And a ghetto pc SHOULD have only one drive. That's another reason why it's a GHETTO pc.
At 320 MB/sec with LVD SCSI, I _still_ see my biggest system bottleneck in hard disk data throughput. It really irks me that I can spend $1,000 for a decent system (mobo, cpu, memory) and not even be able to come close to alleviating my hard disk bottleneck for another $1,000.
These days putting a hard drive in a new machine feels like putting a lawn mower engine in a Lamborghini.
I've looked at solid state drives. If I took a mortgage on my entire net worth and liquefied all my assets, I still could not afford solid state drives at $80,000 a piece. Especially on a network that runs over 250 GB of storage.:(
Think "Return of the Pink Panther in the 21st Century..."
What else is a silent, dustless, precision glass cutter good for?
Vortran out
P.S. - This is a joke. Please do not feel compelled to point out that the thing probably fills up a whole lab and has all the portability of a pile of bricks.
It's not "the US" per se, but rather certain acts of the US government. I do not voluntarily support many of the US government's actions taken in the name of its citizens with their money. Our freedom and form of government are excellent compared to others. That doesn't mean our governement can't suck. It just sucks a lot less than most others.
Do you support the DMCA? Supporting the US does not mean supporting the DMCA or the US government. To me, "supporting the US" means support the US citizens... the people like myself who get out of bed every day and go to work and look forward to coming home and playing with or networks and children (and wives!) and relaxing on the weekends. Just like the folks in other countries.
Private? As in "pay Microsoft?" Geez.. I agreed with every word you said until the last paragraph. Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "private" but this is what I envision:
BillG: "I'll give you $XX Billion dollars for your NASA organization and all IP." NASA: "OK."
MS-Nasa: "Where in space do you want to go today?"
I felt the need to widen the scope of my earlier post. TV sets do have a certain advantage over digital displays in that they have an analog, hence infinite, color space. You can do some pretty nifty tricks to increase the perceived realism of an image by increasing color depth. This is done a lot for images that are engineered for television display.
However, at a certain point, (about 20 bits color depth) the actual resolution of the display device becomes the primary factor in perceived image quality. This is where the TV set fails to match up to the digital computer display.
Excuuse me, but umm.. you're watching a TV set which has at max.. what maybe 500 lines with S-Video? Let's see that would be at least 100 lines less of vertical resolution than my crappiest computer display system.
No TV game is going to compare to a 1600 x 1200 computer display because it's well, a TV game that you watch on a TV. Improving the image quality of your TV set is like improving the performance of your Yugo. When all is said and done, you still have... a Yugo.
I understand that most people don't have a 40 inch computer monitor, but still you can only go so far with image quality on an NTSC television set. TVs are not high resolution display devices by definition.
Vortran out
Re:Microbes would be ... depressing.
on
Life on Pluto?
·
· Score: 2
Actually, the big reason I want to chat with some space aliens is in the hopes that they can provide answers to questions we can only ask. Therefore amoebas and molds don't much interest me either.
I guess I might fall into the "searching for god" category. If any ET is capable of travelling between stars and communicating meaningfully with us, they are indeed gods in comparison to humans.
How am I supposed to say "GNU/Linux" if I do not know how to properly pronounce "GNU".
I believe LINUX is pronounced "LYNN-ux" with the emphasis on the first syllable... but what about GNU? I've heard "new" and "GEE-new" So what is the correct pronunciation?
I fly R/C models, and so does the USAF. As a matter of fact many of their prototypes are built as radio controlled models and kinks ironed out (pun intended) before the full-size version is built.
I'm excited about the prospect of seeing a modern style (we already have Kitthawk-style) model designed with wing warping.
I totally agree with you on the sillyness of the word football to refer to the American game with regard to the fact that it has little or nothing to do with using one's feet.
However, linguistically, I prefer to have separate words to provide a means of clrifying meaning. Soccer/football (which is how Australians refer to the games) gives me the tool I need to be clear in language.
I'd be perfectly happy to call soccer football if another name were given to football (the U.S. version). I also concede that the original application of the term "football" to the U.S. game was an act of theivery and rather uncreative on the part of those who committed it. I fortunately was not involved so I cannot accept blame.
If I had wings on my car, I wouldn't need to worry about passing/driving on the left/right! I'd just fly over everyone!
Other options.. of course. I always accept cashier's checks and money orders. However, what besides PayPal is instantaneous and convenient?
I really hate waiting for snail-mail payments and I hate going to get money orders or cashier's checks when the seller doesn't accept PayPal. Am I missing something better?
Vortran out
Re:Here's my essay - here's my stupid question
on
Mr Anti-Google
·
· Score: 1
I went to www.pir.org. I don't get it at all. WTF is it about? WTF _IS_ it? You don't have a FAQ, so I had to ask.
Well, things would be a damn sight better for the lass if she had won the lottery instead. Heck, if something with a 1:10^9 probability happened to me, I'd sure hope it was more fortuitious than getting hit by a rock!
Also, how does one pronounce "Sibhan"? Not exactly the British-looking name I might expect from a Yorkshire resident.
MSDN has removed much of the information that is not germane to.Net. As a consequence, those of us with access to the MSDN universal subscription are the fortunate minority who can still lookup Win32 API function definitions. All this stuff USED to be on the MSDN web site.
I'm really trying to rid myself of Microsoft completely... at least at home. I can't control my employer, but I'd prefer to have nothing at all to do with them anymore. It's kind of like having a girlfriend you were always a little suspicious of and then find that she's been sleeping around and you have to go to the clinic to get something nasty cleared up... only Microsoft is a lot worse than that.
Woohooo! I can hardly wait until the spammers are irradicated! Just imagine how much faster the Internet will be when it doesn't have to carry their flotsam anymore!
The ones we really need to clobber with a cluebat are the insipid morons that actually buy the crap the spammers are selling. They'd quit doing it if the flaming idiots that send money for "penis enlargers" didn't make it worth their while.
As I understand it, the "next step" in the case is for the judge to get done thinking about the case, stand up and bitchslap Micro$oft clear into the middle of next year.
Isn't all the waiting we're doing supposed to be because Judge Colleen needs time to "think about it?" As far as I'm concerned, if she's got time to work for the the FISA, she doesn't need any more time to "think about" the M$ case.
Let's have a ruling, already!
I'm sure someone will be happy to point out how very little I understand the legal system.
I do believe reading a quote from Tim where he said that the FTC will not tolerate companies not living up to their promises and misrepresenting their products.
I'll be very curious to learn if we get any FTC action on this.
.sig - Would not a Microsoft employee, by any other name, smell the same? Vortran out
Have a section of this band be licensed for commercial, for-profit use. Let the big guys play with the big guys and let the little guys alone.
My answer is: if you want to sell service or do any for profit commerce at all, buy a license and use your allocated spot. The rest of us are free to use the other area of the band freely (as in beer AND speech).
The catch here is that the FCC would need to allocate only a couple channels for commercial use and leave the rest open. I suppose they'd probably get greedy and sell all but one channel to the highest bidders... which is why I have a rather large thorn in my side when it comes to the FCC.
Let me be the first to say something that many might think is a tad silly...
After you decide to build something like a space shuttle - the decision process and what to build is another debate entirely - money should not be an object. Let me explain my point:
When the engineers were told to design this stuff (more the liners on the engines than the transporters) they likely came up with a beautiful design and were told to go back and find ways to make it cost less. Maybe this is OK when you're designing a Bic pen that stops writing half way through a meeting, but not when you're designing rocket engines.
The answer is to design the systems with total disregard for how much it costs and every regard for doing it right and producing the absolute highest quality machinery that can be built with the best materials known. There is no reason that we can't design rocket engine liners that don't crack -- except that we'd rather not spend the money. Try explaining that to the astronauts that fly engines with cracked liners after a catastrophe.
Isn't this kind of B.S. that the anti-trust case is about? What kind of software vendor tells a PC maker they can't sell a PC without speciific software included?
This is the kind of thing that makes me hope that M$ gets spanked clear into the middle of next year by Judge Kollar-Kotelly.
The most charitable thing I can say about Micro$oft is that they could be so much more than the festering abscess they've become if it weren't for their blind imperialism and obsession with maintaining a hegemony.
1. We need to address "of the people, by the people, for the people." However out of whack we are or are becoming from that ideal, there is some potential for it 'snapping back'. The whole entire U.S. government exists upon a foundation of well thought out principles. I still hope that the extent to which those priniciples can be bent or broken is limited.
2. Remember, that even if this country is becoming a shithole, it's still the best shithole there is. You have to admit that life in the USA is pretty darned comfy compared to almost everywhere else. Shithole or not, we have it pretty good.
That's it. That's all you need. I bought a bunch of certificates. I'm very trustworthy. Most of the certificates I issue are registered to the likes of Daffy Duck and Mickey Mouse, but people still download my ActiveX controls and anything I sign with my extra-special digital certificates.
I'd say more, but I don't want a horde of drooling trolls from Verisign to ravage my feet and ankles.
Taking trustworhtiness to new heights... buy your own digital certificate TODAY!!
Slashdot Mirror
And a ghetto pc SHOULD have only one drive. That's another reason why it's a GHETTO pc.
:(
At 320 MB/sec with LVD SCSI, I _still_ see my biggest system bottleneck in hard disk data throughput. It really irks me that I can spend $1,000 for a decent system (mobo, cpu, memory) and not even be able to come close to alleviating my hard disk bottleneck for another $1,000.
These days putting a hard drive in a new machine feels like putting a lawn mower engine in a Lamborghini.
I've looked at solid state drives. If I took a mortgage on my entire net worth and liquefied all my assets, I still could not afford solid state drives at $80,000 a piece. Especially on a network that runs over 250 GB of storage.
Vortran out
Think "Return of the Pink Panther in the 21st Century..."
What else is a silent, dustless, precision glass cutter good for?
Vortran out
P.S. - This is a joke. Please do not feel compelled to point out that the thing probably fills up a whole lab and has all the portability of a pile of bricks.
Making mink coats for PETA members?
Vortran out
It's not "the US" per se, but rather certain acts of the US government. I do not voluntarily support many of the US government's actions taken in the name of its citizens with their money. Our freedom and form of government are excellent compared to others. That doesn't mean our governement can't suck. It just sucks a lot less than most others.
Do you support the DMCA? Supporting the US does not mean supporting the DMCA or the US government. To me, "supporting the US" means support the US citizens... the people like myself who get out of bed every day and go to work and look forward to coming home and playing with or networks and children (and wives!) and relaxing on the weekends. Just like the folks in other countries.
Vortran out
Private? As in "pay Microsoft?" Geez.. I agreed with every word you said until the last paragraph. Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "private" but this is what I envision:
BillG: "I'll give you $XX Billion dollars for your NASA organization and all IP."
NASA: "OK."
MS-Nasa: "Where in space do you want to go today?"
(shuddering) Vortran out
I felt the need to widen the scope of my earlier post. TV sets do have a certain advantage over digital displays in that they have an analog, hence infinite, color space. You can do some pretty nifty tricks to increase the perceived realism of an image by increasing color depth. This is done a lot for images that are engineered for television display.
However, at a certain point, (about 20 bits color depth) the actual resolution of the display device becomes the primary factor in perceived image quality. This is where the TV set fails to match up to the digital computer display.
Vortran: RE Vortran out
Excuuse me, but umm.. you're watching a TV set which has at max.. what maybe 500 lines with S-Video? Let's see that would be at least 100 lines less of vertical resolution than my crappiest computer display system.
No TV game is going to compare to a 1600 x 1200 computer display because it's well, a TV game that you watch on a TV. Improving the image quality of your TV set is like improving the performance of your Yugo. When all is said and done, you still have... a Yugo.
I understand that most people don't have a 40 inch computer monitor, but still you can only go so far with image quality on an NTSC television set. TVs are not high resolution display devices by definition.
Vortran out
Actually, the big reason I want to chat with some space aliens is in the hopes that they can provide answers to questions we can only ask. Therefore amoebas and molds don't much interest me either.
I guess I might fall into the "searching for god" category. If any ET is capable of travelling between stars and communicating meaningfully with us, they are indeed gods in comparison to humans.
Vortran out
Here's a question they missed on the FAQ...
How am I supposed to say "GNU/Linux" if I do not know how to properly pronounce "GNU".
I believe LINUX is pronounced "LYNN-ux" with the emphasis on the first syllable... but what about GNU? I've heard "new" and "GEE-new" So what is the correct pronunciation?
Vortran out
I fly R/C models, and so does the USAF. As a matter of fact many of their prototypes are built as radio controlled models and kinks ironed out (pun intended) before the full-size version is built.
I'm excited about the prospect of seeing a modern style (we already have Kitthawk-style) model designed with wing warping.
Vortan out
I totally agree with you on the sillyness of the word football to refer to the American game with regard to the fact that it has little or nothing to do with using one's feet.
However, linguistically, I prefer to have separate words to provide a means of clrifying meaning. Soccer/football (which is how Australians refer to the games) gives me the tool I need to be clear in language.
I'd be perfectly happy to call soccer football if another name were given to football (the U.S. version). I also concede that the original application of the term "football" to the U.S. game was an act of theivery and rather uncreative on the part of those who committed it. I fortunately was not involved so I cannot accept blame.
If I had wings on my car, I wouldn't need to worry about passing/driving on the left/right! I'd just fly over everyone!
Vortran out
Does this mean I may no longer distinguish between a "holiday" where everyone is off from work and a "vacation" where only I'm off?
;>
Must I now cease to distinguish between soccer and football by using the same word for both?
How about my automobile? Shall I now call the hood the "bonnet" and refer the trunk as the "boot"?
Interestingly, I noticed with surprise that the previous anonymous poster didn't use the word "bugger."
I just couldn't resist.
Vortran out
Other options.. of course. I always accept cashier's checks and money orders. However, what besides PayPal is instantaneous and convenient?
I really hate waiting for snail-mail payments and I hate going to get money orders or cashier's checks when the seller doesn't accept PayPal. Am I missing something better?
Vortran out
I went to www.pir.org. I don't get it at all.
WTF is it about? WTF _IS_ it? You don't have a FAQ, so I had to ask.
Vortran out
Well, things would be a damn sight better for the lass if she had won the lottery instead. Heck, if something with a 1:10^9 probability happened to me, I'd sure hope it was more fortuitious than getting hit by a rock!
Also, how does one pronounce "Sibhan"? Not exactly the British-looking name I might expect from a Yorkshire resident.
Vortran out
MSDN has removed much of the information that is not germane to .Net. As a consequence, those of us with access to the MSDN universal subscription are the fortunate minority who can still lookup Win32 API function definitions. All this stuff USED to be on the MSDN web site.
I'm really trying to rid myself of Microsoft completely... at least at home. I can't control my employer, but I'd prefer to have nothing at all to do with them anymore. It's kind of like having a girlfriend you were always a little suspicious of and then find that she's been sleeping around and you have to go to the clinic to get something nasty cleared up... only Microsoft is a lot worse than that.
Vortran out
Woohooo! I can hardly wait until the spammers are irradicated! Just imagine how much faster the Internet will be when it doesn't have to carry their flotsam anymore!
The ones we really need to clobber with a cluebat are the insipid morons that actually buy the crap the spammers are selling. They'd quit doing it if the flaming idiots that send money for "penis enlargers" didn't make it worth their while.
Vortran out
As I understand it, the "next step" in the case is for the judge to get done thinking about the case, stand up and bitchslap Micro$oft clear into the middle of next year.
Isn't all the waiting we're doing supposed to be because Judge Colleen needs time to "think about it?" As far as I'm concerned, if she's got time to work for the the FISA, she doesn't need any more time to "think about" the M$ case.
Let's have a ruling, already!
I'm sure someone will be happy to point out how very little I understand the legal system.
Vortran out
Calling Mr. Muris! Mr. Muris? Are you there?
I do believe reading a quote from Tim where he said that the FTC will not tolerate companies not living up to their promises and misrepresenting their products.
I'll be very curious to learn if we get any FTC action on this.
.sig - Would not a Microsoft employee, by any other name, smell the same?
Vortran out
Have a section of this band be licensed for commercial, for-profit use. Let the big guys play with the big guys and let the little guys alone.
My answer is: if you want to sell service or do any for profit commerce at all, buy a license and use your allocated spot. The rest of us are free to use the other area of the band freely (as in beer AND speech).
The catch here is that the FCC would need to allocate only a couple channels for commercial use and leave the rest open. I suppose they'd probably get greedy and sell all but one channel to the highest bidders... which is why I have a rather large thorn in my side when it comes to the FCC.
Vortran out
No.. I think it is you who missed the point.
The point is: Who Gives a Flying Rip?
Vortran out
Let me be the first to say something that many might think is a tad silly...
After you decide to build something like a space shuttle - the decision process and what to build is another debate entirely - money should not be an object. Let me explain my point:
When the engineers were told to design this stuff (more the liners on the engines than the transporters) they likely came up with a beautiful design and were told to go back and find ways to make it cost less. Maybe this is OK when you're designing a Bic pen that stops writing half way through a meeting, but not when you're designing rocket engines.
The answer is to design the systems with total disregard for how much it costs and every regard for doing it right and producing the absolute highest quality machinery that can be built with the best materials known. There is no reason that we can't design rocket engine liners that don't crack -- except that we'd rather not spend the money. Try explaining that to the astronauts that fly engines with cracked liners after a catastrophe.
Vortran out
Isn't this kind of B.S. that the anti-trust case is about? What kind of software vendor tells a PC maker they can't sell a PC without speciific software included?
This is the kind of thing that makes me hope that M$ gets spanked clear into the middle of next year by Judge Kollar-Kotelly.
The most charitable thing I can say about Micro$oft is that they could be so much more than the festering abscess they've become if it weren't for their blind imperialism and obsession with maintaining a hegemony.
Vortran out
2 things:
1. We need to address "of the people, by the people, for the people." However out of whack we are or are becoming from that ideal, there is some potential for it 'snapping back'. The whole entire U.S. government exists upon a foundation of well thought out principles. I still hope that the extent to which those priniciples can be bent or broken is limited.
2. Remember, that even if this country is becoming a shithole, it's still the best shithole there is. You have to admit that life in the USA is pretty darned comfy compared to almost everywhere else. Shithole or not, we have it pretty good.
Vortran out
"I buy a cert from Verisign.. and I'm trusted."
That's it. That's all you need. I bought a bunch of certificates. I'm very trustworthy. Most of the certificates I issue are registered to the likes of Daffy Duck and Mickey Mouse, but people still download my ActiveX controls and anything I sign with my extra-special digital certificates.
I'd say more, but I don't want a horde of drooling trolls from Verisign to ravage my feet and ankles.
Taking trustworhtiness to new heights... buy your own digital certificate TODAY!!
Vortran out