The nice thing about an SSD is that it's small and can handle the brunt of the big jobs that need speed. So, I decided to replace my single 7200 RPM 3.5" drive with an SSD for the boot drive, and a 5400 RPM 2.5" drive for storage. I will never go back to hard drives for the boot system, no matter how much space I need. Mounted on a 3.5" adapter, both drives take up the same amount of space as a single 3.5" drive, and everything runs incredibly cool in near silence. With the speed of the SSD for my main projects, the slow speed of the laptop hard drive is a non-issue. SSDs really shine with fragmented files, anyway, so the big stuff like games and movies doesn't benefit from an SSD, anyway. Even the games running off the laptop drive are damn fast with both drives running in tandem.
If you really need everything to look like it's running on one drive, just map a network drive or use file system links. You can put the hard drives into RAID and map that, although that's a lot more trouble than I'd be willing to put up with. I don't need that level of performance, and RAID isn't a backup solution.
I'm a cartoonist who runs a web comic, and I've known about this problem for years.
To cut bandwidth, I have a set palette of indexed colors that I use as a base for each strip, and I pick a few extra colors to finish the anti-aliasing. It doesn't take as much effort or time as it sounds, and it cuts bandwidth considerably compared to a trucolor PNG, and doesn't have the artifacts of a JPEG.
However, I noticed that when I reduced one of my strips in size, the brightness always changed, so when I applied my custom palette, I got weird results. I had to develop a masking technique to get around this.
Photographers may not notice the problem, but for those who explicitly select a set palette, this has been a major issue for a while. It's too bad that graphics applications are so focused on photography that cartooning, especially coloring, is actually very difficult.
People should not be allowed to figure out solutions for themselves, and learn to use technology in an appropriate manner. There's no need to design sites in Flash that are compatible with touch displays when the technology can just be forbidden. Graceful degradation is a myth. Flash is evil because it is a closed source application and not a platform spec, which is why the open source community cannot supplant it. Steve Jobs is always right.
Everybody likes the same thing, huh? I much prefer the symmetrical layout and flatter profile of the PS3 controller. I just wish Sony would fix the rubbery triggers (and MS would fix the damn D-pad).
What really annoys me, though, is that the aftermarket controllers all try to use the same basic design of the official controller. Why are there so few XBox-like controllers for the PS3, and so few PS-like controllers for the XBox? Surely such a crowded market would welcome another niche. Or, is the design of the controller so easily recognizable, that people would pass by them, thinking they were for the wrong system?
Such is life in the console market. There's few to no choices, which is why I own one of everything.
Some programs require a swap file. Photoshop, for example, won't work without it, and will flat out tell you to turn the swap file back on. This, despite the fact that Photoshop uses its own proprietary swap file.
I'd imagine that there are many other apps that will enforce the use of a swap file, no matter how much memory you have.
Seriously, has anyone tried putting a DRM-like backdoor into a game to track the usage difference between legit and pirated copies?
I mean, crackers obviously can't hack everything. Some games are only partially cracked at times, such as crashing on a later level or not having all the features intact. Surely it would be possible to implement a simple check that might be missed by the crackers, so software companies could get at least partially reliable statistics. I presume they find it easier to spend money hiring professional consultants to just make up some numbers, though. Never do yourself what you can outsource.
I had never ever heard of drive alignment until I bought an SSD.
Not to be unhelpfully pessimistic, but... didn't it even occur to people that drive alignment might be important? Is 4K drive alignment just Y2K for hard drives? Why did people only start thinking about this now?
Did you even bother to figure out what the AC's degree is in? How do you the AC should know how to deal with something like that happening?
You know, overconfidence generally is a problem with people who have PhDs.
Before personal computers were around, just about everybody knew it was a good idea to make multiple copies of important papers on the library photocopier.
Yes, I fully expected someone to say something like this.
The problem is that the core problems with Steam have not been reformed, only the surface polish, number of games, and prices. That still provides a bad influence for other companies looking to do similar things.
My father has a Steam account, because he's a much bigger gamer than I am. I have checked out changes in the Steam service, and I still don't like it.
Steam has also gotten "less bad" over time, and as a result the nostalgia effect has kicked in. It's a shame I remember how terrible it was when it came out, and few other people do. I still boycott it, simply because of the horrible way it was established in the first place.
I buy (and play) so few modern games these days. Mandatory online activation of any sort is the day I stop gaming. The old ones I have are numerous and plenty good enough.
Near constant studders and stalling? Yeah, I'm sure they weren't aware. My dad bought me an OCZ Apex and it was worse than useless with XP. I have an SSD with a Samsung controller, now. It rocks.
All those USB key drives that fail after a few weeks of usage? ATI drivers with crappy installers? DRM that refuses to work after you use msconifig? Obviously the technology just needs to mature before they get the kinks out.
Slashdot Mirror
Where is the open source response to Flash? Where is the browser plugin for Media Player Classic? It would at least be a starting point.
Applauding GIMP all these years hasn't achieved much.
Printing money steals from everyone else with the currency.
* Witty, easily-overlooked commentary about government *
Also, Hitler!
The nice thing about an SSD is that it's small and can handle the brunt of the big jobs that need speed. So, I decided to replace my single 7200 RPM 3.5" drive with an SSD for the boot drive, and a 5400 RPM 2.5" drive for storage. I will never go back to hard drives for the boot system, no matter how much space I need. Mounted on a 3.5" adapter, both drives take up the same amount of space as a single 3.5" drive, and everything runs incredibly cool in near silence. With the speed of the SSD for my main projects, the slow speed of the laptop hard drive is a non-issue. SSDs really shine with fragmented files, anyway, so the big stuff like games and movies doesn't benefit from an SSD, anyway. Even the games running off the laptop drive are damn fast with both drives running in tandem.
If you really need everything to look like it's running on one drive, just map a network drive or use file system links. You can put the hard drives into RAID and map that, although that's a lot more trouble than I'd be willing to put up with. I don't need that level of performance, and RAID isn't a backup solution.
...after having consumed centuries of human knowledge to reach that point.
It's a shame we mere mortals can only consume an hour's worth of knowledge in an hour.
90% of everything is crud.
Not everyone agrees on what 90%, though.
I'm a cartoonist who runs a web comic, and I've known about this problem for years.
To cut bandwidth, I have a set palette of indexed colors that I use as a base for each strip, and I pick a few extra colors to finish the anti-aliasing. It doesn't take as much effort or time as it sounds, and it cuts bandwidth considerably compared to a trucolor PNG, and doesn't have the artifacts of a JPEG.
However, I noticed that when I reduced one of my strips in size, the brightness always changed, so when I applied my custom palette, I got weird results. I had to develop a masking technique to get around this.
Photographers may not notice the problem, but for those who explicitly select a set palette, this has been a major issue for a while. It's too bad that graphics applications are so focused on photography that cartooning, especially coloring, is actually very difficult.
People should not be allowed to figure out solutions for themselves, and learn to use technology in an appropriate manner. There's no need to design sites in Flash that are compatible with touch displays when the technology can just be forbidden. Graceful degradation is a myth. Flash is evil because it is a closed source application and not a platform spec, which is why the open source community cannot supplant it. Steve Jobs is always right.
etc., etc., etc...
If PC vendors would just stop using crappy Intel embedded graphics, we could finally move on to fully vectorized and virtual textured interfaces.
It completely floors me that vector graphics is still not fully standard throughout the computer industry.
Everybody likes the same thing, huh? I much prefer the symmetrical layout and flatter profile of the PS3 controller. I just wish Sony would fix the rubbery triggers (and MS would fix the damn D-pad).
What really annoys me, though, is that the aftermarket controllers all try to use the same basic design of the official controller. Why are there so few XBox-like controllers for the PS3, and so few PS-like controllers for the XBox? Surely such a crowded market would welcome another niche. Or, is the design of the controller so easily recognizable, that people would pass by them, thinking they were for the wrong system?
Such is life in the console market. There's few to no choices, which is why I own one of everything.
Some programs require a swap file. Photoshop, for example, won't work without it, and will flat out tell you to turn the swap file back on. This, despite the fact that Photoshop uses its own proprietary swap file.
I'd imagine that there are many other apps that will enforce the use of a swap file, no matter how much memory you have.
The best thing to do is to NOT pirate the games.
Mr. CEO requires proof, criminal.
Seriously, has anyone tried putting a DRM-like backdoor into a game to track the usage difference between legit and pirated copies?
I mean, crackers obviously can't hack everything. Some games are only partially cracked at times, such as crashing on a later level or not having all the features intact. Surely it would be possible to implement a simple check that might be missed by the crackers, so software companies could get at least partially reliable statistics. I presume they find it easier to spend money hiring professional consultants to just make up some numbers, though. Never do yourself what you can outsource.
I had never ever heard of drive alignment until I bought an SSD.
Not to be unhelpfully pessimistic, but... didn't it even occur to people that drive alignment might be important? Is 4K drive alignment just Y2K for hard drives? Why did people only start thinking about this now?
Did you even bother to figure out what the AC's degree is in? How do you the AC should know how to deal with something like that happening?
You know, overconfidence generally is a problem with people who have PhDs.
Before personal computers were around, just about everybody knew it was a good idea to make multiple copies of important papers on the library photocopier.
Spam replying to spam?
Where can I file a patent?!
They don't offer what I want, and don't offer the ability to become what I want.
And they change their minds. At one time they offered something I wanted. Then they decided it was passe and nobody wanted it.
Apparently, "nobody" is the same as "not everybody". I cannot support any company that thinks that way.
OSS...
...know that it is going to work.
If there's one thing I've always known since my Amiga days, it's that design always trumps technology. Always.
Oh, for crying out loud. Using the name more than once does not put probability over 1!
Well, you sure did shoot your ear off. I mean, mouth.
Yes, I fully expected someone to say something like this.
The problem is that the core problems with Steam have not been reformed, only the surface polish, number of games, and prices. That still provides a bad influence for other companies looking to do similar things.
My father has a Steam account, because he's a much bigger gamer than I am. I have checked out changes in the Steam service, and I still don't like it.
Steam has also gotten "less bad" over time, and as a result the nostalgia effect has kicked in. It's a shame I remember how terrible it was when it came out, and few other people do. I still boycott it, simply because of the horrible way it was established in the first place.
I buy (and play) so few modern games these days. Mandatory online activation of any sort is the day I stop gaming. The old ones I have are numerous and plenty good enough.
Near constant studders and stalling? Yeah, I'm sure they weren't aware. My dad bought me an OCZ Apex and it was worse than useless with XP. I have an SSD with a Samsung controller, now. It rocks.
All those USB key drives that fail after a few weeks of usage? ATI drivers with crappy installers? DRM that refuses to work after you use msconifig? Obviously the technology just needs to mature before they get the kinks out.
*Dramatic engine failure!!!*
Nothing a headbutt won't fix, though.
...using the latest HTML5 web standards
Amazing how long it's taken to get a freakin' frame buffer.
Cue a zillion Web 3.0 marketeers about how the web browser is the OS of the future. Oh, and the iPad is really keen-o, too.
Can I draw on the iPad, like a tablet? An ultra-cheap Cinteq would be beyond awesome.
Oh, no? Well, it's not for creative people, for sure. What a waste of an IPS screen!
When people want a luxury car, they think Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus, etc.
Nothing ever changes.
Hyundai will someday make good and reliable cars? HAH!!!