ACDSee 8 is my image viewer and editor. One reason I don't usually recommend ACDSee to others is that it has a favorite phrase that it likes to repeat, "ACDSee has encountered a system error and must now close." There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to it. In my opinion, such an error message is indicative of poor programming practices. At the very least, the message should be informative, so that the user can take steps to correct the supposed "system error." Better would be if ACDSee handled the error in a graceful manner, without exiting. Who knows why ACDSee crashes? It crashes just because.
The new version of ACDSee costs $50 to upgrade, which leads one to expect that significant new features have been added. I did try out ACDSee 11 a long time ago, but found it did not have any new features that were of interest to me. Instead of adding features, it seems the developers chose to reconfigure the design and interface, meaning that the user would have to learn a new bag of tricks without gaining any advantages as a result.
However, when all is said and done, I have to concede that there is not a better image manager for the PC than ACDSee. It's quicker to load than Adobe Photoshop and cheaper. I've tried FastStone, Irfanview, and several other shareware solutions, but they all fall short of ACDSee. The developers of these shareware products should merge instead of competing with one another. Teams of programmers can accomplish more than just one individual working alone. As the situation now stands, each programmer is spending his entire career reinventing the wheel, attempting to copy features that ACDSee introduced over six years ago.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Trusting China with Capital Investments
One day, the captains of industry may regret exporting middle-class careers over to China. However expensive his labor may seem, a U.S. citizen best serves the interests of his country, because his destiny is intertwined with it. Dismantling the middle class, underfunding education, and letting the infrastructure rot will have consequences not only for workers, but also for the owners, who have the most to lose. Do the owners intend to relocate to China to oversee their investments, and are the tyrants of that nation amenable to sharing power, as Saruman expected of Sauron?
Lack of Choice in Webcams
Firewire's been available for ages, yet most webcams use the USB 2.0 interface. Firewire's faster, which should result in smoother, higher resolution video. I shopped around the web for two hours before concluding that it will not be possible to purchase a decent PC-compatible webcam with a firewire interface for less than $200. (Unibrain's product is out of stock on NewEgg at the moment.)
To see an explanation of what I am talking about, visit this site, which explains the speed advantage that firewire enjoys over the USB 2.0 interface. A PCI card with a firewire interface can be purchased for < $10 for computers that don't have one.
To see an explanation of what I am talking about, visit this site, which explains the speed advantage that firewire enjoys over the USB 2.0 interface. A PCI card with a firewire interface can be purchased for < $10 for computers that don't have one.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
A Reason to Smile
Uncertainty is the chief enemy residing within the self. When I pause to consider the power that is unleashed when I really set my mind to a task, it makes me smile. I was fortunate in my birth and education. My aims are modest and flexible, well below my capabilities, and it does not seem at all possible I should not obtain them in due course. The many who like me will be pleased to see me prosper, and the few that don't will be surprised. I don't know which prospect brings me more pleasure in the anticipation.
Friday, June 17, 2011
My $180 Consultation with the Lawyer
I went to see a lawyer today regarding the immigration status of my partner. It was a fact that I knew more about my situation than the lawyer did, because I had spent many hours preparing and researching the available online sources, although she had not. She was surprised that my knowledge exceeded her own, but nevertheless charged $180 for a thirty-minute consultation and, upon learning that I was a computer programmer, asked me to help her fix her computer for free. I stared at her without saying anything, thinking, is my knowledge worthless, and yours worth $180 for less than an hour spent telling me less than what I already know?
The high status of lawyers in our society is a symptom of our society's decline. Lawyers do not create anything. The outcome of legal cases hinges not upon Truth but upon points of law, and bad laws are defended with just the same vigor as good ones. It is often the case that the client with the deepest pockets wins. These are some of the reasons I did not choose to become a lawyer. Several of my friends from school, the best and the brightest, became lawyers instead of scientists, inventors, or engineers. Who can blame them? Their decision was in their obvious self-interest. Is it proper to advise a young person to consider a creative or productive occupation when they can become lawyers instead and never have to worry about updating their skills or learning new ones?
For my part, I have had to learn a new computer technology every two to three years, at a minimum, and even so, many jobs are not available to me. I have experience in technologies that have fallen out of favor. It was a mistake entering the field of computer technology in the first place, when law and medicine pay huge salaries. Despite what some claim, law does not change very much year to year, and neither does our knowledge concerning the human body, but computer languages rise and fall like the tide. I've learned a dozen different languages in my career, many of them worthless now.
Ill-considered laws are a burden upon the people. I feel that there are too many laws, and many of them are intrusive and unnecessary and not founded upon good reasoning. I cannot afford much in the way of lawyers. Over three hundred years ago, my ancestors came to America as immigrants in search of freedom, but America has changed and is no longer hospitable to immigrants for a variety of reasons, chief among them the high rate of unemployment combined with the influx of undocumented workers from countries south of our border. I foresee myself having to leave America in search of the freedom to live with my partner without persecution from the government. I hope to postpone the severance as long as can be, but I see few other options available to me.
I was glad that I did not offer any help to the lawyer with her technical problem. It is contrary to my nature not to offer to help, but I would have regretted it for however long it took me to forget the ill-considered generosity. One thing I have learned in this life is that helping good people is good, but helping bloodsucking parasites is evil, because they will take what is offered and think one a fool for having offered a service without compensation, which they never do.
The high status of lawyers in our society is a symptom of our society's decline. Lawyers do not create anything. The outcome of legal cases hinges not upon Truth but upon points of law, and bad laws are defended with just the same vigor as good ones. It is often the case that the client with the deepest pockets wins. These are some of the reasons I did not choose to become a lawyer. Several of my friends from school, the best and the brightest, became lawyers instead of scientists, inventors, or engineers. Who can blame them? Their decision was in their obvious self-interest. Is it proper to advise a young person to consider a creative or productive occupation when they can become lawyers instead and never have to worry about updating their skills or learning new ones?
For my part, I have had to learn a new computer technology every two to three years, at a minimum, and even so, many jobs are not available to me. I have experience in technologies that have fallen out of favor. It was a mistake entering the field of computer technology in the first place, when law and medicine pay huge salaries. Despite what some claim, law does not change very much year to year, and neither does our knowledge concerning the human body, but computer languages rise and fall like the tide. I've learned a dozen different languages in my career, many of them worthless now.
Ill-considered laws are a burden upon the people. I feel that there are too many laws, and many of them are intrusive and unnecessary and not founded upon good reasoning. I cannot afford much in the way of lawyers. Over three hundred years ago, my ancestors came to America as immigrants in search of freedom, but America has changed and is no longer hospitable to immigrants for a variety of reasons, chief among them the high rate of unemployment combined with the influx of undocumented workers from countries south of our border. I foresee myself having to leave America in search of the freedom to live with my partner without persecution from the government. I hope to postpone the severance as long as can be, but I see few other options available to me.
I was glad that I did not offer any help to the lawyer with her technical problem. It is contrary to my nature not to offer to help, but I would have regretted it for however long it took me to forget the ill-considered generosity. One thing I have learned in this life is that helping good people is good, but helping bloodsucking parasites is evil, because they will take what is offered and think one a fool for having offered a service without compensation, which they never do.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
$20 Billion
I read on Al Jazeera that U.S. aid to Pakistan has been > $20 billion since 2001. That's quite a bundle to pay for an unreliable ally. Although many terrorists have been killed, they are like financial-suicide bombers. If each extermination costs a million dollars, who is winning, who is losing? I wonder how many jobless Americans would prefer that $20 billion had been used on job creation here in the U.S.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Ogre
In my dream last night, I was hiding under a tower, and above me, an ogre bearing a striking resemblance to the ogre in Dungeon Crawl patrolled the walkways around the tower. He saw me, bellowed, and began shimmying down poles from one walkway to the other to get at me. I realized that soon he would be at the ground level, so I tried to hide behind columns and partitions of wall, but he had a steady eye and ear trained upon me and followed.
My internal director called "Cut!" to the action before he reached the ground. Upon waking up, I reflected that none of my Spriggans have had any difficulty dispatching ogres. Ogres may be strong, but they are too slow, and Spriggan assassins stay one step ahead, blowing poisoned needles from their blowgun.
I need to assert control over my dreams and have more pleasant ones. So far, my best method of control has been an internal watchdog that wakes me up when the Muse turns sour.
My internal director called "Cut!" to the action before he reached the ground. Upon waking up, I reflected that none of my Spriggans have had any difficulty dispatching ogres. Ogres may be strong, but they are too slow, and Spriggan assassins stay one step ahead, blowing poisoned needles from their blowgun.
I need to assert control over my dreams and have more pleasant ones. So far, my best method of control has been an internal watchdog that wakes me up when the Muse turns sour.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A Hard-Fought Victory in 15 min.
I dropped two pawns in this game due to my own carelessness, but managed to muster an attack in the middle game that led to checkmate. I'm proud of the latter portion of this game. Other than the first ten moves, I think I played well, planning far in advance for an attack on my opponent's King side using my Queen's rook.
Perhaps I stumbled upon a gambit of my own making. I harvested some tempos from my sacrificed pawns. I've noticed that dropping a pawn or two in the opening tempts one's opponent to be lazy and look for nothing other than opportunities to trade down. By the time I checkmated Mr. 1895, he had a whopping 9:23 (out of 15:00) remaining on his clock, while I had only 2:59 on mine. That smacks of lazybones. Perhaps he was contemptuous of me because of my lower rating and opening blunders.
[White Anonymous]
[Black me]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1895"]
[BlackElo "1797"]
[ECO "A45"]
[Time "11:19:18"]
[TimeControl "900"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Nf3 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. a3 e5 6. Bb5 Bxc5 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Nxe5 O-O 9. Nxc6 Qc7 10. Nd4 Ba6 11. Nc3 Rfe8 12. Nce2 Rab8 13. c3 Ng4 14. h3 Ne5 15. O-O Rb6 16. b4 Be7 17. Nf4 Rd8 18. Bb2 Bxf1 19. Qxf1 Nc4 20. Qe2 Bg5 21. Nd3 Rg6 22. Kh1 Qc8 23. Rg1 Rh6 24. f4 Bf6 25. Bc1 Bxd4 26. cxd4 Qf5 27. Ne5 Qe4 28. Qd3 Rxh3# 0-1
It is always good to develop mating threats, whether or not they are serious, because in time-controlled games a player is apt to overlook them. My opponent should have played 28. Qf3, forcing a trade of Queens. My attack fizzles after that. We were even in material. He had the better pawn structure and an excellent knight, while I had active rooks. Whether I could have won the end game is doubtful, given his tremendous time advantage. I gambled with Qe4, and my gamble paid off this time. Was Qe4 the best possible move for me? Probably not. Nevertheless, it won the game.
The trouble with long games--considered to be as little as 15 min. per side--is that some players do in fact cheat. It's too easy using a computer program in another window. It seems pathetic, and I disapprove of the practice. A few players in the online chess community are suspicious of inconsistent players like me. More than one has accused me of cheating, and I've had a regular spectator who is rated 2200+ and never makes any comments. It makes me wonder whether I'm being investigated. I've never cheated, and I don't even have a chess program installed on my computer. I've never even looked up an opening on the Internet to find good moves during a game--that, too, is cheating. It is my policy to only use my brain. The purpose of chess is to exercise the mental faculties.
I can certainly understand those who think I am cheating. Sometimes I play like I'm 1650, and other times, 1950. It just depends on the cycle of the Moon. I play better sober, obviously, but also, any disturbance reduces my quality of play. Lack of sleep, unwelcome news, insufficient exercise, inadequate diet, lethargy, depression--these things have an impact on my concentration. Chess is an intense and demanding intellectual sport. All the cylinders have to be firing at the right time. A misfire here or there loses a pawn, a piece, or the game.
I do consult sites on the Internet in order to research chess openings. But I don't use a chess program at all and feel myself to be in the minority in that respect. I'm old-fashioned. My way is to set up my chess board on the kitchen counter and analyze openings myself. From long experience, I've gotten good at that, and it is how I have refined my responses to certain opening lines. Although a chess program offers many advantages, I feel it is the lazy man's way, and I prefer to do things the hard way. After all, the chess program will not be there to help during an actual game, so one should not get used to relying upon it. Besides, it is quite pleasant to get away from the computer and operate in three dimensions for a change.
Perhaps I stumbled upon a gambit of my own making. I harvested some tempos from my sacrificed pawns. I've noticed that dropping a pawn or two in the opening tempts one's opponent to be lazy and look for nothing other than opportunities to trade down. By the time I checkmated Mr. 1895, he had a whopping 9:23 (out of 15:00) remaining on his clock, while I had only 2:59 on mine. That smacks of lazybones. Perhaps he was contemptuous of me because of my lower rating and opening blunders.
[White Anonymous]
[Black me]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1895"]
[BlackElo "1797"]
[ECO "A45"]
[Time "11:19:18"]
[TimeControl "900"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Nf3 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. a3 e5 6. Bb5 Bxc5 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Nxe5 O-O 9. Nxc6 Qc7 10. Nd4 Ba6 11. Nc3 Rfe8 12. Nce2 Rab8 13. c3 Ng4 14. h3 Ne5 15. O-O Rb6 16. b4 Be7 17. Nf4 Rd8 18. Bb2 Bxf1 19. Qxf1 Nc4 20. Qe2 Bg5 21. Nd3 Rg6 22. Kh1 Qc8 23. Rg1 Rh6 24. f4 Bf6 25. Bc1 Bxd4 26. cxd4 Qf5 27. Ne5 Qe4 28. Qd3 Rxh3# 0-1
It is always good to develop mating threats, whether or not they are serious, because in time-controlled games a player is apt to overlook them. My opponent should have played 28. Qf3, forcing a trade of Queens. My attack fizzles after that. We were even in material. He had the better pawn structure and an excellent knight, while I had active rooks. Whether I could have won the end game is doubtful, given his tremendous time advantage. I gambled with Qe4, and my gamble paid off this time. Was Qe4 the best possible move for me? Probably not. Nevertheless, it won the game.
The trouble with long games--considered to be as little as 15 min. per side--is that some players do in fact cheat. It's too easy using a computer program in another window. It seems pathetic, and I disapprove of the practice. A few players in the online chess community are suspicious of inconsistent players like me. More than one has accused me of cheating, and I've had a regular spectator who is rated 2200+ and never makes any comments. It makes me wonder whether I'm being investigated. I've never cheated, and I don't even have a chess program installed on my computer. I've never even looked up an opening on the Internet to find good moves during a game--that, too, is cheating. It is my policy to only use my brain. The purpose of chess is to exercise the mental faculties.
I can certainly understand those who think I am cheating. Sometimes I play like I'm 1650, and other times, 1950. It just depends on the cycle of the Moon. I play better sober, obviously, but also, any disturbance reduces my quality of play. Lack of sleep, unwelcome news, insufficient exercise, inadequate diet, lethargy, depression--these things have an impact on my concentration. Chess is an intense and demanding intellectual sport. All the cylinders have to be firing at the right time. A misfire here or there loses a pawn, a piece, or the game.
I do consult sites on the Internet in order to research chess openings. But I don't use a chess program at all and feel myself to be in the minority in that respect. I'm old-fashioned. My way is to set up my chess board on the kitchen counter and analyze openings myself. From long experience, I've gotten good at that, and it is how I have refined my responses to certain opening lines. Although a chess program offers many advantages, I feel it is the lazy man's way, and I prefer to do things the hard way. After all, the chess program will not be there to help during an actual game, so one should not get used to relying upon it. Besides, it is quite pleasant to get away from the computer and operate in three dimensions for a change.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Somebody Played Drunk
On my favorite online chess site, I played a high-ranked player who seemed impaired, judging by his choice of moves. If a player take too much time, then the inebriant may be weed, which impairs the brain's tracking of time. If a player makes lousy moves, then alcohol may be the culprit. I suspect alcohol was the culprit with this 1900-ranked player.
[White Anonymous]
[Black me]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B02"]
[TimeControl "120+12"]
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nf3 Nxe4 3. Bc4 d5 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Nxd7 6. d3 Nef6 7. O-O e6 8. Re1 Bd6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 c5 12. Nb5 Bb8 13. d4 a6 14. Nc3 cxd4 15. Qxd4 Ba7 16. Qd2 Qb6 17. Rab1 Rac8 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Rxe5 Ng4 20. Re2 Qd6 21. h3 Qh2+ 0-1
Notice how he drops a pawn on the second move, having zero compensation for it. That told me right away I might be dealing with an intoxicated person. I don't mind. I've been on a losing streak, and games like this bolster my dented ego. I've been known to play impaired on occasion myself, although I'm on a sobriety kick now.
[White Anonymous]
[Black me]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B02"]
[TimeControl "120+12"]
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nf3 Nxe4 3. Bc4 d5 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Nxd7 6. d3 Nef6 7. O-O e6 8. Re1 Bd6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 c5 12. Nb5 Bb8 13. d4 a6 14. Nc3 cxd4 15. Qxd4 Ba7 16. Qd2 Qb6 17. Rab1 Rac8 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Rxe5 Ng4 20. Re2 Qd6 21. h3 Qh2+ 0-1
Notice how he drops a pawn on the second move, having zero compensation for it. That told me right away I might be dealing with an intoxicated person. I don't mind. I've been on a losing streak, and games like this bolster my dented ego. I've been known to play impaired on occasion myself, although I'm on a sobriety kick now.
Comodo Firewall
I tried the "Comodo" Firewall, but quickly uninstalled it, because it raised an alert every time that I changed and ran a batch file. I do so on a regular basis and cannot permit my firewall to pester me about it. Comodo is intended for users that write and execute no code of their own, which I suppose is the vast majority. But it's not for me. My choice will have to remain ZoneAlarm, an old favorite, although its pop-up windows can be annoying at times.
I also found Comodo's menu unnecessarily complicated and cluttered. It was obviously designed by a programmer, not a designer. ZoneAlarm, on the other hand, was designed by a designer. The most important options are right there for the user to select, and the trivial options are neatly hidden away, although accessible when needed.
Update: I tried downloading Free ZoneAlarm, but their web site reported an error message. I was not permitted to download it, because I already had Avast anti-virus installed. Apparently ZoneAlarm competes with Avast. This may explain why my ZoneAlarm and Avast-running OS crashed a week ago--they don't play well together. I like Avast best of all, so ZoneAlarm's out. Next!
I'm evaluating PC Tools's Firewall now. It gets good reviews, but best of all plays nice with Avast.
I also found Comodo's menu unnecessarily complicated and cluttered. It was obviously designed by a programmer, not a designer. ZoneAlarm, on the other hand, was designed by a designer. The most important options are right there for the user to select, and the trivial options are neatly hidden away, although accessible when needed.
Update: I tried downloading Free ZoneAlarm, but their web site reported an error message. I was not permitted to download it, because I already had Avast anti-virus installed. Apparently ZoneAlarm competes with Avast. This may explain why my ZoneAlarm and Avast-running OS crashed a week ago--they don't play well together. I like Avast best of all, so ZoneAlarm's out. Next!
I'm evaluating PC Tools's Firewall now. It gets good reviews, but best of all plays nice with Avast.
Friday, June 10, 2011
On My Avoidance of Images
I'm aware that other blogs make liberal use of clip art, but I avoid that here, because it is ubiquitous and smacks of plagiarism, unless one uses one's own images, and I'm neither artist nor photographer. A better way to distinguish my blog might be to concentrate upon the text and the design. I may be right, I may be wrong, but that's my preference. I think there is still a place for the written word and that it has charms of its own.
As a webmaster of a different site than this one, I have detected many people using images found on my site, even using our server's copy of the images--in fact, that is why I am able to detect their use. It doesn't bother me, as it would an artist, because most of the images used on that web site are unoriginal and represent little investment in time on my part. However, I have many observations about this indiscriminate use of clip art.
Many times, other people's frequent dropping of images seems tacky. The owners don't realize that. It makes me wonder whether I should go about deleting images from my web site, because maybe the images make my web site tacky, too, and I'm just too close to my baby to perceive its ugliness. I seldom receive any constructive criticism or feedback about anything, so I don't really know for sure what looks good or bad. I only have my own preferences, which may be out of tune with the zeitgeist. Oh well. Such is the fate of many a small web site.
Also, I don't really appreciate people leeching bandwidth from my web site by coding a direct link, called a hotlink, to images on my site's server. My site receives no visitors that way, but is compelled to transmit data for the sake of another site. For fun, I like to replace images with banner ads for my web site. Some of these banner ads can be a bit risque, but too bad for the losers. That's the chance one takes by hotlinking. I have had many a belly-laugh from visiting other people's sites and seeing my banner ads. Months and even years go by without the owners detecting anything amiss. Thanks for donating space on your site to my viral advertising campaign, losers.
One of my acquaintances is an artist, and he gets far more irritated than me by image theft, because he perceives it as a threat to his livelihood. In fact, he's become something of an anti-pirate. I think his fears are overblown. For my part, I'd not want anything from his portfolio, even if he were to give his work away for free. It is often thus with people that worry over piracy. They have an exaggerated sense of their product's worth. At any rate, if he is so worried, it is a simple matter to protect artwork on the Internet. Offer a small version, rather than a large. Seems pretty obvious. Instead, he's fooling around with watermarks and javascripts, both of which can be circumvented. But he has not paid me for my technical advice, and giving it to him for free would be another form of piracy, wouldn't it. On the other hand, if he wants to pay my consultation fee of $49.99, then I might clue him in. He's called me up before asking me to fix his computer in exchange for artwork. Don't want it. Prefer the little strips of green paper instead.
Unlike my artist acquaintance, I don't worry overmuch about piracy, because I've never had any inkling that any of my stuff would be considered valuable by anyone else. No one has ever hired me on as a writer or given any sort of monetary encouragement to pursue my creative labors, so I feel perfectly safe in posting all of my creative work on the Internet, just as I feel safe in leaving the doors unlocked on my $1500 car. If someone wants to steal my thoughts, well, good luck with 'em, but you may be in for a bit more than you bargained for! Everything I do is protected using Igor's patented "Liberal Ideology" technology. I sprinkle my left-wing opinions into everything I offer online, so that if people copy my stuff, they are helping spread my memes in viral fashion. I'd much prefer they link back to me and give me credit for my work and am annoyed when they don't, but if my ideas spread, then that's really what matters, isn't it, especially after I'm dead and gone. It's a half-assed form of immortality. Perhaps in the future there will be more people sharing similar thoughts and feelings as me, and that's all to the good, I think.
As a webmaster of a different site than this one, I have detected many people using images found on my site, even using our server's copy of the images--in fact, that is why I am able to detect their use. It doesn't bother me, as it would an artist, because most of the images used on that web site are unoriginal and represent little investment in time on my part. However, I have many observations about this indiscriminate use of clip art.
Many times, other people's frequent dropping of images seems tacky. The owners don't realize that. It makes me wonder whether I should go about deleting images from my web site, because maybe the images make my web site tacky, too, and I'm just too close to my baby to perceive its ugliness. I seldom receive any constructive criticism or feedback about anything, so I don't really know for sure what looks good or bad. I only have my own preferences, which may be out of tune with the zeitgeist. Oh well. Such is the fate of many a small web site.
Also, I don't really appreciate people leeching bandwidth from my web site by coding a direct link, called a hotlink, to images on my site's server. My site receives no visitors that way, but is compelled to transmit data for the sake of another site. For fun, I like to replace images with banner ads for my web site. Some of these banner ads can be a bit risque, but too bad for the losers. That's the chance one takes by hotlinking. I have had many a belly-laugh from visiting other people's sites and seeing my banner ads. Months and even years go by without the owners detecting anything amiss. Thanks for donating space on your site to my viral advertising campaign, losers.
One of my acquaintances is an artist, and he gets far more irritated than me by image theft, because he perceives it as a threat to his livelihood. In fact, he's become something of an anti-pirate. I think his fears are overblown. For my part, I'd not want anything from his portfolio, even if he were to give his work away for free. It is often thus with people that worry over piracy. They have an exaggerated sense of their product's worth. At any rate, if he is so worried, it is a simple matter to protect artwork on the Internet. Offer a small version, rather than a large. Seems pretty obvious. Instead, he's fooling around with watermarks and javascripts, both of which can be circumvented. But he has not paid me for my technical advice, and giving it to him for free would be another form of piracy, wouldn't it. On the other hand, if he wants to pay my consultation fee of $49.99, then I might clue him in. He's called me up before asking me to fix his computer in exchange for artwork. Don't want it. Prefer the little strips of green paper instead.
Unlike my artist acquaintance, I don't worry overmuch about piracy, because I've never had any inkling that any of my stuff would be considered valuable by anyone else. No one has ever hired me on as a writer or given any sort of monetary encouragement to pursue my creative labors, so I feel perfectly safe in posting all of my creative work on the Internet, just as I feel safe in leaving the doors unlocked on my $1500 car. If someone wants to steal my thoughts, well, good luck with 'em, but you may be in for a bit more than you bargained for! Everything I do is protected using Igor's patented "Liberal Ideology" technology. I sprinkle my left-wing opinions into everything I offer online, so that if people copy my stuff, they are helping spread my memes in viral fashion. I'd much prefer they link back to me and give me credit for my work and am annoyed when they don't, but if my ideas spread, then that's really what matters, isn't it, especially after I'm dead and gone. It's a half-assed form of immortality. Perhaps in the future there will be more people sharing similar thoughts and feelings as me, and that's all to the good, I think.
On and Off in Chess
In chess, I'm on some days, off others. Besides general knowledge of the game, playing well requires lightning-fast processing of tactical calculations, because the better players are all very fast themselves at finding good moves. The standard of play in the modern chess world is much higher than it was a hundred years ago. (Although I wasn't alive then, I have studied games that date back over a hundred years.) Also, most games have tight limitations on time, and there is never enough time for a slow poke. On some days, I'm just too slow, and all my knowledge and experience bears little fruit. Knowledge alone just won't cut it in chess--never has and never will.
On my good days, when my brain's really humming, I am fast enough to score upset victories against higher-ranked players, the same ones, in fact, who trounce me on my off days, but my days of glory make the inevitable slow days that much harder to bear, making me wonder if I'm losing my edge. Even in my prime, I was never able to maintain a superb acuity. That's why I never bothered chasing after the dream of so many other serious chessplayers, becoming a FIDE-recognized master. A title would give me bragging rights, and I wouldn't mind it, but I really don't think it is at all realistic, given my modest ability. Like my brother, I consider myself a chess dabbler only. One has to be born with the right DNA to become a chessmaster.
Fortunately, in online chess there is an option to play unrated games. When I sense that I am having an off day, I quit playing rated and play unrated instead. I've at least learned to manage my inconsistency in order to preserve my rating. In time, I will be able to climb back up into the 1900's, where I prefer to remain. In my heart, I know that I have not lost my edge at all--it only seems that way today. Tomorrow may be a different story. Then the other guys had better watch out!
On my good days, when my brain's really humming, I am fast enough to score upset victories against higher-ranked players, the same ones, in fact, who trounce me on my off days, but my days of glory make the inevitable slow days that much harder to bear, making me wonder if I'm losing my edge. Even in my prime, I was never able to maintain a superb acuity. That's why I never bothered chasing after the dream of so many other serious chessplayers, becoming a FIDE-recognized master. A title would give me bragging rights, and I wouldn't mind it, but I really don't think it is at all realistic, given my modest ability. Like my brother, I consider myself a chess dabbler only. One has to be born with the right DNA to become a chessmaster.
Fortunately, in online chess there is an option to play unrated games. When I sense that I am having an off day, I quit playing rated and play unrated instead. I've at least learned to manage my inconsistency in order to preserve my rating. In time, I will be able to climb back up into the 1900's, where I prefer to remain. In my heart, I know that I have not lost my edge at all--it only seems that way today. Tomorrow may be a different story. Then the other guys had better watch out!
Nightmare
I had a nightmare last night that a group of people that I didn't know and myself were rounded up by security forces, bound, placed in bare metal chairs side-by-side in a room, and tortured. Everything about the dream seemed vague. I didn't know who the others were, and didn't know who the security forces were. They must have been Iranian or belonged to some other tyranny. I don't remember what sort of torture was used. Possibly fists or whips. At any rate, my internal watchdog said, "I don't like this dream. This is unpleasant and must end now." So the dream ended and I woke up--early, as it turned out. That suited me because I've grown tired of being nocturnal and want to start waking up earlier.
I think the nightmare was a result of reading so many media stories about torture being used against protesters in Egypt, Syria, Iran, Libya, and other cesspools around the world. Before going to bed, I read an article about the torture and murder of a 15 year-old boy by Syrian security forces. Definitely not the sort of thing one should read prior to going to bed, but I suppose such articles are more interesting than the latest thing the Republicans have said.
There is something strange and scary about torture, about taking delight in another person's misery. Viewing the devices that were used in the Middle Ages, more elaborate than necessary, it is clear that human beings have a special fascination with it. One wonders how such a trait came into being and what possible purpose it serves. All civilizations have practiced torture, and only recently in human history have affluent societies abolished torture and registered their opposition to its practice, although the Bush administration did some backsliding on that issue. One can never expect Republicans to understand morality. The thinnest pretext is used to approve torture, because human beings have a powerful desire to commit such acts against their enemies.
I think the nightmare was a result of reading so many media stories about torture being used against protesters in Egypt, Syria, Iran, Libya, and other cesspools around the world. Before going to bed, I read an article about the torture and murder of a 15 year-old boy by Syrian security forces. Definitely not the sort of thing one should read prior to going to bed, but I suppose such articles are more interesting than the latest thing the Republicans have said.
There is something strange and scary about torture, about taking delight in another person's misery. Viewing the devices that were used in the Middle Ages, more elaborate than necessary, it is clear that human beings have a special fascination with it. One wonders how such a trait came into being and what possible purpose it serves. All civilizations have practiced torture, and only recently in human history have affluent societies abolished torture and registered their opposition to its practice, although the Bush administration did some backsliding on that issue. One can never expect Republicans to understand morality. The thinnest pretext is used to approve torture, because human beings have a powerful desire to commit such acts against their enemies.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Grim Economic Outlook
Our Republican-controlled state legislature keeps dropping massive turds on the working class. They're tightening the screws to torture folks that aren't rich. The business community has become mighty picky about who the hire, and why should they not be, because tons of jobs have gone overseas forever. Educational institutions extract $$$tuition$$$ out of the pockets of unemployed people to create highly educated unemployed people, which seems like a scam to me, because nobody pursues higher education merely to learn. I suppose Socrates & Co. offer the consolation of Philosophy to those who can't afford a house.
It's not nearly enough to be smart, educated, honest, hard-working and law-abiding these days. Maybe our civilization is gradually coming to an end. Maybe this blog is destined to be a letter in a bottle from a long-gone voice. Maybe so. The thought doesn't faze me. I think I've already come out better in the game of life than some. If the job market proves too tight for me, then I can think of plenty of other folks that are in for serious hardship. The boat's gonna rock, and it's gonna roll. This old turtle may sink, but I think there's plenty sinking with me, and those that stay aboard aren't safe forever, either, because the captains are quite mad.
It's not nearly enough to be smart, educated, honest, hard-working and law-abiding these days. Maybe our civilization is gradually coming to an end. Maybe this blog is destined to be a letter in a bottle from a long-gone voice. Maybe so. The thought doesn't faze me. I think I've already come out better in the game of life than some. If the job market proves too tight for me, then I can think of plenty of other folks that are in for serious hardship. The boat's gonna rock, and it's gonna roll. This old turtle may sink, but I think there's plenty sinking with me, and those that stay aboard aren't safe forever, either, because the captains are quite mad.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Chess Openings
I studied chess openings when I was a young man, but still feel ignorant about them. The trouble is that there are so many. I thought I knew them all until I browsed an online resource tonight and discovered three dozen different variations of the Sicilian. Argh! Yet the reality is that most players confine themselves to the most popular lines. I hardly ever encounter anything unusual, and that's just too bad. When someone does play something out of the ordinary, I respect that and appreciate being given the opportunity to learn.
The truth is I am a generalist. I know the first four moves of most openings, but little more than that. Despite my mediocre knowledge of chess openings, I find myself more than capable of holding my own against most players. My online rating has been hovering around 1900 of late, which I think is good enough for me. I think that if it had been in the cards for me to become a master, that would have happened already. And besides, there's no financial incentive, and getting very good simply means fewer people can enjoy a game with you.
My pet peeve with online chess has to be sore losers. Other than that, I love online chess. But every once in a while, one encounters a player who is drunk and spoiling for an argument with a stranger. My policy is to ban 'em and forget 'em. Life's too short to devote any time to buttheads.
The truth is I am a generalist. I know the first four moves of most openings, but little more than that. Despite my mediocre knowledge of chess openings, I find myself more than capable of holding my own against most players. My online rating has been hovering around 1900 of late, which I think is good enough for me. I think that if it had been in the cards for me to become a master, that would have happened already. And besides, there's no financial incentive, and getting very good simply means fewer people can enjoy a game with you.
My pet peeve with online chess has to be sore losers. Other than that, I love online chess. But every once in a while, one encounters a player who is drunk and spoiling for an argument with a stranger. My policy is to ban 'em and forget 'em. Life's too short to devote any time to buttheads.
Dropped a Piece, But Won Anyway
Playing the Gran Prix against a strong player, I goofed in the middle game and lost a piece, but found a tactical gimmick that saved the day.
[White me]
[Black Anonymous]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[Time "17:35:48"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 c5 2. f4 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Bc4 Bh4+ 5. Nxh4 Qxh4+ 6. g3 Qd8 7. d4 d5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. dxc5 a6 10. exd5 exd5 11. Ba4 Qa5+ 12. Nc3 Qxc5 13. Qe2+ Ne7 14. Be3 d4 15. Ne4 Qa5+ 16. Bd2 Qxa4 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. b3 Qa3 19. Nc4 Qc5 20. O-O-O Bf5 21. g4 Be6 22. Ne5 Qa3+ 23. Kb1 Nb4 24. Bxb4 Qxb4 25. f5 Bd5 26. Rhf1 Re8 27. f6 gxf6 28. Nd7+ Kg7 29. Nxf6 Rc8 30. Qe5 Bf3 31. Nh5+ Kf8 32. Qxh8+ 1-0
At move 30, my opponent asked to take back his previous move (Rc8). Sometimes I do allow weaker players takebacks, especially if I'm ahead in material and in a good mood, but when playing opponents that have a similar or higher rating than me, my answer is no in blitz games like this one. I define a blitz game as less than 15 minutes per side per game. Furthermore, in this case, I felt like my opponent had a lot of gall to ask for a takeback when our ratings were similar, and he had a killer position otherwise and was a piece ahead in material. No way, Jose! This was a rated game, after all, and I work hard to keep my rating high. I lose many games as it is due to my own carelessness, but I almost never ask for takebacks. I take my defeats in stride and try to learn from them. Sometimes I lose ten games in a row, but you know what, that's just the way it goes! News flash: chess is a game of mistakes! If no one made a mistake, the result would be a draw.
I was mean. I neither declined nor approved the takeback. He let his time almost run out waiting for me to approve it. With less than a minute left on his clock, he moved his bishop, an ineffectual move. Then he ran out of time. He had a lost position anyway.
[White me]
[Black Anonymous]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[Time "17:35:48"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 c5 2. f4 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Bc4 Bh4+ 5. Nxh4 Qxh4+ 6. g3 Qd8 7. d4 d5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. dxc5 a6 10. exd5 exd5 11. Ba4 Qa5+ 12. Nc3 Qxc5 13. Qe2+ Ne7 14. Be3 d4 15. Ne4 Qa5+ 16. Bd2 Qxa4 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. b3 Qa3 19. Nc4 Qc5 20. O-O-O Bf5 21. g4 Be6 22. Ne5 Qa3+ 23. Kb1 Nb4 24. Bxb4 Qxb4 25. f5 Bd5 26. Rhf1 Re8 27. f6 gxf6 28. Nd7+ Kg7 29. Nxf6 Rc8 30. Qe5 Bf3 31. Nh5+ Kf8 32. Qxh8+ 1-0
At move 30, my opponent asked to take back his previous move (Rc8). Sometimes I do allow weaker players takebacks, especially if I'm ahead in material and in a good mood, but when playing opponents that have a similar or higher rating than me, my answer is no in blitz games like this one. I define a blitz game as less than 15 minutes per side per game. Furthermore, in this case, I felt like my opponent had a lot of gall to ask for a takeback when our ratings were similar, and he had a killer position otherwise and was a piece ahead in material. No way, Jose! This was a rated game, after all, and I work hard to keep my rating high. I lose many games as it is due to my own carelessness, but I almost never ask for takebacks. I take my defeats in stride and try to learn from them. Sometimes I lose ten games in a row, but you know what, that's just the way it goes! News flash: chess is a game of mistakes! If no one made a mistake, the result would be a draw.
I was mean. I neither declined nor approved the takeback. He let his time almost run out waiting for me to approve it. With less than a minute left on his clock, he moved his bishop, an ineffectual move. Then he ran out of time. He had a lost position anyway.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Say Goodbye to Bookmarks with Chrome
Chrome has decided that Bookmarks are Web 1.0 and the user no longer needs them in our brave new world.
When I clicked "Import Bookmarks," Chrome made the hard drive whir and promptly produced zero bookmarks. No error message, no bookmarks--nothing. The bookmarks option is hidden in Chrome--if it really works at all. I believe Google thinks the web begins and ends with Google, and that the user does not need to visit any other site but Google.
It took me all of five minutes to conclude Chrome was not for me. Uninstalled Chrome and went back to Firefox. Maybe I'll evaluate Chrome again ten years from now. Hopefully, by then Chrome will have learned that bookmarks are a worthwhile option to place somewhere on the screen.
When I clicked "Import Bookmarks," Chrome made the hard drive whir and promptly produced zero bookmarks. No error message, no bookmarks--nothing. The bookmarks option is hidden in Chrome--if it really works at all. I believe Google thinks the web begins and ends with Google, and that the user does not need to visit any other site but Google.
It took me all of five minutes to conclude Chrome was not for me. Uninstalled Chrome and went back to Firefox. Maybe I'll evaluate Chrome again ten years from now. Hopefully, by then Chrome will have learned that bookmarks are a worthwhile option to place somewhere on the screen.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Another Quick Win with the Center Game
I've had good luck with the Center Game in blitz. Here's a recent victory against a player ranked 1915:
[White me]
[Black Anonymous]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 d6 6. Bc4 h6 7. O-O Bg4 8. Qd5 Qd7 9. e5 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 dxe5 11. Rd1 Bd6 12. Nb5 Qc6 13. Nxd6+ Kd8 14. Qxf7 Nd7 15. Bb5 Qc7 16. Qe8# 1-0
I believe it is a mistake for Black to try to hang on to the pawn. 3. .. c5 does nothing for Black's position. I am more than happy to offer up another pawn for Black's consumption in order to gain a substantial lead in development.
This was my quickest victory yet with the Center Game. I'm not sure why so many players have trouble meeting 2. d4.
[White me]
[Black Anonymous]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "600"]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 d6 6. Bc4 h6 7. O-O Bg4 8. Qd5 Qd7 9. e5 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 dxe5 11. Rd1 Bd6 12. Nb5 Qc6 13. Nxd6+ Kd8 14. Qxf7 Nd7 15. Bb5 Qc7 16. Qe8# 1-0
I believe it is a mistake for Black to try to hang on to the pawn. 3. .. c5 does nothing for Black's position. I am more than happy to offer up another pawn for Black's consumption in order to gain a substantial lead in development.
This was my quickest victory yet with the Center Game. I'm not sure why so many players have trouble meeting 2. d4.
Another Swing (and Miss) at Linux Mint
Spent another day installing Linux Mint and trying to configure it for my computer. The biggest problem was that Linux Mint was silent. Clicking on obvious things like "Sound," "Settings," or any of the many choices listed under "Hardware" offered no solution, only wasting time. Researching online, I couldn't find an easy way to enable sound on my motherboard. There are many sound-related add-ons available without any indication as to which one will install support for basic audio. A user could spend hours evaluating add-ons that are actually intended for other purposes. After browsing messages in one of many forums, I decided to install Alsamixer, but that didn't help. Alsamixer aborted without any message whenever I clicked on Preferences! It was recommended that users modify one of the config files for Alsa, and so I did, but that didn't help, either. Alsamixer was a no-go.
My sound hardware is not anything unusual, either. It's motherboard-embedded Realtek HD 5.1, which is cheap and pretty common among PC's. Realtek has been embedded in almost every motherboard I've bought since 1999. Clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar revealed that sound was being routed to "Dummy Stereo," and yes, I know what that means. There was no option to reroute it to the real stereo.
A common problem mentioned by the Linux Mint web site is that one's installation DVD may be defective, due to the unreliability of lengthy downloads from their distribution sites. However, I verified the MD5 checksum using their recommended Windows checksum verification program. It seems to me that the installation process should verify its own integrity, prior to installing, and report an appropriate error message if anything is amiss.
Linux Mint couldn't print or access the scanner, either, and I was growing concerned about the amount of time it was taking to find the answers to my difficulties. Researching the silence problem alone took hours and resulted in no solution. Although I used a silent computer for a decade in the office, I can't imagine being without sound at home. The print issue I never got around to troubleshooting, because silence itself is a deal-breaker.
The chief problem with Linux, as I see it, is that hardware manufacturers, such as the one that made my motherboard, do not offer any drivers for Linux. The only drivers available are for versions of Windows. That's not fair to Linux users and complicates matters for Linux developers. My distro is maintained by just one guy. I imagine he works day and night already. Supporting all the millions of different hardware configurations is out of the question. Donations amount to less than $5000/month, which can only support one developer and no more. Contrast that with Microsoft, which has legions of developers, besides all the third-party developers that write drivers for Windows without Microsoft having to do anything other than grant or deny the official seal of approval. The game is rigged in favor of Microsoft due to market forces.
Other than the hardware issue, Linux Mint is great. It's well-designed and attractive. I was annoyed by a reviewer that griped about trivialities such as the desktop wallpaper or the splash screen. Those things can be changed, but they look fine to me. I thought the default look and feel of the desktop was superior to Windows. I liked the speed of the installation and the fact that the network configured itself. I was able to access the Internet from the get-go, which isn't true of Windows XP.
I noticed that Firefox was slow as molasses on chess cube, where chess play depends upon Flash. Something simple like dragging a piece is ten times slower in Linux Mint than in Windows. This sluggishness surprised me, because I was under the impression that Linux Mint 11 offered built-in support for Flash. Also, Firefox had a different look and feel in Linux Mint, and not a better one. I missed my navigation icons, such as Back, Forward, New Tab, and Home.
Linux Mint did not boot all the time, either, but only booted some of the time. That may have been due to a faulty hard drive for all I know. The boot time was no better than Windows XP SP3 and may have been slower even. I don't know why Linux users make the claim that Linux boots faster when it doesn't. During the boot, the screen stayed black and the hard drive light was off sometimes, which made me wonder whether it had crashed. It would be nice if Linux Mint gave some indication it was alive during the boot.
Clicking on "Help" in many windows resulted in an error message stating that help was not available. It is possible to research problems in the forums, but that is tedious because forums tend to be chatty and a bit random. Some people know what they are talking about, but some don't, and some of the information is outdated or applicable only to certain hardware configurations but not others. The tutorials and documentation tend to focus upon trivialities that would be significant to an experienced user. There are no tutorials and no documentation on the basics, such as setting up sound in Linux Mint. The new user is left on his own to fend for himself. Reading the manual didn't help either. Apparently the assumption is that the new user already knows what to do and that everything already works the first time.
If Linux offered an obvious path to configuring sound, printer, and scanner, then I'd be all for it, but it seems to offer me a crippled computer lacking much of the functionality I've taken for granted over the years with Windows XP. I don't think that situation is going to improve anytime soon. On Windows XP, I know what to do: visit the motherboard manufacturer's web site, download the drivers, and execute the installation packages. That is not an option with Linux and probably never will be.
I remember when New Egg used to offer a flavor of Linux called Xandros, but now only Windows 7 is available. After my experience spending hours trying to get any sound from my computer, I can understand why. Probably nine out of ten customers returned their Linux distro for a refund and asked for Windows in its place. Look and feel is important, of course, but the bottom line for an OS is hardware, hardware, hardware. If the hardware works, great. If not, then what good is the operating system? It's crippleware at best. Users want their stuff to work. End of story.
My sound hardware is not anything unusual, either. It's motherboard-embedded Realtek HD 5.1, which is cheap and pretty common among PC's. Realtek has been embedded in almost every motherboard I've bought since 1999. Clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar revealed that sound was being routed to "Dummy Stereo," and yes, I know what that means. There was no option to reroute it to the real stereo.
A common problem mentioned by the Linux Mint web site is that one's installation DVD may be defective, due to the unreliability of lengthy downloads from their distribution sites. However, I verified the MD5 checksum using their recommended Windows checksum verification program. It seems to me that the installation process should verify its own integrity, prior to installing, and report an appropriate error message if anything is amiss.
Linux Mint couldn't print or access the scanner, either, and I was growing concerned about the amount of time it was taking to find the answers to my difficulties. Researching the silence problem alone took hours and resulted in no solution. Although I used a silent computer for a decade in the office, I can't imagine being without sound at home. The print issue I never got around to troubleshooting, because silence itself is a deal-breaker.
The chief problem with Linux, as I see it, is that hardware manufacturers, such as the one that made my motherboard, do not offer any drivers for Linux. The only drivers available are for versions of Windows. That's not fair to Linux users and complicates matters for Linux developers. My distro is maintained by just one guy. I imagine he works day and night already. Supporting all the millions of different hardware configurations is out of the question. Donations amount to less than $5000/month, which can only support one developer and no more. Contrast that with Microsoft, which has legions of developers, besides all the third-party developers that write drivers for Windows without Microsoft having to do anything other than grant or deny the official seal of approval. The game is rigged in favor of Microsoft due to market forces.
Other than the hardware issue, Linux Mint is great. It's well-designed and attractive. I was annoyed by a reviewer that griped about trivialities such as the desktop wallpaper or the splash screen. Those things can be changed, but they look fine to me. I thought the default look and feel of the desktop was superior to Windows. I liked the speed of the installation and the fact that the network configured itself. I was able to access the Internet from the get-go, which isn't true of Windows XP.
I noticed that Firefox was slow as molasses on chess cube, where chess play depends upon Flash. Something simple like dragging a piece is ten times slower in Linux Mint than in Windows. This sluggishness surprised me, because I was under the impression that Linux Mint 11 offered built-in support for Flash. Also, Firefox had a different look and feel in Linux Mint, and not a better one. I missed my navigation icons, such as Back, Forward, New Tab, and Home.
Linux Mint did not boot all the time, either, but only booted some of the time. That may have been due to a faulty hard drive for all I know. The boot time was no better than Windows XP SP3 and may have been slower even. I don't know why Linux users make the claim that Linux boots faster when it doesn't. During the boot, the screen stayed black and the hard drive light was off sometimes, which made me wonder whether it had crashed. It would be nice if Linux Mint gave some indication it was alive during the boot.
Clicking on "Help" in many windows resulted in an error message stating that help was not available. It is possible to research problems in the forums, but that is tedious because forums tend to be chatty and a bit random. Some people know what they are talking about, but some don't, and some of the information is outdated or applicable only to certain hardware configurations but not others. The tutorials and documentation tend to focus upon trivialities that would be significant to an experienced user. There are no tutorials and no documentation on the basics, such as setting up sound in Linux Mint. The new user is left on his own to fend for himself. Reading the manual didn't help either. Apparently the assumption is that the new user already knows what to do and that everything already works the first time.
If Linux offered an obvious path to configuring sound, printer, and scanner, then I'd be all for it, but it seems to offer me a crippled computer lacking much of the functionality I've taken for granted over the years with Windows XP. I don't think that situation is going to improve anytime soon. On Windows XP, I know what to do: visit the motherboard manufacturer's web site, download the drivers, and execute the installation packages. That is not an option with Linux and probably never will be.
I remember when New Egg used to offer a flavor of Linux called Xandros, but now only Windows 7 is available. After my experience spending hours trying to get any sound from my computer, I can understand why. Probably nine out of ten customers returned their Linux distro for a refund and asked for Windows in its place. Look and feel is important, of course, but the bottom line for an OS is hardware, hardware, hardware. If the hardware works, great. If not, then what good is the operating system? It's crippleware at best. Users want their stuff to work. End of story.
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