Windows 9 (And Pandora) appreciation thread
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Since it's about vim commands: you have to much sanity left.
I know, I know that is a strange thing to say to @Arantor ....
I am too smart not to notice and not smart enough not to care. I have sanity left, the doctor I saw made this very point.
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wait.... all i have to do to rid myself of that [swear word] windows store is to turn off UAC?
Setting up Windows without also linking it to a Microsoft Account ought to do it as well.
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Setting up Windows without also linking it to a Microsoft Account ought to do it as well.
Oh yeah, that thing everyone tells me isn't possible and calls me a liar over, yet I've done it on every Windows 8.1 computer I own without even having to research how to do it first! (except my Surface 2 tablet, kind of made sense to link that one)
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Oh yeah, that thing everyone tells me isn't possible and calls me a liar over, yet I've done it on every Windows 8.1 computer I own without even having to research how to do it first! (except my Surface 2 tablet, kind of made sense to link that one)
I couldn't figure out how to do that, even after reading step by step instructions, because the stuff people told me to click on weren't there when I did it.
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they changed where it was from 8 to 8.1 to 8.1 update 1.... it's almost as if they don't want you to be able to do local accounts.
the easiest way i found to do it reliably is just don't plug in the network when doing the initial install then you'll get a local account because it detects no network.
:-D
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It's kind of moot for me, since my last Kubuntu upgrade messed up the previous fragile dual boot setup. I remember having to do lots of nonsense to get Win8 / Kubuntu to coexist with the retarded new boot thing they went to. And I haven't cared enough to re-enable Win8.1 any time in the last...err...6 months or so.
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yeah.... UEFI is a bitch to set up correctly in a dual boot scenario. i always set it back to BIOS mode if avaliable when i need to install Linux, because the UEFI implementations still arent standardized enough for the linux installers to cope reliably...
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<a href="http://www.infobyte.hr/blog/337/windows-8-1-preview-how-to-install-without-microsoft-account-skip-microsoft-account/">Setting up Windows without also linking it to a Microsoft Account</a> ought to do it as well.
Evidence suggests it does not.
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they changed where it was from 8 to 8.1 to 8.1 update 1.... it's almost as if they don't want you to be able to do local accounts.
the easiest way i found to do it reliably is just don't plug in the network when doing the initial install then you'll get a local account because it detects no network.
:-D
Of course they don't, they want you in their nickel and dime ecosystem.
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Of course they don't, they want you in their nickel and dime ecosystem.
jokes on them. i'm still wortking through the $50 promotional store credit they gave me for signing up as a developer account when 8 was in beta.... i think i have $45 left on that one (only bought the one paid app)
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Despite multiple people under my purview (family IT consultant, naturally) now being on Win8, not a single one has used the store and the one time I tried, it gave me an incomprehensible message that the best Google result for was basically '[fecal matter] went wrong and we don't know why'.
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Nope--all it means is that if you do try to install something, you get asked to give a passport then.
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I couldn't figure out how to do that, even after reading step by step instructions, because the stuff people told me to click on weren't there when I did it.
It changed between 8 and 8.1. In 8.1, you have to click...I think the "sign in with a Microsoft account" button. Then you get an option to not use one.
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Not really sure what you're doing wrong, then, but certainly something. I have three machines of different form-factors all running 8/8.1, and they all work great. I will admit, the main store apps I use are Kindle and a Japanese mahjongg app I managed to find (you know, the kind that isn't a matching game? No? No less than I expected of lesser beings...).
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It was a fresh install of Win8 (not 8.1), clicked on store icon, got error with 8 digit hex code. Stopped caring.
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windows store for 8.0 in non en-US localities had some major issues
yep... localization FTL
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Laptop was using en-GB, and I don't mean this was a localisation issue - it flat out refused to do anything.
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that's what i meant. there were major issues with the localization.
like it barely worked at all under en-US and rarely if ever under other localizations....
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Oh, I see.
Now that I think about it, I think it was more than just failing immediately; I got to the page where I wanted to download Skype for Win8, and it refused to perform it. So I just hit up Google and downloaded it separately. Much more useful.
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they patched most of the issues with updates before 8.1 and it was about 99% functional with 8.1.
still a few lingering issues but they're non deterministic so usually just retrying gets you through now.
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Or I can avoid the whole shebang entirely and continue using Google for the apps I want.
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UEFI is a bitch to set up correctly in a dual boot scenario.
I had a customer whose Windows 8 laptop repeatedly shat itself, getting into a state where Windows flat refused to boot and none of the inbuilt fix-it stuff would fix it.
Turns out that her school technician's interpretation of "bring your own device" involved giving her an external hard drive to plug in and boot from, with the fucked-beyond-redemption State Education Department Windows environment on it, and a quick lesson in how to flip her BIOS from UEFI to legacy mode in order to boot this abomination because of course it wasn't set up for UEFI boot.
Further turns out that Windows 8's "quick boot" semi-hibernation feature really doesn't play nice with dual-boot installations capable of accessing the semi-hibernated filesystem.
Things have improved quite a lot for her since I nuked and paved that laptop with a plain-vanilla Windows 8.1 installation set to boot in legacy mode with quick boot disabled. Absent all the laptop manufacturer's bloat and cruft, the thing actually starts faster than it did originally and she no longer has to fartarse about with the BIOS to boot it at school and her school installation is no longer kicking her inbuilt one in the head.
Local Windows account only, obvs.
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The desktop version of skype is far better on a desktop or laptop anyway. The app is not made for multitasking. Snapping it helps, but any time it isn't visible, it cuts out entirely. On a tablet, that's not even a slight problem most of the time, somehow.
Note that this is unlikely to be a problem in 10, because apps can be in windows.
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I discovered this accidentally, but yes.
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it's what i do. the only metro apps i have installed are OutcoldPlayer (so i can play google Play music locally without using browser and google has so far refused to provide either desktop or metro app for that) and Plex (because obv i want that (i have HUGE Plex library)
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I'm also a big fan of Nokia Music, though the phone version is what I normally use, because of the lack of enforced hot-pink everywhere. Why would they do that on the everything else version?
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dunno, but pink is awesome!
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It's not even a bad looking app. Black and hot pink don't exactly go badly together. I'm just not a fan.
For the most part, Nokia Radio just seems less likely to try to get me to listen to Fall Out Boy than Pandora is, ime. I don't mind them, and even like some of their songs, but I'm horrified at where my playlist will end up if Pandora has it's way.
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i swear pandora's selection algorithm is rigged to drive you towards the indy songs that they pay a pittance for in royalties (that the artists receive a pittance of a pittance for) rather than the AAA labels that Pandora has to pay an arm and a leg for (and the artists get one one milionth of a pittance for)
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All I know is, I had been using Pandora for like a year, and it kept trying to add more emo pop to my playlist.
I try the same artists on Nokia Music, I ended up learning that I quite like Tsunami Bomb. Pandora even has them, but never served them.
I've switched back to Pandora, because they'd rather I wasn't using my phone at work.
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I've had very good luck with Pandora. I've discovered a lot of stuff I'd never heard before. I probably don't listen to anything that would be considered 'AAA' so I'm not sure if I could agree or disagree with your perception.
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i was also rather exaggerating for effect.
even so their algorithm makes no sense to me whatsoever.
I go with Google Play All Access myself.
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even so their algorithm makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Huh...I cannot reproduce that. Have you liked things in channels where you'd rather not have them?
For instance, if you have a channel after a particular band, you may get stuff that's similar to some of there more obscure or rare stuff. But if you like something included due to that, you're messing up that channel.
I've had problem with that in the past, especially when people other than me had access to the mouse.
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especially when people other than me had access to the mouse.
that may have been m y problem then...
my tastes in music are.... unique.
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I've managed to force Pandora into the shape I expect, for the most part. It occasionally plays some Mighty Mighty Bosstones, which I appreciate. It doesn't reach Bowling for Soup terribly often.
...Basically, my playlist is the soundtrack of the '90s...
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my tastes in music are.... unique.
You can go back in and remove likes from an existing channel. I've done this a few times.
It occasionally plays some Mighty Mighty Bosstones, which I appreciate. It doesn't reach Bowling for Soup terribly often.
Well, you probably don't have enough stations set up (based on interpreting this as a complaint). I just counted and I have 48. Some of those are for things that my wife or daughter listens to. Some are seasonal. But I typically have at least 4 or 5 going while I'm listening, so I can fine tune to my mood or if I've been over listening to something in particular.
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I pretty much only use Pandora for instrumental rock/metal, usually seeded with Joe Satriani and the like. All my other stations became steaming WTFs. Oh, you want a Van Halen station? Here's some pop-punk from 2003 that's not even from the same universe! You say you like old-school Metallica albums? Great, have some Nickelback!
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You can go back in and remove likes from an existing channel. I've done this a few times.
theres still the issue that pandoras selection on non US labels is limited at best...
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Amen.
If I could seed using The Pillows, I would be very happy.
Here's some pop-punk from 2003 that's not even from the same universe!
Though, I'll happily take that.
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theres still the issue that pandoras selection on non US labels is limited at best.
I couldn't possibly argue that.
You say you like old-school Metallica albums? Great, have some Nickelback!
I dunno...I might have gotten some of that on my Metallica station originally, but I can't say that I've heard any Nickleback on Pandora in living memory. Those thumbs down do have a noticeable effect for me. Let's see...currently playing:
- Black Sabbath Radio
- Metallica Radio
- Motorhead Radio
- The Dollyrots Radio
- The Misfits Radio
...and Sabbath (Sweet Leaf) currently playing as a part of Motorhead Rdio.
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The Dollyrots Radio
They show up on my rather general station sometimes.
...wait, what's playing now? GREAT, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. JUST WHAT I WANTED! THANKS FOR THE HELP PANDORA!
so I can fine tune to my mood or if I've been over listening to something in particular.
That's less of a problem for me, because I swap between this and a Youtube playlist or two. I have one specific station on Pandora, and it doesn't play the bands I seeded it with very often.
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I have one specific station on Pandora, and it doesn't play the bands I seeded it with very often.
Yeah...I'm going to pull the You're Doing It Wrong card here.
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I'm convinced the seed system means "Never play this band again, ever."
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As far as I know, it's supposed to mean "I like these bands, please play similar things." and not "Please play My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy."
But my experience matches @mott555's.
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Well, I don't know what you've selected. Have you tried the "Why was this track selected?" on the menu (currently the little up arrow between the thumbs on the cover art graphic)? Have you thumbs downed those tracks when they show up?
EDIT: And like I said before, the "like other bands" may be accurate, even though not in the way you were thinking. But that's why you train it.
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Have you thumbs downed those tracks when they show up?
I'm not sure if things have changed (my instrumental station is well-trained so I hardly touch the other stations), but I always ran into the problem where you could only thumb-down 5 tracks in a row or some other nonsense. When I hit that limit I close down Pandora and do other things.
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Have you thumbs downed those tracks when they show up?
Yes, and it tries to play emo songs slightly less now. But that's beside the point. If I tell Nokia a few bands, it expands within the genres nicely. If I give Pandora a few, it tries to play emo.
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I found I have to be extremely conservative about what songs/bands I thumbs-up, because if I give those out too much it treats them like additional seeds and that makes it much more likely to start pulling songs from different genres that maybe have one technical point in common with it.
I had one very interesting moment when my progressive metal station started playing 1920's-style jazz....
