Cut List software?

"Danny Boy" blathered...

I didn't know that it's a spreadsheet because I didn't download it to find out. It was in a ZIP file.

I could make my own. I can handle data from any source. Spreadsheet, database, XML, you name it. If it's data, I can access it, parse it, chop it up 50 different ways and spew it back at you.

You made an incorrect assumption about my knowledge of computers.

Not only were you wrong, you were loud and wrong.

I have been in the computer industry for over 15 years myself. The last 8 at Microsoft as a developer. You may not like Microsoft's business practices or some of the management-level decisions regarding our products, but I believe that most people in the industry would agree that as developers, we ain't too shabby.

spreadsheet from Open Office Org.

Don't need it, thanks for offering. I've got real software.

experience with computers.

Not using any sort of anti-virus software (which your statement implied) is like playing Russian Roulette. With your experience, you should know that a virus can strike anyone, anytime, anywhere. Does "Code Red" or "Melissa" ring a bell. I even heard recently that there is a new virus that gets imbedded into JPG files. If that is true (I have not confirmed it), then all of the Internet is vulnerable. All you'd have to do is go to the web site. You wouldn't even have to download anything. Or just one piece of spam gets thru you filters and boom.

I never said that this company (NirvanaTec) was in any way being malicious or less than honest. I simply said that, as users, we should perform our due diligence in trying to mitigate the "potential" threat. I have no way of knowing if NirvanaTec's web host implements good security practices.

I do think that, as a company, as much information as possible (i.e. screen shots, etc) should be available on their web site in order for customers to determine if a product is meets their needs before ever having to download a single file. Just good practice. Saves bandwidth (which a lot of web host charge for), saves customer time (don't have to download, install, evaluate, uninstall, etc), and it reduce the possibility for virus exchange (good for all parties).

Security issues on the Internet have been sorely lacking for a long time. As the honeymoon is over, it's time for everyone to do their part to correct this.

Businesses (large and small) need to consider good security practices to be a value-add for whatever product or service they provide.

Consumers need to realize that their data and identity are at risk with every mouse click and do what they can by installing and using anti-virus software in addition to firewall/anti-intrusion software.

This is not war people. To win this, everyone must support it. And everyone must participate.

I am here at Microsoft, doing my part to fix security issues in my product and to keep others motivated to do the same.

So, going to a website (suggested out of the blue by someone you have never heard of before) to download and run software from a unknown company is perfectly safe, eh? Was your "quarter century of experience" in sales or marketing?

Thought so. Pity.

I'd love to stay and make you cry some more. but I gotta go. Someone brought in Krispy Kremes.

codepath

Reply to
codepath
Loading thread data ...

You're a slimy dirtbag mapscum. There is no insurance to cover what you're stealing from a guy that devoted countless hours to writing an excellent program. I hope you choke on the $30.00 you saved cheapskate.

Reply to
Bruce

No dickwad. You can't fully evaluate crippled software. IF I download it to try it, I uncripple it. If I like it, I will buy it. Pure and simple.

Keep your pious high and mighty virtue bullshit for some one who gives a shit about YOUR OPINIONS.

how is it that proverb goes? Let those who are without sin cast the first stone.......

Bruce wrote:

Reply to
Mapdude

Oh my! Since JPEG files aren't ever executed, this would indicate that at least /one/ vendor's JPEG decoder fails to check for improperly or maliciously formatted image files, which failure exposes all of their customers to whatever damage any virus hacker might choose to inflict.

Hmm. I wonder which software producer would be so careless of quality and so unconcerned with the welfare of their customers?

How could I possibly not have known! I suppose this means I'll have to install Linux on this (SWMBO's) machine, too...

Reply to
Morris Dovey

The problem is - CutList doesn't cripple their software. Only limits how often you can use it or the number of parts.

Reply to
Rick Chamberlain

What I wonder about is why he had to crow how he'd gotten around the registration. I believe I'd have kept that information to myself.

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

"Morris Dovey" dribbled...

Have not been able to confirm this virus. I only heard a small mention of it on the local news but I missed the name of it. In any case, have you any idea how many JPEG decaoders there are out there? We do not own all of them. And once an issue has been discovered, fixes are made available ASAP. If people choose not to install them, oh well. The fix for the vulnerability the CodeRed exploited was available for download nearly a full year before CodeRed hit.

The reason that so many issues are discovered with Windows is that it has a larger footprint. It's a more juicy target for the fools that create viruses. Tons of Linux bugs and security issues are disovered all the time, but they just don't make the news. Doesn't mean that they are not there.

Anyone who thinks that bugs and security vulnerabilities are consiously and deliberately release is a fool. Microsoft is very pro-active to correct issues once discovered.

All software has bugs. Period. Bug-free software is as much of a reality as unicorns, hobbits, and Iraqi WMDs.

I would guess (don't have actual staistics) that Microsoft expends as much or more man-hours testing it's software prior to release than any other software company (or damned close to it). Why do you think that there are delays in product release (especially the next versions of Visual Studio, SQL Server, and Windows)? It's because we are being very careful in dealing with security issues and pumping in tons of testing resources.

Install whatever you want. Free country. If Linux makes you happy, well, good for you.

Don't get me wrong. I know that Windows has issues. I agree that some of Microsoft's business practices are lame.

But, down here in the trenches, we developers really do try to create the best software possible. No developer here would knowingly release defective code. Period.

Sounds like you are one of those Microsoft-haters. You would hate MS no matter what we did. What a cliché! You get all loud screaming "Microsoft sucks" while running Windows. What a hypocrite! Say one thing, do another.

Must be a Republican.

codepath

Reply to
codepath

LOL. Riiiight. You think everyone fixes _every_ known bug before shipping? Most software would never ship. Well known joke amongst software developers:

Q: "How do you stop you code from having more bugs?"

A: "Stop testing"

Paul

Reply to
Paul Kierstead

Must be a Windows user... Who better to yell "Windows sucks" than someone familiar with the OS?

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

That's what the Marketing Department is for.

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

Sorry, I may have misspoken. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Allow me to clarify.

By "defective code", I meant critically defective (bugs resulting in any sort of crash, hang, data loss, memory mis-allocation, etc) or known security vulnerability.

I did not mean all bugs, which is why I also said, "All software has bugs. Period. Bug-free software is as much of a reality as unicorns, hobbits, and Iraqi WMDs.". It is obviously not practical (not to mention even possible) to fix _every_ bug.

What I meant was that no developer that I know of would ever knowingly ship with a critical bug or known exploitable security issue. All production on the next version of Windows completely stop for months until every developer at Microsoft took a course in writing secure code and then every single line of code was scrutinized with special attention paid to "buffer overruns/overflows" (a majority of all issues). I fully expect that number of those issues to _drastically_ decrease with the next full Windows release.

No one is perfect. Humans make mistakes. Things get missed sometimes. But I know that things around here have dramatically changed in the past 3 years and serious effort is being taken to undo the attitudes of the past.

And, yes, I have heard that joke before. It's funny 'cause it's true.

codepath

Reply to
codepath

If it sucks so bad, then why continue using it? There are alternatives.

If you drink milk that has spoiled, would you bitch about it and keep drinking?

codepath

Reply to
codepath

snip...

snip....

so just who IS it releasing all of that software....?

Reply to
bridger

Key word in sentence: knowingly

No one that I know would _knowingly_ do that.

Just checked, and yes, there it is, I am speaking in English.

Reply to
codepath

key word in tongue in cheek smartass response:

I knew what you meant; I was just yanking yer chain a little....

Reply to
bridger

Depends on the environment, and what the IT department dictates.

Personally, I use a Mac.

I have an XP box I'm setting up, but only because our school board has dictated that's what my children must use. If I had a choice in that, I wouldn't bother... And I'd rather not see my tax dollars going to Microsoft.

But I'm not one who goes around yelling "Windows sucks"...

djb

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

The scum has no integrity and cannot discern, thus it is all the same to him.

Reply to
Len

tell him how you REALLY feel!!

dave

Mapdude wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

Yuppers. Part of the problem /is/ code bloat. In six years I managed to find exactly one bug (I *discovered* it back in Red Hat Linux 4.2) and reported it /to the author/, who produced a corrected version of the module and made it available to the world in less than twenty minutes.

I'm still waiting for Microsoft's promised RTC fix for COBOL-80. Actually, I'm not really still waiting - I've decided that the guy who made the promise had a chronic integrity impairment. Care to guess who it was? [Hint: I already know that everyone reading this newsgroup knows his name.]

Microsoft has a well-earned reputation for letting their customers find the bugs for them. By the time MS-DOS 3.2 came out, I was already bored to tears with the lame excuses. You must not have been around for Windows 3.x, which would not and could not have been released by any software firm making even a pretext of caring about quality. If you're able to stir up a little pro-activity on my still extant COBOL-80 compiler problem, it'd be appreciated.

A comforting mantra, no doubt, to producers of buggy software. To at least some others (like myself) it's a lame excuse for doing a sloppy job. Every bug represents a real world failure to produce a full-quality product. We all fail sometimes. Microsoft would seem to Excel at it.

Issues? I call 'em "bugs". Lame? Interesting choice of words - not one of the ones I'd have chosen to describe their business practices.

I can appreciate that MS developers down there in the trenches really do try to create the best software they can; and that they would never knowingly release defective code. I just wish they were more capable, more knowledgeable, did more complete pre-release testing, and devoted more effort to functionally critical areas and less to screwing around with "easter eggs" and dancing paper clips.

I'm not a true "Microsoft hater" yet - I seem to have gotten stuck in the "disgusted" stage. If it offends you that my Linux box lives in my shop (where I really need the reliability) and that I post from SWMBO's windows box at home - well, I have to admit that it offends me too. (-:

I'm not a Microsoft hater - I'm a /bug/ hater; and I tend to have a low regard for companies who sell defective products and/or don't make good on their committments. YMMV.

Not worthy of an answer.

Reply to
Morris Dovey

Reply to
kenR

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.