[Forge]

Burnett, on 25 January 2013 - 07:56 PM, said:

Dude, it's Linux. Change it to whatever you want! That's one of the Linux's strengths, is it not?

exactly.

linux allows you to "downgrade" pretty much seamlessly. if you don't like that desktop (it looks like gnome), downgrade the (gnome) packages back to the ones you liked. Or shitcan that desktop and get KDE, or whichever one suits your taste out of the mainstream ones available.

Sangman, on 26 January 2013 - 06:31 AM, said:

Relax people, keyboard and mouse aren't going anywhere.

for me it has zero to do with keyboard and mouse. i've watched people use it and the difficulty with transitioning is minimal.
(again for me) what i don't like is it feels like the desktop is hiding the rest of the computer. i like to get into the system and "tinker" with settings, files, etc. I want to look around, have access and control. Either the people i've dealt with were not as familiar with their system as they thought, or the desktop masks and limits access to what the user can do. Everything they could reach or control was rather generic and simplistic.

i really won't know until i get my own and see how long it takes me to "break" it and "fix" it a dozen times before i'm satisfied.

[Hank]

Forge, on 26 January 2013 - 07:06 AM, said:

exactly.

The Unity inter phase has this left, mega, size button set, which takes 10% of valuable space from my 15" little lap top. This can not be customized unless I change the entire desk top, or you know something else. - So, just install KDE and hope they wont join the large button god with their next edition . Nah I treat this crap like bad weather, just get used to it.

[Forge]

like i said, i haven't messed with linux in a few years, but can't you customize the theme or just install a new one?

http://gnome-look.org/

or try this tweaking tool:

https://live.gnome.org/GnomeTweakTool

[Hank]

Forge, on 26 January 2013 - 09:18 AM, said:

like i said, i haven't messed with linux in a few years, but can't you customize the theme or just install a new one?

http://gnome-look.org/

or try this tweaking tool:

https://live.gnome.org/GnomeTweakTool

From now on I will stop posting here! Damn I feel stupid.
All I needed to do is go to Appearance/Behavior and click on the "OFF" - this then will act like a slide out for this bar.

[Radar]

en.akinator.com

A cool game that guesses what famous character you are thinking of, real or made-up. For me it successfully guessed Duke Nukem, John Lennon, Red Bird, Jimmy Page, Hawk Eye, Gandalf, and my cousin. I know I tried more, but I can't remember them all. All I know is it was pretty darn accurate and everyone reading this should give it a shot.

[Alan]

Site's still going. Cool. Too bad I failed it.

[Inspector Lagomorf]

Radar, on 26 January 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

en.akinator.com

A cool game that guesses what famous character you are thinking of, real or made-up. For me it successfully guessed Duke Nukem, John Lennon, Red Bird, Jimmy Page, Hawk Eye, Gandalf, and my cousin. I know I tried more, but I can't remember them all. All I know is it was pretty darn accurate and everyone reading this should give it a shot.

I remember this from a while ago. It even guessed "the voices in my head", Linkara, and Red from Red Dead Revolver. Oh, and Akinator's wife.

[Jimmy]

Alan, on 28 January 2013 - 12:53 PM, said:

Site's still going. Cool. Too bad I failed it.

Poast moar.

[Inspector Lagomorf]

Captain Awesome, on 28 January 2013 - 03:43 PM, said:

Poast moar.

[Alan]

I fully intend on it.

[Sangman]

It's been too long, Blaster!

[Alan]

*shudder* I felt a chill just now. That name haunts me so. Thanks Sang.

[Master Fibbles]

I just went to look into buying the new Office suite since I'm behind a few versions (I'm running '07 and they are now on '13) and I'm looking to inject money into the economy from my tax refund. Microsoft simplified the choices for Windows but they over complicated the options for Office. I use Access (and many students use Access) and I have used Publisher (like many students) but to get those I'd either have to pay $80 for a 4 year "subscription" or $400 for the right to use it indefinitely.

Grant it, they are probably going to have a new version in 4 years anyway and unless I fail my MA comps and completely botch my thesis, I should be continuing in school for the foreseeable future (and will remain eligible for the cheap "subscription"...but I'm not a fan of renting my software. The 2 PCs/devices is a nice plus for this "Office 365 University" but I'm not sure I want to say "Sure, I'll give you $80 now so you can ask for another $80 in 4 years." I get that the plan is for (business) students who will need to write papers over the 4 years they are in college but won't need to buy their own copy of Office when they get a job - or, if they do, they will be able to afford the $400 version that has the applications they used for cheap those 4 years of college.

This is highly annoying. I fully intend to buy a Surface Pro when I get my refund since it comes out to about what I'm getting from the government but I'm not sure I'm going to upgrade Office if this is how they want to play ball. Of course, I could also just use the money to buy a DSLR and lenses or save it for rent and other bills...

[Kathy]

Do you really need Access for your personal use?

[Master Fibbles]

Yes. I have been using databases for, among other things: contacts, bibliographies/research books, and food recipes. Since I have learned how to actually use databases, I have been using them to organize information in a much better way than Excel organizes information.

However, since I am using Office 2007, I can't see any benefit to upgrading to 2013 or even 2010. The file formats are the same and there are very little differences in the programs overall. I see no reason to actually upgrade my Office software so I'll just ignore the whole thing for now. If Microsoft were to come out with a new version of Office that greatly improves anything about the current version, I'll look back into upgrading.

[AgentScotty]

Excel 2007 was like the Vista of Office for me: I couldn't just mouse over a data point on a chart anymore (I had to click somewhere on the chart first) and charts took fucking forever to load. I went back to Office 2003. Office 2010 fixed both issues, but didn't see the point in paying for Office again.

Similarly, Vista had piss-poor performance (I had to triple my RAM to run it), and broke simple-ass shit like being able to drag onto a command prompt (useful for doing file compares or other file operations, especially for anal-retentives like me with lots of directories), which was fixed in Windows 7.

Did Microsoft have their heads up their asses in the mid-2000s?

[Kathy]

Mr.Flibble, on 01 February 2013 - 06:04 PM, said:

Yes. I have been using databases for, among other things: contacts, bibliographies/research books, and food recipes. Since I have learned how to actually use databases, I have been using them to organize information in a much better way than Excel organizes information.

Can't you use freeware for things like that? 400$ is way too much for a personal databases.

[Master Fibbles]

I'm not upgrading. I got Office 2007 through the Ultimate Steal a few years back for a nice price. They have since basically dropped the Ultimate Steal deal and replaced it with this Office 365 subscription model. Although $79 for 4 years) sounds like a great deal on paper, I'm a fan of actually owning my software...

[Micky C]

70 posts from now I'll have 100% ego, muahaha. Wow, I need a better social life.

[Kathy]

Duke4.net is a better social life.

[Forge]

Mr.Flibble, on 01 February 2013 - 07:14 PM, said:

I'm not upgrading. I got Office 2007...

i wouldn't either.

i used this when i had linux and it did everything i needed it to do at the time

course now they make a windows installer:

http://www.openoffice.org/


there's a windows installer for gimp too if you need an image editing program as well

http://www.gimp.org/

[Hank]

Forge, on 02 February 2013 - 05:12 AM, said:

course now they make a windows installer:

http://www.openoffice.org/

Did Apache fix the spelling of Open Office?
I switched to Libre when Oracle took over; and have no reason to switch back.
http://www.libreoffice.org/
almost the same set of programs, gui and looks are different.

[Master Fibbles]

Forge, on 02 February 2013 - 05:12 AM, said:

i wouldn't either.

i used this when i had linux and it did everything i needed it to do at the time

course now they make a windows installer:

http://www.openoffice.org/


there's a windows installer for gimp too if you need an image editing program as well

http://www.gimp.org/

I have used both of those. Since then I have had money and/or access to closed source (Office, Photoshop). There have been Windows versions of those for a long time...a really long time.

[Lunick]

Halo 3 randomly popped up in the Steam registry today http://cdr.xpaw.ru/app/216800/ as well as Halo 1 & 2. I wonder what makes them want to port 3 to PC for some reason?

[Kathy]

If it's cheap enough to port and won't affect console sales, then why not? It's good that more games become multiplatform.

[Fox]

BALLS OF STELL!!!!!

[Jeff]

So it seems the Canadian penny is no more.

[Hank]

Fox, on 04 February 2013 - 11:51 AM, said:

BALLS OF STELL!!!!!

It's sad. She had no friends.

Jeff, on 04 February 2013 - 04:41 PM, said:

So it seems the Canadian penny is no more.

Yes. Still, my girl kept some, for our great grand kids to ponder I guess.

[Master Fibbles]

Jeff, on 04 February 2013 - 04:41 PM, said:

So it seems the Canadian penny is no more.

I might have one around here. I end up with random Canadian coins because people use them and clerks miss them. I also pick up change off the ground...

[AgentScotty]

I've got CA$8.23 of change in my desk drawer, maybe a buck or two of it is pennies.

I've also got a few mil of Spanish pesetas that were worth $15 or so back in the day. I can remember when $1 = 185 pesetas in the mid-80s, which was almost like getting $1.85 in terms of local buying power. Lots of gin, rum, and beer were bought by us teenage Navy brats back in the day.