the Empire fails to use the power of the dark side

[ironymaiden]

i am furious about this. Microsoft is the 800lb gorilla, and they had no reason to even grant that poor excuse for a Christian an audience. launching a boycott of Microsoft is the emptiest. threat. ever. i'm firmly committed to competition and diversity in software, but let's face it, the only thing they might be able to dent is the sale of xbox games - and if you're hardcore enough to do a boycott because your preacher says so, then you probably don't like your kiddos playing games with bodacious babes, supernatural beings, or magic. (i'm not sure what's left to play.) it's not like you can learn about converting to Linux or Mac if you're shopping at Wal-Mart.

no outcry would have been made over Microsoft writing a letter saying 1515 is a good idea, but how they shifted to neutral is making news. it upsets the kind of people who can and will buy something else - for their business. very swift indeed. had someone leaked news of the company shrugging off an empty threat made by a small man abusing the trust and power granted to him by his congregation, i might have something to admire. i'm aware of the nice things the company does around Puget Sound, and i'm glad that my favorite nonprofit gets their matching funds. i'm glad my friends have good jobs there. i used to balance this against my disdain for their flagship products.

stupid. stupid. stupid.

in other news, something cool happened this week. i'm pleased. i'll tell after the weekend.

(there is now a pottery posse filter, oh crafty Seattlites. if you didn't vote and want in, let me know.)

Comments

[gyngersnap.livejournal.com]

I am also furious about this. I wouldn't work for Microsoft if my life depended on it now. Somebody tell me how to "survive" on line without using their products, and I will start getting rid of the shit I have right now.

[craziecory.livejournal.com]

get rid of your computer and use pigeons for your e-mail needs.

All hail the Evil Empire

[ironymaiden]

online is relatively easy. you can download Mozilla Firefox web browser for free, and it is superior to Explorer in both security and features. if you have dialup (like me) then you can get someone to download it and put it on a disc for you. (i can do it at work if nobody else can get it for you.) there is also a Mozilla email client called Thunderbird. offline, there is a free word processor called Open Office that handles Word files well. there's a related spreadsheet product, can't remember the name.

why is this stuff free? it's open source software, where lots of people contribute to the development in their spare time. computer geeks can be good people. if you want to go so far as to stop using Windows on your machine, i can hook you up with mimerki, who has Linux skills.

[buhrger]

testify, sister, testify!

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

Is there Open Office for Mac?

[ironymaiden]

sort of. there's an emulator you can install that will let you run it. my baby's so old that classic mode makes her seize up, so it's not an option for me. AppleWorks has a pretty good file converter, but it works better on incoming than outgoing. when i want to make sure to preserve formatting, i save as a PDF.

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

If you can afford it, a cheap mac is an easy way around it. Otherwise find a computer smartie to help you set up a linux box. Or just use pirated versions of everything.

[frabjousdave.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the cool thing!

I'm posting from my Mac, and I've been thinking really hard about Linux since reading the Stranger article.

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

It's after the weekend... so post about the cool thing now! (Is it that aggravating when *I'm* being enigmatic?)