You can actually do without the service if you don't mind entering all
your start and top times by hand. But you actually get more for your
$13 than easy scheduling. With a schedule feed, the device has to
ability to automatically record shows you never heard of, but which
are similar to shows you know you like. That one feature probably
accounts for most of TiVo's popularity.
(Back before TV listings became available online for free, people used
to spend $3/month for TV Guide just so they'd known what was on. Same
idea, only more advanced.)
What bugs me is that they no longer allow you to buy lifetime service
for a flat fee. I guess too many people realized that you came out
ahead if you owned your TiVo more than 18 months. Though if you were
unlucky (as I was) your TiVo died on you before the 18 months was up!
If I ever had cable TV again, I'd have to have a TiVo. I mean,
what's the use of having 200 channels if you can't separate the few
shows you want to watch from all the crap? But I'll probably never
have cable again — at current prices, that's really for
suckers.
Well, if I were a Verizon shareholder, I'd be wondering why management can't see it from the customer's perspective. They went and invested in all that data network technology without any clear idea how they were going to make any money off it. Their schemes for getting people to pay for services that send data back and forth are getting more and more lame — or should I say desperate?
No of whom are IT people. We're talking about IT people.
And even if we weren't, I'd still choose a Shuttle over an Alienware. A laptop is just the wrong configuration for a high-end graphics machine. If nothing else, you risk setting your lap on fire!
I'm reminded of Isaac Asimov's imaginary chemical, thiotimoline, which is so soluble, it starts to dissolve before you put it in the water. When he published a "scientific paper" on the chemical, a lot of readers didn't get the joke -- even though the "journal" in question was named Astounding Science Fiction.
Skimp on the graphics card and the the sound system, and a gaming machine becomes a very affordable workstation.
Alienware definitely doesn't skimp either. Video and sound hardware is probably half the cost of their laptops.
In any case, high-end processing power doesn't usually make sense in a non-gamer's laptop. A laptop needs battery life and an absence of weight. In any case, IT people don't usually need to run big CPU-intensive apps.
Of course, if you're a scientific or engineering type, you probably need not only raw processing power, but the ability to do fancy graphics. So yeah, an Alienware workstation might make sense. But not a laptop!
I don't think an Alienware laptop really makes sense in any case. Why devote cost and weight to a battery you'll never use? If you want a portable gaming system, get a Shuttle
HP has always had weird issues with their software, drivers in particular. Once I upgraded a driver, and discovered that I no longer had access to my envelope feeder. Obviously the new driver didn't have a correct list of my printer's capabilities!
But I always hated manual duplexing. One misfeed and you've wasted half a ream!
I think the problem with the little alien head is not so much a matter of atmosphere as to the message it sends. Alienware charges a premium price for hardware that is optimized for game playing, not business productivity. You see an IT person with such a machine, you've got to wonder about somebody's priorities.
What is the use of a blog if bloggers are just going to copy sentences and sentiments from the puppetmaster's email?
What indeed? But you might ask the same question about many online comments. Half the stuff I see on Slashdot is just somebody parroting their favorite Talk Radio host or columnist.
But this post is really an excuse for a triva lesson: everybody's seen Press Releases, which are phony news articles that people put out in the hopes that lazy newspaper editors will print them unchanged. Back when most newspapers were published with hot type, press releases were often distributed as pre-typeset pieces of lead that papers could just stick on their presses. The pre-typeset articles were big curved pieces of metal that looked like something you'd use to make boiler. Hence the term "boilerplate".
I seem to recall a character on The Sopranos who gets her legal advice from TV shows. She lives just long enough to regret not taking a more rigorous approach.
No, I just don't think you're inability to say "fuck you" whenever you want is a serious blow to personal freedom. Not every restriction on what you do or say is organized repression. If you say, "the government is corrupt" and you have to go to prison, then you're a represeed freedom fighter. But if you say, "You fuckers are not going to take away my fucking satellite dish because your motherfucking CC&Rs are a goddamn violation of my fucking rights", and you're told to leave the homeowner's association meeting, then you're just an immature asshole who doesn't know how to talk to people.
Libertarians like to tell each other that every rule that society imposes on them is a sign of repression. But in the grownup world, life is about comprimise -- not everybody gets everything they want. Sane rules codify these comprises. Sure, some rules are repressive. But the measure of repressiveness isn't how many selfish people whine about obeying them.
When it comes to hot-button issues like nuclear power, most people equate "balanced" with "agrees with me". That's how Fox gets away with claiming that they're "fair and balanced".
Yeah, a private event in the company cafeteria is not exactly hype. However, when the CEO uses that event to promote a leather iPod case you have to wonder whether he's excessively fond of hearing himself talk!
Everyone knows about the Number of the Beast, but what about this part?
And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
WTF is this? A condemnation of Thanksgiving? A complaint that Babylon 5 was cancelled?
That's why Revelations is so popular: you can make it say whatever you want.
no, wait, he's in Canada; make that 3.3 meters unless he's in Quebec in which case make it 3.3 metres
The -re ending has nothing to do with French linguifascism. The word is "metre" in all English-speaking countries except the U.S. Americans changed all "-re" words to "-er" about a century ago, in the name of spelling reform. Other English-speaking countries only use "-er" when it makes sense in terms of word origins. Note that "metre" comes from the Greek word "metron".
Incidentally, there's still a Centre Street in NYC.
Slashdot Mirror
(Back before TV listings became available online for free, people used to spend $3/month for TV Guide just so they'd known what was on. Same idea, only more advanced.)
What bugs me is that they no longer allow you to buy lifetime service for a flat fee. I guess too many people realized that you came out ahead if you owned your TiVo more than 18 months. Though if you were unlucky (as I was) your TiVo died on you before the 18 months was up!
If I ever had cable TV again, I'd have to have a TiVo. I mean, what's the use of having 200 channels if you can't separate the few shows you want to watch from all the crap? But I'll probably never have cable again — at current prices, that's really for suckers.
Well, if I were a Verizon shareholder, I'd be wondering why management can't see it from the customer's perspective. They went and invested in all that data network technology without any clear idea how they were going to make any money off it. Their schemes for getting people to pay for services that send data back and forth are getting more and more lame — or should I say desperate?
And even if we weren't, I'd still choose a Shuttle over an Alienware. A laptop is just the wrong configuration for a high-end graphics machine. If nothing else, you risk setting your lap on fire!
I'm reminded of Isaac Asimov's imaginary chemical, thiotimoline, which is so soluble, it starts to dissolve before you put it in the water. When he published a "scientific paper" on the chemical, a lot of readers didn't get the joke -- even though the "journal" in question was named Astounding Science Fiction.
In any case, high-end processing power doesn't usually make sense in a non-gamer's laptop. A laptop needs battery life and an absence of weight. In any case, IT people don't usually need to run big CPU-intensive apps.
Of course, if you're a scientific or engineering type, you probably need not only raw processing power, but the ability to do fancy graphics. So yeah, an Alienware workstation might make sense. But not a laptop!
I don't think an Alienware laptop really makes sense in any case. Why devote cost and weight to a battery you'll never use? If you want a portable gaming system, get a Shuttle
But I always hated manual duplexing. One misfeed and you've wasted half a ream!
I think the problem with the little alien head is not so much a matter of atmosphere as to the message it sends. Alienware charges a premium price for hardware that is optimized for game playing, not business productivity. You see an IT person with such a machine, you've got to wonder about somebody's priorities.
But this post is really an excuse for a triva lesson: everybody's seen Press Releases, which are phony news articles that people put out in the hopes that lazy newspaper editors will print them unchanged. Back when most newspapers were published with hot type, press releases were often distributed as pre-typeset pieces of lead that papers could just stick on their presses. The pre-typeset articles were big curved pieces of metal that looked like something you'd use to make boiler. Hence the term "boilerplate".
I seem to recall a character on The Sopranos who gets her legal advice from TV shows. She lives just long enough to regret not taking a more rigorous approach.
Libertarians like to tell each other that every rule that society imposes on them is a sign of repression. But in the grownup world, life is about comprimise -- not everybody gets everything they want. Sane rules codify these comprises. Sure, some rules are repressive. But the measure of repressiveness isn't how many selfish people whine about obeying them.
When it comes to hot-button issues like nuclear power, most people equate "balanced" with "agrees with me". That's how Fox gets away with claiming that they're "fair and balanced".
Another idiotic libertarian who equates "freedom" with "fuck you".
And yet, people always remember to "Ask Slashdot," where they get tons of legal advice from people who got their legal educations from Judge Judy.
Cliff, for the last time: stop accepting Ask Slashdots that want legal advice. Or else you'll be consulting a lawyer yourself!
And in America, we have a thing called corporate power, which means that the distinction between "plans to acquire" and "acquires" is pretty academic.
I've never heard of Cafe Macs. And I used to work down the street!
If you don't want to sound like the comic book guy, you shouldn't go anywhere near Slashdo!
Yeah, a private event in the company cafeteria is not exactly hype. However, when the CEO uses that event to promote a leather iPod case you have to wonder whether he's excessively fond of hearing himself talk!
(Checks mirror.) Whew! Thanks! I was terribly confused there for a while!
I seem to recall an episode where it was predicted that humans would someday evolve into a five-fingered form. Obviously, this has finally happened!
I don't think genocide has ever been an issue in zoning laws.
That's why Revelations is so popular: you can make it say whatever you want.
You're entitled to make mistakes! The unforgivable sin is refusing to admit them.
Incidentally, there's still a Centre Street in NYC.