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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 18:59:09
how far does mac have to push before i move to linux
not much further
not much further at all.
i just got a pop-up from the game store. i am not kidding.
sh*t like this... was why people moved to mac in the first place, i thought.
i'm that close...
Posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 19:08:58
In reply to how far do they have to push??, posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 18:59:09
you have to give your credit card and phone number and my best friend at primary school was details to the mac people or they won't let you log in in order to download updates.
currently... the updates consist in sh*t you don't want anyway. mavericks... stuff that isn't compatible with university wireless print servers... sh*t like that. stuff for i-movie or whatever that i've never even opened, i don't think.
i wasn't signed into the mac game store... the application wasn't open... and i got a f*ck*ng pop-up about a new kids game. i am not kidding.
i tunes keeps launching google chrome for some reason, too... you'd think it would be about safari, but it isn't. i tunes keeps emailing me. i don't want your f*ck*ng spam thanks very much. do not want. do. not. want.
google wants me to stay signed into my email accounts (all of them all linked up and open together) while i browse the internet. while i... do my banking and all kinds of stuff. while i hit my credit card details into the mac app store uh huh. i may as well just leave that application open too and there be a little pop-up purchase icon that looks just like a little cross in the corner - right? anybody see where this is going?? the bank requires me to notify them of unauthorised transations within something like 24 hours or its no liability for them. uh huh.
you increasingly need to be connected to the internet for anything to work. which is fine... till the net goes down or whatever.
i think... i don't like any of this. at all. i feel like i'm losing control of my life. mac store people REQUIRED me to phone them in order to sort out my account issues (because they want to consolidate my apple id's just like how google wants me to consolidate my gmail addresses)...
what if i was deaf?
???
?
?
f*ck*ng passport system pissing me about...
why does stuff like this make me feel so very angry??
Posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 19:13:57
In reply to Re: how far do they have to push??, posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 19:08:58
i think linux is probably the thing. for home / personal use.
and then you use work computers for work. or have a computer that is designated for work, even if it is your computer and you use it at home.
i may as well move back to windows for work. the uni here seems to like them probably because the anti virus stuff etc etc etc keeps their computer people busy.
i have another computer to trial things on...
linux preferences, people?
?
oh... this means i'll dump my i-pod, too. of course. thats the point in the touch design, you see. to lock you into the software. it certainly isn't a functional improvement IMHO.
Posted by alexandra_k on February 4, 2014, at 4:08:39
In reply to Re: how far do they have to push??, posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 19:13:57
different government departments have moved to using the same online authentication system.
so (for example) work and income (welfare) has the same login as studylink (student loan services) has the same login as internal affairs (passport renewal). i haven't checked the tax department lately, but it wouldn't surprise me...
in theory these different departments are not allowed to share information.
though it is an ongoing issue with respect to welfare and tax in particular (with respect to people properly declaring their earnings).
anyway... i've been getting fairly upset with work and income that they won't let us do a bunch of stuff online, the way the studylink people will let us do. so, for instance, studylink will give us the option to have emailed correspondance instead of physical post (appreciating that students move fairly frequently, i suppose) and to apply for this and that online (instead of needing to go in and have an appointment - appreciating that students are a little capable of filling in forms by themselves sometimes kinda sorta - one can only suppose).
anyway... it seemed as though work and income had finally started to get their sh*t together...
instead of waiting for 40 minutes on hold via telephone for an appointment - you can simply book an appointment online. so today i went to. only to find that they required me to phone their number for a 'one time login'. i am not sh*tt*ng you. why don't i phone their number and... make an appointment.
how much money do we pay for systems like the online passport photo checker ('subject eyes closed') that isn't even fluent in the english language, even less competent in doing its actual f*ck*ng job...
work and income had a bunch of computers all set up for people to search for jobs online. you could walk into an office and use their computers to look for work. then there was some 'hacking violation' (yeah, sure) and now you can't use the computers in the winz offices anymore. they all have 'out of order' signs on them.
my guess: people mostly used them to try and fill in the f*ck*ng online forms. that are INSANE. like: it is perfectly straightforward to change your race (should you choose) but f*ck*ng IMPOSSIBLE to change your address. various things... you would get booted out of a 30 minute application process with all your entered data lost. it would ask you for your bank account details twice. i'm not kidding. once. then once again later just to confirm. you only have a certain amount of time...
how to make people crazy.
who the f*ck oversees this sh*t???
i don't understand.
Posted by alexandra_k on February 4, 2014, at 4:09:30
In reply to Re: how far do they have to push??, posted by alexandra_k on February 4, 2014, at 4:08:39
busy busy busy busy busy work.
yay.
and someone gets rich(er).
hard work. oh yes indeed. and valuable, too. oh yes indeediedo.
Posted by Partlycloudy on February 4, 2014, at 7:34:07
In reply to Re: how far do they have to push??, posted by alexandra_k on February 3, 2014, at 19:08:58
Because all of this is really intrusive, makes no bones about watching our moves and preferences, and we've no reason to trust the information won't be used to tailor our online experiences to make them even more personal. "Minority Report"?, anybody?
I haven't used a Linux based system since the '80s in the working world. It is just a memory now.
Posted by alexandra_k on February 21, 2014, at 22:02:54
In reply to Re: how far do they have to push?? » alexandra_k, posted by Partlycloudy on February 4, 2014, at 7:34:07
yeah. i invested quite a lot of time into learning to use latex... into altering a couple peoples phd thesis templates so i had a working version all of my own...
but then i balked a bit at bibtex. not sure why, because learning endnote... and word... turned out to probably be every bit as time consuming as getting bibtext up off the ground would have been.
oh yeah... it is because computer support people on campus will support you if you are using microsoft products (on the university owned pc's primarily) but also a little bit on your own (say mac) laptop... but they won't / can't help you if you use other things. so i... decided not to risk it. because i wasn't located someplace where there were enough people around who could fix stuff for me (e.g., maths department people voluntarily helping me fix permissions to get minion pro working)... and while i will invest a lo tof my own time in trying to figure stuff out i am a dumb *ss when it comes to computers and i really don't know anything.
and because enough people (in philosophy anyway) use word. so they want you to send them word documents for them to put word comments on. journals wand you to send them word files etc, too. so.. there isn't really any avoiding it.
i just don't understand why instead of investing in computer support people learning systems that they need to continually update their knowledge in (e.g., because the systems are incessantly changing without getting better but just for the sake of change, for the sake of sales, for the sake of people needing to do new training courses on how to use etc etc etc) ... why don't they get the computer support people learning classic systems... then actually doing useful stuff that only needs to be done once.
why don't journals all take the SAME F*CK*NG FORMAT. preferably plain text that doesn't corrupt.
the world is... overwhelming.
This is the end of the thread.
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