News Stories

[AnimeFan188]

"Microsoft has officially unveiled some key new features of its forthcoming
operating system. The next-generation OS, which may or may not be
called “Windows 8” (its “internal code-name”), delivers a completely re-imagined
user interface, with a heavy emphasis on touch-based functionality that takes a
hefty helping of inspiration from the Windows Phone UI."

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrend...nveilswindows8

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

"Microsoft has officially unveiled some key new features of its forthcoming
operating system. The next-generation OS, which may or may not be
called “Windows 8” (its “internal code-name”), delivers a completely re-imagined
user interface, with a heavy emphasis on touch-based functionality that takes a
hefty helping of inspiration from the Windows Phone UI."

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrend...nveilswindows8

good gods will they QUIT "re-imagining" the UI? To most folks, it means having to relearn where they hid the SAME functionality over and over.

[Claies]

Originally Posted by Vexx

good gods will they QUIT "re-imagining" the UI? To most folks, it means having to relearn where they hid the SAME functionality over and over.

I'm pretty sure they still allow the conventional interface for desktops. I read that to mean they intend to use the same backend for every platform, so these things would be interchangeable, and they see no sense to leave this UI out of the desktop if only to see how it'd work out.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a 100% complete index of everything in and hidden from the Windows 7 control panel in traditional list view.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

good gods will they QUIT "re-imagining" the UI? To most folks, it means having to relearn where they hid the SAME functionality over and over.

Someone told me that it is a good thing to relearn. For this case, I shall show him the middle finger.

[synaesthetic]

Microsoft changes everything's location and name with every new iteration of Windows.

They should seriously learn from Adobe, and produce a single contiguous UI framework that is the same across all their products.

If you can use Photoshop, you can use any Adobe product, just about! And that saves time, which saves money.

Edit: Also, nobody gives a shit about touchscreens for the sake of novelty. People use touchscreens because they have to. Because on a smartphone, it is very hard to get a lot of buttons and a lot of screen on a small device at the same time. So the screen doubles as the buttons. Touchscreens on smartphones make sense because it's a niche technology overcoming a physical hardware limitation.

On a desktop PC, touchscreens are utterly fucking pointless.

This "Windows 8" (which, incidentally, can be run on ARM architecture CPUs) is not a desktop OS. It's a lame attempt to counter the iPad.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

On a desktop PC, touchscreens are utterly fucking pointless.

This "Windows 8" (which, incidentally, can be run on ARM architecture CPUs) is not a desktop OS. It's a lame attempt to counter the iPad.

Perhaps Microsoft is assuming the next-gen keyboards will be similar to the Optimus Tactus??

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-tactus/

However, I agree that Microsoft should just stick to what works and knock off the constant meaningless (and pointless) changes to their OS.
I really don't understand why they continue to push this kind of "utility" in their new operating systems.

[Vexx]

I'm still getting confused calls from people who can't figure out why their "home group" isn't their "network group" and why half the machines they have can't see the other half.

[mechabao]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...rds-posted.ars

I've lost count of how many times Sony's online properties have been hacked now—I just don't have that many fingers—but it's happened again. Databases used to operate sonypictures.com, sonybmg.nl, and sonybmg.be have been compromised by a group calling itself Lulz Security, or LulzSec for short. This is the same group that earlier in the week hacked PBS's servers in retaliation for a documentary felt to be critical of Wikileaks; they also hacked sonymusic.co.jp last week.

Just as was the case with the sonymusic.gr hack and LulzSec's sonymusic.co.jp hack, the latest hack was performed using SQL injection: a rudimentary technique that depends on improper handling of Web site URLs. Being susceptible to SQL injection is embarrassing enough—techniques to prevent it are well-known, and easy to apply to any database-driven Web site—but what makes this hack even worse is the data that has been compromised.

[MeoTwister5]

If this was done in retaliation for criticism of Wikileaks, then it really doesn't make them any more different the national governments. Hypocrisy much?

[MrTerrorist]

Afghanistan's new force for change

[ganbaru]

Mladic calls genocide charges "monstrous" lie
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7516I520110603
I do wonder if he will live long enough to see the end of the trial.

[TurkeyPotPie]

I still think the best Windows UI was in Windows 2000, particularly for business use. The XP "Luna" interface started the decline to more and more silly Apple-inspired eyecandy effects. At least you can use the "classic" UI theme in XP to get back to the 2000 look, but the classic theme has some oddities in Vista and 7.

Microsoft was actually pretty good about UI standards up through 2000. Adhering to CUA was a massive boon compared to DOS interfaces. Heck, I actually liked the old Windows 3.x UI believe it or not (even though the underlying "operating system" wasn't so hot). After the first year or two of that era, most applications (especially from MS) were very consistent in their UI conventions.

Computer savvy people underestimate the jarring effect that UI changes have on people who don't care about computers and only use them for their job. We used Windows 2000 in a call center for almost a decade, until Microsoft stopped supporting it. The move to Windows 7 was a mess. Once everyone got over the "ooh" and "ahh" of the Aero interface (took about a day), they spent weeks trying to find things and get used to the new layout.

It could be worse -- we are going to replace a decades old AS/400 green screen application with a new web interface later this year. I am not looking forward to the training issues with that one.

[Anh_Minh]

That, and the freaking taskbar. Why does everyone have to move toward that damn dock thing?

[Endless Soul]

Stories like this really make me mad.

Mother neglects daughter while playing WoW. Daughter dies.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

Stories like this really make me mad.

Mother neglects daughter while playing WoW. Daughter dies.

Christie's ex-husband, U.S. Air Force Sgt. Derek Wulf, pleaded guilty to child neglect and will be sentenced June 15.
He was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base but was away on a nine-day assignment when the girl died. The newspaper reports he had expressed reservations about his wife's ability to take care of their child; her older daughter had already been placed with Christie's parents.

why is the father charge? He wasn't even there.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

why is the father charge? He wasn't even there.

You answered your own question. He was concerned about his wife's ability to care for the child but left her there anyway, without even arranging for a relative to check in on things. Sure, there was likely no way he could get out of the assignment, probably for training, but he knew there was a problem and did nothing to help address it while he was away. Granted that might be stretching negligence laws a bit...

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

You answered your own question. He was concerned about his wife's ability to care for the child but left her there anyway, without even arranging for a relative to check in on things. Sure, there was likely no way he could get out of the assignment, probably for training, but he knew there was a problem and did nothing to help address it while he was away. Granted that might be stretching negligence laws a bit...

stretch thin enough you can see through it.

[synaesthetic]

Holy doodoo, the anti-gaming Moral Guardian crowd are going to have a fucking field day with this one.

[ChainLegacy]

Damn, how can you be that obsessed with WoW? Honestly. There are serious mental issues involved. That poor kid.

[Ithekro]

Probably would have been something else if they wasn't WoW. The kid would still have died I think.