soapbox

Michael’s post earlier made me realize something… I use almost no commercial software. Here’s the list of everything that I have and use.

Programs as programs:
Adobe Photoshop $lots and lots
GraphicConverter (shareware, but I paid) $35
iLife (iTunes, iMovie HD, iDVD, iPhoto) $35 but I wouldn’t bother buying it again
iWork (Pages and Keynote) $35
Microsoft Office $30
Omniweb (my favorite web browser) $10
Pocket Tanks (fun little tank game) $10
VueScan (third party scanner software) $75

Thats it for software that I’ve paid for unless you count drivers and utilities for printers and digital cameras and everything.

The conclusion is that I could re-buy all of the commercial software that I use regularly (other than photoshop) for around $125.

Here is a fun anecdote for those studying for the ongoing qualifying exam. Most have seen this I imagine, but a little thermodynamics review seemed appropriate.

I received this today with the subject line “After five long years, CNN acknowledges the obvious.” Inaccurate on a couple counts (Sky !=CNN), but this is too good to pass up. Worst disaster indeed…

also, congrats to those who are ~6 mins from being done with Part 1.