doesn't benefit the US work force at all. Just pointing out the perception that it benefits US companies.

Illegal tasks like cooking data, as just one example.

Combine this with diploma mill issues, and the company can end up with a department ill-equipped to do the job, ill-equipped to communicate results, poor ethics with little accountability, and just generally a way to siphon off funds. But it looks good on paper.