WaitState http://cascadehush.wordpress.com Will technology ever catch up? Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:35:09 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ en hourly 1 http://www.gravatar.com/blavatar/8ee628e49edbd262de0ed1b13a9e936b?s=96&d=http://s.wordpress.com/i/buttonw-com.png WaitState http://cascadehush.wordpress.com Rant: Mourning the release of Vista… http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/02/01/rant-mourning-the-release-of-vista/ http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/02/01/rant-mourning-the-release-of-vista/#comments Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:33:59 +0000 cascadehush http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/02/01/rant-mourning-the-release-of-vista/ ]]>

It’s probably obvious, but I’ve taken a week off from the blog.  (Apart from a few linkdumps, which don’t count, because who really reads them anyway.)

Vista is released today, that is the big story. I don’t like it, but it’s happening anyway. I could rant and rave but that’s not going to change anything. Many people will buy it, many more will get stuck with it and a significant number will continue with XP for many years to come. That’s my plan.

And if the OS after Vista isn’t something totally new, re-engineered from the ground up, without all the silly DOS throwbacks and over-the-top self conscious showboating (designed to mask the silly DOS throwbacks) then I’ll be switching completely to OSX and or Linux for my sundry boxxens.

Hey, maybe in 5 years Linux will actually be good.

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» 10 expert tips and tweaks for Windows Vista RC2 | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com:

Tweak #1: Add an elevated Command Prompt Windows power users know that a command prompt (Cmd.exe) is the fastest way to many tasks–much faster than digging through menus and tabbed dialog boxes. In Windows Vista, this is more true than ever, thanks to User Account Control.

Doesn’t it speak volumes when the first Vista tip on a major news site is to make it easier to revert to the command prompt? Doesn’t it demonstrate that for all Vista’s supposed prettiness that there are still fundamental usability problems in Windows?

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]]> http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/links-for-2007-01-24/feed/ 0 cascadehush Attack Of The Tech-Savvy Toddlers – News by InformationWeek http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/attack-of-the-tech-savvy-toddlers-news-by-informationweek/ http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/attack-of-the-tech-savvy-toddlers-news-by-informationweek/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:00:00 +0000 cascadehush http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/attack-of-the-tech-savvy-toddlers-news-by-informationweek/ ]]>

Attack Of The Tech-Savvy Toddlers – News by InformationWeek:

The NPD Group announced results from a survey of American parents with children ages 2 to 14 in its report, Kids & Digital Content. The report said children are becoming more tech-savvy, with children as young as 2 years old downloading content to cell phones, computers, and portable digital music players.

Did you notice who was surveyed? The Kids? No, the parents.

I never cease to be amazed just how often technologically illiterate parents overestimate their children’s tech-savvyness. Usually it doesn’t take much for a child to be a step ahead of their parents. When they are, the parents often assume the child knows much more about the device than they actually do.


How is it possible for a 2 year old to download something on a cellphone when they would not be able to read the menus or know what number to dial. And even if there is some shortcut button that then can push to get a new wallpaper or ringtone, it doesn’t prove that the child has any cognition about how that new data gets transferred down to the phone from a server, and that it costs money to do so.

Yes there are some clever kids around. Yes children have grown up with technology and are much more comfortable with it than previous generations. But be careful about exaggerating their actual skills, or presuming that what they do know about one gadget will automatically transfer to other piece of technology.

It is a fact of life that children are more inquisitive and exploratory and less concerned with the consequences of their actions. Adults tend to be the other way round. Sometimes that makes it hard for adults to come to terms with technology and change, whilst it is easier for children or adolescents.

And for all we know the generation of children after this one may eschew technology altogether and be more interested in nature and exercise. Someone will do a study about how ‘children as young as 3 not obese, some even ask their parents to switch of the TV’

More likely is that technology will become more transparent such that it is less a matter of skill, and more of creativity and judgement, as the devices adapt to us, rather than the other way round.

]]> http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/attack-of-the-tech-savvy-toddlers-news-by-informationweek/feed/ 0 cascadehush Compare Linux distros side by side – Lifehacker http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/compare-linux-distros-side-by-side-lifehacker/ http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/compare-linux-distros-side-by-side-lifehacker/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 11:00:00 +0000 cascadehush http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/?p=214 ]]>

Compare Linux distros side by side – Lifehacker:

Pro-Linux site polishlinux.org has a new tool that lets you compare Linux distributions side by side.

Too little, too late for me. In the past I have spent many hours searching the web in search of distros, and many more hours struggling with various flavors of Linux.

In the end I run XP on my PC boxes, because for me the windows license is a reasonable price to pay for a system that I can setup quickly with known results. I know XP will work with my hardware. I know it will not crash. I know my software will work, and almost all the best open source software has Windows binaries available.

For those occasions when I get a hankering for something like Unix, I have OSX.

You can access the site directly: polishlinux.org » Compare distros

]]> http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/compare-linux-distros-side-by-side-lifehacker/feed/ 0 cascadehush OSX: Melman Quicksilver User’s Guide http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/osx-melman-quicksilver-users-guide/ http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/osx-melman-quicksilver-users-guide/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 05:00:00 +0000 cascadehush http://cascadehush.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/osx-melman-quicksilver-users-guide/ ]]>

Melman Quicksilver User’s Guide – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):

The great thing about Quicksilver is how much functionality it puts at your finger tips. Of course the main problem with Quicksilver is how much functionality it puts at your finger tips!

I must say I still only use it as a launcher. Maybe one day I’ll read Melman’s guide.

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