Look at the NRA. Do you think everyone in the NRA went to the library, carefully and thoughtfully evaluated the statistics, then reluctantly decided to support gun ownership because the facts supported it? No!
Well, yes, this _has_ happened - to a liberal Florida State University professor named Gary Kleck, who was hired by a liberal anti-gun organization to dig up stats to prove that guns do more harm than good. The numbers he wound up with put the number of times guns are used (annually) to _prevent_ crimes at somewhere between 2 and 4 million (an admittedly _VERY_ fuzzy number, but undisputably huge), compared to about 10-15,000 criminal shootings (no cops, not self-defense, no suicides, just criminal gun use). Usually, crimes are deterred by the mere display of a firearm, no shots are fired, and the gun owner is hesitant to report the incident since his behavior (drawing a perhaps illegally carried gun on someone) borders on criminal aggravated assault in many areas.
The organization who hired him promptly buried his raw data (which they paid for and own) so deep it'll never be found.
Gary nonetheless wrote a book from the results, entitled "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America"(unsurprisingly out of print) which many in the NRA read, nodded their heads, and agreed with. Their agreement in no way invalidates any of his information.
Yeah, he's only one guy, but his credentials can't be impeached, and if he can be accused of bias it's clearly in the _other_ direction.
is that debian dies. every single person I know who uses debian is so religiously pro-debian that they refuse to accept the existance of anything else.
AND THAT IS WHY DEBIAN CAN _NEVER_ DIE!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
...with all the spam out there, the legitimate messages don't get through...
That's very nice, except that the DMA is coming from the position that their spam is part of the "legitimate messages", and they aren't about to tolerate any legislation that says otherwise. They'll support legislation to get rid of non-DMA spam, sure, but it must have some twist in it to legitimize (and also _require_ delivery of) DMA-approved spam (ie the stuff they get paid for).
...I don't know when I last recompiled a kernel. Oh, wait, I did have to compile the NVidia modules.
Right, modules, but _not_ the whole Kernel!
The need to recompile yer Kernel to make your mouse movements take effect is greatly overstated.
I've installed a few things - pppd, ipchains, sound, multiple ethernet cards in a firewall - ALL of which had HOWTOs which started out by telling you to recompile a Kernel to support their special function...
Bunk. Just get insmod to install the module! Most modules can autosense their situation and set themselves up. Some, notably the driver for the very common NE2000 NIC, require parameters. This is still _way_ easier and faster than building those parameters into a Kernel.
In general, you PROBABLY DO NOT GREATLY NEED TO RECOMPILE YOUR KERNEL!!! (Assuming you run one of the standard ones that comes with a distribution) You ALMOST UNQUESTIONABLY DO _NOT_ NEED TO RECOMPILE YOUR KERNEL IN ORDER TO RUN IPCHAINS, PPPD, ALSA, CUPS, a WIDE variety of ethernet cards, OR A _WHEELMOUSE_! All that those things require are neato drivers known as INSTALLABLE KERNEL MODULES. And I'm not at all sure that the wheelmouse even requires a module. Try gpm. These installable modules have an advantage over built-in Kernel modules in that they can be shut off, removed, reconfigured/replaced, and restarted _without_requiring_a_reboot_!
Try _that_ with M$ device "drivers"!
And you should NOT run wu-ftpd. Switch to an ftp daemon that isn't made of swiss cheese. There are several to choose from. The older and less featureful ones are also the ones which make news in Bug-Traq less frequently.
"License: Software in and with the Xbox console is licensed to you, not sold. You are licensed to use the software only with your Xbox and you may not reverse engineer it, except as expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation."
IANAL, so that really tells me very little. I imagine that the interpretation of it is pretty much up to the Empire's legal staff, seeing as how they more or less have their way with the DoJ anymore.
I'm looking through my Xbox manual right now, and there's no steenking EULA! It was one of the main things I looked for when I unpackaged the thing.
There's the usual disclaimer of any and all liability whatsoever, there are multiple warnings about the danger of electrocution from electronic equipment, a warning about the danger of contacting energized parts inside the Xbox, a warning against sticking foriegn objects theough the ventilation holes, a warning about the danger of disassembling the Xbox, a warning against attempting to repair the Xbox, a safety warning against modifying the Xbox in any way, a warning about the danger of the Xbox falling on somebody and injuring them, a warning about the danger of blocking the ventilation slots and letting it get too hot, a warning against placing containers filled with liquids atop the Xbox, a warning about the possible seizure danger associated with flashing lights, a warning about sitting hunched over some game until your muscles & bones ache, a warning about "MusculoSkeletal Disorders" including "carpal tunnel syndrome" (one I'd probably better heed, the damn controller left my left hand useless after a mere 20-hour MotoGP session), a warning about burning a static pattern into your projection TV, no doubt other warnings that I've missed, and even a 90-day warranty, complete with provisions which void it if the Xbox is modified.
There's a copyright notice on the back that admonishes me against copying the manual in whole or in part, and a paragraph that sounds like a copyright notice for imbedded Macrovision IP which forbids disassembly or RE of that.
But I can find no M$ "software" EULA. I don't recall seeing one in its startup sequence either. Maybe they left it out of my box?
As I understand "Fair Use", the backup copies are only legitimate in the possession of the owner of the original. If someone steals them, they've no Fair Use right to the data, and the copy is no longer legitimate, just as it would not be if the original owner "shared" it with a friend. Of course if you leave the copy around unsecured and tell your friend where to 'steal' it, that's approximately the same thing. If someone steals the original and leaves you with your backup, it still works the same way. The backup is no longer legitimate.
Of five Xbox games I've brought home from Blockbuster (they gave me a 30-day rental cuopon when I bought my Xbox from them, I'll NOT pay the Empire for their "software" {no, I _don't_ steal it either, I use Linux and I bought the Xbox for that purpose}), three of them have refused to work. They had barely visible, really minor scratching.
If the things are so dammed delicate, you _bet_ I'll expect to make backups (assuming I _ever_ buy any). They all co$t $50, and I somehow doubt that they come with a media replacement guarantee! A modchip is required to run these backups. Of course a modchip is also required to run Linux. Fortunately I anticipated that the Empire would fight these tooth and nail, and I bought five China-enigmah chips from Lik-Sang. They made me a deal. I know, I'll be looking around for older Xboxen soon, but these _will_ get onto the used game console market. I've already sold one modcchip to a friend.
I really like the idea of using backup CDs in the car, though.
1. I live in Phoenix. Accidentally leaving things in the car during the day exposes them to about 140 F. This is death to VHS & cassette tapes and CDs too, as well as a LOT of other things. Leaving a copy of a CD in the car ruins a 30-cent CD-R, which I won't bother to cry about. I'm pretty sure that falls within the boundries of "fair use".
2. My ex's kid had his car broken into twice, both times losing hundreds of dollars in CDs and fancy audio gear. I would prefer to supply such _thieves_ with backup CDs. If _I_ make a copy of a CD that I've legitimately _paid_for_ (nevermind that I probably bought it off eBay for a third to half its retail price), lock the original in the gunsafe, and risk baking the copy in my car, that's fair use. If some scumbag (I think we can all agree here that those who break into people's cars and relieve them of their stereo gear are scumbags) breaks into my car and steals that CD, it becomes an illegitimate copy in his possession, and he can't take it to the secondhand record store and sell it. I think that's quite fair.
the fusible link in the middle of the main wiring harness, all taped together with the rest of the wires. I'm NOT kidding, I can show you where, both in the schamatics and in mine (there's a visible lump under the tape). This is a great way to burn up a van.
No. The computer controlled acuators do not do the same thing as my hand and left foot would do. If I pay even 5k for an automobile, my hand and left foot would sometimes cause that automobile to burn serious rubber!
The article states:
"To engage S6 {sequential, high-performance, driver-controlled automated shifting}, you must first switch off the DSC {whatever the hell that is}. Shifts happen in the blink of an eye in this mode-the quickest take as little as 0.08 second.... The tires bark in second gear. They'll atomize in first."
That oughta be good enough for you, unless you own a tire store.
Avoid "the viral GPL" and its "Intellectual Property Rights Restrictions(tm)". Most everything can be had from BSD. Build a proprietary, closed, WinBloze compatible (for support of legacy stuff) GUI on top (like Aqua has an AppleOS "compatibility box").
I'm not afraid of this. If they wanted to market UNIX, the Empire had a clear title to it in the mid-80s. They sold Xenix to SCO instead, and entered into an agreement which promised that they'd never compete in the UNIX market.
Without debating the long-term value (or lack thereof) of Imperial "promises", if they'd seen any value to an M$-UNIX they could have easily bought SCO/Caldera any time over the last fifteen years and had it all ready to go. The monopolist sees UNIX as snake oil, preferring to reinvent the wheel.
if you think that the "ideas and values" held forth by Hollywood(tm) are shared by 95% of all Americans. Nevermind the rest of the world. Part of the backside of the First Ammendment is that, while you have the right to say (and, I suppose, film) anything you want, I have (once I've paid the admission price) the right to pay attention to or ignore, as I please, whichever parts of that statement I may or may not wish to hear.
If you want to watch a film that I have funded a part of the price I want you to pay is to be exposed to the ideas and values I seek to promote.
HAH!! ON WHAT PLANET do you find this enforceable?!? Sorry, but your money does NOT buy you that. What are you going to do? Arrest me for leaving the theater during some scene _you_ feel is "important"?
If you pick & choose your stuff, you _don't_ have to pay top dollar for a gazigahurts processor - you can buy a somewhat slower one for FAR less money. I find that a CPU that's 1/2 to 2/3 as fast as the "current" offerings will co$t about 1/4 the price (or less), saving me money. I regard this as a good deal. Another thing I look for is an AMD processor. Others may not. Obviously there are a large number of people "out there" (in the 85% market) who believe that CPU speed is vitally important, and that it's _gotta_ be Intel, and they may be better off buying from a big OEM who caters to this concept. I usually find that my machine is disk, modem (a BIGGIE) or cache-bound anyway, a faster CPU does little to speed up a system in general. But 2.6G is faster than 2.4G, right? Maybe. A little. But in NO case will it be 40% faster or worth 40% more.
I use plenty of secondhand stuff as well. If you can get useful stuff used you'll save gobs of money. Of course you have to define "can get" and "useful", but these are less slippery terms than, say, "is".
Shop around. Learn what to pay, and more importantly what _not_ to pay. Reading pricewatch or cheapbytes might spoil you, their prices are LOW so as to compete with yer local computer store even after the shipping.
Remember the commercial where they said "Parts is parts"? They may have been talking about chicken nuggets, but the principle applies well to all sorts of things. I've extended the theory considerably:
"Parts is parts, and computers is parts, and if you put enough parts together you get a computer". But you _also_ get to choose what you want, what you want to pay for, and what you don't.
only with different numbers (both part numbers and speed figures):
I think it's a matter of diminishing returns. If a $75 CPU runs at 1.5 GHz and is fast enough for 75-90% of the computing tasks you do, and a 2.5 GHz CPU costs over $500... then why would you even consider the 2.5 GHz CPU?
Especially since that bleeding-edge chip is going to drop 50% in price over the next 6 months (or whenever the yields pick up on the next faster speed, whichever comes first). Fsck it.
OTOH if you have an _immediate_ need for gut-wrenching CPU speed, go for it. Compare the overpriced bleeding-edge x86 chip against, say, an UltraSPARC, and it will look _real_ good. But you certainly don't need to spend the money to surf the web or play games. A good video card is a much better investment for most people.
Why in the world would anyone want to spend the money on a top of the line processor when they can buy an entire computer based on a value processor for $299 at Walmart.com?
Actually the XBOX is only $199 now.:)
In the face of $300 computers from Wal-Mart, the Xbox is starting to look like yesterday's deal:
A: It's limited to 64M RAM, at least until some clever hack expands that.
B: You'll spend $30-$70(US) on a mod chip, and then there's still the issue of installing it. This isn't a challenge to/me, but would be for someone without pretty fair soldering skills. Modded Xboxxen go for $300 (+shipping).
C: Add a USB keyboard & mouse & a plug for the side of the Xbox and a hub and an RGB monitor pigtail and you're up against that $300 pricepoint mighty quickly even if you do your own modchip install.
D: Installation notes suggest that it may prove necesary to replace the DVD, apparently the Empire chooses DVD models that have trouble reading consumer-burned media. (They have plenty of trouble reading genuine Xbox DVDs if they're scratched, too) This would queef the deal bigtime.
Actually Wal-Mart's 800MHz system is only $200 now. Ummm, for those wondering, it ends up being about $233 for the shipping+handling and tax.
Oh well. The value proposition offered by the Xbox is the opportunity to stick it to his Billness.
Actually, you're referring to two different parties.
Right.
I recall when they were scheduling the "de-orbiting" of the Iridium constellation. It's totally unprofitable. Yet the hobbyists covet it. This is more of the same.
Too bad the map / location server is _still_ "down" (perhaps taken town to avoid a sort of geek land-rush?). I got a 9M.xls out of it, let's see if SC can handle that......
{tries StarCalc on downloaded xls...... SUCCESS! Thank you,SMI}
oO0Oo... There's one - within a coupe of _blocks_ of my apt! And another... and ANOTHER. And another within spitting distance of work! Maybe it's time to make that housing purchase....
Slashdot Mirror
Look at the NRA. Do you think everyone in the NRA went to the library, carefully and thoughtfully evaluated the statistics, then reluctantly decided to support gun ownership because the facts supported it? No!
Well, yes, this _has_ happened - to a liberal Florida State University professor named Gary Kleck, who was hired by a liberal anti-gun organization to dig up stats to prove that guns do more harm than good. The numbers he wound up with put the number of times guns are used (annually) to _prevent_ crimes at somewhere between 2 and 4 million (an admittedly _VERY_ fuzzy number, but undisputably huge), compared to about 10-15,000 criminal shootings (no cops, not self-defense, no suicides, just criminal gun use). Usually, crimes are deterred by the mere display of a firearm, no shots are fired, and the gun owner is hesitant to report the incident since his behavior (drawing a perhaps illegally carried gun on someone) borders on criminal aggravated assault in many areas.
The organization who hired him promptly buried his raw data (which they paid for and own) so deep it'll never be found.
Gary nonetheless wrote a book from the results, entitled "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America"(unsurprisingly out of print) which many in the NRA read, nodded their heads, and agreed with. Their agreement in no way invalidates any of his information.
Yeah, he's only one guy, but his credentials can't be impeached, and if he can be accused of bias it's clearly in the _other_ direction.
It sounds like they're out to film "The Robots of Dawm", just one of the "I, Robot" series and a filmable book, unless of course they screw it up.
But will we get protocol drivers to interface it with Linux?
Just because it's "Linux Inside"(tm) doesn't mean we'll necessarily be able to talk to it.
is that debian dies.
every single person I know who uses debian is so religiously pro-debian that they refuse to accept the existance of anything else.
AND THAT IS WHY DEBIAN CAN _NEVER_ DIE!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
...with all the spam out there, the legitimate messages don't get through...
That's very nice, except that the DMA is coming from the position that their spam is part of the "legitimate messages", and they aren't about to tolerate any legislation that says otherwise. They'll support legislation to get rid of non-DMA spam, sure, but it must have some twist in it to legitimize (and also _require_ delivery of) DMA-approved spam (ie the stuff they get paid for).
...I don't know when I last recompiled a kernel. Oh, wait, I did have to compile the NVidia modules.
Right, modules, but _not_ the whole Kernel!
The need to recompile yer Kernel to make your mouse movements take effect is greatly overstated.
I've installed a few things - pppd, ipchains, sound, multiple ethernet cards in a firewall - ALL of which had HOWTOs which started out by telling you to recompile a Kernel to support their special function...
Bunk. Just get insmod to install the module! Most modules can autosense their situation and set themselves up. Some, notably the driver for the very common NE2000 NIC, require parameters. This is still _way_ easier and faster than building those parameters into a Kernel.
In general, you PROBABLY DO NOT GREATLY NEED TO RECOMPILE YOUR KERNEL!!!
(Assuming you run one of the standard ones that comes with a distribution)
You ALMOST UNQUESTIONABLY DO _NOT_ NEED TO RECOMPILE YOUR KERNEL IN ORDER TO RUN IPCHAINS, PPPD, ALSA, CUPS, a WIDE variety of ethernet cards, OR A _WHEELMOUSE_! All that those things require are neato drivers known as INSTALLABLE KERNEL MODULES. And I'm not at all sure that the wheelmouse even requires a module. Try gpm. These installable modules have an advantage over built-in Kernel modules in that they can be shut off, removed, reconfigured/replaced, and restarted _without_requiring_a_reboot_!
Try _that_ with M$ device "drivers"!
And you should NOT run wu-ftpd.
Switch to an ftp daemon that isn't made of swiss cheese. There are several to choose from. The older and less featureful ones are also the ones which make news in Bug-Traq less frequently.
It's on the outside of the shipping box:
IANAL, so that really tells me very little. I imagine that the interpretation of it is pretty much up to the Empire's legal staff, seeing as how they more or less have their way with the DoJ anymore.
I don't give a darn WHAT the EULA says.
What EULA?
I'm looking through my Xbox manual right now, and there's no steenking EULA! It was one of the main things I looked for when I unpackaged the thing.
There's the usual disclaimer of any and all liability whatsoever, there are multiple warnings about the danger of electrocution from electronic equipment, a warning about the danger of contacting energized parts inside the Xbox, a warning against sticking foriegn objects theough the ventilation holes, a warning about the danger of disassembling the Xbox, a warning against attempting to repair the Xbox, a safety warning against modifying the Xbox in any way, a warning about the danger of the Xbox falling on somebody and injuring them, a warning about the danger of blocking the ventilation slots and letting it get too hot, a warning against placing containers filled with liquids atop the Xbox, a warning about the possible seizure danger associated with flashing lights, a warning about sitting hunched over some game until your muscles & bones ache, a warning about "MusculoSkeletal Disorders" including "carpal tunnel syndrome" (one I'd probably better heed, the damn controller left my left hand useless after a mere 20-hour MotoGP session), a warning about burning a static pattern into your projection TV, no doubt other warnings that I've missed, and even a 90-day warranty, complete with provisions which void it if the Xbox is modified.
There's a copyright notice on the back that admonishes me against copying the manual in whole or in part, and a paragraph that sounds like a copyright notice for imbedded Macrovision IP which forbids disassembly or RE of that.
But I can find no M$ "software" EULA. I don't recall seeing one in its startup sequence either. Maybe they left it out of my box?
Wanna buy a China-enigmah chip? I have a couple for sale.
What if they steal the backups? ;)
As I understand "Fair Use", the backup copies are only legitimate in the possession of the owner of the original. If someone steals them, they've no Fair Use right to the data, and the copy is no longer legitimate, just as it would not be if the original owner "shared" it with a friend. Of course if you leave the copy around unsecured and tell your friend where to 'steal' it, that's approximately the same thing. If someone steals the original and leaves you with your backup, it still works the same way. The backup is no longer legitimate.
So, keep those originals secured!
Of five Xbox games I've brought home from Blockbuster (they gave me a 30-day rental cuopon when I bought my Xbox from them, I'll NOT pay the Empire for their "software" {no, I _don't_ steal it either, I use Linux and I bought the Xbox for that purpose}), three of them have refused to work. They had barely visible, really minor scratching.
If the things are so dammed delicate, you _bet_ I'll expect to make backups (assuming I _ever_ buy any). They all co$t $50, and I somehow doubt that they come with a media replacement guarantee! A modchip is required to run these backups. Of course a modchip is also required to run Linux. Fortunately I anticipated that the Empire would fight these tooth and nail, and I bought five China-enigmah chips from Lik-Sang. They made me a deal. I know, I'll be looking around for older Xboxen soon, but these _will_ get onto the used game console market. I've already sold one modcchip to a friend.
I really like the idea of using backup CDs in the car, though.
1. I live in Phoenix. Accidentally leaving things in the car during the day exposes them to about 140 F. This is death to VHS & cassette tapes and CDs too, as well as a LOT of other things. Leaving a copy of a CD in the car ruins a 30-cent CD-R, which I won't bother to cry about. I'm pretty sure that falls within the boundries of "fair use".
2. My ex's kid had his car broken into twice, both times losing hundreds of dollars in CDs and fancy audio gear. I would prefer to supply such _thieves_ with backup CDs. If _I_ make a copy of a CD that I've legitimately _paid_for_ (nevermind that I probably bought it off eBay for a third to half its retail price), lock the original in the gunsafe, and risk baking the copy in my car, that's fair use. If some scumbag (I think we can all agree here that those who break into people's cars and relieve them of their stereo gear are scumbags) breaks into my car and steals that CD, it becomes an illegitimate copy in his possession, and he can't take it to the secondhand record store and sell it. I think that's quite fair.
Will we EVER see a decent Linux driver for it?
No?
Then why should I bother paying any attention to it, other than to chalk up one more neato card on the "doesn't work in Linux" list?
Nothing more to see here, move along...
the fusible link in the middle of the main wiring harness, all taped together with the rest of the wires. I'm NOT kidding, I can show you where, both in the schamatics and in mine (there's a visible lump under the tape). This is a great way to burn up a van.
It's "safer" that way.
/troll (for the humor-impaired)
Just like it's "safer" to walk yer bike across an intersection.
The article states:
That oughta be good enough for you, unless you own a tire store.
Yow. Here's Cola libre:x .php
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/copyleft/
http://www.opencola.com/products/3_softdrink/inde
Get it while it's there. OpenCola is getting out of soft drinks in favor of software.
Avoid "the viral GPL" and its "Intellectual Property Rights Restrictions(tm)". Most everything can be had from BSD. Build a proprietary, closed, WinBloze compatible (for support of legacy stuff) GUI on top (like Aqua has an AppleOS "compatibility box").
I'm not afraid of this. If they wanted to market UNIX, the Empire had a clear title to it in the mid-80s. They sold Xenix to SCO instead, and entered into an agreement which promised that they'd never compete in the UNIX market.
Without debating the long-term value (or lack thereof) of Imperial "promises", if they'd seen any value to an M$-UNIX they could have easily bought SCO/Caldera any time over the last fifteen years and had it all ready to go. The monopolist sees UNIX as snake oil, preferring to reinvent the wheel.
If the OSS community got hold of the Aqua source, how long do you think it would be before it got ported to x86?
That would benifit the Linux-on-x86 community greatly, but would pretty much be the end of Apple's rather overpriced hardware.
if you think that the "ideas and values" held forth by Hollywood(tm) are shared by 95% of all Americans. Nevermind the rest of the world. Part of the backside of the First Ammendment is that, while you have the right to say (and, I suppose, film) anything you want, I have (once I've paid the admission price) the right to pay attention to or ignore, as I please, whichever parts of that statement I may or may not wish to hear.
If you want to watch a film that I have funded a part of the price I want you to pay is to be exposed to the ideas and values I seek to promote.
HAH!! ON WHAT PLANET do you find this enforceable?!? Sorry, but your money does NOT buy you that. What are you going to do? Arrest me for leaving the theater during some scene _you_ feel is "important"?
It can be. Or you can get an ultimate machine, it depends on what you use. The point is that _you_ get to choose what you want to pay for or not.
The main reason I DIY is because the major OEMs _all_ spend WAY too much money buying the latest CPUs from Intel. Why this is regarded as vitally important I fail to understand, as do several others in another discussion today
If you pick & choose your stuff, you _don't_ have to pay top dollar for a gazigahurts processor - you can buy a somewhat slower one for FAR less money. I find that a CPU that's 1/2 to 2/3 as fast as the "current" offerings will co$t about 1/4 the price (or less), saving me money. I regard this as a good deal. Another thing I look for is an AMD processor. Others may not. Obviously there are a large number of people "out there" (in the 85% market) who believe that CPU speed is vitally important, and that it's _gotta_ be Intel, and they may be better off buying from a big OEM who caters to this concept. I usually find that my machine is disk, modem (a BIGGIE) or cache-bound anyway, a faster CPU does little to speed up a system in general. But 2.6G is faster than 2.4G, right? Maybe. A little. But in NO case will it be 40% faster or worth 40% more.
I use plenty of secondhand stuff as well. If you can get useful stuff used you'll save gobs of money. Of course you have to define "can get" and "useful", but these are less slippery terms than, say, "is".
Shop around. Learn what to pay, and more importantly what _not_ to pay. Reading pricewatch or cheapbytes might spoil you, their prices are LOW so as to compete with yer local computer store even after the shipping.
Remember the commercial where they said "Parts is parts"? They may have been talking about chicken nuggets, but the principle applies well to all sorts of things. I've extended the theory considerably:
"Parts is parts, and computers is parts, and if you put enough parts together you get a computer". But you _also_ get to choose what you want, what you want to pay for, and what you don't.
only with different numbers (both part numbers and speed figures):
I think it's a matter of diminishing returns. If a $75 CPU runs at 1.5 GHz and is fast enough for 75-90% of the computing tasks you do, and a 2.5 GHz CPU costs over $500... then why would you even consider the 2.5 GHz CPU?
Especially since that bleeding-edge chip is going to drop 50% in price over the next 6 months (or whenever the yields pick up on the next faster speed, whichever comes first). Fsck it.
OTOH if you have an _immediate_ need for gut-wrenching CPU speed, go for it. Compare the overpriced bleeding-edge x86 chip against, say, an UltraSPARC, and it will look _real_ good. But you certainly don't need to spend the money to surf the web or play games. A good video card is a much better investment for most people.
Why in the world would anyone want to spend the money on a top of the line processor when they can buy an entire computer based on a value processor for $299 at Walmart.com?
:)
/me, but would be for someone without pretty fair soldering skills. Modded Xboxxen go for $300 (+shipping).
Actually the XBOX is only $199 now.
In the face of $300 computers from Wal-Mart, the Xbox is starting to look like yesterday's deal:
A: It's limited to 64M RAM, at least until some clever hack expands that.
B: You'll spend $30-$70(US) on a mod chip, and then there's still the issue of installing it. This isn't a challenge to
C: Add a USB keyboard & mouse & a plug for the side of the Xbox and a hub and an RGB monitor pigtail and you're up against that $300 pricepoint mighty quickly even if you do your own modchip install.
D: Installation notes suggest that it may prove necesary to replace the DVD, apparently the Empire chooses DVD models that have trouble reading consumer-burned media. (They have plenty of trouble reading genuine Xbox DVDs if they're scratched, too) This would queef the deal bigtime.
Actually Wal-Mart's 800MHz system is only $200 now. Ummm, for those wondering, it ends up being about $233 for the shipping+handling and tax.
Oh well. The value proposition offered by the Xbox
is the opportunity to stick it to his Billness.
FOR GREAT JUSTICE.
SOME YOUR XBOX ARE BELONG TO US!!!
Uh, try porting emacs to it.
That's all the killer app I need.
Actually, you're referring to two different parties.
.xls out of it, let's see if SC can handle that......
... ... SUCCESS! Thank you,SMI}
Right.
I recall when they were scheduling the "de-orbiting" of the Iridium constellation. It's totally unprofitable. Yet the hobbyists covet it. This is more of the same.
Too bad the map / location server is _still_ "down" (perhaps taken town to avoid a sort of geek land-rush?). I got a 9M
{tries StarCalc on downloaded xls
oO0Oo... There's one - within a coupe of _blocks_ of my apt!
And another... and ANOTHER. And another within spitting distance of work!
Maybe it's time to make that housing purchase....