Re:Trucking technology is extremely sophisticated
on
Big Rigs Go High Tech
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· Score: 1
The summary underestimates the technology development in the trucking industry. Since at least the early 70's oil crisis, no effort has been spared to wheedle out ever last cent per lb-mile. If that's the case, why are US trucks still 25-40% per lb-mile WORSE than the EU despite having more MPG friendly terrain?
Diesel engines have for years been very efficient. The average today is about 6-6.5 MPG for tractor trailers. OMG - is that all you're getting out of US trucks that aren't even pulling the same weight as the EU ones? That's disgusting. Running at 40 tonnes (88,000 lbs) I can average just short of 10MPG in the UK. Running at the maximum 44 tonnes (96,800lbs) I average high 8's to low 9's. I consider a very bad run to be 8MPG and even on the old trucks, the worst I ever had was 7.2MPG on a 10 year old rig. Hell, I even get 8.5MPG on a 16ft high double deck trailer.
US built trucks are pathetic. They're gutless fuel guzzling behemoths compare to European trucks.
In the UK with have heavy goods vehicles typically with 420-480BHP pulling 44 tonnes (88000lbs) and managing to return 8-10MPG despite the fact that the geography of the UK means we don't benefit from the long straightish free-flowing road system the USA has.
I can open a word document with OO. I cannot open an OO document with Word.
I can open a Word Perfect document with OO. I cannot open a WP document with Word.
OO has the cool cachet of the GPL, while Word is just another boring corporate moneymaker.
OO has fewer bugs and faster bug fixes.
OO costs nothing, while stupid people pay good cash for Word that could otherwise be spent on more important things like beer, games, and more beer. All of that is utterly irrelevent. EVERY BUSINESS CAN OPEN A WORD DOCUMENT and that's all that counts. The corporate market is the only one anyone is interested in because that's what makes them rich. That's why OOo has MS Office compatibility because it knows that without it, it's dead.
Installing Kubuntu 7.10 I was REALLY INCREDIBLY ANNOYED THAT THERE WAS NO FRIGGIN WPA-PSK SUPPORT!!.......I mean I'm sure there is.. if you _download it_ which is SO easy when you cant go online.. Actually, it's still not there if you do do that and the forums are littered with people who can't get WPA working. Apparently this so called secure OS requires the use of a 12 second crackable wifi security protocol which kind of negates the whole thing.
Yes, but no more so than Mandriva 2008.1. I installed it this past weekend and it is about as slick as I have seen any Linux installation thus far. Everything just "works", and works well. Err...no it doesn't. Whilst my wifi works and my lappy hard drive doesn't suffer the click of death as it does in Ubuntu, I cannot connect to Windows shares. The applet in the Mandriva Control Centre to do this simply does not work. I've fucked about for several hours pissing about with SAMBA trying to get it to work as well and in the end I just bootrec/fixmbr'd and recovered the partitions for use in Vista because TBH, I want to actually use my computer and not spend hours pissing around in text editors just to get something which should be really simple to work.
I give up with Linux. All of the distros seem to be going backwards. Mandriva is now a real headache to connect to Windows shares when Mandrake 8 was a breeze and Ubuntu breaks my wifi if I update from 7.10 to 8.04 because the new kernel doesn't like Broadcoms.
It's happening on the ASUS Eee PC, where hundreds of thousands of people are buying these things and using Linux happily. And it's so successful that they provided XP drivers and there's a Windows version for Eee v2. In fact, people are uninstalling the Linux version on the Eee PC in so many numbers that Microsoft are keeping a version of XP available to purchase for it long after June 30th just for it.
But it does helpfully offer to look on the internet for such drivers.
Has anyone ever actually seen that work? I don't mean the bit where it phones home and sends your first born son to Microsoft, but are there really any drivers at the other end?
No because to get drivers for my wifi card, it has to connect to the internet which it can't do because my wifi doesn't work. I could use Windows drivers and extract the firmware but I have to download an application to do that from the internet which I can't access because my wifi doesn't work.
Vista is better about drivers, yes, but in my experience it's still behind Ubuntu. Especially when, god forbid, your driver isn't Digitally Signed and Certified by Microsoft, at which point Vista just refuses to install it. LIAR
As for your other point, yes, a computer to the average person is a box with useful programs. In that light, what do you get on a fresh Windows install? Practically nothing -- a crippled, hideous audio/video player (WMP), a crippled word processor (WordPad), and a browser that, while it is making progress, is still pretty much a gaping security hole. And why is that? Oh yeah..because if they did people would say it is anti-competitive just the way they are doing about IE being bundled.
That's pretty much it. Anything else you want, you're going to have to seek out, buy, find shareware, or pirate, and install it yourself, sifting through dozens of.exe installers or CDs and whatever else. No different to having to search through Google for Linux apps then...
Those programs you've been using since the early days of XP suddenly won't install in Vista, or won't work because they're written for 32 bit and you've got 64 bit, or some other crap. More complete bullshit. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. UNLIKE LINUX Windows x64 runs 32 bit apps with very little problem.
Ubuntu comes with practically everything the average user would ever care about. Email, browser, Office suite, IM and IRC client, music player, video player, CD burner... it has it all, out of the box. Perhaps Microsoft should protest to the Govt about anti-competitive practices that Ubuntu and other Linux distros seem to be doing.
And at the end of the day, I still can't use Ubuntu on my laptop unless I want to have it prematurely die from the load cycle recount bug or fry from overheating from the load cycle recount bug workaround....
Microsoft's revenue stream is fine for now. 5 years from now I doubt very much it will be as much... I find that quite a funny comment considering they're eating into *nix server market share, many corporations who have gone to linux are now back on Windows and it's the corporations where the real money is.
And then there's Xbox 360 who, on a per customer overall spend basis, is doing FAR better than PS3 or Wii as many people buy PS3 more for video playback and Wii owners buy typically a couple of games compared to the 10 that 360 owners typically buy.
AMEN BROTHERS. I'm sick to death of the Loonix fags telling me how great linux is and telling me it's my fault that my wifi doesn't work on my laptop and it's suffering the click of death despite the fact it's in the bugtraqs and thousands of people have the same problem.
I'm sick of Loonix fags telling me how secure Linux is on the very same day that yet another exploit is released and Linux was first to fall in the recent hacker competition.
I'm sick of Loonix fags telling me how great OSS apps are when the interface looks like something I used to get in DOS applications in the early 90's.
I'm sick of Loonix fans telling me how great it runs on older hardware when I can run XP at decent speeds on 256MB and any of the current versions of Suse, Ubuntu, Fedora etc run like a fucking pig under 512MB RAM. And how they go on about how great it is that all graphics cards are supported like using FB and having to WAIT as the screen updates when you scroll through a document can be counted as supported somehow.
Yes Linux is good. It's progressed a lot but it's by nowhere near the capabilities of Windows either in the software base (that's decent stuff actually worth having) or hardware support. But I ask you this. If Linux is so good, how come so many Eee PC users are uninstalling it?
And who's fault is that? If nVidia would release the specs on their cards (Yes, and ATI too.) so that open source drivers could be written, they wouldn't have to worry about it. Really? That's why wifi works really well on the chipsets that have had their specs released isn't it? I wonder why my wifi doesn't work as well as it does in Windows then...
Thats a long time off. Windows2000 is supported until 2010. XP is likely support for another couple of years beyond that. Plenty of time for everyone to move to Ubuntu or OSX!:-) No thanks. Ubuntu was p0wnd faster than a very fast thing in the recent hackers conference.
You might have heard of this little thing called GNU/Linux that's been able to do everything XP and Vista can but with far fewer resources.
Really? So I can play Battlefield 2 and all my other games with full detail? And my wifi will work properly? And my hard drive on my laptop won't prematurely die from needless power cycles?
Have all of these suddenly been sorted overnight? Wow...
I wonder what's wrong with Vista that Microsoft already is already talking about the next version. Nothing other than whinging bastards complaining because their old shite doesn't run on the new stuff and they might have to spend a few quid on upgrades. They also complained about security in XP and MS tried to address it which is why their old shite doesn't work in Vista and some exploits exist in Vista which shouldn't have.
One thing I will say about the Linux mob is that despite their protestations that Linux is better than Windows 'cos it runs on older hardware', they seem less reluctant to upgrade their kit to run newer versions. For example, try running Gnome 2.x or KDE 3.x on 256MB RAM and it's not pretty. Most Linux users will just jam in another 256MB and get on with it whereas Windows users will bitch and whine about having to pay £10 for a new DIMM.
Breaking binary compatibility would make development considerably *easier*, not harder. Indeed. WinME was shite because it tried to maintain Win98 compatibility. WinVista is shite because it's trying to maintain Win2k/XP compatibility.
Sometimes you just need to flush the whole lot down the crapper and start with a clean sheet.
Didn't we just read that they're breaking binary compatibility with Windows XP/Vista in 7? I laud them for doing this, but the idea that a modular, completely-rethought, bloat-free, and binary incompatible Windows is one year away strikes me as nothing short of absurd. Starting with a completely new OS from the ground up is the only way to avoid WinME/WinVista fiascos. Many of the problems they face are due to the fact people want to run 5 year old shite on the new OS. We even have people bitching because they can't run DOS apps on Vista. I mean come on people FFS - DOS was effectively put to pasture 10 years ago.
just like the article says, it's not like it's going to make your app run any faster. Tell that to my wifes' boss who runs a sign company and is regularly now dealing with images >4GB and has to sit there whilst the HDD hammers away paging stuff.
If you can break the encryption by looking at the code, then they are doing it wrong.
The formula is not important and a good encryption algorithm should be free.
The key used is the protected part and should not be a part of the source code. You can't break it by looking at the source code because the key is stored on a smart card which itself is then encrypted by hardware built into the card and in addition is tied to the serial number of the Sky card and the serial number of the box. It's not as simple as being able to read a PIC 16C84 and program a homebrew card anymore. Nobody has managed to break this in several years as we're still on the same generation of smart card because Sky were renown for issuing new editions once the old one has been cracked and we've not had new ones for years. They've obviously found a very successful way of safeguarding their service. If someone has found a crack they've kept very quiet about it.
I think people are starting to get sick to goddamned death of Google search results firstly giving 10 pages of commercial sites in the first place so if this is something that's going to result in even more ads people don't want, it's going to die a quick death.
Google is in danger of alienating its users. If you want an example, searching for specs or reviews on most electrical items returns a couple of hundred online retailer sites in which will be buried maybe a handful of sites which is actually what you want - the specs or review without it being an e-tailer.
I love it. Tried going back to XP and missed the little tweaks as well as getting completely fucked off trying to get network browsing working - something that's still broke on XP half a decade after its release.
Vista SP1 breaks things. Important things. Like important programs. 12 out of tens of thousands - a handful of those being shitty second rate security applications that would never ever grace the HDD of a computer I own.
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In the UK with have heavy goods vehicles typically with 420-480BHP pulling 44 tonnes (88000lbs) and managing to return 8-10MPG despite the fact that the geography of the UK means we don't benefit from the long straightish free-flowing road system the USA has.
I give up with Linux. All of the distros seem to be going backwards. Mandriva is now a real headache to connect to Windows shares when Mandrake 8 was a breeze and Ubuntu breaks my wifi if I update from 7.10 to 8.04 because the new kernel doesn't like Broadcoms.
You're just talking complete and utter bullshit now. Windows has NATIVE SUPPORT for pretty much most of the devices in any Dell laptop.
Has anyone ever actually seen that work? I don't mean the bit where it phones home and sends your first born son to Microsoft, but are there really any drivers at the other end?
No because to get drivers for my wifi card, it has to connect to the internet which it can't do because my wifi doesn't work. I could use Windows drivers and extract the firmware but I have to download an application to do that from the internet which I can't access because my wifi doesn't work.And at the end of the day, I still can't use Ubuntu on my laptop unless I want to have it prematurely die from the load cycle recount bug or fry from overheating from the load cycle recount bug workaround....
Wow, several out of several hundred million users? BTW, even Linux.com says Wifi is basically busted and not likely to be sorted any time soon.
And then there's Xbox 360 who, on a per customer overall spend basis, is doing FAR better than PS3 or Wii as many people buy PS3 more for video playback and Wii owners buy typically a couple of games compared to the 10 that 360 owners typically buy.
I'm sick of Loonix fags telling me how secure Linux is on the very same day that yet another exploit is released and Linux was first to fall in the recent hacker competition.
I'm sick of Loonix fags telling me how great OSS apps are when the interface looks like something I used to get in DOS applications in the early 90's.
I'm sick of Loonix fans telling me how great it runs on older hardware when I can run XP at decent speeds on 256MB and any of the current versions of Suse, Ubuntu, Fedora etc run like a fucking pig under 512MB RAM. And how they go on about how great it is that all graphics cards are supported like using FB and having to WAIT as the screen updates when you scroll through a document can be counted as supported somehow.
Yes Linux is good. It's progressed a lot but it's by nowhere near the capabilities of Windows either in the software base (that's decent stuff actually worth having) or hardware support. But I ask you this. If Linux is so good, how come so many Eee PC users are uninstalling it?
You might have heard of this little thing called GNU/Linux that's been able to do everything XP and Vista can but with far fewer resources.
Really? So I can play Battlefield 2 and all my other games with full detail? And my wifi will work properly? And my hard drive on my laptop won't prematurely die from needless power cycles?Have all of these suddenly been sorted overnight? Wow...
One thing I will say about the Linux mob is that despite their protestations that Linux is better than Windows 'cos it runs on older hardware', they seem less reluctant to upgrade their kit to run newer versions. For example, try running Gnome 2.x or KDE 3.x on 256MB RAM and it's not pretty. Most Linux users will just jam in another 256MB and get on with it whereas Windows users will bitch and whine about having to pay £10 for a new DIMM.
Sometimes you just need to flush the whole lot down the crapper and start with a clean sheet.
The formula is not important and a good encryption algorithm should be free.
The key used is the protected part and should not be a part of the source code. You can't break it by looking at the source code because the key is stored on a smart card which itself is then encrypted by hardware built into the card and in addition is tied to the serial number of the Sky card and the serial number of the box. It's not as simple as being able to read a PIC 16C84 and program a homebrew card anymore. Nobody has managed to break this in several years as we're still on the same generation of smart card because Sky were renown for issuing new editions once the old one has been cracked and we've not had new ones for years. They've obviously found a very successful way of safeguarding their service. If someone has found a crack they've kept very quiet about it.
I think people are starting to get sick to goddamned death of Google search results firstly giving 10 pages of commercial sites in the first place so if this is something that's going to result in even more ads people don't want, it's going to die a quick death.
Google is in danger of alienating its users. If you want an example, searching for specs or reviews on most electrical items returns a couple of hundred online retailer sites in which will be buried maybe a handful of sites which is actually what you want - the specs or review without it being an e-tailer.
I love it. Tried going back to XP and missed the little tweaks as well as getting completely fucked off trying to get network browsing working - something that's still broke on XP half a decade after its release.