The problem with selling used PCs is that places like Goodwill have absolutely no infrastructure for making sure that they work properly, the average PC is vastly more complicated to troubleshoot than say a TV or VRC.
This is a bunch of bull. All electronics sales at all the thrift stores around here are "as-is" sales. They don't test anything, its up to you, the buyer, to test the product. They are even nice enough to provide outlets in the store to test equipment. Goodwill used to sell a ton of computers, and it was good business and a boon to classic computer collectors or for folks who couldn't afford anything new. I used to go to computer shows and make a beeline for the "junk" guys. They used to get pallets of surplus equipment from major corporations, and even they made a profit on the resale of parts and systems. Also you note a refresh as "3-5 years", that is becoming more like "5-7" around these parts.
Notably, the 2 things that I notice it being too slow for are:
- Playing Vimeo videos... I have no clue how they made their player so damned inefficient, but I get about 2 frames per second in a tiny box in the browser. Meanwhile, mplayer will happilly play 1080p H.264 content just fine on the same hardware.
Blame Adobe for this one. Flash has gotten VERY inefficient in its later versions. Its much MUCH worse on old PowerPC Macs. I used to be able to view 360p videos on YouTube no problem on a 1.25Ghz G4 Powerbook, now 240p is barely watchable and the machine is ready to burst into flames.
I find Google changing things in ways which I'm now finding, not just vexing, but utterly disruptive - it's like they don't want to leave well enough alone.
Somewhere in that big campus off Charleston Road, there's gotta be someone who asks the question, "Is it right for our users?"
and is listened to.
Yeah, like the new YouTube channel layout. Its not only Google that has this problem though. The rest of the Web 2.0 companies have the same "this new and shiny interface is great, and you MUST like it and use it" mentality. To make things worse, some of the interface designs are just braindead, do these multi-million dollar companies hire anyone with a background in human-computer interaction or do any user testing?
I miss mp3.com. Quite a few electronic acts simply disappeared after it folded. Too bad no one archived the site, there were quite a few tracks I didn't have a chance to get, and I have long since forgotten the artist's names.
TCM is one reason why AMC is the way it is today. AMC simply couldn't compete with Turner's larger movie archives, so they went to showing newer contemporary films and later, original programming.
There was a pack released with every episode from 2001 to mid 2008 (380 something). About 55GB in size but you'd have to have membership to a select few private trackers to get it (along with a weekly release of the latest episode, soundboard mix not a stream rip!). Since ID&T radio stopped broadcasting the show at the end of 2004, it kinda lost its charm. No more radio IDs, and no more Armin announcing the next track in Dutch.
The VHS recorders in question were moderately expensive models from then-respectable brands like Sony (that was way before the rootkit and PS3-Linux affairs). So the problems were not for lack of willingness to buy decent quality.
Sony VHS decks were one of the most repair prone brands, unlike their Betamax decks which were much better built. This is based on first hand experience with a circa 1992 SLV-595HF that was in the shop many times for tape eating. Most of the insides of their early decks were Hitachi parts, not Sony. Panasonic on the other hand built some real tanks. Most any VHS restorer will tell you the best deck is either a Panasonic or a JVC, never a Sony.
At least Verizon is rolling out Fios in Newark to make up for it.... oh wait, thats because the State of New Jersey is requiring them to in exchange for that sweet state wide TV franchise they got. One of the provisions for the franchise was to wire all 21 county seats in the state of Fios, even if they are in areas where Verizon isn't the ILEC.
TDMA, or D-AMPS was known at IS-136. CDMA offered a smooth hardware upgrade path starting with IS-95 (cdmaOne) then CDMA2000 and finally 1X-EVDO. Verizon decided to go with the worldwide LTE standard instead of sticking with CDMA which had a 4G step-up, likely at Vodaphone's urging.
For Verizon, the answer is.... kinda. LTE 4G phones have SIM cards and IMEIs (which act as the phone's network identifier on CDMA2000 networks, after all IMEIs are compatible with Verizon's MEID provisioning system).
The Depot has been more and more contractor focused the past few years (not as much focus on the DIYer and only stocking the cheapest stuff to pass code). They are trying to change that image thanks to Lowes. We did get a "Superstore" here in NJ, the biggest Home Depot in the world (3 football fields big and the carts have a map on them to navigate!), inventory is not an issue in that store, but not everyone has that option.
This has been a growing problem with YouTube. The new thing is some groups are claiming copyright on works in behalf of the producer of the works.... except they have ZERO affiliation or contract with them. They are simply collecting money from the AdSense ads that comes up (on works they have ZERO rights to) once the content is "claimed" as copyrighted. This is plain old theft, particularly if you are a YouTube partner or monetizing your videos that are 100% original work and hold complete copyright of. Do a search for "AdRev" and "Music Publishing Rights Collecting Society" and check the YouTube support forums for more examples of this abuse. Both are known copyright trolls and will stall out the process all while you lose ad revenue on the so called "infringing" video.
Smartphones tend to have "phone home" features to check for updates and such, and if you don't have a data plan, customers who buy a smartphone without planning to use any data services would freak out about "what is this data usage fee on my bill". That is why all carriers REQUIRE a data plan for those who buy a smartphone.
No, carriers got greedy and wanted money from ALL smartphone users, including ones who opted for Wi-Fi only and never planned to use cellular data. It used to be that one could opt for a complete block of cellular data connections on smartphones if they didn't want to pay for a data plan.
One standard that emerged and is in use is the APCO-25 digital radio standards. Its still not all that widespread though. Departments don't have the budget to upgrade their radio equipment all that much, so older analog equipment still rules the airwaves.
That might be motivation for creating ReFS. Third party NTFS drivers finally became mature enough to safely read/write the file system... so lets create a new undocumented filesystem and make data exchange between other OSes a PITA again. It also means WinFS is completely dead and never coming back.
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Microsoft even went a step further and prevents 64-bit unsigned drivers from being loaded unless you specifically enable them in the F8 boot menu.
The problem with selling used PCs is that places like Goodwill have absolutely no infrastructure for making sure that they work properly, the average PC is vastly more complicated to troubleshoot than say a TV or VRC.
This is a bunch of bull. All electronics sales at all the thrift stores around here are "as-is" sales. They don't test anything, its up to you, the buyer, to test the product. They are even nice enough to provide outlets in the store to test equipment. Goodwill used to sell a ton of computers, and it was good business and a boon to classic computer collectors or for folks who couldn't afford anything new. I used to go to computer shows and make a beeline for the "junk" guys. They used to get pallets of surplus equipment from major corporations, and even they made a profit on the resale of parts and systems. Also you note a refresh as "3-5 years", that is becoming more like "5-7" around these parts.
Notably, the 2 things that I notice it being too slow for are: - Playing Vimeo videos... I have no clue how they made their player so damned inefficient, but I get about 2 frames per second in a tiny box in the browser. Meanwhile, mplayer will happilly play 1080p H.264 content just fine on the same hardware.
Blame Adobe for this one. Flash has gotten VERY inefficient in its later versions. Its much MUCH worse on old PowerPC Macs. I used to be able to view 360p videos on YouTube no problem on a 1.25Ghz G4 Powerbook, now 240p is barely watchable and the machine is ready to burst into flames.
Then why didn't they quickly spin off the product into a new company after purchase?
I find Google changing things in ways which I'm now finding, not just vexing, but utterly disruptive - it's like they don't want to leave well enough alone.
Somewhere in that big campus off Charleston Road, there's gotta be someone who asks the question, "Is it right for our users?"
and is listened to.
Yeah, like the new YouTube channel layout. Its not only Google that has this problem though. The rest of the Web 2.0 companies have the same "this new and shiny interface is great, and you MUST like it and use it" mentality. To make things worse, some of the interface designs are just braindead, do these multi-million dollar companies hire anyone with a background in human-computer interaction or do any user testing?
I miss mp3.com. Quite a few electronic acts simply disappeared after it folded. Too bad no one archived the site, there were quite a few tracks I didn't have a chance to get, and I have long since forgotten the artist's names.
Find the laserdisc version, or buy a full frame time-base corrector and digitize the VHS.
TCM is one reason why AMC is the way it is today. AMC simply couldn't compete with Turner's larger movie archives, so they went to showing newer contemporary films and later, original programming.
They can always stream it on Netflix or other fine services.
There was a pack released with every episode from 2001 to mid 2008 (380 something). About 55GB in size but you'd have to have membership to a select few private trackers to get it (along with a weekly release of the latest episode, soundboard mix not a stream rip!). Since ID&T radio stopped broadcasting the show at the end of 2004, it kinda lost its charm. No more radio IDs, and no more Armin announcing the next track in Dutch.
The VHS recorders in question were moderately expensive models from then-respectable brands like Sony (that was way before the rootkit and PS3-Linux affairs). So the problems were not for lack of willingness to buy decent quality.
Sony VHS decks were one of the most repair prone brands, unlike their Betamax decks which were much better built. This is based on first hand experience with a circa 1992 SLV-595HF that was in the shop many times for tape eating. Most of the insides of their early decks were Hitachi parts, not Sony. Panasonic on the other hand built some real tanks. Most any VHS restorer will tell you the best deck is either a Panasonic or a JVC, never a Sony.
The new GPON ONTs Verizon is using for 150/35Mbit service have Gig-E ports on them.
At least Verizon is rolling out Fios in Newark to make up for it.... oh wait, thats because the State of New Jersey is requiring them to in exchange for that sweet state wide TV franchise they got. One of the provisions for the franchise was to wire all 21 county seats in the state of Fios, even if they are in areas where Verizon isn't the ILEC.
TDMA, or D-AMPS was known at IS-136. CDMA offered a smooth hardware upgrade path starting with IS-95 (cdmaOne) then CDMA2000 and finally 1X-EVDO. Verizon decided to go with the worldwide LTE standard instead of sticking with CDMA which had a 4G step-up, likely at Vodaphone's urging.
For Verizon, the answer is.... kinda. LTE 4G phones have SIM cards and IMEIs (which act as the phone's network identifier on CDMA2000 networks, after all IMEIs are compatible with Verizon's MEID provisioning system).
The Cisco VPN client is supported on 10.4, at least the older pre-AnyConnect IPSEC based one.
The Depot has been more and more contractor focused the past few years (not as much focus on the DIYer and only stocking the cheapest stuff to pass code). They are trying to change that image thanks to Lowes. We did get a "Superstore" here in NJ, the biggest Home Depot in the world (3 football fields big and the carts have a map on them to navigate!), inventory is not an issue in that store, but not everyone has that option.
Its reaching saturation in some areas. How many here have a few friends who left Facebook because they were sick of it?
This has been a growing problem with YouTube. The new thing is some groups are claiming copyright on works in behalf of the producer of the works.... except they have ZERO affiliation or contract with them. They are simply collecting money from the AdSense ads that comes up (on works they have ZERO rights to) once the content is "claimed" as copyrighted. This is plain old theft, particularly if you are a YouTube partner or monetizing your videos that are 100% original work and hold complete copyright of. Do a search for "AdRev" and "Music Publishing Rights Collecting Society" and check the YouTube support forums for more examples of this abuse. Both are known copyright trolls and will stall out the process all while you lose ad revenue on the so called "infringing" video.
Smartphones tend to have "phone home" features to check for updates and such, and if you don't have a data plan, customers who buy a smartphone without planning to use any data services would freak out about "what is this data usage fee on my bill". That is why all carriers REQUIRE a data plan for those who buy a smartphone.
No, carriers got greedy and wanted money from ALL smartphone users, including ones who opted for Wi-Fi only and never planned to use cellular data. It used to be that one could opt for a complete block of cellular data connections on smartphones if they didn't want to pay for a data plan.
One standard that emerged and is in use is the APCO-25 digital radio standards. Its still not all that widespread though. Departments don't have the budget to upgrade their radio equipment all that much, so older analog equipment still rules the airwaves.
Apple managed to screw it up in iOS too. Its weird how smartphones have the dumbest bugs.
The irony is MS plans to release Flight for free.
That might be motivation for creating ReFS. Third party NTFS drivers finally became mature enough to safely read/write the file system... so lets create a new undocumented filesystem and make data exchange between other OSes a PITA again. It also means WinFS is completely dead and never coming back.
Umm, aren't those the features being dropped?