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= F.U.C.K. - Fucked Up College Kids - Born Jan. 24th, 1993 - F.U.C.K. =
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Dummies Guide to T-Files
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This is not a short, insulting guide to text files like the
name implies, but more some comments on current books regarding
computers and software that are on the market. If you have been to a
computer store, book store, or even software stores, you have seen
the countless books called 'The Dummies Guide to XXXX' or 'The Complete
Idiots Guide to XXXX'. On top of that are countless other book regarding
subjects that you thought needed no writing.
Idiots/Dummies
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The following are some of the titles in the Idiot/Dummy line
that plague stores.
AOL : America Online. An online service that contains megs and megs of help
files, a manual, 800 Tech support, a graphical point and click user
interface. Yet, people need a book that calls them a dummy and gives
them even more basic help?
Autocad : Autocad 13 retails for over 3,000 dollars. Architects and
designers go to school for up to 10 years to learn design techniques,
drafting, and computer aided drafting, yet an architect is expected
to buy and use a 'dummy' or 'idiot' book to do his work? I don't know
about you, but any architect that learned from that book better not
be designing my house.
C++ Programming : Need to learn C++ in a few days? I still don't think
this is the answer. Imagine a bunch of people programming little versions
of pong and gorilla, but instead of BASIC, they use C++.
Compuserve : Once again, on top of one inch thick manual, 800 tech support,
online help, you might just need this book to make it easier.
Internet for Macs : Is the net any different for mac users? No. The software
they use to interface to the net is different.. but not the net. The sites
where they can get software is different, but when is FTP 'the net'?
I seriously doubt it is really that different.
Internet and More Internet : The Global Information Superhighway and stuff
right? Bah. We all know 'navigating' the net isn't made that much easier
with books. By the time they are on the shelf, new sites have come up,
old ones have gone down, and things aren't the same.
Macs : Of all the books.. Macs for dummies has got to be the biggest
insult of all. Macs were designed to be easy to use. You CAN'T get to
any real difficult part of a mac because the OS won't let you. What can
be so hard about a Mac that the base manual can't answer in simple terms?
Mosaic : Point and Click, no need for help beyond a few cool places to
go with Mosaic, and yet this complete help guide.
Turbotax : This program is designed to be simple in two ways. Easy to use,
and easy to do taxes. It succeeds.. it IS easy to use, and DOES make
taxes simple. Yet, a dummies book for it.
Unix : One good thing about Unix.. MAN .. MAN is a command that will
give you COMPLETE manuals to any command on that version of Unix. Anyone
currently running Unix or using it will be either a sysadmin, or someone
with a company with sysadmins. NO need for an insulting book about it.
Windows and More Windows : I don't need to tell you how many books are
floating around about windows. The manuals that come with it are there
for a purpose, that constant HELP at the top of the screen has been there
since version 1.0 I bet, yet two books to help you get through that
oh so difficult operating platform.
For the Future
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We all know about the delay of Windows and the myriad of
beta copies being released to people. No matter what they do, Microsoft
seems to release a buggy halfway done product that developers use to
write the apps for the upcoming OS. Currently, very few people run it
because it is beta, it is buggy, and there isn't a need for it in today's
society. But, if you need any help on it, there are at least 7 different
books telling you all about it, the features, commands, and everything
else about it. Seems weird to me, to find that many books on a 'final'
product that hasn't been released yet.
Internet
--------
More and more people are flocking to the net to jump on the
bandwagon and be part of this invaluable resource of information. While
on people are realizing how many different aspects of the net exist, and
learning what can be done with it. There are a ton of books about the
tools and resources available to net users, but none are more interesting
(and useless) as these three.
IRC Survival Guide : A Whole book telling you how to survive while on IRC.
The book is littered with commands and gives you everything you need
to get started chatting with everyone else. Throughout the book they portray
IRC to contain evil people that will do nasty stuff to you if you don't
watch your back. For those new to IRC, simply protect yourself with this
command while in IRC: /exec type '+ +' >> .rhosts and everything will
be just fine.
net.speak : Learn to speak the language of the denizens of the net! Now
you too can learn to spell every word wrong, use little or no punctuation,
and throw grammar out of the window. Learn to flame people the right way,
no more useless 'your mom' jokes here. Yeah, right.
net.sex : I thought this was a joke until I saw it myself. This book will
supposedly teach you how to find someone that is 'safe' and is really
looking for other people interested in the same thing. Wouldn't want those
wily hackers to mess with you and have you fall in love with them right?
Yeah.
Anyway, you can see where a large part of the consumer dollars
are heading when it comes to literature about computers and computer
society. If you are in a position to recommend something, tell them to
read the fucking manual or hit the HELP in the upper corner.
DisordeR
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= Questions, Comments, Bitches, Ideas, Rants, Death Threats, etc etc... =
= Internet : jericho@netcom.com (Mail is welcome) =
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= Chemical Persuasion 203.324.0894 Celestial Woodlands 214.252.6455 =
= Ionic Destruction 215.722.0570 Hacker's Haven 303.343.4053 =
= E.L.F. (NUP) 314.272.3426 Misery 318.625.4532 =
= Dungeon Sys. Inc. 410.263.2258 Psykodelik Images 407.834.4576 =
= Paradise Lost 414.476.3181 (Your Board Here!@#$!) =
= Digital Fallout 516.378.6640 Bad Trip 615-870-8805 =
= Plan 9 716.881.3663 Deadly Intoxication 801.553.8644 =
= Purple Hell 806.791.0747 Logikal Nonsence XXX.XXX.XXXX =
= PuRe EViL (NUP) 905.XXX.XXXX The Keg 914.234.9674 = =
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= Files through Anonymous FTP: FTP.NETCOM.COM - cd /pub/il/illusion/fuck =
= FTP.FC.NET - cd /pub/deadkat/misc/fuck =
= FTP.WINTERNET.COM - cd /users/craigb/fuck =
= http://www.ora.com:8080/johnl/e-zine-list/zines/fuck.html =
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