Literally, Invision Power (maker of IPB) released a book — IPB - A User Guide.

Disclaimer: I never liked Invision Power Board, so if you a huge fan of this ugly board, please don’t sue me.

I was doing my usual browsing to see if there are any updates to the world’s only php bulletin board that became more expensive than vBulletin from what was originally free. Okay that’s another story, but the fact that a php script needs a book to explain how it can be used (not how the internal programming works) is plain ridiculous.

If one was willing to $69.95 every year to use a php bulletin board, maybe that administrator knows a thing or two about that a forum. Most people have been apart of a forum as users. Yes, administrating a forum is much harder. Oh yes! They should start reading a book about how to click a series of buttons! Look at the description of this book!

This book is your guide to configuring, managing and maintaining a copy of Invision Power Board 2.
Written for people who want to get their forums up and running as quickly as possible, this book will show you to execute the full power of Invision Power Board.

Once I came across a page on their site that does exactly that. It was the Documentation. Hm. Redundent isn’t it. Oh I know what the book is for! So that after it’s released, they can delete the online documentation located on their site. The reasons for that are as follows.

• To save bandwidth for a huge corporate site.
• To make users search over and over for the lost and forgotten documentation that’s actually useful to sort out the problems and inequities caused by one badly-programmed bulletin board.
• To generate profits for Canada because books use paper and paper comes from trees, which Canada has loads of.

In spite of the support forums and thousands of users answering questions everyday, a book must be the right way to go, since it costs more money… I mean it will exercise the users’ abilities as readers. Yes that’s it.

After all, this book isn’t that expensive. It’s only $22.49 at the moment — “10% saving from the cover price of �13.99 ($24.99)”! Also quoted from their site, “IPS customers qualify for a massive 15% discount.” Oh my. I could save so much from that massive discount (maybe a dollar?). But oh wait I have to spend $100 buying IPB in the first place, and then buy a book to learn how to use it.

If you don’t believe the utter insanity of this book — read the sample chapter (pdf, 748kb). Actually, just browse the sample chapter. There isn’t much content in that chapter. A couple of pictures and huge empty spaces fill the pages.

Seriously though, IPB isn’t good. I don’t know why some forums use it. It’s not nearly as good as vBulletin. Speaking of which, the new version of vBulletin that’s comming out soon will surprise you with its awesome functions (ie. editting posts without reloading the page!).

Let the truth be told, IPB sucks and you know it. If you really wanted to know the integrity of that statement (it’s actually a fact), purchase this book and find out.

I’m currently using a PC running Windows, thinking about either purchasing a Mac iBook or installing Linux on this computer. These three major operating systems for consumers have different intended audience. I thought about how each OS is different in terms of learning to use it to the max. Here it is.

Microsoft Windows XP

As the most popular consumer operating system, Windows XP makes it easy for anyone to use a computer and access simple data. Its learning curve:

In the beginning, a user can grab a mouse and start clicking any file and start editting the documents they want. While Windows can do more, problems occur. When this happens, the user (sometimes) sees the blue screen of death. Unless s/he gets a tech support to fix whatever that’s broken, the computer is useless. So as time passes on, the user doesn’t learn much about the real deal with Windows. After the user has been frustrated with the errors for a couple of months or years, the will of wanting to fix the problems grows. Then comes all the DOS, Network, and Registry stuff that the user has to learn about before knowing that s/he is being brainwashed by Microsoft by using MSN Messenger, Internet Explorer, and all that other default applications that come pre-installed with Windows.

When a user gets to this level of realization, the thought of alternative applications and even operating systems come into place.

Apple Macintosh

Even though I don’t own a Mac, I’ve had experience with them, as well as other Apple products (iTunes). The learning curve of apple products:

Apple claims Mac OS X as the “most advanced operating system in the world.” It attracts users with its slick interface and jelly-like buttons. Macs are powerful to the extent that many things don’t need to be customized to work, thus giving users a easy step up. However, since most of us are brainwashed by Windows, new Mac users aren’t familiar with its style and usage. Therefore, they once again learn about a whole new world of OS. The result is that the average Mac user is very familiar with the OS.

However, after a while, they realize that something isn’t right. They find that Macs can’t do some things, either limited by the fact that Macs are unsupported by some programs or Macs simply can’t be that compatible. Users once again try to learn, but fail because really, there is not much to learn anymore. That hump in the middle of the learning curve indicates this pro-wanna-be behaviour. Macs are too enclosed. After that, disappointed and discouraged users don’t see much improvement in their favourite OS and don’t learn much either.

Linux

Day to day people (non technical people) haven’t even heard about Linux or Unix. Once the frustration of using a crappy computer forces them to look for reliable alternatives, they come to Linux. At this point, the user’s computer knowledge is up to the point that s/he knows about Open Source and the popular trends on the Internet (ie. blogging). The Linux learning curve:

It requires a lot to start with a *nix system. Knowing the kernal and core applications takes time. Just installing Linux on a PC will teach the user a lot about the system. The user will learn about how a computer works — hardware and software. S/he sees code, programming languages, packages, and compilers. By then, the word geek comes naturally when applied to the user.

My brand new 19″ LCD monitor and speakers finally brought up my new computer’s bloated worth.

Now I have a used computer that I want to sell. It’s 650MHz P3, 256MB Ram, 15GIG and some really old motherboard that I don’t think it even has a name. Along with a 5 year old case — a 17″ CRT monitor, some crappy speakers that were probably made in 1995, and all the necessary accessories that are as normal as you can get. How much is it worth?