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User: MtViewGuy

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  1. Re:Hunh? on AOL/Microsoft Talks Break Down · · Score: 1

    I still think we will see an AOL installer software as part of Windows XP.

    Like it or not, you do have 25 million AOL users out there. And a good number would like to be able to continue using AOL even if they upgrade their computer to Windows XP or buy a new computer with Windows XP pre-installed.

  2. Re:America is last, as usual on 3G Phone Trial Started in Japan · · Score: 1

    The reason why the US will have later trials of 3G phones is because the US system of digital cellular uses the Qualcomm-developed CDMA system, very diffferent from the GSM system used in Europe and Japan.

    Unlike GSM, the new CDMA2000 standard that the US 3G phones use will have better voice quality, better data security and more stable high-speed data connections.

    I've read that test trials of CDMA2000-compliant 3G phones will start early in 2002. I think Sprint will be the company that is involved, though I need to check with Sprint, Verizon and Cingular web sites to see when each company will start 3G field trials.

  3. Re:Do We *Really* Need Another Way to Invade Priva on 3G Phone Trial Started in Japan · · Score: 1

    You might want to know that a lot of pay phones are cellular phones nowadays. This allows pay phone companies to no longer have to string out a telephone wire to the location of the pay phones itself.

    By the way, there people that must have a cellphone--namely doctors, lawyers, or anyone that has to be on call very quickly. But a lot of them are now using two-way alphanumeric pagers, too (though cellphones can combine the functions of a pager).

  4. Re:Jon Katz understands little of systems on Technology And The Fast Food Nation · · Score: 1

    Wonderful example of why the media are so useless. Not a clue about systems, no comprehension of opportunity costs.

    I think a lot of problems with our mass media is the very fact they don't have even a basic understanding of how economic systems work. They need to read through a good textbook on first-year college economics; I'll guarantee that they'll figure out real fast government actions can affect the basic trade of goods and services very quickly and in often unexpected ways.

  5. Re:If everything was so hunky dori... on Microsoft Isn't Slowing Down · · Score: 1

    I think you forget that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are always on their guard in regards to competition. They have to be--after all, that's how Andrew S. Grove made Intel so powerful before he retired from the company.

    Besides, you cannot ignore the very fact that Microsoft has US$30 billion in liquid assets to spend on product development and promotion. Only a few corporations around the world have that much liquid assets sitting around ready to spend. At least developers will know that Microsoft has the money ready to spend to constantly refine the .NET initiative over time.

  6. Re:money and persistance is hard to beat on Microsoft Isn't Slowing Down · · Score: 1

    I think what helps Microsoft is the very fact unlike most companies dabbling in Linux, MS IS getting major revenues from selling Windows ME/2000 and Office 2000, and Microsoft right now has US$30 billion of liquid assets available immediately.

    Meanwhile, companies involved with Linux are either out of business, losing money big time, or barely making a profit. Even companies like TiVo were forced to lay off people in order to improve their bottom line.

    One advantage Microsoft has over its Linux competition is their excellent Usability Lab, which they have spent many, many millions of dollars developing. This allows Microsoft to carefully refine the look and feel of its products for the best end user experience. For example, compare Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 1 with Netscape 6.01; note how much cleaner and more consistent the interface of IE 5.5 SP1 is compared the confusing interface of NS 6.01.

  7. Simple cure: a top-quality office chair on What Do You Do To Relieve Lower Back Pain? · · Score: 1

    I think if people start having back problems working on their computers for long periods, this could mean a big issue of poor posture at the computer terminal.

    I would do one simple thing: get the best office chair you can afford, no contest. Sure, the really good ones can be steeply expensive (the Herman Miller chairs start at US$500 and go way, way up from there), but a good chair will have a combination of back cushion and height adjustments. This means you can achieve the right seating height and proper back support, which goes a long way in alleviating back problems (upper and lower back). And a top-flight office chair is still way less expensive than a trip to a doctor or physical therapist to alleviate the pain the first place.

  8. Re:Japanese (and American) revisionist history on Review: Pearl Harbor · · Score: 1

    What is not known to many people was that the Japanese had guessed correctly the first part of the invasion of the Japanese home islands would have been on the southern end of Kyushu, code-named OLYMPIC.

    Sadly, it would have been a bloodbath on both sides; the Japanese had the same defensive emplacements that caused so much trouble in Okinawa, only on a much larger scale.

    It's small wonder why the atomic bomb was dropped to end the war.

  9. Re:Diesel is not a panacea on Diesel Cars - High-Tech Low Tech · · Score: 2

    Actually, the EPA has already set a timetable to require that diesel fuel have under 80 parts million of sulfur compounds, similar to the current CARB standard. When you drastically reduce sulfur compounds--which are highly corrosive to common-rail fuel-delivery systems and direct-injection fuel injectors found on the latest European diesel engines and also will damage diesel exhaust catalysts and particulate traps--this will allow the USA to same vehicles such as the amazing BMW 330d, a turbodiesel vehicle that is capable of 143 MPH!!

  10. Why diesel cars aren't common in USA on Diesel Cars - High-Tech Low Tech · · Score: 1

    I think the reason why diesel-powered automobiles aren't common in the USA comes down to this one major issue: diesel fuel sold in the USA has way too much sulfur compounds per million, which can cause havoc with the high-tech diesel designs now common in Europe. What happens is that the corrosive effect of sulfur compounds in US diesel fuel can corrode and damage direct-injection fuel injectors and common-rail fuel-delivery systems. Also, it makes it difficult to control emissions from a diesel vehicle. Fortunately, help is on the way: the EPA is mandating soon that all diesel fuel sold in the USA have under 80 parts per million of sulfur compounds, similar to the California Air Resources Board standard for diesel fuel. This will finally allow the modern diesels sold in Europe to finally be sold all over the USA, and also makes it much easier for diesel cars to comply with LEV and ULEV standards for vehicle emissions since we can now apply more advanced exhaust catalysts and particulate traps, things that the high sulfur content in current US diesel fuel will render useless fairly quickly.

  11. Netscape 6 was NOT the answer either on AOL 6.0 Bundled with Windows XP? · · Score: 1

    I think another thing that is killing Netscape is the fact that they released Netscape 6.0 based on Mozilla 0.6 code, which of course meant it sucked like a vacuum cleaner for many end users on anything besides a computer running at 233 MHz or faster. :( And Netscape 6 can't render many web pages correctly; its interface is a mess compared to the cleanly-designed interface of the current Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1.

  12. Re:Why on Earth did AMD do this? on AMD Allies with Transmeta · · Score: 1

    I think there's another good reason for AMD to work with Transmeta: the possibility that AMD may get access to Transmeta's designs on running low power CPU's. This could mean substantially cooler running Athlon and Duron CPU's within a few years, easily matching the lower power requirements of the latest Intel mobile CPU's.