Yes they are. One word: Roommate. Okay, make that two words "inconsiderate roommate." Okay, lots of words: "obnoxious roommate on his way to flunking out who won't shut his damned annoying music/tv/mouth off or keep his friends away long enough for me to study & write."
There are (lots of) times when a roommate makes a shared dorm room less than the best environment for work. Being able to pick up an iBook and take it down to the coffee shop, or the library, or even outside under a tree in order to work for a few hours is indispensible, IMO.
Sure. And at the rate that television prices are falling, in a couple years you could buy a new TV for the same price as a 349 "converter" box.
Consider, too, that the new HDDVD specs allow for the **removal** of authentication keys from the pool of permissable keys if they have compromised. I'm betting it won't be long before Hollywierd disables the keys this device uses.
>>has anybody considered that maybe our computers are designed around our personalities? Consider the other angle -- an OS and suite of applications which fosters creativity might make people who are ordinarily boring, more creative. We are creatures of our environment after all.
>>never make well structured code and functionality less of a priority than UI "prettyness".
Agreed. But I believe elegance, simplicity and artistic beauty go hand-in-hand with well-crafted code. A simple, elegant design is often represented simply and elegantly all the way from the UI down to the object structure.
>>Am I the only one who is completely unclear on what was intended by this comparison?
No, you're exactly right. The functionality of windows has been essentially static since Win95 and ugly, grey, square windows look equally bad no matter what numbers the "About Windows..." box contains.
Now, the problem with looking at the changes between NT->2k->XP is that, well, for the most part you can't look at the changes. Other than a green "start" button, what's the difference in terms of *user experience*? Where's the innovation? I can't find it.
Spotlight, Automator, Rendevous, (and yes, even Widgets) IMO all work to make the user more productive. Apple changes their OS every year. Sometimes for the better, occasionally for the worse ("two steps forward, one step back") but at least they're making progress and trying new ideas.
Microsoft is simply hung up on locking people into their technology and making it too expensive/difficult to transition away. Proof? How 'bout.Net, just for starters.
Anyone still doubt? Well, then, did you hear about that beautiful, innovative new technology in Microsoft's latest OS release that makes users much more productive? Yeah, neither did I. The big stories out of Redmond mostly concern what *isn't* going to be in Longhorn.
Sorry, fanboys, but Windows innovation isn't.
Disagree? Feel free to list MSFT's post Win95 innovations that improve the user experience right here ___________________________________.
This solution may not be perfect, but it's inexpensive and IMO stands as a good chance of working as any practical solns I've heard.
Use layers. Buy a BIG gun safe (40+cubic feet) with a 2-hour fire rating (meaning, in an average house fire, paper inside will not char for two hours). Then purchase a number of smaller (1 cu. ft) "file folder" safes. Put the important docs in the small safes, and put the small safes inside the large safe.
The 2-hour-rating will ensure that the inside temp of the large safe will not exceed the char temperature of paper. So outside temp of big safe = ~1700F, inside temp = ~350 (guessing here?). The smaller safes, if similarly rated, will further resist temperature increases. IF the outside temp is "only" 350F, the inside temp will be much, much lower, likely well below 200F
Oh, and install this near an exterior wall over a concrete floor; for two reasons. First, in the event of a fire this is likely the lowest temp spot, and second that setup is going to be damned heavy -- too heavy for a wood-frame floor. A corner of a heated garage would be perfect.
That was very, very well said but (of course) I'm totally out of mod points so you'll have to settle for an "atta'boy!"
I agree - this shit is a total scam.
To answer your rhetorical question about why computers instead of additional tutoring or other materials? It's all about metrics. It's easy to measure whether a student has a computer... it's difficult to measure whether an instructor is efficient or whether tutoring sessions are effective.
BTW: My daughter is attending a state college and IIRC their MINIMUM requirements for a PC is (are you sitting down) a 3Ghz P4 or a 1.6Ghz Mac or faster(!) with a half-gig of RAM and 40GB HDD, an absurd amount of processing power for IM, email, web browsing and writing a few reports. Three thousand four hundred clock cycles (x # of cores, x #preinstuction fetching/multiple pipelines, etc.) adds up to a LOT of power. I mean, damn, you could compute a moon orbit insertion in less than a second on that machine but 99% of the time it'll be used as a glorified typewriter. How did anyone ever survive college with only pencil, paper and a typewriter?
Of course, when asked why top-end systems were necessary for freshman students, the staff couldn't tell me *why* they required a hot-rod computer, simply "that's our requirement." When asked what tasks the system must be able to perform, the staff said "general computing." Yeah, right. And the school **REQUIRES** MS Office, student edition ($150). According to staff, OpenOffice (free) is not an acceptable substitute. Again, no reason why could be given, simply "that's our standard."
Makes me wonder how Microsoft, Gateway and Apple are listed as "recommended" brands. I have no reason to suspect a kickback or paid product placement, do you?
Oh, they're waaaaay out there in fantasy land. Remember, this is a newspaper we're talking about. They're used to being the gatekeepers of opinion and information, so the idea that information (or abuse, unfortunately in this case) may flow upwards from the masses to the media is unthinkable to them. (Which is one of the reasons that The Elite Media's share of consumer attention declines each year in favor of the Internet, blogs, etc.)
Let's just say that they've been schooled in the John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.
>>Congress would likely approve subsidies for low-income residents who can not afford to buy a new set. They could use the subsidies to either buy a new TV or get a converter box that would transfer digital signals so they could be watched on an analog set.
Oh God, you're probably right. Just what America's poor needs -- more mind-numbing television. A quick review of over-the-air broadcasting during the hours of 9-5 (e.g. "work hours") leads me to think the poor would be better of WITHOUT television. I mean, how the hell does Judge Joe Brown, wall-to-wall adverts. for trial lawyers, that trashy dating program, soap operas, and/or the Home Shopping Network benefit anyone?
Surely I'm not the only one who believes they'd be better off if the damned box went black and they were forced to pick up a book.
At this moment, for example, in 2005 (if it was 2005), Apple was at war with Motorola and in alliance with Intel. In no public or private utterance was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines. Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Apple had been at war with Intel and in alliance with Motorola. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control. Officially the change of partners had never happened. Apple was at war with Motorola: therefore Apple had always been at war with Motorola. The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.
I disagree. The EFF would know the MPAA in the same way a boxer knows his opponent -- through experience in battle and study.
This report is disinformation, at best. The MPAA's not giving up -- they're retreating in preparation for another attack. Recall, this is the group that likened the VHS to Jack The Ripper... they believe that a MythTV Box with a HDTV card and a DVD burner is the moral equivalent of Mao, Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot all put together. MPAA's not backing down they're simply busy licking their wounds from their recent court defeat.
Look, the MPAA is a dinosaur trying to hold on to an outdated business model. They want to keep information scarcity as the core of their business model. That might have worked thirty years ago, but in the information age it's a recipe for failure.
If you want to know the goals of the MPAA, don't listen to what they say, watch what they do. Specificly, watch for their donations of money/travel/gifts to lawmakers. Only when the money stops is it safe to say that they've "given up."
That's pretty good advice, but I'm going to argue with you a bit on #2: >>Step 2: Get updates **every couple of months**
Didn't you mean to write "every day"? Sure, the OS may only be patched every month or two, but you must also consider your hardware drivers, firewall firmware, virusscan signatures, malware/spyware detector(s), etc. After most OS patches, you'll need to do the patch/update/restart dance so you might as well do everything at once.
IMO, to keep a Windows box protected, a daily check for updates is necessary.
Sort of like the old phrase "no pain, no gain" eh? Well, we all know that beer makes the drinker smarter and I believe the headache problem is the drinker's awareness of the weak brain cells dying off. In the interests of science and a higher IQ, I'm prepared to work through the pain and set my sights on the lofty goals beyond. After a few keggers, I shall be left with only the smartest, most capable neurons and without those inferior, weak brain cells to get in the way, I will undoubtedly be the smartest person I know.
That little headache problem was due to my prematurely stopping the drinking cycle too early, causing pain. Well, friend, I won't make that mistake again. I pledge to you that I will drink, nonstop, from here on.
I'm sure they said the same thing about the internal combustion engine. Thanks for your complete lack of vision.
Just think for a moment what a clean source of power this could be. Stirling engines (external combustion engines) are quire remarkable little machines which extract power from a thermal delta. Hook a deepsea cold water supply to a Sterling engine and you'd have an extremely reliable, zero-pollution source for reciprocal motion or electricity generation. And the hotter the climate, the more effective it would be due to the greater thermal delta. Wouldn't you call a zero-emission engine be a desirable product?
I've been applying icy cold beverages (usually beer) to the INSIDE of my body for years, and let me tell ya what, after a six'er, let me assure you I'm feeling no joint pain at all. I do tend to have a headache the next day though...
>>The only ones that really matter are the people in the sample set for ACNielsen watch it.
Not exactly. Have you forgotton about all those TiVOs out there collecting viewership information?
TiVO provides much more detailed information than ACNielsen could ever hope to collect and is therefore more valuable to researchers/program directors/studios/etc.
Sodium (and sometimes potassium) is used inside high-performance automobile engine pistons and valves to transfer heat from the surface of the piston to the skirts (or the valve face to the stem), where the heat can be shed to the engine block. Porsche and Mercedes Benz have been doing this for thirty years or more.
>> How on earth am I going to know if it's the set or the signal that's producing all those jaggies?
Bring your DVHS or HDTV PVR or Myth box on which you have high-def content. Plug it into each monitor in your price range and compare. Buy the one you like the best. Seriously.
Would you buy a car if you were only allowed to ride along with the salesman driving only on specially prepared roads? no way. Or how about a stereo system without being able to pop in your own music or adjust the volume? Again, no way. Then why should you spend thousands of $$s on a monitor that may or may not do what you want? It's about the machine's ability to reproduce the content you desire. If the store doesn't have the content, bring your own and put the device through its paces.
And if the shop won't let you unplug the store cables and connect your equipment, then take your money elsewhere to a shop that actually values your business. You might pay a bit more than you would at the big box stores, but that's life. If you really care about what you're buying, take your business and your money elsewhere and let them sell low-quality crap to the masses.
Slashdot Mirror
>>Laptops aren't necessary...
Yes they are. One word: Roommate. Okay, make that two words "inconsiderate roommate." Okay, lots of words: "obnoxious roommate on his way to flunking out who won't shut his damned annoying music/tv/mouth off or keep his friends away long enough for me to study & write."
There are (lots of) times when a roommate makes a shared dorm room less than the best environment for work. Being able to pick up an iBook and take it down to the coffee shop, or the library, or even outside under a tree in order to work for a few hours is indispensible, IMO.
Sure. And at the rate that television prices are falling, in a couple years you could buy a new TV for the same price as a 349 "converter" box.
Consider, too, that the new HDDVD specs allow for the **removal** of authentication keys from the pool of permissable keys if they have compromised. I'm betting it won't be long before Hollywierd disables the keys this device uses.
>>has anybody considered that maybe our computers are designed around our personalities?
Consider the other angle -- an OS and suite of applications which fosters creativity might make people who are ordinarily boring, more creative.
We are creatures of our environment after all.
>>never make well structured code and functionality less of a priority than UI "prettyness".
Agreed. But I believe elegance, simplicity and artistic beauty go hand-in-hand with well-crafted code. A simple, elegant design is often represented simply and elegantly all the way from the UI down to the object structure.
>>Am I the only one who is completely unclear on what was intended by this comparison?
.Net, just for starters.
No, you're exactly right. The functionality of windows has been essentially static since Win95 and ugly, grey, square windows look equally bad no matter what numbers the "About Windows..." box contains.
Now, the problem with looking at the changes between NT->2k->XP is that, well, for the most part you can't look at the changes. Other than a green "start" button, what's the difference in terms of *user experience*? Where's the innovation? I can't find it.
Spotlight, Automator, Rendevous, (and yes, even Widgets) IMO all work to make the user more productive. Apple changes their OS every year. Sometimes for the better, occasionally for the worse ("two steps forward, one step back") but at least they're making progress and trying new ideas.
Microsoft is simply hung up on locking people into their technology and making it too expensive/difficult to transition away. Proof? How 'bout
Anyone still doubt? Well, then, did you hear about that beautiful, innovative new technology in Microsoft's latest OS release that makes users much more productive? Yeah, neither did I. The big stories out of Redmond mostly concern what *isn't* going to be in Longhorn.
Sorry, fanboys, but Windows innovation isn't.
Disagree? Feel free to list MSFT's post Win95 innovations that improve the user experience right here ___________________________________.
>>The fish was caught and eaten in a remote village in Thailand
Six hundred pounds of catfish? I think they meant to say "eaten by a remote village in Thailand"
This solution may not be perfect, but it's inexpensive and IMO stands as a good chance of working as any practical solns I've heard.
Use layers. Buy a BIG gun safe (40+cubic feet) with a 2-hour fire rating (meaning, in an average house fire, paper inside will not char for two hours). Then purchase a number of smaller (1 cu. ft) "file folder" safes. Put the important docs in the small safes, and put the small safes inside the large safe.
The 2-hour-rating will ensure that the inside temp of the large safe will not exceed the char temperature of paper. So outside temp of big safe = ~1700F, inside temp = ~350 (guessing here?). The smaller safes, if similarly rated, will further resist temperature increases. IF the outside temp is "only" 350F, the inside temp will be much, much lower, likely well below 200F
Oh, and install this near an exterior wall over a concrete floor; for two reasons. First, in the event of a fire this is likely the lowest temp spot, and second that setup is going to be damned heavy -- too heavy for a wood-frame floor. A corner of a heated garage would be perfect.
Makes me wonder what would happen if a student said "No, I don't agree to your terms and refuse to accept your computer."
That was very, very well said but (of course) I'm totally out of mod points so you'll have to settle for an "atta'boy!"
I agree - this shit is a total scam.
To answer your rhetorical question about why computers instead of additional tutoring or other materials? It's all about metrics. It's easy to measure whether a student has a computer... it's difficult to measure whether an instructor is efficient or whether tutoring sessions are effective.
BTW: My daughter is attending a state college and IIRC their MINIMUM requirements for a PC is (are you sitting down) a 3Ghz P4 or a 1.6Ghz Mac or faster(!) with a half-gig of RAM and 40GB HDD, an absurd amount of processing power for IM, email, web browsing and writing a few reports. Three thousand four hundred clock cycles (x # of cores, x #preinstuction fetching/multiple pipelines, etc.) adds up to a LOT of power. I mean, damn, you could compute a moon orbit insertion in less than a second on that machine but 99% of the time it'll be used as a glorified typewriter. How did anyone ever survive college with only pencil, paper and a typewriter?
Of course, when asked why top-end systems were necessary for freshman students, the staff couldn't tell me *why* they required a hot-rod computer, simply "that's our requirement." When asked what tasks the system must be able to perform, the staff said "general computing." Yeah, right. And the school **REQUIRES** MS Office, student edition ($150). According to staff, OpenOffice (free) is not an acceptable substitute. Again, no reason why could be given, simply "that's our standard."
Makes me wonder how Microsoft, Gateway and Apple are listed as "recommended" brands. I have no reason to suspect a kickback or paid product placement, do you?
It's worth pointing out that the story liked by parent post includes photos.
>>I wonder which world they're living in ?
Oh, they're waaaaay out there in fantasy land.
Remember, this is a newspaper we're talking about. They're used to being the gatekeepers of opinion and information, so the idea that information (or abuse, unfortunately in this case) may flow upwards from the masses to the media is unthinkable to them. (Which is one of the reasons that The Elite Media's share of consumer attention declines each year in favor of the Internet, blogs, etc.)
Let's just say that they've been schooled in the John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.
>>they'll come out with a CD, that you can buy, but likely won't be allowed to listen to under any circumstances
This reminds me of Nigel Tufnel's "super special" guitar -- remember the one he wouldn't let Rob Reiner play, touch or even look at?
Hmmm. Perhaps this hypothetical album you can't listen to was performed on that guitar.
>>Congress would likely approve subsidies for low-income residents who can not afford to buy a new set. They could use the subsidies to either buy a new TV or get a converter box that would transfer digital signals so they could be watched on an analog set.
Oh God, you're probably right. Just what America's poor needs -- more mind-numbing television. A quick review of over-the-air broadcasting during the hours of 9-5 (e.g. "work hours") leads me to think the poor would be better of WITHOUT television. I mean, how the hell does Judge Joe Brown, wall-to-wall adverts. for trial lawyers, that trashy dating program, soap operas, and/or the Home Shopping Network benefit anyone?
Surely I'm not the only one who believes they'd be better off if the damned box went black and they were forced to pick up a book.
My apologies to Mr. Orwell, but it must be done:
At this moment, for example, in 2005 (if it was 2005), Apple was at war with Motorola and in alliance with Intel. In no public or private utterance was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines. Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Apple had been at war with Intel and in alliance with Motorola. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control. Officially the change of partners had never happened. Apple was at war with Motorola: therefore Apple had always been at war with Motorola. The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.
>> Quake was not the first true 3D game. Descent was fully 3d 2 years before Quake.
And Battlezone beats 'em both by, what, a decade?
It is a 3D 1st person POV shooter, after all, but the camera is constrained to only rotate around the vertical axis (yaw).
I disagree. The EFF would know the MPAA in the same way a boxer knows his opponent -- through experience in battle and study.
This report is disinformation, at best. The MPAA's not giving up -- they're retreating in preparation for another attack. Recall, this is the group that likened the VHS to Jack The Ripper... they believe that a MythTV Box with a HDTV card and a DVD burner is the moral equivalent of Mao, Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot all put together. MPAA's not backing down they're simply busy licking their wounds from their recent court defeat.
Look, the MPAA is a dinosaur trying to hold on to an outdated business model. They want to keep information scarcity as the core of their business model. That might have worked thirty years ago, but in the information age it's a recipe for failure.
If you want to know the goals of the MPAA, don't listen to what they say, watch what they do. Specificly, watch for their donations of money/travel/gifts to lawmakers. Only when the money stops is it safe to say that they've "given up."
>> so what do you do when your software requires an Intel chipset because of the DRM capabilities?
Hack the code, of course, to remove the DRM check/requirements. Then again, I use opensource OS and software. Those who don't will be SOL.
That's pretty good advice, but I'm going to argue with you a bit on #2:
>>Step 2: Get updates **every couple of months**
Didn't you mean to write "every day"? Sure, the OS may only be patched every month or two, but you must also consider your hardware drivers, firewall firmware, virusscan signatures, malware/spyware detector(s), etc. After most OS patches, you'll need to do the patch/update/restart dance so you might as well do everything at once.
IMO, to keep a Windows box protected, a daily check for updates is necessary.
Sort of like the old phrase "no pain, no gain" eh? Well, we all know that beer makes the drinker smarter and I believe the headache problem is the drinker's awareness of the weak brain cells dying off. In the interests of science and a higher IQ, I'm prepared to work through the pain and set my sights on the lofty goals beyond. After a few keggers, I shall be left with only the smartest, most capable neurons and without those inferior, weak brain cells to get in the way, I will undoubtedly be the smartest person I know.
That little headache problem was due to my prematurely stopping the drinking cycle too early, causing pain. Well, friend, I won't make that mistake again. I pledge to you that I will drink, nonstop, from here on.
Slashdot, I salute you!
>>pseudo-scientific, completely unfeasible, sketchy "unlimited energy" solutions
I'm sure they said the same thing about the internal combustion engine. Thanks for your complete lack of vision.
Just think for a moment what a clean source of power this could be. Stirling engines (external combustion engines) are quire remarkable little machines which extract power from a thermal delta. Hook a deepsea cold water supply to a Sterling engine and you'd have an extremely reliable, zero-pollution source for reciprocal motion or electricity generation. And the hotter the climate, the more effective it would be due to the greater thermal delta. Wouldn't you call a zero-emission engine be a desirable product?
I've been applying icy cold beverages (usually beer) to the INSIDE of my body for years, and let me tell ya what, after a six'er, let me assure you I'm feeling no joint pain at all. I do tend to have a headache the next day though...
>>Liquid metal computer component cooling was discussed here not to long ago.
Indeed. link to Liquid Metal CPU Cooling 03May05
>>The only ones that really matter are the people in the sample set for ACNielsen watch it.
Not exactly. Have you forgotton about all those TiVOs out there collecting viewership information?
TiVO provides much more detailed information than ACNielsen could ever hope to collect and is therefore more valuable to researchers/program directors/studios/etc.
Sodium (and sometimes potassium) is used inside high-performance automobile engine pistons and valves to transfer heat from the surface of the piston to the skirts (or the valve face to the stem), where the heat can be shed to the engine block. Porsche and Mercedes Benz have been doing this for thirty years or more.
Give 'em a t-shirt to wear? Hrmph! Only if it's on fire.
>> How on earth am I going to know if it's the set or the signal that's producing all those jaggies?
Bring your DVHS or HDTV PVR or Myth box on which you have high-def content. Plug it into each monitor in your price range and compare. Buy the one you like the best. Seriously.
Would you buy a car if you were only allowed to ride along with the salesman driving only on specially prepared roads? no way. Or how about a stereo system without being able to pop in your own music or adjust the volume? Again, no way. Then why should you spend thousands of $$s on a monitor that may or may not do what you want? It's about the machine's ability to reproduce the content you desire. If the store doesn't have the content, bring your own and put the device through its paces.
And if the shop won't let you unplug the store cables and connect your equipment, then take your money elsewhere to a shop that actually values your business. You might pay a bit more than you would at the big box stores, but that's life. If you really care about what you're buying, take your business and your money elsewhere and let them sell low-quality crap to the masses.