I don't know why, but the FireFox team can never seem to get scrolling right. I didn't switch to FireFox 1 because of it (the way the scroll wheel was handled as the mouse cursor moved over the different controls as the page scrolled up and down made it almost unusable).
I use my Toshiba laptop most of the time, and it has a trackpad. The sides of the track pad are "scroll areas", and I use it extensively, "flicking" to scroll rapidly up and down the page, or touching and barely moving my finger to scroll more slowly.
This works perfectly in every application I have.
Except FireFox.
In FireFox three, the page just sits there. Oh, the cursor changes to the scrolling indicator, but FireFox just completely ignores the fact that I'm telling it to scroll. Once you get used to this method of scrolling, having to use the track pad to drag the cursor over to the scroll bars, and eithee click blank areas, or grab the scroll-bar thumb to scroll is just way too much effort.
It's very frustrating. My attempt at using FireFox 3 lasted just as long as it did for FireFox 1 and FireFox 2... about 20 minutes. I finally got so frustrated with the damn thing I just uninstalled it.
Why can't the FireFox team get such simple and obvious things as scrolling right? And why doesn't this crap bother anyone else??
I've tried on various machines, so it's not "just me", or just THIS machine.
Version 3.x still grinds things down if you have a 'website' in your solution, but it's faster loading and working in non-website/ASP.NET projects than previous versions.
I've been beta testing Version 4.x, due out soon, and performance is substantially better in every way, even with Websites and ASP.NET projects.
Definitely check out 4.0 when it's released. You can give it a 30-day trial before deciding to buy.
Much greater utility, real-time, as-you-type analysis, lots of additional features like solid refactorings and code cleanup and formatting, life templates, code generation, better "intellisense", better code navigation, etc. A very highly useful tool, one that I recommend to anyone who will listen.
If you're doing C# development, you should really check out JetBrains "ReSharper". Version 4.0 is due out soon, which supports all the C#3.0 syntaxes (extension methods, LINQ, lambda expressions, etc), but even 3.x is a worthwhile tool. It does real-time syntax checking (as you type) so you don't have to compile to find out you have a syntax error, as well as tons of refactorings, and very useful static code analysis.
Once you develop with Resharper, you really can't go back to using VS without it... it's like coding with stone knives and bear skins.
I've used the above two tools... the IntelliJ IDEA IDE for Java development, and the Visual Studio plug-in Resharper for C# development... and can't imagine living without them.
Of course, they provide a heck of a lot more than just static code analysis, but the ability to see all syntax errors in real time, and all logic errors (like potential null-references, dead code, unnecessary 'else' statements, etc, etc) saves way too much time, and has, in my experience, resulted in much better, more solid code. When you add on all the intelligent refactoring, vastly improved code navigation, and customizable code-generation features of these utilities, it's a no-brainer.
I installed it without incident. Very smoothly in fact. Quick too. Absolutely no XP SP3 problems for me.
And who in their right mind would ever want to downgrade from IE7 to IE6?!? If you aren't running IE7, you should be running FireFox or any of the others. NOBODY should be using IE6 at this point. So not being able to downgrade from IE7 to IE6 is hardly a "problem"... in fact, I'd consider it a *feature*.
In other tests I've seen, the only time the SSD drives come out on top is when configured in performance RAID style, so that writes are parallelized across two or more SSD units.
If someone could put together a convenient RAID type package, the extra cost might actually result in extra, noticable speed improvements, even for writes. And two 64GB SSD units arranged in a performance RAID package would give a more usable 128GB "hard disk" to store things on anyway.
I'm not sure that glossy/matte has anything to do with viewing angle. Individual displays have differences in viewing angles, but the same display with different finishes wouldn't.
Mercifully I don't have to work in a cube environment with over-head flourescent lighting or anything, so the glossy screens look just fine to me. I also don't have huge bright windows at my back either. I guess those lighting issues would cause glossy screens to be somewhat annoying, but I just never seem to run into the situation where it's a problem.
And all my glossy screens (laptop, desktop, HD TV) have incredible and wide viewing angles.
My laptop has one (I had to choose it as an option), and it gives much richer colors and blacker blacks, and I don't have any problem reading it in any light at all. I'm not sure what problem people have with glossy screens, but I go out of my way to get them. When I got a wide-screen HD TV, I got one with a glossy screen (and got a huge boost in contrast by doing so at no extra cost).
Maybe it takes some getting used to, and maybe there are some lighting situations that cause issues that I just never seem to run across, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Hrm. I think it more likely we'd sell as much of it as possible to developing countries that are thirsting for it (like China) in order to pay down our massive debts to foreign countries that we're racking up...
(is that even possible without nationalizing the oil fields?)
So what IS the cost, per barrel, of pulling it out of the ground?
It's literally pennies to pull it out in Kuwait. But Oil is trading for over $100/barrel now. So if the costs are anything up to about $50/barrel to recover, there's still some profit motive left to go after it.
I've read all sorts of numbers, but I'm wondering at what point it becomes desirable, not just feasable, to go after that oil and start exploiting those fields.
And then there's the conspiracy theorist in me who wonders if they aren't purposely driving hte price of oil up in order to make exploiting domestic oil that much more realistic, and thus wean us off the foreign teat...
The things that are preventing me from buying an iPhone:
1) Want faster than EDGE (3G)
2) Want more memory (16GB is bare minimum, 32GB preferable)
3) Real GPS would be very nice
4) Full Bluetooth abilities
5) Better camera with flash (megapixes doesn't matter to me as much as photo quality and ability to take photos in low lighting conditions, etc)
SOFTWARE-wise, I'd really want to see:
1) Rotatable keyboard and more consistent support of rotation and gestures across all aps
2) Multimedia texting support (including ability to 'text' a pic you just took to a friend, with auto-resizing)
3) Better email sync (including Windows Live Mail, including syncing the SENT folder back to your PC), better calendar syncing, and better bulk email handling
4) Ability to shoot video with the camera (mpeg, not JUST "quicktime" please)
5) Copy/paste, including from web pages into emails, to/from address book, etc.
I'm curious why none of the information seems to even acknowledge the existence of the previous "Clone Wars" mini-series on Cartoon Network.
I'm also curious how this new series fits in with existing one. Does it retell some of the same stories, only with better/cooler animation and more detail? Does it just flesh out bits inbetween what the original mini-series already covered? Does it take place wholelly after the events of the original mini-series? (I don't think that's possible, since the events there lead right into the opening of Episode III).
And what's the status on the live-action series they talked about, that was to take place between eps III and IV?
My biggest question, from looking at the renderings, is... how do the pilots see anything? I realize that most aspects of flight can be automated, but I'm thinking more of taxiing on the ground, and dealing with exceptional or emergency situations. The whole "No Windows" thing would be a hard sell, I think, even if it did make some technical issues go away.
There'd have to at least be some external cameras somewhere to give the pilots some view of their path and around their plane.
I work form home. I do database work. I copy large databases (from 42Meg to 1.2Gig) from the work servers down to my local box all the time. I use VPN, so there is tons of network traffic between me and work. I do this every day for 8-10 hours a day. Never mind downloading windows and application updates, or downloading ISO installers like I recently did for VS2008.
On a good day, I'd blow through 10GB in one day, and that's without doing any 'web browsing', IM-ing, or any other activity unreleated to work (though I also web-browse and IM in the context of work). That also doesn't include downloading songs or vides (legally) or streaming music from the likes of Pandora.com.
I also have VOIP. Every phone call goes through my internet connection.
I have Time Warner (Business Class) for my internet. I have Time Warner for my cable service. But my phone service is AT&T's CallVantage. I live in Texas (Austin).
At this point, either one is so vastly superior to anything on the other side, or to anything we've seen in the last 7+ yaers, that it'd be a privilege to have either one of them in the Oval Office. Last week's debates really put a fine point on this fact.
Having them both in the White house (Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton) would be even better:-)
Too bad they don't seem to have any interest in taking the many valid criticisms and critiques and suggestions and incorporating them and fixing up the serious issues that abound with their proprietary spec.
The new zune PC software is vastly improved (all new), and the Zune UI itself is better as well. Update your Zune with the latest, and it should improve your experience. Your original zune's softare can be updated to get all the benefits of the new zune, save for the improved 'zune pad' (obviously, because that's hardware).
I don't know about you, but my car remains parked through most of the day (while at work). Solar recharging stations at places of employment would help with that task as well.
The bigger problem is large population centers that get almost zero sun during the winter (when not only is the sunlight a small fraction of what it is in the summer, but frequently such places as Seattle are over-cast).
Still, it could go a long way for a large part of the country, for a large part of the year. Obviously no system is perfect.
You're absolutely right on the disappearing "node expanders" (I won't call them plus signs, becuase I use the Areo interface, and they're little triangles there). I hate that. And the alignment thing just makes it worse... without the cursor in that box, you can hardly tell what is a "child" node of what.
But the other things you mention... they must be artifacts of you not using Areo, because I've never seen half those dialogs, including that bizarre browse dialog. I won't say the areo browse dialog is tons better, but it's certainly not as bad as the one in your screen capture!
I do wish I could turn off the breadcrumb bar... I haven't ever found it useful, and have frequently found it to be a hinderence as it takes up too much room, so when I'm down deep, I can't see the beginning of the path unless I click in that control to convert it to just text.
And dammit, bring back the "parent folder" up-arrow button!
Do you ahve an HD box for your cable? For my cable system (Time Warner Austin), I just updated my existing DVR for the HD DVR, and the cable shows on HD are STUNNINGLY better. HUGE difference.
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I don't know why, but the FireFox team can never seem to get scrolling right. I didn't switch to FireFox 1 because of it (the way the scroll wheel was handled as the mouse cursor moved over the different controls as the page scrolled up and down made it almost unusable).
I use my Toshiba laptop most of the time, and it has a trackpad. The sides of the track pad are "scroll areas", and I use it extensively, "flicking" to scroll rapidly up and down the page, or touching and barely moving my finger to scroll more slowly.
This works perfectly in every application I have.
Except FireFox.
In FireFox three, the page just sits there. Oh, the cursor changes to the scrolling indicator, but FireFox just completely ignores the fact that I'm telling it to scroll. Once you get used to this method of scrolling, having to use the track pad to drag the cursor over to the scroll bars, and eithee click blank areas, or grab the scroll-bar thumb to scroll is just way too much effort.
It's very frustrating. My attempt at using FireFox 3 lasted just as long as it did for FireFox 1 and FireFox 2 ... about 20 minutes. I finally got so frustrated with the damn thing I just uninstalled it.
Why can't the FireFox team get such simple and obvious things as scrolling right? And why doesn't this crap bother anyone else??
I've tried on various machines, so it's not "just me", or just THIS machine.
Very, very annoying.
From my perspective, these are the things I didn't hear that I had wanted to hear...
:-)
* No expanded capacity. I had hoped for 24Gb or 32Gb models
* No improved camera. I had hoped for more megapixels, maybe a flash, or at least better controls and options and editing
* No mention of copy/paste. Come on! Copy/Paste!
* No mention of rotatable keyboard, across all aps
* No MMS. Come on! Multi-media messaging is standard on most phones sold now!
* No mention of email search. Contact search is great, but let us search through everything. Pervasive search!
That said, I'm still buying one
Version 3.x still grinds things down if you have a 'website' in your solution, but it's faster loading and working in non-website/ASP.NET projects than previous versions.
I've been beta testing Version 4.x, due out soon, and performance is substantially better in every way, even with Websites and ASP.NET projects.
Definitely check out 4.0 when it's released. You can give it a 30-day trial before deciding to buy.
Check out ReSharper, from JetBrains.
Much greater utility, real-time, as-you-type analysis, lots of additional features like solid refactorings and code cleanup and formatting, life templates, code generation, better "intellisense", better code navigation, etc. A very highly useful tool, one that I recommend to anyone who will listen.
If you're doing C# development, you should really check out JetBrains "ReSharper". Version 4.0 is due out soon, which supports all the C#3.0 syntaxes (extension methods, LINQ, lambda expressions, etc), but even 3.x is a worthwhile tool. It does real-time syntax checking (as you type) so you don't have to compile to find out you have a syntax error, as well as tons of refactorings, and very useful static code analysis.
Once you develop with Resharper, you really can't go back to using VS without it... it's like coding with stone knives and bear skins.
I've used the above two tools ... the IntelliJ IDEA IDE for Java development, and the Visual Studio plug-in Resharper for C# development ... and can't imagine living without them.
Of course, they provide a heck of a lot more than just static code analysis, but the ability to see all syntax errors in real time, and all logic errors (like potential null-references, dead code, unnecessary 'else' statements, etc, etc) saves way too much time, and has, in my experience, resulted in much better, more solid code. When you add on all the intelligent refactoring, vastly improved code navigation, and customizable code-generation features of these utilities, it's a no-brainer.
I wouldn't program without them.
I installed it without incident. Very smoothly in fact. Quick too. Absolutely no XP SP3 problems for me.
And who in their right mind would ever want to downgrade from IE7 to IE6?!? If you aren't running IE7, you should be running FireFox or any of the others. NOBODY should be using IE6 at this point. So not being able to downgrade from IE7 to IE6 is hardly a "problem"... in fact, I'd consider it a *feature*.
In other tests I've seen, the only time the SSD drives come out on top is when configured in performance RAID style, so that writes are parallelized across two or more SSD units.
If someone could put together a convenient RAID type package, the extra cost might actually result in extra, noticable speed improvements, even for writes. And two 64GB SSD units arranged in a performance RAID package would give a more usable 128GB "hard disk" to store things on anyway.
Get a micro-fiber cloth. It cleans the screens quickly and easily, without requiring any cleaning agent.
Heck, I picked one up at the grocery store for cheap, and it works perfectly.
I'm not sure that glossy/matte has anything to do with viewing angle. Individual displays have differences in viewing angles, but the same display with different finishes wouldn't.
Mercifully I don't have to work in a cube environment with over-head flourescent lighting or anything, so the glossy screens look just fine to me. I also don't have huge bright windows at my back either. I guess those lighting issues would cause glossy screens to be somewhat annoying, but I just never seem to run into the situation where it's a problem.
And all my glossy screens (laptop, desktop, HD TV) have incredible and wide viewing angles.
My laptop has one (I had to choose it as an option), and it gives much richer colors and blacker blacks, and I don't have any problem reading it in any light at all. I'm not sure what problem people have with glossy screens, but I go out of my way to get them. When I got a wide-screen HD TV, I got one with a glossy screen (and got a huge boost in contrast by doing so at no extra cost).
Maybe it takes some getting used to, and maybe there are some lighting situations that cause issues that I just never seem to run across, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Just my two cents.
Hrm. I think it more likely we'd sell as much of it as possible to developing countries that are thirsting for it (like China) in order to pay down our massive debts to foreign countries that we're racking up...
(is that even possible without nationalizing the oil fields?)
So what IS the cost, per barrel, of pulling it out of the ground?
It's literally pennies to pull it out in Kuwait. But Oil is trading for over $100/barrel now. So if the costs are anything up to about $50/barrel to recover, there's still some profit motive left to go after it.
I've read all sorts of numbers, but I'm wondering at what point it becomes desirable, not just feasable, to go after that oil and start exploiting those fields.
And then there's the conspiracy theorist in me who wonders if they aren't purposely driving hte price of oil up in order to make exploiting domestic oil that much more realistic, and thus wean us off the foreign teat...
The things that are preventing me from buying an iPhone:
1) Want faster than EDGE (3G)
2) Want more memory (16GB is bare minimum, 32GB preferable)
3) Real GPS would be very nice
4) Full Bluetooth abilities
5) Better camera with flash (megapixes doesn't matter to me as much as photo quality and ability to take photos in low lighting conditions, etc)
SOFTWARE-wise, I'd really want to see:
1) Rotatable keyboard and more consistent support of rotation and gestures across all aps
2) Multimedia texting support (including ability to 'text' a pic you just took to a friend, with auto-resizing)
3) Better email sync (including Windows Live Mail, including syncing the SENT folder back to your PC), better calendar syncing, and better bulk email handling
4) Ability to shoot video with the camera (mpeg, not JUST "quicktime" please)
5) Copy/paste, including from web pages into emails, to/from address book, etc.
My music collection *alone* is just over 16Gb. If I also want to store images and video on it, I'll need at least 32Gb.
Thought I'd settle for 24Gb.
16Gb is the barest minimum, and would force me to have to pick and choose what music I carry with me.
I'm curious why none of the information seems to even acknowledge the existence of the previous "Clone Wars" mini-series on Cartoon Network.
I'm also curious how this new series fits in with existing one. Does it retell some of the same stories, only with better/cooler animation and more detail? Does it just flesh out bits inbetween what the original mini-series already covered? Does it take place wholelly after the events of the original mini-series? (I don't think that's possible, since the events there lead right into the opening of Episode III).
And what's the status on the live-action series they talked about, that was to take place between eps III and IV?
My biggest question, from looking at the renderings, is ... how do the pilots see anything? I realize that most aspects of flight can be automated, but I'm thinking more of taxiing on the ground, and dealing with exceptional or emergency situations. The whole "No Windows" thing would be a hard sell, I think, even if it did make some technical issues go away.
There'd have to at least be some external cameras somewhere to give the pilots some view of their path and around their plane.
I work form home. I do database work. I copy large databases (from 42Meg to 1.2Gig) from the work servers down to my local box all the time. I use VPN, so there is tons of network traffic between me and work. I do this every day for 8-10 hours a day. Never mind downloading windows and application updates, or downloading ISO installers like I recently did for VS2008.
On a good day, I'd blow through 10GB in one day, and that's without doing any 'web browsing', IM-ing, or any other activity unreleated to work (though I also web-browse and IM in the context of work). That also doesn't include downloading songs or vides (legally) or streaming music from the likes of Pandora.com.
I also have VOIP. Every phone call goes through my internet connection.
I have Time Warner (Business Class) for my internet. I have Time Warner for my cable service. But my phone service is AT&T's CallVantage. I live in Texas (Austin).
I'm pretty much screwed if they do this.
At this point, either one is so vastly superior to anything on the other side, or to anything we've seen in the last 7+ yaers, that it'd be a privilege to have either one of them in the Oval Office. Last week's debates really put a fine point on this fact.
:-)
Having them both in the White house (Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton) would be even better
Too bad they don't seem to have any interest in taking the many valid criticisms and critiques and suggestions and incorporating them and fixing up the serious issues that abound with their proprietary spec.
The new zune PC software is vastly improved (all new), and the Zune UI itself is better as well. Update your Zune with the latest, and it should improve your experience. Your original zune's softare can be updated to get all the benefits of the new zune, save for the improved 'zune pad' (obviously, because that's hardware).
I don't know about you, but my car remains parked through most of the day (while at work). Solar recharging stations at places of employment would help with that task as well.
The bigger problem is large population centers that get almost zero sun during the winter (when not only is the sunlight a small fraction of what it is in the summer, but frequently such places as Seattle are over-cast).
Still, it could go a long way for a large part of the country, for a large part of the year. Obviously no system is perfect.
Plug-in Hybrids can be powered from solar installations, which will help with the whole 'moving the problem upstream'.
You're absolutely right on the disappearing "node expanders" (I won't call them plus signs, becuase I use the Areo interface, and they're little triangles there). I hate that. And the alignment thing just makes it worse... without the cursor in that box, you can hardly tell what is a "child" node of what.
But the other things you mention... they must be artifacts of you not using Areo, because I've never seen half those dialogs, including that bizarre browse dialog. I won't say the areo browse dialog is tons better, but it's certainly not as bad as the one in your screen capture!
I do wish I could turn off the breadcrumb bar... I haven't ever found it useful, and have frequently found it to be a hinderence as it takes up too much room, so when I'm down deep, I can't see the beginning of the path unless I click in that control to convert it to just text.
And dammit, bring back the "parent folder" up-arrow button!
Do you ahve an HD box for your cable? For my cable system (Time Warner Austin), I just updated my existing DVR for the HD DVR, and the cable shows on HD are STUNNINGLY better. HUGE difference.
Are you sure you're getting actual HD? 1080i?