I've always asked myself why the hell a mouse driver has to be 50 MEGAbytes, a keyboard driver 80 MEGAbytes, and don't even get me started on sound and video drivers...
Ever seen the size of an HP all in one printer-scanner driver?
*11 step process of uninstalling drivers and software, upgrading operating system, reinstalling drivers and software
If you're going through all the effort of uninstalling, and reinstalling stuff, by the time you're done it'd be just as easy to backup (which you're doing anyway), wipe, install new OS, install applications, restore user data from backup. Then you reduce the chances of any cruft being carried over.
I must disagree though. I have Dell Lattitude on a P1 processor with 64 MB of RAM and less than a gig of HD space. The good thing is, the laptop is rock hard stable, but I would want to install Linux on it. It runs XP pretty well btw, but OO.o is just a bit slow and I was thinking that an older version of Linux might be the best solution as I don't really need a laptop when I'm away from my desktop, except for maybe opening documents, spreadsheets and stuff.
And yes, I also have an older PDA that can take care of the office apps I need, but sometimes, it's just a matter of breathing new life into old equipment.
And as you (and others) are telling these stories about Unsatisfactory CFLs, the environmentalists are going "La la la we can't hear you."
I bought a hybrid car are few years ago, and of course started hanging-out with our green-thinking people, and it amazes me how close-minded these types are. If I say something like, "my car's battery drained empty last week," or "Yeah my CFLs only lasted 6 months," they literally start insulting me and saying I'm at fault. They don't want to hear anything negative.
So "la la la" they go with their fingers stuck in their ears.
Sounds like Linux when I complain that my Wifi card or GPU don't work.
Defragging SSDs is not only mostly a waste of time (Seek time is the same regardless of where the data is physically on the drive so unless you're dealing with heavy fragmentation of large files it won't have any effect), but it reduces the lifespan by needlessly reading and re-writing data all over the place; there's a good reason Windows 7 automatically disables defragmentation for SSDs.
It make a difference in the case of fragmented writes. As the erase block size is larger than the write cell of flash memory, if the file is spread across several erase blocks, you have to erase and re-write a lot of unrelated data, as opposed to doing a contiguous erase and write of new data. TRIM will help in this regard as well.
After all even Intel SSDs have been known to have performance issues when fragmented:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=691
TRIM will also help if you do defragment an SSD, as it will save writes from moving around and rewriting deleted data.
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The new Ubuntu version just came out. I upgraded right away and things are fine.
I always wait 6 months after a Ubuntu version is released before installing it. That way I know most of the bugs are ironed out.
I've always asked myself why the hell a mouse driver has to be 50 MEGAbytes, a keyboard driver 80 MEGAbytes, and don't even get me started on sound and video drivers...
Ever seen the size of an HP all in one printer-scanner driver?
*11 step process of uninstalling drivers and software, upgrading operating system, reinstalling drivers and software
If you're going through all the effort of uninstalling, and reinstalling stuff, by the time you're done it'd be just as easy to backup (which you're doing anyway), wipe, install new OS, install applications, restore user data from backup. Then you reduce the chances of any cruft being carried over.
Sure Mac OS X has had it's share of upgrade bugs but in my experience (with 3 macs) I've never seen them.
Guess you haven't used your guest account.
I must disagree though. I have Dell Lattitude on a P1 processor with 64 MB of RAM and less than a gig of HD space. The good thing is, the laptop is rock hard stable, but I would want to install Linux on it. It runs XP pretty well btw, but OO.o is just a bit slow and I was thinking that an older version of Linux might be the best solution as I don't really need a laptop when I'm away from my desktop, except for maybe opening documents, spreadsheets and stuff.
And yes, I also have an older PDA that can take care of the office apps I need, but sometimes, it's just a matter of breathing new life into old equipment.
Look at free softmaker office: http://www.softmakeroffice.com/ 2006 version runs on a win98 laptop with 32MB RAM alright. or Ashampoo office (rebranding of softmaker), where you can sometimes find the 2008 version for free. http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/07/11/ashampoo-office-2008-softmaker-office-alternative-3-1-free-activation-serial-key-number/ Spread32 is also a very lightweight spreadsheet program.
We write the installation date on them. Right now we mainly use them in fixtures left on for long periods of time.
Arm & Hammer Baking soda as toothpaste, bar soap as shampoo.
And as you (and others) are telling these stories about Unsatisfactory CFLs, the environmentalists are going "La la la we can't hear you."
I bought a hybrid car are few years ago, and of course started hanging-out with our green-thinking people, and it amazes me how close-minded these types are. If I say something like, "my car's battery drained empty last week," or "Yeah my CFLs only lasted 6 months," they literally start insulting me and saying I'm at fault. They don't want to hear anything negative.
So "la la la" they go with their fingers stuck in their ears.
Sounds like Linux when I complain that my Wifi card or GPU don't work.
CFLs are also sensitive to vibration. Don't install one in a ceiling fan or garage door opener, at risk of drastically reduced lifespan.
CFLs are also sensitive to price. Don't hold high hopes for a cheap no-name bulb. I still have some Phillips CFLs running on 9 years.
Defragging SSDs is not only mostly a waste of time (Seek time is the same regardless of where the data is physically on the drive so unless you're dealing with heavy fragmentation of large files it won't have any effect), but it reduces the lifespan by needlessly reading and re-writing data all over the place; there's a good reason Windows 7 automatically disables defragmentation for SSDs.
It make a difference in the case of fragmented writes. As the erase block size is larger than the write cell of flash memory, if the file is spread across several erase blocks, you have to erase and re-write a lot of unrelated data, as opposed to doing a contiguous erase and write of new data. TRIM will help in this regard as well. After all even Intel SSDs have been known to have performance issues when fragmented: http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=691 TRIM will also help if you do defragment an SSD, as it will save writes from moving around and rewriting deleted data.
How do you know I wont be using it? Everyone needs some free beer coasters, right?
We'll have to go back to using AOL CD's.
Remedial math perhaps?