• (cs)

    Kudos to Tarmo for actually READING the EULA!

  • Leo (unregistered)

    I preferred Wrath of Khan.

  • (cs)

    I used to work for the company that makes the tax software that Sam was installing. There actually is a keystroke that will mark all the checkboxes, but they don't bother to tell the users what it is, so it's kind of pointless. (Sam: try Alt+M next time--I think that's what it was.)

    Now to forward this article to some friends who still work there...

  • (cs)

    I'm from ag. Nice place, but kinda niet gedef.

  • (cs)
    "I was greeted with this while installing a tax package the other day," notes Sam, "aAll of those are real checkboxes and there is no 'check all' or 'select all' button. I spent a lot of time clicking."
    Do you really need every tax form for every state? Maybe there's a reason for the lack of a "check all" button.

    Even if you were a tax accountant and got a new client from out-of-state, you could always bill them the time it takes to go back and install the new forms...

  • the beholder (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf
    lolwtf:
    I'm from ag. Nice place, but kinda niet gedef.
    It must be nice to live in ag. Probably much better than here on The Undiscovered Country.
  • (cs) in reply to reverendryan
    Do you really need every tax form for every state? Maybe there's a reason there's no "check all" button.

    ISTR that tax program uses a two-stage install process--first the licenses, then the program. Sam's screenshot is the installer for the program. IIRC by default the installer will automatically check the products you've got licenses for. (You can still install products you don't have licenses for, but then when you go to file you'll be paying a certain former employer of mine a per-return filing fee, which can add up quickly.)

  • Lorens Kockum (unregistered) in reply to the beholder
    the beholder:
    It must be nice to live in ag. Probably much better than here on The Undiscovered Country.
    Keep telling yourself that, 'cause from the Undiscovered Country no traveller returns. (hint: Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III scene I, a few lines after "To be or not to be"). Or maybe Star Trek IV, of course.
  • Jon E. (unregistered)

    my_comment is niet gedef

  • A. Cow Ard, the 3rd (unregistered) in reply to ParkinT
    ParkinT:
    Kudos to Tarmo for actually READING the EULA!
    FRIST??? WTF happened here?
  • (cs) in reply to Lorens Kockum
    Lorens Kockum:
    the beholder:
    It must be nice to live in ag. Probably much better than here on The Undiscovered Country.
    Keep telling yourself that, 'cause from the Undiscovered Country no traveller returns. (hint: Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III scene I, a few lines after "To be or not to be"). Or maybe Star Trek IV, of course.
    Meh. It's better in the original Klingon.
  • (cs)

    You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.

  • pear (unregistered)

    TRWTF is "flavoured vodka"...but that's the only time they use the non-American spelling.

  • Buho (unregistered)

    As usual, the antivirus is as annoying as the viruses it claims to protect from.

  • (cs)

    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

  • imgx64 (unregistered) in reply to Kuba
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

  • (cs) in reply to ParkinT
    ParkinT:
    Kudos to Tarmo for actually READING the EULA!
    Isn't that TRWTF? Someone actually read a EULA?
  • Looked it up (unregistered) in reply to the beholder
    the beholder:
    lolwtf:
    I'm from ag. Nice place, but kinda niet gedef.
    It must be nice to live in ag. Probably much better than here on The Undiscovered Country.

    Believe me, I think Antigua and Barbuda are a much nicer alternative to The Undiscovered Country....

  • (cs) in reply to Looked it up
    Looked it up:
    the beholder:
    lolwtf:
    I'm from ag. Nice place, but kinda niet gedef.
    It must be nice to live in ag. Probably much better than here on The Undiscovered Country.

    Believe me, I think Antigua and Barbuda are a much nicer alternative to The Undiscovered Country....

    Depends what the weather's like.

  • (cs)

    I like update anti-virus message on big board.

  • OldCoder (unregistered) in reply to pear
    pear:
    TRWTF is "flavoured vodka"...but that's the only time they use the non-American spelling.
    That's because it is probably Canadian Vodka, eh?
  • anon (unregistered) in reply to imgx64
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

  • (cs)

    Looking at the From address, I would hazard that Mike Ohlsen is TRWTF for not spotting that it was actually from a spammer who hadn't figured out how to use the software yet.

  • ajanata (unregistered)

    The Real WTF is using avast! free in a commercial environment. Tarmo should go read the EULA for them.

  • imgx64 (unregistered) in reply to anon
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

  • Marke (unregistered)

    tab+space should be a lot more efficient to select all the boxen

  • Anonymous (unregistered)
    top answer, top answer, bottom answer, bottom answer, one on left, then on the right, followed by the left, and again on the right, then B, then A, then B, and finally A

    So... up up down down left right left right B A B A? I see what you did there.

  • (cs) in reply to imgx64
    imgx64:
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people, when arguing on the Internet, don't know when they're being called condescending assholes. They also have two problems.

  • imgx64 (unregistered) in reply to PedanticCurmudgeon
    PedanticCurmudgeon:
    imgx64:
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people, when arguing on the Internet, don't know when they're being called condescending assholes. They also have two problems.

    Some people... Argh, forget it. I think we stretched that particular quote far too much. (for the uninformed: http://regex.info/blog/2006-09-15/247 )

  • anon (unregistered) in reply to PedanticCurmudgeon
    PedanticCurmudgeon:
    imgx64:
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people, when arguing on the Internet, don't know when they're being called condescending assholes. They also have two problems.

    To be fair, as the person who called him a condescending asshole, I feel kind of bad about it now, as it seems he didn't really get the implication of the joke he had just made, and didn't actually mean that no one should use Windows for any purpose whatsoever. Also, for the record, I'm an avid Linux fan. I just get annoyed when people claim it's the be all and end of operating systems and anyone who uses Windows is a moron, a position taken by far too many Linux admins.

  • (cs) in reply to anon
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    Hint: I do know about Windows Embedded. That is the only platform that can be sensibly applied to those embedded, self-contained setups. I run PLCs on it and I'm far from complaining. But it seems that all of the billboards/displays featured here probably don't run Embedded; they seem to run whatever came on the box they chose to use for the system. With all the crapware present and accounted for, it seems.

    I'm not condescending, just that using Windows, whether Embedded or not, introduces a lot of extra issues that have to be addressed. Licensing brouhaha is but one of them. And saying that you don't have any problems on platform X, whatever the platform, is just BS. Nothing is problem-free. Just that the set of problems I foresee on a Linux or QNX based solution is much smaller than I'd expect on Windows.

  • (cs) in reply to anon
    anon:
    I just get annoyed when people claim it's the be all and end of operating systems and anyone who uses Windows is a moron, a position taken by far too many Linux admins.
    Well, judging by how competently windows seems to be deployed on ad display systems, the fine examples do point to a certain level of moronity. It doesn't mean it's a problem with Windows. I've seen a stuck Linux boot screen on one of the cable channels on WoW.
  • (cs) in reply to Leo
    Leo:
    I preferred Wrath of Khan.
    AAA-M-A-ZOOOOO-O-ON! *shakes fist at sky*
  • (cs) in reply to pjt33
    pjt33:
    Looking at the From address, I would hazard that Mike Ohlsen is TRWTF for not spotting that it was actually from a spammer who hadn't figured out how to use the software yet.
    You don't suppose t2mr3.com is just a legitimate provider of outsourced mass mailing services to the NYCB banks? They appear to be part of the PGI / Xpedite / messageREACH conglomerate.
  • Eugene (unregistered)

    Did Amazon hire Doc Emmett Brown to do its shipping?

  • (cs) in reply to Eugene
    Eugene:
    Did Amazon hire Doc Emmett Brown to do its shipping?

    "I apologize for the crudeness of this business model. I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it."

  • Meep (unregistered) in reply to imgx64
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Nope. They think, "I'll buy this product." The idea that there's a choice of OS never occurs to them.

    And the same is true of the guys making the product, for whom the question is "Visual Basic.NET or C#"?

  • Meep (unregistered) in reply to anon
    anon:
    PedanticCurmudgeon:
    imgx64:
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people, when arguing on the Internet, don't know when they're being called condescending assholes. They also have two problems.

    To be fair, as the person who called him a condescending asshole, I feel kind of bad about it now, as it seems he didn't really get the implication of the joke he had just made, and didn't actually mean that no one should use Windows for any purpose whatsoever. Also, for the record, I'm an avid Linux fan. I just get annoyed when people claim it's the be all and end of operating systems and anyone who uses Windows is a moron, a position taken by far too many Linux admins.

    Windows, for the huge raft of software available, still tends to spoon feed you one way of doing things. Linux admins have to be knowledgeable of many distros that, while similar, still present different characteristics to be considered, and force you to be more proactive to learn them.

    That spoon-feeding is intended to cater to less competent admins, and it does tend to prevent more competent admins from being more clever. So the Linux admins' arrogance is often justified.

  • Mike (unregistered) in reply to Kuba

    From what I can see a lot of billboards are made with standard i386 pc board, with a standard operating system, bios, and video board. I've seen a bunch of linux kernel panics on some billboards. I think on those cases other solution could be used: I've seen in a subway two kind of solution deployed: some billboards are fitted with a small size PC running XP (i guess forom the blue screen), but the billboards with the ads are feed with an analog CATV system with some program taken from a dvd player.

    For the service billboard, I think putting an Arduino with an ethernet shiels and a led bar to inform the passengers of the train situation will was a avlid alternative to a Windows machine and a display.

  • (cs) in reply to Kuba
    Kuba:
    I've seen a stuck Linux boot screen on one of the cable channels on WoW.

    Which points out the actual issue - the public side is connected to the primary VGA output and is active when the ads aren't ready.

    One simple solution (especially where a full desktop system is used) is to stick a 2nd video card in. Simple, easy and only costs an extra $50 or so... Which in comparison to the display cost is nothing.

  • Nagesh (unregistered) in reply to tin
    tin:
    One simple solution (especially where a full desktop system is used) is to stick a 2nd video card in. Simple, easy and only costs an extra $50 or so... Which in comparison to the display cost is nothing.
    So by spending $50 extra, you can make the billboard go black while the controlling device boots?

    How is showing blackness instead of a boot screen going to bring in $50 more revenue?

  • Anonymouse (unregistered)

    No comment on the "awesome savings" from 1016,- down to only 1090,-?

    (For the pedantic dickweeds amongst the audience: Yes. I know. It's an 8. It still looks like a 0, at least on first glance, because of the strike-through. That's the joke. Thanks for ruining it.)

  • int (unregistered) in reply to pear
    pear:
    TRWTF is "flavoured vodka"...
    Flavored vodka is WTF too...
  • (cs) in reply to A. Cow Ard, the 3rd
    A. Cow Ard:
    ParkinT:
    Kudos to Tarmo for actually READING the EULA!
    FRIST??? WTF happened here?
    Just to remind you: "Frist" is not a mandatory first post.
  • T Man (unregistered)

    While I don't have experience with that particular tax software, I can nearly guarantee that the entire thing is a whole mish mash of bad coding practices and is impossible to maintain, with many, many weird error messages. You can tell just by looking at where it needs to be installed. It's probably hard coded.

  • (cs) in reply to imgx64
    imgx64:
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

    Exactly! They should use a tablet for billboards!

  • Tud (unregistered) in reply to imgx64
    imgx64:
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    That might be true, but it has nothing to do with this. For a billboard, you don't need a full operating system with all its problems (Using Ubuntu wouldn't be better than Windows, for instance). An embedded specialized device will probably save you from such embarrassment.

    So I guess I should've said:

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use a desktop PC.” Now they have two problems.

    You are right. But how much do you estimate the cost of installing Windows 7 Home Basic on a computer is? And how much for installing Windows Embedded Standard 7 (including the working time)?

  • Orimugy (unregistered) in reply to pear
    pear:
    TRWTF is "flavoured vodka"...but that's the only time they use the non-American spelling.
    Apparently (so TV told me, and TV doesn't lie) the Mongols in the court of Kublai Khan used to infuse vodka with juices from a roasted lamb.....Yummo!
  • Torvalds (unregistered) in reply to anon
    anon:
    imgx64:
    Kuba:
    I think TRWTF is that people use Windows for ad displays instead of, say, Linux or QNX. There's something to be said for simply playing a bunch of mpeg files in a loop, using the FB display driver on Linux. You can probably put the player as the only thing fired up by init, and it'll be very quick to boot as well. It's so much simpler than futzing around with Windows.

    Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use Windows.” Now they have two problems.

    Some people who use Windows and don't have any problems are curious about Linux as a possible alternative, so they think "I know, I'll ask someone who knows a lot about Linux to tell me what benefits it might offer." Now they're talking to a condescending asshole.

    This, definitely this.

    I realise that all of you who use *nix at home are 500 times more intelligent than me, but I don't need it rubbed in my face. I want to know why I'm better off using Linux than windows, not how ymany nice little gadgets you've made because CodeBlocks truly shines in a Unix environment....

    Am i Really better off using Open Office for my documents and Spreadsheets? Really?

  • ASDGKA (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    I like update anti-virus message on big board.
    How goes cricket?

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