Ya, I am a Realtor, if you have a question about homes ask me, my advice is always free.
What exactly do realtors do? Why would I want to use a realtor to sell a home rather than listing the home myself, and what is the benefit of using a realtor to find a home rather than just looking through the listings myself?
As a buyer the Realtor's expertise is available to you at no cost in most markets where the Sellers pay the commission. So, for starters, as buyer, there is no reason not to. You can still look through the listings on your own too. You can have your personal shopping assistant for a house, working away for you, while you do what makes you money/happy and you know what... if after a couple months you decide not to buy, you don't owe that agent anything. It's a tough business.
Have you noticed the cost of gas these days? You can meet your agent at his/her office and let them drive you from house to house. Just a fringe benefit
As for the benefits: A good realtor will not just point out the positives of the home but also bring your attention to potential problem areas that you may not have thought to look at. Do you know where to look to find the tell-tale signs of a wet basement an unscrupulous seller is trying to cover up? Did you remember look at the roof? or... were you so impressed by the majestic kitchen that you never even thought to look at the age of the roof, furnace, AC or hat water heater. (so many buyers never bother to step back from the house they're looking at to assess some of the most important components of the home) Did you take note of the electrical service entry cable if the home is in a neighborhood with above ground electric? What's the condition of it? If you're looking in an older neighborhood, has the home owner ever bothered to upgrade the electric service in the home?
Speaking of that pretty kitchen in the picture... Was it done with the cheapest materials just to sell the home, or was it done right, to give you many years of enjoyable use? These are things that an experienced agent can you give you insight on before you sign a contract for sale.
After you sign the contract, there's the home inspection process. Aside from being able to recommend quality inspectors/engineers there is also being able to assist you in weighing the results. What's worth canceling the deal over? What's worth dealing with yourself if a seller refuses to fix? These are all things that you may be able to research on your own, but if your contract gives you 10 days to decide these things, having someone experienced to give you additional information quickly can be a real headache saver.
Sure there are some agents who are unethical and will encourage a buyer to stay with a deal no matter what... but usually they're the one who only point out the positives when looking at homes with you so that they can make the sale as soon as possible. You can weed those out early on
What's fair market value for the home? You might have access to the same recent sales data as the Realtor, but how many of those homes have you actually seen for yourself? An experienced agent who is familiar with the neighborhood will likely have seen for themselves many of the recent sales. That background allows then to better understand that data, and offer insight as to whether the home your looking at is worth more or less than the nearby sales.
In almost any home you can find a couple nice rooms to photograph at just the right angle to market the home. If you think you can judge a home on the pictures or even a virtual tour alone... you will find differently when you start looking in person.
Then there's the information that Realtors, as a professional network of people share that you wont find online. Such as -- What homes when viewed after a thunderstorm had water in the basement. What home may be coming on the market shortly that may be perfect for you if you can wait a couple more weeks. Information o
It's actually quite simple. Intentionally interfering with the operation of a licensed wireless communications device through the use of any unlicensed device is automatically your fault, in violation of FCC bullshit, and will get you smacked down. The FCC will send someone in to testify against you, and then when you lose, you'll end up paying for that guy's travel and time in the followup suit to recover legal costs.
Well, I thought we were going with the notion here that a paint might be able to block RF signals... or rolls of aluminum. All passive signal blocking and not subject to FCC approval. You may need building permits but not FCC approval to panel your room with Aluminum sheeting. Yes active jamming would be illegal. It's the prospect of creating a very poor reception area, like I happen to have in my older condo hi-rise building (in my case due to thick concrete walls), that was the point being considered.
(eg: a doctor who was on call trying to catch the latest film, getting called in for a medical emergency)
a little far fetched, but even doctors like movies. if their cellphone doesn't work at the movies, they might not go there... There is a perfectly good solution to this. Make it known that doctors shouldn't be in that theatre when they're on call. I'm sorry but being a doctor is not an excuse to be rude to everyone else. If you're on call, in life and death situations, spend your time elsewhere. Doctors are usually well compensated in the U.S. for the inconveniences on their schedule that their profession demands and I don't think they need to be accomodated at the theatre or other venues where taking a cell phone call would be considered rude.
My guess is the theatres bigger fear is the parent who sues over missing a frantic emergency call from a young baby sitter. A jury will more likely identify and sympathise with a parent looking for a night out, than a doctor who's paid for being available and putting themselves in a situation where they weren't.
As far as I can tell, diesel passenger cars are still sold in the US. A co-worker just mentioned something to me today about her diesel Mercedes Benz, and I knew she drove a late model car... so I Googled and found this.
I'm not a Walmart shopper, I see value in smaller stores for lots of items where the expertise of the shop owner is a valuable resource you don't get at your big box stores. That said...
I've been researching my video choices on line for like 10 years? I've got my own unique taste. I don't want an opinion from any other _individual_ person. (Collections of online reviews give me more insight) The Mom & Pop store had no value added extras for me and it seems many others felt the same.
-Blockbuster had a larger selection.
-Blockbuster had the same retail prices
-Blockbuster mailed regular promotional coupons to my home
-MCI (while I used them) gave me 2 free BlockBuster rentals a month
-Blockbuster Rewards membership was a good deal for a while too.
Supporting the Mom & Pop video store that was slightly closer than Blockbuster would have cost me a lot more money without any added value for me. I guess I was not alone and a few years ago - they closed. Now Blockbuster cut their store size in half. Could the Mom & Pop store provided better service today, if they had survived? No, the movies by mail (Netflix, Blockbuster.com) would have killed the Mom & Pop stores too. Vongo and related competition will eventually kill Blockbuster.com and Netflix when a simple, attractive, and affordable media PC comes along... Or our Cable/FIOS/Satelite TV operators provide the same service through the set-top boxes.
Sun Micro probably does not have the same motivation as the other two companies you mentioned above to keep things secret. Afterall, with ZFS being open source, Apple doesn't have to pay royalties or licensing fees to them. They may have some sort of consulting contract with Apple, as they have the most knowledgable people on ZFS working for them. That and bragging rights may be good for Sun, but it's not likely a major contract will be lost.
Until users get the devices in their hands and can evaluate the "feel" of the device there's no way of knowing if either phone will be a flop or success. Apple has consistently performed in this area in the past few years. In terms of interface experience they are probably years ahead of Sun, who is used to making computers for a more elite "geek" crowd. No one can say yet if the iPhone will be a success, but if I were a betting man... my money would be on Apple topping Sun's sales by 2 to 1. Sun's more "open" device may be a geek's dream, but IMHO, unlikley to have mass consumer appeal.
Well... normally I don't split hairs, but the notable quote that I believe you are referring to was just posted today on Slashdot in its complete form:
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools".
While HP cares about ink refill sales since they practically gave away the printer with the assumption of gouging you on ink... Kodak will not care what ink you buy for refills since they've priced it cheaply and plan on making a reasonable profit on the actual printer. (Howeverm\, like any other OEM, you probably won't be eligable for warrantly service after mucking up your printer with junk ink)
Re:This is why my company is starting a move to Li
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 1
Actually there was the Apple IIe Card released for the Macintosh LC family of computers. It worked fairly well, but as IIgs owner I was very disappointed to learn that they were not releasing a IIgs version of the card so I could carry over my IIgs software to my Mac. However, I must add that anyone who felt left in a lurch when the Apple II was discontinued must have had their head in sand.. The writing was clearly on the wall for a long time... Around 1990, when Apple was releasing annual updates for the Mac line, and the IIgs was already 4 years old and stagnant (there were a couple of minor revisions) with no major upgrades that were very much in demand - like internal an hard drive, it was very apparent that the II line was dead from a development standpoint. For mroe info on that compatability card see Wikipedia article.
This is the exact reason why Debian is poorly made.
More Choices != More Knowledge needed.
More Choices should be accompanied by more relevant text. Inform the user what a MTA is and give them a default choice THAT WORKS. Having to do 10 minutes of research to answer a question is a joke when you're using a computer and the computer should be able to inform you what the choice is about. But that descriptive text that you feel Debain should provide is imparting knowledge... because as I said more knowledge is needed. However, for many things, such as an MTA, you can not educate the user is a couple parapgraphs as to what choice of many MTAs is best for them. However, Debian does provide reasonable defaults, so if you just go with the default, you end up with a perfectly usable system.
Oh and shipping with broken and missing header files (happened a couple years ago ) is the first and last problem I had with Debian, just as shipping with a broken GCC executable was the first and last problem I had with Red hat. Yeah, there's no excuse for that kind of shit. However, as you've acknowledged, that kind of stuff happens in commerical distros too, not just in a community developed distro like Debian
There shouldn't be excuses like "we're only for powerusers" if you want to make Linux distros get some common sense. Debian fills a niche that most other distros don't. Why should power users have to adapt another distro's default install to their needs... Not every Linus distro has to be geared towards general usage. And... didn't I mention that if someone wanted an easier route to install Debian there are options to install a predetermined set of packages.
Debian != Difficult to install (inherently).
Debian = More Power = More Choice at install time
More Choices = More knowledge needed
Debian = More knowledge needed = Difficult or even incomprehensable to those without the knowledge
For Example: Most distros don't ask you during the installtion process what MTA you want to install. Most Desktop Users don't care, and may not even know what an MTA is. Debian will ask you if you want Exim, Sendmail, Postfix and a few others I can't recall. Does this make it more difficult than Ubuntu? The answers depends on whether Ubuntu's default install meets your neesd, or if you have to go back and change things after the inital install. However, Debian also provides a choice of standard install sets that should allow a carefree installation to proceed easily in less than 40 minutes. Power Users, Debian's main user base, find the extra time spent answering the questions an "advanced" Debian installation asks - can be well worth it.
However, people do not upgrade their computers as often anymore just because hardware is not improving at such a fast pace as before.
While I agree that people aren't upgrading as often, I don't think it's ue to lack of Improved performance, rather just lack of perceived improved performance. You know... when doubling the speed of your computer meant an operation that took 8 seconds, now only takes 4 seconds, you're gonna sit-up and take notice and be motivated to plunk down another $1000 bucks for the latest machine. However, once your going from 1/8 of a second to 1/16 of second or some other insignificant time savings, then the Average Joe, just doesn't care.
Of course the fact that we're increasingly working with more complex and larger data, does help push the technology. (i.e. Average Joe who used to play with his 3 Megapixel photos on his 500 MHz machine without a problem may suddenly feel the slow down when he buys that new 8 megapixel camera.) - It seems to me that it the upgrade cycle is now linked with the adoption of other technologies outside of the PC itself, than it has been in the past. Other technologies certainly don't move at the same pace as computers. If a 1 megapizel camera was $200-300 in 1997, and if the pixel count doubled every 18 months... we would be seeing 64 Megapixel cameras in that same price range.
If Cingular cannot subsidize the phone, then why did Apple give them the exclusive and require that all customers sign two year contracts? Usually the two year contract requirement is to pay back the subsidy... without the subsidy, there's usually no incentive to sign a contract. If that's the case, I think Apple botched this one for the customer.
Something the size of a mini-DVD (think Gamecube games), but likely squarish (like a floppy). It will have the internal flash memory inside a thin-but-durable plastic shell. Small pins slightly inset on one side are what transfers the data.
Have you seen this? I think it would have been great if Magneto Optical technology had become the dominant medium. Durable, Reliable, Small form factor... all the good stuff you want. Unfortunately, I think any format Sony has its hands in, is doomed in the consumer market. If BlueRay makes it, it'll probably be a first.
Here's a CNN articlefrom 2004 about how the Israeli airline, El/Al, is equipping all its planes with a ground-air missle defense system using flares. They have already installed it... the technology has been around for years.
Why did't we just borrow it? Why did they spend $90 million already and lose years of opportunity to secure our planes to develop a new system?
2) Isn't global warming better than another ice age?
I'm reminded of a poem, I'd like to share...
Fire And Ice by Robert Frost.
Some say the world will end in fire; Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To know that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.
"There has never been any technical reason for a computer to take more than a few seconds to begin operation when it is turned on."
If I recall correctly, my Apple II turned on in about a second and had a command prompt where I could write such useful programs as:
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
20 GOTO 10
RUN
:-)
You couldn't save anything to disk or do more useful functions, but the computer started and had a usable shell. Today, you turn on a PC without a usable disk and you get some beeps... I think some people want something simpler that just works without all the fancy stuff our computers are capable of today. A true appliance.
yeah... I knew that. But in the simple case, or shall I say "Fee Simple" case, you own the entire "Bundle of Rights". Most single family residential homes are sold that way (at least in NJ). Of course it isn't always so. Take the New York City's Met-Life Building built over railroad tracks and and a street - they acquired air-rights to build it.
"Yet Native American remnants - while not specifically tied to any particular individual - are accepted as cultural heritage and thus belong to the respective tribes. Why is this any different?"
In the US if you own the land, you own the sub-terranean rights (within limits). e.g. If you find a gold mine under your home, the gold is yours. As for the Native American artifacs - that's a special provision like gambling on their reserves. So as not to add insult to injury, there have been attempts made to "do the right thing" now that we've already chased them off land that was once theirs. Many Native American can trace their ancestery back to a particular tribe and it's a much more clear picture that they, as a group, should inherit tribal property.
As for Ancient Egypt - Even their enemies are long gone... The thousands of years in between do make a difference. The citizens of modern day Egypt are neither cultural hiers nor literal hiers ancient Egypt more so than any other people in the region.
While Egypt, as a sovereign nation, is certainly free to make reasonable propery laws and enforce them, and they should be followed by their citizens and guests in their country... I can see why others would consider it finders-keepers.
I recently purchased a couple Compaq Presario Computers Model SR1710NX and SR1910NX (I needed basic computers and wasn't looking to spend a lot.) For the price, I was impressed. They used many of the same component suppliers I would if I was building my own box:
Motherboard: Manufactured by Asus with open PCIe slot.
Hard Drive: Seagate SATA drive (SR1910NX, I forget what was in the SR1710NX)
Sure, they're not exactly a full featured systems but I can add to them when I find good deals on stuff I want to upgrade. Quality components, no generic motherboard and no cheaper Maxtor drive, that I would have likley seen from the Compaq of the past in their Presario line. The SR1710NX has been use since Feb, and so far no problems. (Of course I had to get rid of a lot of crap that they pre-install... but all the consumer retail systems come with that)
I now recommend the Compaq systems with Asus boards (you can research that on their website) for friends and family. Figure it's a better bet than a cheap Dell these days. (As for support - my friends and family end up calling me anyway.. so I have no idea how good that is)
Looking at the picture, it would seem that this device is going to have a tough time staying stable at higher rotational speeds. DVDs have ben known to have problems if a lable was applied too off-center. I can only imagine what a whole USB connector hanging of one end is going to do.
Red Hat Linux WS is $299. An OEM version of Windows XP Pro is ~$140.
And the OEM version of Windows XP Pro is supported by whom?
I don't know what support Red Hat provides with the $299 version but I know supposrt is primarily what you're paying for or everyone would be using Fedora Core.. Please compare apples to apples - last I heard OEM versions including zero vendor support.
I haven't had a chance to try it yet... but does it do Postscript/EPS? While SVG may be the OSS choice of format, and may be great for web use too - If OSS wants to make it in the professional graphics & publishing world, it really needs to compete on Adobe's turf where Postscript still reigns supreme. I'd rather see Postscript today, and SVG support to follow than the other way around. (The OSS community is also more likely to find contributors to do SVG support than Postscript... it's the itch more likley to be scratched:)
Slashdot Mirror
Ya, I am a Realtor, if you have a question about homes ask me, my advice is always free.
What exactly do realtors do? Why would I want to use a realtor to sell a home rather than listing the home myself, and what is the benefit of using a realtor to find a home rather than just looking through the listings myself?
As a buyer the Realtor's expertise is available to you at no cost in most markets where the Sellers pay the commission. So, for starters, as buyer, there is no reason not to. You can still look through the listings on your own too. You can have your personal shopping assistant for a house, working away for you, while you do what makes you money/happy and you know what... if after a couple months you decide not to buy, you don't owe that agent anything. It's a tough business.
Have you noticed the cost of gas these days? You can meet your agent at his/her office and let them drive you from house to house. Just a fringe benefit
As for the benefits: A good realtor will not just point out the positives of the home but also bring your attention to potential problem areas that you may not have thought to look at. Do you know where to look to find the tell-tale signs of a wet basement an unscrupulous seller is trying to cover up? Did you remember look at the roof? or... were you so impressed by the majestic kitchen that you never even thought to look at the age of the roof, furnace, AC or hat water heater. (so many buyers never bother to step back from the house they're looking at to assess some of the most important components of the home) Did you take note of the electrical service entry cable if the home is in a neighborhood with above ground electric? What's the condition of it? If you're looking in an older neighborhood, has the home owner ever bothered to upgrade the electric service in the home?
Speaking of that pretty kitchen in the picture... Was it done with the cheapest materials just to sell the home, or was it done right, to give you many years of enjoyable use? These are things that an experienced agent can you give you insight on before you sign a contract for sale.
After you sign the contract, there's the home inspection process. Aside from being able to recommend quality inspectors/engineers there is also being able to assist you in weighing the results. What's worth canceling the deal over? What's worth dealing with yourself if a seller refuses to fix? These are all things that you may be able to research on your own, but if your contract gives you 10 days to decide these things, having someone experienced to give you additional information quickly can be a real headache saver.
Sure there are some agents who are unethical and will encourage a buyer to stay with a deal no matter what... but usually they're the one who only point out the positives when looking at homes with you so that they can make the sale as soon as possible. You can weed those out early on
What's fair market value for the home? You might have access to the same recent sales data as the Realtor, but how many of those homes have you actually seen for yourself? An experienced agent who is familiar with the neighborhood will likely have seen for themselves many of the recent sales. That background allows then to better understand that data, and offer insight as to whether the home your looking at is worth more or less than the nearby sales.
In almost any home you can find a couple nice rooms to photograph at just the right angle to market the home. If you think you can judge a home on the pictures or even a virtual tour alone... you will find differently when you start looking in person.
Then there's the information that Realtors, as a professional network of people share that you wont find online. Such as -- What homes when viewed after a thunderstorm had water in the basement. What home may be coming on the market shortly that may be perfect for you if you can wait a couple more weeks. Information o
It's actually quite simple. Intentionally interfering with the operation of a licensed wireless communications device through the use of any unlicensed device is automatically your fault, in violation of FCC bullshit, and will get you smacked down. The FCC will send someone in to testify against you, and then when you lose, you'll end up paying for that guy's travel and time in the followup suit to recover legal costs.
Well, I thought we were going with the notion here that a paint might be able to block RF signals... or rolls of aluminum. All passive signal blocking and not subject to FCC approval. You may need building permits but not FCC approval to panel your room with Aluminum sheeting. Yes active jamming would be illegal. It's the prospect of creating a very poor reception area, like I happen to have in my older condo hi-rise building (in my case due to thick concrete walls), that was the point being considered.a little far fetched, but even doctors like movies. if their cellphone doesn't work at the movies, they might not go there... There is a perfectly good solution to this. Make it known that doctors shouldn't be in that theatre when they're on call. I'm sorry but being a doctor is not an excuse to be rude to everyone else. If you're on call, in life and death situations, spend your time elsewhere. Doctors are usually well compensated in the U.S. for the inconveniences on their schedule that their profession demands and I don't think they need to be accomodated at the theatre or other venues where taking a cell phone call would be considered rude.
My guess is the theatres bigger fear is the parent who sues over missing a frantic emergency call from a young baby sitter. A jury will more likely identify and sympathise with a parent looking for a night out, than a doctor who's paid for being available and putting themselves in a situation where they weren't.
As far as I can tell, diesel passenger cars are still sold in the US. A co-worker just mentioned something to me today about her diesel Mercedes Benz, and I knew she drove a late model car... so I Googled and found this.
For the curious... The article links to a another page with the passwords here
Too lazy to look... root is "dottie" and the user mobile is "alpine".
Mom & Pop video stores never stood a chance
I'm not a Walmart shopper, I see value in smaller stores for lots of items where the expertise of the shop owner is a valuable resource you don't get at your big box stores. That said...
I've been researching my video choices on line for like 10 years? I've got my own unique taste. I don't want an opinion from any other _individual_ person. (Collections of online reviews give me more insight) The Mom & Pop store had no value added extras for me and it seems many others felt the same.
-Blockbuster had a larger selection.
-Blockbuster had the same retail prices
-Blockbuster mailed regular promotional coupons to my home
-MCI (while I used them) gave me 2 free BlockBuster rentals a month
-Blockbuster Rewards membership was a good deal for a while too.
Supporting the Mom & Pop video store that was slightly closer than Blockbuster would have cost me a lot more money without any added value for me. I guess I was not alone and a few years ago - they closed. Now Blockbuster cut their store size in half. Could the Mom & Pop store provided better service today, if they had survived? No, the movies by mail (Netflix, Blockbuster.com) would have killed the Mom & Pop stores too. Vongo and related competition will eventually kill Blockbuster.com and Netflix when a simple, attractive, and affordable media PC comes along... Or our Cable/FIOS/Satelite TV operators provide the same service through the set-top boxes.
My $0.02
Sun Micro probably does not have the same motivation as the other two companies you mentioned above to keep things secret. Afterall, with ZFS being open source, Apple doesn't have to pay royalties or licensing fees to them. They may have some sort of consulting contract with Apple, as they have the most knowledgable people on ZFS working for them. That and bragging rights may be good for Sun, but it's not likely a major contract will be lost.
Until users get the devices in their hands and can evaluate the "feel" of the device there's no way of knowing if either phone will be a flop or success. Apple has consistently performed in this area in the past few years. In terms of interface experience they are probably years ahead of Sun, who is used to making computers for a more elite "geek" crowd. No one can say yet if the iPhone will be a success, but if I were a betting man... my money would be on Apple topping Sun's sales by 2 to 1. Sun's more "open" device may be a geek's dream, but IMHO, unlikley to have mass consumer appeal.
My $0.02
While HP cares about ink refill sales since they practically gave away the printer with the assumption of gouging you on ink... Kodak will not care what ink you buy for refills since they've priced it cheaply and plan on making a reasonable profit on the actual printer. (Howeverm\, like any other OEM, you probably won't be eligable for warrantly service after mucking up your printer with junk ink)
Actually there was the Apple IIe Card released for the Macintosh LC family of computers. It worked fairly well, but as IIgs owner I was very disappointed to learn that they were not releasing a IIgs version of the card so I could carry over my IIgs software to my Mac. However, I must add that anyone who felt left in a lurch when the Apple II was discontinued must have had their head in sand.. The writing was clearly on the wall for a long time... Around 1990, when Apple was releasing annual updates for the Mac line, and the IIgs was already 4 years old and stagnant (there were a couple of minor revisions) with no major upgrades that were very much in demand - like internal an hard drive, it was very apparent that the II line was dead from a development standpoint. For mroe info on that compatability card see Wikipedia article.
More Choices should be accompanied by more relevant text. Inform the user what a MTA is and give them a default choice THAT WORKS. Having to do 10 minutes of research to answer a question is a joke when you're using a computer and the computer should be able to inform you what the choice is about. But that descriptive text that you feel Debain should provide is imparting knowledge... because as I said more knowledge is needed. However, for many things, such as an MTA, you can not educate the user is a couple parapgraphs as to what choice of many MTAs is best for them. However, Debian does provide reasonable defaults, so if you just go with the default, you end up with a perfectly usable system. Oh and shipping with broken and missing header files (happened a couple years ago ) is the first and last problem I had with Debian, just as shipping with a broken GCC executable was the first and last problem I had with Red hat. Yeah, there's no excuse for that kind of shit. However, as you've acknowledged, that kind of stuff happens in commerical distros too, not just in a community developed distro like Debian
There shouldn't be excuses like "we're only for powerusers" if you want to make Linux distros get some common sense. Debian fills a niche that most other distros don't. Why should power users have to adapt another distro's default install to their needs... Not every Linus distro has to be geared towards general usage. And... didn't I mention that if someone wanted an easier route to install Debian there are options to install a predetermined set of packages.
For Example: Most distros don't ask you during the installtion process what MTA you want to install. Most Desktop Users don't care, and may not even know what an MTA is. Debian will ask you if you want Exim, Sendmail, Postfix and a few others I can't recall. Does this make it more difficult than Ubuntu? The answers depends on whether Ubuntu's default install meets your neesd, or if you have to go back and change things after the inital install. However, Debian also provides a choice of standard install sets that should allow a carefree installation to proceed easily in less than 40 minutes. Power Users, Debian's main user base, find the extra time spent answering the questions an "advanced" Debian installation asks - can be well worth it.
While I agree that people aren't upgrading as often, I don't think it's ue to lack of Improved performance, rather just lack of perceived improved performance. You know... when doubling the speed of your computer meant an operation that took 8 seconds, now only takes 4 seconds, you're gonna sit-up and take notice and be motivated to plunk down another $1000 bucks for the latest machine. However, once your going from 1/8 of a second to 1/16 of second or some other insignificant time savings, then the Average Joe, just doesn't care. Of course the fact that we're increasingly working with more complex and larger data, does help push the technology. (i.e. Average Joe who used to play with his 3 Megapixel photos on his 500 MHz machine without a problem may suddenly feel the slow down when he buys that new 8 megapixel camera.) - It seems to me that it the upgrade cycle is now linked with the adoption of other technologies outside of the PC itself, than it has been in the past. Other technologies certainly don't move at the same pace as computers. If a 1 megapizel camera was $200-300 in 1997, and if the pixel count doubled every 18 months... we would be seeing 64 Megapixel cameras in that same price range.
If Cingular cannot subsidize the phone, then why did Apple give them the exclusive and require that all customers sign two year contracts? Usually the two year contract requirement is to pay back the subsidy... without the subsidy, there's usually no incentive to sign a contract. If that's the case, I think Apple botched this one for the customer.
Have you seen this? I think it would have been great if Magneto Optical technology had become the dominant medium. Durable, Reliable, Small form factor... all the good stuff you want. Unfortunately, I think any format Sony has its hands in, is doomed in the consumer market. If BlueRay makes it, it'll probably be a first.
Here's a CNN articlefrom 2004 about how the Israeli airline, El/Al, is equipping all its planes with a ground-air missle defense system using flares. They have already installed it... the technology has been around for years.
Why did't we just borrow it? Why did they spend $90 million already and lose years of opportunity to secure our planes to develop a new system?
I'm reminded of a poem, I'd like to share...
"There has never been any technical reason for a computer to take more than a few seconds to begin operation when it is turned on."
:-)
If I recall correctly, my Apple II turned on in about a second and had a command prompt where I could write such useful programs as:
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
20 GOTO 10
RUN
You couldn't save anything to disk or do more useful functions, but the computer started and had a usable shell. Today, you turn on a PC without a usable disk and you get some beeps... I think some people want something simpler that just works without all the fancy stuff our computers are capable of today. A true appliance.
yeah... I knew that. But in the simple case, or shall I say "Fee Simple" case, you own the entire "Bundle of Rights". Most single family residential homes are sold that way (at least in NJ). Of course it isn't always so. Take the New York City's Met-Life Building built over railroad tracks and and a street - they acquired air-rights to build it.
"Yet Native American remnants - while not specifically tied to any particular individual - are accepted as cultural heritage and thus belong to the respective tribes. Why is this any different?"
In the US if you own the land, you own the sub-terranean rights (within limits). e.g. If you find a gold mine under your home, the gold is yours. As for the Native American artifacs - that's a special provision like gambling on their reserves. So as not to add insult to injury, there have been attempts made to "do the right thing" now that we've already chased them off land that was once theirs. Many Native American can trace their ancestery back to a particular tribe and it's a much more clear picture that they, as a group, should inherit tribal property.
As for Ancient Egypt - Even their enemies are long gone... The thousands of years in between do make a difference. The citizens of modern day Egypt are neither cultural hiers nor literal hiers ancient Egypt more so than any other people in the region.
While Egypt, as a sovereign nation, is certainly free to make reasonable propery laws and enforce them, and they should be followed by their citizens and guests in their country... I can see why others would consider it finders-keepers.
I recently purchased a couple Compaq Presario Computers Model SR1710NX and SR1910NX (I needed basic computers and wasn't looking to spend a lot.) For the price, I was impressed. They used many of the same component suppliers I would if I was building my own box:
Motherboard: Manufactured by Asus with open PCIe slot.
Hard Drive: Seagate SATA drive (SR1910NX, I forget what was in the SR1710NX)
Sure, they're not exactly a full featured systems but I can add to them when I find good deals on stuff I want to upgrade. Quality components, no generic motherboard and no cheaper Maxtor drive, that I would have likley seen from the Compaq of the past in their Presario line. The SR1710NX has been use since Feb, and so far no problems. (Of course I had to get rid of a lot of crap that they pre-install... but all the consumer retail systems come with that)
I now recommend the Compaq systems with Asus boards (you can research that on their website) for friends and family. Figure it's a better bet than a cheap Dell these days. (As for support - my friends and family end up calling me anyway.. so I have no idea how good that is)
Looking at the picture, it would seem that this device is going to have a tough time staying stable at higher rotational speeds. DVDs have ben known to have problems if a lable was applied too off-center. I can only imagine what a whole USB connector hanging of one end is going to do.
Red Hat Linux WS is $299. An OEM version of Windows XP Pro is ~$140.
And the OEM version of Windows XP Pro is supported by whom?
I don't know what support Red Hat provides with the $299 version but I know supposrt is primarily what you're paying for or everyone would be using Fedora Core.. Please compare apples to apples - last I heard OEM versions including zero vendor support.
I haven't had a chance to try it yet... but does it do Postscript/EPS? While SVG may be the OSS choice of format, and may be great for web use too - If OSS wants to make it in the professional graphics & publishing world, it really needs to compete on Adobe's turf where Postscript still reigns supreme. I'd rather see Postscript today, and SVG support to follow than the other way around. (The OSS community is also more likely to find contributors to do SVG support than Postscript... it's the itch more likley to be scratched :)