All HDMI and DisplayPort connectors have a cheap tension-grip connector (at best). It's not like I'm moving my PC around all the time, but hell, if I bump my tower, any one of my HDMI/DisplayPort monitors comes slightly loose and constantly try to reestablish handshake.
Tension-based connectors are garbage. Sure, they disconnect easily, but I don't always WANT them to disconnect easily. The old screw/standoff connection was rock solid.
I'd be okay with transcribed voicemail, but even "good" ones are still incredibly shitty at it. For instance, here's an ACTUAL transcribed message from a recent voicemail:
"Armed already reported it. Gilbert Fairchild, The. Sex describe this 3 black males in her to use two had tons already reported that your birth. Fairchild, the sexist drive this 3 black mqales in her to use. Yeah for more information."
That's Google Voice. So I end up having to listen to the message anyway. Transcription has a looooooong way to go before it becomes anything more than something to laugh at.
Seriously, almost all of these modded-up responses strike me as a bit crazy. Is it so mad to believe that we, as a species, might be doing things that we could be doing better? I've been around these forums for long enough to know (and feel myself) that the "think of the children!" arguments get overused, but is it so unthinkable that we need to identify anything that goes against our own parenting styles as "horseshit" or "screwy"?
We're all a bit damaged in our own ways. Whatever we've dealt with (or probably more importantly, haven't dealt with) growing up shows up in our own parenting. I know we all think that we're all perfectly functioning adults with the sure-fire recipe for creating the next generation of perfectly functioning adults, but are we? We're a violent species who thinks that the solution to problems is a display of authority, usually by physical means. Little Johnny getting out of line? A small whack will put him right back into his place! That'll teach him, right?
Come on.
The technocrat response on these forums is old, and shows a lot as to why we fail as a society at identifying and correcting problems before they explode into tragedies. A little empathy goes a long way, and our knee-jerk reaction of "but this is how we've always done it!" isn't productive. The fact that we treat children like tiny adults is pretty screwed up.
Yeah poor people, suck it up and call an ambulance. It's only a couple extra grand tacked on to your hospital bill anyway.
Wait, you mean this whole situation BEGAN with financial problems, and this would only compound the issue? Oh, I guess it isn't so easy as "call an ambulance" and "don't be a stereotype."
From the associated doc in your link: "To upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP, you'll need to install it from a Windows 8.1 DVD and perform a clean installation. This means you won't be able to keep any files, settings, or programs when you upgrade."
That's definitely not an "in-place" upgrade, which is what the OP wants, I'm guessing. (I know it's what I want.)
Seriously, it seems like this question comes up every few (2-6) months. Can we have the submitters just search the archives before posting? It's not like there's been some sea change in IT world that would preclude the same answers.
That site will at least get you pointed in the right direction. I personally own a Cappuccino series PC (P3, 1Ghz), and I can tell you from experience that they're not bad little machines. The only gripe I might have is that the cooling fan can get a little loud and obnoxious at points. (However, I wlll say that I purchased mine about two years ago, so the cooling solution may have improved since.) It's a fantastic little machine that I not only use to ferry my desktop between work and home, but I also use it to drive my car PC system.
There's two problems that I'm seeing here. First, is some incorrect nomenclature being used by some (reasonably) pissed off customers. I don't think anyone actually really wants to interact directly with developers. People just want to know what's going on, and why they can't use the service that they paid $50-60 initially and $14 a month for. I've played the game since beta, and since the launch I've had nothing but problems with the server I play on. If WoW was a cable service (which isn't a stretch to compare them to), someone's ass would be in a sling because the customer isn't getting what he/she is paying for. Also, it's a completely founded statement to say that things don't get answered on the WoW forums. At certain points, posts regarding server problems will actually get closed or deleted when there really isn't anything inside but a simple "what's going on?" question. I've seen it. I've been there (unlike a lot of the responders here).
Secondly, you have a group of people who are on the outside looking in, wondering why people are complaining. Again, I'll go back to the cable TV example. If you were paying a subscription fee for cable TV and half of the time that you wanted to watch TV it was broken, wouldn't you complain? Wouldn't you get a bit angry if you tried to call up customer service and they hung up the phone on you?
It's very simple. Most people are just tired of waiting on the same canned response ("We are aware of certain problems on the server. We are doing our best to rectify the situation and will have it fixed soon!") and after nine months they're starting to get a little antsy. And I don't think it's unfounded at all.
Just a quick observation--you say you don't pay for TV, yet your sig is from a CABLE TV program. I can't decide whether to jack your credibility or call the cable office first.
Cigarettes are actually good for you! They've also been linked to hot monkey sex with supermodels and free bags of money. All those stories about cancer and premature aging have proven to be nothing but urban myth.
I'd just like to say that, in my experience, Windows 2000/XP is anything but unstable when used for video capture. It really depends on the capture hardware and it's specific driver. Using a ViewCast Osprey 500 in each of four discrete machines running 2000, the company I work for captures many hundreds of gigabytes worth of MPEG2 data per day.
However, I can't stress it enough that if you have bad hardware/drivers to begin with, you're not going to have a good experience. We were running some MPEGator cards on NT4 before moving to the Ospreys (DarimVision was promising that those cards would have Win2k drivers before too long--a promise they never kept). Using these cards, we had handfuls of problems--mostly stemming from the fact that the drivers were poorly written. Also, Windows NT 4.0 was never meant to be a "multimedia OS" with extensive vidcap capability.
Isn't most of this just a case of "if you don't like it, don't use it?"
I mean, there's nothing to say that if a segment of the business world didn't fully agree with MS licensing/OS/apps, what's stopping you from formatting your drives and installing your OS/apps of choice? Isn't that what competition is about? Creating new and better standards?
If you think you've got a better way of building a wheel, by all means do it. In time, people will discover your invention, and if it is truly better, adopt it and leave the old standard behind.
But the concept that private companies have to open up all their standards is a ludicrous one. They have the right to do whatever they want with their creation. You have the right to not use their creation if you don't think it's fair. You even have the right to create your own standard if you think you can do it better. And most of the time, if your standard is better, people will use it.
Look at MP3s vs WMAs. I like the MP3 format better than the WMA, so I use it instead. Simple. Worried about Windows Media Player? Why? It's a bundled sound app, so what? I don't like it, but I have the choice of downloading Winamp or any other of the plethora of media players out there. However, I also like having a built-in media player in the event that I'm at a computer that doesn't have net access. It's convenient. Some could make the case that convenience equals a stifling of competition, but I fail to see the merit in that. No one's forcing you to use WMA or WMP if you don't want to.
It's the same way with OSes. Don't like XP's licensing technique? Then by all means download any of the countless number of BSD or Linux builds. Lots of people do that every day. No one's stopping you.
If someone hadn't worked in a pointless dig at Microsoft in a completely unrelated thread, I would've been disappointed.
Mod it up! It only gets funnier from here on out!
I'll take my shot: "Steps to successfully sailing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier: 1) Build the ship. 2) INSTALL LINUX 3)... 4) Profit! Go Linux! YAY!"
It can be done in small doses and really bring out the best in some pages. It's just like any other bell-and-whistle java applet or dynamic object. It's true that it can be abused, but let's stop beating a dead horse here and realize that, properly executed, Flash can (and has) at least enriched some part of your web experience.
(And "a scourge?" I mean, it can get bad at times, but does this mean you're expecting Flash to ride out of the hills and rape our women? I better hide mine. Just in case.)
Slashdot Mirror
... for modern connectors?
All HDMI and DisplayPort connectors have a cheap tension-grip connector (at best). It's not like I'm moving my PC around all the time, but hell, if I bump my tower, any one of my HDMI/DisplayPort monitors comes slightly loose and constantly try to reestablish handshake.
Tension-based connectors are garbage. Sure, they disconnect easily, but I don't always WANT them to disconnect easily. The old screw/standoff connection was rock solid.
I'd be okay with transcribed voicemail, but even "good" ones are still incredibly shitty at it. For instance, here's an ACTUAL transcribed message from a recent voicemail:
"Armed already reported it. Gilbert Fairchild, The. Sex describe this 3 black males in her to use two had tons already reported that your birth. Fairchild, the sexist drive this 3 black mqales in her to use. Yeah for more information."
That's Google Voice. So I end up having to listen to the message anyway. Transcription has a looooooong way to go before it becomes anything more than something to laugh at.
Seriously, almost all of these modded-up responses strike me as a bit crazy. Is it so mad to believe that we, as a species, might be doing things that we could be doing better? I've been around these forums for long enough to know (and feel myself) that the "think of the children!" arguments get overused, but is it so unthinkable that we need to identify anything that goes against our own parenting styles as "horseshit" or "screwy"?
We're all a bit damaged in our own ways. Whatever we've dealt with (or probably more importantly, haven't dealt with) growing up shows up in our own parenting. I know we all think that we're all perfectly functioning adults with the sure-fire recipe for creating the next generation of perfectly functioning adults, but are we? We're a violent species who thinks that the solution to problems is a display of authority, usually by physical means. Little Johnny getting out of line? A small whack will put him right back into his place! That'll teach him, right?
Come on.
The technocrat response on these forums is old, and shows a lot as to why we fail as a society at identifying and correcting problems before they explode into tragedies. A little empathy goes a long way, and our knee-jerk reaction of "but this is how we've always done it!" isn't productive. The fact that we treat children like tiny adults is pretty screwed up.
Yeah poor people, suck it up and call an ambulance. It's only a couple extra grand tacked on to your hospital bill anyway.
Wait, you mean this whole situation BEGAN with financial problems, and this would only compound the issue? Oh, I guess it isn't so easy as "call an ambulance" and "don't be a stereotype."
It's actually more along the lines of 1.21 gigawatts.
Nope:
From the associated doc in your link:
"To upgrade to Windows 8.1 from Windows Vista or Windows XP, you'll need to install it from a Windows 8.1 DVD and perform a clean installation. This means you won't be able to keep any files, settings, or programs when you upgrade."
That's definitely not an "in-place" upgrade, which is what the OP wants, I'm guessing. (I know it's what I want.)
Seriously, it seems like this question comes up every few (2-6) months. Can we have the submitters just search the archives before posting? It's not like there's been some sea change in IT world that would preclude the same answers.
Over and over.
And over.
Can we just get back to stale tech news already?
As a matter of fact, there is something:
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/
That site will at least get you pointed in the right direction. I personally own a Cappuccino series PC (P3, 1Ghz), and I can tell you from experience that they're not bad little machines. The only gripe I might have is that the cooling fan can get a little loud and obnoxious at points. (However, I wlll say that I purchased mine about two years ago, so the cooling solution may have improved since.) It's a fantastic little machine that I not only use to ferry my desktop between work and home, but I also use it to drive my car PC system.
There's two problems that I'm seeing here. First, is some incorrect nomenclature being used by some (reasonably) pissed off customers. I don't think anyone actually really wants to interact directly with developers. People just want to know what's going on, and why they can't use the service that they paid $50-60 initially and $14 a month for. I've played the game since beta, and since the launch I've had nothing but problems with the server I play on. If WoW was a cable service (which isn't a stretch to compare them to), someone's ass would be in a sling because the customer isn't getting what he/she is paying for. Also, it's a completely founded statement to say that things don't get answered on the WoW forums. At certain points, posts regarding server problems will actually get closed or deleted when there really isn't anything inside but a simple "what's going on?" question. I've seen it. I've been there (unlike a lot of the responders here).
Secondly, you have a group of people who are on the outside looking in, wondering why people are complaining. Again, I'll go back to the cable TV example. If you were paying a subscription fee for cable TV and half of the time that you wanted to watch TV it was broken, wouldn't you complain? Wouldn't you get a bit angry if you tried to call up customer service and they hung up the phone on you?
It's very simple. Most people are just tired of waiting on the same canned response ("We are aware of certain problems on the server. We are doing our best to rectify the situation and will have it fixed soon!") and after nine months they're starting to get a little antsy. And I don't think it's unfounded at all.
Just a quick observation--you say you don't pay for TV, yet your sig is from a CABLE TV program. I can't decide whether to jack your credibility or call the cable office first.
Cigarettes are actually good for you! They've also been linked to hot monkey sex with supermodels and free bags of money. All those stories about cancer and premature aging have proven to be nothing but urban myth.
Study sponsored by Phillip Morris.
I'd just like to say that, in my experience, Windows 2000/XP is anything but unstable when used for video capture. It really depends on the capture hardware and it's specific driver. Using a ViewCast Osprey 500 in each of four discrete machines running 2000, the company I work for captures many hundreds of gigabytes worth of MPEG2 data per day.
However, I can't stress it enough that if you have bad hardware/drivers to begin with, you're not going to have a good experience. We were running some MPEGator cards on NT4 before moving to the Ospreys (DarimVision was promising that those cards would have Win2k drivers before too long--a promise they never kept). Using these cards, we had handfuls of problems--mostly stemming from the fact that the drivers were poorly written. Also, Windows NT 4.0 was never meant to be a "multimedia OS" with extensive vidcap capability.
because I'm obviously missing something, here.
Isn't most of this just a case of "if you don't like it, don't use it?"
I mean, there's nothing to say that if a segment of the business world didn't fully agree with MS licensing/OS/apps, what's stopping you from formatting your drives and installing your OS/apps of choice? Isn't that what competition is about? Creating new and better standards?
If you think you've got a better way of building a wheel, by all means do it. In time, people will discover your invention, and if it is truly better, adopt it and leave the old standard behind.
But the concept that private companies have to open up all their standards is a ludicrous one. They have the right to do whatever they want with their creation. You have the right to not use their creation if you don't think it's fair. You even have the right to create your own standard if you think you can do it better. And most of the time, if your standard is better, people will use it.
Look at MP3s vs WMAs. I like the MP3 format better than the WMA, so I use it instead. Simple. Worried about Windows Media Player? Why? It's a bundled sound app, so what? I don't like it, but I have the choice of downloading Winamp or any other of the plethora of media players out there. However, I also like having a built-in media player in the event that I'm at a computer that doesn't have net access. It's convenient. Some could make the case that convenience equals a stifling of competition, but I fail to see the merit in that. No one's forcing you to use WMA or WMP if you don't want to.
It's the same way with OSes. Don't like XP's licensing technique? Then by all means download any of the countless number of BSD or Linux builds. Lots of people do that every day. No one's stopping you.
Sounds like someone needs a little sugar poured on him.
the domain name respectCONSUMERS.org
freaked out by the fact that these guys sell nuclear equipment on a page that looks like it was designed by Mrs. Finkel's AM Kindergarten class?
If someone hadn't worked in a pointless dig at Microsoft in a completely unrelated thread, I would've been disappointed.
...
Mod it up! It only gets funnier from here on out!
I'll take my shot:
"Steps to successfully sailing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier:
1) Build the ship.
2) INSTALL LINUX
3)
4) Profit! Go Linux! YAY!"
It can be done in small doses and really bring out the best in some pages. It's just like any other bell-and-whistle java applet or dynamic object. It's true that it can be abused, but let's stop beating a dead horse here and realize that, properly executed, Flash can (and has) at least enriched some part of your web experience.
(And "a scourge?" I mean, it can get bad at times, but does this mean you're expecting Flash to ride out of the hills and rape our women? I better hide mine. Just in case.)