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The article is misleading. The computers are not actually of Russian make, they were supplied to Russians by Europeans (EADS). See here.

We have methane eating bacteria here already. There is a great deal of life as we know it that doesn't need oxygen. I think you are grossly oversimplifying and misunderstand what "life as we know it" really means. Just be cause us squishy hairless monkeys need large amounts of oxygen doesn't mean everything around us does too.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel-039-s-X48-to-Come-in-Just-Another-5-Weeks-67604.shtml
http://www.dvhardware.net/article22289.html
It appears the X48 chipset is actually the X38 chipset without the ECC support and for DDR3 Only? Great, just when we weren't confused!

Here's another X38 review: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3120
A chipset comparison graphic: http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/chipsets/intel/x38-launch/memory-lg.png
And another review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/26/intel_x38_chipset/

If you just want to slipsteam, don't mess with nlite as it can really screw up an install if you don't know what you are doing, instead try autostreamer.

Shitty website, low quality news. Just as an example, the same site has a different article that doesn't favor Vista: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Vista-Is-Nothing-Compared-to-XP-Move-to-Mac-OS-X-and-Ubuntu-Linux-65786.shtml

I am wondering who they are, as well. If it helps, they also did this study about PHP.

Ooh, and here's one where they say Linux is gaining ground over Windows in certain areas...

This is MADD-ness!

In the video it said 158 mph at the end of a quarter mile. I am almost positive that the summary underneath the video was a misinterpretation - its author probably confused the quarter mile time with the top speed. I mean seriously, 0-60 in .97 sec?! 400 horsepower in something that only weights 650 lbs (plus driver)?! That's the proportional equivalent of 1600 horsepower in something that weighs as much as a car. Unless there's some sort of governor (unlikely) or rpm limitation (very unlikely, since it's electric), it could probably just keep accelerating until the tires give out or it hits equilibrium with air resistance. I bet the real top speed (if it's ever been tested) is closer to 350 mph. This one, with a 550 horsepower Viper engine, has a top speed of close to 400 mph and 2.5 seconds for 0-60, so by my estimates the top speed of the electric bike should be close to that (the better 0-60 time is due to the massive torque provided by electric motors in comparison to internal combustion engines). I doubt anyone will ever take the KillaCycle to its top speed.

Sorry, while your observations may be true for other games, they are invalid for EVE. A point-by-point refutation:

>MMO: "Game Owners Create Money and distribute it to players at a fixed rate"
In Eve there are isk (the unit of currency) spigots. Bounties are paid to pilots for killing npc pirates, completing missions and/or selling items to NPCs. This money is create ab initio and is distributed at a rate determined by the players. Killing more pirates creates more money.

>MMO: "Game Owners tax citizens in Non-MMO Money"
While players do pay a monthly fee to play, they are also taxed in-game in isk. Every time I sell an item in Eve, I pay sales tax in ISK to the SSC. Players who are members of corporations which choose to tax their members take a percentage of bounties earned, in isk. Smugglers in EVE pay ISK penalties if caught. When your ship is destroyed in Eve, it doesn't respawn, so breaking the law in Eve effectively fines you for the cost of your ship, in Empire-controlled space anyway. People who have effective control over outlying star systems often charge tolls in ISK to pass unmolested.

>MMO: "No Lending/Credit"
In Eve there are player-created banks. These are generally viewed as shady/untrustworthy institutions as they are not regulated in-game but some players do patronize them. See http://news.softpedia.com/news/Eve-Online-Economy-Suffers-700-billion-ISK-Scam-33737.shtml
> MMO: No banks with fractional reserve lending ability
This seems to be true, due to the lack of faith in the player banks in eve. From this we can see that the main difference between Eve's synthetic economy and the real one is regulation.

Here's the setup, Installing a Win 2k Server on our intranet for our Windows clients and Freelancers [inwards looking only]. I briefly jumped on the WWW for updates [yes, I know it's not actively supported] having already updated to SP4 manually along with the latest rollup - yada, yada.

OK, now I've been schooled by some of the best on this particular server - in Seattle, mind you, so I got a pretty good handle on this, but hey, I'm no Mark Russinovich.

So, on this "other OS" I was able to quite easily find all things "Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server", home page, oodles of info.
Jump on the 2000 Server and off to the download section of MS, [Windows Update and Microsoft Update don't work without IE 6] 20 mins of clicky-clicky and I'm getting nowhere. Weirdly, the word "server" is absent where I'd done the same search earlier on that "other OS".

Three-card Monte:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-card_Monte

Next, IE 6.1 SP1.
The stub doesn't work, [as usual] so I try the Run trick for the full update, ("C\Download\iesetup.exe /"c: ie6wzrd.exe - something like that).
Broke.
[not to mention the frequent STOP errors, disk controller errors, etc. on known good hardware]

4 hours on just this. FOR A FUCKING BROWSER UPDATE.

OH LOOK:
Great, some help!

AutoPatcher 2000 August 2007 Core Release & Update:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancement s/AutoPatcher.shtml

AutoPatcher description
AutoPatcher 2000 requires Windows 2000 SP4 to be installed (works with Windows 2000 Pro, Server, & Adv. Server)

"August 29, 2007: The development of the Autopatcher project was officially ceased today, when the Microsoft Legal department contacted the Autopatcher team demanding them to put an immediate stop to any further releases. For more details, please read this article."

Classsssy.
Along the way, I got great offers for Windows 2003 Server, lots of links - rich content ... Web 2.0 goodness!!!!

Here's the punch line Guys and Gals:

Like Sony - I'm banning Microsoft, Windows and all things Redmond from our office. I've wasted my time before [and we formally quite supporting Windows here], but this is the last time I do this - it's ALL going, lock, stock and barrel, down to the books and the media it resides on, OUT.

I don't have these problems on the "other" servers - period {.}.

I'm ripping this install out and installing Linux or Solaris, fuck it, at least if I have trouble I haven't got people trying to hide the software I need to get the GOD DAMNED thing running.

Thank you for your attention.
I feel MUCH better. :-)

hylas

To allow for KNOWN SAFE Javascript, and to limit the least without any other intervention required (automatically updated white lists:)

GetFirefox.com
AdBlock Plus
I could also recommend getting Peer Guardian (with HTTP blocking ON) to block against other known malicious sites.
You can set up a filtered DSN (ie: ScrubIt.com)
Finally, you could also find an application that will add a list of known baddies to your own HOSTS file (which would then force a known bad site to redirect to 127.0.0.1/localhost!) (ie: Spybot, Search & Destroy)

The 3D Realms, issue on the other hand, was punished for a purely technical violation of terms and conditions, see the following article, ESRB Picks on 3D Realms' 'Antiquities'. Because it was very important that 3D Realms update the rating for Duke Nukem 3d. (Hmm, what about game stores selling old games with out of date ratings on the boxes? I just bought Braindead 13 from an obscure web retailer, no doubt if I pointed them out to the ESRB, they'd be punished and fined as well. This is the ESRB acting as a cartel's hit squad, not doing anything remotely useful.

Let me pause for a moment of on-topic punditry... No phone is perfect. US providers offer much less capable phones for higher prices with more conditional contracts and more expensive service. That is what I have yet to get behind.

Alright, you've sold me on the interface advantages, but the focus of my question is on the price/satisfaction ratio gap between the US and JP, not on the iPhone-W41CA comparison. Still, your arguments are noted. I will pray that iPhone results in better interfaces across the board. As for features, no, iPhone is only a quantum leap compared to the crap I'm faced with now.

Sorry I ended up making a really weak comparison, but that wasn't the purpose. However, there are a few assessments I don't agree with. Most notably, I don't consider touchscreen to be pure progress. I can type in Japanese on my keitai without looking at it. I walk around with it at my side and continue punching out an email. Japanese or English. I'm not convinced I would ever be as useful with a virtual keypad as a real keypad. The buttons on the 41CA have a very nice rooftop design that make it extremely easy to feel the keys. The Keypad on the 41CA is all I would ask for. I will admit that the Apple's touchscreen will end up being more versatile. What I'd really pay attention to is a model I saw in Akiba. It was much like the DS with a touchscreen on one side and a regular screen on the other side. It's a clamshell design, so it's probably a bit more pocket-garbage proof.

I checked out the Q-phone, and I would bet that it's actually a bit more versatile than the 41CA on the software side. Buying through AU almost guaranteed that I was locked to AU's interface. Their music player was also a bit of a pain, being DRM infested. Quickest way around that was CD rental/internet cafe's. Q-phone is a far cry south on sexiness. Spin-chassis phones are really nice. It's very good as a phone and then very good as a camera or music player.

I have to point out that my Casio cost me about $15, activation charges aside, and I can't, for love or money, come up with a comperable model in Oklahoma. Simply put, the W41CA was far from the pinnacle of keitais but trumps far more expensive models in the US. The service from AU was incredibly cheap compared to what I would pay for similar services in Japan. For what I paid, the W41CA and service from AU were amazing compared to what's getting pitched at me from kiosks in the states.

Another thing that stands out in the comparison is that we're comparing a W41CA to an iPhone. These are two models. If I want a cool phone in the states, I get an iPhone. If I want a cool phone in Japan, I have about fourty models to choose from and all come with multiple colors. Compare that to the Samsung Hue which is marketed for its changeable faceplates. Give me a break. Aftermarket faceplate swaps have been around forever. (I must admit I wouldn't have seen any ad gimmicks in Japan simply because I don't bother reading anything in Japanese unless I'm convinced I'll be more informed after reading it.)

Finally, the W41CA was cool, but it's over a year old now. There probably isn't a worn iPhone in existence yet. You really should compare it to the W53CA.

http://www.intomobile.com/2007/05/23/casio-w53ca-e xilim-mobile-phone-launched-look-out-sony-ericsson -cybershot.html

Looks pretty compelling from here! Take a look at the 32-bit vs. 64-bit benchmarks shown here for instance! If I was a game developer, I'd gladly take 40FPS over 30FPS if it only meant a recompile targeting a 64-bit platform!

That's nowhere near representative

E.g.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=29278 &mode=threaded
I get unstable results in Vista x64 the range from as low as 4800 to as high as 5200, this is a massive instability when you consider that ins Vista x32 I get 5270 +/- 20 and on XP (both x86 and x64) I get 5300 +/- 15. If anyone would like the compare URLs I can post them, just ask

x64 seems to have a graphics driver issue.

or

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-versus-Wind ows-or-32-bit-versus-64bit-1349.shtml

x64 and x32 perform identically. This is what I'd expect actually.

You only need to test two binaries if you also choose to support 32-bit as well - a suitably advanced app/game could just make a 64-bit capable AMD/Intel chip a prerequisite these days (DOOM required a 386 or better during a similiar 16/32-bit transition period)

Yeah but back then every gamer had a 386. Now everyone has an x64 compatible CPU but most of them are running 32 bit Windows.

PAE only gives you access to more memory, it doesn't enable the CPU 64-bit processing

x64 gives more registers, and you can use things like CMOV since you know all x64 CPUs support them.

Having more registers won't help that much I suspect - most games are limited by GPU or memory subsystem performance, not by CPU registers.

So, how's that SLI working for you under Vista? Because it wasn't working only a month ago. I'd mutter something about glass houses, stones, etc., but hey, who am I to judge? Your system isn't even doing what it's supposed to with your shiny Vista and shiny new hardware, and you expect Linux to be somehow better with cutting-edge hardware support, even when traditionally Linux gets the scraps and pieces of company support, if at all? What are you smoking? Driver support under Linux IS fast and easy. Easier than under Windows. It's that manufacturers don't support Linux.

Vista fan boy's are easy to spot. They have this wonderful selective memory...

A quick google search of "vista DRM" is quite enlightening. You are telling me that A) you don't believe it, or B) you never heard of it. A) gets you fanboy status, B) loses you credibility. That puts everything else you say in context.

Corp Activation, is a pain in the ass for remote offices, remote users, traveling users, etc. Why should I need to run yet another server just so I can use my legally purchased clients? What, EXACTLY, is the benefit to ME of activation and that additional server / service that I have to maintain, provide remote access to, debug, etc.? It certainly will NOT quickly shut down machines that leave the office.

What exactly is the purpose of the virtualization restrictions? It's quite simple - make it more expensive to continue to run Windows applications for those migrating to alternative platforms. Virtualization users don't NEED anything more than home basic functionality, but you want them to pay for ultimate or business??? Why? To bolster MS's stock?

I suggest you Diff the XP and Vista EULA's. Quite enlightening. It is a VERY well known fact that Windows EULA's have become more and more draconian, and it's more than the virtualization restrictions... Again, google provides lots of info. One of the more major items is that Vista Retail only allows you ONE transfer to a new machine. So no constant hardware upgrades for gamers, unless you want to buy windows over and over and over again. But there is more - google for it.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Forget-about-the-WG A-20-Windows-Vista-Features-and-Services-Harvest-U ser-Data-for-Microsoft-58752.shtml
Your answer is to firewall Microsoft??? How about MS not being spyware to begin with? Wouldn't that be better? Why yes, yes it would. Maybe users want to be able to get updates and not report everything back to MS...

Does Vista have SOME good new features? Sure. Are any of those features SO good that any sane, knowledgeable person would want to deal with the other shit? In my opinion, and the opinion of thousands of other professionals, the answer is no.

You can try to skate around the truth and sugar coat the negative aspects of Vista all you want - unfortunately the truth is still there for anyone willing to look for it. I also expect the other vista fanboy's out there to mod me down in a lame attempt to hide from the truth. But answer me this: Even if you have unfettered love for Bill G, MS, and Windows, wouldn't you want a version of vista without DRM, spyware, activation, GA, and an overly restrictive EULA? If not, why not?

You mean links like these?

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Sy stems/Kernels/MOSIX-7287.shtml
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Sy stems/Kernels/MOSIX-Grid-and-Cluster-Management-23 125.shtml
http://www.mosix.org/txt_cluster.html
http://www.tucows.com/software_detail.html?id=8473
http://www.icewalkers.com/Linux/Software/530140/MO SIX.html

BTW, that's just a few. I hope they helped out. BTW, my search term in Google were "MOSIX download" without the quotation marks.

You mean links like these?

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Sy stems/Kernels/MOSIX-7287.shtml
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Sy stems/Kernels/MOSIX-Grid-and-Cluster-Management-23 125.shtml
http://www.mosix.org/txt_cluster.html
http://www.tucows.com/software_detail.html?id=8473
http://www.icewalkers.com/Linux/Software/530140/MO SIX.html

BTW, that's just a few. I hope they helped out. BTW, my search term in Google were "MOSIX download" without the quotation marks.

Got a link to this 5.5 billion loss?

All I can find is further articles backing up the current losses and other articles pointing out that Sony's games division is suffering double the losses of MS'

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Xbox-Sinks-into-a-1 -26-Billion-Hole-30776.shtml

http://kotaku.com/gaming/hms-playstation/playstati on-biz-may-post-2-billion-loss-260674.php

Well, I did find one link but it was from a random poster in an anti-XBox 360 forum thread on playstation.com, hardly the most authoritize source.

You didn't provide links to prove 'clunky' or 'privacy-invading', which doesn't surprise me.

Playing MP3s and DVDs without breaking the law (fair law or not, still a law)

Being able to play the latest games without needing a degree in Computer Science

Being able to perform 99% of my system tasks without referring to the CLI

I work for a university that requires Windows updates to be current, and thus fix these problems frequently. This is the correct procedure for the vast majority of these issues.

Dial-A-Fix (download here, XP32 only) has been immensely helpful in resolving similar issues because it automates many basic tasks such as this one.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/E-mail/Mail- Utilities/GMail-Drive-shell-extension.shtml

Linky goodness :-) Yumm

No offense to the author, but the linked article is barely informative. I don't even know how this made it to the front page. But

the subject is interesting, as there is a bunch of cool freeware software to make XP be like (or even better than) Vista. You

don't need to spend a single dollar. So this is my real list of programs to Pimp your XP:

1. Lauchy: www.launchy.com
Some may say that this is the poor man's QuickSilver. Maybe it is, but in the Windows world there are few programs as useful as

Launchy. Install it and you won't need to access your start menu anymore.

2. Quizo's Explorer toolbars: http://quizo.at.infoseek.co.jp/freeware/indexEn.ht ml
These are 2 free toolbars that make Windows Explorer as good as Directory Opus (IMHO) for free:
* QTTabBar: Adds firefox-style tabs to windows explorer. It also adds a cool incremental search feature, and a customizable

toolbar where you can add folder shortcuts, etc
* QTAddressBar: Explorer breadcrumbs!

3. FileBox eXtender: http://www.hyperionics.com/files/index.asp
This is one of the most useful little pieces of software that I've used. I adds 2 buttons to the title bar of every windows dialog

and of every windows explorer window. One button gives you access to your "favorite folders" (which you can easily change) and the

other one gives you access to your "folder history". With these, going back and forth between folders to open or save files

becomes a snap. The only problem is that the default button icons a kind of ugly, but they can be easily changed.

4. Findexer: http://tomseffect.com/
Substitutes the windows explorer sidebar for a place where you can put links to your preferred folders. If you use FileBox

eXtender (see above) this might not be as useful, but I still like to use it.

5. TaskBar Shuffle: http://www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.ht m
Another really useful program. With it you can reorder the window buttons in the windows taskbar. It can even automatically group

windows from the same program without collapsing them. You can also reorder the tray icons in the system tray.

6. Free Launch Bar: http://www.freelaunchbar.com/
Make the windows Quick Launch bar much more useful with this free replacement. It adds the ability to have folders inside the

quick launch bar, and have shortcuts within those folders.

7. LClock: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/ Clocks-Time-Management/LClock.shtml
A nice replacement to the windows clock in the system tray. It looks much better and is more useful as it shows a calendar when

you click on it. But the reason I recommend it is that it can also hide or reduce the size of the start menu button! Once you

start using Launchy (see above) you will not use the start menu very often, so I like to recover the taskbar real state that it

uses unnecessarily. To do so, with LClock you can reduce it by substituting the start menu image with a much smaller one.

8. MenuApp: http://www.freewaregenius.com/2006/11/02/menuapp/
Customize the explorer context menu with this tool. It comes with a lot of built-in actions, such as Command Prompt here, Create a

Folder, copy filename to path, etc.

There are other tools that you can use, but which I personally don't (although I've tried or used them in the past):

1. RocketDock: http://www.punksoftware.com/rocketdoc

If you're going to waste your time, you may as well make it fun.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/ Themes/FlyakiteOSX.shtml

And all it takes to find it is pretty much a google search with the word "linux" in it. For example, "Linux video editing software" or "linux accounting software", ad nauseam.

So when it the last time you authored a DVD movie on Linux? How about using a TOPO map program such as Back Roads Explorer? How about the bundled program to upload maps and POI to your GPS Nav unit? What do you recommend to replace Turbo Tax Small Business Edition?

Compare Q-Light to Freestyler. Compare TOPO State series on Back Roads Explorer with anything Linux.
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/1488.ht ml
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Artistic-Software/Q -Light-Controller-8523.shtml

I'm hoping someday Freestyler will be ported to Linux.
http://users.pandora.be/freestylerdmx/

Ouch! Ouch!.... I feel like I supporting the MS monoculture.... No! No!.. I'm supporting a diverse environment.

My router, servers, and most desktops run Linux. My favorite desktop distro is Ubuntu. My old 386 is dual-boot for when I need to upload maps to a new area to the NAV unit. (Windows 98 assigned a blocked by the router IP address for obvious reasons..It is not permitted online). I picked up a new (larger) hard drive for my laptop. I stuff the old Win 2K drive in it when hitting the backroads and I want to use Back Roads Explorer in the country or when doing a lightshow using Freestyler. For online, it's back to Ubuntu. Someday the old Windows 98 and 2K applications will go with the old hardware, but in the meantime it's dual boot or Hard Drive swap.

In summary.. Find the hardware and software to meet your needs. You can no longer expect it to all run on a single general purpose computer. You may need other hardware. Prime evidence of this is MS released Vista. They also released X-Box. Neither is a replacement for the other.

Maybe most phones in the US, I don't know, but in the UK I've not seen a phone that doesn't do MMS (outside of specially designed ultra-simple ones) for several years and three phone upgrades. It's been standard for at least four years, and while the volume of MMS messages isn't close to that of SMS messages, just in the UK alone one million MMS messages are sent each day.

It's definitely an issue in Europe.

Other advantages of PC games (I've got karma to burn, so why not jump in?)

1. A greater sense of agency. Because of a lack of save file size limitations and oodles of ram, players can make tons of changes to the world in PC games.

2. Greater variety of PC games. As anyone can make pc games, you get titles from pirate themed MMOs to massive to galaxy spanning adventures to the Switzerland-sponsored Catch the Sperm

3. PC screens just look better

Cons:

1. Quality assurance. PC companies are getting better about this, but I've never played a PC game I couldn't crash.

Other advantages of console games:

1. Brain-dead simple... which is usually what I am by friday after work. No installation, no patches, no driver conflicts. It all just works with never an issue. I can't tell you how many PC users who have come to me trying to figure out how to shut down their consoles without damaging Windows.

2. Local Multiplayer. Want a 4 player game of Gears of War? Plug in 4 controllers.

3. Twitch games. Ikaruga would not work on a pc.

4. TV screens are just bigger.

cons:

1. Where did that Xbox 360 warranty card go again?

If they love open source so much then I'm sure they didn't mind THIS at all! *sarcasm*

You got M.U.L.E for Linux !

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/GAMES-ENTERTAINMENT /Arcade/M-U-L-E-7431.shtml/

It does a pretty good job of simulating the Vista eye candy, except for maybe transparency. Bonus is, all your apps work.

Oh yeah, when you know you can't win an argument, just attack the premise as insane. Ok.

4. Licensing - what licensing?

It has a license.. Please read it carefully. Making copies and distributing the software is permitted in the license. The license does have some restrictions including leaving out the license in your copies.

Downloads: 607
Developer: Edubuntu Team | More programs by this producer
License: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Price: FREE
Last Updated: March 23rd, 2007 18:13
Category: MAIN :: System :: Operating Systems :: Linux Distributions

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Sy stems/Linux-Distributions/Edubuntu-Feisty-Fawn-207 66.shtml

GNU license is here;

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

Please read your license.

Please note that Bootvis.exe is not a tool that will improve boot/resume performance for end users. Contrary to some published reports, Bootvis.exe cannot reduce or alter a system's boot or resume performance. The boot optimization routines invoked by Bootvis.exe are built into Windows XP. These routines run automatically at pre-determined times as part of the normal operation of the operating system.

If you are an end-user seeking to resolve issues for boot/resume performance on your PC, we recommend that you contact the vendor from whom you purchased the PC. For information from Microsoft on specific issues, you can search Knowledge Base for Windows XP product issues related to "resume time." Knowledge Base is a free information service available at: http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=fh;%5Bln%5D;kbh owto

You can also post questions to the Microsoft Windows XP Newsgroups at: http://www.microsoft.com/communities

If you are a software developer or system designer seeking assistance for using Bootvis.exe in your development efforts, please work with your usual Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) contacts for developer support. To get developer support if you do not already have a contact, please see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/support/

The Bootvis.exe tool is no longer available from this site.

Actually, you can patch XP's theme managing file (uxtheme). It isn't bundled with the OS, but all the patcher does is remove the barrier that says only MS certified themes can be used. Sure, it's nowhere near the versatility of Gnome (or KDE I presume), but you aren't restricted to the themes Windows comes with.

You didnt look very hard did you??? Autopatcher Vista.... http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancement s/AutoPatcher-Vista.shtml

So your main complaints are:

- It could take you ten minutes to register your copy of Office if you take the slowest option, when there are faster options available to you and you decided not to take them,

- If your laptop breaks you have to get another copy of Office, or you could call MS who have no qualms about giving out new keys if you have an issue where the original computer is unusable,

- That you could have spent $380 on something else you would find just as useful, which is your fault as a consumer for not taking the time to find out if what you're buying is actually worth it for you. I don't blame a car manufacturer for spending $200,000 on a sports car when I would have been fine with a $14,000 Ford Focus.

Go ahead and use OO.o - I find it to be crippled and bug-ridden compared to my experience with Office, and that's saying something. To be honest, if you're stupid enough to spend your hard-earned cash on something you don't like or need without bothering to test whether it's good for you, then you dug your grave and you should lie in it.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancement s/Vista-Transformation-Pack.shtml

Vista Transformation Pack will give to your Windows XP system the new and cool look of Microsoft's future operating system: Windows Vista. The pack changes most of the system icons, skins and toolbars and also adds new enhancements to your desktop such as a dock bar or a different system tray clock

If you just like the look, then get this... it has some vista features too.

Better yet download it here without the need to register.

You can't claim victory when you've made very deliberate predictions that temperatures will go up, and then refine those predictions (still going up but in a narrower range), if temperatures actually go down.

Let me draw a parallel: Sulfate aerosols. Twenty years ago... BAD! Spend five billion dollars on a five million dollar problem by requiring major changes to industry by amending the clean air act. Now, twenty years later, the same environmental crowd that fought against sulfates so vigorously tell us sulfate aerosols are keeping global temperatures down and should be intentionally put into the atmosphere. Keep in mind, they don't want to lift clean air act restrictions. They want to spend more money (pocket more grants) seeding it with jet airplanes, balloons and artillery cannons... I still haven't heard how this is supposed to avoid the production of acid rain, but there it is, staring you in the face. Twenty years ago, you would have told me to stuff my sulfate conspiracy theories too, I suppose.

So you say a temperature switcheroo in a few decades is impossible? Suppose they just throw up a two or three page "debunking" over at realclimate and continue on their merry way. Would that pass your sniff test? They are simply trying to scare up power and support, just like George W Bush does with the terrorism rhetoric. Remember, the whole sulfate aerosol business started in 1995 when the IPCC's prediction of 1.3C-2.3C temperature increase only turned out to be about a 0.5C increase.

By 1995, in its second full assessment of climate change, the IPCC admitted the validity of the critics' position: `When increases in greenhouse gases only are taken into account, most climate models produce a greater mean warming than has been observed to date, unless a lower climate sensitivity to the greenhouse effect is used. There is growing evidences that increases in sulfate aerosols are partially counteracting the warming due to increases in greenhouse gases.'

Let me translate this statement. It means either it is not going to warm up as much as we said it would or something is hiding the warming. I predict that every attempt will be made to demonstrate the latter before admitting that the former is true.

Source: Testimony of Dr. Patrick J Michaels before the 105th US Congress, 1997

The page in question is right here. It's too bad Adobe wouldn't provide us this functionality, but at least they didn't stop us from doing it...

On the other hand, would a closed system build 287 different end-user apps for playing mp3's?

We've seen groups of things travelling at greater than the speed of light (both sound and light)....granted the individual waves do not, but the collective [word used intentionally] does. So, we just put a whole bunch of probes in some loopy PVC pipe and, "poof", we can get across the galaxy in a fraction of the time.

Layne

References:
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/11/1
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Light-that-Travels- Faster-than-Light-24167.shtml
http://www.physorg.com/news88249076.html

Were unlicensed open source projects in the early days of computing. Something like netrek or Conquest or even earlier text mode games on the mainframes were a blast to play. Hell, I spent many (MANY) an hour in the Vax lab playing Conquest. I also spent many an hour on a Linux-running 486 playing netrek. Simple competitive gameplay seems to be key. Perhaps if Microsoft made a netrek downloadable client and put some servers up they'd have a winning Trek game.

I haven't checked the information yet, but here's an abstract on the rest, found through google:

The Power6 processor will run between 4GHz and 5GHz and it has been proven to chew away data at a speed of 6GHz in the lab.

IBM see things a little differently and they decided to raise the frequency in both cores of the processor.

For high-end models, four POWER6 MPUs will be packaged in a single multi-chip module, along with four L3 victim caches, each 32MB.

On the management side, IBM is also improving their virtualization capabilities in the POWER6. In particular products, a single processor may be able to host 2-300 virtual instances, although theoretically up to 1024 VMs are possible. Memory partitioning and migration have been added as well, which reduces system down time for repairs.

IBM is claiming a factor of two performance increase, which would be consistent with the vastly higher clockspeeds and increases in raw system bandwidth.

IBM's roadmaps currently include the POWER6+, which is presumably a 45nm derivative product. Judging by past practices, the POWER6+ will debut in the second half of 2008, probably just in time to dash the hopes of rivals.

The Power and PowerPC lines will grow one step closer together with Power6, which incorporates the AltiVec instruction set that speeds up many multimedia tasks. AltiVec, also known as VMX, increases efficiency by letting a single processing instruction be applied to multiple data elements. That's helpful for video and audio tasks on desktop machines, but servers will benefit as well in, for example, high-performance computing tasks such as genetic data processing, McCredie said

Where Power5 can transfer data on and off the chip at a rate of 150 gigabytes per second, Power6 can do so at 300GBps, McCredie said.

Oh, and it is also good for BCD's (binary coded decimals) which obviously points to the expected customers (high end financial firms, presumably).

Sources:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Power6-IBM-Proc essor-Trashes-Competition-with-6-GHz-17765.shtml
http://realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT101 606194731
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6124451.html

Personally, I cannot stand the default theme in XP. It's too Fisher Price. The only theme that annoys me more is Keramik. The grey/silver one is decent, though. I always used classic until I found out about the Royale theme (it's from Media Center Edition). That is actually really nice. Now the first thing I do when reinstalling XP is to install that theme.

This one is the best. Easiest to use. Well designed. It just gets it done.

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Security/BRU-LE.shtml

Nothing is quite so aggravating as hidden directories and being told that I cannot delete something.

This article seems to imply that ASLR (or ALSR or whatever it is) can either be disabled by the user system-wide, or that certain systems won't have the features required to enable ASLR. So it probably won't stop determined users.

Xine http://news.softpedia.com/images/news2/xine-5.png Use it all the time. My wife is a beginner, I of course run as Master of the known universe naturally.

Microsoft has a free utility called bootvis that visually shows you were your computer bootup is spending it's time. You can download this utility at: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/Bo otVis.shtml This utility also has some whitepapers with advice on what you can do to speed up your boot times.