waider

my laptop spent most of this evening in Windows land, partly so that I could update the virus scanner that lives there and partly for some other reason that escapes me. While I was there I played with Firefox and Thunderbird for a bit and installed some extensions to the former. Things that I am noticing as a result of this toolery:

• Thunderbird's RSS reader is pretty damned rough. You can't seem to drag and drop RSS URLs into it or do something like thunderbird <url to rss file>
• Thunderbird needs at least two more display layouts: folder list + message list, and message list. I don't care if this is a "if you want Outlook/Evolution you know where to get them" statement.
• Firebird extensions: good. Restarting to activate them: bad. Inconsistently placed configuration screens: very bad.
• Deepest Sender is nice, but missed the one basic thing I thought was totally the point of browser-embedded web log clients: writing an entry based around the current page. Like, BLOG THIS ALREADY or something.
• The del.icio.us plugin was okayish but needs to be two-way, i.e. rather than just grabbing my stuff off del.icio.us, it should be possible for me to locally frob the del.icio.us folder and have the results mirrored on the site.
• WeatherFox (check the firefox extensions site as I couldn't be bothered digging up the URL again) is neat.

And that is all.

I have no joke here, I just like saying, "warning: tragic and traumatic. Windows Media."

There's an article over at Infoweek (referenced by Dan Gillmor, in turn referenced by Karlin Lillington, which is how I stumbled across it) about how Fred Langa tried to install Linux on new (but unnamed) hardware and couldn't get the sound working. Fair enough; sound support in Linux is lamentable in places, particularly if you're trying to get real-time sound/video sync going on, but also if you've got stuff like the emu10k1-based cards that aren't documented because, you know, frobbing the speaker is a trade secret and all that. Langa then went to try a Virtual PC running on the hardware, emulating a SoundBlaster, and lo, 8 different Linux distros still refused to work the sound interface. The followups to the article appear to be the usual flood of kneejerk responses ("Infoweak", "What do you expect from a windows user" "sure, sound is broken, but have you tried running Windows$version on $esoteric_hardware" etc. etc.) but in typical Linux flamer style there's no actual thought behind the posts. Me, I had a look at the article Langa references when he mentions the Virtual PC software, and lo, it's a review of Microsoft's Virtual PC. Now, why on earth would a bog-standard SoundBlaster interface fail to work under Linux? Could it perhaps be because Someone Doesn't Want It To Work? (mutter mutter where's me tinfoil hat mutter mutter millennium hand and shrimp I telled 'em)

I was okay with this

Important: After installing iTunes 4.1 for Windows, you'll only be able to transfer music to your iPod using iTunes. To transfer music from MusicMatch Jukebox or Audible Manager to your iPod, you'll need to first import the music into iTunes. For more information, search iTunes and Music Store Help.

since I don't have an iPod, but

The iTunes Music Store is not available in your country yet. You will be able to browse and listen to previews, but you won't be able to purchase music unless your billing address is in the United States.

is a bit more of a showstopper for now.

Watching traffic in #samba, the Samba discussion/help channel, is kinda funny. Part of the time it's like what I imagine the mailing list bozos list might have been like, with people running in, yelling newbie questions, and then getting upset when noone replies. Part of the time it's like watching a tutorial class, where someone patiently guides the newbie through the process - usually this happens when the newbie is showing signs of having read the docs. And sometimes the newbies help each other, sort of like a bunch of kids in a playground slowly discovering the world around them.

I'm kinda curious how Joe Consumer reacts to what I see as a very real threat to my livelihood and lifestyle (as detailed in earlier lj entry). To that end, I've been thinking about how I'd ask someone who's not technically savvy, or more to the point, doesn't want to be technically savvy. I think the line of questioning would go along these lines, perhaps with elaboration where necessary:

Do you have a computer?

Does it run Windows?

Do you use it to access the Internet?

At this point, you'd have to start branching out a bit, I guess.

Do you use Microsoft's Windows Update feature?

Are you aware that some of Microsoft's Internet tools have errors in them that can allow other people to access your computer? (can you think of a better way of phrasing this that is not disingenuous? I'm not trying to indulge in FUD here.) Are you aware that Microsoft provides fixes for these tools via Windows Update?

Before Microsoft provides you with these updates, they ask you to agree to a license for their use. Are you aware of the contents of such licenses?

Now, you can see what I'm getting at here. I am trying to get the person on the other side of this conversation to understand that they are between a rock and a hard place: on one hand, your machine is at risk if you do not update it, and on the other hand, you're giving Microsoft certain rights to your machine if you do update it. I am trying to present this in a simple, non-biased, unquestionable fashion, such that there is no doubt about your choices.

I have an ulterior motive; I'm going to contact my local government representative, and I'd like to be prepared for the eventuality that he has no idea what I'm talking about. And more to the point, I'd like to get other people to contact their local government representatives, and I'd like them to understand what they're asking the reps and why it's important. I'm also thinking about a similar line of questioning regarding the proposed Palladium/TCPA systems.

I don't even know if clickwrap licensing is legal in this country. I don't care. Last week when I cleaned up the Klez.E infection on my parents' computer, I told them to keep it up-to-date with patches from Microsoft's site. Now I'm going to have to tell them that that may not be such a good idea any more.

Just trying to resurrect my Windows partition again; I hate these reformat-to-restore CDs, and I also hate the fact that you can't add anything to Windows without risking killing the entire system. Hardly bolsters the argument that non-free software is of higher quality.